Refuge for Flora by Deanndra Hall

Chapter 3

Flora openedthe door and expected Mrs. Murphy to immediately start screaming for her to perform some chore. Instead, the old woman was sound asleep in the rickety old recliner, so Flora started the dryer and headed to her room. She’d found a few books around the house and decided maybe she’d read for a while. But thoughts kept drifting into her mind, thoughts about the things that had taken place right before she’d run from Pikeville.

Nightmares didn’t begin to describe what she’d seen. It was terrifying and stomach-turning. She’d thought about going to the authorities, but after all the times she’d gone to the hospital after Darryl had almost killed her and then gone back to him, the sheriff’s department had pretty much written her off. The Pikeville Police Department wasn’t much help either, not after her dad had given the police chief, who happened to be his poker buddy, a stern talking-to about “tough love” and how they shouldn’t help her so she’d eventually “come to her senses.” Every time she thought about all of it, she thought about Velma. She’d never been a big fan of the loud, irritating woman, but the look in Velma’s eyes when she realized that Darryl was going to kill her was something that would haunt Flora for the rest of her life. She’d stood in the bathroom and trembled as she heard him in the other room, gutting Velma alive, the brunette screaming and shrieking in pain, then gurgling on her own blood. When he was done, he made Flora come out and help him clean the whole thing up, then help him carry Velma’s body out to the barn and watch as he cut it up with a chainsaw. “What the fuck does Bradley see in this bitch? She’s got the littlest damn titties I ever seen,” he mumbled as he sawed up her corpse, blood and bone fragments flying everywhere. They’d covered him and coated the front of Flora’s body. She’d tried to leave, but Darryl had pinned her to the wall by her throat. “You leave and you’ll be next.” There was no doubt in her mind that he meant it.

She’d had to stand there, shaking and crying, as he threw each piece of the woman into the pit with the alligators he was raising. The gnashing and rolling of the beasts made her nauseous, and the stench that filled the air left her stomach heaving. At one point, she’d thrown up, and Darryl had screamed at her. “You gonna have to toughen up, pet. We gonna raise these suckers and they gonna make us a lot of money.” From somewhere else in the big barn, an animal screeched, and she was pretty sure it was a chimp or some other kind of primate. She’d seen the tiger cubs the day they’d brought them in, and she wondered if that’s what she’d eventually be fed to.

And then one day two weeks later, the animals had all disappeared. He’d sent her to the store to pick up some grain for the hogs and when she came back, it was quiet―too quiet. If he’d killed them all, she never found any trace of them. Even odder was the fact that he never mentioned them. Not one word. She knew he was waiting to see if she’d ask, but she knew better. Whatever he’d done with them, she didn’t want to know.

It had taken her three months, but she was over four hundred miles from those horrors, and yet she didn’t feel safe. She’d never feel safe. As long as she knew Darryl Stevens was alive, she knew she wasn’t safe. If he had any indication she might spill the beans on his activities, he’d kill her no matter where she was. There was no doubt in her mind that he was looking for her. She represented a wild card that he really didn’t want loose with knowledge that could sink him, so staying away from him was her only hope.

That wouldn’t be too hard there. He’d never heard of Paducah, much less ever set foot in it. There was no way he’d find her. She’d done everything she could to keep him off her trail.

And it seemed to have been enough.

* * *

The list wasn’t long,but it was important. Barrett went over it three times to make sure he had everything.

Weapon P

Extra magazines (2) P

Radio P

Baton P

Pepper spray P

Cable tie restraints (10) P

Vest P

Snake boots P

Kevlar gloves P

Catch poles (6) P

Jumbo dog crates (6) P

Animal control would take the dogs, but he had a feeling he and the other KDFWR officers would wind up carting off the coyotes. Animal control wasn’t going to touch them. He’d talked to Kirby, and there was a veterinarian from the college who’d be there to euthanize the coyotes after they’d removed them, because releasing them after they’d been held by a human just wasn’t possible. Who’d get the job of digging holes and burying them? Oh, he was pretty sure they’d have to do it. Nobody else would.

A staging area off Hardmoney Road had been chosen and from there, it was just a mile to the site. They’d meet the deputies at the base of the hill ten minutes before the bust would go down. He’d been sitting there for about five minutes, totally engrossed in a video of two bikini models, when the truck door opened without warning and Kirby appeared in the doorway. “Son of a bitch! Scared the shit out of me!” Barrett yelled, his handgun drawn.

“Holy fuck, put that thing away! I didn’t mean to startle you.” Kirby climbed up into the seat and closed the door. “I put my crates in the back of your truck. Catch poles too. Can we take it?”

“Sure.”

“Yeah. I forgot to fill mine up.”

