Jesse slammed his fist down on the man’s wrist, and Thiessen released the gun. Jack Pine stepped forward, kicking it far from the man’s grasp.
“Lorena!” Jesse cried, and leapt to his feet. She was standing. Unhurt.
Unbloodied.
She rushed into his arms.
He held her, shaking, feeling as if the world itself had begun to spin madly.
“Get up,” Jack Pine was saying harshly to someone.
Jesse pulled away from Lorena long enough to turn and look.
Thiessen was getting up.
Sally lay on the ground, her eyes open but sightless.
A hole in her chest was surrounded by crimson.
“Is it over yet, Jesse?” Jack asked.
Jesse let out a sigh. “Not exactly. I imagine that, in a few minutes, John Smith will be arriving. He’ll have been alerted by now to the fact that we’re out here. If he does show, he’ll be picked up. And I would also say that within minutes half the Miccosukee force will be out here. They’ll be followed by the Metro-Dade cops. I can hear the airboats now.”
Lorena looked up at him, then down at Sally. She shuddered, but only for a minute. Then she spun on Thiessen.
“Who killed my father?” she demanded.
“Ah, that,” Thiessen murmured.
“Who actually killed my father!” Lorena repeated.
“Not me. I didn’t kill anyone.” He paused, and Jesse could see his mind working, trying to find a way out, to make himself look less guilty. “Sally…the whole thing was her idea. That woman was bloodthirsty. I was beside myself when I learned about the death of your poor father. And Hector and Maria. If she hadn’t killed them…But she was certain they knew something and would get Fish and Wildlife in.”
“Rather than Metro-Dade homicide?” Jesse asked dryly.
“She was the one who forced me into everything,” Thiessen said.
“Tell it to a jury,” Jesse said.
“I intend to.”
They heard the whir of an airboat motor coming closer. Jesse spun quickly, ready to dive for the gun if another of Thiessen’s accomplices was arriving.
But it was George Osceola at the helm, and a number of tribal officers were with him. In seconds, they were rushing forward, shouting, going for Thiessen.
Seeing that the matter was in hand, George walked over to Jesse. “Everyone all right?”
“Except for Sally. She’s dead,” Jesse said.
“Sally!”
“Sally killed Hector and Maria,” Jesse explained. “Were you able to pick up John Smith?”
“They’re still looking for him. But, Jesse, you were right. Lars put out the APB, and Smith was spotted upstate. I’d bet money he abducted the van driver. We’ll know more as soon as we get hold of him.” George studied Jesse, then went silent. “Meanwhile, we need to get you all out of here.”
“Hey!” Lorena cried suddenly. “Stop him! Doc’s heading for the water!”
George Osceola swore; so did Jesse. They should have cuffed the man immediately.
Doc Thiessen was fast, and he knew the Everglades. He was tearing across the hummuck, heading for the water.
“Stop or I’ll shoot!” George shouted.
Thiessen made a dive into the water. Jesse didn’t think the man could make it—not with a trained force on his heels, several of them Miccosukees who had grown up in the area. It was a last desperate attempt at freedom by a desperate man.
They raced toward the canal. Thiessen had plunged deep, apparently hoping to surface at a distance, then disappear into the saw grass.
Jesse streaked toward the water himself, then stopped.
Everyone stopped behind him.
There was a thrashing in the water. Droplets splayed high and hard in every direction.
They were all dead still, watching the awful scene playing out before them.
Alligators were territorial.
And Thorne Thiessen had disturbed a large male in his territory. The dance of death was on.
There was no helping Thiessen.
He’d been caught in the middle of the abdomen, and now the mighty creature was thrashing insanely, trying to drown his prey.
Thiessen let out one agonized scream.
Then the alligator took him below the surface.
Gentle as dewdrops, the last glistening drops of water fell back on the surface of the canal.
And then all was still.
Jesse heard a soft gasp, but even without it, he had known she was there. He knew her scent. Felt the air tremble around her.
He turned, and her eyes were brilliant and beautiful and filled with tears. She had wanted justice, not vengeance, he realized.
It had been a fitting end to Thiessen, he thought himself. But maybe he needed to learn a bit more about mercy.
He took her into his arms. Felt the vibrance and life in her body.
He drew her tightly to him. And he didn’t care about the tragedy they’d just witnessed, the mud that covered them both, or who heard his words.
