Nothing moved. The night birds had gone quiet, and the morning calls had yet to begin. She scented animal, and blood and her own clammy sweat.

If another hunted, she prayed he’d gone to ground. Though she crouched, made herself small, she knew if he was there, if he was armed, she was vulnerable.

But she wouldn’t, couldn’t leave her defenseless tiger alone. With her free hand she dug in her pocket for her cell phone.

Following instinct again, she called Coop.

“Yeah?”

“There’s been a break-in here. I need you to come, quick as you can. Don’t call my parents.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No. It’s under control, but I need you to come.”

“Fifteen minutes,” he said, and hung up.

She made a second call to the sheriff, then went to check the big cat. Satisfied his respiration was normal, she went into the light again, and down to the path. She checked the cage door, studied the damaged lock, the baited trail.

She pivoted at a sound, searched the path, the brush, the trees for movement before she realized the sound came from her. Her breath was whooshing in and out, short, hard gasps, and the hand that held the drug gun shook violently.

“Okay, okay, good thing I waited until it was done to fall apart. Okay.”

She bent from the waist, braced her hands on her knees to try to get her breath back. Even her legs were quivering, she realized, and tipping her wrist, she saw with some shock that only sixteen minutes had passed since the alarm sounded.

Minutes, not hours, not days. A handful of minutes only.

She made herself straighten. Whoever had broken the lock, baited the tiger out of containment would be gone now. Logic demanded it. If he’d stayed to watch, he’d have seen her immobilize the cat, make the calls. If he was smart, and he was, he’d know she’d called for help, called the police. He’d want to be well away before that help arrived.

Back to his hole, back to his lair.

“Stay away from what’s mine,” she called out, more in fury than in any hopes he would hear. “I’ll find you. I swear to God I’ll find you.”

She paced the path, checking the near cages, and counted off the minutes. When another ten had passed, she risked leaving the unconscious cat. She made the dash back to the compound, into the equipment shed to load the harness and sling into one of the carts. Even as she backed the cart out of the shed, she heard the truck roaring on the road. Lil leaped out of the cart, waved her arms to signal Coop when his headlights slashed over her.

“I want to move fast. I’ll explain. Just get in the cart.”

He didn’t waste time, didn’t ask questions until they were both back in the cart and she was speeding toward the habitats. “What happened?”

“Somebody got inside, compromised the lock on the tiger’s cage, baited a trail to lure him out. He’s okay. I tranquilized him.”

“He’s okay?”

“Yes. My priority right now is to get him back inside, to get him contained and the door secured. I called Willy, but let’s not get into all the whys and hows. I want the cat back inside before the interns get here, if possible. I don’t want a bunch of college kids freaking on me.”

She stopped the cart, jumped out. “I can’t move him by myself. He weighs close to five hundred pounds. I’m going to rig up this harness, and we’ll back the cart up as close to him as we can. The two of us should be able to lift him on.”

“How long will he be out?”

“About four hours. I gave him a strong dose. Coop, it’ll be easier to tell the interns if he’s secured than if they start coming in and see this.”

He looked as she did at what remained of the young elk, at the blood smearing the tiger’s muzzle.

“Let’s get it done. Then, Lil, I’ve got a lot to say to you.”

They worked to rig the harness on the unconscious tiger. “I bet this is something you’d never thought you’d be doing.”

“There are a lot of things I never thought I’d do. I’ll get the cart.”

He backed it over the plantings that lined the far end of the path, over the river rock, into brush. “We could rig these cables to drag him across.”

“I’m not dragging him.” She checked his respiration, his pupils. “He’s old and it’s rough ground. He didn’t do anything wrong, and I’m not having him hurt. We’ve used this method before, for transferring them from the habitat to Medical, but it takes two people.”

Three or four, she thought, would’ve been a hell of a lot easier and faster.

“A tiger is the biggest of the four big cats,” she said as she hooked the cables to the harness. “He’s Siberian, he’s protected. He’s twelve, and did time in a circus, in a second-rate zoo. He was sick when we got him, four years ago. Okay, okay, you’re sure the brake’s locked.”

“I’m not an idiot.”

“Sorry. You need to run that winch while I run this one. Try to keep him level, Coop. When he’s up, I can maneuver him on the cart. Ready?”

When he nodded, they both began to crank. As the harness lifted, she watched, eagle-eyed-to be sure the cat was secure, the harness holding. “A little more, just a little more. I’m going to lock my side down, move him in. I may need you to give me more play. There you go, there you go,” she muttered as she guided the harness over the cart. “Ease your side down, Coop, ease it down a few inches.”

It took time, and some finesse, but they transferred the cat to the cart, drove it into the enclosure. The first streaks of dawn bloomed as they lowered the tiger to the mouth of his den.

“His respiration’s good, and his pupils are reactive,” she stated as she crouched to do another quick exam. “I want Matt to run a full diagnostic on him. The bait might have been doctored.”

“You need a new lock, Lil.”

“I got one out of the equipment shed. I’ve got one in my pocket. It’ll do for now.”

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah. Yeah.” She stroked a hand over the cat’s head, down its flank, then rose. Outside, she snapped a new lock on the chain securing the cage door. “The interns and staff are going to be coming along soon. So will the police. I need, really need, coffee. Coffee and a minute to breathe.”