Jaguar Hunt (12 page)

The boys exchanged glances.

“But you didn't stop us,” Nate said.

“That's another reason we let you in on the secret,” Alex said.

“Yeah, and we wanted you to know we knew about the jaguar because we thought you might be an honest agent. Not for sure, though.” Nate drank his soda.

David nodded. “We figured as much.”

No one said anything for a moment, and then Tammy said, “We couldn't check out the cable earlier because inspectors were examining it. After nightfall, we can return and see if anyone cut into it.”

“Yeah, if someone had cut it, he would have been tethered to the other cable, free to saw at the cable that broke,” David said.

“Okay, so we do that later tonight.” Tammy asked the boys, “What about the zoo cat?”

“We don't know anything about how it was stolen from the zoo,” Alex said evasively.

“Yeah,” Nate said. “But you've got to find out who the mole is in your organization.”

“All right, let's talk about that,” David said. “How do you know there's a mole in one of the branches?”

“It all had to do with the missing zoo jaguar,” Nate said.

“You have the cat?” Tammy was glad the boys were safe enough for now, and they needed to learn about the mole, but she had to know about the jaguar. “She's being taken care of?”

“Yes,” Alex said.

“We'll keep in touch with you, but you've got to catch the bad guys in your organization before we agree to come in or turn over the cat to you,” Nate said.

“Why the toy lion and tiger?” she asked, not liking that the boys were still being so cagey concerning the whereabouts of the cat, as if they still didn't trust them. She and David were fairly certain now it had to do with the Oregon Zoo. She'd get back to questioning him about the mole after that.

Alex shuffled in his seat and nodded once to his brother.

Nate produced a toy elephant and set it down on the table. “So, what do you think?”

Tammy almost laughed. They were still playing a game of Clue.

David wanted to get on with the big reveal and wasn't interested in playing games any further, but Tammy looked willing, smiling and appreciating the boys, and he could tell she was really winning them over big-time. “Okay, lion, tiger, and elephants at a zoo.” She raised her brows.

They were smiling, but neither said yea or nay.

“Or a circus,” Tammy and David said at the same time, both suspecting that was really it.

The boys' smiles broadened.

David admired Tammy for having more patience with the teens than he did. He was glad she was along on the assignment as far as dealing with the boys was concerned.

“Wait a minute,” David said. “So you're saying someone from a circus stole the zoo cat?”

“And if that's the case, how would the cat be safe?” Tammy asked in a worried tone. “Some circuses have cruel animal trainers. The cat might be horribly abused.”

“Totally agree. We saw the news about the stolen jaguar, and Alex and I did some searches online. We came up with the circus angle since it was being held near the Oregon Zoo and the cat was missing the day that the Wilde & Woolly Maximus Three-Ring Circus left Portland,” Nate said.

“Yeah, all we had to do was check online to see their schedule. Next stop was Dallas, and they were hiring one hundred and fifty temporary workers. More than five hundred people showed up to apply. Despite the odds, we got jobs with the circus. When we toured the temporary facilities, we searched for the jaguar, figuring we'd quit our jobs if she wasn't there.

“We were hired to do custodial maintenance mainly, so we could go places that the other temporary hired help—ushers, ticket takers, and ticket sellers—couldn't go as easily. They were kind of stuck in one place. We had a lot more maneuverability. Each of us had viewed the picture of the missing jaguar on the news, saw another picture uploaded on a blog site about a family's trip to the Oregon Zoo, and figured we'd know the jaguar by her spots if we saw her. We assumed they wouldn't have her in one of the circus shows yet because training her would take time,” Alex added.

“Yeah,” Nate said. “Two days after we started working there, we finally found her hidden in a cordoned-off area. She was in a small cage, separated from any of the other big cats—three tigers and a lion. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to steal her away with security watching the place at night, lights everywhere, and tons of performers staying on site. Over a hundred and fifty performers and permanent circus personnel actually live at the site, unlike the rest of us that went home nights.”

“So why didn't you contact someone with one of the branches and get her sent back to the zoo?” Tammy asked.

“We did,” Nate said, his face darkening. “We called the Guardian branch. The operator transferred us to another branch. I didn't catch which one because Alex was asking me something just as the man began speaking on the phone. He said he'd meet us and take care of the cat right away. He wanted to know who we were, but we weren't willing to say, afraid someone might believe we stole the cat from the zoo originally and that she had never been with the circus.”

“Yeah,” Alex said. “We could just see ourselves getting a bad rap for trying to do the right thing. We set up a rendezvous point, but we weren't able to see the dude because of a big commotion nearby—drug bust, cops everywhere—but the pickup was made. For two days, we all watched for news stating that the Oregon Zoo jaguar had been recovered.”

“Nothing,” Nate said, sounding angry. “We called the zoo and said we'd heard the jaguar was found. The man we talked to said it was still missing. Why would it still be missing? That had to mean the agent we dealt with was working his own deal and the cat was never turned over to the zoo.”

David ground his teeth. “Hell. Did he give a name?”

“Yeah,” Alex said. “Yours.”

