Chapter 14

When CJ, Jenna, and Sarandon sat in the living room with Alex’s adoptive parents, Sarandon hoped they would learn where Alex was now.

Sarandon couldn’t have been prouder of Jenna for soothing the dad’s concerns and convincing him this was best for their adopted son. He was glad she’d offered her lawyer to represent Alex.

Once Anton had explained everything to his wife, Sarandon said, “The lawyer is really good. He helped get my fingerprints expedited, and he was there at the hearing to help clear me. We’ll all do what we can to help Alex with this situation. I won’t press charges against him for using my ID to impersonate me. We just want to ensure he knows he has family in Silver Town. We don’t mean to take away from the importance the two of you have always had in his life, since you’ve served as his real family all these years.”

Sarah had been quietly crying off and on but finally raised her hand to speak as if she were in school and needed permission. Sarandon thought she was going to offer something about Alex, but instead, she said, “Ritka killed her.”

“We don’t know that,” Anton said, rubbing her back, looking alarmed, and glancing from one brother to the other.

“Ritka did. She’d been talking about hiring a hunter to shoot something that was getting in her way.” Sarah sniffled and wiped her eyes. “I didn’t know what she meant by that. I knew she was seeing Sheridan and that he had a mate. I never told Anton. Then suddenly Sheridan’s mate was shot in a hunting accident.”

A cold sweat washed over Sarandon. Seeing his mother accidentally killed in front of him and his brothers had been devastating enough. If it had been murder and Ritka was behind it? If she wasn’t already dead, he’d want to take her down himself. CJ was clenching his fists, his face red with anger.

Jenna’s eyes were filled with tears, and she reached over to take Sarandon’s hand in a comforting manner.

“I didn’t really put all the pieces together. Not until after Ritka had died and your pack leader, your cousin, put Sheridan down. By then, it was too late to mention it to anyone. Ritka’s sister knew we couldn’t have children, or so we thought. We’d been trying for years, and nothing came of it. Evie didn’t want the boy, just the girl. We were thrilled to take Alex in, though it was on the condition that we never told Ritka about the arrangement. She never came to see the kids anyway, so it really wasn’t a problem. Then I got pregnant right away with Burt, and we were filled with joy that we had two little boys to raise. I don’t believe Alex would do what you said he did. Not unless he was coerced, maybe. Can you really clear his name?”

Sarandon couldn’t imagine any woman doing anything more hateful than what Ritka might have done. On the other hand, Alex was the product of Ritka’s and his father’s deceitfulness, and their son didn’t deserve to be treated as though he was in any way responsible for their crime.

“We’ll do our best,” Jenna said, squeezing Sarandon’s hand.

He appreciated her concern and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Sarah tried to get ahold of Alex on her phone, but she couldn’t reach him. “I haven’t talked with him in a couple of weeks. Which isn’t unusual. He gets busy with his job and calls when he’s through.”

“What kind of work does he do?” CJ asked.

“Construction work. He makes good money at it. He’s building some new homes in Colorado Springs. At least, the last we heard from him,” Sarah said. “I’m really proud of him. We both are.”

Since he was being GPS-monitored, maybe that’s why he stayed in Colorado Springs as long as he did and didn’t run off right away. The only other thing Sarandon could think of was that Alex had been forced to leave.

“Do you think someone at his workplace could have put him up to it?” Anton asked, sounding hopeful.

“We’ll check. What’s the name of the company?” CJ asked.

Anton ran his fingers through his hair. “J and R Construction.”

“What about pack members? Could any one of them have put him up to it?” CJ readied his notepad to take a list of names.

Sarah and Anton exchanged looks, as if revealing any pack member names would be a cardinal sin.

“We have no intention of accusing anyone of anything. We just need to make some headway with the case.” Sarandon really hoped they could find someone else who was responsible, but Alex had used Sarandon’s ID at the police department, so it would be hard to explain that away.

“This is all a real shock to us. We had no idea,” Anton said.

“Same with me.” Sarandon stood.

Sarah began to list off names. “Christina DeWitt. She’s at the top of my list.”

“Why is that?” Jenna asked.

“She’s his girlfriend, but she’s not right for him,” Sarah said.

Sarandon glanced at Anton to see his take on it. He remained silent, and Sarandon suspected the only one who didn’t like the woman was Sarah. Was the woman not good enough for her adopted son?

“Why do you think she’s not right for him?” Jenna asked.

