The Ridge(30)

Wes disagreed, but he didn’t like to be in the spotlight, and he refused to give any interviews when curious media folks came calling. David handled that. All Wes would say was, “The cat came out of the woods. Right now, that’s all you know. Don’t presume a damn thing when that’s all you know.”

It was, though, the most uncertain Audrey had ever seen him with a cat. Wes spent hours studying Ira, and she was convinced that he was wondering the same thing: where in the world had he come from? If he was wild, why didn’t he act like it? And if he was not, then how was he an unknown?

They researched for endless hours and came up with nothing but legends. According to Native American folklore, the black cat was a symbol of death. According to scientific history, the black cat didn’t exist. Put the two together and you generated a lot of excitement.

“He’s ready to go, you can tell,” Wes said when they arrived back at the now-empty preserve to collect the cougar. “We’ve moved everyone else, and it’s making him edgy, being the only cat left. He didn’t like watching the others go away. He’s ready to see where we’re taking them.”

Audrey hadn’t been able to perceive the slightest change in the cat’s countenance, but she knew better than to argue with Wes. If he suggested what a cat was feeling, he was probably right. He seemed to live inside their strange feline brains. It was, frankly, a source of irritation for her. In the months since David had died, she’d tried to think of the cats as her own, but at her core she knew that they did not trust her in the way they had trusted David, trusted Wes. Could she have even handled them without Wes, could she have kept the preserve going at all? It was a question she didn’t like to ponder, because she felt the answer was all too obvious.

She looked at him now and nodded, recalling again the intensity of David’s excitement upon finding Ira. He had knelt in front of the cage, staring in at the black cat with a wide smile, and said, “They’re real. Every wildlife biologist in the country would tell you that if they ever existed, they don’t anymore. But you’re looking at one. And you know what else? This cat’s roots don’t go back to Africa or the Amazon. They go back to these mountains. I can feel it, can’t you? Look at him: he belongs to this place.”

Now, months removed, Audrey watched the cat swish his long black tail and nodded. “Let’s get him out there.”

There were no problems. In fact, no sooner did they have the transport cage placed in front of the enclosure gate and opened than Ira unfolded to his full length and stalked over to it, eyes on Wes and not the cage. It was as if he knew exactly what was desired and saw no reason to fight it.

The drive, too, was problem-free, Wes going slow and sticking to the back roads. They’d just gotten onto the rutted gravel of Blade Ridge Road when they saw an unfamiliar truck parked ahead. A moment later, as they continued to approach, the door opened and a police officer stepped out.

“It’s him,” Audrey said. “The guy from the accident.”

Wes slowed at the gates, and Audrey put down her window. The deputy regarded them with a nod and a slight smile.

“Hi there.”

“Hi,” Audrey said. “How are you?”

“Just fine. Shouldn’t be, by the look of my wheels, but I’m fine.”

“You’re one lucky SOB, I’ll promise you that,” Wes said.

The deputy nodded, giving a cursory glance toward the dark lighthouse above, and then said, “Well, thanks for your help yesterday. And I’m glad I went into those trees and not into the fences. Could have let some tigers out.”

Audrey had never considered the possibility. If he’d exited the road left instead of right… She shook her head against the thought.

“All that matters is that you’re okay,” she said. “What brings you out?”

“Wanted to look around. Trying to get a handle on just how it happened. You’re certain that nobody from your staff was in the road?”

“Not a soul,” she said. “Dustin heard the sound of the wreck and came out. You were alone.”

“Is he here? I’d like to ask him about it.”

“He’s done for the day.”

The deputy nodded, but he seemed distressed. “All right.” He waved a hand at the preserve. “Those cats are pretty amazing. I’ve been watching them. Never seen anything like it, so many together.”

“You want a look around?”

“I’d love it.”

She got out of the truck and told Wes they would meet him at Ira’s new enclosure. Then, on foot, she began to lead the deputy around the preserve.