Chapter Nine

Otsana

I woke up to slivers of sunlight peeking around the sides of the curtains to warm my face and knew I should make a move to get to work. I needed to talk with Calliope about taking Betty's position and to check if my team had found anything of interest in their search of the Worlds Apart computer servers or been able to glean anything from their contacts on the streets.

I grabbed my cell phone from the nearest side table and powered it on to see it was 7.37 am. I was usually in the office before the clock struck seven and couldn't remember the last time I'd still been in bed at this hour. After sending a text to Elouise, telling her I'd be late, I placed the phone back, rolled over and snuggled into Xavier's side.

Xavier wrapped an arm around me, held me close, and kissed the top of my head. I'd been fortunate he hadn't overreacted earlier in the morning. How could I have allowed myself to become so distracted that I'd done something so irresponsible? I'd endangered all those I loved with my carelessness.

I should have remained in bed after Xavier had fallen asleep, but I had an urge to run and needed to burn off excess energy. My mind had been filled with thoughts of him the entire time. How had a man that I'd met only hours earlier taken control of my thoughts so completely?

Spending the night with Xavier had been the best decision I'd ever made, but I would have to give a great deal of consideration to repeating our sexual encounter no matter how perfect it had been.

Xavier kissed the top of my head again. "What are you thinking so hard about? I hope you are not worrying about my knowing about your inner wolf?"

"No. I believe I can trust you as you trusted me when you brought me here last night and took me into your bed."

"What do you mean?"

"You trusted me not to extort you by making a false claim about our fucking and didn't ask me to sign a paper stating I came to you willingly."

"I actually didn't even think about asking you to do so."

"Do you want me to sign something now?"

Xavier didn't hesitate to answer. "No, I don't."

It made me feel good to know his request for me to sign something hadn't been necessary.

"I have to get to work, usually I'm in the office by this time. I also need to speak with Aurora and bring her over to the office to meet you."

Xavier sighed. "Can I take you for dinner again tonight?"

"No. Tonight, I'm having dinner with my parents, brother, and sister-in-law. We make a point of doing so once a month. We are all so busy, we'd never see each other if we didn't. This morning before I bring Aurora to your office, I'll speak with our pack Alpha and explain what has happened. I need to make him aware of my carelessness and reassure him of our safety. Once he knows, I can discuss it with my parents at dinner."

"Why tell him? Does he have to know?"

"I won't keep this from him, it would be wrong, and I believe in being honest. I'm sorry I was unable to afford you the courtesy of being honest about who I am."

"I understand. You won't be punished?"

I shook my head. "Oh, no. He'll be angry and will have a few choice words to say about the matter, but no, it would take something much more serious for any punishment to be warranted. He will accept my judgement that the situation is safe."

"I'm pleased to hear that, I'd hate for you to be punished in some way." Xavier pushed up and sat on the side of the bed. "I'm going to have a quick shower. You're welcome to have one before I take you home."

"Thank you, but I'll dress while you shower and have mine at home."

"Breakfast?" Xavier asked and I got the impression he didn't want our time together to be over.

I shook my head. "No thanks. I usually grab a coffee and breakfast sandwich at a café near the office but this morning I'll grab a drive through on the way to meeting with the Alpha."

"Damn, I was hoping to spend more time with you."

It was as I'd suspected, and I laughed. "What happened to one and done?"

"I think you and I both know what we've had is not enough."

"How about lunch after we settle Aurora in with Betty?"

"I'd like that very much."

Xavier pressed a kiss to my lips, and I ogled the rise and fall of his bare ass as he left the room. He was certainly right, what we'd had to that point was nowhere near enough.

***

Calliope sipped her coffee and nodded as I outlined what her position would involve at Worlds Apart. She took notes as I spoke, asking questions when she wanted something clarified.

"Jasper said I'll be using the name Aurora Ulrich, and this assignment should only take a couple of weeks, but I find that hard to believe after you telling me there has already been years of investigation and the perp. is still avoiding discovery."

Jasper was Calliope's beat captain and was always cooperate in allowing her to take part in helping out different teams in undercover operations.

She stood and asked, "More coffee?"

"No thank you, it hypes me up way too much and I do stupid things."

