Chapter Eight #2
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 knocked on 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.
“We understand she broke it off with you. Were you upset when that happened?” Daniel asked.
“Well, yeah, I was upset. I was crazy about her, but that was a long time ago,” Oliver replied. “You know, you can’t make a woman love you if she doesn’t, but I’ve moved on from her. Why? Did something happen to her?”
“She was attacked by somebody we believe intended to kidnap her,” Daniel replied.
Oliver’s eyes widened slightly. “But, she’s okay?”
Daniel nodded. “She managed to fight the assailant off.”
“Thank God,” Oliver replied.
Daniel began to question him on his whereabouts at the time of the attack.
“I was here…in my home,” Oliver replied.
“Were you with somebody or alone?”
“I was alone, but I swear I had nothing to do with the attack on Dominique. I would never do something like that to her,” he said fervently.
For the next fifteen minutes, Daniel continued to drill the man with questions. Oliver’s replies were all the same, indicating that he was either telling the truth or was a very good liar.
“I have one last question for you and then we’ll leave you to the rest of your day. I see you have a bandage on your finger. What happened?” Daniel asked.
Luke hadn’t even noticed the small bandage. He mentally kicked himself for not noticing it before now.
“Oh, yesterday I caught a fishhook in my finger,” Oliver replied. “It was my own damn carelessness.”
“Mind if I take a look at the wound?” Daniel asked.
Oliver took the bandage off and held out his finger. Both Daniel and Luke got up to take a closer look. Although small, it was a nasty wound. With Oliver’s consent, Daniel took a picture of it and then the three left.
It was only when they were some distance away from the shanty that they stopped to discuss the interview. “What do you think?” Daniel asked Luke while Clay remained silent.
Luke frowned thoughtfully. “I believed he was innocent until I saw the wound. Dominique said she might have managed to stab the man assaulting her.”
“So, was that a fishhook wound or a small stab wound?” Clay asked. His question hung in the air as they continued on their way to Jacob Benoit’s shanty.
Was it possible that Oliver had never gotten over Dominique, that since their breakup he’d become obsessed with having her once again? Or was it possible the man was innocent and had really gotten a fishhook caught in his finger?
A deep frustration welled up in Luke. He hoped they would gain more clarity with the other men they interviewed. They had to catch the person before he acted again because the next time something like this happened, Dominique might not be as lucky.