She looked around and saw a stainless-steel water trough and food dish.
The food dish might work. She’d have to wait until the men were gone or in bed. She glanced at the other cat. She was watching her, almost looking like she was smiling.
“I don’t know where Jim Bettinger has taken your girlfriend,” Candy said to Wade and David. Her phone buzzed and she texted back. “My buyer just bought a female cat from Jim Bettinger.”
Damn it to hell. Bettinger had to have sold Maya to the buyer. What was Bettinger thinking? “Bettinger didn’t have a cat to sell. And you know it. He stole one of mine.”
Candy folded her arms. “Says you. How are you going to prove that cat was yours? Got papers?”
“I’ve got a picture of her posted on Maya’s website. You know the one. You saw it yourself.”
Candy’s mouth dropped open. But then she quickly snapped it shut. “I don’t know anything about it.”
“I really don’t give a damn if you do or don’t. I want you to contact the buyer and tell him my brother’s bringing you a trade. A male for a female,” Wade said.
Candy smiled. “Interesting proposition, but he’s surely already paid for the female. You can’t expect him to pay you for the male and give up the female.”
“No payment. Just an even trade.”
Candy frowned at him. “I don’t get it.”
“She’s my breeding stock, damn it.” Maya would be thrilled to hear Wade say it.
“Let me call him.” Candy touched the screen on her phone, then spoke into it. “Um, I have an offer from the other hunters. They say Jim stole their female cat, and they want to trade a male for her.”
Candy looked up at Wade. With his cat’s hearing, Wade heard the man say, “He does, does he? Jim’s right here, and he says the cat’s his.”
“It isn’t. Wade has proof it isn’t,” Candy said.
“Possession is nine-tenths of the law, Sis.”
Sis? This woman was the buyer’s sister?
“He’s willing to give you a male in her place so he can use her for breeding stock,” Candy said.
A long pause followed.
“Candy, Jim said no to the offer. He’s going to deliver another cat—male this time. We’re going to have three on the hunt. First time to have multiple cats to hunt.”
“Won’t that be dangerous?” Candy asked, sounding anxious. She was frowning, looking at the floor as if she’d forgotten Wade and his brother were there. “If you’re going to do this, I don’t want you out there in the field videotaping it. It’s too risky.”
“I’ll be in the ATV. You worry too much.”
“You know how dangerous the cats can be,” she said.
“All too well. Jim and I are having steaks to celebrate his bringing me a wild jaguar and the other addition—tomorrow. You won’t need to drum up any more business for a while. Unless you’re just enjoying yourself. Come on home and join us, if you want.”
“Thanks. I will. Bye.” She hung up the phone and stuck it in her bag.
“Your brother,” Wade said.
“What?” Candy looked stricken.
“Your brother. The buyer. He said no to exchanging a male out for the female because Jim is going to sell him another cat. Since he didn’t bring one from Belize, that means he intends to steal another one of my cats.”
She licked her lips and glanced from Wade to his brother. “I’m sorry. I… I don’t know what to say.”
“Give me your purse,” Wade demanded.
“I don’t have any money.”
“Just give me the damned purse.”
She handed it to him and he jerked it out of her hands, found a wallet, and looked for her driver’s license. Candy Lyn Jaemison.
He brought out his phone and took a picture of her name, address, and ID photo. Now, if they could just find a Jaemison who lived in the area, probably some distance away from Houston, though. The ranch couldn’t be too close in, not if they did big-game hunting.
She had several credit cards—looked like business was good—and the usual woman stuff—nail file, lipstick, pen, checkbook, a clutter of receipts. One was a gas receipt for the little town close to Maya’s garden nursery. He read the address on the checkbook, same as the one on her driver’s license.
He pulled out her phone next and called Martin. When he answered, Wade said, “Record the number. It’s Miss Candy Jaemison’s. The woman leading us to Maya’s captor.”
“Got it. Anything else?”
He read off all the phone numbers she had in her address book.
“All right, all right,” Candy said. “Maya’s abduction has nothing to do with my brother, though. If Jim took her, then I’ll tell you what I know. I was supposed to meet George Tucker after we made a deal about the cat. You know, I mentioned him before. He was at the bar that first night I met you.” She gave them the name of the hotel and David headed downtown.
“How do you know he’s involved in this deal with Maya?”
“He and Jim were together tonight. Jim was ranting about his brother dying in Belize, and George was trying to calm him down. Jim said he knew Maya had returned to the club, and he talked about convincing her to go somewhere quiet with him. George said he’d help him. I was to meet him later at the club, and then we were going to the hotel. I had to call off the club date because of you two. I told him once I was done with business, I’d join him at the hotel. What are you going to do to him?”
“Convince him that he wants to let us know where Maya is.”
When they reached the hotel, Wade and David rushed Candy up to the seventh floor. Wade and his brother stood away from the door of the room where George was staying while Candy knocked on it.
“It’s just me,” she called out.
Chapter 26
“What the hell took you so—” George said, opening the door, wearing only boxers and a frown. His brown eyes widened as he saw David and Wade holding Candy’s arms, and he took a deep breath and smelled the scent of the shifters in front of him. Angry shifters.
He tried to slam the door in their faces, but Wade had anticipated his action and blocked the door with his boot.
George raced across the room, grabbed a tranq gun, and fired it without aiming properly. The dart hit Candy. She squeaked, eyes wide, and crumpled to the carpeted floor.
Wade had the man by the throat in the next instant, walking him backward into the suite, while David quickly checked the rest of the place to make sure George was the only person there.
David nodded to Wade. “You can kill him now.”
“Wait,” the man said, eyes bulging as he grasped Wade’s hands still around his throat. “What’s this all about?”
Wade backed him up to the brown sofa in the sitting area and shoved him onto it. “Bettinger asked you to help him grab Maya for him.”
“What? He wanted her. Sure. But then he changed his mind, called me, and told me to pick up a jaguar for him instead.”
“He paid you to take a female jaguar where?” Wade towered over him, arms crossed over his chest, eyes narrowed.
The shifter glanced at David and then at Wade, his forehead pebbled with sweat. “What… what do you want with the jaguar?”
“She was my property. Bettinger had no right to her. What’s your name?”
“George Tucker.” He swallowed hard. “Jim said… the man stole the cat from him. He needed my help to get her back, and he was paying lots of money, no questions asked.”
“That’s the first thing that should have clued you in that you were doing something illegal.”