“She works in a motel. Cleaning. You know. He needs someone who has a better job.”

What difference did that make if she was working hard? Sarandon thought Sarah was a bit of a snob. “What do you do for a living?”

“Me? I’m a homemaker.”

Anton offered, “I worked construction too, which is why Alex works at it. He loved to come on jobs with me, from the time when he was about ten years old. Way before he was old enough to get a job on his own, he used to bring me tools and help me out and make his own birdhouses.”

“And Burt?” Sarandon asked.

“He liked to do other things,” Sarah quickly said. “He didn’t like the loud noises the power saws made.”

Sarandon could tell Anton felt a closeness to Alex. He wasn’t sure about Burt.

Sarah gave them the names of nine males, and Christina was the only she-wolf on the list.

“What about his birth sister, Faye? Would she know where he’s gone?” Jenna asked.

“Once Alex was given to us, his aunt never wanted to have anything to do with him, so the daughter never got to see her brother. Later? There was no interest. He never spoke of her, so I doubt she would know where he is,” Sarah said.

“Where is she now? Where are her aunt and uncle? Just in case they have made contact,” Jenna said.

“They lived on the other side of town. They cut themselves off from the rest of the pack. I don’t know if they’re living or dead,” Sarah said. “I would imagine their niece is mated and who knows where she is. Their name is Fennimore.” Sarah gave their last known address.

“Okay, thanks.” Sarandon wasn’t about to discount that the brother and sister might have been close all these years and never shared that with either of the families who had raised them. “What about your pack leaders?”

“Monty Matthews,” Sarah said. “He’s a good man.”

“I say we stay in the pack area of Cañon City. We talk to the pack leaders and get a list of pack members, in case someone else could be harboring Alex. They may believe he’s staying with them for some other reason. We haven’t alerted the police about his identity yet,” Sarandon said. “And we still need to find Alex’s sister, Faye.”

“Can you give us the number for your pack leaders?” Jenna asked Sarah and Anton.

“Yeah. Monty is our only pack leader. He lost his mate last year. I should speak with him about this, but I hope you can locate Alex and not involve the pack,” Anton said.

That was the importance of having a pack. To deal with issues that could involve all of them. “Don’t you think Monty will be upset with you for not telling him?” Sarandon asked.

“After losing his mate, he hasn’t been really interested in what’s going on with the pack. All of us have been talking about asking another wolf to take over. No one wants to if Monty steps in again. He’s been a great leader all these years,” Anton said.

Sarandon nodded, though he didn’t agree with their tactics. He couldn’t imagine keeping Darien and Lelandi in the dark about something this serious. “Okay. Well, we still need to ask Monty if he knows where Alex could be. I can say you just learned of it, which you did.”

“Thanks. I can give you a list of the pack members’ names though. We have an emergency roster.” Anton left the living room, and a few minutes later, they heard a printer running. He came back with a piece of paper that he handed to Jenna.

The list included twenty names with phone numbers, email addresses, and snail mail addresses. They could begin to canvass the surrounding area to see if anyone knew of Alex’s whereabouts. Not wanting anyone to warn him and let him slip away if he was staying in the area, they didn’t call anyone first.

Even then, they figured anyone they talked to could alert Alex and he’d be on the run.

“We’ll let you know if we learn anything,” CJ said.

“Thank you,” Sarah said.

Anton escorted them to the door and shook Sarandon’s hand and then CJ’s. Finally, he took hold of Jenna’s hand and squeezed. “Take good care of Alex for us when you find him.”

“Thanks so much,” Jenna said. “We’ll let you know if we find anyone who knows where he is.”

The three of them left Anton and Sarah’s house and stood by Jenna’s car while she called Monty as a courtesy to the pack leader. “Hello, we need to speak to you about a couple of your pack members. Sarah and Anton Dreyfus gave your name to us. I’m Jenna St. James, and CJ and Sarandon Silver are looking for Alex Dreyfus and his sister, Faye. May we visit you, and we’ll let you know what this is all about?”

“Yes, of course. Are they in trouble?”

“Alex is. We’d rather talk to you in person about it, if that’s okay with you.”

“Sure. Come on over.”

“Thanks.”

When they arrived at his one-story brick home, Monty walked out to greet them. He was in his sixties, gruff, his black hair graying, and he was frowning at Sarandon.

Sarandon suspected he’d get the same wary response from everyone in the pack because he looked so much like Alex, but not exactly.

