Flashing Her Gators

by Romy Lockhart

  “You stayed naked.”

  “I was sleeping.”

  “Where’s Misty?”

  I scramble for an answer that won’t sound lame. I don’t come up with one. I shrug.

  “She went out.”

  “Where to?”

  “Does she tell anyone everything she’s up to?”

  He smirks. “I thought she might tell her boyfriend. I guess not.”

  He doesn’t believe she’s mine. I saw that when I told them. Ty was surprised, but he pretended he was happy for me. Sam just drew me a look, like he could see right through me and he knew I was bullshitting him.

  “Guess not. You’ll just have to try again later.”

  He shakes his head, blowing out a breath. “No can do.”

  “What is it?”

  “The woman Tyler was seeing was just found murdered in her apartment,” he tells me, as if that piece of information should make some kind of sense to me.

  “Okay,” I tell him, wondering if Misty knew about it. “Another animal attack?”

  “Sounds like it. Put on some pants. This’ll go better with two.”

  “Um, what?”

  “Misty’s not home, and another murder just happened. She probably tuned into the cop line the minute she got here. She’ll be on her way there now. We should find her before she gets herself into trouble.” He moves away, taking his car keys out of his pocket.

  I scramble around, slinging on a crumpled but clean shirt and shorts, the first things from my bag, and then snatching up my sneakers to put on once I catch up. It’s not like I know where we’re going. I can’t just find the place on my own if he leaves.

  I barely remember to lock the motel room door. He pushes the passenger door open for me when I get close. I get inside and put my shoes on the floor, stuffing my feet into them as I close the door.

  “Buckle up,” Sam tells me, gunning the engine. “This car doesn’t do slow.”

  Thirty-Four

  Misty

  I move to the middle of the road and start walking, kind of afraid to even attempt to haul my phone out of my pocket. I feel eyes on me in the darkness. I hear noises across the ground that make my heart hammer in my chest. I’m surrounded. One false move and I’m gator-food.

  This road stretches out for a good mile before it gets far enough away from the lake to become less reptile friendly. I don’t think I’m going to survive a mile in this darkness. They can see me and hear me, and worst of all, smell me. They know I’m here. Whether or not they decide I’m dinner probably depends how well-fed they are right now. I could run, but there’s not much point. This isn’t one gator we’re talking about here. There are dozens in the lake. I could run straight into a whole group of them.

  And the moment I think of that, I see what appears to be a long, dark log in the middle of the road up ahead. The hairs on my neck stand on end as he rumbles, beginning to turn my way.

  I glance around, looking for a way out of this nightmare.

  I finally set my sights on a tree that could be climbable. It was never a favorite pastime, but knowing how to shimmy up one when I needed to was an essential survival skill when I was a crazy kid who wanted to know what the gators looked like up close.

  I run, goal in sight, only to skid to a halt when I notice the dark almost motionless creature hiding below the lowest branch. I jump up there and he could bite my leg clean off before I get the chance to start shimmying. Damn it.

  Try again. I take another glance around and find out the middle of the road gator is moving slowly toward me. I bite back a groan as I walk quickly away from him, hoping to hell there aren’t more of them in the road as I move into the unlit part like someone with a death-wish.

  I get a few steps along before I see there are more, beginning to move onto the road in the darkness, large shapes with glinting eyes. This is officially it, I guess. If I had to predict the manner of my death, I would have guessed maybe some creep might choke me out or smack me over the head one day, but this? No freaking way. Being death-rolled by a hungry congregation of gators is kind of crazy, but I guess it’s becoming a common occurrence in this town.

  More rumbling is followed by the sudden appearance of light. A car!

  The gators fall back as Ty’s beat up car comes to a stop right in front of me. His eyes are wide as he steps out. The gators rumble madly but don’t come closer. He and Sam have always had that affect on them. I think the gators see them like alphas or something.

  “Ty! I’m so happy to see you, you have no idea!”

  “Get in the car,” he tells me in a low voice.

