A Very Jaguar Christmas (3 page)

Brayden nodded. “At first, I believed Mom and I believed him. He said he was angry I hadn't stayed with him and went off exploring on my own, as if he was upset he'd nearly lost me too. I thought it was all my fault. He and Mom had a fight over it. He said if he was going to help raise me, I had to mind him. Mom wouldn't even let me leave the house for weeks once we returned home. Not for punishment, but because she was so upset she might have lost me. But a few days ago, I was in my bedroom, and I overheard him talking to a friend on the phone about the trip we'd taken in the jungle. He said the jungle was the perfect place to lose a kid you didn't want, if it worked out right and the damn kid didn't find his way back. And then he laughed and went outside. I left the house after that and stayed away.”

“Why wouldn't he have tried to get rid of you later after that incident?” Everett asked.

Everett had a valid point. If more incidents had occurred, it would seem more likely that his stepfather had truly tried to leave Brayden to perish in the jungle. Then again, Lucian and Nina had been newly married. Perfect opportunity, perfect motive.

“Mom watched over me like an anxious mother jaguar would. I just thought she was being overly protective after she nearly lost me. We fought about it because I wanted some freedom, and I thought she was going overboard with all the restrictions. She was so upset that we never returned to the jungle. But I think she must have suspected something. Maybe she warned him that she had told others about what he had done. I don't know. All I know is once Mom died, he didn't care what I did.”

“Yet every time we've taken you in, he wants you back.” Demetria couldn't understand that part of the equation. If Lucian didn't want the responsibility for the kid, why not let him be fostered by a Guardian family who really wanted to raise him?

Brayden shrugged. “I don't know. Maybe he's afraid I'd tell you what happened and maybe you'd believe he hadn't been looking for me in the jungle. Or maybe he's just controlling that way.”

Demetria wasn't sure. It sounded to her like an easy remedy. His wife was no longer around to take care of Brayden, and the Guardians were willing to take him in, so why not let him go? Unless he was managing a trust fund for Brayden.

“Do you have a trust fund?” Demetria asked.

“Yeah. Mom set it up for me when Dad died. She said it was mine when I reached twenty-one, because I'd be responsible enough to manage it then.”

“How much?” Everett asked.

“Around a hundred and twenty thousand when Mom died.”

“So Lucian's in charge of it until you come of age,” Demetria said.

“Yeah. Mom was until she died.”

“Whose idea was it to go to the jungle on the honeymoon?” Demetria asked.

“Lucian's.”

“Okay. Well, it's not an unusual place to go for vacations. We all prefer the jungle because of our jaguar nature, and he wasn't used to being responsible for a cub. Men, even real dads, can get distracted and forget to watch younger ones,” Demetria said. “But we'll sure look into it.” Not that they might ever be able to determine the truth, but they would try. And they'd check into the management of the trust fund too.

Everett handed him a business card. “If you need anything from me or just want to talk or anything, give me a call.”

Demetria was grateful Everett had offered to talk with Brayden. He might feel more comfortable speaking with a male.

“Demetria said I'd be working with the Guardians when I wasn't doing school lessons with the family I'm moving in with. But I'd rather work with the JAG. You get to do really cool things.” Brayden glanced back at Demetria as if he suddenly was worried that she wouldn't like to hear how he felt about her job.

She got that all of the time. Most guys thought they were too macho to be Guardians, but the ones who joined her branch turned out to be great at the job. Taking down bad guys wasn't the only worthwhile job. Sometimes they just needed to be there for the good guys.

“We do things for the good of our kind too.” Demetria wanted Brayden to know that her work was important, but most of all, she wanted the best for him—whatever would keep him out of trouble and allow him to become another jaguar model citizen. “You can take the aptitude testing and see where you might best be suited.”

“Yeah, I'd like that. Can I work with you on a case?” Brayden asked Everett.

He smiled. “I'm off for a couple of weeks, playing video games and chilling out during my vacation time. Your foster family will want you to enjoy the holidays.”

