The following morning, Hector walked back into their tent after checking on all of his traps, to find Lennon pulling on her wetsuit.
"I didn't know you were planning on diving today along with Jack and myself," he commented while he began changing into his wetsuit.
She finished zipping up her suit before she replied, "I was. Is there a problem with me going along?" she asked, confused by his reaction since she always dived alongside him during their past adventures.
Hector shook off his concerns so he could act normal, "There's no problem. I just wasn't sure you'd want to. You didn't react well to our discovery of that toe yesterday and we have no idea what remains lie below the surface," he replied as nonchalantly as he could as he finished putting on his own suit.
Lennon walked over to him before slapping her hand on his chest, unsure of this new protectiveness he was showing, "I just figured we'd do things as we've always done. And, I'll be fine today. That toe was just nasty. You have to admit that I'm right about that," she almost gagged at the memory from the previous day.
"Let's do this, then," Hector replied as he took her hand and guided her from the tent to the boat dock where Kelly, Hank, Jack, and an officer were waiting on them.
"Why do you three want to go into the water while we're trying to attract the 'crocodile'?" Hank asked once they stopped to anchor their boat, "For Hector, it makes sense but I don't think you," he looked to Jack, "or Lennon is crazy enough for this."
Hector shook his head, "Crocodiles rarely attack underwater because their vision isn't very good beneath the water's surface," he shared before Jack spoke.
"If we want to get US Wildlife Game and Patrol to come then we need confirmation we have a crocodile," Jack responded, "So, we don't really have much of a choice."
Kelly looked at her friends, old and new, "Just be careful, deal?"
Lennon replied, "Don't worry, as long as Hector's in the water, we should all be safe," she replied before she propelled herself backward into the lake.
She began swimming toward the bottom just as Jack and Hector joined her. Jack swam off in one direction while Hector and Lennon stayed relatively close to each other as they investigated the water's depths.
As Lennon reached the very bottom, she saw something that caught her attention and she moved towards it, gesturing for Hector to join her.
She neared what caught her eye and realized that it was the remains of a cow which made little to no sense since there was only one resident on the entire lake and her farm animals were fenced in.
Hector joined her at the cow remains and was equally confused by her discovery.
Before either could explore in more depth, Jack showed up in their line of sight and he was signaling for them to go back to the surface.
Jack looked panicked so Hector and Lennon both began swimming for the boat. The three board the boat with Hank's help noticing Kelly is soaked.
Before anyone could ask about what happened while they were below, the officer joining them was leaning over the side of the boat to bring up the anchor and the crocodile leaped from the water's surface and took off his head in one clean bite causing Kelly and Lennon to shriek.
"We definitely have a crocodile," Hank was able to mutter as the rest of the officer's body twitched over the boat's edge.
Hector pulled Lennon into his arms, shielding her eyes in his chest. In all of their adventures, they'd never witnessed so much death. He felt her shivering in his arms and he began rubbing his hands up and down her back to both comfort and warm her.
Hank started driving the boat back to shore, "We need to go back in and call for backup. We know what we're facing now and we definitely need more help," he stated, confidently causing the rest of the group to nod in agreement.
Once the group is back on land, Hector hasn't let Lennon out of his arms. Even while he's holding her tight against his body, he spoke to Hank.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Hector began, "I'm sure that officer was a good man."
Hank gave a small nod, "Thanks, he was a great guy. He had no family so the only positive is that I don't have to inform anyone," she shared, trying to find the silver lining among all the tragedy they'd all witnessed over the past days.
Lennon gave Hank a small smile as she stood trapped in Hector's embrace, "You are so good at staying optimistic," she complimented, "It's really impressive."
"Thank you," Hank replied, "In my line of work, you almost have to. Did you find anything interesting during your dive?" he asked, changing the subject for all of their benefits.
"Actually," Lennon replied, "We did. There were remains from a cow down there. Does that old woman who lives on the lake have farm animals?"
Hank nodded in reply, "She has a whole farm of animals on her land. She's completely self-sufficient out here. I don't think she's ever come into town. I'll take Jack out there and ask her if any of her cattle went missing," he shared his plan moving forward.
After Hank finished, he turned to leave the couple alone when his foot was caught in one of Hector's traps and he was suddenly hanging upside down from the tree just in time for Kelly and Jack to join them.
"Hank, are you alright?" Kelly asked, her tone filled with pity.
Hank didn't respond but instead chose to glare at Hector. The look in his eyes was scaring even Lennon as she maneuvered out of Hector's grasp to help Jack and Kelly get Hank down.
Hector moved slightly closer, "I'll get you down as long as you promise not to hurt me."
"I don't even want to look at you," Hank countered, his tone venomous.
Hector nodded before he gestured to Jack, Kelly, and Lennon, "Just pull him down. It's a counterweight," he said simply, always one to put a dramatic flair on a situation.
The three pulled Hank back down toward them and removed the rope from around his ankle causing him to run straight for Hector.
"I thought you said you weren't gonna hurt me!" Hector yelled as he took off.
"I lied!" Hank replied as the others followed behind pleading with the two men to stop.
Hank caught up with Hector and landed a punch straight to his face before anyone could stop either of them.
Lennon was about to race to Hector's side when a brown bear appeared between Hank and Hector, effectively ending the fight and heightening the danger at the same time.
Hector was laid out on the dirt while the bear stood over him. All Lennon could do was inhale her scream so the situation wouldn't get worse.
In a surprise turn of events, Hank yelled to the bear to distract it so Hector could start to move toward Kelly, Jack, and Lennon.
As the bear approached Hank, everyone held their breath. Out of nowhere, their crocodile leaped from the water's edge and took the bear with him in a single move.
"Hector, are you alright?" Lennon said as she was finally able to go to his side.
Hector reached up and cupped her cheek in his large hand, "I'm fine now, thanks to Hank," he glanced at Hank's way to offer an appreciative nod.
Hank hadn't seen the crocodile while they were on the boat because he was facing the wrong direction and his face now showed every bit of shock he was feeling, "Our lake has a crocodile," he tried to shake it off, "Jack, these two found the remains of a cow in the water. Do you want to accompany me on a visit to Mrs. Bickerman's?"
Jack agreed as the group started to make their way back toward camp, "We'll discuss plans on what to do with that creature this evening."