She gave me a curious look before crossing to where the percolator sat on the counter, pouring herself another mug of the brew, and returning to sit at the table.

Calliope and Aodhan's home was about forty minutes from mine, situated on the northern side of Langer Falls while my place was south, and the back garden led onto a small forest where a river meandered its way through the dense tree cover. The house itself was a pretty blue and white painted cottage with several beds of roses out front. Roses were Calliope's favorite flowers and the mix of perfumes when they were all in bloom was superb. I adored visiting, even if it wasn't often enough.

My brother walked into the kitchen, kissed his wife's cheek, then mine, before he helped himself to coffee and joined us at the table.

"I have about half an hour before I have to be back for a meeting. What's the problem, sis?"

"You are not going to like what I have to tell you," I confessed.

Aodhan narrowed his eyes and peered at me over the rim of his mug as he sipped the coffee. "Get on with it, I can't imagine what you have to tell me is the end of the world."

"It very nearly was for us but listen to what I have to say before you start shouting."

My brother was known to have a slight temper and could make his displeasure known by shouting or growling, although it was always short-lived.

"Sounds ominous," he grumbled.

I explained in detail what had taken place in the early hours of the morning, and to my brother's credit, although he looked ready to explode, he remained quiet until I'd finished speaking. Too quiet. I waited while he seemed to think over everything I'd said, and when he did speak, his voice was quiet and controlled. Almost resigned and the disappointment in his eyes cut me to the core.

"Are you sure he can be trusted?"

"I'm absolutely confident he won't say a word," I assured Aodhan.

He nodded sharply. "Good enough for me then."

Aodhan stood, placed his mug in the sink, and crossed back to stand near where I sat. "I don't see any reason to inform the pack immediately, but we have a meeting of the elders tonight, and I will be telling them at that time."

"I understand," I confirmed.

"And Otsana…"

"Yes?"

"You need to be a hell of a lot more careful."

"I assure you Aodhan, I will not be so careless again."

He leaned over and kissed my cheek. "Love you, sis. We all make mistakes and when I heard you were going to ask Calliope to aid in your investigation of Bennett and Groves, I made it a point to do some checking of my own. They appear to be good men but I'll have the pack keep their ears to the ground just in case he slips up and mentions what he witnessed."

"Thank you for being understanding."

"I have a more urgent situation involving our pack on my hands at the moment which is the reason for tonight's meeting. Your oversight is the least of my concerns."

"What's going on, Aodhan?" I asked.

"Go, Adi, I'll tell Otsana about your problem."

Aodhan nodded, kissed his wife and left. I turned to Calliope for answers.

"We have a few minutes, I told Xavier we'd meet him at 11 am. So, tell me what is going on that obviously has my brother worried?"

"He is dealing with a breach of Zarina's, and it has become rather ugly. Zarina had a bit too much to drink and shifted in front of a human man in the parking lot of a club. Fortunately, it was in a darkened corner at the rear where the man had parked his car and no one else saw what happened. She switched back almost immediately but the man is attempting to extort Zarina."

"Fuck. What a day for me to admit I fucked up too."

"He has faith in your judgement of Bennett."

"What is he going to do about this other man?"

Calliope shrugged. "I think he'll try and resolve the situation without destroying the man. He's being held at the moment and will probably be subjected to a mind cleansing."

"I'm gathering Aodhan has spoken with Zarina."

"Yes, she called him and Peader over to her place earlier today and it did not go well. According to Aodhan, there was a lot of shouting and Zarina's loose behavior was the source of disagreement. She insisted there are so many weirdos in the world today, making all kinds of outlandish accusations that people would probably think he was a lunatic and not believe what he had to say."

"I guess the weirdos of today are making us seem less strange," I laughed. "I'll try and speak with her again about her behavior but she is so damn volatile and I don't want to lose her friendship."

"I know what you mean, she snaps at people sometimes without reason. She has really gone off the rails since her relationship with Toginah ended. Getting a letter to say he'd left with a she-wolf from another pack was devastating for her."

"I tried to explain to my brother a few weeks ago that she was feeling hurt and betrayed, but he insists it's not an excuse for her to try and bed every man in the city…married or otherwise."

