“But there is harm, and there is a foul. Two of them. You—” Bruce pointed at me, then at my sister. “And you. You both know that I stole blondie’s gun to kill Gene. And because of that little slime puppy Tyler, you know that I helped fix the election too. You’re not above going to the cops, since I saw you there earlier. I can’t let you two go.”
“At least we can all agree that Tyler’s a slime puppy,” Vera said. I almost laughed because it was funny. And true.
“We were at the police department inviting people to the bookstore opening,” I lied. Inside, my stomach sank. We’d worked so hard on the bookstore. Were we going to even make it to the opening? Waves of adrenaline and fear flowed through my body, and everything around me seemed sharper.
This wasn’t what I’d had in mind when I left Boston two short months ago.
Vera stepped forward, her eyes shooting daggers at Bruce. “You wanted to develop the Covington property, which to me is a bigger crime than killing Gene or fixing the election. Fluff you. You deserve to be in prison.”
She pointed in his direction.
“Vera, come on,” I groaned under my breath. “Work with me here.”
Bruce gaped at her, probably incredulous that she was challenging him. I probably would be staring at her, too.
Except my focus was elsewhere. Like on the alligator immediately behind Bruce.
The creature silently loomed in the scrub brush. It hadn’t been there a moment before, but it had stealthily crept up on us, almost camouflaged by the brush. It must’ve come from the canal, because its rough black skin seemed extra shiny from water in the late-day sun.
“Um. Don’t anybody move,” I said in a steady voice. My eyes felt like they were popping out of my head. The gator wasn’t the biggest I’d ever seen, but it was formidable. Probably a six-footer that weighed more than Vera and me combined.
“I think you’re getting your roles reversed, missy. I’m supposed to say that. Now here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re all gonna walk back to your car, so the three of us can drive somewhere real private together and... what the hell?” Bruce had turned his head slightly and spotted the gator.
“Seriously. Don’t move,” I warned. “I’m not joking.”
Bruce let out a long string of swear words. “I’m gonna shoot it.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” I said. “If you miss, we’re screwed.”
The gator was about ten feet from Bruce. It lay on its belly, staring at him with vacant glassy eyes. It was possible it was merely curious and could turn tail at any second. Or it could be hungry, and Bruce looked like a hairy five-course meal.
“How come?” Bruce’s voice quivered.
“Sudden movements will likely provoke it. Gators can reach speeds of up to thirty miles per hour in short bursts. It’ll be on you before you know it.”
Our only chance to get away from this lunatic was to play on his fear of reptiles. In reality, the gator was probably more afraid of us. Maybe. I didn’t want to risk it.
“Then you trap it, or whatever you do. Go on.” Bruce urged me with his eyes.
Vera snorted a little laugh, then began to chuckle softly. “You think we can just wrangle a gator like that? Are you off your rocker?”
“Isn’t that what you do? Trap gators? Come on. Do something!” Sweat wasn’t just beading on Bruce’s face, it was cascading like a waterfall. He raised the hand that wasn’t holding the gun to swipe the perspiration out of his eyes, and the gator moved a foot forward. “Aw, hell, look at how fast it moves. Like a freakin’ snake, crawling like that. I’m gonna shoot you two if you don’t make it go away.”
“Hope you’re a good shot,” I said.
Since Bruce was in between us and the gator—and since Vera and I were near a rock that we could hide behind—I felt a bit emboldened. The critter was easily twenty feet from us. Close enough to put a little fear in me, but since Bruce was nearer to the gator, I wasn’t extremely worried about Vera and me.
While alligators could run fast in short bursts, they tended to run in a straight line, and weren’t very bright. Come to think of it, Bruce wasn’t that bright either.
If Vera and I were alone and ambushed by only the gator, we’d hide in silence behind the rock until it moved on. With Bruce and the gun, though, all bets were off.
“Here’s one thing I don’t understand, Bruce: why did you call me to trap a gator in your pool? Why didn’t you call your buddy Gene? You could’ve saved some money.”
He stammered for a bit. “I...I wanted the thing out of my pool. Your number was the first that came up online. So I called. Boy, was Gene angry when I told him I’d called you. That’s how we got to talking about you two, and when I found out Vera was involved in the protest group. Later I came up with the plan to put both of you out of business by stealing Vera’s gun and using it on Gene. Then I called and sent you to the place you’d discover Gene’s body. Did that gator get closer?”
It hadn’t, but I wouldn’t tell Bruce that. “It definitely did.”
“What are we gonna do here? Wait for it to eat us?”