Val looked shocked. Howard suspected she thought he would give her a lecture for taking Rowdy hostage, but he had kissed her instead.
“You’re not angry with me for tying Rowdy up?” she asked, the two of them locked in an embrace.
Howard shook his head, smiling a little. “If I’d run across him in the forest like you had, I would have done the same thing.”
“He was sneaking around in the dark, trying to reach Benny’s place. I was afraid he’d try to arrest him and mess everything up. Not to mention I was afraid Benny in his jaguar form would come across Rowdy and kill him.” Val impulsively ran her hand over Howard’s shoulder. “I hadn’t considered Rowdy could have an issue finding a mate if he’s turned. That could be a real problem for him.”
Howard was already feeling the heat between them. Though she was dressed, he was not, and her scent and touch were priming his arousal. Again. He’d never been around a woman who made him this hot and bothered in such a short time. “Not if he met the right woman and she felt the same for him. Besides, we’re not turning him. We’ll let someone else deal with it if it happens.”
“Still, that gives me an idea. What if he worked for one of our branches as a human? And he got to know our kind better? Most likely he’s had a lot of training in the field he works in. He could be a real asset for us. And if he was turned, he wouldn’t have to worry about leaving his job. Everyone would understand.”
“And if a shifter happened to really like him?” Howard asked. “She could turn him then.” The idea had merit. Rowdy was bound to be turned by one of the shifters at some point. Hopefully, a shifter wouldn’t terminate him for knowing about their kind before he became one of them. “I could run it by Martin and see what he says.”
“My boss too. Rowdy might like to be with the Guardian branch though.” Val sighed. “We need to get some sleep. Thanks for not being angry with me about this.” She slid her hands down Howard’s arms, which were still wrapped loosely about her waist.
He was trying to control how he was reacting to her, but he knew she could feel his arousal, and she didn’t seem to be put off by it. What’s more, she had to know her touching him—and her pheromones—were stirring him up.
Because of what had happened, he said, “Okay, listen. I understand how you felt after you lost your other partner. Jillian and I can continue to back you up like we’ve been doing, or we can be right there in the thick of it with you on this. I don’t want you to feel you have to do this all on your own. It’s totally up to you. Hell, I just want you to know that you don’t have to go taking human homicide detectives hostage—”
She opened her mouth to speak.
He continued, “By yourself.”
She smiled up at him. “I couldn’t ask for your help quickly enough. He was already headed for Benny’s cabin and totally clueless.” And then she kissed Howard back. Parting her lips slightly, kissing him sweetly at first, but then she ramped up the sensation, tonguing him, sucking on his lower lip, and moving her hands to his towel-covered buttocks.
He was kissing her back, savoring her lips, her tongue, greedy for more. Her sweet body pressed against his, and he felt his other head stirring to full arousal. Hell. He had a job to do, and this wasn’t part of the mission. It was past time for him to head back to the cabin and let Jillian know he and Val were fine. He pulled his mouth away from Val’s, their hearts beating wildly, and looked down at her glazed green eyes. “I’m just glad everything worked out. I’d best be getting back to my cabin before Jillian texts Vaughn and tells him I’ve disappeared for good.”
Val chuckled. “Good night.”
“Sweet dreams. I know what I’ll be dreaming about.” He handed her the towel, and she gave him a hot-blooded once-over.
He shifted, and she opened the door for him. He paused on the steps, gave her a toothy grin, and raced off into the dark to reach his cabin.
First on the agenda was a cold shower. Again. But tonight, he was certain he’d have a hot dream featuring one beautiful jaguar siren.
* * *
Looking a little anxious, Jillian opened the door for Howard when he growled on the porch. Phone in hand, she asked, “How’d the run go?”
Howard headed to his bedroom and threw on a pair of boxer briefs and Bermuda shorts. Then he returned to the living room to tell her all the news. “Val is definitely a bit of a rogue.”
“Which intrigues you.”
He smiled, then frowned and took a seat on the couch across from the bamboo chair Jillian was now sitting on.
“So what did Val do now?”
“She had a run-in with Rowdy.”
“Oh no.”
“Yeah. He knows we’re jaguar shifters and that you’re my partner and a wolf shifter. And that we’re all here to help take care of Benny, without Rowdy’s interference.”
Jillian was wide-eyed. “How’d he take all that news?”
“Surprised, of course. He agreed to go along with the plan. I don’t know what he’d planned to do with Benny on his own anyway. Benny isn’t in his jurisdiction, and Rowdy couldn’t just arrest him. When I went over to Val’s cabin, she had Rowdy tied up on the floor of her spare bedroom.”
Jillian laughed. “I knew I liked her from the minute she gave us the slip at the hotel. Rowdy wasn’t upset with her for doing that to him?”
“We both showed him our jaguar halves, and I think, if anything, that helped convince him we were serious about this. I believe he wants to be one of us. A wolf, more than likely. He seemed somewhat spooked to think the woman he’d dated had been a jaguar shifter. We set him straight about that.”
