by Terry Spear
“You followed them to the site?” Wade asked.
“Yeah. I was trailing them when they returned to the cabana and discovered we’d been there. Then they returned to the rainforest to find the others. I guessed that they were supposed to meet back at the cabana, but like you and I meeting, it didn’t happen.”
“So what do we do now?” Maya licked her fingers.
Both Wade and his brother watched her tongue sliding over her fingers. Wade knew what he wanted to do. Take her back to bed.
David cleared his throat. “Um, this is a Special Forces mission.”
She snorted. “You wouldn’t be sitting here talking to Wade if I hadn’t helped out a little.”
Wade and his brother shared looks.
“She’s right,” Wade said, finishing his omelet.
“So, what’s our next move?” She sat back against the couch, folding her arms. When neither brother said anything, she let her breath out in exasperation. “Okay, look, if David didn’t take down Lion Mane, the guy knows I’m in on this with the two of you. He’ll also know that Kat and Connor are involved. He might want revenge, or he might decide things are getting too hot for him and leave. Or, he might risk going after the female jaguar again since he’s already put this much effort into it and still wants the money. In any event, we’re all involved in this now.”
“Connor mentioned taking you and Kat home early,” David said, his tone cautious.
Her mouth pursed as she raised her brows at him.
He shrugged. “Kat wouldn’t hear of it unless you wanted to go home, too.”
“No, I don’t want to go home yet. If this guy wants revenge, he could drop by our garden nursery anytime. If he wants to go after the cat, the more of us there are to stop him, the better,” Maya said.
David turned to Wade. “If you don’t keep her for yourself, I’m not guaranteeing she’s going to be free much longer.”
Maya smiled and cast a glance in Wade’s direction, but not before he could wipe the scowl off his face.
“Since Lion Mane knows about all of us, I assume it would be better if we all stayed at the same resort tonight,” David said.
“There wouldn’t be enough room at the cabana we’re staying at. Enough beds, but not enough rooms for privacy,” Wade said. He smiled at David.
Maya slid her hand over Wade’s towel-covered thigh. If she did much more, she was going to get a rise out of him.
“So what were you thinking?” Wade asked his brother, taking hold of her hand and pulling her close. He tucked her soft, terry-cloth-robed body securely underneath his arm.
“A couple is moving out of their cottage this morning. You and I could stay there. I already reserved the place, just in case.”
“Okay, sounds good. We’ll figure out sleeping arrangements later.” Wade kissed the top of Maya’s head. As long as Maya was agreeable, he intended to stay with her here until she left for home.
“You know we’re leaving the day after tomorrow?” Maya said. “So we only have today and tomorrow to stop these men.”
On her schedule. But not on David’s and his.
“I managed to tell Martin I found you safe here,” David said. “The main lodge here has really spotty reception, but I got through. I told him about Bettinger and Mylar. He wanted to know if you learned who the buyer was before Bettinger died.”
Maya spoke up before Wade could say anything. “Bettinger had the gun and was asking all the questions while Wade was a jaguar at the time. So no, Wade didn’t have a chance to ask him who he was working for. But Wade is alive and I figure that ought to count for something.”
David smiled at Maya. “Martin better not cross claws with you. He’s fine with it, only because Lion Mane is still running around. I sent him a picture of the dude to see if Martin might be able to learn who he is. As to Bill Bettinger, he said the man had a wife and two kids.”
A knock at the front door gave Maya a start.
“Maya, are you finished with breakfast yet?” Connor asked through the door. “We need to talk.”
Looking guilty as sin, Maya jumped up from the couch.
Wade shook his head. Her brother was bound to know he and Maya had made love. She raced up the steps to the bedroom, grabbed some clothes out of the dresser and closet, then scurried into the bathroom and shut the door.
“She’s fast,” David mused.
“Coming!” Wade shouted to Connor.
“Have you got any clothes?” David asked.
“Yeah. A pair of pants.”
“I’ll get the door. Why don’t you put the pants on?”
“I’m fine,” Wade said, heading for the door. “I need to take a shower anyway before I get dressed.”
David sighed. “You like to live dangerously.”
Wade opened the door, wearing only the towel around his waist, and raised a brow at Connor, whose eyes narrowed as he took in Wade’s scent. Even if Wade had been dressed, he couldn’t have hidden the smell of Maya on him—or of their lovemaking in the bed that was open to the view of the living room.
Connor glanced in the direction of the bathroom where the spray of the shower was going full blast. “We need to make some decisions here.”
He took a seat on one of the floral upholstered chairs while David sat back down on the couch and Wade sat opposite him on the other couch.
“Yeah. Maya says she wants to help with our investigation,” Wade said, not liking the idea. “Maybe you can talk her out of it.”
“Are you kidding? Both women are going to help us with this. Lion Mane is trouble for us. We can’t let this go. The other man? The hunter? Unless the shifter gets him involved in trying to take us down, he’s not a problem.”
“We don’t take civilians on a job,” Wade said, giving his brother a look. David nodded in agreement.
