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She certainly wasn’t going to share with her sisters what she planned to do. They would try to talk her out of it. They would tell her she wasn’t capable. As the baby of the family, she was often underestimated by her two older siblings.

However, it had been almost four months since the murder. She was no longer willing to sit on the sidelines and just wait for things to happen. It was time for her to act.

The rest of her work day went by agonizingly slowly as no other customers came in. At ten till four, Cynthia Orlick entered the shop. Cynthia was a bubbly young woman who was a new hire. Not only was she friendly, but so far she was always on time for her shifts and seemed to be very dependable.

“Hey, Monique,” she greeted with a big smile. “How’s business been today?”

“Slow…very slow,” Monique replied.

“Then thank goodness I brought a book to read between customers,” Cynthia replied. She stowed her purse under the counter as Monique pulled her purse out. “I know I’m a few minutes early, but you can go ahead and leave. I’ll take it from here.”

“Thanks, Cynthia. Hopefully you won’t have too much of a boring night,” Monique replied. The two said their goodbyes, and then Monique walked out into the stuffy August air.

The summer weather in Dark Waters, Louisiana, wasn’t for the weak at heart. The little town sported hot temperatures and thick humidity. However, Monique didn’t live in the town proper. She lived in the swamp that half surrounded Dark Waters.

It didn’t take her long to drive from the store on Main Street to the swamp’s entrance where she parked her car among others.

The swamp begged her to enter its dark, mysterious depths. This was her home…where she had lived all her life. Alligators and wild boar, poisonous snakes and spiders as big as her fist also lived here. But as far as she was concerned, the beauty of the swamp far outweighed the dangers.

Tall cypress and tupelo trees rose up like sentinels, and Spanish moss dripped down like lacy icicles. Flowering bushes dotted the marshy landscape, and a variety of plants added an interesting visual element.

She entered the narrow path that would eventually take her to her shanty. Little animals scurried in the brush on either side of her, and the sun struggled to shine through the thick leaves overhead, making it cooler here than in town.

As she walked, once again she thought about her plan to catch a killer. It certainly wasn’t too complicated. Still, she needed somebody to bounce her ideas off of. That was where hopefully Jacque LeBlanc would come in.

She couldn’t talk to her sisters, who would throw a fit that she was involving herself in the investigation. She had no real close friends. Growing up, she’d always had her sisters as her best friends.

She reached her shanty and crossed a small bridge to the front door. The shanty where she’d grown up with her mother and sisters was deeper in the swamp and at the moment sat empty. Angelique had moved in with Daniel, and Dominique had moved in with Luke.

Monique was trying to decide if she wanted to move from her small shanty to the much bigger one. She loved her one-bedroom shanty which felt cozy, but there would also be a sweet familiarity if she moved into her childhood home. However, right now she had much more important things on her mind.

She went directly to her bedroom. The full-size bed was covered with a deep purple spread, and the single window sported matching curtains. A dresser was against one wall, and there were nightstands on either side of the bed.

She changed out of the long, forest green lacy skirt she’d worn for work and into a pair of jeans, exchanging her matching lace blouse for a more casual red one. She brushed out her long dark hair and then went into the small kitchen area to check the cooler.

Even though she had no real appetite, she knew she should probably eat something. She’d skipped lunch earlier and needed to eat before leaving to speak to Jacque.

Her muscles tightened as she thought of meeting with the virtual stranger.

She finally made herself a cheese sandwich, added a handful of chips and grabbed a soda, sitting at the table to eat. When she was finished, she turned off her phone and slid it into her back pocket. Grabbing her keys, she left the shanty.

It was early enough she hoped to find the gator-hunter at home; most of the men in his business went out in the late evening.

The deeper she went into the swamp, the cooler it got. Despite the comfortable temperature, she felt overly warm. Just her nerves. She told herself that the worst that could happen was he’d tell her he wasn’t interested in brainstorming with her. But that thought didn’t calm the nerves that jumped inside her.

She desperately needed somebody smart to talk to about her plans to get the evidence they needed to lock away a killer. That was the only way she could move forward in her life. As long as the murderer was out there walking free, she was stuck in the mire of her grief.

She passed a large pool of water where a gator swished its tail before disappearing from view. A red fox darted out, then scurried back into the brush for cover. It was as if all the animals around her felt her anxiety.

Jacque’s shanty was tucked away in the middle of trees and waist-high bushes and brush. However, the immediate area around the shanty was clean and neat. Monique approached the front door, and summoning courage, she drew in several deep breaths, then released them slowly. With steely resolve, she knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” a deep voice called out.

“It’s Monique Santori.” She was appalled that her voice cracked due to her nerves. She cleared her throat and tried again. “It’s Monique, Mystique Santori’s daughter.”

The door swung inward, and Jacque LeBlanc gazed at her with curious green eyes. She’d forgotten what a big man he was. Her head only reached his shoulders. He was well-built with big shoulders and slim waist and hips.

“Miss Santori, what can I do for you?” he asked.