He ran for the door and found her staring into the trees across the lane that meandered to different buildings. “What’s wrong?”
She pointed. “Aim your light into the branch of that tree.”
He didn’t have to do that to catch the gleam of a big cat’s eyes. It lay stretched out on the hefty branch with its gaze fixed on Paradise. The cat’s tail wasn’t twitching though and its ears were alert and interested, not laid back. “Back away to the building. Text Clark.”
Evan had gone home for the day, but Clark Reynolds lived on the property. He’d quickly become an indispensable part of the park workforce and a man as dependable as his twin brother, Kent, who had served with Blake in Afghanistan until his death.
“I think it’s best if I don’t move. I can text Clark though. Get the gun.”
Stubborn woman.Blake returned to the storage building and unlocked the gun cabinet to retrieve a rifle, then grabbed severaldarts preloaded for big cats and loaded the weapon as he returned to her side.
The big cat hadn’t moved, but its tail had begun to lash, and its eyes tracked movement to their left. Clark eased along the fence with his rifle in one hand and a tranq pistol in the other. He stopped and dropped to one knee, then aimed the pistol at the big cat.
The dart struck the leopard in the right shoulder, and it growled as it bit at the offending object sticking out of its skin. It would take at least ten minutes for the tranquilizer to take effect.
Clark motioned for them to move away, so Blake took Paradise’s arm and pulled her behind him while they waited. He could have shot a dart as well, but he didn’t want to overmedicate the animal. The overdose might kill it.
Paradise stirred behind him. “It’s the same cat.”
“I noticed the collar looks like the one you recovered from the footbridge.” The leopard stood and stretched, then leaped from the tree to the ground, falling awkwardly and heavily into the high grass. It curled up and closed its eyes, but Blake didn’t approach. Not until he was sure it was completely out.
Clark moved closer though, his pistol loaded with another dart. His expression radiated satisfaction at a job completed.
Paradise moved to Blake’s side, and he put his arm around her waist, relishing the feel of her in his arms. His idea of a romantic stroll in the moonlight had been obliterated. “We might not know who it belongs to, but we’ll have the cat safely penned and can check it out. It’s possible the owner tagged it.” But not likely. Whoever owned it wouldn’t want their identity revealed.
Blake glanced at his watch. Ten minutes. It might be safe to approach, but he readied another dart before he walked toward Clark and the prone cat. Paradise walked with him, but he restrained her from going to the leopard first. “Let me.”
“I’m the vet.”
“And I’ll let you take over once I’m sure he’s out.” Blake reached the big cat and grabbed a fallen stick to prod it with. It didn’t move so he tried its muzzle. Still no reaction. “It’s out. Good job, Clark.”
“I was scared I’d miss.” His voice trembled.
This close Blake realized it was a huge male, bigger than he’d thought. He guessed the cat to be five feet long, not counting the tail, and easily 100 pounds. “I’ll get a crate and we can load him. You saved us tonight, Clark.”
At least the huge cat wasn’t stalking Paradise any longer.
Chapter 18
The warmth from the leopard’s prone body radiated through the gloves Paradise wore. She managed to control her fear enough to remove the collar and hand it to Blake. “He’s in good shape. Well fed with strong muscles.” She pulled back its lip. “Good teeth too. Someone knows how to maintain a leopard well.”
He examined the collar. “So probably not Greene. If he couldn’t even take care of a lemur, it’s doubtful this guy would be in such good shape. We have an empty enclosure for him.”
She nodded. Leopards were loners. “Let’s move this big guy to his own space. I do want to point out that Creed only had King Julien a couple of weeks. His poor condition wasn’t necessarily Creed’s fault.”
She turned to Clark, who had been quick to answer Blake’s request for help. He had also fed the restless predators while Paradise worked on the leopard. “You guys can use a backboard. It’s only a minute or two to get there, and he’ll be out a while yet.”
Blake and Clark lifted the inert animal onto the backboard while she ran ahead to open the door. The men carried the leopard down the lane to the empty enclosure. Paradise opened thegates as they went, then grabbed straw to throw out for a more comfortable resting place for the leopard.
She did a final check of the cat’s heart rate and respiration. “He’s doing fine.”
The three of them left the enclosure, and Blake made sure both the inner and outer perimeters were locked and secure. “It’s fair to say we have a new leopard. The owner wouldn’t dare admit he’d trained a big cat to stalk a human.”
She exhaled with relief. “I won’t have to keep watching the trees.”
Blake shook Clark’s hand. “Job well done, buddy. Thank you.”
“I’m glad I was close.” Clark headed for his trailer.
