He never thought he’d live to see the day when he was hunting three big cats—maybe genuine cougars, but jaguars? Never.
He considered Jillian in her wolf form. She was a pretty gray wolf with a blond saddle and tummy. Black guard hairs framed her light-gray muzzle. Suddenly, she turned her head to see what he was doing. Caught in the act: gawking at her. Okay, so he was a little embarrassed and gave a sheepish wolf’s grin.
He swore she smiled at him and gave a little wolf bark and a nudge, telling him she appreciated that he liked the way she looked.
As soon as they reached the clinic, Howard came out dressed, phone to his ear. “Hey, Jillian and Vaughn just made it back. I’ll call you back in a minute. As soon as they shift and dress.” He ended the call and said to Jillian and Vaughn, “Hell of a team. Jillian took after the hunter and kept him from shooting any of us, and you bit the jaguar before he bit me. Martin wants me to take this one to Dallas so they can continue questioning him there. He also wants me to take Miles, ask him to join the service and get some training under his belt.”
Jillian wagged her tail.
Howard smiled at her. “That way Demetria and Everett can stay here to help the two of you, and I’ll have someone to help transport the jaguar and aid me in the driving.”
Jillian woofed. Vaughn agreed. It sounded like a good plan.
In exam room three, Vaughn and Jillian shifted, and he shut the door so they could dress. She threw her arms around his neck before he could even move to wrap her in his arms. Naked, they held on to each other in a lovers’ embrace, kissing, tongues tangling, their hearts beating out of sync, rapidly pounding, and it had nothing to do with chasing anyone. It had all to do with the hot desire that flamed between them whenever they were together.
He wanted to make love to her here, right this very minute. But he knew they had to learn what was going on with the others, and they had to question the jaguar as soon as they could.
“I know,” Jillian said, looking up into Vaughn’s eyes. “We have to get back to work.”
“You are beautiful. You scared the pants off me when I saw you weren’t behind us, but I understand why you ran the other way.”
“I couldn’t stand the idea that the shooter might hit you or Howard. Right or wrong, I had to try to take him out. By the way, his car tag said Cat Clubber. He looked like Wayne, Kira and Brutus’s friend. But, there’s something more. The driver looked like his clone.”
“Hell. So there are two of them? A twin? Hopefully we can soon learn who he is too. But if Wayne was the other male jaguar shifter, then the one Leidolf’s man tranquilized must be Brutus.”
“I agree.”
They began getting dressed, but Vaughn couldn’t keep his eyes off her as he watched her put on each article of clothing. She smiled at him. Then he noticed she’d been watching him too.
“I don’t want to keep using old tired excuses for sleeping together, but—”
“Then we won’t. We’ll just share a bed, and someone else can use the other one if they need to.” Vaughn winked and buttoned his shirt, but she started to help.
Taking off clothes was more what he had in mind.
“Come on. Let’s go see what Demetria has to say.”
“Are you worried about your brother?”
Jillian pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at her messages. “Nope. Let me call Leidolf about the license tag really quick so he can have one of his officers run down who it belongs to.” After she did that, they left the room, but Howard led them back to the doctor’s office so they could hear what Demetria had to say in private.
Vaughn was glad to see Howard had taken a moment to get patched up and was sporting bandages on his neck and face.
Demetria said, “Congratulations on catching one of the jaguars! Miles and Everett were disappointed they hadn’t been there to take him down too. We found Kira’s mother. She had a lot to say about the whole situation.” Demetria gave them the woman’s phone number so they could hear it from the jaguar’s mouth. “She did say that Kira and her boyfriend and their friend Wayne were up near Portland, Oregon.
“She says she had no idea why they would have gone up there. But she knew all about the diving. Said that they were always looking for some get-rich-quick scheme if it meant they didn’t have to do a lot of work. I asked if her daughter had ever mentioned being friends with Miles or Douglas, and she said no. She said she was sorry for Miles hooking up with her. She said that Kira is always catting around, won’t stick with a guy for long, and if she does, woe to the guy.
