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“You’ll let us know when you figure out who he is?”Lucas asked.
Shelby nodded as she pulled open the driver’s door.“I will.I’m meeting with Rene DeRoche after I leave here to review the video surveillance footage from the Crawdad Hole.”
“We’re going there when we leave here,” Lucas said.
“Then I’ll see you there,” Shelby slid into her vehicle and backed out of the parking lot.
As Lucas held the door for Felina, she said, “I need to get back to work.”
"We'll stop long enough to pick up some food to take back to your shop,” Lucas said.“We skipped breakfast; we’re not skipping lunch.”
Felina glared at Lucas.“Bossy much?”When her belly rumbled, her glare lost some of its oomph.
Lucas cocked an eyebrow.
“Okay.”She pressed a hand to her empty stomach.“We’ll stop for carryout and a look at that surveillance video.”
Lucas let out an overly exaggerated breath.“Thank you.”He climbed into the truck and followed Shelby’s sheriff’s vehicle to the Crawdad Hole, which was just opening up for lunch.
Though she didn’t like being told what to do, Felina appreciated that Lucas was looking out for her.She hadn’t had someone to really look out for her since she was eleven when her father had died in an oil rig accident, and her mother had fallen apart.
Not that she was relinquishing control of her life to the man, but it felt good to have someone care whether or not she’d had a meal that day.
So, she only had Lucas for two weeks.Why not enjoy the attention?It didn’t matter whether it was real or fake.He’d be gone after the job ended.
The wedding would be over, her life would return to normal, and she’d go on as if Lucas had never been a part of it.
Yeah, only it wasn’t that simple.Not when she was making the colossal mistake of falling for the hired hand.
Chapter6
Lucas leftFelina with Shelby in Rene DeRoche’s office, going over the footage from the night before.
He sat at the bar, talking with the bartender and owner of the Crawdad Hole while he waited for the order he’d placed for a hamburger and French fries for him and a bowl of shrimp and okra gumbo for Felina.
“As soon as Deputy Taylor asked about the video surveillance footage from last night,” Rene, the bartender, said, “I went over it myself, looking for anything that might help us identify the man who pushed Felina or the people who forced him into that SUV.”
“What did you see?”Lucas asked.
“I saw about what you saw last night,” Rene said as he wiped down the bar.“The man who went out the back door did appear, coming in the front door a little earlier, but I couldn’t see what he arrived in.It appeared as if he’d entered the parking lot on foot.”
“What about the SUV?”Lucas asked.
“Other than it being big and black with tinted windows, it had no other identifying marks.I didn’t recognize the big man who got out to manhandle the other guy.The camera did get a clear view of his face.”Rene shrugged.“Maybe the sheriff’s department can run his image through some facial recognition database.”
“Sounds like these guys aren’t from around here.”
Rene shook his head.“We get a lot of folks visiting from New Orleans.Mostly, people wanting to fish or get a taste of the bayou by taking an airboat ride, seeing alligators or enjoying the festivals we have.In fact, Colonial Day is coming up in a week and a half.There will be a surge of visitors in Bayou Mambaloa for that.”
“Felina mentioned several big events coming up.”
Rene nodded.“Colonial Day is one of them.Tourism is one of the biggest industries in our parish.Businesses are gearing up, increasing inventory and sinking money into preparations.News of a murder could keep people from coming.It could be devastating to the local economy if an event is canceled.”
“If a murderer is still out there, everyone is at risk until he’s captured and removed from the area,” Lucas said.
“Absolutely,” Rene said.“The sooner they do that, the sooner everything can get back to normal.I just hate to think one of my customers was picked up on my property, murdered and dumped in the bayou.That back door isn’t locked from the inside because it’s considered an emergency exit.People can’t come in through that door, but I can’t stop them going out.”
A member of Rene’s kitchen staff emerged from the kitchen carrying a bag emitting wonderful scents.