For the love of god, this is the ignorance I have to deal with, Barrett grumbled in his mind. Kirby was a good officer, but sometimes he was clueless. “Who’s dealt with the booby traps?”

Kirby’s eyes went wide. “Somebody’s dealt with the booby traps?”

“Are you shitting me?” Barrett keyed up his mic. “Central dispatch, this is KDFWR unit four twelve. Advise on MCSD units in my area. Hardmoney Road. Over.”

“Unit four twelve, this is central. MCSD units fifteen eighty and nine eighty-four. Copy?”

“Roger. Copy that. KDFWR unit four twelve to MCSD unit fifteen eighty. Copy?”

“Roger that, KDFWR four twelve.”

“Hey, anybody deal with the discouragement devices on site? Over.”

“Roger. Sweep was done at midnight last night. Over.”

“Copy that. And you’re confident? Over.”

“Roger.”

“Unit four twelve standing by.”

“Roger that, unit four twelve. Central dispatch, out.”

Barrett sat back in the truck’s leather seat and tapped his lip with his thumb out of pure nervousness. If there was just one booby trap they hadn’t found, he or Kirby could be walking into a disaster. “You watch. If they ask―”

“KDFWR unit four twelve, this is MCSD unit nine eighty-four. You taking lead on this? Over.”

Barrett shook his head as he glared at Kirby. “Yep. I knew it. Fuck that shit.”

“Yeah. Fuck that shit.” Kirby reached for his own mic. “MCSD unit nine eighty-four, this is KDFWR unit seven twenty-five. Unit four twelve is here with me. That’s a negative. MCSD units will have to lead. Repeat, MCSD units will have to lead. As this is primarily drug-related, we’ll be taking the lead on the canines. This agency will not be making arrests. Repeat―this agency will not be making arrests, detaining suspects, or performing an investigation. Our function, as we understood it, was to take possession of any and all canines on the property and make proper dispensation of same. Per our superiors, that is our only function in this operation. Over.” Kirby rolled his eyes. “Well, they’ll be pissed now.”

“Better to be pissed off than pissed on, and we were headed straight for being pissed on.”

Kirby sighed. “As usual.”

“If they don’t give us any respect, I don’t feel like I have to give them a bit more than I would anybody else. I didn’t agree to this to be used as somebody’s human shield.”

“Me either.”

The radio squawked to life. “Central dispatch, this is MCSD units fifteen eighty and nine eighty-four. In position. T minus ten minutes. KDFWR units seven twenty-five and four twelve, take your positions.”

“Copy that, MCSD units. KDFWR moving into position. Over.” Barrett glanced at Kirby. “Ready?”

“Yeah. Bring it.”

“Okay. Here we go.” He rolled the few hundred feet to where he’d agreed to park earlier in the week, and the two officers slipped out of the truck and pushed the doors closed just enough to shut off the interior light. Barrett drew his handgun, as did Kirby, and the two men headed to the north side of the property at the base of the hill. “MCSD units, KDFWR units in place.”

“Roger that. T minus two minutes. Over.”

Barrett turned to Kirby again. “Watch your feet. I don’t trust them to have done a thorough sweep.”

“You got that right. They’re depending on us screaming out in pain to work as a distraction. Tonight the deputies are going to have to work for their arrests. I’m not falling on my sword to keep them from getting a hangnail.”

“That makes two of us.” Barrett was about to say something else when the radio bud squawked in his ear.

“KDFWR units, MCSD units approaching point of contact. Deploy. Deploy.”

“Deployment confirmed.” Barrett and Kirby stepped slowly and carefully into the woods behind the property and started their ascent. They walked silently, years of training working with them as they closed in on the property, with only a small penlight to help with their footing. They were almost to the summit when Barrett saw something flash near the ground. He stopped and looked down, then threw up a fist to signal for Kirby to stop.

With the penlight trained downward, he turned to Kirby and, with forefinger and middle finger, pointed to his own eyes and then to the ground. Sure enough, in front of him, almost hidden by leaves, was a silvery strand, probably fishing line. It was most certainly tied to something. Whether it was a weapon, an explosive device, or just a bunch of cans to make noise, he didn’t know, but it was most definitely something. Kirby nodded his acknowledgement, and they carefully stepped over it one at a time until they were clear of it. Barrett listened, but there was no sound yet from the top of the hill, and that meant the deputies hadn’t reached it yet.