  He doesn’t have to tell me twice. The gator behind me must still be slowly stalking toward me. I rush to the passenger side and it takes a couple tries to get the door open in my panic. Once I’m in, and the door is closed, I breathe out a sigh of relief.

  Ty gets back in slowly and closes the door firmly.

  “What are you doing all the way out here?” I ask, realizing I didn’t actually call him to rescue me.

  He smiles tightly as he starts the car. The gators clear from the road at the sound of the engine rumbling. “It’s going to sound bad.”

  “You just rescued me from a bunch of hungry apex predators, Ty. I don’t think you can tell me something worse than what I just went through.” At least, I hope he can’t. My thoughts flit to Marina’s warnings. No. I can’t take that seriously for even a second.

  He clears his throat and flushes a little. “I tracked your phone.”

  “You did what?” I raise an eyebrow at him. What am I psychic? Didn’t I tell the Sheriff that exact thing? Well, maybe not that exact thing, if I’m thinking of Justin as my boyfriend.

  He shrugs. “You always used to get yourself into trouble, Misty. I just wanted to make sure I could find you easily if I needed to. Turns out that wasn’t such a bad call.”

  “Hmm. Yeah. Okay, it worked out well so I’m not going to complain too hard about it.”

  He smiles. “So what the hell are you doing all the way out here anyway? What happened?”

  I consider briefly how much to tell him, then I realize I don’t want to lie. Shock seeps into me as I make the decision to tell him everything. “I tapped the police radio and found out about a murder. So of course, I drove to the location to investigate. The sheriff got in just before me. He put me in the back of the car and drove me out here, and abandoned me.”

  I choke up a little thinking about it. That asshole could have gotten me killed.

  Ty’s hands tighten on the steering wheel. He shakes his head. “Motherfucker,” he curses under his breath.

  “One of his deputies is on my suspect list. If he’s friendly with the sheriff, I think we can safely say he’s our guy,” I tell him, feeling the truth of it in my bones. A corrupt police department investigating murders they’re causing? Yeah, that’s about as cliché as it gets. Tends to be how these things go, though. It’s almost always the most obvious suspect.

  “Uh, I think we need to talk,” Ty says, his gaze on the road.

  “Um, what?”

  He sounds so serious I’m knocked out of my train of thoughts. I see the way his jaw tenses, and I know something’s up. Something big. Wait. Shit. Does he know who just died? He’s as sneaky as I am, considering he was tracking my phone. It’s not a big leap to imagine he tapped the cop station too. “I’m sorry about…”

  “You might need to make room on your suspect list,” he tells me, cutting me off. “I’ve been blacking out.”

  I blink, taking in his words and fumbling to make sense of them. He can’t be telling me he thinks he could be guilty of the attacks. I shake my head. “No, Ty. It was the gator who attacked Justin. That’s our guy.”

  He sighs. “I’ve woken up twice now, covered in blood and without memories. I can’t pretend this isn’t happening, Misty. A woman died both times I blacked out. I was covered in blood when I woke up. None of that makes any sense unless I’m responsible for their deaths.”


  “All shifters black out when they shift, Tyler. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

  “The blood, Misty. There was so much of it.”

  I think about that, letting what he told me sink into my mind. I can’t believe Ty as a killer. No way, no how. But his gator is an independent part of him. A reptilian half that can’t be controlled. How can I know his gator hasn’t killed someone? The cold hard truth is that I can’t.

  I sigh, leaning back in my seat. “You’re telling me you think you did this.”

  He nods, a frown darkening his expression. “I don’t want to, but I can’t ignore the evidence.”

  Where does that leave us? I can’t find the words to make that kind of decision right now. Apparently I don’t have to. Ty’s almost at the motel by the time he decides to speak again.

  “Misty, you have to promise me something.”

  I instantly want to say no. I’m not the kind of girl who keeps promises. Never have been.

  “What is it?” I ask, refusing to say the word back to him. To confirm something I’m not sure I can do.

