Chapter 15

When they reached the Antlers Hotel in Colorado Springs, Sarandon and Jenna met CJ in the lobby. Shimmering crystal chandeliers cast shadows across the tile floor. The hotel had been rebuilt twice, once due to a fire and the other time to modernize it. It was elegant and the perfect place for the ghost hunters to put on a show.

Sarandon mentioned to CJ some of the suspicions they had about who else might be involved.

“Is the girlfriend mating him?” CJ asked, knowing close friends or family were always suspect.

Jenna folded her arms and shook her head. “To me, that’s the oddest part. She wouldn’t say. Does that mean Alex hasn’t indicated he’s that interested in her? Or maybe they’re both just waiting. Maybe she’s the one who is balking about the mating. I just thought it was odd that she wouldn’t say.”

“Not to mention that other red flags were raised,” Sarandon said.

“Oh?” Red flags were CJ’s specialty.

“Yeah. She didn’t seem surprised he was in trouble, and she doesn’t care where he is or what he’s doing. To me, that says a lot,” Sarandon said.

“Okay. Sounds to me like their relationship isn’t going far. I called Stanton to tell him I had arrived, and he said he’s on his way down to meet us. Burt is in the suite,” CJ said. “Stanton’s brothers are making sure he’s staying put.”

“Good to hear it.”

“I agree. Another thing, with your law enforcement background, can you check with the police and learn where everything was stolen? If we have some idea where the stuff disappeared, we could start checking alibis,” Sarandon said.

CJ made a note of it. “Next on my list.”

Then they saw Stanton headed for them. He looked angry, his gaze taking in CJ and Sarandon, and then he considered Jenna, the only person he didn’t know. Sarandon was certain CJ would have told him who she was and the stake she had in being here to question Burt.

“He’s still here, right?” CJ asked, sounding growly.

Sarandon felt the same way, wanting to learn as much as they could from Burt about Alex or even Burt himself.

“Yeah. My brothers are watching him. There’s really nowhere private to meet except one of our rooms. So we’ll meet in my suite. It has a sitting area and bar.” Stanton motioned to the elevator, and they all went up to the fifth floor. “You don’t really believe Burt is guilty of anything, do you?”

“We don’t know. That’s why we need to question him,” CJ said.

“He’s a damn good cameraman, and I’d hate to lose him.”

“He may have nothing to do with it.” Though Sarandon had his suspicions.

When they reached Stanton’s suite, his brother Vernon opened the door. He was a little blonder than his brothers and a little shorter, but just as muscled and serious.

Yolan looked sheepish about something and motioned to Burt, who was passed out on the floor. “We had to knock him out.”

“What?” Stanton growled.

“He must have assumed something was up. He took a phone call, and then he said he had urgent business he had to attend to. He’d talk to you later,” Vernon said. “Of course, we knew you wouldn’t okay his leaving for any reason, short of dying.”

They looked at the man lying on the floor, his eyes closed. He looked just like Sarandon remembered—lean, wiry, blond haired but not wearing a beard now, his face angular with a cleft in his chin.

“Who called him on his cell that prompted him to want to leave in a hurry?” Sarandon asked, wondering if it was Alex. Or maybe his mother to warn him about his brother, or to learn where he might be.

“I didn’t ask, and he didn’t say. I told him he couldn’t leave, and he said he’d make it up to Stanton, but he really had to run. That it was an emergency.”

“Then you knocked him out? Couldn’t you have just confined him or something?” Stanton sounded like he wanted to knock some sense into his brothers.

“I knew this was important to you,” Vernon said, frowning at Stanton.

“All right. Wake him up so they can talk to him and get on their way.”

Yolan splashed some icy water from the ice bucket onto Burt’s face, and the man sputtered and threw his hands up to fend him off. “Hell, what did Vernon go and hit me for?”

“I told you Stanton wanted to talk to you. If you want your job, you stay and talk to him.”

Not that they would have let him go if he had wanted to quit his job. The Wernicke brothers were still trying to get into the Silver Town wolves’ good graces, and they knew if they wanted to ever join the pack, this is what it would take. Working with the Silver Town wolves in crises like this.

Burt rubbed the red spot on the side of his head, but when he saw Sarandon, his eyes widened. Because Sarandon looked so much like Alex? Or because he had something to do with the theft of Sarandon’s ID?

