“I got the impression Joe had secured the jaguar originally via unscrupulous means, and if he did that with one of our distant jaguar cousins, what else was he criminally involved in? Quinn too, since he knew all about it. Krustan and I got to talking about it. He’d always wanted to date Olivia. You know how he is. Anyway, he wanted to help me prove they were crooked.”
“Did you know Olivia was dating Joe behind David’s back?” She probably shouldn’t speak ill of the dead—she noted David had quit talking to his boss and was looking at her—but she thought Weaver should know the woman wasn’t all sweetness and innocence. And she could have been involved in the whole rotten mess.
“No, I hadn’t known that.” Weaver paused. “She committed suicide after I told her about Joe’s unfaithfulness. It didn’t help that Quinn was partying right along with him and keeping it a secret from her. I…I felt I was somewhat responsible for her death.”
“Quinn said he told her about how Joe was seeing other women,” Tammy said. “He said he felt responsible for her death.”
Weaver was silent for some time. He said, “No. He didn’t tell her. And I don’t believe he planned to. Joe and Quinn were having a fine time of it. I called her from the club while I was watching her brother and Joe, and when I told her, she was shocked, outraged. She didn’t know. But she had quite a temper. So I could see her tearing into Quinn and Joe when they came home after a night of debauchery. She might have slipped into the club to see for herself that night. I don’t know. It was so crowded, I never saw her. But that same night she committed suicide.”
“What if she confronted Joe and Quinn when they arrived home and Joe murdered her?”
“I don’t think Quinn would have allowed it.”
“What if Quinn killed her because she knew all about their illegal business and threatened to expose them? And Joe had to go along with it because they were all too deep in the business.”
“Have you got proof?” Weaver asked, interested.
“My partner and I are working on it,” Tammy said. “Thanks. You’ve been a big help. I’ll put in a good word for you and Krustan. Oh, wait, one more question. You said that the teens weren’t to be trusted. So did Quinn. Do you have anything to back up your statement?”
Weaver laughed. “Why is it that I feel that I’m doing your job for you and I’m not getting any credit for it?”
“I promise I’ll let the boss know how much you helped me on the case.”
Silence.
“You like those boys,” he said.
She waited.
“They kill the messenger,” Weaver added.
“I’ll kill the messenger if he doesn’t tell me.”
“You’re not going to like what I have to say.”
“Just spill it, all right?” She barely managed to quash the damn it she was about to tack on.
“The kids stole the cat from the circus.”
She breathed in a sigh of relief. “I already know that.”
“A year ago? The first time she was stolen from the circus? And given to the zoo? I’d overheard rumors that a jaguar was stolen from the circus. I looked into it because no one had reported a thing about it. Joe was a jaguar shifter, had worked for the JAG, and was now working as the manager for the circus. So it made me curious that he hadn’t brought it to the attention of the police or someone. Maybe not the Service, because he probably had hard feelings toward anyone there.
“As I was looking into it on my off-duty hours, I discovered four sixteen-year-old shifter teens had stolen the cat and turned her over to the zoo. They’d forged documents to indicate she was from a big-cat shelter and needed a home. They’d contacted the Oregon Zoo because it was on a list, wanting a jaguar to replace theirs that had died. The kids stole the cat and made arrangements for a Mr. Thompson to pick her up. I didn’t know why the kids had done it. Didn’t really care. She had great accommodations out there and was being well cared for. I suspected she was being abused in the circus and the kids wanted to rescue her. Okay? Now you’ve got your story.”
“Thanks, Weaver,” she said, couching her very growly instincts.
“Don’t be too hard on them, okay? I really believe their hearts were into saving her. And I salute them.”
“Thanks. I will put in a good word for you and Krustan.” She ended the call and looked at David, who was studying her.
“What’s wrong now?”
“The kids lied to us.”
Chapter 29
Tammy was furious with the boys. Not for stealing the jaguar from the circus in the first place, but for not trusting her enough to realize she would have cheered them on for trying to keep the jaguar safe. She explained what she had learned to David and said, “We need to get hold of them, but we don’t have their phone numbers.”
“How about Facebook?”
“Right! I’ll try that. What are you going to do?”
“Join you. I just finished sending Martin Olivia’s pictures, her address book information, and texts that seemed important. She had even texted back and forth with the fence herself. She was involved up to the top of her blond head. Martin has issued arrest warrants for Joe and Quinn, and he’s made the other branches aware of it. Top priority.”
“Good. I wonder if they have any more merchandise stashed away. The cat may be there also. I need to get in touch with the kids and ask them about stealing the jaguar from the circus in the first place. And how they knew about her.”
She shook her head and settled down to message Alex: Dear Alex,
“No one writes ‘dear’ in a Facebook message,” David said, reading what she was writing.
“I’m annoyed with them. When I’m irritated, I start out with a more formal greeting.” She frowned at David. “Quit critiquing my message.”
He chuckled. “Okay. Go ahead.”
She typed: I was made aware that you and your friends stole the jaguar from the circus and gave it to the zoo last year. Why didn’t you tell us?
