This is the first chapter of my current WIP (work in progress). It's unedited and a work in progress. Just started chapter four this morning. Be warned, contains strong language. Enjoy:
North Darren Zoo
North Darren, Colorado, Zoo and Aquarium: The late summer crowd had been heavy, even for a Saturday, at the North Darren Zoo and Aquarium. The last announcement that the zoo was closing had just been made as the facilities management staff began moving in to deal with the park’s overflowing trash cans.
With the remaining guests of the day making their way to the exits, the movements of one individual caught the eye of zoo security supervisor Katy Bankman, who was taking a break in the security surveillance room.
Looking oddly and somewhat annoyed at the bank of security monitors, she watched as a male about six feet one inch tall, with a muscular build, short hair, and a beard, moved in the direction opposite of the rest of the zoo’s visitors.
Something about how the man moved through the crowd seemed---unnatural. It was as if the other guests didn’t seem to notice him as he moved effortlessly among them.
“Hey Katy, what’s going on?” David Marshall, the head of facilities management asked as he stepped into the security office after seeing Katy staring at the monitors.
“Dave, come look at this guy.” Katy said as she looked away from the monitors to wave David over.
“Okay, who am I looking at?”
“What the hell! Where did he go?” Katy replied as she looked back at the monitors only to see that the mystery man had disappeared.
“I don’t know, maybe you spent a little too much time in the sun today.” David replied jokingly as the two of them continued to scan the various monitors, seeing only the last trickle of zoo patrons exiting towards the parking lot.
After a few more minutes of watching the monitors, David finally excused himself, saying that he had to go and supervise the most important job at the zoo, trash collection.
Shaking her head Katy muttered to herself, collected her paperwork, and headed out.
The rest of her shift came and went just like they had for the ten years she had worked at the North Darren Zoo. Meeting with her staff, completing the end-of-the-day paperwork, and then briefing the security team that came on for the overnight shift.
Just like the end of her shift, the next morning started the same as they always did. Arrive at the zoo, get coffee, meet with the overnight security shift, and then attend the morning briefing with zoo administrators.
Walking into the security office Katy greeted the shift supervisor for the overnight shift, Mike Harrow, “Hey Mike, how was your night?”
“Morning boss.” Mike replied as he took a cup of coffee that Katy had poured for him, “Truth be told, it was a little weird.”
“Yeah, how so?” Katy asked as she sat down in one of the chairs in front of the bank of security monitors.
“Well, Vick and Jimmy both swore that they saw some guy walking around the zoo around one this morning. They went looking, but nothing turned up. I called the P.D. and filed a report with them, they sent a couple of guys over, but they couldn’t find anything. No signs of forced entry, nothing. Then, a little after two the wolves started going crazy, and I mean crazy! We ended up calling the on-call supervisor for the exhibit.”
“Norman, right?” Katy asked.
“Yeah, Norman. By the time that guy got here everyone had calmed down and gone back to sleep. He came back in early, I don’t know what happened, but he’s meeting with the vets over at the animal hospital.”
Setting her coffee cup down Katy’s tone took on a serious tone, “Were Vick or Jimmy able to give you a description of the person they saw?”
“Sort of.” Mike replied, “They said that he was tall, had a beard, and looked like he was in good shape, like a weightlifter or some shit.”
“Jesus!” Katy remarked in a hushed tone as she sat back in her chair, “Mike, I saw that same guy yesterday at closing!”
“What!?”
“Yeah. I saw him on the monitors, as the end of the day crowds were leaving, he was walking deeper into the exhibits. It was weird though, I looked away just for a second, and he was gone.”
“Katy, that’s the same thing that Jimmy and Vick said. They saw him on the monitors, looked away for a second, and then when they looked back, he was just gone.”
“Are they still here?” Katy asked.
“No. Both of them said they weren’t feeling good, and they looked like shit, so I sent them home early.”
Before Katy could reply, the voice of Steve Knowlen, the assistant zoo administrator, cracked over her hand-held radio, “Katy, this is Steve. Is Mike still here?”
With Mike waving his hands in front of him Katy replied with a smile, “Yeah Steve, he’s still here. He’s briefing me about last night’s events.”
