Julep`s icy rage wasn`t something Lucy enjoyed being around.

　　Jerry stood by her, and together they watched as the alien bodyguard stomped about in the small confines of the police station`s interrogation room. He didn`t yell or shake his fist, but his thick tail flicked behind him violently enough to topple over a chair.

　　Fear flooded her as it crashed to the ground, and she was glad she wasn`t carrying a weapon. The last thing she wanted was to be perceived as a threat.

　　"So they took her back?" Jerry asked as he leaned back against the wall.

　　Lucy didn`t know where he got the confidence, but she tried to fake it when Julep turned toward them. The crocodilian man towered above them, and when his mouth opened, she noticed exactly how sharp the teeth appeared to be.

　　"They did. Idiots." He snorted and picked up the chair. "Idiots."

　　Jerry nodded. "Will she be coming back?"

　　"I do not know. My guess would be no."

　　"And they won`t send the nukes down?"

　　Lucy watched with relief as Julep shook his head, his large shoulder slumping as he sat himself down. He looked at his hands, clenching them into fists.

　　"I," Julep started, then he paused. "No. They won`t. They would not have bothered bringing her back if that plan went through."

　　A shiver filled Lucy at those words, and she rubbed at her arms before asking her own question. She hated how her voice shook.

　　"What is likely to happen? Will we be able to get these people out?"

　　"Perhaps. Though I would do so soon." He looked up at her. "She would want me to help you, I think."

　　Lucy smiled. "I hope so. No one`s going to say boo to you. Are you going to be alright, though?"

　　"Yes," Julep said, before falling quiet.

　　Jerry smiled and stood up, as though ready to get to work. "In that case, we have an evacuation to plan. Do we have vehicles?"

　　"We do. Some of Peter`s friends are going to help, and most who arrived did so with some transportation of their own. None of the networks are budging, but we—"

　　A loud thud interrupted her, followed by footsteps, and soon the younger officer was opening her door.

　　"Sorry to bother you, ma`am." His voice cracked on the last word. "We have a sighting in person. They want to speak to you?"

　　Lucy resisted the urge to snap that she was busy and to have someone else deal with it. If she did, they`d go to Jeff, who`d simply put them off and then make it her problem at a later date. No, she`d deal with it now. That didn`t mean she had to leave immediately.

　　"Tell them to wait and that I`m with people. I`ll be out momentarily." She kept her voice calm, and the younger officer nodded and darted off.

　　"I have to say, lass, you`re getting better at this," Jerry remarked.

　　Lucy felt her cheek redden. "Thank you. As I was saying, we have enough cars. Most of the tourists are leaving, as are some of the smaller journalists. I doubt we`ll get everyone gone."

　　"It was never going to happen, but I`ll make a start." Jerry said as he nodded and moved towards the door.

　　She beat him to it. "I`ll head out first and see about this so-called sighting. Take Julep with you. I have a feeling he knows how to make people listen."

　　"I do indeed," Julep agreed.

　　"Excellent. In that case, perhaps wait in here for a minute? There`s no point scaring off a potential source."

　　Jerry and Julep both nodded, and she turned and walked out of the door into the hall. Few people filled the reception area at the police station, and so she could easily find the people she was supposed to meet. To her surprise, it was the tourist family with the young daughter. The father moved towards her, with the wife and daughter trailing behind.

　　"Are you the one we talk to about that beast?" The man asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

　　Lucy smiled and gave them each a small nod. From the corner of her eye, she could see Petter hanging back near the door as Jeff shuffled papers at her old desk.

　　"I am," she agreed. "The officer said you had news?"

　　The little girl almost bounced up and down, and though there were tear streaks on her face, she was beaming. "We saw it!"

　　"Hush, Jessie," the mother said, but the little girl appeared determined to continue.

　　"But we did! There was a croc, and then he was there attacking it!" She held her hands up and then mimed, scratching at the air. "The big croc almost ate me, but he saved me."

　　"He saved you?" Lucy asked, doing her best to keep her voice gentle, even as she looked at the parents for confirmation.

