by Reina Torres
Consciously she knew this could happen. She’d been trying to remember more and more about that day and specifically the attack, but it had been like running into a wall. It gave her a monster headache, but nothing new had resurfaced.
With the house quiet, except for the rasp of the branch against the kitchen window, it was the perfect time to go back and think through the events of that day. Her therapist had told her to take each moment in time and treat every detail as important, trying to school her mind to take its time and be observant and remember everything in front of her, everything around her.
But her mind was racing, like an old VCR with the fast forward button stuck.
She swallowed and tried to move back in time and follow her instructions but she couldn’t. Her mind was going where it was going and she felt whisked away like the current of the river.
The images came to a hard stop when she was standing in front of the girls.
No, she hadn’t expected someone to come up behind her. She should have, but she didn’t. And while she was berating herself for the misstep something hit her in the back.
She felt the impact as if it were new, not just fresh in her mind, but a visceral truth.
The girls were moving. One scared, the other... resigned.
She heard the voices around her, muffled as if she had cotton in her ears.
Felt another impact.
The nausea that came over her when she was lifted from the ground.
Something beyond the fuzzy feeling in her head stopped the scene and rewound it. The old lines of a VHS tape against its head wavered across the images. It stopped again. And began.
The second impact which had knocked more than her breath out of her.
“--gonna t-- s-”
She shook her head and strained to listen as the tape backed up again.
“--gonna tell s-”
“More... more...” She mumbled the words, begging for the answers.
“--are – gonna tell sofa-”
“What?” She clutched the pillow tighter against her chest. “Again.”
With her heart pounding like a jackhammer in her chest, she watched the events roll back and begin to move forward again.
“...what are we gonna tell Soffer-”
Blyss found herself on the floor. Her hands and knees aching from the impact. Her vision faded in and out as the words repeated themselves over and over in her head.
“What are we gonna tell Soffer?”
Chapter 13
The ambulance was long gone and now the coroner’s van was in the parking lot with its back door open. They’d been able to provide the assistant with the parts that they’d been able to recover. There was one limb left to recover and Owen knew that they’d likely find it inside of the alligator.
That meant that he was going to have to kill it.
Sitting on the bow of Joey’s boat, they were slowly cruising through the waters, keeping an eye out for bubbles on the surface or any sign that a giant was just beneath it.
“Damn fools,” Joey grumbled behind him. “They left off their PFDs because it would ruin their pictures. Now what?”
Owen was barely listening to his friend. He kept his eyes on the water.
“Saints be praised they got the rest of the family on dry land before the gator could come back around for another victim.”
He could hear the anger and frustration in his friend’s voice, but Owen kept his focus on the water ahead and to the sides. They’d try to subdue the gator first. If they could get a hold of his mouth, closed, then they had a chance to get him up into the boat, but they’d have to tire him out first. He wouldn’t be the kind that would surrender easily by choice. A gator didn’t live to be that size and get that powerful by rolling over and playing dead.
He was going to fight. He was going to twist and turn and try to get free. If that meant dragging them into the water, the gator would be just fine with that.
The people he pulled in with him?
Well, they’d already seen his handiwork when the ambulance had loaded up the father who had been bitten by the gator. His forearm was hanging by threads and the looks that the EMTs sent each other over his head said what he was thinking. It would be a miracle if he kept it.
But maybe the family was due a miracle.
If he was reading things right, with the late afternoon shadows falling over the lake at the edges, they might be there all night looking for it. And at night, the alligator had almost all of the advantages.
Blyss sat on the floor of the living room, her back up against the couch, struggling to catch her breath.
“No. No. No.”
But wasn’t it right there? Hadn’t he tried to go with her? But she wasn’t supposed to be going to that picnic area.
She’d just ended up there because of a tip. There was no way for Lance to know about those kids.
“It’s not him.” She argued with herself. “It can’t be. He’s not...”
Picking up the phone she dialed Conor’s number. It went to voicemail almost immediately. As soon as it beeped, she left him a message that she hoped made sense. At least she thought it made sense. It might just have been a whole lot of words and maybe something coherent. She’d have to wait to find out.
The handset dropped from her fingers and she touched her chin to her chest shaking “No. It can’t be.”
Grabbing the phone list, she slapped it on the coffee table and wiped the gathering tears from her eyes. Blinking at the list, she managed to find his number near the bottom amongst the other Game Wardens in the area. Dialing she muttered under her breath. “There’s an explanation for this.”
The more they worked to subdue the alligator, the more Owen realized that they weren’t going to be able to save it. The large alligator had no problem swimming dangerously close to their boat.
Joey swore under his breath. “People think it’s fun to feed predators, luring them closer for a fucking selfie, not realizing that what they’re doing is making them even more dangerous.”
They’d seen some damage across the back of the alligator. Swimming so close to boats, hoping to be fed, part of the boating accident may have been caused by an impact with the animal.
