by Ruby Loren
“But the names… Donald Trunk!” I said weakly.
“Yeah, I know the team at HQ had great fun with that. They even set up the fake crowdfunding thing. No one real was actually allowed to donate. It was all faked accounts. The campaign really did exist, in case you decided to check up on the zoo.” She looked amused. “I bet tech will be pretty annoyed you never looked after all of the time they put into it. Ah well. At least they had fun. I swear they spend most of their time messing around with things like that.”
“I suppose I was close to the truth when I questioned how quickly this zoo was built,” I commented, eyeing the exterior of the elephant enclosure and wondering if it was even weaker than I’d previously suspected. How many corners had been cut, and at what expense?
“This was a big budget operation,” Katya explained.
“Why the Abraham place?”
“It was convenient. We were on the lookout for a way to take down the elephant vigilante group, but we also needed a secluded base and a way to keep tabs on you when our operative was compromised.” She shot me a guilty look. I realised she was referring to me dumping Lowell.
That hit me like a sucker punch to the stomach.
“None of it was ever real, was it?” I said, finally realising the full implication of everything that had happened today and what it meant about the past.
“I think… that’s something for him to talk to you about,” Katya said, being diplomatic.
“Fat chance of that happening,” I said, feeling furious before it melted away into nothing. It didn’t change anything. Lowell and I were over. Yes, I was angry about being used, but in the end, I’d figured out who truly cared for me, so I’d won, hadn’t I?
“In the interests of being upfront and honest - and I want you to know I hated this - after I informed my superiors about what you’d confronted me with I was told to stick close to you and befriend you if possible to see how much you were figuring out. For what it’s worth, I do actually like you. I’m also impressed by what I’ve seen you do… both with animals and humans,” Katya tilted her head at me and looked hopeful.
In spite of everything, I smiled. “I did have my suspicions about that. After all, who in their right mind would help to vandalise the property they were supposed to be protecting - unless they had some kind of ulterior motive to stick close and stay on my good side?”
“You’re even better at this than I thought,” Katya said, but her smile soon faded. Her thoughts had probably drifted to darker places.
“Does it matter that one of the people got away?” I asked, thinking back to the man on the hill.
Katya shook her head. “They don’t know who we are - just that it was a sting operation. No doubt they’re paranoid, but we’ll make it look like it’s police and nothing more, and we’ll get the information that we need.” Something about the way she said it made me wonder if the public knew the full extent of what went on behind the closed doors of the most secretive branch of government. I supposed they probably didn’t.
Katya pressed a hand to her earpiece all of a sudden and muttered several things that I didn’t hear. A second later, she looked up at me.
“I don’t know whether this is good news or not. Everyone knows what you saw today, both here and at the conference. They know there is no need to conceal their true goal from you any longer. However, there is one problem.” She pursed her lips for a moment. “Because of the unforeseen level of violence here today and the injury of a couple of our operatives, as well as the disciplinary action for the man who discharged his weapon, there’s a lot to sort out back at HQ. The conversation I believe you overheard today is also pretty big news. Basically, no one is able to come down to talk to you until tomorrow at the earliest. I’ve been told to say that until that time, we value your discretion. The safety and survival of many people is in your hands.” Katya’s steady dark eyes let me know she was serious. If I were to let a single word slip to the wrong people, the consequences could be catastrophic. Perhaps even deadly.
I nodded to show I understood.
For a moment we stood together in silence, watching the sun set over the distant hills.
“So, what about the Abraham family?” I said after a while.
“What about them?”
“You said this place was just convenient. I suppose that’s why you followed the old plans, too, because they were already in place and had previously been approved. It was believable.”
“Sure,” Katya commented.
“But what about the Abraham family? Couldn’t you have looked into it in your spare time?” I asked. I knew the seven year old disappearance of a family wasn’t big potatoes in terms of national security, but surely they had to be a little curious? With tales of alien abduction flying around, I’d have thought someone would have some idea of what had really happened to the family.
“I’m not sure anyone even considered it,” Katya confessed. “This place was local and provided the best cover anyone could come up with. Our property department jumped on it before it went to market.”
In spite of all that had happened today, I still couldn’t stop thinking about the missing family, who had been the first people to want to open up a zoo on the property. “That poor family. I wonder where they are.”
I told Auryn I was coming over that night because I missed him.
While that was true, I also had another very good reason for seeing my boyfriend. I strongly suspected I was about to be slapped with all kinds of ‘stay quiet and keep secret’ binding agreements - the sort that said things like ‘on pain of death’. But I had found a loophole. Sure, Katya had asked me to stay quiet because of the risk to her and her colleagues, but there was no one I trusted more than Auryn. I knew his family and I knew his upbringing. He wasn’t involved with anything criminal in the slightest. Even at my most paranoid, I knew Auryn was the one person I could tell everything to.
And if I wanted our relationship to last beyond the next couple of days… I was going to have to tell him fast.
