The Witch and the Jaguar

by Terry Spear

  The Witch and the Jaguar

  Terry Spear

  Contents

  Untitled

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Terry Spear

  PUBLISHED BY:

  Terry Spear

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  The Witch and the Jaguar

  Copyright © 2018 by Terry Spear

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  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

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  Discover more about Terry Spear at:

  http://www.terryspear.com/

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  ISBN: 978-1-63311-039-7

  To Demetra Toula Iliopoulos for loving my books no matter the season! Thanks for being a fan!

  Untitled

  Synopsis

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  A full moon on Halloween means magic and mayhem are sure to follow.

  Erin Hawkins is a JAG agent with the jaguar shifters police force and she's all set to attend the shifters' Halloween party as a sexy witch, the first time she's not been on a mission in three years. Between the full moon's appearance and it being Halloween, havoc and magic prevail when she and a musketeer, an off-duty cop with the human police force and jaguar shifter, Bryce Jenkins, helps her thwart a bank robbery in progress. He wins her over with his sword-wielding antics, until she realizes he broke up her brother and his girlfriend's relationship the previous year.

  Bryce has wanted to take out Erin ever since he saw her in jaguar training, but he's not sure she'd be interested in someone who doesn't work for the jaguar policing force. Still, he's determined to show her a good time and give him a chance and to straighten out a matter about him and her brother's former girlfriend.

  From home invasions to bank robberies, have they got what it takes to watch each other's backs, eliminate the bad guys, and have fun too? They will, if it doesn't kill them first!

  1

  Jaguar shifter Erin Hawkins was glad that she didn't have a mission as a JAG agent—a special jaguar shifter policing force that she worked for—over Halloween, one of her favorite days of the year and she hoped she didn’t get called up for anything. She’d worked the last three years during All Hallows Eve: the first case—saving a jaguar family being hunted in the Amazon one year, helping to find a jaguar’s family after he’d lost them in the jungle the next year, and searching for jaguar poachers that she had to eliminate the year after that.

  This year, she was all set. After returning home from the last two weeklong mission yesterday, she had two weeks off from the job to recuperate.

  Before she headed over to the jaguar party, she tried to deposit a check a friend gave her to pay for her own witch's costume when she'd forgotten her wallet at home, but the online bank app couldn't read the routing number no matter how many times Erin retook a picture of it and tried to deposit it. Okay, so it was Halloween. If anything weird was going to happen, this should be the day for it.

  Her hair dyed purple, she had already dressed in her purple and black witch costume: a black corset, long, black gloves, a longer overskirt open in the front to reveal a short, purple skirt trimmed in black lace, black fishnet stockings, and black high-heeled boots. She wanted to arrive early at the party to see if the hosts needed any additional assistance with setting up anything else at their house. Her brother was off working for the JAG this Halloween, so she knew he wouldn’t be there, being his overly protective, brotherly self. The thing of it was, she'd saved his butt as many times as he'd saved hers on missions. She really didn't need his protection at a shifter party!

  She thought his overprotectiveness was a ploy to garner single she-cats' attentions.

  She had time before her friend was picking her up, and she decided to run over to the bank that was located only a half mile away, then drop by the grocery store and pick up some Halloween cupcakes.

  She planned to just go through the drive-thru to deposit the check, but every line had four cars stacked up, and there was only one car parked out front. Exasperated, she parked her car, grabbed her hat—no decently-dressed witch would ever go out in public without it—put it on her head, and walked inside the small bank. Sure enough, there was only one male customer at the counter, and the other teller was free.

  Erin hurried up to the counter, and the bank clerk smiled. "I love your costume and your hair to match."

  Erin smiled. "Thanks. It's totally a new look for me." Not that she didn't love to have fun and do something daring and different.

  Of course, the first time she shifted, the purple hair dye would be gone, but she didn't plan to turn into her jaguar anytime soon. She filled out the deposit slip, then handed the slip and the check to the teller.

  A male customer entered the bank and stood right behind Erin, way too close. He was practically breathing down her neck, annoying her. He was supposed to stand behind the velvet rope until the next available teller was ready for him. Erin took her receipt, thanked the teller, and turned to leave, wanting to glower or growl at the annoying man, but she curbed the inclination. Cold blue eyes stared at her for a moment—maybe he didn't like witches—and she smiled at him, figuring that might change his grouchy expression. It didn't. And that's when she realized he had his hand tucked inside his black hoody, as though he was a Napoleon wannabe. A hand on a gun? A bank robber?

  She moved out of his way, hoping she was just being paranoid. In her line of work, she was wary of situations that could be bad news. She would call the police once she was outside, if she believed there was more to this, like a getaway car parked right outside, engine running, and a nervous-looking dude driving it.

  Before she could leave the bank, a tall, dark-haired man dressed as a musketeer, plumed hat, cape, and sword included, walked inside and smiled at her, as if he appreciated that she was dressed in costume also. At once, she smelled he was a jaguar. Her job was to protect jaguars, though she was also on-hand to help humans too. But she wanted to ensure she wasn't just calling in a false alarm.

