Chapter 15
Craig and Barbara were waiting outside the hospital’s main entrance when the livestock truck arrived.
Zemar and Saleha jumped out of the cab and went to the back of the truck as the other two farm vehicles came in behind them.
“It’s tranquilized,” Saleha said to them as she helped Zemar with the truck’s tailgates. “Lorrie and Ben are in there with it.”
“Ben?” Barbara scowled. “He’s supposed to be resting.”
Saleha just shrugged and helped her brother open the gates.
Lorrie and Ben were kneeling next to the wounded elk.
Lorrie petted its neck. “It’s magnificent, isn’t it?” She wiped her eyes. “Why would anyone want to shoot that?”
“What are his vitals?” Craig climbed up into the truck.
Ben said, “They’re good.”
Barbara started to climb in, but Craig stopped her.
“We’ll need the table.”
Zemar said, “We’ll get it.”
Barbara, Zemar and Saleha ran back to the hospital.
He checked the elk’s heart. “It’s a bit erratic.”
Lorrie continued to stroke its neck. “We weren’t sure how much to use. We needed to get him down before he did any more damage to himself.”
Ben pointed to the elk’s leg. “He was snagged at the rear left with wire. It’s going to need stitches, but I don’t think there’s any serious damage.”
“He may break your record of thirty-two.”
“We’ll compare scars and lie to each other about how we got them.”
Lorrie, her voice choked, said, “He’s been shot three times.” She pointed out the wounds above the elk’s left front shoulder.
Craig inspected the three holes. “They’re small caliber. Who would think they could bring down an elk in its prime with those?” He bent closer. “They might have hit its scapula, which prevented deeper penetration.”
The elk snorted and bucked.
Lorrie patted its neck. “It’s okay, big guy, you’re in the best hands in the world here. We’ll fix you up good as new.”
Barbara and Zemar returned with a motorized gurney that could be raised and lowered for loading larger animals and transporting them.
“Watch its legs.”
“We’ve got them,” Lorrie said.
She and Ben positioned themselves to support the legs.
The elk snorted and bucked again.
Zemar jumped into the truck to help support the elk. It settled after another snort and more pats from Lorrie.
“Saleha’s with Doug and the team,” Barb said. “She’ll assist me.”
“I’ve got this.”
“No, Craig.” Barb nodded toward the Oregon State students and some of the farm staff gathered together by the two trucks. “We’ve got this. You need to talk to them.” Barbara was small but formidable. There was no point contesting whatever she had set her mind to.
The students and staff were talking amongst themselves. The conversations contained a lot of anger.
He left Barb, Lorrie, Ben and two technicians he hadn’t noticed at first to get the elk into surgery. He and Zemar went to the group.
“We have to do something,” Karen Thompson said, “First Ben, now this. It just keeps getting worse.”
Nigel Avery, the farm foreman, and the team guide when they were in the field, stepped clear of the others. “We destroyed three traps before we found the elk.”
“We can’t accuse them until we have solid evidence. You all know that our cameras haven’t caught anyone yet.”
“Half of them have been destroyed or stolen,” Nigel said.
“What about all the traps we’ve destroyed?” Karen’s voice rose as she spoke.
“We can’t connect them to Colter’s people, and you know what he would say.”
“There are no poachers out there. Poachers wouldn’t have the sense to avoid the cameras or sabotage them. They have to be stopped.” Karen was feeding off the others, who had been forced to talk in circles for months about their failure to catch anyone.
“I will talk to the new sheriff about our concerns. Now, everyone get back to your work or whatever you are scheduled to do.”
With Nigel and Karen taking the lead, the group dispersed.
Craig looked to the hospital.
Zemar asked, “Did you want to lend a hand?”
He started for the hospital but stopped after only a few steps. “They can handle it.”
“Yes, they can. Drs. Nyland and Lancaster are very experienced, and my sister is becoming very accomplished. So, if you can spare a few moments, I have something to show you.”
They headed for the office.
“How is the plan proceeding?” Zemar asked.
“Randal is still waiting for a response from Amsterdam. Our connection in Montreal appears to be promising.”
“And Brazil?”
