11
I was furious.
So furious I wanted to hit someone.
There were no people on Monkey Mountain, only monkeys. So I crooked a finger at the former alpha, a monkey I called Red. He earned the name
because out of all the monkeys on the mountain, his butt was the absolute reddest.
Chapter 2
09:33
Ever since I’d beaten him, he seemed to have developed a little crush on me. Whenever I looked at him, his backside would flush an even deeper
shade of crimson.
Red swaggered over, his bright red butt on full display.
I smacked it. He let out a yelp, and his butt turned even redder.
Dammit, he liked that.
I kicked him away and started plotting my next move.
Honestly, I didn’t care if that family regretted what they did or if they ever loved me. But I cared about that billion dollars.
A new life plus a billion dollars? I couldn’t give up halfway.
It was time to play my trump card.
I was murdered by Isabelle Hawthorne.
Their regret was already high. If they learned that Isabelle was directly responsible for my death, it would be the final, devastating blow.
So, how to deliver it?
My eyes scanned the crowd of tourists taunting Flingo with their umbrellas. And then I saw her. A face I would never forget.
Dr. Evelyn Reed.
She was the Hawthornes private physician. A woman with a stellar reputation and utterly rotten morals. She was the one. She had found the
cancer, but at isabelle’s behest, she had hidden my diagnosis.
Standing beside her, holding her hand, was her six–year–old daughter, squealing with innocent joy at Flingo’s antics.
The irony was sickening.
My eyes gleamed. I quickly found Red, who was still preening nearby. “Take a few of the others. See that hole in the fence near the gorilla enclosu-
re? Make it bigger.”
It was a weak spot I’d noticed before, a few rusted bars. I’d always thought it could be torn open, creating a gateway for the monkeys to visit their gorilla neighbors. Not that any monkey was stupid enough to do that.
Except me.
“My Queen, you want to visit Flingo?” Red asked, suddenly a philosopher. “He may admire you from afar, but distance creates beauty. If you get too close, he might not find you so beautiful anymore.”
I kicked him in his red butt again, and again he yelped with what sounded suspiciously like pleasure. He stopped philosophizing and scurried off to
do my bidding.
I climbed to the highest point of my mountain and hurled a banana toward a small grove of trees in the southeast.
The banana landed, and a chorus of squawks erupted. “Get lost! Get lost! Get lost!”
After they had cursed for a while, Echo the macaw finally appeared.
I beckoned to him. “Echo, my friend. I have a job for you.”
“No way. The last time I stole a phone, the keeper slapped me so hard I think I got a concussion,” he squawked, turning to fly away.
I grabbed his leg and pulled him back. “All my bananas will be yours. Forever.”
“Your Majesty’s wish is my command!”
I pointed toward Dr. Reed and her daughter. “Go play with the little girl. Lure her away from her mother. Get them separated. And remember, just
separate them. Do not harm the child.”
I gave the order.
Echo’s face, or what passed for a face on a bird, turned green. “They’ll think I’m a kidnapper! The keepers will turn me into soup!”
“Don’t worry. If there’s trouble, I’ll take the blame. The bananas are all yours. Now go!”
Chapter 2
I launched him into the air like a feathered grenade. He flapped his wings, grumbling, and flew toward Dr. Reed.
