Chapter 18
The zoo entrance appeared ahead, its white stucco arches streaked with years of weather stains, and colorful banners snapping in the coastal breeze like signal flags.
Tyrone eased the Hilux into a spot near the end of the mostly empty lot.
Weekday mornings meant fewer crowds, easier sight lines and fewer variables to track.
His gaze swept the perimeter on instinct, noting emergency exits, blind spots between exhibits, potential choke points where someone might bottleneck a crowd.
Old habits die hard. He killed the engine, the sudden silence broken only by Kelsey’s excited breathing from the backseat.
She pressed her nose against the window, leaving a smudge on the glass. “Elephants first? Please?” Her voice held that particular brand of childhood urgency, as if the world might end if they didn’t see the largest land mammals immediately.
Glenna unbuckled her seatbelt with a soft click, lips quirking. “You’re the boss today, baby.”
Tyrone stepped out into the oppressive coastal heat, the sun glaring off the bleached pavement with enough intensity to make his eyes water.
He adjusted the Glock tucked at his rear waistband, ensuring his untucked shirt covered the outline, then circled the truck to help Kelsey down.
She launched herself into his arms before he could fully brace for impact, her skinny legs locking around his waist with surprising strength.
“Whoa.” He caught her on reflex.
She grinned up at him, teeth a little crooked where one front tooth had grown in faster than the other. “Carry me?”
“Yeah, all right.” He swung her up on his shoulder. “Hold on tight up there.”
Glenna slung the picnic basket over one shoulder, eyeing him with that sharp, knowing look of hers. “She’s too heavy.”
“Please, I could carry you on my shoulders without breaking a sweat.” he’d hauled grown men heavier than this across active warzones. But he didn’t miss the way Glenna’s gaze flicked to his arms, or the flare of heat in her eyes for half a second before she schooled them back to neutral.
Inside, the zoo was a maze of uneven stone paths and shaded enclosures. Kelsey asked to get down as soon as they passed the ticket booth. She grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the elephant exhibit with single-minded determination.
The massive elephants had churned the paddock into dusty ground, and a lone bull elephant stood with his trunk swaying near the far fence.
It was bigger than Tyrone remembered. The last time he’d seen one, he was eight, pressed against a rusted guardrail while his aunt muttered about the smell and the cost of admission.
That elephant had been listless and pacing.
This one stood watching them. Its wrinkled hide was mapped with dried mud, and its ears twitched like radar dishes.
Kelsey let go and bolted to the railing, “He’s HUGE.” Her voice carried, drawing a glance from a zookeeper raking the enclosure.
The elephant flapped its ears, making dust puff up from its shoulders. Tyrone kept half a step behind Glenna, who leaned against the rail beside Kelsey as she pointed. “See his trunk? He uses it like a hand.”
The elephant lifted its trunk with deliberate grace, curling the prehensile tip around a broken branch before stuffing it into its mouth, and Kelsey shrieked with laughter. She spun toward him, her braid whipping over her shoulder. “Zorro, come see.”
He stepped up beside her, close enough that Glenna’s shoulder brushed his. The elephant huffed, swinging its head, one dark eye rolling toward them with unsettling intelligence.
“He looks like he’s thinking real hard,” Kelsey announced, mimicking the animal’s slow blink.
“He might be plotting his escape,” Tyrone suggested. “Maybe he wants to come home with us.”
Glenna elbowed him. “Don’t give her ideas.”
Kelsey gasped, whipping her head between them. “Could we break him out?”
Tyrone eyed the three-inch-thick steel bars securing the enclosure, the reinforced concrete footing. “Not unless you’ve got some C4 I don’t know about.”
Glenna choked. “Jesus.”
He smirked. Kelsey didn’t react to the joke, she was too busy mimicking the elephant’s trunk with her own arm. Glenna’s lips pressed together, the corners twitching like she was fighting a losing battle against laughter.
The animal lifted a foot, kicking up a small storm of dust. Kelsey sneezed violently.
“You good?” Tyrone nudged her cap farther down her forehead, shielding her eyes from the sun.
She blinked up at him with watery eyes. “Can we feed him next?”
Glenna checked the posted signs. “Not this one, baby. Maybe the giraffes later?”
Tyrone watched Kelsey process the disappointment, the way her shoulders slumped for only a second before perking back up.
She’s resilient.
Like her momma.
The elephant let out a low rumble, deep enough to vibrate in Tyrone’s sternum and Kelsey giggled, pressing both hands to her chest. “He’s talking to us.”
