Peril in Pensacola

by Lucy Quinn

  “There you go,” Evie said with a bright smile, her eyes twinkling with mischief. She handed Dora the backpack that housed Sunshine. “Open up the flap so she can stick her head out.”

  Dora did as she was told. “Come on, Sunshine. Picture time.”

  The pup popped up out of the pack, her hair sticking up all over the place as she swung her head from side to side, getting a good look at her surroundings.

  “Sorry about this,” Dora whispered to the dog as she tried to finger comb the pup’s wild hair into submission. “I told your mom we needed a proper puppy purse, the kind with vents that would give you more air.”

  “Stop. It’s not like I zipped her in there,” Evie said, climbing up to take her spot next to Dora. She patted Sunshine on the head. “You’re okay, right, baby?”

  The dog stuck her tongue out and licked Evie’s hand.

  “Okay, that’s enough. We need to hold still so the nice man can take our picture,” Dora said, pulling the pack and Sunshine in close to her body.

  “Okay, Mr. Helpful,” Evie said, poking a shoulder forward and leaning down a little to flash the older man a bit of cleavage to go with her flirty smile. “We need plenty of shots to pick from, so go ahead and snap a bunch. ‘Kay?”

  “What?” he asked, staring at the phone like it was some alien technology he’d never used before.

  “You know, we need to smize and capture all of our best angles.” Evie nudged Dora. “Remember to smize.”

  Dora rolled her eyes at the Tyra Banks reference. Evie had watched way too much America’s Next Top Model, which meant Dora knew that smize was the term meaning to smile using your eyes as well as your mouth. She still wasn’t sure how that was possible.

  “Do it, Dora,” she whispered under her breath. “You don’t want to be the crabby one when we show these to our kids twenty years from now.”

  Kids, Dora thought. She’d always wanted two. A boy and a girl, two years apart, named Brandon and Callie. Both with blond hair and blue eyes just like Luke. Gah! She shook her head, trying to force the thoughts from her mind. What was she doing? Her stomach started to ache with the knowledge the pretty little picture she’d conjured for herself was likely never to come true. And it sure as heck wouldn’t if they didn’t at least try to get out of the mess she’d gotten both of them into.

  “Dora, smize!” Evie elbowed her.

  The backpack jostled and nearly slipped right out of Dora’s hands. Sunshine let out a yelp and scrambled up onto Dora’s shoulder. But she overshot and went flying right into the alligator enclosure.

  “Sunshine! Oh my god!” Without even a second thought, Dora dropped the pack and followed Sunshine over the fence into the shallow water. The warm water came up to her mid-calf, soaking her tennis shoes, but Dora didn’t give them one extra thought. Sunshine was standing on a small rock, soaked to the bone and completely still as if she was frozen by fear.

  “My baby!” Evie called and splashed into the enclosure as well. She let out a shriek and launched herself back at the fence.

  “Evie!” Dora switched direction and headed toward her friend, noting a small four-foot alligator heading for the spot right where Evie had been a few seconds before.

  “No! Get Sunshine,” Evie ordered with a sob as she pointed at her baby.

  “Right.” With her heart hammering against her breastbone, Dora tried to ignore the fact that at least one gator was nearby and hurried toward Sunshine. The pup was shaking fiercely and breathing hard. “I’ve got you, Sunshine,” she said, reaching out for the pup.

  Sunshine let out a yelp and shot forward, right into the water with a splash.

  Dora felt rather than saw the movement behind her.

  “Watch out!” Evie cried, her voice so high-pitched she’d gone supersonic.

  There was no time to assess the situation. If she didn’t grab the dog, Dora was certain she was going to witness the poor thing becoming a gator snack. That was something she’d never let happen. Adrenaline shot her forward, and she reached down, grabbed the small dog, and took off for the fence.

  “No! Dora, go right, go right!” Evie screamed.

  Dora didn’t hesitate. She immediately turned and lengthened her stride, slogging through the water while clutching Sunshine, who’d buried her head in Dora’s chest. The poor baby was still shaking, but Dora knew without a doubt, she wasn’t going anywhere this time. The fence was only a few feet away when Dora heard a sloshing behind her. Gator!