The clinking of silverware in the dining room sounded in the background as David tried to curb his anger. He couldn't believe anyone would use his name in the act of committing a JAG crime. Who the hell had set him up?

Nate cleared his throat. “Looking back on the situation, we weren't sure. He hesitated when he said his name, which made me suspicious. We used a phone he couldn't trace. But at the time, we didn't think anything of it, until the cat wasn't returned to the zoo. We risked our necks rescuing her and now where was she? Well, we only had one place to look that we knew of.”

“Not the circus again,” Tammy said.

“We really didn't believe she'd be there. Who in their right mind would return her there? On the other hand, we knew if she was, we'd have even a worse time trying to free her this time. We all still had our jobs there, so the four of us—two of our closest friends, Alex, and me—went to the circus the next day to perform our regular jobs and, of course, the cat's cage was now being closely video-monitored and roped off so we couldn't see if she was even there.

“Only certain staff members could get near the area where she was being kept. So we were certain she had been returned to her cage. We worried someone might try to kill her and get rid of the evidence since we knew about the missing jaguar. Even though they didn't know who we were.”

“Or they set her up as a trap to catch you,” Tammy said.

“Yeah, that's just what I was thinking,” David said.

Nate nodded. “We figured the same, so we were really careful.”

David wasn't surprised. He had to admit they had done the right thing by calling the Service—if only they'd gotten hold of someone who hadn't been involved in stealing or covering up the jaguar's theft. He wondered who the hell would use his name in the commission of a crime and which branch that agent had been with.

“You said the jaguar is safe.” Tammy was frowning again.

“Yes, we created our own diversion. We let a lion loose from his cage, though we fed him first and he was still in an enclosed area. We didn't want any people or the lion hurt, either. But we had to do something drastic enough so that we could slip in and steal the jaguar again. We knocked out the cameras. When we reached the cage, we discovered she was there and found her heavily tranquilized. We got a wheelbarrow that clowns had used for one of the shows, covered her with some wild-looking clown fabric, and carted her to our car. We didn't have a cage this time and had to take her in the backseat of our car. We didn't want to put her in the trunk, because we were afraid she'd get sick from exhaust fumes. She slept the whole time, so no problem.”

“Yeah, because Nate was driving and Peter and Hans were sitting up front, which meant I had to sit in back with the cat,” Alex said. “The plan was I'd shift if she came to, and hopefully, she would like me and not try to rip me to shreds.”

David couldn't believe it. Not that he and his brother hadn't saved lives a couple of times before the Service took them in, but the commission of a crime had been taking place and they had to do something. He really admired the boys for working so hard to rescue the jaguar.

“But where is she now? You didn't call the zoo?” Tammy asked.

Nate shook his head. “We didn't want the zoo officials to believe we had anything to do with her being stolen. Or our parents to know what we were up to. They don't care what we do as long as we don't get into any trouble.”

David and Tammy shared glances.

“Also, we were worried that someone working at the zoo had something to do with stealing her in the first place. How else would anyone be able to take her from there so easily without anyone noticing? And we didn't trust anyone in any of the branches anymore. We didn't know who all was involved. So we just hid her,” Alex said.

“Who's taking care of her now?” Tammy asked.

“Let's just say she's being cared for in the best manner possible. But we can't say where because we really don't know. That way if the crooked agent or agents catch up to us, we can honestly say we have no idea.”

“But you do have an idea, or you wouldn't know she's being taken care of satisfactorily,” David said.

“Yeah, we do.” Nate finished his meal.

“You still don't trust us?” Tammy asked.

“We trust
you
. Just not either of the organizations that you work for,” Alex said, “or we wouldn't have even agreed to talk with you. We want whoever it is to pay for the crime against the jaguar. We have to confide in someone, and we knew you were trying to get her home. As for David, we weren't sure. He was following us, and we worried he might have realized we were the ones who stole the jaguar from the circus. But everything he told us panned out.”

“You thought the Enforcers Tammy talked with were the corrupt agents because they were searching for your friends, knowing Hans and Peter were involved in this with the two of you?” David asked. “But if they were assigned to look after them, like I was with you, and overheard the reference to the zoo cat, they could be trying to find the cat and bring all of you in to work with the JAG.”

“How many agents do they need assigned to our case?” Nate asked.

“Four of us, I would assume. The two who are looking for your friends and the two of us,” David said.

Alex snorted. “That's what we figured. So why are the two who were closing in on Peter and Hans in Dallas not the same as the two looking for them here? Our friends lost the two Enforcer agents in Belize good. But if the JAG wanted them, why wouldn't they send JAG agents like they did in Dallas? Why send Enforcer agents to Belize?”

Not liking that scenario, David wondered the same as the boys. He pulled out his cell phone. “I can check on that.” He glanced at his cell and shook his head. “Damn, no reception again.”

Nate rose from his chair and Alex followed suit.

“But what if whoever's after you followed you here?” Tammy asked, standing, as if she was ready to take the boys into protective custody.

“Whoever it was…they did follow us here, we're certain.” Alex grinned. “He might be an agent, but we've been playing games like this since we were little. Oh, and by the way, thanks for the rescue at the club. We owe you one, David.”

