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With no intention of sitting around while Ethan was off on a grand adventure, protecting Renault if he needed protecting, Charlene was checking on properties for sale on the coast to see about buying a third one.

She d had three rental homes in Florida, and she d planned to look for a third property when she finally got settled here.

She called Jennie Dosier, the real estate agent she had worked with for the other coastal homes. Hey, Jennie, I m ready to start looking for another rental place. I ve seen a couple that look like they would be good prospects. Maybe you can find a couple of other places I could also check out.

Yeah, sure, would seeing them today work for you? I ve got three new listings I m sure you would be interested in, based on the others you ve already purchased.

Oh, great. Yeah, I m free now if you want to… Charlene frowned as she saw Noah sneaking into the dense forest next to her home where she and Ethan went for their hikes. What the hell? Ethan! He had to have called Noah and made sure that he came to protect her.

Even though she had said no on calling Noah, she couldn t be upset with either of them.

They were only looking out for her safety.

She was amused that Noah thought she wouldn t see him.

Though, to give him credit, she had just gotten lucky by being at the living room window when he moved into the forest. If she d been anywhere else in the house, she would never have known he was out there.

Are you okay? Jennie asked.

Uh… Charlene continued speaking with her agent. Yeah. If you can meet me here in a half hour, that would be great.

I ll call the homeowners to let them know we ll be dropping by.

Okay, perfect. I ll see you soon. Then she called Noah to let him know where she was going. Hey, Noah.

Hey, what s up? Noah sounded both surprised that she would call him and a little anxious.

She wanted to laugh because he was trying to act like he wasn t hiding in the woods next to her house. Ethan must have told you that Renault had a tail and whoever it was might have seen him come to my place.

Noah was silent. She figured that Ethan had told him not to let her know he was doing this, or she would be mad at Ethan.

Okay, well, you can keep hiding in the forest watching for bad guys if you want or stay at the house while I m gone. I m going to look at some houses to see about buying another rental property. The real estate agent will be here soon, and I just wanted to let you know where I m going.

Noah sighed heavily. Hell, Ethan told me not to let you know what I m doing.

I ll stay at the house. If someone comes there looking for you, I ll handle it.

Just so you know, Ethan didn t tell me to watch over you.

He just told me he was trying to watch Renault s back and that there could be an issue with the guy tailing him knowing Renault had been at your place.

I m glad that you are here.

I m on my way to the house.

She chuckled. Then she opened the back door to let him in.

Sorry about that. I really hadn t thought you would catch me at this.

Truly, I got lucky. Have you heard anything from Ethan?

Not yet. But nothing may come of it.

True. Here, have some water. She fixed Noah a glass of ice water. Make yourself at home and protect the place.

I was supposed to be protecting you.

I ll be fine. If anyone comes, they wouldn t be following me to go house hunting, she said. You can tell Ethan that I caught you and you re in the house, and you can tell him what I m doing if he calls.

Noah laughed. He s not going to be happy that you caught me at it. He s going to believe I did it on purpose.

I ll let him know the truth when I speak with him.

He ll wonder if I ll make a good partner in this business.

She smiled. I m sure he knows you re good at your job.

Her real estate agent finally arrived, and Charlene joined Jennie in her car. She was excited about the possibility of adding another rental home to her properties. Of course, none of them might be right for her, but if one was, she would be thrilled.

She was also glad Noah was at the house observing things while she shopped for another house to buy. But she had to admit she was watching to make sure no one was tailing her .

***

Ethan went inside the grocery store to grab a couple of items according to plan.

He saw Renault getting a candy bar and a bag of chips.

Ethan picked up a box of popcorn and a bottle of wine to have later with Charlene for a movie night experience.

Despite carrying out this mission and everything else that was going on, he wanted to show Charlene that he was always thinking of them as a couple and wanted to do fun things with her.

Ethan glanced through some other aisles, then saw Renault paying for his goods in the self-checkout line.

As soon as Renault left the store, Ethan checked out, then went to put some gas in his car.

Renault was doing the same thing. Ethan went to the pumps on the other side of the cashier s station and behind Renault so he could see him when he left.

Once Renault was on his way, Ethan finished pumping gas and saw a black Mercedes start to pull out of the car wash.

No way could it be the same car that had been following Renault and they had seen at Oakley s house.

But Ethan saw the license plate and it was the same car that Clara owned.

Ethan jumped into his car and blocked the Mercedes from fully exiting the car wash.

Ethan was out of his car in a flash with his gun and his badge out, shouting for the occupant to get out of the vehicle.

For a moment, the person sat hidden behind the darkly tinted windows—illegally tinted and they could get him for that if nothing else. Renault must have been watching his rearview mirror and turned his car around to return to assist Ethan. Ethan called for police backup.