  “Toss Sunshine to me,” Luke ordered after appearing out of nowhere on the other side of the fence.

  Dora’s entire body was straining to outrun the gator behind her, and even though she was terrified, she tossed Sunshine and launched herself at the fence. Her fingers latched onto the top rung, and before she could find purchase with her feet, two familiar hands helped yank her over the edge. Dora hit the ground face-first, but she’d never felt so relieved to eat dirt than she did in that moment.

  “Dora!” Evie slid to the ground, lying on Dora’s back and wrapping her arms around her friend. “Are you all right? You saved Sunshine. Thank you! Thank you!”

  “Oof.” Dora pushed herself and Evie up, spitting the dirt out of her mouth, and frowned at her friend. Evie must have a huge adrenaline spike of her own to be able to yank Dora from the gator pond. She said in relief, “I’m okay.” But she wasn’t. Not really. Her hands were shaking so hard she pressed them together just to try to still them. It didn’t work. And even though it was at least ninety degrees, her skin was cold and clammy, and the world started to spin.

  Luke approached and handed Sunshine to Evie. Sunshine let out a yelp, and Evie clutched her dog to her chest, tears streaming down her face.

  “I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” Evie said to the dog. “You must be so scared. It’s okay. Mommy has you now.” She pressed her lips to the dog’s head, giving her a kiss, but then blew a raspberry as she wrinkled her nose. “Wow. You smell really bad, little girl. No way you’re sharing my bed until you get a bath.”

  “Get them on their feet,” a man barked out.

  Cold dread ran through Dora’s veins. The ‘distraction’ they’d staged had turned into a full-fledged nightmare that had drawn the attention of security. This was it. Both of them were going to get arrested, and after all they’d done to avoid it, Dora would still need to think about finding a bitch to protect her in prison. She shuddered.

  “No! I’m too pretty for jail,” Evie blurted, scrambling to her feet and backing away, still clutching Sunshine. “Besides, I can’t orphan my dog. She has separation anxiety.”

  “Ma’am,” the man in uniform said with exasperation. “We’re not taking you to prison. We’re—”

  “It’s not my fault. I was just trying to get a picture,” Evie whined.

  “Miss, can you get to your feet?” another man asked Dora, his tone clearly running out of patience.

  “I think so.” Dora’s limbs were still wobbly after the adrenaline rush, but she did finally get her feet under her just in time to see one of the security guards raise his weapon. “Don’t shoot!” she yelled as the contents of her stomach lurched dangerously up her throat.

  The uniformed man drew his eyebrows together and frowned at her as he handed the weapon off to another officer. “No one is going to shoot you miss. The gun is for the alligators.”

  “You’re going to shoot them?” Dora asked while still holding her hands in the air. “No. You can’t!” she cried, fearing for the innocent reptiles who hadn’t done anything but be who they were. “We’re safe now. No need to make matters worse. No one is going back in the enclosure. I can promise you that.” Or at least Dora wasn’t. Evie’s gaze was darting around, clearly looking for an escape route.

  “Why would we shoot them?” The officer seemed genuinely confused. “That’s only done in extreme cases. If Harry hadn’t gotten in there and distracted those guys, it might’ve been necessary, but luckily, my boy over there”—he held up his hands and managed to do
air quotes while holding a gun—“is one with the gators.”

  Dora blinked at him. “What?”

  His mouth tightened, and he grabbed her by the upper arm, marching her over to the fence. “See those two gators just lying there, unmoving?”

  Dora felt a lump form in her throat as she nodded.

  “Harry and Pauly got ‘em. There’s tape wrapped around their snouts now until we inspect the enclosure and make sure neither of them will be a danger after their exciting day.” He scowled at her. “You didn’t feed them anything, did you?”

  “What? No!” Dora glanced over at Evie and Sunshine. Evie looked like she’d swallowed a canary. What the heck was she up to? Dora narrowed her eyes at her friend. What kind of trouble was coming next? She turned to the man. “I apologize. This was obviously a huge mistake. We just… ah… my friend’s dog has separation anxiety,” she said lamely.

  “You and your friend will be escorted out now.” He waved a couple of other security officers over. “Make sure these two make it outside the grounds and put a ban on them at the front gate. They’ve caused enough trouble.”

