Wild (3 page)

Josh brought Kim to her feet and lifted her easily, carrying her out of the barn. Although she insisted that she could walk, he didn’t listen. Helena tucked the hoof knife into her back pocket, along with the bloody washcloth. She kept an eye out for lions as they walked toward the golf cart. Josh deposited Kim in the back seat, motioning for Helena to join her. Helena sat down and slipped an arm around Kim for support. There were no seat belts, and Kim was still woozy. Helena didn’t want her to fall out of the cart.

“Whose arms do you prefer, Sleeping Beauty?” Josh asked. “Mine or Helena’s?”

Kim smiled weakly. “Helena’s.”

“I don’t blame you,” Josh said, climbing behind the wheel. “She looks cozy.”

Helena knew very well that Kim preferred Josh’s arms, and his company. He was popular with all of the female employees—except Helena. His teasing seemed to put Kim at ease, which was odd. Helena had always felt self-conscious in his presence, unsure if he was mocking or flirting with her.

Maybe she’d been wrong about him. She’d ignored him whenever possible, so she could have missed out on the finer points of his personality. His calm, efficient response to the earthquake impressed her. She wasn’t too stubborn to be grateful for his clear thinking just now. He’d prevented her from rushing into danger. He was smarter and more capable than she’d given him credit for.

As he drove away from Heart of Africa, Helena searched the elephant yard for Mbali. The calf was standing underneath her mother, nursing. The other cows had made a protective circle around them. Obi, the breeding male, guarded the herd.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Helena moved her gaze from her beloved elephants to the perimeter of the yard. It looked secure. No lions leapt out from the bushes as they passed by, but there were plenty of disturbing sights to behold on the way back to the front of the park. Some of the exhibits were wrecked. Others appeared empty. Meer cats peeped up from their burrows, afraid to venture above ground.

Somewhere in Lost Jungle, a rhesus monkey howled. They were loud, boisterous creatures, so the noise wasn’t unusual in itself. The strange part was that she could hear it at this distance. All of the normal park activities had gone mute. There was no upbeat drum music, no birds chirping, no joyous splashing or movement of any kind. It was the sound of nothingness, of cowering anticipation.

Kim jostled against her side as they went over a bump. The concrete path, once flat, was now riddled with cracks and lifted sections. Helena tightened her arm around Kim and kept her eyes on the rear of the vehicle. Again, she thought of Greg Patel. His wife, Anya. Their teenage daughters, Nina and Trish.

The restaurants and souvenir shops at the front of the park had been hit hard. Glass crunched beneath the tires of the golf cart as they skirted past one of the ruined stores. Its windows were shattered, shelves knocked over. Stuffed animals and novelty items littered the floors. If the earthquake had struck during regular operating hours, there would have been children among the rubble.

The main staff building was still standing. It housed the employee lockers, break room and security center. When they arrived at the entrance, Michelle Lu, a veterinary technician, opened the door for them.

Josh parked the golf cart and got out. As he prepared to lift Kim, his eyes met Helena’s. None of the usual mischief danced in them, only fear and anxiety. He might seem calm, even nonchalant, but only a very stupid man didn’t have the sense to be afraid during the worst disaster of his lifetime. Josh wasn’t stupid, apparently. He knew they were in serious trouble. And the worst was yet to come.

His fingertips brushed her breast and she went still. Although the contact was accidental, she shivered in awareness and his gaze darkened. Then he carried Kim away, and the spell was broken.

She got out of the cart, flushing. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. The earthquake must have knocked a few screws loose. She’d never had this reaction to him before. Then again, she couldn’t remember the last time he’d touched her. They might have shaken hands once or twice, years ago. She could still feel his strong grip on her upper arms, holding her captive.

Her pulse pounded with trepidation as she followed him into the staff lounge. It wasn’t as chaotic as she’d feared, but there were several injured keepers in the room. Josh deposited Kim in an empty chair by the break table.

“I have to take care of these guys first,” Michelle said. “Puncture wound from an antelope horn, and a snakebite.”

“What kind of snake?” Helena asked.

“Malayan pit viper. But we have antivenin.”

