Chapter 15
Despite the early hour, as soon as the others left for their flight, Vaughn wanted to see Douglas. “He’s an early riser.” Even though Douglas wasn’t out of his comatose state yet, Vaughn always treated him as though he was.
“I want to run as a wolf through the area afterward. See if we might find any other trails that would give us a clue about the jaguar who was shot,” Jillian said.
“I agree. But it’s been raining so much, I’m not sure we’ll find anything further. Still, it never hurts to have another couple pairs of eyes check things out again. They will let us into the clinic to see Douglas, won’t they?” Howard asked.
“Yeah. That’s the great thing about it being wolf-run. General hospital rules don’t apply here.” Vaughn parked the Land Rover, and they all got out.
Inside, Sally greeted them, and they went in to see Douglas. Before they could say anything to him, Jillian said, “Ohmigod, the window’s open. Why would anybody have opened the window? I’ll warn Sally.” She ran out of the room.
Howard and Vaughn quickly checked on Douglas’s condition. He was breathing fine, and his heartbeat was still steady, thank God. “No scent left behind,” Vaughn said, smelling the air for any sign that a jaguar had been there recently.
“Yeah, the bastard must have been wearing hunter’s spray, but he left muddy paw prints on the floor.” Howard pointed to them. “Most likely a male’s because of the bigger size prints. How much do you want to bet he heard us pull up, opened the window, and leaped out?”
They both looked out the window and saw pugmarks in the wet grass.
The nurse rushed into the room with Jillian. “No, I never would have opened the window.” She hurried to shut it.
“Did he have any visitors last night or before we arrived this morning?” Vaughn asked, wondering how the hell the jaguar had gotten in without anyone seeing him.
“No. Well, some of the children from the pack came and read to him last night. But you’re the first visitors he’s had this morning.”
“When was the last time you checked on him?” Jillian took hold of Douglas’s hand.
“Just ten minutes ago.”
Vaughn checked the window again to make sure it was locked. “Tell Leidolf to post a guard for Douglas. Do you have a room where we can shift? We’ll try to track down the visitor.”
Sally motioned toward the north side of the clinic. “You can use exam room three.”
“Thanks.” Vaughn, Jillian, and Howard headed for the room and saw the muddy jaguar paw prints all the way to the wolf door that led outside. “So that’s the way he came in.”
“He was just lucky no one caught him,” Jillian said.
Vaughn snorted. “Hopefully we’ll catch the bastard this time and his luck will run out.”
They entered the exam room and began stripping.
“Should Jillian follow in the Land Rover with a gun?” Howard asked.
“No,” Jillian said. “If a jaguar slipped in here, he wouldn’t be driving a vehicle. Sally would have heard him park. And we would have seen the vehicle. If we all do this now, maybe this time we can catch one of them.”
Vaughn had to agree with her. “Let’s do this.”
They all shifted and raced toward the back door of the clinic that had a wolf door, also another reason they preferred a wolf clinic to a human-run one.
They all headed outside, unable to follow a scent trail. But the jaguar had left his pugmarks in the wet dirt, and the race was on.
Vaughn had to admit he would have preferred that Jillian stay behind, but only because a wolf wasn’t any match for a jaguar. The sky was beginning to lighten though it was a gray day, a mist of rain falling steadily as they followed the jaguar’s trail to the stream. If it was the same one who had been shot before, he’d done it again—gone into the stream to hide his trail and make his escape.
Vaughn shifted. “We split up. Howard, you go north along the stream. See if you can find any sign of where he left the water. Go up about three miles. If you don’t see any pugmarks, come back along the opposite bank and check there. We’ll do the same going south.”
Howard inclined his head, then started looking for any trail as he moved north. Vaughn shifted back, and he and Jillian headed south.
They had traveled about three miles when Jillian ran up to Vaughn and nudged his neck. He paused and glanced at her. She looked across the stream, and he saw what she had seen: a jaguar moving through the trees on the other side. Vaughn wanted to tell her to quickly go and find Howard. He should have been returning this way by now. Vaughn knew only another cat could hope to take down a jaguar. He would follow the cat as surreptitiously as possible.
