Ghost of a Chance by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

9

Where’s Omar?

Joe stood transfixed, watching the puma fly through the air toward him.

“Now, Joe!” Lloyd called from behind. “Roll!”

Joe heard the ping of the tranquilizer dart gun firing. Remembering his training, he dropped to the ground, kicked out his feet, and rolled to one side.

Surprised by the dart’s sting in its flank, the pouncing puma twisted and missed a direct hit on Joe. It bounced off Joe’s legs and thudded to the ground.

Joe jumped to his feet. He could hear Lloyd’s voice in his mind as he remembered the first day of training. “If you’re threatened by a mountain lion,” Lloyd had said, “try to make yourself look as big as possible. Open your coat out to make the puma think you’re wider.”

As Lloyd had taught him, Joe took the corners of his open jacket and held them out wide like huge wings. Never taking his eyes off the lion, he slowly backed away.

The puma tried to rise to launch another attack on Joe, but its legs were wobbly, and it fell once more to the ground. This time it stayed.

“Everyone back away,” Lloyd said, “and leave the area.” No one needed to hear that order twice. The set was cleared in just a minute.

“Man, that was close,” Lloyd said as he lay his head on the puma’s chest to double-check its heartbeat. Then he touched the puma’s left ear. “This is how I knew it wasn’t Omar.” Joe looked at the edge of the ear. There was a piece missing, as if something had bitten out a small hunk.

“It’s a good thing—” Lloyd started to say.

“Lloyd, Omar is missing,” Gene interrupted, racing onto the set. “When I went to pick him up for the scene, he and his cage were missing. I turned to yell at you and someone punched me.”

“Are you all right?” Joe asked.

“Yeah, it was a body blow right to the gut,” Gene said. “It took all my wind. By the time I could get back here, it was too late. This puma was leaping straight at you, Joe.”

“And the chicken in your pocket,” Lloyd pointed out. “That’s probably what attracted him.” He stood up as he spoke. “We’ve got to get this cat locked up for now and then find Omar!”

“The trained animal’s missing, and a wild animal shows up for the shoot,” Joe said. “Way too much coincidence. Someone had to set the whole thing into motion—just another way to disrupt the filming.”

“But this time it was dangerous and could have been deadly,” Gene pointed out. “Although this couldn’t be an entirely wild puma,” he added.

“What do you mean?” Joe asked.

“A really wild puma would never wander into an area with people standing around,” Gene said while Lloyd checked the lion’s pulse and examined its eyes. He wanted to make sure it wasn’t having a bad reaction to the tranquilizer.

“He would have stayed hidden or run away,” Lloyd added.

“Are you saying it’s someone’s pet?” Joe asked.

“Not necessarily a pet,” Gene said. “But it’s definitely used to being around people or it never would have walked out here in the first place.

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