Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Jo clutched Quinn’s thigh to keep from being thrown against the dashboard as the cab lurched from the impact. The jolt dislodged the small snake, and she grabbed it behind its head. “Got him!’
“Jo!” Gasping, he clutched her shoulder. “God, I’m sorry. Are you okay?”
“I think so.” She released his thigh and pushed herself upright. “See?” She dangled the snake in front of him. “Real small.”
Quinn didn’t look so good. In fact, he was breathing hard and looked ready to pass out.
“Quinn, are you hurt?”
“No.” He kept staring at the snake. When someone started knocking on his window, he reached around and rolled it down without taking his eyes off the snake.
A man peered into the cab. “We got a problem here, buddy. You want to call the police?”
“Uh, sure.” Quinn didn’t move.
Jo figured if she didn’t get the snake out of the cab he would stay frozen in that position forever.
She looked around and discovered they weren’t far from JFK.
The vacant lot beside the expressway would have to do.
She glanced at the man looking in the window.
“Sir, I’m going to take this snake over to that field.
In the meantime, Quinn, you can call the police and also call me another cab. ”
Quinn nodded, but he didn’t take his attention off the wiggling snake in her hand.
Keeping a firm hold on it, Jo climbed onto the seat and opened the passenger door. As she got out she called to Quinn over her shoulder. “Move my stuff over to the other cab while I’m gone, okay? I don’t want to miss that plane!”
She climbed the knee-high metal railing beside the road and sidestepped down an embankment.
“After all this I want to get you far enough away from the road that you won’t get run over,” she said to the snake.
“This looks like a good field. There ought to be plenty of bugs, and when you’re bigger you might even find a mouse or two. ”
After hiking about thirty yards through clumps of wild grass, she slowly lowered the snake to the ground. “There you go. Stay away from the road. Have a good life.”
The snake darted away without so much as a thank-you.
But Jo felt immensely better as she walked toward the road.
Holding the snake had been like a moment from home, where she’d learned to appreciate all creatures.
She’d grown up in a city — her father and stepmother still lived in Chicago — but cities were no longer home to her.
Maybe they hadn’t been for a long time. Her summers with Aunt Josephine at the Bar None had probably ruined her for city life by the time she was ten.
When she reached the expressway, the police and a second cab had arrived on the scene. Quinn was standing beside the damaged cab waving his arms and looking upset. Even upset he looked damned good — broad shoulders, lean hips. He really was attractive. Too bad he lived in New York.
She climbed the railing and walked to the group. The man whose car Quinn had hit glanced at her suspiciously before turning to the police officer.
“There was something kinky going on in that vehicle, I tell you. I was riding along next to them, and they were going really slow, so I got curious and went slow. Then they started swerving all over the road, and then she got down and put her face in his lap, if you get my meaning.”
“She was trying to get a snake out of my pants!” Quinn bellowed.
The man glanced at the officer. “So who drives to the airport with a snake in his pants?”
“Nobody!” Quinn’s jaw worked. “I’m sure my friend Murray is behind this snake thing. He probably paid the guy with the snakes.”
The officer cleared his throat and gazed at Jo. “Would you like to tell us your version?”
She glanced at her watch and gauged the distance to the airport. “I would love to, but I’m warning you that unless I catch my plane, my sperm will spoil.”
Quinn groaned.
Jo realized she should have phrased the sentence differently as soon as it left her mouth.
“I was referring to horse sperm, Officer, which I am transporting, with all the necessary health department papers, to Montana. Quinn’s previous passenger left a snake in his cab, and I was indeed trying to catch it when the incident occurred.
I just released the little fellow in that field over there. ”
Quinn stepped forward. “Look, she really had nothing to do with the accident. I’ll vouch for that.
The cab company will assume all liability for this.
” He turned to the owner of the other car.
“The sperm she’s carrying is from a stallion that’s being castrated, maybe right this minute.
She has to get on that plane to Montana so the poor horse can have one last shot at immortality, okay? ”
The man’s belligerent expression evaporated. “Oh, well, in that case...” He turned to the officer. “Never mind the kinky thing. Just a routine fender bender. I’m sure the cab company will handle everything. This poor slob should be fired, though.”
“I’m sure I will be,” Quinn said.
“So I’m free to go?” Jo asked.
“After I get some basic information,” the officer said.
Jo gave him what he needed and turned to Quinn. “I guess this means you lose your bet with Murray.”
“Afraid so. Jo, I’m sorry about this. It’s just that—”
“You’re petrified of snakes.”
He flashed her a little-boy grin. “Yep.”
“There are worse flaws,” Jo said. “Listen, I gotta go. Is all my stuff in the other cab?”
“Bill transferred it as soon as he pulled up. I think he consolidated a few things so it’d be easier to carry up to the gate.”
“That was nice of him.”
Quinn stuck out his hand. “Good luck with the ranch.”
“Thanks.” She liked the feel of his hand — warm, strong, secure. “Good luck with Murray.” With a smile she released his hand and hurried to the waiting cab.
Approximately thirty-five minutes later, as she was checking into the gate, she realized that the cooler of horse sperm was nowhere to be seen.