Helena nixed this option. She raised two fingers, reminding him that she only had two tranquilizer darts.
Fuck.
While they debated with silent, frustrated gestures, the okapi spooked suddenly and bounded off, disappearing into a tree-lined canyon.
Josh and Helena froze.
A disturbance at the opposite edge of the clearing explained the okapi’s swift departure. It wasn’t Zuma. There was a dark-haired man in the distance, carrying a woman. She was either dead or unconscious, her arms slack. She had blonde hair, like Chloe, and a slender figure. The man was average-sized. He could barely handle her weight. A small, curly-haired toddler walked alongside them.
Oh, Jesus.
His stomach twisted as he realized…it was Chloe. It was Chloe and Emma.
The man carrying Chloe stepped into the clearing and strode forward, grimacing under the strain. Josh was about to stand up and shout a warning when Helena clutched his forearm. Her short fingernails dug into his skin.
He followed her horrified gaze to Zuma. The lioness had crept out of the bushes and entered the field.
Shit!
Josh scrambled to get into the ready position with his rifle. Helena did the same, aiming her tranquilizer gun. Zuma was less than fifty feet from them, staying low and heading the same direction as the okapi. Josh wasn’t sure if the lioness had spotted any of the humans. Zuma seemed focused on her prey.
Now, he implored Helena silently. Shoot now.
Helena took the shot, and it was good. The dart sank into Zuma’s hindquarters. The lioness startled, more sensitive to the sting than Tau had been. Josh’s heart leapt into his throat. He curled his finger around the trigger, waiting for the animal to turn on them.
That didn’t happen. Something worse did.
The man carrying Chloe had stopped in his tracks, alerted by the sound of the gunshot and the sight of a two-hundred-pound lioness. But Emma kept trucking, unaware of the danger. She wandered into Josh’s crosshairs, directly behind the lioness.
He couldn’t shoot.
Zuma didn’t continue into the trees in search of the okapi. She didn’t look toward the bushes where Josh and Helena were crouched. The lioness focused her attention on the opposite side of the clearing, drawn to Emma’s movement.
No!
Josh was up and running before he’d even drawn the breath to shout.
The man holding Chloe dropped her unceremoniously on the grass and chased after Emma, sweeping the child off her feet in one smooth grab. Josh started yelling at the top of his lungs, waving the rifle over his head to get Zuma’s attention. The lioness saw him coming and roared.
He still didn’t have a good shot, and now he didn’t have any cover. But he’d caught Zuma’s eye, which was exactly what he wanted. He wanted her to attack him instead of Emma. And she did. She came at him so fast he didn’t have a chance to blink. He tried to bring his rifle forward as the lioness charged.
Nope. Couldn’t do it.
Time slipped into slow motion and he knew he was a goner. One second ticked by, maybe two, before she struck. He wasn’t able to get his hands in the right position. The best he could manage was to hold the weapon horizontally in front of his body in a feeble attempt to protect his head and neck.
Zuma hit him like a freight train, knocking him flat on his back.
The breath rushed from his lungs and his elbows slammed against the ground. He almost lost his grip on the gun. He shook off the pain and held on. He held on tight, because the metal barrel was the only thing between him and certain death.
Saliva dripped onto his face and sharp teeth glanced off his knuckles as they thrashed around, rolling across the grass. It was surreal.
Zuma’s growls sounded far away, like they were coming from somewhere else. People were screaming. Josh might have been one of them; his throat was raw with terror.
Helena appeared in his peripheral vision. Before he could tell her to get the fuck away, she pressed the barrel of the tranquilizer gun against Zuma’s neck and pulled the trigger. The big cat let out a furious roar. She switched targets, leaping off him and batting at Helena with razor-sharp claws. Helena cried out and stumbled backward, falling down on the grass. She’d drawn the lioness’s wrath, but she had no protection. The sleeve of her jacket was torn, revealing red gashes on her shoulder.
