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

by Gen Anne Griffin

  “This isn’t funny!” the girl snapped at her.

  Gracie giggled louder.

  “Gracie, I’m sorry, but y’all need to go to the dorm office immediately,” Patty said. “You’re both going to be written up. I need y’all to follow me to the RA’s Office immediately. You have committed a serious breach of the code of conduct, and you’re going to have to face the repercussions.”

  Gracie was giggling so hard she had to lean on David’s shoulder to keep from doubling over. David pulled her in front of him, wrapped his arms around her waist, and then nibbled on her neck.

  “Stop. Right now.” The chubby RA grabbed David’s arm. “Let her go. Get away from her, right now! You’re compromising the morals of everyone in this building. Don’t you feel any shame?”

  David laughed outright.

  *

  “What do you mean, Eddie’s investigating David?” Addison gaped at his Uncle Wally in total disbelief.

  “He swears up and down that he saw David dump that man’s body in that damned field.” Wally took a long swig of a lukewarm cup of coffee on his desk and glared at Addison through the upper half of his thick bi-focals. “What the hell were you thinking, anyway?”

  “What was I-?” Addison was momentarily lost.

  “You know what I’m talking about. You’re lucky you’re not a regular deputy or I’d have no choice but to write your sorry ass up.”

  “Write me up? For what?” Addison crossed his own arms over his chest, annoyed by the change in topic.

  “Abandoning a fellow law enforcement officer,” Wally growled.

  “I tried to radio him.” Addison held up his arms in a big, fake shrug. “He never called for help and he never responded to any of my calls.”

  “Probably had something to do with y’all cutting the wires to his cruiser’s radio.” Wally opened his mouth as if he was going to say something else, but a loud crash distracted him. Addison glanced across the main office area of the station to see that Eddie had tripped over the doorframe between the reception area and the back office. He’d stumbled into Mooney’s desk, knocked the filing bin onto the floor and turned his own cup of coffee into a puddle in the middle of the tile file.

  Addison bit his tongue to keep from laughing as Wally grabbed him by the upper arm and stood him up.

  “Hey!” Addy protested as his desk chair tipped over backwards and hit the floor with a thud.

  “Come on,” Wally said as he marched Addison out of the building and past the flustered Eddie without speaking so much as a word.

  “He’s a bumbling idiot,” Addison said the moment they were safely out of hearing distance.

  “Bumbling, yes,” Wally was shaking his head, the battered black cowboy hat he’d worn for the last 25 years bobbling along. “Idiot, no.”

  “Did you not see him just now?” Addison asked in disbelief.

  “Oh, I saw him,” Wally snapped. “He’s small, clumsy, more self-righteous than a televangelist preacher, and he’s going to take over this department if y’all don’t clean up your act and clean it up quick.”

  Addison blinked at Wally in confusion.

  “Do you not understand what the hell is going on, Addy?” Wally released Addison and leaned heavily against the black Dodge Dually he’d been driving for both personal and official use for the last seven years.

  “You hired an idiot,” Addison replied.

  Wally shook his head and then stared down Main Street. “He’s on trial, Addison. Same as Alex. I only have enough funding to hire one of them.”

  “And you’re hiring Alex,” Addison didn’t understand where this was going.

  “Are you completely dense?” Wally asked him. “Did you leave the good sense you were born with in some girl’s cooter?”

  “No,” Addy said, absorbing the insult with a scowl. “I just don’t see what the hell your problem is all of a sudden.”

  “Addison, that boy in there may not have the common sense of a duck, but he knows the law.” Wally tapped the toe of his cowboy boot against the rim of the truck’s tire. “He knows that he’s the best qualified candidate for the job, and that legally I’m pretty much obligated to hire him. He can sue the department for discrimination if I don’t.”

  “What about Alex?” Addison asked.

  “Alex is a good kid.” Wally shook his head. “I want to hire him. But if y’all can’t figure out a way to get Eddie’s ass out of here, Alex is just gonna have to wait until one of three things happens.”

  “Which are?” Addison was starting to worry.

