Leopard's Prey
Page 57

Gage gestured toward his car. “Your chariot. I’ve got a couple of officers on the way. They’ll take care of the tow truck and photograph your car and all the evidence here, so Arnaud, if you’d like a ride as well, I’ll be happy to take you back to your hotel.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Arnaud said.
“You’ll both have to ride in the back so I can hose off the seats after,” Gage added with a small grin.
“I can’t say as I blame you,” Bijou said. “I’m holdin’ my breath as best I can so I don’ have to smell me.”
“Let’s hope Saria doesn’t make you hose off outside,” Gage teased.
Remy kept glancing back at Bijou huddled in the backseat. She didn’t say another word, but stared out the window, her face set. Sad. Thoughtful. He was certain he was right about Bob Carson—that the night he’d interrupted them in the hotel so many years ago, the man had intended she die there. It made sense. If Carson believed Bijou and her mother had pushed Carson and his mother from Bodrie’s life, he would certainly want her out of the way.
He made a mental note to check on what happened to Carson’s mother and where they’d lived during the years they’d been away from Bodrie’s mansion. He glanced again into the rearview mirror. He should have been gentler with Bijou. She’d been through hell. She looked as if she had smudges under her eyes. and he winced a little when he saw the faint bruising along her neck. The rake marks on her arm could only have been put there by a leopard. He suspected she’d done that to herself without realizing what happened.
Saria was outside waiting when the sheriff’s car pulled up. She rushed to the door, yanking it open. “What happened to you?” Saria demanded, her voice filled with concern.
Bijou blinked back unexpected tears she hadn’t known were so close. Clearly her emotions were far rawer than she’d realized. She attempted a small smile. “Remy pushed me into the bayou.”
Saria glared at her brother. Remy backed up a step and held up both hands in surrender.
“She went swimmin’ on her own. She must have gotten all hot and bothered thinkin’ about me,” Remy said hastily.
Bijou rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that was it. I’m sorry about the room, Saria.”
“My brother can be sorry about the room, not you,” Saria said, shooting another glare at Remy.
“What happened to the room?” Gage asked with a deliberate drawl.
Bijou felt color creeping up her neck and throat. “I have to get ready for my performance tonight, Saria. I’ll scrub the shower when I get back. Do you have a trash bag so I can throw away these clothes?”
“Go away, Gage,” Remy ordered. “And I mean right now.”
“Thanks for taking Arnaud to his hotel,” Bijou said as she turned to enter the Inn.
“No problem, although I think he stank more than you do,” Gage replied with a wink.
“He was underwater a lot longer. He was trapped, and I had to cut him loose,” Bijou admitted. “We were lucky neither of us drowned.”
Remy frowned at her. “What do you mean you nearly drowned? What the hell happened? I thought you bailed when the SUV went over the bank.”
Saria looked horrified. “Bijou, how awful. I’ll make some tea. You take a shower and I’ll have it ready for you.”
“Answer me,” Remy insisted, catching Bijou’s arm before she could step inside.
No one had moved. Bijou took a deep breath. Reliving it only made the entire episode worse. “Our ropes were cut first, leaving us trapped on that very tiny ledge. Then the SUV was pushed over the bank, nearly on top of us. We waited a long time, hours really, before Arnaud insisted he climb out and then get me up. He tried three times, and the bank kept crumblin’. He waited between each climb because I was pretty freaked out, afraid he’d be killed, but night was fallin’ and he felt we had no choice.”
Bijou lifted her gaze to Remy’s face. He was absolutely still. His face could have been one of Arnaud’s sculptures, so utterly without expression, frozen. Her heart did a funny little flip and a million butterflies took flight in her stomach. She looked away.
“He finally used a tree root to tie off just in case he fell again and it would save him from going into the bayou. Unfortunately, what neither of us knew was that the tree above us had been hit by the SUV when it went over and was already unstable. To make a long story short, the tree went, takin’ Arnaud with it. I followed him in just in case and it was a good thing I did.”
“Did it occur to you at any time,” Remy asked, “that an alligator most likely was in that water?”
“Of course. I was scared, if that’s what you want to hear.” She couldn’t help the belligerence creeping into her tone. “Don’ tell me you wouldn’t have gone in after him, because I know you would have.”
“That’s not the same,” Remy snapped.
Deliberately, Saria stepped between them. “What happened, Bijou?”
Grateful for Saria’s presence, Bijou focused on her. “The tree rolled, and he couldn’t get out of the rope and harness so it took him with it. I cut him free but he was still trapped. His hikin’ boot was wedged in the crook of the branch. I had to cut him out of that as well. I didn’t think either of us was goin’ to make it out of there alive.”
“Thank God you were there,” Saria said, casting a warning glance at her brothers when both moved as if to protest. “Arnaud would be dead if you hadn’t gone in after him. I’ll get the tea made, you take a shower and we’ll disinfect those scratches on your arm before you have to go to work.”