“I’ll email you what I found. You might be able to dig deeper than I could.”
I headed back upstairs and went to find my Aston Martin Vantage out in the parking lot. Getting in, I sighed happily and pulled the bounty out of my back pocket, throwing it onto the passenger’s seat with my bag.
It was good to be home.
2
Chapter Two
I drove well out of Phoenix to get home. Off Eagle Eye Road, west of the city, there were several dirt roads. One of them was mine. I lived in the shadow of Harquahala Mountain, on a desert property that kept neighbors from moving too close. I enjoyed the desert, and it was safer to live outside the city, being what I was.
I got home in the pitch black of night, my headlights my only source of light, grabbing my bag from the passenger’s seat as the garage door closed behind me.
“Honey, I’m home,” I greeted the empty house sarcastically. No one answered. No one ever did since I lived alone and had for most of my adult life.
Maybe I should have stayed at my condo in the city tonight.
I dumped my bag on my dining room table and got to my chores, the same things I worked on every time I came home. Going into my office, I made my way to a small fridge and freezer, grabbing the pair of tongs off the top. I used them to grab a thawed dead rat and took it to the large enclosure behind my desk on the wall opposite the door.
There were three feeding spots in the enclosure, small spots that only fit the rat and tongs, and needed to be locked up when I was done. I picked the one closest to me and wiggled the thawed rat.
With a lightning fast move, the female Indian cobra inside the habitat struck the dead rat and took it from me. I watched her massage her fangs into the flesh and smiled.
“Good, Naksha. Maybe you can go home soon now that you’re eating properly.”
About six months before my little business trip, I had taken her on, sick and weak. The vampire who owned her didn’t know what was wrong, and neither did the vets he coerced into seeing her. I was his last hope, and I was grateful he brought her to me. Snakes were something of a specialty for me. I got her well again, and now we were just waiting for upgrades at her permanent home to be done.
“Hopefully, his new habitat for you is done soon. You’ll enjoy having more space.”
I didn’t know why I talked to her. She couldn’t understand. Normally, there weren’t any snakes in the habitat except me, so maybe I was just grateful for the company.
Maybe I just like talking to snakes. I should see someone about that. A therapist or maybe a zookeeper.
With Naksha eating for the first time in over two weeks, I was glad to see my new habitat system had worked well for the trip. I recently installed a state-of-the-art camera system that let me remote view her, a new filtration system for her running water feature, and a remote temperature control that also controlled the intensity of her heat lamps. I had been hoping it saved me from needing someone to check on her while I was away. I didn’t like having people in my home while I wasn’t around. Truthfully, I hated it. As long as there were no emergencies, I didn’t want anyone near her or in my space.
In the end, it all worked out, so that’s one less worry.
I went back into the living room and dining area, letting Naksha enjoy her meal in peace. My house was large, but no mansion—one story, four bedrooms, two of them converted into workspaces, a large living room, a dining room, and a kitchen. It was all I needed. I had a second building, but it was only a gym. I didn’t want to live with my equipment.
I grabbed my bag off the table and started pulling everything out of it. First, clothing I dumped into a nearby hamper so I could make sure to wash it. Then came tools of my trade. I only needed one bag, but I had to fly commercial like all the humans. I spent a pretty penny, making sure my one bag could carry everything I needed without getting me arrested. The front pouch was spelled. I opened it and reached