by Dale Mayer
"Jesus, Timothy, did you get a blood sample yet?" the first man panted. "I'd like to get out of here in one piece."
Then she realized she could see the men's faces – barely. Tabitha desperately tried to study the men's features. If she could only ID them... She was pretty sure she'd seen one man before. The Timothy guy might be a vet, which meant he had a license and there’d be paperwork to help them track him.
Unfortunately, the tiger was in full-blown panic now and was going to get herself knocked out again.
Timothy groaned. "Shit. You said this would be easy."
"Well, if you'd arrived when you said you were going to, it would have been."
The tiger's emotions swamped Tabitha so she sent out wave upon wave of soothing, calming energy. She needed the tiger awake and calm so Tabitha could see the damn men, but because of the shape the female tiger was in, if she sent out too much calming energy she was liable to put the tiger to sleep.
The tiger finally stilled. Tabitha could feel her chest still heaving, but the soothing energy she'd sent to the tiger had stopped her struggles and that was what was important.
"Jesus. Finally," Timothy said.
"At least she won't hurt herself this way. Hurry the hell up, will you."
"Okay, got it." Timothy shifted. Tabitha could feel a hand on her haunch, assessing her injury. The tiger's old injury. The new guy had to be a vet, and that would be a good thing.
One of the men stepped back.
"Weird coloring. Must be something wrong with her." The first man turned his back on them and walked away. Tabitha tried to find something memorable about him to tell Ronin, but what did one say about a tall, skinny, homeless-looking bum who wore clothes pulled from a garbage can? He looked as if he hadn't seen a toothbrush or hairbrush in years – the same as every other homeless guy she'd ever seen.
His buddy, whom she'd heard and seen before, was better dressed but still he didn't look dressed up in his rough jeans and denim jacket. He was bald and more round than tall and made a great comedy counterpart to the first man – only nothing they were doing was funny to her. He walked with a gimpy leg. Not bad, just off in the stride. She filed that information away.
The vet was young. Had to be a student or a young graduate. Italian looking. She struggled to see the details.
Only she couldn't control where the big cat looked. The tiger made that determination and now that she lay quiet, Tabitha could only see in one direction.
And she couldn't get a decent look at any of their faces.
The tiger's anger stayed inside, riding just below the surface, letting Tabitha know that if any one of them let down their guard and she had an opening, they'd be dinner.
And speaking of dinner... She had to persuade her host to eat and drink again. The tiger, in the family way, needed more than she was taking in. Tabitha could feel the thirst in her mind. The tiger didn't know what a watering bowl was and the idiots had made sure it was small and hard to reach. Best if they'd left her a large open tub of it. Still, it was water and she needed it. And there was food – if not for herself, for the babe growing inside her belly.
She'd protect her cub and herself by any means possible. And that cub...
Tabitha couldn't believe how intimate the sense of love – the bonding – that raced through her as part of the tiger's experience.
It was so special. So loving. Tabitha hadn't experienced anything like it. Her connection with Tango was the closest thing she had to compare this to. But Tango was her friend. He wasn't her baby, no matter that she treated him that way.
If that's what all mothers felt during their pregnancies, especially at full term, maybe she should consider having a family. That level of connection would be hard to experience any other way.
She wanted to know what it was like to care for someone so much that she'd do anything for them. Even die.
She felt privileged to be here, living the experience inside the majestic cat; privileged to be part of their bond, even for only a few hours.
And it would be only a few hours if she didn't get this tiger to drink again. She closed her eyes and filled the tiger's mind with images of water and creeks and lakes and ponds. Then showed them pouring that water into the water dish at the side of the cage. Then she repeated that visualizing process, over and over again.
Several long minutes passed before the suggestion showed any effect. The tiger finally lurched to her feet once again and inspected the foreign dish. She dipped her nose into the water then started to lap it up.
Relieved, Tabitha waited until the tiger's thirst was quenched. She realized the bald man had stayed to watch her.
"There's a good girl. Fez isn't going to hurt you. I'm doing my best to keep you safe." He took a step closer and pointed out the chunk of raw meat at the side and said, "Now how about a nice bite of roast?"
Only Tabitha had lost track of what he was saying. Her mind had caught on the one word in there of interest. Fez? So Timothy and Fez, possibly someone called Keeper, but she wasn't sure about that last one. Besides, any names these guys used probably changed depending on the situation.
But at least she had something tangible. She needed to tell Ronin.
Somehow.
