away as she could from this place. When he took her hand and led her to the gate, she followed willingly. But something glistening on the ground made her stop short, a strangled sound bubbling in her throat.
Chapter Ten
Andre shoved Morgan protectively behind him. “What?” he asked urgently.
She pointed to the gris-gris. “Another one. It’s another one.”
Still holding her back, he knelt and pushed the weeds aside, then swore. Prepared with another handkerchief, he scooped the blob up and closed his fist around it.
“It did that to me,” she whispered.
“Did what?”
“Messed with my mind. Made me reach for my gun and almost shoot you.”
“Unfortunately, you may be right,” he said as he led her outside the fence and closed the gate.
She gulped. “I saw another one today.”
He whirled toward her. “Another charm? Where?”
“On the road into town. Near where you rescued me from the flood.”
“And what happened that time?” he demanded.
“I felt like the water was sweeping me away. Even though I was safe in the car.”
His face turned fierce. “Merde!”
“Is it the priestess?”
“Who else has that power?”
She shook her head. She hadn’t believed in supernatural power at all. Now it looked like she had no choice.
“You should go back to the house,” he said.
She knew he wanted to protect her. She was also pretty sure he was looking for an excuse to withdraw behind the wall he’d built since she’d arrived.
“This time, stay and talk to me,” she whispered. “Why are you so different from the man I thought I knew?”
His gaze burned into her. “What do you mean—the man you thought you knew?”
She forced herself to speak frankly. “I mean—when we sent e-mail messages back and forth. You . . . you seemed friendly and open. We exchanged a lot of information. Not just about the case. Personal stuff. Then, as soon as I got here, you started being . . . evasive.”
He clenched and unclenched his fists. “The first thing that happened when you got here was that men from town threatened you in the bayou. I realized I’d put you in danger by asking you to come to Belle Vista.”
“But not giving me information doesn’t help!”
“I’m trying to figure out what to do!”
“Well, you can’t do it on your own! You hired me to do a job. Let me do it.” She struggled to get control of her own emotions. Fumbling her way back to a less threatening topic, she said, “tell me about the graveyard[RG4].”
His face contorted. “My ancestors are buried here. But I don’t visit them often. I tend to neglect the place.”
“You could hire someone.”
“There aren’t many people around here who would work for me.”
The flat way he said it tore at her. She had told him they must speak frankly. But she needed more than words. Reaching out, she wrapped him in her arms.
“You should stay away from me,” he whispered.
“Why?”
“Like I said, I’m putting you in danger.”
“From whom?”
“From the voodoo priestess. And from whoever is trying to drive me away from Belle Vista.”
“When you hired me, you didn’t say anyone was trying to drive you away.”
“Because it’s hard to talk about something that disturbing.”
“So, you thought you’d get me down here—then work it into the conversation.”
He laughed. “Something like that.”
“Well, I’m prepared to hear anything you have to say. I’m not some little librarian from back east. I’m a trained undercover agent.”
“Right. Tough as forged steel,” he murmured, and she caught a hint of the very appealing man she remembered from their correspondence.
Was that why she’d come down to Louisiana? Because she’d enjoyed his company—long distance. And was that part of the instant physical attraction she’d felt for him
She had fought that attraction. Now she heard herself say, “Maybe neither one of us is as tough as he—or she—thinks.”
When he didn’t answer, she said, “I’m here. You don’t have to go it alone.”
His arms slipped around her shoulders. When he’d held her before, his touch had turned passionate. Now he was deliberately keeping them both at a less heated level.
“Tell me about the curse,” she whispered.
She half expected him to pull away. Instead, he dragged in a breath, then let it out. “I told you I didn’t go away to school because I had to take care of my father. That was true. But it wasn’t the only reason. I can’t leave this place. So, whoever is trying to drive me away is doomed to failure.” He laughed, and this time the sound wasn’t pleasant. “The joke’s on them.”
“What do you