Vaughn shifted. “Go get Howard and bring him here. I’ll continue to track the cat.”
Jillian studied him for a second. Then she lifted her chin, and he knew she meant to howl for Howard. Well, it wasn’t any worse than his plan.
She howled, Vaughn shifted, and the jaguar turned to look at them. Vaughn prayed he wouldn’t attack, that Howard would run like the wind and reach them before it was too late. That Leidolf would send a pack of wolves to aid them in intercepting the cat too.
The jaguar ran off, and all Jillian and Vaughn could do was take chase. They weren’t all that far from the clinic, and once Sally informed Leidolf of the jaguar’s presence there, he would send wolves to investigate anyway.
Sure enough, a couple of wolves howled they were coming.
Jillian paused and howled to let them know where she and Vaughn were now. The wolves could easily smell Vaughn and Jillian’s scent. So they wouldn’t have any trouble following them.
Then someone began firing a weapon. Vaughn didn’t mind admitting he was reminded of Jillian’s shooting him, and he wasn’t eager to be shot again. But he especially didn’t want her to get hurt. He was torn with indecision once again. Continue after his prey, the jaguar this time, or learn who the shooter was.
Howard suddenly joined them as the jaguar raced across the stream, and the three continued to chase after him. Vaughn and Howard were way in the lead, closing in on the jaguar, when Vaughn glanced back and noticed Jillian was gone.
* * *
Jillian knew Leidolf’s men would go after the jaguar. And Howard had a good chance of taking him down on his own, particularly when a pack of wolves was coming to back him up. Her goal was taking down the shooter before he shot anyone.
She wasn’t sure if he was a random hunter shooting illegally on Leidolf’s property, or one of the jaguars involved in this mess.
A round hit a tree near her, and she dove for cover. She was getting close to him. The shots fired would warn Leidolf’s men they still had an active hunter on their property. Someone would come to check him out.
She saw a man moving through the trees then, wearing camo clothes, hat, and boots. But he couldn’t run fast enough from her. He was nearly to the edge of the woods when she saw a gravel road. A dark-gray Humvee was parked on the shoulder, and he was headed straight for it. Damn it! She had to take him down before he got away.
He suddenly swung around to take aim and shot at her. She dove back into the shrubs as he fired a few rounds, clipping the vegetation and sending leaves and twigs flying. Then he took off running again.
Jillian howled for backup, and then she raced after him again, knowing the danger. Now she was running in an open field, the tall grasses not much protection from a shooter, but she didn’t use his trail, and hopefully the grass would help to hide her somewhat.
If she could just see his license plate, Leidolf’s police officers could track him down. She already knew who he was, though. Wayne Grunsky, the friend of Brutus and Kira. The black-haired man. The one Miles had said was quiet. Now he was bearded. This wasn’t the blond-haired man Vaughn had seen at the cabin. Was Brutus the jaguar Vaughn and Howard were chasing?
Someone got out of the Humvee and began shooting at her, and damn if he didn’t look identical to the man running for the car. Same clothes. Same hair. Wayne’s twin?
Wayne reached the SUV, turned around, and blasted a volley of rounds in her direction. Both men firing in her direction forced her to lie low as she waited for a chance to follow the car.
“I told you to stay in the damn car!” Wayne shouted to the other man.
“Hell, fine, next time I’ll let the damn wolf take you down.”
Then Wayne yanked open his door and jumped in, and the other man jumped into the driver’s seat. Jillian raced across the gully to reach the road just as they drove off. The license plate was covered in mud, but the rain was washing the mud off, and she made out the words: Cat Clubber. Then the vehicle disappeared down the road.
Panting, she stood on the road staring in the direction they’d gone, furious with herself for not being able to take Wayne down before he got away. But now she realized there were two more jaguars involved in this. Two brothers. Twin brothers, it appeared.
Ten wolves raced to join her and quickly checked her over to ensure she was okay. Now she was worried about Vaughn and hoped Leidolf had sent this many wolves to help him.
