Read Online Claw Back (Louis Kincaid) by P.J. Parrish - Free Book Online
Authors: P.J. Parrish
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thinking about this. I still don’t think a Seminole would harm a panther but I am willing to let this investigation go where it needs to go. I want to find Grace and I want you to stay on the case. Do you want to?”
“Yes,” Louis said. “Call me in the morning and we’ll talk about our next move.”
She gave him a nod and started the truck.
“Your cat is really thin,” she said.
“I know.”
“How old is she?”
“I don’t know.” Louis hesitated. “I’m worried she dying.”
“Old cats get thyroid disease,” Katy said. “She’ll probably be okay with meds. Have her tested, okay?”
Before Katy could leave, Louis put a hand on the open window.
“Can I ask you something personal?” he said.
“Sure.”
“What clan do you belong to?”
She hesitated. “Snake.”
“Not my first guess,” he said.
She gave him an odd smile and jammed the truck into drive, pulling out of the yard.
Louis watched until the tail lights disappeared down Captiva Drive then went back into the cottage. Issy was waiting by her empty bowl in the kitchen. He poured a bag of Tender Vittles into her bowl and sat at the counter, watching her as she ate.
When she was finished, he picked her up, grabbed a fresh beer and went back to the porch. There he sat, watching the silver curtain of rain move in from Gulf and stroking Issy’s thinning fur.
CH APTER NINE
The thing was lying in the middle of the road.
At first Louis thought it was a big log but after he slowly moved the Jeep ahead , he hit the brakes hard.
Alligator. It was a damn alligator.
It was at least twelve feet long and it was sprawled straight across the width of the dirt road.
Louis inched closer until the fat tires were almost touching the thing. It didn’t move.
Louis stood up in the seat and scanned the sides of the road but the brush was too thick and soggy so there was no way to turn around. And by his calculations he had left the paved road at least five miles back so he wasn’t about to go back all that way in reverse.
He had been out here for almost two hours already, driving around in circles in the open vehicle. He had a headache from the sun baking his head and his kidneys felt like they were going to fall out from all the jostling. He wasn’t sure he was even on the right road.
He looked back at the gator and laid hard on the horn.
The thing still didn’t budge . Didn’t even move a slitted eye in his direction.
Fuck!
He looked in the back for something he could throw. Nothing but a big empty Coleman cooler. He had a water bottle but he wasn’t about to sacrifice that. There was probably a jack and crowbar somewhere but he’d be damned if he was going to get out and look. He glanced down at the holster on the passenger seat. With one eye on the gator, he slipped out the Glock , pointed it at the dirt and fired.
The alligator gave a loud hiss and slithered off into the brush.
Louis holstered the Glock , sat back down behind the wheel and continued down the rutted dirt road.
This trip had seemed like a good idea this morning when he went into the station to pick up the four-wheel drive Mobley had promised him.
The cop manning the desk in the garage was named Sergeant Sweet, but he had given Louis the same sour look all the cops had been giving him. The rogue PI, riding his way into the department on an EEOC horse. That’s what they all thought. Sweet asked Louis if he was “working the panther thing.”
When Louis said he was, the sergeant said his ten-year-old daughter had started a
“Yes,” Louis said. “Call me in the morning and we’ll talk about our next move.”
She gave him a nod and started the truck.
“Your cat is really thin,” she said.
“I know.”
“How old is she?”
“I don’t know.” Louis hesitated. “I’m worried she dying.”
“Old cats get thyroid disease,” Katy said. “She’ll probably be okay with meds. Have her tested, okay?”
Before Katy could leave, Louis put a hand on the open window.
“Can I ask you something personal?” he said.
“Sure.”
“What clan do you belong to?”
She hesitated. “Snake.”
“Not my first guess,” he said.
She gave him an odd smile and jammed the truck into drive, pulling out of the yard.
Louis watched until the tail lights disappeared down Captiva Drive then went back into the cottage. Issy was waiting by her empty bowl in the kitchen. He poured a bag of Tender Vittles into her bowl and sat at the counter, watching her as she ate.
When she was finished, he picked her up, grabbed a fresh beer and went back to the porch. There he sat, watching the silver curtain of rain move in from Gulf and stroking Issy’s thinning fur.
CH APTER NINE
The thing was lying in the middle of the road.
At first Louis thought it was a big log but after he slowly moved the Jeep ahead , he hit the brakes hard.
Alligator. It was a damn alligator.
It was at least twelve feet long and it was sprawled straight across the width of the dirt road.
Louis inched closer until the fat tires were almost touching the thing. It didn’t move.
Louis stood up in the seat and scanned the sides of the road but the brush was too thick and soggy so there was no way to turn around. And by his calculations he had left the paved road at least five miles back so he wasn’t about to go back all that way in reverse.
He had been out here for almost two hours already, driving around in circles in the open vehicle. He had a headache from the sun baking his head and his kidneys felt like they were going to fall out from all the jostling. He wasn’t sure he was even on the right road.
He looked back at the gator and laid hard on the horn.
The thing still didn’t budge . Didn’t even move a slitted eye in his direction.
Fuck!
He looked in the back for something he could throw. Nothing but a big empty Coleman cooler. He had a water bottle but he wasn’t about to sacrifice that. There was probably a jack and crowbar somewhere but he’d be damned if he was going to get out and look. He glanced down at the holster on the passenger seat. With one eye on the gator, he slipped out the Glock , pointed it at the dirt and fired.
The alligator gave a loud hiss and slithered off into the brush.
Louis holstered the Glock , sat back down behind the wheel and continued down the rutted dirt road.
This trip had seemed like a good idea this morning when he went into the station to pick up the four-wheel drive Mobley had promised him.
The cop manning the desk in the garage was named Sergeant Sweet, but he had given Louis the same sour look all the cops had been giving him. The rogue PI, riding his way into the department on an EEOC horse. That’s what they all thought. Sweet asked Louis if he was “working the panther thing.”
When Louis said he was, the sergeant said his ten-year-old daughter had started a
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