Wolf to the Rescue Page 3

  Andrew was so busy watching all the activity in the lobby that time got away from him. When he saw Stacey coming down the stairs wearing flip-flops and the cover-up, her phone in hand, he rose from his seat. She raised her brows at him in question.

  He waved at her and quickly called Garcia. “Hey, I’m going swimming if you want to swap places.”

  “Yeah, sure. Be there in a few minutes.”

  Andrew joined Stacey and said, “Sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to the time.”

  “I thought maybe you changed your mind.”

  “No way.”

  “Were you just people watching or observing the game?”

  He smiled. “People watching. A habit of mine. I’ll run up and change clothes and meet you out by the pool.”

  “Okay, see you out there.”

  Once she left, Andrew still had to wait for Garcia to arrive in the lobby before he could run up to the room. When Garcia walked into the lobby, he wore a big, toothy grin. “Don’t tell me the brunette headed for the pool is the reason you’re going swimming. We’ve got a job to do.”

  “I’ll be watching the balcony. You watch the lobby for a while.”

  Garcia chuckled. “I’ve never seen you interested in a woman while we’re on a case.”

  “Well, this one’s different.” As in she was a she-wolf, interesting, and fun to be with.

  “All right, but if your phone’s ringing, you answer it, because we might just have the word to move on this guy in the event the other one doesn’t show up.”

  “Right. I’ll be there with you on this one. Don’t worry.” Andrew raced up the stairs to their room, hurried to strip off his clothes, and changed into a pair of board shorts and a T-shirt. They were always packed in his bag, and he was glad for that this time around especially. Towel and phone in hand and wearing sandals, he walked back down the stairs, waved at Garcia, who was smiling and shaking his head at him, then headed out to the swimming pool.

  A few people were having late dinners, drinks, or desserts, and the lights had been lowered for more of a nighttime ambience. The lighting in the pool made it seem magical as Andrew set his towel on a lounger, his phone on a table, and his sandals beneath the lounger. Then he pulled off his T-shirt and placed it next to his towel. Stacey was sitting on the chair next to his, reading texts, then glancing up at him.

  “Sorry about that,” he said, hating to be late on a “date.”

  “No problem. That’s the neat thing about cell phones. If a date is late, we can just look at texts and emails, play games, and not even miss the date.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, well, I’m usually very punctual.”

  “The way you were dressed earlier made me believe you were. Are you sure you weren’t watching the game? An old boyfriend of mine would be so entranced that a tornado could blow his house away, and as long as the game was still on, he’d be glued to it.”

  “Nah.” He figured it was better to be truthful about that in case she’d been watching the game up in her room. He wouldn’t be able to lie his way through it. Sticking to his story of people watching was the only way to go. Since it was the truth anyway. “And I’m not obsessed about anything on TV.”

  She removed her cover-up, her flip-flops already sitting beside her lounger, her phone on the table. “Good to know. Are you ready to get in?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  She looked over his abs and legs and smiled. “Well, the chocolate you’re eating must be good for your muscles and bones.”

  He laughed.

  They both dove into the water. Then they swam across the pool together, making laps. He didn’t chase her because he didn’t feel the pool was big enough. They enjoyed each other’s company until a family of four, including a boy and a girl of about eight and ten, entered the pool. And then Andrew and Stacey moved to the deep end.

  “It was nice while it lasted,” she said.

  “Maybe we can swim again in the morning when the pool is open and before the families hit the water.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  * * *

  Unless Stacey was apprehending her suspects. She just hoped Kim would be well enough when that happened.

  Then Andrew’s phone rang, and so did hers. They both left the pool, answered their phones, and began drying off.

  “Yeah, Kim?” Stacey said.

  “Rizzo’s here. The man who has the money from selling the ivory. Other FWS special agents managed to confiscate the ivory and the men responsible for killing elephants, but Rizzo is in Nettleton’s room now,” Kim said. “We have our search warrants. I managed to make it down to the front desk to get a key to the room.”

  “Ohmigod, okay. He wasn’t supposed to be here until after midnight.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m on my way up to the room.” Stacey couldn’t arrest anyone wearing a pink bikini. She threw her cover-up on.

  Andrew was saying to his caller, “Hey, yeah, I’m on my way, Garcia.”

  “I’ve got to run,” Stacey told Andrew and hurried off. She hoped he didn’t think she was being rude, though he might think Kim was sicker and she had to hurry off to take care of her.

  Andrew was right behind her. “Me too. Did you want to have breakfast together after we swim in the morning?”

  She smiled back at him. “Okay.” She’d have to decline if she managed to arrest her perps and was taking them back to Texas.

  She ran up the stairs to the second floor, and he raced up after her. “Your room is on the second floor too?” She was kind of surprised.

  “Yeah, a few doors down from yours. In that direction.” He motioned to where his room was. “Is Kim all right?”

  “Yeah. Thanks for asking. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “See you then.”

  He hurried down the hall, and she sprinted for her room. Once inside, she yanked off her cover-up and stripped out of her bathing suit. Then she was pulling on her clothes as fast as she could.

