The Crocodile Nest by Des Hunt

but it could have been the effect of the alcohol.
    ‘No, but I saw the sign.’
    ‘It was there this morning. I saw it walk along the road.’
    ‘The main road?’
    ‘Yes. They quite often come out of the trees.’
    Luke smiled. ‘I thought the locals just put up the sign to keep the tourists interested.’
    ‘No!’ replied the man. ‘It is more serious than that. They can attack people.’
    The accent was clearer now: precise, as if English had been learnt in a classroom.
    ‘Not very often, Chizza,’ said Ham. ‘They’re more likely to run away than attack.’
    The man shook his head. ‘I would not trust them. They are much too big for me.’
    Ham chuckled and turned to Luke. ‘Luke, this is Dominik Chisca. But only his enemies and the tax department call him Dominik. Everyone else calls him Chizza.’
    Chizza moved behind Ham and stuck a hand out. ‘Good to meet you, Luke.’
    They shook. He was a dark, powerful man, with arms as thick as his legs. A short neck supported a head that seemed too small for his body. There was no hair: what hadn’t fallen out had been shaved to disguise the baldness. He had a grip to match his frame, and used it to crush Luke’s hand, only releasing it when Luke grimaced with pain.
    ‘Chizza’s the one who took that photo you used to identify me,’ said Ham, unaware of what had happened behind his back. ‘You can thank him for your finding me.’
    Now Luke could place the man: he was the one posing with the pigs on the back of the ute.
    ‘He’s a pig hunter, too. Well, sort of.’
    Chizza smiled. ‘Yes, but not like Ham. I use a gun—he usesa knife. I like them to be dead before I touch them.’
    ‘We were thinking of going out tomorrow,’ said Ham. ‘You want to come?’
    Luke was still recovering from the hand-crush. ‘Yeah. I suppose so.’
    Ham turned to him. ‘I thought that’s what you wanted.’
    ‘Yeah, it is.’
    ‘Well, you could show a bit more enthusiasm. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.’
    ‘I want to come.’ A pause. ‘It’s just that I wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon.’
    Ham looked at him for a moment longer, before turning and emptying the beer in his glass. He turned to Chizza. ‘OK. Are we out of here?’
    ‘No!’ said Chizza. ‘There is plenty of time.’ He drained his glass. ‘It is your turn.’
    For a moment it looked as though Ham would argue. Instead, he turned to Luke. ‘Look, we’re going to be here a while, but we’re going over to the Reef Sands Resort for a meal later. Why don’t you go and put on something warmer, as it gets cold pretty quickly at this time of year? Have a look around the place and meet us back here in an hour, eh?’
    Luke had looked around most of the place already, but he was pleased to get away from Chizza. He couldn’t understand why the man would want to hurt him. Or maybe he did it to everyone he met, just so they knew not to mess with him. Well, the message had got through. Already Luke didn’t like Dominik Chisca, nor that he was coming on the pig hunt.
    It was already dark out, and the paths were now lit by coloured lights. After getting a sweatshirt from his room, Luke went looking for the swimming pool that Ham had mentioned. He found it on the other side of The Nest. Flaming torches had been lit at the sides of the gate, which, with the background of lush vegetation, gave it a very tropical look.
    Inside was not well lit, but Luke figured this was meant to give the place a romantic touch. Around the pool were doublesized loungers so that lovers could enjoy all the delights of the tropical paradise. Not that there were any lovers, nor anybody else. Perhaps the water was too cold.
    He went to the edge, knelt, and dipped his hand into the water. It wasn’t too bad at all. He’d swum in much colder stuff up the Three-oh-nine.
    Then out of the corner of his eye, something moved. He turned towards it, and a moment later was scrambling back from the edge.
    ‘Shit!’