Fifteen more steps and they’d be at the top. Ten more. Five. And then all hell broke loose. There was a lot of yelling and screaming, and a couple of shots. Barrett and Kirby bolted up the slope to find a woman standing there, pointing a gun directly at them. Without so much as a blink of an eye, Barrett slapped the handgun away as Kirby tackled her, and while he dealt with the woman, Barrett advanced, weapon aloft. He side-stepped slowly until he came to the dwelling, and he could hear voices still barking orders. Besides the deputies, there were most likely undercover Kentucky State Police officers and maybe even some U.S. Marshals. He didn’t know, and he didn’t care. All he cared about was the ten-year-old boy standing with his back against the rear of the house, his hands up in surrender. By the time Barrett had ascertained that he had no weapon and had taken his hand, Kirby had the woman on her feet and was pushing her toward the house.

Ten minutes later, the suspects were all in custody, and there were indeed fifteen coyotes and twenty dogs in the pens out back. “We don’t have enough crates,” Kirby mumbled.

“Yeah. Quite the operation they’ve got here.” Barrett watched from the corner of his eye as the deputies dealt with the suspects, two men and a woman, along with the woman Kirby had apprehended and the boy Barrett had found. A truck made its way up the slope and a man got out. Barrett could hear him identify himself as the veterinarian from the college, so he went to meet the doctor.

“How are we going to handle this?” the vet, whose name was Riggins, asked.

“We’ve got catch poles. I suppose if you euthanize some of them, we can reuse the crates as we go.”

Dr. Riggins glanced around. “Where’s animal control?”

“I have no idea. They were supposed to be here.” Both men stood there and watched as the feral dogs snarled and growled from the opposite side of their pen. “Well, this is a royal mess.”

“I’ll say,” Dr. Riggins agreed as they stood there, listening to the commotion in front of the house.

The two male suspects were sitting in the back of the deputy’s car, talking quietly, so Barrett decided it was a good time to pull his truck up and get the crates and catch poles. He was walking by the deputy’s cruiser when he heard one of the men say, “… be glad they weren’t alligators.”

Barrett spun and stared at the man. “What did you just say?”

“Nothin’. I ain’t said nothin’.”

“You said something about alligators. What was it?”

The man looked genuinely terrified. “I didn’t say nothin’ ‘bout no alligators.”

“Yes, you did. I heard you. What did you say?”

“Man, I tole you, I ain’t said nothin’ ‘bout no alligators!” the man shrieked.

“What the hell is going on here?” Frankie asked as he stepped up to Barrett.

“Walk with me.” Barrett took off down the hill, and he could hear Frankie behind him, chugging along. “Got a call from a Texas game warden. They apprehended a truckload of alligators down there.”

“What? Why did he call you?”

“Because the suspects finally admitted that they came from western Kentucky.”

“What the hell? Are you sure?”

“I don’t think that game warden was making shit up to have a reason to call me. I mean, I know I’m a hunk and the cult of personality, but―”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, you really think there are alligators somewhere around here?”

“Man, I’m just tellin’ you what he told me. All I’m sayin’ is that one of those idiots in your back seat just said something like, ‘At least they’re not alligators.’ When I asked him what he said, he clammed up like a nun’s cooch. If they know something, I want to know. Hear me?”

“Yeah, but if―”

“Make ‘em talk, Frankie. I need that information. I mean it. Did you know Kirby and I came upon a booby trap on the back side of that hill …”

“But we―”

“… after you told us you guys had cleared all that? I mean, what the fuck, Frankie? You want us to work with you, but what you really want is for us to work for you. We don’t work for you. We work for the citizens of this state, and if there are alligators out there somewhere, we need to know. Do you understand?”

“I get it, Quarles. I get it. I’ll see what I can find out.”

“You do that. Here,” Barrett said as he reached into the truck’s bed and handed the twelve catch poles to Frankie. “Make yourself useful.”

Toting six of the crates as they went, Barrett followed Frankie back up the drive to the house to start the process of removing the animals. It was going to be a long night.

But … alligators. That would make it all worth the time and trouble.

* * *

When they’d finally shownup, animal control had taken the dogs as evidence. He and Kirby had spent two hours burying the coyotes as the vet put them down. He was tired, hot, dirty, sweaty, stinky, and pissed off to no end. He’d just headed out from the operation and driven about two miles when he realized he hadn’t talked to his parents in almost a week, so he gave his mom a quick call to catch up. He told her about the bust, and threw in the fact that Mrs. Murphy had hired help. “Oh, a woman? How old is she?”

“I dunno. Mid-thirties, I guess?”

“Is she pretty?”

“Uh, I guess so. Maybe.” Yeah. She definitely was. But he wasn’t going to tell his mom that. If he did, she’d have a wedding planned by the next weekend. Why he’d told her about Flora in the first place, he had no idea. “How’s Dad? What’s he up to?”

They were still on the phone when he pulled into his driveway and groaned. “What’s wrong, son?”

“Jesse’s here.”

“Where?”

“I’m home and Jesse’s here.”

“Barrett, you really need to―”

“I know, Mom. I’m trying, okay? I’ve gotta go. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

“But Barrett, you know that―” And he hung up.

