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“As the NCO on duty, have you ever left your duty station for any length of time?”

Pruitt frowned. “Whenever I was on duty at the barracks, I was at my duty station for the duration.” He held up the fillet knife. “Unless there was trouble in the barracks, in which case I would’ve responded. It might be Thacker was the trouble that drew me away from my duty station.” Pruitt tilted his head to one side, his frown deepening.

“Thacker,” he said, as if rolling the name across his tongue. “There was a group of guys who came through one night after graduation. One of them was so drunk the others had to carry him into the barracks. He was singing at the top of his lungs. I remember getting an angry call from someone trying to sleep. I left my station to check it out.” He shook his head. “I ended up recording the names of all the guys who came in with the drunk guy. I warned them not to do it again, or it would be a mark on their records.”

“Do you have access to those records?”

Pruitt snorted. “Not since I retired. But those records are stored online. You might need a court order to access that data. If that was the night you were looking for, I recorded all the names of the drunken guys.”

“Did you record the time they arrived?” Jacques asked.

“Absolutely,” Pruitt said. “You know, the next morning, Major Beaumont came through as we were changing shifts. I remember because he asked if Danny French had returned to the barracks. I remember checking the records. She’d given notice she’d stay in a hotel the night before, but she was to check in with the barracks the next day before PT. She hadn’t checked in during my shift. I sent a runner to see if she’d come in without checking in. She hadn’t.” Pruitt shook his head. “You know Danny, don’t you? She’s the red-haired waitress at the Crawdad Hole.”

Jacques nodded. “I know her. Is it normal for the colonel’s aide to check whether or not a student has returned from a night in a hotel?”

Pruitt shrugged. “She could’ve cleared it with the school’s commander, and he could’ve had his aide follow up.”

Jacques nodded. It was plausible, especially considering the student was female.

“Is Danny the client you’re inquiring about?” Pruitt asked. “That woman powered through training few women could survive. I thought for sure she’d make a career of the Army after getting her tab. Next thing I knew, she quit the Army. Just walked away.” Pruitt’s eyes narrowed. “Did something happen to her that night? Is that why you’re asking questions about the men who came back to the barracks?”

“It’s not for me to say,” Jacques said. “I’m just piecing together a timeline.”

“That would make her departure from the military make sense. She was damned impressive throughout the course. I was shocked to hear she walked away.” Pruitt shook his head. “She’s part of the reason I chose to move and buy a fishing camp in Bayou Mambaloa.”

Jacques stiffened. “How’s that?”

“When she walked away from the Army, I’d heard she’d gone home to Louisiana. I don’t think I would have considered Louisiana after living so long near Florida.” He shrugged. “Then I ran into her at the Crawdad Hole a year ago when I was hunting for property. I figured it couldn’t be all bad if she landed here. And it might sound dumb, but I liked the name of the town, and the people I met were so welcoming. It felt like home.”

Jacques had felt a similar sense of coming home when he’d started working for the Brotherhood Protectors in Bayou Mambaloa.

But was it too much of a coincidence that Pruitt had miraculously ended up in the same town as Danny?

He’d have Swede tap into the duty records for that night and check when Danny’s classmates had returned to the barracks, as well as how long Pruitt was away from his station.

After the interviews that afternoon, Jacques would have a valid reason to contact Danny to check on her and bring her up to speed.

CHAPTER 6

Danny was happy she wasn’t staying to close that evening. After the dinner rush, Rene told her she could call it a night. Normally, she’d stay and help clean up, but one of the other waitresses had come in late and wanted to make up her hours by working through closing.

After her meeting with the Brotherhood Protectors, she’d spent her shift watching the door, expecting Jacques to come through at any time. He’d seemed to be her shadow for the past couple of nights. She hated to admit she missed seeing him.

It was her fault for telling Remy she didn’t need protection and could take care of herself. Jacques had taken her at her word and respected her decision. And she could take care of herself.

But it had been nice having someone looking out for her. She hadn’t felt the need to look over her shoulder every minute while Jacques had been present.

Rene took a minute to walk her to her vehicle and make sure the old truck would start before he went back inside.

Danny drove back into town, checking her rearview mirror as usual, maybe a little disappointed Jacques’s SUV hadn’t fallen in behind her. No one had followed her.

She parked in the alley behind Yaya’s Yoga studio and frowned up at the landing at the top of the stairs. She usually left the light on when she exited her apartment, knowing she’d arrive home after dark.

With all that had happened over the past couple of days, and after stopping by before work to drop off the papers she’d taken to the boat factory, she’d probably forgotten. Thankfully, she had a backup. She slung her purse strap over her shoulder, reached into her glove box for the flashlight she kept there and turned it on.

Flashlight in one hand, her other hand resting inside her purse with her keys and gun, she climbed the stairs and paused in front of her door. She took her key out, inserted it into the lock on the knob and turned it. The door opened immediately.

That was odd. She always locked both the doorknob lock and the deadbolt. She might have forgotten to turn on the light, but she wouldn’t have forgotten to lock the deadbolt.