The air was cooling down, and a gentle breeze was flowing in from the Gulf. Piper spread her towel on the sand and adjusted the top of her bikini. As she stuck her foot in the water, she wondered if she really wanted to take a swim after all.
Then she thought of that Katharine Hepburn bio she’d read. Apparently Hepburn really enjoyed swimming in frigid temperatures almost daily. She also took cold baths at night.
If Kate could take the Long Island Sound in March, I can do the Gulf of Mexico in February, Piper thought.
Bracing herself, she made her way into the surf. She inhaled deeply and dove beneath an incoming wave.
The initial shock was jolting. She winced as the salt water hit the cut on her leg. But as her body quickly adjusted to the water temperature, Piper felt better. An invigorating swim was what she needed to melt away the stress of the day.
She took long strokes, swimming parallel to the beach. When she began to feel uneasy at how far she was from Whispering Sands and the possibility of anyone’s seeing her if she got into trouble, she turned around and swam back toward the inn. She kicked harder, knowing that she hadn’t exercised all week and had been eating way too much sugar.
Thoughts raced in her mind, one after another.
The Amish pies.
Levi.
Shelley.
The waitress.
Three people dead.
And an elderly woman attacked. Why? Because she knew too much?
Flipping over, Piper floated on her back, staring up at the darkening sky. Who had stuck the alligator into her bag? She tried to remember. The only time she’d been parted from the purse was at the bird show when she went down to take pictures. If the creepy toy had been placed in it then, it meant that someone with them in the park this afternoon had done it. Had someone felt that Piper needed to be scared off? Could that person be Shelley Hart’s killer?
If the alligator was supposed to be a warning of some kind, the threat was accomplishing just the opposite of what was intended. Piper got out of the water feeling emboldened and defiant. She was going to go to the Alligator Alley Bar & Grill and see what she could find out.
There was a problem, though. She needed a car but didn’t dare tell her parents her destination. They would go out of their minds.
Piper dried off, knowing exactly which person she was going to call. It surprised her.