Feeding Gators: Book 1 in the Shiner's Bayou Series

by Gen Anne Griffin

  He made it three steps before his knee buckled under him.

  “Where the fuck is your truck?” David demanded.

  “Broke down on the goddamned highway about two miles from here. Alternator again.” Cal spoke without turning around. “I figured I’d just crash on your couch tonight since we were going to fix the brakes in the morning. You can believe me when I say I would never have come here if I’d known she was with you. I would have walked all the goddamned way back to Shiner’s Bayou.”

  “It’s not what you think between me and her. You should stay and listen to what I’m trying to tell you. You ain’t going to make it half a mile with the way you’re limping,” David said. His voice was thick with irritation.

  Cal ignored him and tentatively took another step. The pressure was bad but Cal was stubborn. He would make his bad leg carry him back to Shiner’s Bayou come hell or high water. His determination lasted two more steps before his knee buckled underneath him for a second time. He stopped himself from falling by grabbing a small pine tree on the side of the driveway.

  “I reckon that’s my problem, ain’t it?” He glared at David, gritting his teeth through the pain as he tried to get his leg to support his weight.

  “You are one dumb, stubborn son-of-a-bitch.” David walked over to his Toyota and snatched the keys out of the ignition. He threw them to Cal. Cal let them land on the ground at his feet instead of catching them. “Take my truck, if you won’t stay here,” David told him. “Bring it back in the morning. I need your help with something.”

  Cal damn near laughed. Only David would tie up with him one minute and then have the audacity to demand that everything between them be fine less than five minutes later. He nudged the keys through the dirt with the toe of his boot.

  “Call Addison,” Cal practically spat the words at him.

  “No deal.” David shook his head and then cringed when more blood oozed out of his nose. “I was counting having you help me. Addison’s not going to cut it.”

  “You should have thought about that before you and Gracie...” Cal trailed off. He couldn’t bring himself to say the words out loud. He was too tired and too hurt to admit out loud that David had taken Gracie from him. Or that she’d chosen David over him. Whatever the hell had happened. Cal didn’t really care because every scenario had the same results.

  “There’s nothing between me and Gracie,” David snapped.

  “Yeah,” Cal choked out a bitter laugh. “Nothing. Not even clothes. Or a condom.”

  “Goddamnit, Cal.” David was getting good and angry now. “Just take my truck already. Go home. Sober up. Come back tomorrow and be ready to listen to what I’m trying to fucking tell you.”

  “I’m not listening to a damn thing you have to say if it involves you and Gracie.”

  David blew a gust of air through his lips. “Fine then. Be that way. I still need you here in the morning.”

  “I can’t. I’m going to be working on my truck.”

  “Forget about the fucking truck,” David snapped as he wiped more blood off of his bare skin. “I’ll fix the truck. Or you can keep mine. Whatever you want. I don’t care. Title to the Toyota is in the top drawer of my desk at the shop. You want it? Go get it. You’ve got keys to my shop.”

  Cal opened his mouth and then closed it again. David liked his Toyota a hell of a lot. Even in the midst of his pain, Cal knew that something was seriously wrong if David was willing to give him the Toyota. Neither of them spoke. Cal glared at the keys to the Toyota. After a tense moment he bent down to pick them up. Some of the fury that had squared his shoulders was turning into a kind of grim acceptance. “Whatever. Sure. I’ll take your truck and you take my girl. Sounds like your kind of trade.”

  It gave Cal a certain measure of satisfaction to watch David choke on his own spit as he walked back over to David’s favorite little pickup truck and yanked the door open. He tried and failed to hide the flare of pain that went through his leg as he climbed into the cab of the truck and turned the key. He stomped the clutch down to the floor with a lot more force than necessary and then jammed the standard transmission into reverse with so much force the little truck shuddered. Dirt sprayed in all directions as he dumped the clutch and slammed the transmission into first gear with enough force to send 20-foot rooster tails of dirt towards the front of the trailer as he flew out of the driveway and back into the night.

