Chapter 5

That afternoon, Steve showed up unannounced.

"Maybe I'm being paranoid," he said, "but there's some weird stuff going on and I don't trust my phones to be secure. Aaron, our lawyer says the police don't have any reports of a missing ape. On top of that, Adamson's Labs denies any knowledge of her. That may not be too surprising if Bonnie was taken illegally. They wouldn't want to be in the limelight if that were the case."

"Well then, that lets us off the hook, doesn't it?" I asked, feeling a sense of relief.

"Don't count on that. I think I'd rather the police were looking for her. Even without her phenomenal brain, she's still a valuable animal and I can't imagine Adamson's will just write her off without making some effort to find her. And we have to consider the possibility that they know about her intellect. The HIV reference on the manifest might have been a red herring. It's only logical that you're going to be suspected of taking her and that animal rights groups are going to be high on their list of possible accomplices."

"Do they know about this place?"

"Probably. It's no state secret. That doesn't mean we're in their sights yet but if they're looking for her, you can bet they'll check us out at some point. They have to at least suspect it's us doing the investigating since the Foundation has bumped heads with Adamson's several times in the past over animal rights issues. That's why I don't trust the phones."

Sarah suggested, "Maybe we should warn Jimmy to be especially watchful and do more frequent perimeter checks."

Steve agreed, "That's probably a good idea. Why don't you call him and have him come over. Tell him it's important."

I was beginning to have second thoughts about asking for their help. "Steve, maybe Bonnie and I should just move on. I really hate the idea that I'm bringing heat down on you guys."

"Don't even think about it, Aaron! There's no way you can move her around without being spotted. Besides, we've got the resources to deal with this thing and you don't. Remember, this is what we're all about. If people start showing up at our door, we'll just handle it."

Jimmy showed up a few minutes later and was brought up to speed on the situation. He nodded his head and ventured, "It won't be the first time we've had to deal with people trying to get their animals back. Don't worry about it Steve. I'll activate the motion sensors and start keeping a closer eye on the monitors."

"I know you can handle it, Jimmy. I just wanted you to know there might be something coming your way. We need to be vigilant. Make sure the whole security system is working properly. Don't open the gate for anybody without being sure of what you're dealing with. By the way, Dr. Greene had a thought the lawyers are following up on. She thinks Bonnie is comfortable enough with people that she might have been around them for a while. We're trying to contact someone in the Congolese government to find out if she might have been taken or shipped from a research facility there. If she was, then it's likely they know about her special abilities."

"If that's true," Sarah added, "then she's a lot more valuable than we thought. She'd be priceless for research. Maybe I've read too many crime stories but whoever is trying to get her back might go to unusual lengths to retrieve her, probably outside any legal channels considering no reports have been filed with the police."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Sarah." Steve held up his hands in a gesture to slow down on the runaway theories. "We'll wait and see what if anything develops. I just want you to be aware that Adamson's might be employing private agents to get their property back. I want you to stay on your toes. It might be best to communicate by e-mail if it has anything to do with Bonnie."

Turning to me, Steve asked, "Aaron, I don't suppose you have a computer, do you?"

"Sure I do, but it's in Vermont."

"Sarah, would you or Jimmy run into town and pick up a decent laptop for Aaron and use our credit card? He can connect with our Wi-Fi. Aaron, I'd like you to start keeping a journal starting with your first contact with Bonnie when you boarded the ship in Luanda. You need to be honest and thorough in what you write, even if you think it might be incriminating. Will you do that?"