“So was I.” Tate held up his phone. “I need to call Luke and the others so we can all get going. I don’t foresee the jaguars leaving the casino very soon, so there’s no reason for us to rush, but I’d rather we were in place just in case.”
“And if they don’t lead us to Gideon?”
“We’ll just have a little talk with them. They must know where he is. If they have any common sense, they’ll quite simply tell us.” But Tate doubted they’d cough up the information easily, which didn’t bother him at all. He had no issue doling out a little pain after all the bastards had done. Particularly since they’d have handed Havana over to Gideon if things had gone down differently. His cat was looking forward to making them pay.
“I’ll contact Aspen and Bailey and tell them to get their asses here; they should come with us.”
Tate bit back the reflexive urge to suggest that his mate remain here. It would be senseless, since she’d never agree to do so. It would also insult her, because she was more than capable of handling this situation—she’d already proven that. Plus, she was his partner, his equal. She had every right to be there.
Although her girls were often laws onto themselves, he’d been well-aware of that when he instated them as enforcers. He couldn’t argue that they’d be useful, given the skills they’d picked up from their years working for the Movement. And he’d feel more comfortable if they were there, because he knew they’d protect his mate with everything in them if necessary.
He gave Havana a quick kiss. “You make your calls. I’ll make mine.”
Soon, they had Luke, Farrell, Alex, Vinnie, Aspen, and Bailey gathered around the living room. Tate quickly brought them up to speed.
“The jaguars probably plan to hang out at the casino for a few hours at least,” hedged Vinnie.
“Probably,” said Tate, his arms folded. “But I still want to leave as soon as possible. They could head somewhere pretty far from here when they leave. The closer we are to them when they head out, the better.” He looked at Luke. “Depending on where Gideon is and how many he has with him, we may need more people. Tell the other enforcers to be ready in case we have to call on them.”
Luke gave a crisp nod and pulled out his phone. “Sure thing.”
Tate turned to Havana, impressed she stood so still and quiet when he could sense through their bond just how restless both she and her devil felt.
Havana gave him a hard look. “Don’t ask me to remain behind, Tate.”
He squeezed her hand. “Not gonna lie, I did consider doing so earlier. But I know you’d never go for it, and I know it’d be unfair of me to ask it of you.”
Havana’s hackles immediately lowered, and her devil ceased snarling. They could accept that he’d always be so overprotective providing he didn’t expect she or her devil to cater to it. Havana could no more sit out of the action than he could.
Luke ended his call. “We ready?”
“We’re ready,” said Tate.
Inside the SUV, they didn’t take the same seats as last time. Vinnie and Farrell insisted that Havana and the girls take the middle row instead of the back row. Havana quickly realized it was an acknowledgement of her new status.
Then they were on the road. It wasn’t long before Luke was parking a short distance away from the casino. Tate checked in with Chen and JP, who confirmed that the jaguars were still inside the building and that there was nothing new to report so far.
Unable to do anything but wait for Enrique and his friend to move, Havana and the others remained in the SUV. Sometimes they talked about general things, sometimes there were long periods of silence. The time seemed to tick by at an exasperatingly slow pace—especially while she was all fired up to act, knowing they were so very close to finally getting their hands on the jaguars and, ultimately, Gideon York.
Finally, Chen called again. Tate put his cell on speakerphone as he answered, “Are our boys now on the move?”
“They are,” Chen confirmed. “I’m passing you onto JP so I can concentrate on driving.”
“JP, when you catch their license plate number, text it to River,” said Tate. “Ask him to look it up.”
“No problem,” JP responded.
Luke pulled onto the road. “We’ll be close but not close enough to spot, so keep me updated on every turn you make.” The Beta trailed after their enforcers, following the directions JP gave. Before they knew it, half an hour had gone by.
“Just got a response from River,” JP announced. “The license plate number doesn’t match the car.”
“Well of course it wouldn’t be that easy,” Havana grumbled.
Luke kept on tailing Chen and JP from a distance, never coming too close lest they be seen.
Tate sat up straighter when JP announced that the jaguars had turned into a housing estate. “Don’t follow them,” Tate ordered. “Drive past the estate and park nearby.”
“There’s a wooded area behind it,” said Chen. “I’ll stop the car there.”
“We’ll be with you soon.” Tate rang off.
It wasn’t long before Luke pulled up behind Chen’s car. Everyone filed out of both vehicles.
Tate’s eyes darted from JP to Chen. “Describe the jaguar’s car.”
“It was a gray Lexus,” said JP, who then reeled off the false license plate number.
Tate turned to Farrell. “Find the Lexus. I want the jaguars’ exact location.”
The Head Enforcer quickly shed his clothes, shifted, and then flew off in his avian form. A mere minute later, he returned. Back in his human form, Farrell said, “The car’s parked in the driveway of a house that backs onto the wooded area here. There are no other cars in the driveway, and no other people were visible through the windows, so I’d say they’re alone.”
Tate licked his front teeth. “Then this is more than likely their home.”
“I wondered if the whole estate could have been claimed by Gideon for his ‘family,’ but the area doesn’t reek of various breeds of shifter,” said Farrell. “At least that means we don’t have to worry that a bunch of shifters are going to descend on us to protect the jaguars.”
“No one would descend on us anyway—we’ll be in and out of there before anyone can notice us,” said Tate. He glanced at the forest. “As their house backs onto the woods, we might as well take this route.”
As a group, they traipsed through the wooded area—skirting around trees, stepping over fallen branches, sidestepping shrubs.
Finally, Farrell halted and gestured at a house. “That’s the place.”
Courtesy of her shifter-enhanced vision, Havana was able to get a good look at the two-story building. There was a light on in a room upstairs. The curtains weren’t closed, so she could see a man who fit the description of Enrique’s friend moving around in there. More lights were on downstairs, so it was possible that Enrique was somewhere on the lower level.
“None of the windows are open at the back of the house,” Tate noted. “Alex, I need you to get us inside.”
Havana wasn’t surprised that he assigned that job to Alex. No one could keep a wolverine out of anywhere they wanted to be.