“What kind of thing did he say happened?” Cooper asked instead.
“Something that had freaked him out. He was uncomfortable telling me what. I think—I think he was weighing his options.” She crossed and uncrossed her arms, uncomfortably. As if suddenly second-guessing how wise it was to be breaking Kreuger’s confidence with people like Cooper and Park. “He wanted to know if the BSI offers deals. Witness protection-type stuff.”
They didn’t. Considering the mafia-like mentality of the larger packs, perhaps they should. “Kreuger witnessed a crime?” Cooper asked.
“He wouldn’t say. Like I said, he was weighing his options. He’d been living as far off the radar as possible for years. Whatever it was, he must have felt desperate to even consider reaching out.”
“You said he put in his notice. What makes you think he didn’t change his mind about involving the BSI and whatever spooked him just sent him running?”
Muñoz frowned, but Santiago cleared her throat and said, “That is certainly a possibility and just one of the reasons why neither the Trust nor the BSI is choosing to pursue the case at this juncture.”
“Are there other reasons we should know about?”
Santiago’s eyes darted to Park. “Margaret Cola may be director of the Trust, but she’s also an old friend of your family. It doesn’t look great for her to go out of her way to track down an unofficially missing man the Park pack would rather just stay disappeared. Kreuger is going to slip through the cracks because he made the wrong enemies over a decade ago.”
Muñoz made a quiet sound of repressed anger, and Santiago looked at her, face softening. “I’m asking you to take this case and go undercover at the retreat as a...personal favor.”
The two women were almost definitely in a relationship then. That explained why Santiago was going out of her way to investigate what might not be a criminal case at all, even stretching the boundaries of what was legal. Perhaps that even explained why Santiago was reaching out to Cooper rather than using her influence within the BSI. Inevitable questions about her connection to the case would come up, the answers to which she might not want to broadcast.
How long had they been together? Muñoz clearly knew about Park’s past, so had Santiago also known all that time ago, when she’d first introduced Cooper to Park? Was that why she’d distanced herself from him after learning he and Park were together? Did it even matter now?
He didn’t have time to find out because all those questions paled beside the one word that had jumped out and lodged in Cooper’s throat. “Undercover?”
“Neither agency is willing to put their stamp on it, so this has to be a quiet inquiry. Besides, if Kreuger did stumble across something going on at the retreat, you’ll have a much easier time doing the same if you’re staying there.”
“But undercover?” Cooper protested.
“I’ve read your file front to back, Dayton. I know you’re more than capable of undercover work.”
Cooper felt a flush of heat in his face as Park twisted in his seat to look at him curiously. They didn’t spend much time talking about Cooper’s few years in the FBI before his abrupt and violent recruit to the BSI after a wolf attack had left him with a lot less gut.
“Why us?” he said, flustered.
“Because I need someone I can trust in there. Someone I know is more concerned with finding the truth than upsetting the Park pack or inter-bureau politics. Someone who isn’t afraid to step on some toes. Frankly, Dayton, I don’t know anyone less concerned with pissing off people and wolves alike.”
“Careful, all this flattery is going straight to my head,” Cooper said dryly. “But I suppose I can consider choking down a mojito in the sun. For justice, of course.”
Santiago smiled, the first genuine amusement he’d seen on her face so far. “It’s not that part of North Carolina. And it’s not that sort of retreat.” She looked at Park. “Maudit Falls is a relationship retreat. Counseling for couples working on interpersonal dynamics and trying to revive their partnership. You know the format. Guests sign up for three-, five- or seven-day workshops to look within themselves or each other or some shit. It’s deep in the mountains because privacy is important for obvious reasons.”
“Are they...celebrity couples?” Cooper said.
“It’s run by wolves for wolves,” Santiago said bluntly.
Park’s expression darkened. “This is where Kreuger was staying off the grid?”
Muñoz had willingly given the reins to Santiago, but at Park’s criticism she spoke up again, tone sharp. “Would you have forbidden him from that as well? Thomas spent years isolated with no one but humans for company. We need to be around our own kind.”
At her words, Cooper felt a surge of...something. Panic, nausea, fear, annoyance? Mix together and serve cold, a la lump in throat?
“The point is,” Santiago said loudly, giving Muñoz a look. “You two are perfect for this. Built-in cover story, ready to go.”
“One problem,” Park said. “Just because people don’t know I work for the Trust doesn’t mean they won’t know my past. Even south of my family’s territory, there’s a chance I’ll be recognized.”
“Oh, more than a chance, I think. In fact, I’m depending on it,” Santiago said. “You can imagine how exclusive a relationship retreat for wolves is. They can’t have human couples wandering in bickering about mundane stuff like affairs and contributing to household chores equally. The background checks for guests is extensive and exhausting, and the wait list long. We’d never get any old agent in. But the Shepherd and his human mate seeking the help and guidance of Maudit Falls? It’s too good an opportunity for them to pass up and exactly the bait we need to get you on the inside.”
Suddenly all her flattery about being the only one willing to piss important people off in the name of justice like some kind of caped and spandexed hero seemed just that. Flattery. This was the reason she really needed them. And frankly, Cooper could see her point. He had witnessed firsthand how wolves went out of their way to accommodate the Park family.
“No one knows you work for the Trust, but there aren’t many wolves who haven’t heard of the Shepherd or know of your grandfather’s recent demise. If we tell the director you want to keep a low profile and use a pseudonym, he’ll even help you keep your cover stories. Anything to keep on the Shepherd’s good side. In fact, Paul Claymont used to follow your family when he lived up north. His alpha was Becca and he only left her pack to run this retreat with his partner, Vanessa, who’s one of the therapists there.”
Park frowned but nodded. “I remember Becca.”