Disclaimer: This story is loosely based on the 1982 movie called Cat People from Universal Studios. All of the rights, original ideas, and characters belong to Allen Ormsby and Dewitt Bodeen. I'm using their basic premise and am using just a few of their characters briefly in my story. The rest of the stuff contained within is all mine. No copyright infringement is meant, and I'm writing just for fun and not for any monetary gain.
Author's Note: This chapter deals with the dilemma of safely capturing and removing the black leopard from the mall. Again, I've kind of taken points from the movie, but put my own personal spin and touch on how this particular capture goes down. Let me know what you think. Do you like my take? Thanks to all of you who are sticking with this story and are enjoying it. I appreciate you guys so much. Thanks also to RadcliffePotter for beta reading for me fantastically once more.
Rated T: Mainly for language
Chapter 9
When I arrived at the Riverwalk Marketplace, it was a zoo; no pun intended. All of the police and emergency vehicles, all of the media outlets, and all of the animal control people filled the mall parking lot. Plus, there were all of the general public gawkers that had come down to the mall to try and get a look at what was going on. I was allowed to pull around the back, once I'd identified myself. Brian was waiting for me at one of the mall's back entrances. He had Keith with him. There was a tall and burly looking man with short dark hair in an olive green animal control uniform standing next to them. He had scruffy stubble trying to grow into a beard. Another olive green uniformed animal control employee was talking with the police and mall security. He was a large, African-American man with arm muscles as thick as my waist. His head was almost shaved bald, and his face was clean shaven.
Animal control apparently brought out the "big guns" for this crisis, I thought wryly. I smiled at them as Brian greeted me.
"The police and mall security have been able to get a feed into the store's security video," he informed me without much to-do. "That way we can have a look at what the situation is like without having to go in there and stir the animal up until we're ready to take action."
"Sounds good," I told him.
"This is Jeff Gilroy and Turner Johannsen from New Orleans's Animal Control," Brian said, introducing the tall, burly, white guy and the hulking African-American guy respectively. "Guys, this is our vet and expert on large predatory animals, Abigail Laroche."
They each shook my hand; both dwarfing my little one in their huge ones. Gilroy stared at me for a long moment, which made me uneasy. It was like he was sizing me up.
Johannsen was more cordial than that. "Nice to meet you," he said in a deep voice.
"Likewise," I answered. Then I turned back to Brian. "Who's got the lead?"
"We do, since most of the time animal control just deals with the regular run-of-the-mill critters; maybe a gator or python here and there, but nothing like this animal." Brian replied. "Jeff and Turner are here to assist us." They both nodded together.
Brian took me over to a mobile command center the police had set up. It was a huge RV that they could work out of out in the field. A tech met us and guided us to a good-sized monitor that was set up to take the video feed from the Victoria's Secret security cameras. The store had four, placed strategically around the store. The monitor was spilt-screened so we could see the view from all four cameras. The cameras must have been state-of-the art because they were in living color, and from the lighting the police had been able to get in place, we could see things very clearly.
It was a few minutes until the animal came into range of the camera at the front of the store. When I saw it, I forgot to breathe; it was such a stunning sight. I was hypnotized. The cat was huge, just like the police had told the reporter on the news. "I don't think I've ever seen a leopard—I can tell that's what it is just by looking at it—that big before. It's easily one hundred seventy to two hundred pounds. It has to be a male—females don't get that large. Most males are around one fifty to one seventy on the heavy side. This guy'd make Tarzan look small, and Tarzan's not a small leopard," I commented as I watched.
It was really pissed off too. It paced back and forth in obvious agitation, growling, snarling, roaring, and screaming the only way a leopard could. Its ears were completely laid down against its head. It bared fang constantly. It also depressed its ribcage between its shoulder blades so that they stuck out. All these were classic signs that it was feeling threatened. It ran at the gate, throwing itself against it in a frenzied attempt to escape. The whole structure of the gate shook violently. It held, but the large cat was starting to wear its supports down. If the leopard could keep up its full barrage, the metal would eventually buckle under its assault.
