Chapter Fourteen
The nighttime hours passed in agonizing increments as Luke remained at the police station. He and Daniel had interviewed everyone who might be guilty and they’d come up empty-handed.
It was just after two in the morning, and Luke paced back and forth in the break room, his heart absolutely bleeding with the need to find her.
Daniel was in his office, working to figure out where they went next.
He had all the night force driving the streets and keeping an eye out for the missing woman.
However, Luke knew they had no place to go next. Luke now believed somebody who had not been on their suspect list was responsible. Hell, that could be almost any male in town.
It had been around ten when Adam Kincaid, one of the night cops, had driven through to get burgers for everyone. Luke’s burger remained untouched on the table. How could he eat when Dominique was missing? He had no appetite, except for his intense hunger to find Dominique.
Daniel had tried to get him to go home and get some sleep, but Luke refused to leave. He needed to be here in case something happened.
The last thing he wanted was for any of the night crew to find her on the street because that would mean they had found her body. Once again, he prayed that the person who had taken her didn’t hurt her.
He threw himself into a chair at the table and stared unseeing at the wall. Instead, he saw Dominique’s beautiful face and her gorgeous smile. Visions of her laughing and dancing in the rain, of her eyes sparkling so bright, rushed through his head.
He must have nodded off for he jerked awake as some of the day cops entered the break room. Morning. And still she was gone.
For the next two days they interviewed more people who had been in the café on the night she was taken. They spoke to more of the swamp people, but nobody had any news for them. It was as if a UFO had beamed her up without a trace.
During those two days, Luke ate only what he needed to keep going. He dozed in the murder room, what little sleep he got troubled and full of nightmares. He went to his home twice, just long enough to shower and change clothes.
Finally, desperate for answers, at nine in the morning he drove to the swamp wanting to touch base with Jacque LeBlanc.
Jacque himself was shrouded in mystery. Nobody knew where he’d come from or anything personal about him.
Luke didn’t care about any of that. What he did care about was the man was rumored to know what was going on in the swamp.
Jacque’s shanty was secluded but Luke had been there before when he and Daniel had first spoken to the man about Mystique’s murder.
This time, Luke was by himself as he made his way through the swamp. It was difficult for him to focus on anything but Dominique. He just wanted her to be found. He couldn’t imagine going on for the rest of his life not knowing what had happened to her.
Jacque’s shanty came into view and Luke hurried his footsteps to the front door. “Jacque, it’s Officer Madison,” he shouted as he knocked on the door.
The dark-haired, well-built man opened the door. “Officer Madison. How can I help you?”
“I’d like to ask you a few questions. Can I come in?”
The gator-hunter opened his door wider to allow Luke entry. The shanty was spotlessly clean with a dark gray sofa and chair and a large bookcase filled with books on all types of subjects. Definitely unusual in the world of gator-hunters.
“Please, have a seat.” Jacque gestured to the sofa. Luke nodded and sat. “Now, questions about what?”
“I don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but Dominique Santori was kidnapped three nights ago,” Luke said.
“Oh, I’ve heard. The swamp has been buzzing with the news. Dominique and her sisters are well-liked here,” Jacque replied.
Luke leaned forward. “Have you heard anything that might help us find her?”
“I’m afraid not. But I can tell you that I don’t believe she is being held here in the swamp. All the fishermen and gator-hunters are genuinely worried about her and secrets are hard to keep here,” Jacque said.
“I’m worried sick about her,” Luke replied, his desperation ringing in his voice.
Jacque gazed at him sharply. “It’s like that?”
Luke offered the man a weak smile. “It’s like that,” he replied.
“I really wish I could help you, but I haven’t heard anything.”
“I knew it was a long shot,” Luke replied and stood. “Thanks for your time.”
“No problem.” Jacque walked with him to the door. “I hope you find her safe and sound.” For a moment Jacque’s green eyes darkened. “Because there’s nothing worse than losing somebody you love.”
“Thanks again.” Luke walked slowly away from the shanty, despair once again filling his heart…
his very soul. It had been so long now, too long.
Three nights she’d been with her kidnapper unless he’d already…
He snapped his thoughts away from that torturous thought.
