“Okay, I’m heading back to my room. I’ll call to have this picked up in the meantime.”

  “You know, this was our case too,” Andrew said, glancing in Stacey’s direction.

  “Right,” Kim said, answering instead. “Thanks for helping us to catch these guys.” Then she ended the call.

  “What’s your cell phone number?” Stacey asked Andrew, pulling hers off his vent.

  “You’re asking for a date?” Andrew raised a brow, smiling a little at Stacey. He knew she wasn’t, but there was just something about her that made him want to tease her a bit.

  “In case we get separated.”

  “We better not. I’m still concerned you might have a concussion.” If he had anything to do with it, they wouldn’t be separated until he returned her safely to the hotel. He pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it to her. “Add your contact number in there for me, will you?” Then he gave her his phone number, and she added it to her contact list.

  “And Garcia’s number?”

  “Hell, here I thought you wanted mine to keep in touch, for more than just a job.”

  “In case I lose you, I can call him and tell him so.”

  “He’s in my contacts under Garcia Ramirez. I’m not losing you, and you’re not losing me.”

  “That’s always great to think positively, but it’s also great to be prepared.” She set her phone back up on his air vent so they could watch Nettleton’s flight. “He’s turning off on the main highway.”

  “Yeah, he’s not going to get away.” At least Andrew hoped not.

  “What triggered the FBI to go after these two?” she asked.

  “With Nettleton, we knew he was laundering money for drugs and prostitution. And Rizzo was selling drugs and dealing in prostitution. The money from the sale of rhino horns must be something new.”

  “It is. We took down the other guy who was laundering money from the operation. So they found Nettleton, their new guy, who was willing to take over the business of giving them clean money. Four and a half million dollars’ worth. If they keep this up, there won’t be any rhinos or elephants alive that are living free. But they don’t care anything about that.”

  “And for what? Trophies?” Andrew asked, wondering how she could deal with being upset over seeing the murdered animals. He didn’t think he could work her kind of job.

  “They claim the snake-oil medicine they make out of some of the animals’ parts will cure any ailment. I can’t understand how naive people can be to believe that crap. All foolishness, but enough crazy people believe it works that they’re willing to pay for it, which means hunters are out there killing the animals to make all that money. Our organization is really shorthanded, but luckily Border Patrol is alerting us if they see packages crossing the border that look suspicious: tons of tape used, lots of stains on the packages, suspicious addresses.

  “We’re not the only ones dealing with this though. I just learned they had Asiatic bears’ stomach bile and tiger bone from a rare species being shipped through one of the airlines at Heathrow. They even discovered snakeskin boots with the snake’s head attached to the front of one of the boots as if the wearer has to prove it’s the real deal and not some imitation. I can’t imagine someone wearing something like that. It’s just an awful racket.”

  “It is. I don’t know how you have the stomach for it.”

  “I love animals. I can’t imagine people illegally killing or selling the animals, but then again, greed and power account for all of it. Someone has to be the advocate for the animals.”

  “I admire you for your work. At least it’s good news that Border Patrol is helping you out. Now you have the FBI assisting you with a case.”

  She smiled. “We sure do. So how were you involved in this when you’re from Alaska?”

  “That’s where Rizzo was dealing the drugs and had a house of prostitution set up. Nettleton met up there to handle some of the money from illegal gains.”

  “Okay, and Nettleton is from Houston. Rizzo had been meeting him there too. It looks like Nettleton loves to move around so no one catches on to what he’s up to.”

  “I agree. At least we have been aware of what he’s up to.”

  They’d been driving an hour already, and Andrew still hadn’t caught up to Nettleton. They’d closed the gap some but not enough. He sure hoped they didn’t lose him.

  “He’s stopped,” Stacey said, pointing at the phone.

  “Maybe he’s filling up his gas tank. When we apprehend him—”

  “We’re taking him back to Houston,” Stacey said.

  She definitely was territorial when it came to her prey. Andrew knew how she felt. Which one of them wanted him worse was the question. If Garcia apprehended Rizzo, he could take the perp to Alaska, but Andrew still didn’t want to give up Nettleton to Stacey and let her turn him in.

  “Have you got a good case against Nettleton?” He didn’t want her arresting him only for her organization to lose him at trial, and then the guy would take off and be running his operation again.

  “Yeah. Airtight. What about you?”

  “The same. If you take him in, let me know when he goes to trial, and if he walks, we’ll arrest him and take him to stand charges in Alaska.”

  Stacey finally smiled. “You have a deal. So he’s been laundering money up there too?”

  “He travels a lot. I imagine he’s had dealings in a number of states, any of which might want to prosecute him too.”

  “We got lucky and learned about it though.”

  “Right. And it’s a federal case because of the millions of dollars he’s handled.” Andrew considered the direction Nettleton had been headed. “You don’t think he’s driving to Texas, do you?”

  They were getting closer to his location. Andrew hoped Nettleton would stay put long enough that they could catch up to him.

  “He’s got lots of family and friends and cohorts in Texas, any number of them willing to hide him to keep him out of jail. He could even be heading for Mexico. If he goes to trial, a lot of nervous criminals who have paid him to make their money legitimate might want to put him out of commission. If they learn that we’re after him, they might be after him too.”

