Jaguar Hunt (7 page)

“Since the Oregon Zoo seems to be the only one missing a big cat, it's got to be the same case. The kids must be acquainted with each other, and they all know something about the cat. Before Martin could give the go-ahead to take the boys into custody to question them, they disappeared.”

“Huh, great. And they're where now?”

“No idea.”

“So kind of like where we are with the two teens we're looking into.”

“Seems like it. Bright kids. Willful and creative.”

“And the cat?” She still worried about the safety of the jaguar.

“I still think she's safe, or the boys wouldn't be leading us on like they are.”

She sighed, never thinking that finding the missing zoo cat would be this difficult. Her phone rang, and she glanced at the caller ID.
Henry
Thompson
.

Recalling that he was the man from the Oregon Zoo who had been trying to chase down his missing jaguar, and that she'd given him her number in case he had any further word about the cat, she answered the call. “Hi, this is Tammy Anderson. How can I help you?”

“Have…have you learned anything about the cat?”

“We're working on some leads. Nothing substantial yet. Anything on your end?”

“We've got extra security on the wolf exhibits. Never thought we'd have to do the same with the jaguar's enclosure. We've analyzed all the videos posted everywhere and haven't seen anyone who looked particularly suspicious. But it had been wet and misty for several days, so most people were wearing hooded rain jackets or carrying umbrellas. Typical Oregon weather, you know.”

“What about…male teens. A group of two to four who were alone at the zoo, no adults with them?”

“I don't recall. I didn't look for anyone like that. I'll review the tapes again. Normally teens don't visit the zoo unless they're with a sponsored group or with their parents. It's not a favorite teen hangout.”

“Okay. Well, we don't have anything here yet.” She didn't want to get Thompson's hopes up. “I'll let you know as soon as I have some word.”

“Yeah, thanks. Same here. I'll go back over those tapes and see if anything else stands out.”

From what her cousin Maya had said, Thompson was totally hands-on in tracking down a missing zoo animal. She'd told Tammy that he'd only had trouble with wolves missing from the zoo in the past, so Tammy wondered why he wasn't still in Texas looking for his missing jaguar. Rumor was that Thompson had seen her brothers shift at Maya's garden center, but her brothers refused to confirm or deny it.

Allowing humans to know that jaguar shifters existed wasn't acceptable. Shifters were taught that if a human witnessed them shifting, the shifter had to turn the human. And if that wasn't possible… Tammy sighed. Maybe Thompson was worried that the zoo's missing jaguar was a shifter and not all cat.

Tammy told David what Thompson had said, and they had a quick breakfast of fresh pineapple, bananas, and cereal before they headed to the zip-line adventure. Tammy's stomach was doing nervous flip-flops, and she wondered belatedly if she should have skipped breakfast. She appreciated how concerned David was that she couldn't manage heights. He didn't say so in so many words, but he did offer twice more to be the one traversing the zip line.

David took the short walk from their resort to the terminal platform and would stay there while she got into a van waiting for her at the lodge along with four others—a couple and their two teenage girls—who were zip-lining today. The boys weren't there.

Before she could ask about them, one of the guides going with them said, “Alex and Nate Taylor said they'd meet you at the starting point.”

If so, that was good news, but then she had another thought. “Just meet
me
? Or did they also mention David Patterson?”

“Just you,
señorita
.”

They had to have guessed that David would attempt to catch them at the other end. The kids were smart, she had to give them that. Would they even be at the zip-line platform? If not, she would just go through with this. Play the game a little while longer.

The van jostled and bounced along a winding, rutted, muddy road to the starting point.

Trying to get her nervousness under control, she rethought her choice of doing this instead of letting David be the zipper. He would have looked forward to it. She was considering the whole idea with trepidation.
Scaredy-cat
, she thought to herself. She could do anything she put her mind to do.

When they arrived, she saw a guide waiting for them but no sign of the boys. “Did the Taylor boys already get here and ride the zip line?” she asked the man.

