Katie's Rescue

Still, for Luke, it was hard to get past the fact that she hadn’t personally arranged or physically attended her father’s funeral, and then had hired outsiders to pack up the kingdom and sell everything. If she’d cared one iota about her dad or the animals, she’d have been on hand and made sure everything was taken care of.

Personally.

That’s how Luke would have done it.

When he’d said as much to Jasper, the older man just muttered about bad decisions and hurt feelings.

So what! They were a part of life. What family didn’t have their share of bad decisions and hurt feelings? You fought it out, worked it out and forged a bond that couldn’t be shaken.

He looked out the window of his office again. The animal adventure had grown a lot since he’d taken it over. His little sister wouldn’t recognize it. She’d still recognize some of the animals, though. This place had been Bridget’s favorite place in the whole world.

“Someday I’ll run this place,” she’d told Luke. “You can help.”

That had been years ago, before either of them knew what their futures held, when both of them still believed—or at least pretended to—in Santa. But two weeks after Bridget died, Luke had come to say his goodbyes to the animals that had made her happy. Instead, he’d taken one look at the buildings in need of paint, the closed food concessions and the animals with no one to admire them, and he’d said, “What can I do?”

Ruth had instantly made a phone call. Next thing he knew, he’d been filling out papers and looking for an apartment. His new title was director of an animal park.

He now made considerably less than he’d made as director of marketing for a Tucson company. But to everyone’s surprise, especially his own, he’d settled into his new job and was good at it.

The degree in marketing helped; his love of animals helped even more.

In just two months, they’d celebrate what would have been the real Bridget’s twentieth birthday. Luke’s dream was to expand enough so that Bridget’s AZ Animal Adventure made money, met his five goals and they could even take one day out of every month and donate the day’s take to a charity.

His sister’s charity.

The National Down Syndrome Society. But Bridget would never work alongside him, and that’s what hurt the most.

CHAPTER TWO

STANDING IN FRONT of Aquila’s enclosure on Friday morning, Luke hoped he’d done the right thing by practically forcing Katie Vincent to come.

Really, there’d been no choice if he intended to keep Aquila—and Bridget’s—alive.

Surely Katie wouldn’t lose her job, not for just two weeks.

But would two weeks be enough for Aquila?

The panther’s illness made no sense. Luke had called three zoo directors and one renowned wildlife vet. They all said the same thing. Panthers don’t bond with people, so there’s no way he could be pining.

Jasper, however, maintained that the zoo directors and renowned wildlife vet hadn’t met Aquila, hadn’t seen Aquila with either Katie or Bob Vincent.

Luke really hoped Jasper was right.

Because now, along with worrying about Aquila, he also had Katie to worry about. He hoped she’d managed to take time off with pay because she couldn’t expect a paycheck from him.

It was her contractual obligation to make sure the animals were healthy. He shouldn’t feel the need to pay her.

But he did.

“Katie’s a good girl” was all Jasper would say. And, according to Jasper, at one time the animals had been her life. Then she and her sister had just moved away. Luke got the idea there was more to the story. He knew there’d been an accident, and her sister had gotten hurt. He knew Bob Vincent had turned his daughters over to a relative. That’s all Jasper would share. Maybe now that Katie was really coming, Jasper would be more forthcoming.

Luke stopped in front of the camels’ pen. “How’s it going?”

Jasper nodded but didn’t say anything. The man preferred four-footed friends to two-legged ones, particularly those he’d arrived with. There wasn’t much about animals that Jasper didn’t know. He’d traveled with an Australian circus during his prime, but had migrated to America almost fifty years ago when Ringling Brothers leased an act from that circus. He’d been hooked up with Bob Vincent for the past thirty.

Luke knew his type. The man was an animal keeper and would die an animal keeper. It wasn’t so much that Jasper loved animals, it was more that he understood them and they him.

Ruth said the animals at Bridget’s were the only beings that could rightly get along with Jasper.

Cheeky, the camel, named not so much because of her third cheek but because of her personality, pounded a foot on the ground. It didn’t appear she much cared for Jasper paying attention to Luke instead of her.