  That was what Andrew was worried about, even up here. What if some of Nettleton’s cohorts or other contacts came after him to silence him or free him, just like what had happened to the two men who killed a gang leader that Andrew arrested last month?

  “Well, you play with fire…” Andrew looked at the GPS signal. “He’s on the move again. I hope he didn’t find the tracker and transfer it to another vehicle.” That could put a real crimp on them catching him. “Then again, you have one on his vehicle too. I’d hoped he would stay put for a little longer.” Andrew glanced at Stacey, still concerned about her head injury. The area surrounding the cut on her forehead was turning black and blue. “How are you feeling?”

  “The headache’s going away. Thanks for asking. It helps to be a wolf with our faster healing genetics.”

  “At least Rizzo didn’t shoot you. But the guy is violent and dangerous.”

  “I figured he didn’t shoot me because everyone would hear it, start taking videos, and call the local police.”

  “They would have.” Andrew could envision it on the nightly news.

  “I was surprised to see the two wolves come to help us.”

  Andrew snorted. “They came to help you, not us.” He observed the night sky, the moon nearly full, a smattering of stars sprinkled against the darkness. The light snow flurries they’d had earlier in the woods had quit, and the sky only had a few scattered clouds. He looked up at the moon again and wondered if she was a royal wolf or not. “Do you have any trouble with shifting during the full moon?” He was thinking if she was a more newly turned wolf, she might have to shift at some point. He did have the notion that he might be the one collaring the guy. Then again, he’d feel somewhat guilty about it when he was promising her that she’d be able to take Nettleton in.

  “I’m a royal wolf,” she said. “I’m not going to shift because of the full moon unless I want to. Forget claiming the perp for your own.” Then she frowned. “You’re not going to shift, are you?”

  He shook his head. “I’m a royal too.”

  “Okay, good, because I was going to take over the driving otherwise.”

  “There’s no need to. You know those other Arctic wolves were newly turned.”

  Stacey looked skeptically at Andrew.

  “They were. I overheard them talking about the full moon and having trouble with shifting, and then one of them said, ‘Speak of the devil,’ then hurried off. I suspected he had to shift.”

  “All of them? They couldn’t have all been newly turned. Maybe just one of them, and he’s now part of their pack.”

  “All of them. They were talking softly, but with our enhanced hearing, I could make out what they were saying. They were concerned that they would have trouble running their business in Seattle during the full moon. I guess that’s their PI business. One of them had mentioned Elizabeth, a wolf who had aided them in escaping another pack, having to return to the pack because of a family emergency. Which was a shame because she’d been born as one of our kind. So I figured the others hadn’t been or that they didn’t have enough wolf roots to keep them from shifting during the full moon. Anyway, naturally, I was curious about how that had all come about, but I had business to attend to, and being nosy about theirs wasn’t in the plans.”

  “You were watching me swim.”

  Andrew chuckled. “Yeah, and I was watching Nettleton’s balcony. He had come out and sat there several times. But he stayed put when you showed up to swim.”

  “I can’t believe all those Arctic wolves were newly turned. Someone would need to show them the ropes. And cover for them when they can’t help but shift. It’s a good thing we didn’t take them up on their offer of help.”

  “I agree.” He glanced down at the tracker on Stacey’s phone. “As to Nettleton, we couldn’t learn if he’s carrying or not. No registered weapons. Do you have any intel on that?”

  “No, but he could have illegal weapons. I mean, if I were him and had all the money he has to handle, I’d certainly be carrying,” Stacey said.

  That was what Andrew figured too. “Right. He’s never been charged with any crime before either.”

  “That’s probably why so many crooks trust him with their money. He seems legitimate, and he’s gotten away with this for so long. We only caught up with him because he began meeting with Rizzo, and we had learned Rizzo was trafficking wildlife. Then we learned Rizzo wasn’t the only one using Nettleton’s services. We took a hard look at where he was getting his income from and what his role was in meeting up with so many criminals. The guy’s got a lucrative job funneling money into offshore accounts, and he has a print shop in Houston as his cover. But he likes to travel to different places to pick up the money. He takes trips to the islands, and we’re sure it’s for offshore banking.”

  Andrew agreed with that. “We had him on surveillance at a hotel on Grand Cayman Island a couple of weeks ago. He was carrying a briefcase chained to his wrist while he was checking into the hotel.”

  “You went there?”

  “Yep. It’s a great vacation spot, if you have the opportunity to just vacation there. When Garcia and I went that time, it was off-season, which meant it was hot and muggy, but we still enjoyed it as much as we could take time to. They have a forest there, and sometimes I ran as a wolf in the woods. Sometimes I wish Garcia was a wolf, too, and he could enjoy what I do. I’ve been fortunate that he’s not into taking walks at night with me.”

  “Man, I need to become an FBI agent if you get to go to Grand Cayman Island.”

  “You could just go with me on a trip there sometime.”

  She smiled at him. “Are you paying?”

  “Sure.”

  She chuckled.

