Page 39 of Jacques

She’d gone through the entire log by the time they reached the marina.

Mitch met them on the dock with the keys to one of the bass boats he rented out. “It’s got a tank full of fuel.” He handed Jacques a paper map of Bayou Mambaloa and texted the camp’s GPS location to Jacques’s cell phone. “Should take you fifteen minutes to get there, twenty tops. I’d take you myself, but I’m manning the marina by myself today.”

“No worries,” Jacques said. “I remember going by it a few times on some of my fishing trips with you.

Danny stepped into the fishing boat and settled onto one of the cushioned seats, holding the documents close to her chest so they wouldn't blow away or get wet.

Jacques untied the line from the dock, climbed aboard and took the helm. Soon, they slipped through the bayou, navigating its twists and turns.

Danny hadn’t been out on the bayou since she’d moved to Bayou Mambaloa. She hadn’t needed to rent a boat or fish since the last time her father had taken her and Caleb out when they were teens. It really hadn’t crossed her mind.

She marveled at the cypress trees, their knees rising above the surface, and the grassy marshes, stirred by the breeze generated by their passing boat. The puffy white clouds overhead reflected in the dark, brackish water.

Danny found the bayou beautiful and mysterious.

Jacques leaned forward and touched her shoulder.

When Danny glanced toward him, he pointed to a sliver of an island where an alligator lay on the shore, soaking up the sun’s rays.

She amended her assessment of the bayou to beautiful, mysterious and dangerous.

Minutes later, Jacques steered the boat into a cove where a rustic cabin stood on stilts on an island, a weathered dock stretching out into the water.

Jacques slowed the boat and let it glide slowly up to the dock. As soon as they were close enough, he stepped out and tied the line to a post.

“Ahoy,” a voice called from the cabin’s front porch. Dale Pruitt appeared at the top of the stairs, wearing jeans and a gray polo shirt.

Jacques helped Danny up onto the dock.

Together, they approached the cabin.

“Ms. French. Jacques.” Pruitt nodded. “I take it you were able to get into the duty log.”

Danny held up the documents. “We’d like to go over it with you, if you have time.”

Pruitt’s lips twisted. “I’m retired. I have all the time in the world.” He turned and led the way across the porch. “Come inside. I can offer you coffee, a soda or a beer if you don’t think it’s too early.”

“Thank you, but I don’t need anything,” Danny said. They hadn’t completely ruled Pruitt out as the man who’d attacked her.

“None for me,” Jacques said.

Pruitt held the cabin door open. “It’s a bit primitive, no frills, but I have a real table and chairs.” He waved toward them. “Please, take a seat.”

After being out in the sunshine, Danny's eyes took a few moments to adjust to the dim interior. Light filtered through the front and side windows, enough to see the papers she’d brought.

She pushed the copies of the log across the table toward Pruitt, holding onto her medical record. Pruitt didn’t need to see it.

He dragged the copies of the log closer, pulled a pair of glasses from his pocket, settled them on the end of his nose and leaned closer.

He pointed to the middle of the second page. “That’s the first note I made to log the noise complaint. I sent a runner to check it out. A few minutes later, the runner reported back that he needed assistance. I left my duty station at that time. It took a few minutes to get Thacker sorted and quiet. And this is when I got back to my station and recorded what had happened.”

“There aren’t any other notes in the log between that last note and eight o’clock in the morning,” Jacques noted. “No one else arrived or departed the barracks between those hours?”

Pruitt shook his head. “I would’ve noted it. My last entry was when Major Beaumont came in to inquire if Danny French had reported in. I told him I hadn’t seen her, and she hadn’t arrived with the rest of her classmates who’d been carrying Thacker.”

“Beaumont didn’t ask if others of the class reported in?” Danny asked.

“No, ma’am,” Pruitt said. “Just you.”