Hidden, but not forgotten.
She understood that better than most.
Here, Sada would have time to heal from the psychological scars as well. As long as the sanctuary existed. Seyla compared the two mental pictures, in awe of the difference God had allowed her and the other people at the sanctuary to make in this animal’s life.
Thank you, Lord, for giving me a job I love. A job that makes a difference.
Excitement beat through her veins. In a few minutes, she’d get to share their enrichment program with the public. Sure, she’d gotten the zip line program finished and running, but the last manager had designed and built most of it before herdeath. This program was hers, though, from beginning to end. Watching the joy it brought to the animals had made it worth all the effort. And now she’d get the chance to help others understand the importance of activities for these beautiful creatures. The chance to improve countless animals’ lives.
Jax would understand if he watched the interview. He had to. She ran the scenario through her head, hope building each time she rehearsed the speech points. She had this one chance to show him the importance of this place. It had to work, because Jax might hold all of their futures in his hands. That future looked bleak and short-lived unless he changed his mind.
Seyla’s hope fizzled when she spied the closed entrance to Sada’s elevated, fenced tunnel. Panic hit. She blinked several times in rapid succession, rubbed her eyes, and looked again. Definitely closed. Hadn’t she opened it earlier that morning? A big part of the interview focused on the new tunnel. It had to be open when they arrived.
Hurrying into the building, she found their groundskeeper and carpenter, Allen Withers, standing by the first of the two enclosure doors. “Allen,” she rasped, winded from running. “I need you to go into the enclosure with me. We have to get the tunnel opened up. The news crew will be here any minute!”
He nodded, his usual grimace in place. “Sure.”
Janet kneeled nearby, cleaning a cage.
“Janet, get Sada into the lockout area. Hurry!”
The woman scowled, but hurried off to arrange food treats within the lockout room. Once that was accomplished, Sada would be lured into the room and the guillotine door blocking access to the enclosure would be lowered into position.
Seyla and Allen made their way through the first doorway. After that, they followed the hallway to the second access door, which opened directly into the enclosed habitat.
“You’re clear to enter,” Janet said over the two-way radio at Seyla’s belt.
Seyla glanced over her shoulder at Allen. The man’s cell phone had captured his attention. “Allen, are you ready?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled with a glance before his eyes strayed back to the cell phone in his hand.
“Okay, let’s go!” Seyla yelled over her shoulder. She opened the door and ran to the tunnel entrance at the far end of the enclosure.
A sudden noise behind her made her pause, one hand hanging onto the newly opened latch. “Allen, did you hear that?”
No answer.
Seyla checked behind her.
No Allen. Where was he?
Seyla traced the sound to its source—the guillotine door to the lockout area. Her breath stuck in her airway, as trapped as she was. Sada’s head poked out next to a block of wood, lifting the door up, his eyes fixated on her. With no help and no escape path, she climbed into the tunnel. Reaching through the fencing, Seyla struggled to re-lock the latch from inside. She glanced up again, her fingers shaking on the lever.
Sada was halfway to the tunnel entrance.
After fumbling for several more seconds, she managed to latch the door and then scrambled up the incline. The three hundred pound cat swiped a paw at the fencing next to her. A scream flew from her lips, her body instinctively slamming into the metal wiring on the opposite wall. Seyla scooted faster as it strained to reach her through the fencing. The cat’s massive paw thunked down on the wood, its claws slicing into the tunnel floor a fraction of an inch from her leg. She scrambled backward, dodging its deadly nails scraping against the wiring.
Once she’d climbed high enough that the cat could no longer reach her, she collapsed onto the wooden planks, gasping, thenchoking on the sudden intake of air. After coughing for several minutes, she chanced a look around. No sign of Sada. Terror tightened its grip. The other side of the tunnel was open. In desperation, Seyla spun around, searching for any sign of the animal. But she couldn’t see over the rise in the tunnel ahead of her. Where was he? Climbing up the other side?
And where were the volunteers and staff?
“Help!” she screamed. Her fingers groped for the two-way radio hooked on her belt, her eyes searching for Sada to no avail. Her gaze shot to her belt. No radio. Unsure of the big cat’s whereabouts, Seyla searched for the device without moving. Her chest collapsed when she caught sight of it laying on the ground twenty feet away near the bottom of the tunnel. Outside the tunnel’s fenced walls and beyond her reach. It must have been knocked off in the midst of dodging Sada’s swipes. Even if she could reach it, being that close to the ground meant Sada would have no problem reaching her, either.
The intercom system shrieked on. Ada’s voice carried over the air. “Seyla, Channel Twelve News is here to see you. I’m sending them to the enclosure.”
Seyla’s vision swam. A cold sweat broke over her skin.
The wood floor trembled. Had Sada entered the tunnel? Was it paranoia or could she, in fact, feel each of the large cat’s heavy footfalls reverberating through the tunnel flooring? Seyla squeezed her eyes shut and yelled for help. The possibility of an employee or volunteer hearing the distress call sparked a thin haze of hope.