Page 5 of Tiger Queen

To Crazy Carl’s

The next one featured a flurry of toucans:

Toucan Do It

Turn Left Ahead!

After that was a chimpanzee:

Stop Monkeying Around

You’re Almost There

“Chimps aren’t monkeys,” I muttered to myself. “They’re great apes.”

Playful signs aside, the drive to the zoo grew more ominous with every mile. The quality of the roads got worse, and the forest seemed to press inward toward my car. It felt like I was getting farther and farther from civilization.

I drove through a small town called Blue Lake just before I reached the zoo. It was the definition of a one-road town, with a single gas station, a bar, a diner, and a boat marina that looked like everything was covered in ten years of rust. Half a mile later I turned down a final road, which emptied me into an optimistically-large gravel parking lot shaded by the surrounding trees.

I parked the car in the back of the lot and looked around. The lot was completely empty. If not for the enormous CRAZY CARL’S ZOO sign above the entrance archway, I would have assumed I was in the wrong spot. Gravel crunched underfoot as I got out of my car and approached the entrance. The gate was closed and barred with a massive padlock that was as rusted as the marina back in town. Through the gate I saw a walkway, and an individual cage about fifty feet into the zoo. There was movement as an animal stirred.

My heart soared. It was a white Bengal tiger!

I tried to get a closer look but it moved out of sight.

“Oh, come on,” I whispered as if it could hear me. “Come back and let me get a look at you…”

“Can I help you?”

I whirled and came face to face with the sexiest man I had ever seen in my life. He wore khaki pants and a tight grey t-shirt that hugged the muscles in his chest and arms. His tan skin glistened with sweat, which darkened his short-cropped brown hair. His eyes were impossibly blue, like they had been photoshopped on the spot. All in all he looked like an Instagram fitness model. Totally different than the Crazy Carl I was expecting to see. Plus, he was my age.

“Hi,” I stammered, remembering why I was there. “I’m Rachel Koenig. From the email…”

The man stared at me skeptically, then pulled a walkie-talkie off his belt and raised it to his mouth. “Hey, Anthony. What’s the new vet’s name?”

“Rachel,” came the reply with a burst of static. “Rachel something.”

“Thanks.” The man put the walkie-talkie away. “Sorry about that. We were expecting you later in the afternoon, and the Virginia plates on the car threw us off. I’m David Haines.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said as I shook his hand. His grip was strong and his hand enveloped mine. His last name was the same as Crazy Carl Haines. They must have been related.

“Come on around back to the employee entrance,” he said. “Again, I’m sorry for not giving you a proper welcome. This place attracts a lot of crazies, so we can’t be too careful.”

The crazies are already inside this place, I thought as he led me inside.

3

Rachel

David led me around the side and through another gate, which he locked behind me. We followed a dirt path around the rear of a building which appeared to be the visitor’s center and gift shop. I couldn’t stop looking at David’s back. He was sweaty between the shoulder blades, which gave me a view of the muscles rippling in his back as he walked. And the tight, round ass in his khakis…

He turned and gestured. I quickly returned my gaze to his face.

“Our offices are in here. We have all the paperwork drawn up, but if you want to discuss your contract fees we can do that, too.”

Since I had no intention of taking the job, I didn’t prepare or rehearse what to say. “Um, the contract,” I said. “It’s only for a few months?”

“That’s right. We only need a zoo vet for three months.”

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