They soon arrived at a camping ground, with no other humans around. Joanna had camped a little bit with Randall before, but not with a human man. Jason was like a father even though they had known each other for such a short time.

They made a campfire, told stories, had smores over the fire, had some barbequed hamburgers, caught fish in the stream they were by, ate the fish, and even swam in the lake.

It was a nice couple of days. Then they had to head back and be home by Tuesday.

On all the rest stops going home, Randall made sure he wasn't seen by humans this time.

By the time they got home, they were tired and ready for bed. It had been a fun weekend, but the fun had to end from that trip. Jason just hoped that man could take a hint and not be obsessed about Randall. He would have no idea what he was dealing with.

…..

A week later, the man, whose name was Dr. Quentin, had now come down to New Orleans to find the address of the man who had the lizard. He was going to get his lizard, one way or another.

Quentin saw the man and the girl leave the house that morning without a lizard. After they were gone, he snuck up to the house to see where the lizard was. He was astounded by what he saw.

The lizard was inside the house and not in a cage. He standing upright and sweeping floors! This was no ordinary lizard. He needed to get further study on it.

He went back to his car. He had tranquilizer darts full of drugs. The drugs were okay for reptiles. He would dart the lizard should he come outside.

He watched the house all day from a distance. He would get him in the back yard. There were woods there after all. Quentin had looked all over for a pen or a cage or something to hold the lizard and found nothing. He had seen why.

Randall had finished cleaning and now wanted to get some air. He went to go outside to go for a little walk in the woods.

Quentin had heard the door open and he saw the lizard walking out. No lizard was as smart as a human! And it was heading for the woods. Good chance to get him now! He aimed his gun.

Randall was almost to the woods when he felt something sharp pierce his tail.

He cried out and looked back at his tail. He saw a needle and syringe in his tail. His vision then began to start to black out on him. This wasn't good.

He started going back to the house.

"Don't think you are going anywhere, lizard." A male voice was heard behind him.

Randall turned and saw a human coming up to him. That made him panic and he ran for the house. He ran inside and tried to close the door, but he couldn't before the door was pushed open, knocked him over and causing him to knock over a chair by the table.

"You so deserve that for attacking me!" Quentin said as he forced his way inside.

Randall couldn't get up. He was now paralyzed from the drug, but he did feel pain from the fall. He looked up at his assailant. He couldn't get much as his vision then blacked out. He was still.

The man looked over the lizard's body and saw he was still breathing. No major injuries.

He shook him and made sure he was out. Then he went to get his car. The dart had fallen off of Randall's tail in the crash.

When he came back inside for Randall, he brought some rope to tie up his legs. Looking at his mouth though, it looked more complicated. But he was going to tie his mouth shut too. In the end, he used tape; the same would be used on gators too.

Quentin picked up the lizard and took him out to his car. He had a whole setup at his home for creatures like him, to hold him properly.

He put Randall in the back and drove off.

…..

When Jason and Jo came home that night, they expected to find Randall in front of the TV, but when they got inside to the kitchen, there was a chair knocked over and the back door wide open. There had been a struggle here.

Jason told Jo to wait there. He got out his gun and searched the house, and came up empty. But Randall was gone.

"Where's Randall?" Jo asked.

"I think he's gone, Jo. Someone broke in here and must have taken him." Jason said. Then he had a look in the kitchen and found the dart on the floor. This was the evidence right there.

He had a microscope in his basement and began looking under his microscope for further evidence on the dart. He found some and it belonged to a Dr. Alex Quentin. He would get justice for this crime!

Jo was upset that her best friend had been taken from her. She was in her room crying. Jason soon came in to comfort her. "I'm sure Randall will get away from whoever took him. He's a feisty lizard."

"I hope so." Jo said, sobbing.

Jason just held her until she fell asleep. He would try to track the man down.

….

Randall awoke on the trip back to Quentin's home. He could hear he was in a car and felt it too. He tried to move his body. He saw his arms and legs were tied together, and he felt something on his face.

He tried to open his mouth, but he couldn't. He tried using his top hands to peel the tape off his mouth. He managed to get it off.

