High Tide Read Free Page B

a man with his arm being eaten off by an enormous alligator. As the alligator started to thrash its tail, then move its head from side to side, the man shouted something incomprehensible as he tried to free himself from the attacking reptile.
    In school Fiona had been the girl with the fastest reaction time in any game, whether it was soccer or pickup sticks, and now she lost no time. Next to her was a woman with anairport luggage cart, and on top of it was a pink bowling ball bag with the name
Dixie
embroidered on it.
    Without a thought, Fiona picked up the bag and threw it with all her might at the midsection of the alligator.
    She wasn’t prepared for what happened next. The alligator exploded! It didn’t open its mouth and release its victim. Instead, there was a terrific noise, then the whole nasty green thing seemed to fly into thousands of pieces that went flying around the airport.
    While Fiona stood there in stunned silence, the rest of the people in the airport seemed to go crazy. Instantly there was screaming and shouts of, “Bomb, bomb!”; then sirens went off and people started running.
    Unmoving, still not understanding what had happened, Fiona removed her sunglasses and looked at what she thought had been an alligator. A man came toward her and there seemed to be a double row of teeth attached to his upper arm. Her eyes were on the oddity of the teeth, but when she looked up at the man to ask why he was wearing teeth, she saw that he was furious and he was coming after
her
.
    Instinctively, Fiona took a step backward, whereupon she tripped over the luggage cart of the woman who had had the bowling ball bag. But now the woman was gone, probably to join all the many people who were screaming and running frantically for the exits.
    â€œLady, I’m going to kill you,” the man said as his hands made for Fiona’s neck.
    But the alligator teeth, and what looked to be a detached eyeball, slipped down his hands so that both teeth and murderoushands were coming for her throat. Fiona opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out.
    But then, just before the man reached her, two security guards and a boy with red hair grabbed the man, teeth and all, and pulled him away.
    â€œThank you so much,” Fiona said when a third and fourth security guard helped her to stand up. “That man should be locked away. He’s a danger to society, and if you don’t—Wait a minute! What do you think you’re doing?”
    The guard was pulling Fiona’s hands behind her back and snapping handcuffs on her wrists. “We’re holding you for the police, that’s what. The man says you’re the one that threw the bomb.” She could hardly hear him over the cacophony of the people in the airport, running every which way, screaming names of people they couldn’t find.
    â€œBomb?” she shouted. “I threw a bowling ball bag at an alligator that was eating a man’s arm.”
    â€œYeah, right,” one of the guards said. “We got alligators crawling all over the airports here in Fort Lauderdale. It entertains the tourists to no end.”
    â€œBut you can ask—”
    â€œSave it for the police,” the second guard said as the two of them pulled her toward the exit door.
    â€œWhat about my luggage? You have to call my boss in New York. He can—”
    â€œAh. New York,” the first guard said as though that explained everything.
    Before Fiona could say another word, she was pulled along by the men and led to a car marked Airport Security. Just like on TV, the man shielded her head from gettingbanged on the top of the doorframe as he forcibly helped her inside the car.

    Shaking with fatigue, Fiona sat down on the dirty bedspread and looked at the telephone on the cheap, battered bedside cabinet. The beautiful hotel where she was supposed to stay had canceled her reservation when she didn’t show up before six. At first