The Zoo Job by Keith R. A. Decandido & Electric Entertainment

Author:Keith R. A. Decandido & Electric Entertainment [Decandido, Keith R. A. & Entertainment, Electric]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Media Tie-In
ISBN: 9780425253847
Google: 6kkdewpvMQYC
Amazon: 0425253848
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2013-03-05T00:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

NOW

The mistake that Jack Randall had made was trusting his brother-in-law.

“I wouldn’t have married him if I didn’t think he was trustworthy,” his sister had said.

“He’s a good guy, he knows his ass from his elbow,” his father had said. Dad had a tendency to judge people solely on their perceived ability to differentiate those two body parts.

So when Bobby, the brother-in-law in question, came to him with an investment opportunity that was “guaranteed,” Jack heeded the advice of his sister and father and went along with it. After all, Bobby was trustworthy and he knew his ass from his elbow. What could possibly go wrong?

Thirty thousand dollars later, Jack was screwed. Bobby had gotten the whole family to go in on the deal—then it all fell apart, and he got his ass and his elbow the hell outta Dodge. His sister had hired a private investigator, but had had no luck in finding her soon-to-be-ex-husband. Everyone in the family got completely hosed.

Especially Jack, who was still too young to qualify for Social Security, but too old to have much in the way of job prospects.

But he was still a beefy guy. Blowing out his knee in college all those years ago had ruined his football career, but he’d worked as a bouncer, security guard, and even done a stint as muscle for the Irish mob in Boston (though he generally didn’t include that on his résumé). Figuring he’d find security work at a museum or an office building, instead he lucked into a rich guy in Vermont named McAllister who had his own private wildlife preserve.

It was easy work, mostly involving keeping an eye on security feeds from around the estate, making sure none of the wild animals got loose from their fancy electronic fences, and keeping an eye on the perimeter e-fence and making sure it didn’t break down, allowing the animals to roam free. McAllister had a veritable Wizard of Oz of animals—he actually had lions and tigers and bears—that mostly wandered around their designated area, ate, slept, and drank.

Which meant Jack could get lots of reading done. Currently, he was going through the entire Nero Wolfe series by Rex Stout. He’d just finished Murder by the Book and was in the process of downloading Triple Jeopardy to his e-reader when the alarm went off.

Frowning, he leaned forward in the comfortable chair that McAllister had provided in the sunroom of his mansion, which served as security HQ for the estate. He looked over the massive screen that showed all the security feeds, but the animals were, as usual, doing the exact same things they were doing yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that.

Then he realized that the alarm was for the perimeter fence. Both eleven and seventeen were down.

Jack sighed, really hoping this wasn’t another damn raccoon.

When he first got the job, he asked why McAllister didn’t have two people working at the same time. The boss’s answer was, “You’re here to keep an eye on the animals, not ask stupid questions.

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