“Hold on, Cheeky,” Jasper groused. “I could feed you all day and you’d still be hungry.”

Cheeky seemed to nod.

And smile.

Kobie, the camel that had come from Bob Vincent, ignored both Jasper and Luke. Right now Kobie didn’t smile. Dan Reeker, Luke’s vet, said animals needed time to adjust after a change.

Unlike Aquila, at least Kobie ate well, played with his rope and did what he was supposed to do. The smile would come later, Luke hoped.

If Bridget were here, she’d have Kobie smiling. She’d loved camels. Most children wanted to see the lion first. Not Bridget. From the time she was little and had seen a baby camel on the news channel, she’d been a fan.

It was an unusual choice. Camels were usually not the friendliest of animals; sometimes they were downright mean. One of Bridget’s therapists had suggested that Bridget had chosen a somewhat unlovable animal to revere because she, Bridget, felt somewhat unlovable.

Luke had never managed to forget that therapist’s words. They’d been spoken kindly, but the meaning behind the words, to the young boy he’d been, had been haunting.

It was the first time he’d seen Bridget through the eyes of the world instead of through the eyes of a brother.

He’d mistrusted the world ever since.

“You got time to talk?” Luke asked.

“Got a few things I need to do.” Then Jasper added suspiciously, “What do you want to talk about?”

“Katie Vincent’s agreed to come work with Aquila. She’ll be here on Sunday.”

Jasper nodded, his face—usually animated—void of expression. Funny, Jasper had pushed for Luke to call Katie Vincent. “About time.”

“She didn’t have much choice. I threatened to return the animals.”

Jasper frowned. “She’d have come around eventually. Too bad you had to twist her arm. Still, it’s right that she come home.”

Luke frowned. Home? This wasn’t home.

As if reading Luke’s mind, Jasper said, “Back to her roots. She’s a natural with animals. She’ll know what to do. Her daddy was wrong to send her away.”

“Then why did he?”

Jasper became absorbed with the camels. He looked as though he’d rather be anywhere but here. For days now, Luke had tried to instigate this conversation, but always Jasper found a way out. At the moment, though, he was trapped: two big camels on one side, Luke on the other.

That didn’t keep him from taking a step toward Kobie as if a four-hundred-pound camel with thirty-four teeth—weapons really—was safer than straight-talking with Luke.

When Jasper did respond, instead of looking at Luke, he studied one of Kobie’s calloused knee joints as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world. “I think at the time, Bob thought it was easier to take care of animals than to take care of animals and kids.”

Luke opened his mouth to ask another question, but Jasper—with an agility that came from years of caring for skittish animals—managed to skirt around Luke and walk away, looking older than Luke remembered.

It was something you couldn’t stop, aging. Apparently even for camels. Was that the beginning of gray forming on Cheeky’s chin? Luke and the vet hadn’t even begun to discuss geriatric care.

Lately, they’d been too busy discussing how to save Aquila.

When cats were sick—losing weight and such—they still acted as if they were in perfect health. Because in the jungle, if a cat became ill, it became a target. Nature called it survival of the fittest. But Aquila wasn’t in the wild; he was in captivity.

Luke also didn’t think Aquila was sick, not really. He was depressed, and not just about the change in venue. With Bob Vincent gone, Aquila missed the person who’d cared the most for him.

Aquila had what Jasper called a one-owner heart.

But Jasper also believed that at one time Katie Vincent had owned Aquila’s heart and that she could, with a little work, take ownership of it again.

* * *

“I CAN’T BELIEVE you’re just packing up and leaving.” Janie Vincent, all of nineteen years old, looked both dismayed and intrigued.

Not a good look coming from a little sister who was no longer little.

“The sooner I leave, the sooner I’ll be home,” Katie said.

She’d expected her sister to be upset at the thought of her leaving. After all, Katie not only paid the bills, but also stocked the refrigerator, cleaned the house and did the laundry. Plus, both Katie and Janie had issues with leaving.

But it was the intrigued look that worried Katie. At the moment, Katie playing cheerleader was the only thing keeping Janie at least halfway interested in being a college freshman—a college freshman with no idea what to major in and who only wanted to take art classes. Without Katie there to push her, Janie could easily walk away from her studies.