  “We really are sorry,” Dora mumbled as the security guard grabbed her wrist and started leading her toward the park entrance. She noticed another one had grabbed Evie, but Luke was nowhere to be found. Had they messed up so badly that he’d bailed? If he had, she could hardly blame him. Why would he spend his time helping her out? It wasn’t as if they were dating or anything.

  A small voice in the back of her head whispered, He’s doing it to help Billy. Not you.

  That sounded about right. Luke was a good guy. He wouldn’t let anyone kill Billy. Maybe he hadn’t disappeared without a trace. Maybe he was using this highly effective distraction to get intel on the park. She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath, praying that was the truth.

  The security guards shoved both Evie and Dora out through the exit of the park. The tall one that had been manhandling Dora said, “Please don’t come back. Ever. This isn’t a playground. You, your friend, and your dog were lucky today. This could’ve gone down much worse.”

  Evie placed a soft hand on his forearm. “We are so sorry, sir. We didn’t mean to slip into the enclosure. Overzealous touristing, I suppose.” She batted her eyelashes at him. “Thank you for keeping my friend and my puppy safe. You and your coworkers are heroes.”

  Dora rolled her eyes as she watched the guard give Evie a smile. His eyes raked over her before he said, “Anytime, gorgeous. Just try to stay out of trouble in the future, okay? This world would be a dimmer place without all your sparkle.”

  Evie giggled, while Dora resisted the urge to gag. Her friend placed her palm on the guard’s chest, playing her act for all she was worth. “You’re a sweetie, officer…?”

  “Matt. You can call me Matt.” He shrugged his shoulders, “And I’m not really a cop.” He practically glowed with pleasure as he smiled down at her.

  “You might as well be. Officer Matt,” she cooed. “Would you do me a favor?”

  “Sure, anything,” he said with a hitch in his voice as he leaned in expectantly.

  Evie glanced away shyly, and when she looked back at him, she’d caught her lower lip between her teeth. “I… ah, well, I was supposed to be home sick today, and if my boss gets wind I was out at a gator park, there’s no telling what she’ll do. I was wondering if you could make sure this stays under wraps. No press and no report to the police? She has ways of finding out these things, and… Well, if they find out I was here, I’ll be unemployed, all because I needed a mental health day.” She let out a dramatic sigh.

  Are those tears in Evie’s eyes? Dora wondered. Maybe those acting classes had paid off.

  Dora had to give it to her. The woman was finding a way to keep their antics on the down-low so that Brian and any other corrupt cops at the station wouldn’t hear about it. Dora would have to do something nice for her later, like bake her cupcakes or something. If only they had the time for that.

  “You got it, cutie,” Matt said in that overconfident voice men tended to get when they were sure they were well on their way to scoring some action. “How about you give me your number, and I’ll make sure all of this gets swept under the rug.”

  Dora gritted her teeth and didn’t miss the flash of annoyance in Evie’s gaze. But it was there one moment and gone the next. Dora was certain Matt didn’t notice. He was too busy staring at Evie’s chest anyway.

  “Sure, doll,” Evie purred in a fake voice. Then she rattled off a phone number Dora didn’t recognize. “Can’t wait for that date.” Evie winked and jerked her head at Dora. “Let’s get out of here before Officer Matt gets chastised for flirting with the troublemakers.”

  “You don’t have to ask me twice,” Dora said, striding past Matt and slipping her arm through Evie’s. “I desperately need a shower. Let’s go.”

  Matt whistled to himself as he made his way back into the alligator park, while Evie and Dora made their way across the parking lot, an uneasy silence settling between them. Dora had no idea what to say to her friend. What if something had happened to Sunshine while she’d been the one holding the little dog? The thought was too horrific to even entertain. She wrapped her arms around herself and slumped against Luke’s car while they waited for him to show up.

  Dora closed her eyes and tilted her face toward the sun, hoping the bright rays would warm the chill that had taken over her body. Despite the hot afternoon, after the incident in the gator enclosure, Dora’s insides had turned to ice.

