George stumbled. Wade tightened his hold on George’s arm to steady him. “Easy, man.”
“I… I heard Bettinger’s brother and a couple of human smugglers were in Belize and didn’t make it out of the jungle alive,” George said.
Wade gave him a small smile. “You heard right.”
“I don’t… haven’t ever done any of that kind of work.”
“Our boss will investigate your claims,” Wade said.
“Whose car do we take, or should we take both?” David asked Wade.
“These people trust George more than they do us. We’ll take his car.”
They all piled into George’s car, David driving while Candy slept in the front seat and Wade sat in the backseat with George, who gave directions while Wade read his text messages. He saw George watching him. “What?” Wade asked, his tone harsh. He was ready to kill George for handing Maya over to Bettinger.
“I’ll help you get her back. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it. Anything.”
“Anything?” Wade asked, his voice softly dangerous.
“Yeah. Anything. I didn’t know she was someone else’s woman, damn it. Or that they planned to hunt her. Hell, I’ll kill Bettinger myself.”
“That’s my job,” Wade said, noticing how late it was getting. He hoped the bastards weren’t mistreating Maya. Just confining her in a pen would be bad enough.
“I don’t know if it’ll help any, but Candy said something about the big party being moved up to this morning.”
His heart thundering, Wade stared at George in disbelief.
“Storms are predicted for the area all day.”
“This morning,” Wade said, the pit of his stomach dropping like a lead weight in the dark Amazon River. “We’re running out of time.”
***
He was with Maya now, loving her, kissing her, hugging her, warming her. She couldn’t seem to raise her arms to hug him back. She tried, but she felt… lost. He didn’t seem to mind, his whispered breath against her cheek, letting her know he was here for her. She wasn’t alone.
Thunder boomed in the distance as the air crackled with the approaching storm, waking Maya from a sound sleep. The damn drug!
The weekend was only two days away and no sign of any sort of rescue. She knew Wade and everyone else would be looking for her. But would they be too late?
Last night, she’d intended to attempt an escape, but that bastard Bettinger had shot her with another tranquilizer dart after he’d eaten dinner with Gunther. After that, she’d been out for the rest of the night.
She’d only just managed to get to her feet and stood staring at the sheets of lightning flashing across the black sky in the distance, highlighting massive blue-black thunderheads that towered in the early dawn. Forks of lightning zigzagged to the earth, an explosive boom of thunder rippling into rumbling overhead afterward.
She was swaying on her feet, unable to keep her balance as the wind picked up. Twisting her ears, she heard what sounded like a truck approaching. Breakfast? At this hour?
Glancing at the cat run next to hers, she saw that the other jaguar was gone. Her heart fluttering wildly, Maya stared at the empty cage. Where was the cat? She’d wanted to save her, though she wasn’t sure how she was going to do that. She needed to save herself if she was going to be any help to anyone else.
She saw headlights in the gloom and felt a chill race down her spine as her tail swished anxiously. If they opened the cage and didn’t shoot her first, she would leap at them and run.
As the truck drew closer, she stiffened, with only the tip of her tail moving in a tight twist back and forth.
The engine rumbled. Maybe they meant to take her somewhere drier in the event the storm was really bad. Yeah, right. So she would be nice and dry for the hunt later.
The truck backed in toward the cage. The tailgate lowered like a lift. Then she saw the smaller cage sitting on the bed of the truck. Bettinger and a man she didn’t recognize got out. She smelled the air. Human.
Bettinger smiled. “Glad to see you standing, though you look like you’re ready to collapse, beautiful cat. Why don’t you take a load off, and we’ll take care of you?”
She stared at him, her feral expression reflected in his dark eyes. He smiled. “Have it your way, but I think you’re going to want to cooperate. If you do, no more tranquilizer darts and by the time the hunt starts, you’ll have a sporting chance to run. Not get away, but just… run. If you give us any trouble, I’m taking you down again. Then you’re going to have one hell of a time waking up enough to attempt escape before the hunt starts. So I’m giving you fair warning.”