"Hopefully it might help if you speak with her." Calliope pushed up from the table and disposed of her mug in the sink. "I'll follow you over to Worlds Apart."

***

"Are all your friends as gorgeous as Aurora and Zarina?" Xavier asked while enjoying his meal of salad and sandwiches.

Hearing him refer to my friend and sister-in-law in such a way had jealousy flaring in my inner wolf and I felt an overwhelming urge to growl but managed to settle my mind before doing so.

Xavier put his knife and fork down in a hurry and raised both hands, palms out, in front of him. "Whoa! I didn't mean to offend with my question."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, slightly confused by his action and words.

"The way you growled at me, I could almost visualize your fangs."

I shook my head…Had I growled out loud? No, it wasn't possible. "You're delusional. I didn't growl and why would I mind your saying my friends are gorgeous?"

Xavier placed his hands on the table. "I don't know, you tell me. Do you maybe like me a little and it's your way of marking your territory? And, by the way, sweetheart, …You most certainly did growl."

Fuck…Why did I seem to lose all sense of self-preservation when I was around Xavier? "Maybe I like you a little. Is that a problem? And for the record, only males in our pack mark their territory."

"It's not a problem for me. Is it for you?"

"I'm not looking for anything serious at the moment."

"Neither am I at this point in time, but I think we'd enjoy each other's company, and well, you never know what might happen."

I shrugged one shoulder. "Take it slow?"

"Suits me. I meant to ask but didn't feel it was appropriate to do so in front of Aurora, did you speak with your pack leader earlier?"

"Yes, I saw him this morning after I left your place."

"Does he want to hunt me down and tear the flesh from my bones?"

I laughed but in all seriousness it was fortunate the café was packed, and our quietly spoken words couldn't be heard over the din of everyone else talking. Although, in fairness, what Xavier had said was innuendo only someone with knowledge of who I was would understand.

"No, he doesn't, and he was unusually forgiving. I found out from his wife after he left that he was dealing with something much more serious and was probably a little too preoccupied to fully take stock of what I'd said to him."

"I'm glad to hear it, for your sake. Aurora and Betty seemed to be getting on okay when we left."

"I don't know of anyone who doesn't get along with Aurora. She's outgoing, friendly, highly intelligent, and people she meets always seem to want to share their life stories with her. It's this ability to attract people that makes her both deadly and exceptional at her job. Her instincts are razor sharp and she sees things without people having any idea that they are giving themselves away."

"No one knows she's a cop, including the ladies on our floor. Cillian and I told everyone that she's a friend of yours from school who was a receptionist for a building company that went bust."

"Exactly as we discussed."

"Yes. Cillian and I hated lying to the staff but the less people who know, the safer Aurora will be and the better chance she'll have of finding something. People won't keep her at arm's length if they don't know she's a cop."

"The ladies on this floor have been instructed not to say anything about who I am?"

Xavier gave me a sheepish look. I asked the ladies to let it be known that we are seeing each other, and your name is Maureen Belle."

I grinned. "I must say, you are good at thinking on your feet, Mr. Bennett."

"No one will question your coming and going if they think we're together."

"So I'll be undercover as well as Aurora."

"You're my undercover wolf," Xavier whispered before rising and offering his hand to help me stand.

After paying the check…No, I didn't argue or question his insistence to pay since he earned more than my annual salary every hour of every day. He escorted me to my car and pressed a kiss to my cheek before I slid behind the wheel.

"I'll call you," he said before raising a hand to wave as I drove away.

***

When I walked into the office my entire team was crowded around Ishaan's desk studying something on his computer.

Pull that one up," Hunter instructed, placing a finger on the screen.

"What's so interesting?" I inquired, dropping my purse onto my desk before joining them.

Ishaan clicked on the mouse and the screen filled with what looked like a bank account statement listing several deposits. I leaned closer to study the figures.

"Look at this, boss." Ishaan placed a finger on the screen, and I read three deposit amounts totaling almost sixty thousand dollars. The money had been deposited three days earlier. Ishaan gave me time to read before scrolling upward. "Look…There are several deposits totaling two hundred and sixty-three thousand dollars that were banked a few days before the official release of Matilda, three hundred and eighty-two thousand dollars before the official release of Byron, and four hundred and twelve thousand dollars before Krista. Each release period has between six and nine deposits so we can expect more before Panda hits the market."

