Chapter 7
Douglas was still in a drug-induced coma. Jillian hated to see him that way and hoped they would take him off the drugs soon, but the doctor knew best, and if this helped Douglas to recover more quickly, they would have to be patient. She watched as Vaughn took his friend’s hand and squeezed. “We need you back home. A lot of people are worried about you.” He paused. “Including Miles Matthews.” Vaughn’s lips parted.
“What?” she whispered.
“I swore Douglas squeezed my hand slightly. But I could be mistaken.”
She so hoped Douglas would be all right when they weaned him off the drugs. “I’m Miles’s sister, Jillian Matthews,” she said to Douglas. She hoped she could add another personal touch. “I’m the person who found you injured. I’m glad to meet you and hope we can talk soon. We need to know who did this to you.” She squeezed his hand and kissed his forehead.
“We’ve told him who we are and why we’re here.” Demetria caressed Douglas’s shoulder in a gentle way. “How we can’t wait for him to join the conversation.”
They talked about the beauty of the Oregon coastline and how they could see why he’d come here on vacation, and repeated how eager they were to really visit with him.
But then Vaughn recalled how Jillian had been at the same club as them and wanted to mention it and the fact that these jaguar agents were the first of their kind to find out about wolf shifters. “Remember when our pack leaders told us about three jaguar agents trying to return an Arctic wolf pup to his family, and we learned jaguar shifters exist? Well, these are the three jaguar agents who made that happen. Remember when we went to the rocking Clawed and Dangerous Kitty Cat Club in San Diego? When we finally learned about the jaguar shifters, we all realized some of those cat-lover patrons had to be genuine jaguar shifters. Well, Jillian was there that night too…a wolf like us and just as confused.”
“Wait, Douglas was there?” Jillian asked.
“Yeah. My twin brother, Brock, too.”
“And dates,” Jillian said. “Miles and I were there together.”
“And dates,” Vaughn said.
She smiled. Then frowned. “Would Douglas have taken photos? I didn’t see any of you at the club.”
“It was pretty dark. I remember him taking pictures. They might not have turned out and he deleted them.”
“Or they’re so dark that I couldn’t see anyone well in the pictures and just bypassed them. I can upload them to my laptop and check them out. I’ll just use a program to brighten the exposure on them.”
“Sounds good,” Vaughn said.
Though she swore he didn’t sound like he was really glad about it. Why not? Because of what else she might see of him in photos? She smiled.
Then they left Douglas to rest with promises they’d return.
Despite Vaughn’s shoulder wound, he seemed to be doing fine. Jillian was glad for that. She wasn’t certain how Vaughn would feel if he had to run as a wolf and use his shoulder more though. He’d been favoring his right arm whenever he ate or did anything. He appeared to be left-handed, which was a good thing. Unless he had the notion to shoot her brother. She believed he still thought her brother could have attacked Douglas.
She thought she knew her brother better than that. But what if something had happened, and it had led to violence? What if her brother had been defending himself? Then again, an unarmed shifter in his human form was no match for a shifter in his wolf form. She was certain he hadn’t been there before she got there though. He would have had to have worn hunter’s spray, removed it, and returned. Then she realized she must have gotten there soon after the attack happened. The shifter had to have run off into the woods. There was only one gravel road to the cabin, and if anyone had been driving on it, he would have passed her.
“Were there any photos of Miles on Douglas’s phone?” Vaughn asked Jillian as they left the clinic.
“Yeah, one of him with a curvaceous blond. Really snuggled up close. But maybe Douglas just wanted to get more of the boat in the picture and had them move closer together.” She cocked a brow as she waited for Vaughn’s response.
He just smiled.
“She danced with you too, as I recall.”
Vaughn frowned at that. “I danced with several women that night.”
“I know.”
“I’m surprised you noticed.”
“I doubt you really are.”
He chuckled.
“Hey, what you did that night was really remarkable. Saving that dancer? I tried to get them to turn up the lights and turn off the music so you could concentrate better and see what you were doing.”
“Thanks.” He frowned. “I’m surprised they weren’t sued. Maybe they compensated her for it.”
“And you?” Jillian asked.
“Free drinks and food whenever I visit.”
She shook her head. “That wouldn’t have been enough.”
“I did what anyone would have done, had they been trained for it.”
“Still, that was amazing. I just couldn’t believe it.” She figured that he didn’t know the truth, so she wasn’t going to burst his heroic bubble.
