“I never liked that woman,” Monique added. “So, we can’t see Angelique tonight?”
“The doctor has said no visitors for the night, but I’m sure you’ll be able to see her first thing in the morning,” he replied. “When I called you both to let you know what had happened, I didn’t know you wouldn’t be able to see her.”
“We just appreciate you calling us,” Dominique replied. Her eyes also shimmered with a hint of tears. “Thank you for saving her, Daniel.”
“We love her so much,” Monique said.
“I… I love her, too. That’s why I went to the shanty this evening…to tell her again how much I love her,” he confessed.
He cleared his throat, surprised by the wealth of emotion that suddenly threatened to overtake him. “Anyway, I’m just on my way back to the shanty to clear it since it’s a crime scene again.”
“Keep loving her, Daniel,” Dominique said softly. “She deserves the love of a good man like you.”
Minutes later as he drove back to the shanty, he thought about Dominique’s words. What Dominique didn’t realize was he couldn’t stop loving Angelique even if he tried.
He was in too deep, and her name had become permanently etched into his heart, into his very soul. He’d pour his heart out to her tomorrow and the day after that. He’d tell Angelique how much he loved her for however long it took.
But maybe Dominique was wrong and Angelique truly didn’t love him. Doubts took up residency in his mind. Maybe he could pour his heart out to her for a hundred days and she still wouldn’t accept his love because she didn’t want it, because she really didn’t love him. With this depressing thought in mind, he pulled up at the swamp entrance and headed in to the shanty.
They worked processing the scene at Angelique’s place until after midnight, even though there wasn’t much of anything there to collect. Pictures were taken, and then Daniel spent some time cleaning up the blood from the braided rug. The lastthing he wanted was for Angelique to come home and have to see the blood spilled.
He found her purse in the corner of the sofa and grabbed it. She would probably need it before she left the hospital. Finally, he locked the shanty door and walked out to his car.
Driving home, the moon was nearly full overhead and his thoughts were consumed by Angelique and how close she’d come to death on this night.
Once home, it took him forever to get to sleep. Images and emotions from the night played in his head…in his heart, keeping sleep at bay. He wasn’t sure what time he finally fell asleep. But despite the long night, he was at the hospital by eight the next morning.
The hospital hallways smelled of fresh coffee and breakfast foods as he strode to her room. He turned into room 103 and there she was…looking small and vulnerable in the big hospital bed.
“Daniel,” she said with a wan smile.
“Well, you look better today than you did last night,” he said and pulled a chair up to her bedside.
“I wish I could say I feel better today, but I have pain where I didn’t even know I had body parts,” she replied.
The white bandage on her arm reminded him of the last time she’d sported such a bandage. Both injuries inflicted by Desiree at different times. Although he couldn’t see it, he also knew she had another bandage on her shoulder and one on her chest wound as well.
The thought of her wounds made him angry as hell. He would have never thought of Desiree being the perp in the attacks against Angelique. If Desiree hadn’t been caught in the act, she would have gotten away with murder.
“I hate it that you’re in so much pain,” he said.
“The good news is the doctor tells me my lung is healing itself and I probably won’t need any surgery,” she added. “They pulled me off the oxygen early this morning.”
“That’s great news,” he replied. “I brought your purse from your shanty.” He set it on the foot of her bed. “I figured you might need it while you were here.”
“Thank you, I appreciate it.” She stared at him for a long moment and her eyes began to tear up a bit. “You saved my life, Daniel. She was going to kill me, and if you hadn’t stopped her when you did, she would have succeeded.”
“Hey, no tears allowed.” He reached out and drew her hand into his. “All’s well that ends well, right?”
“Right,” she replied with a small laugh. “We Santori women are a tough bunch.”
“Thank God. And Desiree is going to jail for a very long time,” he said. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, but for the moment he stayed professional.
“Unfortunately, right now I need to get an official statement from you. Are you up to doing that now?” he asked.
She nodded. “Okay, might as well get it over with.” For the next fifteen minutes or so she told him about Desiree coming to visit and then pulling a knife.
Daniel occasionally stopped her to ask a question, and then she finished up with her on the floor and Desiree on top of her.