There was only room for one truck in the garage, and he kept his department truck in there. Having it sitting out in western McCracken County with a KDFWR crest on the door was just asking for trouble. The last thing he needed was to come out and find the thing vandalized or, worse yet, somebody shooting into his house when they realized a conservation officer lived there. As soon as he stepped out of the truck’s cab, he could hear music coming from the house. He opened the door into the house from the garage and hadn’t made it two steps when a voice called out, “Where have you been?”

He shuffled into the living room and turned his palms up in resignation. “Where does it look like I’ve been? I’ve been at work.”

Jesse’s wrinkled-up face told the tale. “Gah, I can smell you from over here!”

“Yeah, well, I’m hot and dirty and tired, so you need to go.”

“I’m just watching a game.”

“What’s wrong with your TV?”

“Nothing.” Jesse gave him a sheepish look. “Just forgot to pay the cable bill.”

“Ah. I see. Well, I’m gonna take a shower and when I come out, I expect you to be gone.”

A wicked grin spread across Jesse’s face. “Can I watch?”

“You lost that privilege a long time ago. Now, I’m serious. I’m tired. So go home and I’ll see you sometime this week, I’m sure.”

“You’re no fun.”

“You’re right. I’m no fun at all. None. Find other friends who are fun, ‘cause I’m not.”

“Oh, hahaha. Go on. See ya later.” Jesse stood as if to leave, then turned back to Barrett. “You know, you should be honored that I’m still hanging around with you.”

“And yet I don’t see it that way.” Barrett pointed at the front door. “Go.”

“Oh, you know you love me.”

Pain shot through Barrett’s chest. “Yeah. I do. That’s the problem. I love the you that you were, not the you that you are now.”

“That’s hurtful.”

“Don’t even begin to lecture me about hurt, Jess. Just don’t. Go. Please.” Jesse was still talking as Barrett made his way to the bathroom, and he threw a hand back in a brush-off, hoping the guy would just shut up and leave. For the first time ever, Barrett had a feeling that if Jesse was still there when he got out of the shower, he wouldn’t be able to help himself and there would be a physical removal from the premises. He hated to be that way, but he was tired.

To his relief, when he stepped into the living room after his shower, Jesse was nowhere in sight. A peek out the front window told him the driveway was empty except for his own personal pickup, and he breathed a sigh of despair. He had to find a better place to hide his extra key. Oh, who was he kidding―Jesse had probably gone out and had one made to get in whenever the mood struck.

Twenty minutes later, Barrett was curled up in his bed and sound asleep. His head was full of dreams and nightmares, some of Jesse, some of Flora, some of coyotes. And just before he woke, something else popped into his nightmare.

An alligator.

* * *

Since he’d been out latethe night before, he decided to stay in that morning and rest. With a cup of coffee and a sweet roll from the package he’d picked up at the store, he sat down and hit a contact. It was answered in just a few seconds. “Warden Paxton.”

“Conor! It’s Barrett Quarles.”

“Barrett! Good to hear from you.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve got a little tidbit.”

“Can’t wait.”

Barrett outlined everything that had gone on the night before, and when he finished, he asked, “So, what do you think?”

“Well, first off, who would likely know about smuggling illegal animals? Someone who was already doing something illegal, and you know those guys were.”

“Yeah. Meth. And the idiots were trying to breed coydogs.”

Conor laughed loudly. “Oh, a real bunch of winners!”

“Oh, yeah. Geniuses. But I told the deputy that I wanted him to ask questions and see what he came up with. I haven’t heard back from him. If I don’t before two o’clock, I’m taking my ass right down to that jail and asking them myself.”

“Maybe he’ll call you. Would you―”

“Let you know? Oh, hell yeah. You know it. If somebody’s got gators here, I most definitely want to know. I found a trip wire last night and a bunch of coyotes. I do not want to walk up on a gator in the Barlow bottoms.”

“That could definitely spoil your day.”

“You know it. But you’ll hear from me as soon as I know something.”

“Thanks, Barrett. I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. Talk to you soon.” Barrett ended the call and sat there. Had Frankie questioned them about their comment? Or had he brushed it off and ignored Barrett’s request? He made up his mind that, one way or another, he was going to find out.

* * *

“Hello?”

“Is this Ms. Stevens?”

“Yes.”

“This is the tire center. Your car is ready. Hey, you wouldn’t want to sell that thing, would you?”

“Not mine to sell. Sorry. How much is all the work?” Flora wrote down the amount and thanked the man. “Mrs. Murphy, they’ve got the car ready. I’m gonna get Barrett to take me to pick it up.”

“Okay. Get the money from the sugar bowl and pay for it. And while you’re out, could you get me some potato chips?”