Damn, there was something about standing in the sun, listening to a kid marvel at something simple, that did funny shit to his heart.
Glenna’s fingers brushed his as she reached for Kelsey’s hand, her touch warm and fleeting. “Next stop?”
She was doing that on purpose—touching him. Was she aware how every time she did, he could hear her moans in his head and feel her clench around his cock? “Lead the way.”
The hyenas laughed—a eerie, chattering chorus that skittered up Tyrone’s spine like a warning.
“Are they laughing at me?” Kelsey pressed against the glass of their enclosure, breath fogging the surface.
Glenna squeezed her shoulder. “It’s how they talk, baby.”
One hyena tilted its head, its ragged ears pricking forward as its gaze locked onto Tyrone with unsettling intelligence.
He knew that look—the calculating stare of a predator recognizing another predator.
His hand twitched toward his weapon out of habit before he caught himself and curled his fingers into his palm.
This wasn’t a warzone, just a damn zoo. The only threats her weren’t about to come at him with AKs and IEDs.
The hyena’s lips peeled back in what might have been a grin, displaying yellowed teeth, and he resisted the urge to bare his own in response.
Kelsey tugged his sleeve, her small fingers insistent. “Zorro, look—the monkeys.” Her voice was bright with excitement, effortlessly pulling his attention away from the hyena’s challenge.
The primate exhibit was an epic complex network of ropes and platforms threaded between faux boulders designed to mimic a jungle canopy.
Lemurs darted through the foliage, their eerie yellow eyes watchful as they leaped from branch to branch.
But it was the gorillas that drew the crowd—a massive silverback lounged against a mossy rock, with his enormous hands curled in his lap like he was meditating.
The quiet power in that stillness set Tyrone’s teeth on edge.
He knew that coiled energy too well—the kind that could explode into violence in a heartbeat.
Kelsey sprinted ahead to the railing, pressing her face against the metal bars. Glenna kept pace beside him, her shoulder brushing his arm as she studied his profile. “You’ve gone tense again,” she murmured, her voice low enough that Kelsey wouldn’t overhear.
“Habitat’s too small.” His stare flicked to the enclosure’s high walls, the cameras mounted at each corner, the single exit route. His tactical assessment was automatic. “Guy could tear through that glass if he wanted.”
Glenna exhaled slowly, her breath warm against his sleeve. “He doesn’t want to.”
The silverback’s gaze slid to them, dark and fathomless. Tyrone held it, his own stare unwavering.
Yeah. I see you too.
For a heartbeat, man and beast measured each other across the divide of glass and steel.
Then Kelsey shrieked with laughter because a gibbon had swung down from a vine and snatched a hat right off the head of another one.
The primate screeched triumphantly, waving its prize like a trophy before scampering back up into the safety of the canopy and the people watching erupted into laughter.
Tyrone exhaled through his nose, the corner of his mouth twitching. “Cheeky bastard.”
Glenna bit her lip, stifling a grin. “There are kids here who aren’t growing up with Operators in their house, so maybe watch the swearing or one of the Italian mamas will beat you with a stick.”
Shit.
He winced and shot her a look. “I forgot about that, thanks for the reminder.”
The path curved toward the big cats, the air growing smellier with the musky scent of feline predator. The tiger enclosure had a massive Bengal sprawled on a sun-warmed rock, its tail flicking idly. Even lounging, its muscles bunched under its fur, showing all kinds of barely-leashed lethal grace.
Kelsey pressed against the railing, her sneakers scuffing against the concrete as she strained for a better view.
“Is he asleep?” she whispered, as if afraid to disturb the great cat.
“No.” Tyrone crouched beside her. “Just waiting to see if someone is going to feed him.”
The tiger’s ear twitched. Its amber, slit-pupiled eyes cracked open, fixing on Kelsey with unnerving focus.
Tyrone’s pulse spiked. Even though he knew the glass was there—hell, he was touching the glass—he still wanted to put himself between her and the tiger, but he settled for being ready to yank her back if necessary.
As if Glenna could read his mind, she placed her hand on his arm, her touch light but grounding. “Steel-reinforced glass that’s six inches thick. Stand down, hero.”
I didn’t think this coming-to-the-zoo shit through, did I?
“Multiple videos on YouTube says they fail.”
Glenna just patted his arm as if to say, ‘there, there.’
The tiger yawned, its fangs glinting in the sunlight, then rolled onto its side with a huff, dismissing them entirely. In the next habitat, the lions basked in the sunshine, their golden hides dulled with dust. The male’s mane was a tangled mess, and he had one eye scarred shut.