I'll Be Watching You Page 35

  If Shar was going to comment on his change of attitude, she swallowed the words along with a healthy gulp of her drink.

  Getting Kim to like gators was the easy part. Getting her to stop being scared to let her heart go was a major obstacle. This falling in love thing was new to him, too. He’d figured they could both take their time getting used to the idea, but secrets and lies were getting in the way. He couldn’t forget that someone wanted her dead. He couldn’t afford to forget that at all.

  CHAPTER 26

  Kim spent the next morning scrubbing the nooks and crannies of the bar. Unfortunately, the busywork didn’t keep her mind from straying to Zell. He’d spent the night out in his truck in the parking lot. Protecting her. She tossed a sponge into the bucket in disgust. All right, maybe she’d jumped to conclusions the night before, nothing new for her. Maybe she was looking for guilt everywhere. That it had flashed in Zell’s eyes had been more than disturbing. It had rocked her to her core.

  When the door opened soon after the lunch shift ended, she hoped it was him. She wanted to apologize. Needed to apologize. She was surprised to see Grace and her little girl walk hesitantly in. By the look on her face, she wasn’t stopping in for a sandwich. She pulled the girl behind her and made a beeline toward Kim.

  “Ernie’s gone. He’s been gone since late last night. I saw him get home around midnight. Then I heard a rifle go off, though it could have been a truck backfiring, I couldn’t be sure. Then I heard his truck leave sometime after that. He hasn’t been home since.”

  Kim dried her hands as dread seized her. “Maybe he’s just up to no good.”

  Grace’s blue eyes flashed defensively. “I know he was here yesterday talking to you.”

  Kim tried not to react to Grace’s unspoken accusation. “He told me that Rhonda was pregnant when she died. Did you know about that?”

  “I didn’t keep up with my sister’s activities.” She narrowed her eyes. “You are looking into her murder, aren’t you? Is that why your house got burned down? And for what? Justice for a woman who couldn’t keep her legs closed? Now Ernie’s gone. If something’s happened to him, I’m holding you responsible.”

  With those words, she turned and dragged her daughter back out into the sunny afternoon. The last two men eating lunch quickly resumed eating. They weren’t regulars, so at least they wouldn’t be spreading gossip about that conversation.

  Charlotte had passed Grace on the way in, looking at the woman who was obviously distressed. “What was her problem?”

  “Ernie’s missing.” Kim couldn’t stop staring at the door, wondering what had happened to him. She hoped he was only making mischief.

  Charlotte didn’t ask for further clarification and Kim didn’t offer it. After greeting Oscar, she smoothed her green skirt and climbed up on a stool. When Kim asked if she wanted something, Charlotte waved that off. “I came to talk to you, woman to woman. About my brother.”

  The two men stood, and one said, “We’re ready for our bill.”

  After the men headed out, the place was quiet. Kim locked the front door to keep it that way. She wanted to hear what Charlotte had to say. She took the barstool beside her. “Go on.” Was she going to warn her away? As nice as Charlotte was sometimes, Kim doubted she was truly happy that her brother was seeing her.

  “My brother’s in love with you. He as much as admitted it right here last night.”

  Kim blinked at that, unable to really respond. In love? Even after she’d practically accused him of murder? “Zell doesn’t believe in love. He listens to all of those anti-love songs.”

  She waved that away, her glittery nails catching the light. “That’s his way to keep all those money-hungry, boring females at a distance. The thing is, Zell’s never been in love before. Infatuated, yes, but not in love. Actually, I’m kind of glad it’s you. You’re the first gal who measures up to him in terms of spirit.”

  “I’m in love with him, too.” The words had come out under their own power. They were as surprising as Charlotte’s words about Zell being in love with her.

  Charlotte smiled. “Well, duh. Like anyone couldn’t tell.”

  Kim decided not to mention that she couldn’t tell. She really was in love with him, she realized, that roller coaster feeling sinking in. Click, click, click.