Zuma smelled blood and pounced. Helena screamed, lifting her arm to cover her face. They tumbled across the grass together, woman and cat.
“No,” Josh yelled, sitting upright. He raised the rifle with shaking hands, but he couldn’t shoot at the blur of motion.
Helena ended up underneath the lioness, on the ground. Josh scrambled to his feet and took aim, ready to deliver the kill shot. But then he noticed the lioness seemed sluggish. She wasn’t tearing out Helena’s throat. The direct injection of tranquilizers had already taken effect. The lioness weaved drunkenly, her head bobbing.
Seconds later, she slumped on top of Helena. Unconscious.
Josh set down his weapon and shoved the lioness aside. Zuma fell over in a slack heap, her tongue hanging out. Josh straddled Helena’s waist and molded his hands around her face. She stared up at him, not speaking.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I think so.”
He didn’t see any wounds to her neck or her vital organs. Other than the bloody shoulder, she looked fine. Just shaken up.
They were both shaken up.
“I thought you were going to die,” he said in a hoarse voice.
“I thought you were.”
Pressure built behind his eyes as he pressed a kiss to her temple. Then he looked across the meadow. The man was still there, holding Emma. Chloe lay on the ground, motionless. “I have to check on my sister.”
“That’s your sister?”
He nodded, unable to believe it himself.
“I’ll come with you.”
Standing together, they headed toward Chloe. The wounds on Helena’s upper arm and shoulder needed stitches, but she was going to be okay. As they walked across the clearing, Josh steeled himself for the possibility that his sister hadn’t been so lucky. Then she moved, turning her head to watch his approach.
She was alive. His heart swelled with emotion.
“Unco Josh!” Emma said, pointing at him.
The man holding Emma let her down. She ran to Josh and he picked her up, hugging her to his chest. The tears he’d been fighting spilled over his cheeks. Chloe and Emma were alive. He’d known it all along.
“Kitty,” she said.
He laughed at this understatement, his throat tight. “Big kitty.” When he reached Chloe, he sank to his knees in the grass. Her cheeks were flushed and she appeared confused. He cupped his palm over her forehead. She was burning up.
“What happened?” she asked, moistening her lips.
He studied the stranger who’d been carrying Chloe. He was young and dark-skinned, with a strip of black hair on his mostly shaved head. He was examining the edges of the clearing as if he expected another lion to jump out.
“I think I fainted,” Chloe said, closing her eyes.
“Mama ouchie,” Emma said. “Mama sleep.”
“More lions?” the stranger asked Helena.
“No more lions,” she assured him.
“That’s Mateo,” Chloe said. “He saved us.”
Josh rose to shake the stranger’s hand. “I’m Josh. This is Helena.”
Mateo nodded politely. “Mucho gusto.”
Josh didn’t understand how Chloe and Emma had ended up on this trail, or where they’d come from. “Why are you here?”
“Hospital,” Mateo said, gesturing into the distance.
“You were going to the naval hospital?”
“Sí.”
Josh gathered that Mateo was from another country, maybe Mexico. It amazed him that a man who wasn’t familiar with the area or the language would do so much to help his sister. Mateo would have had a very difficult time car
rying Chloe all the way to the hospital. And yet, he’d seemed willing to try.
Josh contemplated picking her up to continue the journey. It wouldn’t be easy, even if they shared the weight. He could get a stretcher or a wheelchair from the hospital and come back for her, but he didn’t want to separate. While he considered their options, four National Guardsmen descended on the scene. They charged across the clearing, armed to the gills. Mateo stuck his arms up in surrender at the same time Josh waved in relief.
They were saved.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
HELENA SPENT THE rest of the morning at the naval hospital with Josh.
It was kind of a madhouse. Chloe had received IV fluids and antibiotics, but no treatment for her wounded leg. The same went for the deep scratches on Helena’s upper arm and shoulder. Although one of the nurses had bandaged Helena’s wounds, she’d have to wait for stitches. They were scheduled to be evacuated to another hospital soon. A helicopter would take them to Los Angeles or San Bernardino.
