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“Yeah, you said you didn’t feel good. Why you standing here looking out at the river?”

“I wanted to check on the slides you said you found.”

“For what?”

“Just to see how big the gator might be.”

“Don’t suppose you’re hoping it’s your gator?” he said.

Hellen gave him side-eye, only partially meeting his gaze. “I don’t have a gator.”

“Apparently, there’s a rumor that you did, and that you lost it.”

“I didn’t lose him.”

“So, you did have a gator?”

“No, I didn’t. I found a gator that had been left for dead. I tried to save it.”

“Did you?”

“I don’t know. I left him food and water and even my service weapon for protection when I answered your call about Emmalyn. But when I got back, he was gone.”

“He?”

“I mean, I guess it was he. He might have been a female. But he was big, so I just assumed,” she lied.

Brandt just watched her, knowing full well she was lying to him about the gator not being a male. “You are aware that gators, be they male or female, don’t usually have the capability to fire a weapon…”

Hellen shot him a ‘kiss-my-ass’ glare.

“Sorry, you were saying…” Brandt said, knowing he’d made his point. He was more than aware that this gator, if it was the same one, wasn’t just a gator. And now Hellen knew he knew.

“I just feel bad, you know? Maybe if I’d have stayed, he’d have gotten healthy and been able to have a semi-productive life.”

“He might have. He might have recovered and gone off on his own. That is what the big ones do usually, go off on their own, don’t they?”

“Sometimes. But I doubt this one did.”

“Why?”

“Someone had shot him three or four times. Once through the skull, taking his eye with it. He was full of slices, or gouges might be a better description, across his body and tail, too. Like a propeller had cut him up.”

“Damn, Hell. It sounds like it would have been kinder to let him die.”

“He was suffering, I’m not gonna lie. But he had a will to survive. I just hope he did.”

“I’m sure whatever happened, he knew you were trying to help him.”

“Maybe. He was surly. I’m pretty sure all he really wanted was me to go away,” she said, smiling sadly.

“I’m sure if they came back for him, if he was able, he would have used your weapon. It was about all you could do if he was refusing your help.”

“I suppose,” she near-whispered.

They stood there quietly for several minutes looking out over the glassy surface of the dark water.

“It’s clear whatever gator it was that left these marks on our riverbank, he’s not here tonight. Water’s like a mirror.”

“I was thinking the same thing when you got here.”

“Let me get you home. No reason for you to be alone out here in the dark.”

Hellen laughed. “Have you forgotten what I am? What we all are?”

“I’m trying to be a gentleman here, Hell. Humor me.”

Hellen was still chuckling when she allowed Brandt to drape his arm over her shoulder and turn her away from the river. As they walked away, she leaned her head against his shoulder and lifted her arm to hug his waist from behind. “Thanks, Brandt.”

“For what?”

“Coming out here to make sure I’m okay. I feel… separate, a lot lately.”

“Naw, you’re not separate. And even if you were, you’ll always have me.”

“I know.”

They were almost too far from the water’s edge for the voices to even carry back to it clearly when Hellen raised her head to look up at Brandt. “Promise me you won’t kill it?”

“I have no intention of killing it, Hell.”

“Yeah, but if it becomes a nuisance, don’t kill it. If it can’t shift, let me trap it and we’ll relocate it instead.”

“As long as it doesn’t attack and give us no choice, we can relocate it if we have to. Hopefully, it just goes away and doesn’t stay where it doesn’t belong.”

~~~

About 100 yards from the river bank, the almost prehistoric outline of a very large reptile’s head just barely broke the surface, carefully remaining hidden among the reeds and river grasses along the far edges.

The creature had surfaced when it had detected the female at the water’s edge, inspecting the evidence that he’d intentionally left behind to try to lure her out if she was actually here.

He’d remained perfectly still, listening to her voice.

Analyzing her words for truths. And he’d almost come out of the water to rip apart the male that had dared to touch her.

It was a dangerous thing when a male put his hands on a female that belonged to another.

Didn’t matter if that other wanted her or not.

Because he certainly didn’t want the bothersome female, in fact he had wanted her to go away while she’d tried to help him.

But now that he was thinking more clearly, he found he had wants.

He wanted to find out if the female had seen who attacked him and if so for her to identify them.

But he especially wanted to find out why she’d bothered to save him, to just abandon him to die or not, alone.

She had no idea how hard it had been for him to track her, especially since she didn’t use the waterways to travel like he did.

And it made him angry as hell that she’d put him through that.

But he needed those answers, and she was the only one who could give him the information.

He filled his lungs with air once more, at least as much as he could despite the pain that he still experienced from the fresh scars on and inside his body, and settled in to wait until much later to try to shift into his other form to track down the female.

Hopefully he’d be successful this time. The last time he’d tried, the pain had been unbearable and he’d decided to allow his beast to control things for a while.

Either way, she couldn’t be far, since they’d walked away, rather than driving.

Hopefully, this time it would work and he’d be confronting her soon.