A Very Jaguar Christmas Read online

  Everett smiled. “You would need a lot of training before you could go on a mission south of the border.”

  Demetria felt bad for the boy and realized he probably needed closure about visiting the jungle. Not a mission down there though. Something fun. A good experience. She would talk to the foster parents, and if they had no plans to visit an area south of the border, she would find a family that would be willing to take Brayden with them. “It’s all right by me if you can use him on a local case after the holidays. It doesn’t really matter, as long as Brayden wants to do the job and can help out. That really is the sole purpose of the program anyway—to give teens some focus that would aid our kind.”

  “Can I stay with you too?” Brayden eagerly asked Everett.

  Demetria gave Everett a look that told him no. Everett curbed the inclination to smile at her. He knew Brayden needed to be with a family for Christmas and beyond until he was able to be on his own, not staying with a footloose, jaguar bachelor. Besides, she had to have figured that Everett wouldn’t want to be saddled with the teen either.

  But really, he wouldn’t mind for a day. “We could do that for a day or so.”

  “Cool,” Brayden said. “Today?”

  “Uh, no. I’ve got work to do. After the holidays, but we need to make sure it’s all right with your foster parents and coordinate a time.”

  “Okay.” Brayden sounded glum.

  “Come on, Brayden. Let’s get you settled. You’ll love the family. They have a twin boy and girl your age, and they’re excited to take you in.” Demetria stalked down the hall with her charge as Everett watched.

  Then he pulled out his cell phone and called her.

  She answered her phone and glanced back at him, her brows raised in question, and she mouthed the word, “What?”

  Everett smiled. “Want to have dinner with me tonight? And discuss this issue concerning Brayden’s stepdad?”

  “What?” she said into the phone, sounding thoroughly confused.

  “I could call Howard, and we could get the truth out of Lucian that way. Or…you and I can come up with another plan.”

  Demetria sighed audibly over the phone, continuing down the hall with Brayden until she was out of Everett’s sight. “If we’re discussing this issue, we can’t do it out in public.”

  “My place? We could get some takeout. Your choice.” He thought if nothing else, they could discuss if they believed that Lucian had truly intended to leave the young boy in the jungle to fend for himself, maybe with the notion the trust would no longer be needed for the boy. They had to eat anyway. Might as well team up and try to decide how to deal with Brayden’s stepdad in the best way possible for everyone concerned.

  “Do you want Chinese? I can be over in a couple hours after I visit with Brayden’s foster parents and him and make sure everything’s going to be fine. I just need your address. I like anything, so feel free to order whatever you’d like.”

  “Beef? Shrimp? Hot and spicy?”

  “Anything sounds good to me.”

  Everett gave her his address and told her he’d see her in a couple of hours, and they ended the call. He felt like he was on top of the world, even though this wasn’t really a date. He thought about calling Howard, but he decided he’d check in with him later. For now, he wanted to visit with Demetria alone, which told him he was already ditching his real teammate in this case for the woman of his dreams.

  He hoped the visit wouldn’t turn into a nightmare. It could if she took him to task for throwing Bruce earlier today, and she probably had every intention of doing so. But if that happened, he was ready to deal with the consequences of his actions.

  Everett was failing on his mission with a mixed team if he didn’t let Howard know what had possibly happened to Brayden in the jungle. But Everett wanted to hear Demetria’s thoughts on it first. Hell, he could lie to himself all he wanted, but the truth was, he could invite them both over to discuss the issue.

  No. Way.

  He was glad they had taken Brayden in so he’d have a temporary home with a foster family. If he hit it off well with the foster parents and their twin teen boy and girl, he would be a welcome member of the family forever.

  Everett went to his boss’s office to let him know about the mission and to tell him what Brayden had said concerning the jungle incident.

