Chapter 18
Vaughn quickly left the bed and threw on his boxer briefs. He grabbed his gun, ready to shoot whoever was sneaking into the guest house.
Naked, Jillian ran to the window and slid it open. She whispered, “Going around to the front door as a wolf.”
Vaughn didn’t like it. Not because he didn’t believe she could handle herself, but he wanted them to stay together, safety in numbers. Yet he realized her plan had viability. She could close in on the intruder, if that’s what the person was, without him knowing while Vaughn made a frontal assault.
Jillian moved a chair over to the window and climbed out, then shifted into her wolf and raced around the house. When Vaughn thought she was in place, he turned out the bedroom light and carefully moved into the dark hallway.
He had the advantage. He knew the floor plan of the house. Though the intruder would have seen the light on in the bedroom. Maybe heard the window open. Then Jillian would be more at risk. Vaughn moved faster down the hall now, determined to distract the person.
He was glad they’d called Demetria and the others and knew for sure it wasn’t them.
A woman cried out in the living room, but it wasn’t Jillian’s voice. Jillian growled and snarled in her wolf form. His heart pounding, Vaughn flipped on the hall light and saw Kira with a dive knife in her fisted hand, but Jillian’s wolf teeth had captured her wrist. She was growling to get the woman to release the knife. If Jillian had wanted to, she could have bitten down hard and crushed the bones in Kira’s wrist.
“Drop the knife, Kira,” Vaughn ordered, his gun readied.
“I thought Miles was here with his sister, and he wanted to see me. That he was looking for me,” Kira said, her eyes tearing up. “Isn’t Miles here?”
“No, he isn’t here.” Vaughn didn’t believe her words for an instant. “Did you ever think of knocking?” He realized in their haste to mate, he and Jillian might have left the door unlocked. Not that they would have worried about it much. They were on a red wolf pack’s ranch. It should have been safe.
“The door was unlocked. I heard Brutus was arrested, and Wayne was shooting at everyone. After everything that’s happened, I was afraid something bad had happened inside. To Miles. I wanted to help him.”
Vaughn knew she was lying.
“I had my dive knife out just in case.”
“Drop the knife.”
She released her hold on the knife, and it dropped to the floor with a clatter, but Jillian didn’t release her hold on Kira.
“Tell her to let me go. I’m Miles and Douglas’s good friend.”
“Explain to us why you shot Miles.” Vaughn had no idea who really had shot Miles, but he figured he could bluff his way through and maybe get the answers they needed. He had no intention of telling Jillian what to do. As far as he was concerned, it was her call. Until he saw blood on the floor. Was it Jillian’s or Kira’s?
He got on his phone to Leidolf. “Got an emergency. Kira Wells, the woman your men have been trying to track down, just broke into the guest house, wielding a dive knife.”
“Sending men over now. I’ll be over in a minute. Is she confined?”
“Jillian’s got her in hand, but someone’s bleeding.”
“Me, damn it. She bit into the skin,” Kira said, scowling.
“Better be you and not her,” Vaughn growled.
“On my way,” Leidolf said. “Be there soon.”
“Tell me why you shot Miles,” Vaughn said again.
“I didn’t shoot anyone. I have a knife. Or had one. Hey, I gave up the knife. Quit biting!”
Vaughn realized Jillian had to be biting down on Kira’s wrist with enough pressure to make her talk. “We know all about your plan to befriend Douglas and Miles so you could learn about where they’re diving for treasure.”
“You don’t know a damn thing. Brutus didn’t do anything. He’s innocent.”
“Innocent of killing your former husbands?”
Kira closed her gaping mouth.
“Yeah, we know all about them.”
“They were accidents.”
“Right. Okay, who shot Miles?”
“I didn’t! I was seeing him. Intimately. Why would I shoot him?”