He shook his head.

She planned to let the family of four go first, to wait and see if the boys turned up late.

The family began arguing about who among them would go first, with one daughter adamant that she would go last because she was taking videos. The dad tried to be alpha and take charge of his family. Mom made the final decision as to who would go next, but they were still dallying with putting on their gear.

The guide, Juan, motioned for Tammy and said, “You're on the schedule to start first.”

She frowned. “I was waiting for the Taylor boys.”

“We can't wait on them,
señorita
. You can meet them at the other end if they show up.”

So much for their well-thought-out plan. Letting out her breath in exasperation, Tammy stepped up to the base of a tall ladder and into a harness with straps around her legs that the guide tightened for a firm fit.

She strapped a smelly, greasy, sweaty helmet to her head, hating that part of her enhanced cat senses, though even as a human she would be able to smell the odor to some extent. She pulled on gloves that smelled just as bad—a combination of sweat, suede, and dirty sneakers—and were reinforced at the palm to hold on to one of the steel cables. The guide hooked her up to a safety line, then preceded her, and she began the long climb up the one-hundred-foot ladder to reach the top.

Boy, did she get a workout. After the hot, restless night she'd had, she would have loved to curl up as a cat in the branch of a tree and take a nap—not this high up, though.

The platform was like a tree house high in the canopy of the rainforest. The trees stretched even farther above them. A breeze whipped about, and the platform seemed to sway a little as the trees around her did, which gave her a queasy feeling.

She was glad David wasn't with her because he would smell her nervous—make that
terrified
—scent. She hated that her jaguar half didn't quell the fear she had of heights.

Juan attached the tether on the harness to the zip line with a carabiner clip, and the safety line to the same cable. “Just grab hold of the cable here and remember what we told you. To slow down, squeeze your hand tight on the lower cable. If you get stuck, just pull yourself along. Near the end of the ride, don't start braking before you reach the other platform or you
will
get stuck. Use your hand to stop yourself at the end. Have fun. If you're afraid of heights, just don't look down.”

How could he tell? Her sweaty hands were enclosed in the heavy-duty suede gloves, and she wasn't perspiring anywhere else that he could see. Or maybe that was a standard line he used with all tourists getting ready to take the plunge.

She heard the first of the family members coming up the ladder, the girl's helmeted head just cresting the wooden platform. She was the one with the camcorder, and it was now or never.

Before Tammy could take a breath and attempt to rid herself of the fluttering in her stomach, she pushed off from the platform.

The ride would be over in about a minute if she didn't slow herself down. She wanted to see if the teen jaguar shifters were in the area, watching her, so she squeezed the cable to decelerate, even though she'd love to get the ride over with.

Despite her trepidation, she enjoyed the exhilaration of flying through the air like a bird, if she didn't look down. Being this high off the ground seemed surreal and unnatural.

Sliding down the cable for the 2,300-foot trip with the trees zipping by, she glanced at the area on either side of her. Though some zip lines were designed for speed, this one was set at an angle that would allow the viewer to see more of the canopy at a relaxed pace, even if she hadn't been slowing herself down further.

Though she couldn't see the terminal platform or David through the thick foliage, she could envision him with binoculars at the ready, looking for the boys. She wasn't certain he could observe them if they were hidden in the dense rainforest unless they were moving around and exposed enough.

A soggy breeze whipped around her face, the sound of the pulley sliding on the steel cable loud and grating like a giant zipper being unzipped, amplified because of her sensitive cat ears. Halfway to the ending point, movement in one of the trees several yards ahead caught her eye. She slowed her pace even further, hoping the family waiting on the platform behind her wouldn't mind. Given the angle at which the cable dipped, she was certain she wouldn't get stuck this far out. Gravity would propel her along once she let go of the cable.

