Page 68 of Cursed
Knowing he could do it, Morgan clamped her jaw shut. There was a lot more she wanted to say. She wanted to ask what the sheriff really thought about the murders in the bayou. If a jaguar was killing people—what did that have to do with Andre’s jacket? Jarvis couldn’t make a case out that. But what if the town was so out of control that Andre never reached trial?
Since she hadn’t completely lost her sanity, she didn’t ask any of those questions.
Jarvis strode out of the room and down the hall. They heard him descending the steps. Long moments ticked by before the front door slammed shut. Still, Morgan went to the landing and looked over. In their absence, the pickup truck had departed. Jarvis was already in his cruiser. As they watched, he revved the engine and pulled away.
Morgan looked back at Janet. “What was in that pot?” she asked, hearing the strained tone of her voice.
“Like you said, herbs.”
“For what?”
“For his allergies.”
She wanted to demand a better answer. She wanted to know if Andre was brewing up drugs. Instead she hit Janet with another question. “You said last night you had the second sight.”
Janet nodded.
“What does that mean?”
“That sometimes I … know things.”
“Do you know where Andre went?”
“No.”
“Does he have some place in the swamp where he sleeps?”
The housekeeper’s face contorted. “How do you know he sleeps there?”
“If he spends the night outside, he has to sleep somewhere.”
“He goes deep into the bayou. I don’t know if he has a special place,” she allowed. “And if he did, you wouldn’t be able to find it.”
“Well, he’s handcuffed and in trouble. If you can tell me where he is, you have to do it.”
“If I had any idea, I’d tell you, child. But he knows his way around. He’ll be okay.”
“Maybe he would, if his hands were free,” Morgan answered. She ached to go to him. If she had a hacksaw, she could cut the chain between the cuffs. But she didn’t have a clue where to find him.
She gave Janet a direct look. “Okay, you go down and act as normally as you can.”
The housekeeper headed for the stairs.
Morgan went back into her room and closed the door. Fighting the tight feeling in her chest, she called Decorah—hoping she could catch Dan before he left so he’d know what kind of situation he was walking into.
This time Frank Decorah took her call.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, obviously picking up on Morgan’s tone of voice.
She swallowed. “We’ve had an … unfortunate development.”
“Better spit it out.”
“Andre escaped from the sheriff. He’s hiding out in the bayou”
“Not good,” Frank murmured.
“I know. But he’s not guilty,” she added quickly.
