Read Endangered (9781101559017) for Free Online Page A

theft.”
    â€œWhy can’t these people lock up their stuff at night?” With a groan, Rafael pushed himself up from the picnic bench. He stalked away, muttering to himself.
    â€œAt least it’s not a gun this time,” Tanner said to his retreating back. She returned her gaze to Sam. “I thought you were up on the plateau. Didn’t we give you a special permit?”
    â€œI was. And yes, you did.” Sam wondered for the fiftieth time if she’d done something during her summer employment here to piss Tanner off. “When I heard about the missing boy, I came down to see if I could help.”
    â€œGood. We can use another experienced tracker.”
    That was the closest thing to praise she’d ever received from the assistant superintendent.
    â€œJust don’t try to be a hero,” Tanner added. “I know how you tend to go off on tangents.”
    Tangents? Sam’s temper flared. Then she remembered that she was on a tangent of sorts right now. Save the Wilderness Fund was paying her to produce wildlife stories, and here she was, volunteering to search for a missing kid. “Yes, ma’am,” she replied.
    â€œStick around. Rescue 504—the Explorer Scouts—will be here any second; we’ll organize the second wave then.” Tanner walked a few steps, then turned back. “Coffee’s over there on the stove.” Her thumb jerked toward a picnic table close to the Fischers. “Help yourself.”
    Tanner joined an overweight man in park service uniform. Sam recognized the bulky profile of Superintendent Jerry Thompson.
    â€œI’m taking her up on that coffee.” Sam strode toward the table.
    Kent followed. “You’ve obviously forgotten the Tanner touch.”
    He was right. She had blanked out Tanner’s talent for producing sludge. The stuff tasted like asphalt.
    Kent rubbed the back of his neck, pills of sweat-dampened dirt rolling up like mealy bugs under his fingertips. “Once I thought for sure I had Zack. I saw something moving on the river path. But it was only a raccoon.”
    That reminded her. “I saw a ringtail last night.” A fellow wildlife biologist like Kent would appreciate the wonder of it.
    â€œCool. Wish it had been me.”
    They walked back to the bench and sat down again. A muscle in Sam’s thigh started twitching. Aggravating. A reminder that she was getting old and out of shape. She’d spent way too much time behind a desk recently. She dug her knuckles into the offending area. “Did you find any evidence that Zack’s still in the park?” she asked in a low voice.
    â€œWe didn’t find any evidence that he’s not.” He looked at her sideways. “You think someone took him?”
    â€œThere was a man, I swear. And his father didn’t remember me.”
    â€œMaybe he will later. None of us are processing too well at the moment. It’s been a long, long, long night.” Pressing his index fingers to his eyelids, he rubbed in circles.
    Sam closed her own eyes, tried to relax the tension in her neck muscles. When she opened her eyes, she nearly jumped off her seat. Jenny Fischer stood less than a foot away, staring at her.
    â€œWill you find him?” The woman’s blue eyes burned with pain. She held out a hand in supplication. “You know what my baby looks like.”
    Sam took the woman’s cold fingers in her own warmer ones. She and Kent, lounging on a picnic bench, drinking coffee, must appear totally uncaring to this desperate mother.
    Kent stood, put a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Everyone’s looking for Zachary, Mrs. Fischer. Fresh volunteers like Sam here are coming to take over for those of us who have searched all night. And we’ll all be back this afternoon after we’ve gotten some sleep.”
    Jenny withdrew her hand from Sam’s and twisted her fingers together, staring at some point in the