Safari Island Shifters: The Complete Collection(15)

“That sounds great! We wanted to check out the bar in town. I’d love to see how you guys are living out here.”

“You can take the six o’clock bus out. I’ll meet you at the drop-off point.”

“Perfect.” Addison’s face fell as Lily and the twins walked up.

“Glad to see you again.” Lily’s voice was colder than a polar bear’s living room. She looked at Chet like he was something she’d scrape off her shoe.

They rode back in silence to Addison and Lily’s room. There, Chet gave Addison his number, then he pulled away from the curb.

As soon as the tires hit the road, Finn exploded. “What the hell was that? You left us by ourselves with that woman.”

“I thought you guys liked her.”

“We did.” Finn crossed his arms. “She’s just not what she seemed. Way too uptight and whiney.”

“Kind of boring, too,” Max added. “But hey, no big. Plenty of fish in the sea.”

Finn didn’t talk to Chet for the rest of the drive, which was fine by Chet. He had a lot on his mind, and he wanted to be clear-headed when he talked to security. At least his lust had receded during the tense car drive. He didn’t want to get drawn into Finn’s and Max’s drama. They didn’t have to date Lily. He didn’t have a horse in that race.

Once he’d dropped them off, he headed home, where he found Shane waiting on his front step.

Shane stood up as Chet parked. “Hey, we got the boat. Can we talk inside?”

Chet nodded. “What did you want to know?”

Shane sat down on the couch and took out a small pad. “Did you guys see anything unusual?”

“Nothing besides the boat.”

“You didn’t smell anything or see any unusual footprints?”

Chet shook his head. “Nope. Can’t say I did.”

“Okay. Thanks for telling us so quickly.”

“This has to be one of the stupider groups,” Chet said as he saw Shane to the door. “How do they think they’re going to get off the island?”

“With the tourists, I guess.” Shane shook his hand. “Thanks for the help, man.”

The more Chet thought about it, the more nervous he got. The only good reasoning he could come up with was that they didn’t plan on leaving anytime soon. The protest groups that had come to the island before had been pretty harmless. They’d stash a boat, sneak onto the island, and leave some banners hanging everywhere. Another team came and left pamphlets on everyone’s doors. It wasn’t ever anything big, and it didn’t do much harm to the island.

That didn’t make him feel any better. Maybe this was a group they hadn’t seen before or heard about. There were a lot of groups that didn’t care for shifters keeping animals in a zoo. There were both humans and shifters who found the whole resort/theme park island idea repulsive. It was all a load of crap to Chet. They took great care of all their animals and never exploited any shifters. The people who worked on the island loved the animals and their jobs.

He couldn’t understand the sentiment the protesters shared, but he didn’t begrudge them their right to protest if they played it safe. This didn’t feel the same way, though. His instincts told him that this group had other plans.

He went to speak with Ward Langston before his shift and found Ward on his back porch having breakfast. He grabbed a cup of coffee for Chet before they sat down to talk. “What can I do for you this morning?”

“I’m worried about the boat that washed up last night.”

Ward nodded. It had only been a few hours, but he had likely been notified as soon as it happened. As the public relations man on the ground, it was his job to keep on top of this stuff. He and Chet were close acquaintances who shared a respect for each other. You wouldn’t ever find them partying together on the weekend, but they both took their jobs very seriously and were proud of their work.

“Why do you think that?” Ward asked.

“It doesn’t make sense for them to come all this way and not have a way to escape. They won’t be able to get a plane off the island easily.”

Ward nodded. “You’re right. We found two men from an anti-poacher group in the rhino pens this morning.”

“That was fast.” Chet was relieved. His worst fears were confirmed, but at least nothing had come of it. “We aren’t going to get that lucky again.”

“I don’t think so either. We’re going to be doing a major security overhaul. It isn’t my area, but I’ll be working with them on the best way to inform our guests of the change.”

“That sounds great. I’m glad we’re going to be doing more. These guys are getting crazier and crazier. I mean, poachers? Who the heck would mistake us for those guys?”

“People who want to make a name for themselves.” Ward sighed. “If anything goes wrong here, we’re screwed. We’re the biggest shifter-owned entertainment venue in the world right now. The parks would take a major hit if anything happened to a human. But that group would get a lot of publicity.”

“We’re not going to let that happen, are we?”

“Nope. Not on my watch, anyway. I don’t want to have to do that kind of damage control.” He took sip of coffee. “You have good instincts, Chet. This is why I wanted you to take a bigger role on Safari Island. We could really use your knowledge, and you’re a great public speaker.”