"This is not good," I couldn't help but say. "That animal's going to seriously hurt itself by doing that. We need to tranq it quick and get it out of there."
"It's going ape-shit," Gilroy commented in a deep, but more gravelly voice than that of his partner. For some reason, it sounded sinister to me. Now why would you think that? I chided myself.
I gave him an annoyed glare. "It just doesn't like being confined in there. It feels trapped. I can get it to calm down."
Gilroy looked me like I'd gone ape-shit. "You, little lady, aren't going in there," he informed me.
"I'm the expert on these kinds of animals here, Mr. Gilroy," I admonished him. "I know what I'm doing."
"Abs," Brian broke in. "I don't feel good about this one. Maybe Keith and I should be the ones to tranq it."
I turned to him, feeling my ire rising. "Who's the one you call in to get Tarzan out of one of his moods, huh? Who's the one you call into get Austin to come down out of the tree when he doesn't want to? Who's the one that can get Jane or Rose to behave when they aren't?"
Keith smiled at me, getting my point. "You," he said, trying not to laugh at my attitude. He took off his zoo ball cap and ran his hand through his short blond hair, and then replaced the hat on his head.
"Damn right it's me. So that means you men should back off and let me at least try to calm the animal so I can get a decent shot off at it with the tranq gun. That gate isn't going to hold much longer. If it gets out, then we'd have to track it through the entire mall. And that, gentlemen—," I paused for dramatic effect, "—will be an enormous pain in the ass."
"What if it gets through the gate while you're standing outside trying to tranq it?" Brian argued.
"I'm not going to seem like as much of a threat to it as one of you guys will," I came back with. "Sending in Hercules here—," I pointed to Johannsen, who grinned at me, "—is just going to make it feel more threatened."
"You're something else, girl," Gilroy told me. "I say we let her do it, just to see what happens."
Brian gave Gilroy a disgusted look. "Abby, you're as stubborn as a jackass," he cursed at me, "but I'm not going to give into you this time. You and Turner will stay out here and help us by observing the camera feed. We'll communicate by walkie-talkie. After the cat's down, then I'll let you take a look at it." He then handed me a walkie-talkie.
I was floored by Brian stonewalling me; he didn't usually do that. "Come on, Brian," I complained. "You can't sideline me on this one. It'll be a mistake."
"You're not going in there, period, Abigail," Brian said forcefully. "Not this time."
The look he gave me told me why. He was concerned with all that had happened to me lately that I'd either not be up to it or that I'd be off my game. I felt my cheeks grow warm with anger, and my hands started to clench into fists at my side. Brian was second guessing me, assuming I really couldn't handle this situation. He thought I was handicapped—either emotionally, mentally, or physically, I wasn't sure, but he seemed to think I wasn't up to par in some area. That infuriated me.
How dare he! I fumed to myself. He's never not trusted my judgment before. What's up with him doing it now? What's changed? What's different all of a sudden?
"Sorry, little lady." Gilroy's deep voice broke into my thoughts. "It looks like you don't get to play with the big boys after all."
I wanted to childishly stick my tongue out at him, but I managed to refrain from doing so. I decided to go one better. "Oh, you'll be out here just begging me to help you. Just you wait and see."
He shook his head; not quite believing what he was hearing from me. Good. Underestimate me, you stupid son of a bitch, I thought sourly, as I watched him walk off toward the mall with Brian and Keith.
Johannsen was much kinder. "You can't blame you boss for wanting to keep you safe," he told me.
"Maybe not," I mumbled, turning back to the monitor and making sure my walkie-talkie was on.
"You really think you could influence an animal in that state of duress?" Johannsen asked, coming to stand next to me by the monitor.
"I don't think, Mr. Johannsen. I know I could," was my answer.
"Cocky much?" he then said lightly.
"No, not at all. I just know what my capabilities are. I'm just surprised that Brian doesn't."
We lapsed into silence as we watched the camera feeds. The leopard knew exactly when Brian and the others were close by. It roared and ran panicked through the store, knocking down racks of lingerie, display tables with lotions and perfumes on them, and upsetting just about everything else in its path.
