Flashing Her Gators Read online

I kick off my shoes and move quietly to the bathroom door. I hear her talking. Can’t make out the words, but she’s making a call. This is why she was irritated about the room.

  I move back, picking the bed nearest the door to flop down on. She’s hiding something from me. Two minutes into this trip and she’s already treating me differently than she does back home. Not that she tells me everything anyway, but she doesn’t usually go out of her way to keep things from me either.

  I lay down, a sigh escaping me. I’m too worn out to let it get to me tonight. Exhaustion claims me within a few quick minutes and I slip into unconsciousness.

  Nine

  Misty

  I call Ty and tell him I’ll meet him in the bar down the street as soon as Justin’s sleeping. It’s the best I can do, given the circumstances. I leave the bathroom and find Just snoring lightly on one of the twin beds. My luck is apparently in. I briefly consider sating myself in the bathroom before I leave, but I decide I’m more eager to hear what Ty has to tell me, so Buzz will just have to wait. I pick up my purse and slip out as quietly as I can.

  It was a long drive. I’m not surprised Justin KO’d.

  I walk along the lit empty street. It’s less dangerous than it seems. The motel has great security, and I know how to make them come running. The phone in my hand would take a couple seconds to activate the sound of a rape alarm. The bar is also run by some pretty bad-ass guys. It’s probably the safest place I could ever go for a walk alone at night.

  I get to the bar, and the sound of the music drifts out as the door opens. A big guy in leather steps out, lighting a cigarette. I move past him quickly. I want to know what the hell Ty knows and I want to know yesterday.

  The bar is half full, which is fairly typical. Big guys in leather are clustered around the room, drinking pints and whiskey shots. A couple of women are mixed in, but it’s mostly men.

  “Well, well. If it isn’t good old Flash,” the bar tender says as I stop by the bar.

  I recognize him from school, but I can’t remember his name. He was one of those guys who sort of blended into the background.

  “Oh, hey!” I say, smiling brightly. “How’s it going?”

  “Can’t complain.” His gaze drifts over my dress. “So whose funeral was it, anyway?”

  Damn. That really must have been trending on twitter.

  “I don’t know, mine, maybe?” I shrug as he laughs.

  “So, what can I get you?”

  “I’ll take a rum and coke.” It’s about the only thing drinkable in this pit. The whiskey’s too strong for my tastes, and I’ve never been a beer kind of girl. Wine either, really.

  “What brings you to town?”

  “Oh, you know. Just back home for a visit really.”

  Where the hell is Tyler? I’m not in the mood to make small talk with a virtual stranger.

  “Misty, sweetheart, there you are,” Ty’s voice hits my ears right before his lips press into my cheek.

  Okay. That’s a warmer welcome than I was expecting. I turn slightly as Ty’s arm closes around my waist. He feels so good up close like this. Why the hell did I cancel that date with him again?

  His bright blue eyes burn into mine. “Looking good, Flash.”

  “You don’t look so bad yourself, Ty.” That is a massive understatement. He looks like he spends every spare minute in the gym. His T-shirt is tight enough to show off a washboard stomach and well defined pectorals. Not to mention those strong, muscular arms. I’m a sucker for strong man arms.

  “Let’s get a booth,” he says.

  The bar tender hands me my drink.

  “Put it on my tab,” Ty tells him, earning a scowl. “And bring over another.”

  He leads me to a booth at the back of the room. A quiet corner out of sight of the rest of the bar.

  “So what did you see?” I ask, before my ridiculous ass is even settled into the padded leather of the seat.

  Ty laughs, leaning back and shaking his head at me. “You don’t waste any time, do you, Flash?”

  I get comfortable in the seat and take a sip of my drink. Manners, Misty. You didn’t even ask him how he was. Right. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself. You dangled that teaser though, and I didn’t come all the way out here just to grab a drink with the one that got away.”

  He raises an eyebrow at me. “The one that got away? I thought that was you.”

