Page 4 of Tiger Queen

A clever look crossed Ashley’s face. “What if you accepted?”

“What if I what?”

“Think about it! You could accept the position. Go in and check the place out. Like I said, Crazy Carl keeps that place locked up tighter than a fortress. If you got in and took some behind-the-scenes photos of how bad the conditions are? You could blow the lid on the whole place!”

“This started off as a gag application, and now you want me to act like a spy?”

“Just for, like, a day,” she replied. “See the facilities, take some secret photos, and then leave.”

“Are you forgetting about the psycho owner who has crazy in his name? He didn’t look stable in the commercial, shooting assault rifles into the air like a maniac. What do you think he would do if he caught someone taking photos of the facilities?” I waved a hand. “And even if I made it out safely with the photos, he would probably make me sign a bunch of non-disclosure agreements before I set foot in the place. If I took photos and posted them on the internet, he would probably sue me.”

“Totally!” Ashley said excitedly. “Getting sued by Crazy Carl would really make your resume stand out. The girl that blew the lid on that sleazy place? Legitimate zoos and animal sanctuaries would be blowing up your phone trying to hire you.”

That sent a tingle of excitement up my spine. Doing it as a joke was one thing, but if it actually advanced my career…

“I have a long drive tomorrow,” I said. “Twelve hours from here to Fredericksburg, Virginia.”

Ashley pulled up Google Maps on her laptop. “Here’s Crazy Carl’s Zoo, in Blue Lake, North Carolina. It’s only like fifteen miles out of your way. You’ll be back on the road in no time!”

I groaned. Deep down I really didn’t want to do this. But I knew Ashley wouldn’t stop bugging me about it, and then she would never let me live it down. This was our last night together at school. I didn’t want it to end on an argument.

I replied to the email, told them I would swing by tomorrow afternoon, and hit send before I could change my mind. “There. Are you happy?”

Ashley squealed with excitement. “I wish I could go with you! You need to take as many photos as possible. Videos, if you can! I’ll call you tomorrow night so I can get all the juicy details.”

With no intention of actually visiting, I downed the remainder of our bottle of wine.

2

Rachel

Leaving Tallahassee the next morning felt weird. Florida State University had been home for the last eight years of my life. I took the long way to the interstate so I could drive by the campus one last time. The huge brick facade of Doak Campbell Stadium rose up on my right, topped with castle-like towers and white stone crenelations. It made me sad that I would never see another football game there.

I’ll come back to visit, I thought to myself as I drove out of town.

The long drive home gave me plenty of time to think about my career and future. I wanted to work with animals, but big cats especially. Ashley and I spent three months tracking lion migrations in Kruger National Park when we were undergrads. I was hooked on big cats ever since. Lions, tigers, panthers. Cheetahs, even though they technically weren’t big cats. Working with all of them thrilled me in a way that no other animal did.

Jobs in the industry were few, and competition was fierce. I had already applied to eight places and had written individual cover letters for each one. I still had twenty other jobs in my top tier list. I considered myself a positive person, but the harsh truth was that my chance of getting accepted to any of them was practically zero. Those twenty-eight prime jobs probably had somewhere close to ten thousand applicants, most of whom had more experience than just a college graduate with only a local residency as experience.

Ashley was right. I needed something to make my resume stand out among the crowd.

I didn’t like the idea of snooping around at a sleazy private zoo. I preferred to focus on direct animal work, not the politics of it all. I didn’t necessarily agree with the tactics of groups like PETA, but it just wasn’t my style.

But if it was a way to make a name for myself, maybe get some viral attention and some news coverage…

Driving up I-95 gave me plenty of time to think about it. Getting some sneaky photos or video of Crazy Carl’s Zoo scared me, but not as much as going home and being around my parents. Staying at home for weeks, waiting for a job that just wasn’t going to come. Seeing their disappointment in their daughter grow. The realization that they had spent a small fortune on an education that was never going to pan out.

In the early afternoon, just after passing the exit for Fayetteville, I saw a billboard for Crazy Carl’s Zoo. His disembodied head was front-and-center, red mohawk extending above the normal rectangular shape of the billboard. Two tiger faces stared out serenely on either side of him. Just one mile away, exit sixty-one.

Come on, Ashley’s voice insisted in my head. You’ll be back on the road home in no time.

The exit appeared up ahead. At the last minute I swerved over and took it.

“I’ll just swing by and check it out,” I said out loud. “If I feel afraid, I can always leave.”

It was easy to find my way thanks to all the colorful signs on the road. The first one had a panther on it and said:

Stalk Your Way

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