“I did when my brother disappeared. Fat lot of luck that did me.”
True, but she could have gone to the pack leader if she felt the sheriff wasn’t doing his job. “What was the fight between your brother and John all about?” he asked.
Her white brows shot up and she looked thoroughly confused, although he swore he saw a faint hint of panic. “John?”
“Your triplet brother.” CJ hadn’t thought he’d have to remind her she had another brother. Maybe they had all been estranged, but he didn’t expect that kind of reaction.
“What triplet brother?”
Was she kidding?
“Warren and I were twins. We didn’t have any other siblings. Well, wait, yes, years later Mom did mention she had a baby that was a stillbirth. So I guess we started out as triplets. But we never thought of ourselves like that. Maybe she named the other baby John. I don’t remember if she ever told us even. But she didn’t have any other living children. Just Warren and me.”
CJ glanced at Laurel. She quickly said, “There are three brothers staying in Silver Town who are claiming they are the sons of John Wernicke.”
Charity was silent for a moment. Then she said, “Maybe they are.”
Laurel looked so exasperated. “You just said your mother didn’t have another living son.”
“She didn’t. But it doesn’t mean that the three brothers don’t have a father named John. However, he wasn’t related to us.”
CJ sat back on the couch. “Well, hell. How did they know about Clarinda and a supposed love triangle?”
“Maybe they’re related to the man who was her lover? How do I know? Are they new wolves or old?”
“Now that I don’t know,” CJ said.
“We’re new wolves. Not royals. Our bloodlines haven’t been lupus garou forever. Our parents were humans turned. If the brothers are several generations lupus garou and can hold their human form during the call of the full moon, then they’re not related to us by any stretch of the imagination. They could be distant cousins. Our dad did have one brother. He was killed in one of the wars, but never had a mate or any offspring as far as we knew. But it’s possible, and that would make his offspring fairly new wolves like us. It will show another hole in the brothers’ story, if they’re royal wolves. Full moon tonight.” Charity smiled. “Good time to check.”
Somehow, CJ had to convince Darien to lock the Wernicke brothers up and then watch them. If they didn’t shift, good chance they were royals.
“Is this going to take much longer? Unless you think I killed my brother, I’ve got to get back to the candy shop. I have a new girl there, but she’s rather hopeless.”
“Just a few more questions we need answers to. Why did you come and check on me when I fell in the pit?” Though CJ suspected Charity wouldn’t have killed her brother, she might have murdered Clarinda, as much as she seemed to despise her.
“I was curious if one of Sheridan’s sons would really investigate the disappearance of my brother and reveal the truth. When I left Silver Town, I left for good, figuring my brother and Clarinda were enjoying running a hotel somewhere else, having gotten rid of me, and had found their happily ever after. It angered me to think that, of course. Yet another part of me hoped that’s what had happened and that my brother hadn’t met with foul play.”
Charity let out her breath. “I stayed away for a good decade, mated, and lost my mate, but in all that time, I couldn’t quit wondering what had become of my brother. I kept looking for him, searching for clues. I even did Internet searches, hoping I’d find him somewhere. As you know, we often change our identities over the years because of our longevity.”
“How did you find him in the pit?” Laurel asked.
“I was taking a run out there. Still searching for clues that my brother hadn’t left the area. I kept thinking he wouldn’t abandon the hotel and not me either. I smelled something dead, an elk, and curious, I came to see what had killed it. The smell was coming from a pit. The deadfall had fallen through. It was winter and the sun was shining brightly. But it was still too dark in the pit to see clearly, as deep as it was. You know how things can keep nagging at you? Well, that pit kept nagging at me. Why would someone cover up a pit, then catch an animal for supper, and not come and remove the beast? Why would it be rotting down there?”
“The hunter was long gone?” CJ asked.
“Could have been. Still, I had to know. I left to get a rope and a lantern. I didn’t have any way to climb in there, without being afraid I couldn’t get back out. So I just lowered the lantern into the pit. And what I saw horrified me. A skeleton, and the light reflecting off my brother’s diamond stickpin. So who killed him? Someone in your pack. I couldn’t approach anyone. I didn’t know who had done it.”
CJ looked at Laurel. She had worried about the same thing.
“I heard that Sheridan had died. Thinking he was the one who had been involved with Clarinda, that he killed my brother and she ran away, I decided it didn’t matter.”
“Yet you continued to come here. To visit the area,” CJ said.
Charity brushed away a tear. “Yes. If my brother had been killed, and Sheridan had done it, Clarinda might have run off, fearing for her life. But what if she didn’t? What if I came across her body next? So I kept looking—to find closure.”
CJ thought about how his father had Clarinda’s locket. He felt his stomach knot again. But what if his father had only found the locket? What if he didn’t know who it belonged to and never followed up on it?
The truth was, as sheriff, his father was too methodical to let something like that go. He would have investigated the case until he learned the truth.
“I understand. One other thing. Before I fell into the pit, the deadfall was covering it up.”
“Yes, someone did it every time something fell in the pit.”
“Why?”
She gave him a sly look. “That was another reason I kept going back to the area, watching, waiting for—him.”
“Then it has to be someone still in the area.”
“Or someone covering for someone else. I always wore hunter’s spray so he wouldn’t smell my scent in the area. But so was he.”
“Hell, you should have let the pack know,” CJ said. “We would have looked into this.”
“Like Sheridan did? No, thank you.”
CJ shook his head. “All right. Well, we’ll damn sure look into it now. I want to thank you for all your help, Charity. Will you be staying in the area?”
“Yes. I own a successful candy shop here. I enjoy Green Valley and don’t have any plans to leave. Stop by there anytime, if you like.”
“We will,” Laurel said, and this time she offered a small smile.
“I’m sorry about Clarinda’s disappearance. If I knew what happened that day, I’d share.”
“Thank you,” Laurel said.
“Can we drop you off at your store?” CJ asked.
Charity hesitated, then nodded. “Thank you.”
“Hey, Ryan, we’re going to drop Charity off at her shop,” CJ called out. He knew that even if Ryan hadn’t been purposefully listening in, he would have heard some of the discussion, so he probably heard she had another name.
Ryan came out of his office and said, “Okay. Just let us know when you have those gift boxes of chocolates ready to pick up and I’ll drop by. Did you want to go by Charity or Pamela?”
“Pamela.” The woman’s whole outlook seemed to brighten when Ryan mentioned the candy order, and she smiled at him. “I’ll give you a call.”
After they said their good-byes, CJ drove them into the town of Green Valley. Charity’s candy store was simply called the Candy Store. It was housed in an old Victorian house painted purple with white trim, the inside bright and white to emphasize the carousels of displays, colorful suckers hanging from the ceiling, jars and barrels filled with neon-colored candies, and gift boxes of chocolates displayed for every occasion.