“All right, listen. We’re involved. Once Maya saved your ass and Kat and I had to come to your rescue, we became part of the team. Now… we can work together, or we can work separately. But we are going after this shifter. His buddy would have murdered Maya. Lion Mane most likely would have opted for the same solution. Don’t you agree?”
“We don’t know that for sure. We don’t know his background, his real name, nothing,” Wade said, not wanting Connor and the two women involved. He did understand where Connor was coming from. But that didn’t change how Wade felt about it.
Connor stretched out his long legs and leaned against the chair back. “Fair enough. Since you’re the Special Forces hotshot jaguars, what do you propose we do? Serve as bait?”
“I don’t like that idea,” Wade immediately said.
“If Lion Mane—hell, I wish we knew the guy’s real name—but if this bastard wants to take Maya out, no matter what we do, she could be his next target,” Connor said.
“True,” David said.
Not liking where this was headed, Wade cast his brother a disgruntled look. David was supposed to be on his side.
David shrugged. “Connor’s right. You know it, Wade.” To Connor, David said, “How about you stay here for the time being? I doubt he’d chance a confrontation at the cottages. Too many people around. Wade and I will return to our cabana and the place they were staying. We’ll look for the bastard, and if we can’t locate him, we’ll return with our luggage. You take the women on one of the tours in the area. Something where we can watch your backs. If he doesn’t try anything, then we’ll have to take him on back in the States. But if you and the ladies take a jungle excursion, he might attempt to get to Maya. And we could take him out then.”
“Too risky,” Wade said.
“There are several excursions,” Connor said, ignoring Wade’s comment, although he smiled a little at Wade, looking somewhat pleased that Wade was concerned about Maya and not willing to use her as bait. “They have cave tubing, kayaking, Mayan r
uins exploration, caving, zip line, and horseback riding. Horses aren’t really fond of us. Zip line is no good because of Kat’s condition. Kayaking would be hard for you to follow us. Cave tubing might work or the Mayan ruins exploration. Before all this had happened, we’d planned on the cave tubing. We’ll have quite a bit of jungle hiking and trekking through the caves. But also a gentle tubing ride. It should be easy enough for you to watch our backs.”
Both men looked to see Wade’s take on it. He didn’t want Maya used as bait. Period. Too many things could go wrong.
Connor continued, “If this doesn’t work and we miss him here, then maybe we can check out the dance club that you all went to. Your brother said those involved in the smuggling were meeting there. What if we all went there? David said a woman he danced with knew the shifter Maya killed. Maybe if David could dance with the woman again, he’d learn more about the other shifter.”
“Yeah, we could try that,” Wade said. “Our mission is to stop Lion Mane from leaving here with the jaguar, though. If he’s hightailed it out of here, we’ll go. If he’s still trying to grab the jaguar, we’re staying, and we’ll leave when the situation is resolved.”
“In the meantime, where will you be staying?” Connor asked Wade.
“Here. At your resort. It would make sense not to split our forces.”
“Here,” Connor parroted.
“Someone needs to protect Maya. She killed his partner, Bettinger.”
Connor frowned. “All right. And David?”
“David is getting a separate cottage,” David said and sighed dramatically.
“We need to return to our resort and grab our bags. Before we come back here, we’ll make a last-ditch effort to find him before you go on the excursion,” Wade said. “Will you take care of things here?” He meant Maya, but he knew he didn’t need to get that specific.
Connor nodded. “Will you go as jaguars, or do you need to borrow some boots and a shirt?”
Wade hesitated to answer. He and his brother should stick together on the return to their resort in the event Lion Mane thought to ambush them. Just as he knew that Wade and David had visited Mylar’s place, he would be able to find Wade and his brother’s scent trail back to their own cabana.
They didn’t have any idea what Lion Mane was up to. If he was smart, he’d leave the area. But being part jaguar, he also would be territorial.
“We’ll run together as jaguars,” Wade said. “We’ll return here as soon as we can. If we catch wind of the men, we’ll hunt them down. That would be the best possible scenario.”
“All right.” Connor rose from his chair, as did Wade and David.
“One last thing.” Connor’s amber eyes narrowed on Wade. “What are your intentions toward Maya?”
The shower shut off and all the men looked in the direction of the bathroom, listening for Maya. She wouldn’t come out right away. She’d have to towel dry, then dress, and Wade suspected she wouldn’t leave the bathroom until her brother was gone.
Wade turned to Connor. “Honorable. She doesn’t want to see me exclusively, though.”
Connor’s brows rose in disbelief.
Wade shrugged. “She has father issues. You should know about them.”
Connor grunted, sounding like he had some of the same issues. “What about you? Do you want to see other women?”
Wade smiled what he was certain was his most feral look. “After being around Maya for any length of time? No way.”
Connor allowed a small smile. “Good. I don’t want to see her hurt.”
“She’s safe with me,” Wade assured him. “I’m not sure about the other way around, though.”
“You mean if she finds another shifter she likes better?”
“Yeah.” Wade didn’t like where this conversation was going. He scrubbed his hand over his whiskery chin. “We need to head out.”
