At Jillian’s cabin, Vaughn said, “Okay, so we talked of all staying in one cabin before Everett and Demetria said they were arriving. We won’t have an extra bedroom, but the couch in each of the cabins makes into a bed.”
“We can draw straws and decide who takes the couch,” Val said as they entered the cabin.
Howard would have been sleeping there if he hadn’t just found a mate. And since Val didn’t even know Everett and Demetria, Howard preferred that he and Val had a bedroom.
Everyone straightened up the place, and then they congregated in the kitchen to make lunch.
“We’ll take the couch.” Jillian pulled out the ingredients for the meal.
Howard really thought jaguars should sleep in the living room, in case anyone had the notion of breaking in. They would be foolhardy if they did. Everyone would be sleeping naked and ready to shift at a moment’s notice.
“Unless Everett or Demetria don’t want to go along with it, I vote they stay in the living room. Better protection for everyone,” Howard said.
“That’s what happens when you come last to the party.” Jillian smiled and began cooking sliced chicken in a pan, adding chicken broth and seasonings to a corn dough, then steaming tamales in plantain leaves.
Howard was certain the Andersons wouldn’t mind in the least. They’d been mated the longest, though it hadn’t been all that long. Last year, actually. He pulled out bottles of water for them while they worked on lunch. Val set the table.
The aroma of the seasoned chicken made Howard’s stomach rumble. Val ran her hand over his stomach and smiled up at him. He was hungry for her too.
“So which cabin should we stay at?” Val asked as they sat down at the table to eat.
“I’d say we should stay here, since it’s closer to Benny’s cabin. Just in case,” Jillian said.
Vaughn mixed up margaritas for everyone.
Everyone agreed. The one room had already been Howard’s, so Val could move right in with him. And Jillian and Vaughn had been staying in the other room.
“I wonder if they ransacked Rowdy’s cabin. They would have smelled his scent around our places and the drug house where we had the fight, so they’ll know he was with us. And maybe believe he’s still with us.” Howard picked up his tamale.
“Unless someone else has already moved into the cabin,” Val said.
“True.” Howard bit into his tamale. “Damn good.”
“They are. I love making a different version back home, so I wanted to try this one out here. Now when we return, it will feel like we’ve brought some of Belize with us,” Jillian said.
“We need to learn to make them.” Val smiled at Howard. “As to the bad guys, they probably believe Rowdy’s here to help us fight them and that he wouldn’t run off like that. We could check Rowdy’s cabin after lunch. Somebody else might be staying there and get a real shock.”
Jillian sipped some of her margarita. “I had another thought. Eric and the others would have smelled Emmie’s and Izzie’s scents at our cabins. They might have been trying to learn if the women were still here too.”
“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that,” Val admitted.
Vaughn pulled out his cell. “I need to bring the Andersons up to speed.” He called them and put it on speaker. “Hey, guys.” He told them all that had happened.
Everett swore. “You guys haven’t taken them down yet? I was hoping we could land and just have a vacation.”
“Yeah, I know you want to take part in this,” Howard said. “Besides, we already took some time off to enjoy the beach.”
“Don’t tell Demetria that. She packed bathing suits, beach towels, and suntan lotion. I keep telling her we’re on a mission first,” Everett said.
Everyone smiled. Jillian said, “Soon, we hope.”
“We have two cabins, but we’re putting the two of you on the couch in one and we’ll take the bedrooms. Last one to show up, you know…” Howard said.
Everett laughed. “Sounds like a good plan to me. We just hope we don’t disturb your sleep too much if the couch is kind of squeaky. Wait, you’re staying with Val?”
“Yeah, we’re mated.”
Jillian raised her margarita to the newly mated couple.
Howard knew the wolves were pleased to see them mate and bring Val onto the team.
“Well, hot damn!” Everett said. “We’re getting ready to board our flight. We’ve got some celebrating to do when we meet up with you.”