“Monty Matthews?” Sarandon said. “I’m Sarandon, and this is CJ Silver of Silver Town. We’re Alex’s half brothers.”

“Half brothers? When did that happen?” Monty asked, looking genuinely perplexed.

When Alex used Sarandon’s ID and Jenna hunted the wrong man down!

“We just learned about him, and we’re trying to locate him,” CJ said.

“Because he’s wanted by the police,” Jenna said. She explained what was going on, not only with him, but with Burt too.

Monty shook his head. “Why don’t you come inside.”

When they entered the house, Monty motioned to the living area. “Have a seat. Would any of you like coffee? A beer?”

“Coffee, cream, and sugar, if it’s not too much trouble,” Jenna said.

“Same here,” Sarandon and CJ said.

“So tell me about Silver Town and how you are Alex’s half brothers.” Monty went into the kitchen that was open to the living room, making it easy for him to keep talking to them.

Sarandon gave him an abbreviated version of how they came to be related, leaving out that their dad had died.

Monty returned with four mugs of coffee. “And you’re his mate?” he asked Jenna.

“Working on that,” Sarandon said.

She smiled at Sarandon. Then she explained about going after Sarandon, thinking he was her suspect, and about the lawyer who would represent Alex.

“All right. Well, I haven’t heard a thing about any of this. I guess his parents hadn’t known about it either, from what you say.”

“They hadn’t. We just learned about all of it ourselves,” Sarandon said. “What about his sister, Faye? Sarah said she didn’t think he ever was close to her, but we were thinking since they’re twins, they might have been in touch without anyone knowing.”

“It’s possible. I don’t have any knowledge of it. We have gatherings, or had, until my mate died. She was always organizing the social gatherings. I don’t recall ever having seen the twins at the affairs.”

“Is she mated?”

“Faye is. And she’s got a set of twins herself.”

“And her aunt and uncle?”

“Died a few years back.” Monty pulled out his phone. “I’ll see if I can get ahold of her.” Monty shook his head and then tried another number and spoke to someone. “Is Faye there? Okay, has her brother been there? Alex?” Monty looked up at Sarandon. “Okay. Um, has he been by to see her? Recently?”

Sarandon hung on every word, watching Monty’s expression—which revealed that whoever he was talking to knew Alex. Which meant Faye must too.

“Okay, thanks, Bill. Can you…have her call me when she returns? Thanks.” Monty put his cell phone on the coffee table. “Faye’s on a camping trip with her girls. Her husband said she has no cell reception where they are. He had to work, or he would be there with them.”

“He knows Alex?” CJ asked.

“Yeah. He said he isn’t there.”

“He knows him,” Sarandon said. “Which means Faye does too.” He ground his teeth. “Where are they camping?”

Monty let out his breath and made another call. “Hey, Bill, can you tell me where Faye and the girls are camping? Yes, it’s about Alex. I need to get ahold of him. It’s really important… Thanks.”

They ended the call again, and Monty told them, “They’re at Wild Wolf Run. It’s a private camping ground, the property owned and operated by our pack for pack members. I’ll give you the directions. You can’t find it with GPS.”

“Cabins?”

“Yeah. Number five.” Monty wrote down the directions for them on a script map. “I suspect Bill and Faye know something about the trouble Alex is in. Bill wouldn’t say, but he sounded worried they’d be in trouble for not having told me. Keep me informed about this, will you? Seems I’ve been rather out of the loop of late.”

“We will,” Jenna said. “And we’ll let you know, or we’ll have him call you, when we locate him.”

Then they left the house, and CJ said, “Why don’t we head out to the campsite first? Afterward, we can split up and each take five of the people on the list of names Sarah gave us who she suspects could know something.”

“Just as long as Sarandon and I get to speak with Alex’s girlfriend,” Jenna said.

Sarandon was still surprised Sarah had added her name to the list. Maybe Christina didn’t like Sarah and felt she was interfering in her relationship with Alex.

First, they caravanned out to the camping area where seven log cabins were set around a picturesque lake, the firs and pines between each of the cabins giving them enough privacy from their neighbors to make for the perfect camping experience.

Sarandon, Jenna, and CJ went to the fifth cabin on the dirt road, but when they reached it, they noticed the place was dark, and no vehicle was parked beside it. They sure hoped Faye’s husband hadn’t lied that they had no cell reception or that she had a satellite phone and was warned that someone might be coming for Alex—or to question her about his whereabouts—and she took the kids and left.

