Justice for Blyss

by Reina Torres

  It seemed like everyone had gone underground. Petty crimes were on the rise keeping law enforcement busy as ham-handed criminals were trying to bring drugs into San Antonio because it seemed like the main suppliers had just disappeared. Had her brush with death been the straw that broke the supply line?

  She doubted it.

  And Blyss was days away from going back to work, and the daily arguments between Blyss and Owen were heating up.

  He wanted her to remain there on the property to keep her safe, but even he had to suspect that they were both going stir-crazy.

  He was also holding off having sex until her doctor was absolutely sure he wasn’t going to hurt her. She admired his… fortitude, but she’d already tried to tempt him into breaking his rule and she wasn’t going to do it again.

  “My fragile feminine ego can’t take it.”

  Miranda shook her head. “I can buy you some amazing lingerie to wear.”

  “He’d throw a blanket over my head.”

  She saw her friend’s curious look and sighed.

  “Tried it.”

  Miranda’s eyes widened. “I’m impressed.”

  “By how horny I am, or how determined he is to make me go insane?” Blyss tossed a long strip of meat out into the enclosure and the two women watched as Boudreau’s mouth stretched open and snapped shut with an impressive clap of sound. After he was sure he had the meat in his jaw he started to gobble down his treat.

  Miranda murmured under her breath. “That’s one huge alligator.”

  Blyss paused to enjoy the majesty of Owen’s old friend.

  “Back when they lived in Louisiana, Boo was one of their rescues. When the hurricane came through their whole family was mostly off the grid back then. Leon didn’t waste much time on TV and the like, and Owen followed his example and by the time they found out and started to evacuate, they started with some of the animals and tried to find other trailers that they could use to transport. The storm came in faster than had been anticipated in their area.

  “That’s when they came to live with us in Houston, but when they went back to their land to start picking up the pieces, the only animal still left there was Boudreau. He was hunkered down, and waiting in the shadows. He almost bowled Owen over when he showed up.”

  “Wasn’t his family worried that Owen’s pet might eat him someday?”

  “I think Leon always is, but there’s something about my man and his giant gator. It’s like they understand each other. And really, I’m not going to argue with about a thousand pounds of wild animal. You?”

  Miranda held up her hands in surrender. “Don’t look at me. There’s a reason why I deal with the smaller animals. Nothing I care for can tear me apart limb from limb.”

  Blyss sighed. “Yeah, thanks for not trying to point out that Owen might get eaten by one of his animals.”

  “Eaten?” Miranda’s tone and exaggerated wink made Blyss laugh.

  “Don’t get dirty. You know that’s wrong.”

  “Look, my hormones are all out of whack! Give me a break.”

  “Give me a break,” Blyss shot back. “Ugh. I’m so grumpy and no, it’s not hangry. At least not for food.”

  Miranda sighed. “So, you’re saying if you were sleeping with him-”

  “Having sex,” Blyss made sure to enunciate her words, “I’m already sleeping with him and let me tell you, until you’ve had a gorgeous man wake up beside you with a raging case of morning wood, but won’t let you enjoy it, you just haven’t lived my life.”

  Miranda rolled her eyes. “I’m in the same boat. Even though my doctor says it’s okay as long as we’re careful, Trace won’t either. I’m almost ready to tie him down and have my way with him.”

  Blyss snorted out a laugh that made the monster alligator turn his massive head in her direction. “Sorry, Boo.” She tossed the last bit of meat to him and he caught it with ease. After a few mashing bites, Boudreau’s fourteen-foot body sank into the waters and a stream of bubbles broke the surface.

  Miranda shook her head. “I’m guessing that was TMI for the gator?”

  Blyss turned around and leaned her elbows on the rail behind her. “At least we don’t have to worry about him ratting us out. But, still. I get that Owen’s worried. No one expected all of our leads and most of the drug trade to dry up in less than two weeks, I can’t conceivably stay holed up like this.”