  Is he saying...? Wait. “I asked if there was anything you wanted to say to me before I left town.”

  “Right,” he says, nodding slowly. “Forgot about that.”

  He’s hiding something. I see it in the way his gaze drops, the way his jaw tightens. There’s no use obsessing over it. Ty’s always been tight lipped. If there’s something he wants to keep from me, I wouldn’t be able to get it out of him with a crow bar.

  “So, how’ve you been?” I ask, deciding to try the whole having manners thing on for size.

  He smiles. “Busy.”

  “Is that so?”

  He’s expecting me to ask if he’s single, I can see the flirty twinkle in his eye.

  I keep my gaze on his face, not allowing it to drop to his hand. I won’t check if he has a wedding band. I doubt he’d be out here after midnight meeting me if he was involved with someone in a serious way.

  “How are things with you?” he asks, taking a sip of his drink.

  “Just peachy, thanks for asking,” I tell him, smiling wryly. “That’s why I rushed out here the minute you called.”

  “So, no lovesick Asian cameraman waiting for you to go back to your motel room then?” He smirks.

  “You creepy-ass stalker,” I blurt, trying not to laugh.

  “So you are dating that guy?” he asks, his smirk only widening.

  I bite back the real answer. No, I’m not dating Justin. It isn’t because I’m not into him, obviously. It’s because I don’t have time to think about dating. That’s why something can’t happen between us. I’d only wind up hurting him. But Ty doesn’t need to know that. He doesn’t need to know anything about my love-life.

  “Who I date is my business,” I tell him, raising an eyebrow. “Now quit stalling, and spill.”

  He rolls his eyes, sinking the last of his drink before he leans forward. I push my drink to the side and lean in. We’re so close like this. It wouldn’t take much for our lips to touch. Just a gentle tilt and an inch or so...

  “The cops are saying gator attacks are on the rise. They’re warning people to cover their pools at night and stay away from the lake after dark, when it’s harder to tell if that black thing nearby is a log or a dangerous predator.” He snorts softly. “Bullshit, all of it.”

  “A gator is killing people?”

  He nods slowly, and I frown at him.

  “How do you know for sure it’s not a regular gator?”

  He flattens his lips grimly. “For a start, I saw something. It’s why I had to call you.”

  Shit. That sounds serious. My heart begins to pound. Besides Ty, there’s one other gator in town that I’m friendly with. He knows that. Please don’t let this have anything to do with Sam.

  Ty reaches into an inner pocket of his coat. He brings out something shiny and gold and dangles it in front of me. “Look familiar?”

  I blink slowly, shaking my head. “What are you saying, Ty?”

  He can’t be telling me Sam has anything to do with the murders.

  “I found it at a crime scene,” he tells me, keeping his voice low.

  I snatch it out of his fingers. “You what?”

  “I got there before the cops. Neighbors reported screaming. I was tapped into the police radio at the time, and the address was only down the street.”

  I don’t know whether to be relieved or furious. I clutch my old pendant tightly.

  “What did you see, Ty?”

  “It was dark,” he begins, hesitant.

  “Don’t you dare try to sugar-coat it. Just tell me.”

  He clears his throat and lower
s his voice. “I saw a big guy leave the house. He jumped down from the garden wall. I couldn’t see where he landed, but it was close to the stream that bleeds into the lake.”

  “You saw a big guy leave the house?”

  “It was dark, Misty. I didn’t see him clearly.”

  “But the pendant...”

  He sighs. “That was in the dead woman’s hand.”

  “In her hand?” I squeak the question out, freaking that I have a piece of evidence from a crime scene in my hand right now. And the damn thing used to be mine.

  “I don’t know why I took it. I just did.”

  “Well?”

  “Well, what?”

  “What happened next, dumbass?”

  He shakes his head at me. “I went to talk to Sam, but...” He clears his throat again. “He still isn’t talking to me.”

