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Eli said, pointing to a door down the hall. 
    It sucked not
knowing her way around.  Stacy could have kicked herself for not planning
better. “Where does it come out?” she asked, then added, “and if you lie to me
again I’m going to be really pissed.”
    “The back of
the house.”
    “In plain
view?” she asked.
    “Well, if
someone happens to be looking out a window, yeah, it’s in plain view,” Eli
said.
    “You’re going
to take me to the boat dock through the jungle,” Stacy instructed. 
    “The jungle? 
Why do you want to go through the jungle?  You want to get snake bit?”
    “Because we
are less likely to be seen,” she said.  “Now let’s go.”
    The door
opened into a steep outdoor brick stairwell that ascended into a courtyard at
the back of the house.  Eli considered running when he got to the top knowing
that Stacy wouldn’t be able to catch him, but he didn’t know how good a shot
she was.  She certainly seemed comfortable with a pistol in her hand, and
although it occurred to him that her confidence could stem from the alcohol, he
didn’t think so.  He decided to wait for a better chance.
    They walked
along the back of the house and headed off into the jungle. There were masses
of tangled vines hanging from the canopy of trees and Stacy realized the place
would definitely be a haven for snakes.  They had walked several hundred feet
deep into the jungle, but Stacy kept imagining snakes intertwined with the
twisted vines hanging right above her head and it was giving her the creeps.
    “Wait,” she
said, and Eli stopped.  “Go left and head to the beach.”
    At least
she’s not an idiot , Eli thought.  He changed course, stepping over a small
tree stump.  “Watch the stump,” he advised.  “You don’t have your finger on the
trigger, do you?”
    “I won’t
shoot you by accident,” she repeated in a singsong voice.
    They
continued walking, Eli whacking his way through the thick brush as best he
could.
    “Do you know
how to use that thing?” he asked.
    “What do you
think?” she said.
    “I think that
you think you do,” he said, ducking under a vine. 
    “I think I
can outshoot you drunk and blindfolded,” Stacy boasted.
    “Well, you’re
half-way there,” he said, turning to look at her. “All you need is the
blindfold.”
    Something
moved just above Eli’s head and Stacy stopped cold. “Get on your knees, Eli,”
she told him. 
    “What?” he
said.
    “Get on your damn
knees NOW !” she repeated, raising the pistol and pointing it at Eli’s
head.
    Eli dropped
to his knees and Stacy pulled the trigger.  The shot rang out through the
jungle and birds flew off in all directions. 
    A huge snake
dropped out of the tree landing on Eli. “What the hell!” he yelled.  He jumped
up, frantically trying to undrape the snake from around his shoulders and
neck.  He threw the snake to the ground and it lay dead at his feet, half of its
head blown off. 
    “Jesus
Christ!  You scared the shit out of me!” he yelled at Stacy.  Eli ran his hand
through his hair, wiping off the perspiration that was pouring down his
temples.  His heart was pounding through his shirt.
    “For your
information, that snake was getting ready to bite you,” Stacy told him. “I
probably saved your life.” 
    Eli sat down
and put his hand over his heart, as if he could will it to stop pounding.  “ Where did you learn to shoot like that?” he asked.
    “I’m from Texas,” she said, as if that explained it.
    “So are
millions of other people,” he said sarcastically, “but they don’t go around
shooting snakes between the eyes.”
    “It’s just
one of my many talents,” Stacy bragged.  She had enjoyed seeing him so scared. 
It served him right for cutting her hair.   “When you’re ready,” she said,
motioning towards the beach.

Chapter 7
    Niki, Carlos
and Jason were in the kitchen when they heard gunfire. 
    “What the
hell was that?” said Jason, knowing full