“Sure will. No problem.” Flora headed back to her bedroom and hit the contact, then waited.

“Hello?”

“Barrett?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s Flora.”

“Oh! I didn’t put your name with your number! Guess I should do that, huh?”

She laughed. “Yeah, probably! Hey, the car is ready. If you can’t take me, I understand, but I thought―”

“Oh, no, I definitely can. I’m getting ready to drive into town myself. How about maybe in thirty minutes?”

“Sure! That sounds good. I’ll be waiting.”

“Okay. See you then.” And the phone went dead.

For reasons she couldn’t understand, Flora felt like putting on lipstick. She made sure her hair was brushed nicely, then looked in the closet. She had two pairs of jeans and three tops. Not much to choose from, and he’d seen all of them. Why the hell do I care what he thinks? she asked herself, but she knew the truth. She was wildly attracted to Barrett even though she really doubted he felt the same way about her. Still, she wanted to look nice. He’d probably never notice, but at least she could tell herself that she tried.

When she was finished getting ready, she wandered into the living room and sat down. “Mrs. Murphy, are you going to pay me?”

The old woman turned to look at her. “What?”

“Are you going to pay me? I mean, you told me you’d give me some money, but I didn’t ask how much, and I kinda need some.”

She was afraid her employer was going to have a yelling fit, but instead, Mrs. Murphy smiled. “Honey, whatever is in that sugar bowl is yours to use too. When there’s no more money in there, just tell me and you can get more from the bank to put in there. You needin’ somethin’?”

Flora could feel her cheeks warming. “Yeah. I don’t have very many clothes and I’m washing them to death. I could use more jeans, some tee shirts, socks, underwear and bras …”

“You buy whatever you need. How much money’s in there right now?”

“I dunno. I’ve gotta use most of it to pay for the tires.”

“My checkbook’s over there in my bag. Get it for me, wouldja?” Flora just picked up the bag and handed it to Mrs. Murphy. She felt a little weird about rummaging through someone else’s bag. The woman took out the checkbook and handed it to Flora. “Okay, how much do you need?”

“I dunno. A hundred dollars?”

“Okay. Write the check to you. And make it for five hundred dollars.”

Flora’s eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. “What? Five hundred dollars?”

“Yeah. Five hundred. You’ve earned it. This house looks better than it has in years, and the yard looks good too.”

“You’ve seen the yard?” Flora hadn’t known her to go any farther than her recliner―ever.

“Yeah. I look out there every morning to see if anybody’s around. Them flower beds look amazing. You done a good job, girl.”

“Thank you.” Flora wrote the check and handed it to Mrs. Murphy to sign, which she did. “I appreciate it. I could use a few things.”

“Yeah. Them what’s on the run travel light.”

Flora didn’t comment. It was only a matter of time before Mrs. Murphy cornered her and asked her more than she really wanted to talk about, but until then, she wasn’t sharing, and she never would if she could manage it. She was about to find a way around that conversation when she heard a horn honk. “Oh! That must be Barrett. I’d better go.”

“You make that young man walk up to the door when he picks you up. That’s so fuckin’ rude,” Mrs. Murphy snapped, and Flora started to laugh. “What?”

“He’s not taking me on a date, Mrs. Murphy! He’s just taking me to pick up the car!”

“It could be a date if’n you wanted it to be!” the old woman crowed as Flora headed to the door.

“I’ll be back in a little while. Behave yourself while I’m gone,” Flora ordered.

“Yes, ma’am. I will, I promise.” Mrs. Murphy was laughing when she answered, and it made Flora laugh again.

“I was afraid you didn’t hear me out here,” Barrett said when she opened the door and found him standing there.

“Yeah, I was just arguing with Mrs. Murphy.”

“She giving you trouble?”

“Nah. We were just sparring. We do that. It’s kinda fun,” Flora said with a chuckle as she made her way out to the truck. She was reaching for the door handle when Barrett’s hand shot out and grabbed it, and she bumped her fingers right into it. “Oh! Sorry! I wasn’t expecting―”

His grin was a mile wide. “I open doors for ladies if they’ll let me.”

“Oh, well, thank you.” As soon as she climbed in, he closed the door and left her sitting there with a smile on her face. He was so polite, and she really liked that. It beat the shit out of hanging with dumbass Darryl. He’d never opened a door for her in all the time she’d known him unless it was to shove her out onto the lawn after he’d beaten the daylights out of her.

Barrett climbed in on the other side, closed his door, and turned to her. “Have you eaten?”

“What?”

“I said, have you eaten? As in lunch?”

“Uh, no, unless you count dry cereal as a meal.”

“Want something? I’m starving and I’m buying.”

She couldn’t believe it. “Sure!”