Randall knew he had to hurry and untie himself if he wanted to get away from this maniac. He untied his lower hands first and then he untied his top ones. Then he leaned over and untied all his legs. This human had no idea who he was.

When the car came to a stop, Randall waited for the captor to come back and see him. He knew he would.

Quentin wanted to go back and check on the lizard. When he went back to the back, he opened the door and then he was very startled when he found an awake, growling lizard glaring up at him.

Randall jumped at him, knocking him down again, and took off for the unknown. He made sure to vanish for good measure.

Quentin got up and looked for his lizard. "Come back here, Lizard!" But it was long gone now.

That lizard would either go back to the little girl, or he would stay out here in the wilderness. But given he was so smart, he was bound to go back to the kid and the cop. He was going to head back to that address and wait.

….

Randall ran for what felt like a long time. He wasn't going to let that man make an experiment of him. He remembered this area from his trip up here a little over a week ago from the camping trip.

He traveled until he had to make himself visible again. He also needed to find someplace to get a drink. He soon came to a gas station. He made sure to not be seen.

He went inside and grabbed a phone book when no one was looking, and saw a map. He was at least 45 miles north from New Orleans. That was going to be a long walk, but then, it didn't have to be.

He stayed around the gas station for a couple of days, sneaking food and drinks as necessary while waiting for a truck that was bound to take him back to New Orleans.

Soon, there was a semi that was bound for a restaurant in New Orleans. Randall had heard the drivers talking and he boarded the truck. He was on his way back.

…..

Jason tried hard to comfort Jo. Randall was surely resourceful and he could get out of almost anything with his talents. But Jo didn't want to do anything but stay in her room. She didn't want to go to Mrs. Gonzalez's either, but Jason made her go.

Jason was confident Randall would come back soon. He also began thinking though that he had what it took to be a dad that he had always wanted to be. He was so busy he hadn't much time to try to find a girlfriend. But right now, he was looking after a kid just fine. He could support her.

Maybe he could adopt Joanna. He was thinking about it, hard. And if he made it back, Randall was welcome to stay too.

…..

The truck brought Randall back to the city, but on the most far side of it. Randall got out and decided this was the best he could hope for. Now he just needed to travel back through the town.

He began sticking to the rooftops. And when he needed to cross roads, he made sure he was invisible and watching around himself. At one point, he even had to swim across a river. But Randall knew he was well on his way back to Jo. He was going to keep this promise.

It was just easier to travel at night. This time he had no coat or hat or supplies with him. He was going to hold off on eating until he made his way back, but he made sure to nab a drinking bottle as he went.

It took a toll on Randall getting through the whole city of New Orleans. Mardi Gras was long over and he had to be more cautious now. He had made it back and 40 miles at that, but at least he had done himself a favor by hitching a ride. It saved him a lot of walking.

Sometimes walking barefoot for a long time though did make his feet hurt and then he had to stop for awhile. But he was determined to get back. He knew Jo would be missing him. This was the first time he had had someone actually call him a friend.

Randall had been getting along with Jason, but he had only agreed to take Jo on for the summer. There were still a couple of months left. Jason could be trying to find Jo a place right now this very moment if she wasn't willing to comply to his rules anymore.

Randall really hoped he would never see that mad maniac human ever again. He had met him on the road and had apparently followed them home! For all he knew, that human had wanted him for scientific experiments and he wasn't going to allow anyone to do that to him.

…..

Quentin made it back to the address sooner than Randall did, as he had his own car. He started watching the house every day for a certain period of time before he would force himself to go elsewhere for refreshments and cleaning up.

Between the times of 7 am and 6:30 pm, there was no one home on a typical work day. Quentin would run around during that time and do his rounds of looking after himself. He hadn't seen any sign of the lizard yet.

But when they came home at night, Jo was always asking if Randall had been seen yet. Jason replied with, "I'm sorry, Jo, but no, he hasn't."

Jo would still go outside and call for Randall, of which there was no reply, yet. But it didn't stop her from trying.

Hope you are all enjoying this story.