The radio that Joey was carrying crackled to life. It was Owen’s father. “What’s the decision?”
Joey didn’t respond back and Owen looked over his shoulder.
“You know as well as I do. This isn’t going to end well for anyone.”
Joey called back to Leon and told him. “We’re going to end this as soon as we can.”
Owen moved back from the edge of the boat and opened the gun case he’d brought along while Joey took out the catch pole and widened the loop to fit. The two men rarely had occasion to use deadly force on an animal. Owen hated to even think about it. The alligator was likely older than his father and because of humans feeding it and luring it close, it was going to be destroyed.
Oh, he didn’t blame the family for their unfortunate interaction with the creature, but it was just the sad state of modern life encroaching on wildlife.
Owen loaded the gun and did a safety check of the weapon. If he was going to do this, he wanted to do it quickly. He didn’t want to cause the animal any undo pain and make the loss of life any worse.
As soon as she did it, she regretted it. Blyss had used her call list and phoned Lance. She wanted to talk to him. She wanted to hear his voice and ask about what she’d remembered.
Insanity? Yes!
Stupid?
Absolutely!
That’s why she ended the call before it completed.
She dialed the next call from memory and the phone picked up almost immediately.
“Blyss?”
She couldn’t help the weak smile that touched her lips. “Hey, Miranda. I’m sorry for calling, I just feel so stupid.”
“Hey, don’t you be mean to my friend!” Miranda’s voice was full of concern. “What’s going on?”
The
whole story just spilled out from her lips as if the floodwaters had finally broken through the dam. When she finished, Blyss had to press against her chest with the heel of her palm. “Oh God, I feel like such an idiot. I don’t know what I was doing.”
“What did Owen say?”
“Owen? I haven’t told him. He and Leon went out on a call for a gator who killed a boy.”
“He took that call?”
“There aren’t many people who can handle a gator that big,” Blyss felt a well of pride for her man.
“Yeah, I know, so who’s there with you?”
Her mind swam with confusion. “It’s just me, didn’t I tell you?”
“No. No you didn’t.”
Blyss heard an edge in Miranda’s voice. “Trace!! Trace, come down here!”
Blyss felt her skin grown cold.
“What’s going on?” Trace’s voice came through the phone. “Is it time?”
“No, no. Get on the radio and call Conor. Send everyone to Owen’s place. Now.”
“Miranda?” Blyss’ heart was pounding in her chest. “What-”
“Blyss. You called Lance from Owen’s phone. The Caller ID is going to tell him where you are. If you’re right, and he’s in with the traffickers, he’s going to come to where you are.”
They were nearing the dock, towing the carcass of the alligator alongside the boat when Leon waved at him from the ramp at the land end of the dock. “Owen! Come here! We have to go!”
Owen looked back for a moment and caught Joey’s attention before he had to turn back and jump up onto the dock to tie the boat into place.
Joey moved up to the edge of the boat. “Go, go! I’ll take care of the rest with my boys.”
Dashing off toward his father, Owen was stunned to see Nora already in the back of the truck with his father in the passenger seat, pulling the seatbelt across his body. Owen jumped into the driver’s seat and found the engine running.
His father clapped a hand down on his arm. “Son, we’ve got to get home.”
Owen didn’t ask why. He honestly didn’t care.
The edge in his father’s voice spoke volumes.
Something was wrong at home.
Blyss.
Talk about an utter failure. She’d done some stupid things before, but calling Lance from the house phone? Her own phone had been damaged when she’d gone into the river and since she wasn’t broadcasting her location, she hadn’t bothered to pick up a new one yet. She just didn’t need it.
And it had become second nature to use Owen’s phone at the house. His wireless sets were just as easy to use and most folks had been coming to her.
Leon had answered Owen’s phone and said they were on their way back.
The gate.
When Owen left for the call, she hadn’t shut the gate behind them.
Looking up at the clock on the wall she knew it had been less than ten minutes since she’d made the call, maybe closer to five. Lance was on the other side of the city. So, even if he’d seen the missed call, there was still plenty of time left before he’d be anywhere near her.
She didn’t need a jacket, not with the heat in the evenings that came off the concrete drive in front of the house. Blyss stepped outside and closed the door behind her. Her sneakers sounded like sandpaper against the concrete, moving little particles of loose dirt as she moved.
Stepping past the corner of the house she eyed the open gate and the acres of empty grass land beyond the road. It was worlds away from her tiny apartment on a busy street and she loved it.
Just as she reached the hedge Lance stepped into her way.
“Oh my God!”
For once her nervous laughter might just be helpful.
“Wow, what a surprise! I didn’t-”
He held up his phone. “Didn’t know that my primary contact number isn’t my house, but my cell?”
“Oh,” she felt all the warmth in her face disappear in a heartbeat, “you got my call.”
“I’ve been trying to find you for a while, you know. Ever since you almost drowned.”
