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

by Gen Anne Griffin

  His legs were sinking into the mucky, wet ground underneath him, and his pants were wet. He had to pee something awful. He’d had to pee for the last half hour before he’d pulled Perkins over. He’d drank an entire liter size bottle of water earlier and, despite the misery of his situation, the urge to pee was making itself all too well known.

  Eddie didn’t want to pee himself here in the woods, hiding next to the trunk of an old tree and praying that Richard Perkins wouldn’t find him.

  He’d read that people always lost control of their bodily functions when they died. He supposed it didn’t really matter if he peed himself before Perkins shot him or after. The end result was the same. He was wet. He was hurt. He was handcuffed with his own stupid handcuffs. He’d lost his gun. He’d lost his phone. He was going to lose his miserable life if Perkins found him. What did it matter if he was also soaked in pee?

  He could hear Perkins coming now. His heavy footfalls clomped down on the wet leaves that coated the ground. His raspy breaths were coming fast and labored as he trudged past Eddie’s hiding place 20 feet off to the left.

  The back of Perkins’ shirt was soaked with sweat. He had one gun sticking out of his back pocket and the other clasped in his meaty palm. His back was heaving with the effort it was taking him to draw his next breath. Eddie thought he heard twigs snap somewhere behind him.

  Perkins was staring down at the ground where Eddie had fallen. Where Eddie’s haphazard stumble through the brush and trees had turned into a scramble to find a hiding place. Perkins let out a snort and started twisting around, looking from side to side.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Perkins growled. The impatience in his raspy voice was clear.

  Eddie figured he had moments to live when he heard the laugh. It came from somewhere not too far behind him. He didn’t dare move, for fear of alerting Perkins to his presence.

  “Put down the gun, Richard,” someone spoke from the woods behind Perkins and Eddie.

  Perkins’ head jerked up abruptly, and he spun around, facing back towards the direction he and Eddie had come from. His meaty face was flushed beet red and sweat was pouring off his mustache and beard, then dripping down onto the middle of his already soaked shirt.

  Eddie could hear the footsteps approaching. A solid thump, thump as someone – or something – approached Perkins.

  “Go to hell,” Perkins choked out the words. “You don’t have a horse in this race.”

  “You can’t just go around killing people whenever you feel like it.”

  Eddie was stunned to hear a second voice. A voice he recognized all too well. Alex Alyssa.

  “Why not?” Perkins snorted and jerked his chin at someone Eddie couldn’t see. “He does.”

  “I do not.”

  “Your Daddy did.”

  “I’m not him.”

  “Obviously. Your Daddy wouldn’t have been,” Perkins took another wheezing breath and doubled over slightly with the effort, “stupid enough to chase two armed men into the woods for no damned reason.”

  “I’m not chasing you for no reason.”

  “You’re chasing me for a stupid reason. Even worse.”

  “Um, no offense y’all, but I think we’re too late anyhow,” Addison Malone’s smooth, almost joking tone of voice was unmistakable. Eddie felt his heart sinking into his chest. Addison Malone and Alex Alyssa were here. And someone else. For a brief moment Eddie allowed himself to hope it was Wally Hall. The Sheriff wouldn’t let him die.

  Perkins wasn’t afraid of the third man. That much was obvious. He wasn’t afraid of Addison or Alex either.

  The posse had arrived and the bad guy was visibly unimpressed.

  “Look, we can work this out,” Perkins said.

  “You killed Eddie, didn’t you?”

  That was Addison. He didn’t sound overly upset.

  For a moment the only thing Eddie could hear was the loud rasping of Perkins’ continued struggle for air.

  “He attacked me,” Perkins lied. Eddie nearly fell over in shock. He couldn’t believe the words he had just heard.

  “Try again,” the mystery man said. Clearly he couldn’t believe what he was hearing either.

  “I mean it, David. He attacked me. Took me completely by surprise. I cut my arm fending him off.” Perkins held up his left forearm to reveal a long cut that was still oozing blood. “He killed that man. Jarvis Whoever. Eddie did it. He did it, and he tried to frame you,” Perkins said.