  “Hell, we terminate jaguar shifters for less. Trying to kill a shifter child he’s supposed to be protecting? Doesn’t matter if he’s his biological father or not.” As director of the JAG Golden Claws branch, Martin had a plush office furnished with leather couches and chairs, an oak table and desk, and a view of a parklike setting outside his window. “I can’t believe it. I damn well wish we’d known about this beforehand,” he said as he sat in his desk chair.

  Everett sat on one of the chairs facing the desk. “No more surprised than I was, and I agree. I mean, it’s possible that the boy misunderstood the situation. That it actually was his fault he became separated from Lucian, and the stepdad wasn’t responsible. But if Brayden is right about his mother keeping a close eye on him afterward? I’m wondering if she confided in family or friends. I’ll check into it, besides interrogating Lucian. But if Brayden’s mother told anyone, I’d think that person would have come forth a long time ago. At least I would hope so.”

  “I wholeheartedly agree. I’m taking you off leave since you have this case to work. I can’t believe Demetria is helping you too. With Howard serving from the Enforcer branch, that makes for the perfect mixed team.”

  Everett felt another pang of guilt about not telling Howard about the jungle story. Yet, he fully intended to talk further to Howard about the case. Just not until after he had dinner with Demetria tonight.

  “I’d like for you to head a mixed team for future assignments that require one. I had planned on asking you before this training mission because of your previous work with mixed teams, but I didn’t get the chance. As usual, you’ve proven you have what it takes to work well with others. You can decide after the holidays and choose who you’d like to have on the team.”

  Well, hell. It wasn’t too late to ask Howard to join them for dinner, as much as Everett hated the notion. He loved working for Martin. Even though the final decision was Everett’s, the way his boss made the “offer” meant Martin expected Everett to accept it. Everett didn’t mind. If he could work with Howard and Demetria, he figured he could work with just about anyone.

  “As soon as you’re done with whatever you are doing today, take the rest of the day off. You’ve earned it.”

  “Thanks, Martin. I’ll get back with you on your offer first thing after the holidays.”

  “Good show. And about Brayden’s case, good luck.”

  As soon as Everett left the director’s office, Tammy hurried to catch up with him. “Hey, how’d it go with Howard?”

  “Good.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  His sister looked so astonished that he smiled. “Nope. I’ll be working with him on Brayden’s case over the holidays, it looks like.”

  “You’re really kidding.”

  “Nope. And Demetria too.”

  Tammy closed her gaping mouth.

  “Want to have coffee in the lunchroom, and we’ll talk during your break?”

  “Yeah, sure. Listen, I was supposed to help Mom set up a stage for the Christmas play she’s working on with the children at her day care, but Martin asked me to work this afternoon instead. Is there any way you can drop by and help her?”

  “Yeah, sure. I’m off the rest of the day.”

  “Oh, thank you so much. Did Demetria really say she’d help you with the job?” Tammy sounded shocked.

  “Yeah, but I agreed, as long as she doesn’t shift.” Not that he’d actually said so. He had been thinking it though.

  Tammy laughed.

  �
��You were handing out assignments. Did you know we would all end up on the same job?”

  Tammy worried her lip for a moment, then sighed. “It was Martin’s idea.”

  Everett arched a brow in question.

  Tammy shrugged. “You know him. He does things in his own way, but he’s the boss, so he doesn’t have to explain his reasoning.”

  Everett wondered if it had to do with seeing how well he handled the case when another agent showed up for the job. One last test to see if he could handle the position that Martin wanted him to fill.

  “Okay, so what’s going on with Brayden? I thought Demetria would fix him up with a family, and that would be the end of that.” Tammy added sugar and a ton of cream to her coffee.

  “Yeah, but there’s an issue we need to look into.” He explained to his sister about the jungle incident.

  “Ohmigod, I’ll kill the bastard myself.”

  “We don’t know that it’s anything more than Brayden getting separated from his stepdad in the jungle. Kids do that all the time when they’re out shopping with parents, or otherwise. In a jungle, it would be easy to do.”

  “Bull.”