“You don’t even know this guy,” Janie protested. “You’re driving across two states and it might be for nothing.”

“I know a few things about him.”

More than a few, actually. When Luke had made the offer on her father’s animals, she had spent hours on the internet researching Bridget’s AZ Animal Adventure and Luke himself. She knew he wasn’t an animal trainer like their father. She knew that Luke had a marketing degree and had worked at an advertising firm before hiring on as director of Bridget’s AZ Animal Adventure. She knew he preferred the words animal park to zoo, and that Bridget’s had had humble beginnings. She knew that Luke had renamed the park after his sister Bridget who’d died from Down Syndrome. She knew that Bridget’s name had only been added to the marquee and letterhead a year ago.

“He’s perfectly safe,” Katie said, “and I’m not doing it for nothing. I have to make sure Aquila is all right.”

Janie nodded. A shadow crossed her face, but only briefly before her typical I-don’t-have-a-care-in-the-world look returned. “I remember Aquila. He was nothing like Tyre. He was your favorite, like a pet.”

“No,” Katie said firmly. “Wild animals are never pets.”

Janie, more than anyone, should realize that. The scar down the left side of her face was a constant reminder. She wore her hair cut in a style that hid her ear. But Katie didn’t need to see the damage.

She remembered it was there.

“Are you sure—”

Katie shook her head. Now was not the time to get into a debate about the past.

A past that would all too quickly be a reality for Katie.

On one hand, she’d love seeing Jasper again. He’d been like a grandfather. It was Jasper who’d drummed into her that wild animals should never be considered pets. Katie’s father had thought the same thing, but he was too busy buying animals and training them to take on television shoots to worry about what Katie was doing. He was just happy that she’d inherited his gift with animals and that he could market her ability.

He had plans for Katie.

She was photogenic.

She’d basked in the role of favored daughter, mistaking it for love. Sometimes, at night, Katie would replay in her mind what her father had taught her, how to hold animals, how to tuck them against the skin so they were tight and safe.

Katie had felt safe with her father.

Janie, on the other hand, had seemed to take after their mother—at least where animals were concerned. Leslie Vincent had liked animals but wasn’t so crazy about the effort it took to care for them. She’d been the bookkeeper, the organizer, the voice of reason.

And when she died, all reason left. There’d been no gentle voice to remind Bob that family came first, that their daughters still needed a father. So Katie had had to take care of Janie.

Her sister hadn’t inherited their father’s gift with animals, except when it came to drawing them. She also hadn’t inherited their mom’s money skills, though she was an expert at getting cash out of Katie. Janie did know, however, how to organize her time so that every minute was accounted for: going out with friends, surfing the internet and watching television.

Janie had a few issues to overcome yet, some Katie took the blame for. Which is why Katie needed to get to Scorpion Ridge, take care of Aquila and get home. Otherwise, judging by the earlier intrigued look, their house would become party central. Complete with an empty fridge and clothes everywhere. And without Katie there, who would cheer Janie up when she was down, remind her to eat when she was absorbed in her latest piece of art, kiss her good-night?

“I’ll miss you,” Janie said, following Katie as she carried two suitcases out to her Rav4.

Katie blinked back the tears that threatened. She’d learned long ago that tears changed nothing and only made her look weak.

She hugged Janie goodbye. “Be good, and do your homework.”

“Homework, what I live for,” Janie teased.

For a moment, Katie considered grabbing a third suitcase and stuffing Janie in it. Yet, in the back of her mind, she knew the separation would be good for them. Six years ago, at age eighteen, she’d fought the system to get custody of Janie, and she’d won. Ever since, she’d kept waiting to mess up and it all to fall apart.

The way her life had fallen apart when Janie had gotten attacked by Tyre.

Because of her.

And now she was heading back to the world that had ripped her family apart.

Katie started the car’s ignition, put the car into Drive and with a last wave headed for Scorpion Ridge. It would be a long trip. Dallas, in late afternoon, still had traffic issues. She hoped to make it to Odessa before stopping to get gas and something to eat.

If she could eat.

