Loaded thusly, her return trip was much harder and lengthier than her trip out, but Jenny doggedly continued, practicing her negotiation with Wrench in her head. He could have the briefcase, and would leave Jenny and Laura alone forever. Maybe he could convince the cartel that her sister had died when he tried to bring her in.
Just as the ocean floor rose beneath her to become the beach and the water turned to surf, she heard the comforting voice of her mate in her head. Jenny! We’re here!
Before she could answer, there was a predator’s shriek of rage from above, and Jenny was struck with outstretched talons, losing her grip on the suitcase as she was lifted into the air by something with wide, sweeping wings.
Chapter 25
Travis would never have driven so fast, on roads so terrible, for any other reason.
But his mate needed him, and he wasn’t going to risk being too late to the scene.
When they finally broke out of the jungle onto the airstrip, he didn’t even hesitate before gunning directly at the huge, naked man with tattoos and scars who was standing with his back to them on the far side of the field. He kn
ew without a shadow of doubt that this was the man who had stolen his mate, and Travis had no qualms running him down on the spot.
Breck, Tex, and Laura all yelled, and Travis wasn’t sure if they were warning the man, trying to stop him, or giving voice to the warcry in his own thoughts. At the last moment, the man leaped out of the way in a dark, shifting blur as the Jeep smashed through the place he was standing, and jostled down the bank to the narrow beach to stick fast into a pile of driftwood.
They spilled out of the Jeep and faced down the panther that glared at them from the bank.
Bastian, who had already shed his clothing with the swiftness of consistent practice, shifted into a spotted leopard. Travis heard Tex and Laura growl beside him, still human, but flexing their hands.
The panther shimmered and stood up as a man again, hands spread. “I haven’t got her,” he said, not bothering to deny that he had once.
“Where is she?” Travis demanded.
The man pointed, out at the surf, where a tiny dark form was struggling out of the water, dragging a piece of debris. Further out, large pieces of smoking wreckage indicated that something had just crashed into the ocean.
Jenny, Travis thought at her. We’re here!
Just then, an eagle shrieked and plummeted down from the stormy sky, talons outstretched, and plucked Jenny from the water.
Travis gave a cry that matched that of the predator bird and was hurling down the beach without thinking about it. He could feel Jenny’s pain and shock as the talons gripped her mercilessly and hauled her into the air.
“Jenny!” Laura shrieked behind him.
The eagle struggled against the wind, nearly falling back into the surf before it gained enough lift to land with Jenny’s limp form onto a tall tangle of driftwood. He put his beak around Jenny’s throat and lifted her that way, flaring his wings in clear threat; he could easily break her neck.
Travis drew to a stop at the base of the driftwood, a snarling bear and whining wolf at one side and Breck’s leopard at the other. “Let her go!” Only the need for human speech kept him from shifting.
“Hey now!” the man from the resort bellowed, muscling his way fearless between Travis and the bear. “That’s not the right woman! We’re after a wolf shifter!”
The eagle shrugged into a human form, deftly transferring his hold from beak to big hands. Jenny’s otter neck was clearly no safer in one than the other - a single motion would break it easily. Jenny remained limp and unresisting, though Travis could feel her coiled energy through their bond.
“Let her go,” Laura yelled, shifting into her human form and standing tall and proud despite her nudity. “He’s right. I’m the one you want.”
Tex shifted as well. “Laura…” he growled, almost lost against the wind.
“Boss won’t care which of you he gets,” the eagle shifter shrugged, with a cruel smile. “You’ve caused a lot of trouble in the organization, and either way, you’ll pay for it.”
The guest from Shifting Sands made a noise of protest that Travis wouldn’t have heard if he hadn’t been standing so close, then hollered, “You can’t nab the wrong woman. She swam out there to try to save you.”
The eagle shifter didn’t look impressed. “Your vacation make you soft, Wrench? The boss wants revenge. Doesn’t much matter how he gets it.”
“I got a code,” Wrench returned stubbornly.
“I got a code!” The eagle mocked in a falsetto. Then he returned to his usual voice. “Well, I got a job to finish.”
“Let’s make a call,” Wrench suggested, as the eagle shifter raised his hand to make show of wringing Jenny’s neck. “See what Blacksmith says direct.”