Page 61 of What a Wolf Wants
“Yeah, we’ve been having a great time,” Charlene said. “Ethan has been the best company.”
“I’m glad. You deserve someone who is good for you,” Renault said.
“Thanks. Noah and I will remain friends,” Charlene said. “He just needs to find the right woman for him.”
“That’s good to hear. You won’t be living that close to each other, but when you come into Portland, I hope we can all get together sometimes,” Renault said.
“Sure, that would be great. But you know, I agree with Ethan about you trying to do this undercover work alone without your boss even backing you. You could be murdered by these guys, and no one would ever know what had happened to you,” Charlene said. “I have experience with this stuff as a homicide detective, so I know what I’m talking about.”
“Yeah, I know you do.” Renault sighed. “I really felt Ethanand I were a team, watching each other’s backs, until he retired.”
Ethan was surprised Renault had felt that way. Renault really hadn’t been a very open person with him or anyone else on the team since he had joined them, but Ethan had figured it had to do with his background or maybe his personality. He’d been a good agent, serious, contemplative, thorough on his investigations, an expert sharpshooter who had even saved Ethan’s life once. Ethan had liked his work ethic and was grateful to him for taking down a perp who could have killed him. Ethan truly hoped he hadn’t gone to the dark side.
Renault ran his hands through his dark hair. “Okay, listen, the truth is someone has been tailing me. That’s…that’s another reason I had to speak with you, Ethan. I–I really don’t know who else to turn to. I’ve gotten to the point that I don’t trust anyone in the department and not in the police bureau either. But you and Noah, of course. I don’t know who is following me, but as wary as we are and as long as we’ve been in this business, you know when you’ve got a tail.”
Ethan believed him.
“It’s a black Mercedes.”
Instantly, Ethan thought it might be the same car belonging to Clara Snyder that they had seen at Oakley’s house. “Did you get the license plate number?” He hoped they could confirm it was the same one.
“No. So I don’t know who it belongs to or what they’re up to. Maybe Grainger is having me followed to see if I’m themole and will lead him to these guys. Maybe it’s one of them or their henchmen. I just don’t know where to turn. I mean, I thought of asking Grainger, but if he believes I’m the mole, he wouldn’t tell me the truth anyway.”
“Maybe you should take a vacation and get out of Oregon for a while,” Ethan said, wanting Renault out of harm’s way. He thought that might be the best way to get him out of this situation if he wasn’t the mole.
Renault shook his head. “I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to find these guys and take them down, if not for my own sanity, to do what’s right by your parents and for you.”
Ethan knew how he felt. He wanted resolution in this case in the worst way.
Then Tori called Ethan and he said to Renault and Charlene, “I’m going to take this outside. I’ll be right back.”
“Sure,” Charlene said and then she engaged Renault further. “When you went to Oakley’s house, did you see any sign of drugs?”
“Hey,” Ethan said to Tori, closing the back door and heading down the stairs to the beach so that he could make sure his call was private. “We have unexpected company. Renault arrived to talk to us.” He explained to Tori what that was all about.
“Talk about putting you on the spot. From what we could gather about the murdered victim, he was trying to take over Kroner’s territory as soon as he saw he was arrested. He didn’t care that Kroner was released. We guess he figured if the DEA could take Kroner down once, they would have him back in cuffs again before long. Fatal mistake on his part. The victim has been wanted in several felony crimes also but getthis. We ran the license plates on one of the cars in Kroner’s garage and it also belongs to Clara Snyder.”
“Hell, is she just that culpable or is she at the heart of all this?” Ethan asked.
“We have a financial team looking into her finances. If nothing else, the IRS will get her on tax evasion because she’s been collecting all this money to buy cars and not reporting it as income.”
Ethan wondered if there wasn’t more to Clara than met the eye. “What if Clara isn’t who she says she is? Being a retired high school teacher could be just a cover.”
“We’re looking into it. So far, it appears she is who she says she is. Maybe she has just been bamboozled into doing this. You know how it is. People from all walks of life can easily be scammed,” Tori said. “How are things going with you and Noah?”
“Surprisingly well. I think he might be setting his sights on another she-wolf and he has given up on Charlene.”
“Oh? That’s a quick change of heart. Who is the new she-wolf?”
“You.”
Tori laughed. “Noah would definitely get more than he bargained for with me.”
Ethan smiled. “That’s what I figured. Let us know if you get anything more on Clara and hear anything about where Kroner might have gotten off to.”
“I will. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Thanks for the update.” Ethan climbed back up the steps and found Renault getting ready to leave.