There was a short pause, and then a somber reply from Steve, “Okay. Can the two of you come and meet me at the animal hospital?”
“We’re on our way.” Katy replied as she looked at Mike with concern on her face.
Jumping into the security truck, the drive to the animal hospital, which was on the other side of the zoo, took about five minutes. Pulling into a parking space they saw Steve Knowlen walking out the front door of the animal hospital to greet them.
To their surprise, Steve jumped into the truck with them and said, “Let’s head over to the wolf exhibit, everyone else is already over there.”
“Uh, okay.” Katy replied as she started making the short drive to the exhibit that was home to the zoo’s pack of seven Timber Wolves, “You want to tell us what’s going on Steve?”
“It’s better that I just show you.” Steve replied as they arrived at the back of the exhibit.
“All the wolves are still inside. Norman and Kelly are waiting for us around the side of the exhibit.” Steve said as Katy and Mike followed him from the parking area around to the outside of the exhibit.
Rounding a corner they saw Norman Cho, the head of the zoo’s wolf exhibit, procurement, and breeding program, and Kelly Nicks, the zoo’s head animal doctor standing next to each other shaking their heads. Both of them were looking at something on the large wall of the exhibit.
“Norman, Kelly, what’s going on?” Katy said as she and Mike approached the two.
“You tell me Katy.” Norman said, sounding a little flabbergasted as he pointed at the wall.
“What the hell is that?” Katy asked as she looked at several deep claw marks carved into the cement wall of the enclosure about eight feet off the ground.
“Holy shit!” Mike muttered as he stepped up to look at the claw marks, “Are all the wolves accounted for?”
“Yeah.” Norman replied, “They were all accounted for last night when they came off exhibit, and then again this morning.”
“That was not made by one of our wolves, or any wolf for that matter.” Kelly said as she got up on a step ladder to measure and photograph the claw marks, “If these were made by a wolf it would have had to have been---significant.”
“What do you mean, significant?” Steve asked.
“Norman, how big is Brutus?” Kelly asked, referring to the alpha male of the zoo’s pack.
“His last exam he weighed in at 148 pounds, about six feet long, and stands 40 inches tall at the shoulder.” Norman replied.
“Okay.” Kelly said as she stepped down off the ladder, “Brutus, our alpha male wolf, weighs just shy of 150 pounds, is six feet long, and stands three feet and some change at the shoulder. He’s what we refer to in the veterinary profession as a big-ass wolf! Whatever did that is significantly larger than Brutus.”
Looking at Mike, then at Norman, and back again at Mike, Kelly asked, “Mike, how tall are you?”
“I’m about six-foot-one, why?”
“Reach up there and see if you can touch those claw marks.” Kelly instructed.
Reaching up Mike was able to stretch and place his right hand at the bottom of the claw marks. He then spread his fingers out and was not able to span the diameter of the marks.
“So, if we assume that whatever did this was standing flat-footed when it scratched our wall, then it’s at least six-foot-one, and has a larger paw than Mike here.” Kelly said as she jotted down some notes on her pad.
“Could one of the bears have done this?” Katy asked.
With a sigh of uncertainty, Norman replied, “It would have to have been one of the Grizzlies, or Polar Bears, and they’re all accounted for.”
“A wild Grizzly maybe?” Mike asked.
“No, there haven’t been any Grizzlies in Colorado since the 1950’s. Besides, it would have had to break through several exterior fences to get here, and as far as I know, everything’s secure.” Kelly replied.
“Mike, why don’t you tell Kelly what happened this morning.” Norman said.
“Two of the guys on my night shift, Victor Herrea and Jim Nostman both said that they saw someone on the monitors in the zoo after closing. They looked around but couldn’t find anyone. I called North Darren P.D., they sent two of their patrol officers over and checked the area, also finding nothing. Then about two in the morning, the wolves started going batshit crazy in their night enclosure. They got so wound up that I was afraid that they were going to hurt themselves, so I called Norman.”
“Did you have your two security guys go and check again after you called Norman?” Steve asked in an almost accusatory tone.
“No. They both ended up getting sick, so I sent them home.”