　　The girl`s mother nodded, her long black hair swinging behind her. "He attacked it when it tried to grab my daughter. I don`t know if he was trying to save her—"

　　"—He was!" Jessie said as she stamped her foot. "He was being a hero. Like Lassie."

　　"Sure, hun, just like Lassie," her father said with a smile, though Lucy didn`t miss the eye roll as the younger girl turned away.

　　"So you`re saying you saw it? Did it approach you?" Lucy asked, keeping her voice low as Jessie argued with her mother.

　　"No. I was back at the car, grabbing something for the picnic, and Marigold came running towards me with Jessie. Apparently, both creatures sank and didn`t come back up. I didn`t exactly decide sticking around to investigate was a good idea."If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

　　"I understand." Lucy did too; with what she knew, she wouldn`t have stuck around either.

　　However, the news caused some issues, the main one being that the ambassador`s pet had potentially been eaten by a crocodile, or at least died trying to eat it. If so, what should she tell Lecorondia once she returned? A simple Sorry about your pet` didn`t seem adequate to convey the idea.

　　"We saw people packing up," the man said. "Is there a reason?"

　　That gave her pause, and she sighed as she glanced towards Jessie. "Yes. There was an announcement earlier about an injury. We recommend everyone leave for their own safety until we`ve resolved the situation."

　　From the way he glanced at his daughter and reached back to clutch her hand, it was clear he understood.

　　"Will we be safe leaving?" He asked.

　　"We`re leaving?" Jessie sounded genuinely heartbroken at the mere suggestion.

　　Lucy nodded. "Yes, we intend to send people out in groups. You have your own vehicle, and there will be guards with you."

　　"When?" He asked, ignoring Jessie as she tugged more insistently on his hand.

　　"Today, as soon as we can manage it. I`m still waiting for some information on flights, but the airport isn`t truly equipped for this many people."

　　"Please, let us know." The father nodded. "Come on, Jessie. We need to get our tent packed up. You can tell the Smiths about our adventure."

　　She watched them leave with a smile on her face and turned to catch Jerry and Julep in the hall.

　　"How much of that did you overhear?"

　　"Most of it," Jerry admitted.

　　Julep snorted. "What is this crocodile thing he tangled with?"

　　"You, but smaller!" Jerry laughed as he slapped Julep on the shoulder. "Think he could survive it?"

　　"If he cannot, then she was overcharged."

　　Lucy stared at the bodyguard, unsure if he was joking or not, before deciding that it didn`t matter. With a sigh, she shook her head and strode over to where Jeff sat. His head was down as he fumbled through a collection of paperwork.

　　She rapped at the desk.

　　"Hey Jeff, you got an agreement out of those friends of yours, right?"

　　"Uhh, about that..." He trailed off, and she sighed.

　　While all the alien hunters and gun-toting idiots had agreed to not disturb people who wanted to flee the scene, there had been one major sticking point: could they shoot to kill? She`d left Jeff in charge of that one. They seemed to respect him more than her, to a degree.

　　"Yes or no?" Lucy demanded.

　　Jeff ran a hand through his hair. "Well. They think it`s become so dangerous that they don`t have a choice. Some groups will listen, but not all."

　　As he spoke, she heard gunfire. When she turned to stare out the window, she could see them shooting into the air amidst cheering.

　　"Jeff. I have to call Bob about the planes. Get that sorted. Jerry, Julep—"

　　"Transport," Jerry said. "On it."

　　With a sigh, she flipped her phone out of her pocket and moved towards the interrogation room. It was time to call her boss.

　　***

　　A line of cars stretched away from the town, each moving off into the distance.

　　The sight warmed her heart, and she was thankful so many of the civilians had begun packing. It had taken longer than she wished to get Bob to agree to financing everyone`s trips out, but the backing of the government helped. After all, it wouldn`t be a good look to strand people after declaring the place a hot zone.

　　At the sounds of gunfire, her joyous mood ended. That would be the people she was truly out here to see. They called themselves Alpha Squad, and they were the only ones who refused to deal with Jeff. He`d come crawling to her, and now, with Julep at her side, she was supposed to meet with them in person.

