Sunshine took a seat and strapped herself in. Once she was secured, they left the comfort of the garage and headed out into the eerie darkness of the swamp. The engine's motor was so loud, it made her ears ache as they sped toward his cabin.
It was so dark out here that she couldn't focus her eyes on anything at all.
How could Talon see to drive the boat? Any minute, she half expected them to plow into a tree or stump.
And yet Talon maneuvered them effortlessly without any hesitation or slowing of speed.
After a few minutes, her eyes adjusted to the blackness and she was able to see outlines and swamp gas. Mostly, she just saw fog and a few things that looked vaguely like animals falling into the water.
Maybe she was better off blind after all.
At long last, they reached a small isolated cabin set deep in the swamp. Alone. Isolated. Spanish moss hung down from the top of the porch and the wood of the place had lightened to a faint gray that stood out even in the darkness of the night.
Talon parked the catamaran beside a small dock and got out. He helped her onto the dock and as she followed him up the narrow plank toward the dark porch, she realized there were two alligators in front of the door.
She screamed.
"Shh," Talon said with a laugh. "There's nothing to fear."
To her extreme astonishment, he bent down and patted the biggest gator on the head. "Hey Beth, how's it going tonight?"
The gator snapped its jaw and hissed at him as if it had understood his question.
"I know, girl. I'm sorry, I forgot."
"What are you? Dr. Dolittle?"
He laughed again. "No. I found these two when they were small hatchlings and raised them. We're family. I've known them so long that I can almost read their minds."
Well, she had reptiles in her family tree too. Only hers walked on two legs.
The big one came up to her and eyeballed her like she was the daily special at the Crocodile Cafe. "I don't think she likes me."
"Be nice, Beth," Talon said.
The gator swished its tail, then ambled off the porch, into the swamp water. The other one looked at her, snapped its jaws, then joined its friend.
Talon opened the door to his cabin and turned on a dim desk lamp. Sunshine stepped inside hesitantly, half afraid he'd have the housekeeping abilities of her brother.
Or that there would be something worse than gators inside. Something like a monster anaconda he intended to feed her to.
She hesitated in the doorway.
The place was bigger inside than it appeared from the outside, but it was still basically only one room. There was a small kitchen off to her left and a door to her right she assumed was the bathroom.
He had three big tables set up with computers and other electronic equipment. And there was a large black futon on the floor to the rear of the cabin.
She was thankful everything was clean and sanitary. How wonderfully refreshing to know that all men weren't the pigs her brothers were.
"Interesting place you have here, Talon. Have to say I love the blank, black walls."
He snorted at her tone. "This from a woman who lives inside a pink cloud?"
"True, but everything here is so dark. Don't you find it depressing?"
He shrugged. "Not really. I no longer think about it at all."
"Not to be rude, but it seems to me that you do that a lot."