She must have fallen asleep for she jerked awake suddenly. Instantly a surge of adrenaline coursed through her. She grabbed her knife from beneath her pillow and then sat up and listened.
Had her attacker come back? Was Angelique no longer alone in the shanty? Her heart beat frantically. From the moonlight drifting in the window, she could see there was nothing amiss in her bedroom.
But what about the rest of the house? Had her attacker somehow found a way in? There was still wood in the windowthat had been broken before, so an intruder could no longer break the glass and get to the door lock. She slowly slid out of the bed. On shaking legs, she moved to the bedroom doorway.
She hadn’t heard anything, but something had awakened her. Drawing a deep breath, she twirled out of the bedroom and into the living room.
It was darker there, but she saw nothing to give her pause. She then moved into the kitchen and there was nobody there, either. She checked her mother’s room and the smaller room and there was nobody there…nobody anywhere.
She went back into the living room and turned on the lanterns that would light up the room. She then sank down on the sofa and released a deep tremulous sigh.
It must have been a dream that had awakened her in such a state. Another attack was always on her mind. Thank goodness, tonight it had been a false alarm.
She didn’t know how long she sat on the sofa, but eventually she got up and went back into her bedroom. She kept all the lanterns lit, including the one on her nightstand.
She finally fell asleep with thoughts of being wrapped in Daniel’s arms.
Chapter Eleven
Early on Wednesday morning Daniel sat at his desk and sipped his coffee as a million thoughts whirled through his head. It had been four days since he’d told Angelique that he was in love with her…four long days since she’d broken his heart into a million pieces by not loving him back.
During those four days, he and his officers had worked the cases with no further information to lead them to the killer and Angelique’s attacker. They had reinterviewed people and spoke again to individuals they knew had visited Mystique for one reason or another.
Even though he believed Pierre was still the most likely suspect, that didn’t mean he stopped the investigation. They had brought in a lot of the other gator hunters to see if Pierre might have confessed to one of them, but nobody had heard any kind of a confession from Mystique’s off-again, on-again lover.
In the quiet moments of his days, his thoughts filled with Angelique. His heart positively ached with his love for her. He’d heard the songs about heartbreak and unrequited love, but he’d never felt the utter despair of those emotions until now.
At eight o’clock that morning when Luke and Clay arrived for work, he led them back to the murder room. “I want us to start at the beginning and go through each and every report and interview to see if we’ve somehow missed something,” he explained.
The three of them settled at the round table in the room. “Clay, why don’t you go through the crime scene informationand Luke, you can start by reading the interviews. If you find anything that sounds off, or if we failed to follow up on things, let me know. We’ll keep a list of anything that needs to be checked further.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Clay said and Luke agreed.
More than anything Daniel wanted to find the killer. If she refused to accept his love, he could at least give her peace of mind by giving her the killer’s name.
The three of them worked until eleven, and then they decided to go to the café for their lunch break. “So far, I feel like our investigation has been pretty solid,” Luke said once they were in Daniel’s car.
“We still have quite a bit to get through,” Daniel replied.
“I’m hoping something will stand out…something we haven’t considered before.”
“It’s a crummy day out,” Clay observed.
The clouds overhead were thick and gray, causing a gloomy overcast that reflected Daniel’s mood. “Yeah, I heard we’re supposed to get some rain later,” Luke said.
“Maybe the rain will dissipate some of the heavy humidity and heat,” Daniel replied. It was safe to talk about the weather. He hadn’t told Clay or Luke what was going on in his personal life. They had no idea their boss was sporting a huge broken heart.
They reached the café, where he parked, and the three of them got out of the car. Once inside they found an empty booth and sat down.
Luke grabbed a menu. “I don’t know why, but I’m starving today.”
“Yeah, me too,” Clay replied.
Daniel had no real appetite. He hadn’t had one since last Saturday night. “Good afternoon, gentlemen.” Dominiqueappeared at their booth. The sight of her caused an aching pain to squeeze his chest. She looked so much like her older sister.
“What can I get for you all today?” she asked.
Luke ordered the meat loaf special, Clay ordered the fried fish platter and Daniel ordered a bacon cheeseburger. They all ordered sodas.
