by Laura Acton
Dan noted news cameras and cringed. He hated the publicity he received as a result of the gang war and being shot in the chest at Aaron’s funeral. “Let’s grab the scanners and get back inside.”
In the crowd of people who arrived not knowing there was an issue and the Christmas lights display was canceled tonight, a disappointed three-year-old started crying.
Sixteen-year-old Daniel Chasseur picked up his little sister Louise. “Ne pleure pas Lou Lou. Peut-être que papa va rester un jour de plus pour que nous puissions venir demain soir.”
Louise’s tears dripped as her brother pleaded with her not to cry using her pet name, Lou Lou. He told her that papa might stay one more day so they could come tomorrow night. “Pourquoi ont-ils fermé?”
When his sister asked why the zoo closed, Daniel glimpsed two officers hurrying toward six black SUVs. Daniel had no idea what was going on other than what the news reported—some dangerous animals were loose. He spoke English well, so he comprehended the reporters, but Louise was only three and only spoke French, so she didn’t understand what she overheard.
His eyes landed on the raven and blond officers. He recognized the blond officer from news reports during the summer. Papa’s friends, the Peltier’s, originally lived in Toronto and went to high school with him. Typically, a story from Toronto would never make it to their small town of La Dore, Quebec, but a general and a constable being shot at the funeral of another constable hit the national news. Mrs. Peltier called the officer Dan Dan.
Turning his attention back to his little sister, Daniel decided he would pass the time for Louise by telling her a far-fetched story. They must wait here until their papa came to pick them up. They had taken the bus from the hotel, and when they arrived here, they found the event had been canceled. Daniel called his papa and was told to wait at the main entrance area until papa was finished presenting at the medical conference, and came to get them.
He started his story, speaking French, “Well, Lou Lou, they closed because all the animals are upset they’re stuck in their cages and aren’t allowed out to see all the twinkling Christmas lights. They elected a gorilla named Peanut to be their spokesman and talk to their keeper Miss Louise, but Peanut stole her keys, and Peanut started unlocking all the cages.
“Not long after, Keeper Louise noticed all the roaming animals—lions, tigers, and bears, oh my. Being a nice keeper, she decided to give the wildlife a little party and let them see the holiday lights if they promised to be pleasant to each other. So, people can’t go in while the animal’s party is in progress.” Daniel grinned at his sister.
Louise giggled, loving her brother’s stories especially when he named a character after her. She begged Danny to tell her another story, “Raconte-moi une autre histoire, mon Danny.”
Daniel Chasseur launched into another outlandish story with a hero he called Dan. Why not? If he was making up a story, he could name the hero anything he wanted.
As Dan checked the thermal scanner as he listened to the story the teen told the little girl in his arms. His heart lurched when she called the boy my Danny. Flashes of his youth, when Sara begged him to read her stories filled his head.
Loki opened the sixth container, glancing at Dan who seemed preoccupied. “You okay, buddy?”
Dan shook himself back to the present. “Yeah, you got the last one?”
“Yeah, let’s go,” Loki said.
Positioning a night vision on his head, Dan said, “Perhaps if we can locate Brutus quickly, they can salvage zoo lights. I’d hate to see so many kids disappointed.”
“Let’s move then.” Loki walked briskly, just shy of a jog because Dan wasn’t allowed to exert himself physically.
Toronto Zoo – Simba Safari Picnic Area – 5:10 p.m.
Lexa took a drink of water as she sat on a bench under a pavilion in the Simba area. Hunting was exhilarating but tiring. Particularly after all her sleepless nights lately. Taking a bit of a breather and sitting down to wait for Loki and Dan to bring them a scanner was welcome.
Her mind returned to the thing that bugged her most all day. Dan turned down dinner with Loki. She tried but failed to come up with any explanation other than Dan had a date. Though he never talked about women, there was no way in hell he didn’t date. She conjured up any number of beautiful, tall, leggy women. Blondes, brunettes, redheads, and even women with silky black hair.
Then her imagination started creating small delicate women like Clara. A man didn’t become as skilled in the bed as Dan or earn the name ‘Sinner’ without a lot of practical experience. The thought of him sharing his bed with other women burned. Lexa’s rational mind kept intruding telling her green-eyed monster she had no claim on Dan and no right to be jealous. They were only friends … albeit with benefits.
