“So why did you leave with Burt?” Jenna asked.
“He convinced me to leave and said he’d find a way to clear my name before I went to trial.”
“And did he?” Sarandon asked, knowing Burt hadn’t.
Alex shook his head. “I’ve…I’ve been trying to figure out a way to see Jenna and turn myself in without the police shooting me. That’s what Burt kept saying, that word was out that I was armed and dangerous. I think Burt was afraid I’d try to see Jenna. I smelled his scent in the area, but I hadn’t come here yet.”
“The police don’t think you’re armed and dangerous. What about Burt taking the blame for the theft?” Sarandon asked.
“I couldn’t do that to him.”
“He didn’t offer to take the rap either, did he?” Jenna asked.
“No. He said he’d find a way to clear me. Besides, Christina’s my girlfriend, not his.”
“So why did you run?” Sarandon asked.
“Burt convinced me it was the only thing to do and said he’d find a way to clear me because he knew I hadn’t done it.”
“And the fugitive recovery agent would come for me, not you, because you used my name and address,” Sarandon said.
Alex let out his breath. “I didn’t tell the police that was me. I wouldn’t tell them who I was. I know it sounds crazy, but I didn’t want to lose my job, and if my boss had heard I was in trouble, he would have fired me. I didn’t want my parents, who have been so good to me, to learn of it either. The police just took one look at your ID and assumed that was me. I look so similar to you; I just didn’t confirm or deny it.”
“That’s the same difference,” Sarandon said. “Okay, well I’ve got another question for you then. You and Burt were in Silver Town. Why?”
“He wanted to check out the place, since that’s where my dad was from. I did too. That was all there was to it. He kept egging me on, saying he couldn’t believe my blood parents could have been so cruel to throw me away like that. I never felt that way. Not when the Dreyfus family had been so good to me. Yet, you know, it’s hard not to wonder what it would have been like to be a member of a pack as large as yours. To have several brothers and cousins who were blood-related to grow up with. Or to have my birth parents raise me. And your family founded the town. I-I wished I had been part of that growing up.”
“Okay, I can believe that. So how did you get my ID?”
“I didn’t. I didn’t steal it, and I didn’t use it.”
“Except when you were caught and didn’t deny the ID was yours,” Sarandon reminded him.
“Hell, you think they would have believed me? I look too much like you to claim it wasn’t me. And I didn’t have my own on me that day. I did, but when I reached in my pocket to grab my wallet, it was gone.”
“Your wallet was stolen? That is precious,” Sarandon said, wondering if he was as much a con artist as Burt.
“It’s true. I hadn’t needed to look for it before then.”
“When was the last time you’d seen it?”
“I don’t know. I guess…I guess it was when I had breakfast with Christina and Burt that morning. Then I went to work and didn’t think anything more of it.”
“You pulled out your wallet to pay for breakfast?” Sarandon asked.
“Yeah, to pay for mine and Christina’s. Burt paid for his own.”
“And you don’t recall any situation that seemed suspicious, someone on the street or at the restaurant bumping into you?”
“No.”
“When you were in Silver Town, did you go by my house?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“We drove by several of the Silver homes. Burt wanted to see just how well off all of you lived.”
“And you?” Sarandon asked.
“Well, yeah. I won’t deny I was curious too.”
“Was the garbage out that day?” Sarandon asked.
“What?”
“The garbage? I’d thrown out my old driver’s license. It had expired. The one you had on you. And I’m always throwing out credit card offers. I never cut them up either. So I’m thinking mine were stolen from the garbage can. My place is surrounded by trees, so it would be easy for someone to grab something from the garbage and no one would notice. Someone could have learned when the garbage was picked up and watched to see when I left it out the night before. Maybe looked in it that night and grabbed the license and credit card application. Then used the application to request a card. And voilà. A credit card in my name with my birth date, and insta-credit.”