“We found their home and are going through it now. Howard told us you caught Kira’s lover, sounds like, and Jillian was after the one who was trying to shoot wolves.”
“Cat Clubber was the license plate, in case you learn which one of the cats owns that vehicle,” Jillian said. “And it appears there are two of them. Twin brothers. Same look, same camo clothes.” Her phone beeped. “Wait, got a call.” She took it, thanked the caller, and said to Demetria, “Leidolf said that the car belongs to Simon Wells.”
“Not the same name as Wayne Grunsky then, if the other man was Simon,” Demetria said.
“Wells. Wasn’t that Kira’s married name?” Vaughn asked.
“Yeah, it is,” Jillian said. “What would be the likelihood that another man would have her deceased husband’s name and not be related? But if he’s not Wayne’s brother, then related in some other way. Cousins maybe? I would think they would have a family resemblance, and Kira would have been wary.”
“I agree. We’ll see what we can learn. That’s all we have for now, unless we find something in the house. Kira’s mother gave us the key. Kira had her watering her plants one year, but not any more. She just never thought to get her key back. If we don’t get any more leads, we’ll be coming home tonight.”
“That’s great. We’ll let you know if we can get anything out of the jaguar.”
Then they ended the call and Jillian called Kira’s mother, Lydia Watson, to hear the rest of the story. “I’m Jillian Matthews, an agent with the JAG branch of the USF and trying to locate your daughter, Kira. We just brought in her brother, Brutus, for questioning concerning an attack on a wolf shifter and the shooting of another jaguar.” Jillian put the call on speaker.
Lydia snorted. “Hell, she doesn’t have a brother. She’s had three husbands though. Serves her right if one of them learned what she was up to before he bit the dust. But you know no matter how far she falls, she’s just like a cat and lands on her feet. You sure she didn’t marry that cute agent-in-training? Miles Matthews?”
Jillian hadn’t expected that kind of response. “No, I hope not. Where is she now, do you know?”
“She doesn’t give me her itinerary. After her last three husbands died, I stopped keeping up with what she’s doing.”
“How…did they die?”
“Accidental deaths. She’s either the unluckiest woman in the world, or the luckiest. Not sure which.”
“Luckiest how? Were they bad news?”
“No. Hell, they were the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet. ’Course, they might have been putting on a show for the old momma so they’d win me over. But if you ask me, they didn’t need my help. I adored them, and she couldn’t care less. After that, I didn’t even want to meet them. I changed my mind when I saw Gaston Wells, her latest late husband? Oh my, he was wearing a wet suit, and if I were a few years younger, he’d have been mine. Honor student. Successful real estate agent. He bought her diamond rings fit for a queen. I’ll tell you right now, I would never get a life insurance policy and make her the beneficiary. I’ve already made it clear that what little I own will go to a cat charity and she’s not in my will.”
“Are you saying she cashed in on her prior husbands’ deaths?”
“Don’t know about the first. They were poor and young back then, so maybe not that one. She didn’t seem any richer after he died. Which was why she came back and lived with me until she m
et husband number two. Then he died of an accident. Convenient accident. Fell off a cliff. Witnesses said they hadn’t really seen how it had happened. Kira and her husband were taking pictures at a scenic outlook, and suddenly he fell. She said she was there, but much farther away because she saw an eagle flying overhead and was trying to capture a better picture of it. She thought he’d had a selfie accident, but it kind of makes you wonder. Especially when husband number three died.
“If someone were to hook up with her permanently, if I were him, I wouldn’t take out a life insurance policy on myself, just to be on the safe side. She sure had one hell of a nice windfall. She came by here with her new Cadillac convertible, dressed to snare another husband. I think she wanted to prove she was smarter than me, while I just make it from paycheck to paycheck. But, baby, you got to be able to live with yourself. She never seemed to feel any pain about their deaths either. Poor slobs. She’s clever and a master manipulator. I know because she pulled that crap on me long enough for me to finally get wise to her schemes.”
