Dead Man's Bluff by Debbie Burke

Author:Debbie Burke [Burke, Debbie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Media Management LLC
Published: 2020-06-22T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 11 – Orange Hibiscus

After lunch, Tawny and Tillman headed back to New Port Richey and found an open gas station on the way. They waited in line for a half-hour to fill Raul’s van plus two gas cans for the generator. More traffic lights were now working and some businesses had reopened. Utility crews apparently restored power in commercial strips first then fanned out into residential areas. Smoky’s neighborhood must have been way down their list.

When they parked the van in Raul’s carport, Jessica ran out of the house, followed by her dog. Even with his paw bandaged, he trotted easily, as if yesterday’s snake bite was a distant memory.

The girl was breathless with excitement. “I gotta show you what Churro found.” She waved a scrap of cloth in front of Tawny’s face as she climbed out of the van.

The fabric looked familiar—pink with orange hibiscus.

Tawny’s heart sank. She shot a look at Tillman, striding around from the driver’s side. His narrowed eyes said he also recognized the torn material.

He took it from Jessica, his voice a low rumble like an earthquake building underground. “That’s the shirt Smoky was wearing.”

“I told you Churro caught his scent,” the girl insisted. “I knew it the way he jumped into the water to swim over to it.”

Tillman moved to the concrete picnic table and spread the ragged cloth out. Reddish-brown stains marred the shredded edges. Tawny swallowed, knowing it was blood. Mostly likely, Smoky’s.

Tillman’s voice stayed low, tightly controlled. “Where’d you find this, Jessica?”

The girl gestured toward the lake. “Same place where me and Tawny went yesterday. Where the cottonmouth bit Churro.” She looked up at Tawny. “Remember that little island?”

Tawny bit her lip, hard.

“The water’s gone down since yesterday,” Jessica said. “Today, we could walk across a little strip of mud and get to the island. This was all tangled in the roots of a tree that fell over.”

“Show us,” Tillman ordered.

The girl and dog practically bounced in anticipation of plunging back into the jungle.

Venturing into the swamp again filled Tawny with dread. “Wait, we should have a weapon.”

Tillman retrieved the pistol from the T-bird’s glove box.

Tawny bent low to Jessica’s eager face. “Be very careful. If Churro gets bitten by another snake, he could die.”

Tillman added, “And if you get bitten by a snake, your dad will kill me.”

Guilt tinged the girl’s smile, an acknowledgment of her mistakes the day before.

She led them on a different route, even more overgrown with vines that tangled around their shins. They twisted and turned through tree roots and cypress knees. Strings of Spanish moss brushed Tawny’s face, making her skin itch. She stepped over a fallen log and, without warning, sank knee-deep in stinking slime. “Dammit.”

Tillman offered a hand and pulled her out of the bog.

Churro darted ahead and Jessica sprinted after him, both disappearing into the thicket.

“Jessica!” Tawny called. “Slow down. Wait for us.”

The girl ignored her.

“She’s OK,” Tillman said. “Raul told me she’s been running around the swamp since she was a toddler.

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