by Ruby Loren
“The builders are gone?” I repeated.
Amanda’s mouth lifted into a smile. “You’d better come and see what we’ve done,” she said, gesturing a hand towards the brow of the hill.
We climbed the rest of the way in silence. When I crested the hill, that silence continued for a good few seconds.
It looked incredible.
When Amanda had handed over the plans for the zoo giving me a deadline of the next day to get it done, I’d made a lot of changes to ensure that the animals they were proposing had the recommended amount of space - and then some more on top of that. The interiors had been something I’d also been asked to consider. I’d sent my thoughts about that for every animal, too. Amanda had been left with all of my thoughts on the sizes and basic interior designs for the enclosures… and she’d made it all happen.
“I don’t believe it,” I said after I’d looked down for a while at the layouts of the enclosures and the copious amounts of greenery and natural wood. I could also see solar panels and small turbines, integrated into the design, but clearly there to generate power that was presumably used to run things, such as water pumps and heating lamps, for the animals who would live in the zoo.
“I’m pretty impressed myself. It goes to show how fast something can happen when you have a big fat pot of money. We’re actually ahead of schedule,” Amanda informed me.
“Ahead of…” I broke off when I heard a trumpeting sound. Had they really…?
“Some of the animals are already here,” Amanda confirmed. “I’ll show you around. Come on.”
We walked down into the zoo. I reflected on the short walk that the Abraham family really had been onto something. Design aside, there was something magical about the quest up the hillside and then the overlooking view when you reached the top and saw everything in the zoo laid out before you in all its green and wonderful glory.
Once in amongst it all, the wonder didn’t cease. The enclosures were as I had envisaged and my designs had been followed, almost to the letter. When slight deviations had been made, there was always an explanation. So far, I’d been content with the substitutions.
When I saw the first animal in situ, it really hit home how different this zoo was.
In the Winter Wonderland at Avery, I’d done my best to try to integrate the animal enclosures into the environment seamlessly - so visitors felt they were ‘happening upon them’ in the middle of the woods - but Mellon Zoo had actually managed to achieve it. The hardwood ‘flatpack’ enclosures and all of the planting that had been done on and in them… it all seemed to blend into the environment. It made you feel as if you were walking in amongst the animals themselves.
Amanda raised a hand and very lightly tapped on a glass panel on the exterior of the alligator enclosure. “It’s a special kind of glass that has no reflection, so it’s almost like it’s not there.”
“Until children smear their fingers all over it,” I said with a grin.
Judging by Amanda’s expression, she hadn’t thought of that. Ha! Researching zoos didn’t make you an expert in the little things like that. You had to work at one to know that kind of information. It wasn’t the first time I’d wondered why Amanda had been given the job of overseeing the set up and running of a zoo when she clearly didn’t have any animal-care experience. I assumed she’d been brought in for her business expertise, and it had been a given that she’d hire out the animal side of things to someone else. Someone like me. I couldn’t fault her for that.
“I think I’ve done all of the explaining I need to do. It’s probably best if you look around yourself without me hovering by your shoulder. Come and find me and let me know your thoughts after you’ve had a look around. I’ll be in the barn conversion.” A shadow crossed her face for a moment before disappearing.
I nodded goodbye and then continued to explore Mellon Ecological Zoo - a zoo that would theoretically change the way the world cared for zoo animals.
I pulled out my notepad and got to work.
So far, I was impressed. When Amanda had mentioned ‘flatpack’ I’d been expecting IKEA, but this was a far cry from veneered plywood. I tested a few of the (empty) enclosures by jumping up and banging my body against the panels to see if there was any give. Occasionally, there was movement, but it was flexibility rather than weakness. Of course, I was about as strong as a gnat compared to some of the animals the zoo would be housing, and I was definitely going to have to have words with them over some of the more powerful animals’ enclosures.
And one enclosure in particular…
I rounded a corner and the space opened out, as the plans had intended. The zoo’s largest residents were revealed in their full glory. I’d heard one of them trumpeting earlier, but it was quite another thing to see them up close and in a zoo that had enough space for them to roam.
The entire zoo was set in the valley beneath the hill, but within the valley, there was an even deeper bowl, of around a mile wide. The original intention had been to split it up as a walk round safari area that housed some of the larger primates, as well as elephants and giraffes.
I’d vetoed that idea and had explained that elephants were practically always kept in enclosures that were too small for them. I’d backed it up with facts about how in the wild, elephants roamed up to forty miles a day. Of course, it would be impossible to supply them with that kind of range in a zoo, but I hoped it had put it into perspective. The zoo designers had listened and the elephants had the entire mile square area to themselves.
“Nice work, designers… but you’re still trying to house elephants. A single layer of hardwood is going to do nothing to deter a charging matriarch,” I said aloud. Even from my position overlooking the enclosure, I could see that the zoo builders had treated its construction like any other enclosure. I’d already made notes that the big cats probably needed their walls reinforcing - or even having a double fence in case of one failing. The elephants would need all of that and more.