“How long were she and Gaston married?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. Well, maybe a year. He died on a scuba-diving trip. Don’t know exactly what happened. If it had been a shark attack, completely believable as far as being accidental. But he just got the bends or something. Ran out of air. I don’t know. Like I said, the second one died at a scenic overlook at the Grand Canyon. First one was in a car accident. That one might have been legitimate. Unless she just got tired of being poor and knew they could never even afford a life insurance policy.”
“Did Gaston have a couple of brothers? Maybe close cousins who were twins?” Vaughn asked.
“Not that I know of. From what Kira said, he was an only child and had no siblings. You know that’s the best person to go after if you want to kill ’em off. No family to speak of. No one to ask questions.”
So had he been estranged from his family? “Do you ever hear from her?” Vaughn asked.
“Not even for Mother’s Day. So truly, if you learn where she is, I don’t need to know. And if you’re friends with her current target, make sure he doesn’t marry her. Problem is, the guys are so moonstruck when they fall in love with her that it doesn’t matter what I say. Even if they believed she was up to no good, they’d never believe she’d feel that way about them. Got to get to my day job. Good luck with your investigation. For what it’s worth? I wouldn’t worry about her. I’d worry about him.”
“Wait, one more thing. About Brutus… Who is he really, if he’s not your son?”
Lydia gave a harsh laugh. “Some con artist too? Okay, look, I don’t have a son, never did. Maybe she adopted a brother.” She laughed again. “She’s got a picture of her and her first husband and some guy who was a close friend of theirs. So is this Brutus someone new she’s been hanging around? Or someone she’s known from the beginning? I’ll scan it and send it to you.”
After she took time to do so, Lydia said, “Sounds to me like you need to dig a little deeper. I suspect you’ll find he’s another of her lovers. Brother, my ass. Okay, well, call me if you have any wild new stories to tell me. I’ll help you to debunk them or let you know if they’re for real.”
“Thanks, Lydia. That close friend is Brutus. But her first husband doesn’t look like the other two men who are involved in this. It proves she’s known Brutus the whole time from husband number one to the current situation. You’ve been invaluable.”
“Glad to have helped. Got to go. Happy hunting.” Lydia ended the call.
“At least as far as I know, my brother wasn’t even considering marrying the cat,” Jillian said, and Vaughn was glad for that.
Chapter 16
Jillian, Vaughn, and Howard spent the rest of the day visiting with Douglas and looking for information about Simon and Wayne, in the event they were brothers. Maybe they were cousins, and that’s why Wayne had a different last name. Or half brothers and they still looked a lot alike. Or Simon and Wayne were twins, and then brothers or cousins of Gaston, and Wayne had changed his name so Kira wouldn’t catch on that he was related to her dead husband.
They returned to the guest house, and Jillian began doing searches for information about Simon Wells, taking a seat on the couch. “Shifters homeschool, so no records of schooling.”
Vaughn brought over cups of coffee and sat beside her. “Voter registration?”
“Appears he doesn’t vote. Same with either a Wayne Grunsky or Wells. But Wayne Wells has a car.” She gave the make and model to Vaughn so he could call it in to Leidolf. “How much do you want to bet he’s Wayne Grunsky?”
“I’d say he is. Then just changed his name for when he met up with Kira and Brutus. Does he have any property?”
“Simon has the car and a house.” She pulled up the Google map that showed the location in San Diego. “Close houses, mostly one-story. Looks like garbage day for whenever the satellite caught the shot, but no garbage at Simon’s house.”
“Because he’s up here. I don’t understand though. If this is about revenge…that Simon or Wayne want to avenge Gaston’s death, why not just kill Kira and Brutus?”
Jillian looked at the floor for a moment, then turned her attention to Vaughn. “What if Gaston was the honor student, like Lydia said. The good guy. And what if his brothers or cousins, whoever they are, were the screwups, in trouble? Maybe they looked into Gaston’s death and believe he couldn’t have died the way he did.”
“Because they’re divers too and know he’s too good at what he does. We already know Wayne’s a diver.”
“Right.”
