SauraCorps, page 4
“This thing’s like an armored bull.” The seller held up his gun. “Aim for the underbelly if you ca—”
Both doors on the back of the truck flew open.
MMRRAAAAUUUUWW!
The ankylosaurus charged, tumbling to the ground. Nearly twice the size of one of the escalades, its bulk didn’t hinder its agility as it stood up and snorted in aggravation.
“Fuego!”
Everyone understood the Spanish and began firing at the prehistoric beast.
Bullets ricocheted off the creature’s thick hide as it spun around, surveying its unfamiliar attackers. It charged forward, just missing one of the men with its head. A swift flick of its tail knocked another human off his feet.
The two narco-tanks took off toward the dinosaur.
Still enraged by the barrage of ammo deflecting off its hide, the ankylosaurus noticed the incoming hefty vehicles.
One of the drivers kept his foot pressed against the gas pedal.
The ankylosaurus didn’t back down.
It rushed directly at one of the narco-tanks, braced its front feet into the ground, and used the momentum to swing its back end toward the attackers.
CRUNCH-BAM!
Its clubbed tail collided with the front driver’s side, smashing off the metal protection and popping the wheel off.
Unable to control their trajectory, the driver couldn’t fight the lean of the vehicle as it crashed into the second narco-tank.
MMRRAAAAUUUUWW!
Done with being assaulted, the ankylosaurus fled the scene as more bullets pelted off of its solid exterior.
“Dammit.” The seller hopped into one of the escalades and pulled out his cellphone. “The boss won’t like this.”
KAMREN AND Vivienne entered the veterinarian’s home and sat at the kitchen island. On the southern outskirts of cityscapes, Dr. Beaumont’s farmhouse took in a fair bit of property.
“Would either of you like something to drink?” Dawn let the dodo run free while she went into hospitable mode. “I’ve got water, iced tea… Sorry, I don’t have soda.”
“I’ll have some water, please.” Viv stared at the island countertop while picking at her left thumb.
“No soda? That’s a travesty,” Kam commented with sarcasm. “Iced tea is fine, thank you.”
Dawn Beaumont had grabbed a metal bowl and filled it up with water. She set it down on her tiled floor for Phrodo, who strutted over and began dipping its beak into the cool liquid. Beaumont then sent a message on her phone before serving the kids their drinks.
Kam took a generous sip of his iced tea. “Do you keep any dinosaurs out here on your farm?”
“If it’s a smaller one, sometimes I let it stay inside with me,” Dawn answered while pouring herself some water. “The odd time, I’ll let one stay out in the barn. It’s not always easy explaining the weird sounds to some of the neighbors, though.”
Viv looked up from mutilating her cuticles. “Weird sounds?”
Dawn chuckled to herself. “Some dinosaurs can get a little vocal in the evenings, especially parasaurolophus. Or if they get hungry, even baby rexes can whine pretty good.”
Kam almost choked on his drink. “You’ve had a baby T-rex here?”
“Yeah, the poor thing appeared on my property about a year ago when the rifts went crazy,” Dawn explained while replaying the event in her mind. “One of them opened up right inside my barn, and the little guy came crashing through.”
“We were on the prehistoric side of that rift craziness.” Kam nodded as he spoke, then looked over at his girlfriend. “We didn’t know if making it home was possible at that point.”
Viv reached over and took one of his hands. “Thankfully, we did. Hopefully, we never have to go through that ever again.”
Dawn’s phone buzzed. She read the message, then grabbed her laptop and opened it. “Sebastian’s ready for a video chat.” Once she’d signed into her device and plugged in the chat info, they connected to the secure virtual room.
Sebastian’s face popped up with the ambiance of his office behind him. “Hey, nice to see everyone’s faces again.”
“Mr. Sebastian, looking Sharpe as always,” Kam responded with a smirk.
Viv snorted, rolled her eyes, and smacked her boyfriend’s arm. “Hardy-har. Good to see you, Seb.”
“Same to you, Viv.” The businessman turned his attention to his employee. “Dr. Beaumont, always a pleasure. How’s the dodo bird?”
