Ghost Leopard (A Zoe & Zak Adventure #1) Read Online Free PDF

“I’ve spent nine months compiling the data. I have a Ph.D. in ecogeography. I was an Army Ranger. Don’t worry,” he said, “you’ll get your Leopard.”
    Rhino Butt finished toweling off and put the phone to his ear, clicking off the speaker phone. He stood there, with his back to us, obviously getting annoyed with whoever was on the other end of the line. I tried not to stare though I had to admit, the conversation was getting interesting.
      “Yes. I’m still here,” Rhino Butt said. “And yes I know what I’m looking for, but no, of course I’ve never seen a picture of the Leopard because the Leopard’s picture has never been taken. What are you doing? Testing me? Like I said, I’ll address your concerns tomorrow. At the station.”
    Rhino Butt hung up. One thing was for sure. The phone call had irritated him pretty badly. He must have sensed Zak and I were there, because he turned to look at us and I got my first good look at his face. He was old, not like super old, but at least as old as my mom. He had pock-marked skin, a crooked nose, and a balding head, but what was most obvious, besides his bulging butt, were his bulging muscles. His tanned chest was scarred and his strong arms were tattooed in blue ink with what looked like an eagle. All in all, he just looked really mean. I immediately looked away from him as though I was engrossed in the parrots. Zak looked away too, but with a little more finesse than me. Surprisingly, I thought, Zak did a pretty good job of maintaining a low profile. There we were, totally eavesdropping on this guy, and Zak had managed to basically not look guilty at all.  
    After a fleeting moment of eye contact, Rhino Butt roughly pushed aside his lounge chair and left the pool area, leaving his towel in a heap. It was when the conversation had gone to the part about this Leopard never having had its picture taken that I was hooked. Now that was interesting. With all the mobile phones, and tablets, and computers, and just regular cameras in the world, I didn’t think that there was anything left in existence that hadn’t had its picture taken. It was a strange idea.
    “Whoa,” Zak said. “That guy was mad.”
    “Tell me about it,” I said.
    “Like crazy mad.”
    “He wasn’t happy.”
    “Did you see his rear end?”
    “What about it?”
    “He had like muscle booty or something.”
    “Rhino butt,” I said.
    “Mega rhino butt,” Zak said. “Just looking at it made my eyes sting. I’m going back in for a swim.”
    I guess Zak thought he still needed to show off around me, or maybe he was getting me back for that perfect dive I’d made, because instead of just walking back to the pool, he made out like he was falling over and did a cart wheel. I have to admit, it was a pretty good one and if I was in a more charitable mood, I probably would have told him as much. As it was though, I was just feeling kind of irritated and a little freaked out from my dive to the bottom of the pool and all the weird dreams. After all, you have to admit that it’s not everyday that an elephant dude welcomes you to India. I don’t think Zak noticed my mood though. He was acting like he had seen something out of the corner of his eye. He walked over to Rhino Butt’s lounge chair and picked something up.
      “Rhino Butt left this.”
    Zak waved a manilla folder and a white hotel key card in a little envelope at me. The key card envelope had a room number on it, but what was interesting was the manilla folder. It had a thick piece of paper sticking out of it. As I approached Zak, I couldn’t deny that I was curious.
    “We should turn it in to the front desk,” I said.
    “Yeah,” Zak said. But I could tell he was curious too. Maybe more curious than me. Zak pulled the thick piece of paper out of the folder.
    “You can’t do that,” I said.
    “Do what?”
    “Look at his stuff.”
    “I’m not looking, I’m just…”
    “You’re just what?”
    “OK, I’m