Two days later,sitting across from Troy in his office, Liam set down his phone, shaking his head in perplexity.
“That was the zoo’s vet. There’s not a thing wrong with the clouded leopard that they can find. They still haven’t found her records, and they still don’t know what’s wrong with her, aside from her starving herself to death.”
Troy pondered that. “You still think it’s depression?”
“She has pretty classic signs,” Liam observed. “Lack of appetite, hiding and being reclusive, plus she’s stopped grooming, and isn’t responding to stimuli. So I’d say, yes.”
“I wonder,” Troy said slowly. “See if there’s been another leopard in the enclosure that was moved or died recently? Or even a zookeeper maybe that she’d gotten accustomed to, maybe even bonded with, but who left or got assigned elsewhere.”
“Good idea.” Liam picked up his phone and called. After a short exchange with the regular keeper overseeing the cat enclosures, he hung up, shaking his head. “Negative on both counts. Far from bonding with anyone, she’s always been reclusive, and is rarely seen even by the keepers. In fact, they only realized something was wrong because theydidsee her. She stopped disappearing when they came by to do checks and feeding.”
“So no one noticed her until she was too weak to move,” Troy said in disgust. “And they still have no records on her at all. What the hell kind of zoo is that?”
“A good one,” Liam defended. “They’re honestly perplexed, and I stopped by the files room myself after I was done examining her when I was there. They’re literally tearing that place apart trying to find her records. No one is taking this lightly. In fact, from what I can tell, heads are rolling over all this.”
Troy drummed his fingers on the desktop. “You know, I’m just wondering. Could someone have somehow snuck an illegal animal into there? You know… someone gets a cute leopard cub and then it grows up into a wild animal. They don’t want to own up to having it, so they manage somehow to get it into the leopard enclosure on the sly?”
Liam stared at him. “That’d be a helluva feat to pull off, between the security guards and zookeepers, and the heavy duty locks on the doors and gates to get through, not to mention dodging security cameras.”
“But not impossible,” Troy prompted.
“No, I suppose not. I’ll bring it up to the vet when we talk again, let him put Admin on to check out that possibility.”
“What are they going to do in the meantime?”
“Hell if I know,” Liam admitted, running a hand through his hair. “At this rate, she’s going to die before they figure it out. Although, they’re feeding her intravenously now. That’ll keep her alive, at least.”
“Dammit. Don’t you know, sometimes you wish you could justaskthem,” Troy sounded frustrated.
There was a silence, and their eyes met. Liam felt his own grin growing slowly, matching Troy’s.
“I think you’re onto something,” he said.
“I never did ask,” Troy lifted a brow. “What kind of animal do you Change into?”
Liam grinned at him. “A Great Pyrenees.” He laughed at Troy’s startled expression.
Bemused, Troy asked, “Can you really talk to animals telepathically? Not shifter ones, I mean?”
Liam grimaced at that. “Not really, no. I mean, some claim to have set up some form of communication, not exactly speaking but… more of an understanding between the animal and the shifter. But… “ he shrugged. “I have to try. The worst that can happen is that I fail, and we’re no worse off than we are now, right?”
“True enough.”
It would take some doing. He’d need privacy, obviously, in order to Change safely and not get seen. He’d have to go in late at night, when there was only a skeleton crew. That young keeper, Ramon, seemed invested in the small leopard’s well-being. Maybe he’d care enough to arrange an after-hours visit. There was only one way to find out.
Liam noddedat the young zookeeper who opened the gate for him. “I appreciate your letting me in. I know it’s unusual at this hour.”
“No problem, Doc,” Ramon replied. “They’ve got her in the infirmary, and she’s getting IV fluids.”
“No luck with finding her records?””
“Nah. They’ve turned the whole place inside-out, and not a single paper about her. It’s got everybody stumped.”
“So an exotic pet, then,” Liam sighed. “Somehow, someone managed to get into the enclosure and dump her off, once they figured out it wasn’t so fun to have a wild animal in the house.”
“Probably,” Ramon agreed, leading the way to the infirmary and opening the door for Liam, and flicking the light switch on. Bright lights flooded the large room. “Do you need me to stay?”
“No, I’m good. I’ll give you a call when I’m done, and you can see me out.”
