Evan broke off from Elijah and Joaquin, dropped to the ground and rolled beneath the wide verandah while the other two skirted around the porch. According to the very detailed plans Catarina had drawn out for them, the control room was located on the left side of the house, on the first floor. There were two windows, both with bulletproof glass. One man stayed inside the room at all times.

Elijah and Joaquin had studied the cameras and the angles. There was one spot, just along the southern corner of the verandah, where the roof dipped a little lower to meet a pillar and a large live oak tree blocked the camera. Cordeau had left the enormous tree because he was leopard and the compulsion to keep the tree was too strong. No self-respecting leopard would cut down part of a personal highway.

Branches stretching across the forest, in the jungle, rain forest or the bayou—it didn’t matter where—that was the leopard’s ultimate highway. Glancing up, Elijah could see that Cordeau had escape routes from every direction of his home. Gaton had moved into the mansion, eager to become the boss over the territory. As a leopard, those private escape routes were now his.

Elijah crouched low and sprang up, catching the edge of the roof and easily pulling himself up. As a shifter, he had the same enormous strength as his leopard. And leopards could take several times their own weight right up a tree when they needed to do so. He gained the roof and, staying low, made his way along it until he was in position by the door closest to the control room. Joaquin was close behind him.

He never heard Joaquin. No one ever did. Most shifters were silent on their feet, but Joaquin was a ghost. He always had been. He rarely spoke, and it was far rarer to get a laugh out of him. He avoided Drake and his men, although he stayed close to Elijah. Elijah had laid it out for Joaquin and Tomas, all of it, before he’d ever made the move to kill his uncle and get out from under the brutal monster of a man who had murdered his father. The brothers had simply shrugged, and said, “I’m with you, mi hermano.” That was Joaquin and Tomas.

Elijah purposely didn’t expose them too much. Not to anyone. Joaquin and Tomas were his personal bodyguards and the closest thing he had to men he trusted until he met Drake. Joaquin touched his shoulder, and instantly Elijah dropped down flat on the roof. He heard a twig snap as a man walked up to the door.

The newcomer was short, but had the familiar roped muscles of the leopard. He yanked open the door. “Food’s almost done, Terry. You hungry?” he shouted.