  She glanced around the bank, two loan officers, the two bank tellers, hoody guy, and the musketeer. Now she was torn about what to do. She was trained to take down suspects, but she wasn't a cop with the local police force. She was part of a jaguar policing force that had badges, making them appear to be a special unit of the FBI. Since humans didn't know the shifters existed, that's how they policed their own kind.

  "Hey, don't I know you?" she asked, hoping to get the musketeer to agree to go with her for a cup of coffee or something to get him out of the building, just in case a bank robbery was in progress.

  He smiled at her again, as if he thought she was giving him a come-on line. She loved his radiant smile, as though she had just made his day. Before he could answer her, another man walked into the bank and blocked the doors, wearing the same kind of black hoodie, except he was wearing a black ski mask and she knew then a bank robbery was going down.

  "Bank robbery is in progress, guy behind you and the guy behind me are involved, I think," she quickly warned the musketeer, her voice low for his hearing only.

  "I'm an off-duty cop, Bryce Jenkins. Leave if you can and call the police."

  "Everyone, get down on the ground!" the armed robber at the door ordered. That was their cue that they weren't leaving to warn anybody abo
ut anything.

  The one with the teller ordered her to fill up a couple of black bags he had hidden under his hoody.

  Bryce and Erin quickly got down on the floor next to each other while the loan officers were made to lie down on the floor also.

  "What the hell," the robber near the glass doors said as a car sped past the bank.

  The getaway driver?

  "You, witch, get up. You're coming with us," the robber said.

  She figured he planned to use her car as a getaway. She wasn't about to be taken hostage. She figured they'd just take her car and kill her and dump her body somewhere else. When she didn't move, the guy came after her and grabbed her arm. Bryce started to move to free her, but she pretended to go along with the plan, rising to her feet in her high-heeled boots, twisted her arm free from the robber's meaty grip, and kneed him hard in the groin. When he bent over in pain, she jerked her knee up to hit him in the chin, knocking him back.

  She realized then the man with the money bags was coming at them, gun out while she was taking the other man down with a swift kick of her leg. Bryce was already on his feet, swinging his musketeer sword at the other bank robber, knocking the gun out of his hand.

  Patrol cars were pulling up outside. One of the bank staff must have hit a silent alarm.

  Using handcuffs, Bryce secured the man's hands behind him.

  "Do you always carry handcuffs with you?" she asked, tying up the other guy's wrists with a plastic tie.

  Bryce smiled at her. "Do you always carry plastic ties with you?" He pulled out his cell phone and called to the police outside that the two bank robbers were in custody and the getaway driver had torn off. He gave them a description of the driver's vehicle as six police officers stormed into the bank.

  After they gave their statements and the men were hauled off, Bryce asked, "Hey, you want a cup of coffee after I make a withdrawal?"

  "I've got to run, but yeah. Some other time would be great." She pulled out her JAG agent card and handed it to him, not wanting him to believe she was just saying that and really didn't want to get together with him. She really did want to go out with him. At least once. Any guy who could tackle a gunman with a sword made her want to learn more about him.

  The adrenalin still rushing through her blood, she hurried out of the bank and headed over to the grocery store. She realized there wasn't a soul parked at the drive-thru now. They must have gotten word there was a robbery in progress.

  Not the best way to start out her nice quiet vacation from work, but it could have been worse.

  "Hell," Bryce's police partner, wolf shifter Jack Wolff, said to him as they wrapped up the business with the bank robbers. "First you and a, uh, one of your kind get the drop on two bank robbers, and then she turns you down for a date? Coffee? You should have offered her a meal, wine, dancing, something more, at the very least."

  "She probably had a party to go to." Bryce was certain she'd take him up on his next offer when she was available. He couldn't believe the woman he had seen in JAG training that he was interested in dating had helped him thwart a bank robbery. The purple hair had thrown him off though and he hadn't recognized her.

  "I can't believe you used a sword on the guy, and the little lady only employed martial arts. Seems like a match made in heaven. Unless she cast a witch's spell on the poor bastard."

  "She's a JAG agent," Bryce said for Jack's ears only as they headed out of the bank.

  "No, kidding?" Jack smiled. "Now I wish a woman like that came in wolf form."

  Bryce chuckled. "Someday you'll get lucky. Not that this means this will go anywhere between us either. Are you still going to a party?"

  "Yeah, but unlike you, I'll go like I am. The ladies love a guy in uniform."

  "They don't know you're all wolf. I've got to run and grab something at the grocery store."

  "Hell of a way to spend your off-duty time."

  "Yeah, I was just doing my civic duty." And helping the she-cat stop the robbery. How would it have looked to his fellow officers if she had done all the work?

  "See you Monday then."