Even so, I wasn’t naive enough to think that the secret service were just going to trust that I kept my mouth shut - especially after all they’d done to me. Busy or not, I was willing to bet someone may still be keeping tabs. That was why I’d told the half-truth over the phone and had prayed Auryn would be enthusiastic about seeing me, too. If he’d been busy, or something, I could hardly have said ‘it’s really important that I see you’. Red flags would have been raised.
Fortunately, he missed me as much as I missed him.
“How are you feeling? Nervous? Excited?” Auryn greeted me when he opened the front door.
I looked at him blankly for a couple of seconds. Up on my shoulder, Lucky meowed, before jumping down and letting himself into the house.
“Your book is being launched tomorrow?” Auryn hesitated. “Are you all right?”
I blinked and then found I was smiling. A laugh actually escaped my lips. How could I have forgotten? Tomorrow was the day my comic book was released!
“I’m fine. How about we go inside? Just out of interest… you haven’t let any strangers in here recently, have you? No contractors, or anything?” I asked.
“Uh… no. I’ve been busy enough at the zoo with all of that stuff. This place just has to hold itself together. And you know no one comes here, apart from me.” I noticed he looked a little sad when he said it.
We both knew that Avery Zoo was Auryn’s real home - the same as it was mine.
“Okay, that’s good,” I said and walked inside so he could shut the door.
Once in, he looked at me with concern written across his beautiful face. “Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”
“Lots of things are wrong… and I need to tell you exactly what they are before anything else changes. This could be my last chance.”
I quickly explained what was probably about to happen and gave him the briefest overview I could of what I’d seen earlier on today.
“Are yo
u worried we’re being monitored?” Auryn asked, wide-eyed from my short account.
“I am, but I’m hoping they’re too busy to notice. They don’t know everything. I think the media amps up the paranoia to put people off committing crimes. Instead, it just makes people like us worry.” I tried a smile but it came out a bit wobbly.
Auryn’s arms went around my shoulders and he pulled me in for a hug. I breathed in and smelled the comforting scent of hay and the woods - a smell I associated with Auryn - and felt myself relax a little.
“I know things are getting really crazy… but we’re going to be okay, aren’t we?” I said, looking up into his grey eyes.
They warmed as he looked down at me. “Of course we are. By telling me this, you’re trusting me, and that’s what matters most in the world. I know these people are going to try to keep you quiet from now on, but now I know, I’m sure it won’t be too hard to keep up with whatever else happens. We’re in this together, Madi. Now and forever.”
“Okay,” I said after a few seconds spent getting a grip on my emotions. “Okay,” I repeated. “We’d better get a couple of hot chocolates. It’s going to be a long night.”
“Hot chocolate and government secrets. Sounds like the perfect night in!” Auryn said with a beautiful smile.
“You are not going to believe what a snake in the grass Jordan is,” I told him. It somehow seemed almost funny now that I had someone to share all of this with - someone who I knew wasn’t out to manipulate me.
“From what you’ve said, karma has already caught up with them. They can’t even find a way to sabotage the success that they’ve helped to give you. Of course… I think it’s pretty clear that Avery Zoo is the real star in all of this for giving you the inspiration. Now, if I can only think of a way to make that into a catchy slogan we can print on a mug and sell…”
I picked up a cushion and bopped him around the head with it. “Shush! This is serious stuff!” but I was smiling all the same.
“Wait… have you told Tiff anything?” Auryn asked, suddenly looking a little ill.
I thought I knew why.
“I haven’t… and I’m not sure I should before I know the full story. The thing is, when I do know the full story, I might not be able to tell her.” I raised my eyebrows at Auryn.
“I’m sure if it comes to it I can do that,” he said, understanding what I meant.
“Have you met her boyfriend yet?” I asked.
“The one who works at the publishing company you’ve just told me are in deep trouble with MI5? No, I can’t say I have.”
I bit my lip. “Then telling Tiff will definitely have to wait. I just hope she doesn’t have her heart broken the way I…” I trailed off suddenly feeling deeply miserable.
When I looked up at Auryn, his expression was thunderous. “I don’t care what his orders were, you don’t do something like that to someone. He’d better never show his face again at Avery Zoo.”
“Don’t worry Auryn, I already gave him a piece of my mind. I just think…” my sad mood faded away “..it’s happened now and it’s over. I realised I was with the wrong person before whatever mission he’d been given was accomplished. Yes, it hurts that someone did that to me, but something amazing has happened since. We’re together and I trust you completely,” I told him.
“I trust you, too. No matter what they try to do, I know you’ve done everything you can to share the truth with me. That’s just one of the many reasons why I love you so much.”
I leant back and smiled up at him just in time to see the worried look that danced across his face.
For a moment, I felt a flicker of doubt over having shared everything - absolutely everything - with Auryn. Was there something I was missing? Had someone even managed to get to Auryn? I forced the doubt away and convinced myself that the worry was likely to be over the dire situation I’d found myself in. Auryn was not going to betray me.