She knew he wouldn’t. He’d have hell to pay if he shot her full of dope and she didn’t give the hunters the sport they had paid for. He was all bluster. She sure would love to take a bite out of him and end this game between them.
He began to rig up a fenced-in walkway between the cage and the run. She could slash and bite at the mesh, but it wouldn’t do anything but make them jump back and maybe make Bettinger angry. She couldn’t believe they were moving up the hunt. Surely they couldn’t mean that she could run free for two days.
She looked at the mesh while the other man held a rifle aimed at her, just waiting for her to make a move. She glanced at the other cage. Had they taken the other cat and let her go free until the hunt began also? Or had they already killed her, and Maya’s turn was next?
Bettinger was almost finished setting up the mesh walkway and glanced in the direction Maya was looking. “Don’t even think of searching for the other cat. She’s on her own. You go to her, and you’re going to forget watching out for us.”
Us? She looked back at Bettinger. He smiled. “Oh yeah, I’m coming for you, beautiful cat.”
The other man said, “You didn’t pay to hunt her, Bettinger. You can’t go out there.”
“I’ve promised Gunther a male cat, and I’m going to be the one videotaping the hunt this time.”
“Gunther always videotapes the sessions. He won’t let anyone else touch his camera equipment.”
“Not this time. It was my condition. One free, wild male cat for his hunters to kill, and I tape the show.”
“You’ve got balls. I’ll give you that.”
“Yeah. I do.” Bettinger patted the cage. “Come on. Up you go. Make it easy on yourself.”
“She won’t do it.”
Bettinger smiled at Maya. “Sure she will, if she knows what’s good for her.”
Maya looked from him to the cage. It was so small. She’d be so cramped in it. No room to move, to even turn around. She’d have to back out when she got to where they intended to let her out. She didn’t have much of a choice, and if it meant freedom even for a short while, she’d do it.
She ran through the mesh walkway and jumped onto the bed of the truck, then crouched in the cage, growling as she went.
“That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” Bettinger said, jerking the cage door shut and locking it.
He climbed onto the bed of the truck and sat next to the cage.
“What are you doing?” the other man asked.
“I’m going to give the cat a pep talk.” Bettinger’s grin was as evil as they come.
Chapter 27
Martin came through for them. The license-plate number George had given to Wade belonged to Gunther Jaemison, Candy’s brother. A rural address was listed on a farm road two hours north of where George had put Maya in the trunk of a car, but Wade and David were now only ten minutes from it.
David was driving forty miles over the posted speed limit. Wade had texted the information to Everett, who texted back that they would arrive about fifteen minutes after Wade did.
Then Wade let Connor know what was up.
“I want him dead, Wade.”
“You don’t have to tell me. Bettinger wo
n’t live once I get hold of him.”
George flinched next to Wade in the backseat. George was the only reason they had a lead to where the ranch was. As long as the rest of his story checked out, he was good to go, with a warning.
Wade wasn’t about to let him off the hook yet, though. George had endangered Maya’s life, and she could still die. He would put George’s offer to help them to the test, no matter the sacrifice, if it meant saving Maya.
“What are you going to do?” Connor asked.
“Shift as soon as we get there. I’ve got to locate Maya. From what Candy told George, they’re moving up the hunt to this morning. If they release her, no telling where she’s going to be. I’ve got to try and locate her, and I can’t do that running as a human.”
“What is your brother going to do? Our cousins? Where are they?”
“My brother will direct operations at the ranch. He’ll coordinate with your cousins to make an arrest of all the people at the ranch who are supposed to be watching the videotaping of the hunt. David and our other men will pose as federal agents.”
“And that bastard who’s with you?”
“George?” Wade glanced at him. “It’s his choice. The ones waiting at the ranch are all hunters. More hunters will be in the woods. I’ll let him decide where he thinks he can be of more use.” Though if Wade didn’t agree with him, he was calling the shots.