“Tell us all you know about Alex and this mess he’s gotten himself into,” Sarandon said before CJ could do so. Before Burt could say anything—not that he was jumping at the chance to offer anything—Sarandon added, “And your involvement in him leaving the city.”

Burt’s lower jaw dropped. “Hell, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“We caught you on a street cam leaving with Alex,” Sarandon said, not that they had. Luckily, CJ folded his arms and nodded, as if what Sarandon said was the truth.

“That was you. You’re the one the police wanted.” Burt sounded growly about it, as if Sarandon was trying to pull a fast one on everyone.

“I thought you said you didn’t know anything about it. And if that’s true, why would you have helped me leave the city? I didn’t even know you.”

Burt didn’t say anything and just glowered at Sarandon.

“For your information, my name has been cleared. Want to try again with another bullshit story? Or the truth this time?” Sarandon asked.

Burt glanced at Stanton.

“Tell them the truth. They need to find Alex and help him beat this,” Stanton said, his words a command.

Burt threw up his hands in defeat as if he had no choice but to come clean. “Alex begged me to come get him and take him out of the city. I told him it was a mistake for him to leave. Christina had left him off in the city on the job he’d been working, and when he got caught, he didn’t have any transportation. Then again, he couldn’t go to prison, not as a wolf. You understand that, surely,” Burt said.

So it was just like they’d suspected. Alex didn’t leave on his own. And Burt had been the one to help him. Had it happened the way Burt said it had? Was it just that Sarandon wanted his half brother to be innocent? Or had Burt forced Alex to leave when he had wanted to do what was right by continuing to work his job and remain in the city?

“Wait a minute,” CJ said. “The police said the suspect was found with the goods in his vehicle. Care to change the story again?”

“Hell, that’s what he told me!” Burt said.

“Where did you go after you left the city?” CJ asked.

“We went to Cañon City, and he stayed with his girlfriend for a little while, but we were afraid if you cleared your name, the police would check Cañon City because he’s from there. In the meantime, I returned to work on a job with the Wernicke brothers.”

“Sounds like a stretch to me. How would the police know we had a half brother and learn his name?” When Burt didn’t respond, Sarandon asked, “Why did you do it?”

“He’s my brother, and he begged me to come get him. He figured his truck would be picked up too easily. No one would be looking for me. If he was your brother, you’d have come to help him out too.”

“He is our brother, and we are here to help him out,” CJ said. “You’ve changed the story again. You said Christina had driven him to Colorado Springs and left him off at the job site. Now you’re saying he didn’t want to drive his truck because the police would be on the lookout for it and you knew about it.”

Burt glanced at the door. Wishing he could escape?

“I have a lawyer to represent him. A wolf lawyer,” Jenna said.

Burt’s mouth gaped.

“If he’d stayed put, none of this would have been necessary,” Sarandon said. Though that wasn’t really true. Without Jenna coming after Sarandon, they would never have known Alex was a wolf or that he was related to the Silver brothers and cousins. And the St. Johns wouldn’t have hired a lawyer for him.

CJ put Burt on the spot. “We’ve learned you’ve been in some trouble with the law yourself.”

“Minor things. Nothing big. Not like Alex is in trouble for.”

Sarandon narrowed his eyes at Burt. “Several of your pack members say you were always trying to get him into trouble. Why? So that you weren’t the only one who disappointed your parents with your actions?”

“Hey, you can’t pin Alex’s actions on me. Hell, he’s just never been caught before, that’s all. Besides, he’s my older brother. Who do you think put me up to everything I did? Except he’s a lot better at not getting caught at it.”

Sarandon smiled. “You’re good at this. The perfect con man. Who’s to say you didn’t do all this—steal the IDs and the rest? Then frame Alex so your parents wouldn’t think their adoptive son was a better son than you. What about Christina? If Alex went to prison, maybe you wanted to court the she-wolf in his place?”

“Did she say that?” Burt looked a little panicked all of a sudden.

Sarandon and CJ exchanged looks. Sarandon wondered if there was more to the situation between Christina and Burt than they’d suspected.

“Yeah. That she didn’t want to hurt Alex by letting on she was really interested in courting you,” Jenna fabricated. “What is up with that? She’s more into the bad boy? Then what would you say to Alex? When he went to jail, well, she couldn’t wait for him to return for all those years and things just happened. You were there to comfort her, take care of her, and voilà, the mating just happens.”

“She wouldn’t have told you that.”