  Her friend raised a brow at her use of the word, but didn’t say anything.

  “Besides, Owen’s been handing off a lot of the calls for gators and snakes, and while I’m sure the others are happy for the business, we can’t just live our lives like this until something happens.”

  “Have you talked to someone, about returning? Are you worried about interacting with the public again?”

  Blyss nodded. “They got a psychologist to come out here, and after the first two sessions we did a few more on webcam so they wouldn’t have to take so much time out of their schedules. I’m not going to lie to you, I’m scared, but I’m not going to hide out thinking it’s going to go away. It’s going to take me going out there and working to get back into the swing of things.”

  Miranda nodded. “The first few times I walked back into the shed after they… after they broke in, I think I grinned more than I expected to, but it wasn’t real for days and days. I don’t think I fooled my cousin or Trace, but again, I just had to get through it.

  “Once my mind and my nerves got the idea that kidnapping was not going to be the norm, I was on my way to recovery. You’ll get there too.”

  “Hey.” Miranda rubbed at her belly and shifted on her feet as Trace and Owen walked up to them at the fence. “I was wondering when you guys would join us.” She leaned eagerly into Trace’s side as her husband added his hand to hers on the side of her belly and a kiss onto her cheek.

  Trace nodded over at Owen. “I tried to keep him away to give you two a few moments to avoid hearing about gossip.”

  If looks could kill, Trace would have been in real trouble.

  “We weren’t gossiping.” Miranda’s eyes flared with heat at her husband.

  Smiling, he gave her a quick kiss. “I know, but Owen was telling me the most amazing stories about what the alligators have been doing.”

  Blyss hung her head. “Oh my god, comedians!”

  Owen stepped up to her side and wrapped an arm around her back. “I thought ‘dad’ jokes didn’t start until after the birth.”

  Trace held out his hands in a helpless gesture. “I’ve got to start somewhere.”

  Miranda sighed. “Try years from now. Please. Years.”

  “Actually,” Trace’s shoulders shook with laughter as Miranda groaned, “don’t worry, this isn’t a joke. I have a message from Conor.”

  Blyss looked at him with concern. “I spoke to him earlier. He didn’t say anything then.”

  Trace nodded and then looked over at Owen before continuing. “We’re concerned about Lance.”

  Blyss felt Owen stiffen beside her and she wrapped an arm around him so she could rub his side. “What about him?”

  Trace shook his head. “There’s something off with him. At first we thought it was just guilt.”

  “Guilt?” Blyss was completely lost.

  “Conor said he’d invited himself along with you on patrol that day and Conor helped you slip out on your own.”

  The memory was suddenly there. “Yeah, I think he was trying to ask me out again. And I wasn’t going to say yes, so I wanted to put some distance between us.”

  The tension in Owen’s body eased a little more.

  “Why is he feeling guilty?”

  “Conor wanted him to see someone to talk it out. He’s been jumpy at work, a little short tempered. When admin finally sat him down, he mentioned that he felt responsible for what happened to you. That if he’d been there with you, you could have had backup.”

  Blyss shrugged. “That’s nice of him to think so, but from the sounds I heard around me, I
think there were at least three or four guys there. Having another warden might have made things worse in some ways. Honestly, I hope he doesn’t really consider this his fault.

  “When I go back next week, I don’t really want to be reminded about this over and over.”

  Trace nodded. “I’ll tell Conor what you said. Maybe we can talk to him.”

  Blyss heard his words, but something inside of her felt off. “You know, maybe it’s best to keep this out of work all together. It might be a better idea to talk about this outside of work altogether.”

  Miranda was the one who spoke first. “That might be best. If he’s already getting in trouble at work or making waves, talking to him there might make him feel a little put-upon. Finding a way to do it in a more relaxed setting might be just the thing.”

  Smiling at her friend, Blyss reached out a hand and touched her arm. “I’ll think about it and I’ll call Conor.” She looked at Trace. “Does that sound okay?”

