Page 85 of What a Wolf Wants
“Yeah, me too. Sorry. Our boss swore me to secrecy,” Noah said. “I’m just glad Ethan was able to help you take down Thor. I wanted to help, of course, but I was watching over Charlene.”
“Oh, of course. Ethan had worried that I might have led the stalker to Charlene’s house,” Renault said.
“Right,” Noah said.
“I just hope Kroner and his men don’t have some other way to exit the building that we are unaware of.” Ethan spoke with Ty Richardson, the officer in charge of the support officers there. “I need the blueprints for the warehouse if you can get them quickly.”
“On it.”
“Okay, good. We need to keep the warehouse surrounded. These men are considered armed and dangerous, and we witnessed them going inside.”
At least the building didn’t have any windows so no one could shoot out of the building that way.
“An IT hotshot we called has disabled their security cameras,” Adam said.
“That’s good to hear,” Ethan said. “I figured Kroner and his men were watching us, counting our numbers, sweating it out.”
“Yeah, for a little bit until their screens went dark. The power’s being cut too.” Tori smiled. “I got hold of the electric company. I’m sure Kroner and his men are a bit rattled.”
“That’s where we want them to be.” Ethan hoped Kroner was losing control of his men and everything was chaotic inside. At least wolves could see in the dark. These guys couldn’t see a thing when the warehouse didn’t have any windows even to let in a little illumination from the police lights set up. He was glad he could count on his wolf friends to work with him to tackle the problem.
Ty got on a horn and called for the men to come out and surrender. “We’ve got the place surrounded.”
There was no response.
Ethan could envision them having a standoff for hours, days maybe if the guys inside had planned for a siege and had enough water to drink and food to eat.
Adam got a call on his phone. “It’s Chief Covington.” Then he said to his boss, “Putting the call on speaker so that Ethan and Renault from the DEA can listen in if it’s all right with you, sir.”
“Yeah, I’m keeping in touch with Grainger. Kroner called me and said that he has gotten Baker and one of Grainger’s men, Agent Ryerson, as hostages,” Covington said.
“No way,” Ethan said. “Renault and I both watched them walk into the warehouse on their own, no coercion whatsoever. Unless their families are being threatened.”
“Anticipating that, we’ve already picked up their families, just in case, but they said they haven’t had any trouble,” Covington said. “We believe it’s just Kroner’s ploy so that we don’t approach them while they’ve got the so-called hostages. Though knowing Kroner and his murderous tactics, he might end up killing one of the officers to show he’s serious.The corrupt DEA agents and the police officers should have known how ruthless Kroner can be and that all his men are expendable. He can get replacements for all of them with a snap of his fingers, promises of riches, and his innate charm, though I sure as hell don’t see how people can fall for it.”
“Yeah, me either,” Ethan said.
“The water department cut off their water supply, so unless they have stockpiles of food and drink, we hope this won’t last long. I’ve got to go. Let’s keep each other informed,” Covington said.
“Will do, sir,” Tori said.
Trucks arrived to tow off Kroner and his men’s vehicles.
Once the vehicles were gone, barriers were set up for everyone to stay behind. At least the warehouse was far from any other businesses that were still in operation, though it was quiet out here, dead even, so civilians shouldn’t be in trouble.
The side door opened and a man who Ethan didn’t recognize had Officer Lawrence Baker in front of him, his hands tied in front. Baker was sporting a black eye, and Ethan wondered if Kroner had his men rough Baker up a bit to make it look like he was really a hostage, or he did it because he thought Baker had led the police to him. If Kroner only knew Ferret was the one who had told them, he would want him dead.
“Ferret’s going into the Witness Protection Program, isn’t he?” Ethan asked Renault.
“Yeah, the minute he told us where Kroner was going to be and once you and I learned Kroner and his men were actually here, they whisked Ferret and his immediatefamily—mother, sister and her baby—away for their own protection,” Renault said.
“I wonder how Ferret learned about Kroner being here.” Ethan always asked Ferret when he gave him some good intel or bad.
“Oh yeah, I asked. He said he always liked you and you treated him like a person. He said Kroner was coming after you, making it his priority. Ferret has been going to all the places that he knows Kroner or his men hang out. About half an hour before all of this went down, one of Kroner’s men was talking to another, and he said Kroner and a bunch of the guys were going to the warehouse. That he felt it was a death trap, and that Kroner was making it harder for the rest of them to keep from getting caught because of his vendetta against you.”
Smiling, Tori shook her head. “I can’t fathom an informant would be worried about Ethan’s health when he had to believe that Ethan was retired and unable to help him out any longer while on the force.”
Ethan had never told anyone, but he’d gone out of his way to see that Ferret’s mother was getting some medical care and his sister was provided for when her baby came due. It wasn’t just about the job. The guy had just needed a break and it never came until Ethan began to get tips from him and could help Ferret and his family out in some small way. Moving him and his family into the Witness Protection Program, getting him into treatment, getting a job, all of that would hopefully set him on the right path.