“Maybe they went on a wolf run,” Sarandon said, hoping that was the case as they got out of their vehicles and looked around the cabin for signs of anyone outside grilling or playing near the lake. Though that didn’t explain the absence of a vehicle.

Before Jenna could knock on the door, Sarandon saw movement in the brush and turned to look. Five adult wolves were watching them from the woods. They wouldn’t have shown themselves unless they had smelled Sarandon, Jenna, and CJ’s scents and known they were wolves.

The wolves growled, baring their teeth. It didn’t seem to matter that CJ was wearing his deputy sheriff’s uniform.

“Hey,” Jenna said, frowning at them. “We’re here looking for Alex Dreyfus. We want to help him. Has he been here with Faye? She’s not in trouble. He is, and we want to ensure the human police don’t arrest him before we can talk to him and make sure he has the best wolf lawyer there is to represent him.”

They didn’t even know if these wolves knew anything about Alex or the kind of trouble he was in, but Sarandon agreed that they needed to set them straight.

“We’re his and Faye’s half brothers,” CJ said. “I’m CJ and this is Sarandon Silver, from Silver Town.”

Then a smaller wolf appeared behind the larger male wolves. Faye?

She paused for a moment, then headed for the cabin and ran through the wolf door. Sarandon, Jenna, and CJ waited, hoping she was shifting and getting dressed and would speak to them, while the other wolves watched them, ensuring they stayed put in the meantime.

A few minutes later, she opened the door and said, “I’m Faye Emerson. My brother, Alex, isn’t here. Come in and tell me what this is all about.” Her hair was a lighter brown than Alex’s, and she had blue eyes. She didn’t look like Alex at all.

“I’m Jenna St. John, a fugitive recovery agent. I’m looking to take Alex in to meet his trial date, but we’ve got a good wolf lawyer to represent him. Do you know the trouble he’s in?”

“He wouldn’t talk about it. He said he was in trouble, but he didn’t do it. He trusted Burt to help him leave Colorado Springs, but now he’s in even more trouble.”

“We’re here to help him,” Jenna insisted.

“You’re here to arrest him. You don’t care about anything else.”

“That’s not true. He has to go in though, because he has a warrant out for his arrest,” CJ said. “It’s not going away.”

“He didn’t do whatever they’ve charged him with,” Faye said.

“Fine. Let him explain himself in court then,” Sarandon said. “With a good wolf lawyer representing him.”

“I don’t know where he is.”

“He’s been in touch. Recently,” CJ said.

They’d smelled all kinds of male wolves in the area, and any one of them could have been Alex’s scent. One of them smelled like the paw prints left behind near Jenna’s home.

“Yeah, I’ve seen him since he got into trouble.” Faye sat down in the living room, and they joined her.

“He was staying here.” Sarandon was only guessing, but he suspected that’s why she left with her kids and returned with some of the male wolves camping here.

“Tell me about this wolf lawyer.” Faye tilted her chin up.

Jenna explained who he was, and Sarandon corroborated that he had helped him out.

“All right. He ditched his phone, knowing he could be tracked. As soon as I can reach him, I’ll tell him what you’ve told me.”

“You don’t have any idea where he went?” Jenna asked.

Sarandon was sure Faye knew where he was, but she only shook her head.

“Okay, well, we’re out of here then.” CJ stood. “I just wanted to say you’re family too. And we’d like to get to know you, if you’ll let us.”

Sarandon and Jenna joined him.

“We’ll help him,” Jenna said, and then they left the cabin.

The other wolves were hanging around outside but looked up at them as they walked down the steps of the deck.

They didn’t say anything to the wolves; no sense in repeating what they were there for. Sarandon, Jenna, and CJ were trying to take in the wolves’ scents, but all of them had been in Sarah and Anton’s house at one time or another. He couldn’t smell Alex’s scent among them, if the wolf who’d been in Jenna’s territory had been him.

“We have a wolf lawyer for Alex, if he cares to talk to us.” Sarandon figured he’d give it his best shot.

None of the wolves came forward.

A car tore down the gravel drive and parked off to the side of Jenna’s car.

“Looks like someone’s in a growly wolf mood,” Jenna said.

“How much do you want to bet it’s Bill, Faye’s mate.” CJ had his hand on his holstered gun.

The man threw open his door.

“You’re probably right.” Jenna moved closer to Sarandon. He figured she thought she’d protect him because he didn’t have a weapon on him like she did.