That’s the way I want it. Isn’t it? I don’t need a man … let alone a steady man in my life. Leastwise, not a romantic one. The team is different. They are family. I will never abandon my chosen brothers for a man. Lexa’s gaze fell on Nick … or my surrogate father.
She wouldn’t be like her father, never. Giving her heart to someone was too risky. Too many people were destroyed when a soul mate died. She and her brothers being abandoned by their father due to his grief taught her that painful lesson. She would build walls to keep a mate out. She couldn’t risk losing her chosen family—it hurt too much when she lost her natural family, and she never wanted to experience pain like that again.
The devil which resided on her shoulder and told her things she didn’t want to acknowledge, spoke to her. You’re romantic at heart, but you refuse to accept the fact. You hide behind cold stone thinking you are immune. You’re not! Though you might be afraid of being hurt or hurting others, you can’t stop the inevitable. Look at your walls … they’re crumbling … holes everywhere. Dan made those, and you haven’t repaired them. Why? Because part of you knows, if you rebuild he will just knock them down again. Time to open up and take a chance.”
Not ready to listen to her devil and needing to put her head back in the game, for the umpteenth time today, Lexa focused on the boss who stood guard on the off chance the last leopard decided to approach them. Lexa inhaled a deep breath and exhaled steadily, centering herself. “Boss, this is one for the books, huh?”
Nick turned to Lexa with a warm smile which faded when he noted Lexa’s haggard expression. Something was a bit off with her today, though he couldn’t peg the source of his concern. “Definitely. How are you doing? You look a little bushed.”
Brushing her bangs out of her face, Lexa answered, “I’m good.”
As he and Jarred approached Nick and Lexa, Jon grinned to cover his uneasiness and said “Three. I can’t believe I bagged three cats today.”
Nick chuckled understanding Jon’s bravado covered his anxiety. He played along since the guys of Delta Team didn’t need to be made aware of the fact cats scared the hell out of Jon. “You’re having too much fun hunting them.”
Jon shrugged and meant it when he said, “Better to be the hunter than the hunted.”
Jarred and the keeper who worked with them moved to the benches and sat down next to Lexa and the other keeper. Blowing out a breath, Jarred remarked, “During the daylight, it was kinda fun, but now that it’s dark it is creepy. As we trotted over, I kept thinking Brutus was eyeing me and licking his lips. That beast could be anywhere and is hungry. Gives me the willies knowing it could pounce on any one of us. Unnerving.”
Standing outside the pavilion, scanning the darkness for any movement, Jon was in full agreement. He kept his voice confident as fake it until you make it crossed his mind. “True. Keep your eyes open. Stay vigilant.”
As Dan adjusted his grip on the tranquilizer gun, he called out, “Almost to you, Boss.”
Loki scanned for heat signatures as they walked. Hugh Crothers, their keeper, held the flashlight and directed Loki to the likely places a leopard might be as they delivered a scanner to each team. For their safety, Loki was armed with his MP5
, but Dan, being the better shot, carried the dart gun.
He glanced at Dan, again amazed at how at ease Dan was walking in the dark. Using the night scope appeared to be second nature to Dan, while for him, it was difficult to work in the eerie green world of night vision. “How do you do it, Dan?”
“Do what?”
“Make it look so damned easy to move around in pitch black.”
“It’s not black, it’s green, and I had a lot of practice. Most of the time my unit moved under cover of darkness. Safer.”
Listening to Dan’s faintly gravelly voice, an image of the first time she invited him to her house popped into Lexa’s mind. He was dressed in all black, and she had thought he moved with the grace of a panther when he dismounted his Ducati in her garage. She blew out a long breath dislodging that vision. She took another sip of water before capping it and standing.
She must keep a lid on her personal thoughts right now. She adjusted her grip on the weapon and scanned the blackness. The animal could be stalking them, and they wouldn’t even hear the darned thing.
