You Had Me at Jaguar Read online

  Jillian was mated to Vaughn, a gray wolf SEAL who was busy tracking down a murderous wolf with the two other jaguar team members of the USF. They hadn’t needed Jillian and Howard too.

  Jillian got another text, the fourth one in a half hour. She texted back.

  Howard didn’t have to guess who it was from. “Vaughn should have taken you with him.”

  “This guy that Val is trying to neutralize is supposed to be a lot less violent than the one Vaughn’s team is trying to track down. At least as far as the general population is concerned. Benny’s wife was a different story.”

  “I still wish Martin had allowed us to tell Val we are here watching her back.”

  “The boss said she doesn’t like working with anyone else. Since many Enforcers work alone, she’d think her boss felt she couldn’t handle the case on her own. How well do you know her?” Jillian asked.

  “I’ve been in training with her. Never worked with her though. She’s got some kick-ass moves, and I have to say she’s extremely quick-witted.”

  Jillian smiled at him. “Did she ever get the best of you?”

  He gave her a dark smile back. “Not that I’d ever admit to.” He ordered another beer. “You know, her mother, Gladys, was the first female Enforcer we had, and she and her mate, Jasper, are still on the force.”

  “Wow. They don’t want to leave all the excitement behind?”

  “That’s about it. They’re both good people, wanting to right the wrong and deal with the bad guys. And Gladys wanted to prove to her dad, who was an Enforcer, that she could do as good a job as any man. She and her mate have one of the highest success rates for eliminating rogue jaguars. They make a great team. But there has to be a time when Enforcers need to retire, when they might not be as quick to react or as strong as they had once been. Their boss just doesn’t want to force retirement on them. Not while they’ve been so successful, despite being in their golden years.”

  “I think it’s great. Better to die doing what you love than live to an old age wishing you were still fighting the good fight.”

  He smiled at Jillian. “Easy for you to say. Your kind lives much longer than we do. What a deal.”

  “True. You know, Val’s been watching you. And she’s been watching the entrance. Do you think she’s onto us?”

  “I doubt it. What would the odds be that Martin would send two of his USF agents to protect an Enforcer in a simple takedown operation without her being informed?”

  “Not likely. Do you want to dance?” Jillian grabbed Howard’s hand before he could object.

  “Hell, do you want this to get back to Vaughn? As a SEAL wolf, he’d kill me.”

  Jillian laughed. “He knows we’re undercover, and this is just for fun. You never dated Val?”

  “No. I never dated anyone in the Enforcer branch. How do you know she’s been watching me?” he asked as they danced to the loud beat, the lights flashing all over the dance floor. “Wait. It was when you went to the ladies’ room. That’s why you took so long to return. You were observing her.”

  “And others. And you.”

  “Me? I wasn’t about to blow our cover. What if she had a meltdown because we’re here to protect her?”

  “You did good. You only looked her way five times and only when she was busy ordering a drink, telling a patron to bug off, and looking around at other people at the time. If you had caught her eye though, then what?”

  “I would have waved. She knows me. I know her. It would be foolish to pretend I didn’t recognize her.”

  They continued to dance to the faster beat, which Howard was glad for. He really didn’t want Vaughn to get any ideas about him and Jillian.

  “You ought to ask her to dance. You’re no longer an Enforcer. Then she’ll know we’re not together in a boyfriend/girlfriend way. It might help our mission if it looks like we’re just here to have fun.”

  “She’s on a job.”

  “Right. But you aren’t supposed to know that. You’d be her cover too, though she wouldn’t realize it.”

  “All right. You just don’t want it to get back to your mate that I only danced with you.”

  Jillian laughed.

  He led her back to the table, but the next dance was a slow dance, and he wasn’t going to ask Val then. Not that he didn’t want to, but he hated being here under false pretenses, as far as Val was concerned. What if they got a little too hot and heavy on the dance floor, as he’d like to with her, and then she learned he was only there on an assignment?

  He sat down across from Jillian.

  She smiled. “Coward.”

  “Next dance.” But it was a slow one too. “Next fast dance,” he clarified.

  Then again, Val might wonder who Jillian was. A date? Even though that would work for a cover, he didn’t want Val to think he was on a date. So much for really getting into this assignment. And here he was, always a professional when it came to his missions.

  The next dance was fast-paced, so he rose from his chair and saw some guy trying to take a seat at Val’s table. Howard headed for the table, though he told himself he wasn’t in rescue mode. Not when he was sure she wouldn’t appreciate it. So why was he making a beeline straight through dancers in his path, his gaze hard on the man at her table, and why was he walking so damn fast?

  Maybe she wanted to be with the guy, but he suspected not from the way her brows furrowed and how she was motioning for him to get lost. She’d probably do the same with Howard.

  The guy suddenly noticed Howard advancing. The guy had had too much to drink, smelled of whiskey, and was unsteady on his feet, finally planting a hand on the chair back next to her as if to keep from falling down.

  “Hey, Val,” Howard said in greeting. “Is this guy hassling you?”

  The human glanced at her, then turned his attention to Howard.

  Howard had dealt with enough ugly drunks to know the guy was trouble.