"What are you doing, Brian?" I called into the walkie-talkie. "You're scaring the poor thing to death."
"I'm scaring it?" came Brian's disbelieving voice over the airwaves. "I'm just trying to find a way to get a shot at it through the gate. I don't think the tranq gun is going to fit through."
"He knows you're there, Brian, and he's definitely not happy about it. You're not going to be able to get a clear shot," I informed him.
The leopard suddenly went low to the floor, almost like it was lying down, but all of its muscles were taunt. Its ears went all the way back, and its mouth opened in a snarling roar. It even hissed and narrowed its eyes menacingly. I watched its muscles bunch even more; it was going to spring.
"Brian, watch out!" I yelled into the walkie-talkie. "It's going to come right at you."
No sooner had I gotten the words out of my mouth, when the leopard launched itself at the gate again; this time like it had a specific target in mind. The power of the leap and the strength behind the pounce almost sheered the gate right out of its supports and hinges.
"Brian, Brian, are you okay?" I cried, making sure I pressed the walkie-talkie button down.
It was Keith who answered. "He's fine, Abs. Just a little shaken up from being knocked on his ass. That thing's one strong alpha male."
I could hear Brian swearing in the background. I was tempted to smile, but the gravity of the situation stopped me. "Are you guys going to be able to get a shot off?"
"It's too hard to through the gate. We need a smaller caliber tranq gun, but then that would lower the dosage, and something tells me that we need all that we can give this animal," Keith replied.
"We're going to have to either cut a small portion of the gate to make a bigger hole or raise the gate up from the ground just a bit to do any good," that came from Gilroy.
"If you think that animal is wound up now, just watch what will happen with all the movement and noise associated with cutting through the metal gate," I said. "It'll go ballistic. And raising the gate would only work if the animal was distracted. Otherwise, it'll be right there to either try and escape or go after whatever threat it feels it's facing."
"What do you suggest, Abs?" came Brian's defeated voice.
"I'd be happy to distract it for you, while you raise the gate a little and get into position to take a shot," I said, trying not to sound smug, but I knew they'd need me.
"I don't like that idea, Abs," Brian groused.
"You know you need me, Brian," I retorted. "Just let me in there."
"Have you been watching how pissed this thing is? How out of control? You really think it wise to come in here and try interacting with it?" Brian was starting to cave; I could feel it.
"There's only one way to find out, boss."
"All right. Get in here, but at the first hint of anything going south, I'm pulling you out. You got that?" Brian's reluctance was perfectly clear.
"Ten-Four," I said. "I'll be right there."
I tossed an I-told-you-so glance at the gaping Johannsen before asking him to man the monitor while I joined the others inside the mall. Despite all my bravado with the men, I didn't know if I could get through to an animal this upset or not. It could choose to tear me apart if was so inclined. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to get that close.
It didn't take me long to find my way to the vicinity of the Victoria's Secret store. Of all the stores to find a big, black leopard in, that had to be the most ironic. What had it been doing in there? Shopping for something sexy for a mate to wear? I joked to myself. I could hear its angry roars almost immediately once I got inside the mall. It was a totally primal sound. It should have terrified me, but it was almost musical instead. I thought it was a beautiful noise. It stirred something deep within in me. I closed my eyes for a moment and just listened. It filled me will a strange sense of peace.
I caught Brian motioning for me to come quickly over to the Game Stop store down a couple stores from the Victoria's Secret one, and on the other side, opposite of it. I hurried over to him. I noticed that Keith was positioned down the other way to observe, and Gilroy was at a third position.
"Let's just see how it reacts to your presence," Brian instructed. "Slowly walk closer to the store, and we'll see what it does."
I nodded, turning to face Victoria's Secret. I slowly approached, trying not to make too much noise. Leopards were known for their acute hearing and eyesight. Smell was important, but not when a leopard was hunting. I could hear it growling in warning as I approached.
