by Claire Kane
He shot a glance toward Moon-Amber and caught her peeking through her fingers out the back window of the cab. When they locked eyes, she uncovered her face and put a hand to her chest, sighing. Fred gave her a brave smile and an “o.k.” sign, but he was at a loss for how to persuade Felix and Charly to just be what they were.
And then, as if Gaia had heard his unspoken plea, something changed.
A small brush rodent scurried into the scene. Felix, the white tiger, paused, his large eyes fixed on the tiny creature.
Fredrik gestured frantically at Aarav. “Wait, keep rolling!” he ordered the cameraman. The cameraman gave him a sheepish look and, in a thick accent, replied, “It has never stopped rolling.”
Frederik paused, then frowned. “What do you mean you didn’t ever stop? Well… just make sure to get this.”
As Felix began acting like a real cat for once, Fred leaned in on the camera. It was all he could do to keep his voice to a whisper as he said, “To the folks at home, what we are witnessing here is this majestic beast’s natural instincts returning to the forefront of his consciousness. My idea worked. They just needed some prodding. Watch as this predator lays claim to his prey.”
Felix prowled around the small creature, growling. The rodent darted left, but Felix jumped in front of it. The thing scurried the other direction, only to find Felix blocking it a second time with a swipe of his massive paw. In seconds, the tiny thing was backed up against a tree. Felix let out another growl, and tensed to strike.
Without warning, the critter stood on his hind legs and squeaked.
Like Scooby to Shaggy, Felix jumped into Fredrik’s scrawny arms, blasting him to the ground with a cry of shock. Moon-Amber shrieked.
Felix rolled off Fredrik, and the man lay on the ground, finally understanding how Loki must have felt in that closing scene of The Avengers. Finally summoning the strength, Fred frantically scrambled for the truck, trembling. He called for Moon-Amber to unlock the door. The instant she did, he dove into the cab.
“What do we do?” Moon asked.
Fred just shook his head. “Call Aarav over here, quick. I think it’s time to go.”
“But—” As if to prove Fred’s point, Felix thumped against the driver’s side window, his massive paws covering the whole window. Moon yelped again
“They’ll be fine. I swear I wouldn’t leave them here otherwise.” He started the old engine, and gunned it to keep it from dying. Rolling her window down just a crack, Moon called for their cameraman. A roar split the air. Moon hid; Fred shivered. It dawned on him that it might not be good for his health to be too close to the tigers if they suddenly went feral.
The truck bounced lightly, and Fred glanced in the wing mirror: no Aarav in sight. “Okay, he’s in,” Fred said, jerking the truck into gear, and hammering the accelerator down, grateful that his Indian crew member was so quick.
They twisted and turned through the jungle brush, but Fred still felt as though the tigers were right behind them. “Moon—are they following us? Can you see them?”
She twisted around and peered out the back window. After a few moments, she faced forward, sighing in relief. “There’s a lot of dust behind us, but I don’t see them anymore. I think we gave them the slip.”
Fred exhaled slowly. “Thank Gaia.”
“I’m worried about them, Fred.”
He gave her a brave smile, and rubbed her knee. “They’re smart. They’ll figure out what to do. We’ll go back, turn in Aarav’s footage to Ramcom, and happily report than the tigers are safe and sound, living freely in the open wild.” He smiled again. “Feels good, doesn’t it? Putting all of that behind us?”
Moon-Amber nodded, then lowered her eyelids dreamily at him. “You know,” she said coyly, “Now that we’re done with this assignment, maybe you and I should… explore India a little. Just us.”
Fred smiled. He could use a break from protests and crazed magicians and fickle security guards. He found he was even grateful for a break from the tigers, wonderful as they had been. With a knowing grin and a nod, he replied, “I think I’d like that, Moon. Just us.”
The truck broke onto an open road, and turned toward the sunset. It was perfect.
*
Aarav Khatri stood, dumbfounded, in the middle of the jungle after watching the two Americans disappear around a bend in the road. He hadn’t even gotten the camera off the tripod before the tigers—clever beasts—had ducked into the bed with the precision of surgeons, and lay still just below the rear window. Aarav’s shouting had been lost in the roar of the motor.
The last thing he saw of his ride was a white tiger waving goodbye from the bed of the truck. It would be a very, very long walk home.
THE END
(Read on for a note from the authors.)
DEAR READER:
So you’ve come to the end of Blackjack Magic Murder. We hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we did writing it. If you did have fun, we’d be delighted to receive your review on Amazon. Reviews help us gain advertisements, which helps with exposure, so we can continue writing mysteries.
Warm Regards,
Claire Kane
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Claire Kane is an avid reader and writer, who enjoys going on zany adventures with her eccentric mother. She loves classic fashion statements, a good root beer float, and always eats with her mouth closed. And she of course has a weak spot for murder mysteries.
An engineer by day, a writer by night, Stan Crowe has lived more places than he ever imagined he would, and has more children than most imagine they ever will. Author of the collection, “A Comedy of Love,” Stan wrote his first book at age five. Of late, Stan and his family have taken to waking up to Arizona sunrises.
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Website: zoeyandclaire.blogspot.com
Publisher’s website: breezyreads.com
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Twitter: @Zoey_Claire
EMAIL: [email protected]
Check out the first book in another mystery series cowritten by Claire Kane. Click here.
When Zoey Kane buys eighty acres of weeds on the abandoned side of town, she doesnt expect it to contain a haunted old mansion full of questions about its past. After her business-savvy daughter, Claire, suggests they turn it into a popular hotel, somebody isn’t happy about it. Now, a string of strange riddles, delivered by a ghost, must be solved before they are doomed.
