FoA S3 Chapter 13

The alligator pen was standing open. That’s the first thing you should’ve noticed when you came down here. You have a feeling that arm belongs to the man that Heaven mentioned. It figures that you’d be here the day that the alligators did their jailbreak.

That one upstairs doesn’t seem quite so scary anymore. The one down here must be twelve feet long. He’s a monster.

But he’s not looking up. He’s staring through the bars at Joey and Vicky, who are all but whimpering in terror. Vicky was cool as hell when the Dark Dames ambushed you, but this? She is not ready for this. You feel sick.

Your shelf isn’t very sturdy. The slightest move will make it wobble. The gator could brush against it and it would fall.

Vicky is looking at you. She wants to say something, but she realizes the problem. You could make a break for it, but there’s no guarantee that you can get to the stairs in time. That first one was scary enough, but this one is way bigger and it’s already killed a guy.

A muffled crunch comes from upstairs. You all look up. The gator doesn’t seem to notice.

Floorboards creak. There’s a voice. You can’t quite make it out, but they sound startled. You want to call out a warning, but it’s too late. The gunshot makes everyone flinch, even the big gator. Something thuds to the floor overhead.

More footsteps.

“Down here!” Vicky calls out. The gator turns its dead eyes back toward her. “Oh, fuck you,” she tells it.

“Don’t yell at it,” Joey snaps.

The basement door opens and the stairs squeak. You recognize Deputy Connell’s shoes before the rest of her beige uniform comes into view. She’s holding a substantial revolver in both hands and wearing an expression of caution. She’s not even sweating.

The big gator turns toward her. Unimpressed, she lifts the gun and pulls back the hammer with an ominous click.

“Sorry, buddy.”

You cover your ears, but the gunshot in the basement still leaves your head hurting and a ringing in your brain. The giant gator slumps over.

Connell lowers the gun with a sigh, looking truly regretful. She tucks the revolver into her belt because her holster already has a pistol in it. This must be her designated gator gun. Does she really have to deal with gators often enough that she needs a whole gun for it? Well, it worked. One shot and the big guy was done for. Someone could probably make a lot of boots and handbags out of him.

“Doesn’t feel good to kill a majestic animal like that your sorry asses,” Connell says, walking up to the cage.

Vicky is stony and Joey’s face is white.

“Hey, Joey,” Connell says.

Joey seethes.

“Your mama’s looking for you,” Connell adds.

“If you give me to Z, she’ll kill me,” Joey tells her frankly.

“If I don’t, I won’t get paid.” Connell shrugs. The candor is nice, but the subtext isn’t. The police in Gurlberg like Stark and Chief Ellen are assholes and they aren’t afraid to bend rules. But they aren’t blatantly on the payroll of **** dealers. Even if the Free Gurls wanted to bribe them, Gurlberg PD wouldn’t be interested. For better or worse, Gurlberg PD has principles.

It looks like Connell doesn’t have anything like that weighing her down.

She passes handcuffs through the bars so that Vicky and Joey can cuff themselves.

You keep still and hold your breath. She hasn’t noticed you yet.