  *

  Gracie was curled into a numb ball on the corner of David’s couch when he finally staggered back into the trailer. She could hear the Toyota grinding gears as Cal pushed the truck to its limits as he hit the highway.

  “He’s going to blow my goddamned truck up,” David muttered in disbelief as they listened to the engine scream and the gears jam. “On purpose.” It was obvious that out of everything that had happened tonight, Cal’s abuse of the Toyota was the only thing that had really shaken David.

  “I am so sorry,” Gracie whispered as David walked across the room to the sink and began washing the blood away. “I knew he would be mad, but I never thought he would think you and I were together.”

  “Don’t worry about it. He’s drunk as a skunk.” David cringed as soap suds came into contact with the assortment of cuts and scrapes he’d gotten during the fight. He was covered in dirt and blood but his green eyes were vibrant and flashing with life. David hobbled into the kitchen and grabbed a dirty shirt out of the laundry heap next to the washer. He held it under the ice maker until it was almost full and then pressed the makeshift ice pack across the bridge of his nose.

  “You didn’t deserve that.” Gracie blinked at him through a fresh batch of tears. “I should have thought twice before I came here. It never occurred to me to worry about what Cal would think.”

  “You shouldn’t have to worry about what Cal thinks,” he pointed out. “He was drunk. You know how he gets when he’s drunk. You can’t negotiate with him, and he ain’t going to listen to a fucking thing anyone says.”

  “I know. He’s always been like that but-.”

  “But nothing. He’ll sober up and then he’ll listen when I explain what happened.” David scowled and readjusted the ice. Gracie didn’t argue with him. It would take too much effort. She wondered where her heart was finding the energy to keep beating.

  “Thank you for going easy on him.” She sniffled into the roll of toilet paper David had tossed at her in lieu of tissues.

  David turned and stared at her. “Do what?”

  “I know you went easy on him when you were fighting and-.” Gracie blinked in surprise as David started to laugh and then stopped abruptly with a flinch of pain as his cracked ribs sent flares of pain through his chest.

  “You think I went easy on Cal?” he asked in disbelief. “He broke my nose, probably cracked a few of my ribs, and you think I was going easy on him?”

  “You mean you didn’t?” Gracie looked up at him with surprise. “Addy’s always said you could kill him or Cal in a fight.”

  “Only because both of them are the types to bring a smile and a butter knife to a gun fight.” David shrugged his shoulders. He seemed strangely contemplative with his makeshift ice pack still in one hand. “I’ve been waiting for Cal to blow a gasket. He keeps everything under wraps all the time and lets it build up and build up under the surface. It was only a matter of time before he lost control and let someone have it. I just didn’t think it would be me on the receiving end.”

  “If it wasn’t for me being here,” Gracie trailed off, unsure of what she could possibly say to make things all right.

  “Don’t waste your time worrying about it.” David held out a hand to her and pulled her out of the couch cushions that had swallowed her whole. “What’s done is done. We need to try and get some sleep.”

  “I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep,” she admitted as she buried her face into the fabric of Cal’s shirt. It smelled like his cologne, and for just the briefest moment she felt safe. It broke her heart all over agai
n to remember the raw hurt and fury in his eyes as he’d thrown the shirt at her.

  God he’d looked good tonight. Even drunk and angry, just the sight of him had been enough to make every second since they had broken up completely unbearable. Cal wasn’t classically handsome, but he’d always looked good to Gracie.

  “I miss him so much,” she whispered. She was barely aware she’d said it out loud until David let out a loud snort. She looked up from the fabric of the shirt to see him shaking his head at her.

  “You didn’t realize that before tonight?” The disbelief was clear in his voice.

  Gracie sighed. “I realized it the morning after we broke up. It’s just. He doesn’t ever give, David. He’s so stubborn. It’s his way or no way at all.”

  “Yeah,” David appeared nonplussed. “That’s Cal.”

  “I thought that maybe if I stuck to my guns long enough, maybe he’d give. Just a little.” She sighed. “Maybe he’d admit that. Never mind. It’s not important now. He hates me,” she choked on the last words.