Demetria said, “Congratulations, you two. Can’t wait to see you.”
“Same here,” Howard said, and then they signed off so the Andersons could board their plane. “Okay, so the sleeping arrangements are all set.”
Once they finished their lunch, Val poured everyone a glass of lemonade, and they all took seats in the living room. “Okay, so what’s their next move? And our next move?”
“I don’t think Eric will leave until he takes us out and gets his stuff back,” Jillian said. “He probably assumes we couldn’t have taken his money and drugs anywhere, not counting on the Guardians leaving on a private plane.”
“I agree.” Vaughn took a swig of his glass of lemonade.
“We keep hitting him hard. I suspect he’s going to want to return here and take us out but learn first where his stash is. We brought both Emmie and Izzie here for safekeeping, more of their ‘property,’ I’m sure Eric and Benny feel. The cabins are our safe houses. By ransacking them and breaking into our cars, they’re telling us to be afraid of them. That we’re not safe, here or anywhere else. Belize is their territory.” Howard drank some of the lemonade. “Great stuff.”
“Thanks.” Val smiled at him. “Been giving this a lot of thought, have we?”
“Yeah. I put myself in their shoes. What’s going through their heads? Of course, they have a criminal mentality, but still, it’s a combination of tactical plans and revenge. We stole their women; we took out Eric’s brother and more of their men. We invaded their ‘safe houses’ too. It’s time for retaliation. I doubt we have to go looking for them. I imagine they’ll be coming here to fight the war. The rain forest retreat is the perfect place to fight us without being seen, and a handy place to dispose of the bodies, if they’re so inclined.”
“I agree with Howard,” Vaughn said. “So we dig in, get prepared, and take them down.”
“All right. As a former private investigator and army military intelligence officer, I’m not used to this kind of operation. I’m more used to chasing the culprit and turning him over to the authorities. In the USF, I’m chasing the perp down, not waiting for him to show up,” Jillian said. “What if we set up the other cabin as a decoy? Maybe this one too. We could turn the TV on in one of the cabins, music on in the other, lights, but keep the shades closed. Can we simulate movement in the room? Talking? Walking around? Shadows randomly moving? As former PIs, Vaughn and I both have recorders. We could set up some conversation they can hear. So they know it’s not just the TV. Maybe plans of attack that we’re contemplating.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me. I think we should have the jaguars in the trees, watching for any movement. We need to warn the Andersons about what we think might happen, or they could be ambushed when they arrive in the parking lot,” Val said.
“I agree,” Vaughn said. “They’re on their flight now, but they’ll call as soon as they get in. If the jaguars are in the trees, where do you want us to be?”
That’s what Howard loved about this team of agents. The wolves knew they were at a strong disadvantage and understood the jaguars would know better how to handle other jaguars. In wolf territory, Vaughn and Jillian took the lead.
“Okay, we can do a couple of different things that I can think of. Join us in the trees as humans, not as wolves. We know you can’t climb them as wolves. But you can be armed and stay there until we’ve dealt with Eric and the other men. Or you can stay in one of the cabins together and wait for them there if they try to come for you. We’ll come at their backs,” Howard said.
“We’d be bait then,” Vaughn said, nodding with approval.
“Or you could stay at Benny’s place,” Val said. “But then they might try to gather their forces there.”
“They’ll come at us as jaguars, don’t you think?” Jillian asked.
Howard rubbed his chin in thought. “Unless we can hit them before they shift. They have to drive in from somewhere. If they tried to run for miles to reach here, they’d be worn out before the fight began. I suspect they’ll drive as close to the resort as they can without tipping any of us off, and then they’ll shift and move through the rain forest to our location.”
“Then we should try to intercept them first. Jillian and me,” Vaughn said.
Howard knew the wolves were itching for a fight. They didn’t want to hide in a house or trees, waiting for the jaguars to finish the mission. He just hoped it all worked out as they were planning it to.