“I hope that doesn’t become one of our missions.” Jillian yawned and rose from the chair.
“Turning people?”
“Deciding if someone should be turned and into what. See you in the morning.”
“Night, Jillian. We’ll have breakfast, and then Val and I will go running early tomorrow morning to see if we can catch Benny in his jaguar form. You can keep watch for him in the meantime. Oh, and I invited Rowdy over for meals.”
“You’re determined to make him one of us.”
Howard followed Jillian to the bedrooms. “I think it’s inevitable.”
“Sleep tight.”
“You too.” He entered his bedroom, thinking they’d made some headway with Val but had taken a step back in having to deal with Rowdy.
Howard sure could get into having sweet dreams about Val tonight—kissing, hugging, dancing, swimming, and more. But he could imagine having nightmares about Rowdy getting himself in trouble, and the woman Benny had brought with him getting into the middle of it.
* * *
Early the next morning, Val joined Howard and Jillian for breakfast, hoping they’d get somewhere with the case this morning. Rowdy came soon after. Val was still annoyed he was here and hoped he wouldn’t cause problems for them.
“I checked out Benny’s parking space and his car isn’t there, but I heard his girlfriend banging around in the kitchen. Saw her too, so I know for sure it was her,” Howard said, serving plates of waffles.
“What happened to us checking this out together?” Val was supposed to be doing this on her own, but the big, bad male jaguar seemed to be taking over completely.
“I texted you several times, but you didn’t respond. I was afraid you’d gone over there on your own.” Howard set syrup on the table.
Not believing she’d missed the texts, Val pulled out her phone and checked. Ten texts from Howard, asking her if she was ready to go with him. “Well, damn it. I left my phone in the living room. I thought I’d gotten up early enough to catch you.”
“No problem. I checked your cabin to make sure you were all right and heard you taking a shower, so I went on ahead.”
“Okay, so then Val and I need to try to make contact with Benny’s girlfriend,” Jillian said.
Rowdy had to be brought up to speed on what they were talking about.
“And if Benny returns and finds them there?” Rowdy didn’t seem to like the idea.
“We’ll kill him, but hopefully not in front of his girlfriend,” Val said.
Rowdy shook his head.
Val knew he was having a time coming to grips with what they were and how they dealt with their own. She got a call from her information tech at headquarters. “Yeah, whatcha got, Manuel? Putting this on speaker.” She made the decision to let everyone hear what he’d found, even though Rowdy was a civilian and not part of their organization. He was already involved, and he might be able to help—on the sidelines.
“Benny hasn’t been using his credit card. He might not need to, or he’s gotten a new one. I’m trying to track that down. He transferred the money from his and his wife’s joint bank account the day before he murdered her, but I can’t locate where he moved the money.”
Val buttered her waffle. “We froze the account as soon as we discovered she had been murdered. Too late, I guess. So it was premeditated murder.”
“Yep. Even more of a reason to terminate him. I’ll let you know if I learn whether he has a new card and bank account or anything else interesting that pops up.”
“Thanks, Manuel. Talk later.”
“Premeditated murder,” Jillian said. “How did anyone know she’d died without alerting the regular police?”
“A jaguar informant told us some guy named Benny Canton had his wife chained up in the house,” Val said. “Guardian agents were sent to check on her, smelled a dead body, broke in, and found her. Benny’s scent was all over the place, no one else’s. They were certain he had been the one to murder her. His saliva in the bite marks proved he’d bitten her, causing her death,” Val said.
Jillian shook her head.
Rowdy was scowling. Val kept forgetting he had dated her.
As soon as everyone finished breakfast, Val and Jillian left the dirty dishes to the men and hurried to see the woman next door. They’d worked it all out in text messages, and Val figured they’d just wing whatever they hadn’t been able to plan for. She was nervous about working with another female partner. She didn’t know Jillian well at all, what her strengths and weaknesses were, how she dealt with issues, and how well she could play along.
They reached Benny’s cabin and saw his girlfriend watching out the kitchen window. Val took a deep breath, and she and Jillian both waved at her and went to the front door and knocked.
When the woman answered, Val thought she looked pale, with dark circles around her eyes. “We saw you the other day, and we swore you were Camelia Whitson who went to school with us in San Antonio. You look just like her.”
“No. I’m Izzie Summerfield. Which school did you go to?”
“Johnson High School,” Val said.
“I went to Reagan High School.”
“Well, our mistake,” Jillian said.
“You sure look like her. Doesn’t she, Jillian?”
“She sure does. I’m Jillian Greystoke, and this is my good friend for years and years, Valerie Chambers. We’re staying at the two cabins in that direction that are nearest to yours.” Jillian motioned in the direction of their cabins. “If you ever want to drop by and say hi, feel free to do so.”
