Turn of the Pipes (A Redpoint One Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

exception.
    On the other side of the door came another
surprise. The main warehouse stretched back, the walls lined with
large elaborate glassed-in cubicles. Mr. Manetti stood next to one
of them, releasing the newt she'd fished out of the pipes into a
rocky watery environment.
    The newt scampered to a top of a rocky cliff
to sit half-submerged in a pool right next to a small waterfall. It
flashed its bright yellow gills, turning to hiss right at
her.
    Oh, that was it. The thing was safe at home,
and still giving her attitude.
    Mr. Manetti closed the door and set the bucket
next to it. He turned and hurried to an enclosure on the other side
of the warehouse, stopping to kneel in front of it.
    Rachel followed him, passing by a line of
enclosures, each of them holding different groups of lizards, all
of them with a watery environment. None of the lizards were plain.
Each sported bright color and some included odd-shaped
protuberances from their heads, feet, or tails.
    "Come on, you can do it, pretty girl," Mr
Manetti muttered as she came to a stop next to him.
    "Mr. Manetti, we need to speak," Rachel
started repeating. She stopped, realizing something was stirring up
the water inside the pond inside the enclosure.
    A long bright blue and green lizard, with skin
as smooth as the newt she'd just dealt with, thrashed in the water.
It came to a stop on top of a flat rock at the edge of the pond
under the shade of a plant with huge leaves. It panted, the gills
moving in and out against its skin.
    As it returned to the water to splash around
again, Rachel asked, "What's wrong with it?"
    "Almost birth time. She should have had them
by now." Worry infused his voice.
    Rachel's attention returned to the little
lizard, its movement now meaning something totally different to
her. With it, her anger evaporated.
    She kneeled down next to him. "Can't you do
something?"
    "This is her environment where she's most
comfortable. It's best I interfere as little as possible," Mr.
Manetti said.
    "We still need to talk when this is all over.
I'm serious, Mr. Manetti."
    "The name is Ignacio." He moved to the side to
open a small hatch at the base of the door leading into the
enclosure. He reached in to reposition the leaves of the large
plant shading the rock.
    The newt inside paid no attention at all. It
started swimming through the water, gliding through it smoothly,
sometimes taking small shallow dives. Then it would emerge at the
surface to splash around again. It came to settle at the base of a
small waterfall, allowing the water to fall over its skin, its back
arched.
    In the arched posture Rachel could clearly see
the extended belly. A loose flap of skin from the back of its head
flared up and flashed red and purple. With a leap, it splashed back
down into the water, swimming back to the shaded flat
rock.
    "Red is a warning to enemies and others of its
kind," Ignacio said. "Purple is distress."
    "What if she has a problem. Can you do
something?" Rachel asked. "Rachel, by the way."
    "Hello Rachel." Ignacio nodded. "Basically a
newt cesarean, but then I risk the mother's life. She's so very
valuable."
    Ah, money. An animal breeder. The enclosures
made more sense now, as did the location. All except for living in
a warehouse area of the station.
    Only, the thought didn't set well to her.
Ignacio watched the newt with all his attention as the lizard
climbed back on her rock. His clothes were worn and showed signs of
fading. Well-worn shoes completed the look. A working man. There
must be easier ways to make a living, unless she was drastically
underestimating the value of the creatures.
    "There she goes," he said in an excited
whisper. He pointed at the rock, leaning towards the clear
enclosure wall. "See, she's resting her back legs flat against the
rock and arching her back."
    His soft voice described other visual cues.
The flap of skin at the back of the newt's head flipped up again to
flash yellow.
    "Is yellow distress or a warning, as