  “Perkins retires, Eddie finally gets bored with extracting revenge on every bully that ever said an unkind word to him in high school, or hell freezes over and I get enough funding from the state to hire another deputy.”

  Addison sighed.

  “Eddie got stuck in a cow pasture for seven and a half hours. Doesn’t that count towards making him look bad?”

  “No,” Wally scowled at Addison. “He’s already filed a report on that incident, and it makes us look bad, not him. Because he was backing you and Alex up and y’all stranded him at the scene.”

  “He could have radioed us for help,” Addison said weakly.

  “Except for, by some amazing coincidence, he says no one’s radio would work,” Wally sighed. “Quit playing stupid, Addy. These childish tricks of yours ain’t going to cut it.”

  Addison crossed his arms. “Well, what the hell do you want me to do then?”

  Wally sighed. “First off, I want you to tell me that David didn’t murder that drifter we’ve got laying in Benny Brownstone’s freezer.”

  “Do what?” Addison stared, remembering the way the conversation had originally started. “David didn’t kill anyone,” he said firmly.

  “Well, I hope Cal can alibi him all weekend. Eddie swears it was David’s truck he saw in that field, dumping that man’s body off the tailgate.”

  “David’s truck? How the hell would that little ass-kisser even know what David’s truck-” Addy trailed off. He knew exactly how Eddie knew what David’s truck looked like. He’d seen it in the Walmart parking lot while Addison was giving Gracie the third degree on her secret jolly jaunt home. Addison groaned.

  “What?” Wally looked at him sharply.

  “I know who can give David and alibi, but you’re not gonna like it,” Addison said.

  “Who?” Wally twirled the end of his thick, gray mustache around one finger.

  “Gracie,” Addison said. “She was with him all weekend.”

  “Why in the hell?” Wally stared at Addison in disbelief. “Why in the hell is your sister spending all weekend with David?”

  “Apparently, they’re happy together.” Addison scowled at Wally. “Don’t tell Dad.”

  “Wonderful,” Wall said with a sigh. “Our murder suspect is alibied by my niece. That’ll give Eddie one more reason to claim we’re corrupt when he files his lawsuit.”

  *

  “Well, that was a hell of a show. You’re not expelled yet?” Brittany was propped up on her bed with a celebrity gossip magazine in her lap when Gracie finally made it back to the dorm room she’d honestly never wanted to see again as long as she lived.

  “No,” Gracie shook her head as she slipped the plastic high heels off of her feet. The straps that had gone over her toes had rubbed blisters on her feet during the four-story stair climb to the RA’s main office, which was essentially located in the building’s attic. David had offered to carry Gracie up the stairs, but Patty and the other RA had threatened to have him escorted away by campus police if he so much as touched her again in front of them.

  “Patty looked pissed.” Brittany blew a huge blue bubble with her gum. She popped it with her fingertip. Gracie tried not to gag as she watched the blue goop adhere itself to the end of Brittany’s bulbous nose.

  “Who cares?” Gracie shrugged her shoulders as she began to wiggle her way out of the stretchy lace dress. “It’s a stupid rule. We weren’t breaking any laws.�
��

  “Your boy toy didn’t mind being written up?” Brittany was watching Gracie intently.

  “David?” She shook her head as she dropped the pink dress on the ground, positive she’d never wear it again as long as she lived. “David doesn’t give two shits about being written up. He laughed in Patty’s face when she told him he could get dining hall duty as punishment.”

  “He’s not a student here,” Brittany said the words in a matter of fact way.

  Gracie looked over at Brittany with surprise. “How did you figure that out?” she asked with genuine curiosity. “It took Patty 45 minutes, a computer and David’s driver’s license before she finally admitted he wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t go to school here and she couldn’t do a damn thing about him.”

  Brittany let out a deep, throaty laugh. She stood up and made a big show of stretching all five feet, two inches of her body out as completely as possible. Brittany legitimately wore a size small, but she bought all her clothing in an extra-small. Her spaghetti strap tank-top left absolutely nothing about the shape of her abdomen, breasts or nipples a secret.