“Hey, we’re going to walk to the pond right now. That’s where we were headed, but we wanted to drop by and see if you were Camelia. Do you want to go with us?” Val asked. “My boyfriend didn’t come with me. Work commitment.” She rolled her eyes. “We’ve been planning this for a whole year. So I just came by myself.”
“She came with us. If my boyfriend had done that to me, I would have dumped his butt,” Jillian said and laughed.
“One more time and I will,” Val promised.
“She’s been saying that for two years. Don’t believe her. So, did you want to come with us to the pond?” Jillian asked.
Izzie hesitated, looking as though she couldn’t decide.
“If you don’t have anything better to do,” Val said.
Izzie finally relented. “Sure. Let me grab my key.”
Yes! Val and Jillian smiled while Izzie moved into the cabin to get her key. They didn’t say anything to each other, not wanting to be overheard. Then Izzie returned and locked the door on the way out.
“Have you ever been to Belize before?” Jillian asked.
Izzie shook her head. Val wondered if she was always this quiet or just around strangers. She hoped once they shared Izzie’s name with the office, they could learn more about her. “It’s a beautiful place. You can swim in the aqua waters and enjoy lying out on the white sand beaches.”
“Snorkeling is my favorite,” Jillian said. “And horseback riding.”
That surprised Val—about the horseback riding. Maybe Jillian just said that as a conversation starter. Though Val supposed if wolves wore hunter’s spray, they wouldn’t spook the horses.
Val sighed. “Canoeing, checking out the caves, zip-lining, nature hikes. Just all kinds of stuff. How long are you going to be here?”
They reached the pond and watched the fish swimming about.
Izzie let out her breath. “I wish I could do all those things. We’re here for three weeks, but Benny…” She shrugged.
“Don’t tell me he’s not interested in doing all those fun things. I’d be in heaven if I was going to be here that long,” Jillian said.
“Like with Val’s boyfriend, Benny’s work has taken priority. I didn’t even know he had work commitments down here. He just made it sound like we were coming here on a fun vacation. He’s always working different construction jobs, sometimes out of state, and he’s too busy to take me with him. I mistakenly thought we were just here to have fun.”
So she’d known him for a while. “That means you’re stuck at the cabin? No way. We can take you around.” Val suspected Izzie didn’t want to mess up the situation with Benny, but she hoped they could get her to leave him and then they would be free to protect her and take him down. Maybe Rowdy could get friendly with her and take her away. If he thought he was rescuing a would-be victim, he might go along with it.
“We’re only here for a week, but yeah, like Val said, if you want to do anything with us girls, just let us know. We’re game.”
“What about your boyfriend?” Izzie asked Jillian.
“Oh, he’s a runner. As usual, he had to go for a run first thing. I go with him sometimes, but Val and I just wanted to take a walk around the pond and get settled in.”
“I…really didn’t believe Benny would be gone so much. I’d…Googled the location, and it looked like a real paradise.” Izzie snorted. “Unless he finishes up whatever he’s doing here soon, I can just imagine it being like this the whole time.”
“Okay, well, if he’s gone on business, just come over and we’ll do something. Since you’ve never been here before, you choose. Or we can take you on some of our fun adventures.” Val would love to get her out of there and as far away from Benny as they could.
“Howard loves to do his own thing too, a lot. That’s why Val and I wanted to take this trip together. So we wouldn’t feel stuck in the cabin for hours with nothing but four walls to stare at.”
“I feel like that when Benny leaves in the car. I’m stuck here, and I don’t know what to do with myself. I don’t know the area, and I’m afraid to wander off by myself.”
“Well, leave it to us, and we can be your tour guides. So, do you still live in San Antonio?” Val asked, leading the way around the pond.
“Yeah. I leave sometimes, but I keep returning home.”
“To family?”
“Nah, just to the familiar surroundings.”
Val said, “I hear ya. We both are elementary-school teachers in the Houston area now. We couldn’t wait to get away from school, and now we’re back in the school system. Go figure.” Val had thought elementary-school teachers sounded tame and nonthreatening enough.
“Oh, I can’t imagine teaching kids all day. I’m a secretary at a real estate office.”
“Ever meet any rich billionaires looking for a mansion?” Jillian asked.
Izzie laughed, the first time she had lightened up since they’d met her.
“I met Benny when he came looking to buy some rental property.”
“Not a billionaire, I take it,” Jillian said, sounding disappointed.
Izzie smiled. “He makes really good money. But no, not a billionaire. I’ve met some really rich buyers, and lots who were mortgaged to the hilt, trying to purchase a place, who had the income but not enough collateral. You meet all kinds.”
Hmm, okay, so Val was thinking Izzie had met him at the club. “I bet. It would be a lot different than teaching all those little kids every day.” Val pointed to the island in the center of the pond. “Look at the turtles on the island.”
Izzie sighed. “And they’re not even afraid of us. It’s so different from San Antonio.”
They saw a couple of howler monkeys in a tree on the other side of the pond.