When I’d been asked to help with the plans, I’d only been quizzed on what should be put into the enclosures and the sizes. No one had consulted me on the building materials. Whilst the elephants’ enclosure looked beautiful, these animals were capable of uprooting trees. Wooden walls wouldn’t stand a chance if the herd decided they wanted a taste of freedom.
I had hoped to go down and take a closer look at the elephants themselves, but this was too urgent to ignore. I needed to speak with Amanda right away to let her know she had a potential animal crisis on her hands. Why put the animals in before consulting me? I thought, rage suddenly taking hold. I knew what had happened. Assumptions had been made. It was clear that Amanda was eager to get the project finished ahead of schedule, so corners had been cut. “I just knew they’d cut corners!” I muttered, stalking back through the zoo towards the barn conversion.
I hadn’t seen it up close before, but I was certain that the conversion hadn’t looked exactly the way it did now the day the Abraham family had disappeared. For one, there was a big brand new sign which read ‘Abraham Family Horror House’. I also couldn’t ignore that the windows had been boarded up - probably to make the interior darker and more spooky.
More like it had been on that night.
I felt my lips thin. This was exactly what I’d feared would be done with this place.
I walked up to the front door and banged on the knocker, not failing to notice that it was in the shape of a screaming alien - another cheap way to twist the Abraham family legend.
I knocked on the door again when no one answered. My temper was fraying by the second. I was supposed to be working as a consultant and yet no one had bothered to ask me to visit the zoo before animals were brought in. If I’d been called, there would never have been the potential for an elephant disaster.
I also hated the house, but I supposed that was less important.
I banged again, growing impatient. Why ask me to find her at the old Abraham place if she didn’t intend to be there?
/> I was about to bang again when the door opened.
“So sorry, I’ve got a lot on my hands at the moment. I was just seeing what the team have done here for the tour,” Amanda said, neatly stepping out of the building. Even so, I managed to look behind her and thought I’d just seen what looked like glow in the dark aliens.
Right.
“The elephant enclosure is completely unsafe. You could have a disaster on your hands at any moment,” I told her, knowing my opinions about the barn conversion could wait.
“Just what I need,” she said sounding tired. “Let’s walk and talk.”
I followed her through the zoo, filling her in on exactly how easy it would be for any of the elephants, even a juvenile one, to smash through the enclosure. I also did my best to advise her on how to remedy it, although, I explained she would be better speaking to a contractor who specialised in it. Perhaps they’d be able to make the reinforced fencing fit in with the zoo’s eco-design, but inwardly, I doubted it very much. Sometimes things had to be heavy duty, and heavy duty usually meant manmade materials.
“You won’t tell anyone about this, will you?” Amanda said, surprising me.
“As long as you make the changes. You are trying to build a zoo that exhibits the best care and environment for the animals, aren't you?” I said, confused as to why she’d think I’d be shooting my mouth off.
She shook her head. “It’s just if this gets out, the protestors will eat us alive.”
“Protestors?” The zoo wasn’t even open yet and I certainly hadn’t seen any sign of people wielding placards - the way the group who’d picketed Avery had.
“I suppose that’s the wrong word. They’re more like vigilantes. At least - they think they are. In the process of seeking partial funding for the zoo online, we also attracted a lot of attention from animal rights groups. We’d hoped that our eco-zoo concept would please them, but I think there are always a few people who do their best to be offended, no matter how hard you try to please them.” She frowned and came to a halt at the base of the hill. “We believe they’ve already been coming in at night and trespassing. So far, they haven’t done any damage. We could maybe get them for trespassing but that would carry about as much punishment as a slap on the wrist. What I think they’re doing is learning and waiting. The elephants have only been here for a day, and I know that it’s the elephants this group - whoever they are - seem to have the biggest problem with. I would love to be wrong, but my instincts tell me that these people have been scouting their enclosure and plan to do something once the animals are in situ.” She levelled her gaze at me. “And now you’ve just told me the enclosure needs reinforcing.”
I bit my lip. None of this sounded good.
“I had a contingency plan in place for the trespassers, but I wasn’t expecting a breakout from the inside. This complicates things,” Amanda confessed.
“You’ve of course got tranquilliser guns on hand to minimise the danger to any escapees?” I hated it when animals died because of human incompetence. With proper preparation and planning, there were always other ways to contain them.
“Oh yes… we have a delivery of them arriving tomorrow. Which isn’t at all helpful, is it? Right now, we have one tranquilliser gun that was left for us, just in case.” Amanda looked rueful.
I shut my eyes for a second. Part of me wondered if I should call up an animal welfare organisation and report what was happening here, but even if they did manage to get the elephants out before nightfall, wherever they took them wouldn’t be as suitable an enclosure as the one that had been built here at Mellon Zoo. The exterior needed some work, but I thought the expansive space was something that could be really good for the animals - and would perhaps even change the way elephants behaved in captivity.
