Leopard 03 - Burning Wild

investigators.
    Young Jake noted that Cathy looked quite pale, but she didn’t say a word. The tension in the room was palpable. They had lost their whipping boy. He had a place to go, he had money and he was of age.
    There was little they could do about it. Fenton had outmaneuvered them. Without a word to him, his enemies left the lawyer’s office.
    Jake remained, accepting the letter Fenton had left that carefully detailed his future plans for his cornfields and how he meant to use them for plastic. He had specific business plans for the little plastics company. And there was one more thing: Uni-Diversified Holdings held enough stocks that, when coupled with Jake’s personal stock, Jake became the majority stockholder in the companies his parents owned. The corporation was an umbrella for several foreign businesses that were proving to be strong moneymakers. Jake was instantly a multimillionaire and well on his way to his first billion.
    NINETEEN YEARS
    JAKE found the Texas ranch to be a kind of paradise. The leopard could run free through the numerous trees and wild foliage his grandfather had encouraged to grow. The house was enormous, a mansion by even Texas standards, with a library most cities would envy. He continued his studies in languages as well as business, hiring his own tutors, studying each company he owned and listening carefully to those Fenton had trusted to run them.
    He went out each night, running in his leopard form, the acres of land protecting his secrets from outsiders. For the first time he tasted freedom and he smelled— oil. The scent was strong beneath the land in numerous places, and he knew when he told the drillers where to dig, they would strike black gold.
    Jake wasn’t content with others handling his business. He studied his grandfather’s plans for each business and where he expected to take the companies in the years to come. He found that if he attended the board meetings his ability to scent lies and fear came in handy. Very quickly Jake made a name for himself as a man to contend with. He rarely spoke; mainly he listened. But when he wanted something done, nothing stood in his way.
    His developing magnetic personality and his ability to mesmerize individuals soon allowed him access to every kind of information he could want. When he couldn’t talk his way into a circle, he could buy his way in. He found he was irresistible to women and he fostered that, making certain he knew every way of keeping a woman wanting him, willing to do anything for him.
    TWENTY-THREE YEARS
    THE first oil well hit immediately. At the same time, his venture into plastics took off, making him a huge player in the industry. If anyone underestimated him because of his age, they quickly revised their opinion. He was ruthless and calculating and not afraid to make enemies, although he was careful to cultivate friendships and alliances.
    He continued with his great-grandfather’s tradition of acquiring land, always inspecting the entire acreage first, using his leopard to scent oil or natural gas. He picked up large tracts in North Dakota, where he suspected oil, and miles of land in the Appalachians, where he scented natural gas reserves. It mattered little that everyone around thought he made bad investments; he knew the oil and gas were there for discovery, and when the time was right, he would find it.
    He added to the ranch, picking up more and more land to give his leopard a sanctuary. He ran as a leopard almost nightly, needing the release, finding he felt caged. Always he studied, building his bank of knowledge, always toward the same end. Power. Money. Becoming so strong no one could ever make him a victim again. Waiting for the right moment to take down his enemies.
    TWENTY-FIVE YEARS
    “HELLO, Alice,” Jake said softly—too softly.
    She gasped and spun around. His secretary. Bitch spy. He smelled his father all over her. She sat at his desk, trying to get into his computer. He’d known the moment he’d recruited her, Ryan’s stench permeating her body.
    “I needed to get the Kalwaski file,” she said hastily, her face flaming red. “You asked for the reports and I accidently ruined my copy.”
    “And you didn’t think to call me?” He sniffed the air, scenting the lie. He’d been more than careful not to give her anything at all damaging or important. He trusted no one, and she was relatively new. Now she’d proved to be in the enemy camp as he’d suspected. He stalked