“Thanks. I was just glad it had a good outcome. Any photos of Douglas?”
“No selfies. Just a couple of group shots that he was in. Maybe you can look at them and see if you recognize anyone who might be with your pack.”
“I’ll take a look at them,” Howard said, eager to help.
She just bet he would.
“So what do you plan to do next?” Vaughn asked Everett and Demetria.
“We’re going to take the receipts Douglas had for the grocery store and gas station, and learn if anyone remembers having seen him. We’ll check if he was with anyone at the time,” Demetria said. “What about you? Are you still going to look for Miles?”
“Yes, we’re going to my cabin to see if my brother has returned.” If he hadn’t, Jillian figured she could at least check Miles’s cell phone and see if he had any photos that might help them solve this whole business. But she sure hoped he was there, safe and sound.
“Yeah. We’ll keep in touch. Miles might know something about what went down,” Vaughn said.
Jillian couldn’t believe Vaughn wasn’t still saying her brother did it. What a change in attitude! She so appreciated him for it.
“Are you sure a wolf tore into Douglas?” Everett asked as they headed for their vehicles.
“You mean you think a jaguar shifter could possibly have done this?” Jillian was surprised that one of the jaguar shifters would suggest it. “Did Leidolf’s doctor examine his wounds and determine the cause of the bite?”
“He’ll be doing a further exam today,” Demetria said. “Between taking care of ranching injuries, Vaughn’s bullet wounds, and Douglas’s condition, and delivering a couple of sets of twins, Dr. Wilders has been busy. The DNA samples from the bite wound should be available soon. He’ll let all of us know his findings once he has them.”
“Good,” Vaughn said. “We’ll have the attacker’s DNA then.”
“Agreed. Are you going with us or with them, Howard?” Everett asked.
“I’m going with them. I’m a badass Enforcer agent, if you didn’t know that,” Howard said to the wolves. “So if we’ve got to take someone down, I can come in real handy.”
“You’re not taking down my brother,” Jillian warned.
Howard smiled at her.
“My Jeep or your Land Rover?” she asked, though she glanced at Howard to see if he had a vehicle and wanted to drive.
“I don’t have a vehicle here. I flew in and met up with Leidolf at the airport and have been investigating matters with Demetria and Everett since then. They picked up a rental Jeep.”
“We can take my Land Rover, if you don’t mind driving.” Vaughn climbed into the passenger seat and handed her the keys. “I’d just filled the gas tank. If you’ll give me Douglas’s phone, I’ll check out the pictures.”
Since Vaughn didn’t offer to drive, Jillian wondered if he must still be hurting. “Yeah, sure.” She handed him the phone. “Oh, and I liked the shot of you where you were giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to another bathing beauty. I didn’t know folks wore bikinis so much in Colorado. Unless that was your brother.”
Howard chuckled.
“It gets hot in the summer,” Vaughn said as he rolled through the photos.
Looking for that particular one? “Blue bikini, a blond, and you were in board shorts.” She noted he didn’t say the photo had to be his brother’s this time. Maybe he didn’t know that Douglas had taken it while Vaughn was kissing a woman on a beach towel poolside. “Miles probably won’t be at the cabin now. I just wanted you to know that. If he’s worried about you following him there, he’ll grab his things and take off. He’ll get in touch with me later, once he feels safe.”
“No problem, but we might find a clue about his friendship with Douglas. Or something else. Did your brother have a vehicle at the cabin too?” Vaughn asked.
“We both did. He came in from California. I was up in Tacoma working a case. He was in between jobs, so he asked if I could get away and join him at the cabin where we used to go for vacations a few years ago when Douglas couldn’t make it. I said sure and made time on my schedule. We do our own thing most of the time, but normally we run a little together and have meals at night with each other. Then someone shot him while I was on my way to join him here. He was so out of it that he called me instead of Leidolf, who was so close and had the medical support he needed. I hadn’t planned on conducting any investigations during my vacation.”
“He had no idea who hit him? How badly was he injured?”
“He didn’t see anything. Just felt the impact when it hit his rump and heard the report. He figured it was just some hunter out shooting for sport. He headed straight for the cabin, shifted, got a towel to stem the bleeding, then called me.”
“Did you tell everyone investigating the case what the make, model, and license plate of Miles’s vehicle is?” Vaughn asked.