Remembering that she hadn’t even left a message she struggled to put a smile on her face. “Well, yeah. I’ve been trying to relax and heal up, so I haven’t really been seeing anyone.”
“I have.” He moved closer to her and she stepped back. “I’ve been driving around near the houses of your friends, looking for any sign that you were there.”
“Well, again, I’ve been relaxing and I was going to see you at work in a few days.”
“Then, why the call, Blyss?”
Well jeez, she didn’t have an answer for that. “I was just curious to see how you were.” It would help if she didn’t hear the tremor in her own voice.
“I wanted to see you too, Blyss, but I think for a different reason. Or maybe the same one.” He took a quick step forward and she gasped, pulling back out of fear. “You heard them, didn’t you?” Before she could even begin to process the question, he continued. “One of the boys said they’d mentioned my name, but only when you were unconscious, but with my luck,” he scoffed, “I knew they were wrong. That you’d remember. I had a hope that maybe I could get to you before you remembered, before you ruined my life, but even then, I knew it was just my luck.”
“I’ve already told someone,” she had to get him to see there was no reason to do anything hasty. “You can make a deal. Become a witness.”
“If you’ve already told someone, I’m dead already. They’re going to take my job. They’re certainly going to find the money. I’m never going to be able to recover from this.”
“We need to take it one step at a time.” She couldn’t quite smile at him. He’d sworn the same oaths that she had. He had promised to uphold the law. He’d taken money and broken the law over and over again. “I’ll call Conor and we’ll help you figure out what the next step is, okay?”
“I know what the next step is.”
The look he gave her was a curious one. There wasn’t much in the way of any kind of expression, but what she saw in his eyes told her that she’d never really known Lance, not the man behind his over-eager personality.
“I told you.” She blew out a breath, “I’ve already told someone.”
“Hearsay.” He threw the word back at her. “Unless you testify to it, it won’t mean much.”
Before she could do anything, he rushed her and gave her a sucker punch to the middle that knocked the air from her lungs.
Talking to Conor on the phone didn’t help Owen’s anxiety any. One of the great things about Texas was how far apart everything was and it was also the worst thing about it. Even mobilizing the Texas Rangers, SAPD, FBI and others involved in the larger investigation, the closest help was Owen himself, and he was too far away for his own sanity.
Owen gave fair warning that he was about to go beyond felony speed in the state of Texas and Conor wished him Godspeed.
It took patience that Blyss didn’t know she had, but she kept still as Lance dragged her all the way down the outside access aisle of the refuge. She hoped her dead weight would make him work hard enough to weaken him and give her time to think and plan.
And yes, pray that someone came to help.
Her possum play ended when Lance leaned her against the fence for a moment.
When he put his hand on her shoulder to turn her around, she swung around and slammed her fist into his jaw, rocking his head back on his neck. She didn’t get more than a step before he grabbed her by the back of her shirt and yanked her off of her feet.
They both stumbled into the fence and she managed to land a punch near his kidney, but her weight and her power were only enough to hurt him, not subdue him. And before she could get a knee up between them, he brought his booted foot down on top of her sneaker.
It didn’t hurt so much as held her in place, and she knew that conventional blows would put her at a disadvantage. He had height and weight as advantages, so she knew she didn’t have much in the way of options.
His weight had her arms pinned between them. She tried to force them higher, maybe scratch at his face, but he kept her arms pinned and lifted his hands.
Blyss realized that even though both of them had spent weeks of their lives on gun ranges and training with weapons to subdue others, it was going to come down to hand to hand combat.
He had his hands around her throat, and as much healing as she’d done, he had her up against the railing with her injury pressed into the hard edge of wood behind her.
Even with her longer legs struggling for purchase on the ground, her sneakers gave her no real way to dig in or give herself any advantage. And behind her, she could hear the rhythmic slap of Boo’s tail, likely waiting for his evening meal.
“Don’t do this.” She gasped when he all but lifted her off her feet and bent her back over the railing. “Please don’t.”
“I never thought it would come down to something like this.” She heard him grunt as he struggled to lift her higher. “I promised myself I’d never kill someone, but I guess… once I crossed the line… this was where I’d end up. I’m just sorry it’s you.”
He got her up high enough that she knew she had nowhere to go but backwards over the railing.
There was a moment when his hands loosened just enough around her throat for her to grab a full breath. That air flooding into her lungs gave her a moment of clarity and even though it was almost full dark, she smiled.
Lance saw the odd expression and faltered just a bit.
Planting her foot on the enclosure wall behind her, she pushed and since her arms were trapped between them, she managed to grab a hold of his shirt. A moment later, they went over the railing together.
Owen threw the truck in park and everyone piled out. Leon headed for the house with Nora scrambling after him. Owen’s booted foot hit the ground and yet, he froze. A cold feeling washed over him a moment later when he heard a loud splash from the far end of the wildlife area.
