Page 79 of What a Wolf Wants

As if she knew that’s what he was thinking, she said, “If I had been with Noah, you know what he would have done?”

“Walked with you on the beach.”

“Nope. Gone to bed so he would be ready for his mission tonight.”

Ethan laughed. “He definitelywasn’tthe right wolf for you.”

“I agree. But after our beach walk, I wouldn’t mind going to bed.”

“Not just to sleep though, right?”

She smiled and kissed him. “That too, but more also.”

Chapter 22

After a lovely beach walk, Ethan and Charlene returned to the hotel room, showered, and went back to bed. They took a much-needed nap, made love, showered, and went to lunch. No one had called them from her house, so Ethan figured it was all quiet over there. Not that they thought anyone would try to break in while it was broad daylight out, but it was important to be prepared, just in case.

“Do you want to have lunch with Noah?” Ethan asked Charlene.

“Yeah, sure,” Charlene said.

Ethan called Noah to see if he wanted to join them for lunch.

“Yeah, I’ll be right down. Save me a seat.”

Ethan and Charlene took their seats with an ocean view and ordered tea and coffee.

Noah soon joined them in the restaurant. “No word from anyone watching the house yet, I take it?”

“No. I figure if there’s going to be any movement, it will be later tonight,” Ethan said.

“If Renault is the mole, he’ll know you’re staying at the house, but he won’t realize you have friends who are there protecting it now. He might believe, because of last night’s botched attempt to break in, that you might not be staying there though.”

“The guys will keep the chatter low so if he or anyone else comes to the house, they won’t be able to make out their conversation or learn that there are five guys there. They’ll have lights on when it gets dark out, play the TV, turn the lights out when it’s a decent bedtime, and wait in the dark for something to happen.”

“What do we do now?” Noah asked. “I really want to do something instead of just sitting around waiting for nightfall.”

Just then Adam called Ethan. “Hey, we’ve got some action headed your way.”

“Oh? What’s up?” Ethan said to Noah and Charlene, “It’s Adam.”

“One of our police officers, Baker, took personal leave for the rest of the week,” Adam said.

“Okay?” Ethan knew Baker was up to something or Adam wouldn’t have called him about the officer taking leave.

“We figure he’s trying to get in touch with Kroner or Oakley. Baker is headed your way.”

“How do you know this?” Ethan figured if Baker was involved with this Kroner business, he wouldn’t have told Covington, his boss at the bureau, or fellow officers where he was going.

“Tori and I are on his tail.”

Ethan smiled. “More reinforcements.”

“One way or another, we’re going to nail these bastards. Wait, what do you mean there would bemorereinforcements?”

Ethan explained how Leidolf sent five of their pack members to house-sit.

Adam laughed. “That sounds like Leidolf. But watch Kroner or his men not return to the house this time.”