by Terry Spear
So he could definitely commiserate with the twins.
The boys grabbed chairs at a table and David sat at another close by. Nate flagged down a server wearing a skimpy leopard-skin dress, cut high on the thighs and low on a very well-developed bust. Red curls bouncing about her shoulders, she smiled brightly at the boys as Alex whispered their drink order.
Grinning, the kids focused on two women who were dancing, breasts jiggling in their teeny bikini tops. David shook his head. The boys were so much like him and his twin brother, Wade, at seventeen.
The server returned with the boys’ red-colored drinks topped with lime green paper parasols, the toothpicks seated in cherries.
David was about to move in to ensure the drinks were nonalcoholic when Alex said, “Okay, listen, Nate. We did it your way last time and you know how much I objected. This time we can’t take a chance with the missing zoo cat.”
David sat back down in his seat, listening intently. They had to be talking about the missing zoo cat from Oregon. Maya’s cousin—Tammy Anderson—was looking for it.
Nate snorted. “Hell, everything would have been fine with the jaguar if all had gone as planned. At least she’s safe for now.”
He wanted to hear more of the boys’ conversation about the missing cat before deciding whether to take them in for further questioning, but he saw something big and muscular in his peripheral vision. The bouncer. Brown eyes, nearly black, muscles bulging in readiness, mouth turned down. Hell. Joe Storm. As much as David didn’t want to make this personal, he couldn’t help having a grudge toward the guy. David still believed if Joe hadn’t stolen Olivia Farmer away from him and promised to marry her—which he had no intention of doing—she wouldn’t have committed suicide.
David watched the former JAG agent–turned club bouncer stalk toward the boys. He looked eager to teach the teens they weren’t welcome at the club until they were of age. David knew Joe from working with him on a couple of assignments; Joe liked women—too damn well, in David’s opinion—made allowances for most men, and had zero tolerance for troublemaking teens.
“Hey, Alex, trouble’s coming,” Nate said. Though David knew from experience that kids had to learn from their own mistakes, he also knew how hard Joe could be on them, and David didn’t always agree with his stern methods of enforcement.
Before David could reach the boys and protect them, the bouncer grabbed Alex and Nate by the arms and hauled them through the crowded club toward the back door. “I’ll break both your bloody noses,” Joe growled. “See if you’ll want to come back for more after that, eh?”
Joe never made idle threats. David had seen him rough up a drunken human who had started a fight in the club. Joe had broken another man’s nose for harassing one of the club’s dancers. Talking Joe out of what he intended to do was not going to work.
David lunged from behind and punched Joe in the side of the head. Joe released the boys, but they didn’t leave the club as David had expected they would.
“Go!” he shouted, just as Joe swung around, aiming to plant a fist in David’s face.
David ducked and came around to slug Joe in the jaw, but managed to hit him in the temple, knocking the son of a bitch out cold. It was one helluva lucky punch, and it felt damn good, he had to admit. Joe was an ex-marine, ex-boxer, ex-bartender, and looked like he killed men for pleasure, but right now he’d be sporting some major bruises.
Getting the upper hand was probably as much a shock to David as to everyone else in the club. The music stopped and all conversation died. The teens had vanished.
Cheers went up and David gave a thumbs-up to the club patrons’ raised glasses, whistles, whoops, and hollers.
Grinning, David hurried to call his boss, Martin Sullivan, director of the JAG branch, about the boys and the missing jaguar as he headed for the door to see if he could catch the kids before they disappeared for good.
“Martin, I’ve got good news and bad. The good news is that the Taylor twins seem to know something about the missing zoo jaguar. I want in on the case with Tammy Anderson. The bad news is that I’m probably about to get arrested. Can you tell her I’m working with her on this mission and to come pick me up from jail?”
Acknowledgments
Thanks to my fans who have been dying to read Tom’s story in Silence of the Wolf forever! And for your patience! To my editor, Deb Werksman, who makes it possible for me to share more of my wolf tales, and now even some jaguar shifter tales. Who knows where it will all end? To Danielle, my publicist, who is my marketing inspiration, and to the editorial staff and the cover artists who design such beautiful covers, creating praise for the characters well before the books are even available to the world and making me proud to say that these books are mine. The cover for Silence of the Wolf is just one more lovely example.
And to the Rebel Romance Writers critique partners—Vonda, Judy, Carol, Tammy, Randy, Pam, and Betty—for being a super support group that has helped me immensely throughout the years. Thanks to Bonnie Gill, Donna Fournier, and Loretta Grucz Melvin who all helped me brainstorm some issues. And to my fans from all across the world who offer suggestions for titles and which characters they want to see get their happily-ever-afters next, send pictures of hunky men and of wolves and jaguars, and tell me why they’ve fallen in love with my wolves and jaguars—you continue to be my inspiration!
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author and an award-winning writer of paranormal romance, Terry Spear also writes true stories for adult and young adult audiences. She’s a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves and has an MBA from Monmouth University. She also creates award-winning teddy bears, Wilde & Woolly Bears.
When she’s not writing or making bears, she’s teaching online writing courses. Her family has roots in the Highlands of Scotland where her love of all things Scottish came into being. Originally from California, she’s lived in eight states and now resides in the heart of Texas. She is the author of the Heart of the Wolf series and a new jaguar shape-shifter series, as well as numerous articles and short stories for magazines.