“No. Because he’s not a suspect.” She’d thought Vaughn had finally quit thinking of her brother as a suspect.
“Standing over a crime scene with blood on his muzzle doesn’t sound good.” Howard finally buckled up in the backseat.
“Do you want to go with your jaguar friends?” Jillian slowed the Land Rover down and fully intended to let him out right here. He could hitch a ride with Demetria and Everett, who were following them to the main road off the ranch.
“Nope. I’m right where I belong.”
Jillian’s cell phone rang, and Vaughn fished it out of her pack.
“What are you doing?” she asked him, her voice hot with annoyance. It was her bag, and if she wanted to speak to the caller, she would.
“I’m answering your phone in case it’s important,” Vaughn said.
Her skin perspired lightly with the notion the call could be from her brother. She wanted to grab the phone away from Vaughn, but how would that look? Like she believed her brother was guilty.
“Hey, Demetria,” Vaughn said over Jillian’s phone. “I’ll sync Jillian’s phone to the Land Rover. Howard’s too, so that we can get calls back and forth if we need to. I’ll put you on speaker for now.”
Jillian was relieved the call wasn’t from her brother, but she fought saying no to Vaughn syncing her phone to his car. If her brother called, then everyone could hear what they were speaking about. She’d have to accept the call, or again, she’d seem afraid that Miles would incriminate himself.
“Well, I was calling Jillian, but since you answered, I just wanted to make sure that you get your rest. No sense in killing yourself before we learn the truth about all of this,” Demetria said.
Jillian smiled at Vaughn. Teach him to answer her phone for her and then put it on speaker. “Uh, yeah, will do.”
“Talk later when we have more information,” Demetria said.
“Same with us. Out here.” Vaughn slipped the phone back into Jillian’s pack.
Jillian asked him, “How well do you know Douglas?”
“He works at the leather-goods factory our pack owns and is at all of the pack gatherings. I’m not there a lot of the time because of work commitments, but Douglas is a real pack participant. He never had a mate and is in his midthirties, and he loves to boat. Brock and I have gone out with him several times, and he’s the kind of friend everyone should have. He has no mortgages or other financial obligations, as far as I know. He isn’t into gambling. And he gets along with everyone.”
“Was anyone else ‘on vacation’ from the pack at about the same time?” Jillian asked. “I’m wondering if he came alone.”
“As soon as I let my pack leaders know what had happened to him, I asked what they knew about his vacation plans. Leidolf contacted them right away while I was chasing your brother, and he also told them what had happened to me. Douglas was alone. He’s come here a few times over the years, but gone to several other places too. He seemed to love the water, despite not liking to swim, so he always takes vacations someplace that has a body of water…the ocean or large lakes.”
“And from the pictures we saw on his phone, the boats were all different,” Jillian said.
“Yeah, he always rented them, didn’t own one of his own. He said they didn’t get used enough to make it worthwhile to have one. He liked to go to lots of different locales, so it was easier just to rent a boat wherever he ended up.”
“Did you take some vacations with him? From the pictures on his phone, it looks like you did.”
“If I was free and he asked me, sure. I haven’t since the trip to San Diego though.”
“This picture was recent. Four months ago.”
“That was local. A group of us went out on a party boat on one of the lakes, so it wasn’t really a vacation, just an outing.”
“Hey, sounds like something I’d love to do. Jaguars love the water,” Howard said. “You can pass back the phone as soon as you’re done with it.”
“Can you think of anyone who would want to injure your brother?” Vaughn asked, handing the phone to Howard.
“No. And he wouldn’t think of anyone either. He never gets into fights. He’s more likely to walk away from an argument than try to win it. That has to do with my dad and not liking confrontation.” She didn’t see her brother’s car as they pulled up. “We’re here.”
As soon as they reached the cabin, she parked. In a way, she wished Miles would have been there so they could talk to him about what had happened and clear him in Vaughn’s eyes. Now she couldn’t even look at the pictures on his phone to see if she might recognize someone. She also had a niggling fear that Miles could be in danger.
Her phone rang again, and she tensed. When she saw Miles’s number, she practically held her breath.
“Answer it,” Vaughn said, glowering at her as if he knew just what she was thinking.
She was certain Vaughn would answer the phone, if she didn’t accept the call. She gave him a scathing look and answered, quickly saying, “I’ve got company.”
Her brother immediately ended the call.