George’s jaw tightened. “Tell Maya’s brother I’ll be with you. But I won’t be looking for Maya. That’s your job. I’m going after some hunters.”
Wade smiled at him. “Got that, Connor? Two male cats and Maya. They’ll only be expecting the two females.”
George shook his head. “Bettinger said there would be another male cat to hunt.”
Wade pondered that, then said to Connor, “Make that another male cat also. I don’t know if Bettinger is counting on me, thinking that I might arrive to help Maya or…”
“Bettinger is planning on hunting Maya in his jaguar form,” David said.
Wade swore under his breath. “Okay, I think David might be right. Bettinger’s going after Maya—as a jaguar.”
***
Bettinger smiled at Maya as he peered through the mesh of her tiny cage. The truck bounced them over the rough ground. “You wonder why Gunther looks the way he does? Limps, too?”
She already half expected that she knew the answer.
“Gunther worked at a zoo one summer. He liked the big growly cats best. He thought he could look into their eyes and be their master. Cats don’t work that way. But… he didn’t know any better. He liked to stir ’em up. Make ’em growl. Make ’em restless. Prove he was in charge while they were caged. He thought the jaguar was sleeping when he entered his cage. The cat might have been, but as soon as he smelled Gunther’s scent, the cat roared to life. Territorial, he lunged at Gunther.”
Maya shook her head.
“He was lucky he lived. His sister nursed him back to health. You met her at the club. Candy?”
Maya growled low.
Bettinger chuckled. “Gunther was really angry that the zoo didn’t kill the cat that had attacked him. But they wouldn’t. Said he was in the wrong. Made him pay for his own hospital bills, which were considerable. Fired him from his job. And he couldn’t get another. So now Gunther gets back at the jaguars. And Candy’s happy to help him. He makes a great profit and shares a percentage with her. Believe me, he is truly terrified of big cats. As he should be. But he loves the thrill of the hunt.”
The truck stopped and Maya’s heart nearly stopped with it.
“We’re here. Didn’t take long, did it? Remember what I said. Fend for yourself. The other cat won’t care anything about your fate.”
She wondered how he was going to release her from the cage without worrying that she would attack him.
An ATV pulled up with Gunther driving. “You said you’d have a male cat. Where is it?”
“It’s coming.”
“Damn you,” Gunther said. “He’s supposed to be here as soon as you release the other female. You said you’d have the other one.”
Bettinger spoke softly to Maya. “You have a sporting chance to run wild for a while. If you try to kill us, I’ll shoot you. Drug you, then you won’t have a prayer. Have we got a deal?”
She didn’t make deals with the devil.
He cast her an elusive smile. “Okay, boss, I’m releasing her,” he said to Gunther.
“You’re a fool if you think she won’t kill you,” Gunther said, but he had his camera out and was ready to tape the kill.
Bettinger tried to act cocky, but Maya saw he was sweating. He jerked the cage door open while standing well out of her way. She could attack him and then attempt to attack Gunther. But the man in the pickup truck was still a threat. If she attacked Bettinger, she worried that Gunther would grab the rifle on the seat and forget taping the kill, shooting her instead.
She leaped off the bed of the truck and ran for the forest. Once she was there, she watched to see what was going to happen next. She still planned to kill both of the men if they gave her the opportunity.
The truck headed back to the ranch house. Good. One less gun to worry about.
Bettinger stalked toward the ATV. “Okay, the male cat’s coming.”
Gunther stepped out of the ATV and struck Bettinger in the head with the cane, his face red with rage. “You said he’d be here now. Damn you. The two hunters paid extra cash to hunt the three cats! You’ve lied to me for the last time!”
Maya closed her gaping mouth. She didn’t think Bettinger would take that kind of abuse from a human.
She was right. He started yanking off his clothes.
“What the hell are you doing?” Gunther said, sounding shocked.
