“Has he ever acted in any manner that made you believe he’s able to accomplish such a thing?” Anna asked.

Helen swallowed hard and hesitated too long to say, which made Bjornolf wonder just what William Wentworth III was capable of.

Helen looked out the window. “No one has to have done anything like that before… to want to do it now. If… if it meant he wouldn’t have to pay out any money for a divorce settlement… stuff like that happens all the time. He never wanted the kids. They were… a mistake—for him, not for me. It would have been so easy to get rid of us if you guys hadn’t shown up. And who would have thought he was lying?”

“Why tell us this now?” Anna asked. “Why not last night when I asked you if you knew he had other plans?”

“I had to think about what you said. I… was in denial that William could have wanted such a thing.”

The spouse was always the last one to know, Bjornolf thought. “Are you certain he’s having an affair?”

“I can’t think of another reason he’d want to have us killed.”

“Mrs. Wentworth, is there anything you can tell us that would prove any of this? Do you feel you need police protection?” Anna asked.

Helen continued to look out the window, then wiped away a tear and then a few more. “No. I can’t prove anything. You’re probably right. There’s nothing to it.”

“But if there is…” Anna said.

“We’ll be fine.”

“This isn’t the kind of work we normally do,” Bjornolf said. Hunter would have his people investigating because William had put the team’s lives in danger, but he couldn’t let her know they’d be checking into the kidnapping behind the scenes. “If you feel threatened in any way or learn anything further about this, let Hunter know. He’ll give you his number so that you can reach him at any time.”

“Thanks,” Helen said dismissively, her back steeled as she avoided looking at Bjornolf.

He and Anna exchanged looks. Even if William wanted Helen dead, he might not try again. Not with the team knowing something about the case. But still, who knew what lengths someone would go to when they had loads of money and wanted to keep every penny of it?

Thankfully, the man making the calls in the jungle village, who seemed to have been monitoring their moves, either hadn’t been or his cohorts missed stopping the team, because several hours later, the SUVs arrived in Bogota without further incident. The team and the Wentworths quickly made their way to the American Embassy. They dropped off the family so that embassy personnel could make arrangements to secure new passports for them and flights home. A sparkling Christmas tree sitting in the entryway of the embassy reminded Bjornolf of his next mission—with Anna.

Bjornolf towered in front of Elsie and smiled. “You be good and take care of your mother and brother.”

She tugged on his hand. He leaned down and she whispered in his ear, although at this close range, anyone with wolf hearing could hear. “Can you spend Christmas with us?”

He smiled and gently pulled affectionately on a length of one of her curls. “I’ve got to rescue another kid. You be good and Santa will bring you lots of presents.”

Paul patted Jimmy on the shoulder. “It’s been good knowing you, son.” He pointed to Bjornolf. “Like he said, be good. Santa should be coming real soon.”

The mother profusely thanked them. Bjornolf couldn’t figure her out. Did she really believe her husband wanted her and the kids dead, or had it been a case of an overactive imagination? Trauma like she’d been through could cause that. The two Wentworth brothers said nothing, looking glum.

Bjornolf noted that once Helen and William had left the vehicles, William made no effort to approach her, offer her a hug, or hold her hand. Nor had he done anything to show affection toward the kids. He hadn’t before he retired to the other cabana last night, either. Hell, if the kids and wife had been Bjornolf’s, he would have been hugging them to pieces and not letting go.

Finished with the job, Hunter and his team took one of the SUVs, leaving the other behind for Hunter’s contact to pick up at the embassy. On the way to the airport, Bjornolf and Anna related the talk they’d had with Helen.

“You know what I think?” Paul asked.

“What’s that?” Anna asked.

“The wife knows more than she’s letting on.”

“I thought the same,” Anna said. “Like she knows William is capable of murder. And how would she know that?”

Hunter shook his head. “Hell, I thought it was a simple case of blackmail, trying to steal money from his company, avoiding taxes, tax write-off. I’ll have some men look into it.”

Everyone was quiet after that, tired and ready to go home. Hunter didn’t tell Anna all about the new mission, but she agreed to do it, whatever it was. Bjornolf hoped she would still be willing when she heard what it entailed. When they arrived at the airport, Hunter arranged for Anna to fly home with Bjornolf and him. They still had another two hours before their flight left for the States, so they dropped into one of the VIP lounges to drink a round of beers and sat in several lounge chairs circling a coffee table.

