The Wolf of Los Angeles

[Chapter 286: Brother and Sisters-in-Law]

In a southern suburb of Orlando, Kissimmee.

A narrow waterway led to Rand Lake on the outskirts, with houses spaced far from the waterway, ensuring no interference between them.

Two nearly ten-meter-long motorboats were docked at a small wooden pier.

Apart from the driver, each boat had a hunting guide.

At that moment, three vehicles approached, and Hawke and Erica, dressed in hunting gear, got out, each carrying a pack and walking onto the dock.

The others all shouldered long bags containing weapons.

On the leading motorboat, a yellow and a black Labrador retriever crouched; upon spotting Hawke and Erica, they instinctively lowered their bodies, like they had encountered a mortal foe.

The bearded guide, Duran, was slightly taken aback but quickly calmed the two dogs, scanning Hawke and Erica before warmly approaching. "Welcome to Kissimmee, the Roaming Hunters Club, the best urban hunting team in Kissimmee."

Duran eagerly stepped aside, "Please, step aboard."

Hawke and Erica were the first to board, followed by Raul and Guti. The others went to the boat behind them.

...

Duran brought an air gun with a gas canister and stated, "Here we prohibit the use of live ammunition to hunt green iguanas..."

Hawke opened his pack, pulled out a slingshot, and handed it to Erica, saying, "We brought hunting weapons."

Erica opened her bag, took out a box of steel balls, and passed it back to Hawke. "I checked; we can use steel balls."

Duran told the driver to start the boat, turning back. "If you're using slingshots, make sure you aim for the iguana's head; their bodies are tough; hitting them does limited damage."

The motorboat moved slowly, and Hawke scanned the surroundings, asking, "Are there any restrictions on hunting?"

"There are no size restrictions," Duran mentioned with visible irritation towards green iguanas. "These damned things often invade homes and steal our food; they'll even dig up crop roots to eat."

He gestured to the banks of the waterway. "They're everywhere -- in the trees, in the bushes, on the ground, and in the water."

Suddenly, Erica pointed at a tree by the shore and said, "I see one!"

Hawke also spotted a green figure resting on a horizontal branch, estimating its length to be over twenty inches.

Erica pulled back the slingshot, aimed carefully, and released it with a pop; the steel ball zipped through the branches and struck the triangular head of the iguana.

With a thud, a green iguana fell from the tree, landing in the grass.

The black Labrador retriever, well-trained, immediately jumped out, swam to the shore, grabbed the iguana, and returned to the boat by climbing back up the steps.

Duran accepted the iguana and handed it to Hawke. "It's dead."

Hawke picked it up by the tail. "This should weigh about ten pounds; it's too skinny, not enough meat."

Erica, wearing gloves, squeezed the iguana's back, inquiring, "Is this thing edible?"

Duran laughed, "It tastes a lot like chicken, basically without any fishy smell -- high-quality protein."

Hawke tossed the iguana into the cooler and leaned against the side of the boat, quickly noticing a small triangular head on the water's surface, roughly the size of a child's fist.

He loaded the slingshot, aimed, and pulled back the rubber band, releasing it smoothly.

The sound of a splash followed.

Erica, with keen vision, exclaimed, "You hit it!"

The yellow retriever jumped off the boat and fetched a large green iguana back immediately.

Hawke pointed excitedly, "Darling, see that? The one I hit is much bigger than yours!"

"Are you trying to compete with me?" Erica raised an eyebrow, challenging him.

Hawke responded, "I'm a slingshot master."

Erica leaned in closer, saying, "The loser will be bottom for a month."

"I'm in," Hawke replied, loading the steel balls and drawing back the slingshot again. "Are we counting quantity or weight?"

Erica retorted, "Both!"

...

With another pop, the black retriever jumped in again, returning swiftly with a green iguana that had an exploded head.

Before that dog could climb back up, the yellow retriever jumped into the water again, and Erica's slingshot hit yet another one.

Hawke was already looking for new targets while saying, "Let's bring back several; we can try different ways to cook them."

However, Erica suggested, "Let's save some to ship back to Los Angeles; Brian should enjoy them."

Hawke wasn't sure about Brian's feelings, but Frank loved making barbecue, and grilled iguana sounded pretty good.

...

The boat ran slowly, not that much faster than a regular walk.

As they neared a bridge, Hawke spotted multiple iguanas on open ground beneath it from a distance.

A retriever barked excitedly at the iguanas: "Woof! Woof--"

Hawke had already seized multiple steel balls in his hands and started shooting at the iguanas with the slingshot.