A golden jaguar lazed along a sturdy tree branch, maybe ten feet below her and twenty feet away, his blue eyes studying her, his tongue hanging out. He was nearly a full-grown cat. His tail jerked up and down like a whip. That's what had caught her eye. As soon as their gazes met, he grinned—jaguar-style—showing off wicked teeth.

The breeze was blowing in the wrong direction so she couldn't smell his scent, but she was certain the big cat was one of the boys because no jaguar in his right mind would sit in a tree near where humans were zip-lining and remain there watching her. She tightened her hold on the cable, slowing herself to a stop. She could feel the pull of gravity wanting to move her forward, and she had to hold on tight to remain where she was for a few more seconds.

“Alex? Nate?” she called out. “We need to get the jaguar back to her home at the zoo. We need to talk.”

The cat was looking just as alert, standing now, concerned.

Then the top cable that the pulley had been gliding on made a strange creaking noise. She felt it weaken, then heard the strain and the sudden crack as the steel cable snapped.

Tammy screamed. Thank God, she'd tightened her hold on the lower cable with her left hand just in time. The upper cable that the pulley and her safety line were attached to had snapped in half just ahead of her. The two pieces of steel yanked back from each other like lovers separated. The one threaded through her pulley jerked away like a steel bird with wings and fell to the jungle floor.

The safety carabiner that had held her to the cable dangled from the tether attached to her harness, swinging like a pendulum counting the seconds until her fall. She gripped the lower cable tighter with her left hand, hanging on for dear life and praying to God this one didn't break, too.

She swung her right hand up to grasp the cable, grabbed hold, and took a deep breath. She was probably still about fifty feet in the air. A drop from this height would kill her.

Cold sweat gathered on her skin. Her heart was beating as if she were running in a marathon. Her arm muscles were stretched from bearing her weight, adrenaline pumping through her blood.

Birds chirped, the bugs played their noisy tunes, and frogs croaked as if nothing was the matter. Life for them went on as usual, but all of that seemed to fade into the background as
her
life hung in the balance.

She was breathing too fast. Terrified.
Breathe
in. Breathe out.

The jaguar stared at her, his eyes wide. His every muscle filled with tension, he whipped his tail back and forth. His whole body said he was ready to come to her rescue, but she knew he couldn't do anything for her.

The landing platform ahead of her was visible now, but nearly twelve hundred feet away, merely a small point in the distance.

She was glad she'd worn a long-sleeved shirt and camo pants to shield her from the sun and bugs, but now her hiking boots felt heavy, the weight pulling on her arms even more. The extra weight of the pulley, safety line, carabiners, and the harness added useless pounds. She could do without the extra weight, and if she could, she'd kick it all free.

She realized she didn't have much of a choice. She could wait for someone to come rescue her, and worry that another body weighing down this cable would snap it in two, or that the vibration would shake her loose and she'd fall. Or she could rescue herself, which could be just as dangerous.

Her arms were tiring more with each passing second, and she was mobilized into action by the fear that she couldn't hold on forever and that this cable could break at any moment. Praying she wouldn't fall, she had to reposition her hands. When the pulley had dropped off the cable and she'd fallen, her left hand still held the second cable and was in the correct position. But as she'd swung up to grasp the cable with her free hand, she was facing toward the cat, her right hand in the same position as her left. She needed to release the cable with her right hand, hope she didn't fall, and turn her hand inward toward her body.

***

Armed with binoculars, David watched in horror as the steel cable above Tammy snapped in two and fell away. Tammy fell from the hookup, dangling from the remaining cable by only one hand. His whole body turned to ice. He shouted orders as the guide called someone on a radio.

“Tammy! Hold on!” God, if only he had been the one on the zip line instead of her. His heart was drumming so hard he could barely think straight.