“So then what? They check into who he married? Befriend Kira and her lover, Brutus, and learn about the diving they plan to do with Douglas for the treasure? They figure they’ll wait and cash in on the treasure?”
“Could be, and then something goes wrong with the friendship. One of the jaguars is shot.”
“Then your brother is shot and Douglas is injured. But by whom?”
“One or more of the four jaguars has to be the culprit. I don’t see anything else here. Want to head back over to the jailhouse and see if the incarcerated jaguar will shift and talk?”
“Might as well. With three jaguars still on the loose, we need to resolve this.”
When they arrived back at the jailhouse, two police officers and Howard greeted them.
“Has he shifted?” Vaughn asked.
“Nope. We have Brutus in a cell and left prison clothes for him so he can shift and dress if he decides to cooperate. So far, he won’t.”
“Well, we have a few more details about the situation,” Jillian said.
“Hot damn,” Howard said.
“Yeah, so we’re going to see if that will help us get anywhere with him,” Jillian said.
Vaughn wasn’t sure what she had in mind and figured they should have discussed it already, but Jillian started right in on Brutus as soon as they walked into the secure part of the jailhouse where they had six small cells, one housing Brutus.
“We know who you are, and what you’ve been up to. Howard is going to take you to the jaguar lock-up facilities in Dallas first thing in the morning. You might as well tell us where your partners in crime are so the JAG won’t be so rough on you.” Jillian folded her arms and looked crossly at the jaguar. He was lying down, either pretending to sleep or maybe really sleeping from the tranquilizer, the run he’d had, and the injuries he’d suffered. “Had you figured on killing Douglas at the clinic before he could ID you?” Jillian didn’t believe Douglas would have known the man in his jaguar form. Not when he’d been wearing hunter spray. So they wanted to know why Brutus had gone to Douglas’s room.
“If you were looking for the money he used for the expedition or the journal he wrote showing where he was going to have Miles dive, you were too late. It’s all secure.”
The jaguar didn’t move a muscle.
“Did you know that the man you killed, Gaston Wells, has a couple of brothers? One pretended to be
your friend,” Vaughn said.
Jillian was surprised Vaughn would bluff about that, but then again, if Kira didn’t know Gaston had any family, Brutus wouldn’t have either. She didn’t believe Brutus would have made friends with Wayne if he’d known the man was related to Gaston.
Brutus lifted his jaguar head and looked at Vaughn, his golden eyes round. Surprised to hear the news? Looking to see if they were lying or telling the truth?
“Simon Wells is the other. He looks identical to Gaston. He drives a Humvee. Owns a house in San Diego about a half hour from the club. And when Wayne was shooting at you earlier, Simon was driving the getaway vehicle. That’s how we know about it. My partner Jillian caught sight of the license plate. Cat Clubber. Clever, huh?”
Vaughn was really good at interrogation, a great job of misinforming. Simon looked identical to Wayne, not Gaston. Brutus kept watching Vaughn, studying his expression, listening to his voice, probably processing the new information.
“So you think he’s one of you, but something goes wrong, and you have a falling-out. Someone shoots someone. But you didn’t know that Wayne was Gaston’s brother and he was seeking revenge all along.”
Jillian figured if Wayne had wanted revenge, he would have killed Brutus and Kira outright. She assumed Simon and Wayne wanted a piece of the action—a pile of the treasure Douglas could find for them.
Jillian’s stomach grumbled, and she said, “You know, it’s lunchtime. How about a pizza?”
“Yeah, sounds good. Want to make one or have a couple delivered?” Vaughn said.
“Will they deliver out here?” Jillian asked.
“Yeah. One of the guys working at a pizza place off the ranch is a wolf, and he delivers all the time. Hey, maybe while we’re looking into this case, I can take you to a restaurant the wolves own. And the rest of the gang. We can do it before Miles and Howard leave with Brutus,” Vaughn offered.
“I’d like that,” Howard said.
An hour later, and with no change in Brutus’s form, they were enjoying pizzas topped with meat and veggies, feeding the police officers too, while Brutus watched them.