Tears inexplicably fill my eyes and I pull in a shaky breath.
“She’s beautiful,” Kelly whispers, obviously a bit emotional as well.
“She is.”
“Seriously, Holly. What can I do to help? Can I go get dinner for everyone?”
I pause.
Dinner would be great.
I look around for my purse. “Let me get you my credit card. If you could go get burgers and fries for everyone, that would be amazing. I don’t think any of us have eaten today. There’s eleven of us right now.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t need money. Please—this is, well, this is awful. Let me do this for you and your team.”
I incline my head. “Thank you. And right now, we’ll eat almost anything. Just tell them to put all the extras on the side since everyone has different taste.”
“Should I get bottled water?”
“That would be perfect.”
I take Tillie and Kelly turns to go back to her car while I head back inside.
We’ve mostly been working on the birds today, not as concerned with cleaning up the mess as we are making sure the birds who weren’t hurt are safe and taken care of.
We lost six birds, including Elvis. It looks like Priscilla is going to be okay but she’s going to be heartbroken without her mate. We also lost two of our golden conures, which are extremely rare, a pair of lovebirds, and the shoebill stork who was Jay’s pride and joy.
Elvis will be impossible to replace, and even if we managed to find another albino peacock, his personality was one-of-a-kind.
Not to mention, the cost to get the place up and running again could wipe me out. I have insurance but I have no idea how much they’ll give me or how long it will take them. And finding rare birds isn’t something I can shop for—we’re a sanctuary because they come to us when no one else wants them or can care for them. There’s no way to anticipate when that will happen.
I sit on the front step and rest my elbows on my knees.
I’m exhausted, sad, and furious.
I haven’t had time to think about what I’m going to do but I know with every fiber of my being that my father was involved. It’s just going to be a matter of proving it, and that will probably be difficult.
He’s many things but stupid isn’t one of them.
If he orchestrated this—and he definitely did—he used people who are good at what they do and who won’t leave evidence behind. The police dusted for prints and did all the things they do after this type of vandalism but they didn’t find anything except a couple of shoe prints. Without any other clues, it will be almost impossible to find out whom they belong to.
I drove over to my grandmother’s house earlier and it hasn’t been disturbed but I’m worried they’ll go after it next. Because my father is that petty. And for whatever reason, he wants to force me to sell my land.
But I refuse.
Especially now.
Which probably means I’m going to have to take the job in New York because I’ll need money to buy a security system, cameras, whatever is necessary to keep the sanctuary safe.
I won’t let something like this happen again.
My head is pounding and I’m so hungry I’m a bit nauseated.
I’ve just gotten to my feet when I see a black SUV pull into the parking lot and I’m immediately on high alert.
I know that SUV.
It’s my father.
