Page 12 of Zane

“I don’t think that’s what they were doing,” said Ham with a small smirk.“It was their cover.I think Tom’s business was small and local.No one would really think anything of someone else taking over but they realized they needed someone that knew about feed.You just happened to arrive at exactly the right time.”

“Lucky me,” frowned Blake.

“I think the deliveries they were getting while you were out were the product or products that was coming in illegally.Those were what they were really worried about.”

“I’m not following.Are you saying they were dealing in illegal drugs, not the pet supplies and feed?”

“That’s what we’re saying,” said Cowboy.“I’m sure they went to great effort to hide it from you.Maybe there were locked parts of the building or the storage shed out back.”

“Yes.Yes, of course but I thought it was just business stuff, maybe the cash they were bringing in.”

“Did you ever see customers that didn’t appear to be there for animal food?” asked Ham.

“Only once.I mean, I think only once.The guy said he was there to pick up an order and I asked his name.He said Smith and I couldn’t find the order for it.I asked what kind of animal he had and he laughed at me and said it was a monkey.”

“Monkey is a term that addicts often use to describe the drug that’s on their back, holding them back,” said Cowboy.

“Eddie came in and slapped me across the face.He told me to go to the back that I didn’t know what I was talking about.I tried to tell him we didn’t carry monkey feed and he laughed at me again.I didn’t understand.”

“There wouldn’t have been a reason for you to understand,” said Zane.“Drugs were not in your world.Yet.”

“That’s true but why here?” she said waving her arm.“I mean, not here, here, but why in this part of the country?I always think about drugs being in places like New York or Los Angeles, not New Orleans.”

“It’s a good question,” said Ham.“Think about it.New Orleans is a major port where drugs could come in and out easily.We have access to trains, planes, and major terminal bus routes.From here, they could transport west through Texas or east to Florida, then up the coast.”

“I never thought of any of that,” she said quietly.Gator nodded at her.

“Because you’re not a drug lord.”

CHAPTER NINE

“This is Pepe,” said Gaspar.“He was definitely not something I wanted to add to the menagerie but you’ll find that my mother is very difficult to deal with.”The skunk was sitting beneath the shade of tree, nibbling on a morning snack.

“Over there are Oscar, Mabel, Hank, and Penelope,” said Luke.

“They’re Komoda dragons,” whispered Blake.“I don’t think I’ve seen one live.They could be dangerous to the smaller animals, even children and adults.”

“They know not to behave that way here.Besides, we gave them free reign on the nutria.They’re like giant rats or beavers.They’ve practically destroyed parts of the bayou so they eat away on those all day long,” said Luke.

“You can see from here Stella, our beautiful hippo and Rusty, the bison.We have Coco as well but he tends to stay away from Rusty.Back there is Elvis and Shorty, our giraffes and then Caraway and Poppy, our jaguars.”

“Holy cow,” she whispered.

“Twiggy is our sweet girl elephant.She and Steve,” he looked around and then finally found him, “there he is in the tree.”

“That’s a Bengal tiger!” she screeched.

“Yes.Yes, he is.But he’s the sweetest old fella you’ve ever met in your life,” smirked Gaspar.Steve leaped from the branch and nuzzled next to Gaspar.“Semu and Steve have become inseparable.”

“She’s the gorilla that speaks sign language, right?” asked Blake.

“Yes but she also speaks to us the same way the other animals do, and before you ask, I have no idea how that is.They just communicate to us through sounds or just in our head.Alvin speaks with several people on the property, but his first love is definitely Trak.”

“Let me guess, he’s the alligator I saw wandering the property this morning,” she grinned.

“That’s him,” nodded Gaspar.“If you’re ever afraid of something, Alvin will come to the rescue I assure you.We also have a number of dogs that we personally own and that provide protection here on the property.”

“I think I saw them this morning,” smiled Blake.“They seem to cluster around children and pregnant women.”