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.Eugenie Fonda was elated that the boy hadn’t croaked in her arms.She pecked him on the forehead and said, “You got a concussion, bucko.We’re stayin’ right here until your old man tracks us down.”Fry didn’t argue.He had no strength for another hike.The sun on his legs felt good; so did lying on Eugenie’s lap.Were it not for the football helmet, he would have been basking in the warmth of her outstanding breasts.He tried not to dwell on that.“Hey, check out the chameleons,” he said.There were two of them, as bright as emeralds, sharing a bough in the strangler fig.One of the lizards inflated its wine-red dewlap and began pumping its featherweight body, as if it was doing push-ups.“That’s the male,” Fry explained.“He’s showin’ off.”“Go figure,” said Eugenie.She opened the Halliburton and removed the video camera.After rewinding the tape, she touched the play button.The young Seminole’s girlfriend appeared on the display screen, auditioning with the shotgun as a prop.Good morning, this is Gillian St.Croix bringing you the weather! A winter storm rumbled through the Rockies last night, dumping snow from Montana to New Mexico.The ski resorts in Vail are reporting three feet of fresh powder, and it’s even deeper in Aspen and Telluride.Meanwhile, waaaaaaay down in sunny southern Florida, daytime temps are expected to reach the low seventies by noon.It’s ideal conditions for being held hostage by a stud-hunk Native American on a deserted tropical isle.We’re talkin’ about a serious blue-eyed Bone Machine—Eugenie Fonda hastily shut off the tape.“Who was that?” Fry asked.“Just a girl gone wild.” Eugenie rewound the cassette and activated the record button.“Where are those lizards?” She pointed the camera toward the fig tree.“Little higher.” Fry twisted around to show her.“They’re cute little buggers, aren’t they?”“Yes, ma’am.” The boy’s neck ached, so he turned back the other way.“And real fond of each other.” Genie toggled the zoom.“Do you have any kids?” Fry asked.She thought: One of the few mistakes I haven’t made.“I never grew up enough to be a mom.That’s a serious gig,” she said.“Nah, you could do it.”“I was wondering—do lizards make noise?”“Geckos, yeah.Not chameleons,” he said.“Too bad.” Genie fiddled with the focus control.“What kind of job do you have?” the boy asked.She chuckled dryly.“I sell an incredible amount of crap to people over the phone.But once upon a time I had a book published.”“Sweet.”“The phony true-life story of a doomed romance,” she said, “but don’t be too impressed.I didn’t write a damn word of it.”“What’s the book called?”Genie said, “Never mind.It’s not in your school library, I promise.Aren’t chameleons the ones with the big buggy eyes and the superlong tongues? Like that guy in Kiss.”“Those are old-world chameleons.The species here in the Everglades is called the American anole.”Eugenie was enjoying herself; the kid was an encyclopedia.She said, “Maybe I can sell this tape to the National Geographic.You could help me with the script.”Fry cocked his head and listened.“You might want to wrap it up,” he said.“In a minute.”He sat up.“Hear that? It’s a chopper!”“How can you tell from so far off?”The boy raised one arm to block out the sun.“They’re headin’ our way.”Eugenie switched off the camera.Honey’s kid was right—it sounded like a helicopter, not a plane.She remembered the man called Lester bragging of secret arrangements to leave the island; possibly she’d underestimated him.Although Gillian’s young Seminole had promised to provide a boat and a map for returning to the mainland, air travel was much more appealing to Genie.“I need to ask you somethin’ important,” she said to Fry.“Say I caught a ride outta here—would you be all right until your old man shows up?”With a whoosh the helicopter passed over the treetops.“Coast Guard.They’re circling.” Fry craned for a better view.“You get going.I’ll be okay,” he said.Genie helped the boy to his feet.“Or how about you and me leave together? They’ll send somebody back to find your folks, for sure.”“No, ma’am, you go.”Hurriedly she packed the video gear.“Promise you’ll wait right here for your dad? Don’t be a typical dumbass male and get yourself lost in the woods.”“Promise
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