“I love you,” he said softly. “And it’s going to be all right.”
Epilogue
It was fall. The sun beat down on the water, but the air was gentle. Birds, in all their multihued plumage, flew above the glistening canal. Trees, hanging low, were a lush background for the chirps and cries that occasionally broke the silence.
There had been a picnic. A week had passed since the events at the hummock. They had all spent hours in questioning and doing paperwork for both the tribal police and Metro-Dade.
Michael Preston and Harry Rogers had both been horrified to discover that they had been under suspicion.
Hugh had merely been indignant that he hadn’t been in on the finale.
They had all attended the funeral for Hector and Maria. Julie and Lorena were fast becoming friends, just as she was a friend of Jesse’s.
Now, with the picnic cleaned up, with the others having talked over everything that had happened and finally gone home, Lorena stared out at the strange and savage beauty of the area and smiled.
Jesse, a cold beer in his hand, came up behind her, then took a seat at her side.
She leaned against him comfortably, taking his hand, holding it to her cheek. “There’s one more monster out there,” she reminded him.
“Yeah. We haven’t heard any reports about it, but we’ll arrange more hunts until we get it.”
“And when you do…will you capture it or kill it?” she asked.
He smiled at her. “When an animal is altered, it’s man’s doing, not the creature’s,” he reminded her. “But these things could mate. Undo the balance in the Everglades. I don’t like to make judgments, but if it’s up to me…I think the creature is too much of a risk. Too many people have died already. Your father died to protect people from creatures like it, and so…”
“At least they didn’t kill the van driver,” Lorena said.
“They thought they did, though,” Jesse said grimly. “John Smith thought the man was dead when he stole the carcass and drove the van into a canal. It’s a miracle that he came to and escaped.”
“Every once in a while, we get a miracle,” Lorena said.
“So…” Jesse murmured.
“So…?”
“So somehow I doubt that you plan to keep your position at Harry’s.”
“I was thinking of doing something else.”
“You want to leave,” he said very softly.
“Actually, no.”
“No?” His face seemed exceptionally strong then, handsome and compelling, his eyes that startling green against the bronze of his features.
She sighed. “I know it’s soon, but I had been hoping you would ask me to stay here. My real love is the law. And causes. I’m great at causes, Jesse. It occurred to me that the tribal council could probably use a good lawyer now and then. And living here, with you…”
He laughed. “I love you. You know that. I have to admit, I’ve had my fears.?
??
“You? Afraid?”
“This isn’t just where I live. It’s part of what I am. And you come from a world that’s…glittering. Clean. Neat. Sophisticated. Not that we don’t have our own ‘Miami chic’ down here, but…I’m not knocking anything, it’s just that here…well, there are alligators in the canals. Water moccasins, and saw grass hardly stands in for a neatly manicured lawn. And my nearest neighbor is…well, not near.”
She laughed softly. “Hmm. Water moccasins.”
“I’m afraid so. Though they’re not the vicious creatures they’re made out to be. They’re afraid of people.”
“And alligators.”
“Normally, they leave you alone if you leave them alone.”
“Muck, mud, mosquitoes and saw grass.”
“I’m afraid so.”
She turned to him, touched his face. “But they all come with you,” she said softly.
He caught her hand, eyes narrowing, a smile curving his lips. “Then you really would considering staying? I’d love a roommate, but I’d much rather have a wife.”
Her heart seemed to stop. “Are you asking me?”
“I’m begging you.”
She threw herself into his arms.
“Is that a yes?”
“A thousand times over.”
He gently caught her chin in his hand, thumb sliding over the skin of her cheek. Then his lips touched hers. The breeze was soft and easy. The birds went silent. The night was as breathtaking as his kiss.
The wedding was a month later. They chose the Keys.
The bride wore white. The groom was dashing in his tux.
They were both barefoot, married in the sand at sunset.
They’d taken the whole of one of the mom-and-pop motels, as well as rooms in one of the nearby chains. The attendance was huge, with Seminoles, Miccosukees, whites, Hispanics and, as Hugh, the token Aussie, commented a bit of everyone in between. Even Roger had made it out of the hospital in time to attend.
The sunset was glorious.
The reception was the South Florida party of the year.
And when the night wound down, they were alone in their room that looked onto the ocean, feeling the gentle breeze, aware of the salt scent on the air…
And then nothing else, nothing else at all…
Except for each other.
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