style="font-size:15px;"> “So, Alex tells me you were a game warden,” she said, unable to tolerate the silence or her mental wanderings any longer.
“Yeah, I’ve spent almost ten years in the Atchafalaya Basin.”
“But your family is in Vodoun?”
“They are now. Everyone scattered after high school, but my brothers have settled down there now with their wives.”
“That’s nice.”
“I suppose so. If that’s what you’re into.”
His dry tone made her smile just a bit. “It’s nice to know I’m not the only person in Louisiana jaded about love.”
He didn’t respond, but she didn’t think much of it. In her experience, most men weren’t exactly dying to have long discussions about romantic entanglements. At the moment, the last thing she was interested in was a romantic entanglement, which was a good thing since the tall, muscular man behind her was enough to tempt any woman with clear vision.
Something about his slightly unkempt brown hair and the two-day shadow on his face screamed masculinity in a way she’d never noticed in another man, and during her modeling days, she’d seen many prime specimens. The tanned skin and green eyes only made a beautiful picture perfect.
And familiar.
She frowned as the thought registered completely. There was something familiar about him. It was so brief and fleeting in her mind that she couldn’t get a grasp on it, but she had no doubt that she’d seen him somewhere before.
“Did you grow up in the area?” she asked.
“Mostly, but we moved around a lot. Never stayed in any one town for more than a couple of years, except Vodoun.”
That probably explained the familiarity. She’d been a cheerleader in high school, and her school had had a big rivalry with Vodoun High School. Tanner looked about the same age as her. She’d probably seen him at a game. He certainly had the build of an athlete.
“Is this the area?” His voice broke into her thoughts as they stepped into the clearing with the damaged fencing.
“Yes,” she said, switching her mind back to the present. “I was standing over there, just at the edge of the water. I saw … whatever it was poke its head through the bushes on the far-side bank.”
“And it was early evening?”
“The sun was setting, but it was just at the edge of the tree line. The light was still reflected off the pond.”
He stepped up to the edge of the water and studied the bank, probably trying to estimate just how good her view had been from that distance and in that amount of light. Apparently satisfied, he nodded and stepped away from the water.
“Did you search the bank on the other side?”
“Not that evening,” she said, embarrassed to come right out and admit she’d run for the house like a scared little girl. “But I came back the next morning with the plantation foreman, Emmett Vernon.”
“And that’s when you took the cast of the footprint?”
“Yes. And sent it to the Wildlife and Fisheries State Lab, along with some of the surrounding soil so that they could estimate weight.”
He looked back at her, frowning. “But they couldn’t identify it?”
“No. They said it didn’t match the print of any known animal in the universe, much less the state of Louisiana.”
“But surely, they gave you some information.”
She nodded. “They said it was made by a bipedal creature, over six feet tall and approximately two hundred pounds. The shape was somewhat similar to humans, but with only four toes and webbing between them.”
She studied his face as she delivered the description. Everyone from Mystere Parish and likely a lot of people around the country knew exactly what she was describing. All of this was in the information she’d given Alex the day before, but if there was ever going to be a time Tanner called her crazy, this was going to be it.
He gazed back across the pond and jammed his hands in his jeans pockets. “Well, I guess we’re going to find out if the legends are real.”
Josie stared at him. “So you believe me?”
“I believe you saw what you saw, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“But you don’t think it’s a swamp monster.”
“I don’t have to think it’s anything. I just have to track it down and stop it from vandalizing your property.”
He turned and started off down the bank around the perimeter of the pond. She stared after him, trying to squelch the growing frustration she felt over the entire situation. He was humoring her.
Fine by her.
If he was as good a tracker as he claimed, then he should have no problem finding the vandal. Then everyone who thought she was a frightened drama queen could kiss her skinny butt.
Starting with Tanner LeDoux.
Chapter Three
Josie put her hands on her hips and glared at the plantation foreman, Emmett Vernon. The man had worked for her father since he was a boy—over forty years—but he wasn’t going to make it to retirement if he kept up with his current attitude.
“I don’t understand your problem, Emmett,” she said. “The detective will take a big weight off our shoulders so that we can go back to the jobs we need to be concentrating on.”
Emmett took a gulp from his water bottle, swished it around in his mouth and spit it into the hedges near the front entrance of the house. She struggled to keep her cool. He knew she couldn’t stand his filthy habits, and she would swear he did it on purpose to aggravate her.
“You mean the business of turning your daddy’s life’s work into a hotel for snooty people?”
“How many times have I told you I don’t have a choice?”
“Yeah, right. You were gone for years prancing on that runway in France. You mean to tell me you didn’t get paid?”
“My financial situation is none of your business. You get your paycheck every week. I’m telling you to do your job to earn it.”
Emmett narrowed his eyes at her. “You saying I’m slacking?”
She drew herself up straight, not about to back down from him again. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. Half the time, I can’t find you when I need you and neither can the work crew. You’re supposed to be managing the work on this plantation. Right now that work is in the swamp and that’s where I expect you to be, along with the crew.”
“You want me to stand around watching people work?”
“No,