Even though Brian just wanted me to walk by, I chose to stop and speak to it. "Hi, there, big fella," I said in the most soothing voice I could muster. "You're kinda in a pickle there, aren't ya?"
At first, it roared angrily at me. I could just make out its eyes through the gate's grating. They were the most beautiful blue eyes I'd ever seen a leopard have; usually they had eyes that were greener than anything or yellow. I could see an unusual intelligence in this leopard's eyes. There was also something eerily familiar about them. They were slanted as the leopard gazed back at me, but they widened the longer it looked at me. I was mesmerized; I couldn't look away. Something deep within me stirred, awakening in the presence of this animal. I found myself drawn closer and closer to the gate. I was lost in the depth of its eyes.
The leopard's ears shifted forward, in a less aggressive manner. It started making a sawing noise, like a wood plank being cut with a saw. "You know I'm different, don't you?" I asked it. "You know I'm a female. That's why you're sawing at me aren't you? You are a big male."
It sat down on its back haunches, never looking away from me, and continued sawing. Male and female leopards tended to make the sawing noise to find one another or identify one another in the wild. Leopards also did it to let other leopards know where the borders of their territory were. I was totally caught up in its gaze again, transfixed. It was like it was calling to me, drawing me in. It was the strangest sensation I'd ever felt, but I liked it. I was aware that I was tingling all over; electrified.
"What are you doing, Abby?" came Brian's voice over the walkie-talkie.
"Calming the big boy down," I cooed back, for the leopard didn't like Brian's voice. It snarled when it heard it. "Let me do my job and you get into position." With that, I turned the walkie-talkie off.
"How did you get yourself in there, huh?" I softly asked the leopard.
It made the sawing noise again in response. I smiled at it. It cautiously came forward, right up to the metal gate. It searched for my eye contact again. I couldn't resist meeting its gaze once more. I was pulled involuntarily closer to my side of the metal gate. It roared at me—a show of dominance, not a threatening sound. I refused to cow to it. It roared again.
"You don't scare me. You big kitty cat," I told it. "It's okay. We'll get you out of there."
It proceeded to rub up against the metal gate, like it wanted me to reach through and stroke it. Even my small hand wouldn't pass through, however. "Sorry, baby, I can't get to you right now. Soon though, okay? Soon, I promise." I put my hand up against the metal in a placating gesture.
Suddenly, it ears flicked back and forth, and then laid back on its head once more. It snarled and roared, angry again. Its eyes flashed with a primal rage that did scare me this time. I took a step back involuntarily. My eyes widened in surprise, and I think I gasped at the shear ferocity I felt radiating off of the animal. Then I heard the soft tick of the tranq gun going off. A large dart hit the leopard's hind quarters.
It flipped out. The scream it gave was bloodcurdling. I backed further and further away from the gate. It ran around the store, snarling, growling, and screaming. It leapt up on counter tops, scrambling every which way. It broke mannequins apart, made large dents in the walls, ripped up material, and caused plaster to fall from the ceiling. It came at the metal gate again, but its strength had started to wane; the tranquilizer beginning to take effect. In one last desperate move, it went to one of the display windows, ramming it, cracking the glass. I winced, knowing that this probably really hurt the animal. With all the energy it was expending, it would pump the sedative through its system that much faster. Finally, it just walked in circles for a few minutes, and then it collapsed on the floor, out cold.
I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. I was shaking, and my legs felt like rubber. I felt myself fall, but couldn't stop it. I didn't hit the ground, however, because someone caught me. It was someone with a much bigger build than Brian or Keith; it had to be Gilroy. He was totally supporting me, his arms wrapped around my waist. I was in shock, I think. I leaned against his big frame, trying not to let my vision swim.
"Easy there, little lady," he said in his deep, gravelly voice. "Great job by the way. I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. You charmed the beast into forgetting we were even here."
"I did?" I asked dumbly, my brow furrowing in confusion. "I never heard or felt the gate go up."
"That's cause we didn't go in that way," he told me.
"Then how did you go in?" I came back to myself enough to ask.
