Page 53 of Refuge for Flora

“Yeah, but I can’t just stop living.”

“Really? Well, let me show you something.” He handed her his phone. “Open it and look in the emails.”

Flora really wasn’t that familiar with a smart phone, but she found the thing that looked like an envelope, opened it up, and took a look. “What am I looking for?”

“ConorPaxton.” Second from the top, just below an email from a sporting goods company, was one from the man he mentioned. “Tap on it.”

Flora touched it with her finger and it opened, so she started reading. The subject line read “Reptiles,” and she kept reading.

Hey, Barrett. Just thought I should let you know that there was a big reptile expo here this weekend. Held twice a year. Guy there was selling caimans. Had the organizer of the expo pull him into a room and charged him with possessing and distributing illegal animals in SA and the state.

“What’s SA?”

He pulled into the driveway and parked the truck. “SanAntonio. That’s where he’s from. Keep reading.”

Questioned him extensively. Says they’re coming out of western Kentucky. Tried to pin him down. Said the people have a Barlow address. I looked on the map. Looks like there are maybe three people living in Barlow? LOL I’ll give you more info when I have it. Thx.

“Barlow? Where’s that?”

Barrett pointed out her window. “That way. About twenty miles.”

Theswoosh-swoosh-swooshsound of blood whipping through her veins was almost deafening inside her head. “Shit. That’s where they are?”

“Yeah. Whoever they are, that’s where they are. Do you understand now?”

Flora nodded, but inside, she was numb. Somebody less than twenty miles away was raising and shipping caimans, and where there were caimans, there were most certainly alligators. Was it him? “How do you find out?”

“Who and where? I’m going to a meeting with my captain tomorrow morning, telling him what I know and asking for help. Whoever it is, we’ve got to stop them, but I’m afraid of who I’m going to find.Nowdo you understand why I said don’t go anywhere by yourself?”

“Yeah, but how am I?”

“I’ll go with you. I’ll get Zyan to go with you. Somebody will go with you but, baby,pleasedon’t do this. I just found you. I sure as hell don’t want to lose you.” She hadn’t even realized he was gripping her hand, and he squeezed it even tighter.

She lifted their joined hands and pressed a tiny kiss on the back of his. “Okay. I get it, and I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. I just want to keep you as safe as possible, and if that’s him, he’s way too fucking close for comfort. You know how to shoot a gun, right?”

“Yeah. My dad taught me. Haven’t done it in years, but?”

“Then we’ll go to the gravel pit and you can practice. I’ve got a small handgun you can keep with you. Don’t go anywhere without it, Flora. I mean it.”

“Yeah, yeah. Okay. I get it. Really, Barrett, I do.” By the time the words were out of her lips, he was opening her door and helping her down. She hadn’t realized how hard she was shaking until her feet hit the ground. “Oh, god, I?”

“It’s gonna be okay. Let’s go inside and I’ll help you get on the computer. What are you checking?”

“I’ll show you.”

Five minutes later, Barrett had opened a proxy server and Flora was logging into her email account. There were the obligatoryWelcome to DMail!emails, but at the very top was one from Rissa. “Oh, god, she answered me. My cousin, Rissa.” She double-clicked on it just as Janet had taught her and she began to read.

hey! where r u? went by u place last week but nobody there. u gone? chat me.

There was a link and Flora pointed to it. “What’s that?”

“It’s a direct messaging service. You can have a real-time conversation with somebody if you’re both in there. Look?I’ll show you.” Barrett opened another window and typed some stuff in. “See? Here’s where I sent Zyan a message and he was there, so we chatted back and forth.” Flora read down through it. They were arguing back and forth about the outcome of some ball game. Typical. “So you set up an account, then use her link to find her, and if she’s available, you can chat.”

“How do I do that?”

“I’ll set it up.” She watched as he navigated here and there, and she was amazed. They’d barely had computers available at their school when she was still in high school, and now they were everywhere. Even their phones were tiny computers. “Okay. There she is.” He clicked a little box at the top of the screen beside Rissa’s name and another screen, a blank one with her name at the top, popped up. “Okay, go right down here in this bar and type something to her. Then hitENTERand it’ll go. If she’s there, she’ll answer. If she’s not, she’ll answer later, and you can come back and reply.”

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