  “Probably better than hearing it from me and Conor.” He shrugged. “We’ll figure something out.”

  Owen knew he was in trouble. Even though he knew he was right, Blyss just didn’t agree with him. It didn’t help that he admired her independent spirit as much as he did. She amazed him every day, but that didn’t stop him worrying about her.

  In fact, it only made it worse.

  When you know the value of the woman you were in love with, you knew how much of a hole you’d have in your life if you lost her. At the rate that they were starting to argue, Blyss was more likely to walk out on him because she thought he was being an ass than anything else.

  The problem was, he just couldn’t stop himself.

  He kept having the feeling that as soon as he left her alone, the world would fall in around their heads.

  He just didn’t know what he was going to do when she started back to work. He couldn’t be there with her all day. Sure, there were ways to ‘ride along’ with Game Wardens, but he knew what it would look like to the others.

  And most of the people in San Antonio Law Enforcement didn’t know about the taskforce. So, it would look like she was just bringing her boyfriend along and that was bound to get people talking.

  At least, that’s what she told him the last time they talked… the last time they’d argued about it.

  The last thing he wanted to do was chase her away, but he had a strong feeling that if he didn’t keep a close watch on her something was going to go wrong and he was not losing Blyss.

  And he was going to do what he could to keep her safe but not ruin things between them. After Trace and Miranda had gone home, they’d managed to keep things light between them. It seemed like having her friends around had lightened the mood.

  When he entered the kitchen after looking in on all the animal enclosures, he knew he had to say something. He just didn’t know what. He saw her shoulders tense as soon as she noticed him.

  “Blyss-”

  His phone rang and his jaw tensed. It was the ringer for calls about wild animal relocations. His instinct for his work warred with his instinct to fix what was wrong between them.

  “Answer it.”

  He looked up, surprised at the easy tone in her voice.

  Or was it relief?

  “Go ahead, Owen. Answer it. You’ve been babysitting me for too long anyway.”

  He wanted to argue, but it was the first time that afternoon that she hadn’t spoken to him through clenched teeth. Opening his phone, he answered the call. “Mercier.”

  “Owen, It’s Joey McGee. We need you and your da.”

  Owen looked over at Blyss who was trying to listen in on his half of the conversation. “What’s going on?”

  “Boating accident.”

  “Okay?”

  “Problem is, when the victims hit the water, something was waiting for them. They’re in an area we haven’t been called to before. And we haven’t heard of gators in the area, but... a man was bitten and a teenage boy was grabbed and pulled under. We haven’t found... Christ Almighty, we haven’t found all of him yet.”

  “Where are you?”

  He listened as his friend rattled off the location. It wasn’t that far away and someone had been killed. Owen felt his gut clench. He loved wildlife and likely the animal was there because of the food people left behind in the wild, or someone had been feeding him for fun. Normally, they’d just move the animal, but they had to find out what had caused the attack and stop the animal from hurting anyone else.

  “I’ll call you right back.” He didn’t wait for his friend to reply, he just ended the call. Lowering the phone to the countertop he looked at Blyss. “Someone was killed.”

  “You have to go.”

  He wanted to argue or have her ask him to stay, but he knew she wouldn’t. She was just as familiar with this kind of situation as he was. Wild animals were just that. Humans in their territory weren’t like visitors at an amusement park. Animals don’t know that the creatures on two legs are supposed to be at the top of the food chain. And even if animals were just doing what was natural to them, there was a pecking order and animals lost out even if humans had literally moved into their neck of the woods.

  “Yeah. I have to go. A teenager. There might be more, we don’t know yet.” He turned toward the door and stopped. “Wait, let me call someone to come over here and then I’ll go.”

  “Don’t.” She moved closer and took his phone from his hand before tucking it into the back pocket of his jeans. “Go. I’ll call and see if someone can come over and stay with me if it will make you happy, okay?”