“See the howler monkeys? Don’t leave your doors or windows open unless they have screens, or one of them could get in and start eating your fruit. Two of them got into my cabin and not only ate some of my oranges but threw them at me!” Val said.
Izzie chuckled.
Jillian laughed. “You should have heard her and the monkeys screaming. Howard ran right over to save her.”
Izzie glanced at Val. “Did he?”
“Yeah. He scared them right out the door. I would have done it once I got over my initial shock.”
Izzie smiled, and they resumed their walk.
Val was glad they could make her feel a little better, considering what she’d gotten herself into by making friends with Benny.
“Okay,” Izzie said, “I’ll talk to Benny and see if he can give me his work schedule, and then I can ask if you’re free to do something when he’s gone.”
Val was afraid that would mean a no if he was really controlling. But she still had high hopes they could remove Izzie easily from the situation. Since he did construction work in the States, she wondered what kind of business Benny had to do all the time while he was here. She would have asked, but she wanted to keep the interrogation to a minimum, afraid she’d clue Izzie in that they were either annoyingly nosy—and then she wouldn’t want to have anything to do with them—or they weren’t who they said they were.
They walked her back to her cabin and exchanged phone numbers.
“Let us know if you want to get together,” Val said, and they left her off at her cabin.
“Thanks, I really had a nice walk with you both. I’m sure we can get together.”
Val wasn’t sure they could, if Izzie had to get Benny’s permission.
They all said bye, and Jillian and Val continued on their way to Jillian and Howard’s cabin. Inside, Howard and Rowdy were waiting for them.
“Okay, what do we have?” Howard asked, fixing coffee for everyone.
Val was already calling Izzie’s name in to Manuel. “Hey, need you to find out everything you can on Izzie Summerfield of San Antonio. Okay, thanks.” She ended the call.
Jillian was telling Howard and Rowdy all they had learned when Manuel called back with the info. Val said, “Manuel verified where Izzie was living—an apartment in Universal City—and her place of employment: a real estate office near there. No husband or children, parents live on the south side of San Antonio, no siblings. She graduated from Reagan High School, no higher education. She’s never been married, never had kids, and she does volunteer work at a pet shelter after hours. So she can’t be all bad.”
“Do you think she’ll call you to get together?” Howard sounded hopeful.
“I think she was afraid to upset Benny if she took off to have fun with us, even if he’s off working all the time. I think she’s unhappy being stuck at the cabin with nothing to do. So hopefully she’ll get together with us. Maybe Rowdy could get friendly with her and ‘steal’ her away and that will make our job easier.”
“You ladies did a great job. I’d say you might have gotten somewhere with her,” Rowdy said.
“Did you doubt it?” Val asked.
Rowdy smiled. “Not even for a second. As to me ‘stealing’ her away, I could try, but I’m not sure I’d do a good job of it.”
“Well, we could say you were another friend who dropped by and take you with us if she says she wants to go somewhere. I was thinking Jillian might offer to go somewhere with her because I couldn’t, for some reason. PMS or something. And then Rowdy could run into you and Izzie and make friends,” Val said.
“Okay, we could sure try that,” Jillian agreed.
Rowdy nodded, and Val was glad he seemed willing to help them however he could.
“One other thing I thought was odd. She said he’d never taken her anywhere fun, and it sounded like she’d known him a while.”
“While he was mated to Lucy?” Howard asked.
“Yes, it did sound like that,” Jillian agreed.
“Huh, well, it’s possible he was seeing her while he had his mate confined to the house,” Howard said. “I wouldn’t be surprised at anything we might learn concerning him.”
They waited that afternoon, listening for Benny’s car, but he didn’t return. They continued to while away the time, not wanting to go out as jaguars until night fell. They took turns napping so they could stay up that night. When it was dark enough, Howard and Val ran as jaguars while Jillian and Rowdy watched Benny’s cabin.
But all Val and Howard found were Benny’s old scent trails. When they returned, they saw his car parked at the cabin and heard wild lovemaking going on in one of the bedrooms.
Val sighed, and then she and Howard ran back to his cabin. There, they shifted and dressed.
“I guess when they get back together, the sex makes all the waiting worthwhile,” Val said, disappointed. She had hoped Izzie would give up on Benny, but Val didn’t want her to fight with him either, in case that could make him angry enough to kill her.
“Yeah, here I thought you might have swayed her into thinking he wasn’t worth being with,” Howard said.
Jillian shook her head. “We won’t give up.”
“I’m going back to my cabin, and we can try again early tomorrow morning,” Val said.
“Night, Val. Sleep well.” Jillian yawned.
“I’ll walk you back,” Howard said to Val.
“I’ll be fine. Get your rest. I want to be out there early.”
“Gotcha. See you before first light,” Howard said.
“I’ll head out with her,” Rowdy said. He left her at her cabin before he went off in the dark with a flashlight to find his way to his own. Val admired him for not being afraid of the dark or the rain forest when he couldn’t see like they could.