Bjornolf wondered what Anna was thinking as they all wound down from the mission. He was glad to be here with them, finishing the job like this.

Hunter turned to Anna. “I need to talk with you about another mission. You don’t have a contract of your own anytime soon after Christmas, right? This might take a bit of time.”

She shook her head, but she looked a little wary. “Bjornolf is working with you?”

“Yeah. But this assignment’s close to home.”

“Oregon coast,” she said.

“Yeah. You’ll need some winter clothes. When we arrive in Portland, we can take you shopping. Funds will come out of my budget. You’ll actually need an assortment and Tessa can help you with it.”

“An assortment?” she asked, looking puzzled.

“To blend in,” Hunter said.

“And Bjornolf, too,” she said.

Bjornolf dipped his head in agreement.

Looking intrigued, Allan and Paul shifted their gazes from Anna to Hunter.

Seeing their interest, Hunter asked, “Sure you guys don’t want to come along for the ride?”

“Still got plans,” Allan said.

Bjornolf was looking forward to this new mission. He smiled at Hunter and raised his beer to him. Hunter saluted him back. They both polished off their beers, and Hunter ordered another round.

This was one Christmas Bjornolf thought he might enjoy.

Anna gave him a pointed look.

Or not.

Chapter 6

As they took off on the flight for Portland, Anna wondered what lay in store for her. She was always ready for a mission, but something about this one made her wary. Hunter was usually good about giving her detailed instructions, but this time he seemed reluctant to say anything.

Sitting in the middle of a row, Anna realized she’d fallen asleep against Bjornolf’s shoulder, waking when the hostess offered drinks. Anna quickly sat up and looked at him to see if he’d noticed. He smiled down at her.

His sweet expression surprised her. That one smile undid her and her whole body warmed. Hunter, who was seated next to the aisle, passed two plastic cups of water over to Anna and Bjornolf and asked for the same.

She was dying to ask Hunter what the mission was, but she knew he wouldn’t be able to say until they were in a private vehicle where he could talk freely.

She drank her water and felt revived. Ready for the next mission. Bring it on.

“So you didn’t have any plans for the holidays?” Bjornolf said to her.

She looked at Bjornolf, whose gaze shifted behind her to Hunter. She suspected he was motioning to kill the subject. Christmas was not good for her.

“Me, neither,” Bjornolf said, shrugging. “I have a brother, but I haven’t seen him in years. After the bear incident, life at home was never the same.”

She was surprised to hear him speak about it again. Why had he confided in her? If she’d had such an experience, she wouldn’t have told anyone.

He was watching her, not looking away, waiting as before for her response. She took a deep breath. “Your brother didn’t go with you that day.”

“Nah. He was always the good kid. Never did anything wrong. Never wild or adventurous. Sometimes I wish I had been more like him.”

“A lot of people have depended on you, Bjornolf,” she said softly. “I don’t think anyone would have wanted you to be anything other than who you are.”

He gave her one of his elusive smiles.

Her hormone levels rose. The problem with a guy like Bjornolf was that he intrigued her. But she wasn’t going to tell him that.

“So… it happened at Christmastime?” she asked.

“Yeah. Shortly before then. You can’t imagine what it was like to see the pack members for Christmas and know that one family had lost their son before the big day. I couldn’t deal with it. Had nightmares about it forever.”

She looked away before her own bad memories swamped her. “I don’t do Christmas.”

“None of it?”

“Unless I’m desperate. I don’t mall shop if I can avoid it. I can’t even imagine going to one this time of year. I don’t need to see a rotund man with a fake snow-white beard and a bunch of squirmy kids waiting beside a faux candy-cane fence, with fluffy pretend snow all over the place. Or crowds of harried shoppers buying a bunch of junk that will be given away at white-elephant parties later. Even trying to find a parking place at such a time is a nightmare,” she said.

He laughed.

She smiled, glad he didn’t think she was a Scrooge. She wasn’t. She just didn’t have any need for Christmas.

“No Christmas trees, baking sugar cookies, viewing Christmas lights, watching sappy Christmas stories?”

She folded her arms, but she couldn’t help smile at him. “Nope.”