Page 15

Charlene hadn t told anyone that she was a former homicide detective because it changed the way people viewed her and she had moved on. If she could help Ethan with his mission, she was doing it. She was glad that she d mentioned what Agents Cohen and Ryerson had done at the convenience store.

Okay, so what do you plan to do? she asked Ethan.

This business with Kroner being out of jail is problematic. I m just a little worried that you could be in as much danger as me if he learns that I m seeing you.

We re dating, you re staying in Oyster Bay when you ultimately retire, and I m helping you with this so you can get this done sooner than later.

Some men didn t like it when women told them what was what, but Ethan just smiled wickedly at her.

I mean, if you really don t want to stay in Oyster Bay after you re done with the mission…

I ll understand. But if you are interested in the least…

He smiled again. Hell, yeah. I m all the way interested in seriously dating you. I don t want us to take any unnecessary chances where you re concerned though.

I have never been shot on the job, she said. I m good at risk assessment—unless it has to do with a former girlfriend of a guy I m dating. So what do you want to do next?

We ll have lunch at the restaurant where you went to, so that you can try to remember anything from when you were there the last time, Ethan said.

So you re still interested in who sent the flowers to me? It seems to me that s the least of our worries.

I am. We ll also watch for any sign that Kroner is in this area, but I suspect he ll be heading south. Our men are after him. If Kroner comes here, we ll let my boss know at once. But until then, I m on the Secret Admirer ID Taskforce.

She laughed. Okay, so we still have time before we go to the restaurant. Is there anything else you would like to do?

We have intel that one of the men, Oakley Osburn, sees his great-aunt on occasion in Oyster Bay.

She s seventy-nine years old, and he takes her to church on Sundays sometimes and to lunch after that.

But there s a possibility he s there some other nights too.

He s Kroner s second-in-command who runs everything when Kroner is unavailable.

We could check out the area where she lives just as a drive-by.

He pulled out his phone and showed Charlene a picture of the woman.

She looks like a sweet grandmotherly type, Charlene said. Okay, let s do this, partner.

All right. He sounded more resigned than glad about allowing Charlene to help him with his work.

But she didn t care. If she could assist him and give him a better chance at accomplishing this mission sooner than later, she was doing it. They headed out to his car and then he drove her to the housing development where Oakley s great-aunt lived.

Do you ever miss being on the force? Ethan asked Charlene.

No. I loved my job while I was working there. I wouldn t have left the job if it hadn t been for my family s deaths. But at that point, I couldn t handle anything more. Then she sighed. Besides, Noah and I had irreconcilable differences. It was just time to move on and start over again.

If you re willing to talk about it, what happened between the two of you? Ethan asked.

Oh, a bunch of things. He had no empathy for me about my family s deaths.

He hadn t really liked that we had been so close to each other.

His family had been gone for a decade so I never knew them or how he had interacted with them.

He never really talked about his parents, which made me think he wasn t that close to them.

Whenever I would ask him about his family, he would say it was the past and it wasn t important.

But I knew that wasn t true. Our past shapes us and it would have helped me to understand him better.

That s so true.

He was fine with me being on the police force with a regular paycheck, but he really didn t like it when I quit my job. He felt I wouldn t earn enough off the rentals.

So he wanted a mate who was bringing in a good income.

We never got to the mate question. It never would have happened, believe me.

But yeah, I didn t really think that he cared about the financial aspect until I told him I was quitting my job and that s when it came to a real head.

He was mad when I didn t do what he wanted me to—stay with the job.

He had asked me about the inheritance I had received, but he hadn t gotten much from his parents when they passed, so I believed he thought the same was true with mine.

I wouldn t tell him because I knew we were going nowhere with our relationship.

Because I wouldn t enlighten him, he said that s just what he thought—my parents had been barely scraping by and hadn t left me with anything.

He assumed the properties were all mortgaged, but they were all free and clear.

Well, that wouldn t have been me, for sure.

If you had your heart set on quitting the force, I would have been behind you all the way.