Luckily, the zoo’s veterinarian kept antivenin and other basic first aid items in stock. There was a hospital and exam area in an adjoining building where they cared for sick animals and performed surgeries. Human patients were usually taken away in ambulances, but they’d just have to make do with the resources available.

After Michelle hurried away to gather medical supplies, Helena turned to Josh. “Are there other injured keepers?”

“Just Greg.”

“What about Spears?”

“He’s off-site,” Josh said. “Management meeting.”

Helena’s stomach dropped. The director wasn’t in the building. Neither was the curator or any of the zoo’s other top officials. They had monthly meetings at the research facility in La Jolla. “Who else is here?”

Josh recited about a dozen names. The majority of the zoo’s staff worked in sales and food service. Those employees hadn’t arrived yet, and the maintenance crew had already left. They were running on a skeleton crew. “The keepers who aren’t hurt are helping capture snakes at the reptile house or trying to fix the gorilla enclosure.”

It dawned on Helena that the two of them were in charge. She outranked all of the other keepers on site, except for Greg. She was the animal expert, and Josh was the chief security officer. They were going to have to work together to restore order. Every living thing in the park was counting on them. The responsibility was enormous.

“How many code ones?” she asked, trying not to panic.

He rattled off a list of escaped animals so far. The cheetah and hyenas were among them. “None confirmed, just reported.”

Helena wanted to make checking on Greg their top priority. He could be suffering, bleeding to death. They had to get the lion situation under control as soon as possible. Unfortunately, venomous snakes also posed a serious threat, and so did aggressive gorillas. Removing a keeper from those tasks could mean risking the safety of the rest of the crew. “Are the webcams working?”

“No. Everything is down.”

“What about emergency services?”

Josh took a cell phone out of his pocket. He was allowed to carry one because he acted as a liaison between the park and local authorities. “I think they’re overwhelmed, or communication systems have crashed. The park radios aren’t picking up any police activity, and I haven’t been able to get through on my cell phone.”

“Let Kim try.”

Josh handed Kim his phone. “Maybe you can reach someone outside the city.”

While Kim attempted to send a text, Helena and Josh ducked into the security office to check the monitors. It was a mess inside, with papers and broken equipment all over the floor. The feeds were down, as Josh had reported, and the desk phone was dead.

“We turned off the water because of broken pipes,” he said. “The gas has automatic shutoff valves, so we’re fine there.”

Helena was glad they didn’t have to worry about blowing up, but the utilities were the least of her concerns. They needed to start prioritizing the code ones and securing the perimeter. Packs of predators could be roaming the park. If they escaped into the city streets, there was no telling how much damage they could do. Innocent lives were at stake, and she couldn’t count on help from local law enforcement.

Although the zoo was surrounded by a sturdy twelve-foot fence, some animals could climb or even jump that high. Helena had no idea what she’d do about a code ten, which was an escaped animal
outside
the park. She was just a zookeeper. She didn’t have the training to handle that kind of emergency.

As they left the office, she noticed an overturned vending machine in the hallway. Water bottles spilled across the floor. Opening one, she drank half of it and passed the rest to Josh, who looked thirsty. He emptied the bottle in three gulps, his throat working as he swallowed. His beige uniform shirt clung to his lean torso. He was sweating. So was she. The situation was incredibly stressful. Tearing her gaze away, she gathered several more bottles of water for the injured keepers and brought them to the break table.

Kim had good news. “I got a reply from my mom in Arizona,” she said, tearful. “She heard from Steven. He’s okay.”

“Ask her to call 911,” Josh said. “She can relay information for us.”

Kim followed his instructions, reading the screen for a response. “She’s on hold with them on her landline. They felt the earthquake there, too, so it might be a while. Is there anyone else you want to try?”

Helena didn’t have time to contact more than one person, so she used the phone to send a short message to her mother. Then she extended it to Josh.

He shook his head. “I’ve already tried. My parents are on a cruise and my sister—”

Helena remembered meeting her a few months ago, right outside this building. The pretty blonde had been carrying a little girl in a princess party hat. Josh had introduced them as his niece and sister.

