Shadow Creatures Read Free Page B

the website she was currently looking at – would
think that she was based somewhere in Russia. After Nemor Incorporated had managed to track her location within a few seconds of her hacking their website from a desk in her college library, she
had invested in some seriously hardcore security apps. Or, rather, Calum had invested in them for her. He had his own sophisticated computer set-up, but he knew that she was better than him at
digital technology. That was the thing about Calum – he could be arrogant and selfish, but he did recognize talent when he saw it.
    There were no other obvious cryptids on the site apart from the possible giant rat, and there were no other images showing the rat. The fact that it was in a cage suggested that it was for sale,
but the mysterious Xi Lang wasn’t advertising it. Maybe it was a special commission. Maybe it had just come into his warehouse, wherever that was, and he was still trying to work out what it
was and how much he could charge for it.
    That was a point – where
was
this warehouse? Checking all the web pages, Tara couldn’t find any details. Just because the website said it was based in China didn’t mean
anything, of course, despite the obviously Chinese name of the site’s supposed owner. She opened a separate browser window and set her search-bots looking for any information on
Xi
Lang
and/or his
Emporium of Unusual Pets.
Even if he was trying to disguise his location, they would probably find it.
    And they did. Within a few seconds Tara was looking at a scanned image of a receipt from one Xi Lang to a company named Celebrity Services Inc. for the sum of US$100,000. The item purchased was
described only as ‘Biological Specimen’, but Tara was pretty certain that the specimen would have been alive. The address on the invoice was a location in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Which was,
technically, in China.
    Calum really needed to know about this.
    Tara was about to email him when it occurred to her that it would be better to just take a bus across London and pop in to see him. The chances were that he would be in – he rarely left
his apartment. He would have questions that were better answered face to face rather than by a string of emails.
    She was about to switch her tablet to
hibernate
when it pinged again, indicating another incoming email. She debated whether to check it now or later, but she was a sucker for instant
gratification.
    This wasn’t from one of her search-bots. It appeared to be from a real human being named Tom Karavla. The message read:
    Hi,
    I hope I’ve got the right Tara Fitzgerald – apologies if I haven’t. If I have, then you don’t know me, but I’ve been a
     fan of the lostworlds.co.uk website for a while now. I love the whole idea of cryptids, and the fact that there are so many undiscovered creatures and unexplored locations out there in the
     world. I noticed that you’ve taken over as the website administrator, and I just wanted to say that you’ve managed to turn an already excellent site into something superb. Keep up
     the good work!
    Regards,
    Tom Karavla
    Tara’s immediate reaction was that it was a scam of some kind. She’d been expecting Nemor Incorporated to make a move against her, after the way she’d let them
down when they’d wanted her to investigate Calum for them, and this might be it. If so, it was a lot more subtle than their last attempt.
    She was about to delete the message when a sudden compulsion grabbed hold of her. She ought to check a little bit further, just in case. She put the name
Tom Karavla
into her search-bots
and let them loose.
    Within thirty seconds she had a potted life history of Tom Karavla, plus a series of photographs. He was about her age – apparently – and good-looking in the kind of understated
muscular way that she liked. He was studying politics at the London School of Economics, and lived in east London. He had a wide circle of friends, but according to his social-media