No response.
“They may not be monitoring their messages,” David said.
She drummed her fingers on the desktop, then typed in: Alex, we need to know the truth. If she was in danger, we totally understand. You won’t get into trouble for it.
Alex messaged: They were mistreating it.
Relieved that he was monitoring his FB and felt comfortable enough to respond, Tammy typed: How did you know about the cat? Had you seen her at the circus?
She waited. And waited. She began drumming her fingers on her desk again. David took her hand, kissed it, and held on to it.
She shook her head. “Either he’s talking to Nate and trying to come up with another wild story, or he’s a really slow typist.”
“Or typing a lot,” David said.
Alex sent: We knew her before.
“I knew it!” she said to David. “I was sure they had more of a personal stake in this.”
She messaged: Where?
She thought he’d quit responding, afraid to say. David tugged at her to sit with him again. “You’re a bundle of nerves. Come on. Relax a little.”
She sighed, then sat on his lap on her desk chair while she leaned back against him and tried to relax.
The message from Alex popped up: Old couple running cat reserve. He died. She had to find homes for big cats. Lions, tigers, ocelot, cheetah, and jaguar. Two years volunteered to take care of cats. Guy wanted jaguar. Said he had cat reserve. We followed him to make sure she was taken care of. He took her to circus, handed her over to owner. Owner wanted unique cat. Took us forever to steal her. They had trained her to jump through fire hoop. They shocked her or starved her when she didn’t mind. We gave her to zoo. Heard Oregon Zoo cat missing. Checked. Found same circus in area. Put 2 & 2 together. You gotta find her. She can’t stay with circus.
Tammy took a deep
breath and typed: We’ll find her. What was the woman’s name who owned cat reserve? We’ll talk to her about giving the cat to zoo. We know who bad agents are. Lie low. As soon as we have cat in protective custody, will let you know. Same with men.
Alex: Dora Smith. Alex texted Tammy the phone number. Then added: We want to help.
She smiled and typed: Join the Service and you can.
“All right, you want me to talk to the woman?” David asked.
“Let me. You find out where the jaguar is.” She smiled at David.
“Let me have all the stress-free jobs, will ya?”
She laughed. “I figured you needed something really easy to do for a change.” She pulled out her phone and left the office while David got on her computer.
David loved Tammy. He decided he’d never had this much fun on a mission, despite how dangerous it was. He heard her talking on the phone and assumed she’d gotten hold of the owner of the cat reserve.
“Great,” Tammy said, and the way she said it, she sounded truly pleased. “As soon as we find her, we’ll let you know.” She poked her head into the office. “Are you ready for dinner?”
“Sure, anything is fine with me. What did the cat lady say?”
“She would never have given the cat to the circus. She’s all for sending her to the zoo, and she’ll write something up to that effect. The cat was supposed to have gone to another cat reserve. The man lied and had false papers. Are you finding anything?” she asked.
“I’m looking at some of these photos of buildings and trying to locate any addresses. I suggest we check them out.”
She peered over his shoulder at the monitor. “To see if we can find any that contain stolen merchandise—”
“And a cat.”
***
“So if Joe wasn’t working as manager for the circus any longer, why would he try to steal the cat back and give it to them? I mean, he was fired.” She’d fixed them a quick bite to eat before they’d left on their scouting mission. This time she drove David’s car. He navigated for them as they headed for some of the locations they thought might possibly yield the cat and stolen merchandise.
“Joe would do it for money. As soon as the boys said that Cyrus Wilde wanted a unique cat for the circus and knew the woman was looking for cat reserves that would provide a good home for her big cats, I asked Martin to do some checking on him. He learned Cyrus’s mother was already dead—died three years ago. He wasn’t visiting his sick mother when we dropped by the circus. He left town because we were asking too many questions. Turn left here, five blocks.”
“Okay, so Cyrus paid for the cat. He fires Joe as a rotten manager. But by now the cat is trained to jump through fire hoops and she’s stolen. Lots easier stealing her back than trying to start training a new cat.”
“Plus they didn’t have to buy her from the cat reserve lady,” David said. “She just wanted a home for her. Getting hold of a new cat would have been harder for him, more costly than paying Joe, or they wouldn’t have come to an agreement.”
“Right. So, he pays Joe to get her back, and the cat is stolen again. Joe had to have been pissed,” she said, pulling into a parking lot in front of a brick warehouse.
“Yeah, and he doesn’t like troublesome teens anyway. So he learns they are in Belize and tries to get rid of them, or at least one of them, on the zip-line adventure. Doesn’t work because you go on it instead. Joe finds and searches their bungalow, probably looking to get rid of the boys and learn if they have any evidence about the cat. He and Quinn drop by our place, looking for kids and clues.”
Tammy and David headed to the building, sniffing the air and listening for sounds of a big cat. Nothing. Being Sunday, everything in the area was quiet. She didn’t smell any sign of Joe or Quinn around the building.
“Hmm. Why did Joe shoot at Quinn?” she asked.