“Are you going to say good-bye to Maya?” Connor sounded protective of her again. “She kept hoping she’d see you for the last several days. She didn’t say so in so many words, but she was worried about you.”
“I was keeping an eye on the three of you.”
Connor openly smiled this time and slapped Wade on the shoulder as if he’d suddenly been welcomed into the family. “I knew it. I never saw you. Never smelled you. You’re good at it. But I knew it just the same.”
David shook his head. “No wonder he kept saying he had to run farther south than where the men had been.”
When no one made a move to depart from the cottage and Maya apparently wasn’t planning to leave the bathroom while everyone was there, Wade said, “I’ll be just a moment.”
He headed for the bathroom and knocked once. Last time, he’d left without saying good-bye properly to her, and he had regretted the decision even though he’d told himself she was sound asleep and he didn’t wanted to wake her.
This time he wanted to do it right, but not with his brother and hers standing in the next room listening to everything.
Chapter 17
Wade opened the bathroom door and smiled as Maya yanked the towel she’d been using to dry her hair around her sweet, naked body. He stepped inside and closed the door.
Taking her face in his hands, he kissed her soundly. “Stay with your brother and Kat until I return. No exceptions.” He didn’t want her searching for him again, should she think he was in trouble.
“Be careful,” she whispered, wrapping her hands around his neck and kissing him again.
He jerked her towel off her body, dropped it, and ran his hands over her breasts. She smelled like oranges, strawberries, and pineapple. “Hmm, Maya, about this exclusivity when it comes to seeing others…”
She smiled against his mouth, rubbing against his body and purring. “Return to me quickly.”
He groaned and tongued her mouth, then kissed her cheek, hating to leave her. “Stay safe.”
“And you.”
When he left her and shut the bathroom door, he found his brother had already piled his clothes on the coffee table and shifted. Connor was looking out the patio door at the jungle.
Wade said, “We’ll return.” He dropped the towel around his waist and shifted, then headed for the patio door.
Connor opened it for them. “See you in a while and we can firm up plans.”
Wade bowed his head in acknowledgment. Then he and his brother leaped from the deck into the brush below, blending into the dappled rainforest like two spotted shadows.
The two brothers continued back toward their cabana, searching the area as they went, looking for any sign that either man had been anywhere nearby recently. Wade and David swung around to the scene where Wade and the female jaguar had been drugged. They found the scent of the shifter from the previous night and the trail leading to the river where Lion Mane had stood on the bank, most likely searching for his dead companions.
There was no sign of any bodies in the daylight. The sun was beating down on the dark river, the trees stretching over the water, while a couple of dark grayish-brown crocodiles basked on the opposite shore. An egret spied the jaguar brothers and took flight.
Wade and his brother headed back toward their resort. It was daylight and not safe for them to run around in their jaguar forms. Anyone could be taking a day trip into the rainforest and catch sight of not one, but two big jaguar males.
Nudging at his brother to stay hidden in the relative safety of the rainforest, Wade loped out to the bathroom window of their cabana and leaped in through the frame. Fortunately, they’d left the bathroom door shut, because insects now filled the small room.
He shifted and opened the bathroom door, then closed it so he could check out the cabana. He heard a thump in the bathroom as David slammed against the toilet, making a splashing noise, and Wade chuckled.
He didn’t smell Lion Mane or Smith in the place. He
suspected they were afraid to come near the cabana.
David soon joined him, one foot dripping wet. Wade said, “Didn’t miss the toilet, eh?”
“Damn thing moved since the last time I jumped through that window.”
Wade chuckled. “Yeah, it has a way of doing that. They haven’t been here. Let’s get dressed and check out Mylar and Smith’s place.”
“We should have looked for Bettinger and Lion Mane’s trail after they dropped in on Mylar and Smith and then left.” David was already sitting on his bed, the box springs squeaking as Wade was doing the same thing in his room, pulling on his boots. “I figured that the men had just arrived in the country like we had. When I thought it over, I assumed the shifters wouldn’t have stayed with the humans.”
“You’re right,” Wade said, heading out of his room. “So we check out their old place and then see if we can find a scent trail to another cabana.”
When they arrived at the backside of Mylar’s cabana, David provided security while Wade peered through the bathroom window before he entered the place. He shook his head. “They’ve left. Nothing’s on the counter. Place is clean, fresh towels on the towel rack. No toothbrushes, shaving kits, nothing. It looks as though Smith vacated the place after they discovered Bettinger and Mylar were dead, and he took Mylar’s stuff with him as a precaution, maybe dumping it somewhere along the way.”
A gnawing feeling of dread filled Wade. He’d rather they found the bastards and ended this right here and now.
***
Maya finally left the bathroom, her hair pulled back in a ponytail and dressed in hiking boots, jeans, and a cotton top. She frowned to see her brother still there and expected to get another lecture from him.
He was sitting on her couch, waiting. His gaze held hers. “Did you hear the plan?”
“I did. For what it’s worth, I think it’s a good plan.”
