Laurel could tell Darien wasn’t happy about the delay. He was tapping his fingers on the table, and the smile he offered her and Lelandi was strained. Laurel didn’t blame him one bit.

She was somewhat apprehensive about visiting much with Lelandi because the pack leader was a psychologist. Laurel was afraid she was analyzing her every word and action. On the other hand, Laurel thought she might learn something important from Lelandi.

“I hope you know how much you and your sisters being here means to us.” Lelandi took a sip of her Black Forest cocoa. It had chocolate sprinkled on top to form a Christmas tree in a reindeer-decorated mug. Laurel wanted to replicate the cocoa for her own guests when the hotel was open.

“At one time, Sheriff Sheridan Silver suggested we tear down the hotel because it was an eyesore. As it continued to deteriorate, it would be a hazard to anyone sneaking inside, despite it being boarded up. You know how it is when places are put off-limits.”

“Right. Some want to see what’s in the forbidden place.”

“Exactly. And the word had spread that the place was haunted. Many wanted to see if it truly was. Including Darien and his brothers and cousins. But no one who has been in there has been injured. The consensus was that the building was part of our heritage—like the tavern and Bertha and John Hastings’s bed and breakfast. Those buildings were some of the first and are still standing proud.”

“I so agree. I love old buildings. And I love restoring them to their former grandeur.”

“Which you have done.”

“Thanks.” Laurel smiled. Lelandi wasn’t just trying to convince her they wanted her to stay with the pack; she truly did love what they had done with the hotel.

Though Laurel had asked CJ why no one had bought the hotel before this, she wondered if Lelandi knew of a different reason. “Do you know why it was abandoned for so long?”

“Oh, it was a boardinghouse for years before it was a hotel. Miners, drifters, a couple of women with no family stayed there. Then the silver mine closed and the drifters moved along. Eventually, it was remodeled and opened as the Silver Town Inn.”

“What about the Wernicke brother and sister who ran the hotel? Didn’t he vanish, and his sister disappeared after that?”

“Darien’s having the sheriff and Trevor look into it. Since CJ is watching over the hotel and these men for now, he really can’t do it. Darien didn’t know anything about the disappearances. Or maybe he heard something in passing years ago, but his father would have been the pack leader back then so he would have dealt with it. I didn’t live here at the time. So I don’t have a clue.”

That’s what Laurel had thought. She’d already crossed Lelandi’s name off the list of suspects.

They heard a commotion in the other part of the house and then some conversation that she couldn’t quite make out, but it sounded like the Wernicke brothers had finally arrived. She really did want to sit in on the conversation, but Lelandi said, “So how did you hear about the hotel? And why did you decide to buy this particular one when there must be hundreds of listings of other hotel properties available all over the States? It’s not advertised as a wolf-run resort and town, so we know it wasn’t for that reason. We don’t recall that you passed through here before. So it wasn’t that you knew about us for that reason either.”

Laurel never thought the conversation would end up going in this direction. And she really didn’t want to keep up the charade with the pack leaders. If they were involved in a crime, so be it. If they weren’t, she was certain now that they’d want to learn the truth and handle it.

“Our aunt was staying at the hotel and then she…vanished.”

* * *

As soon as the Wernicke brothers took seats at the conference table, not explaining why they were so late, Darien came straight to the point. “Are you related to the previous hotel owners—Warren and Charity Wernicke?”

“They were our aunt and uncle on our father’s side,” Stanton said. CJ assumed he was the one in charge of his brothers.

Looking pack-leader stern, Darien sat up a little taller. “I see. So what is your purpose here? I don’t believe it’s to schedule a ghost-buster’s TV show. Even if you had planned to, Laurel MacTire has said no to giving you permission. So why stay?”

“We’re here to learn who murdered Uncle Warren and Aunt Charity,” Stanton said, his eyes just as hard.

“They disappeared without a trace. No one knows what happened to them,” Darien said. “My father was pack leader at the time. But now that the issue has been brought up again, I’m starting a fresh investigation. So again, I ask what your purpose is in coming here. To search for clues? Why do you suspect they met with foul play? And why come now, of all times?”

CJ imagined that the men were here to either seek revenge or to lay claim to the property. But like Darien, he wondered why now, after all these years?

“Someone made them disappear. Our father, Warren and Charity’s triplet brother, said that someone in your pack murdered them.”

The Silver brothers and cousins all stared at Stanton as if he had accused each of them personally.

Darien calmly said, “I see. And when did he tell you this?”

“A couple of weeks ago. Right before he died.”

Way too convenient, to CJ’s thinking. Darien’s brow arched, and Jake and Tom smiled a little.

Stanton ignored their reactions and continued. “But our dear dad clasped my hand and begged me to learn the truth.”

CJ considered the other brothers’ expressions. They were keeping straight faces, looking somber for the occasion.

“Why did he wait so long in telling you this?” CJ asked before Darien had a chance. He knew it wasn’t the proper protocol. Darien was the pack leader and he was asking the questions. But the words just slipped out before CJ could stop them. Hell.

Stanton switched his attention to CJ. “He and Warren had a falling-out some years ago. Dad wanted to make amends with him. They did, but then they were busy with their own lives and didn’t speak for a number of years. He didn’t know the man’s name, but Dad said Warren had trouble with one of the members of the pack.”

Darien folded his arms. “So you don’t have anything to really back up your claim.”

“Dad was dying and then we had to clear up his estate. But he mentioned that Warren had been seeing a woman, another man was involved, and both were with your pack. Then Warren ended up missing, presumed dead. Their sister disappeared shortly after that. Dad thought she probably learned the truth about what happened. We’ve been busy with a current TV production and couldn’t get away until now. Then we learned that someone had bought the hotel that rightfully belonged to our family and renovated it. When we heard it was the MacTires, we wanted to see what they knew about our aunt and uncle’s disappearances.”

Darien opened his mouth to speak, but CJ frowned, irritated to hell with the lies Stanton was telling, since he couldn’t back any of it up, and asked, “Why would Laurel and her sisters know anything about your aunt and uncle when they only moved in six months ago?”

“Their aunt was at the root of all the trouble.” Stanton folded his arms across his chest. “She was the woman who caused the disagreement between Warren and another male in your pack.”

His brothers both nodded.

“What aunt?” CJ asked, getting a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. This was why Laurel and her sisters had been so hesitant to socialize with the pack before now. They believed one of the pack members had also made their aunt disappear.

Stanton snorted. “So they didn’t tell you that they’re looking into the disappearance of their aunt? Did you think they truly cared about the old hotel?”

Yeah, CJ knew they did. “Like you do? They renovate old hotels and make them profitable. That’s their business.” He couldn’t help but defend the sisters. They’d proved that they knew what they were doing in that regard. Their aunt was another story, and he wanted to hear from Laurel herself what that was all about. If she and her sisters were looking into the disappearance of their aunt, he would do everything he could to learn the truth and help them find closure. The same as the rest of the pack would.