“Yeah, we were afraid we'd have to really get rough with the bouncer and might have hurt him,” Nate said.

“Joe Storm? Are you kidding? He has killer fists,” Tammy said. “No way should you ever confront him.”

David stood. “Agreed. How about the two of you go on a hunt with us, Alex, Nate? We can call it your first official initiation into the Golden Claws. I think you're ready.”

The boys grinned and nodded their assent.

“I love to hunt,” Tammy said, her voice verging on a growl. “Let's go.”

When they arrived at the bungalow, both David and Tammy tried to get hold of their bosses to confirm who was down here—or who should be down here—looking into the situation with the teens before they went on the hunt. But they had no success.

The boys had stripped and shifted in the outdoor shower area. They waited until she and David shifted and could watch their backs. She wished the twins had had JAG training before the
initiation
, but the boys seemed so keen on it and she thought it would be good for them to get a feel for being part of a team. She also believed that if the boys were allowed to participate with her and David, they would be more inclined to join the JAG when they felt it was safe to do so.

With four of them watching out for one agent in jaguar form, it would be no contest. Unless more agents were down here causing trouble.

Keeping the gate to the outdoor shower area locked, the four of them, one after another, jumped to the top of the wall and over, and then headed into the jungle. They first went together to check out the snapped cable. Tammy didn't know where the two pieces would have ended up falling, but as they reached the first of the platforms closest to the resort, they couldn't find the cable at all. It was no longer attached to the tower.

Sure, the investigators had to take it and study it in a lab, probably. Damn. They all stared up at the point where it had been connected, as though that would shed light on where it was now. They headed to the terminal tower 2,300 feet away to see if that half of the cable had been removed also. Most likely yes, but they still had to verify it.

When they reached the other tower, they discovered the same scenario. They would have to let their bosses deal with the issue and learn what they could about the cable when the investigators were through examining it.

They split into pairs, Tammy following Alex while David took off after Nate, now hunting the mystery jaguar they had seen when they were kayaking. They ran through the rainforest as four big cats, heading straight for the river where they had white-water kayaked to locate the scent of the jaguar they had seen in the trees. All the while, they searched for any signs the jaguar had been in any of the areas near where she and David were staying, but came up empty.

She thought that was odd. Surely whoever knew about the boys being here—and her and David also— the agent or agents would be hanging around near their bungalow, trying to get hold of the boys if they showed themselves. He wouldn't even have to chase after the boys. He could just wait for them when they appeared near the bungalow.

She sniffed the air a little more. Then again, she had smelled Weaver's and Krustan's scents near the bungalow because they had visited her on the deck and left through the jungle.

Alex reached the river first and ran downstream, diving in and out of the trees, up one, and down again, repeating the exercise several more times while David and Nate went upriver.

Tammy concentrated on watching the area around them, ensuring no one was following them and letting Alex search for whoever the jaguar shifter was.

She concentrated on the smells in the air and on the ground—tapir, birds, monkeys, the sweet scent of pineapple, and orchids. The fishy odor of the river scented the air. But she still hadn't found any sign of another jaguar. Just a whiff of David's, Nate's, and Alex's scents from time to time.

They finally reached where the kayaks had been loaded into the water. From there, they continued searching for the big cat.

They had gone maybe another quarter mile when she paused to smell the base of a mahogany tree. And recognized a jaguar's scent. A JAG agent's scent. Quinn Singleterry. Her heart skittered. It couldn't be a coincidence that he had tried to charm her into working with him instead of David and then showed up here in Belize.

She couldn't wait to discuss it with David at the bungalow, but most of all, she wanted to notify Sylvan of this new twist in the situation. Still, they had no evidence to prove Quinn was involved in any of this. She'd always been thorough, not only in solving crimes, but ensuring the bad guys were truly responsible for the crimes committed. As much as she wanted to take Quinn down if he was the bad agent, they had to proceed with caution. They couldn't risk the zoo jaguar's safety or the kids', either.

When they couldn't find any other clues, they returned to the place where they'd put the kayaks in the water. Alex grunted at her, and she took that to mean he was leaving her to return to his own rental unit, wherever that was. He roared for his brother, who responded in kind.

David called for her, and she moved in his direction, unable to see him yet in the dense foliage. She roared back, letting him know she was joining him. The twin brothers melted into the dark jungle, the night fully upon them, and vanished.

Before she reached David, something struck her, giving her a near heart attack. A large body, jaguar, male, muscled. He knocked her hard into the river.

She went under the rough water. When she surfaced, she coughed up warm water as the river carried her downstream.

The cat was nowhere in sight. At least that she could see as she tried to catch her breath. He'd been downwind of her or she would have smelled him before he hit her.

He'd lunged, slammed her into the river, and vanished. If he'd wanted to drown her, he hadn't done a very good job of it. Not that she was complaining.

She fought the current pulling her toward the next waterfall. She struggled to keep her head above the foaming water and reach the shore as the roar of the waterfall grew louder the closer she got.