"Your boy here—," he pointed to Brian, still holding me against himself, "—thought of a really cool way to do it."
Brian and Keith came up to me with thickly gloved hands, carrying a net to gather the unconscious feline in. Brian blushed a little at Gilroy's praise. "I thought we could cut a hole in one of the side display windows and take a shot from there. Cutting the glass with a glass cutter was much quieter and less obvious. It worked beautifully, along with your distraction of the animal."
"Wow," I said truly impressed with Brian's ingenuity. "Where did you get a glass cutter from?"
"Gilroy happened to have one out in his truck," Keith explained.
"Yeah, you'd be surprised how often something like that comes in handy in our line of work," Gilroy said as I pulled myself out of his embrace, able to stand on my own again. Something about the man bothered me. There was something off about him that I couldn't put my finger on.
"Let's get Mr. Kitty out to the cage in the truck," Brian said all business now.
As he, Keith, and Gilroy cautiously approached the unmoving form of the leopard to net it, I glanced around at the damage done to the store. It was an absolute disaster area. Debris of all kinds littered the place. It would need some major repairs before it could go back into service. At least the damage was just to property and no person had been hurt. That was one thing to be thankful for.
It didn't take long for the three men to lug the large animal outside and get it secured in a special cage we had. The cage was in the zoo truck Brian had brought with him. The police and emergency personal watched us with obvious relief on their faces. We had successfully done our jobs; we were heroes as far as they were concerned, and the media was bound to spin it that way too.
"Girl, I don't know how you got that thing to concentrate just on you, but you sure did a bang-up job," Johannsen commented as the police and others were shaking our hands. "I guess you really did know what you were doing."
"Thanks," I told him sincerely. "Animals just respond well to me. They always have. That's part of the reason I became a vet."
Brian shook a finger at me. "That's mostly true. The monkeys and elephants don't like you much though," he said with a smile.
I laughed at him. "Touché," I agreed.
Brian then thanked the animal control guys for their help and promised to keep them updated on the animal's condition and anything we found out about where it came from. They told us they would look into it with their resources as well and let us in on any information they dug up.
Brian and Keith got into the van and prepared to get going back to the zoo. I came up to the side of the van, and Brian rolled down the window. "I'm going to follow you so I can examine the animal," I informed him.
"I was hoping you would, Abs," Brian replied. "And, Abby—," he added as I started to walk away, "—I'm sorry I doubted you. You were right, as usual."
"Just remember that next time, kay?" was all I said with a smile, ready to forgive and forget.
"Will do," he said with a smile of his own. "I've asked the police to keep the press off our backs, at least until we can get back to the zoo and have a look at our friend here."
"That sounds good. We don't have time right now to deal with the media," I said, relieved.
Brian and Keith both nodded in agreement. "But, we will have to deal with them at some point. There'll be a lot of questions that the press and the public will want answers to," Brian supposed.
"The Audubon Institute Board will probably want to draft a formal statement and decide who gets to say what," I assumed right along with him.
Brian grunted at that statement. "See ya in a bit, Abs," he said as he put the van into gear.
"You bet," I replied.
As I walked back to my car, I knew I needed to call Ray and tell him about all that had happened and that all was well. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and noticed that I had four missed calls, along with at least one or more voicemails. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that my mom or sister had tried to call me, and probably Vicky, Beth, and Jess. I'd have to call them all eventually, but my mom was probably the most important. It then occurred to me that if I called Vicky, she'd make all the rounds for me. She loved juicy gossip and sharing it with as many people as possible.
As I started my Jeep up and followed the police escort out of the mall parking lot, I called my mom and assured her that everything was fine. She was relieved and couldn't believe what I'd had to do. I told her I'd fill in her on all the thrilling details later. I also told her about the call from Dr. Gerard and about the results of my bone marrow tests. She had been ecstatic, wanting to go shopping to celebrate. Ray was next on my list. Then I called Vicky, as I drove to the zoo.
"Oh, cherie, cherie!" she exclaimed when she picked up the phone. "What's goin' on at the mall? Were you involved in that fiasco?"