“What? A burger? Steak? Barbecue?”

“Steak?”

“Then steak it is.”

“No, I mean, you’d take me for steak?”

“Of course, if that’s what you want. Steak, baked potato, green beans, or broccoli, or … I dunno. Whatever you want.”

“Okay. That sounds good. I’d like that.”

He wheeled into the parking lot of the Longhorn Steakhouse in front of the discount store, and Flora’s eyes bugged. “Is this okay?” he asked.

It took everything she had to force out her answer. “I’ve never eaten at one of these. Never could afford it.”

“I feel like splurging today.” She was still sitting there, dumbstruck, when he opened her door. “Come on. Let’s go.”

“Uh, okay.” With Barrett right behind her, she wandered up to the front door, and he opened it for her to step inside. The hostess asked them to follow her to a table and, to her astonishment, as they walked along, she felt the warmth of Barrett’s hand on the small of her back. Is this a date? she wondered. She hadn’t thought it was, but maybe … Nah. He was just being polite. Nothing more.

“I love the stuffed mushroom appetizer. Want to share it with me?”

“Sure!” Oh my god, this is so awesome! she heard her heart sing. She was sitting in a nice restaurant across from a good-looking guy and having a fabulous meal. Then she thought about her shabby clothes. Damn, she couldn’t understand how he could even stand to be there with her. What if someone he knew saw him with her? How embarrassing would that be for him? “Um, Barrett, do you want to …”

“What?”

“I mean, somebody might see you with me, and I wouldn’t want―”

A strange look passed across his face. “What? You embarrassed to be seen with me?”

“No! I mean, I thought you might be embarrassed … If somebody saw you with me, and they thought … You wouldn’t …”

“I don’t give a shit what anybody thinks. I’m here having a nice dinner with a beautiful woman and I have every intention of enjoying myself. How ‘bout you?” Flora realized she was just staring at him with her mouth hanging open, and she couldn’t help it. “What? What’s wrong?”

“You called me beautiful.”

“And you are. Oh, here she comes to take our drink order. Know what you want?”

“Uhhhh, yeah. I …” The server walked up to the table and in a minute, she had their drink orders as well as Barrett’s appetizer order, and they were alone again as she disappeared toward the back.

He folded his hands on the table in front of him and stared right into her eyes. “Now, this is the part where we make conversation. So, what do you like to do? Got any hobbies?”

“No. I don’t have any hobbies. I don’t have time. Never have had time. You?”

“I like to fish and hunt. Kinda goes with the territory, huh?” he said and laughed. She had no idea what that was supposed to mean. “I played football in high school. Used to play men’s softball, but not so much anymore. Had a lot of changes in my life and that just kinda fell by the wayside.”

“I know what you mean.”

“You told me you’re from Pikeville, but you never did say why you came here, except that it was as far as you could get from Pikeville without leaving the state.” He stopped for a minute and waited, but she didn’t say anything. He finally asked her, “Is there somebody you’re trying to stay away from?”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because you came to Paducah, Kentucky, with no one here that you knew, and I know that you stayed at the shelter before you came here.”

“Who told you that?”

“You did.” Her cheeks burned―she’d totally forgotten about telling him.

“Yeah. I did. And yeah, I’m trying to stay away from somebody.”

“The law?”

“No. Not the law.”

“Good. Because that would be really, really bad for me.”

“Why? You already in trouble?”

He shook his head. “No. Because I’m law enforcement.” Flora felt her heart start to slam. “Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources.”

The room seemed to tilt and she was having trouble breathing. “You’re a game warden?”

“Yeah. Technically, I’m called a conservation officer. I couldn’t tell you what was going on last night because we participated in a bust. Sheriff’s department got a meth cooker, but they had coyotes and dogs out back. Trying to breed coydogs. Can you believe it?”

“No. That’s … No.” Dear god, not fish and wildlife. No-no-no. That can’t be. It just can’t. She could feel the panic rising in her gut and her face felt like it was on fire.

“Yeah. Stupid. I know. But you’ll never guess what the guys said.” She tried to answer him, but she couldn’t. Her lips wouldn’t move to form words. “One of them mentioned alligators.”

Flora jumped so hard that her arm bounced and she knocked over her glass of tea. “Oh, shit! I’m so sorry!” she almost yelled, and she could feel the eyes of all the other diners on her, staring at her awkwardness.

“You okay?”

“No. No, I’m not. I’m sorry. I’m …” She jumped up and bolted for the restroom, then locked herself in a stall and sat down. The room was spinning and she felt sick as the stall walls seemed to squeeze her. Alligators. Dear god. What if … No. It couldn’t be. It was a coincidence. Hands folded on her lap, she bent over and pressed her forehead into them, trying to calm her breathing.

