A Very Jaguar Christmas Read Online Free Page B

worst—kids with money had dads with lawyers to get them off the hook if they got into trouble.
    Demetria quickly identified herself and showed her badge. “Brayden, I need you to come with me.” Her voice was no-nonsense and authoritative, yet softer than Everett’s would have been.
    Everett and Howard moved toward the other boys in case anyone tried to stop Demetria from taking Brayden into custody.
    The boy wearing the black jeans narrowed his blue eyes at them. “You cops?”
    Demetria flashed her badge at him. “We are.”
    â€œSo what’s he done?” the other one in jeans asked.
    â€œCome on, Brayden.” Demetria was still letting the choice be his, for the moment.
    â€œWhat if I don’t want to go with you?” Brayden seemed to be trying to act tough around his friends.
    â€œI’d have to tell you that you have no choice. But you’ll be better off if you come with me and don’t give me any grief.” Her tone was hard-core now. She was ready to use force if necessary.
    â€œHe didn’t do nothing,” the boy wearing black jeans said.
    The clean-cut kids just stayed out of the confrontation, which Everett was glad for.
    â€œBrayden?” Demetria waited for his compliance.
    Brayden had to smell she was a jaguar shifter, and he surely knew they meant business since he’d been through the drill before. He might have even dealt with Demetria before.
    He glanced back at the other kids, but Everett noted that Brayden looked longer at the one with the stained black jeans. Everett suspected he was the leader of the little gang.
    â€œAre you going to send me to foster care? I’m seventeen. I can manage on my own.” Brayden smiled a little, but his smile was shadowed with sarcasm. “Unless you want to foster me.”
    Wrong thing to say. Everett knew Demetria would react to his taunt in a heartbeat.
    In a flash, she seized Brayden’s arm and hauled him to her Jeep. “We’ll talk about the arrangements later, but you’re not going to have to deal with your stepdad any longer.” She cast a glance in the direction of the other teens, but then directed her comment to Brayden. “And you’ll get your education, training, and some perks, I suspect, when you work with us.”
    â€œA cop?” The leader of the boys sounded incredulous.
    â€œAnd you’ll thank us for it,” she said to Brayden, ignoring the other boy’s comment. Then she left Brayden at the passenger’s door and waited for him to get in. Again, giving him the choice, for the moment.
    â€œIf it doesn’t work out?” Brayden’s voice wasn’t as deep as a man’s and a little anxious, his bravado slipping a bit.
    â€œIt will. I guarantee it.”
    â€œMy stepdad will be pissed off when he learns you’ve taken me into custody again.”
    â€œThen he should have been providing better guidance at home.”
    Looking disgruntled, Brayden climbed in and closed the door.
    Everett and Howard watched while she drove off, then headed back to Everett’s car.
    â€œI’d say we work well together as a team, even if we didn’t do anything,” Howard said, surprising Everett.
    â€œSometimes having a good mission doesn’t mean you have to do anything but be backup for another team member, even if she wasn’t exactly on our team. She’s one of us, and we’re in this together, fighting the bad guys.”
    â€œHell, you sound like you should be teaching that ‘love one, love all’ crap.”
    â€œNot me. Like you, I like to take down the bad guys, not just talk about it. I want to run by Brayden’s house and see if we can have a word with his stepdad.”
    â€œYou said his mom died?”
    â€œYeah, at the beginning of this year. Brayden’s biological father died when he was seven, and his mom remarried a year later. I’m not sure how his stepfather,