She howled to let Vaughn know she was all right, just in case he could hear her.
* * *
Vaughn had to concentrate on his and Howard’s situation with the jaguar, praying Jillian was just fine. Then he heard her howl, and a chorus of Leidolf’s wolves howled around her, and he knew they were watching out for her. Relieved, he continued to focus on the jaguar. Suddenly, Howard leaped farther than Vaughn had ever imagined a big cat could leap. It had to be close to twenty feet.
Howard jumped on the jaguar’s back, and the big cat whipped around and snarled at him. It sounded like something from a horror flick. Vaughn imagined when he and other wolves were in a fight to the death, they sounded just as vicious.
The jaguars’ claws were extended like curved daggers, their wickedly large feline teeth exposed to the max. They swiped at each other, their postures rigid, tails slashing at the air.
Vaughn stopped and lifted his chin and howled to let other wolves know where they were and that they’d stopped, if they hadn’t heard all the caterwauling going on. He also thought the jaguar might give up, believing Vaughn’s howl would bring a huge pack of wolves. Maybe the jaguar would stand down and listen to reason.
Both cats stopped fighting and turned to look at Vaughn. If the jaguar attacked him, the cat could easily kill him. He just hoped the jaguar would come to his senses before he had to fight him. Yet Vaughn was already planning his next move if the cat didn’t give up quietly. He would assault him from the back. A frontal assault wouldn’t work for him or any other wolf.
Howard refocused on the cat, waiting, both jaguars panting from exertion, their tongues hanging out. The cat shifted his attention to Howard, but he didn’t attack him. Maybe he thought better of trying to kill Howard and having to outrun a whole pack of wolves.
Both Vaughn and Howard waited for the jaguar’s next action. Vaughn could see Howard was as tense as he was, his body rigid, but Vaughn knew Howard could change his posture from stiffly standing still to lunging forward in a heartbeat.
The cat finally sat down on his rump, indicating he was done. Unless he was planning to attack them as soon as they let down their guard.
Howard growled at the cat. He stared back at him, glowering, his eyes narrowed. Then the cat rose to his feet and waited for Howard to do something further. Howard motioned with his head to return the way they had come. The cat inclined his head a bit in agreement and began to walk back toward the clinic.
The manner in which the cat was moving—limping, stumbling—made Vaughn think Howard’s thrashing and biting wounds were probably giving the cat grief. Both jaguars’ faces and necks were bleeding, their fur glistening with fresh blood. Howard fell in beside the cat. But then the jaguar turned to attack Howard. Vaughn leaped in to bite the cat’s open flank, and a shot was fired. Vaughn didn’t have time to look for the shooter, too intent on keeping the cat from killing Howard.
Just as Vaughn bit the cat, it stumbled and collapsed on the ground. For a minute, he and Howard watched the cat, expecting him to get up, but then Vaughn saw the dart in the jaguar’s hip.
Hell, Vaughn was glad he’d only drawn a little blood when he bit the cat and that the tranquilizer hadn’t spread fast enough to affect him too. That’s when Vaughn finally noticed Leidolf’s wolves surrounding them, moving in closer, acting as guards. A safari-type Jeep drove up. A man held up his rifle in salute to Vaughn and Howard, and the she-wolf of Vaughn’s dreams jumped down and raced to join him.
Jillian rubbed up against Vaughn in a courting way, saying she wanted a lot more with him. Just like he did with her.
She turned to greet Howard too, giving him a lick on the cheek. He purred.
One of the men muzzled the tranquilized jaguar. A couple more tied his legs. Then several men lifted him into the Jeep. Howard jumped up there as if serving as a guard, just in case the cat revived before they caged him.
Then the wolves all headed back to the ranch, the safari Jeep in the lead.
At least now they had one of the men in custody and could question him, if he shifted.
Vaughn was damn glad Jillian was at his side again and that she was unharmed. He couldn’t believe she’d gone after the damn shooter. Had she taken him down? She seemed tired, not bouncy, like he’d expect her to be if she’d caught him.
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 met 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.