There was a lot of overlapping reaction, but Jonas tuned it out and studied Cindy. She was shaking her head slowly.
“I can’t believe she thought she’d get away with all that,” she said.
“She did for a number of years,” he pointed out.
“So,” Tasha began, hesitatingly. “Her alpha asked her questions and she had to answer him with the truth, right?”
“Right,” Adam said.
“And she got away with it all these years because no one suspected anything was wrong, therefore no one asked any questions.”
“Right again,” Adam said.
“Wow,” she said.
“He confirmed that she doesn’t have any money, unfortunately,” Myra continued. “Her house is mortgaged to the hilt. So there’s not much chance of getting anything back for those she swindled.”
“How long have you been waiting to work the word swindled into the conversation?” Cindy asked.
They all chuckled.
“You know me too well,” Myra said with a grin. “I’m sorry about your parents. I can’t think of any way to help, but if anyone has ideas about that, let me know.” She looked around the table. “Have I missed anything? Jen?”
“I can confirm that neither the Sheriff’s Office or the feds are interested in Olivia as anything other than a witness, and they’re pretty thankful for what she was able to give them. It sped things up on their end. That, and apparently they received an anonymous data file that corroborated what Olivia had told them, as well as some stuff she didn’t have access to. That’s why they were able to move forward.”
Olivia blushed as the others offered congratulations.
“Have we figured out why Brenda wanted to get someone hired there?” Bill asked.
“Oh, yes, Jose did question her about that. She just wanted to have done a favor for the pack. She was certain that would make an already obvious invitation a slam dunk.”
“Kind of delusional, isn’t she?” Joe asked.
“Kind of,” Adam agreed. “Apparently she had used them to launder money in the past. So she knew what they were up to, but they’ve been at it a long time, so she had no reason to think they’d get found out. When we didn’t extend an invitation to join the pack, she was so pissed, she contacted someone she knew at the treasury department, not caring that her old friends would get destroyed by the trouble she was trying to cause Olivia and the pack.”
“Wow,” Tasha said again.
“Of course, there was already a local investigation happening, but she didn’t know that.”
His dad was shaking his head. “This is all just crazy. I thought New York was lively, but it was nothing like here.”
His mom slapped his shoulder but everyone else laughed.
Myra’s phone beeped and she checked the display. “That’s John,” she said, reading the message. “They’ve arrested the owners of the truck stop. One guy got shot, but otherwise smooth operation.”
“Oh, well then,” Cindy said. “Smooth.”
“Who’s up for a run,” Adam asked. “I think we’ve gotten all we’re going to get from this tonight.”
“Excellent idea,” Myra said, kissing her mate.
They raced into the night, yipping and playing for several hours. They rested before meandering back and making their way into the house, where they piled on the living room rug and slept as a pack.
Jonas woke early and nudged Cindy awake. She yawned and pulled herself free of the wolf pile, and they went into the laundry room to change and put on their clothes. Cindy was still sleepy and she leaned into him, soft and warm. He breathed in deep, loving the scent of wolf and mate and woman, all Cindy.
“We could stay here for breakfast, or I can make you pancakes and keep you naked all day at home,” he said.
“Mmm, pancakes and naked Jonas. I don’t even have to think about it.”
