Out of Nowhere

By Alan Gorevan

Zookeeper Nathan Green lives a lonely life. He’s more comfortable with gorillas and wolves than with people.

But one night, a stranger shatters his solitary existence.

A woman with no name.

With no past.

Helping her might cost Nathan everything.

Out of Nowhere is a gripping mystery thriller, perfect for fans of Dean Koontz, Mary Higgins Clark, and Harlan Coben.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alan Gorevan
• Release date: Jun 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463480649

Alan Gorevan

Alan Gorevan is an award-winning thriller writer and intellectual property attorney. He lives in Dublin.

Book preview

Chapter One

Nathan Green took a breath, inhaling the musty gorilla smell which filled the examination room. He nodded to the other zookeepers. They gripped the handholds on the bright orange net, preparing themselves to lift the enormous gorilla from the table, where she lay unconscious.

Let’s go, Nathan said.

They lifted Congo on the net, staggered out the door and down the corridor, Nathan in the lead. Vicky Bracket, the vet, trailed behind. Nathan could feel the strain on his arms, but he was used to such work, and there was nowhere he would have preferred to be than Dublin Zoo.

He was surprised that Jim wasn’t there. Most team leaders wouldn’t have allowed an examination like this to take place in their absence, but Jim had insisted that they go ahead without him.

The keepers staggered outside and across the open ground to the building which housed the gorillas. The December air was icy, but they were soon indoors again, in a long building with a series of interconnecting cages. They brought Congo into an empty cage.

Nathan nodded to indicate the place where he wanted her set down, and they eased her off the net.

He said, Let’s clear the cage.

The other keepers filed out, leaving only himself and Vicky. Like Nathan, the vet was bundled up in typical zoo attire: a padded, olive-green jacket and cargo pants. He watched as Vicky filled a syringe and hunkered down beside the gorilla.

Nathan fished a stem of raw broccoli out of his pocket and set it down on the ground where Congo would see it. A surprise for when she woke.

Vicky glanced at Nathan over Congo’s unconscious form. She had an unnerving stare that made Nathan self-conscious about his acne-scarred face. Vicky must have been ten years older than Nathan, in her mid-thirties, and she had that unflappable quality which Nathan often saw in vets.

Vicky brushed back a strand of frizzy blonde hair with one hand.

Things are going to be different around here now, she said.

Nathan nodded.

I know, he said.

Since that morning’s announcement, he’d been uneasy. The coming change would affect them all.

Vicky slipped the needle into Congo’s shaved flesh and injected the antidote.

She should come around in five or ten minutes.

Nathan nodded. I’ll check on her later.

He gathered up the net, tucked it under his arm, and took a final look around the cage to see that nothing had been left behind. Then he and Vicky went out.

From an adjacent cage, the other gorillas observed everything. Kiki, Congo’s son, did not seem particularly concerned about his mother. He was more interested in impressing the other female gorillas.

Recently, he’d even been trying to impress Vicky.

Good luck, Nathan thought.

He found Vicky intimidating. As long as they were talking about animals, he was fine, but when she veered off that topic, Nathan felt lost.

He followed her outside, the cold air hitting him like a punch in the chest. Snow cascaded down from the sky.

Despite the weather and the tension hanging over the zoo, Nathan had a reason to be happy. The examination had confirmed what they all hoped: Congo was pregnant. One of the joys of being a zookeeper was seeing new life come into the world. With so many of the animals Nathan cared for classified as endangered, every birth was important.

But he knew not to get his hopes up at this stage. Until there was a living, breathing infant, anything could happen. Even after a successful birth, the first hours and days were risky.

Vicky stopped after a few steps. She seemed on the verge of saying something when a bald young man with intense grey eyes approached them on foot. He was short and smooth-featured, with frameless glasses hooked onto ears that projected straight outwards from his head like small round wings. Ben. Vicky didn’t wait for him to come over, just waved Nathan goodbye and set off down the path. Nathan wondered what might have been on her mind.

Ben watched her go with regret. What did you say?