  “What’s it to you?” the human asked before he tried to shove Howard, but Howard didn’t budge and gave him his growliest look. Though he would have preferred to do so as a jaguar. That would have gotten the guy’s attention. “Get. Lost. Now,” Howard growled.

  The drunk glowered at him. Howard made a move for him, his posture threatening, and the drunk quickly backed off, then headed for another table.

  Val folded her arms and focused on Howard, raising a brow as if to ask what his problem was.

  He wasn’t surprised. He knew she could have handled the drunk, but it still bothered him enough that he wanted to step in and protect her.

  “Did you ditch your date already?” Val asked.

  He didn’t offer her his hand in greeting or an explanation but just asked, “Do you wanna dance?”

  “I’ve heard you’re a high guardian. Or noble watchman.” Val toyed with her glass.

  “You’ve totally lost me.”

  “Your name. Howard. Suits an Enforcer more than a Guardian.” She frowned. “Why USF?”

  He’d never looked up the meaning of his name. Probably a good thing, as he normally saw himself as an Enforcer. Though he did serve in more of a guardian role on this assignment. He shrugged. “I guess I just got in with the right people, and I’m still up for terminating the bad guys when I need to.” He wondered how she would know what his name meant, unless she’d been interested in him just a little bit. Maybe not so much now that he was no longer an Enforcer though.

  She gave him a half smile, then motioned to Jillian. “Your date must be getting lonely.” Then she eyed him with speculation. “Unless you’re here on a mission.” She glanced back at Jillian, considering her for some time. “I’ve never seen her before. Wolf? Jaguar? Human?”

  “Wolf, mated.” He still hadn’t blown his cover, but he wanted her to know they were looking after her, whether she liked it or not.

 
Val raised both eyebrows this time.

  “Her mate is a SEAL wolf. Jillian and I are on a job.”

  Val leaned her head back and smiled. “Okay. And you’re undercover so you want to dance with me in case her mate gets upset with you for not dancing with anyone else.” Then she frowned again. “You don’t suspect me of anything, right?” she joked.

  He shook his head. The only thing she was guilty of was being stubborn when it came to having a partner on a mission. At least, that’s what his former boss, Sylvan, had said about her when he’d briefed them on their mission.

  To Howard’s surprise, Val rose from her seat and moved toward the dance floor. “What’s your case? Jaguar murdered wolf? Wolf murdered jaguar?”

  Howard hurried to join her. So she didn’t realize he was here because of her. He could understand what she thought they were looking for, because those were the kinds of cases they normally handled. Still, he really didn’t want to have to lie about this. Her attention switched from him to someone to their left. Howard turned to look, and sure enough, it was Benny, the guy she was after. Shaggy blond hair, blue eyes, wearing jeans and a muscle shirt, showing off a lot of bicep. He was into construction work, and he looked like he did some heavy lifting on the job.

  “Problem?” Howard asked. She had to know he suspected the guy was her case.

  “Have to take a rain check on the dance.”

  When she frowned, Howard looked to see what was going on. Benny was dancing with a blond-haired woman who looked similar to his former wife. The music changed to a slow dance.

  “Can I help you with anything?” Howard asked Val.

  “Still an Enforcer at heart?” She pulled Howard into her arms and began dancing with him, not rubbing her body against him in a way that said she wanted more of this, but just to add a bit of realism, he thought.

  He smiled, glanced over at Benny, and realized why Val was dancing with him. The perp and the blond were close by. “You’d better believe it.”

  “And Jillian?”

  “Absolutely. And the truth is you are our mission.”

  Val patted him on the chest. “Good to know you’re ready to come clean.”

  “You already knew?”

  “I saw your truck parked near the club three days ago. It made me suspicious that you were here every night that I was, yet…weren’t here. Once I called your plate number in to ensure you still owned the vehicle, I did consider you were here on a vacation. Or a case. But I wanted to learn the truth.”

  Howard figured where this was going. She didn’t seem to be upset about it, so that was good.

  “I contacted my boss, and he said in no uncertain terms that he hadn’t sent anyone to watch my back. Which surprised the hell out of me, because I really didn’t think you were here because of me. I thought you were on another case. I told him who you were and that you were USF. And he said he didn’t know anything about the USF agents’ cases. Except that he would, if he and your boss were in collusion. I called your boss. He gave me the same song and dance. Only it was way too similar. When my boss has something to hide, he says, ‘Let me make it perfectly clear and in no uncertain terms…’ When your boss does, he says—”

  “‘The truth of the matter is—’”

  “Right. So they were in agreement. But I still didn’t know what you were doing down here. Were you on some secret mission that had nothing to do with mine, and they didn’t want to break your cover? Maybe, but then I thought it would be too much of a coincidence, particularly with the way our bosses responded to my inquiries. I didn’t think they’d be so underhanded as to have other agents take down my perp.”

  “We’re not here to take over your case. We’re strictly here to provide backup. Your boss was worried about this guy and about you.”

  She looked relieved, sighed, and pulled Howard closer to her. This time, Benny was dancing farther away from them, and Howard fit her even more snugly against his body. He was taking protecting her to heart, wrapping his arms around her waist.

