She turned aside to dump noodles into a pot of boiling water. He didn’t think she would answer at first, but eventually her words came. “My older brother died two years ago in a car accident. It was awful. Hunter liked racing cars and spent every moment he could at the Pontiac track. He ran a business that let people buy experiences racing his Ferrari or Porsche. Then one day, he took his brand-new Lamborghini around the track. He was going to open it up for guests to ride, but he wanted to be sure of the car before he let people use it. He spun out of control and died on impact.”
Ryan frowned. “Sometimes that happens with the most experienced drivers.”
She nodded. “That’s what I told myself. And then I saw Raoul celebrate.” Her fingers were white on the spoon as she stirred the noodles. “It was after the funeral, after a long day of condolences and comforting his widow. I was supposed to go with my father one last time to the gravesite. He couldn’t stop going there. Still visits almost daily.” She took a deep breath. “But I’d forgotten my sweater in my bedroom. It had turned chilly and I wanted it.” She shook her head. “I don’t know if what I saw was true. I don’t want to believe it.”
“What did you see?”
“Raoul grinning as he played with his toolbox.” She looked up. “It’s a stupid thing he does, always has. He reorganizes his things obsessively. Empties out a drawer then puts everything back exactly as it was. He’d do it with his toy box as a kid, with his filing cabinet as an adult, and…”
“With his toolbox?”
“Yes. But it was his smile, you know? Something about it. About the way he was touching his tools, like he was caressing them as he remembered something.” She shook her head. “I don’t know for sure.”
“Did you have the accident investigated?”
“Oh yeah. My father did right away, but no one could prove tampering. Not exactly. Just a few suspicions, that’s all.” She sighed. “But it was enough to goose my father’s paranoia into high gear. He’s obsessed with making the wolves stronger. He wants us feared for our power. I’ve tried to tell him our greatest strength is in our community, but he’s so angry. He wants everyone to know about shifters and about the wolves most of all.”
“You’re building a good case against your father. You know that, right?”
She looked up at him. “The thing is, my father doesn’t know an amino acid chain from a bicycle chain. Raoul’s the one who found Dr. Oltheten and got him researching ways to make shifters stronger. He’s the one who shoved that stuff in my veins.”
“Raoul alone? Or him and your father?”
She didn’t answer, but he could read her thoughts in her tight shoulders and her compressed lips. She’d already lost her brothers, one to a car accident, the other to his mental illness, whatever it may be. To now throw her father into that mix would destroy the last of her family. And for werewolves, family was everything.
“You have to see your father clearly,” he pressed. “Emory is not someone to be led around, even by his own son.”
She looked into his eyes. “You take care of Raoul. I’ll handle my father.”
No deal, but he didn’t say that aloud. His job was to find the cache of serum and end the citywide poisoning. Whatever evidence he found would go to the DA. Since she was his only lead to the cache, he would stick to her no matter what. And whatever feelings he had for her—trust, attraction, whatever—were secondary to his mission.
So he kept silent. She wasn’t stupid. She knew he was biding his time and would arrest whomever he could prove was culpable. But since their plans aligned for the moment, neither wanted to push the issue. They worked in companionable silence, her in the kitchen as she finished the meal, and him down on the floor with the boys since Harley had started to get fussy and wanted a playmate. And then a few minutes later, Noelle came out of her bedroom showered, dressed, and definitely refreshed.
Frankie let out an appreciative whistle. “Look at you, girlfriend. You look ready for a night on the town!”
Noelle snorted as she looked at her simple leggings and tunic. “You have some boring nights out, then. But you have no idea how wonderful it is to get free even for one evening.”
Frankie set down the spoon. “Noelle, the longer this takes, the more people get hurt. We need the information—”
“I’ll get it,” she said as she grabbed a bottle of vodka off the shelf. “Me and my martinis, that is.” Then she sobered as she looked to where Ryan was lying sideways on the floor next to the plastic car garage. “I want your word that you’ll keep my girl out of this. She isn’t responsible for what her brother did. You get Raoul, and let the wolves take care of the rest.”
More conditions. Didn’t Noelle know that people had to face their crimes? Wolf, bear, even normal humans—everyone was responsible for his or her own actions and no one was above the law. But rather than give the woman a lecture on civil responsibilities, he said what he could with absolute honesty.
“I don’t see any reason to tie Frankie to the Detroit Flu except as another victim.”
He held Noelle’s gaze for as long as she cared to search his face for clues. It didn’t take long, mostly because Jaxon pushed to his feet and toddled over to his mother and tugged on her leggings as he rubbed his nose on her thigh.
“Oh baby, how are you feeling?” she said as she picked him up. Then she looked at Frankie. “Do you want me to stay to help put them to bed?”
“No,” Frankie and Ryan said at the exact same moment.
Which is when Noelle took a breath and handed Jaxon to Frankie. “I’ll let you know as soon as I know,” she said. “But it could take a while. And Brady won’t get off work until two a.m.”
“We’ll be waiting. Call as soon as you know.”
It took more time to leave than it should have. Noelle had to say good-bye to her kids who didn’t want Mommy to go, but eventually she was out the door. And then it was just him and Frankie, plus the two boys. Fortunately, the kids wouldn’t stay awake forever. Because if he was going to be playing house with her for the next few hours, he was going to take the time to delve deeper into the mystery of Francesca Wolf. By the time he was done, he fully expected to know all her secrets.
Chapter 11