***
Ronin slammed the door on his truck and walked across the Exotic Landscapes parking lot. He worked a case until he got to the bottom of it – until he had someone to pin to the wall. In this case, he felt like he was running around in circles. He'd probed into the black market buying and selling of endangered animals and hadn't gotten anywhere. He'd also been working the break-ins at Exotic Landscape – and so far, nothing. They might not have anything to do with the current problem, but still they were part of the file.
He'd just finished saying he needed more information, more avenues to pursue, when he received a call from Sue at Exotic Landscape.
How did another incident – cut fences to the lynx pens this time – have anything to do with this? And damn it, why did this case have to involve more cats?
A dumpling-shaped, middle-aged woman walked out the front door to meet him. Tabitha had told him about Wendy, but he'd yet to meet her. He'd met Sue and several of the security guards but not this new manager. Considering the problems in Tabitha's life, he wondered what kind of a background check Tabitha had done on the new hires.
As much as she needed more staff, she didn't need to add the wrong people to her roster.
He held out his hand to her and smiled briefly. "I'm Detective Chandler."
And had to wonder at her speculative look.
She rushed to say, "I'm so glad you're here. We just found this a couple of hours ago." As she explained, she walked in the direction of the double front gates of the enclosure. "The side of the pen has been damaged. It appears that the person was trying to release or to steal the two female lynx."
Either case likely pointed to neighbourhood kids playing a prank or something more serious. He asked, "The females are unharmed?"
"Yes. They are in this pen only a short time while adapting to their new surroundings. They'd been checked by medical, but we've waiting for Tabitha to get back before the surgeries were done."
"Surgeries?"
"Most of the animals are neutered after they arrive – if they haven't been already." She motioned in a wide arm sweep. "It makes the animals easier to deal with and generally stops people wanting them for breeding purposes. We list that on the website hoping it will stop the inquiries."
"What kind of inquiries?"
She shrugged. "I haven't been here for long. We ask for donations or virtual adoptions for the care of the animals. Many ask for visitation rights, home visits, and even more want to purchase the animals. Sometimes for breeding purposes."
He frowned. "And that's not allowed?"
"No. No they stay here their entire lives. Not at all. This is their home forever. They get all they need here and have room to roam in a decent space created for them. No cages unless they have me
dical needs that are being addressed. Each animal is safe and secure from the public."
Ronin had to smile. She was a walking billboard in support of Exotic Landscape. Maybe Tabitha had made a great hire. Except many of these incidents could have been carried out as an inside job. He studied Wendy but she didn't look strong enough to cut the fence. That didn't mean she wasn't in partnership with someone else who wanted the animals though. She could have found a buyer for them…
The B&Es could have been an inside job, too. He'd taken a close look at all the staff already.
"Of course. These break-ins will slow down donations. Nothing like bad press to make those dry up."
He shot her a sidelong look. As they came around the corner, he switched his gaze to the pen. There was a big patch showing where the gaping hole had been.
Damn. Whoever had done this meant for the animals to go free. But why these ones in particular? Why not any number of her pens? Or was that just for convenience? These pens were closest to the road. Had they run out of time? Or... He spun around searching for cameras. They were still there and that meant there could be a record of what had happened. He could hope.
The question was – why had they done this and did they plan to do more?
He glanced around. Wendy had disappeared. But then the offices weren't normally open today. Still, he wanted to see the security feed.
Could he find someone here who knew how to access them? Tabitha had new hires, but the security system was even newer.
He dialed his brother – and got no answer. Damn it. He vaguely remembered there being some shindig of Shay's he’d planned to attend.
Checking his watch, he realized he could check the feed on Monday when the usual security people were here.
His phone rang. Stepping outside, he answered Jacob's call.
"Ronin, I've got someone willing to talk," Jacob said. "Six o'clock tomorrow morning, at Land's End."
***
"Hey, Fez."
"What?" Fez turned from the back of the truck where he was unloading the day's shipment. Most of the food was raw meat for the big cat. The last of the other animals he'd transported had been picked up yesterday.
"I think you should come and see her," Keeper said from behind him. "She doesn't look right."
Not again. Jesus, Keeper was simple. He was repeating the same phrase over and over again. "I'll be there in a minute."
He finished storing the meat, wiped the sweat off his face and turned back into the warehouse. The black cloth was covering the tiger cage. He lifted a corner and tried to peer inside.
And came face to face with the tiger's eyes. Her massive jaws opened up. Rawrrrr!
"Jesus Christ." He bounced backwards, almost tripping over his own feet as he raced to put distance between himself and the tiger.
The other man was laughing like crazy, bent over and slapping his thighs.
"Oh, my God. You look so funny." Keeper howled again and pointed a finger at him. "You damn near shit your pants."
Damn near felt like it too. But he wasn't going to say that to this asshole. "Did you do that on purpose?"