“We weren’t there the night before when you put out your garbage. I don’t recall seeing any garbage cans there.” Alex was looking steadily at Sarandon, which made him think he was telling the truth.
“Okay, maybe you didn’t, but what if Burt returned and made it his business to check my garbage. Maybe he was checking everyone’s garbage. I don’t recall if I threw out a credit card application the same day I tossed my old driver’s license. I might have, but I don’t remember. Why me? Maybe he looked in all our garbage cans, but he got lucky with mine.”
Alex was watching Sarandon now, listening, his brow furrowed a bit.
“So if Burt had been there, he might have had the opportunity to try to grab my ID. What about Christina? Would she have gone there to do it?”
Alex rubbed his forehead.
“Well? Burt told you Christina did it, didn’t he? Did you ever talk to her about it? Ask her why? Or how she did it?” Sarandon asked.
“No. I just assumed…” Alex quit speaking, as if he realized Burt could have been lying to him all along.
Sarandon said, “Why don’t you call Christina. Tell her what Burt said. See what she has to say. If she denies all of it, you might be in hot water for thinking the worst of her, but that might indicate Burt’s the one at the root of all the crime. If Burt is a royal, and if he committed the crimes, he can go to jail for them.”
“Hell. Yeah, he’s a royal. His parents are. They were glad I was too, though they’d wanted to raise me so badly, I don’t think it would have mattered. I still can’t believe Burt would do that to me.”
“He’s been in trouble before. He even knocked my brother CJ out when he was transporting Burt to the jail in Silver Town for questioning.”
Alex’s eyes widened.
“If he had nothing to hide, why would he do that? We’ve done a lot of investigating on our own, talking to several of your pack members, and everyone we’ve spoken with said he’s trouble. And you’re not. Has Christina ever been in trouble for anything?”
Alex shook his head.
Sarandon waved his hand in the air. “Well, there you go. Call Christina. See what she has to say about this.”
“Why would Burt do this to me?”
“Maybe he’s jealous of your relationship with your adoptive parents,” Jenna said. “You’ve followed in your dad’s footsteps in the construction business. He’s proud of you. Your mother is too. It sounds to me like Burt is acting out, angry you’re always the good son, and you’re not even their flesh-and-blood son. Did anything happen between you two around the time the thefts occurred?”
“From what the police said, I’ve been doing this for six months. The first time using a credit card was…” Alex looked at the floor, appearing to be deep in thought. “Hell, that occurred two days after I told Burt I was seeing a pretty she-wolf. He wanted to meet her, but he’s always had a way with women, and I didn’t want him meeting her right away. Not until I thought for certain she and I had a connection.
“Then a couple of weeks later, after I felt it was more of a sure thing with Christina, I brought her home. Mom didn’t like that she worked on the cleaning staff at one of the local hotels. Dad thought she was nice, but Burt made all over her like he was trying to prove he was the better wolf to co
urt. I just figured Burt was being Burt, always wanting the attention. As much as it irritated me that he was making a fool of himself over Christina, I figured if she could fall for him, she was too shallow to be the one for me.”
“And?” Jenna asked.
“She didn’t fall for him. When we left my parents’ place, I took her home. She said my mom didn’t like her, but she liked my dad. And Burt was a jerk. I fell a little in love with her right then and there. I just had to convince my mom that Christina was the right wolf for me. Not to mention that I had to make sure Christina and I had what it took to make it long-term.”
“Do you?”
“I think so. I’m still working on my mom. I really care about my parents, and I want them to love her too. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t. Christina always wants to know what I’m working on and where I am. She comes to see me when she can get away from her job.”
Jenna and Sarandon exchanged glances. That wasn’t what Christina had told them at all.
“What?” Alex asked.
“She said she never asked about your job,” Jenna said.
“Sure she does. You can ask the guys who work on the crews with me. They joke about me being hen-pecked, and I’m not even married to her. Truth is, the other guys wish their girlfriends or wives took more of an interest in what they did. They just give me a hard time because she’s always kissing on me, bringing me lunches—whenever she can get away to do it.”