“Where’s my—” the guy said.

“I’m here, Bill. I’m fine. They just wanted to talk to Alex, but he’s not here,” Faye said, coming out on the deck. “They’re leaving.”

“Yep, we sure are,” Sarandon said, irritated, but he knew if anyone had come to Silver Town accusing him of being a crook, his people would… Well, they did stick up for him. So it was understandable.

“Okay, let’s take care of interviewing those on the lists,” CJ said. They hoped none of the wolves here were on Sarah’s list.

“Sounds good.” Sarandon got into Jenna’s car. She drove while he navigated for her, and CJ followed them out of there.

“Do you think Alex was there?” Jenna asked Sarandon.

“I suspect he could have been,” Sarandon said. “Either he took off when Monty called Faye, or he was standing there with the rest of the male wolves, maybe shielded by their scents. I was trying to watch Bill’s face when he glanced at the wolves, but I couldn’t tell if he spied Alex among them.”

“Alex must be a beta wolf, don’t you think? Or he would come forth and just deal with this.”

“That could very well be.”

Armed with five of the names, Sarandon and Jenna went to see Christina first. She was living in a one-story, white brick home on the south side of Cañon City. When they arrived at her red door, the blond, blue-eyed woman gaped at Sarandon.

“We’re looking for Alex. I’ve just learned he’s my half brother and wanted to touch base with him and welcome him into our family and our pack. Is he home?” Sarandon asked.

“Ohmigod, I can’t believe it. He only recently learned his father was the sheriff of Silver Town, except he learned Sheridan is dead now. Along with Ritka, his mother. He was upset to learn that but couldn’t understand why his family gave him up. You look just like him. Did they give you up too? Or did they raise you?” Christina asked.

He hadn’t expected her to question him about all this, but if she and Alex were going to be mated wolves, he could understand why she’d want to know. “He was more of an absentee father after my mother was murdered. Ritka was not my mother,” Sarandon said.

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear it. I guess Alex should be grateful his adoptive parents raised him.”

“He would have enjoyed being with us,” Sarandon said. “Four brothers and three cousins to include him in all our shenanigans.” Not that Sheridan would have liked it if Alex had come to live with them, but Sarandon knew his brothers and the rest of the family would have accepted him into the family.

Jenna said to Christina, “Are you mating Alex?”

Christina frowned at her. “Why? Are you interested in him?”

“No.” Jenna took Sarandon’s hand. “Sarandon is the one I’m courting. I’ve never even met Alex.”

Sarandon was surprised Christina would even think some other she-wolf was interested in him if he was planning to mate her.

“Okay, listen,” Jenna said. “Alex is in a lot of trouble. The police are looking for him after he skipped bail. If you know where he is, we need to get in touch with him. My family has a really good wolf lawyer, and we want to help him clear his name, if we can.”

“Why?”

Sarandon thought it was interesting that Christina didn’t appear shocked or surprised that Alex was in serious trouble. And she hadn’t asked what he was in trouble for. Which meant she knew all about it.

“We want to help him because I’m courting his half brother, and he wants to help him out. If you don’t know already, Alex impersonated Sarandon when they caught him and charged him with identity theft. Do you have any idea where he has gone? He can’t hide forever, and he’ll have a warrant out for his arrest until we take care of this.”

“He’s been in Colorado Springs on a job.”

Old news, but the cavalier way Christina said it made Sarandon think she knew where he was. “When was the last time you heard from him?”

Christina chewed on her lip. “Last night. He called me and said he wasn’t coming home for a couple of weeks. That’s not unusual. It just means he’s got another construction job.”

Which Sarandon thought was odd. If he was courting the she-wolf, like Sarandon was courting Jenna, he’d be seeing her all the time. It wasn’t that far to Colorado Springs. “Did he tell you for sure where he was going to be working?”

“Nah. It’s not something that would interest me, so he never really talks about his jobs.”

Again, that surprised Sarandon. He didn’t think they would become mated wolves at that rate. “Not even where he’ll be staying?” Sarandon asked.

“No. Not unless I ask.”

And why wouldn’t Christina ask Alex where he was going to be? Sarandon would certainly know where Jenna was going if she was trying to track down a fugitive and he wasn’t riding shotgun. He’d probably be making a nuisance of himself, calling her for updates constantly if he couldn’t be with her.

“So, he lives with you normally?” Jenna asked.

