Page 13 of Jacques

“Can you have him look into Jeffries and his entourage, as well?” she asked. “The voice I heard earlier came from their general direction. And it’s a bit of a coincidence that he knows my brother.”

“A little more than a bit, if you ask me,” Jacques said.

Rene set a glass of whiskey in front of Jacques.

“I guess I’d better get back to the table.” He lifted the glass. “But I’m here if you need me.”

Danny didn’t want to need Jacques, but she felt a little better knowing he was there. He’d seen her at her worst and still came around.

With Rene busy washing mugs and glasses, Danny squared her shoulders and strode to the end of the bar to Pruitt. “What can I get you?” she asked, her tone brittle.

“Whiskey sour,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “Saw how you handled Bobby Ray earlier.” He nodded as if in approval. “You still carry yourself like a tab, French.”

She frowned. “Tab” was what Rangers who’d been through Ranger School called each other. Only those who made it through earned a tab.

Her eyes narrowed. “You were at Fort Benning when I was.”

He nodded. “The Army lost a good one when you walked away,” he said. “I pegged you for a lifer. Guess it’s not for everyone.”

His comment struck her square in the chest. She had planned to serve a full twenty years, maybe more, then retire to her home state of Louisiana.

Danny didn’t respond. What could she say? That she didn’t feel safe in a place where a rapist was at large? Still, she had no intention of defending her decision to leave the military.

She turned, took Pruitt’s order to Rene and delivered another full tray of drinks to a table in the corner, using the time to gather the courage to ask the questions she needed Pruitt to answer.

Back at the bar, she retrieved the whiskey sour from Rene and carried it to where Pruitt sat alone. “Can I get you anything else?” she asked, her mind churning with how best to phrase the questions without blatantly accusing him of her rape. Finally, she blurted, “Are you from Louisiana?”

Pruitt blinked. “No. Why do you ask?”

“I was curious as to why you decided to buy a fishing camp in this state.”

He smiled. “I’ve always liked the mystery and biodiversity of bayous.”

“You retired from Georgia. Why not move to Florida?”

“Too hot, too many pythons wrecking the ecosystem,” he laughed, “and too many old people clogging the roads. I didn’t need to add to the population. I like fishing and solitude. And I liked this town’s name. It has its own charm and mystery.” He lifted his chin toward her. “What about you? Why did you come to Bayou Mambaloa?”

To get away from an attacker I couldn’t name. To not have to look over my shoulder every second of every day. To find peace and safety. She thought but didn’t say the words.

Instead, she lifted her shoulders. “I grew up in Louisiana—not here in Bayou Mambaloa, but in Thibodaux. It’s a little larger. I like how small this town is.” She drew in a breath and forced herself to ask a more pertinent question. “You were at Fort Benning at the same time I was.”

He nodded slowly. “I remember you. A very determined soldier. You didn’t let anything get in the way of completing the training. Speaking of being in Louisiana, why are Jeffries and his aide here?”

She tilted her head toward Jeffries. “You know them?”

Pruitt shrugged and glanced toward the table where Jacques sat with his team and Jeffries’ people. “I served under him at the Ranger School the last few years before I retired.”

Her gaze shifted to the Colonel and his team. “We got a new commander a few weeks before my class graduated.” She frowned. “It was him, wasn’t it? I barely remember. Survival training took a lot out of me.”

“It either breaks you or makes you,” Pruitt said. “Colonel Jeffries and Major Beaumont came as a package deal around that time. I don’t recall the exact date. We’ve had a few more classes go through since then.” He took a long drink and set the glass on the bar. “It was a challenging final hurrah for my military career. Now that I'm retired, the most stress I have is keeping the alligators from stealing the bait off my line. It’s been an adjustment, but I like it.”

“Could you have stayed in the military longer?” she asked.

Pruitt’s gaze shifted to the men at the table. “I could have, but I’d had enough. It’s not the same military I joined when I was eighteen.” He pulled out his wallet and laid a bill on the counter. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an early morning scheduled with Mitch Marceau. I need to hit the rack if I’m going to keep up with him.”

Danny’s conversation with Pruitt did little to identify her attacker, but it helped her clarify the timeline. Perhaps reconstructing the last few weeks she’d spent at Fort Benning would jog her memory and help her recall the face of the man who’d changed her life forever. After the incident, she’d been in such a brain fog that all she could focus on was getting away from the fort, from Georgia and the Army.

She scribbled on a napkin, making a note to check the exact timelines of her survival training and the dates Colonel Jeffries and Major Baumont assumed command at the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade.