by Terry Spear
She didn’t wait for a response. Those were her terms—like it or lump it. She was certain she’d pick up another clue soon. On her own. She’d solve the case, and that would be the end of having to team up with another JAG agent.
She headed for her car, parked as far from other vehicles as she could manage, not wanting anyone to scratch or ding the new paint job. She didn’t hear David’s footsteps following her, but she knew he was sticking close to her from the heat she felt radiating from him. She heard his heartbeat thumping. Smelled his hot, sexy, masculine jaguar scent close by. Big cats moved so quietly that their prey would never think they were being stalked—unless the person being followed was also a big cat.
She glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, he was only inches away. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“With you. I’ve got a tip. This is going to be one helluva hot assignment.”
Narrowing her eyes, she tilted her chin down and gave him a look of disbelief.
“We’re headed for Belize. It’s…hot down there.”
Not believing that’s all he was referring to, but surprised at his declaration, she stopped. She loved Belize. The jungle, the crystal aqua waters off the coastline, the fact that jaguars still roamed free in the rainforest there. She’d give anything to go there on a vacation—but this was work, and she didn’t believe for one moment that the missing zoo cat was there. Too difficult to transport across international borders.
Tammy folded her arms and stared at him skeptically. “Belize.”
“Yep. That’s where our lead is,” David said, hands in pockets, looking smug and…she had to admit, appealing.
“How did you learn of it?”
“Why do you think I was in jail?”
She tilted her head to the side. “You punched one of the bouncers at the shifters’ club and knocked him out.”
“Well…yeah, there was that.”
“Must have been a lucky shot. I’ve heard Joe Storm packs some deadly punches.”
“I’m just that good. So where’s your car?”
She wasn’t buying any of this. “How did you find out about a lead?” she asked again, more emphatically.
“Okay, if we’re working together, I’ll share my stuff with you, if you share your stuff with me.” He grinned.
He was such a rogue of a jaguar. And damn if he didn’t charm her on some level. She had to be nuts. She hadn’t realized Wade’s brother could be this much of a character.
“I know how you helped my cousins, Maya and Connor, and his wife, in Belize this last mission…”
“But?” David asked.
She bit off the “but” part of the sentence and said instead, “So I wanted to thank you.”
He was looking at her as if he still expected her to add a “but” to the declaration.
She didn’t want to feed into his all-knowing ego so she turned and stalked off toward her car, figuring she was going to have major problems on this mission. This guy wasn’t going to be easy to lose. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to.
The fact that she was having doubts? That was really not good. But she could do this on her own. And would. As soon as she knew what was going on in Belize.
Chapter 3
This would be one helluva scorching assignment, David thought to himself as he walked with Tammy through the police-station parking lot. Yeah, with one fiery-tempered partner, who had a great reputation for getting a job done right. He kept telling himself this was strictly a job like any other. But who was he trying to kid?
He looked her over again. Not only did she have a distinguished standing in her branch for being a top-notch Enforcer agent, she had curves that wouldn’t stop, red-gold hair he’d love to run his hands through, and a mouth meant for kissing. Tall, stacked, sexy, dressed in a pair of dark green jeans, same-colored sleeveless silky camisole underneath a whispery-light blouse, and sparkly little sandals; she was a knockout. She also had the most striking blue eyes he’d ever seen—that had caught his attention and held on with fierce determination.
Nothing in the regs said he and his partner couldn’t have a little fun on assignment if she was of a like mind. And he was owed some downtime. Martin had said this was an easy task and told him to enjoy the mission while he was at it. David was taking his boss’s advice to heart.
This time was going to be nothing like the last four operations David had been on—kill or be killed, dodging bullets, knives, jaguar teeth, and claws—you name it. This one was going to be laid-back, stress-free, no trouble at all. So if he could convince Tammy to have a little fun while they were on the mission, he wouldn’t even need a vacation.
Her brothers and his own, all of them in the JAG branch, had made the recommendation to their boss that David work with Tammy. Her brother, Huntley, had called David and warned him that she preferred dating humans to shifters. Her other brother, Everett, had told him that if she didn’t like who she was partnered with, she’d ditch him as soon as possible. He’d gone on to tell David that in the past six months, she’d dumped five Enforcer partners, and she had solved all five cases on her own. From the sound of it, she’d been perfectly capable—at least concerning those jobs.
She wasn’t losing him on this mission though. He was a Golden Claw. And he had some pride.
His brother, Wade, had warned him not to get fresh with her or there’d be hell to pay—since Wade had married her cousin, and he didn’t want to get into hot water with Maya.
Never had so many fellow JAG officers warned David about working with an agent from a different branch. He suspected he would have difficulty with her before they even began the mission. Which meant he had to be ready for anything. He loved a challenge.
Keys in hand, Tammy stopped in front of a yellow Jaguar, a 1969 convertible roadster.
He gaped at it. “This is yours?”
“Yeah. It’s a…hunk magnet.”
He stared at her for a moment, thinking she meant the car was for attracting all kinds of human males. Since that’s what she purportedly dated.
He smiled and winked. “Caught me.”
She rolled her eyes and unlocked the doors. She wasn’t smiling, but he thought he saw a glimmer of one that she was trying darned hard to suppress.
His attention fully diverted to the convertible. He couldn’t quit marveling over the sports car’s details: the new black leather seats, elegant rosewood steering wheel, and shiny stainless-steel wire wheels. Hell, Everett had told David she drove an old car, and he had envisioned some old clunker. Not a hot car like this.
He ran his hand over the black canvas top. “Could I drive it?” He suspected she’d say no—particularly when he saw the expression on her face, raised eyebrows, chin tilted down, the look that said no—but he had to ask.
“Nope.”
He sighed dramatically and she gave him a quick smile that brightened her expression and revealed just how pretty she was.
A low engine rumble growing closer made him turn to see why another vehicle would be parking way out here when no other cars were. A shiny, new black sedan pulled up next to them.
Fellow JAG agent Quinn Singleterry.
Quinn thought himself a real ladies’ man, and David wouldn’t put it past him to attempt to hook up with the she-cat Enforcer.
The agent got out of his car, slicked back his long black hair, the muggy summer breeze fighting him for control. His blue eyes sparkled in the early-morning sunlight as he gave Tammy one of his knock ’em dead smiles reserved for hot chicks.
“Quinn Singleterry,” David said to Tammy by way of introduction as the agent joined them. “And this is Tammy Anderson.”
“We’ve met,” she said. She didn’t sound pleased, and for that, David was grateful.
“How’d you swing this gig?” Quinn asked, sliding his gaze from David to Tammy. “I told her I wa
s interested in working on this case. Thought I might have a lead or two.”
“Did you share them with Tammy?” David asked, guessing Quinn was just trying to bait her to convince her to work with him. He probably didn’t have any clues.
“Nah. She said she was working alone on the case. Preferred it that way. I checked out the leads. Nada. So, how the hell did you get to team up with her?”
“Her boss asked for the best,” he said, slapping Quinn on the back. “So Martin picked me.”
Tammy shook her head—David noted she was smiling ever so slightly—and climbed into the car, shutting the door behind her.
“What are you doing here?” David asked Quinn, certain his arrival wasn’t purely chance.
“I heard she was getting you out of jail. Figured she might want a partner who was a little more reliable. She needs someone who is totally focused on the mission.”
“She likes roguish guys.” Not that David saw himself that way, but the fact that she had to pick him up from jail made it appear that way. He was certain, from what her brothers had told him, that she was not into bad boys.
She started the car’s engine, and David’s heart skipped a beat.
“Gotta go,” David said quickly and gave Quinn a thumbs-up, but before he climbed into the passenger side of the Jaguar, Tammy locked him out, gave them both a wave and a smile—on the wicked side—and peeled out of the parking lot.
Slack-jawed, David couldn’t believe she had left him to fend for himself. He’d have to ask Quinn for a ride or call a taxi to get to his car still parked at the club, then grab his bag at his apartment and get to the airport on time. No matter what, the whole branch would know the she-cat had already abandoned her new partner. David could see his brother and hers shaking their heads at him and smiling smugly.
David would never live it down.
Wearing a conceited smile, Quinn didn’t say a word as he drove David to the club, but David knew he wanted to. He almost wished Quinn would just say it—the woman was a maverick cat and there was no way to team up with her. David had every intention of proving otherwise.
“Thanks, owe you one,” David said as he left Quinn’s car, got into his own, and hurried home. As soon as he arrived at his apartment, he texted his boss: Can you locate Tammy for me?
Martin texted back: She just picked you up at the police station. Don’t tell me you already lost her.
David chuckled and sent: Unsure if she’s going to Belize or not.
Martin: The two of you are supposed to be a team.
David: Right.
Martin: Checking.
David showered, changed, loaded his bag into the car, and drove to the airport.
Martin texted him: Her boss says she’s on the same flight as you, and she’s already there.
David breathed a sigh of relief.
***
David arrived after first boarding at DFW and hurried to make the gate. He had to admit he was a bit miffed with himself for not seeing what she had intended to do before she did it. As a jaguar shifter, he was usually good at reading the signs—posture, change in scents, eye contact or avoidance. But David hadn’t been paying attention to the signals because he was trying to rub it in that he got to work with her instead of Quinn. From everything he’d learned about her, he knew she was smart and savvy, and he was certain they’d solve the case in record time.
Despite the embarrassment of her ditching him—in front of Quinn—David actually enjoyed her game. She had just the kind of flirty sass he liked in a woman, and he wasn’t giving up working with her for anything.
Once David boarded the plane, he found her struggling to get a bag into the stuffed overhead bin. He stepped up nice and close to her, pressing his body against hers and leaving his scent on her as she left hers on him, and smiled down at her as he maneuvered her bag in just so. He added his bag to the overhead bin and closed the compartment door. She raised one arched brow in response. She didn’t move out of his way—as if she was showing him his close proximity didn’t intimidate her. She also took a deep breath, proving her interest in his scent.
