Read Online Wanted By The Alpha Lion (Heroes of Shifter Creek 2) by Clara Moore - Free Book Online Page A

Roger.” Janelle had slowed her steps. It was clear she was listening to the exchange. “I understand this appeal means a lot to you. But I’m not going to have this meeting turn into some kind of free-for-all. Am I clear?”
    Roger snorted. “Let’s just get this over with.” He shouldered past Danny and stomped past Janelle, leading the way into the meeting room.
    Janelle looked at Danny. “Is this a safe situation I’m walking into?”
    “I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” Danny said. “Roger’s got a big mouth, but he knows where the lines are drawn.”
    “Let’s hope so,” Janelle said. “Because the law is definitely not on his side.”
    Danny joined Jorge and Steven Wyatt, the other town board members, at the table in the front of the room. “Everybody knows why we’re here,” he said. “Roger has filed an appeal regarding the proposed expansion of his business, which would entail the construction of three warehouses and two manufacturing facilities on lots A-154 and A-155.”
    “This expansion would create over thirty jobs,” Roger said, casting a venomous look at Janelle. “Jobs that are desperately needed in this region.”
    Janelle took a deep breath, and stood up. “I understand the gentleman’s concerns,” she said, setting up a habitat map next to the lot map Danny had been pointing to. “But the reason the project has been denied permission to move forward is very clear, and is grounded in established environmental protection law. If Mr. Wilson is allowed to move forward with his plans for expansion in this region, one of the very last nesting grounds we have for the Mexican long-nosed bat will be compromised, perhaps permanently.” Her long dark fingers traced over the lower left corner of Southwestern Texas, a land that didn’t hold much beyond scrub pines and deep cool caves. “Thousands of bats  - perhaps even hundreds of thousands of bats – will suffer as a result.”
    “And this bat is on the endangered species list?”  Danny didn’t look up from the paperwork he was perusing.
    “Yes, sir,” Janelle said. “It’s been on the list since 1988 – almost thirty years now. You’ll find that information on page one, as well as on page six.”
    “I have a question.” The meeting room was unusually crowded, and Janelle couldn’t tell which one of the many cowboys who’d attended was asking the question. However Danny appeared to know without even glancing up.
    “What’s that, Millet?” he asked.
    “If these are Mexican long-nosed bats, why are we worried about ‘em at all?” Millet said, with a big, boisterous laugh. His grin grew wider when the cowboys around him joined in the jocularity. “So what if they’ve got no habitat here? We can send ‘em back just like all the rest of the illegals.” He sneered at Janelle. “Unless you’ve got plans on giving them bats driver’s licenses and Obamacare while you’re at it.”
    Danny glanced at Janelle. He had surprising bright blue eyes under his cowboy hat, she noticed, and a smile that he was apparently struggling to keep under control. “Would you like to respond to that?”
    “No,” Janelle smiled back. “But I will. The Mexican long-nosed bat was once endemic to this entire region.” She looked out into the crowd at the cowboy she thought was Millet. “That meant it occurred regularly in large numbers throughout Texas and New Mexico, with smaller populations being found in Arizona and periodically in Louisiana.” Janelle shrugged her large rounded shoulders and smiled. “They go to Mexico for mating purposes, but America is their home.”
    “Just like you do, Millet,” Danny said, provoking much laughter from the crowd, “and no one’s suggesting we go and trash your home.” He tapped the inch high stack of paperwork Janelle had provided him with. “Anyway, our hands are tied. The regulations are all as Ms. Washington has explained to us. The bats are on the endangered species