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The night had passed slowly as he’d patrolled, checking the fences and double checking every gate and doorway, keeping his thoughts light and fighting the urge to return to the house and her bed. Instead, he’d spent time getting to know the animals in her care, building trust so that should something happen he hoped they would listen to him as Ares had done. He’d never spent so much time touching the thoughts of wild animals, and it surprised him to realize they felt affection for each other, and for Raven. It was a different flavour than the human emotion, but he recognized it nonetheless.
He slipped back into her bed in the darkest hours of the morning and folded her into his arms before falling asleep, her warmth driving the chill out of his bones.
Raven sighed in her sleep and curled into his arms, her warmth sending him to sleep, each giving comfort to the other as they dreamed.
The sun had barely risen when the phone rang, dragging Raven up out of a deep sleep. She made a blind grab for the receiver and managed to get it to her ear without opening her eyes.
“Hello?” Her voice was roughened with sleep as she answered.
“Last night? Around midnight? No, that’s not possible. All my animals are secure in their pens Mr. Jenzen.”
She sat up and gestured wildly to Malyk to do the same, worry written all over her face. “I understand your concern Mr. Jenzen, but I assure you that whatever you saw last night, it wasn’t one of my cats.”
“I don’t think that’s really necessary sir, but if you insist, of course, I’ll be happy to show you and Sergeant Black around the sanctuary if it makes you feel more confident. Perhaps this afterno—now? No Mr. Jenzen, it's seven-thirty in the morning, the detachment isn’t even open yet, not to mention you just woke me up. You may not come now.” She held the phone away from her ear as an angry voice continued to speak.
Mal took the phone out of her hand and interrupted the caller’s diatribe. “Mr. Jenzen is it? You’re being quite rude. Ms. Thorne has already expressed her willingness to have you as a guest on her property, I suggest you take the next few hours to calm yourself, and we will meet you here at nine o’clock. Of course Sgt Black is welcome to come along. Who am I? I’m in charge of security, my name is Malyk.” He paused and then nodded. “That will be fine Mr. Jenzen. We’ll see you then.”
He handed the phone back to Raven who was trying to smother a horrified laugh at what he had done. Once she’d hung up the phone, she collapsed on the bed and stared at him. “Do you know who that is?”
“A pain in the ass?” Mal rumbled, still clearly annoyed.
“Well yes, but he’s a bigwig on the local counsel type of pain in the ass. He owns several of the businesses in town and has a lot of influence. He said he saw a big cat prowling around his chicken coop last night, and he’s convinced it’s one of mine.”
She shot Malyk a panicked look. “It isn’t possible is it?”
“I stayed out there for hours, little bird. There’s no way it was one of ours. When I came in at four o’clock, everyone was safe and accounted for. Get dressed and we’ll go see if they’re all still where I left them.” He grabbed the bag of clothes he’d packed yesterday and started going through them. “Are there any wild cats on the island?”
Raven yanked on a sweater and shook her head. “No wild population, but occasionally a cougar will make the swim across Sansum Narrows. There’s a resident population over on Vancouver Island and the young males sometimes travel this far. Jenzen is one of the ones who moved into the neighbourhood a few years back and now he’s keen to shut me down, the dangers of having wild animals near human populations and all that. He moved next to me, though, it's not like we weren’t here first.” She sighed. “He’s not going to be easily convinced everything is fine here.”
Malyk crossed his arms across his broad chest and gave her the same grim, intimidating look he’d given Carter the other day. “I’m very good at convincing people, especially when I know I’m right.”
She laughed as she hopped around the bedroom, wrestling her socks on. “Yes, you are. Now don’t waste that look on me, I’m not the one who needs convincing.” On the verge of saying more, she bit her tongue, and half sprinted for the door. “I’ll get coffee on while you finish dressing. I’ll see you downstairs in two minutes!”
* * * *
She barely had the coffee started when she heard Mal enter the kitchen. She turned to greet him and squeaked in shock at his transformation. His hair was tied back snugly with what looked to be a bit of leather, and he’d not bothered to shave. The black shirt he wore was loose fitting and appeared to actually lace up across his chest, and his black jeans were tucked into a pair of heavy leather boots.