  “Please, Gracie. You think I wouldn’t have noticed a guy like that wandering around our boring little campus?” Brittany put her long, painted-black nails on her hips. “He’s exactly my type. If he went to school here, I’d have already licked every inch of his body like he was my Popsicle.”

  “Um, no. I don’t think so,” Gracie shook her head at Brittany, suddenly feeling possessive. “David is mine. He’s my boyfriend from my hometown.”

  Brittany barked out a short laugh of disbelief. “Get real, Gracie.”

  “I’m not lying,” Gracie said defensively. “You and everyone else in the dorm saw us earlier. You don’t think he’s mine?”

  “Oh, maybe you are telling the truth. He had a kind of small town vibe to him. He probably is your boyfriend from back in whatever hillbilly hellhole of a town you grew up in.” Brittany shrugged her shoulders. “Not that it really matters who he is. The only reason you brought him here was because you’re trying to save your reputation after Friday night. It’s no secret that your date with Austin Putterling was the biggest fail of your life.”

  “What?” Gracie blinked at Brittany, unable to hide the shock of fear that ran from the base of her skull to the tip of her toes.

  “He completely humiliated you, Gracie. I didn’t even think you’d have the balls to show your face back on campus after what he said about you online. I admit, crashing the social in a non-existent dress with your tongue down some biker boy’s throat wasn’t a bad way to counteract the rumors. If I didn’t share a room with you, I might have thought twice about believing what Austin said.” Brittany sneered at Gracie with obvious pleasure in her gloating brown eyes. “I do share a room with you, though. I know Austin was telling the truth when he said you kissed like a dead fish and had a pussy that hadn’t been used in so long, the bitch has mothballs in it.”

  “What?” Gracie was completely stupefied. “He said what?”

  “Oh, come on. I know you read every word he wrote about you. Hell, the whole campus read every word he wrote about you.” Brittany grinned and fluffed out her long, mahogany curls.

  “I haven’t even looked at Facebook in days,” Gracie said. It was the truth. Most of the people she cared about either didn’t have accounts or didn’t log onto them very often. The only reason Gracie had her account was because several of her professors strongly recommended joining the class online as well as in person.

  “You are so full of shit.” Brittany rolled her eyes and pulled her phone out of her bra. Brittany preferred to keep her phone in her bra at all times, regardless of whether or not the outfit she was wearing actually had pockets. She clicked through several screens and then held the phone up to Gracie. “You really expect me to believe you haven’t seen what Austin said about you?”

  Gracie squinted at the phone. She recognized Austin’s personal page. The sight of his very alive, very blue eyes staring at her from the screen made her shudder. “I haven’t looked at Facebook since Friday morning,” she told Brittany.

  “Austin said, and I quote, “This bitch is so cold she kisses like a dead fish that’s been on ice in the cooler since Monday. Not spending money on some hoe that thinks she’s too good to put out. Looks like it’s the Take-A-Taco drive-thru and then I’ll be ditching this bitch. She ain’t put out in so long, I bet her puss has mothballs in it”.” Brittany laughed, as if every word had been too hilarious. “Your big date turned into greasy tacos and getting ditched. I bet you had to call your boyfriend from home to come get you just so you could save face. Called him to come pick you up after Austin ditched you. Bet you didn’t have the nerve to come back to campus after Austin humiliated you.”

  Gracie stood in the middle of her dorm room, wearing nothing but her underwear, and felt her cheeks flush bright red with anger.

  “It sure didn’t take Austin long to figure you out, did it?” Brittany was still laughing.

  Gracie clenched her fists tightly against her sides, willing herself not to punch Brittany square in her smug, laughing face. The last time Gracie had punched someone, he had died in front of her. Austin had died in front of Gracie and suddenly, with his last Facebook post being thrown in her face, Gracie didn’t feel all that bad about having killed the obnoxious bastard.

  *

  The cops showed up at Gracie’s door on Tuesday morning.

  “Grace Malone?” One of two uniformed officers said her name as she walked up to the door.

