by Terry Spear
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.”
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.