Dawn picked up the creature and tucked it under her right arm. “Other than giving us a runaround in a busy street, Phrodo seems to be in good health and temperament.”
“Which reminds me, should we be worried about people filming us with their phones?” Viv brought up, concerned for her safety.
Sebastian leaned his head side to side. “Leave it with me. If it blows up, we’ll make it seem like a runaway turkey and then it’ll be yesterday’s news.”
Kam snorted. “Gotta love media manipulation.”
“SauraCorps was successful with it in the past,” Sebastian noted, though slight guilt entered his tone. “Now that I’m at the helm, it’s to keep both the public and dinosaurs safe.”
“I remember San Francisco was a doozy, though,” Dawn mentioned, setting the dodo down as she remembered the news footage. A block-wide rift had sent multiple vehicles and people into the prehistoric world’s clutches. “Those poor people.”
“And we’re still doing everything we can to help those families,” Sebastian spoke with solemn empathy.
Dooo-dooo.
Phrodo flapped its wings and prodded Viv’s leg with its beak.
Viv gazed down at the bird and sighed. “What’s the matter?”
The bird tried to hop up and place its beak in her lap.
“You want up?”
Dooo-dooo-dooo.
Kam laughed at the creature. “I love how it actually thinks it can talk to us.”
Once Viv lugged Phrodo up onto her lap, she made sure to lock eyes with it. “If you poop on me, you’re back on the floor. Understand?”
Phrodo cocked its head back and forth as if it processed her instructions.
Viv held up an index finger. “Got it?”
Dooo-dooo.
“Good.”
On the laptop screen, Sebastian grinned, in awe of the new creature. “Right, I guess it’s time we discuss some things about…Phrodo, you call it?”
Kam raised an eyebrow. “As long as you emphasize the P-h.”
Sebastian made a confused face for a moment before continuing. “Okay…. Anyway, is there anything at all within the events of finding…Phrodo…that would be of major significance? And I mean anything. It could really help us with…a certain situation.”
Chuckling to himself, Kam began. “Viv was taking a—”
“Dude!” Viv smacked him harder than previous times. “I was in the bathroom, minding my own business—”
“Ha, business,” Kam quipped.
Again, Viv whipped her hand at his shoulder, which prompted Phrodo to peck him in the deltoid to help in chastising him. She giggled while patting the bird on its head. “Good job, Phrodo. But yeah, no one came in the bathroom except this little guy who waddled in.”
Sebastian’s eyebrows scrunched together. “Oh, that’s it? You didn’t see anyone, in particular, running after it?”
Shaking his head, Kam added, “I was outside on the phone, but I didn’t see anyone looking sketchy. Zoo personnel was all over the place telling everyone to leave because of an escaped animal.”
Dawn finally piped up, “Wait, so they knew they needed to find something?”
“That’s how they’re doing it,” Sebastian remarked, his eyelids flashing open as he leaned back in his chair. “The zoos. They’re so unassuming.”
“It makes sense, though,” Dawn added, also working things out in her head.
Intrigued by the new SauraCorps owner’s breakthrough, Kam leaned forward. “Should we be concerned about zoos now?”
Sebastian chewed on the inside of his cheek before replying. “I trust you two, so what I’m about to say cannot leave this room.” He studied the nineteen-year-olds’ faces for their compliance.
Viv braced herself. When she’d begun the road trip across the country, the last thing she expected to be doing was holding a dodo bird while learning more about the situation of dinosaurs in present day. I just want to enjoy my trip with—
“Juicy deets?” Kam’s voice overflowed with excitement. “Count us in!”
A small grimace showed up on Viv’s face for a split second.
Resting his elbows on his desk and with his fingers interlaced in front of him, Sebastian began, “I believe I’ve mentioned before the man who used to live in the house I’m in now. He built his empire by dealing dinosaurs to anyone he wanted to, no questions asked. They were sold for food, black market commodity, and possibly more. Greed had blinded him beyond considering any consequences.” Sebastian paused, closing his eyes as he recalled how he used to be in the beginning with SauraCorps. “After the main rift imploded, we have no idea of what happened to Bartelloni.”
