Chapter Five #2
Somebody was after her. Somebody had broken into her shanty and had tried to kill her.
And there was no reason to believe that the person wouldn’t try again.
That thought made her grip the knife more firmly in her hand.
She had no idea where the danger might come from, which only made it all the more frightening.
She breathed a deep sigh of relief when she finally reached her car. She slid behind the wheel, locked the doors, started the engine and then pulled out in the direction of town.
Last night she had tossed and turned with thoughts of the kiss she had shared with Daniel. It had been so totally unexpected and so totally hot.
The minute he had pulled her into his arms and his lips had claimed hers, she’d had a fire in her belly that she had never felt before. She had immediately been hungry for more from him. He had stirred her with just a kiss; she couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to make love with him.
And she shouldn’t even be thinking about that. She had more important things to think about, like who might want her dead. She had been racking her brain, trying to think of anyone who might have an issue with her, but she came up empty.
Once she reached town, she decided to stop at the dress shop where Monique worked.
All That Jazz was dedicated to pandering to the women in town.
It not only sold trendy and classic clothing but also purses, shoes, costume jewelry and bath and perfume items. Monique had been working there for the past three years, and last year had earned the title of assistant manager.
Angelique worried about her baby sister, who, since their mother’s murder had become slightly distant and quiet. It was obvious she was still deeply grieving, but chose to do it alone rather than with her two sisters to support her.
A tiny bell tinkled over the door as Angelique walked into the shop. The pleasant scents of lilac and vanilla and a hint of cinnamon with a variety of floral fragrances greeted her.
Monique stood behind the cash register. She was clad in a long, navy skirt and a red-and-navy peasant-style blouse. Her long dark hair was braided down her back and she looked positively lovely.
She offered up a surprised smile at the sight of Angelique. “Hey, sis. I didn’t expect to see you in here today,” she said as she moved around the counter and then gave Angelique a hug.
“I had to come into town to the grocery store and so I decided to stop in to see you,” Angelique replied. “You’ve been kind of scarce lately.”
“I’ve been working extra hours to keep busy. It’s good for me right now to stay busy. The real question is how are you doing?”
“I’m doing okay,” Angelique replied lightly. The last thing she wanted to do was worry her baby sister with how much the attack had affected her.
“For real?” Monique looked at her with concern.
“For real,” Angelique replied with a laugh. “I’m just rolling with the punches right now.”
“Well, let’s hope there are no more punches,” Monique replied. “On another subject, I spent this morning unpacking and tagging a shipment of new clothes that came in. When I saw one article, I immediately thought of you.”
Angelique followed her sister to a rack that held loungewear. Monique pulled out a honey-colored caftan with a V-neck that was lined with tiny pearls. “This would look gorgeous on you.”
“I love it. I’ll take it,” Angelique replied.
Monique laughed. “Wow, that was the easiest sale I’ve made all month.”
“That’s because you know exactly what I like. In fact, I’ll wear it this evening.” That was part of why Monique was so successful as a salesperson. She knew her clientele and how to match women with the clothes.
“Anything special going on this evening?” Monique asked as the two walked back toward the cash register.
“I’m cooking dinner for Chief LeCroix.”
Monique raised a dark brow in obvious surprise. “Why?”
“I know how hard he’s been working to find answers for us, and he doesn’t really ever get a home-cooked meal, so I offered to fry up some of my special fish for him this evening,” Angelique replied.
Monique’s lips turned up in a half smile. “You like him.”
“It’s not like that,” Angelique replied quickly, even as the memory of his very hot kiss filled her head.
“It is like that,” Monique replied with a full grin. “I can see it on your face. You’re totally into him.”
“Okay, I’ll admit I like him a little bit. Of course I don’t know him very well, but what I do know about him, I like. But you know it won’t go anywhere.”
Monique studied her for a long moment as her grin fell. “You know, Angelique, someday you’re going to have to get over Jason.”
Angelique stiffened. “I’m well over him. I learned all I needed to know about men from him. Anyway, ring me up, sis. It’s time I get moving to the grocery store.”
The last thing she wanted to do was hang around here and talk about the man who had broken her heart into a million pieces. It was true, she was over him. She just didn’t want to allow any man to ever get that close to her again.
A few minutes later she left the shop and headed to her car.
She placed the new caftan on her passenger seat and then drove to the grocery store down the block.
Howard’s Grocery wasn’t a huge place, but it was the only grocer in town.
Howard Griffin was a big, affable man, who often greeted the shoppers who came in.
“Afternoon, Miss Santori,” he said as she walked in.
“Good afternoon to you, Mr. Griffin,” she replied.
“Now, I’ve told you at least a dozen times to call me Howard. I don’t stand on formalities around here.”
“Then Howard it is,” she said with a smile. “And you can call me Angelique.”
He grabbed her a cart and pushed it toward her. “Let me know if you can’t find something, Angelique,” he said. “If I don’t have what you need, then I’ll order it and I’ll have it for you next time you come in.”
