You sure?

Ryder's shoulders drop just a little bit. They'd had a setback today and it was his own fault. He'd been careless, and now Thirteen would be scared of him in danger any other time. He swallows his pride though, and nods. "Okay." He wanted to keep her there a little longer... try to walk her around and show her the zoo wasn't a bad place. There were many happy animals here. He wanted to explain that if they released them, most wouldn't know how to survive. He wanted to show her the tiger cubs he'd seen the sign for on their way in. Personally, he wanted to walk around himself and check out the rest of the zoo. But it was his own fault she wasn't ready for that today.

"Come on." Putting an arm around her shoulder, he aims for the path that led back to the entrance. Halfway there, a man steps in their way, stopping them abruptly.

"Excuse me."

Ryder pulls Thirteen to a halt with him. "Yes?"

"You're the man that helped with the crocodile?"

Ryder quirks an eyebrow. He was half caked in mud - what else would he have been doing? "Yeah."

"Here." The man offers him a business card. "I'm the head manager here. I just fired our chief reptile caretaker. You want the job, it's yours."

Ryder's eyes widen as he look at the card, then back at the man. "Well, I-"

"Call me sometime this week. If I don't hear from you by Saturday, I'll find someone else. But we could really use someone like you. The pay's not bad either." The man nods at them both before turning to head back to the office building.

Ryder moves forward slowly, one arm still around Thirteen, his other hand holding the car. "That was... interesting." A lump rose in his throat. He was an Elite agent. How could he give that up to work at a zoo? At the same time though, what good had he been doing at TJY since he'd come to the States?

He stops near the exit gates. "You sure you don't wanna look around?"


“Hey, Dad…”

Mick wanders down the aisle, taking off his leather gloves. “Hey, Babe. What’s up?”

Jade musters up another smile. “Just wanted to let you know that I was gonna hitch a ride with Dan to town. Be back in a while.”

“Wai…uh…” Mick holds up his hand. “He… needs help?”

“No.”

“You need something in town?”

“Not really.” Jade shrugs. “Just… want to get out.”

“I got a couple horses that could use the exercise.”

“Not that kind of “out,” Dad. I’ll be back later, okay?”

“Um… no.” Mick shakes his head. “I’d rather you didn’t go with him.”

Jade stops from going back outside. “What?”

“I said I’d rather you didn’t hitch a ride with Dan.”

“Why not?”

“Because I said so.” Mick plays the father card. “Look, just trust me, alright? You need to go somewhere, you can take a horse, or I’ll even let you borrow the car. Just say so.”

“Dad!” Jade throws up her arms. “What is your problem?”

“I don’t need to explain myself.” Mick eyes his daughter as he aims for the open barn door, not realizing that Dan is anywhere close. “I have my reasons and that’s all you need to know.”

Jade grits her teeth, crossing her arms. “What, is this about last night or something? You don’t like it that we had a good time? Jealous? Over-protective? What is it?”

“I heard you did have a good time,” Mick retorts. “Which is more than I got out of you.”

Jade frowns. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“Look, your behavior could have been a little more conservative last night, that’s all. I don’t think you should be flaunting yourself at Dan at every opportunity.”

“Flaunting?!” Jade’s eyes widen. “What were you doing? Spying? Who did you send to check up on us?!”

“No.” Mick sighs with frustration as he stops right at the barn entrance, trying not to become too agitated. “I just don’t understand, Jade. Did something happen last night that you don’t want to talk about? Is there some reason you want to get all cozy with Dan all of a sudden?”

Jade’s face turns at least three shades of red. Her voice comes out in a low hiss. “I cannot believe what you are insinuating. I was perfectly behaved last night, and if you think that anything other than some friendly conversation went on last night, you should be ashamed of yourself because you obviously don’t trust me, or the others who were there too.”

“All I heard is that you were the biggest flirt at the alley,” Mick retorts in exasperation.

Jade’s jaw drops. “Wha… who… who told you that?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes it does!” Jade’s eyes flicker with anger as he recalls some of the scenes from last night. “It was Jason, wasn’t it? You purposely had him keep an eye on me, didn’t you? Like a little snitch, you had him watch me, then report to Daddy when we got home, is that it?”

Mick’s temper is nearing its limit and his jaw muscles work back and forth. “Apparently you needed to be watched.” He hadn’t been happy to hear that she’d been a royal flirt, and he swings the conversation back around. “As for today, the answer is still no. You need to go to town, go. But not with Dan.”

“I’m eighteen years old!” Jade raises her voice. “I’m not a little girl anymore and you can’t just order me around!”

“You’re here? At this ranch? It’s my word that goes,” Mick reminds sternly. “Now if there’s anything else you’d like to tell me that you’ve been hiding, now would be a good time.”

“Else? Else?!” Jade doesn’t realize she’s almost standing outside now. “First you accuse me of doing who knows what, now you think there’s more?”

“I know when you’re keeping something from me, Jade! I’m your father. If you’re not going to tell me, I’ll find out the hard way, but I don’t think you want that.”

Jade can feel the lump rising in her throat. “It’s none of your concern.”

“It is, if it has to do with you and an employee of mine, it does.”

“Are you out of your mind?!”

“Then tell me what’s going on!”

“So I flirted! So what?!” A tear rolls down Jade’s face. “Who are you to judge, huh? You don’t know half of what my life is like, so don’t stand there and pretend you know all the ins and outs of what your little girl needs. You’ve got some freakish idea that I’m going behind your back with your ranch hand and I don’t even know why.”

“Do you deny it?!”

“Yes!”