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Jax gulped.
Then he spotted a group of people with cameras opening the main building’s exit door that led to the raised pedestrian walkway. Ten more feet and they’d have front row seats to the nightmare unfolding in front of him. They couldn’t see Seyla yet, but if they got any closer, they would.
A picture of her, bloodied and broken, plastered itself across Jax’s vision. He shook his head to clear it of a picture he never wanted to see again.
Jax ran into the building, and Ada answered the phone. “Get the news crew out of here! Seyla’s in the cage with the cat!” The phone clicked in his ear. He hoped Ada was good at her job.
Up ahead, he heard Jessa barking orders. He ran outside again.
Seyla huddled in the same place, her head whipping around, her actions convulsive and wild.
She must not be able to see it. “He’s near the furthest platform on your left!” Jax shouted. “Hang on!”
A guillotine-like metal door lifted nearby and a long pole knocked what resembled a wooden block from under it. The door slammed shut again afterward.
Had someone placed that block there on purpose to prop it open?
Travis Yoder, perhaps?
How long had the man actually been here?
Could he have gotten access to that area, or did the culprit already have easy access to the sanctuary because they worked there?
Jax climbed the shorter, six foot fence and dropped into the channel between the outer fence and a cage wall close to fifteen feet high. At the top, an electric wire ran along the junction between the wall fencing and the roof fencing, which consisted of the same thick four-inch-by-four-inch latticed metal. Jax shouted and clapped in an effort to get the cat’s attention.
His stomach clenched.
This was the reason this place had to be shut down. But first he’d have to help Seyla escape alive.
The cat glanced at him but kept going.
The sliding door banged open again, and the animal veered in that direction. Seconds later, it changed course, heading for the tunnel entrance again.
The exit door busted open. Jessa and two men rushed out. She lugged a thick metal pole with eight long, boxy prongs near the end. It resembled a giant fork.
The younger blond-haired man with a cane held a sniper rifle.
“Do you know how to use that thing?” Jax asked him.
“Yeah.”
But would he do what needed to be done if necessary? “What do you plan to use it for?”
The man narrowed his eyes at Jax. “A last resort.”
Jessa covered a sob with her hand.
“Is there a current running through that line?” Jax asked her, chucking his head in the direction of the wire at the top of the taller fence.
She shook her head. “No. I cut the power.” She jutted her chin toward the older, wiry man next to her. “Allen, you’ll need to climb to the top of the cage side, run across to where the cage roof meets the roof of the tunnel, and put the fork down through the tunnel to block Sada’s path before he gets past that point. It won’t hold long, but it should give Seyla enough time to get out of there. Janet’s waiting at the door to lock the opposite end when I give the signal.”
The man ambled forward to grab the fork.
Jax leaned against the outer fence and shot a hand through to grab hold of it. He locked eyes with Jessa, who hadn’t let go. “Let me do this. I’m trained for it.”
She hesitated.
“He won’t make it in time. You know that.” Jax held his breath.