  “No. He doesn’t.” David shook his head at her. He flinched as the ice pack moved across his busted nose. “He’s drunk.”

  “He’s never yelled at me like that before,” she whispered.

  “He’s nicer to you than he is to the rest of us. He’s yelled at me plenty of times,” David smirked at her. “Trust me. He’ll get over it. Let him cool down and we’ll explain what happened.”

  “You really think he’ll come in the morning?” she asked. “Even with as mad as he is?”

  “He said he would and he’s predictable to a fault,” David nodded. “Now it’s time for us to go bed. We have a long day ahead of us. The sun will be up in a couple of hours, and I don’t want anyone seeing Cal’s truck on the side of the road and then coming down here and asking questions. I want to go get it at soon as the sun comes up.”

  Gracie nodded in reluctant agreement. “Then what?”

  “Same plan as before. Cal and I are going to deal with your boy and your BMW.”

  Grace hugged herself to keep from shivering. She was somewhat stunned to realize that the fight between Cal and David had seemed so much more real and so much worse than Austin’s death that she had temporarily forgotten what had brought her to Shiner’s Bayou tonight in the first place.

  Her nausea came back full force when she thought about Austin lying dead on the BMW’s creamy leather seats with blood leaking out of his nose and mouth. She didn’t realize her knees were giving out again until David grabbed hold of her to steady her. “Easy Gracie. Breathe. Breathe in. Breathe out. Okay?”

  She buried her face back in his shoulder, terrified of being alone with her own thoughts. “I’m not going to be able to sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see Austin’s body.”

  He opened his mouth and then closed it. “I’m sorry, kid. I’m so fucking sorry.”

  *

  It took Eddie Von Hussant almost an hour to record the full extent of Camilla Baxley’s claims that Addison Malone had assaulted her while removing a raccoon from her home the night before. He was almost through rewriting the report in his very neatest handwriting when Alex Alyssa came strolling through the front door wearing a plain white t-shirt, blue jeans and toting a NASCAR lunchbox.

  “If that’s a Camilla Baxley report, you’re wasting your time.” Alex gestured to the stack of papers in Eddie’s hand.

  “How did you know?” Eddie was baffled.

  “I seen her pulling out of the parking lot as I pulled in.” Alex made a face. “You’re wasting your time writing all that out. Wally won’t read ‘em. He just rips ‘em up and tosses ‘em in the trash. Camilla Baxley’s crazier than a shithouse alligator.”

  “She said Addison Malone tried to rape her.” Eddie decided to momentarily ignore the fact his only competition for the job of Coastal County Sheriff’s deputy was apparently on a first name basis with the man doing the hiring. “I was taught to take all citizens complaints seriously. We shouldn’t just brush her off because she’s a little different.”

  “Addy’s got half the girls in Shiner’s Bayou chasing his truck down the road trying to get his attention. He ain’t going to waste his time on something like Camilla,” Alex said with a shake of his head. “He told me about the coon this morning, and he said Jo Beth Green was with him. Jo ain’t the type to let Addison get away with looking at someone funny. She sure as heck ain’t going to go along with him raping a woman. She don’t like Addison as is.”

  Eddie looked down at his report doubtfully. “You’re sure there’s nothing to this?” he asked.

  “Positive.” Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry. I’m sure you spent a lot of time on it. That woman talks forever. Not to mention she smells like a backed-up septic tank.”

  Eddie nodded and pushed the stack of papers to the side with a sigh. “What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were off today.”

  “Sheriff forgot his lunch at the house,” Alex said as he held up the lunchbox. “Momma wanted me to bring it to him. He gets grouchy when he don’t eat, and she don’t want him eating nothing fried at the diner on account of his diabetes.”

  This time Eddie didn’t even try to hide his disbelief. “Your mother packs the Sheriff lunch?”

  “Oh, uh. Yeah. They’re kinda a couple, I guess.” Alex was visibly struggling to decide how much to admit to Eddie. “They ain’t getting married though. Momma would lose her benefits from when my Daddy died if she married the Sheriff.”