“Demetria said I had to work to keep myself out of trouble and learn to help others of our kind,” Brayden said.

Everett was surprised she was such a taskmaster, though he had to agree with her on how to handle at-risk jaguar teens. “After the holidays, if it's a local case and not too dangerous, we can see.”

“I don't mind going to the jungle. Really. And I promise to stick close by you at all times.”

Everett smiled. “You would need a lot of training before you could go on a mission south of the border.”

Demetria felt bad for the boy and realized he probably needed closure about visiting the jungle. Not a mission down there though. Something fun. A good experience. She would talk to the foster parents, and if they had no plans to visit an area south of the border, she would find a family that would be willing to take Brayden with them. “It's all right by me if you can use him on a local case after the holidays. It doesn't really matter, as long as Brayden wants to do the job and can help out. That really is the sole purpose of the program anyway—to give teens some focus that would aid our kind.”

“Can I stay with you too?” Brayden eagerly asked Everett.

Demetria gave Everett a look that told him no. Everett curbed the inclination to smile at her. He knew Brayden needed to be with a family for Christmas and beyond until he was able to be on his own, not staying with a footloose, jaguar bachelor. Besides, she had to have figured that Everett wouldn't want to be saddled with the teen either.

But really, he wouldn't mind for a day. “We could do that for a day or so.”

“Cool,” Brayden said. “Today?”

“Uh, no. I've got work to do. After the holidays, but we need to make sure it's all right with your foster parents and coordinate a time.”

“Okay.” Brayden sounded glum.

“Come on, Brayden. Let's get you settled. You'll love the family. They have a twin boy and girl your age, and they're excited to take you in.” Demetria stalked down the hall with her charge as Everett watched.

Then he pulled out his cell phone and called her.

She answered her phone and glanced back at him, her brows raised in question, and she mouthed the word, “What?”

Everett smiled. “Want to have dinner with me tonight? And discuss this issue concerning Brayden's stepdad?”

“What?” she said into the phone, sounding thoroughly confused.

“I could call Howard, and we could get the truth out of Lucian that way. Or…you and I can come up with another plan.”

Demetria sighed audibly over the phone, continuing down the hall with Brayden until she was out of Everett's sight. “If we're discussing this issue, we can't do it out in public.”

“My place? We could get some takeout. Your choice.” He thought if nothing else, they could discuss if they believed that Lucian had truly intended to leave the young boy in the jungle to fend for himself, maybe with the notion the trust would no longer be needed for the boy. They had to eat anyway. Might as well team up and try to decide how to deal with Brayden's stepdad in the best way possible for everyone concerned.

“Do you want Chinese? I can be over in a couple hours after I visit with Brayden's foster parents and him and make sure everything's going to be fine. I just need your address. I like anything, so feel free to order whatever you'd like.”

“Beef? Shrimp? Hot and spicy?”

“Anything sounds good to me.”

Everett gave her his address and told her he'd see her in a couple of hours, and they ended the call. He felt like he was on top of the world, even though this wasn't really a date. He thought about calling Howard, but he decided he'd check in with him later. For now, he wanted to visit with Demetria alone, which told him he was already ditching his real teammate in this case for the woman of his dreams.

He hoped the visit wouldn't turn into a nightmare. It could if she took him to task for throwing Bruce earlier today, and she probably had every intention of doing so. But if that happened, he was ready to deal with the consequences of his actions.

Everett was failing on his mission with a mixed team if he didn't let Howard know what had possibly happened to Brayden in the jungle. But Everett wanted to hear Demetria's thoughts on it first. Hell, he could lie to himself all he wanted, but the truth was, he could invite them both over to discuss the issue.

No. Way.

He was glad they had taken Brayden in so he'd have a temporary home with a foster family. If he hit it off well with the foster parents and their twin teen boy and girl, he would be a welcome member of the family forever.

Everett went to his boss's office to let him know about the mission and to tell him what Brayden had said concerning the jungle incident.