“Okay, so we really have no idea when this occurred, do we?” Steve asked the group.
“It occurred sometime last night.” Norman replied, “I was in this exact spot yesterday and there were no large claw marks in the wall.”
“Are you sure!?” Steve asked, his tone growing more and more on edge.
“Yes, Steve, I’m sure.” Norman shot back in his own semi-sarcastic tone of voice.
“Okay, look!” Kelly barked as she interrupted Steve and Norman, “It doesn’t matter when this happened, the fact of the matter is that it did. Now, we need to call this in and report it. I’m thinking, DNR, probably their Parks and Wildlife folks.”
“Whoa! Let’s wait just a second. What do you mean report this to the Department of Natural Resources?” Steve blurted out.
“Steve, you see those claw marks? Do you know what made those? Because I sure as hell don’t! I’ve been a large animal vet for fifteen years and I have no idea what did that! I do know it was not done by a human. Now, if there is some large animal with very large claws moving around this area, DNR needs to be notified!”
Taking a deep breath Steve held his hands up, “Okay, okay. Look, I understand, but we just don’t need the negative publicity that will come with this right now. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Jesus Christ Steve!” Norman barked, “For all we know this thing, whatever it is, could still be on zoo property, hiding out somewhere. What kind of publicity are we gonna get if it decides to jump out and eat a couple of our guests!?”
“Okay!” Steve replied, again holding his hands up, “Okay, I will make the call. Katy, as head of security you get to be the point of contact on this.”
“That’s fine.” Katy replied, “If you want, I’m happy to make the initial call too.”
“No, it should come from administration.”
Looking at his watch, Steve then asked, “Are we done here?”
“Yes, Steve, I think we’re done here.” Kelly said, shaking her head.
“Uhm, before we go, and I know you guys have probably already done this but has anyone looked around to see if there were any tracks?” Mike asked.
“Yeah, Kelly and I looked around this morning. We didn’t see anything.” Norman replied.
Using her cell phone Katy took several photos of the claw marks in the wall, as well as the surrounding area. Then, at the insistence of her immediate supervisor, she and Mark gave Steve a ride back to the administration building, leaving Kelly and Norman back at the wolf exhibit.
Steve, Katy, and Mike didn’t say a word during the short drive to the admin building. When they arrived, Steve got out, and walked inside, again without saying a word.
“This thing has really got him freaked out!” Mike remarked as he got into the front passenger seat of the truck.
“Yeah, he’s not the only one.” Katy replied, “Have you ever seen anything like that?”
“No, I haven’t.” Mike replied, “It sure has Kelly and Norman worried though.”
“Do you think it might be a hoax?” Katy asked.
“I don’t know. Shit Katy, you’re the one who used to be a police officer, you tell me.”
“Your guess is as good as mine!” Katy replied as she pulled in front of the security and facilities building, “I only worked in patrol division. I was never assigned to dog catcher duty.”
It didn’t take long for the news of the mysterious claw marks to run through the rumor mill and then out to the rest of the zoo staff. As the gates were opened, and guests began arriving for the day, the employees of the North Darren Zoo were all a little on edge.
The idea of a large, unknown animal running around would have been more than a little laughable, except for the fact that none of the administration heads were smiling about it.
Behind the scenes, Katy had begun patrolling the zoo’s perimeter in the security truck a few extra times every couple of hours.
With the rest of her equipment, she had also started carrying in her work truck a Remington 870 pump shotgun loaded with a combination of slugs and 00 buckshot.
“Katy, this is Kelly, do you copy?” Katy’s radio crackled as she finished her latest check of the perimeter.
“Yeah Kelly, go ahead.” She replied.
“Hey, when you get a chance, come and meet me at the hospital.”
“Copy, headed there now.” Katy answered as she began driving the back roads of the zoo that the public never gets to see, headed for the animal hospital.
“Hey, what’s up? Please don’t tell me that you guys found more weird claw marks!” Katy said as she walked into Kelly’s office at the animal hospital.
“No, nothing like that.” Kelly replied with a smirk, “I wanted to let you know that I called a friend of mine over at DNR and reported our mysterious find. He’s gonna have one of his biologists come and visit with you tomorrow. When he arrives, if you don’t mind, can you bring him over here?”