  Since she had nowhere to run to, Gracie nodded at the cop who had said her name. She wasn’t entirely surprised to see them. She’d swung by the dining hall for a to-go lunch and changed her mind because the D-hall had been crawling with cops. They had been going from table to table taking names and asking if anyone knew anything about Austin’s whereabouts.

  “We have a few questions for you regarding the disappearance of another student here, Austin Putterling. We’d appreciate it if you could spare a couple minutes of your time.” It was a statement and not an actual question. The younger deputy leaned against the wall, looking bored as Gracie nodded. She opened the door to the room and the cops followed her in.

  “We understand that you went out on a date with Mr. Putterling on Friday night?” The older officer asked.

  “I think everyone on campus knows my date with Austin was a disaster.” Gracie sat on the edge of her bed and tried hard to keep from blushing with embarrassment. “He wrote on Facebook that I kissed like a dead fish and he was ditching me.”

  “Did he?”

  “Did he what?” Gracie asked.

  “Ditch you,” the younger cop clarified. Gracie nodded. The older cop frowned at both of them.

  “If y’all don’t mind me asking, why are you here?” Gracie frowned at them unhappily.

  “You aren’t aware that Mr. Putterling is missing?” The cop looked noticeably surprised.

  “I’d heard he was missing,” Gracie said with a shrug. “I just didn’t really believe it. Austin isn’t exactly the most dependable guy I’ve ever met.”

  “Mr. Putterling has not been seen or heard from since Friday night. His family became concerned when he missed an important event, his grandparents 50th anniversary party, I believe.” The older cop eyed Gracie speculatively for a moment before continuing. “According to everyone we have spoken with so far, you appear to have been the last person who spent time with Mr. Putterling before he disappeared.”

  “Oh,” Gracie tried to look surprised. She knew she was the last person who had seen Austin alive, but it wasn’t information she wanted to share with the cops. “I don’t know what happened to Austin after he left me.”

  “It would be helpful, Miss Malone, if you would tell us about the evening you spent with Mr. Putterling. In detail, please.”

  “Of course,” Gracie forced herself to smile at the officer. “Anything I can do to help.”

  He took a notepad out of
his pocket and gestured for her to begin speaking. Gracie took a deep breath and prepared to deliver the slightly altered version of the truth that she and David had decided to tell.

  “Austin is in my British Literature class,” she told the cops. “It’s the only class we have in common. Austin is supposed to be a senior, but I guess he’s failed a lot of classes so he’s retaking most of them.”

  “We are aware that Mr. Putterling hasn’t exactly been a star student.” The cops looked bored. Gracie wanted to keep them that way.

  “Okay. Well, a couple of weeks ago Professor Grossman told us to work in pairs. Austin asked me if I’d be his partner. I said sure, and so we started talking and kind of became friends. Not like, real go out and do things friends, just class friends. You know, the ones you sit with in class and chat but don’t have their cellphone numbers or anything?”

  The younger cop nodded.

  “After we finished our project last week, Austin asked me if he could take me out dinner and get to know me better. He said dinner would be a thank you for how much extra work I had done to get the presentation finished. Austin didn’t do anything on our project. He left the whole thing for me to do.” Gracie didn’t have to pretend to be annoyed. “I’d heard he had a girlfriend, but when I asked him about her, he told me they had broken up. He asked me if he could take me out on Friday night, and I said okay. It’s not like I had any other plans. I have a boyfriend back home, but, he’s not here, and I’m kind of bored.” She shrugged her shoulders, trying hard to appear as nonchalant as possible.

  The older cop’s eyebrows raised up at her mention of a boyfriend. “Does your boyfriend know you’re dating?” he asked.

  “He knew I might. I’d already told him I wasn’t sure about the long distance thing. We’d kind of decided to have an open relationship while I’m at school, though I think I’ve changed my mind about that. I really miss him. He’s an awesome guy.” She wiped a surprise tear from her eye, glad there was no way for anyone to know she was thinking about Cal right now, not David.