I didn’t want them to lose that opportunity, but at the same time, I didn’t want the elephants to be put at risk.
“What’s your contingency plan? I would be more than happy to stay here and watch the elephants with the tranquilliser gun. I can’t say I’ve got much experience with a gun, but I’m good at problem solving. I think I’ll be able to read their behavioural patterns well enough to be able to predict when there might be a problem. Unless you’ve got someone who’s better qualified?” Perhaps my manner was a little flippant, but I was still pretty ticked off about being bypassed. And now look at the mess things were in!
“I think my team has got marksmanship covered,” a familiar voice said.
I turned around in time to see my ex-boyfriend Lowell walking over the crest of the hill, dressed in black. White words printed across his chest proclaimed him to be ‘security’.
But I knew that was just another lie.
Lowell had pretended to be a builder when I’d first met him. When things had taken a turn for the worse at Avery Zoo, he’d revealed he was really a private detective working undercover. But even that hadn’t been the whole truth.
Whilst in Cornwall, working to help a zoo filled with previously abused animals, I’d discovered that Lowell was really working for the Secret Service. He’d explained why he hadn’t been able to tell me about his job - which he still claimed was only part time. I’d been able to understand why he'd had to keep it a secret, but I had my suspicions that there was more to it than that. Lowell had been with me on several of my zoo consultancies, and at every one, something had gone drastically wrong. People had died. I still wondered if everything that had gone wrong had been part of something I still knew absolutely nothing about.
That was why I’d left him. We hadn’t spoken since Cornwall, beyond a text message sent by me and a measly reply from him.
Wait. I’d forgotten the next message he’d sent me. The one saying we needed to talk.
I discovered that both Lowell and Amanda were staring at me.
“Sorry, zoned out there for a moment,” I confessed.
I thought Amanda’s lips curved up into a knowing smile - although I knew it was for the wrong reason. Lowell was undeniably attractive with his dark hair and broad muscular figure, but I valued what was inside a person more than their exterior.
“Luke Alton. I’m part of the security team working at Mellon Zoo tonight,” Lowell said, sticking out a hand but keeping his dark eyes fixed on me.
“Security. Right.” I said and limply shook his hand in turn.
Lowell threw me another warning look when Amanda looked up at the farm cottage on the hill. I turned away. I knew full well that Lowell was not just here to work as a member of the security team. He was undercover. In the past, I’d have accepted that it was a private detective case, but I wasn’t convinced that his story about being a private detective wasn’t just more cover. Lowell could be a full-time secret agent.
I wondered what he was investigating that meant he had to be at Mellon Zoo.
I wondered who was going to die.
“Security?” I said, turning to Amanda.
“We know the elephants are likely to be targeted. There’s every chance that this group of vigilantes will do their best to sabotage the enclosure and misguidedly set the elephants free. And then where would we be?” Amanda gave me a significant look. She didn’t want me to mention my fears about the structural integrity of the enclosure itself.
I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Surely the people who would be close enough to be in real danger if there was a breakout deserved to know about the potential weaknesses?
While I was thinking this over I looked down… and saw a gun in ‘Luke’s’ utility belt.
“Is that a gun?” I asked, stupidly.
“We’re on private property. We’re allowed to defend ourselves, if need be,” Amanda said.
I looked between her and Lowell, wondering if she knew something she wasn’t telling me. Something that definitely would require there to be guns involved.
At this point in time, nothing would have surprised me.
“If you shoot that near to the elephants, they could stampede. Bear that in mind.
Good luck tonight,” I said before walking up and over the hill towards my car. I was done with Mellon Zoo for the day.
But there was someone who wasn’t done with me.
4
It’s a Small World
“You never replied to my text.” Lowell walked around the side of my car, presumably so he’d be more screened from anyone looking down the hill. With the removal of the fences and the mobile office, there wasn’t much to hide behind in the empty landscape.
“I didn’t know what to say,” I confessed, deciding that at least one of us should try to be honest.
“I just wanted us to meet. I know it’s been difficult, but I meant what I said, Madi… about the way I feel.”
I looked away, not wanting to hear any more. Lowell had told me that he loved me, but after everything he’d put me through and the complete absence of trust that now existed between us, I knew I didn’t feel the same way.
More than that, I’d moved on, and Lowell deserved to know.
“Things have changed,” I began and watched Lowell’s expression grow cold when he looked at my face and understanding washed over him.
“Who… the kid?” he said, disbelievingly.
I tightened my grip on my car keys, very tempted to just jump in my car and speed away into the distance.
“His name is Auryn. We’re happy together. He tells me everything that’s going on with him.” I stared straight back at Lowell, challenging him.
“So, it’s nothing to do with him being the owner of a successful zoo and also suddenly receiving quite a large windfall - is that right?”
My mouth dropped open in shock. Lowell had checked Auryn out - and recently, too! That meant he’d already suspected or known about our relationship and had just wanted to put me through the wringer. If I’d needed any further evidence of Lowell’s manipulative personality, I’d just been given it.