Then she planned on making it all the way to El Paso before stopping to find a motel. That would only leave her a six-hour drive for Saturday.

She turned the radio up and settled back, trying to let the music distract her. When that didn’t work, she thought about the first class she’d interpreted that morning. It had been a lit class with only a handful of students. Katie liked the class, the teacher and the student. She hated leaving him at the beginning of the semester, but since the law required that two translators be available per class, not that much would change for him. He would still have his other regular translator.

Katie turned off the music and instead switched over to an audio book. It worked, just barely, at limiting the unease she felt and also kept her awake. Abilene and then El Paso slipped by, and Katie focused on the evening shadows of the nearly deserted roads.

Her book ended as she drove through a tiny New Mexico town. She stopped for snacks and a bathroom break as she crossed the border into Arizona. The last of the evening dusk turned to inky blackness. Black as a panther...ready to strike....

She selected another audio book, as none of her music CDs could counter her memories of the past. A past she’d only wanted to forget.

At midnight, she figured there was still time to turn the car around. After all, she didn’t owe her dad anything. She’d gotten rid of his animals; he’d gotten rid of his children.

He’d claimed at the time it wasn’t safe to have two little girls around so many wild animals. He’d stressed the word wild as if it meant something.

She’d take a wild animal over Aunt Betsy any day.

But it wasn’t the memory of her father that kept her driving to Arizona, it was the memory of a black cat that she’d loved. Aquila.

Scorpion Ridge came into view just as the rooster crowed. Arizona looked nothing like Texas. There were no rolling green hills. Just brown dirt, the occasional somewhat dwarfed tree and lots of cacti.

Eyes gritty from lack of sleep, Katie checked the map and decided to go ahead and see if she could find Bridget’s AZ Animal Adventure. It wouldn’t be open yet, but maybe that was for the best. She could explore the park when only the keepers were there.

Katie took a breath as she turned onto the street that led back to a destiny she’d never chosen for herself.

* * *

LUKE HAD BEEN up since four, crunching numbers and trying to figure out if he had the money to pay Katie Vincent for her time.

So far, it looked like not.

Though really, he’d known that before he’d reached for the calculator.

Plus, what would he be paying her for? How much extra was she willing to do? He needed Ruth’s advice.

At six, he left his apartment and drove to work. It was only a five-minute drive, but today it seemed to take longer as he contemplated Katie’s arrival.

The new animals he’d acquired from her had been a leap of faith and just one of the many changes Luke had brought to Bridget’s.

During his first year at the animal park, before they’d even added Bridget’s name to the adventure, his goal had been to make the struggling animal park self-supporting. Back then it had been just him, Ruth, Fred the veterinarian and a handful of volunteers. They’d needed to expand.

He wasn’t a natural with all of the animals, so he’d hired Meredith and devoted his time to the animals he knew best.

He’d started with the fifteen burros. He’d redesigned their enclosures, written their history and not only put them on display but added brief rides for kids.

Later, he added mules so the bigger folk could ride, too. And with a little advertising, the burro and mule rides brought a trickle of paying people to Scorpion Ridge.

The trickle turned to a steady flow on the weekends. It was enough to establish hope, but not enough to make ends meet or fulfill his plans to expand.

So he brought his best friend, Adam, in. Adam’s price was perfect: a place to live. At night, he answered the phone and acted as a security guard. During the week, he painted. Thanks to Adam, the zoo had artwork scattered throughout: snakes on the snake house, camels drinking from water bottles on the main concession and, best of all, a playground area that was alive with depicted animals.

On the weekends, Adam also sold caricatures of the visitors. Sometimes Luke thought Adam made more money than the burros did.

The kid-friendly atmosphere brought in more crowds, giving Luke some capital to expand—which he’d spent on Bob’s animals. The first risk Luke feared wouldn’t pay off.

Luke drove his truck into the parking lot of Bridget’s and got out to unlock a side gate.

“Hey, boss.”

Adam called Luke “boss” just to annoy him. Luke doubted Adam could get along with a real boss.