“So why would she tell us anything different?” Jenna asked.
“She was afraid if anyone questioned her, they would realize she always knew where I was. So if she said she didn’t, that would sound like we weren’t all that close. I guess you told my parents about the trouble I’m in.”
“We had to locate you. You weren’t easy to track down,” Jenna said.
“I imagine I’m a real disappointment to them.”
“They don’t believe you did it,” Sarandon said, and he was glad they supported Alex. He did wonder if Burt might still be interested in Christina. Or at least in making sure Alex and Christina wouldn’t be together—because if Alex went to jail, that’s what would happen.
“If Burt did it to spite me? And we convinced the police he was the one responsible for the crimes? Then what will my parents think of me? That it’s my fault? That I am the one who’s accountable for sending him away?”
“The alternative is you take the blame, and if you’re found guilty, Burt’s free to comfort—and court—your distraught girlfriend. Is that what you want?” Sarandon wanted Alex to wake up and grow some alpha balls.
“Hell no.”
“Good. Then call Christina and square it with her.”
“I…don’t have my phone with me.”
“Here, take mine,” Sarandon said.
Alex let out his breath and then called Christina. “Hey, honey, it’s me, Alex. I’m using Sarandon’s phone.” He paused. “Yeah, I’m okay. I’m talking to my brother and trying to sort all this out.”
With that one little declaration, Sarandon felt an overwhelming kinship with his half brother. He would do anything to help him beat this rap and place the blame where it truly belonged.
Jenna reached over and squeezed Sarandon’s hand. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. Alex caught the interaction.
“I didn’t do what I’m accused of doing,” Alex said over the phone to Christina. “I… Burt… Ah, hell, how do I say this without making it come out sounding bad, no matter what I say?”
Sarandon felt his pain. If Alex said he believed Burt when he told him Christina was a thief, she could be furious with Alex.
“All right. You’re not a royal, and Burt told me you had stolen all this stuff. That’s why it was in my car when the police pulled me over for my left turn signal light being out. Then they saw something that I didn’t see, sitting on the floor of the passenger’s side of the car. They asked me to step out of the car, and they were going to look through my car, if they had my permission. I haven’t done anything wrong, so I said sure. That’s when they found a bag of passports and credit cards and other IDs, including Sarandon’s. I denied any of it was mine, but they booked me as Sarandon. I didn’t…didn’t want you to know I’d been arrested. So I didn’t call you. I called Burt. And he said he knew all about you and what you’d done.”
“What?” Christina’s voice was so loud, even Sarandon heard it with his acute wolf’s hearing.
“Yeah, I’m sorry, honey. He convinced me you had done it, and he reminded me you weren’t a royal. That you could go to prison and cause all of us real trouble.”
“You believed him?” Christina shrieked.
Well, that wasn’t going well, but Sarandon had suspected it wouldn’t. Still, they had to know that she hadn’t had anything to do with this. What if she was in league with Burt? Maybe they were afraid they were going to get caught, and they needed someone to blame, so they used Alex to take the heat.
“I’m sorry.”
“You sure are!”
“Sarandon and Jenna said they’d help me to learn the truth. I don’t know why I believed Burt. I’m truly sorry. I’ll do anything to make up for it. Christina? Are you there?” Alex’s eyes were misty. “She hung up on me.”
“You can sort it out later. All that matters is that we clear you. If Christina really loves you, she’ll understand how much of an influence Burt has had over you and that you were only thinking of protecting her. How more noble can you get than that? You’d go to prison—possibly for fifteen years—for her, if convicted? If I were her, I’d think you were total hero material. I might have to think about it a bit to realize that,” Jenna said.
Alex took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m ready to go, speak to the lawyer, and turn myself in. You promise me you’ll learn the truth.”
“Hell yeah, Brother. You have the whole Silver pack behind you on this.”
“Thanks,” Alex said.
