Page 153 of A Dead End Wedding

"What?" My eyes flew open. It was Daisy!

I grabbed her and rained kisses on her furry little head. "Mr. Ellison! It's her! It's her! The alligator didn't get her!"

He jumped out of his chair and squatted down next to us. "You brave little puppy! Where did you go? Hiding under the couch, I bet! Didn't I tell you that this was the smartest dog in the world?"

He rubbed her head, and I tickled her tummy. Then we did a sort of snuffly group hug right there on the floor. Naturally, that's when the guy in charge of the alligator people walked back into my office.

Too emotionally drained to be embarrassed, I simply handed Daisy to Mr. Ellison and stood up, scrubbing at my face. Good thing I'd gone with no mascara, or I'd have looked like a tall, blonde raccoon.

"I see you found your dog. That's great, ma'am. Can you tell me how an alligator got in your office?"

I blinked. "You're kidding, right? How the heck would I know how somebody got a ten-foot alligator in my office? That thing must have weighed a thousand pounds," I said. "Wouldn't somebodynoticesomething like that?"

The man grinned. "Well, actually, she was around five feet, and maybe five hundred pounds, but still pretty damn big to sneak in under a body's hat, ma'am."

I looked at him, dazed, and said the first thing that popped into my mind (this is never a good idea). "Why in the world would you want to work at a job like this?"

He looked startled, and then he laughed. "For the chance to rescue beautiful damsels in distress like you, ma'am."

"Call me December," I said. I had to admire a man who could flirt with danger —and then flirt with me — all in the space of thirty minutes.

Why is it I only attract lunatics these days?

Speaking of lunatics, the door swung open and Jake stood in the doorway, scanning the room. "What in the hell did you do now?" he asked, shaking his head and smiling.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the alligator guy. "Thank you so very much. If you find out anything – anything at all – about how it got in here, will you please let me know?"

As we walked over to the door, I scooped my purse up off the floor and dug for a business card to give him. "Please call me if you can figure out who put this amphibian in my office."

Jake ambled over. "Reptile."

"What?"

"Alligators are reptiles," he said, putting an arm around my shoulder.

The alligator guy's eyes narrowed a little, then he grinned. "Oh, it's like that, huh? Well, I guess I'll keep that lunch invitation to myself, December. Nice to meet you, anyway."

I shook Jake's arm off my shoulders, rolling my eyes at the testosterone in the room, then peered out the front door, to where the animal handlers had already wrangled the monster up into a crate in the back of a big truck. "It's nice to meet you, too. I hope you won't be offended if I admit I hope I don't need your professional services again," I said, smiling weakly.

"Nope. I get that a lot. We'll take this big girl on down to St. Augustine, to the alligator farm there. The curator will know what to do with her," he said.

"I'm glad somebody will," I said. "Thank you again."

As the alligator truck drove off, a tired-looking brown sedan drove up and pulled into the parking space next to Jake's black Mustang. Lieutenant Connors climbed out, notebook in hand. "I hear you've got a pest problem?" he said.

My shoulders slumped. "You have no idea."

Ispent half an hour with the lieutenant, but other than the rather obscure connection I mentioned between the sinus stalker who asked how to spell Claritin and the fact that Yankee was misspelled (which neither Connors nor Jake took seriously), I hadn't a clue.

Suddenly, I looked at Jake. "The security cameras! You said you put cameras in!"

He looked grim. "I did. That's why I'm here. Wrench reported the camera feed went down just after six this morning. Since I knew you were home safe in bed, I didn't rush right over to check it out. So this is really my fault."

I shook my head. "No, it's not your fault. Except – hey! What do you mean you knew I was safe in bed? Are you spying on me, too?"

He ignored me and walked over to sit down next to Mr. Ellison. They started talking in low tones. I was pleased that Mr. Ellison looked better. He had a little pink back in his cheeks. He was still clutching poor Daisy as if her life depended on it. He nodded at something Jake said, then pulled the thin pink leash out of his pocket, snapped it on Daisy's collar, and headed outside. Daisy growled at the carpet, snuffling everywhere, all the way across the floor.

"I'm gonna take the miracle pup here outside for a potty break," he said. "Then I'd appreciate a ride. Don't much feel like driving."

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