Free Endangered Species by Nevada Barr

the clearing, wiping his hands carefully on a
    clean white pocket hanky.  Scenting a shift in the action, Rick and
    Dijon drifted back to the rest of the crew.
    Hull stopped near Guy's feet and the crew boss sat up as a sign of
    respect ." Mr.  Marshall here has probably already told you the pilot
    was Slattery Hammond.  He was flying drug interdiction for us and the
    Department of Forestry." Hull never looked up from his hands while he
    talked, but continued to rub meticulously between each finger with the
    square of cotton.  His face worked maniacally, the eyebrows rising as if
    in sudden surprise, then dropping, his mouth stretching as if he were
    trying to scrape something from his rabbity teeth by moving his lips
    over them.  For the first time Anna saw the facial gestures for what
    they were; not emotion but uncontrolled tics or nervous spasms, worse
    now that he was under pressure ." We're pretty sure the second man was
    our district ranger, Todd Belfore.  Mr. Marshall said he'd spent time
    with you, so I realize this is bad news for you as well as us."
    Finally Norman Hull pocketed the handkerchief and Anna breathed a sigh
    of relief.  Till it stopped she'd not realized how much his Pontius
    Pilate routine was getting on her nerves.
    "It will be worst for Mrs.  Belfore-Tabby.  As you are probably aware
    she is .  .  .  ah .  .  .  with child.  Very much so." Despite the
    god-awful circumstances, his old-world delicacy elicited a mental smile
    from the part of Anna's brain that eschewed modern cynicism .
    "I would greatly appreciate it, Mr.  Marshall-Guy-if you wouldn't mind
    lending me this young lady.  I feel Mrs.  Beffore would be more
    comfortable if there was another woman present."
    Panic rose in Anna's chest ." Where's Lynette?" she demanded cravenly.
    "Lynctte's gone over to the mainland," Hull said.  He sounded offended,
    as if he had offered Anna a great honor.  In a way he had.
    "Sorry," Anna said ." Caught me off guard.  Sure, I'll come .
    Damn." She levered herself up from the duff but she could tell she'd not
    been quick enough.  Disapproval flickered through the busy machinations
    of the chief ranger's face.
    Shouldering her pack, she followed him docilely from the oak woods.  A
    shiny blue Ford pickup truck waited for them in the dust of the lane.
    That Hull managed to keep it glossy through sand and salt and drought
    spoke reams about the man.
    Anna buckled herself in and the chief ranger drove south.  The closer
    they came to Plum Orchard, the slower the truck moved.
    Hull was dreading this as much as she was.  Anna took comfort in that.
    Regardless of her gender she didn't doubt he'd do the actual breaking of
    the news.  He was chief ranger.  They were paid for that sort of thing
    and most took their responsibilities to heart.  Stewardship extended to
    all the animals in the park, even the two-legged variety.
    Plum Orchard was a gracious old Georgian Revival-style mansion built in
    1898 by Andrew Carnegie for his son.  In the grand tradition, it rose
    three stories with arched floor-to-ceiling windows along the ground
    floor and four fine strong pillars supporting a gabled porch roof two
    stories high.  A railed veranda ran around three sides.  Several
    additional porches were tucked into odd angles.  One, near the back,
    still boasted a wide swinging bench that Anna liked to catnap on when
    they were involved in the tedious process of filling rubber stock tanks
    with well water.
    Two of these tanks marred the expanse of front lawn.  With the
    continuing drought the crew kept them full so that should fire break
    out, helicopters could fill their drop buckets.  The island was
    surrounded by water but so delicate was the chemistry of life that to
    use salt water to quench inland fires would damage the ecological
    balance.
    Beyond the tanks, ancient oaks, furred in resurrection ferns and
    dripping veils of Spanish moss, dotted the grounds.  Two stately palms,
    grown