Someone would have to come from above to rescue her, but he could envision the guide zipping down the cable and accidentally shaking her loose. He'd seen a guide slam into a zipper once to send the woman on her way when she got stuck in the middle of a cable and couldn't move. In Tammy's case, since she wasn't attached to the cable any longer, the guide would have to approach her slowly and lock his legs around her waist. He could hook her up to a safety line at the very least. If he could get hold of her pulley, he might be able to hook her up again to the zip line.

David watched as she finally managed to grab the cable with her free hand. But she couldn't hold on forever.

“
Sí
,
sí
,” the guide next to him said to the other person on the line.

David knew enough Spanish to get the gist of the conversation, but he figured the man was being careful about what he said. They were afraid an additional body on the line would snap the cable, not because anything was wrong with it. After the other snapped, this one had become suspect also. From what David and Tammy were told when they signed up, the weight limit for the cable with a man and woman on it would exceed the maximum amount.

Tammy was on her own.

***

A fresh shot of adrenaline flooded Tammy's blood as a good dose of fear invaded her thoughts. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. Praying her left hand wouldn't lose its grip on the cable when she let go with her right, she released. And swung precariously. The carabiners and pulley swayed with her, threatening to make her lose her grip. She quickly reached up to grab the cable the correct way.

Thanking the heavens above, she felt the hard steel gripped in her tight-gloved grasp.
Done
. Her arms were shaking with weariness. She had to swing her leg up and over the cable without losing her grip.

The longer she waited, the wearier she became. She tightened her hold and kicked up, missing catching the heel of her boot on the cable by mere inches. Another round of gooseflesh erupted as she swung back on the cable. She waited. Caught her breath. Tried again.

This time she got a leg up and was able to rest her arms for a minute. She swung her other leg, giving her momentum to lift her body on top of the cable. Now she was on top, left hand ahead of her, right foot hooked over the cable, left leg hanging loose just like she had learned at survival training. Only she never thought she'd be traversing a steel cable in the canopy of the rainforest in Belize, fifty feet above the ground, when this was meant to be something fun—and not dangerous.

Of course that brought to mind signing the form saying the company wasn't responsible for death and injury.

Someone was yelling from the platform behind her. And from the one ahead of her. They were too far away and she couldn't make out their words. The jaguar roared in a jaguar's huffing sort of way.

Did they want her to stop what she was doing? No one was coming to get her from the platform behind her, maybe afraid like she was that the remaining cable might also break with additional weight and stress put on it. But she couldn't just hang on to the cable all day. She began to pull herself toward the terminal platform, inching along on top of the cable.

All around her, the jungle teemed with wildlife, parrots resettling in trees, their bright blue feathers catching her eye, the fragrance of orchids surrounding her. The woody vines of lianas were wrapped around the trees, some hanging loose, some as thick as her arms, but all well out of reach. If she could have grabbed one, she could have swung to a tree branch or slid to the rainforest floor. She craved feeling the earth beneath her feet again.

She looked below her at the muddy ground so far away. Her stomach somersaulting, she broke out in a cold sweat. She should have taken the guide's advice and not looked down.

Then she had the thought she could swing the pulley up and connect it to the cable she was straddling. She could glide into home base in seconds. She'd watched the way the guide had fastened it. Heart thundering, she held on with her left hand with a fierce grip and began to reach down with her right, trying to feel for the tethers. She found one. She wished she could just swing it up on top of the cable, but from her precarious position, she was afraid she'd knock herself off. She began to painstakingly draw it up, letting her fingers slip down the tether until she felt the pulley at her fingertips.

To attach it to the cable, she'd have to unhook one of the carabiners and attach the pulley with the free carabiner. That meant she needed two hands to do it. If she lost her balance, she would fall.

The jaguar standing on the trunk branch roared again. Tammy wondered what the guides for the zip-line excursion were thinking. A wild jaguar was out to get her? Waiting for her to fall so he could have a ready meal?

