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By the tial Plantation, it was already late afternoon The officer had brought the shotgun over to Beau to Toby Toby’s little bayou-crossing alual side of the water as well; he had never ht before

Jake described his lastinforiven Jackson to Mack Colby

"Where the hell does the reporter woh-heeled type out by the bayou--makes no sense!" Mack said

"She was lured," Jake said slowly "So what Ashley had told hihtened; she’d been up a tree And she had seen someone below her Toby--they had all assu and becaroup There hadn’t been much for the wo frenzy and shot at the alligators to get the creatures away from the bodies Not even Colby had seen a reason to er with the corpses

Back at the house, he quickly sought out Ashley--even before heading to the shower

Ashley, however, was showing her ela, going over everything that had happened on the day of the reenactment When Jake and Jackson caravely

"I’hbor and a friend," Jake said

Ashley nodded "And I’m sorry about your friend The reporter--I didn’t know her"

"Well, I’m sorry, too, but eren’t actually friends She was in ela were both there, and Jake held his reserve But he asked softly, "Are you all right?"

"I’ to destroy all of us," Ashley said

Her eyes were level with his She was just fine She hadn’t lost her cool for a ela was a crack shot, he had depended on Ashley; she knew the terrain and the ancient beasts better than anyone

She was going to do all right

Jake gri to shower," he said

"This certainly sounds strange after…today," Ashley said "But…it’s aletarian pasta dish, Beth decided"

Jake nodded and left the roo upstairs

He was surprised, yet not really, when Ashley appeared ten minutes later; she slipped into the shower behind hiainst his back He set his hands on hers, and they listened to the beat of the water and felt the steam around them for a minute Then he turned and took her into his arms

He kissed her; they touched and kissed in the hard spray for a long time

"Is this horrible?" she whispered

"No It’s life-affir," he replied

Theyin the heat and stea up on the softness of the bed, entwined in one another’s arms

When they were done, her eyes were closed, and he leaned on an elbow looking down at her She saze

Her eyes opened

"You used to do that all the ti, you know"

He kissed her lips lightly "I used to watch you and wonder that you ithup at the ceiling "That’s crazy It was a wonder that you ith me"

"You were the one who ended it"

"I was…scared"

"Of me?"

"Of what you seemed to know," she said

He pulled her to hied"

"But so aboutto be time to eat, and as awful as it seerowl fiercely"

He nodded "It’s just biology"

She reached for her jeans, closing her eyes briefly He could clearly iine the pictures in her mind; he had seen them, too

She looked at him and tried to smile "Get up! They’ll all knohere we are and e’re doing, but I’d just as soon they don’t have to co

"Caht of that aspect