  He couldn’t believe he’d offer to pay her way to Grand Cayman Island when he barely knew her! But as a wolf, he felt a real affinity for her. “We’ll get a cabana, no balconies for you to climb across.”

  “A cabana with separate bedrooms?”

  “Sure.”

  “I’ll take you up on it. When are we going?”

  He laughed. He didn’t think she was serious, but if she was, he was all for it.

  Chapter 5

  Andrew and Stacey were still following Nettleton’s GPS signal when Garcia called Andrew on his Bluetooth. “Hey, partner, Rizzo’s stopped for gas. I’m about to apprehend him, but I’ve called the local police for backup.”

  “Oh, good show. We haven’t gotten close to Nettleton yet. Let us know what happens.”

  “Will do. Out here.”

  “I wish I could be with him. I hate not watching his back,” Andrew told Stacey.

  “I agree. I know Kim feels the same about me. Hopefully, the police will be there to help your partner when he goes to make the arrest.” Then they got a break. “Nettleton has stopped again,” she said, pointing at her cell phone on the vent.

  “Good. We’re going to catch up to him this time.”

  She wished they would and that Nettleton wouldn’t put up a fight. At least her head didn’t hurt any longer.

  They finally reached another hotel where they saw Nettleton’s BMW parked out front. “He’s staying here for the rest of the night?” Stacey was excited and hoped that they’d be able to grab him this time.

  “Most likely. We just need to find where he’s staying.”

  It was now midnight, and Stacey wished they’d gotten the two men at the other hotel. She called Kim. “Hey, we’ve found Nettleton. He stopped at another hotel.”

  “Oh, good. What are you going to do?”

  “Find where he’s staying and arrest him. How are you doing?”

  “Better. Did Garcia get Rizzo?”

  “We’ve haven’t heard from him. He was about to make an arrest.” Stacey hoped he was okay. “Get better.”

  “Thanks. Let me know what happens.”

  “I will.”

  “Let’s go,” Andrew said.

  “What about Garcia?”

  Andrew got on his phone as soon as they left the vehicle. “No answer. He could be in the middle of an arrest,” he told Stacey.

  She sure hoped so.

  They headed into the hotel lobby and saw Nettleton getting a room. The hotel clerk handed him a key. Andrew pulled Stacey into his arms and kissed her.

  She wanted to laugh at his action, but she was a professional and knew what he was doing—trying to pretend like they were a couple coming to get a room, waiting for the clerk to be free. She kissed him back and was thinking that if they really did go to Grand Cayman Island together, she was going to enjoy the trip with the wolf. She figured they’d end up in one room, but she had to be sure that if things didn’t work out between them, they had two rooms and could still have fun on the island.

  As soon as Nettleton went up in the elevator, Stacey and Andrew strode to the check-in counter and showed their badges.

  “We have an arrest warrant for Mark Nettleton,” Stacey said.

  The clerk called the night manager, and he gave them a key to his room.

  “Second time’s the charm, right?” Stacey said to Andrew as they took the elevator to the fourth floor.

  “Yeah. No balconies in this place, and he’s not going to be able to scale the building out the window. I doubt they even open.”

  “Good. Then we’ll have the door covered.”

  They hurried down the hall toward Nettleton’s room and finally reached the door. Stacey took a deep breath and let it out. Andrew had his gun out and so did she. He nodded to her, giving her the go-ahead to do this. She appreciated that he didn’t mind her taking the lead.

  She knocked on the door and called out, “FBI and FWS agents here, Nettleton. Open up! You’re under arrest.” She really didn’t like talking to the door, but she was afraid Nettleton wouldn’t open up no matter what if she tried housekeeping or room service or any other ploy.

  Of course Nettleton didn’t open the door. Stacey swiped the key card and the light turned green, but when she tried to shove it open, she found he’d bolted the door.

  “We need to go in through an adjoining door if there’s a connecting room to his,” Stacey said.

  “I’m on it.” Andrew called down to the front desk and got ahold of the manager and told him the situation. To Stacey, he said, “The manager is calling the people in the connecting room next to his. He needs to get them out of there in case there’s any shooting when we go in through that way.”

  “Good idea.”

  Stacey fought pacing in front of Nettleton’s room, she was so anxious to get him. The manager soon met them up at the room, rolling a luggage cart, and knocked on the door of one of the rooms next to Nettleton’s. A man answered, frowning at him and at the agents. “Thanks for the heads-up. We’re packed already.”

  Stacey didn’t blame him for looking growly. They’d woken him in the middle of the night, but it was better to move them out to keep them safe.

  “Come on, honey, kids.” The man ushered them out of the room.

  The manager and the guest loaded the cart with their bags. The manager gave a key to Andrew and then hurried off to the elevator with the family to help them get settled and to stay out of the line of fire.

  This time, Stacey let Andrew do the honors. He opened the door between the rooms first, then went to unlock the one to Nettleton’s room. As soon as he unlocked it, he readied his gun. She was right behind him, ready to burst into the room as soon as he said it was time. He shoved the door open and shouted, “Mark Nettleton, we have two warrants for your arrest.”

  Andrew’s cell phone rang, but he couldn’t answer it now. She hoped it was Garcia calling and he had good news concerning Rizzo.