“Thank you, Howard.” She grabbed hold of the basket and pushed it toward the produce section.
She needed to grab a few things in order to make coleslaw, which always went well with fish.
She also planned to make mac and cheese from scratch.
And if she got really ambitious, she’d make some skillet corn bread to round out the meal.
She found herself looking forward to the evening. It was true, she liked what she knew about Daniel and she was looking forward to getting to know him even more. Then there was the crazy physical attraction she felt toward him. It burned hot inside her.
“Angelique.” She turned at the sound of her name coming from someplace behind her. She smiled as she saw Marianne Lutgen approaching her.
“Hi, Marianne,” she greeted the plump, brown-haired woman. Marianne had grown up in the swamp and she and Angelique had often played together as children. However, they’d grown apart during their teen years.
“I wanted to tell you that I’m having a little gathering tonight at my place, and as usual, I’d love for you to come,” Marianne said.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Marianne, I won’t be able to make it. I have other plans for the evening, but thank you for the invitation,” Angelique replied.
“You’re never available when I invite you to do anything. You never come to my parties.” Marianne’s lower lip jutted out in a pout. “Do you think you’re better than me and my friends?”
“Of course not,” Angelique replied, appalled that Marianne would even think that about her. “Again, I’m sorry, but my life has been so busy, especially lately.”
“Did you know I came to see your mother once?” Marianne said.
“No, I didn’t know that,” Angelique replied with a bit of surprise.
Marianne grabbed a can of corn from the nearby shelf and tossed it into her basket, then looked at Angelique once again. “I went to see her because I wanted her to do a spell or something that would make me lose some weight.”
“I hope she was helpful to you.”
“She wasn’t,” Marianne said flatly. “She told me that if I really wanted to lose weight then I should stop eating so much.” Marianne released a deep sigh. “Anyway, I just wanted to tell you about the party tonight. Maybe next time you’ll be able to come.”
“We’ll see,” Angelique replied. “In any case it was nice seeing you again, Marianne.”
A few minutes later Angelique finished up her shopping, paid and then loaded the groceries into her trunk. It was on her way home when she thought about the brief conversation with Marianne once again.
There were a couple of reasons why Angelique never went to the parties that Marianne hosted.
The first reason was because Marianne ran with a rough crowd.
The second reason was Angelique had heard that old man Walt Boudreaux brought jugs of his moonshine to the parties and everyone imbibed freely.
Angelique had no desire to spend an evening with a bunch of drunks.
Still, the conversation with Marianne played and replayed in her head because of that moment when she’d said that Angelique’s mother hadn’t helped her. There had been something hard glowing in the depths of Marianne’s eyes. It was there for only a minute and then gone.
Was it possible her mother had been murdered by a woman? So far, the investigation had been focused mostly on men. Marianne was a big woman. She would have been capable of overwhelming the much-smaller Mystique.
Or could it have been Marianne who had broken into the shanty and come after Angelique with a knife? Was the woman really that offended that Angelique never went to her parties? She didn’t know what to think anymore, but her brain was certainly working overtime.
She would definitely share with Daniel the conversation she’d had with Marianne.
Were there other women they might be overlooking?
The crime had been so heinous it was hard for her to imagine a woman being capable of it.
But she knew women could be evil killers.
She saw stories about women killers all the time on the news.
She pulled into her usual parking space just outside the swamp’s entrance and then got out of the car.
She picked up the bag with the caftan inside and then got the two small shopping bags out of the trunk of her car.
She looped the bags over her left hand so she could carry her knife with her right hand.
Since the night of the attack on her, she never went out without the knife. It wasn’t much, but in the event of another unexpected assault, it might make the difference between life and death.
As she walked through the tangled paths toward her home, she kept her gaze shooting all around her and her ears focused to catch any sound that might indicate somebody was near her.
She saw it when she reached the bottom of her bridge…a white piece of paper taped to her front door. What now? As she approached, a chill suddenly raced up her spine. Once again, she felt as if somebody was hiding somewhere in the thick woods and watching her.
She looked all around, but saw nobody. Once she reached the front door, she pulled the piece of paper off and read—“YOUR VOODOO MOTHER CAN’T PROTECT YOU NOW.”
Quickly, she unlocked her door and went inside. Her heart beat frantically as another chill ran up her back. She relocked the door and then moved to the part of the window that wasn’t boarded up.
She peered outside for several long moments as a deep fear squeezed her chest, making it difficult for her to draw a full breath. First the attack on her and now this?
Who had left the note on her door? Who was after her and why? Seeing nothing and nobody, she moved on stiffened legs to the kitchen. She dropped her bags on the table, set the note down and then sank into a chair.
Her heart beat so fast…so hard, it threatened to explode right out of her chest. The note looked like pure rage on paper, the red letters written hard and big and bold.
Dammit, who had written it?
She could only hope that Daniel would bring her some answers when he arrived. And she couldn’t wait for him to get here.