“He was shot before you were seeing him this time. You wanted to offer your diving services to Douglas, and when killing Miles didn’t work, you figured you’d become Miles’s lover instead and still work with Douglas on finding the treasure. So what went wrong? Why nearly kill Douglas?” Vaughn asked.
Suddenly, cars rolled up, and doors opened and shut.
“It’s me,” Leidolf called out. “And my two police officers.”
“She’s getting ready to confess to shooting Miles,” Vaughn said, whether she was or not.
“No, I’m not. I didn’t even know he’d been shot!”
“Brutus did it then. Did your lover get mad about playing the brother when you’re screwing around with all these other men?” Vaughn asked.
“Of course not. You’re right. I was supposed to be Miles’s girlfriend. It was hard for me to pretend to really care for him because I usually like the guy I’m with. Miles was such a drifter, didn’t care anything about money, and it irritated me. And I think he knew that. But that was the game plan whether I liked it or not. We didn’t try to shoot him. We wanted to work with him and Douglas. Sure we would have had a four-way split between us, but that would still mean a lot of money, and we could get to the treasure quicker that way if at least three of us were diving.”
“Wait, what happened to Wayne in your little scheme of things?”
Her face turned a little wan.
Vaughn frowned. “He’s been with you all along on this and now he’s not? A falling-out among thieves?”
“We aren’t thieves. We would have worked every bit as hard at finding the treasure as Miles did.”
“What about Wayne?” And all her dead husbands? She wasn’t as innocent as she tried to let on.
“He decided not to work with us any longer. He didn’t like our plans.”
Jillian growled.
“Ow, damn it. Tell her to release me!”
Leidolf smiled at Jillian. “You can release her, and we’ll take it from here.”
Jillian looked like she really didn’t want to. One of the officers had already grabbed the dive knife. Jillian released her hold on Kira and stepped back, growling.
Kira’s wrist was bleeding, but from what Vaughn could see, the puncture marks were negligible, and she would heal quickly. But when he observed blood on the knife blade, he realized Jillian had been cut.
“Are you badly cut?” Vaughn growled.
Jillian shook her head.
“We’ll wait here so you can check her out,” Leidolf said. “And keep Kira here so you can question her further.”
Suddenly, Howard was charging into the guest house looking like he was ready to kill someone. His face still appeared flushed, but that might have been because he was angry. “If I was working my regular job as an Enforcer and not a USF agent, I’d just terminate the bastard who tore into Douglas and left him for dead and shot Miles.” Howard glowered at Kira.
Jillian woofed at him in greeting, and Vaughn was glad Howard had come to their rescue.
“I didn’t bite Douglas. He was a friend, and we wanted to dive for him,” Kira said.
“Come on, Jillian. Let me take a look at you,” Vaughn said.
She shook her head, and he knew she wanted to hear all that needed to be said first. She thought he was stubborn!
One of the police officers said, “I can confirm this right away. I just need a swab of your mouth, and then the doc can determine if you had anything to do with Douglas’s injury.”
“Gladly.” Which had to mean she hadn’t bitten Douglas, or she wouldn’t be so eager to give a sample.
“We’ve cleared Brutus of the crime of attacking Douglas too,” the officer said.
“Which means Wayne had to have done it,” Vaughn said. “So where the hell is he?”
Kira frowned. “How should I know? Once we told him we were through with him—”
“Why?”
Kira glared at Vaughn, then looked at the floor. “He wanted to get rid of Miles. We didn’t sanction it. We were furious when he told us he had killed him so we could be the divers for Douglas instead. We told him we were through with him. I was grateful to learn Miles was okay. I wanted to make up to Miles in the worst way.”
“By having sexual relations with him.”
Jillian growled low.
“It seemed to lift his…spirits. It was the least I could do for him. I might not have wanted to be his mate, but I still think of him as a friend.”
“Why would Wayne try to kill Douglas?”
“I figured since we cut Wayne out of the treasure, he decided he’d get rid of Douglas because he knew where it was. If Wayne eliminated Douglas, none of us would get it.”