  “Okay, I agree. It sounds damn suspicious. Especially when there’s a trust fund involved. But we don’t know for sure whether it was an honest mistake. So until we learn the truth, mum’s the word. I just thought you should know because you’ve worked with Brayden before and Demetria will probably share with you anyway. So what was the deal with Demetria and her cousin that day?” He’d asked his sister before, but she wouldn’t say. Maybe she would talk about it now since he was going to be working with Demetria.

  “I have no idea, but it will teach you to try to break up a fight between two snarling jaguars when you don’t have your own jaguar teeth to protect you.”

  “Amen to that.”

  “Thanks for telling me about Brayden. If it turns out Lucian did abandon him… Well, damn it. I wish I’d kept him out of the stepdad’s home the first time, but Brayden was willing to return, so I agreed to it.”

  “It’s hard not to do it. Why did he want to return?”

  “Lucian either has the best intentions but doesn’t stick with them, or he is a master manipulator.”

  Everett nodded. “We’ll learn which once we locate him.” He drank some of his coffee, pondering what Howard had said to him earlier about Demetria and her last assignment. If anyone would know what really had happened, Tammy would. “I heard Demetria broke someone’s nose on her last mission.”

  Tammy smiled. “Okay, Petrov’s version: he spouted off about wanting to see her moves, and I don’t mean her combat arm maneuvers. Her version: she swung a lamp at a perp when she lost her gun in a struggle to take the guy in, and her Enforcer teammate got in the way.”

  Everett smiled. He suspected Demetria’s version was closer to the truth, and the Enforcer didn’t want to let on he’d made the mistake of getting in her way. “What about the Enforcer she had trouble with in the training room?”

  “I have no idea what that was about. As soon as we both have some free time, I’m finding out. I know you think she’s a wild cat, but really, there’s usually a reasonable explanation.” Tammy sipped her coffee. “Speaking of wild cats, I saw one raring-to-go, alpha-male jaguar jump to her aid.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure she wasn’t really happy I did.”

  Tammy shook her head. “As well as I know Demetria, even I’m not sure. I was afraid she would do something about it—sock you, tell you off, or something—but instead she’s working with you on this case. I know how much she loves to help kids in need, but…maybe I’ve been trying to hook her up with the wrong guys.” Tammy finished her coffee.

  Everett could have told his sister that all along. Then he got a call, saw it was their mom, and answered it. “Yeah, Mom?”

  “Tammy said she couldn’t make it to help me set up the stage this afternoon, and I know you’re busy, but…”

  “Already on it. Just having a coffee break with Tammy, and then I’ll head over there.” Everett ended the call and finished his coffee.

  “My break is over. Tell me what happens on the case, will you? Even though I love training everyone, I miss being out in the field sometimes. Besides, Brayden is a sweet kid. I want to see this resolved in the best way possible.”

  “I sure will.”

  Tammy returned to work, and Everett headed out to help his mom set up the stage in one of the larger rooms at the day care. After that, as soon as he got home, he turned on all his Christmas lights, looked over the town house to see what needed to be done, and realized what a mess the place was. Damn good thing Demetria wasn’t arriving for another hour. He began a cleaning frenzy, not believing his town house was so dusty, or that he had so much stuff scattered around the place—boots, tennis shoes, socks, a pair of boxer briefs, slippers.

  He grabbed all his stuff and hurried to shove it in the closet, then seized a roll of paper towels and the dust remover and began to squirt away. When he finally finished, he realized he hadn’t even ordered the food!

  Chapter 3

  Everett’s doorbell rang. He had been afraid it would be Demetria, so he was glad to see the Chinese food delivery instead. After paying for the meal, he hurried to set the table.

  He told himself it was like getting together with any other teammate working on a mission, discussing the issues over a meal. But spending time with Demetria would be a nice way to wrap up the day’s work.