“Had a falling-out maybe? They’re both trying to kill each other? If Quinn’s sister had been murdered and they both had been involved in it, each might be afraid the other would let the proverbial cat out of the bag. If Quinn killed Joe or vice versa, the one who outlived the other would be free and clear of the crime. Maybe.”
“So who picked up the cat the first time?” she asked.
“Joe. The second time? Looks like they hired humans to help so neither Joe nor Quinn could be connected with the theft of the cat at the farm. Out of respect for Quinn and his family, several of the JAG agents went to the funeral for Olivia,” David said. “If Quinn was involved in killing his sister, well, hell, I would never have believed it.” They sniffed around another building. “Nothing here. Let’s check the next place on our list.”
They investigated six more buildings with no luck. “Maybe they moved their stolen merchandise to a new location after Olivia’s death in case she told anyone about their criminal actions,” Tammy said. She paused and considered how dark it was getting to be. “It’s nearly midnight.”
“Yeah, we have ten more places to check out. You don’t want to stop, do you?”
“No…no. I want to find the cat tonight if we can.” She peered around the area and frowned, listening but not hearing anything suspicious. “Do you feel like we’re being followed?”
David looked around at the dark buildings. “I’ve been trying to visualize some of these buildings Olivia has pictured that have no numbers. So I haven’t really noticed.”
Tammy studied the buildings, and not seeing anything, she shook her head. “Where to next?”
“Over there, I think. See, there’s a partial street sign in the picture.”
“That metal building right over there.”
“Yeah, we’ll leave the car where it’s at and walk there.”
When they reached the door to the building, Tammy glanced at David, wondering if he smelled what she smelled.
“Yeah, the cat’s been here. And so have Joe and Quinn.” He quickly called it in to his boss. “Juan, the guide who hooked Tammy up to the zip line?” David said to his boss, glancing at Tammy. “Okay, I’ll tell her.” He hung up. “They found Juan.”
“Alive?”
“Yeah, and he gave a description of Joe Storm. Martin sent pictures of both him and Quinn down there, but he positively identified Joe.”
“I’m glad Juan’s okay.”
“I have mixed feelings about it, considering he got paid to make you go first and you could have died.”
“Yeah, well, I probably had a better chance at surviving than that family did.”
“Agreed. I’m going back to the car to get the bolt cutters. You wait here.”
She paced, hoping the cat was truly inside and safe, and that the troops would arrive before anyone bad did. But no matter what, they had to stay here. They had to protect the jaguar if she was here. They couldn’t allow anyone to hide her somewhere else or, worse, get rid of her because she was turning out to be too much trouble.
Chapter 30
Tammy was excited about discovering the zoo cat in the warehouse if she was truly there, but still she worried that the building would be guarded, or someone might be there. No vehicles were parked out front. They’d left David’s car on a side street two warehouses down and walked here. Her heart raced as David returned with the bolt cutters. The warehouse looked like any of the others. Maybe 20,000 square feet, three stories high, metal, except inside this one, they heard the whirring of motors.
She glanced at David. “Fans,” he confirmed.
He cut the padlock on the metal door with a snap. He shoved the door open with a grinding noise and closed it back up. In the dim glow of the outdoor security lights showing through dusty windows thirty feet above, she and David saw tons of crates stacked high. Huge fans blew inside the building, which wasn’t usual for a warehouse that just housed normal merchandise. In the hot Texas weather, if something was alive in here, they’d have to cool
the place off a bit.
A television was set up, a couch in front of it, and one popcorn machine, with recently popped popcorn. “My TV!” she exclaimed.
“How much do you want to bet that’s the circus’s new popcorn machine?” David said.
“Weaver’s TV is probably in one of these crates.” She smelled the strong odor of cat urine to the south of them. Jaguar. It was fresh, too. “She’s probably in there,” Tammy said, pointing to the large fenced-off area, the tops of the chain link visible beyond the tower of crates. They couldn’t see the cat yet and Tammy hoped she was still there.
“Joe and Quinn have been here,” David said as they hurried to maneuver through the narrow aisles between crates and found the cat watching them from the top of a crate inside the fenced-in enclosure.
Tammy was elated. “Yeah, and a handful of other men—all human. I don’t recognize anyone else’s scent, though.” She hoped that Joe and Quinn were the only two in the organization that were bad cats this time around. Tammy smiled as she moved around to observe the cat’s flank. “That’s her, same spots as in the zoo picture.”
Whipping his phone out, David updated his boss to let him know they were at the correct location. “Yeah, Martin. We got her, and this is the right warehouse. The crates might be filled with stolen goods also. No sign of anyone, but Joe Storm and Quinn Singleterry’s scents are strong here. Okay, hurry. The place was unguarded, but it doesn’t mean we won’t have trouble soon. Gotcha. Out here.”
David paused, frowned, and glanced at the closed door. “Someone’s coming,” he warned.
She heard the footfalls also, growing closer to the warehouse door. David seized her hand and they sprinted away from the fenced-in jaguar and ducked behind some wooden crates. She had so hoped Martin’s men would get here before anyone else did.