  Charlotte continued. “I even like you, though I’m not in love with you.” She laughed at her joke. “Thing is, despite everything, you really are a good match for Zell. Daddy will come to see that. Zell’s already had a talk with him about you. Basically, he told Daddy that he liked you and that was that. Following one’s passions hasn’t always been the wisest thing the men in my family have done, but this is the first time Zell’s had a passion for a woman to follow. I think Daddy’ll come around, especially now that you’ve apologized to him. He thinks a lot of you after that.”

  Kim wasn’t sure how to feel about that. It depended on how much he’d been involved with the theft of her orchids—and anything else. She remembered how guilty he looked when she found the orchid petal at his farm. “I’d like to make peace with the Macgregors. And I like you too, though I’m not in love with you either.”

  Charlotte hooted in laughter and slapped the bar. “I knew I liked you. You’ve got sass. You’ll make a fine addition to the family.” She crossed her legs. “And Zell, he’d make a great daddy. He’s tender and compassionate and so good with Tullie. Why, you know what he did when I was pregnant? He used to paint my toenails because I couldn’t reach them. How sweet is that?”

  “You don’t have to sell me on him,” Kim said, picturing him painting Charlotte’s nails. Then picturing him painting hers.

  “Now here’s the thing. I know Zell has used the gator-loving requirement to keep women at a distance for years. He administers an oral test, as you’ve probably heard, and then has the lady hold a gator. But it’s not only to keep women at a distance. Gators are his life, his passion. Most of what he does for a living revolves around them, and of course, there’s the farm. I do understand why you hate them, I really do.” She patted Kim’s hand. “You have to get over that if you’re going to be part of our family. So, I got to thinking, why don’t we surprise Zell?”

  Kim wasn’t sure where this conversation was going, but she was too pleased by Charlotte’s acceptance to worry much. “Surprise him?”

  “Come out to the farm. I’ll work with you, you know, give you a primer on gators. We’ll start with the little guys. You can hold one and get used to how they feel. And I’ll tell you everything there is to know about them. I know some of the questions he’s asked before. You’ll have insider information. You’ll get comfortable being at the farm, too. Why don’t you come on out now?”

  Kim nearly choked. “Now?” She had to think about this.

  “Today’s a good day, actually. Owen and Daddy are up in North Florida visiting another gator farm. Zell’s helping Smitty build some rabbit cages. Everyone will be gone all day.” She slid off the stool. “Well, you think about it. Think about showing Zell how much you know about gators and surprising him beyond his wildest dreams. Think how much it’ll mean to him. I’ll be at the farm for another hour or so.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  Kim followed Charlotte outside into the moist air. Dark bluish clouds were gathering in the eastern sky as usual. Even dressed up and wearing heels, Charlotte looked at home climbing into the large truck. She waved and backed up.

  Kim looked back into the bar. She could finish cleaning out the bins and sinks or she could do something for Zell. After all he’d done for her, and especially after last night, it seemed like the right thing to do. This could be the first step in learning to give everything she had inside her.

  She gave Oscar a quick belly rub. “I’m leaving you here, bud. You don’t want to hang around gators, that’s for sure.”

  She closed up the bar and headed to the farm. Along the way, she searched for Ernest’s truck, but didn’t see it. She did, however, pas
s JoGene’s truck. In her rearview mirror, she saw him make a U-turn, but when she crossed over the bridge, she lost sight of him.

  JoGene had planted that doubtful seed about Zell. Why? As she turned into Heron’s Glen, she decided that she would trust him least of all. She parked next to Charlotte’s truck outside the farm and stepped out. The smell hit her right away, muggy heat and alligator feces. “I must be in love,” she muttered and trudged toward the small gator house that Charlotte was exiting.

  The sky to the east looked dark and ugly, contrasting the trees in the foreground that were still sunlit. Light clouds skittered across the sky below the demon-black landscape. Thunder rumbled ominously. She glanced back to see if JoGene had followed. No sign of his truck.

  “You came,” Charlotte said, looking inordinately pleased. “Zell is going to be so captivated, you wait and see.” She waved her inside the building.

