“So, you’re in town because of a murder?” Loretta said, leaning forward, waiting for the last of their table’s plates to be laid down.
“Mrs. Oster...” Robert began.
“I’m suddenly Mrs. Oster again, Robert?” she queried. “I was Loretta before! You’ve been out of school a long time, young man.”
“We’re at a fundraiser. He doesn’t want to talk shop,” Robert said.
“Frank Peters and I still take kids out there once a year,” Loretta said, looking back at Axel. “We need to know the dangers.”
“The dangers are always there,” Axel said. He shrugged. “Maybe now more than ever. The estimation is that we have about sixty thousand pythons and boas out there. Certainly dangerous to small pets and children.”
“True, but we have guides that are extremely careful and who know all about snakes and gators and critters,” Loretta said.
She sat back. She was a slightly chubby woman with a round face that fit her. She was, he imagined, a little too old to be termed cute, but she was. Short, puffy black hair, rosy cheeks and that comfortable...roundness about her.
Everyone and anyone was a suspect at the moment. And she was interested. That in itself meant nothing. People tended to be curious. They followed police and forensic shows. Sometimes a little knowledge was good, but sometimes a little knowledge without background and truth wasn’t so good. But interest seemed to be universal.
“You’ve been going out there every year for years, right?” he asked her.
“Frank and I both. We volunteered about fifteen years ago and we’ve been chaperoning ever since. I love the Everglades. I go walking out at Shark Valley and I like stopping at the ranger stations. When it comes to critters, rangers and guides know all about them. People murdering people...that’s scary.”
“Yes, it is. It has been happening as long as anyone can remember,” Jeremy said. “We’ve had a lot of killing out there. To this day, there are miles and miles of wetlands, hardwood hammocks, muck, grass and trees. All places where people might be alone with other people, and where they might commit unspeakable acts.” He smiled again. They were all staring at him uncomfortably. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it. Just an observation.”
Loretta frowned. “Well, we all sit with the notion that killing is wrong. But what about the justice system? Sometimes horrible people aren’t punished, and then maybe a family member decides to punish them. Then, say, they committed murder. But is it murder if it’s justice?”
“Loretta, I’m sworn to uphold the law,” Axel said. “Vigilante justice and mob rule can be just as frightening. That’s why we have laws.”
“But the court system doesn’t always work,” Loretta argued.
“We still honor the law,” Jeremy said. “And yes, sometimes the law fails. But the law hopefully protects us all, sees us all equally.”
“If only!” Lucia said. “I’ve heard that punishments aren’t exactly equal when it comes to many things.”
“I work with competent people who see every man and woman as equal when it comes to justice. I vote like everyone else. I state my opinion. And I work with people who put their own lives on the line to find the truth. No, we aren’t judge and jury.”
“And this is supposed to be a lovely social occasion—not grill Special Agent Tiger night,” Larry Stillwater said, speaking up again.
“We have an FBI guy at our table. I’m just asking. And you were curious, too,” Loretta said.
“Anywhere you have a landscape where people can hide bodies, you have a problem. I know a Cheyenne up in Wyoming who is with the tribal police and on good terms with his county sheriff, too. They have acres of hills and cliffs and caves, and they wind up with bodies far too often, as well,” Jeremy told them.
“I just wish I knew more,” Loretta said.
“Everything we know now has been on the news,” Axel told her. It wasn’t far from the truth.
“But could we be more careful, or perhaps—”
“Hey!” Robert announced. “Raina is coming out.”
Lucia turned her chair around to face the stage.
Axel watched as Raina walked out, accompanied by Titan. She introduced herself and the dog, asking Titan to say hello. The dog barked.
Typical.
But then the two of them together did much more. She’d give him a number, and he’d tap it out with a paw. She asked him if he was feeling relaxed, and he rolled onto his back. She reminded him they were in front of a large crowd, and he sat up straight. She