There was the sound of the door opening and a male voice quietly said, “Flora?” When she didn’t answer, he said, “Flora? You okay? Can I come in?”

Guess it’s time to face the music.“Yeah. I’m sorry.” She rose and opened the stall door to find him standing there, his face bathed in bewilderment.

“Want to tell me what happened out there?”

Flora sighed. She was fucked―royally and completely fucked. But maybe it was time she told someone. Barrett had done nothing to make her believe he’d betray her trust. She needed to trust someone, and he seemed like a straight-up kinda guy. “I’ll tell you. Just let me get back to the table and calm down, okay?”

“Yeah, okay. No problem. Come on.” To her amazement, as she took one step forward, he reached his hand out and waited.

Flora put her hand in his and instantly felt better. Without another word, he led her from the bathroom and back out into the dining room. When they reached the table, he pulled out her chair and helped her into it, then helped her scoot up to the table before he took his seat again. Then he waited. Her voice seemed tiny and foreign to her when she said, “I suppose I should explain.”

“I hope I’ve made you feel comfortable enough that you can talk to me, because it sure seems like you need somebody to talk to.”

“So I’m married.”

“Okay.”

“And he beat the crap out of me all the time.”

“I kinda figured that.”

“He’s a criminal. Drugs, stealing, all kinds of shit. But his latest scheme was … the illegal animal trade.”

“What kinds of animals?”

“All kinds. But mostly caimans and …” She stopped. It was impossible to form the words.

Instead, Barrett filled in the blanks. “Alligators.”

“Yeah. About three weeks before I left, I got up one morning and they were all gone. All the alligators, monkeys, big cats―”

“Big cats?”

“Yeah. Tigers.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah. Holy shit. Anyway, they were all gone. I had to get out of there. I’d seen him …” And she stopped.

“Seen him what?”

Flora glanced around. No one seemed to be looking, but she couldn’t say it in the restaurant. “I can’t …”

“It’s okay. We can talk after lunch. Let’s just eat and try to have a decent time, and you can tell me all that later. But listen to me.” Barrett reached across the table with an upturned palm, and Flora understood. When she placed her hand in his, his fingers closed around it and she felt safe. “I won’t let anybody hurt you. You have my word on that. If you need a place to hide, I’ll take care of it. If somebody threatens you, I’ll make sure they’re stopped. Honestly, I don’t think anybody would have the balls to cross Mrs. Murphy. She may be a little old lady, but I wouldn’t want her mad at me.”

That made Flora snicker. “Yeah. She’s quite the old broad.”

“Yeah. If she threatened me, I swear, I’d take her seriously! I have a feeling she could be dangerous if anybody riled her up.”

“I get that feeling too.”

“Okay, so here comes our appetizer. Let’s just eat that and chat and we can talk about all the scary stuff later.” Flora nodded. It would be nice to tell someone, but right that minute, she’d had all the excitement she could handle.

Putting Velma in the back of her mind was hard. Every time she thought about it, tucking it into a corner somewhere was more difficult than the time before. Barrett tried to make conversation, but she was so distracted that she had trouble following. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“I asked about your family. Parents? Brothers and sisters?”

“Oh. Yeah. Parents. They’re divorced. Mom still lives in Pikeville with her husband, John. I’ve got an older sister, Paula, and a younger brother, Ronnie. Dad lives in West Virginia. I don’t see any of them anymore. When I married Darryl, they just wrote me off.”

“Darryl. That’s your husband.”

“I want him to be my ex-husband. I keep hoping somebody will kill him and save me the time, trouble, and danger of filing divorce papers against him.”

“Sounds like that would be doing mankind in general a favor.”

“Yeah. He’s worthless. Less than worthless.” She stopped for a few seconds, then asked, “Have you been married?”

“Yeah. Divorced.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Yeah. Let’s just say we had a serious difference of opinion on a very volatile subject, and we couldn’t get past that.”

“Is she pretty?”

To her horror, Barrett pulled out his wallet and opened it. From somewhere inside it, he pulled a picture, a small wedding picture. Sure enough, the guy was him, and the woman was beautiful. “She was.”

“You say that like she’s dead.”

“No. Not dead. Just gone.”

“Oh. So she doesn’t live around here?”

“Oh, yeah, she lives around here. I just don’t ever see her anymore.”

“That’s quite a trick in a place this small.”

“Not really. Want more tea?”

“I think so.” She waited as he summoned the server and asked for a refill on their glasses.

“So what’s your plan? Work for Mrs. Murphy until you have enough money to file for divorce? Or wait until he’s in prison and file then.”

“I’d wait until he went to prison. That way, he couldn’t hurt me.”

“He’s not going to hurt you anyway. I’ll see to that.”

“You just don’t know him.”