Chloe was going to be okay. Her fever was down and she hadn’t lost consciousness again. Josh was helping take care of Emma. The little girl seemed happy and healthy.
Helena couldn’t believe they were all safe. She’d almost had a heart attack when Josh raced across the meadow to attract Zuma’s attention. Without making a conscious decision to, she’d leapt to her feet and followed him, breaking Greg’s rule about entering a dangerous situation to help a coworker in trouble. Because he wasn’t just a coworker to her. He was more, and he always would be.
She’d aimed the tranquilizer gun at Zuma’s carotid artery, praying the needle would hit the mark and deliver the sedative directly into her bloodstream. While intramuscular injections took several minutes to work, the intravenous method was fast. But finding a vein under fur wasn’t easy, under the best of circumstances.
Good thing she hadn’t missed.
One of the National Guardsmen had been stationed in the field to watch over Zuma. Helena had met with the zoo director and spoken to a group of keepers about an hour ago. They planned to transfer the lioness into a cage, secure the park boundaries and round up the other code ones. They had their work cut out for them.
“Do you want me to stay?” Helena had asked the director.
“Absolutely not,” he’d responded. “Get your wounds taken care of and rest for a few days.”
She didn’t argue, because she needed a break, but it was hard to give up the controls. She always visited the elephants, even when she took time off. Whenever she’d gone on vacation in the past, she’d stayed close to San Diego.
“They’ll be fine,” Josh said, interrupting her thoughts.
“Who?”
“Your herd. Mbali and the others.”
They were waiting for the helicopter in the chaotic hospital lobby. Helena wasn’t looking forward to the ride. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Emma was sitting in Josh’s lap, reading a book about animal noises. She kept pressing the tiger button, listening to the growl over and over.
“She looks like you,” Helena said, studying the little girl’s sweet brown eyes. Mischief danced in them. “Your sister does, too.”
“The Garrisons are handsome devils,” he said.
That was true. Emma and Chloe were both adorable. Helena glanced across the room, where the young mother was napping in a rollaway hospital bed. Mateo hadn’t left her side. “What do you think about Mateo?”
“I think he’s a superhero.”
She smiled at this high praise. “What do you think about him and your sister?”
“What do you mean?”
Helena was surprised he hadn’t noticed. For the first time ever, she’d picked up on an emotional undercurrent that Josh wasn’t aware of. “He didn’t find her on the trail, you know. They’ve been traveling together for days.”
Josh couldn’t dispute this fact. Mateo had been carrying a backpack with diapers and toys for Emma. The book had been in it. “So?”
“He likes her,” Helena said.
Josh studied the young man with suspicion. He was sitting in a chair by Chloe’s bed, watching her sleep. “Hmm.”
“You don’t approve?”
“It’s not that,” he said, frowning. “I don’t care who she dates. I just don’t want her to get hurt again.”
Helena’s chest tightened at those words. If she hadn’t already fallen for him, his love for his sister and niece would have tipped her over the edge.
The moment he’d run into the clearing, risking his life for them…done.
“You can’t protect her from everything,” Helena said.
“I can try.”
“She’s a grown woman.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “She had braces and pigtails a few years ago.”
“She had a baby of her own a few years ago.”
“Mama,” Emma said, pressing the tiger button.
Josh fell silent. He had some fresh scrapes on his elbows, his shirt was dirty, and his pajama pants were ripped at the knee. He was lucky he hadn’t been mauled by Zuma. So was Helena. She was still wearing her zoo tank top and pajama bottoms, along with a jacket. One of her sleeves hung in bloody tatters, revealing her bandaged arm. They looked like a couple of escaped mental patients.
She smiled at the thought, moving her gaze from Josh’s dirty clothes to his scruffy face. Despite his disheveled appearance, he was achingly handsome. He flipped the page for Emma and pressed a button to make a bird chirp. There was a tenderness in his expression that Helena found irresistible.