“Sure. But wasn’t Steve gonna make that call?”
“Yeah.” Kelly replied with a slight snort and half-a-laugh, “That guy's only interest is the bottom line.”
“So, you don’t think he was actually gonna call?” Katy asked.
“Let’s just say that I’m not willing to wait around to find out.”
Leaning forward in the chair she was sitting Katy looked Kelly in the eyes, and in a no-nonsense tone asked, “Kelly, no bullshit! What are we looking at here? Do I need to be worried?”
After a few seconds, Kelly stood from behind her desk, walked over, and shut the door to her office. She then reached into a filing cabinet and produced a half-full bottle of whisky. Offering some to Katy, who politely refused, Kelly poured some into her coffee and then sat back down.
Grimacing after taking a drink, she set her cup on her desk, “Whatever made those marks was big and very strong! But that’s not the only thing worrying me. Norman and I looked all around the area there and could not find a single print. Something that big and strong is gonna have a lot of weight to it---Katy, there should have been prints all over the place, we couldn’t find a single one.”
“What’s that mean?”
“I have no idea.” Kelly replied as she took another drink from her coffee.
Before Katy could reply Norman walked into Kelly’s office, shut the door, and pointed at the filing cabinet where she had her bottle of whisky hidden.
With a nod from Kelly, Norman grabbed an empty coffee cup, pulled the bottle out, and poured some of the whisky right into the cup.
Putting the bottle back into its hiding spot he then sat down in the chair next to Katy, took a shot of the booze, and asked, “Well, did you call?”
“You know I did!” Kelly replied.
“Good! I like Steve, but I don’t think he had any intention of calling anyone.”
“You are such a liar!” Kelly snapped back with a devious grin on her face, “You hate Steve.”
“Hates a strong word.” Norman said as he choked down some of the whisky.
“So, tell me Norman, what do you think is going on?” Katy asked, trying hard not to laugh as Norman grimaced and looked very disapprovingly at his coffee cup.
“I think it’s a hoax, has to be.” Norman replied.
“A hoax!? Norman, that was no hoax.” Kelly replied with a snort.
“Why do you think it’s a hoax?” Katy asked as she shifted in her seat, so she was looking right at Norman.
“Well, the fact that we are talking about claw marks in a cement wall notwithstanding, there were no tracks. Something big enough to do that is going to be heavy, we didn’t find a single print. That tells me, hoax!”
“Okay, so who would hoax something like that?” Katy asked.
“My money would be on the two night-shift security guards who went home early.”
Shaking her head Katy replied, “Vic and Jimmy? No, I hired those two myself, they're good people.”
Norman opened his mouth and started to reply only to be cut off by Kelly, “Norman, that’s just stupid! What kind of supervillain pulls a hoax like that in a spot where no one's gonna see it? I mean, if the wolves hadn’t been raising such a ruckus Mike never would have called you, you would have never come in, and then in the morning we never would have checked that area.”
“Maybe Mike was in on it.” Norman replied with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh, so the entire security staff is out to hoax us!? Katy, you want to confess?”
The three of them had a good chuckle as Katy assured Norman that Mike was not involved, and neither were Vic or Jimmy.
Finishing his drink Norman stood, “Mark my word ladies, hoax!”
Kelly threw a piece of wadded-up paper at him as Norman slid out of the door and back down the hallway to his own office.
The smile left Kelly’s face as she let out a sigh, “With a little luck we’ll have some answers tomorrow.”
The next morning kicked off with the usual routine, coffee, then meeting with Mike before the staff meeting with department heads.
“Good morning, Mike, anything to pass on from last night?” Katy asked as she walked into the security office.
“No, nothing out of the ordinary, thank God.” Mike replied as he let out a big yawn, “Neither Vic, or Jimmy showed up for work, so I called Sarah and Jose.”
“Really? Did you try calling them?”
“No.” Mike replied, “If they’re still sick, I didn’t want to wake them up. I’ll give them a call later today before I hit the sack and check on them.”