Jon paced back and forth. He was more than a little antsy about hunting the snow leopards. Household felines possessed teeth and claws that did damage—the injuries these giant cats could inflict was on a whole other level, and his adrenaline had been pumping for the past three hours. He did his best to hide his fear, but now that it was dark, every little sound made him jumpy.
Though, in reality, sounds shouldn’t worry him. What he had seen today while tracking them was that they were silent—if one was about to leap, no sound would alert him. Jon scrutinized the dark brush, trees, and rocks as his anxiety increased.
Dan looked through his night vision scope as they hurried to the picnic area. Loki’s comment brought him back to his night missions in Afghanistan. His senses on high alert and adrenaline pumping because just as back then, never knowing when the enemy would strike, the same was true of the large animal they still needed to capture.
They were almost to the Simba pavilion where Boss, Jon, Lexa, Jarred, and two keepers waited for the gear. Dan continued to scan their surroundings. Loki concentrated the thermal imager to the right, and he focused on their left. Not seeing anything which concerned him, Dan swiveled his head in the direction of the covered picnic benches.
Dan halted and lifted his weapon. “Stop!” he said softly to Loki and Hugh. “Jon, step back under the pavilion now.”
Looking towards Dan, Jon could make out the rookie’s outline in the dim light of the flashlight the keeper with them held. Dan’s tranquilizer gun pointed in their direction but upward. The implications of that hit Jon like a ton of bricks. He froze as his body locked in place and sweat beaded on his brow in spite of the cold night.
Urgently Dan hissed, “Jon, move. Dammit! The leopard is poised to leap. He’s nearly on top of you.”
Jon tried to lift his feet and comply, but failed. His irrational fear bubbled to the surface and glued his boots to the ground. He became seven years old again, and recollections of a long-ago campfire story of a hairy beast which would tear his throat out and eat his face filled his mind. Jon’s heart rate sped up becoming aware he was now the hunted one. A vicious, voracious, vaulting leopard with razor-sharp claws and fangs would devour him.
Loki turned the thermal scanner in the same directions and swallowed a nervous lump as the imager showed him the heat signature of the largest of the snow leopards. It was on the pavilion roof. Holy smokes! Loki urged, “Jon, do what Dan said. Move back now.”
Gripping her weapon and glancing up at the metal roof, Lexa tensed. How long has it been up there and we didn’t know? Christ, Jon is in real danger. His fear of cats in this instance is justified. That animal can kill him with one swipe of its claws or a crushing bite. “Dan, shoot!”
“I can’t until Jon moves. Brutus might jump on him when he gets hit,” Dan stated, his eyes never leaving the crouched mass of muscle eyeing Jon.
Eyes bulging, Jarred’s gaze moved from Jon to the roof above him. It was stalking them. “Shit! Get your ass over here, Jon.”
Crap! Jon’s rooted in fear. He’s not moving. What the hell can I do? I can’t let the leopard attack him. Dan understood what all-consuming terror could do to a man. He had personal experience with that, and he’d seen other men freeze in the heat of battle. It was never pretty, but it was normal. Dan had to figure out how to save Jon from severe injury or death.
Nick watched Jon closely—his tactical lead appeared locked in fright. They all knew Jon dreaded cats, well, everyone except Dan and Delta Team. Nick was proud of how Jon composed himself in this call. Though at the moment, Jon remained immobilized by his irrational fear and he needed to break him out of it without risking others. Nick’s voice was soft but encouraging, “Jonny, buddy, back up. Come on. You can do this. One step at a time.”
Dan zeroed in on Brutus and asked Hugh, “If I shoot him twice, will the sedative act faster or will it be a lethal dose?”
Hugh replied, “Two doses is too much tranquilizer for his system. If you can hit his neck instead of the rump, it might work quicker but not fast enough. Your man needs to move.”
Loki handed the scanner to Hugh and lifted his MP5. He took aim via the night scope, the beast clear in green, all worries of working in a green world ceased … Jon’s life hung in the balance, and he wouldn’t fail him. “I have the solution.”
Lexa slowly edged to the boss. Jon was not too far away from them. Her voice scarcely audible, “What if I go to Jon?”
Nick shook his head, his voice hushed, “No, too risky.”