Which was a possibility. “Brutus was looking for something in the cabin. What was that all about then? The treasure map?” Vaughn suspected he was looking for the notebook detailing the treasure hunts, but had he also known about the cash for the expedition?
“The treasure map, sure. Douglas told us he kept meticulous details on every expedition. Brutus and I knew if we didn’t safeguard it for Douglas for when he recovered, Wayne would get ahold of it and either use it or destroy it.”
“So you hadn’t intended to use it for your own exploration.”
“No. Of course not.”
Vaughn didn’t believe her. “Then Wayne shot Brutus because the two of you were ending the partnership with him. Brutus was the injured jaguar that Leidolf’s men tried to track down.”
Kira was quiet.
Surprised he had it wrong, Vaughn raised his brows. “Wayne didn’t shoot Brutus. Brutus shot Wayne, attempting to kill him. But why?”
“I told you. Wayne didn’t like our plan. He wanted Miles to die. Since Wayne had already tried to kill Miles, why not Douglas too? You see what happened. He did try to kill him. We didn’t want anyone to die.”
“Just husbands.”
Kira snorted. “We didn’t have anything to do with their accidental deaths.”
“Then Wayne was trying to shoot Brutus after he went to the clinic to see Douglas and ran off. Payback for Brutus already having shot him before?”
“Yeah.”
“Why had Brutus gone to see Douglas?”
“He wanted him to know we had nothing to do with injuring him. That it was all Wayne’s fault.”
“Why not tell Leidolf? Why not tell us?”
“Brutus shot Wayne first! Somehow I don’t believe his attempt to kill him would have been considered justified. If he had been defending Miles, it would have been a different story. Otherwise, he would have to answer for it.”
“And there’s the matter of all your dead husbands.”
Kira didn’t say anything in response to that.
“How long did you know Brutus? From the beginning?” Though they knew she had, Vaughn wanted her to tell them firsthand.
“He was my first husband’s best friend. We were all poor.”
Vaughn shook his head. “You don’t have to have a lot of money to be rich. What about Wayne? Was he your first husband’s best friend too?”
“No. He met us in the Kitty Cat Club a couple of weeks after my last husband died. We got to talking about diving for treasure, and he wanted to go with us on the next dive we made.”
“Wayne’s last name is Wells. Any relation to your last late husband?”
Kira’s eyes grew wide. “What? His name is Grunsky.”
Vaughn could tell by the shocked expression on Kira’s face that she really hadn’t had a clue. “Sorry to break it to you, but Wayne’s real last name is Wells. How much do you want to bet he was related to your latest deceased husband, and he wanted to know just how Gaston died? What if they were brothers? They’re both divers. What if he knew his brother was too knowledgeable about diving, that he shouldn’t have had a dive accident like he had?
“What if Wayne looked into your past and learned what we did? That you left a wake of dead husbands, and his brother was the last. Now you have a new treasure-hunting scheme. How long before Miles and Douglas would have died at your hands? That’s saying you’re even telling the truth that Wayne attempted to kill Miles. Prove Brutus didn’t have anything to do with it. Tell us where the rifle is that he shot Wayne with.”
“I don’t have any idea where it is.”
“Don’t be surprised if I don’t believe you.” Vaughn turned to Leidolf. “I’ve got to check on Jillian’s injury. We’ll talk to Kira more later.”
“I didn’t do anything. You can’t hold me. I didn’t hurt Douglas. They can run the tests and see that I didn’t. I just came here to convince Miles that Brutus is innocent of hurting Douglas or Miles and to persuade Leidolf’s men to free him.”
“By force? That’s what you thought, didn’t you? That you would force us to free Brutus, then the two of you would disappear for good. You cashed in on your husbands’ deaths. No matter what else, that shouts black widow. Murder for money. We’re done talking for now. I want to see to Jillian’s injury.”
