Page 54 of Cursed
Then, stiffly, he turned and trotted away. She wanted to ask what he was thinking right now. She wanted to ask where he would look for the men and how he could possibly locate them in all that wilderness. Instead she watched him disappear into the trees.
Shoulders slumped, Morgan followed Janet into the house.
“He told you he goes into the swamp at night?” the housekeeper asked.
“Yes.”
“That’s more than he’s told anyone else.”
“And what do you know about it?” Morgan demanded.
“I won’t give away his secrets, child,” the woman said before turning away.
Morgan wanted to follow her into the kitchen and demand a better answer. She knew she’d be wasting her time. Janet was loyal—and stubborn.
So, she went up to her room and tried to do some online research. But she couldn’t find anything on the history of Linette Sonnier and Andre Gascon.
A knock at the door made her glance up sharply.
“Come in,” she called out.
Janet opened the door. “Would you like to have dinner?” the housekeeper asked.
After a silent debate, she answered, “Well, I’ve had a pretty tiring day. Would you mind if I just took a sandwich up here?”
“Since I got the oven back, I made a nice shepherd’s pie. You could take some of that.”
“That sounds wonderful,” Morgan said. “I was just trying not to make any extra work for you.”
“The dinner’s already made. You can eat on the sun porch,” Janet said quickly.
Morgan wasn’t sure what the polite thing to do was, but she decided that Janet might not want her company, either. So, she followed the housekeeper downstairs, then took a tray of food out to a room at the side of the house where she hadn’t been before. It was furnished with wicker chairs and a wrought iron patio set. Several ficus trees and pots of flowers were set around on the slate floor. Through the big windows, she could look out at the last glimmers of light from the sunset.
The view would have been appealing if she’d been able to relax and enjoy it.
She had very little appetite. But since Janet had gone to the trouble of making dinner, she finished as much of it as she could.
When she took the tray back to the kitchen, she was relieved to find the room empty. After a quick glance over her shoulder, she scraped the remaining food on her plate into the disposal and ran the appliance before putting the plate in the dishwasher.
Up in her room, she stood at the window for a long time, wishing she could see something—even a light in the swamp. But it was pitch dark, and she didn’t know how Andre could function out there.
Bone-deep worry gnawed at her. If he were anywhere else besides the middle of a swamp, she would have gone outside to look for him. But she knew that tramping into the bayou was as dangerous as it was futile.
Again, she tried to distract herself. As she did most evenings, she checked her e-mail. At least there was something to take her mind off Andre—a message from Decorah.
One of the agents, Zane Marshall, had looked at the maps Morgan sent and confirmed they seemed to be a geological survey. But he wasn’t familiar with the notation and was sending them to an expert. Morgan should expect to hear something in a day or two.
After thanking Zane, Morgan looked at some of the bulletin board digests she usually checked out.
But the messages simply didn’t hold her interest. Finally, she gave up, took a shower and pulled on clean panties and a tee shirt. Always prepared to get out of bed quickly, she set out a pair of jeans over the arm of a chair.
She lay in bed for a long time, listening for Andre to come in. Finally, she drifted off, only to startle awake at the sound of chanting. It took a moment for her to figure out where she was and what she was hearing.
The damn voodoo priestess was back.
Morgan felt her throat close, felt a wave of dizziness sweep over her. Wanting to get a look at the damn woman, she got out of bed, then had to grab the edge of the mattress to keep from falling over. It took several moments before she felt steady enough to walk.
Still, her steps were shaky as she crossed the room, then stood at the window, breathing hard.