　　The walk to their tents wasn`t long, and thanks to Julep, no one bothered her on the way. Her first thought upon seeing them was meatheads. All were muscled, bald, and playing with some kind of firearm. Upon seeing her, they each smiled, and she wanted to wretch.

　　"Hey, babe, what do you need?" One of them said, and to her disbelief, he flexed his biceps.

　　Laughter spread from all around him, and she forced herself to stay professional. She reminded herself that Julep could handle almost anyone here if he needed to.

　　With as much confidence as she could project, she nodded to them. "I need you to confirm you`re not going to try to murder our alien target."

　　"Dude needs to get put in the ground." This came from a guy who looked like a college kid wearing a singlet. "He killed Mark."

　　"Mark attacked him, and we told him not to," Lucy pointed out, though she knew they wouldn`t listen.

　　The college kid snorted. "Nah, he was doing his job. Beast`s a psycho. Why do you care anyway? Come hang with us; we can take your mind off it."

　　"No, thank you."

　　"Aww what? Do you think your alien boyfriend`s going to be better at it then us?" The college kid jerked his head towards Julep, who didn`t react.

　　Laughter sprang up from around the camp again, and she sighed. This was getting her nowhere, and she cursed Jeff for not being enough to handle this.

　　"Look. I just need to know that if he turns up, you`re not going to kill him. We don`t want to upset the ambassador."

　　He sneered. "Yeah? And who`s going to stop us? We`re here to protect people, not like you and your posers."

　　From the corner of her eye, she watched as Julep moved a few steps forward. He towered above the sitting man, staring down at him with a neutral expression.

　　His words came out in a growl that Lucy figured would fit a dragon in a fantasy movie. "You will not touch my employer`s property. Do you understand?"

　　"Big man," The college kid stood up and found Julep still looming over him. "What are you going to do about it?"

　　"Tell me, do you have contests of strength here?" Julep asked.

　　"Yeah. What about them?"

　　His voice had changed, turning into the quieter tone he`d used when she`d first met him. "If I beat you, will you keep your word?"

　　"Do it!" One man jeered.

　　Another called out after the first. "Arm wrestle!"

　　"Arm wrestle!"

　　"Do it!"

　　The entire group erupted into shouts, but Lucy kept her eyes trained on the man she`d been speaking to. He looked nervous, but she knew he needed another nudge. So she took a page out of Lecorondia`s book and sent a smile his way.

　　"It`s not regulation, but I can trust you to follow through, right?" She pitched her voice to be heard over the cheers, and the frat boy`s eyes went wide.

　　"Yeah, I`m no coward. Let`s do this." His tone was confident, but his nerves shone through as he glaced at Julep.

　　Lucy resisted the urge to laugh as she watched the men clear a space as the frat boy stretched. She moved closer to Julep and whispered in his ear, making sure none of this group overheard her.

　　"Don`t tear his arm off or anything."

　　Julep snorted in response, and she backed off as the two came together. She watched as the aliens` green-scaled hand clasped the human one. One of her friends held up a hand and dropped it.

　　"Begin!"

　　Frat Boy cried out as his hand smashed into the dirt. Julep held him there, his reptilian eyes locked on the crowd.

　　"Our agreement stands, correct?" He asked in a whisper.

　　"Y-yeah mean. Yeah." The first guy to speak to her said, "Sure."

　　Julep let the man`s hand go and stood. "Good. Come now; we have other matters to attend to."

　　"Thank you all for your cooperation. If you find him, please call me."

　　As she walked back into the town, her good moods lifted, and she waved at Peter, who stood near a series of cars filled with Larpers and other geeks. Upon seeing her, they ran over, one with a phone in their hand.

　　"Hey Lucy, good news. We found Erodicilee!"

　　Relief flooded her as she looked towards Julep, who showed no genuine emotion. However, she felt great. Perhaps she wouldn`t have to share bad news after all.

　　"Tell me everything," she said as she led the man with the phone inside.