Before Katy could reply one of the zoo volunteers was knocking on the door to the security office, “Katy, these two men are here to see you. They’re from DNR.”
Standing in the hallway behind the volunteer were two men. The first looked to be in his thirties, wearing slacks and a polo shirt with the Department of Natural Resources logo on it.
The second man, who was about the same age, had a more, weathered look about him.
Wearing jeans, a nylon duty belt, and an over-the-shirt body armor carrier, he looked like a cowboy who had been dipped in police gear.
“Thank you.” Katy said with a smile as she walked over and introduced herself, “Hello, I’m Katy Bankman, security supervisor for the zoo. This is Mike Harrow, assistant supervisor for security.”
“Hi, I’m Lewis Todd, biologist for DNR. This is Conner Tavich, he’s with our Parks and Wildlife law enforcement department.” The first man said as he shook hands with Katy and Mike.
“Hey Katy, I’m beat. Unless you need me to stick around, I’m gonna take off.” Mike said after greeting the two men from DNR.
“That’s fine Mike, go home and get some sleep. Call me and let me know how Vic and Jimmy are doing.”
With a nod, Mike left for the day as Katy invited Lewis and Conner into the office.
Breaking out her phone Katy pulled up the pictures she had taken of the claw marks dug into the wall and handed it to Lewis.
Turning his head to the side Lewis curiously asked, “What am I looking at here?”
“Well, according to our lead large animal doctor, and the keeper in charge of the wolf exhibit, those are very large claw marks dug into a cement retaining wall on the back side of the wolf exhibit.” Katy replied.
“Wow!” Lewis exclaimed as he scrolled through the pictures, showing them to Conner as he did.
“What do you think, bear?” Lewis asked as he and Conner looked at the last picture.
“No.” Conner replied, “No bears around here big enough to do that.”
“What about tracks?” Conner asked.
“That’s the odd thing, we looked and couldn’t find any tracks for something big enough to do that.”
“What about people tracks?” Conner asked as he studied the screen of Katy’s phone.
“That I don’t know. We can ask our lead vet Kelly Nicks and the exhibition head Norman Cho, they found the marks, they would be able to give you a more definitive answer. Kelly wanted me to take you guys over to meet with her and Norman when you got in this morning.”
“Sounds good.” Lewis said as he handed Katy her cell phone, “Do you want to drive?”
“Sure.” Katy replied as she motioned for Lewis and Conner to follow her.
As Katy jumped into the driver’s seat, Conner got into the front passenger side with Lewis getting into the back seat.
“Something I should know?” Conner asked as he took a look at the pump shotgun Katy had set in the front.
“It’s a throwback to my police days.” She replied, “I’m a firm believer in having it and not needing it, as opposed to suddenly needing it and not having it. Especially when we’re talking about a potentially large animal running around leaving claw marks in perfectly good cement walls.”
“You were a police officer?” Lewis asked from the back seat.
“Yes. I was a patrol officer with North Darren PD for ten years and some change.” Katy answered as she pulled out of the parking area.
“What brought you here, if you don’t mind me asking?” Conner asked.
“I was involved in a vehicle pursuit, chasing a drunk driver. Anyway, during the pursuit, another drunk crashed into my patrol car. I ended up with a bunch of pins in my knee and shoulder. They wouldn’t clear me for a return to duty so I medically retired. That’s when I got this job.”
With what sounded like a slight grunt, Conner just nodded his head and started looking out the window.
“And what about you? What’s your story?” Katy asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t strike me as a law enforcement type. If not for the badge, I would have pinned you as a cowboy.”
“Wow, you’re good!” Lewis remarked with a laugh from the back seat, “Officer Tavich here was a real-life farm hand and professional bull rider before getting into law enforcement.”
“You’re a jackass Lewis.” Conner said with a slight grin causing Lewis to again let out a laugh, and then kick the back of his seat.
“I would love to hear that story, but unfortunately we’re here.” Katy said as she pulled up next to a waiting Kelly and Norman.
After making introductions Katy followed as Kelly and Norman led Lewis and Conner to the back side of the wolf enclosure to see the claw marks.
“So, as you can see, they're about---what the hell!” Kelly barked as she looked up at the wall only to see that the claw marks had been filled in with fresh cement.