He glanced up from the book, noticing her perusal. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“You seem upset.”
“I’ve never been in a helicopter before,” she said. “I’m terrified.”
“Ask them to give you a valium.”
“I don’t want to go.”
A crease formed between his brows. “I can’t stay here with you. I have to help my sister and take care of Emma.”
Maybe splitting up would be the best option. She needed time apart to gain some perspective, pull herself together. Mooning over him while he held a cute baby wasn’t the cure for these runaway feelings.
“The entire hospital is evacuating, and you’re injured,” he said. “You’d rather walk to a rescue center alone and worry everyone?”
He was right. She hated it when he was right.
“Don’t make me call your mother.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.” He issued this challenge with a smile, only half-serious. Teasing her was second nature to him. “It’s a short trip to L.A.,” he added. “You’ll be fine. But if you want someone to relieve your tension, I’m available.”
“You’re holding a baby.”
“I can multitask.”
She laughed at his silly joke, raking a hand through her hair. Getting back to civilization meant a hot meal and a shower, cold drinks, a comfortable bed…and Mitch. When she imagined his reaction to her infidelity, she felt sick. He didn’t like to lose. She hoped he wouldn’t be too angry. Maybe he’d been waiting for an opportunity to break things off with her, and he’d be relieved by the news.
She didn’t ask for a sedative, and she regretted this decision as soon as they boarded the helicopter. It was a large military craft with enough space for more than a dozen passengers. She sat down and put her headphones on, trying not to panic.
The L.A. hospitals were all full, so they headed to a facility in neighboring San Bernardino. Although the flight was short, as Josh promised, Helena suffered the duration with clenched fists and a tight stomach. Emma wasn’t a fan, either. She cried the majority of the time. Josh and Mateo attempted to quiet her, to no avail. Chloe looked miserable. They were all glad to reach their destination.
The hospital was bursting at the seams with patients in greater need than Helena. Chloe went into surgery for her injured leg. The rest of them took turns playing with Emma in the waiting room. They all sen
t texts on Josh’s cell phone.
Helena bit the bullet and messaged Mitch. She updated him on her condition and location, saying “we need to talk.”
It was late afternoon when a nurse practitioner called Helena’s name. Josh left Emma with Mateo and accompanied Helena to the cafeteria, which was being used as a treatment area. She had to remove her jacket and tank top. While she sat at a lunch table in her bra, clutching a surgical towel to her chest, the nurse cleaned her wounds and injected a numbing agent.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes, after that takes effect,” the nurse said.
“You don’t have to stay,” Helena said to Josh.
“I want to be here for you.”
She adjusted the surgical towel over her breasts, uncomfortable. The hospital had run out of gowns, as well as beds. Although it was a little late for modesty, there was a big difference between whipping off her top during a whiskey-fueled sexual encounter and this. She felt emotionally naked, pinned by his gaze.
“You were great with the tranquilizer gun today,” he said. “Quick thinking to pop Zuma in the neck.”
“I had to do something.”
“She would’ve killed me.”
“Yes,” Helena said, her throat closing up.
He took her by the hand and brought her knuckles to his lips. Tears filled her eyes at the romantic gesture. She was torn between pulling away from him and dragging him closer. The idea of letting her guard down completely and surrendering to these new feelings scared her. Before she could respond, a disgruntled voice interrupted them.
“What the fuck is this?”
Oh, God. It was Mitch.
He must have flown in from Denver after the earthquake. She didn’t know how he’d found her in this madhouse of a hospital, but here he was. He looked back and forth between her and Josh, incredulous.
Josh didn’t let go of her hand or move away from her. He shifted into a protective stance, giving a clear signal of possessiveness.
Mitch’s eyes narrowed at the sight. He was an intimidating figure, broad-shouldered and square-jawed. His clothes were wrinkled and fatigue lines marred his forehead. He hadn’t shaved in several days.
“Why don’t you leave us alone to talk?” Helena murmured to Josh.
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