“There’s only one road in,” Jillian said. “It splits off to the various cabins, but there’s really no place to drive a vehicle and park it without someone seeing it.”
“Except at one of the cabins,” Val said. “They could park it out some way from one of the cabins so the occupants wouldn’t be aware of it unless they’re moving around at night, and most people wouldn’t be.”
“Unless they dropped off their army of jaguars and the driver left the area. Then the shifters would be running through here in their jaguar form.” Vaughn let out his breath. “Without a crystal ball, we won’t know which is the best option. Will they move in before dark, or when the sun begins to set, or after?”
“If it were me, I’d get here early, before the sun begins to set, and try to learn where everyone is first, if I could get close enough. But I might get caught by people still taking rain forest tours or just walking to the pond or on other trails. Or I might be seen by the people I’m trying to ambush if they’re already lying in wait for me.”
“So the cover of dark would be better,” Jillian said.
“We can still see well at dusk and when it’s a little darker. They’d be able to see figures moving around that are highlighted by the cabins’ lights.”
“What if we all are in one location having a celebratory party, then split up to go to the separate cabins, pretend to be drunk, turn off all the lights like we went to bed, and lie in wait?” Jillian asked.
“That’s an idea,” Howard said.
“Okay, as jaguars, we stalk and ambush,” Val said. “It’s in our blood. And wolves track, pursue, and encircle their prey. I think we should do both.”
Howard didn’t get what Val meant.
“Jillian and Vaughn track, pursue, and encircle any rogue they can find. We watch their backs. Once they’ve found one, we ambush him and take him out.” Val smiled.
“When?” Howard asked.
“Now. We look for any signs of them now, in case they’re in the area. If not, then we’ll move to plan B and wait for them, hiding in the trees. Jillian and Vaughn can choose their best plan at that point: join us, wait it out in one of the cabins, or watch from the forest and give early warning.”
“And the Andersons?” Vaughn asked.
Howard poured himself another glass of lemonade. “We’ll text them that we think Eric and his men are going to attempt to ambush us. We’re going to try to take them out before Everett and Demetria get here, but if we don’t, they need to know they may be walking into a killing zone.”
“Okay, will do.” Vaughn got on his phone and began to send the text. “They’ll be here after the sun sets. And if we don’t find anyone out there, we regroup and return here?”
“I believe we should stay out there until this is done. I’d rather not be a sitting duck in the cabins,” Howard said.
“I agree,” Val said.
“Let’s do this then,” Vaughn said.
“If anyone gets into real trouble, return to this cabin, howl, roar, let us know to regroup,” Val said.
“I’m ready.” Jillian turned on the TV and a few lights. “I’ll leave my tape recorder playing PI cases I’ve recorded.” Then she headed to the bedroom to remove her clothes.
Vaughn joined her.
Val hugged Howard. “I hope this works.”
“We can’t know what they’re up to exactly. We’re doing the best we can under the circumstances. Come on. Let’s remove our clothes and shift.”
They returned to their bedroom and took off their clothes.
“Be careful. Don’t do anything rash,” Val said.
Howard snorted. “I was going to say the same thing to you.”
They kissed and hugged, not wanting to let go. Then they shifted and headed for the front door.
Jillian and Vaughn were waiting for them in their wolf coats. Vaughn shifted and opened the door. Once everyone was out, he shut it again, then shifted.
They went to Val’s cabin, where she shifted and turned on some lights and the TV. Then she turned back into her jaguar and joined the rest of them outside.
Vaughn and Jillian began trying to track any of the men’s scents they could find in the rain forest—jaguar scents, whether they were Eric’s, Benny’s, or someone else’s. Val and Howard moved through the shadows of the trees like mythical creatures hidden from view, watching the wolves’ backs but listening and smelling and watching for any sign of danger too.
For over five hours, they searched for signs of anyone prowling the rain forest, believing they might be wrong about this. Then the wolves found their first jaguar target, and everyone froze in place.