Chapter 203: Chapter 203: Frightened by Her ID

When Fiona heard Renee Jennings say that, he bristled. "Bullshit! I’m no coward!"

Renee Jennings pulled out her phone and tapped him on the head a few times. "Try cussing again. See if I don’t give you a smack."

"You..." Fiona huffed. "Whatever. I’m not going to argue with a female."

Renee Jennings laughed in exasperation. Not bothering to argue with him, she stood up and said calmly, "Follow me."

Grunting and puffing, Fiona followed behind her, scrabbling along with his claws.

The firefighters and police officers standing at the gate watched the scene unfold. Expressions of shock and disbelief washed over their faces, some of them letting their mouths fall open unconsciously.

"This..."

"My God! How is this possible?"

"That alligator is following her like an obedient husky!"

Renee Jennings stopped in front of Faye Wyatt and the others. Fiona, trailing behind her, halted as well.

"Do you have any zip ties?" she asked, looking at a staff member in a zoo uniform.

"Yes!" The man pulled several zip ties from his uniform pocket and handed them over.

Renee Jennings took just one and bound Fiona’s mouth shut.

Fiona glared at her resentfully. He wanted to curse but couldn’t, so he could only stew in silence.

A faint smile touched Renee Jennings’s lips. She told the zoo staff, "You can take him to the truck. There are two more Chinese alligators inside."

Director Quincy’s eyes trembled with emotion. "Consultant Jennings, thank you so, so much!"

Renee Jennings reached out and gently patted Director Quincy’s shoulder, offering a warm smile. "I’ll go find the others."

As she turned to leave, one of the firefighters approached her—the same one who had told her to leave and not get in the way.

"Can I help you?" Renee Jennings asked.

The firefighter’s gaze fell on her calm face, a hint of embarrassment creeping onto his cheeks. He pursed his lips. "I apologize for earlier."

With that, he bent at the waist and gave her a deep, solemn bow.

His colleagues came over as well, all murmuring their apologies.

"It’s all right." Renee Jennings shook her head gently. "You meant well, but your actions would have frightened the alligators in that situation. Just leave the other two to me."

Everyone understood that she was the professional in this situation, and they nodded in agreement.

"Thank you for your trust," Renee Jennings said, before striding back into the hot spring area on her long legs.

In just ten minutes, she emerged with another Chinese alligator, Tutu.

After handing Tutu over to the zoo staff, Renee Jennings went back into the hot spring area.

This time it took fifteen minutes, and she returned with the Chinese alligator, Connie.

All three Chinese alligators from the hot spring area had been found. Her system tracker showed one more hiding in the hotel parking lot.

It was already close to eight in the evening, and Renee Jennings was starting to feel hungry. Director Quincy took the opportunity to suggest they have dinner at the hotel before resuming the search.

"You all go ahead and eat," Renee Jennings said, a little worried about the alligator in the hotel parking lot. "There’s still one hiding in the parking garage. I’ll go find it. Just pack something for me, I can eat in the car."

"Absolutely not. I’ll go with you." Director Quincy couldn’t let Renee Jennings search for an alligator on an empty stomach while he stayed behind to eat dinner.

"There’s no need," Renee Jennings explained. "This is to save time. Just pack something for me."

"Please pack something for me, too," Sawyer said. "My job is to protect Renee Jennings, so I need to stick with her."

Director Quincy was still hesitant, but Faye Wyatt spoke up. "Old Man Quincy, just listen to Renee Jennings. You can thank her properly later."

Director Quincy finally nodded. "All right, then. You two be careful."

Following the tracker’s directions, Renee Jennings and Sawyer headed for the hotel’s underground parking garage.

The moment they entered the garage, they were enveloped in dim light. The overhead lamps cast faint halos, and the air was still. Their footsteps echoed, as loud as drumbeats.

Renee Jennings noticed the alligator’s position on her tracker had started to move.

She frowned slightly and looked at Sawyer. "Let’s split up. You take this side, I’ll take that one."

"Got it," Sawyer nodded. "Yell if you need me."

Renee Jennings ran toward the location indicated by her tracker, but when she got there, she couldn’t see any sign of the alligator.

But the tracker showed the alligator had stopped and wasn’t moving anymore.

’How strange.’

Renee Jennings called Sawyer over, planning to search the immediate area.

Just then, a nearby janitor asked curiously, "What are you two looking for, ladies?"

"A Chinese alligator that escaped from the zoo," Renee Jennings replied, looking at him. "Sir, have you seen it around here?"

"Haven’t seen a thing," the janitor said, shaking his head.

"Thanks," Renee Jennings said with a slight nod, and continued her search.

Seeing this, the janitor chuckled. "Well, you two take your time. I’ll get out of your hair."

Renee Jennings glanced at him and said coolly, "It’s fine. You’re not in the way."

"I’ve got to get back to work," the janitor said, and walked off, pulling his cleaning cart.

Renee Jennings noticed the alligator on her tracker was moving again.

She frowned, her eyes scanning the area.

Other than the few parked cars, there was nowhere for an alligator to hide.

She had already checked under the cars and found nothing.

’Does this alligator know how to turn invisible or something?’

Renee Jennings was hungry and getting anxious. Her brow furrowed, a mix of exhaustion and worry setting in.

She took a deep breath and followed the moving dot on her tracker. Up ahead, she saw the janitor struggling to pull his cleaning cart.

Renee Jennings gradually slowed her pace, her gaze fixed on the cleaning cart. A thought suddenly flashed through her mind, and her eyes lit up.

"Sir!" she called out.

The janitor didn’t stop. In fact, his pace quickened.

Seeing this, Renee Jennings’s clear eyes narrowed. She turned to meet Sawyer’s gaze and said in a decisive, low voice, "The alligator is in his cleaning cart."

Sawyer’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, wondering how she had figured it out.

But she knew this wasn’t the time to ask. Sawyer nodded. "I’ll stop him."

With that, she darted forward with light steps, blocking the janitor’s path.

"What is it, miss?" the janitor asked, looking flustered. "I’ve got to get to work. I told you, I haven’t seen any alligator."

"You haven’t?" Renee Jennings walked up beside him, her delicate features set in a serious expression. "Are you sure? That Chinese alligator is a nationally protected Class I species. Privately harboring a protected animal is illegal. Are you prepared to take responsibility for what you’ve just said?"

Sawyer took that as her cue to flash her police ID. "We need you to answer truthfully."

The janitor was startled by her badge and stammered, "P-Police?"

"That’s right," Sawyer said, sizing him up. "I’ll ask you again. Have you seen the alligator?"

"I-I don’t even know what an alligator looks like. But when I was clearing trash in the garage earlier... I found a strange-looking creature."

With that, the janitor opened the lid of his cleaning cart and removed a black plastic bag from the top.

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