  Once she was dressed, holstered gun ready, Kim called her. “Hey, I’m in my room with the arrest warrants and key to their room, if you want to come get them and we’ll devise a plan.”

  “Okay! How are you feeling?”

  “Like crap, but I can manage this.”

  “All right.” As soon as Stacey left the room, she couldn’t believe Andrew and some other guy were headed in their direction too. She wondered now if Andrew was working with some law-enforcement agency that was going after her and Kim’s perps!

  She frowned at him and motioned to Nettleton’s door and whispered, “You’re not after them, are you?”

  “Yeah,” he said, frowning at her, his voice hushed while he showed her his FBI agent badge.

  Garcia did too.

  Frowning, Stacey pulled out her badge. Even though she’d already told him who she was, she figured he’d want to see proof. “They’re our perps.” But she knew it was better to have more muscle if they needed it. “Come on. We need to make vacation plans.”

  She texted Kim: Bringing reinforcements.

  What?

  Stacey texted: Two FBI agents. We’re coming in to strategize.

  Okay.

  They’d been after these guys and building a case for months. This was the first chance they had to take them in, and Stacey didn’t want to give them up to the FBI.

  Kim let them into her room and shut the door. She was a green-eyed blond and looked awfully pale. Stacey didn’t think she could help with taking the suspects in, so she was glad that Andrew and his partner were here to aid her.

  Stacey said to Andrew, “I can’t believe you’re FBI.”

  “I don’t advertise it when I’m on a case.”

  Kim held her stomach. “Since the FBI agents are here, make them work for their pay. I’m going to be sick.” She hurried into the bathroom.

  “We have arrest warrants for both Nettleton and Rizzo,” Stacey said.

  “So do we,” Andrew said.

  “How are we going to do this? We’ve got a key to his room.” Stacey showed the key.

  Garcia showed his copy.

  “All right, so two of us go to the door, and one of us stays down below the balcony in case someone decides to flee that way?” Stacey asked.

  “Okay, sounds good to me,” Andrew said, Garcia agreeing.

  “I can go down below,” Stacey said, figuring as soon as they opened the door to Nettleton’s room, at least one of the men would try to escape from the balcony and she’d capture him.

  “Okay,” both men agreed.

  “All right. I’ll text when I’m in place. Let’s do this.” Stacey led them out of the room and hurried down the stairs.

  When she reached the swimming pool, she moved back away from the balcony so she could see the patio. The door was wide open, and there was no sign of either of the men. She watched the balcony and listened for any sign of movement. She heard Andrew call out, “FBI! Get your hands up! No, Rizzo, damn it!”

  Immediately thereafter, Rizzo poked his head over the balcony and gave her a snarly smile. She whipped her gun out. “FWS special agent! You’re under arrest!”

  Rizzo swung over the balcony railing, gun in hand, and landed in the shrubs to break his fall. She raced forward to take him into custody, but he ignored her and ran off toward the opposite entrance to the lobby, and she gave chase. What she didn’t expect was that when she moved to grab his arm and make the arrest, he swung around and struck her in the head with his gun. She heard a loud whack to her skull, felt the crashing pain, saw a streak of light, and then darkness filled her vision. She crumpled to the ground, all thoughts of going after the men vanishing in an instant.

  Chapter 4

  Adrenaline running through his blood, Andrew saw Rizzo straddling the railing to jump off the balcony. Knowing he couldn’t reach Rizzo in time, Andrew bolted for the railing, hoping Stacey could apprehend the suspect without getting herself hurt.

  Rizzo jumped and Andrew hoped he broke both his damn legs.

  Garcia was checking out the rest of the room for Nettleton, making sure he wasn’t hiding in the closet, under the bed, or in the bathroom.

  “Nettleton’s gone,” Garcia said as Andrew ran onto the patio and saw Rizzo land in the shrubs.

  Stacey tried to grab Rizzo, and he swung around, slamming his gun against her head and knocking her out.

  “Shit!” Andrew said. “Rizzo’s knocked Stacey out. I’m going to help her,” he said, running back through the room.

  “Nettleton must have flown the coop before Rizzo made it over the balcony,” Garcia said, racing after Andrew as the two men sprinted down the hallway to the stairs.

  They reached the lobby and Andrew said, “You have a tracker on Rizzo’s Porsche, right? Go after him, and I’ll see to Stacey and hightail it out of here after Nettleton.”

  “Will do.” Garcia ran outside to the parking lot.

  Andrew raced out to the swimming-pool area, his thoughts more on saving Stacey’s life than on capturing Rizzo at this point. Stacey was sitting on the ground beside a shrub, holding her head, a bloodied area on her forehead. Two of the male Arctic wolves he’d seen earlier were running to help her.

  Andrew quickly crouched down next to her. “What’s your name?” he asked, taking ahold of her hand and hoping she was cognizant of who she was and of her surroundings.

  She gave him a withering look.

  “Address?”

  “Just help me up. He’s getting away. What about the other one?” she asked, holding her hand out for assistance.

  Andrew was worried that she was injured enough that she couldn’t stand on her own.

  The two Arctic wolves finally reached them, the one saying, “We saw what happened from our balcony. Do you need our assistance?”