  Yet, Everett couldn’t help but feel somewhat apprehensive that he still held a torch for her, while she was holding one for his dead best friend. It felt wrong. He reminded himself again that this was nothing more than working and sharing a meal. So why did he comb his hair again? Shave off his five-o’clock shadow? Throw on a green cashmere sweater that his sister had bought for him last Christmas because she said it brought out the green in his eyes and was so soft it made him huggable?

  He’d ordered a full spread of Chinese dishes too—beef and broccoli, pork with pea pods, cashew chicken, sesame shrimp, wonton soup, egg rolls, white rice, fortune cookies—to make sure he got everything she might like.

  The lights on the Christmas tree and patio sparkled, offering a cheerful, festive welcome to his dinner guest. Even though he lived alone, Everett had always decorated for Christmas because family invariably stopped by and the decorations put everyone in a good mood.

  The doorbell rang and he took a deep, steadying breath, then stalked to the door and opened it.

  “Hey,” Demetria said in greeting. She entered the town house looking like a million bucks in a soft, red sweater, black pants, and killer high-heeled boots, with her hair in silky curls around her shoulders. She smiled at the decorations and all the food set out in bowls. “We could have had Brayden and his foster family and Howard over to eat all this.”

  Everett laughed. “I just wanted to make sure I got what you’d like.”

  “Really, when it comes to Chinese food, I like everything. I talked to Fabian and Corinne Stone about Brayden’s story privately, so if they have a chance to talk to him about his home life over the next several weeks, maybe he’ll open up or remember things he couldn’t before.” Demetria set out glasses of ice water.

  “Okay, good. He was stressed out, and I can imagine telling us what he did was hard to do. He probably was afraid we wouldn’t believe him or would make things worse with his stepdad.” Everett set out the silverware, and they took their seats and began passing the dishes around.

  Demetria poured some soy sauce on her food. “True. About…something else.” She poked her spoon into her wonton soup and stirred it.

  “Yeah?”

  “I want…I want to apologize for biting you when you got in my way when I was fighting Taramae.”

  “My mistake. I shouldn’t have interfered. It wasn’t any of my business.” Everett was glad she wanted to
apologize. He’d felt bad about that situation ever since it occurred and had blamed himself for getting in her space.

  “Your sister said you were proud of that bite. She wouldn’t let me apologize to you, but I just couldn’t let it go.”

  He raised a brow. Never in a million years had he thought Tammy would tell Demetria that. Sure, he had shown it off because all the guys wanted to see the bite wound so they could rib him about it. He’d acted like it was no big deal, not wanting to let on that Demetria had upset him, if she had even cared. But he had upset her, and that’s what had bothered him the most. “What were you fighting about?”

  “My cousin was being a jerk. Not the first time. She said my dad left us for good reason. She was jealous that I got hired as a Guardian when she couldn’t pass the physical or aptitude test. It’s not that she couldn’t have passed; she just didn’t want to make the effort. So she got mad and started mouthing off about my dad. She’d done it lots of times to rile me, but my mom overheard that time. She was having a particularly bad week, and Taramae upset her. So I did what any protective jaguar would do—I stripped, shifted, and took my cousin to task. It was way overdue.”

  He hadn’t known that Demetria’s father had left her mother, just that she was close to her mother and he’d never seen her dad around. He’d never discussed it with Tammy or Matt. And he hadn’t been on really close terms with Demetria, so he would never have asked her. “I’m sorry.”

  Even sorrier that he had dated Demetria’s cousin. He remembered the day of the fight like it was yesterday. Demetria had invited his sister over to have burgers at her mom’s house. Matt had offered to grill them, and Everett had joined in. No one had expected Taramae to show up and start making a scene.

  “I’m the one who should be sorry. I was so angry with her that it wouldn’t have mattered who stepped into the middle of it. I felt bad when I heard how many stitches you had. I was going to apologize, but Tammy forbade me to. She said you were getting a kick out of all the ribbing your fellow JAG agents were giving you and were handling it on your own.”