  Captivated. She wasn’t sure that was the right word but wasn’t about to suggest a better one.

  Charlotte put her finger to her mouth, her glittery nails contrasting pink lips. “You have to be really quiet in here, especially in the large gator house. Any noise incites them.”

  Kim envied those beautiful nails, but not the money that probably went into maintaining them. She nodded her understanding, definitely not wanting to incite alligators.

  “Where’s Tullie?” Kim whispered.

  “She’s with her uncle Zell. Tullie loves rabbits.”

  Picturing the girl with the small gator on her shoulder, Kim had to stifle a smile. Both Charlotte and Tullie were contradictions. If that small girl could be comfortable around gators, so could Kim.

  Charlotte plucked a two-foot gator from one of the holding tanks. “We’ll start with one of these.”

  “Couldn’t we try a smaller one?”

  Charlotte laughed. “This is a small one. See, he’s still got his stripes.” She pointed them out by drawing her finger along the yellow stripes on its side. “Now, here’s the trick of holding them. First, you gotta support their bodies. Hold him like this, down by his lower body with one hand and around his neck with the other hand. That way he can’t swing around on you. Here.”

  She thrust it at Kim, who fought the urge to back away and took it. The belly skin was smooth and cool. The gator didn’t move, as though it were resigned to being handled like this. “What do I do with him?”

  “Hold him until you feel comfortable.” She touched Kim’s arms. “Relax. There you go. Now smile. See, it ain’t so bad.”

  After a few minutes, she did feel more comfortable, though she wouldn’t do it for fun. She raised the gator up to her face level and looked at him.

  Charlotte said, “Give him a kiss, right on the end of his snout. He can’t see straight ahead, so he won’t know you’re even doing it.”

  Kim raised an eyebrow. “Let’s save that for later, shall we?”

  “All right, that’s a good start.” She took the gator and set it back in the holding tank.

  A shadow passed over the gator house, and Kim looked up to see darkness above the opaque plastic roof. The rumble of thunder was growing louder.

  Charlotte said, “Let’s head over to the big house.”

  Kim dutifully followed. The wind had picked up, flinging leaves and dirt into their faces like a naughty kid. Lightning shimmered in the near distance. At least the wind also blew away some of the smell and cooled the interior of the large gator house. The heat that escaped through the door was stifling.

  As Charlotte closed the half-door, it slammed shut, probably pushed by the wind. Kim heard some of the gators stir. It was so dim inside she could hardly see the end of the hallway. Like at the small house, a series of holding areas flanked the walkway. A half-wall allowed one to look out over the gators, and a door provided access. Each large area was thick with the creatures, most in a shallow pool of water. They looked sinister in the dim light, like something out of a James Bond movie she’d seen. They were piled up so thick, she could imagine running on top of them as Bond had done.

  “How many alligators are in each area?” Kim whispered.

  “About three hundred.”

  “Can we turn on the lights?” Kim asked as Charlotte came up beside her.

  “We never turn them on unless we’re getting them ready for slaughter. This place is set up so they’ll grow fast. That’s why it’s so warm in here. The plastic on the roof helps to heat the water. We feed them once a day so they don’t get ornery and eat one another. I was supposed to feed them this morning, but I waited so you could see them in action. I know about you seeing Toopie’s arm get bit off, and I thought it might help if you saw them eating what we feed them: Purina Gator Chow.”

  Kim raised an eyebrow at that. “I had no idea Purina made a chow for gators.”

  Charlotte went into the back room and came out with a wheelbarrow full of brown nuggets. When she scraped the shovel against the wheelbarrow, the gators came to life. Kim heard the eerie sounds of their bodies moving through the water, hissing and splashing as they fought for position.

  The wind howled around the building and snapped the plastic roofing. Or was that the sound of a truck door closing? Had JoGene followed her after all? There were no windows, so she couldn’t see. Since Charlotte didn’t seem to notice, Kim focused on what she was saying.

  “Hopefully this will give you a different image of a gator eating.” She opened one of the half-doors and stepped onto a platform. “Come here.”

