Wherever You Are

Chapter 4

"Another good training session, Mr. Grady," I congratulated.

"Thank you, Ms. Smith. Would you like to come-"

"Owen, just the guy I wanted to talk to!" Owen cursed, then turned around to meet Hoskins.

"What do you want, Hoskins?"

"A field test."

"No." Hoskins looked at me in surprise.

"Excuse me?"

"I am the director over dinosaurs. I give the final report to Claire Dearing, who then reports to Mr. Masrani. I give the final say on these animals, Mr. Hoskins. You report to me. And by my observation today, these animals are not ready for a field test. Do I make myself clear?"

Hoskins clearly didn't like taking orders from someone younger than him. "Now you listen here, girl-"

"I can also have you fired." That stopped Hoskins really fast. "So before you try anything, ask yourself, 'Do I really want to be fed to the raptors today?'" I walked down the stairs, Owen right behind me, and once we were out of Hoskins' view, we both cracked up laughing.

"Did you see his face? Oh, man, I thought he was gonna pee his pants!"

Owen opened up the gated area where the raptors would soon be brought it for their evaluation, and we both stepped in.

"Pig loose! Pig loose!" Both of our heads turned to the enclosure, where a new worker was trying to trap the pig. Instead, a raptor grabbed the pig, and dragged the new guy into the enclosure with them.

Owen cursed, then started unlocking the gate, Barry coming in right behind him.

"Don't shoot! Do not shoot!" The new worker crawled his way into the gated area, and Barry helped him in. "You put a twelve amp in these animals, they'll never trust me again."

By some miracle, Owen had the attention of all four raptors on him, and he made it back through the gate unscathed.

"You're crazy," I told him, pulling him into a hug.

"You still love me," he teased.

"Yeah, but you're still crazy."