Kam snorted. “Sounds like some kind of pasta.”
Viv shook her head as she added, “And sounds like he needed to meet some giant millipedes.”
A chuckle escaped Sebastian’s mouth. “Thing is, Bartelloni wasn’t the only one committing criminal acts. We’ve successfully taken down some groups here and there, but we never could link them to a kingpin supplier.” He tapped an index finger onto his desk. “With what you just told me, it makes sense that the zoos—possibly around the world—are being used for illegal dinosaur trade.”
“Whoa, a dinosaur kingpin,” Kam remarked, equally fascinated and unsettled. “That would make a crazy book idea.”
As distant as she wanted to be from all of it, Viv couldn’t help getting curious. “Do you even know who that could be?”
“Sadly, yes,” Sebastian answered as he scratched at his stubble. “And he’s an ex-SauraCorps board member.”
Dooo-dooo-dooooo.
Kam busted a gut as the dodo bird hopped off his girlfriend’s lap. “That thing’s…comedic timing…is impeccable.”
Sebastian managed a grin before continuing. “His name is Blake Arrowsmith, and Felicia and I have reason to believe he’s out of hiding once more. We don’t know how or where he ghosts to, but that dodo bird is clear evidence that he’s still operational.”
“Wait, you mean like, Aerosmith, the band?” Kam chuckled as a playlist of songs popped in his head. “So would you say he’s…‘Back in the Saddle’?”
Sebastian squinted at his laptop’s built-in webcam. “No, Arrowsmith as in bow and arrow—that’s not important right now.”
Dawn crossed her arms as she began pacing. “We just need to figure out some way of catching him or his people.”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, Phrodo hopped to try and snag an apple from the edge of a fruit bowl.
“Are you hungry?” Viv stood up to go help it. “Didn’t think you’d be interested in fruit.”
As she turned the corner, she noticed the dodo bird eyeing up a drawer handle.
Phrodo hooked its beak onto the metal handle and flicked its head back.
The wooden-faced drawer rolled outward a tad.
Dooo-dooo.
Another attempt with its beak allowed Phrodo to open the drawer fully. It jumped up and used it to hop once more, allowing it to knock the apple to the tile floor. Phrodo followed the fruit until it stopped rolling, then struck the apple’s flesh with its beak until a piece broke off.
Impressed with the creature, Viv grinned. “Man, I’m never calling anyone a dodo ever again. They’re so smart!”
Kam studied the bird, then stared back at the laptop screen and spoke with full conviction. “We should return the dodo to the zoo.”
A buzz of shock traveled through Viv’s body. “We?”
Nodding to himself, Kam continued. “They clearly wanted the dodo, so let’s give it back. Maybe while we’re there, we can sneak around to see if we can find anything.”
Dawn stopped pacing, impressed by the young man’s suggestion. “That…could actually work. I can be an extra set of eyes and protection, plus I know a bit about their facilities.”
Frozen in place on the other side of the kitchen island, Viv rubbed her face. “Kam, remember what happened the last time we tried to sneak in somewhere?” Her hands subconsciously moved to her stomach, trying to calm the anxious boulder within it. “What if they come after us?”
“Returning Phrodo will be like taking a lost dog back to its owner. We’d look completely innocent” Kam countered, eager to assist the refined SauraCorps in any way he could. “If we can give Dawn the opportunity to poke around—maybe by causing a diversion—it could give her ample time to try to find something.”
Something churned in Viv’s stomach as she went to open her mouth. “Kam, I—”
“Arrowsmith or his people definitely wouldn’t expect you two,” Sebastian added, liking the spontaneous plan. “It would still be dangerous. Dawn is one of my most trusted friends, but I don’t want to force you into anything you don’t want to do.” He stared down at his keyboard and placed a hand over his mouth as he sighed. “Unfortunately, I’m getting desperate to stop Arrowsmith, so as long as you understand the risks, I would appreciate any help I can get.”
Viv’s arms slackened. If I say no, will it make me sound like a jerk? Her eyes focused on the grout between the tiles in the floor.