  She must have seen his hesitation and lifted her hands to frame his face. She drew him closer and placed a kiss on his lips. When she pulled back a moment later, he saw the warmth and understanding in her eyes. She really did get him. She understood his duties since she had the same ones.

  “Okay. Call someone.” He reached his arms around her and pulled her gently against him, tasting her hunger for him in her kiss. He winked as he pulled back. “We’ll talk tonight, okay? I don’t want to fight about things anymore. It’s not worth it. I want to protect you, but I know I’ve been making you miserable. That’s the last thing I want. So, later?”

  “Go.” She waved him toward the door. “We’ll talk later tonight when you get home or tomorrow. Don’t worry about the rest, okay? I’ll find someone to come over.”

  Outside, he headed for his truck, dialing Joey back. When his friend picked up the phone he got straight to the point. “What are we looking at? Have there been more sightings?”

  The hiss in his ear sent shivers up his spine. “We caught sight of its head. By my calculations it’s got to be at least twelve feet. You are bringing your da wit’ you, right?”

  “Yeah. I’m going to go get him and then we’ll head out.”

  If this was what it was like to get a babysitter in San Antonio, she was really going to have to rethink her plans for children. Taking the phone list with her to the couch, Blyss sat down and laid her head back. Owen had been gone for a little more than an hour and her first six calls had ended up with a whole lot of nothing. Not that she was actually complaining.

  It wasn’t their responsibility to hang out with her. It was nice to have folks volunteer when she was first laid up with her injury. Being a single woman around a bunch of coupled friends made things awkward sometimes. But after Owen had insisted that she stay with him, when the others came over, it was easier. A lot more fun. She was thankful to have a great group of friends who really did give her their time and affection.

  It wasn’t a big deal that they were busy. She didn’t even want to keep calling. Blyss didn’t want to acknowledge that with Owen out she felt anxious. All of her bluster that she was just fine on her own wasn’t all that true.

  This was going to happen. She was going to go through moments like this, and she was going to come out on the other side a stronger person. If she let her fears cripple her, that wasn’t going to do her any good either.r />
  Turning, she stretched out across the whole couch and managed to get comfortable without Owen to massage her feet.

  That man had such good hands.

  A noise outside sent a twitch through her body and she tensed until she understood what it was. A tree branch. She could see it through the kitchen window. Nothing sinister. Nothing lurking in the shadows.

  Breathe in.

  Breathe out.

  Her arm jerked and her eyes flew open.

  Wow.

  Panic attack.

  Or at least the beginnings of one. Again, something that Owen had been walking her through, and on occasions, she’d done the same for him. That was one of the things she’d learned about Owen in her time with him, the kinds of struggles he had. Blyss had thought the man was some kind of hero, but knowing the stressors he fought, the worries he suffered through, she’d changed her mind.

  Owen Mercier was a bonafide superhero even though he didn’t wear a cape.

  Having him coach her through her attacks made things easier, but this one, she was going to have to take care of herself.

  Breathe in.

  Breathe out.

  Something she could see.

  Ceiling fan.

  Something she could hear.

  The tree limb against the window.

  Something she could touch.

  She picked up one of the throw cushions and wrapped her arms around it.

  Something she could smell.

  Blyss brought the pillow up to her nose and inhaled its scent. Owen’s cologne was a welcome focus for her. Waking up in his arms was always the best part of her mornings. His favorite scent was a little bit of spice and a little bit of the outdoors.

  Something she could taste.

  Tough luck on that one. Blyss rubbed her tongue over the roof of her mouth, building up a little saliva in her mouth. She had to swallow it down.

  And down it went, the wrong way. She coughed and tried to sit up, gasping. Her ribs were having none of that and sent her back down to the couch with a blinding flash of pain. It subsided slowly as she focused on her breathing, but part of her mind was still locked away, thrown back in time where she’d swallowed more than her share of water.