“Thanks, boss.” Wade rubbed his hand over Maya’s arm as she snuggled against him. He knew just what he’d do with that time off. “I’ve got to make a call to Thompson. Talk to you later,” he told Martin.
At a run as he headed for George’s car, David waved to them. He was about to open the front passenger door when he saw the woman sitting in the front seat. He quickly pulled open the door to the back. “Sorry, Wade,” he said to his brother as he climbed in. “Hate to have to ride back here with you… considering you probably wanted a little privacy.”
“No problem,” Wade said.
David eyed the new woman in the front seat. “I’m David Patterson.”
She gave him a small smile. “Caryn Breming.”
“George Tucker,” George said, as if he was so tongue-tied around the woman that he was having a time saying anything. But with another shifter sounding interested, he jumped right in. “How come I’ve never seen you around?”
“I never do the club scene,” Caryn said, “if you frequent those kinds of places.”
“Me either,” David said. “Not all the time. Hardly ever. Four times now, actually. But two of the times I was just on a job.”
She smiled and nodded at David.
Score one point for David, Wade thought, amused.
“Are you wild?” George asked. He knew that David was because he was in the Service.
“Not me. I’ve never been to the jungle. No interest.” Caryn glanced at George to see his take on it.
“Me either,” George said.
Score one point for George. She cast a look over the seat back at David to hear his response.
He folded his arms and gave a half smile. “Wild all the way.”
Wade was trying his damnedest not to laugh. He had to give his brother points for being an original.
Caryn smiled back at David as if she was intrigued.
Score a point for David? Maybe?
Maya said to David, “And here you called me a wild cat.”
“Yeah, you are, Maya. But I’d rather be in the jungle with you protecting my back than not.”
“Um, what happens after I drop you off at your car?” George asked Wade, sounding as though he wanted to get the topic off wild cats.
“Caryn needs a ride home,” Wade said, then punched in a number on his phone. “So we need to decide how she gets home.” The call he was trying to make went through, and Wade said, “Thompson, how are you doing?
Thompson said, his voice strained, “Hell, they got Maya.”
“We got her back. She’s okay. How about you?”
“Headache the size of Alaska. My wife will be here any minute now. I’m okay, but they wanted to keep me overnight for observation.”
“Good.”
More silence. Wade looked at David and raised his brows. Wade had to know if Thompson had seen Maya shift, but he couldn’t very well just come out and ask him.
Thompson cleared his throat. “Is Maya with you?”
“Right here.”
“Can I talk to her?”
“Sure.” Wade handed the phone to her.
“Maya?” Thompson said.
“Are you okay? I was afraid after the truck crashed and you didn’t move that you were dead.”
“I’m fine. I have a hard head, or so my wife always tells me. I’m sorry I didn’t protect you better.”
“Ha! The crash knocked you out. You couldn’t have done anything differently.”
“Your secret’s safe with me,” Thompson said.
“Thanks, Thompson. You don’t know how important that is. I think Wade was planning to mention to you that the female jaguar wasn’t from your zoo.”
Thompson didn’t say anything for a moment, and Wade was afraid he’d ask to see the jaguar to prove to himself the cat wasn’t her.
“It… wasn’t?” he finally asked, cautiously.
“No. Believe me when I say she wasn’t.”
“Okay, I do.” Thompson sighed. “I have to find her.”
“People who Wade and I know are looking for her as we speak. They won’t let you down, Thompson.”
Thompson paused. “I believe you. Will I see you again?”
Maya smiled up at Wade as she told Thompson, “Maybe at the club sometime. We could dance.”
“I’d like that. My wife just arrived, and she’s taking me home. The last time I got knocked out when I was searching for clues about a wolf, she wouldn’t let me go anywhere for days.” Thompson paused. “Wolves. Hell.” Another long pause. “Werewolves,” he said under his breath.
Maya laughed. “No way.”
Thompson said good-bye to Maya, then spoke to Wade, thanking him for his continued help in trying to locate the Oregon Zoo jaguar.
After he hung up, Wade kissed Maya’s forehead, loving her but not sure what he should do about the fact she had shifted in front of a human. He should report this to Martin. They couldn’t allow a human to know what they were. Yet he couldn’t do it. He sincerely believed that Thompson was one of the good guys. And he didn’t want Maya to be in trouble, either. Besides, if Thompson started telling the world that werewolves and jaguar shifters were real, he’d be laughed out of existence.
“You won’t say a word,” Maya whispered against Wade’s ear as if she could read his thoughts. “You don’t want to be in the doghouse.”
Wade chuckled and squeezed her in a hugging embrace. “No, I don’t.” He was thinking of getting one of those suites at the classy hotel where George and Candy had taken a room.
Maya had other plans.
Before they reached the hotel where the Pattersons’ car was packed, George said, “I’m sorry for… my involvement in this, Maya. I didn’t have all the facts when I helped Jim Bettinger. I… know… Martin has to review the case, but maybe you can put in a good word for me?” He looked terrified and hopeful at the same time.
As angry as she was that George had helped hand her over to Bettinger, she had to admit that he’d risked his life to help Wade protect her from the hunters. She nodded. Maybe next time he’d know better.
Before dropping Caryn off at her home, Maya vowed to get together with her for lunch in Houston sometime, while Caryn said she’d come out to see their nursery. Then, after making arrangements to secure Maya’s car and dropping David off at the hotel where he and Wade were staying, Wade drove Maya back to the Anderson Garden Nursery. She couldn’t wait to see her brother and Kat.
When they finally arrived home, Kat and Connor greeted her, and Maya felt overjoyed to see them. Though she’d had a swim in the lake and been thoroughly rained on during the storm and was still wearing only Wade’s shirt, she wanted to take a hot shower and slip into bed with him.
What she didn’t expect was to see a strawberry-blond-haired woman crossing the living-room floor, ready to greet her, blue eyes smiling. “I’m Tammy,” she said, “your other cousin.” And then she pulled Maya into a hug as if they were the best of friends and always had been.
“What are you doing here?” Maya asked, loving her already. “I’m so glad you came, but no one said anything about it.”
“You know men. My brothers were too intent on rescuing you. Minor details like my being here wouldn’t have been important enough to share with you. I’m trying to get a lead on Thompson’s missing zoo jaguar, but I wanted to come down and meet you all, too, since you’re my only known cousins.”
Tammy glanced at Wade. “I take it you’re the man of the hour?”
“If you mean I helped free Maya, I’d say she was doing a great job on her own,” Wade said, shaking Tammy’s hand. “I’m only one of the men who came to rescue her.”