Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
I smirked. “Noted.” I went to the back seat instead to grab the utility gloves. “Bone-crushing jaws—my library is quite extensive.”
He grinned a little. “You’re really fuckin’ cute, you know that?”
Heh.
I swallowed nervously, part happy, part worried, part buzzing. The teenager I’d once been ran a victory lap. At least he didn’t see a kid when he looked at me. I hoped. But cute? Twice, he’d called me that. How about hot? Had he seen my abs? My ass? My damn face?
“My mom agrees with you,” I said. “And my grandmother.”
Before Ty could respond—I didn’t even know if he would’ve—the bright beam of another flashlight reached us, and it was followed by, “Ty, is that you?”
Ty held up a hand, squinting in the light. “Lower the weapon, sir.”
The man, Willie, chuckled gruffly and lowered the flashlight. “Glad you made it, son. I managed to get a better picture tonight.”
“That’s great.” Ty met up with the older man a few feet away, and he pinched the screen on Willie’s phone to zoom in. “It’s not a spiny-tail this time. And it’s not a tegu.”
“I figured,” Willie admitted. “I jump to conclusions as soon as I spot somethin’ black-and-white or close to the tegu’s colorin’.”
“Understandable.” Ty clapped the man on his back before he faced me. “This is my sidekick for the night—Lane. He’s gonna help me catch this rascal. We have a Nile monitor on our hands.”
There we go. Let’s wrestle, then.
“Nice to meet you, sir.” I nodded.
“You too.” Willie smiled politely, his face wrinkling up, and he brought out a pack of cigarettes as he returned his attention to Ty. “The lizard’s trapped in my toolshed—”
“No, he’s not. He’s tryin’a crawl out from underneath right now.” Ty pointed toward one of the small houses, then quickly gestured for me to follow. “We’re up, boy.”
I jumped into action and brought the noose and a bag, plus gloves—though, I had a feeling we wouldn’t have time to use them—and I took off in a run to catch up with Ty.
Adrenaline slithered in slowly, too slowly; I preferred the bolts when my world crystalized before my eyes. But I spotted the lizard in the sensor-driven spotlight attached to the shed, and it helped me focus.
These lizards were fast as hell and couldn’t be chased down, not out here where it could escape wherever it wanted. Into the bush, out in the water, under debris and scrap metal. Willie had his own little junkyard on his hands with at least four broken-down, rusty trucks and cars.
“I want that noose around his head before he crawls out,” Ty ordered.
“Got it.” I extended the thick metal rod and attached the noose as I closed the distance to the shed.
A second later, Ty jumped at the lizard, getting his hands around its neck, and by the head’s size, I could tell the whole thing had to be at least four feet. Maybe five. This was a big specimen.
They weren’t quiet either, like constrictors. It had a growl-like hiss that sounded as threatening as the lizard looked.
“Easy, buddy.” The muscles in Ty’s arms flexed under the sheer strength of the lizard’s protesting, and I just knew its tail was thrashing wildly on the other side of the shed wall.
I sucked in a breath and crouched low, then tried to get the noose around the lizard’s neck. Hot fucking damn, watch out for the teeth. They weren’t too sharp on the adult, but there wasn’t much they couldn’t break. Ty and I became out of breath in an instant, but thankfully, the lizard was still trapped under the wall, and that helped us stabilize the thing.
As soon as I got the wire around its neck, I tightened the noose, and I looked up toward Willie. “Mr. Locke, can you see if you can push him out on the other side? Be mindful of the tail.”
“Be real mindful,” Ty added.
“On it,” Willie said.
“I think I can drag him out a bit here too.” Ty gripped the lizard by its front legs.
I dropped the stick and planted my foot on it so I could help. The hole the lizard had dug wasn’t deep enough, so we had to finish the job. All while avoiding its insanely sharp claws.
“He’s pullin’ back,” Ty grunted. “No, you’re comin’ this way, buddy. Jesus Christ.”
I used my hands to dig as fast as I could, and I was relieved that the soil wasn’t too dry.
“That’s it, few more inches and then— Lane, watch out!”
Too late. I scrunched my face together as pain exploded across my arm. “Son of a—fuck!” I yelled. Survival mode kicked in, and I blinked rapidly, past the burning tears, and grabbed on to the lizard’s back foot. Fucking hell, that’s a lot of blood. Two long abrasions stretched along my arm, and one of the lizard’s claws was still embedded in my flesh.