  Hanging over the center of the area was a wooden platform suspended by ropes. Kim stayed just behind the open door and watched while Charlotte reeled the platform closer and dumped chow on it. The gators writhed and tumbled over each other, their mouths open as they warned off those who would encroach on their territory. Kim shivered.

  After dumping more food onto the platform, Charlotte reeled it back to where it hovered inches above the water. The gators rushed it, climbing over one another in their exuberance.

  “You say you feed them every day?” Kim asked.

  “Yes, but as I said, I waited a bit, so they’re pretty hungry. Watch how they eat.”

  When the rain started in a rush of sound, the gators paused for a moment. Then they went for the food again. They climbed up onto the platform, turned their head sideways, and scooped up the chow.

  “They chew,” Charlotte said. “Gators in the wild don’t chew. They roll their victim over, push it down in the water and drown it. Then they tear off pieces of flesh which they swallow whole.”

  The wind shook the doors again, and Kim checked to see if someone had come in.

  Charlotte didn’t seem to notice. She seemed entranced by the gators. After a few moments, she pointed. “See those ridges on the gator’s back. They’re called scutes. They’re actually solid bone, a nearly invincible armor. That’ll probably be on the test, too.”

  “Scutes,” Kim repeated, remembering Zell talking about them.

  “Do you know the scientific name for a gator? Alligator mississippiensis.”

  Kim repeated that, too.

  “They’ve got up to eighty teeth in that mouth, and if they lose a tooth, it regenerates. They can go through a couple of thousand teeth in their life.” She wheeled the barrow to the next holding area. “Look at that gator there, the one that’s submerged. See how you can only see the tip of its nose and its eyes? Can you tell how big it is?”

  It was big enough, Kim thought, but only shrugged.

  Charlotte opened the door and waved Kim closer. “Count how many inches are between the eyes and the nose.” She demonstrated. “Each inch equals a foot of total length. So how big is that one?”

  Kim measured with her eyes. “Seven foot.”

  “Exactly. These are our biggest gators.”

  Kim remembered the story of Owen’s encounter with the loose gator. Smitty had said the six and seven footers were the most dangerous. She could believe that. A few dozen gators waited below the short platform that reached a foot
out from the door. They were eyeing both women with hunger in their beady eyes.

  “These guys have never eaten meat?” Kim asked.

  “Nope. I suppose they’d know what to do if the opportunity arose. Shall we test them?” Charlotte gave Kim a little shove.

  Kim let out a yelp as she grabbed for the edge of the door. “That’s not funny!” she shouted in a shaky voice, making the gators stir.

  Charlotte closed the door, shutting Kim on the gator side of the half-wall. “I know it isn’t.” She pulled out a small, pearl-handled gun as Kim reached for the door handle. “Neither is you digging around in the past.”

  CHAPTER 27

  Zell drilled in the last screw on the third cage. Smitty was working on the bases, and Tullie was playing with the rabbits. Usually the girl chattered incessantly at the rabbits, but since they’d arrived, she’d been quiet. She was lying on her side in the thick grass stroking their ears.

  ’Course, he’d been quiet, too. He felt a persistent heaviness in his chest he knew had everything to do with Kim. He’d had all night to think about the situation, being uncomfortable as he was sleeping in the truck. He’d decided to tell her the truth; he couldn’t risk losing her.

  A low rumble drew his attention to the sky. They weren’t going to be working for much longer. Black clouds oozed menace. He took a break and dropped down beside her. “You want one of these guys? We could build you a cage.”

  She shrugged, her blue eyes never leaving the white rabbit she was petting.

  “What’s the matter, angel? You still blaming yourself for not knowing about the fire?”

  Another shrug.

  “You still having those gator dreams?”

  She looked at him at last. “You said they were only dreams, right? Just regular nightmares.” She was waiting for confirmation.

  “Only makes sense. You still having them?”

  “Yeah. I wish they’d go away. I’m starting to get afraid of Runt even.”

  That was serious. She loved that little gator. “Tullie, tell me about the dreams again.”