“She cares about Alex. Not as a mate, but like a brother,” Jenna added. “She didn’t want to hurt him, even if she wants to be with you.”

“She wouldn’t have said that. I just got a call from her.”

So that’s who had called him, warning him to get out of there. Sarandon smiled. “Telling you that you’d better get the hell out of here because we were coming to talk to you next? That we were on to you? That Alex wasn’t at fault for any of this?”

“You’d say so because you don’t want Alex to be your real brother if he’s been in trouble with the law. Well, get used to the fact that he’s a rogue wolf. That he’s going to spend time in jail. If I end up hooking up with Christina, it happens. We hadn’t planned any of this. Alex is the sneaky kind of wolf that everyone thinks is so good, but in reality, he’s not. He’s just gotten away with it all, conned everyone else all along. Even me.”

Sarandon didn’t believe him for an instant. Vernon had his arms folded across his chest and was shaking his head. None of the rest of them looked like they believed Burt either.

“Why were you and Alex at the Silver Town Tavern a short while ago, having a meal?” CJ asked. “We have several witnesses who identified the two of you.”

Burt didn’t say anything for a moment, and Sarandon knew he was trying to come up with a story. “We were just in the area and needed a bite to eat. It’s open to wolves passing through, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It just seems too convenient that you come to town, my ID is stolen, and then a fugitive recovery agent comes after me because Alex has used my stolen ID,” Sarandon said.

“That’s all we were doing. Eating a meal. How do I know how Alex came upon all those passports and other IDs? I didn’t ask, and he didn’t offer an explanation when I came to help him leave the city.”

“The two of you were together the whole time you were in Silver Town?” CJ asked. “You didn’t split up for a time?”

Burt paused before he responded. Sarandon figured he was trying to come up with a way to incriminate Alex further—and make himself seem completely innocent of any wrongdoing.

“Okay, look, we did go our separate ways for a while. I had my camera with me, and I wanted to take some pictures of the ski area.”

“Have you got those pictures?” CJ asked.

“Nah. None of them turned out. Way overexposed. Still learning my camera settings. Alex had learned he was Sheridan Silver’s son and wanted to see Silver Town, since he would have lived there if his father had accepted him. How was I to know he planned on stealing your information? I was just as shocked as you were to learn what he’d done. You think you know someone, and you don’t at all. I was surprised he didn’t ask for my help, like he was always doing so I’d end up taking the fall. I guess he was just angry your dad had raised you and not him, and he wanted to get back at you. He didn’t even tell me what he’d done wrong when he begged me to come get him and take him to see Christina.”

“If I’d known he was my brother, I would have asked him what he’d done wrong so we could help him out,” Sarandon said. “We wouldn’t have ignored the situation. He has a warrant out for his arrest now.”

“I didn’t feel it was any of my business.”

“You’re wolves, and you grew up together. You should have made it your business, unless you already knew all about it,” Jenna said. “Or you didn’t really care.”

“I’m not the one who did any of this. Damn it, just like usual, everything gets twisted around and I’m the one who will take the blame. Who the hell are you anyway?”

“I’m Jenna St. James, the one who intends to take Alex into custody. He’s skipped his bail. I’m a fugitive recovery agent. I believe you know all about what Alex has purportedly done. Especially since he was begging you to come rescue him. And I believe you had a lot more to do with this than you’re saying.”

“Okay, all right. I knew what he’d done. I told Alex I couldn’t help him unless he told me everything that had happened.”

“How did he get ahold of the passports, credit cards, and driver’s licenses?” CJ asked.

“That part he didn’t tell me about. He said I might be considered an accessory to the crime.”

Sarandon laughed. He couldn’t believe the guy could twist the truth so much.

“You are, for aiding and abetting his escape,” CJ said.

“He didn’t want me to get in any deeper than I was by helping him out.”

“So where is he now? He’s going to be arrested, and it will go worse for him if we don’t reach him first and have the lawyer counsel him,” Jenna said. “If you care.”

“Of course I care. I told you I dropped him off at Christina’s place. If he left there, I have no idea where he went next. I guess he didn’t want me to know either, so I wouldn’t be in more trouble.”

“Or so you couldn’t tell anyone where he is?” Sarandon texted Brett to call him, just to pretend he had some information for them. His phone rang. “Yeah, Brett?” He raised a brow at Burt. “You did, eh? Okay, that information is invaluable.”