Me? Nothing. You drove her away.

Ben grinned. ‘Drove her away’? You sound piqued. I’m all for you finding yourself a girl. But Vicky’s taken.

Did she tell you that?

Didn’t have to, Ben said. It’s like a sixth sense I have. Or seventh. I don’t know. I have so many senses.

Doesn’t matter. I’m not interested in her, Nathan said. And it was true. He was better off alone. Why are you in such a fine mood? Has the Nigerian finance minister been e-mailing you again?

Better. The head of the World Bank says he has twenty point three million dollars with my name on it.

Nathan let out a soft whistle.

That sounds genuine. The ‘point three’ almost proves it. Why would anyone invent the ‘point three’?

My thinking exactly. As if twenty million isn’t convincing enough.

Nathan started to back away. I’ve got to go.

Are you coming to the party tonight?

Nathan shook his head.

Aw, come on, Ben called. It’s Jim’s big night. He’ll miss you.

Yeah, right.

Nathan kept walking.

He headed for the red panda enclosure. He was being especially vigilant because of the severe weather. The most vulnerable animals were being kept indoors, with the heating turned up as high as it would go. It turned out that the red pandas were fine – already asleep, in fact. Nathan left them to their dreams.

Next he went to see about the wolves, but he couldn’t spot any of them. The enclosure gave every appearance of being empty. They must have gone underground. Before the weather turned Arctic, they had dug a network of tunnels in the earth. They must have retreated down there now. Smart creatures. There was no need to bring them indoors.

On his way to the car park, Nathan checked on Congo. She was sitting up, bright and alert, munching on the broccoli. He stood and watched her for a while. When he checked his watch, it was nearly nine o’clock. He had been at work for thirteen hours, and he could feel it in his body.

Time to call it a day.

Nathan’s Volvo was a red S40 saloon. Probably the oldest car in the zoo’s car park. Probably the cheapest too.

The snow hadn’t really begun to stick yet, but it was falling steadily. Nathan’s phone said it was 0 °C It felt even colder, perhaps because of the wind.

The car didn’t start on the first attempt. Nathan tried the engine again, and was rewarded with the sound of it roaring to life.

He pulled out of the car park, and left Phoenix Park behind. Nathan was always amazed at the thought of such a huge park, 1,750 acres, lying only two kilometres west of Dublin city centre. Phoenix Park housed not only the zoo, but the residence of the Irish president. Wild deer roamed free through the park.

Nathan headed south, towards the suburbs. The snow was falling more heavily by the time Nathan reached Dundrum.

He normally avoided the sprawling shopping centre. It was a heaven for many, but Nathan hated shopping. It was something he had to do though, as his parents were visiting him from Spain the next day. As well as needing to stock up on food, he needed to get one last present and time was running out. There were only three days to Christmas.

When he got to the roundabout outside the shopping centre, traffic had slowed almost to a standstill. It was too late to change his mind about going in. He was stuck.

OPEN UNTIL 11PM. DRIVE SAFE, read a digital display.

Drivers all around him were shouting, beeping and cutting one another off.

Happy Christmas, everyone.

Nathan tuned out the noise and lights around him. Inch by inch, he moved closer.

After twenty minutes, he got inside the car park and found a parking space in front of the supermarket. That meant he didn’t have to descend into the depths of the underground car park. He was grateful for that.

He hurried into the warmth of the shopping centre, where he was greeted by the usual Christmas soundtrack. In the supermarket, he worked his way through his shopping list and paid at a self-service check-out.

Next was the more difficult task of finding a Christmas present for his mother. Nathan spent a long time looking around the shops for something, before eventually settling on a statue of the Buddha. It was only thirty centimetres tall but heavier than it looked. His mother was not a Buddhist, but the statue radiated calm, and she could do with such an influence, he thought. Something to prevent her thoughts swirling into darkness again.

By the time Nathan paid for it, the crowds had thinned out.

Still, it was a relief when he emerged back into the night air. He felt he could breathe again as he wheeled his trolley to the Volvo. There were no stars overhead. They were blocked out by swollen ice-clouds.

