Page 7 of Kidnapped in Dark Waters
“I am concerned about you, but that doesn’t mean I intend to be your partner in this foolish scheme. So, I guess this is good night.” With that, he walked out of the door and quickly disappeared into the darkness outside.
Dominique closed and locked the door behind him, her thoughts scattered and disjointed. For a moment when he had grabbed her shoulder and she’d seen him, she’d hoped he was there to help her in her quest.
Was her idea really that crazy? She grabbed hold of one of the lanterns and went into the small third bedroom. This room held a compact round table and two chairs. It was here her mother would meet the clients who would come to her at night, seeking a spell or something else to heal them or somebody they loved.
One wall was covered with a dark blue scarf with the sun and the moon on it. A dark purple scarf also covered the top of the table. A bookcase held bottles and poultices, pieces of swamp plants and flowers and a variety of other items Mystique had used in her spells.
There was no question that her mother sometimes liked to play up her role as the voodoo queen, but her real power was in her knowledge and understanding of people and what they needed to feel better.
Dominique sank down at the table where her mother used to sit and a new, deep grief filled her. At the time of her death, Mystique was in perfect health and should have lived another thirty or forty years. She should have been at her daughters’ weddings and held her grandchildren. Dominique and her sisters had been robbed of their mother’s presence…of her love and support.
Mystique had been a spontaneous, free-spirited kind of woman. She was not a traditional parent, but she’d still been a wonderful mother who had always told her daughters how much they were loved by her. The only way Dominique knew to keep her mother alive in her heart was to live her life just like her mother had.
The grief suddenly transformed to a deep anger. She wasn’t about to give up on her quest to see Pierre behind bars. She had promised Luke she wouldn’t go back out tonight to trail the man she believed killed her mother.
However, tomorrow night she would be back out there again, shadowing the gator-hunter in the darkness of the night.
“WE HAVE Abig problem,” Luke said to Clay and Daniel the next morning. The three of them were once again seated in the murder room.
“What kind of a big problem?” Daniel asked.
“A Dominique Santori problem,” Luke replied, and then proceeded to explain to the others about Dominique coming to his apartment the night before and the discussion she’d had with him.
“I told her it was a dangerous idea and that she should leave the investigation to us, but I knew she wasn’t listening to me.” He continued to explain about going out and finding her crouched down in the darkness in front of Pierre’s shanty.
“Damn, something like that could get her killed,” Daniel replied with a deep frown. “If you recall, initially Angelique tried to meddle in the investigation.”
“Yeah, but all she was doing was questioning potential suspects and you got her to stop. I’m not sure if anything will stop Dominique,” Luke replied with frustration. “I tried to reason with her, but she’s adamant that her plan will get us the evidence we need to get Pierre behind bars.”
“We aren’t even a hundred percent sure that Pierre is the killer,” Daniel replied.
“Dominique is certain,” Luke replied. “And she’s also certain at some point in time he’s going to dig up the book that he presumably stole and that will be the proof we need to arrest him.”
“Well, we need to figure out a way to stop her,” Daniel said.
“Good luck with that,” Luke replied drily. “I got her to promise she’d stay in last night after I left her place, but I’m afraid she’ll be back out there again tonight.”
Daniel reared back in his chair. “The first thing I’ll do is have Angelique talk to her. Maybe big sister can get her to stop with this crazy idea of hers.”
“And if that doesn’t work?”
Daniel eyed him for a long moment. “Then maybe you should partner up with her and see if you can keep her out of trouble and alive.”
Luke stared at his boss in stunned surprise. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“I’m not kidding. I would never forgive myself if something bad happened to my soon-to-be sister-in-law. Legally, we can’tstop her from doing what she’s doing, so the next best thing we can hope for is with you by her side she won’t come to any harm,” Daniel said.
Luke’s head reeled as he considered what his new assignment would entail. “It’s going to be difficult for me to be up half the night with Dominique and then show up here in the mornings for my normal shifts.”
“We can arrange your shifts differently,” Daniel replied.
Luke frowned thoughtfully. “I’ve got two weeks of vacation time coming to me. Why don’t I just take it now so I can devote whatever time necessary to keep up with Dominique’s nighttime activities?”
“I don’t expect you to take your vacation time to work,” Daniel protested.
“I don’t have anything else planned, so I’ll just take it and do a little bodyguard duty.” The worst thing about this was the knowledge that he would have no set schedule. Normally, he was a stickler for structure but most of that would have to go out the window for now.
“Hopefully, Angelique will be able to talk some sense into Dominique and none of this will be necessary,” Daniel said.