* * *
Val was normally an early riser, but she’d gotten up especially early. She was determined to catch Benny this time and couldn’t believe she’d missed Howard’s text messages yesterday morning. This time, she had her phone in the bathroom while she showered. She suspected Howard hadn’t risen as early this morning and hoped she wouldn’t have to wait long for him to join her. She would have just gone off on her own already. Intending to run over to his and Jillian’s cabin and wake him, she opened her front door some, shifted, and leaped to the bottom of the steps.
And ran straight into a large, male jaguar. Not Benny. Not anyone she knew.
Shocked to see him, she gulped and didn’t even have time to react. But she knew from the predatory gleam in his eyes that he wasn’t there to be friends with her.
The jaguar tore into her, biting her in the shoulder, then struck her on the head with his deadly paw.
* * *
Early that morning, Howard texted Val to let her know he was headed over to her place. She didn’t text back, but he was making sure he took her with him this time no matter what. She was probably in the shower again.
He texted Rowdy after that: Val and I are taking an early morning jog to stake out Benny’s cabin. Jillian’s up and she said you could come over and visit with her before we return and have breakfast.
Howard wasn’t sure if Rowdy would even be awake at this early hour. But he’d feel better if Jillian and Rowdy could watch each other’s backs in case they had trouble while he and Val were out.
Rowdy texted: I’ll be right over. Thanks.
Howard finished his coffee. “Rowdy will be over in a few minutes, Jillian.”
“Be safe and keep Val safe.”
“I sure intend to.” He wondered what Jillian and Rowdy would talk about. Jaguars versus wolves? What life as one of them was like? The pros and cons of being a shifter versus being a human? Maybe murder investigations.
Howard stripped out of his clothes in the bedroom and shifted. When he left the bedroom, Jillian opened the front door for him, and he raced outside and into the trees to reach Val’s cabin. All he could think of was connecting with Val and possibly eliminating Benny this morning.
When he reached her cabin, he didn’t see any sign of her, but her door was wide open. Which gave him pause. He smelled a new male jaguar’s scent and, damn it, blood! Hell.
Already his adrenaline was roaring through his veins. The male’s scent wasn’t Benny’s. Howard heard rustling inside Val’s bedroom. He ran inside the cabin, thinking it had to be her, but he smelled the man’s scent all the way through the cabin. As soon as he reached the bedroom, he saw a naked, muscular man searching through Val’s things. Heart thundering, Howard was ready to kill the bastard. The man turned to see Howard coming for him. The man’s mouth was bloodied, and his steely blue eyes widened right before he shifted into a golden jaguar.
Howard slammed into the jaguar, conscious that he needed to keep him alive to learn where Val was. He didn’t want to consider that she could be dead. The man wasn’t injured. Which meant he had to have wounded Val, and she hadn’t had the chance to strike back at him.
Filled with white-hot rage, Howard sank his teeth into the jaguar’s flank. The cat was moving so much that Howard was having a time getting a firm hold to take him down. This asshole could have easily taken out an unprepared female jaguar, but he wouldn’t stand a chance against Howard. Not as angry as he was. Even so, the cat’s teeth grabbed hold of Howard’s shoulder. Lucky damn strike for the cat, but he wouldn’t get another.
Howard whipped around, growling, intent on getting hold of the cat’s skull. They tussled, claws gouging, trying to get purchase to hold on to each other so they could bite at will. It would be better if Howard could just strike and not leave a bite that said a jaguar killed the man, but it was too late for that. The cat was wearing plenty of bite marks. The jaguar had hold of him, but Howard struck out with his paw, slamming it against the cat’s head. The other jaguar released his hold on Howard, looking dazed for a second, then lunged for another showdown. Howard leaped straight into the air, calculating where the other cat would be, landed on top of him, dug his claws into the cat’s flesh, and bit the cat in the skull, crushing it. There was no chance of questioning the bastard about Val.
Without wasting another second, Howard raced through the cabin. He didn’t smell Val’s blood inside, so the bastard must have injured her outside and taken her somewhere else. If she could have, she would have crawled to his and Jillian’s cabin for help. And that had him sweating it out, praying she was still alive.
He leaped out of the cabin door, landing on the path below the cabin, and raced around the area, feeling panicked and searching earnestly for Val. He was glad he’d asked Rowdy to stay with Jillian, in case Benny had anything to do with this. More of these men could be here, ready to take them out if they realized Val wasn’t on her own. He suspected they believed she was a single Enforcer agent here by herself.
His heart thundering, Howard kept smelling blood but not Val’s scent. She would have been wearing hunter’s spray to run with him this morning. He was afraid the blood he was smelling was hers. She wouldn’t have disappeared otherwise. And the man was wearing blood where he’d bitten someone before Howard killed him.