She locked her legs around the cable and prayed her cat balance would help to keep her stable enough. She got the first carabiner hooked onto the cable, but as she unhooked the other carabiner to seat the pulley in place, she lost her balance. She swung underneath the cable, her heart nearly stopping. Feeling every muscle stretched to the limit, she let go with her left leg. She swung it and gave herself momentum, so she could clamber back on top before she became too tired.

Success!

Back on top, she took several deep, refreshing breaths to calm her racing heart. She tried unhooking the carabiner again. This time she managed to reattach it so that the pulley was in place on top of the cable.
Yes!

Hooked up, she only had to climb off the cable now and release her hold. She hoped to God she had hooked everything up right, and that the cable was still sturdy enough to hold her for the remainder of the ride.

Praying this would work, she moved her leg off the cable, dropped to where she was still holding on to it as if she was ready to do a pull-up, and…released.

***

Eyes glued to the binoculars, David swore he was going to have a heart seizure. And yet, from the moment the upper cable had snapped in two, he had felt his admiration for Tammy increase a hundredfold, not only for her courage, resourcefulness, and strength, but for not giving up.

She swung in her harness seat before the pulley carried her onward, and she flew toward him. No brakes applied this time. He still couldn't feel any relief as she zipped along the cable like nothing had been the matter only seconds earlier. Until she was on the platform, he wouldn't feel she was safe.

He pulled the binoculars away as she grew closer and slowed down at the last second just as she landed on the deck. Before the guide could unhook her, David pulled her into his arms and held her tight against him, not wanting to let go. “Damn, woman, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”

She actually smiled at him, and it was the most beautiful sight in the world.

He quickly stepped back as the guide hurried to unhook her. David helped her out of her harness before the guide could. She was shaking hard, the adrenaline still rushing through her blood. His was, too, and he fumbled a little with her buckles.

The guide apologized several times as David embraced Tammy again. When they reached ground ten feet below the landing, they were met with applause from several other tourists standing around the ladder.

Someone offered medical assistance. David thought
he
could use some. But Tammy waved the man away.

“Are you okay, Tammy?” David asked, so shaken his darn voice crackled. He was supposed to be the pillar of strength. Strong, tough Golden Claw Special Forces agent.

“Yes, let's go,” she said, her voice wavering a little.

Someone offered them a ride to their resort, but it was not that far a walk and Tammy shook her head. “I want to walk. Thank you.”

The family that had been behind Tammy rushed up to see them. They must have gone back down the ladder from the starting platform after the line snapped and been given a ride here, Tammy thought with relief. The husband and wife expressed their gratitude that Tammy had made it back all right. The teen with the camcorder said, “That was too cool. I caught it all! If you want a copy, we can send you the video.”

“I don't think so,” Tammy said, shaking her head.

“Here, send it to me,” David said and gave the girl his email address. “For your kids' sakes when you have them,” he explained to Tammy. “They'd want to know how their mother handled a situation in a crisis.”

She groaned, but David thanked the girl, wrapped his arm around Tammy's waist, and walked her through the jungle to their cabana. He still didn't want to let her go, whether or not she was feeling more secure now that she had her feet firmly planted on the ground.

As much as he hated to admit it, he was feeling insecure. He hadn't felt that helpless since he was about five and lost his way in the dark after he and Wade had a fight on vacation. They'd gone off in different directions in the jungle. Boy, did he and Wade get holy hell for it, too, since they were supposed to be asleep in their hut while Mom and Dad were off hunting.

“When we get home, I mean,
really
get home, I'm taking you out to any kind of dinner you'd prefer,” he said. He wanted to do more for her, anything. He was just so grateful she was alive and well.

“Steak and the theater.”

He couldn't believe she had agreed so quickly! He thought he'd have to convince her first. “You got it.”

She glanced at him. “I'm talking theater as in a play, not a movie.”

“What? You don't think I have any culture?”

She chuckled, and from the impish expression on her face, she didn't seem to believe he was as enthusiastic about seeing the play as he was about escorting her to it.