“What happened, where are they?” Lewis asked as he stood next to Kelly looking at the wall.
“God damn it! Steve must have had them filled in last night.” Kelly angrily remarked.
“Kelly, Norman, what’s going on here!?” Came the agitated voice of Steve Knowlen, “I told you that I would make the appropriate notifications!”
“Why would you do that Steve!?” Norman asked, pointing at the cement patch over the claw marks.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Steve sarcastically replied.
Turning to Lewis and Conner Steve then said, “Gentleman, I’m Steve Knowlen, assistant administrator for North Darren Zoo. I am sorry that you have had to waste your time with what is most certainly a hoax!”
“Oh, it’s no problem at all Mr. Knowlen.” Lewis started to say when Conner stepped forward.
“Mr. Knowlen, how, exactly, do you know this was a hoax?” Conner asked as he stepped in front of Lewis.
“Well, I mean, what else could it have been?” Steve replied as he suddenly found himself feeling slightly uncomfortable under the inquisitive, and yet pseudo-confrontational gaze of Officer Tavich.
“I see.” Conner replied as he took a breath and looked around at the surrounding woods, “Mr. Knowlen, do you think it was a good idea to destroy evidence of a large, as of yet unidentified, and possibly predatory type animal moving around in these woods?”
Steve’s uncomfortable feeling jumped from slightly, to full-blown, “Okay, now let’s just….”
Before Steve could finish his sentence Kelly’s radio erupted with the frantic voice of one of the other vets.
“Say that again!” Kelly remarked back into the radio as she turned away from the rest of the group.
“Holy shit!” Kelly barked as she pulled the radio back from her ear, “I got to go!”
Katy and the others watched as Kelly sprinted back to her car, and then roared out of the parking space she was in, tossing dirt and gravel all over the other cars.
At the same time, Steve’s cell phone started ringing. After a very short conversation, he too excused himself, walking quickly back to his car.
Lewis and Conner looked at each other, then turned and looked at Katy and Norman.
“Is it always this exciting?” Lewis asked.
With an annoyed look on her face, Katy just shook her head.
“You mind giving us a ride to the animal hospital?” Conner asked.
As Katy, Conner, Lewis, and Norman started walking back to their vehicles, a loud communal howl came roaring up from inside the wolf’s overnight habitat.
The howl was accompanied by the loud sounds of growling and snarling, followed by more howling.
Standing in front of the wolf overnight habitat building the four just looked at each other as the howling seemed to reach a fever pitch, and then suddenly stop.
Norman opened his mouth to say something only to have Conner hold a hand up motioning for him to be quiet.
Curiosity crossed Norman's face as he watched Conner cock his head to the side and raise an ear as if he were listening for something. Then, like a chill on a fall breeze, there it was. A single, far-off howl, answering the call from the wolf pack inside the overnight building.
There was something different about this howl. Even though it sounded far off, they could hear that it was just a little deeper and sounded more primal and threatening.
“Jesus Christ! What the hell was that!?” Norman remarked as all the hairs on his arms stood straight up.
“Did you recognize that?” Lewis asked Conner as he pulled out a small notepad and started jotting down some notes.
“No. It sounded like it was coming from the east though.” Conner replied.
“Hey! Fellas, can someone tell me what the hell that was!?” Norman again asked.
“I have no idea.” Lewis reluctantly replied, “It almost sounded like a wolf, but….”
“No. I’ve been working with wolves for fifteen years all over the United States and I have never heard anything like that!” Norman said.
Before Lewis could reply Katy received a radio call from Kelly at the animal hospital, “Katy, this is Kelly. I need you at the animal hospital! If those two DNR guys are still here, bring them too.”
“I copy Kelly, we’re on our way.” Katy replied as she looked at Lewis and Conner, “You guys have some more free time?”
“Yes, we do!” Lewis replied in a very no-nonsense tone.
Getting back into the security truck Conner tapped Katy’s shotgun and asked, “Slugs?”
Putting the truck in reverse Katy just exhaled and nodded in the affirmative.
“Good!” Conner replied.
