That wasn’t good. His leopard would try to emerge, to help the boy. Conner remembered the anger beating at him continually as a child, rage throbbing like a heartbeat in his veins. The boy would believe he had no one now. If he was like Conner, he would die before he could ever ask his father for help. He would want vengeance.

“Will Artureo be able to keep Mateo under control? Keep him from revealing his leopard even under duress?”

There was a small silence. “He’s a headstrong boy,” Gerald said. “And devoted to your mother.” He glanced uneasily at Isabeau.

“She knows everything,” Conner said. “You can talk freely.”

“One of the men shot her when she tried to get Mateo back. They thought she was dead.”

“I saw her go down,” Isabeau admitted. “Artureo hid me in the trees and ran to help. They took him too. I never saw her animal form. I didn’t know about her being leopard.”

“Marisa crawled into the brush and shifted to her other form,” Gerald said. “The big man, Suma is his name, I saw him shift and he finished her off. No one would go into the forest after them once he took his animal form. The boy saw his mother die, the only mother he’d ever known. I heard him scream, Conner, and it was awful to hear.”

Conner pushed down his own rising grief. His mother would expect him to get the boy back—not only get him back, but take full responsibility for him. He turned his head slowly to look at Isabeau. He had no choice now. He would have to do whatever it took, pay whatever price demanded of him.

Isabeau could see the despair in Conner’s eyes, the sorrow and shock. And the distance. Her stomach did a small warning somersault and settled slowly. “Whatever you need, we’ll help,” she offered.

He let go of her hand and inclined his head toward Gerald and Will. “I thank you for making the journey here to give me this news in person. Assure Adan we’ll get the children back. Tell him to keep to the plan. Will, I’ll find your son. You know me. I’ll bring him home.”

Will nodded his head, his eyes steady on Conner’s. “You’re the reason I’m siding with my grandfather on how to handle this. We’ll help should you need us.”

Conner stood up, reaching down to draw Isabeau to her feet beside him. He waited until the other two men stood as well. “We’re counting on your cooperation. It’s essential that your tribe believe Adan is going to do as Cortez wants.”