“They’re not as close to you and Saleha as the others, but we have begun a dialogue with them. How are you two holding up?”
“Saleha has absolute faith in both of you. She is very optimistic that it will all be settled soon. She is looking forward to completing her studies and becoming a veterinarian. Her dream is to work here beside you and Dr. Nyland.”
“I don’t think staying here is an option anymore. We’ve had no luck with our contact.”
“I thought as much.”
“Don’t get discouraged.”
“We are here, and I am grateful for that. I understand the difficulties you two are facing. If Saleha asks, just tell her it is proceeding slowly. There is no need to bother her with the details until they are finalized.”
“Where are we with Cleo and Caesar?”
“I have contacted a number of potential homes. Budgets are tight everywhere. Zoos don’t get the financial support they used to. I know you don’t like the idea, but we may have to go the private route with those two.”
“Keep trying. A three-legged mountain lion and her sissy son are never going back into the wild.”
At the office, Zemar put a hand on Craig’s chest to prevent him from entering. “I did this on my own. If you want to maintain plausible deniability, you need not enter. I will continue with what I am doing, but I alone will be responsible for whatever comes of it.”
That warning took him back to Afghanistan for a moment. “Show me.”
Zemar took him straight to the computer station he worked at, sat down and signed back in.
“I hacked into Colter’s website.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Have we found any evidence linking them to the illegal traps and the illegal hunting yet?”
“You heard what I told the others.”
“Exactly. I was taking a look at what the website was all about.”
“It’s about what they grow there. You can order most of it online and have it delivered.”
“I thought I might find something if I drilled a bit deeper, perhaps some evidence of illegal trophy hunting expeditions for bighorn sheep.”
“You mean small-horn sheep. They’ve killed the ones with big horns, so the remaining male sheep are younger on average and have smaller horns.” It was scientifically debatable but provocative bait.
Zemar didn’t bite. While he loved animals almost as much as his sister, having escaped from Afghanistan, he had a different perspective regarding endangered species of animals versus endangered ethnic groups.
“This is what I found.” He clicked to call up a list of purchases placed within the past three months.
“How’d you get that?”
“The webpage is constantly on and updated. I just found a backdoor and let myself in. After that, it was easy to find anything I wanted because they keep all their records on the same hard drive.”
“I’m not comfortable with this.”
“Neither am I, but desperate times, desperate measures. I thought we might find evidence to support our suspic
ion that Colter has smuggled in exotic animals for his trophy hunting business.”
“Even if we find anything like that, we won’t be able to take it to anyone because of how we got it.”
“There are ways around that, but even if we don’t, whatever we find might, at least, point us to the physical evidence we know is out there. We might learn how they keep finding our hidden cameras. That would be something.”
“What have you got?”
He pulled up a chair and scanned the list. Colter had ordered one thousand pounds each of sugar and molasses; large supplies of seeds for corn, beets, alfalfa, wheat; 100,000 pounds of fuel pellets; 1000 gallons of corn oil; 300 pounds of fertilizer.
“I thought most of his crops were greenhouse and hydroponic: cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, some decorative plants for horticultural use. You don’t grow corn, beets, alfalfa and wheat in greenhouses.”
Zemar pointed to the sugar and molasses order. “Could he be experimenting with crops? Could he be making alcoholic beverages?”
“You’re suggesting Morton Colter, the biggest farmer in this part of Oregon, is making moonshine?”
“I am not suggesting anything. I am merely wondering out loud the same as you.”
“I don’t see anything unusual on this list. Some of the quantities seem large, but all of it is perfectly normal for the kind of farm Colter operates.”
“It could be code.”
“Code for what?”
“If it is code, then I don’t know what it is code for, yet, do I?”
He got up and patted Zemar on the shoulder. “This isn’t Afghanistan, my friend.”
“I hope not.”
“I don’t like Colter and his men any more than anyone else here does, but it’s just farm supplies.”
“Should I keep drilling?” He moved the cursor to the DELETE ALL button on the screen.
“Clear everything with me first, and let’s keep this between ourselves for now.” He headed for the door. “Enough with the intrigues of Dominion farm life; I have to check the progress we’ve made with Lorrie’s magnificent beast.”
Wear Something Red Page 15