Pulling up in front of the animal hospital they could see that there were three trucks all marked Bushlands parked right in front of the main doors. None of the three were in parking spaces and looked as though they had rolled in fast, getting as close to the doors as possible.
Walking up to the doors Lewis stopped, “Hey Conner, Katy, look at this.”
In the bed of one of the trucks, there were what looked like used emergency medical supplies strewn about, along with blood.
“Katy, what’s the Bushlands?” Conner asked.
“It’s a free-ranging park that we have a few miles east of here. There are several different herd animals out there. It’s kind of a safari sort of a deal.”
Walking into the hospital was like walking into a bee’s nest that had just been whacked with a stick. There were people going in all directions, each one of them moving with a purpose.
Off to the side, they saw Kelly, who was covered in blood, talking to three men, all wearing work shirts that identified them as employees of the Bushlands.
“Kelly!” Katy called as she raised her hand and waved.
With a very agitated and concerned look on her face, Kelly waved for Katy, Conner, and Lewis to come over.
As they were walking over the three men from the Bushlands, who were all emotional, headed off to move their trucks.
“Hey, Kelly, what’s going here?” Katy asked.
Wiping her face, and taking a breath to try and compose herself, Kelly replied, “Something attacked Betsy and her calf this morning out in the Bushlands. It killed Betsy and seriously wounded her calf.”
“I’m sorry, who is Betsy?” Lewis asked as politely as he could.
“Betsy is one of the breeding females in our bison herd. She just had a calf less than a week ago.” Kelly replied.
“Wait a minute, let me make sure I’m hearing this right.” Conner said, “You’re saying that something attacked, and killed a full-grown female bison?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Kelly remarked as she put her hands on her hips and looked up at the ceiling, shaking her head.
“Tyler and the two guys from the Bushlands saw the attack and were able to chase, whatever it was, off with their trucks. They had another one of our large animal vets with them doing inoculations. They grabbed up the calf, threw her in the bed of their truck with the vet, and hauled ass over here as the vet worked on her.” Kelly said as she ran a hand across her watering eyes.
“What’s the status of the calf now?” Conner asked.
“Surgery. She’s probably gonna make it thanks to those guys and their quick actions.”
“Jesus!” Lewis muttered as he looked at Katy, who had a look of disbelief on her face, “Were they able to identify the animal that attacked?”
“No.” Kelly replied, “They saw it from a distance. Tyler said that when they went roaring up in their trucks it had already killed Betsy and had the calf in its mouth. It dropped the calf and ran off into the woods.”
“Could they describe it at all?” Conner asked.
“All they said was that it was big with black colored fur, and very fast! They’re headed back up to the Bushlands now to do a head count on the rest of the herd and secure Betsy’s body. I’m headed up there to try and do an inspection.”
“Kelly, do you mind if I come with you?” Lewis asked.
“No, in fact, I was gonna ask if you would.”
“I’ll call you when I get done.” Lewis said to Conner as he followed Kelly off to help gather some equipment and then head to inspect the dead bison.
As Lewis headed off Conner asked, “Katy, do you think this is the same critter that left your claw marks in that wall?”
The answer she began to utter sent a chill up her spine. A chill that, even though she didn’t say it, radiated her reply loud and clear---yes.
Conner just nodded in silent agreement as he rolled his shoulders, shifting the weight of his body armor, a nervous tick that all seasoned police officers develop.
As the two drove back to the zoo's security office Conner got a call on his cell phone from a slightly nervous-sounding Lewis asking him to meet them at the scene of the dead bison.
“I think my scientist is feeling like he may have bitten off a little more than he can chew.” Conner said with a crooked grin as he disconnected the call, “Better drop me off at my truck, and if you don’t mind, draw me a map on how to get where this bison is.”
“No problem.” Katy said as she parked next to Conner’s truck.
“I got some things I’ve got to get taken care of here, shouldn’t take me too long. Once I’m done, I’ll come out and meet you guys.” Katy said as she sketched out a quick map, “Call me if you need me to bring any gear out.”
An awkward, almost uneasy feeling came over both of them as Conner took the map, “Will do. Look, I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know here but keep your eyes open.”
“You too.”
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