CHAPTER 10: GRAND THEFT SERPENT



The next day Jeff went to see Eve in her hotel room. He knocked on her door and she opened it a few seconds later, holding a cell phone to her ear. She motioned him to come in with her hand and moved away from the door. Jeff came in and shut the door behind him, listening to Eve's end of her phone conversation.

"That's great! I'll see you in two months then... I love you, too. Bye bye."

*Love?* A flair of jealousy rose in Jeff's heart.

Eve tossed her phone on the bed and came back to Jeff. "That was Dee, an old friend of mine. She was just calling to let me know that she and her husband, Derek, have front row tickets to Survivor Series in two months. I haven't seen them in forever!"

Jeff released a gusty sigh, not realizing until that point that he'd been holding his breath.

Eve looked at him strangely. "Jeff?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

"Whatever. Come on, lets get to the arena if you want me to teach you that move." She grabbed her gym bag from off the bed.

"What do you call it, anyway?" Jeff asked.

"I haven't decided on a name yet." Eve locked the door and walked with Jeff toward the elevator. "Something like wheel of destiny or circle of fate."

Jeff nodded, liking the choices. "What about something that combines a little of swanton bomb and five star frog splash?"

"Thought of that already, didn't really like the choices. Besides, just because it's a cross between the two moves, it doesn't mean the name should be."

"Circle of destiny sounds good."

That's what Eve would end up calling it.



They spent a few hours together working on the circle of destiny, the hard part being the full aerial flip. Hard as he tried, Jeff couldn't seem to manage more than a three-quarter flip.

Finally, Eve called a halt. "We're not going to get any farther until you get the flip down," Eve told Jeff. "Why don't you try practicing on a trampoline when you can? There won't be any point in trying this again until you've got the flip down."

They went back to the hotel together. Riding up in the elevator, he said, "A couple of the guys and I are going to a bar tonight, wanna come?"

"Sure," Eve found herself accepting before really thinking about it. Well, at least they wouldn't be going out just the two of them.

They got off the elevator, Eve first. She looked up and yelled, "What the fuck?!"

A dark-haired skinny man was leaving her hotel room and he was carrying a suspiciously-shaped sack. His head jerked around when Eve yelled and a second later he started running in the opposite direction. Eve and Jeff started running after him.

Eve's cry had alerted the wrestlers in their room and some of them stuck their heads out into the hallway to see what was going on.

At the other end of the hallway was another set of elevators. The doors to one opened and Tajiri and his girlfriend, Terri, stepped off together. Tajiri took in the situation at a quick glance and caught the intruder with a boot to the face.

Jeff got to them before Eve did and grabbed the sack. Houdini was inside and when Jeff pulled his head out, Eve went ballistic.

"You son of a bitch!" she screamed and began kicking him in his side, managing to kick him three times before someone grabbed her waist and hauled her away from the man lying on his back, with her kicking air and screaming curses at him.



The police were called to come arrest the man, whose name was Victor Hargreaves. He'd confessed to taking the snake - with the evidence against him, why bother trying to deny it? - saying he'd wanted the snake for breeding because snakes that color were worth a lot.

Hearing his name, Eve remembered that the man had contacted her a few months back trying to buy Houdini off her.

One of the policemen that had stayed behind to take statements told Eve that Victor would do time for the break and enter, attempted theft of a valuable animal, animal endangerment, plus would have to pay a fine. Eve wouldn't need to testify, which was lucky considering that she didn't know far in advance when she would be available.

Eve changed her mind about going out that night and Jeff decided to stay with her. They ordered room service and watched a few movies.

After that incident, Eve brought Houdini to the arenas with her and asked someone to watch him when she went out.