A smile slowly curved his lips. “’Cause I told her I wanted her daughter.”
“Which daughter?” Daniel asked.
“Angelique. That Angelique is mighty fine, and I intend to have her as my own one day very soon. I plan to marry that woman.”
“What did Mystique say to you when you told her that?” Daniel asked. A new tension swept through him. Was it possible he was looking at the man who had killed Mystique and attacked Angelique? Was he the person who had left that note on the door for Angelique to find?
Ranger’s smile turned into a deep frown. “She laughed at me. The bitch told me I would never be good enough for herdaughter, and that’s when I think she cursed me ’cause after that she haunted me in my dreams…very bad dreams.”
“I’m sure all that made you very angry,” Daniel said.
“Oh, it did. For sure it did.” He dropped his hand back to his side.
“Were you angry enough to slice her throat, Ranger?” Daniel asked.
“Whoa.” Ranger took a step backward. “I had nothing to do with that. You can’t pin that on me because I didn’t kill anyone, especially the witch lady. I was scared of her.”
“What about Angelique? Did you break into her shanty in an effort to hurt her or maybe kidnap her?” Daniel asked.
“Hell no.” The man was beginning to get quite agitated. He continued to dance from foot to foot, and his whole body twitched.
“I had nothing to do with that,” he said. “I would never attack Angelique or try to hurt her. She’s like a queen…a goddess on earth. When I’m ready, I intend to court her like a real gentleman. Why are you after me anyway? I catch fish and gators—that’s all I do.”
“That’s not quite true,” Daniel said. “I can smell what else you do, Ranger,” Daniel said.
Ranger narrowed his eyes once again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His body tensed up as he glared at Daniel.
“Why don’t you let us inside and show us around your shanty?” Daniel said.
“I don’t got to let you in,” Ranger countered as his body tensed up even more.
“Don’t make things difficult on yourself, Ranger. I can have a search warrant for your shanty in my hand within the next half an hour or so. Just let us in now and if you aren’t doing anything wrong, then we’ll get out of your face.”
Ranger stared at him for a long moment, and then he suddenly lunged off the porch and headed into the woods. “Stop,” Daniel cried.
“Ranger, halt or I’ll tase you,” Luke yelled.
The three men gave chase as Ranger raced just ahead of them. Bushes scratched and ripped at Daniel’s arms and more than once a tuber threatened to trip him up.
He didn’t see the gun. He didn’t see it until Ranger stopped, pulled it out of the back of his jeans and fired.
BY NINE O’CLOCKthat evening Angelique assumed Daniel wasn’t coming. It would have been nice if he’d called to let her know that, but he hadn’t.
She decided to go ahead and change into her new, forest-green nightgown. She’d thrown away the nightwear that she’d had on when she’d been attacked and had decided today that it was time for a new one. She’d made a quick stop into All That Jazz, and now it was time to change into what she’d bought.
She’d spent much of the afternoon running errands. Along with the nightgown and matching robe, she’d picked up the gasoline for her generator and a new block of ice for her cooler.
She’d also stopped in the grocery store and had picked up a few more things. She now had everything she needed to stay in her shanty for about a week without needing to go out for anything.
It had been gloomy all afternoon, and she had just gotten home from running her errands when the skies opened up and it began to rain. Even now as she got ready for bed, a steady rain beat down on the roof. It was rhythmic and soothing.
Sleep wasn’t quite ready to take her yet, so she grabbed the book she’d been working on and curled up on the sofa. She began to read back over what she’d already written.
It contained not only the recipes for some of the remedies, but also where in the swamp to find the necessary ingredients. She hadn’t been reading very long when she heard the creak of the boards on her bridge. Somebody was coming.
She got up from her sofa and grabbed the knife that she always kept near her. She assumed it was Daniel, but she certainly wasn’t taking any chances.
A knock fell on the door. “Angelique, it’s me,” his familiar voice called out.