Brett chuckled. “I’m glad to hear it. How’s it going?”

“We’re questioning Burt now. Glad to know you have the evidence against him.”

“Burt was involved?” Brett asked, sounding surprised.

“Even aided and abetted Alex in his escape. We’ve spoken to several people in their pack and know a lot more about the two men now.” Sarandon didn’t take his eyes off Burt and hoped Brett understood he was making up stuff as he went along.

The guy squirmed to get comfortable on the sofa.

“That’s good news. I’ve got to get back to fixing dinner. Have you been able to reach Alex yet?” Brett asked.

“No, not yet, but we’re not stopping until we do.”

“Good. If you need my help, I’ll take off from the paper for a few days and be there for you. I hear you’ve got another supper date with Jenna’s family.”

“Thanks, I knew I could count on you. Yeah, you’re right on supper with Jenna’s family.”

“Well, you know how Eric is. He always wants to hear the news first, so if you and Jenna decide to mate, let him know first. Then me.”

Sarandon chuckled. “What about Darien and Lelandi?” The pack leaders were supposed to hear from the pack members first.

“Yeah, sure, after Eric and me.”

Sarandon laughed. “All right. Thanks for the information. I’ll talk to you later.” Sarandon and Brett ended the call.

“Good news?” CJ asked, looking hopeful. Sarandon suspected his brother really thought he had information.

“Yeah, for us. Not for them.” Sarandon motioned to Burt. He wished Brett had known more that would help them.

“We’ve got a supper to go to,” Jenna reminded Sarandon and CJ.

“I’m going to have to skip it,” CJ said.

Sarandon was surprised, but he shouldn’t have been. He assumed his brother was going to arrest Burt, and CJ, Peter, and Trevor would take turns questioning him back at the sheriff’s office. If Burt was influencing Alex in any way, or responsible for any of this, Sarandon hoped they’d learn the truth. In the meantime, he had every intention of finding Alex and hearing his story.

“You don’t have any legal right to arrest me,” Burt said, as if he thought he might be able to talk his way out of this.

“Yeah, we do.” CJ read him his rights and handcuffed him. “Not only for aiding a suspect in fleeing the city, but also because I imagine you know a lot more about this than you’re letting on.”

“That would be the Colorado Springs Police Department’s jurisdiction. Not some deputy sheriff’s from Silver Town.”

“We’re wolves. You know how this works.”

“Prove I had anything to do with this,” Burt snarled.

“Oh, I aim to,” CJ said.

“Why were you running through my territory as a wolf?” Jenna asked.

“I don’t have any idea where you live, lady.”

Stanton said, “So how soon before we get Burt back so he can video record our program?”

“Could be a while, for however long it takes to learn the truth. If I were you, I’d call your backup guys.” CJ hauled Burt out of the suite, with him protesting the whole time.

Sarandon shook Stanton’s hand, then thanked him and his brothers for helping them out.

“I hope you find your brother soon and can help him beat this,” Stanton said. “I hate to lose a good cameraman, but from the guilty look on Burt’s face and all the lies he told when he took off during that job, I don’t trust him.”

“I agree with you on that, but you’ve been working with him, so you’d know him even better than we would. Still, the more we talked with him, the more it appeared he was more involved in this than he’s letting on,” Sarandon said.

“I agree with you there. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen him squirm so much.”

After saying goodbye, Sarandon and Jenna left to have supper with her parents. She called them on the Bluetooth to let them know CJ was returning to Silver Town with a suspect.

“Your sisters are disappointed they had to leave to track down another bail bond skipper, but we look forward to the meal and visit. Sorry to hear CJ couldn’t make it, but you know he could eat here first and then leave,” Logan said.

“CJ and Burt already left,” Sarandon said. “I’ll call him anyway, in case he hasn’t traveled too far and would like to join us.” They ended the call, and Sarandon immediately called his brother. “Hey, Jenna’s dad suggested you come over for supper. You’ve got to eat anyway and you’ve got a long drive ahead of you. We can help keep an eye on Burt while we all enjoy the meal.”

“I’ll take you up on it. I’m still here in the city, just getting gas.”

“Okay, give us your location, and we’ll meet up with you and lead you over there.” Once CJ did that, Sarandon called the construction company Alex worked for and got the manager. “I’m looking for my brother, Alex Dreyfus. I spoke with his adoptive parents, and they said he was working for you. Is he there, per chance?”