  He pulls in to the parking lot, stops and locks gazes with me. “Promise me you won’t hesitate to act if I ever start to shift in front of you. Promise me you won’t hesitate to kill me if you have to. Promise you won’t let me hurt you.”

  I swallow as he goes into his glove box and brings out a gun. “Ty, no…”

  “Silver bullets. They work for any kind of shifter,” he tells me, smiling wryly.

  “I’m not going to shoot you,” I tell him, starting to get out of the car, just as Sam’s car pulls into the lot. He pulls on my hand, trying to get me to take the gun. I refuse to take it. Just the feel of the metal in my hand is making my body shake. I pull back harder, leaving the car and folding my arms.

  He gets out of the car and circles around to me, pocketing the gun now that Sam is getting out of his car, his gaze narrowed as he approaches.

  “Where the hell have you two been?”

  “Ty just rescued me from the lake, so don’t be pissy with him,” I snap, before he can turn his scowl to the guy who just tried to give me a gun. To shoot him if he started to shift in front of me.

  I swallow the lump that rises in my throat. I could never do that. It wouldn’t matter if my life was in danger. I couldn’t pull that trigger. Not to end the life of someone I… Someone…

  “Misty, what’s wrong?” Sam’s gaze zeroes in on me and he looks even more pissed than he sounded when he asked where we’d been.

  I shake my head, unable to speak. If I open my mouth, a sob will come out.

  Sam growls, a sound echoed by Justin who I just realize is behind him. Wait. What? They were together?

  “Take it easy,” Ty says, keeping his voice low but firm. “She just got out of a dangerous situation.”

  Sam’s gaze narrows as he turns his attention to Ty.

  Justin comes in close and pulls me to him, hugging me close. I almost lose it right then, surrounded by the men who’ve made no secret of their feelings for me while I just escaped what was likely to become another fatal animal attack.

  “The sheriff drove her out to the lake and left her there,” Ty explains. “She followed him to a crime scene. He was pissy about it.”

  “I’ll kill him,” Sam snaps. “That fucking prick asshole.”

  “Is it him?” Just asks, his voice soft and low. “The killer?”

  I think about that, knowing it would make sense. He’s not a shifter. He wasn’t on my suspect list. But he did just drop me off someplace where the very thing that happened to the victims could have happened to me.

  “I… I don’t know,” I manage to stammer, without tearing up.

  Ty blows out a breath. “I think we all need to talk.”

  “Yeah,” Sam says, sounding grim. “It’s about time we did.”

  Thirty-Five

  Sam

  Misty could have died tonight. The thought plays on a loop as we step inside her motel room. Their motel room, I correct myself, screwing up my nose at the testosterone-laden stink of her pretend boyfriend’s sweat. I crack the window as Tyler turns the lock on the door.

  I don’t care that there are other things going on right now. When I look at Misty and see how shaken she still is by what happened tonight, I just want to haul her into my arms and keep her safe.

  That’s when I decide I’m done waiting. I told her what she means to me, but I don’t think she realizes how serious I was. A pang of guilt burns inside me. I’m done flirting with strangers. I hadn’t fully been aware that I was doing it, but now that I know it’s what stopped Misty from being able to trust my feelings for her I feel like an asshole. Charming other women might come naturally. It doesn’t mean I can’t ignore the impulse. I want this woman more than anything on earth. I’d walk through fire to stand by her side.

  Right where Justin is now, arm around her waist as her head rests on his shoulder. He doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air. He wasn’t watching her back. He should have known better.

  “Misty, before we….” I start.

  Ty clears his throat and blocks my move before I can make it. “I don’t think there’s one killer.”

  The blunt statement cuts me off and I lose my thoughts are derailed. He thinks multiple gators are out there attacking people? I snort and he gives me a derogatory look. I wait for him to go on.

  “I’ve woken up twice now, covered in blood after a shift. The morning after someone died.”

