Page 84 of Tiger Queen

“Yeah, but I would feel more comfortable with weapons. Even an umbrella. Something to hold, even if it just makes me feel safer.”

David tossed me the walkie-talkie. “Here you go.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

We reached one of the light poles that were scattered through the zoo, except this one had a grey utility box mounted to the outside. David opened it and threw the switch. There was a crackle of electricity, and suddenly everything around us was bathed in light.

“Could’ve used a warning,” Jake said on the radio.

David snatched the walkie-talkie from me. “There’s no pleasing you!” He glanced at me. “What? You said you didn’t want it.”

Since I didn’t have any other way to feel useful, I pulled my phone out and started taking a video. It would probably look like the Blair Witch Project since I was running and bouncing it around, but if we caught Mary Beth in the act I wanted to have evidence.

“Our zoo is currently being sabotaged,” I narrated in a huffing, out-of-breath voice. “Someone is opening the enclosures. And letting the animals out.”

A flurry of tropical birds suddenly flew by, leaving a trail of colorful feathers floating in the air. It made for a good action shot as I ran by.

“Right now we’re trying not to die,” I continued narrating. “We’re doing a great job so far. But it’s early. And the tigers and wolves are loose.”

“Will you shut up!” David growled at me.

“I want someone to know what happened to me in case we get eaten.”

We backtracked past the visitor’s center. Two of the wolves were inside Caesar’s enclosure, which was now closed. Rachel and Jake must have been this way already.

“Okay, just the tigers are loose,” I narrated while zooming in on the wolves. “If you find this video, whoever you are, check the tiger stomachs first.”

“Shh,” David said.

“I’m just trying to—”

He stopped and clamped a hand over my mouth, then pointed. Up ahead was a figure we didn’t recognize. They passed out of the light of the path and into the darkness by the gate to the lion enclosure. I heard metal rattling around.

Mary Beth.

David turned the walkie-talkie off and put a finger to his lips. We stalked forward, low to the ground like tigers on the prowl. It sounded like Mary Beth was struggling with the key. The lion gate was super rusted, and the individual key didn’t work on it. You had to use one of the master keys. She kept twisting and shaking the lock, as if she could make it work with brute force alone.

David went to the left, and I went right. Surrounding her. I stepped off the path and into darkness. We were getting closer, and thanks to the metallic noise she was making, Mary Beth couldn’t hear us coming.

“STOP RIGHT THERE!” David shouted as he charged her.

She turned and ran in the opposite direction of him… Which meant she ran directly at me. I leaped forward with my arms outstretched, tackling her in the chest. My phone went flying and the two of us fell to the ground. I struggled to hold her down, and it was quickly apparent why.

Because it wasn’t Mary Beth. It was a man.

I tried to pin his arms to the side but he kicked up, hitting me in the groin. I cried out and rolled off him, clutching my junk as waves of pain rolled over my body. The nausea was so strong I thought I would vomit.

Before the man could get to his feet, David tackled him. I was vaguely aware of the two of them struggling, and the sound of someone being punched in the gut. I tried to make myself get up and help but my body wouldn’t respond to my commands. I was completely incapacitated.

The punching sound stopped, and then David said, “Wait, what? Brandon?”

By the time I had gotten to my feet, David was unlocking the outer lion pen with the master key. He shoved Brandon inside and slammed the gate shut behind him. At the inner gate, which was still closed, the two female lions snarled and gazed through the bars.

I picked up my phone from the ground. It was still recording. I aimed the phone at the gate, where Brandon was clutching the bars like a prison inmate.

“You?” David asked incredulously. “You’re the one sabotaging us?”

The chill surfer guy persona was now gone. Brandon’s eyes were wide and white and intense. “I’m not sabotaging anything! I’m saving them! I’m their savior!”

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