"Yes, Vick I was," I said hurriedly. "Someone stuck a freakin' black leopard in the Victoria's Secret store! A team from the zoo and from animal control was called in. I helped Brian and Keith knock the big guy out, and we're taking him to the zoo now to look him over."
"So no one got hurt, I take it," Vicky replied. "And obviously you're out of your mind excited about the whole thing. I can hear it in your voice. Do you have any idea how it got trapped in there?"
"Not yet, but any evidence we can gather off the cat itself, we'll turn over the police's forensics department to help them in their investigation. I'm sure they'll go through what's left of the store with a fine-toothed comb." I had to pause for breath. I was excited.
"What happened to the store?" Vicky demanded. It was one of her and Jess's favorite places to shop.
"Let's just say that fancy underwear and nighties are not very leopard proof," I said with a light laugh. "He kind of demolished it."
"That little shit. Oh well, I never did like the layout of that store. Hopefully, they'll improve it as they repair it. How do you explain leopard damage to an insurance company? You'll let me know all about you're little adventure after you check out your new pet?" Vicky then teased me. "It isn't sick or crazed in any way is it?"she then asked more seriously.
I had to stop at a red light which started to make me impatient. "I don't think so. I think he was just plain pissed off about being locked in the store. I'll know more when I get a chance to do some blood work and a physical examination."
I couldn't wait to get my hands on that soft fur coat. I wanted to feel it slide through my fingers. I had to shake myself back to reality. Where did that come from? I should be concentrating on its overall condition, not indulging myself in childish fantasies.
"Abs, you still there?" Vicky was asking.
"Yeah—I'm still here. Sorry, I got lost in thought for a moment. I'll be sure to give you a full report when I know more and have the time," I said distractedly. "He's such a gorgeous creature, Vick. I can't believe he fell right into my lap! This is such exhilarating opportunity! I've always wanted to work with a black leopard. It's kind of a dream come true." I was gushing and babbling now, but I couldn't help it. Now that the danger had passed, the adrenaline still left in my system was finding a new way to pump me up.
"Uh-oh," Vicky sassed me. "Ray has some competition for your affection now. Are you gonna to let this new male in your life steal your heart? The leopard is a male, right? You keep sayin' 'he'."
I rolled my eyes at Vicky's drama queen antics, but it was probably lost on her since she couldn't see the movement over the phone. "It has to be a male. It's huge! As heavy as a grown-sized human man. Leopards are the smallest of the big cats. Lions and tigers can weigh much more than that, in the five hundred pound range or more, but leopards are much smaller. Still formidable, but just little compared to their cousins. This guy, though, is big by even leopard standards."
"Oh, cherie, you are sooooo already smitten by this animal," Vicky continued to give me a hard time. "Ray had better watch his back."
"Stop it, Vick,'" I scolded. "Nobody can replace Ray in my affections. Besides, I can't marry a leopard," I couldn't help but joke.
Vicky laughed loud and long over the phone. "Aww, cherie, you're priceless, but you'd better not say that in front of Ray. Anyway, I'll let the girls know that you're fine and dandy, so you can go play with your new friend."
I scoffed at her. "Whatever. And thanks, Vick, I'd appreciate that. Oh, by the way, the doctor called me this morning and gave me a clean bill of health. They still want to watch things a little, but overall, I don't have any major health issues to speak of."
"That's wonderful, Abby. What a relief, huh? Your day is turnin' out to be more and more delightful. So much good news," Vicky told me. "Talk to you later, cher."
"Bye, Vick," I said and hung up, smiling broadly to myself.
Things were definitely looking up for a change. It was about time they got back to normal, and I could go on about my life. With the health scare out of the way, I could turn my attention back to the upcoming wedding—I was still determined to go through with it—and hopefully a new project working with our new found leopard. Yes, life is most certainly getting better by the second, I thought.
TBC…
So what is the consensus on this chapter? Cool? Intriguing? Fun? And how in the world did that leopard end up in a mall store? Please let me know what you think. Reviews are so inspiring.