“We can do it tomorrow,” Kam suggested as his grin morphed into more of a smirk. “I have one question about Arrowsmith, though.”
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “And that is?”
“Does this ‘Dude’ look like a lady?”
ONCE THE plan’s details had been ironed out, Dr. Beaumont drove the teenagers back to their hotel. Everyone needed their rest before heading to the zoo the next day.
Kamren and Vivienne had left Phrodo with the veterinarian so they could enjoy their evening together. They’d made reservations for a fancy dinner, and had brought clothing especially for it.
In the bathroom, Viv had finished her makeup. Though physically ready, emotionally, she needed to give herself a pep-talk. If he starts talking dino stuff, try to change the subject. Tonight is about us. Us. This whole trip was supposed to be about us. Not dinosaurs. She gave herself a once-over, then closed her eyes. I still love him.
Meanwhile, as Kam finished tying his black and white striped necktie, he stared out the eighth-floor hotel window. The busy street sat down below, and across the way, other hotel walls with windows took up the view.
The day’s events rolled through his mind, and by the end of them, only one question lingered. How much has SauraCorps changed our world? As he put together a list of the changes only him and Viv would’ve been aware of, he sat on the edge of the bed. What can I do to help fix—
“Don’t you look snazzy.”
Kam turned around and his jaw released. “Whoa… Lady Lancaster, you look absolutely magnificent.”
“Oh, stop it.” Viv blushed, as his compliment seeped in. Every step she took made the floor-length silvery dress shimmer around her. She didn’t get many opportunities to dress up, but she’d been looking forward to wearing something fancy for their night out. “You on the other hand…” She worked her hands up his necktie, pulling both of them closer to each other in the process. “…need to wear suits more often, like prom night.”
“Is that so?” He angled his head to the side as their foreheads nearly touched. The silky dress made her glow in a way he’d never seen before, giving him nerves he couldn’t fully process. “I could suit more wears—I mean, wear more suits, if you’d like.”
She leaned in, letting her nose brush against his as she giggled at his word fluster. “Am I making you…overwhelmed?”
“You’re definitely not making me whelmed,” he responded, a jitter in his voice.
“Would you consider…” Viv grazed his upper lip with her bottom one. “…making out as an appetizer before dinner?”
Kam closed his eyes, ready to take her in his arms and give her the most earth-shattering kiss ever. “Is it on…the secret menu?”
“Let’s go down and see.”
Viv’s voice sounded further away.
By the time Kam opened his eyes, he found her standing by the door.
She wore a cheeky grin while stuffing one of the room’s key cards in her handbag. “Aren’t you coming?”
“Damn, girl, why you gotta tease me like that?”
“Because you’re adorable when you’re flustered.”
* * *
A little later down in the hotel’s restaurant, Kam and Viv were enjoying their meals. Not yet the legal drinking age of twenty-one, they had splurged on different mocktails. They’d also decided to split two of the entrees: a prime New York strip steak, and house-made potato gnocchi in a basil pesto.
Vivienne savored her bite of the Italian dumpling glistening with sauce. “This gnocchi is just… No words. There are no words for this meal.”
To her left, Kamren popped another bite of steak in his mouth. “Culinary perfection. I would kiss the chef if I could.”
“Hey.” She scrunched her nose at the thought. “Trying to make me jealous or something?”
“On the cheek, sweet pea,” he added to his statement along with a chuckle. “Both cheeks if they’re European.”
Wearing a teasing smirk, she squinted at him. “Uh huh.”
Kam set down his fork and took her hand. “Vivienne, how could I ever make you jealous? You’re the heart of my world and the atmosphere that surrounds me.”
Viv lowered her glass of sangria. “Getting all mushy on me now?”
“I mean it, Vivienne.”
His use of her full name and the warm sincerity of his tone made her heart flutter. She’d been enjoying the transition from having him as a best friend to being her boyfriend. Some days, though, she wished their romantic connection hadn’t taken true form during the prehistoric era and under so much stress. The lingering anxiety of nearly losing one another had almost been too much to deal with. “I don’t know how to be all artsy-fartsy with my words like you can, but I feel the same way.”