“Hell, we terminate jaguar shifters for less. Trying to kill a shifter child he's supposed to be protecting? Doesn't matter if he's his biological father or not.” As director of the JAG Golden Claws branch, Martin had a plush office furnished with leather couches and chairs, an oak table and desk, and a view of a parklike setting outside his window. “I can't believe it. I damn well wish we'd known about this beforehand,” he said as he sat in his desk chair.

Everett sat on one of the chairs facing the desk. “No more surprised than I was, and I agree. I mean, it's possible that the boy misunderstood the situation. That it actually was his fault he became separated from Lucian, and the stepdad wasn't responsible. But if Brayden is right about his mother keeping a close eye on him afterward? I'm wondering if she confided in family or friends. I'll check into it, besides interrogating Lucian. But if Brayden's mother told anyone, I'd think that person would have come forth a long time ago. At least I would hope so.”

“I wholeheartedly agree. I'm taking you off leave since you have this case to work. I can't believe Demetria is helping you too. With Howard serving from the Enforcer branch, that makes for the perfect mixed team.”

Everett felt another pang of guilt about not telling Howard about the jungle story. Yet, he fully intended to talk further to Howard about the case. Just not until after he had dinner with Demetria tonight.

“I'd like for you to head a mixed team for future assignments that require one. I had planned on asking you before this training mission because of your previous work with mixed teams, but I didn't get the chance. As usual, you've proven you have what it takes to work well with others. You can decide after the holidays and choose who you'd like to have on the team.”

Well, hell. It wasn't too late to ask Howard to join them for dinner, as much as Everett hated the notion. He loved working for Martin. Even though the final decision was Everett's, the way his boss made the “offer” meant Martin expected Everett to accept it. Everett didn't mind. If he could work with Howard and Demetria, he figured he could work with just about anyone.

“As soon as you're done with whatever you are doing today, take the rest of the day off. You've earned it.”

“Thanks, Martin. I'll get back with you on your offer first thing after the holidays.”

“Good show. And about Brayden's case, good luck.”

As soon as Everett left the director's office, Tammy hurried to catch up with him. “Hey, how'd it go with Howard?”

“Good.”

“You're kidding.”

His sister looked so astonished that he smiled. “Nope. I'll be working with him on Brayden's case over the holidays, it looks like.”

“You're
really
kidding.”

“Nope. And Demetria too.”

Tammy closed her gaping mouth.

“Want to have coffee in the lunchroom, and we'll talk during your break?”

“Yeah, sure. Listen, I was supposed to help Mom set up a stage for the Christmas play she's working on with the children at her day care, but Martin asked me to work this afternoon instead. Is there any way you can drop by and help her?”

“Yeah, sure. I'm off the rest of the day.”

“Oh, thank you so much. Did Demetria
really
say she'd help you with the job?” Tammy sounded shocked.

“Yeah, but I agreed, as long as she doesn't shift.” Not that he'd actually said so. He had been thinking it though.

Tammy laughed.

“You were handing out assignments. Did you know we would all end up on the same job?”

Tammy worried her lip for a moment, then sighed. “It was Martin's idea.”

Everett arched a brow in question.

Tammy shrugged. “You know him. He does things in his own way, but he's the boss, so he doesn't have to explain his reasoning.”

Everett wondered if it had to do with seeing how well he handled the case when another agent showed up for the job. One last test to see if he could handle the position that Martin wanted him to fill.

“Okay, so what's going on with Brayden? I thought Demetria would fix him up with a family, and that would be the end of that.” Tammy added sugar and a ton of cream to her coffee.

“Yeah, but there's an issue we need to look into.” He explained to his sister about the jungle incident.

“Ohmigod, I'll kill the bastard myself.”

“We don't know that it's anything more than Brayden getting separated from his stepdad in the jungle. Kids do that all the time when they're out shopping with parents, or otherwise. In a jungle, it would be easy to do.”