“Dammit, Jon move!” Dan ordered harshly in a muted tone hoping to break through Jon’s distress.
Only the sound of his blood rushing in his ears registered for Jon as he tried to quell the paralyzing anxiety. His breathing became small, erratic gasps.
Bram and Ray were the nearest team to the Simba pavilion and rushed towards the area as they overheard the developing situation. Bram’s tone sharp and volume loud, he attempted to cut through, “Jon, you gotta move! Now!” His heart raced with thoughts of Jon getting pounced on by the snow leopard. It could be deadly even though Loki had the solution. He poured everything he had into running and pulled ahead of Ray and the keeper with them.
Lexa stared at Jon with concern. I can’t stand here and allow Jon to become cat food. She whispered in a demanding tone, “We must do something! It could leap any second.”
As if portent, Brutus leapt.
Dan shot … the dart embedding in the leopard’s throat.
When hit, the one hundred sixty-five pound furry bundle of claws and teeth twisted mid-flight, its trajectory altered the massive male leopard landed on its paws next to Jon instead of on top of him.
Lexa reacted instantly, racing forward as she yelled, “Scat!” wanting to scare Brutus away from Jon who remained trapped in place by his phobia.
Startled by the sound, the hunter, now turned hunted animal, ran off into the brush.
Hugh moved the thermal scanner to follow the darted cat as he said, “Brutus is moving rapidly. We need to go now before we lose him.”
Bram arrived and took one glance at Dan. “Stay here in case he returns. I’ll give chase.”
Dan nodded. He knew he was not allowed to run yet. Though he wanted to go after Brutus, he remained to protect Jon and Nick as the others headed off swiftly to track the tranquilized leopard.
Nick moved towards Jon at the same time Dan started for him. Jon had not moved a muscle. They arrived simultaneously and saw rivulets of sweat freely running down Jon’s pale face and his unfocused eyes.
Quietly, Dan said, “Jon, come on, pull it together. You got this.”
Nick reached out and touched Jon’s shoulder. “Jonny?”
Jon’s world snapped back into focus, and he was no longer a terrified boy fighting off a monster in his tent. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Jon inhaled deeply and let the breath out in a rush. His eyes landed on Nick. His friend’s compas
sion openly displayed. His eyes turned to Dan wondering what he would find … disdain, mirth, disgust … he was unsure how Dan would react to the big bad tactical leader freezing.
Dan set a supportive hand on his tactical leader’s back. His eyes shone with understanding and acceptance. “Been there myself a time or two.”
Unsure what Dan meant by his words, Jon asked, “Where?”
Dropping his hand to lightly gripped Jon’s bicep, Dan gradually turned Jon toward the pavilion. “Where fear takes total control. Let’s go sit before the adrenaline crash has you falling down.”
Nick followed Dan’s lead, maintaining his grasp as they guided Jon to the bench. They sat him down none too soon—Jon’s body began to shake as the shock of the what almost occurred swept over him.
Dan shrugged off his pack and delved inside, pulling out two items. He handed Jon a water bottle and a power bar. “Drink, eat, it helps.”
Ten minutes later Lexa called out, “Brutus is sleeping nicely. The keepers are securing him now and will be moving him to the enclosure shortly.”
Consuming a second protein bar and finishing the water, Jon started to pull himself together. Dan’s calm acceptance surprised him, but Jon realized it shouldn’t. Dan spent six years in the field. Their sniper must have ample experience with guys freezing in battle, but this was embarrassing—this was a damned cat not an insurgent with an AK-47 or IED. He took the last bite of the bar Dan gave him and stood as he met Dan’s gaze. “Thanks.”
Dan grinned and chose to lighten the mood, something he would appreciate himself if roles were reversed. “I couldn’t let you have all the fun. I bagged the biggest, meanest, hungriest, leaping leopard.”
Jon chuckled, grateful for Dan’s humor and his not making a big deal out of the fact he froze. Jon boasted, “But I got three. I win.”
Nick chuckled as he patted Jon’s back. “That you did, buddy.”
Dan lifted his brows and gave Jon a lopsided grin. “Yeah, I guess. If I could’ve participated in the full hunt, the count might be different. Just sayin’.”