Free Night Prey by Sharon Dunn Page A

so many of the birds, Georgina liked people. She walked up to volunteers and picked at their shoelaces when they brought her food in. Would she have even struggled when someone came in after her? Jenna ran her fingers along the jagged cut before studying the area around her. If a person crouched and used a hand saw, he wouldn’t have been visible from the rest of the center. This barn was far enough away from the other buildings that during the day when there was a lot activity and people, the culprit wouldn’t have been heard, either. She usually checked on the birds at the end of the day before locking up, but maybe the volunteers hadn’t done that.
    When she stood up, the rock path from her house to the main building was visible down the hill as was much of the center, but not the parking lot. It would have been easier to break into the flight barn, but it was too close to her house. Where had the thief taken Georgina? She glanced up the hill. That would be quite a hike holding a turkey vulture.
    She raced down the hill, back toward her house. Bythe time she got to the door, she was out of breath. She fumbled with the lock and swung the door open. Jenna grabbed the phone and dialed the sheriff.
    The deputy answered. Jenna explained what had happened.
    The deputy said he would be right out and then asked her what a turkey vulture looked like.
    â€œI’ll find a picture.” Jenna hung up, skirted to her laptop and opened up her photo file. They took pictures of all the ambassador birds for promotional purposes. She clipped through the photos until she found one of Georgina, turned on her printer and clicked the print command.
    Jenna stood up and placed her hands on her hips. Despair seeped through her. Even though this was a sparsely populated county with low crime, the rest of the world probably wasn’t as bent out of shape about a missing bird as she was. What else could she do? Jump in the car and search the countryside for Georgina? Put up “have you seen my bird” posters? Demand that the sheriff get search warrants for all the surrounding houses? Jenna slipped down into a chair and placed her face in her hands. Who was she kidding? That bird was gone.
    Message received loud and clear. The culprits had made good on their threat. She would quit looking around on the King Ranch. She couldn’t risk more harm coming to the birds in the center. She hung her head. She would just have to let it go.
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    â€œWhat are you doing?” Keith snapped out when he saw that after all the talk about security, she had left the door wide open.
    She jumped in her chair and whirled, knocking over the stack of papers she had piled on the other chair before she shot to her feet. “What are you shouting at me for, and what are you doing barging in here?”
    â€œAnyone could have walked in here.” He gestured toward the open door. “What were you thinking?”
    Jenna opened her mouth as if to speak, but instead she shook her head.
    All day since he had left the center, he had thought about her, worried about her. While he baled hay for his grandfather, he wondered if she was okay. He hadn’t intended for his concern to come out in anger. But when he had seen the open door, with the threats still weighing heavily on his mind, his heart had pounded against his rib cage. His first thought was that something had happened to Jenna. His second was that he should have been here to protect her.
    Jenna shook her head. Disbelief clouded her features. She seemed unable to form a response. She crumpled to the floor and picked up the papers she had knocked over. She directed her comment toward the carpet, not looking up at him. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
    â€œI’m sorry, it’s just when I saw the open door I was afraid something bad had happened to you.” He turned and closed the door.
    â€œWell, you’re not wrong. Something bad did happen.” She