  Anger rises in me as I take in the confession he’s making. “You’re telling me you’re standing here in a locked fucking room with us and you have no damn control over your gator?”

  He looks at Misty. “Show him what I found.”

  She glances up at me, finally pulling away from Justin. There’s guilt in her eyes. My anger burns away into confusion. I don’t what the hell’s going on right now, but I don’t like it. She kept a secret from me?

  Damn, that hurts. I mean, I know she’s barely been back in town for two days, but still. She used to lie to everyone else whenever it suited her, but not to me. Never to me.

  “Sorry, Sam, I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t find the right moment.” She goes to her purse and pulls out something small and shiny. I don’t understand what it is until she’s depositing it in my hand. The gold chain is fine and the pendant instantly recognizable.

  “This is… I lost it last week. Where did you find this?” I take it, turning it over in my hand. I’d gotten her it for her fifteenth birthday but she’d been too embarrassed to wear it. Always kind of hated her nickname, but everyone at school used it so I’d tried to make her realize it was actually kind of cool. When she wouldn’t wear it, I told her I would. That I’d think of her every time I touched it. She’d laughed and dared me to do that, thinking it was a ridiculous suggestion, so I did.

  “Ty found it,” she tells me. “He got to one of the crime scenes before the cops did, found it in the victim’s hand.”

  “Are you serious?” I ask, not believing it.

  “I took it so you wouldn’t become a suspect,” Ty admits, as Justin stares at us, wide-eyed.

  “What? Shut up,” I tell him, trying to get my head around this. Ty thinks there are multiple killers in animal attacks. He thinks I’m one of them. No fucking way.

  “You can account for what you were doing every night last week?”

  I pick back over the last week and remember the two nights that I shifted. Nothing unusual in the circumstances, or the morning’s after. “I went out to the lake the two nights that I shifted. Like usual. I was nowhere near the town.”

  “The lake is close to Peyton’s house. She was killed one night last week.”

  Peyton. The woman raises nothing but negative emotion within me. She was always teasing Misty in high school, acting like a class-A bitch. I couldn’t even feel bad when I heard she’d died.

  “You’re saying I killed her.”

  “I’m saying we don’t really kn
ow what goes on when our shifter side takes control. The blackouts mean we can never know what really happened. Not for sure.”

  “You mean, we used to never know,” I remind him, glancing at Justin.

  “No, I mean we still do. I blacked out the night before last.”

  I frown at him. “That’s not possible.”

  “What? Why isn’t it possible?” Misty asks, finally finding her tongue.

  Thinking about it makes me sigh. I give her the short explanation, missing out a couple of things. “The three of us are linked now. Gators are always stronger as a congregation. We can see and feel everything that happens now when we shift. The control is better. We don’t have to worry about something fucked up happening.”

  “Or so we thought,” Ty says. “It happened, Sam. I blacked out.”

  Fuck. I believe him. If he was lying I’d feel it. He has no reason to lie about this besides.

  “Then something more is going on here.”

  “Like what?” Misty asks.

  “I wish I knew,” I tell her, still desperate to just take her hands in mine and tell her everything she means to me in front of Justin and Tyler. I think if I do, I’ll know. If she’s mine.

  What if she isn’t? I can’t stand to think of that outcome. The thought of it stalls me.

  She closes her eyes and takes in a long, slow breath, still clearly rattled from what just happened. The sheriff’s going to regret he ever took her out to the lake, that’s for sure. I don’t care if he meant to put her in danger, or if he’s just a fucking idiot who thought he’d give her a scare. He’ll regret ever messing with her.

  When she opens her eyes again I find myself blinking. I have to be seeing things. I rub at my eyes, hearing Ty’s gasp and realizing he sees it too. When I remove my hand, I finally let myself believe it.

  Misty has gator eyes. My jaw slackens, and I glance at Ty.

  He’s as shocked as I am, as speechless. We’re too stunned to do much more than stare.

  Misty touches her face. “What? What is it? Is my make-up running or something?”