Howard wanted to call out to Val in his jaguar’s roar, but he couldn’t in case others were holding her hostage. They might kill her if they knew he was coming to aid her.
He had to believe she was alive. Injured, but alive.
When he reached the river, he saw a jaguar body. Val’s.
His heart nearly gave out.
She wasn’t moving at all. His mouth dry as sand, he ran toward her. She hadn’t shifted into her human form, which meant she wasn’t dead, but she could still be close to death. That’s when he saw movement in the river and turned to look. Two black Morelet’s crocodiles were swimming toward the shore, their long, ridged tails sweeping the brackish water back and forth. One of the crocodiles was nearly ten feet in length, the other around eight feet. Either could kill Val in the shape she was in. They were a danger to humans, not normally to jaguars, but with Val lying there unresponsive and bleeding, she would be easy prey.
Howard wouldn’t have enough time to shift into human form and carry her away from the river before the first crocodile reached her. He nuzzled her face to tell her he was there for her if she was conscious. She didn’t respond, but he didn’t have time to stay with her. He ran full force to meet up with the larger crocodile, which was closer.
Jaguars were stalk-and-ambush predators, unlike other big cats that chased down their prey. But crocodiles were also ambush predators and coordinated with one another to go after their prey. Which meant Howard had to ensure the other crocodile didn’t attack him when he went to take out the bigger one.
It would have been much easier, and safer, for Howard to attack from the back of the crocodile, grab the beast with his claws, and bite into his head. That’s how a jaguar would normally take one down. Howard couldn’t sneak up on the crocodile, so he had to watch for the jaws of the beast. He leaped nearly twenty feet, hoping that maneuver would help him kill the first of the crocodiles. Howard landed on the croc’s back, but he was turned the wrong way. He whipped around to kill the croc as he would have done if he’d been in the right position. Not that the crocodile was waiting for him to get into the correct killing form.
It whipped around, trying to bite at Howard, but Howard was too agile, too focused on protecting Val. His claws dug into the croc’s sides while he struggled to hold on to the fighting reptile.
The croc thrashed to return to the water, the smaller one coming to his aid. The smaller one was quicker than the other, but Howard bit into the larger croc’s head and crushed its skull. Then he whipped around to take care of the other menace.
The croc’s jaws were wide open, but then it began backing up. Howard snarled and struck at it with his paws, claws extended, needing to force the croc to leave so he was safe to take care of Val. The croc suddenly twisted around, and sweeping its tail back and forth, it slipped into the river and swam away.
Relieved but worried about Val, Howard surveyed the murky water for any other crocs. Seeing none, he turned and ran to Val. He smelled her, nuzzled his face against hers, and licked her nose, trying to get her to stir. She was bleeding, but not badly. The other jaguar must have knocked her out with a swipe of his paw. Howard prayed she didn’t have a severe head trauma.
He shifted. “Val, can you hear me? It’s me. Howard. Thor. I’m your guardian, here to protect you.”
Her eyes opened, and she even gave him a small smile, her whiskers testing the air, her nose taking in deep breaths of him, although she couldn’t smell his scent because of the hunter’s spray.
“The shifter who attacked you is dead. I’ll carry you to my cabin. Rowdy and Jillian can look after you. I need to get rid of the dead guy.”
She closed her eyes as if she was too tired to deal with any of this.
“Do you know who he was?”
She didn’t respond, and that worried Howard all over again. He lifted her into his arms and walked back to the cabin as fast as he was able to carry her, trying not to jar her too much. He just hoped he wouldn’t run into Benny or any other jaguars on the way. But he sure wondered if this guy and Benny were in league. Howard would have preferred to question the man who had injured Val first, but that hadn’t been an option. The guy had to have known he was living on borrowed time, and Howard was certain he wouldn’t have given information freely anyway. The priority had been to find Val, so Howard hadn’t had time to play games with the jaguar. He just hoped Rowdy didn’t give him trouble over killing the man.
As soon as he reached his and Jillian’s cabin, Howard called out, “We need some help here.” He couldn’t get the door open on his own, and he didn’t want to put Val down on the porch to open the door. He kept his voice low so it wouldn’t carry. Though the proliferation of trees and vegetation muffled sounds, Jillian would be able to hear him because of her close proximity and enhanced wolf hearing.
The door opened and Jillian gasped. “I’ll get my first aid kit. You smell like you tangled with a caiman or a crocodile. And you smell of another male jaguar.”
“True on both counts.” Howard carried Val into the cabin. “The shifter who injured Val is dead in her cabin.”
Jillian shut the door and rushed to get the first aid kit.
Rowdy hurried to get water and some towels. “I take it you had to kill him.”
“Yeah. Talking to him or taking him hostage weren’t options.” Howard laid Val on the floor in the living room, not wanting to get blood all over the sofa.
“He was a jaguar like you?” Rowdy asked.
“Yeah. Mean son of a bitch. Almost as mean as me.”