Nathan hoped Ben was having a good time at Jim’s party. Nathan didn’t want to be there, as Jim celebrated leaving the zoo. His mentor’s decision felt like an utter betrayal, one Nathan could never forgive.

He put the shopping in the boot of the car, sat the Buddha in the back seat and brought his trolley to the trolley bay. For a moment, at least, the car park lay in eerie silence. The late hour and falling temperature meant that few people were around.

He had just started walking back to his car when he heard the fight break out.

Chapter Two

A chill ran down Nathan’s spine as he listened to the voices. It sounded like two people, a woman and a man. The woman’s voice was low. Distraught. But the guy sounded furious.

Nathan’s pulse sped up. An animalistic reaction. His survival instinct kicking in.

He followed the voices around the trolley bay.

A woman in a long, padded coat, with the hood up, was walking quickly across the car park. She was heading towards the pedestrian exit.

A young man with wild, curly hair followed close behind. He wore a puffy jacket but it was open at the front and it looked strange on his thin frame. The woman’s body language showed that she could not have been more eager to get away.

The man’s pace grew faster as he caught up with her.

Nathan thought, Is this going to turn ugly?

He looked around. There were no security staff in the car park. They were all indoors, watching for shoplifters. That’s what they were paid for, not to act as mediators in every argument that broke out. Sorting out disputes was not Nathan’s job either.

He should leave the couple to it.

It was probably nothing.

The man shouted again and, though Nathan was unable to make out his words, the fury in his voice made Nathan reluctant to walk away. He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if something bad happened, something he could have prevented.

He hurried back to his car, fumbling with the key fob because of the cold. He got in, got the engine started - and reversed too fast.

Easy, Nathan.

Causing an accident wasn’t going to help.

Accelerating to the end of the lane, Nathan made a sharp right and sped forwards. There were four rows of cars in the middle of the square car park, with a one-way lane looping around the perimeter. He was passing along the top of the rows, and looking down them.

No one on the first row.

He continued on to the next one, and saw the man and woman emerge from between two parked cars. Nathan took the turn, cut the lights, and accelerated until he had covered half of the distance to them.

Then he slowed the car and wound down his window an inch.

Icy air rushed in.

Get away from me, the woman said. Her voice was sharp enough to cut through the sound of the diesel engine. Leave me alone.

But the man grabbed her and pulled her to him.

She screamed. The hair on the back of Nathan’s neck shot up. The man shook the woman. Nathan continued to ease the car towards them.

Neither seemed to notice his approach.

As the snow began to fall more heavily, the man drew back his fist and hit the woman in the face.

Nathan had to do something, but he was rooted to his seat. It was as if invisible arms were holding him down.

The man had his back to Nathan.

You’re dead, he screamed, and gave the woman a savage shove. She fell, banging her head against the side of a parked car.

She lay on the ground, just like a crushed milk carton.

The man made to go for her again.

Nathan stopped the car. He jumped out, retrieving the Buddha statue from the back seat as he went.

The woman stirred. Her attacker reached out to grab her. Nathan ran at the man and hit him across the back of the head with the statue.

The man went down.

For a moment, Nathan stood in shock. So much for the inner calm that he had hoped the statue might nurture in his mother.

The moment passed.

He moved.

Adrenaline pulsed through him. He pulled the woman to her feet. She looked at him with surprise but didn’t resist as he hurried her to his car. She didn’t seem to even understand what was happening to her.

Nathan helped her in, slammed the passenger door shut, then ran around the back of the car and got behind the wheel.

He glanced up to see the attacker recovering.

The man got to his feet.

Began rushing towards them.

That was when the woman spoke to Nathan for the first time. Her voice was quiet, but there was certainty in it.

Be quick, she said, or he’ll kill us.

Nathan tried the engine, but it didn’t start.

Chapter Three

Nathan sensed the stranger’s gaze on him. She was scared, and she had every reason to be.

It does this sometimes, Nathan told her. He