I'll Be Watching You Read online

  He tilted his head, looking devilishly cute. “I’m telling you like it is. That’s how I am.”

  “Ah, if I can get an answer out of you in the first place, you mean. Which brings to mind the fact that you can be a real pain in the ass, too.”

  He moved close enough to trip her heartbeat and brushed her hair back again. “It helps, you looking like a boy.”

  She brushed his hand away. “Helps what?”

  “Helps to remind me that you are not, in any way, shape or form, the type of woman I’m usually attracted to. I like a woman with long hair who’s sweet and quiet, appreciates gators, of course, and doesn’t cause trouble.” He drew his fingers up her throat to beneath her chin and rubbed his thumb across her lower lip. “Not one who’s full of sass and makes me want to kiss the sass right out of that mouth of hers. Not a woman I’m supposed to dislike on principle. Not a woman who’s got half the town wanting her to leave.”

  “I can see why you’ve got a reputation with the ladies, Zell. I’m about to swoon right now.” The truth was, she could hardly breathe.

  His laugh vibrated through her body. “What I’m saying is, stop doing things that make me respect you and, even worse, like you.”

  “Or?”

  “Or I might have to kiss you again.” And he did, after tipping her chin up for a better angle. For a few seconds, she forgot about the rain and the alligators and even the smell in the air. She forgot that she wasn’t supposed to like him either. She forgot everything except his mouth moving over hers and the way that was making her feel all alive and tingly everywhere. He finished the kiss and said, “Now scoot before I really lose my head.”

  She didn’t know whether to take him seriously or not. Especially when she could hear him singing the words to, “Ain’t love a bitch,” as he walked back to the building. He had her all confused and tangled up. She was used to men cloaking their intentions and burying their emotions. Zell was another creature altogether. He would demand full disclosure from her if this went any farther, and she didn’t know how to disclose her feelings.

  Her body gave some indication as she walked to her truck with a bounce in her step—until she saw the broken orchid petal lying on the muddy ground. She picked it up, remembering how Zell had stroked a petal just like it in the hothouse. A few more leaves and pieces of bark littered the road going past the buildings. Maybe it was a coincidence that this petal was here.

  Fat chance.

  She was startled to see Winnerow watching her from the open doorway. He quickly closed the door.

  Why did something happen every time she thought things might be looking up?

  She got into her truck but sat there for a few minutes rolling the bruised petal in her fingers. She could call the deputy who had taken her report and ask him to check out Heron’s Glen. She could tell Zell about it and see if he knew anything. Either action would seem like an accusation, and old wounds had barely begun to heal.

  She tossed the petal on the floor of the truck and started the engine. She felt like that broken petal.

  Winnerow had seen everything: the kiss and Kim finding the orchid petal. Zell hadn’t looked surprised when he’d turned toward the doors and saw him there. He’d kept his expression bland, and Winn realized Zell had probably gotten that from him. The kid could slip a mask of nothing on his face to cover whatever he was feeling. Where Winn was concerned, it had often been embarrassment and derision. Winnerow deserved nothing less, of course. Zell had also gotten his passionate nature from his father, though Winn’s passion had long ago died. First the stroke and then Kitty’s death had robbed him of it. He couldn’t get past that he’d been responsible for her husband’s death and then hers. They’d been drinking and fighting when Kitty found out he’d been cheating on her. She’d rushed out in anger, driven into the ditch, and drowned. His fault.

  Somehow, he’d been blessed that his children had managed to forgive him, if not respect him. Charlotte particularly had stayed by his side. Zell was much harder to win back.

  Winn could live with that. He had no choice, but he’d hardly had time to assimilate Kim’s apology when he discovered his son kissing her. Was he doing it to test Winn’s patience, to dare him to intercede? Zell had met Winn’s eyes with nary a hint of sheepishness. He’d just continued on to the incubation room.