Erica was no slouch either.

Duran planned to use the air gun to shoot a few but seeing Hawke and Erica's quick moves, he hurriedly put his gun aside.

He was bombarded by the sound of the slingshot, and the largest iguana on the ground collapsed first; the others dashed toward the water.

The thrashing tails flailed as they ran, some bleeding green fluid from their heads.

In less than a minute, a dozen green iguanas lay flat.

...

Duran looked at the iguanas' corpses, then at Hawke and Erica, saying, "You two can stick around and get rich by hunting these nuisances."

Hawke replied honestly, "Hunting these iguanas is just for fun; if it turns into work, then where's the enjoyment?"

Duran smacked the driver's seat to have him steer closer. "Initially, I kept retrievers to hunt iguanas for fun, but when I formed clubs and hunting teams, I no longer enjoyed it like before."

Erica remarked, "So, you're the experienced hunter here?"

"Of course," Duran confidently stated. "No one in Kissimmee is a better hunter than me, else the agency wouldn't have pushed me to clients like you."

Hawke asked directly, "Have you ever hunted an alligator?"

Duran chuckled, "Though alligators aren't as rampant as these iguanas, they still need to be managed routinely. If I hadn't hunted gators before, I wouldn't dare call myself the best in Kissimmee."

He understood their intentions: "Hunting alligators can be somewhat dangerous; you two should be well-prepared."

"We brought rifles capable of taking down elephants," Erica said confidently.

Duran reflected on the pay he might receive, saying, "If you think I'm good enough, I'll request to continue as your hunting guide."

He emphasized, "It's not hard to shoot alligators with guns, but I also have a hunting method -- fishing for them."

With their shooting skills, taking down an alligator was quit trivial. Erica perked up with interest. "Like fishing?"

Duran nodded and pointed forward. "If you continue straight ahead, you'll reach Rand Lake. There's a large uninhabited area with woods mixed with water where many alligators live -- a prime hunting spot."

Hawke didn't rush to confirm; he glanced at Raul.

Raul nodded back at Hawke; he had previously looked into Duran's background.

Hawke said, "Why not give it a try?" He then asked, "Are there Florida black bears around?"

Erica interjected, "We secured three hunting licenses."

Duran said, "With some luck, you might run into one over there."

...

The boat docked, and the two retrievers ran ashore, picking up the iguanas' bodies they'd killed.

Hawke and Erica had taken out a dozen, and Duran followed suit.

He quickly spotted one among their catch and returned to the boat, saying, "Hey, you caught a monster -- a leader of a whole tribe!"

Hawke stepped up, grabbing the tail and lifting it in hand.

While the other iguanas were mostly green, this particular one was brown and unusually big, measuring over five feet long including its tail.

Not just long, but also very fat.

Erica took the large iguana from Hawke. "This one has a lot of meat."

Hawke announced, "Let's eat it for lunch!"

Duran interjected, "This one has been around for at least ten years. Those green ones are female; this brown one is male -- a tribe normally only has one male, serving as the leader."

Erica tossed it into the cooler, inspired by a video game she often played. She said to Hawke, "You took out a boss-level leader."

...

The boat moved through the bridge, and Hawke and Erica shot down seven or eight more, gradually losing the novelty.

For both of them, the difficulty was too easy.

Any iguana spotted by them stood no chance against the slingshot.

Hawke and Erica decided to put away the slingshots, sitting back while letting the others indulge in hunting.

Before noon, the group returned.

...

Duran led Hawke and the others to a local restaurant in Kissimmee, declaring, "The best place for preparing iguanas in town is this one."

Hawke found it reliable.

It was well known that preparing wild game into tasty dishes required more than simple grilling or frying.

Once inside the restaurant, Duran negotiated with the kitchen staff, with Raul accompanying him.

After half an hour of waiting, the prepared iguanas were brought out.

Braised, beer-braised, roasted, stewed in sauce, ...

Erica was no ordinary woman; she eagerly tasted a piece and exclaimed, "This flavor exceeds my expectations. It's even better than chicken, fresh without being greasy or dry."

Hawke bit into a piece of the braised tail and said, "Is it possible that the chef is just that good?"

Erica agreed, "If the flavor is exquisite and easy to prepare, it wouldn't be overpopulated."

Their group had only consumed fewer than ten iguanas, while the remainder had their insides removed, frozen for shipping back to Los Angeles.

One sizable specimen would be prepared for taxidermy.

*****

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