“That’s exactly the effect I was looking for.” He held out a hand to her. “Let’s go make sure the kids are all where I left them.”
“If you were going for big, bad and intimidating, I think you nailed it.” She laced her fingers through his and let him lead her out of the kitchen. She was halfway down the path when she stopped and blinked at him. “And did you just refer to several thousand pounds of collective carnivores as kids?”
“I did. They all think you’re something of a mother to them, so it fits.”
“I don’t want to know how you know that, do I?” she muttered as they headed off again.
“Probably not.”
They checked every enclosure and greeted each cat, and once they had accounted for them, all Raven finally relaxed. “They’re all here. It’s not that I doubted you, but sometimes you just have to see things with your own eyes to be sure.”
“I get it Raven. Sometimes seeing is believing.” Mal stood behind her, one arm draped loosely around her waist as they watched a pair of lynx chase each other near the gate.
“I need to find a new home for those two,” she murmured as she watched the siblings play. “They’re nearly full grown. I’ve been putting it off, but they’re going to need more space than I can give them here.”
“They’re still so young, can’t they be released back into the wild?”
“Unfortunately no. They were illegally taken from their mother and sold as pets when they were cubs. They have no idea how to survive in their natural habitat. Hopefully, we can find them a good zoo with a breeding program so their genetic line isn’t lost forever.” She realized she was saying we instead of I and wondered if Mal had noticed.
Easy does it, don’t overdo things! He’s here now, but if I push... he might go, and the sanctuary needs him more than I do.
“We’ll find them a good home then,” he said with assurance.
Raven nearly melted with relief at his use of the word we. Maybe there was hope after all.
“I don’t know about you, but if I’m going face a cranky neighbour and the RCMP in an hour, I’m going to need coffee, and a quick shower.” Raven ran a hand through her still tousled hair and sighed as she felt the knots in it. “Why didn’t you tell me I look like I got dragged through a hedge backward?”
“Because you look gorgeous.” He informed her simply and turned them both so they were facing the house again. “And you’d look good even if you did get dragged backward through a hedge.”
“Clearly, you need coffee, your eyesight is failing you.” She teased him and started the hike back to the house.
“You’re beautiful Raven, never doubt it,” he murmured and followed after her, and she could feel his eyes on her ass every step back to the house.
Raven had just enough time to shower and down half a cup of coffee before their visitors arrived. But it was more than enough time to work up a fine set of nerves and more than a little anger that she’d been woken up and accused of letting her animals run amok without so much as a chance to defend herself. At the first sound of an engine, she was headed for the door on a full head of steam, ready to give everyone a piece of her mind.
“Whoa!” Malyk reached out and hooked an arm around her, tugging her back against him firmly. “One of us needs to be calm and rational here, and since I’m the one who apparently looks big, bad and intimidating, I’m going to suggest you be the calm one.”
“I don’t want to be calm. I’m always calm. And polite, and reasonable, and look where that’s got me!” She twisted within his hold so she could look up at him, her eyes flashing with frustration.
“You are really, really cute when you’re mad.” He grinned at her and then burst out laughing as she growled up at him.
“Not, now!” She actually caught herself in the act of stamping her foot and stopped herself. “Oh damn, I really am a bit over the top, aren’t I?”
“Just a bit.” He bent down and brushed a slow kiss over her lips, sending a frisson of heat skittering through her. “But I like it.”
“It’s really hard to stay mad when you do that,” she sighed, and some of the tension melted away.
“That’s the idea, little bird. Now let’s go deal with this pain in the ass neighbour of yours. The sooner he gets the tour and accounts for all the fangs and claws, the sooner he’ll go, and we can get back to dealing with Carter.” Mal shook his head as he let her go. “How did one woman manage to attract so many problems?”
“Must be my perfume,” she muttered and headed for the front door just as footsteps started coming up the walkway, Mal only two steps behind her.