After a busy and enlightening week, my comic’s launch day was surprisingly quiet. Someone on the fake PR team at the publishing company had decided that today was about the comic itself - not me - so I shouldn’t put in any appearances. Knowing what I now knew, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the opposite of a PR stunt and was in fact a tactic they hoped would damage sales, but I didn’t care. It was nice to have a day off, and with the number of preorders the company had taken, I didn’t doubt that the launch would go well - even without me.
I felt like I was long overdue a proper day off, and I knew exactly how I wanted to spend it.
One hour after waking up, I was in my car on the road to Wales. Before leaving, I’d done my best to research any families with the surname ‘Bridges’ in the area of Abergavenny. Fortunately, that name had proved to be surprisingly uncommon, so I had an idea or two about where to start my search.
“Wonder what we’ll learn today?” I said to Lucky, who opened one bleary eye and then went back to sleep on the front seat of the car. I’d figured it was time to see how Lucky coped with travelling. It apparently bored him to sleep - or maybe he just felt the need to shut his eyes when I was driving. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
I knew I’d got the right house as soon as I pulled up outside a large building made of Welsh stone. The pathway to the door had been scattered with broken slate, and there was something very familiar about the carpet of plants which grew up the side of the house, and the way the lawn had been transformed into a sweeping miniature landscape. It was like looking at an aerial view of rolling hills and fields. I wondered if the person who’d designed it still lived here.
A woman with crimped grey hair answered the door when I rang the bell. She wore an artists’ apron splattered with paint. I realised I’d probably found the source of Rosalie Bridges’ inspiration.
She gasped when she saw me. I froze for a moment, suddenly afraid that this woman was somehow in on it all. Was she with the fake publishers, or the gun smugglers?
“You’re the woman with the comic… Madigan!” she said, knocking me sideways.
I took a second to calm my clearly paranoid mind before I smiled and nodded.
“Well, what can I do for you?” the lady continued with a bright smile.
“Are you related to Rosalie Bridges?” I asked.
A funny change went over the woman’s face, as if a wave of sadness drifted by, only to be replaced with a steely resolve to be cheerful. “Yes, I am, but she doesn’t live here anymore I’m afraid. We don’t see her often at all. Is there something I can help you with?”
“I work at Mellon Zoo, which is the zoo that’s been built on the old Abraham property. I wanted to see Rosalie to tell her about the progress and show her the planting and the way the zoo has turned out. I think it might be pretty close to some of her original landscaping designs. She may even want to contact the zoo regarding their use of her work.” I looked at the woman, who had intelligence burning deep in her eyes, I decided to come clean with her. “I also wanted to ask her about the family. There’s something I don’t like about the new zoo. It’s to do with the past, and I’m doing my best to get it stopped. It might sound crazy, but the only way I can think to make them abandon the idea is to do my best to find out the truth.”
“A lot of people have tried,” the grey-haired woman said, but she didn’t look annoyed by it, the way most people I’d spoken to had. Perhaps amateur detectives didn’t knock on her door as often as they did the others, or perhaps she understood my reasons for trying.
“I’m afraid I can’t help you much with Rosalie. She moves around a lot doing her job. It’s the nature of it I suppose, especially in a place like Wales. You have to go where there’s work. I have a number for her, but to be very honest, I doubt she’ll want to speak to you. She’s barely spoken to us about what happened.”
She took a deep breath and then sighed. “Afterwards, Rosalie was a different person. I’m sure you already know she’d driven back to Wales the night that it happened. She turned around and went b
ack the very next day as soon as we found out they were missing. I know they were a young couple, but she loved Matthew Abraham. I think a part of her still does today.” She shook her head. “That family may have had their fair share of problems, but they were always welcoming to Rosalie. The zoo was going to be her way of launching her ideas into the world. It’s nice that you’ve tried to preserve what was there. She may be interested to see what’s been done, but I doubt she’ll want to go back there or even have anything to do with it.”
“Sorry, what did you mean when you said the family had their share of problems?” I asked wondering if it was the hardships I knew about or something else.
“Well… I’m sure you know about poor Mr Abraham’s illness. That caused the family a whole world of suffering, God rest them. Rosalie used to say that they weren’t always happy campers. I don’t know if you have a mother-in-law, but in spite of Fiona being there to care for him, I think there was friction between her and Mr Abraham. Frankly, I’m not sure anyone got on with her from what I heard. I believe she used to live with her sister somewhere around these parts. I don’t know if they got along, but I’m not convinced it was a coincidence that she moved down to England. Folk around here form opinions and stick to them. Perhaps she wanted some new people to bother. Rosalie was a little bit scared of her, I think.” She sighed again. “When Rosalie came back from that house, she wasn’t the same. Everything she’d been working hard for flew off the rails. She abandoned her ideas of building a reputation doing big projects - like the zoo - and instead went off on her own. Now she moves around so much, she’s barely ever at her home. The only time we really see her is when she comes to see us once in a blue moon. It’s so tragic what one awful event can do to a person. Sometimes I wish…” She trailed off and I gave her a moment. “Sometimes I wish someone could have found them, but I think it’s too late for that. Once, having closure might have changed things, but it’s been what… seven years since it happened? I think the time for people to move on has come and gone, don’t you?”
