Dallas’s laughter quickly turned into hysterics as the snake struck again.
With a tremendous roar, Colton leaped toward them and grabbed the snake by the tail, flinging it against the wall. It landed heavily and then slithered quickly into the bathroom. He rushed over and slammed the bathroom door. He was at Dallas’s side in an instant, a look of horror on his face as he reached for his phone on the nightstand.
His eyes searched Dallas’s body. She wore a black bra and underpants and nothing else. She blushed. By then she had caught her breath. Her entire body was shaking.
“Sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Why I was laughing like a mad woman. Shock. Um, it didn’t bite me. It’s been defanged.”
Colton closed his eyes and slumped against the wall. She crawled over into his lap and then started to cry.
Angrily, she wiped away her tears that were soaking his chest.
“I’m sorry for being such a big baby,” she said. “It just scared the crap out of me. I think I lost it there for a second.”
She wiped her tears and sat up straight. Colton was shaken. He kept shaking his head.
“Say something,” Dallas pleaded.
“I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head again.
Dallas leaned over and kissed his forehead. “It’s okay. It’s okay. What don’t you know?”
“Maybe we should go home.”
“Why?” Dallas asked in earnest.
“Someone clearly wants you dead. It’s not worth it.”
Dallas stood up and pulled on her pants and a top. She reached for the room phone but before she picked it up, she said, “No. They don’t. If they wanted me dead, I have a feeling I’d be dead. They are just trying to scare me.”
Then she dialed “0” and spoke, “I’m in room 213. There’s a cobra in my bathroom. It’s defanged but you’re going to need to find someone to come get it.”
Colton was standing now and throwing his clothes into his rucksack. “Tell them we’re checking out.”
“Oh, and we’ll checking out. Immediately. I’m sure you understand.”
She hung up and nodded toward the closed bathroom door. “I think we should just leave our toiletries and buy new ones. Whaddya think?”
She winked, grabbed her backpack and opened the door to the hall.
He was right behind her. “Good plan.”
Eleven
Colton paid for them to have adjoining suites at the Marriott.
Dallas frowned when he told the desk clerk this.
Upstairs, he plopped his bag down on one bed and hers on the bed in the other room.
As soon as he turned to go back into the other room, Dallas grabbed her bag and followed, pointedly plopping it on the bed beside his.
“I’m having a sleepover tonight.”
He rolled his eyes.
She grabbed him by his hips and pulled him toward her.
He groaned but pushed her away.
“Colton?”
“Dallas, I’m pretty shaken up by everything tonight. I think maybe I just need to go to sleep. No offense. Believe me, any other time … but I’m still jetlagged and frankly, not sure it should be like this the first time …”
Dallas smiled widely and pulled off her top.
“Dallas!”
But before he could get her name out, she’d yanked a big U of M T-shirt on and reached over pulled back the covers on the bed. “Hop in. I’m a really good snuggler.”
The next morning Dallas woke curled up against Colton’s warm body. Her head rested on his shoulder. The first thing she thought was how well they fit together.
Her next thought was “Crap!” She jumped up. The sun was shining brightly into their room. They hadn’t drawn the curtains the night before. One glance at the bedside clock told her what she feared—they’d overslept.
Colton mumbled something in his sleep and rolled over as Dallas sprinted for her pants and then rummaged in the pocket for her phone. Four missed calls from Abet.
Great.
She stepped into the adjoining room and called him back.
“I’ve been calling every hotel in town. Nobody has you check in anywhere.”
Oh no. Colton had used his name. I was about to call the embassy when the maid at your hotel said something about a cobra extraction this morning. So, then I started calling the hospitals. I was just now going to call the embassy, the minister … anyone and everyone.”
“First, I’m so sorry. We were up late sorting through the whole snake thing—that’s a whole another story I’ll tell you later. And then we overslept. We’re checked in under Colton’s name so that explains the confusion. And second, I’m touched you were worried.”
Abet grumbled. “If you die, I don’t get paid, right?”
Dallas laughed. “Whatever tough guy. Just admit you were worried because you sort of like me. I mean we are friends, right? You did say I reminded you of your daughter.”
“Fine. I was worried. Like a parent would worry. I have enough to worry about with my own grown children, I don’t need to worry about anyone else.”
“Fair enough,” Dallas said. “Do we still have a driver?”
As she spoke she pulled on her pants and top.
He must’ve placed his hand over the receiver. She heard some muffled voices. “He says, yes, as long as you pay him from the time he was supposed to pick you up this morning.”
“That sounds fair. We’re at the Marriott. Give us thirty minutes, okay?”
She hung up as she walked into the room. Her voice woke Colton who sat up and seemed as startled as she had. He raked a hand through his messy hair. “What time is it?”
He glanced at the clock and moaned.
“It’s fine. Abet will be here in thirty minutes. Let me brush my teeth and then I’ll rummage us up some coffee and meet you downstairs.”
On the drive out to the dig site, Abet listened to Dallas’s story about the cobra with a furrowed brow.
“No fangs?”
“No.”
“I can only think of one person who would know where the snake came from.”
Dallas’s eyes widened. “Really? That’s brilliant. We can go there tonight.”
He scoffed. “There is no ‘we.” I will go.”
“Hmmm,” Dallas was unhappy but not