"Do what? Hell, I just told you to come here because she doesn't look right. I didn't say go lift the corner of the cloth where she's lying and scaring the shit out of her."
Fez barely stilled the impulse to beat Keeper's head in. Asshole. "Well, she looks damn normal to me."
"Well, she isn't." The other man sobered up instantly. "Not at all. She's abnormally calm. I just don't know how that can be."
"Well, maybe you should just be thankful that she is," he snapped. "Besides, that's what you said last time."
"No. She's too, content. I think someone is slipping her drugs. It's the only explanation. I know I didn't do it. I don't think it's you, so who the hell is drugging her?" He looked around the warehouse as if seeing it for the first time. "And does that mean the boss is doing something that doesn't include us? Or is someone else involved, maybe one of the delivery guys?" He lowered his voice. "The security here is pretty lax. I know we were counting on no one knowing what we really had...but what if someone finds out?"
"And what good would drugging the tiger do? Sure, it keeps her calm but that would benefit us and no one else." Fez had to think about that. In this lowlife location, their movements could have been tracked. It wouldn't have taken much for a curious someone to figure out what they held captive.
"Unless it also makes her more docile around the guy who drugged her, too," Keeper said. "In which case, it would be easier to steal her."
"And there is someone else who knows she's here. The young kid you brought in. Timothy. Maybe he slipped her something we don't know about?"
Keeper gasped. "No way. He's just a kid. Besides, why would he? No one knows about the tiger. He wouldn't tell, so there's no point in giving her an extra shot."
Looking around as if afraid someone would overhear, he added, "Besides he said the blood tests came back positive. The old girl is pregnant."
"What?" Fez couldn't believe it. But it was damn good news. That meant the boss would be happy. The buyer would be happy. And the damn deal could go through. Then Fez could get his damn money. "Now that is very good news."
"Maybe and maybe not. Someone could be trying to scoop their sale." Keeper nodded wisely.
As if he knew anything. But Fez did know there'd been trouble with the boss and the buyer. But that's 'cause the tiger had been ailing.
But a pregnant ailing tiger was a hellavu bonus.
And Fez took that one step further. What if the buyer really wanted the tiger but decided to not bother paying? With the pissing contest going on between the boss and the buyer, the buyer could do that out of spite.
In this business, lots of people just took what they wanted. Especially if they didn't like doing deals with certain people. Especially if they felt they were being screwed in the first place. If the buyer found out about the pregnancy, there was no guessing what he might do.
To Keeper, he said, "We need to boost security around this place. We can't take the risk something will go wrong."
"You mean something else going wrong, right?" Keeper groaned. "There is no way to increase security. Short of camping here overnight."
Fez just stared at him, waiting.
"No way." Keeper shook his head. "You can stay overnight if you want. I'm going home for a decent meal and a beer."
"Sure," Fez said mildly, "then get your ass back here for the first watch. I'll relieve you at 2:00am."
The other man groaned. "You aren't serious?"
"Return in four hours or don't bother returning at all." Keeper needed the money just as much as he did. The man stared at him, stomped his feet a few times, his mouth working, then stormed out to the other room.
Fez watched Keeper leave. He'd be back. He turned to stare at the cloth-covered cage. "Looks like it's just you and me, girl."
A deep howl started from the far end. There was no way she'd be able to get out. Just the fact that she'd reacted this way though...
"Shit." He gave into the fear and backed up several paces then turned and ran to the far side of the warehouse. As the door closed on his heels, he swore he could almost hear the damn feline laughing.
***
Stefan opened his eyes, though sleep still clouded his mind. The bedroom swam and twisted in front of him. The air swirled in black clouds, taking him somewhere...else.
He had no idea where he was or where he was going.
The clouds cleared. Blue sky and sunshine shone above him. He floated in the clouds above a generic countryside. He zoomed in faster and faster, seeing the land come rushing up toward him. He zipped down to follow a blue ribbon slashing across the land.
Closer and closer he went. Faster and faster he flew, swooping lower and lower until he was skimming across the water. He hadn't recognized any landmarks while flying down, and now at water level there were no buildings that he could see. Faster and faster, the wind whipped past so hard it
brought tears to his eyes.
And then he stopped and hovered in place to study the surroundings. He didn't have a time frame either. Was this the past, present or the future?
He was still traveling forward, but almost in a slow gliding motion. He was coming up to a town. Not a town. A city. Portland.
With the tears flooding his eyes, he could barely see. And then he came to a sudden stop. A dirty river. Derelict buildings. And empty streets.
But it was the body floating in the water that caught his attention.
