Page 38 of Beau

“It probably gave him a thirty to forty-five-minute lead on us.” Beau rested his hand on the gear shift. “You would think the paint on the wall might still be wet. I touched it. It was dry. Your point?” Beau cocked an eyebrow.

“It’s bad enough if I have one person chasing after me.” A shiver rippled down Aurelie’s spine. “Lord help me if there’s more.”

They drove the short distance from the sheriff’s office to Aurelie’s cottage. She sat for a moment, staring at the place she’d so lovingly decorated over the past several weeks since she’d moved in. “It doesn’t feel right anymore.”

“It probably won’t for a while.” Beau stared at her cottage. “In effect, your house has been violated.”

That was exactly how she felt.

Violated.

A shiver rippled down her spine.

She refused to let some bastard scare her away from everything she’d worked so hard for. Aurelie squared her shoulders.

CHAPTER 8

“Well,” Beau said, “let’s go in, get a few of your things and then head back to Bayou Mambaloa.”

Aurelie took a deep breath. “Okay. I’m feeling better about the little house in Bayou Mambaloa. It might take me a little while before I feel safe in my own home again.”

Beau dropped down out of his pickup and came around to open the door for Aurelie. He held out his hand to her.

Aurelie had always considered herself an independent woman, but she was glad Beau had come along when he had. She wasn’t sure what she would’ve done had he not. She probably would’ve drowned in the bayou or gotten eaten by an alligator. She let him help her down from the truck to stand in front of him on the ground. For a moment, she stared up into his handsome face, marveling again at how blue his eyes were. She’d been entranced by them at the masquerade ball. That had to be why she’d let him kiss her on the dance floor.

The memory of that kiss made heat rise up her neck into her cheeks. Aurelie ducked her head and turned toward the house.

Beau cupped her elbow, fanning the flames as he walked with her to her house.

The heat chilled as she climbed the steps onto the porch.

She’d been there the night before, but it felt like she hadn’t been there for a long time. Aurelie pulled the front door key out of her pocket and handed it to Beau. “If you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind,” Beau said. “Like the sheriff said, you’ll need to get new locks installed before you move back in.”

“And a security system,” Aurelie added.

“That would be a good idea,” Beau said

He unlocked the door and pushed it open. “Let me go first.”

Aurelie had no problem with letting Beau enter first. A burglar would be stupid to lie in wait inside a house under investigation by law enforcement. But then, whoever was after her had not been deterred by a château full of guests.

Beau entered her home, leaving the door wide open. Aurelie could see him moving around as he checked in the kitchen, the living room and then disappeared into the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

Moments later, he returned and said, “All clear.”

Aurelie crossed the threshold into her home with a sad, sick feeling in her belly. She’d seen it the night before, but in the cold light of day, it still hit her in the gut.

Beau gripped her elbow. “Let’s get your things and get out of here.”

She nodded, squared her shoulders, and marched down the hallway to the master bedroom, refusing to look at the trashed living room.

She hadn’t gotten that far the night before. Her bedroom was as much of a disaster as the rest of her house. The dresser drawers had been yanked out, and the clothes inside had been flung across the room. Her bed, which she had taken pride in making every morning with its beautiful comforter, was a shambles. The comforter had been ripped as if somebody had jabbed a knife into it and flung it across the room. Like the comforter, the sheets had been ripped down the middle. Even the mattress had a big tear down the center. Aurelie pressed a hand to her chest. Had she been lying in that bed when the intruder had slashed the mattress, would he have slashed through her as well?

Beau laid a hand on her shoulder. “Focus on getting the clothes you need.”

Aurelie swallowed hard, nodded and stepped over the mess.