The driver wasn t shutting down his car, and when he saw Renault s car pull up, he tried to make a dash for it over the cement curb that was supposed to direct the car-wash patrons around and into the travel lane near the gas pumps so they didn t hit another vehicle.

The driver couldn t back up through the car wash because two other cars were sitting there in line to wash their cars.

If the guy didn t bust his tires or scrape the underside of the car, he could get away.

Ethan couldn t allow it. Especially when he might know that Renault had been to Charlene s house.

Ethan shot out two of the Mercedes s tires.

Renault was out of his car, racing around to the other side to shoot out the Mercedes s other tires.

Now the car was riding lower over the curb, but the guy gunned the car again and was driving on flat tires.

Ethan jumped into his car and followed the black Mercedes onto the road.

He didn t want to mess up the DEA s loaner car—Grainger would have something to say about that—but Ethan just couldn t let the guy go.

He got to the side of the Mercedes on the two-lane road and bumped it, knocking it onto the shoulder.

The driver kept control of his car and returned to the road but before Ethan could bump him again, he had to pass him because of an oncoming car.

Renault was behind the Mercedes and Ethan slammed on his brakes. The Mercedes tried to circle around him, but the driver didn t have enough room to maneuver and ended up clipping Ethan s car. Renault immediately slammed into the Mercedes s tail, crunching it between his car and Ethan s.

Ethan jumped out of his car, heard the sirens of police cars en route, and headed to the driver s side, shouting, Turn off your engine, show your hands, and open the door.

Renault had maneuvered around the black Mercedes and was slightly behind the back passenger door on the right-hand side in case anyone tried to exit the vehicle from that direction.

The driver s side door opened just a little and Ethan thought the driver was going to leave the car—until he saw the gun.

He kicked the door into the driver, realizing it was Thor, Timothy Morton, the guy who was the size of a giant.

Ethan continued kicking the door repeatedly, denting it, but also keeping Thor from shooting him.

Ethan was still recovering from his earlier bullet wound and he sure as hell didn t want to get killed when he knew he had finally found the she-wolf he wanted to mate for life.

The police arrived and surrounded the car. Ethan showed off his badge to the officers. He s armed and was trying to shoot me through the door. It s Timothy Morton, a.k.a. Thor, and he s wanted on multiple warrants that are out for his arrest.

It was a standoff for the moment. Thor finally backed off and the bashed door closed as much as it could. At least, he couldn t shut the door all the way and lock it.

Ethan signaled to Renault to grab the back door of the car. Ethan figured it would be locked, but he thought it might distract Thor.

As soon as Renault yanked at the rear car door, Ethan pulled open the driver s door, reached in, and grabbed Thor s meaty, muscular gun arm.

He yanked it out through the open door and kicked the door at the same time as hard as he could.

Ethan heard the bone crack in Thor s arm.

Total win. No one got shot. He d known Thor wouldn t give up without a fight, no matter what.

Thor dropped his gun on the pavement and the police moved in to help to confine him until the EMTs could arrive to take care of his arm. They found several more guns, an assault rifle, and tons of ammunition.

Out of earshot of the officers, Ethan said to Renault, You take care of this. You collared him.

But you—

I m undercover. I can t be in the news. Take care of it.

I ll let Grainger know what s going on. You need to tell him you ve caught Thor.

But as far as everyone else in the agency is concerned, I m retired.

If anyone sees anything about it in the news, I was just making a citizen s arrest because I was a former special agent. I m out of here.

Okay, sure. We ll talk later. Renault appeared shocked to learn Ethan was still on the force.

Then Renault called Grainger and told him he got Thor and was going with him and a couple of local police officers to the hospital to have Thor s arm x-rayed.

Ethan took off to Charlene s house, calling her first before touching base with Noah because he wanted to make sure she was okay. He was damned glad they had caught another of the men who had been involved in murders, drug charges, and other criminal pursuits.

Is everyone all right? Charlene asked, sounding worried.

Yeah.

Before Ethan could tell her what had happened, she cleared her throat. Hey, I can t talk right now. I m looking at some other homes that I could turn into another rental house.

That surprised the hell out of Ethan. She hadn t mentioned to him beforehand that she was going out to look for another rental house.

Not that she had to tell him everything she was doing, but he was worried that one of the men he was after might be following her now.

And Noah hadn t texted or called him either to tell Ethan that she had left the house.

Here Ethan figured she was safe at home with Noah discreetly watching over her.

Just meet me at home when you re through with your business, Charlene said. You can tell Noah what s going on.

At your house? You know Noah was there?

Yeah. It s not his fault. Talk to you later.

All right. Love you. He headed for the house, not calling Noah because he figured he would just talk to him when he arrived. He sure hoped Thor ended up in jail and didn t get out. But what was Noah doing at Charlene s house when he was supposed to be watching her place in secret?