Jillian carried the first aid kit, a pillow, and a blanket into the room. “Go get dressed. I’ll get started on her.”
Howard strode to his bedroom, pulled on a pair of Bermuda shorts, then returned to the living room.
Jillian had already tucked the pillow under Val’s jaguar head.
Knowing it would be easier for them to see her wounds if she shifted, Howard took hold of her hand and caressed it. “Val, can you shift?”
She opened her eyes and growled softly. She nodded and groaned, but she didn’t shift. Sometimes jaguars had a hard time shifting when they were badly injured. And sometimes they couldn’t shift at all until they were much better.
Val furrowed her brow, closed her eyes, and appeared to be concentrating. The change was always so swift that when she finally managed, she turned into a blur of forms. When the shift finished, she was her beautiful human self. As if it was too much for her, she closed her eyes again.
Howard quickly covered her with the blanket Jillian had brought out and called softly to her, “Val.”
Jillian shook her head. “It’s better if she’s out when I begin to sew her up.”
Rowdy had been watching the whole scenario, which again reminded Howard of how the guy should be one of them after seeing all that he had. Rowdy crouched down to help clean Val’s neck and face.
Howard would have done so, but Rowdy appeared to know what he was doing and seemed eager to earn a place with them. So far, the guy was doing all right by Howard.
Jillian stroked Val’s hair and held on to her hand. “She was lucky he didn’t kill her. He could have easily done so. Which makes me wonder if he wanted to question her about who she was and what she was doing here if he couldn’t find anything about her at her cabin. On the other hand, he left her by the river where a couple of hungry crocodiles were coming to dinner.”
Rowdy swore under his breath. “Then no one would realize a human had murdered her.”
“Not when a jaguar chewed on her too.” Again, Howard was reminded that Rowdy was thinking in human terms. It was so easy for shifters to think in both, but it would be a learning curve for Rowdy.
Jillian began to sew the bite marks on Val’s neck while Howard spoke softly to Val. “You’re one brave cat. I probably would have had a heart attack if that jaguar had blindsided me. He probably did when I came upon him in your cabin without him knowing it at first.”
“It’s not Benny’s scent on her though. And you’re wounded. You said the other cat is dead at Val’s cabin?” Jillian asked, sounding as though she would have taken him down herself if he were still alive. But as a wolf, she couldn’t kill a male jaguar. Probably not a female either. She could shoot him, but if the police found the body, they would believe a human killed a human.
“He’s lying dead in Val’s bedroom. Once I know Val’s going to pull through, I’ll take care of him.”
“Who is he if he’s not Benny?” Rowdy asked. “Hell, I thought Benny was on his own. Well, except for the girlfriend.”
“Beats me. Benny’s staying with the human woman, but she did say he was doing business down here. No telling who this guy was. I’ll take pictures of him to see if Val or our headquarters can identify him. We have a database of jaguars who pursue criminal activities. Maybe Val knows who he is, and because she recognized him, he tried to take her out. For him to have had time to wound her, then haul her off and return to search through her things, she must have left her cabin much earlier, before I arrived.”
“Was there any ID on him?” Rowdy asked, a typical question for a human homicide detective who wasn’t thinking in terms of them being shifters.
“He was wearing a jaguar coat. No pockets for his ID. But he’d shifted to search through Val’s things, probably trying to learn who she was.”
“Unless he already knew who she was and was searching for some kind of evidence on who she was after. Which means he suspected she’s here on business,” Rowdy said. “Could you be mistaken about who killed Lucy? Maybe this other shifter did.”
Howard ran his hand over Val’s forehead. “No. Benny’s saliva was in the bite marks.”
“See, this business of being able to tell people by scents—even if they’re shifters or not—is something I’d like to be able to do,” Rowdy said.
“The perks of being a shifter come with a lot of trouble too,” Howard reminded Rowdy.
Once Jillian had stitched Val’s wounds, Val stirred again.
Jillian squeezed her free hand. “How are you feeling?”
“I’ve got a headache the size of Alaska, like the first time I had two Singapore slings without eating anything all day.” Val paused to take a breath. “He bit me before I could react. I was just coming out of my cabin to get Howard, and this jaguar materialized out of the rain forest, bit me, and then knocked me out.” She closed her eyes, then opened them. “I woke to find him dragging me through the forest. I smelled the river and heard it flowing by. I must have passed out after that until one of my guardians came to rescue me.” Val offered Howard a small smile and squeezed his hand.
“That’s my job,” Howard said. “I’m going to carry you to my bed for now and then take care of the man who injured you. He’s dead, if you didn’t catch that part. Do you know who he was?”
“Not as a jaguar. I didn’t recognize his scent.”
“I’ll take pictures of him in his human form and show them to you.”
“Fingerprints too?” Rowdy asked. “I’ve got a kit. His fingerprints might be in our human database.”
“Okay, good idea.” Howard carried Val into his bedroom. After laying her in his bed, he covered her with a sheet and a light comforter.