“He had to take time off for family business. He’s a good man. I hope he gets it sorted out and comes back to work soon.”

“Did he finish the job he was working on?”

“Yeah. Despite being anxious about getting on his way, he stayed until he finished what he needed to do.”

“I figured he would.” Sarandon had suspected that was partly why Alex had stayed in Colorado Springs as long as he did. “So, you don’t have any idea where he is now.”

“No. He has a girlfriend in Cañon City though.”

“We’ve already spoken with her. She thought he was working a job.”

“Not with me. I hope he didn’t start working for some other company before he let me know he was quitting.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t have. He’s a good man,” Sarandon said, repeating the manager’s words, as much as he was questioning the validity of the statement. “I’ll ask him to give you a call when I find him.”

“Thanks.”

They ended the call. Sarandon hated to stir up more problems for Alex when he was already in trouble. But they had to explore every avenue. He hadn’t meant to give Alex’s boss the notion that he might have quit his job without giving notice and started working for another company.

As soon as they joined CJ at the service station, he told them, “I picked up a sandwich for Burt here. You can let Jenna’s family know they don’t need to feed the prisoner.”

“Will do.”

When they arrived at the St. Johns’ house, Logan came out to greet them. He shook CJ’s hand and Sarandon’s, then scowled at Burt. “So where is Alex? Have you got him hidden away somewhere?”

Burt’s eyes widened fractionally. “If I knew where he was, I’d damn well say. After all my parents have done for him too.”

“What about all they’ve done for you? You don’t have a squeaky-clean past,” Jenna said as they walked into the house.

“Oh my,” Victoria said, giving CJ a hug and then Sarandon too. “We’re so glad you could come and have supper with us. The steaks are ready.”

When they went into the dining room to eat, CJ uncuffed Burt but made him sit next to him at the table to ensure he didn’t go anywhere. “Behave yourself, or I’ll cuff you and you can skip eating.”

“I’ll eat. It isn’t right that you’ve taken me prisoner when I haven’t done anything, without a warrant for my arrest or anything.” Burt eyed the steaks.

“Eat and be quiet,” Logan said. “Unless you’re willing to tell us where Alex is.”

Sarandon figured Burt thought the St. Johns might come to his aid. He probably didn’t know the whole family was in the bounty-hunter business and had put up the bond for Alex to ensure he showed up for his trial.

“What’s it to you?” Burt asked.

“My mom is the bondswoman who has to pay the bail if Alex doesn’t show up for his court date,” Jenna said. “You know what? Since you helped him run off, I’m sure you can be charged and have your own trial date set.”

“I take it you’re not going to help me get out of jail free.” Burt removed the wrapper from his turkey sandwich. “Got any beer to go with this?”

Jenna got him a glass of water. “Fat chance. I wouldn’t trust you to honor your obligation.”

CJ cut off a piece of New York strip steak. “No worry about getting bail where you’re going. The local judge doesn’t set bail for wolves. If we arrest you, you can wait there until we hear what we want to hear.”

“Hell, that’s not right. What are you charging me with?”

“Aiding and abetting and obstructing justice,” CJ said. “For starters. I’m sure we can add to the list with a little more digging.” He turned to Victoria and Logan. “I’m glad you caught me before I left the city. Great food, great company.”

After dinner, CJ took Burt in hand, and Sarandon said, “I’ll walk you out to the car.”

Jenna stayed inside with her parents, and after CJ put handcuffed Burt into the back seat of his car, he shut the door, and Sarandon said, “Just call me if you have any trouble.”

“Will do. Good luck finding Alex, and we’ll work on getting the truth out of Burt. I don’t trust him one iota.”

“I agree. And I’ll check with the other two people you were going to talk to on Sarah’s list tomorrow. Let me know when you get in.”

“I will. What’s the deal with Jenna? Her parents?”

“Jenna and I are officially courting.”

“What about the living arrangements?”

“We haven’t decided yet.”

“Hell, we’ll miss you if you move out here. You know if she starts having babies, she’ll want to be by her parents.”

“I kind of figured that. Even if she agreed to live in Silver Town, I would imagine it would be a hard adjustment to make.”

“For the right she-wolf?” CJ asked.

“Moving anywhere is the only choice, really.”

“I hear wedding bells then.” CJ slapped Sarandon on the shoulder. “Good luck with that, Brother. If you learn where Alex is, let me know right away.”

“Will do.”