Page 34 of Kidnapped in Dark Waters
He was particularly interested in meeting Oliver LeBoeuf, a man Dominique had dated. Even though, according to her, their relationship hadn’t lasted long, he still wanted to see the type of man Dominique had chosen to go out with.
Then he wondered why he was interested. It wasn’t like he and Dominique were dating. As far as their lovemaking, it had been based solely on the very hot physical attraction that had simmered between them almost from the very beginning of their friendship.Don’t get weird about it, he reminded himself.
So, they were friends with benefits, but he was determined there would be no more benefits between them in the future. The last thing they needed was to complicate their friendship. All he wanted now was to keep her safe, both from her nightly sojourns following Pierre and now from this new dangerous threat.
As Daniel parked in front of the swamp entrance, a rush of adrenaline flowed through Luke’s veins. “Do you know where these men live?” he asked.
“No, I figured we’d stop by George’s place. He seems to know where everyone lives in the swamp,” Daniel replied.
George was George Trahan, a gator-hunter. It had been his new girlfriend who had tried to kill Angelique. Angelique and George had briefly dated. After they stopped, George had fallen in love with a woman named Desiree Augustine. Desiree had hated Angelique and was filled with a deadly rage. She believed George wouldn’t truly be hers unless Angelique was dead.
With that thought in mind, one night she had gone to Angelique’s shanty, the place where Dominique now lived, and had nearly succeeded in stabbing Angelique to death.Thankfully, Daniel had shown up and had gotten Desiree under arrest before that could happen.
The three lawmen now got out of the car and headed into the swamp. It was odd that so many people lived here, yet rarely did you see another person on the paths.
Hopefully, by now if the two men were morning fishermen, they’d be back in their shanties. If they were night fishermen, then they probably hadn’t left their shanties yet.
It didn’t take them long to reach George’s shanty. Daniel knocked on the door and George answered. He stared at all three of them and then focused on Daniel.
“Am I in trouble?” he asked. Since Desiree’s arrest, George had lost weight and looked rather haggard. He’d had no idea what Desiree had been up to, but he’d felt terrible that she’d attacked Angelique.
“No, nothing like that,” Daniel said hurriedly. “We were hoping you could help us with some directions.”
“Sure. What kind of directions do you need?” George asked, visibly relaxing.
“We want to find Jacob Benoit’s shanty and Oliver LeBoeuf’s place,” Daniel replied.
“Yeah, I can help you with that,” George said and then proceeded to give them directions to both the shanties. “Are they in trouble?”
“No, we just have a few questions to ask them to clarify something we’re working on,” Daniel replied. “Thanks for your help, George. See you later.”
George went back inside. “We’ll head to LeBoeuf’s place first. It’s on the way to Benoit’s shanty.” Daniel led the way as they got back on the main trail.
It didn’t take them too long to find LeBoeuf’s shanty. It was a relatively small, but neat place. The front of the shanty had been cleared from the encroaching swamp vegetation. Daniel knockedon the door and it was answered by Oliver. He had long dark hair that was tied back with a piece of rawhide.
Luke had to admit Oliver was a handsome guy with well-defined features and an athletic build. So, this was the man Dominique had dated. A wave of jealousy swept through Luke, surprising him.
Why on earth would he feel jealous? It wasn’t like he and Dominique were dating or anything like that. They were just friends and he was working as her bodyguard when she went out at night. So, jealousy had no place at all in his head.
“What can I do for you all?” he asked, concern causing deep furrows to dance across his forehead.
Daniel introduced himself and Luke and Clay. “Mind if we come in? We have a few questions we’d like to ask you.”
Oliver frowned. “Questions about what? Is this about Mystique’s murder? I had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with that.”
“No, this isn’t about Mystique. We have some questions for you about another matter,” Daniel replied.
Oliver hesitated a moment and then allowed them to come inside. The interior of the shanty was neat and clean, although it smelled faintly of fish.
He gestured them to sit on the brown sofa and he took a seat in a chair across from them. “Now, what’s this all about?”
“Dominique Santori,” Daniel said.
One of Oliver’s dark brows rose up. “Dominique? What about her?”
“We understand that you had a relationship with her about a year ago,” Daniel said. Luke watched the man’s face closely, looking for any tells that might expose something.
“Yeah, we dated for a little while,” Oliver replied easily.