  Even that wasn’t the worst of it. He knew what she’d found in the mud. Strange, but he’d felt a jab in his chest at the pain on her expression. She’d looked right at him, not accusingly even, and then gotten in the truck. Would she call the police?

  He watched the rest of the babies hatch out, waiting for a knock on the door. When Owen walked in, Winn said, “Outside.”

  Tullie called out, “Daddy, you missed the baby gators hatching.”

  He glanced at his daughter, but recognized the seriousness in Winn’s face. “I’ll check ’em out in a minute, honey.”

  The two men walked down the ramp and across the paved walkway to his truck. “Kim was here.”

  “What?”

  “She came to apologize for accusing me of Rhonda’s murder. Yeah, I know, surprised the hell out of me, too. Where’d you put the orchids?”

  “Out behind the gator houses for now. I never figured she’d come out here again, especially to the gator houses. Did she find ’em?”

  “She found a petal on the ground. I think she put it together. So far, no visit from the sheriff’s substation. Let’s not take any chances. Get rid of them.”

  Owen nodded. “What do you think she’ll do?”

  “Hard to say with that one.” He’d almost rather she accuse him of stealing. He didn’t like feeling guilty about it. “Get rid of them now and don’t let anyone here see you.”

  What was done was done. He’d only discovered what JoGene and Owen had been up to. Buck had asked him to find out through Owen. That this might be the final nail in Kim’s financial coffin and send her back to Tallahassee had been a bonus to him.

  Winn might feel bad for the girl, but that didn’t make him want her to leave any less. She was still trouble eight ways from Sunday. Adding Zell to the mix made it a real problem. No, she had to go. He pulled out his cell phone and punched in a speed dial number.

  Tullie woke in a panic in the middle of the night. The room was silent, though the frogs sang their exuberant chorus outside her window. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light cast by her alligator nightlight. Nothing had changed.

  She scrambled out of bed and went to Runt’s cage. He was trying to catch the crickets she’d put in his aquarium before going to bed. She tried to rub the goose pimples from her arms.

  The dream. It still clung to her as real as the memories of watching the baby gators hatch earlier that day. But this wasn’t a dream about baby gators. This had been a nightmare about the big gators fighting over flesh and blood. She shivered again. She’d never witnessed anything like that before. Sure, they sometimes fought over the food, but all they got was Purina Gator Chow. They’d never eaten anything that was alive, though Uncle Zell had warned her that instinct was strong enough to never trust them. They weren’t tame and never would be. Not even Runt.

  In the dream, they were tearing flesh. She didn’t know whose flesh, but the terror had been so stark, she knew it was a person, someone she knew. She remembered the foreboding she’d had about someone dying, and maybe that someone being her.

  She couldn’t look at Runt anymore, so she clambered back into bed and pulled the covers over her head. She’d never had a scary dream about gators before. She was so shaken she couldn’t be sure that it was a dream. All she knew was, she had the sudden urge to cry.

  CHAPTER 22

  Kim finally broke down and called her friend Becca that evening. Becca had worked in accounting for City Lights when Kim had started there but now worked for an engineering company.

  “Well, it’s about damn time,” Becca said when Kim identified herself. “You’ve been down there almost two weeks now and not one call. So, I c
all you, and guess what I find out?”

  “I broke up with Simon and am now living down here.”

  “Imagine that.”

  Kim pulled up her knees and hugged them. “I know, I’m a terrible friend.”

  “I’d chalk it up to your dislike for saying goodbye if you hadn’t chucked your boyfriend in the process. Goodness, girl, what are you thinking?”

  “That I’m crazy. You were right about Simon and my need to pick men who didn’t challenge me. About my being too chicken to step out of my comfort zone. So, I took your advice. Now I have a house, a bar”—she scratched Oscar’s head—“a potbellied pig, and some direction. I think.”

  “Any interesting men? Any ex-boyfriends who still spark your flame?”

  Kim’s laugh sounded dull to her own ears. “No,” she said firmly. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you earlier.”