  Eddie closed his eyes and felt any last glimpses of hope evaporating out of his chest. Perkins had said David. Considering the current company, David could only be one person. The third man who had come into the woods with Addison and Alex was David Breedlove. The last person in Shiner’s Bayou who would have any reason to want Eddie to survive the day.

  “He didn’t attack you. You fired off 10 rounds. We heard you.”

  “Be reasonable, Addison. I fired those shots in self-defense. I want to bring him in to the station, so he can face justice.”

  “Yeah. Right. And I’m going to be the next Pope.”

  “This can work out well for all of us,” Perkins said. He appeared to be catching his breath. “Hear me out.”

  “I don’t want to,” Addison muttered.

  “Shut up.”

  “Get on with it.”

  “Can we just get this over with already?”

  “Fine,” David gestured at Perkins. “Go ahead. Enlighten me.”

  “Eddie pulled my truck over and attacked me. I fought him off and got the handcuffs on him, but then he ran away. I followed him into the swamp because I want to make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else. You boys help me catch him and y’all won’t ever have to worry about Twitchy Eddie digging up your morbid little secret again.”

  “You want us to help you kill Eddie?” Addison asked disbelievingly.

  “No. I just want you to help me find him.”

  “So you can kill him?”

  “Eddie won’t get hurt unless he gives me a reason to hurt him.”

  “Like breathing?”

  “Shit happens.” Perkins shrugged his shoulders and smirked at the other three. “Y’all know what I’m saying makes sense.”

  David, Addison and Alex came a couple steps closer to Eddie’s hiding place. They were now between him and Perkins. Eddie pressed his back against the tree, ignoring the painful bite of the metal handcuffs against his wrists.

  “What’s to stop you from shooting Eddie and then shooting us?” Addison asked, clearly considering the deal Perkins was offering.

  “You all have guns,” Perkins pointed out. “I can’t take down all three of you at once.”

  “Not that you have enough sense not to try.” David was holding a service revolver. Eddie guessed it was Alex’s. He had it casually trained on Perkins.

  “Oh come on, David. You’re smarter than that. No one is going to care if Eddie disappears. The three of y’all are a bit more valuable. Wally Hall will launch a real investigation if y’all go missing along with Eddie. Too much risk in that.”

  “You have a point,” Addison said.

  “He’s still a sick, twisted bastard,” David said.

  “So are you,” Addison grumbled. He shifted his weight from side to side. Eddie noticed that Addison and Alex were flanking David.

  Eddie felt a fresh wave of panic welling up in his chest, choking him so that it was a struggle to draw fresh air into his lungs. They were going to agree to Perkins’ plan. They had no reason not to. If Eddie died, Alex could be a sheriff’s deputy and David wouldn’t have to worry about Eddie ever solving Josie’s death and putting him in federal prison for the rest of his natural life.

  The three of them had every reason to let Perkins kill Eddie. They would probably be able to sleep just fine at night using their own justifications for their actions.

  “No,” Alex said abruptly, his voice was faint but firm. It was the first time he’d spoken since Perkins had proposed the ridiculo
us plan.

  “No?” Perkins scowled at him. “Don’t you get it boy? I’m handing you the golden fucking biscuit here. Your cousin gets away with murder, and you get to stay out of the welfare line.”

  “I said no.” Alex stepped forward slightly, shaking his head and holding the shotgun on Perkins. The barrel wobbled slightly but Eddie knew that if Alex fired the weapon, he’d pepper everything within a 10 foot radius of Perkins.

  “I have enough problems sleeping at night without adding the death of an innocent man to it,” Alex spoke calmly, firmly. “I didn’t sign up to become a police officer so I could turn around and betray everything an officer of the law is supposed to be.”

  Eddie was so focused on Alex’s words that he almost didn’t see the look Addison and David exchanged over Alex’s head. He nearly didn’t see David slipping the handgun casually into his pocket as he took a step towards where Perkins was standing.

  Alex kept talking. “I’m fixing to be a daddy, and God knows I want to be a man that my son or daughter will be able to look up to. To be proud of. My Dad wouldn’t have gone along with your stupid plans and I’m not going to either.”