  “You must already know the situation. Benny murdered his wife in cold blood for the insurance money and to stop her from divorcing him. He’d turned her six months earlier, so the consensus is that she wasn’t dealing well with the changes. Maybe he felt he couldn’t handle her like he thought he could. And living with her was getting out of control. For whatever reason, he murdered her, and he’s going down.”

  Howard couldn’t believe it. “Who all knew she was human to begin with?” No one had told them that bit of news.

  “It wasn’t something we knew until after he’d murdered her. You can’t tell when someone’s newly turned, unless they have the urge to shift and don’t have any control over it. He must have kept her locked up so no one would know about her. Every jaguar who knew him thought he had mated a jaguar. But when I began interviewing her friends and family, learned they were all human and she hadn’t been adopted, we put two and two together. It all fit.

  “She had frequented this club, then dropped out of her family and friends’ lives as soon as she met Benny and they were married. Everyone worried about her, thinking he was keeping her hostage, controlling her. But he couldn’t let her out of his sight for fear she’d shift into a jaguar at any time. At their home, claw marks were all over the place, doors mainly. The arm of one of the chairs was crushed, so it looked like she had been one angry cat. Who could blame her, really.”

  A jaguar’s bite could crush a tortoise’s shell, so Howard could visualize the whole scenario perfectly. “But it was her saliva on the crushed arm of the chair, not his?”

  “Correct. You sure don’t know much about the case, do you?”

  “We’re here strictly to be your protection.”

  “Why are you undercover?”

  “According to your boss, you refuse to work with—”

  “He’s on the move.”

  The blond Benny had been dancing with was leaving the club with him, but Jillian was nowhere to be seen.

  “Where’s your partner?” Val asked, sounding annoyed.

  Howard was already on his phone, texting Jillian.

  Howard: Where are you?

  Jillian: I’m in your truck, getting ready to follow the perp if he leaves the… He’s leaving the club.

  Howard: We’re right behind him.

  Howard was trying not to crowd Benny and the woman, though he was attempting to smell their scents. Jaguar and…hell, human? Planning to take a new human wife and see if she did better with the change?

  Jillian: He’s headed north toward the parking lot up the street. At least I assume that’s where he’s going.

  “Where’s your vehicle?” Howard asked Val.

  “Where he seems to be headed. Up in that parking lot.”

  Howard: Jillian, I’m sticking with Val. You follow his vehicle if he gets in one and takes off. We’re heading toward Val’s car in that same parking area.

  Jillian: OK

  He and Val quickly exited the club, pausing outside to find their target. Benny and the woman had turned into the parking lot, but now Howard and the others couldn’t see them for the buildings. Howard and Val sprinted for the parking lot, but they didn’t hear the sound of any vehicle’s engine starting up.

  “Do you know what else is back there?” Howard asked Val.

  “An alley leading through the buildings to the next street.”

  He got on his phone to Jillian. “No engine starting up. He might know we’re after him and have taken off through a back alley.”

  “Do you want me to drive down the other street?”

  “No. Stay there in case he suddenly leaves the parking area. I’ll keep the phone open in case I need to talk to you fast.”

  When they reached the edge of the building, Howard and Val slowed their run to a fast walk. She grabbed his hand and pulled him close, wrappin
g his arm around her waist as they moved around the side of the building. She chuckled and pulled him down for a kiss. He knew it was all for show, like two lovers having a tryst. But damn, she tasted good: of sweet margarita mix, tequila, and limes, and hot, sexy jaguar.

  Hell, who said Val didn’t work well with others? He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a kiss back, which she allowed, even playing with his tongue with hers for a moment again, wanting to have done that the day she’d taken him to the mat in training.

  And then she pulled him into the parking lot. “Ha! Can’t remember where I parked the car. Can you?”

  “No. I wasn’t paying any attention.” He was glad she gave them the perfect reason for sniffing around the cars, if the jaguar was nearby watching them.

  They looked at each of the cars, trying to see if there was movement in any of them. But they didn’t see anyone.

  Jillian asked on the phone, “Hey, what do you want me to do?”

  “Go to the next street over. I think we might have lost him.” Howard hated that they had, if they had, but his mission was to protect Val at all costs.

  They began following Benny’s and the woman’s scent weaving around the cars, down one row, and then the next. Either Benny couldn’t find where he’d parked or he’d been attempting to lead them astray.

  Howard heard his own truck driving onto the next street, and he and Val headed through the narrow brick alley to the other street. They continued to follow Benny’s and the woman’s scent. They saw no one walking anywhere. Howard glanced up at the brick buildings, many of them warehouses converted into condos.

  “Would he be living in one of those?” he asked.

  “He had money, but I wouldn’t think he’d be able to buy one of those so soon after his wife’s death. Unless he owned one already under another name, or he rented one. The only place he owned was the home he murdered her in. And since it was in both of their names, it’s tied up for now.”

  They kept walking, down another narrow alleyway and onto the next street. They followed Benny’s and the woman’s scents a few blocks, and then lost them at another parking lot.