  “You’re sorry? You, miss I-hate-to-apologize, sorry?”

  “I’ve been learning how to say those words on a regular basis lately. It’s just been crazy from the beginning, and I was waiting until my life had settled down to call you.” She wasn’t sure that was ever going to happen. Becca didn’t know about her past life here, and Kim had no intention of telling her.

  So, when Becca told her to spill on what had been happening in her life, Kim forced a smile in her voice and told her about the beauty of the area. She left out the dangerous part.

  The next morning, Kim’s first stop was at the bank to see about getting a small loan. Mr. Smythe had processed her loan application, but he’d been frank with her. “I doubt you’ll be able to use the bar as collateral. It is closed, after all, and in danger of going out of business.”

  She hated those words but only nodded in understanding. “What about my house? It’s paid off.”

  “That’s a possibility, though the house is pretty old and not in a great location. Let’s see if this goes through. If it doesn’t, we’ll try for an equity loan.”

  His smile did not ring with much hope for even that. She hated that he was looking at worst-case scenarios: if she defaulted, and if they had to take possession of the house and find a buyer for it. Didn’t he realize that she’d fight to the end before she’d let the bank take her house? She gave him the best smile she could manage. “Thanks for whatever you can do. I appreciate it.”

  His smile sagged, but he revived it and thanked her for coming in. Unfortunately, one of the larger banks in Naples would be even less likely to take a chance on her. She pushed the defeated look from her face and walked out of the bank as though she’d procured a loan for half a million…in case anyone was looking.

  JoGene was waiting for her, leaning against his truck that he’d parked behind hers. Great. She hoped he wasn’t ready to move their supposed friendship to a supposed romantic relationship already. He always had been impatient.

  “You seeing about getting a loan?” he asked, nodding toward the bank.

  “Yeah. They’re processing the paperwork now.”

  “I’ve got a proposition for you,” he said, causing her muscles to stiffen.

  She leaned against her truck’s tailgate. “Go on.”

  “We draw up a partnership. Find out how much the bar is worth, I give you half, and we’re partners. You’re solvent and you’ve got help financially from here on out. We’re in it together, running it and everything.” When she continued to look wary, he held up his hands. “If you decide you want to extend the partnership to more personal areas, that’s fine with me, too, but this is a business-only proposition.”

  When she had dreamed of owning a bar, she’d pictured owning it by herself. Never once had she envisioned, say, Simon running it with her. She wanted to make it on her own. On the other hand, she did want to make it. JoGene had no idea how desperate she was now that the orchids were gone, too. “I’ll think about it.”

  “Don’t mention it to anyone while you’re thinking about it, okay? I don’t want it getting around until it’s official.”

  She nodded in parting and got into her truck. JoGene as a partner? She didn’t like the idea a whole lot, and what made the knot in her stomach even tighter was the fact that she may have to accept his offer if she hoped to keep her life here.

  When she drove to Southern Comfort, Zell’s truck was in the parking lot. He hopped out, wearing a white undershirt and old jeans. Oscar moseyed over to greet him, and Zell knelt down to scratch his head. “Oscar, what happened to your ear, buddy?”

  “It was an accident.” She left it at that. “What are you doing here?”

  “Thought I’d help you with another of these winders before I head up to Clewiston to look over a client’s property.”

  She leaned against the side of his truck. “I appreciate that, Zell, I really do. But I’m going to hire someone to finish them. I’m reworking finances right now, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make your payment this month until I do. I will make good on the loan, I promise.”

  “I’m not worried about the loan. Haven’t you been able to sell those orchids?”

  She had to look away at that. “Not many.” He didn’t know, she had to believe that. He had nothing to do with the theft of her orchids, but his family did, one or all of them. After all he’d done for her, she refused to put him in the middle of a bad situation, especially one with his family at the other end.