  “What do you mean, he still isn’t talking to you?”

  He shrugs. “Thought you knew. He was ready to kill me for asking you out, though I think it’s more the fact that you said yes that was bothering him.”

  “Are you serious?” Sam was the captain of the football team in high school. He was the boy next door, and one of my closest friends in the world. I mean, sure, he flirted, but he did that with all the girls. He wasn’t really interested in me.

  Ty gives me a strange look, as if he’s trying to work out if it’s genuine shock in my eyes. He frowns.

  “You seriously didn’t know?”

  “Who cares?” I ask, ready to move past it, though I’m sure that’s the shock talking. “That’s not the important thing here.”

  He nods. “Look, I’m not saying he did anything. Just that it looks bad right now.”

  “But you took this,” I tell him, looking at the lightning bolt pendant in my hand. The underside is still inscribed with my name. It’s definitely his.

  “I did.”

  It might look bad for Sam right now, but the police are none the wiser.

  “I’m glad you did.”

  There’s no way Sam killed someone. That’s my gut instinct, but it’s colored by the past. The reporter in me knows people hide the darkest parts of themselves from everyone else. They show different versions of themselves depending on who they’re with. I can’t entirely knock the possibility that he did something awful just because the version I knew wouldn’t hurt a fly.

  “I’m at an impasse now,” Ty tells me.

  “He wouldn’t talk to you.” He’ll talk to me.

  I slip the pendant into my pocket, ignoring the fact that he was still wearing it after all these years. Ignoring the fact that every teasing flirtation might have had actual weight behind it. Whatever Sam was to me, now he’s part of the investigation. I came here with one goal and I won’t abandon it.

  It’s time to catch the killer.

  “Tell me everything about the murders.”

  Ten

  Tyler

  If anyone knows what a bad idea it is to remove evidence from a murder scene, it’s me. No one ever actually sets out to become a PI. It’s one of those vocations people fall into, more often than not. I took a tumble into it when I flunked out of my last year of Law school. I could use that as a claim that I didn’t know any better, but it would be a lie. I know when I’ve done something illegal as fuck.

  “So we have five victims?” Misty asks, flipping though my notebook, her barely touched drink forgotten at her side.

  I can’t believe I’m sitting here with her right now, the girl who got away. Still incredibly attractive, and still completely absorbed in her work. I smile wryly. No man could ever come between this woman and the story she’s chasing. I don’t know why that makes her so irresistible, but it does.

  “Five that I know of,” I tell her, as she glances up at me. “None of the bodies were left in public view. There’s a good chance there could be more that just haven’t been found yet.”

  She nods slowly, her gaze moving straight through me. When it snaps back to me, determination is fixed in her sapphire blue eyes. “I recognize a couple names on the list. I’ll need to do some checking, but...”

  “They all went to school with you and Sam,” I tell her, before she wastes any time looking into it.

  She blinks. “You already checked that?”

  “It’s kind of my job,” I tell her, though strictly it isn’t true. No-one hired me to look into these murders. I just got lucky while I was staking out the cheating husband of a client.

  “Right,” she says, shaking her head at me. “I can’t believe you’re a private dick.”

  Makes two of us. I just smile. “It’s a living. Kind of. Sometimes.”

  Truth is, it’s erratic. I might make a few grand on one case and not get another one for a couple months. When I get a lot of work, I have to set cash aside for the lean months. It’s probably weird that I kind of like the unpredictable nature of it all.

  “So there’s a real link to Sam, the people were murdered by a gator, and you found his lucky charm at one of the crime scenes,” Misty murmurs. She can’t quite put two and two together even presented with all of the pieces.

  Just thinking about it twists up my insides. Sam can be a little cocky, a bit too brazen for his own good, but he isn’t a killer. Whatever’s happening here, he’s not the one with blood on his hands.

  “I called you because of Sam,” I tell her, clearing my throat. “I know he didn’t do this, but the evidence is pretty damning now.”