“Hey.” Luke didn’t have time to talk. Adam loved art and thought everyone else should, too. Stopping to talk to Adam usually meant a paintbrush in Luke’s hand. So he just drove through the gate, closed it and parked near the camel area.

* * *

IN THE PREDAWN HOUR, the birds were especially noisy, but the burros and mules clamored in, too. It also seemed the only time Terrance chose to roar was when no one was around, like now.

Luke first headed for his office to drop his briefcase off. Then he went looking for Jasper and Ruth. He found them in the turtle pen, of all places, working on one of the shelters that had somehow fallen overnight. They were a great team when they weren’t competing.

“Where’s Meredith?”

“She was here a moment ago,” Ruth said. “I think she went to check on Aquila.”

Before Luke had a chance to respond, static sounded on his radio. Luke reached for it. It was Meredith.

“There’s a disturbance at the panther pit. I think somebody’s over there.” Before Luke could ask her what was wrong, or who, exactly, might be there, Jasper stopped what he was doing, cocked his head and listened a moment before saying, “That’s what Aquila sounds like when he’s upset.”

“I don’t hear anything,” Ruth protested.

It didn’t matter that Luke didn’t hear anything, either. He was certain Jasper did, and that was enough to inspire an Olympic-style sprint toward the panther enclosure.

About the time Luke reached his destination and skidded to a stop, he realized Jasper was beside him. Who knew the old man could move that fast?

He was probably thinking what Luke was thinking.

Katie Vincent had arrived.

More than anything, Luke hoped he was wrong, because if the tall blonde standing frozen in front of Aquila’s enclosure was Katie, Bridget’s was in trouble.

“Katie,” Jasper said sharply. “What’s wrong? Are you all right?”

Aquila paced, venting his displeasure with a twitching tail. Even as Luke slowly moved toward the woman, he changed his mind about them being in trouble.

Because the woman, who surely had to be Katie, had certainly inspired Aquila. The cat was agitated, moving, responding—even if Katie wasn’t.

She didn’t move, not even her fingers that were clenched into fists. Luke moved even closer to her, careful not to make a sound or an abrupt move. He knew how to work with people facing an adversary. His sister Bridget had faced more than her share. Bridget was no stranger to making fists and she’d known how to use them.

Gently, he took Katie by the shoulder and turned her around so she faced him. He waited until her eyes focused on him.

“Are you all right?” he repeated Jasper’s words.

She shook her head. Long blond hair went right and left. She was just an inch shorter than he was and pale. Luke’s gaze took in her tennis shoes, no tread; her jeans and shirt, not protective; her nails, manicured and painted green; and up to her face.

He’d been right the first time; Bridget’s was in a world of trouble. Katie Vincent hadn’t been joking when she said he was asking the impossible. Because above the strong chin and too-full lips were her green eyes. They focused on him for only a moment before turning to look at Aquila again.

The expression in them was abject terror.

CHAPTER THREE

KATIE CLUTCHED THE gritty edge of a cement bench and kept her eyes closed, trying to shut out a splitting headache and the voices.

The headache would go away; hopefully the world would stop tilting, too. But she had a feeling the voices were here to stay. The first voice, the one doing most of the talking, was Luke Rittenhouse. At least he didn’t sound so annoyed this time.

She carefully opened one eye to a slit.

He wasn’t what she expected. For one thing, he was better looking than his website photos suggested and closer to her age. She’d figured he was older. For another, he was looking at her and not at Aquila.

Her father, had she interrupted his day by wimping out, would have put her in the hands of an employee and gone back to work.

“Katie, you all right?” Jasper inched over, right next to Luke.

Katie closed her eyes again. She wasn’t ready to deal with this, with him.

His voice hadn’t changed. It was still twangy and gravelly and soothing.

“She’s going to be fine,” the third man said, sitting beside her. This was the only voice she didn’t recognize. He felt the back of her head. “Not even a bump.”

Somebody else sat down next to her and patted her on the shoulder. She knew it wouldn’t be Jasper. He had a master touch when it came to animals but didn’t have a clue when it came to humans. Surely it wasn’t Luke. Yet, even before she opened her eyes a nano-slit, she knew it was him. He seemed like a take-charge kind of guy.