Shifting. Bettinger wouldn’t be shifting unless he meant to kill Gunther. But if Bettinger eliminated him as a cat would, it wouldn’t be good for the jaguars.
“What…?” Gunther said.
“Never strike a jaguar,” Bettinger said. He was naked now, shaking with rage, right before he shifted. “Here’s the male cat.”
Bettinger turned in a flash into a golden jaguar.
“Holy…” Gunther dropped his cane and the camera, and stumbled backward toward the ATV.
Maya watched the jaguar knock the man unconscious. Instead of killing him with a bite, Bettinger dragged Gunther into the nearby lake and drowned him.
Heart pounding, Maya ran away from the lake through the woods. Bettinger would find her soon enough, tracking her scent, but if she could delay him long enough, maybe someone would have time to come to her rescue.
She glanced up to see the female jaguar in a tree. Maya growled at the cat, but she didn’t move and just twisted her ears back and forth, watching Maya. Jaguars called to each other when they wanted to mate or growled over territory or called as males fighting over a female. Maya had no way of telling this jaguar she wasn’t safe where she was. Then again, if the hunters chased Maya, maybe the jaguar would be secure up there.
Glad to see that the other jaguar was still alive, Maya loped away from the jaguar’s hiding place. The problem was Bettinger. He could track the other cat by smelling where her scent led.
The sound of two ATVs, a pop of gunfire, and a resounding crack as the bullet slammed into a tree only inches from Maya’s nose made her dash deeper into the shelter of the woods as her heart skipped beats.
***
The sky was beginning to lighten some with the approach of daylight while dark thunderclouds still stretched across the area as Wade, David, George, and a tranquilized Candy arrived at the sprawling ranch. The grasslands were dotted with mesquite and oak, with the forest of mostly pine rising nearly a hundred feet above them. Wade noted the high fences, twelve feet tall. They’d have to cut through them.
“Wire cutters?” Wade ask
ed George, his heart thundering.
George shook his head.
“We can’t go in the front entrance. Not until we have backup.” Wade contacted Martin. “We’re here. No wire cutters.”
“I’ve finally reached more of our people, and the men are on the way. They’ll be there in a half hour. Get in any way you can.”
“All right.”
Wade told David, “You wait here for the other guys and coordinate their actions. And have someone take charge of Sleeping Beauty.”
“Will do.”
Wade turned to George. “You and I are going to shift and look for another possible way in. With the remoteness of the ranch, we should be good to go. But it’ll be full daylight soon.”
“Okay.” George started stripping and so did Wade. Within seconds, the two had shifted into their jaguar form.
David turned off the car’s overhead light, then opened the door for Wade and George. “Good luck,” David said to Wade and nodded to George, wishing him the same.
Wade and George took off running along the fence, searching for a way in.
A mile beyond where they parked the car, they found that the fence was stretched across a lake. Cats wouldn’t normally dive below the wire mesh. But as long as the fence didn’t reach the bottom of the lake, Wade and George should be able to swim underneath it.
Wade took a breath, then dove. The mesh was only sunk two feet deep, and Wade quickly swam underneath it and up to the other side. If he could locate Maya, he’d bring her here where she could swim to safety.
When he surfaced, lightning flashed and a boom of thunder struck overhead. The rain came down in a torrent. Good. It wouldn’t hamper the jaguars’ movements, but the hunters would have a tougher time of it.
George came up beside Wade, and they paddled toward shore. Wade spied a body floating facedown in the water. One of the hunters? Maya must have had some luck. He was glad there was one less hunter to worry about, though he had hoped the hunters would be arrested for their crimes.
Once on the grassy bank, Wade and George shook off the excess water. That was useless with the rain pouring down, but it was a natural instinct they couldn’t curb. They ran straight into the woods surrounding the lake, and Wade roared for Maya. If his calls brought the hunters down on him, so much the better. He’d distract them from her.