  “FBI,” Andrew said, pulling out his badge, then helped Stacey to her feet.

  “FWS special agent,” Stacey said, but she didn’t pull out her badge this time. “Thanks for offering, but we’ve got this.”

  “This is a case you’re on?” the one man said. “I’m David Davis, and this is Owen Nottingham. We’re private investigators with an agency out of Seattle.” David handed them his card with his cell number on it. “We’ll be leaving first thing in the morning, but if you could use our aid, we’ll hang around a little longer.”

  “Thanks, but we’re okay,” Stacey said, holding her head.

  Andrew took the card and pocketed it. “Thanks for the offer, but we’re going to take it from here. We have arrest warrants on these men.” He started moving Stacey toward the lobby. “Nettleton most likely took off in his BMW.”

  She walked unsteadily toward the lobby. “Fine. We’re tracking him.”

  “Tracking him? So are we.” Andrew frowned at her. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “Yeah. I’m fine. Really. I need to go after him. He needs to be arrested.”

  “Together. You shouldn’t drive, and your partner’s indisposed. Garcia is pursuing Rizzo.”

  “They’re our perps.”

  She took another step and swayed. Concerned that she was so unsteady on her feet, Andrew wrapped his arm around her waist. He was thinking she needed to see a doctor and that he needed to take her, even though he had a job to do. Though if he was thinking as an agent and not as a besotted wolf, he could let the other wolves take her to a hospital while he helped catch the perps. “Do I need to carry you?”

  “Do I look like I need to be carried?”

  Yes and no. Her skin was pale, except for the bloodied spot on her head, and she seemed unsteady on her feet. Yet she had such determination that he figured she’d will her injury away and nothing would stop her from getting her man.

  “Come on.” Taking her word for it, he grabbed her hand and ran. “If you start to faint, tell me before you pass out, and I’ll carry you. Are you sure you’re going to be all right?”

  She gave him a scornful look. “Just hurry.”

  “If you’ve suffered a concussion—”

  “I’ll deal with it later. He’s getting away. And you’re not leaving without me. Besides, I have the tracker on my cell.” She pulled out her phone and called her partner. “Kim, I’m leaving with FBI agent Andrew White. We’re following Nettleton’s BMW… Yeah, Rizzo got away too. Andrew’s partner is going after him… I know we wanted to get both men. We will. Okay, just get well… Sure, if you feel well enough… Good show. I’ll be back when I can return.” Stacey ended the call. “Kim said she’d use the search warrant to check Nettleton’s room and see what she can find. She’ll give me a call when she learns anything. And she’d put a tracker on Rizzo’s Porsche while we were in the pool swimming before she called me to let me know he was here.”

  “Good. Garcia did too.”

  “What would you have done without us?” she asked.

  Andrew unlocked his Ford Bronco. “You could have told me you were after these scumbags.”

  “You could have told me that you were.” She climbed into his vehicle and leaned back against the seat, looking wiped out.

  “Put your seat belt on. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  She opened her eyes and frowned. “No. I’m not. My head is splitting in two, but I’ll deal with it when I have time.” She fastened her seat belt, then pulled her phone out and hooked it on his air-conditioning vent. “Follow that car.” Then she pressed her head against the seat again and closed her eyes.

  Andrew tore off down the road in hot pursuit of Nettleton. “Don’t go to sleep.”

  “Bossy.”

  “If you have a head injury and fall asleep, I could have a dead FWS special agent in my car. And that means a hell of a lot of paperwork. I hate doing paperwork. So don’t go to sleep.” Andrew let out his breath. It would be nice if the agencies talked to each other once in a while and had told them that the USFWS was on this case too. “What do you have on these two men? We know Nettleton is laundering illegal money for drugs, prostitution—”

  “And he’s laundering money for the illegal hunting of rhinos for their horns.”

  “Hell.”

  “That’s part of Rizzo’s bailiwick. We’ve caught some of the American hunters who went to Africa and illegally killed the rhinos. They’re awaiting trial. Rizzo sold the horns, and now he’s trying to launder the money. We just have to nab him.” Stacey got a call and said, “Yeah, Kim. What did you find? Wait, putting this on speaker since we’re working with the FBI on a joint task force now.”

  Andrew chuckled. He wondered what his boss would think of that.

  “We hit the jackpot. We’ve got Nettleton’s laptop and a suitcase full of money,” Kim said.

  “That’s better than we could have expected,” Stacey said.

  Andrew was glad for it.

  “He didn’t have time to grab the laptop. Thankfully,” Kim said.

  “Rizzo hit Stacey with his gun.” Andrew wanted to tear into the guy for hurting Stacey. They’d have to add more charges to the ones they already had filed against the men.

  “He hit you? That’s striking an agent and resisting arrest,” Kim said. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, once the headache quits. Did you find anything else?” Stacey sounded aggravated that everyone kept mentioning her injury.

  “A pair of ivory cuff links and a tiepin.”

  “Evidence. Good. Confiscate it all, and we’ll turn it over to our agency.”

  Andrew frowned. It looked like he and Garcia were losing their grip on the case.

  “We’ll talk later. We’re still trying to catch up to Nettleton.”