“Mr. Jenzen, Sergeant, good morning.” Raven’s voice was light, and Malyk had to hide a smile as he felt her establish control over her hotter emotions.
“Sergeant, you’ve met Malyk of course, Mr. Jenzen, this is Malyk.”
The older man gawked slightly as he took in the tower of blonde animosity looming behind Raven. “Oh, yes of course. I spoke to you on the phone this morning.”
He gave Raven a knowing look. “I wasn’t aware Ms. Thorne had started opening her home to her employees.”
Mal growled and arched a brow at the smaller man. “Ms. Thorne and I have a unique working relationship.”
The sergeant stifled a grin behind his hand and stepped up onto the porch. “I wasn’t expecting to be back this way so soon, Raven, things still quiet?”
“Dana’s not working here any longer. It turns out she had another employer.” Raven looked sad for a moment. “Malyk figured it out.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. You do seem to have had more than your share of trouble lately.” Sergeant Black glanced back at Jenzen. “He insists he saw a cat last night, and he’s convinced it’s one of yours. You understand why I had to follow up?”
Raven nodded. “Of course, you’re just doing your job. And honestly, if there’s another cougar on the island it needs to be found and removed before it gets hurt or hurts someone.”
“Oh, it wasn’t a cougar.” Jenzen shook his head. “It was big and black, not tawny.”
“That’s not possible. There are no wild cats fitting that description in this part of the world,” Raven argued.
“I know what I saw Ms. Thorne, and it was not a cougar.” Jenzen gestured to the property beyond the house. “You have a black panther here, I know you do. I’d like very much to see him if you don’t mind.”
“You didn’t see a panther Mr. Jenzen.” Malyk’s tone was sharp as he stepped off the porch to stand beside the older man, and Raven wondered what the hell he was doing. “In fact, you didn’t see anything at all.”
“I beg your pardon!” Jenzen jerked himself to his full height and frowned up at Malyk. “Are you calling me a liar?”
“I am.” Malyk fixed Jenzen with a steely glare, his golden brown eyes narrow and filled with distrust. “You didn’t see anything last night, someone else did; someone who isn’t here right now.”
Sergeant Black cleared his throat and took a step toward the two men, but then Jenzen lowered his gaze, and his shoulders slumped slightly.
“I don’t know how you could know that, but you’re right, it was my wife who saw it. She was too afraid to come out here, thought there were a bunch of wild animals running loose.”
“Your wife?” the sergeant sighed and jotted something down in his well-worn notebook. “Mr. Jenzen, this is a certified sanctuary, legal and licensed. I came out here because you claimed you saw an animal from this sanctuary on your property last night. I’m starting to think this is all just a waste of time.”
Mal didn’t take his eyes off of Jenzen. “I was patrolling the property until early morning, and no animals escaped. We have done another inspection this morning, and every animal is accounted for, and every enclosure has been checked. Whatever your wife thought she saw last night, it was not one of our cats, and it most certainly was not Ares.” Malyk turned and walked away, leaving the others to follow him down to the enclosures.
The rest followed as Raven gave the two men a brief explanation of the sanctuary’s layout and purpose. Malyk took them straight to Ares’ enclosure and walked in, closing the gate behind him. The moment the gate clanged shut he set his fingers to his lips and whistled sharply, and a few minutes later Ares appeared.
“This is Ares, the only black panther on the island Mr. Jenzen.” Raven pointed beyond the fence and Malyk to where the panther stood, watching them with impassive yellow eyes. “As you can see, he’s quite secure.” The all stood very quietly as the big cat prowled over to where Mal stood.
Malyk just crouched down and began rubbing Ares’ ears, laughing when the cat pushed in hard enough to nearly topple him over. “He’s not exactly a threat to anyone either. He just wants to be left alone for the most part,” he explained over his shoulder, hands still busy stroking Ares’ ears.
Raven picked up the narrative. “He came here badly abused and injured. We’re doing our best to treat him, get him healthy and then likely find a zoo or other organization to take him permanently. I don’t have the money to keep most of them for long, so it’s a never-ending struggle to find a permanent place where they can be safe and cared for.”