I noted most of the money had been withdrawn, leaving only enough to keep the account open. "Where did the money go, and how were you able to find this information in less than two days when Evan's team couldn't in fifteen years? It doesn't seem like something beyond their abilities."

"Didn't you say Evan was refused access to the executive staff?"

"Yes, but he had their names and the means to do some cursory checks," I argued.

Everyone turned their eyes on me, and I leaned against the desk, facing them, while they explained.

"We all spent a few hours speaking with our contacts on the streets and a couple said there was a real buzz about the Worlds Apart shares exchanging hands even though no release date for Panda has been announced. None of them seemed to know where the chatter was originating so they were pretty much a dead end," Hunter advised. "I called the others to come back here so we could regroup on what to do next."

"We each picked a couple of the executive staff and took a close look at their activities on the company servers. We weren't coming up with anything that raised red flags. There were no suspicious deletions of history and that kind of thing, so Ophelia suggested we delve into their backgrounds online, including checking for information on the dark web since they all have the intelligence to use the facility. It was after an hour or so that Ishaan discovered a son of one of the Bennett's staff that no one knows about, or we assume they don't. There is no record of him anywhere except for a few articles on the dark web," Declan explained.

Ishaan continued on with details of his discovery. "The son is in care down in Florida and has been for the past nineteen years. He suffered a brain injury following a drug overdose. I hacked into the facility's server and found his parents were struggling to keep up the payments for his care and the facility had warned, they would have to take him elsewhere if the money wasn't forthcoming. A little over fifteen years ago, they paid out what they owed and deposited enough to pay for their son's care for another five years. They have made large payments every five years since."

Ishaan pointed to the computer screen. "I found this account that was opened in the son's name fifteen years ago and knew he couldn't have opened it himself. I did some more digging and a few minutes ago I found who has been making the deposits and withdrawals as caretaker of the account."

"Who is it?" I was almost afraid to ask because I knew having to tell Xavier that it was indeed one of his executive staff was going to be difficult.

Ishaan clicked on one of the latest deposits and pulled up the details. I gasped. Xavier was going to be devastated when he found out who had betrayed him.

"Fuck. There's not much room for doubt is there? Print off the information and I'll call Bennett to set up a meeting with him first thing in the morning. Excellent work team. This has to be a record for how fast we have solved a case, but I still don't understand why Evan's team didn't find this information. I mean, this is investigative procedure 101."

"Um…we can explain that," Ophelia admitted.

"Are you going to tell her, Hunter, since it was you who found the information?" Declan asked.

I waited for the bomb that was about to drop…

"Evan is the other son that no one knows about. It looks like he's been sabotaging his team, making sure they wouldn't find anything unusual, and even paid off the judge so he'd rule in Bennett and Groves' favor about investigating the executives years ago."

"Fuck…Fuck…Fuck…Has Landon been told?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"We pretty much only just finished figuring it all out, and besides, Landon won't shout at you…You're the boss," Elouise deadpanned.

"Yeah, well he'll be the one telling Keith. Landon will try to convince me he doesn't want to be the one to hurt his good friend, but I'm not doing his dirty work for him," I shot back.

Keith Murray was Evan's boss and head of the securities division of the government. He and Landon had been friends since their days on the beat as junior cops. After Keith left to join the securities department, the two men stayed in touch and often discussed difficult cases in order to gain the other's perspective. When the Worlds Apart insider trading case hadn't been solved, Keith refused to continue to accept Evan's excuses, and it was handed to Landon who in turn handed the case to me and my team. It was interesting that Evan had shown no animosity or wariness when handing over the file. Was he confident evidence was buried so deep on the dark web that he wouldn't be found out?

"Landon in his office?" I asked no one in particular.

"Yep," Declan confirmed.

"Wrap it up and put the file and your reports on my desk. You can all take off early. Good work, I'm proud of you all."

The team grinned on hearing my praise before moving to their own desks. I sighed and headed to Landon's office to tell him everything we'd learned.