It couldn’t be too late to save her. It just couldn’t be.
It was just about ten o’clock when he arrived back at the station. In the murder room, half a dozen officers were gathered along with Daniel and Clay.
“Luke,” Daniel greeted him. “We’ve decided to start a grid search of the town.
I want officers knocking on doors and asking questions,” he said.
“What I need you to do is go to the café. Annie called a few minutes ago and said she’d put together a platter of sweet rolls and pastries for the officers.
We’ll put it in the break room where they can grab one and go.
So, if you want to head over there now, I’d appreciate it. ”
“I’ll go right now.”
He left the murder room and headed back to his patrol car. It took him only minutes to arrive and park in the café’s lot where Dominique’s car was still parked by the dumpster. The sight of it wrenched his heart.
This was the crime scene, but it had yielded no answers. They had used a locksmith to get into the car, but nothing of value had been found inside. The entire area had been meticulously searched and the officers had found nothing useful.
He was slowly losing hope and that frightened him. He headed around the building to the front door. He stopped just inside the entrance and gazed around, somehow seeking her where he knew she wouldn’t be. He didn’t know how long he’d been standing there when Sunny approached him.
“Officer Madison, can I help you?” she asked softly.
“Yeah, I was sent to pick up a platter that Annie prepared for the men at the station,” he replied.
“Oh yes, it’s in the break room. She has it all ready to go. Just follow me.”
He walked behind Sunny and she led him to the small break room. Lockers lined one wall. There was a round table and in the center of it was a large platter of breakfast sweets wrapped in plastic.
“No news yet?” Sunny asked.
“None,” Luke replied grimly.
Sunny lightly touched Luke’s shoulder. “I know you miss her…we all do. All her regulars ask about her every day—well, all of them but Burt.”
“He doesn’t ask about her?” Luke asked in surprise.
“He hasn’t been in for breakfast since she disappeared.” She leaned over the table and grabbed the large platter. “Here you are,” she said as she handed it to him. “I hope all the officers enjoy it.”
“Thanks, and please tell Annie thank you. It was very thoughtful of her to do this,” he replied.
“I’ll tell her.” She walked with him back to the front door. “You have to find her, Luke.” Sunny’s blue eyes filled with tears.
“We’re doing everything possible,” he replied, emotion rising up inside him. “I’ll see you later.” He hurried out the front door before he embarrassed himself by blubbering in front of Sunny.
Dominique was missing and he was picking up pastries from the café. He had a feeling Daniel was just trying to keep him busy, but he didn’t want to be the errand guy, he needed to be involved in the search.
As he pulled out of the café parking lot to head back to the station, something niggled in the back of his brain, but he didn’t know what it was.
He arrived back and carried the platter inside to the break room, where he placed it in the center of the table. Nobody was in there at the moment and there was nobody in the murder room. Apparently, all the officers had left to begin the grid search.
He found Daniel in his office and sank down in the chair across from him. “The platter is here. Now you need to tell me where to go to help in the search.”
“Luke, you’re exhausted. You haven’t really slept or eaten in days. You need to go home and get some rest and leave the search to the other men.”
“You know I can’t do that,” Luke replied. “I need to be here in case something breaks.” He frowned, the niggling feeling back inside his head. Somehow, he was missing something…something that could be important. The thought suddenly unfolded in his brain.
“Burt,” he said, his heart beat beginning to race.
“What about him?” Daniel looked at him curiously.
“I spoke briefly to Sunny when I was at the café. She told me Burt hadn’t been in since Dominique went missing. Why isn’t he going in to eat his breakfast as usual?”
“He had an alibi for the night in question,” Daniel protested.
“An alibi we didn’t check,” Luke said. He realized in the thick of things, they hadn’t followed up on Burt’s alibi.
“We checked his alibi but we didn’t follow up on it and we didn’t check out his house.
” Luke leaned forward, a new burst of adrenaline rushing through him.
“Daniel, we need to get inside his house.”
“We’ll head to his office and get him to come with us and let us in to look around. I’ll contact Judge Blakely and see if he’ll sign off on a search warrant for Burt’s place.”
“We need to go there as soon as possible,” Luke replied, his stomach churning. “Can’t we just go there and break down the door?”