Anna Pigeon 05 Endangered Species by Nevada Barr

Author:Nevada Barr [Barr, Nevada]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Fiction, Suspense, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths, Pigeon; Anna (Fictitious character), Women park rangers, Cumberland Island National Seashore (Ga.)
ISBN: 9780425226858
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2008-11-15T08:00:00+00:00

Having doffed only her boots and pocket watch, Anna waded fully clothed

into the sea and let the ocean close over her head. Salt water

purified, weightlessness calmed her spirit. Time warped again but this

time she could live with it. She luxuriated in the warn] surf .

Bobbing like a bit of kelp on the tide, she lay at the surface,

\vatching the panorama of beach.

The nesting sites of the loggerheads were invisible in front of oat

grass, thrust up black and spiky, the light of the moon behind the

blades. A trail, something dragged, cut between two of the nests,

breaking down a lip of sand carved by high tide. The Hansons, Anna

thought, dragging their harvest. Wind and water would obliterate the

track by noon. An ideal setup: a couple on a houseboat known to anchor

in different places to savor island views. A few nights a year they

anchor just off the beach, drag their goods in, stow them aboard, and

motor sedately away.

Dragging the booty over Marty Schlessinger's prize cache of turtle eggs:

Anna pressed the heels of her hands to her temples and squeezed as if

she could wring the dope smoke from her system and glimpse what flash of

thought that image had engendered. Had Marty known of the marijuana

plot, found it perhaps in her wanderings? Would she kill to protect the

eggs? Possibly. But killing Todd or Slattery-or both-wouldn't stop the

harvest, whereas one word in the right NPS ear would have shut the whole

operation down .

Besides, looked at realistically, assuming Schlessinger still retained

that capacity, two people dragging a few bales of weed over the top of

the nests would do them no harm.

If it occurred on a night the little loggerheads were hatching, making

that first perilous journey to the ocean, interference might do some

damage. The turtles were slated to hatch within the next week. Had

Marty tried a preemptive strike to keep the traffic off the beach? Had

the Hansons guessed and harvested early?

"Builshit , Anna said, and splashed salt water in her face. Taking a

deep breath, she submerged until a fit of coughing forced her to the

surface ." Work, damn you, work," she said aloud, and smacked the side

of her skull. The jolt seemed to do some good. The flaws in her line

of thinking became apparent. The night the turtles came out was marked

on calendars all over the island. The beach would be alive with rangers

and volunteers come to assist and celebrate .

That would be the last night the Hansons would choose for any illicit

activity.

Nothing made sense.

Her ability to think was spent. Her brain unraveled and she floated,

her clothing waving about her like Ophelia's shroud.

Anna reached Plum Orchard before sunrise and squished up the stairs. The

door was unlocked as she had left it and no one stirred within. Another

small blessing duly noted. What with one thing and another, she was out

of patience. She doubted she could bear the whey-faced sorrow of Tabby

Belfore with equanimity. And given the way she looked at the moment,

Tabby's laying eyes on her couldn't be good for the baby.

Standing at the sink, she downed another sixteen ounces of water, loaded

the electric coffee maker for eight cups and clicked it on.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.