David cleared his throat. “Um, this is a Special Forces mission.”
She snorted. “You wouldn’t be sitting here talking to Wade if I hadn’t helped out a little.”
Wade and his brother shared looks.
“She’s right,” Wade said, finishing his omelet.
“So, what’s our next move?” She sat back against the couch, folding her arms. When neither brother said anything, she let her breath out in exasperation. “Okay, look, if David didn’t take down Lion Mane, the guy knows I’m in on this with the two of you. He’ll also know that Kat and Connor are involved. He might want revenge, or he might decide things are getting too hot for him and leave. Or, he might risk going after the female jaguar again since he’s already put this much effort into it and still wants the money. In any event, we’re all involved in this now.”
“Connor mentioned taking you and Kat home early,” David said, his tone cautious.
Her mouth pursed as she raised her brows at him.
He shrugged. “Kat wouldn’t hear of it unless you wanted to go home, too.”
“No, I don’t want to go home yet. If this guy wants revenge, he could drop by our garden nursery anytime. If he wants to go after the cat, the more of us there are to stop him, the better,” Maya said.
David turned to Wade. “If you don’t keep her for yourself, I’m not guaranteeing she’s going to be free much longer.”
Maya smiled and cast a glance in Wade’s direction, but not before he could wipe the scowl off his face.
“Since Lion Mane knows about all of us, I assume it would be better if we all stayed at the same resort tonight,” David said.
“There wouldn’t be enough room at the cabana we’re staying at. Enough beds, but not enough rooms for privacy,” Wade said. He smiled at David.
Maya slid her hand over Wade’s towel-covered thigh. If she did much more, she was going to get a rise out of him.
“So what were you thinking?” Wade asked his brother, taking hold of her hand and pulling her close. He tucked her soft, terry-cloth-robed body securely underneath his arm.
“A couple is moving out of their cottage this morning. You and I could stay there. I already reserved the place, just in case.”
“Okay, sounds good. We’ll figure out sleeping arrangements later.” Wade kissed the top of Maya’s head. As long as Maya was agreeable, he intended to stay with her here until she left for home.
“You know we’re leaving the day after tomorrow?” Maya said. “So we only have today and tomorrow to stop these men.”
On her schedule. But not on David’s and his.
“I managed to tell Martin I found you safe here,” David said. “The main lodge here has really spotty reception, but I got through. I told him about Bettinger and Mylar. He wanted to know if you learned who the buyer was before Bettinger died.”
Maya spoke up before Wade could say anything. “Bettinger had the gun and was asking all the questions while Wade was a jaguar at the time. So no, Wade didn’t have a chance to ask him who he was working for. But Wade is alive and I figure that ought to count for something.”
David smiled at Maya. “Martin better not cross claws with you. He’s fine with it, only because Lion Mane is still running around. I sent him a picture of the dude to see if Martin might be able to learn who he is. As to Bill Bettinger, he said the man had a wife and two kids.”
A knock at the front door gave Maya a start.
“Maya, are you finished with breakfast yet?” Connor asked through the door. “We need to talk.”
Looking guilty as sin, Maya jumped up from the couch.
Wade shook his head. Her brother was bound to know he and Maya had made love. She raced up the steps to the bedroom, grabbed some clothes out of the dresser and closet, then scurried into the bathroom and shut the door.
“She’s fast,” David mused.
“Coming!” Wade shouted to Connor.
“Have you got any clothes?” David asked.
“Yeah. A pair of pants.”
“I’ll get the door. Why don’t you put the pants on?”
“I’m fine,” Wade said, heading for the door. “I need to take a shower anyway before I get dressed.”
David sighed. “You like to live dangerously.”
Wade opened the door, wearing only the towel around his waist, and raised a brow at Connor, whose eyes narrowed as he took in Wade’s scent. Even if Wade had been dressed, he couldn’t have hidden the smell of Maya on him—or of their lovemaking in the bed that was open to the view of the living room.
Connor glanced in the direction of the bathroom where the spray of the shower was going full blast. “We need to make some decisions here.”
He took a seat on one of the floral upholstered chairs while David sat back down on the couch and Wade sat opposite him on the other couch.
“Yeah. Maya says she wants to help with our investigation,” Wade said, not liking the idea. “Maybe you can talk her out of it.”
“Are you kidding? Both women are going to help us with this. Lion Mane is trouble for us. We can’t let this go. The other man? The hunter? Unless the shifter gets him involved in trying to take us down, he’s not a problem.”
“We don’t take civilians on a job,” Wade said, giving his brother a look. David nodded in agreement.
“All right, listen. We’re involved. Once Maya saved your ass and Kat and I had to come to your rescue, we became part of the team. Now… we can work together, or we can work separately. But we are going after this shifter. His buddy would have murdered Maya. Lion Mane most likely would have opted for the same solution. Don’t you agree?”
“We don’t know that for sure. We don’t know his background, his real name, nothing,” Wade said, not wanting Connor and the two women involved. He did understand where Connor was coming from. But that didn’t change how Wade felt about it.
Connor stretched out his long legs and leaned against the chair back. “Fair enough. Since you’re the Special Forces hotshot jaguars, what do you propose we do? Serve as bait?”
“I don’t like that idea,” Wade immediately said.
“If Lion Mane—hell, I wish we knew the guy’s real name—but if this bastard wants to take Maya out, no matter what we do, she could be his next target,” Connor said.
“True,” David said.
Not liking where this was headed, Wade cast his brother a disgruntled look. David was supposed to be on his side.
David shrugged. “Connor’s right. You know it, Wade.” To Connor, David said, “How about you stay here for the time being? I doubt he’d chance a confrontation at the cottages. Too many people around. Wade and I will return to our cabana and the place they were staying. We’ll look for the bastard, and if we can’t locate him, we’ll return with our luggage. You take the women on one of the tours in the area. Something where we can watch your backs. If he doesn’t try anything, then we’ll have to take him on back in the States. But if you and the ladies take a jungle excursion, he might attempt to get to Maya. And we could take him out then.”
“Too risky,” Wade said.
“There are several excursions,” Connor said, ignoring Wade’s comment, although he smiled a little at Wade, looking somewhat pleased that Wade was concerned about Maya and not willing to use her as bait. “They have cave tubing, kayaking, Mayan ruins exploration, caving, zip line, and horseback riding. Horses aren’t really fond of us. Zip line is no good because of Kat’s condition. Kayaking would be hard for you to follow us. Cave tubing might work or the Mayan ruins exploration. Before all this had happened, we’d planned on the cave tubing. We’ll have quite a bit of jungle hiking and trekking through the caves. But also a gentle tubing ride. It should be easy enough for you to watch our backs.”