  “I see,” Eddie just barely managed to avoid groaning out loud. Alex apparently read his mind.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “Wally done told me already that his being with Momma isn’t going to affect who he chooses to hire for the job or nothing.” Alex frowned. “No offense, but I kinda wish it would. I’m gonna need all the help I can get. At least Addison’s already promised that if I put all my reports on his desk, he’ll rewrite ‘em so that everything is spelled right before I give ‘em to the Sheriff.”

  “You’re kidding me.” Eddie didn’t know whether to laugh or feel sorry for Alex.

  “No,” Alex looked vaguely embarrassed. “I can’t spell to save my life and my grammar’s god-awful bad. The only reason I managed to pass English in high school was because Katie helped me with everything. Wally said I couldn’t have her proofreading all the police reports though. He said it would violate folks’ privacy. I don’t see where it violates anything, but I guess that’s why he’s the boss and I ain’t. You know Katie is the daytime dispatcher for Coastal County, don’t you? She takes all the calls that come in, so she already knows what’s going on around here. Wally says that ain’t good enough, and she can’t write my reports for me.”

  “Addison’s going to do it instead,” Eddie finished out the conversation. It was hard to believe he’d gone from being 15th in his law school class to competing for a backwoods Sheriff’s Deputy position with a guy who wasn’t literate enough to write his own reports.

  Alex nodded and for a moment the two of them just stared at one another.

  “You know, if you really want to investigate Camilla’s reports, I can bring you one of the alien kittens.”

  “Alien kittens?” Eddie repeated the words certain he hadn’t heard Alex right.

  “Yeah. She came in a couple of weeks ago with a box full of little bitty kittens. They were so little that only two of them had their eyes open. She said her next door neighbor had been abducted by aliens and replaced with a clone. Then she said the alien clone of her neighbor had made babies with her cat and the kittens were the half alien. She brought ‘em in as evidence.”

  “Alien kittens,” Eddie groaned.

  “Wally gave me the whole box after she’d left. He said since the kittens were too little to eat by themselves, I should take ‘em down to the river and drown ‘em.” Alex made a face. “I ain’t never killed no animal that I wasn’t planning on eating. Especially not a helpless little bitty baby kitten. I took ‘em home to Katie instead. She h
ad to bottle feed them at first. They’re eating solid food real good now. I don’t think they’re real aliens, but you can have one if you want. Just to check and be sure.”

  “Sure. Why not?” Eddie didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry. “I could use a pet.”

  Alex grinned at him. “Cool. Now I only have four more to find homes for.”

  *

  Cal didn’t sleep well, and he was in a lousy mood when he woke up a few minutes after 8 a.m. The first step he’d taken when he’d gotten out of bed confirmed that he hadn’t imagined his truck dying on the side of the road or fighting with David last night after he’d left Leon’s bar. The pain in his knee served the same reminder his throbbing headache and churning stomach did as far as last night’s activities were concerned.

  The look on his mother’s face when he tried to sneak out of the house by way of the kitchen confirmed that he wasn’t going to be able to completely get away with the ‘everything is fine, nothing is wrong’ tactic he normally used to bulldoze his way through less than pleasant situations.

  “Calvin, what happened to your face?” Loretta was standing in between the breakfast nook and the back door with a concerned frown on her normally pleasant face.

  “Nothing.” Cal hoped she would leave him alone if he didn’t offer her any information. He wasn’t interested in pushing his luck when it had already become blatantly obvious he didn’t have any luck to speak of.

  “Why are you limping like that?”

  “I twisted my knee last night.” He considered grabbing a drink out of the refrigerator but decided it would be both quicker and less complicated if he just picked something up at the Gas-N-Go on his way to David’s.

  Not that he really wanted to go to David’s. In fact, skipping out on David was sounding better and better with every painful step he took towards the kitchen door. He’d never blown David off before, but David sure as hell deserved it now. Cal gritted his teeth and hoped his mother had somewhere else to be other than in the kitchen aggravating him. Loretta Walker spent most Saturday mornings hopping between various ladies groups, charity projects, and church activities. It was a rare Saturday that Loretta was left without plans.