  Eddie would never know if Addison lunged for Perkins before or after the big man had raised his gun. What he did know was that in a split second David, Addison and Richard Perkins were on the ground, rolling around, and swinging fists at one another. Alex stood off to the sidelines and, when an opening presented itself a second later, swung the butt of the shotgun down directly into Perkins’ forehead.

  The big man let out a loud oomph and collapsed into a limp heap. David had to wriggle sideways out from underneath him in order to extract himself. “Get some damn handcuffs on that nutcase before he wakes up.”

  Addison and Alex grabbed Perkins by the arms and forcefully rolled him over. Alex retrieved his cuffs and clasped them onto Perkins ‘wrists. His hands were shaking so badly he dropped the metal rings twice.

  “Crap. Tell me he’s still breathing. I didn’t kill him, did I?”

  “He ain’t dead.” Addison jabbed the toe of one of his boots into Perkins’ side. “We might be after we have to lug his sorry carcass all the way back up that godforsaken trail though.”

  “Sorry,” Alex muttered. “I saw my chance, and I went for it.”

  “You did good.”

  “Y’all think he’s already killed Eddie?” Alex’s face was wrinkled with worry.

  “Maybe,” Addison sighed.

  “No,” David said firmly.

  “No?”

  “No.”

  “How can you be sure?” Addison asked. “Just because he asked us to help him find him doesn’t mean he wasn’t just trying to trick us into going into the woods with him.”

  “He didn’t kill Eddie because the trail ends here.” David jabbed the toe of his boot into the dirt where Eddie had fallen earlier. He knelt down next to the tree. He was only about 10 feet away from where Eddie was hiding.

  Eddie felt David’s eyes settle on him.

  “He’s been watching us the whole time.”

  Eddie took one look at the expression in David’s hooded green eyes and peed himself.

  *

  “Explain to me again why your mother thinks you’re marrying David?” Loretta Walker was leaning against the edge of the counter in her massive, homey kitchen and watching Gracie with a concerned look on her face. Gracie sighed and sank down onto her elbows at the edge of the breakfast nook. She loved watching Cal’s mother cook. They still had several hours until the dinner was supposed to start, but Loretta already had eggs boiling on the stove, chicken waiting to be fried and a red velvet cake baking in the oven.

  Loretta had taken the news that Gracie and Cal were engaged with a squeal of joy and a rib-shattering hug. She hadn’t batted an eyelash at the circumstances of their getting back together. She’d just told Gracie that she knew God would work things out and then started talking about where they would have the wedding and what colors would best compliment Gracie’s eyes.

  “It’s a really long story. Mom thinks I’m turning into Addison.” Gracie wanted nothing more than to tell Loretta everything. She’d always been closer to Cal’s mother than she had her own. Probably because Cal’s mother was the one who had always had fresh baked brownies waiting for them when they had gotten off the school bus. Loretta Walker always been there as a shoulder to cry on when Gracie needed her.

  “Turning into Addison?” The disbelief was clear in Loretta’s voice.

  “Apparently,” Gracie sighed. “I guess a counselor from the university called her and told her I’m failing a lot of my classes,” she admitted. “Then she ran into me and David at the Gas N’ Go, and she saw the ring on my finger and started yelling at me.”

  “Did you try to tell her she was wrong?” Loretta asked. She’d walked over behind Gracie and was gently running her fingers through Gracie’s long hair and massaging her scalp. Gracie was tempted to melt into the tabletop, but she made herself focus long enough to reply to her soon-to-be mother in law. “David says I picked the fight.”

  “David is probably right then,” Loretta pointed out gently.

  “Mom just ticked me off. She always does. She never listens to me.”

  “Your Mom has a lot on her plate, Gracie. She’s just worried about you.”

  “She thinks I’m screwing up my life.”

  “Do you think you’re screwing up my life?”

  “No,” Gracie frowned at her, surprised to find herself blinking back tears. “I’m trying to fix it.”

  “Cal’s been pretty lost without you,” Loretta said gently as she stroked Gracie’s hair. “I know he can be stubborn, but I’m so glad you managed to work through things with him.”