  Dora could hear Evie murmuring to Sunshine that everything was okay now. A moment later, Dora heard footsteps, right before she felt a pair of thin arms come around her and hold on tight.

  “Oh my god, Dora,” Evie said. “I was so scared for both of you. Thank god you’re both okay.”

  Dora let out a small sob and hugged her friend just as tightly. “No. I’m the one who’s sorry, Evie. I don’t know how I lost control of Sunshine. If anything had happened to her—” Dora’s throat closed, and she was unable to finish her apology.

  “No. I’m sorry. I should’ve listened to you and gotten a better dog carrier.” A full body shudder ran through her as she pulled away. “I can’t stop picturing her in the jaws of one of those beasts.”

  Dora pulled back and squeezed Evie’s hands. “She’s okay. I’m okay. And you were brilliant with Officer Matt. Try not to stress too hard about this, okay? We can hit the drive-thru ice cream place and get triple scoops of chocolate caramel with zero guilt. As soon as we figure out where Luke is.” She really hoped he hadn’t skipped out on them, although she wouldn’t blame him. She had a sinking feeling he had because she was used to men letting her down. Dora pulled slightly back from Evie and said, “Okay?”

  Evie nodded and wiped at her damp eyes. “That sounds good. With hot fudge and extra whipped cream.”

  Dora chuckled. “Obviously.”

  “What’s this I hear about ice cream?” Luke’s voice sounded from behind them, and Dora’s heart soared.

  “We need a pick-me-up,” Evie said, raising her chin and blinking back the last of her tears.

  Luke nodded, and without hesitation he strode over to Dora and gathered her in his arms. His breath was warm on her ear as he asked, “You doing okay, Dora?”

  She was now. Whoa, did his arms feel good around her. She felt the tension she’d been holding ever since she’d followed Sunshine into the enclosure vanish. Sagging against him, she had a flicker of guilt over believing Luke had ditched them once the going got tough. She whispered, “I am now. Did you find out anything?”

  “Yes.” He pulled away, much to Dora’s disappointment, and then lowered his voice as he added, “Billy’s in there. But we need to wait until later to get in. Let’s get you two back to my place where you can clean up, and then we’ll come back to stake out the place until we see an opening. What do you say?”

  Dora swayed on her feet, the lack of sleep and stress finally overwhelming her. As much as
she didn’t want to leave the gator park knowing that Billy was being held inside, she just couldn’t see how passing out from exhaustion would help anyone. “Okay. Can I borrow a pillow for a few hours?”

  “Me, too,” Evie said, rubbing at her red eyes.

  He let out a low chuckle. “Two gorgeous women, both asking to use my pillow. You think I’m going to say no to that? In fact, I’ll do you one better. How about you both make use of my bed, and I’ll rustle up something for lunch?”

  “Hero,” Dora whispered and gave him a small smile. Just the thought of a nap had turned her into a walking zombie, and without another word, she climbed into Luke’s sedan, rested her head against the window, and promptly fell into a fitful sleep.

  17

  Dora woke with a start. A sound from outside the bedroom had her on edge and she strained to listen, her heart pounding against her breast bone.

  “What is it?” a sleepy Evie said from beside her.

  They were lying on Luke’s bed, where he’d deposited them after they’d bathed Sunshine and showered off the stink of the alligator enclosure. “Nothing,” Dora said, patting her friend on the shoulder. “I probably just heard Luke milling around in the kitchen. Go back to sleep.”

  Evie mumbled something and tightened her arm around Sunshine. Within moments her breathing had deepened, and Dora knew she’d fallen back to sleep.

  Dora got up, anxious to talk to Luke about what he’d seen at the gator park. She found a clean T-shirt and jeans in the bag of clothes they’d purchased at Target and made her way down to the kitchen to find Luke.

  He was sitting at his kitchen bar, his pen gliding over a piece of paper. She shoved her hands into her pockets and said, “Hey.”

  His head jerked up as if she’d startled him, but a small smile claimed his lips. “Hey, sleepyhead. Did you get enough rest?”

  Dora shrugged. “I don’t know. Coffee would be good, though.”

  He popped off his stool and headed straight for his cappuccino machine. “Have a seat. I’ll have this right up and then I’ll heat up something to eat for you.”