“No problem.” Sarandon got him some of his clothes, and Alex dressed.
Just as Alex finished buckling his belt, Sarandon got a call from Christina and handed the phone to Alex.
“Christina.” Alex looked at Sarandon and Jenna. “Um, yeah, Sarandon said he and the Silver pack will help me with clearing my name.” He paused. “Thanks, honey. I love you.”
Jenna took a deep breath and exhaled.
Sarandon patted her back.
Alex ended the call, handing Sarandon his phone, and stood. “Let’s get this done.”
“Is everything okay between you and Christina?” Jenna asked, sounding hopeful.
“Yes, thanks.” Alex smiled. “She forgives me for believing Burt and thinking she did anything criminal. She wants to help me in any way she can, and she’s glad I haven’t done anything illegal.”
“I’m glad for that.” Sarandon thought if she could offer to help him that quickly, they stood a chance. “You wouldn’t have any idea where Burt took off to and is hiding out, would you?”
Jenna slipped into the driver’s seat of her car, and Sarandon sat beside her. Alex climbed into the back seat. “I don’t know.” He gave a bitter laugh. “Hiding. From you. And from me. And if he knows what’s good for him, from Christina too. So, tell me, what did Burt do to CJ?”
“Our brother CJ is a deputy sheriff in Silver Town. He was on his way there with Burt to question him before Burt overpowered CJ and took off with his car, badge, clothes, wallet, and gun,” Sarandon said.
“Is CJ all right?” Alex asked.
“Yeah. We’re having our local doctor check him out. Burt’s in a hell of a lot of trouble. The state police found CJ’s car hidden in the woods with everything else inside. Thankfully, no one else took off with CJ’s gun or anything else.”
“The clothes too? Burt’s clothes were left behind?”
“Yeah. Burt must have run as a wolf. So he had
to have gone someplace where he could get clothes to blend in and then hide out. Do you know where that could be?” Sarandon asked as Jenna drove them to Colorado Springs after getting ahold of the lawyer to tell him they were on their way.
“Staying with any one of the pack members. Maybe Mom or Dad. I don’t know. Dad would have been mad at him. Mom always forgave him for anything he did that he shouldn’t have.”
“Like?”
“He had sticky fingers.”
Sarandon looked over the seat at Alex.
Alex shrugged. “It was when he was younger. He stole money from Mom’s handbag, lifted money from his friends’ homes, shoplifted. He swore he hadn’t done any of it. He had the evidence on him. The money he shouldn’t have had. The same dollar amount that was missing from Mom’s purse. Not to mention his scent was on the inside of her purse. Then he said he’d needed the money and she wasn’t around so he could ask for it.”
“He needed the money for what?” Sarandon asked.
“I don’t remember. It was years ago, and I believed it was just a kid thing. I didn’t think he was still pulling that crap. The stuff he stole from friends? I saw a couple of the items in his room. Later, he was shoplifting. Stuff I know he didn’t pay for but that he was bragging about having. And he was always trying to get me to steal something, as if I was too scared. I wouldn’t be goaded into it.”
“Well, maybe he’s been doing the credit card and passport theft all along. For years. If that’s the case, I’m wondering if the passports were stolen some years apart. Had any of them expired?” Sarandon asked.
Alex shook his head. “I don’t know. I never even saw them. They were in a bag stuffed under the passenger seat, but a couple of the passports had slipped out onto the floor. That’s what the police officer saw and why he took me into custody. I had no idea any of that was in there, and when they found your ID, I was shocked.
“Did you see Mom’s TV?” Alex asked. “Burt bought it for her last week. She was thrilled, but Dad and I knew it was just Burt’s way to try to make up for never getting her anything for her birthday or Mother’s Day for years. She loved listening to a CD player, and I’d given her a new one that had room for over a hundred CDs for her birthday. When she was thanking me for being such a wonderful son while Burt had forgotten her birthday again, he took off. She felt bad, thinking she’d shamed him.”