One of the police officers hauled Kira out to the car while Leidolf said, “I’ll wait to see how badly Jillian was cut.”
“Yeah, me too,” Howard said, his arms folded across his chest, looking all growly.
Vaughn led Jillian back to the bedroom and she shifted.
Kira had cut her on the arm. Nothing that the doctor needed to stitch up, but Vaughn was still furious. He grabbed a wad of tissues from a box sitting on the bedside table and gently clamped it on Jillian’s arm.
“Thanks. I told you it wasn’t bad,” Jillian said.
“Kira cut her, but not deeply.” He had to let Leidolf know that the woman had actually tried to slice her.
“Are you sure you don’t need the doc to take a look at it?” Leidolf asked from the living room.
“No, thanks. I’ll be fine. My mate can take care of it.” She took Vaughn’s hand and kissed it, her eyes filled with tears.
Her words and tears bowled him over. “I’ve got it. I’ll lock the door behind you.” Vaughn kissed her mouth, then gently helped her to sit down. He was certain she was shaking from the adrenaline flooding her blood, the anger she’d felt because Wayne had shot her brother, the fight instinct, and being cut. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’m not going to die on you.” She smiled up at him.
“No, but seeing your blood on the knife nearly gave me a heart attack.” He smiled back at his lovely mate, then hurried out of the bedroom and down the hall to the living room. Both Leidolf and the police officer were still waiting to hear from him. Maybe they were worried it was worse than either was letting on.
Then Leidolf grinned at him. “You’re mated? Hell, man, have you told your cousin yet?”
Vaughn smiled. “Uh, no. Just our team. Not even her parents. There will be time enough for that.”
“Well, I’m sure glad I teamed the two of you up together. I feel like a mating expert now.”
Smiling, Vaughn shook his head.
“You sure she’s going to be all right?” Leidolf asked.
“Yeah. Just a small cut. I’ll bandage it, and it should fade in a couple of days.”
“Okay, my men will question Kira further and deal with this.”
“Thanks. Glad you’ve got a place to lock her up.”
“Yeah. When I took over the territory, I had to do something about wolves who go rogue. Since she’s a jaguar who’s involved in criminal acts, the USF will have to take her in and investigate all about her former husbands to determine if they were murdered. I can’t imagine losing that many husbands to accidents. They’ll have to decide what to do with her after that. Same with Brutus. Wayne and Simon too, once we catch up to them. I’ve seen the JAG facilities for holding rogues under investigation for committing crimes. They’re perfect for long-term or short-term use.”
“Sounds good.”
“I’m glad to hear about Douglas too. I’ve got a pack member sitting with him around the clock for when he begins to talk again and to keep an eye on his condition.”
“Thanks, Leidolf.” Vaughn shook his hand.
The police officer grinned when Vaughn shook his hand. “Congratulations!”
“Thanks, man.”
“A celebration is in order once you solve the case,” Leidolf said.
The two men left and Vaughn asked, “Are you okay, Howard?”
“Hell, after you called me and the rest of the team to tell us that Douglas was awake and you were mated, I was glad…until it sounded like someone was ready to kill you and I had to rush right over here.”
Vaughn smiled and slapped Howard on the shoulder. “Sorry, man. Get some rest. If you’re feeling up to it, we’ll all go out tonight when the others get in.”
“Works for me.”
Howard left, and Vaughn locked up. He grabbed a first aid kit from the bathroom and headed into the bedroom where Jillian was lying against the pillows, naked, looking sexy and desirable.
She smiled at him as if she knew what he was thinking.
“You are going to take it easy.” Vaughn sat next to her on the bed and washed the cut with peroxide, then dried it carefully, covered it in sterilized gauze, and taped it up.
She ran her hand over his arousal, already stirring just from the way she looked so inviting. Now with her touching him?
He was a lost cause.
She knew it as he stripped off his boxer briefs, moved in close, and began to kiss her.