  “I think we’re working on that. The stubborn part. At least he’s promised me he would work on it. If he had just listened to me to begin with. “Gracie was exhausted. Her voice broke as she struggled to explain how she felt to Cal’s Mom without telling her about the horrible things that had happened. “College has been awful. I don’t fit in at all. I’ve spent the entire time missing Cal. I thought things would be alright once I came back down here, but now Mom is completely freaking out on me.”

  “It’ll be okay,” Loretta hugged her warmly. “You know we’ll always take care of you. You know Cal won’t let you go without anything you want or need.”

  “I know, but shouldn’t my Mom care about me enough to at least listen to what I have to say?”

  “She’ll listen,” Loretta smiled at Gracie. “I promise baby girl. She’ll listen.”

  “Maybe you should break the news to her,” Gracie said with a sigh.

  “I thought that was why we were having this dinner,” Loretta said. “You said Cal wanted to set the record straight and stop all the rumors. If that’s what he wants, then you know it’s what will happen. Cal doesn’t take no for an answer.”

  “Thank God,” Gracie whispered with a small smile. She held up her diamond in the light. Cal had been right when he’d picked the ring out. It was perfect for her. “Stubborn jerk that he is.”

  Loretta laughed. “Why don’t you go take a shower and get cleaned up. Everyone will be here in a couple of hours. Do you have something pretty to wear tonight?”

  Gracie frowned and picked at the hem of her t-shirt. “I hadn’t even thought about it,” she admitted honestly.

  “You need something pretty to wear at your engagement dinner,” Loretta teased her gently as she picked up her own purse and pulled out her debit card. “Why don’t you go down to that little boutique in town and get yourself a pretty little dress to wear tonight.”

  “Are you sure?” Gracie asked.

  Loretta pushed the card into her hands. “Of course I am. Nothing like a little retail therapy to cure what ails you.” She grinned at Gracie. “Pick yourself up a couple of new outfits while you’re there. Shop until you feel better.”

  “Come with me?” Gracie asked hopefully.

  Loretta glanc
ed at the timer on the oven. “We should have time. I’m ready when you are,” she told her.

  “Let’s go,” Gracie said with a smile. Maybe things really would be alright after all.

  *

  It took Cal 45 minutes to get the wrecker and bring it out to Highway 77 to pick up Perkins’ Toyota for processing. The Sheriff rode with him.

  Perkins was awake and muttering about his right to a lawyer by the time Addison and Wally managed to get him stuffed into the back of Alex’s squad car.

  Eddie watched despondently as the Sheriff fussed and fawned over Alex and Addison, making sure his favorite son and favorite nephew had escaped their brush with the rogue deputy. David sat on the tailgate of Addison’s truck, watching the process with an expression that was something like amusement.

  It had taken both David and Cal Walker to get the handcuffs off of Eddie. The keys had been lost somewhere in the swamp, and no one felt like trying to search for them. David had a pair of bolt cutters in his wrecker, and Cal had used them to snap the metal cuffs off of Eddie’s wrists.

  “You guys already knew that Perkins was the killer when you came into the woods?” Eddie asked. He was rubbing his wrists where the metal had cut into his bruised skin.

  “Yeah,” David nodded.

  “How?” Eddie asked.

  “Because Cal’s a genius.” Addison leaned across the tailgate of the truck and grabbed hold of a cooler that had been snugged up against the cab.

  “I remembered seeing Sharyn Perkins with Jarvis Marquette on the night he was killed,” Cal clarified, brushing away Addison’s compliment. He shrugged his broad shoulders at Eddie. “I wasn’t 100 percent positive who the killer was until David remembered that Sharyn Perkins had a Toyota just like his.”

  “Good work,” Sheriff Hall clapped Cal on the shoulder. “If you ever decide to leave the hardware business, let me know. I’ll make you a detective.”

  Cal laughed and Eddie’s heart sank. Solving Jarvis Marquette’s murder had been his job. His responsibility. Not only had he not realized the murderer was hiding in plain sight but he’d nearly gotten himself killed in the process.