that eat people have to be destroyed.”
“If that’s true,” Cal said, frowning, “…and we won’t know that until we talk to Carter, you would have to have some proof that he ate Brother Mike.”
The two monks shared a look. Brother Matt twisted small, transparent hands together in front of him.
“What?” I asked them.
“Aristotle has something in his teeth,” Brother Todd said.
“Oh!” Gertie exclaimed. “I hate when that happens. I’m always getting spinach caught in my teeth and nobody tells me.” She glared at Ida Belle and Fortune. They both looked innocent.
“We aren’t talkin’ spinach,” Lyle said.
“Maybe you should show us,” Cal suggested.
With a sigh, Brother Todd indicated that we should precede him across the lawn.
We all headed for Aristotle the Saint bearing alligator.
As we approached, the gator lifted its head and turned a wide-set pair of beady eyes in our direction. I expected him to flip around and scurry toward the Bayou as we approached but he held his ground, watching us with a predatory gleam in his eyes.
We stared at him a moment before I said. “What exactly are we looking for?”
Lyle stomped a big foot, waving his arms. The gator’s jaws opened on a hiss and the sun gleamed off something wrapped around his tooth.
It appeared to be the missing piece of silver chain from Brother Mike’s cross.
Cal crouched down and stared at the gator for several beats. Aristotle swung his tail and hissed, his jaws still wide in an obvious attempt to scare us off. But the intrepid Cal continued to crouch there, brows lowered in thought.
Slowly, the gator ceased its posturing and stilled, watching Cal the way he’d probably watch an adversary in a cage match. The small, cold eyes focused on my PI and held, looking almost thoughtful.
Cal cocked his head, still frowning, and then straightened. “You can’t cut this gator open,” he told Lyle.
The big hunter snorted. “Who says?”
Cal turned to him, the look in his Caribbean blue gaze not unlike Aristotle’s for cold calculation. “Because he didn’t eat anybody. That gator’s a pet. He’s comfortable around people. If he were predatory he’d have lunged for me.” Cal swung an arm toward the two monks waiting nearby. “He belongs to these men. If you kill him, I’ll make sure you answer to the law.”
Cal inclined his head toward Brothers Todd and Matt and grabbed my hand. “Come on, Felly.”
I stumbled along behind him as he headed for the tree line, fighting to keep up with his long-legged stride. Finally, I tugged my hand away and stopped, panting. Cal wasn’t even breathing hard. “Wait a minute,” I told him. When he turned, I filled my lungs and tried to slow my breathing. “How do you know that gator didn’t eat Mike?”
Cal shook his head. “I don’t.”
I fought the urge to stomp a foot in irritation. “But, those things you said to Lyle…”
Cal grinned. “He doesn’t really know if the gator ate Mike either. He just wants that bounty. Now he knows we know he wants the bounty and he’ll think twice because I’m assuming he can’t steal someone’s pet gator and collect on it. If I tell them that’s exactly what he did, he’ll lose the money and be in big trouble with Carter.”
Out on the Bayou, an engine roared to life and my head whipped around. I knew that sound. It had permeated my nightmares ever since the last time I came to Sinful. Along with inexplicable visions of a wizened old Snoopy poodle. That one nearly took me to a therapist.
Apparently, Fortune recognized the sound too. She flew past me, heading for the water. I glanced at Ida Belle as she hurried after her. “Is that what I think it is?”
Ida Belle nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
We arrived at the shore just in time to see an airboat carrying two men streaming away from the monastery dock. I recognized the smaller, dark haired man driving the boat. But the other man was shrouded in an oversized black hoodie.
Callie Hart
Shelley Munro
Anna J. Evans
Randy Wayne White
Dan Skinner
Shannon A. Thompson
Jeanne Bannon
Nancy Hopper
Randi Alexander
Emily Minton