Animal Whisperer: Take Back My Life and Love Chapter 14: Rescue In The Basement

Nancy hurriedly translated the crow’s warning. Simon raised the steel pipe in his hand, then without hesitation lifted his leg and slammed his boot into the wooden door.

Bang! The rotted wood exploded into splinters with a deafening crack.

"Police! Don’t move!"

The killer froze, jolted by the sudden noise, and the knife slipped from his hand with a clatter.

As he bent to snatch it back, Simon moved like a predator—swift as a leopard.

His long leg swung out in a sharp kick, sending the blade skidding into a corner.

Before the man could react, Simon had already seized his wrist and flipped him hard to the ground in a flawless shoulder throw.

One knee pinned the killer’s back, his black tactical pants taut against the strength of his legs, his broad-shouldered frame cut in sharp relief against the dim basement light like a carved statue.

Click.

The handcuffs snapped shut with a crisp finality.

Simon pressed down on the struggling man, his sweat-damp hair clinging to his forehead, his sharp eyes gleaming like cold steel.

Breath coming hard, his trained movements were controlled and lethal, every motion radiating discipline.

Watching her brother take down the criminal so cleanly, Nancy finally let her own taut nerves relax.

"Stay still."

Simon’s deep voice carried an authority that brooked no argument. He leaned more weight onto his knee, forcing a cry of pain from the man beneath him.

Meanwhile, Nancy rushed to the woman bound to the chair, tugging away the ropes and pulling the rag from her mouth.

The young woman gasped for air, tears spilling down her cheeks as the terror ebbed.

Nancy saw she was only a few years older than herself, her makeup smeared, one pearl earring missing, the aura of a once-polished socialite still clinging to her.

Nancy quickly pulled tissues from her pocket and pressed them into her hands. "Don’t be afraid. My brother’s a police officer, and we’ve already called for backup."

She rubbed the woman’s back gently, soothing her as she would a frightened animal.

The woman wept into the tissues until, at last, she steadied herself enough to grab Nancy’s arm. "Your phone… can I use it to make a call?"

Nancy unlocked her phone and passed it over.

The woman dialed, and almost immediately, a man and woman’s anxious voices burst from the speaker—her parents.

"Mandolin! Where are you? Are you hurt?"

Mandolin’s reddened eyes filled with tears again. "Dad, Mom, I was kidnapped by a bad guy! I was so scared… please come get me!"

Her father’s voice spiked with panic. "You were kidnapped? How much ransom? I’ll bring it right away!"

Mandolin shook her head quickly. "No, no—it’s okay. A police officer and a girl just saved me. Please just come pick me up."

She looked up at Nancy. "Where are we?"

Nancy gave the construction site’s location into the phone.

Hearing her parents promise they were already on their way, Mandolin’s trembling eased.

She wiped her face and turned to Nancy. "Thank you. My name’s Mandolin. What’s yours? How did you even find me?"

Her voice broke again. "I really thought… I thought tonight was the end."

Nancy scrambled to hand her more tissues. "I’m Nancy. I run the nearby zoo. I’m also an animal communicator—I can understand signals from animals."

Nancy had been preparing this explanation for a while. Twice now she’d uncovered killers, and she knew the police might question how. An "animal communicator" was a convenient cover, a real but niche profession she’d read about abroad.

Of course, ordinary communicators couldn’t talk to animals as fluently as she did. But it was enough to shield her.

Mandolin’s eyes went wide. "Animal communicator? That’s such a fascinating job!"

"So you found me because…"

Nancy pointed to the crow poking its head from the air vent. "This little crow kept fluttering around me tonight, like it had discovered something. My brother had come to pick me up from work—he’s a police officer. We followed the crow together, and… well, here we are."

Mandolin’s eyes welled with gratitude. "I’m unbelievably lucky. To run into an animal communicator and a police officer at the same time…"

She looked between the siblings. "Your jobs go perfectly together. One discovers the danger, the other takes the criminal down. You’re like the ultimate support and the ultimate fighter!"

Nancy laughed, the tension finally giving way. Put like that, it really did sound true. She and her brother were the perfect team.