  "See you then." Bryce was hopeful that the JAG agent was going to the same party he was going to tonight. If so, he wanted to dance with her, as long as she wasn't already seeing someone else. He smiled. He was still going to ask her to dance, if she was there. When did he not live dangerously?

  2

  As soon as Erin arrived home, her best friend Bethany called. “Hey, are you ready?”

  "Absolutely."

  Erin could tell Bethany was on her Bluetooth and on her way over to pick her up at the home where she and her brother lived.

  “Witch’s costume is in perfect order, hair a bright, pretty red—I can’t believe you turned yours purple—and I’m all set to go. Thanks bunches for putting my costume on your credit card when I forgot my wallet at home."

  "No problem at all. I've had my credit card sitting on my desk to place an online order and left it at home accidentally. I know how annoying it can be." Erin set the container of cupcakes on the table near the door along with her hat so she wouldn't forget anything. "I couldn't get the bank app to recognize it though."

  "Oh, that sucks."

  "Yeah, so I dropped by the bank to deposit it."

  "Don't tell me you had trouble depositing it there."

  "Nope. There was a bank robbery in progress." Erin knew her best friend would have wanted to be there to help her out. Erin was glad she hadn't been in harm's way also.

  "Ohmigod, are you okay?"

  "Yeah." Erin explained everything that went on.

  "Wait, back up to the cute jaguar musketeer. Why didn't you invite him to the party?"

  "I'm not hosting it and he's not on our shifter force."

  "Family and friends are invited! Do you have his number? I'll invite him!"

  Erin laughed. "No. He was going to his own party, from the looks of the way he was dressed."

  Bethany gave an exaggerated sigh. "It seems unreal that you and I are both off from the JAG branch for All Hallows Eve this year. It's been forever since we've been able to do this together.”

  “Three’s a charm. Hopefully, we won’t get called to take care of a job while we’re there. We have a full moon out, you know. A full moon always seems to bring out the crazies, more so than usual.” Erin had been so happy that both of them were off from work so they could dress as sister witches this year. They loved to wear different but matching costumes. They'd been like sisters growing up and had even gone to the same jaguar daycare run by one of the agent's mothers. They were shocked to learn wolf shifters existed and that now the jaguar daycare was taking in wolves. She thought that could be fun for the little ones.

  “And James isn't going to be there either? I heard he had an assignment in Belize, chasing down more jaguar poachers. It's like a deadly game of whack-a-mole.”

  “Right. I agree. But it's a good thing for me that he's not going to be at the party.”

  “I’m disappointed,” Bethany said. “I’d hoped to see your SEAL brother. Hot stuff.”

  “He doesn’t ever go to the parties, except when he was dating Jane that one year, and unless I’m going to be there.”

  “As a chaperone, I know,” Bethany said and laughed. “I still can't believe he took her to the Halloween party and then she dumped him. And on top of that, that she'd been with the guy she threw him over for. You know, she's going to be there this year too.”

  “Yeah, if I had real witch's powers to deal with her, I'd turn her into a toad.” Though Erin had suspected that's where James and Jane's relationship had been going because of the number of times he tried to set up a date with her and she'd turned him down for one reason or another. If she had really wanted to go out with him, Jane would have made some time for him. Jane was a JAG agent like them, and Erin had really liked her, until she dumped her brother. Erin was glad she hadn't been paired up to work with her on assignments of late because of that. Though Erin was a profe
ssional, and she would have put aside her misgivings had she had to work with her.

  “You and me both. I'll be there in about twenty minutes.”

  "All right. See you then." Erin slipped her phone into her pocket when someone pounded on the door. Trick-or-treaters. She picked up her black witch's cauldron off the kitchen counter, filled with fun-size packages of candy, and headed for the door. Before she answered it, she grabbed her hat and stuck it on her head. When she opened the door, she was expecting to see little kids all dressed in costumes.

  Instead, her brother was standing there, bags in hand, handsome, muscled, a she-cat’s dream, if he ever chose to settle down. Bethany was one of his biggest admirers, but even she couldn’t get his attention.

  Erin closed her gaping mouth. “What are you doing here?” As if her brother didn't live here! Erin hadn’t meant to sound so annoyed, but she really didn’t want her brother's overprotectiveness tonight. She was a JAG agent too and very capable of dealing with whatever he was worried she’d have difficulty with. "You lost your key again."

  "Temporarily misplaced." He smiled and looked in her cauldron of candy. “The good stuff. All chocolate. Set some aside for me, will you? This is a new look for you. Purple hair?” He entered the house and carried his bags to his bedroom.

  She shut the door and set the cauldron of candy on the table. “First jaguar shift and it will be gone.” She was glad she had the time off from her work for a couple of weeks because purple hair wasn’t regulation. They could wear just about anything they wanted clothes-wise, as long as it helped them to get the job done, but purple hair just was a little too showy. “I’m going to a Halloween party.” She hated to tell him, but he wasn’t leaving and he’d know she was going—and not because she was just dressed up to hand out candy—as soon as Bethany arrived.