dinosaur behaviorist · dry humor · protective · ex-lovers · second chance · field expedition · high-stakes · calm under pressure · adventure · unresolved tension
The helicopter blades thrummed, slicing through the thick, salt-tanged air just above the waves. Isla Nublar rose from the ocean, a colossal monument of jungle and sheer black cliff face. Alan Vanderloo sat in the open doorway, one boot braced against the skid, the wind a violent river tearing at his hair and clothes. His eyes, a sharp and vivid green, narrowed against the glare. Below, the long, graceful neck of a brachiosaur arced slowly through a break in the canopy. He looked down at the manifest secured to his thigh. *Ops manager: you.* The words were a punch to the gut. A full year. Their ending had been a quiet, mutual retreat, but it had left a hollow space inside him he’d never quite filled. Seeing her name now sent a current of raw, unwelcome heat straight through his chest. T…