Helena had always wanted a sister. She’d been an only child, tall and reserved and slow to make friends. Her foreign accent hadn’t helped. Instead of socializing with her classmates, she’d kept company with the animals on the farm where her mother worked. They’d been like family to her.

She couldn’t imagine what Josh was going through, but the anguish in his eyes was clear. Without meaning to, she took a step toward him. “You haven’t heard from her?”

“No.”

“Where is she?”

“In Coronado, I hope,” he said, clearing his throat. “She crosses the bridge for work every morning.”

CHAPTER THREE

C
HLOE
G
ARRISON’S DAY
was off to a great start.

The sun was shining, traffic was moving at full speed and Emma was singing silly songs in the back seat. Her daughter hadn’t refused to eat breakfast or get dressed this morning. She’d also slept through the night, a minor miracle. Chloe had weaned her a few months ago, but Emma still sometimes woke up cranky and wanting to nurse. Maybe she’d finally gotten over that night-feeding habit.

Chloe felt deliciously free and light. Her breasts had shrunken back to pre-pregnancy, teacup size, but that was okay. She could wear sexy bras without worrying about leaks.

She could have
sex
, even.

Giggling at the thought, she ran her fingers through her newly shorn hair. She loved the short, asymmetrical layers. It was spring break. There were no classes this week. She had a perky haircut, a cute bra and time off.

Life was good.

“You want to go to the zoo this afternoon?” she asked Emma. Chloe was a housekeeper for three different families on Coronado Island. She worked mornings and attended community college in the afternoons.

“See monkeys,” Emma said, kicking her little feet.

“We’ll see the monkeys,” Chloe said.

“Unco Josh.”

“And Uncle Josh.”

Her brother had bought them annual passes to the zoo with his employee discount, so they visited often. Emma wanted to go every day, but Chloe was too busy, and she tried to give Josh his space. They’d cramped his style enough by moving in with him last year. Although he never complained, she knew they were a major inconvenience. He didn’t bring women home because of them.

The arrangement was temporary, of course. When she earned her degree and got a better-paying job, she’d find her own place. She couldn’t wait. Josh was a wonderful uncle to Emma, and Chloe adored him, but he was a typical older brother. He liked stupid action movies and war video games. He hogged the remote. His babysitting skills left a lot to be desired. She did most of the cooking and cleaning instead of paying rent.

Living with her parents had been easier. Stifling, but easier.

Chloe was glad she’d made the change. It had been the most challenging year of her life—and by far the most rewarding. The struggle to balance work, school and motherhood consumed her days. She was too tired to worry about Emma’s deadbeat dad, or any other boy. She hadn’t been on a date in ages.

Which was why the thought of sex was funny. Only if a hot prospect dropped out of the sky and fell into her lap.

Shaking her head, she rolled down the window to feel the breeze in her hair. She was about to turn up the radio when she saw brake lights. Slow-and-go wasn’t uncommon during morning rush hour, especially before the curve, but it was unwelcome. Her old Volkswagen handled zippy hills better than heavy traffic.

When she first moved to San Diego, she’d been nervous about driving across the bridge. It was two miles long and several hundred feet high. She’d read somewhere that it was the third most popular suicide bridge in the United States. There was no pedestrian access and nowhere to pull over, so she wasn’t sure how jumpers accomplished the task. She imagined that they parked in the middle of the bridge and—

Bam!

Someone slammed into her bumper, sending the VW into a tailspin. Reality went flying out the window. Everything happened in a flash, as if they’d accelerated into warp speed. She couldn’t make sense of the confusing blur. Then time switched to slow motion, maybe even reverse. She was vaguely aware that the danger wasn’t limited to a minor accident. Cars and trucks were sliding all over the place. The entire bridge was hopping.

What the hell?

Her VW hit the guardrail on the passenger side and came to a grinding halt. She was facing the wrong direction, but that wasn’t important, because traffic wasn’t moving forward anymore. They were under siege. Sections of the bridge were lifting up and breaking apart. Vehicles went toppling over the edge. Chloe couldn’t believe her eyes. She heard someone screaming and realized it was her. Emma was screaming, too.