“You’re injured.” Tenderly, Val touched his arm where his shoulder had bite marks. He also had a few wicked cuts across his side and back.
“Just a few scratches. With our fast healing, I’ll be perfectly fine in no time at all. Jillian and Rowdy are staying with you. I’ll be back shortly with pictures of the bastard.”
“All right. Be careful. We thought Benny was the only one out here, but it looks like something more is going on.”
“I’ll watch out.” Howard kissed Val on the cheek. “Get some rest.” He turned to see Jillian watching him from the doorway. He knew that look. He wasn’t leaving until she took care of his injuries. But he wanted to get rid of the dead guy right away.
Jillian folded her arms. “Rowdy’s gone to get his fingerprint kit, and I’ll stitch you up before you leave.”
“No time.”
“It’s completely dark out yet. You’ll have plenty of time.” Jillian made Howard come with her. “You know, you are the worst of us when you’re injured.”
Val chuckled. Howard wished Jillian hadn’t said that in front of her.
As soon as Jillian had sewn Howard up in the living room, Rowdy came back with the fingerprint kit.
“I’ll go with you and get his fingerprints. And then return to watch over the women,” Rowdy said.
“Do you have a gun?”
“Yeah, and Jillian said she has one too.”
“She does. She can handle a big cat with one, probably not as a wolf though. It would still be better to take care of them as jaguars. I’ll finish dressing, and we’ll go over there,” Howard said.
After Howard dressed, he and Rowdy headed through the trees to Val’s cabin, climbed the steps, and entered the cabin. Rowdy locked the door behind them.
When they reached Val’s bedroom, Rowdy saw the man’s torn-up body and glanced at Howard as if he thought he had killed an unarmed, naked human.
“He was a jaguar when he tore into me and Val. Remember?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“In death, we turn into our human form.”
“Okay, gotcha. It just takes some getting used to. When I see a dead body, no weapon on him, well, it’s easy to assume he’s the victim. Especially the way he’s torn up. But then again, so were you and Val.” Then Rowdy frowned. “How are you going to take care of the body? Won’t you need my help?”
Howard smiled. “As a jaguar, I can carry a lot of weight.”
“Ah, yeah, right. I’ve done a lot of research about wolves, but I haven’t learned anything about jaguars.”
“We’ll have to let you in on our secrets.”
“Much appreciated.” Rowdy took the dead guy’s fingerprints and Howard’s cell phone. “What if Benny or some other jaguar attacks you while you’re trying to dispose of the body? Can you roar for help?”
“In my jaguar chuffing way, but yeah, Val and Jillian will hear me.”
“Something else I’d love to be able to do.”
Howard smiled.
Rowdy shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m aiding and abetting in the disposal of a dead body.”
“A would-be murderer. And if Benny hired him to take Val out, he’s probably done this kind of thing before.”
“I’m sure you’re right.”
“All right. Be back soon.” Howard began removing his clothes.
“I’ll get the door for you and clean everything up.” Rowdy looked a little unsettled that Howard was going to carry off a dead body with his jaguar teeth.
If he was going to be a shifter, Rowdy would have to learn about their world and what they would do to keep it secret. Howard did appreciate that Rowdy was willing to help them out though.
Howard shifted and grabbed hold of the dead guy’s arm. Even though jaguars had the strongest bite of all the big cats—beating out both lions and tigers—they could be gentle too, the female carrying a cub safely in her jaws. Howard didn’t intend to injure the guy any more than he already had.
Rowdy watched Howard as he pulled the dead guy out of the cabin, then shut the door.
Howard dragged the man over the same route he had traveled before when the guy had hauled Val to the river. Would the crocodiles still be around after Howard had killed one? He saw two on the bank across the river. They were opportunistic hunters. If he left a meal for them, they’d eat it.
He dragged the dead man into the river and let the current pull the body away, then returned to shore. The crocodiles watched Howard, but their supper was getting away from them. They both left the riverbank and swam after the dead man. Good. Less of him for anyone to find that way.
Howard glanced in the direction of Benny’s cabin. Rowdy was with Jillian, the two of them able to protect Val while she was recovering. Howard couldn’t miss the opportunity to prowl around Benny’s cabin. When he finally drew near, he saw Benny’s car was still there.
As Howard moved even closer to the cabin, he listened for a sign of anyone but didn’t hear anything. No lights were on inside either.
He climbed the stairs to the door, shifted, and tried the door. It was unlocked, so he opened the door and went inside. He heard snoring in one of the bedrooms and shifted, then walked on silent jaguar paws to the room, poking his head in. Only one body was in the bed—the woman. Howard quickly checked the rest of the rooms. Benny wasn’t there. That meant he was probably running around through the rain forest. Had he known Val was here and after him? Had he hired the other jaguar to take her out?
If that was the case, the guy looked to be conspiring with other rogue jaguars. This wouldn’t be just about murdering his wife any longer.