Page 94 of What a Wolf Wants
“So he and the rest of you backtracked through the tunnel into the warehouse and took another tunnel out of there,” Ethan said, “bypassing a wounded Baker.”
“Yeah. He looked like he was dead. Maybe he had been playing possum. Smart of him, really. None of us had known about the tunnels. I figured the only reason Kroner told us about them then was so that there would be a bunch of us out running in the dark like chickens with our heads cut off. Then those of us who knew where to go—Kroner, Oakley, me, and Officer Davis would go to the safe house. Believe me, I was afraid that when I got there, Kroner would have me killed as a loose end. But I had the notion he and Oakley might not make it, and I could slip into the house and be safe until I could figure out what to do next.”
Ethan noted that not once had the agent mentioned the hurt his family or the other families could be in if Kroner went after them. “So what does your wife think of all this?”
Agent Ryerson’s face lost all its color. The guy had two little girls, ages five and seven. Ethan couldn’t understandhow these men who had good jobs—had an income, although maybe not like the criminals had—found it so easy to risk it all for just some extra money. Risked losing their families. Or was there more to it than that? The thrill of being the bad guy for once? Ethan couldn’t understand it.
“She doesn’t know about any of it,” Ryerson finally said.
When they reached the beach house, Ty arrived with a search warrant and handed it to Ethan. “The owner is Clara Snyder.”
Hell.The grandmotherly, retired teacher hadn’t been a sweet, old lady who had been bamboozled into buying cars for these guys. She appeared to be in the middle of all this business.
Ethan pounded on the door and when Clara answered it, her eyes widened. But she was fully dressed, looking tired with dark bags under her eyes like she’d been up all night. “Yes?” she asked, sounding perfectly innocent, but it appeared she was up to her eyeballs in working with Kroner.
“We have a search warrant.” Ethan handed it to her. “If you’re hiding anyone who is wanted by the police, you’ll be charged with aiding and abetting and obstruction.”
Clara pursed her thin lips but didn’t say anything. Then she finally motioned for them to enter the house. “I’m calling my lawyer.”
“You’re free to do so.” Ethan headed into the house with his wolf friends and Renault, smelling for Oakley’s scent. He followed that scent down the hall toward the bedrooms.
Some of the investigators were looking for evidence that the men used this as a safe house and found plenty of it in theother rooms, as Ethan heard one of the men say they found a stash of drugs, guns, and money.
Ethan heard the shower running and moved quickly toward the bathroom. Josh was right behind him, and Adam and Tori went into the bedrooms on either side of the bathroom. The shower was running in the bathroom, the window open, water all over the floor and below the windowsill, but Oakley couldn’t have climbed out the small bathroom window.
“Someone’s headed out the back way,” Adam called out from one of the bedrooms. “He went out this window.”
“That’s Oakley,” Ethan confirmed for them. They all ended up climbing out the window, the fastest way to catch up to the bastard.
Other officers stayed back at the house to gather evidence.
As soon as Ethan and his team were outside, he immediately smelled Oakley’s scent headed toward the cliffs.
Ethan, his wolf friends, and Renault were in the lead, headed straight for Oakley while the other officers had spread out, searching for him. But Ethan and the other wolves were hot on Oakley’s scent trail, Renault keeping up with the rest of them.
When they reached the cliff, Ethan peered over it and saw Oakley hanging on precariously. Idiot. Ethan couldn’t believe Oakley would attempt to escape that way. The waves were crashing down below, the tide fully in so he couldn’t even go anywhere if he made it down to the beach.
“Give it up,” Ethan called down to him. “You have nowhere to go.”
Oakley just glowered at Ethan. “Who told you we were at the warehouse?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know? Climb back up here before you end up killing yourself. Think of how your great-aunt will feel if you commit suicide.”
Oakley’s eyes widened.
“Clara’s being taken into custody. Was your great- aunt involved also?” Ethan didn’t believe so, but who knew? Maybe shewasjust as involved. He was surprised Clara might be a lot more invested in all this business too.
Oakley wasn’t making a move to climb up the cliff. Ethan figured he just really didn’t want to give himself up to the police, as if he had much of a choice.
“Come on,” Ethan said. “You’re going only one way if you don’t come up and join us, and that’s to your death at the bottom of the cliff.”
Reluctantly, Oakley finally started to climb up to the top of the cliff. As soon as he was within reaching distance of pulling himself up over the edge, Ethan, Adam, and Noah grabbed his arms and hoisted him up. Then Renault handcuffed him.
“So where’s your buddy, Kroner?” Ethan asked.
“He hasn’t been caught yet?” Oakley shook his head. “Figures. I swear he can get away with everything and anything.”
“Who shot Officer Baker?” Ethan asked.