Malyk gave the cat one last tussle and stood, deliberately turning his back on the big predator as he returned to the gate and let himself out again before turning to the others. “Who told your wife there was a panther here Mr. Jenzen?”
Understanding dawned in Raven’s eyes in the moment before Jenzen spoke.
“That Dana girl. She’s been coming to my store for weeks, full of stories about this place. Such a lovely girl, so enthusiastic about her work here. She’s been telling my wife all about the animals and the problems you’ve been having Ms. Thorne.”
“Problems?” Raven frowned, clearly not liking where this was going. “What problems exactly?”
“Why the fencing getting old, and how you’ve not been able to afford proper repairs for some time, not since there was that investigation into your licensing.” Jenzen glanced around, realizing for the first time how secure and well-maintained everything was around him. “Funny, she made it sound as though this place was ready to fall down around your ears. It doesn’t quite seem that way now I’m here.”
“What investigation?” Mal settled a comforting hand on her shoulder as if he sensed Raven’s temper flaring. “There’s been no investigation. The sanctuary was inspected just this summer, and we passed with flying colours, as always.”
“I see.” Jenzen frowned. “She had my wife quite worried about security here, and of course, we were all saddened that the children’s charity camp wasn’t going to be built if you didn’t sell. It seemed like such a noble cause.”
“There are no plans for a children’s camp Mr. Jenzen. Evergreen wants to build an exclusive, gated resort here. Spa, pools, security everywhere. I’ve seen the plans.” She threw up her hands in frustration. “I think you need to be aware that Dana wasn’t what she pretended to be. It seems she was actually in the employ of Jerry Carter, the developer who has been trying to get me to sell. She’s obviously been doing more than just spying on me, she’s been spreading rumours and lies, trying to get people worried about what’s going on here and misrepresenting everything.”
Jenzen sighed again, and Sergeant Black started making more notes, taking a few steps back from the others to do so.
“It would seem, Ms. Thorne, that I owe you an apology.” Jenzen offered Raven his hand, a look of sincere regret on his face. “I know better than to put much weight in gossip, but I managed to get drawn in, as have several others, my wife among them. I’m sorry to have made accusations about Ares here, when it’s clear he’s not been roaming about. It would seem my wife’s imagination got the better of her. I will make sure she and the others know the truth of things. I imagine that will make a few of your more pressing financial issues easier.” He cleared his throat. “I believe some people have let their concerns about this place get in the way of their business sense. I would like very much to see the rest of your operation, though if you have the time?”
“I would like that, and I would really appreciate you helping get the truth out, I had no idea things had gotten so out of hand, no one ever said a word to me.” Raven shrugged, and then glanced over to the sergeant, who waved them on.
“I’ll just finish up here and head back to the office. I’ve got a sudden urge to run a few names through the computer and see what pops up,,” he said, tapping his notebook.
Raven nodded to the sergeant and then gestured for Jenzen to follow her. “If you’d like to see the rest, I’d suggest we take the ATV. It’ll be faster and a lot less muddy.”
“Sounds fun.” Now that his worries seem to have been addressed, Jenzen was becoming much more personable. “And please, call me Jacob. I know we’ve never had much reason to be friendly before, but I would like to change that.” He looked apologetic again. “It’s the least I can do for waking you up at the crack of dawn and accusing you of negligence.”
“Apology accepted, Jacob.” Raven let a smile light up her face as she looked from Jacob to Mal, suddenly feeling confident that things were looking up. “Why don’t you call your wife and reassure her that you’ve not become a panther’s breakfast, and I’ll go get the ATV?”
Jacob pulled out his cell phone and nodded, already dialing as Raven flashed a grin at Malyk. “Thank you. If you hadn’t been here, I wouldn’t have been able to do this.”
Malyk leaned down and stole a quick kiss before answering her in a low whisper. “Yes, you would have. You’re a survivor, sweetheart. You’d have found a way to make this right. But I’m glad I could help.” In a louder voice, he added. “I’m going to leave you two to the tour and head back to the house. I’ve got some a few ideas I want to look into.”