  He was analyzing her. “You all right? I didn’t shake you up by kissing you yesterday, did I? I didn’t think a little ole kiss would shake up the indomitable Kim Lyons.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh—or respond to the challenge he’d slipped into his words. “You didn’t shake me up. I just don’t think you and I getting together is a good idea. Like you said, you have a family obligation to dislike me. And I need to get my head together before I can think about getting involved with anyone.” Especially someone like Zell.

  He stood right in front of her and demanded that she meet his gaze. “What’s going on, Kim?”

  “Nothing. Something.” She shook her head. “I don’t want to drag you into it. Forget what I told you about Elva. Forget everything.”

  She called Oscar and unlocked the front door, trying hard not to look at Zell. Distancing herself would be better for both of them. What she really didn’t need to do was fall in love with Zell Macgregor. She was getting dangerously close to doing just that, and that was trouble she didn’t need.

  Zell couldn’t stop thinking about Kim all day, even as the property owner drove him around on his swamp buggy and Zell tracked the alligators and nests. Something was going on with her. Oscar’s injured ear, her inability to make a payment, and more than anything, the defeat on her face had him worried.

  His and Kim’s getting together wasn’t a good idea; she had that right. He wasn’t any happier about the attraction than she was. He’d also never felt anything like this before. He wasn’t about to let the bad idea of getting involved keep him from exploring it.

  He’d never forced his friendship on anybody, though. She’d made it clear that she didn’t want that or his help. When he’d driven into town later in the day, she’d been working on those windows by herself.

  Fine by him. He picked up a steak and a six-pack of beer at the store and headed home.

  Tullie was sitting on his front stoop when he pulled up. At first, he thought she’d brought her little alligator with her. Then he realized she was talking to the stuffed gator.

  Her eyes looked as haunted as Kim’s had. “What’s the matter, angel?” He realized he’d accidentally called Kim angel a couple of times.

  “Uncle Zell, you ever seen a gator eat a person?”

  He sat down beside her. “Never. Seen one eat a deer once. Gators rarely eat people.”

  “What about our gators? Would they eat a person if someone fell into the holding area?”

  He ruffled her blonde hair, wishing she could be a little more normal and smile more often. “Why are you asking all these questions?”

  “I’ve ha
d dreams about gators the last two nights. They were eating a person. I’ve never been afraid of gators before, but I’m even getting a little scared of Runt.”

  “Runt?”

  She blanched. “My gator.”

  He gave her an affectionate tap on her nose. “You weren’t supposed to name him.”

  “I know.”

  He leaned back against the side of the porch. “Are these dreams like your feelings?”

  “I’m not sure. That’s the strange thing about them. All I know is they make me so scared.”

  She was scared, and he didn’t like that. “Could you see who was being eaten?”

  She shook her head. “But it was someone I knew.” Tullie seemed on the verge of tears, something he hardly ever saw. “Kim got her hair cut really short.”

  “Yeah, I know.” That bothered him, too. Tullie had seen Kim with short hair and now she had short hair. Cold fear trickled down his veins. “You don’t think it’s Kim you’re seeing, is it? You know she’d never go near a gator.”

  Tullie only shrugged, but she didn’t look comforted.

  He glanced longingly at the six-pack. “Let me put my groceries away and we’ll go to the farm. Seeing those big guys might help you put things in perspective.”

  He hoped seeing them in their more usual staid positions might help. The most she was ever likely to see at the farm were the gators fighting each other. They were fed regularly to prevent cannibalism. The only time things got dicey was during breeding season when the males bellowed in a symphony that was accompanied by a water show. The vibrations were so strong they sent the water above the gator’s back shooting up into the air.

  He put her bike in the back of his truck and drove to the farm. Both JoGene’s and the family’s trucks were parked out front. They were probably checking on the babies. He took Tullie into the large gator house.

  After checking to make sure there were no loose gators about, he led the way inside. The last of the day’s light was the only illumination in the place. He watched Tullie’s face as they stepped up to the first pen. Each pen was a mass of as many as three hundred gators. True to form, they were lying around looking as harmless as gators could look.