Free Jaguar Hunt by Terry Spear Page B

temporary arrangement.
    He winked at her and looked down at the menu as she ordered from hers. He motioned to the waitress that he wanted the same meal that Tammy was getting. The waitress left to put in their orders.
    â€œYeah, boss.” David filled Martin in on the condom exhibition, looked up, and smiled at Tammy.
    She felt her cheeks warm.
    â€œZip-lining right after we grab breakfast.” David looked at her again, his green eyes twinkling. “I’ll tell her. Talk to you when we have any news on our end. Out here.”
    â€œWell?” she asked.
    â€œMartin said he can’t wait to have the boys working for him. It’ll be a real treat.”
    â€œYeah, until they steal his condoms.”
    David chuckled. “Okay, so the news is that the boys aren’t working alone.”
    â€œGreat. There are more of them down here?”
    â€œNot sure. But Martin had a couple of agents watching two other twin male teens, Peter and Hans Fenton. They’re jaguar shifters, same age as the twins, and they have a similar home life. Dad is an engineer; mom works as a nurse. Neither is home to watch the boys. One of Martin’s men overheard a phone conversation that one of the teens was having at the mall, mentioning something about a jaguar stolen from a zoo.
    â€œSince the Oregon Zoo seems to be the only one missing a big cat, it’s got to be the same case. The kids must be acquainted with each other, and they all know something about the cat. Before Martin could give the go-ahead to take the boys into custody to question them, they disappeared.”
    â€œHuh, great. And they’re where now?”
    â€œNo idea.”
    â€œSo kind of like where we are with the two teens we’re looking into.”
    â€œSeems like it. Bright kids. Willful and creative.”
    â€œAnd the cat?” She still worried about the safety of the jaguar.
    â€œI still think she’s safe, or the boys wouldn’t be leading us on like they are.”
    She sighed, never thinking that finding the missing zoo cat would be this difficult. Her phone rang, and she glanced at the caller ID. Henry Thompson .
    Recalling that he was the man from the Oregon Zoo who had been trying to chase down his missing jaguar, and that she’d given him her number in case he had any further word about the cat, she answered the call. “Hi, this is Tammy Anderson. How can I help you?”
    â€œHave…have you learned anything about the cat?”
    â€œWe’re working on some leads. Nothing substantial yet. Anything on your end?”
    â€œWe’ve got extra security on the wolf exhibits. Never thought we’d have to do the same with the jaguar’s enclosure. We’ve analyzed all the videos posted everywhere and haven’t seen anyone who looked particularly suspicious. But it had been wet and misty for several days, so most people were wearing hooded rain jackets or carrying umbrellas. Typical Oregon weather, you know.”
    â€œWhat about…male teens. A group of two to four who were alone at the zoo, no adults with them?”
    â€œI don’t recall. I didn’t look for anyone like that. I’ll review the tapes again. Normally teens don’t visit the zoo unless they’re with a sponsored group or with their parents. It’s not a favorite teen hangout.”
    â€œOkay. Well, we don’t have anything here yet.” She didn’t want to get Thompson’s hopes up. “I’ll let you know as soon as I have some word.”
    â€œYeah, thanks. Same here. I’ll go back over those tapes and see if anything else stands out.”
    From what her cousin Maya had said, Thompson was totally hands-on in tracking down a missing zoo animal. She’d told Tammy that he’d only had trouble with wolves missing from the zoo in the past, so Tammy wondered why he wasn’t still in Texas looking for his missing jaguar. Rumor was that Thompson had seen her