Read Turn of the Pipes (A Redpoint One Romance) for Free Online

just before Irvine could get a foot out of the
door he'd pried up.
    "What are you doing?" Ignacio
demanded.
    "Keeping one of your precious newts from
making another jail-break." Rachel glared at the creature hissing
at her from the other side as it continued to try to lift the small
feeding door. With one rush the anger and frustration of the day
returned. "Which reminds me, Mr. Manetti, we need to have a
talk."
    "He was opening the feeding door?" Ignacio
asked from somewhere above her head. "I've never seen him display
so much ambition or intelligence."
    "Might I remind you he's escaped three times
now?" Rachel said. She couldn't resist sticking her tongue out at
Irvine. "And all three times he messed up systems in my
department."
    "They really aren't very intelligent," Ignacio
said.
    "Do you have a lock for this door or not?
Should I get out my duct tape?"
    "Wait, I have something that will
work."
    The flat toes of the newt attached to the
clear material of the enclosure. It climbed up the side, the cupped
bottoms of the toes acting like suction cups so that it positioned
itself upside down above the door. With both front arms it pulled
at the door.
    "You might be determined, you little slime,
but you aren't getting out," Rachel told it. "Go swim in your pond
and leave my pipes alone."
    Ignacio appeared next to her, kneeling by her
side, laughing all the way. "Shall I guess your department?
Plumbing, perhaps?"
    Her first impression had been correct. He'd
hardly heard a word she'd said when she first arrived. "Yes,
plumbing, and that's where I found him."
    Ignacio hooked a metal bracket through a hole
in the bottom ledge of the door Rachel was using to keep it closed,
and an identical hole in the ledge at the bottom of the larger
human-sized main door. With a click, he turned the curved bracket
so it locked down the door.
    The newt turned its head to hiss at both of
them, flashing its yellow gills.
    "Go swim in your pond," Rachel said
again.
    "Crawling around in your pipes, was he?
Doesn't surprise me he would gravitate towards them if given the
chance. I'm still working on adding to his enclosure to mimic the
tree tubes of his native environment."
    "His what?" Rachel asked, rubbing her hands to
get the feeling back after pressing down so hard to keep the
sliding door closed.
    "Hollow tree roots in fast running water. It's
a very unusual environment," Ignacio said. He smiled at the newt,
putting a finger under where one of its feet still stuck to the
wall. The newt stepped away in response, hurrying to the water.
"Another one of my rescues. He would look for environments closer
to that found on his native world."
    "I don't think you understand. He wasn't among
the pipes. He was inside a water pipe," Rachel said. She grabbed
her bucket and stood up. "The valves of Redpoint One will not close
if it senses something living might be harmed from the action.
Irvine cut off the water to several apartment blocks
today."
    Ignacio rose to his feet, one hand still on
the enclosure. "Are you sure? How would he get inside a
pipe?"
    "Of course I'm sure. I had to disconnect two
pipes to fish the little snot out."
    Something in her face must have told him not
to pursue disbelief because he turned to watch the newt swimming.
He also appeared to be battling with laughter. Not something she
wanted to hear at the moment now that she was on a roll about the
problem.
    "I would like to know how Irvine accomplished
the feat," Ignacio finally said.
    "Wonder about it all you want, just keep him
from doing it again," Rachel said. "My job is already hard
enough."
    Ignacio laughed, rubbing the back of his head
and succeeding in making his hair stand up even more. "Keeping the
feeding door locked down should take care of it."
    "Thank you," Rachel said, not knowing what
more to add, but wanting to linger a little more. A most curious
feeling. Why did she want to stay around newts and salamanders even
more? She preferred other animals, really.
    She was