“Yeah, but we’re not mated. His mother doesn’t like me, and he’s trying to ease her into the idea that I could make a good mate for him.”

Which made Sarandon really believe Alex was a beta wolf. Otherwise, he would have done what he felt in his heart was right. Even though families were often close, choosing the woman who would be his mate was just as important. Either that, or one of the two of them wasn’t that eager to mate.

“Why does Sarah think you wouldn’t be a good mate?” Jenna asked.

“Are you kidding? No one would ever be good enough for her golden son.”

“Golden son?” Jenna asked.

Sarandon was confused too. Burt was their real son. Why would Sarah consider their adopted son to be so special? He thought the dad was the one who really connected with Alex.

“Sure. Alex is so dutiful to his parents and loves them like they were his own. He’s always going over there to help them out. Burt is a different story. He’s the black sheep of the family. I think they were so thrilled they’d have their own flesh-and-blood son that they spoiled him terribly. Alex was thrilled to have a little brother. Burt is always getting into difficulties and trying to get Alex into the same messes as him. He wants Alex to be in trouble with his parents too, so they won’t think of him as the good son. Not only that, but Burt keeps pulling crap and then blaming Alex for it.”

“Are you sure?” Sarandon figured Christina felt an attachment to Alex so she most likely was biased, but her claim was certainly something they needed to look into.

“Yes, I’m sure. Just ask Alex.”

“If we can get ahold of him, we will. How does Alex react to Burt’s actions?” Jenna asked.

Christina shrugged. “He cares too much about his younger brother to give up on him, no matter what he pulls.”

Sarandon gave her his card. Jenna didn’t give Christina one of her own. She might feel Jenna was there to take him into custody, if Christina didn’t already know she was a fugitive recovery agent. “Call me if you hear from him. Give him my number and tell him there are no hard feelings. We’ll get it straightened out,” Sarandon said. “I want to get to know him. All of us do.”

“Yeah, sure.” Christina sounded like she didn’t think they really wanted to help him.

“We either are able to aid him—and as wolves, that means something—or it’s strictly a police matter, his choice,” Jenna said.

“I’ll tell him, if I hear from him.” Then Christina shut and locked the door.

They waited until they were in Jenna’s car, and then she said, “Do you think Burt could be the reason for all this?”

“Alex was caught with the stuff, but if for some reason Burt set him up to take the fall, there’s still the business of Alex using my ID and claiming to be me instead of telling the truth and saying he’d been framed. We have to remember Christina will probably say anything to keep Alex out of jail.”

“True.” Jenna sighed, then looked at the list. “Okay, so what did you think about the way she reacted when we told her he’s wanted by the police?”

“Like she already knew about it. If he’s really planning to mate her because he loves her, I believe he’d tell her he was in trouble. I think she could be hiding him.”

“Or knows exactly where he’s staying right now and wants to discuss our offer with him first,” Jenna said. “What did you think about the way she doesn’t care where he is for weeks at a time and doesn’t bother to keep in touch?”

“Like they’re not that committed to each other. You’d have a devil of a time going off on your own without me knowing where you’re going to be,” Sarandon said.

She patted his leg. “Good to know.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

She laughed. “Believe me, I feel the same about you. Are you ready to see the next person on the list?”

“I sure am.”

After about a twenty-minute drive, they located the white vinyl-sided home. The man who answered the door was gray-haired and wearing a leather motorcycle jacket, leather boots, and a leather hat. When they told him they needed to find Alex and offer him help before the police took him into custody, the man couldn’t believe Alex would be in any trouble. “No, not young Alex. Burt? Yeah.”

“Burt, his brother?” Sarandon asked, clarifying that’s who he meant and not the dad.

“Hell yeah. Burt was always goading Alex on, trying to get him to do things that could get him in trouble. Even when they were kids.”

“Why, do you know?” Sarandon asked.

“Alex was always the good son. He did what he was told, and he was always there for his parents. When he learned they weren’t his real parents—though he didn’t know until more recently who his biological father and mother were—he wanted to show them how much the Dreyfuses’ love for him meant to him. Burt was spoiled rotten, their only flesh-and-blood child. I really believe he didn’t feel he had to prove anything to them.”

“Sarah said you might know why Alex is suspected of stealing identities,” Jenna said.

