Zoo II Read Online Free PDF Page B

all.”
    “Too bad,” Sarah replies. “I was thinking, after we spend the day trekking around the island, we could…have a drink. Compare notes.”
    Huh? I don’t believe it. Is star CDC biologist Dr. Sarah Lipchitz…hitting on me?
    I can’t tell if that glint in her eye is professional curiosity or something more. Sure, it’s a scary time to be single and alone in the world. But Sarah knows I’m happily married. This is a path I definitely don’t want to go down—especially with a woman as smart and dangerously cute as she is. Maybe I’m reading too much into it.
    “Maybe, uh…another time.” Then I hold up my satellite phone. “Excuse me.”
    I step into a quiet corner of the lobby and dial. It rings. And rings.
    Finally, I hear a click. The sound of rustling. Then a familiar voice.
    “Allô?”
    “Chloe? It’s Oz! Can you hear me? How are you and Eli doing?”
    The connection is awful, full of crackling static. I can barely make out what my wife replies.
    “We’re fine but…and food is low…and animals keep trying to…please hurry…”
    “Chloe, honey,” I interrupt, “I can’t understand what you’re saying. I’m going to hang up. Give Eli a hug for me. I love you both. And…I will hurry. I promise.”
    I wait for her to answer, but all I hear is more white noise. Then the line goes dead. Which gives me a sudden sinking feeling deep in the pit of my stomach.
    My wife and child are under siege in Paris and I’m here in paradise.
    I’d better get to work.

Chapter 10
    Most mornings, I like to start the day with a shower. Today I feel like taking a dip in the sea, right outside my front door.
    I’m standing by the entrance of my wooden villa, gazing out at the crystal water all around me. The sun is just starting to rise, casting vibrant streaks of pink and orange along the horizon.
    It’s a precious moment of peace before what I know will be another grueling day.
    After arriving in Bali yesterday afternoon, our team wasted no time getting down to business. Freitas, Sarah, the other scientists, and I spread out to cover as much ground as we could. We took samples of the water, soil, pollen, and air. We tested the island for unusual patterns of radiation and electromagnetic activity. We dug through mud as thick as tar to collect insects and worms. We waded into a rushing river to net fish and plankton. We even trekked through the punishing jungle in Padangtegal to trap a feisty twenty-two-inch-long macaque. Before we left, Sarah told me to bag a stinking pile of the monkey’s dung. I thought she was kidding—or maybe stung by my rejection earlier—but Freitas insisted I obey.
    By the time we all made it back to the hotel, well after midnight, I could barely keep my eyes open. I knew the next day would be even more exhausting: the plan was to head further inland into the mountains to capture additional animals to study, including a Komodo dragon and a six-foot Burmese python. I flopped onto the bed the moment I walked in, still wearing my filthy clothes, and fell fast asleep.
    But now, thanks to a mix of jet lag and nerves, I’m wide awake at dawn. It’s almost 11:00 p.m. in Paris, too late to call Chloe. To clear my head, I decide to take a dip.
    I strip down to my boxers and cannonball into the calm sea, as if I were a little kid again at the local pool. I’m surprised by how warm the water feels, like a soothing bath.
    I flick my wet hair from my eyes and float on my back at first, letting the gentle current carry me. Then I flip over and use a slow breaststroke to swim farther out.
    I glance over my shoulder at the coastline. The swaying palm trees, the quaint villas, the stunning beach—it’s like something you’d see on a postcard. I make a mental note to bring Chloe and Eli back here someday, when all this HAC craziness is finally over, for a family vacation. Lord knows they deserve it.
    I know I should probably start heading back to my hut, but something beckons me to swim a