We have to do what makes us happy, and you certainly needed to make the change for your own well-being.

As to family, I m an open book. I was close to my parents and my brother, and I would be happy to talk to you about my family and learn more about yours.

She smiled. Ethan was a lot more like the kind of wolf she should have been dating all along. That s why I m helping you with your case.

I appreciate it, but only if you don t get hurt.

When they reached Oakley s great-aunt s address, Ethan drove by it slowly like he was visiting someone in the area, searching for the right address to go to.

The gray Cape Cod-style house had a deck out front, a bright-red door, and pots filled with geraniums hanging from the porch overhang.

A little gray stepping-stone walkway invited visitors to approach.

I hope she s not involved in any of this, Charlene said. You never know though. The sweet little great-aunt with the apple-pie smile could be just as wicked and as dangerous as her grandnephew.

That s so true. I met up with a grandmother whose grandson was selling drugs and asked her about him.

She was out in front of her house tending to her roses.

Her long, white hair was done up in a bun, her expression sweet until I asked her about him.

She hit me with a hand trowel. I deflected the blow, but I sure hadn t seen that coming.

Charlene laughed. I can see that happening. What did you do with her?

I calmed her down. I didn t arrest her. She was just protecting her grandson after she d raised him from a baby.

Her daughter was in prison for selling drugs, stealing property, and deadly assault.

The boy s father never even knew he had a son or cared.

The grandmother was the only one who had been there for him.

So she was really protective. She felt awful about hitting me afterward.

I assured her I was fine. Renault was with me.

I don t think I ve ever seen him laugh so hard.

The more Charlene got to know Ethan, the more she thought how caring he was about people even when they hit him with a trowel or bit him on the arm as a wolf. And Renault? She could see him being amused about it.

They saw Oakley s great-aunt leave her house and walk to the mailbox while Ethan continued to drive on past the house.

She looks so sweet, Charlene said, watching out the side view mirror as the woman retrieved her mail and headed back up the walk.

It s still too early for lunch. Let s go to Shelby Bay.

We can take a look around town, like a girlfriend and boyfriend who are just visiting there.

Do…do the men you re after know what you look like?

They do. They don t know my vehicle. It s a rental and doesn t look anything like my own vehicle.

Aww, okay, good. We don t have to get out, but just drive around the area where these guys have been staying before.

Yeah, that s what I m supposed to do. He sounded glad and not as concerned now that she was going with him.

They drove around the area to the house where Grainger thought Oakley might be doing business.

There was no sign of any of the men at the house, but there was a car parked out front.

Charlene quickly took a picture of the license plate before Ethan drove past it.

She called up Tori. Hi, Tori? Can you run a license plate for us?

Does this have something to do with the flower delivery at your house? Or —Tori paused— this doesn t have anything to do with Ethan, does it?

Yes. The black Mercedes is parked at one of the perps houses in Shelby Bay, Charlene said.

He told you. Tori sounded shocked.

I m his partner in this so he can retire for good.

Oh wow, Tori said, her tone of voice one of concern.

I m a former homicide detective out of Destin. So I m fine with this kind of work.

Oh my, you didn t tell any of us that. A fellow homicide detective, woo-hoo! If I need any help with a case, I m running what Adam and I are working on by you.

Smiling, Charlene figured Tori would tell the rest of the wolf pack, which was fine with her.

Okay. Well, that makes a difference, and I m so glad that you re there to help watch Ethan s back in this. You don t know how worried all of us have been that he was doing this on his own and we re so far from there to reach him. I ll look into this, and I ll get back to you, Tori said.

Thanks, Tori! Then they ended the call.

Ethan was smiling at Charlene. I won t hear the end of this from Tori and Adam now.

What?

That you re working with me on this.

I have to figure out a way to keep you here. It s the best way I can think of.

He laughed. Thanks. I figured it was kind of a working vacation, until I realized you would be here and then things quickly changed for me.

Good. That works for me. So what do we want to do now?