Page 27 of Lion’s Den

“What are you going to do?”

“There’s a large rock outcropping to our left. We have to get Julio out of the lion’s sight, and the keeper’s access door is on that side of the enclosure.”

“Keeper’s access?”

“Yeah. It has a metal door that the cat can’t get through.”

“Copy that.” Cam rose quickly, unzipped his jacket to make himself look bigger, positioned himself in front of Sedona and Julio, and yelled at the lion. “Come on, dude. You don’t want to eat this little kid. He’s just a scrawny thing, not even a good mouthful. I know what you need, bud. You need a big, thick, juicy steak that you don’t have to chase down for yourself. Isn’t that right, you beautiful beast?”

While he talked about what the lion ought to eat with that steak, he stayed close to Sedona and her student. When she inched toward the rocks with the boy in her arms, Cam moved with her, continuing his loud dinner order, now on the dessert menu of a steakhouse in Maple Valley.

If the situation hadn’t been so dire, Sedona would have laughed. Here she was, in a lion’s enclosure, trying to save one of her students from a lion intent on making a meal of him, while the man she’d been dying to date for weeks sounded like he was planning a date with the King of the Beasts. “Back toward me,” she said to Cam.

Before he could move, one bystander shouted, “Hey, buddy, I found a large branch.”

“Toss it to me on three. One, two, toss.”

By some miracle, Cam turned just as the bystander threw the stick and caught it. He returned to his litany of menu items at the steakhouse while adding some fancy footwork and strikes and sweeps with the stick.

Sedona didn’t know if he was doing something he’d learned in martial arts, but his movements had the desired effect. The lion was confused and having a hard time deciding if going after intruders in his territory was worth the effort. “Cam, back toward me. We’re leaving this party before the host eats us.”

“Fine with me. I wasn’t having a good time, anyway.”

Cam kept himself between Sedona and Julio and the cat as they moved inch by inch toward the keeper’s access door.

She hoped she wasn’t causing Julio any further injury. The alternative, though, was to stay in the enclosure with the lion, and that wasn’t possible, not if they wanted to save the boy’s life. “I’m taking Julio to the other side of the access door.”

“It’s padlocked. If you’ll take over telling the cat your favorite menu items, I can unlock it.”

“I’ve got it. You concentrate on the lion.” Sedona whipped out her lock picks and made fast work of the lock. “Got it.”

“Need help with the kid?”

“Nope. Just keep the big kitty off me for a few more seconds.” She gripped Julio and hauled him inside the access corridor. The second she finished, Sedona called out, “Now, Cam.”

He backed up, slowly making his way toward the access door. Cam had just closed the door behind him when the keepers arrived with air horns and barriers.

Sedona sagged with relief. Thank God.

The lion retreated, snarling in a bad-tempered way all the way across the enclosure. When he turned and ran into his access corridor, someone activated the reinforced door and secured the enclosure.

Cam’s head dropped back against the corridor wall. “Wow, that was close.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Anybody hurt in there?” one keeper called out as he set aside the barrier he’d brought with him.

“Yeah,” Cam said. “We need an ambulance for the boy.” He pulled out his cell phone. “I’m sending a message to David Montgomery. Since the zoo is in a rural part of Morgan County, the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department has jurisdiction. Might as well get law enforcement rolling in this direction.”

“Got it.” The keeper pulled out his cell phone. “What happened? Did he climb over the fence?”

“A man grabbed Julio and threw him into the enclosure.” Fury burned in Cam’s eyes. “Tell the dispatcher that Officer Cameron Sims is on the scene and has called the sheriff.”

The keeper whistled, then began talking to the 911 operator. While he was reporting what he knew, Cam stared at Sedona.

Oh, man. This wouldn’t end well. She’d been here before and could write an entire library of sob-story books about it. Didn’t matter what she said or what her actions said about her. Sedona’s past would follow her until she was a mere memory.

“We need to talk.”