  She nods, tucking a strand of thick blonde hair behind her ear. “I’ll talk to him in the morning.”

  “I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you,” I tell her, wondering how much I should tell her about the friend she left behind. It’s been five years. She’s never called him, not once. Made me feel less bad about the fact she broke our date and ghosted me. Being too into this girl is like playing with fire. The closer you get, the hotter the burn.

  “I hope so,” she murmurs, picking up her drink and promptly putting it back down. “I should go, Ty.”

  “Your cameraman’s keeping your bed warm?”

  She rolls her eyes. “It’s a twin room and you know it.”

  I know, but I didn’t think she’d call me on it. I smile. “Let me walk you back to the motel.”

  A curt nod and we’re leaving. She walks a little ahead of me on the way out of the bar. Like she’s trying to run from the heat that’s been building between us. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better if I’d just kissed her the moment we met. Made things entirely physical, pulled her defenses away a strip at a time from there. Would she have allowed herself to fall then?

  Truth is, I don’t know. Chances are, I never will.

  All I can do is try to keep some distance between us, hoping someday she’ll close the gap.

  She stops outside her motel door and turns to me, her smile on the tight side. “I should...”

  I nod, pushing my hands into my pockets. I suck at being patient, but it’s all I can do.

  “You have my number. Call me when you’ve spoken to Sam.”

  “I will,” she promises, going inside.

  I hear the door lock and start to walk away. I’m not worried she’ll fall into Sam’s arms. Not even a little bit. He knows her even better than I do. He’s been in love with her forever.

  If I haven’t got a shot in hell, his chances are even more infinitesimal.

  The camera guy, I don’t know. If he’s as shy as he looks I doubt his feelings are shallow. I don’t think he’s anything to worry about, but a stirring of envy washes through me as I walk away from the motel. He gets to sleep in that room with her.

  That one small thing makes him closer to her than I ever got. I know that doesn’t mean much to a woman who pushes men away the moment she realizes they want more than a little fun. But it cuts me up inside that I barely knew her five minutes before she owned my heart, and she’s known that all along.

  Eleven

  Misty

  Just is still out cold whe
n I lock the door and step out of my shoes. It’s in that moment that I realize my feet are aching. My whole body is weary, truth be told. Yet, when I lay down, my thoughts won’t let me rest. It’s always like this when I’m chasing leads. The thrill burns through me and keeps my senses on high alert.

  I pretend that’s all it is. That I’m not lying here awake in the darkness, wishing Ty had kissed me goodnight. My heart starts to race in memory of the first time.

  The party. Could have been any frat kegger, really. The night was nothing special in itself. But it was the night the tall dark mysterious stranger showed his hand. We’d been flirting for months, but he’d told me virtually nothing personal about himself. All signs pointed to a hot, no-strings fling. Then that kiss happened, and I knew.

  His feelings were more than visceral. He didn’t just want to take me into one of the bedrooms and pound my brains out. For a sweet few seconds, I considered how it would feel to be with someone I might actually fall for.

  I’m sure it would have been something special.

  It still could be, a tiny voice in the back of my brain whispers. I’m used to ignoring that voice. It’s so faint I can almost pretend I didn’t hear it.

  Like I pretended the kiss was nothing. That it was better to make excuses to back away from him, to stop it from ever getting the chance to happen again.

  Nothing’s really changed. Well, I guess one thing has. I don’t live in town anymore. We couldn’t be more than a fling even if he still wants more.

  I get up quietly and move across to the window, sick of lying awake. The sun is rising out there. I might as well enjoy the view.

  Twelve

  Tyler

  The urge to shift comes and goes on an endless cycle of agitation and aching muscle. I suppress the twinges that wash over my entire body as I walk along the roadside next to the swamp my gator side loves to frequent. I wonder idly if my eyes are flashing to reptilian. It’s been more than two weeks now, too long. Another week and I won’t be able to stop it.