Barrett grinned. “Yeah, but I can tell you one thing. If he has anything to do with the influx or raising of illegal animals in this area and I get my hands on him, that’ll be the end of it.” Barrett took another swallow of tea. “About ready to go? We’ll go get your car.”

“Yeah. Let’s.” She watched as he glanced at the check the server had brought with their refills, added a tip, and signed it, then put his card away. He was out of his chair and behind her faster than she thought possible, and he helped her up from her seat and followed her closely as they stepped outside.

But the minute they were both in the truck, he turned to her, his right knee drawn up on the seat and an arm resting on the seat’s back. “Okay. What were you about to tell me in there when you stopped?”

“Barrett, I …” A white-hot spike of panic speared her chest, and she sat there, terrified. What would happen when he found out?

“Flora, you have to tell me. I need to know who I’m dealing with here.”

It took everything she had to start. “So he and Velma got into―”

“Who’s Velma?”

“Bradley’s girlfriend. Bradley’s his business partner. Velma was Bradley’s girlfriend. I didn’t like her much. She was loud and obnoxious, and very opinionated, but she made a mean venison stew that all the guys liked. She told me one time that if I didn’t start fixing myself up, she was gonna start fucking Darryl because I looked like such a hag.”

“Sounds like a real charmer.”

“Oh, yeah. I didn’t dare tell her to go right ahead, but I wanted to. If he was fucking her, he’d leave me alone, and I didn’t want anything to do with him. Anyway, Velma popped off to him one night when Bradley wasn’t around. That was a huge mistake on her part. He grabbed her by the throat and slammed her up against the wall, told her he’d had all he’d take of her mouth. Her eyes were bulging, and she knew … Anyway, he gutted her. I ran to the bedroom and slammed the door shut. I couldn’t stand it. He gutted her alive, Barrett, alive and screaming, begging for help. When he’d finally had all of her screaming he wanted, he slit her throat. And he made me help him take her to the barn. He cut her up with the chainsaw and fed her to the alligators.”

Barrett hadn’t said a word, and she figured he was about to shove her out of the truck. How had she been there for all that and told no one? What kind of person did that make her? To her astonishment, Barrett asked, “Did he do anything to you that night?”

She nodded as the tears rolled down her cheeks. “Grabbed me by the throat just like he had her. Slammed me up against the wall and told me to keep my damn mouth shut and help him. Told me how I might as well get used to feeding those gators because they were going to make us a lot of money. I threw up three or four times. Barrett, I swear to god, I didn’t hurt Velma. I didn’t like her, but I never would’ve hurt her. I know her family’s wondering where she is, and it’s killing me, but I don’t know what to do about it.” There was no more strength left in Flora’s body, and she dissolved into sobs.

But she felt herself being pulled across the truck’s seat, and a big, warm body pressed up against hers, his arms wrapping tightly around her. “Oh, honey, he’s not gonna do a damn thing to you. I won’t let that happen, you hear me?” Flora nodded against his chest. “It’s gonna be okay. You feared for your life, so you’re not an accessory. I’m just glad you got away from him, and I hope like hell that whoever is doing this down in this end of the state, it’s not him.”

“Me too. I’m almost scared to go anywhere or do anything now that I know …”

“Don’t go anywhere or do anything without me, you hear me? It’s not safe, not until we find out what’s going on and who’s involved. Tell me you hear me, Flora. Tell me you understand.”

“I do. I understand. But that’s not fair to you.”

He pressed a finger under her chin and lifted her face to look into her eyes. “You let me decide what’s fair to me, okay?”

All she could do was nod. If anything happened to Barrett because of her … And what about Mrs. Murphy? “Oh, shit. I don’t want anything to happen to Mrs. Murphy …”

“It won’t. I’m telling you, that old woman is tough as nails. And I bet she’s an eagle eye with a shotgun.”

That made Flora chuckle. “You’re probably right! I wouldn’t want to bet my life on her missing. I have a feeling she could probably do some real damage with that thirty aught.”

“Most likely. So let’s go get your car and I’ll follow you home. It’s all gonna be fine.”

“Uh, I have some shopping to do.”

“Then I’ll do your shopping with you.”

“For clothes.”

He shrugged. “How bad can it be?”

“I need underwear and bras.”

“Again … How bad can it be?” he asked with a grin.

“You sure about that?”

“Yep. Let’s go. You can go back there, pay for the car, and get your keys, then do your shopping. I can help! I know a thing or two about fashion!” he said as he turned the key and started the big truck.

“Yeah? What do you know about fashion?”

He just turned to her and grinned. “I know what I like!”

“Oh, well, then, I guess I’m all set, huh?” she answered, laughing. There was a really good possibility that she just might have fun shopping with him, and that would be great.

She could use a little fun.