“She would say that. She’s never liked me because I ride bikes. She believes they’re evil, and motorcyclists are evil. When her sons wanted to take up riding bikes, she was furious with me and ranted that I was going to get them killed. Anyway, they both rode bikes for a while, until they got in accidents and gave them up. The boys still talk to me when I run into them in town on occasion, but Sarah has never forgiven me for nearly getting both her sons killed…her words. Their bikes were totaled, but they weren’t badly injured. Shaken was all.”

“Do you have any idea where Alex might be?” Sarandon asked.

“No. Sorry. I’d let you know if I knew. If you’re going to get him that high-powered wolf lawyer, I’d advise him in a heartbeat to go with you.”

Sarandon gave the wolf his card and thanked him, and then they called the next man on the list, but he wasn’t available until the next day. They called the last two people and got the same result.

“It sounds like Sarah’s got grudges against people that are unfounded,” Jenna said.

“I agree.” Sarandon made a call to CJ. “Sarah seems to resent the people on her list. The two witnesses we’ve seen believe that, of the two boys, Burt is more likely to have done criminal activities.”

“That’s what I’m finding with the list I’m working from. Three of the five people I’ve interviewed said Alex is great to work with, but Burt, and Sarah, are beastly,” CJ said.

“Sounds like that is the consensus of opinion,” Sarandon said. “When did you plan to see Burt for the interview?”

“I can’t get ahold of the remaining two people on my list until tomorrow morning. Stanton should be wrapping up his ghost-hunter show by six, and he’s going to make sure Burt stays put so we can talk to him.”

“Okay, we have three to go, but we’re in the same boat as you. The men we need to talk to won’t be home until tomorrow. It’s five thirty now, so if we head back to Colorado Springs, we’ll be there just in time to talk to Burt.” Sarandon wondered how Burt was going to react to seeing them. He was glad they knew more what others thought of Burt before they spoke with him.

“Okay, meet you at the hotel where they’re staying. The Antlers Hotel, another place listed as haunted in Colorado Springs. Three ghosts are reportedly living there and appear to staff and guests from time to time.”

“Well, if you don’t get too spooked, we’ll see you there.”

“Not me, Brother. Ghosts don’t bother me. See you there.”

Then they finished the call.

“Sounds to me like a lot of people have trouble with Burt, not just the two we talked to. I wonder if Sarah knows how people feel about him, and about her,” Jenna said to Sarandon.

“She probably does. Unless she’s in denial.”

“What if Burt egged Alex on to do the identity theft?” Jenna asked as they drove back to Colorado Springs.

“What if he had everything to do with the crime and Alex didn’t have anything to do with it?” Sarandon was beginning to wonder who was really at fault. Either Alex wasn’t as innocent as he appeared, someone else had talked him into it, or he was being framed. “What if he is innocent of stealing the passports and credit cards?”

“He still used your ID to impersonate you, no matter what else he did or didn’t do. And if he didn’t have anything to do with the rest of it, why wouldn’t he have said so?” Jenna turned onto the highway.

“He was caught with it, and who would believe someone else had stolen all that stuff?” Sarandon really didn’t know what to think. “Besides, he looked just like my driver’s license. Or close enough. Even if he denied that was him, do you think they would have believed it?”

“You’re probably right about that. It seems irrefutable. Maybe, though, he didn’t want to give up the name of the person who really did it.”

“Burt?” Sarandon asked.

“Yeah. Because he feels some unswerving loyalty to him. Others said he really cared for his younger brother.”

“Or Alex felt the loyalty to their parents. Maybe Alex feels it would kill them if they knew Burt had stolen all that. Or make it worse because Burt’s always in trouble.”

“That’s possible. We really need to know how the thief stole everyone’s stuff.” Jenna turned onto another road. “That might help us to nail down who did it. Who had the easiest access? A guy who works construction? One who is a cameraman for a ghost show? Or someone else who might be close to Alex?”

“His parents, but I doubt they would have done this to him. They seemed totally clueless.”

“A girlfriend?” Jenna asked. “Who…works in a hotel, cleaning rooms.”

Sarandon frowned, thinking how she didn’t seem concerned about Alex at all. “And if anyone left passports or driver’s licenses in the rooms? Credit cards? While they’re swimming in the pool maybe? But wouldn’t the police have been notified, and she would have been caught? Because she cleaned those particular rooms? Or even if she hadn’t but had access to the rooms, I would think all the hotel staff would have been questioned. Which means we need to learn where the items were stolen from. I wonder if anyone else in the pack could be involved in this.”

“Like an identity theft ring? I doubt it. Not with them being wolves.”