“Tammy,” he said in greeting, unable to keep the grin off his face.
She smiled also and slid into the window seat. Which might have been why she’d smiled. An older gentleman was seated next to her, and she might have assumed that David wouldn’t have another opportunity to get that close to her on the flight. Except that David wasn’t about to be outmaneuvered. Martin had gotten him a first-class seat, the perfect bargaining chip.
David said to the older gentleman, “She’s an old friend of mine. Do you mind exchanging seats with me? Mine’s in first class.”
The man’s face was alight with enthusiasm. “Thank you, young man.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” David said, casting Tammy a satisfied look.
She chuckled.
He sat in the seat next to hers, surprised she had gotten here well ahead of him, though he’d had to shower after being in jail for the night. He admired her for being able to travel at a moment’s notice. Every woman he knew needed days to plan ahead and packed way too much stuff for a trip. Best of all, she’d taken him at his word that the clue concerning the missing jaguar could be found in Belize. Or maybe she had called her boss to let him know what was going on, and he had informed her that she needed to go there.
“So what’s the deal?” she asked, sounding resigned that she’d have to work with him.
“We’ve got to bring in two seventeen-year-old twin shifter brothers who are violating our laws. My people have been keeping tabs on them for some time, and they just managed to skip to Belize. My boss wants them brought in before they get into considerable trouble.”
Her eyes narrowing, she folded her arms across her chest. “Okay, so if your director wants the teens on his team, why does he need an Enforcer to help bring them in? Sure, we police the shifters so they abide by our rules and human laws, which, if the boys are doing illegal stuff and could land in jail, is a definite reason for picking them up. As you know, incarceration in human jails is out of the question for our kind.” She gave David a pointed look. “It’s too easy for a shifter to want to protect himself from other prisoners, and the best way to do that is to shift. But since your boss wants to recruit them, that puts them in your jurisdiction. Because the Golden Claws can do anything that any of the other branches specializes in, it seems to me this should be a JAG team assignment. Not to mention, where’s the connection to my mission to track down the missing zoo cat?”
He smiled at the reference she made about doing jail time, which he was sure was directed at his recent stay in one, and the way she was still referring to this as her mission and not theirs. “Alex and Nate Taylor don’t do well with male authority figures.”
She raised a brow. “The JAG director is a male.”
“Right. We’ll worry about what happens after we return them there. We needed a woman, who is wild, to help bring them in. If you’ve ever had to work with a city shifter in the jungle, I’m sure you know what a disaster that can be. Most never visit our natural habitats and don’t know the lay of the land or how to survive if they get into trouble. Instead of taking care of the mission, I’d end up having to watch out for the city cat just as much. Sure, their big-cat instincts would kick in, but it’s not like working with someone who grew up visiting the jungles, hunted in them, knows what to expect. Hell, the last time I had to do that, I swore I never would again.”
“All right. So you needed me…because the boys are in the jungle?”
“Precisely. And you were free.”
“Free? As in not doing anything important with my time besides getting a JAG agent released from jail?” She didn’t wait for him to respond, though he fully intended to. “I was working a case. Jaguar missing from the Oregon Zoo? Remember?”
“Right. But you were free
to travel. Other female agents were already out of the area. The boys know something about the missing cat. Since you were working on that, it seemed only natural that we work together on the case. This way we capture three cats with one net—so to speak.”
He suspected she wouldn’t like the inference that she was unable to do her job without a JAG agent’s protection. Still, when missions were in the wild, his boss always sent a team of at least two agents. It was just safer that way.
“How do you know the boys have information about the zoo cat?” she asked.
“They mentioned the missing jaguar at the club.” He shared the conversation the boys had with each other with her. “When I called my boss before I met up with you, we talked about the teens, and we assume that’s why they skipped the country.”
“Because they’re involved? Or because they know who’s involved and they’re afraid whoever stole the jaguar will come after them? Or thought you were onto them and would make them pay?”
“We’re not sure. I’ve been keeping tabs on them. I followed the boys to the club and overheard them talking about the missing jaguar. One of the club’s bouncers spotted the boys, grabbed each by the arm, and yanked them toward the door.”
“Joe Storm.”
“Yep.” David cleared his throat. “The ape said he’d break both their noses for coming into the bar underage. It wasn’t an idle threat, either. The club owners don’t want the place closed down. Being a shifter, Joe knew the boys would heal fast. He would have gotten flak for injuring them, but the teens might not have bothered to report it—afraid the whole incident would get back to their parents. I’m certain Joe thought it would be enough of a punishment to deter them from trying to do the same thing later.”
“So you decked Joe,” she said, “and the boys got away.”
“Yeah, but it was all part of my plan.”
She looked skeptically at him.
He shrugged. “I rescued them. That could help us in the long run.”
“But you said the boys won’t take orders from a male authority figure, and that’s why I’m needed.” She sipped from a plastic cup of water. “Why were you needed exactly?”
