Drake wasn't surprised. From just the small observations during the fight the night before and with what Saria had told him, he could see the lair was in desperate need of new leadership. Jeanmard had given everything to his lair and he wanted to retire. He wanted to sit on the front porch with the woman he'd loved for years and end his duties to the shifters.
"What is it?" Saria asked.
He would have to remember she was quick and observant. He passed the binoculars to her. "Take a look at the rake marks in those trees."
"I used to see these on the house and in the trees around our property. Mon pere would sand them off the walls. What are they?" Saria handed him back the glasses.
"A male leopard marks his territory. As humans we can go into that territory and it wouldn't be considered a challenge, but should I shift to leopard form and enter, he would have the right to attack me. Did you notice the second set of marks?"
She frowned at him and took the binoculars out of his hand again to study the deep furrows in the trees. "They're a little different, not quite as high."
"Exactly." He couldn't help feeling a surge of admiration and pride in her. Few people would have spotted the second set of rake marks even when pointed out to them. Her years in the swamp had honed her observation skills.
"What does it mean?"
"Every lair has a leader. I believe Jeanmard has been the leader of this lair for some time and when his wife died a few years ago, he wanted to step down. I think he's got a challenger."
Saria sat back in the boat and studied his face. "You think there's trouble here, don' you?"
"Yes. I think the lair has needed strong leadership and no one has stepped forward to take over. Whoever is vying for the position now is tentative. His rake marks are not as deep as they should be, nor do they cover all of Jeanmard's."
"You grew up knowing all of this right from the beginning, didn't you?"
He nodded. "I've seen enough here, let's keep going. I'd like to check a couple of other properties. I might be able to match the marks and tell you who is challenging Jeanmard for leadership. If we know who it is, you can profile them for me."
She frowned at him. "How is this goin' to help us catch whoever is killing people?"
"We'll want the cooperation of the lair. We can only get that through the leader."
"What if . . . ?" She trailed off and bit her lip hard, turning away from him.
"Why do you persist in thinking the killer might be one of your brothers?" Drake asked. "What aren't you telling me, Saria?"
The boat swept along the shoreline, giving him a great view of the plants and birds. The sun slowly burned off the fog, so that the gray veil lifted, revealing the true raw beauty of the wild region. To a man who needed an untamed environment in much the way he needed air to breathe, the swamp was a thing of absolute magnificence.
"I recognized the bottles near the last two bodies," Saria admitted reluctantly as she poured on the speed to take them to the next location. "We make our own alcohol and we use very distinctive bottles. They were ours."
"But you have a bar all of your neighbors go to, right? Do all the seven families who lease from Jake Bannaconni frequent your bar?"
"Yes, even the Tregre family. This is as close as I can get you to the Lanoux land. Their property is a V-shaped wedge. Their property line runs alongside of ours."
Drake's leopard roared a protest. He felt a burst of heat through his body. His jaw ached and he had to turn his head away from Saria. That information disturbed him. It shouldn't have, but the thought of Robert and Dion Lanoux growing up close to Saria sent his leopard into a kind of fury. He felt the raking claws and a terrible need to destroy his enemies. He breathed away the need to hunt and forced himself to study the trees.
Saria slowed the boat to almost a crawl to allow him time to find rake marks in the trees. He fixed the powerful glasses onto one of the taller cypress trees on the edge of the marsh. He instantly recognized that there were two distinct rake marks over the older version--probably their father's--and one had been Jeanmard's challenger.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. The wind was blowing away from the land, taking any scent with it, but he knew someone was watching them. More than once he'd had a high-powered rifle trained on him. It felt the same now, that itch in the center of his back. He kept the binoculars trained on the trees.
"Get us out of here, Saria," he ordered.
She shivered, as if a chill had gone down her spine. She picked up speed and the boat swept around the bend and out into the center of the channel. "Someone was watching us."
"I didn't see him, but I sure as hell felt him," Drake said.
"I don' want to do this anymore, Drake. I think I've put you in a terrible position."
"It's almost lunchtime, Saria. Let's find a place to eat and relax." He didn't want her bolting on him now. It was interesting to him that she was more afraid for him than for herself.
"I called Charisse last night and asked her if we could picnic on her property. She has more firm land than anyone else and I know a couple of good spots that are secluded and beautiful," she agreed. "They developed one section just for picnics, with the idea they might bring in tourists someday to visit the gardens, although they don' do it now."
The landscape changed from the trees, shrubs and grasses to fields after fields of colorful flowers and exotic plants. Drake stood up in order to get a better view. Acres of flowers vied for space. The gentle wind sent them in motion, producing hypnotic waves of color, purples and blues giving way to dazzling yellows, oranges and reds.
"The Mercier gardens," Saria said, answering his unspoken question with one word. "They can keep them growing longer than most wildflowers too. I think they use smudge pots like the vineyards do." She laughed as she said it, half serious and half joking."They've got every kind of flower you could imagine, native to Louisiana as well as exotics."
"I've never seen so many flowers. They must have a huge operation."
Saria nodded a little proudly. "Charisse really is a genius and she has incredible olfactory skills. A client can come into her shop and she can design a perfume for that individual that is so incredible there is no one that can rival her. She's really made something of herself and I'm glad for her. She honestly doesn't have the best social skills, but her brother Armande makes up for it. Everyone likes him. He fronts the store and deals with orders and shipping as a rule and she designs the scents and runs the laboratory. Of course the gardeners tend the plants. They make a great team, although the greenhouse and hybrids are all grown by Charisse for scent."
"With an operation this large, they must make a good living."
"They ship all over the world," Saria confirmed. "And Charisse is generous with the community. She poured money into the school and kept our little schoolhouse going so the children wouldn't have to commute so far when the state was cutting the smaller schools."
She took the boat in to a small pier, securing it to the wooden structure. Drake wasn't altogether certain the pier would take his weight, but Saria jumped out, dragging a large, rather ornate picnic basket and thick blanket with her.
He followed her, conscious of the wood sagging ominously beneath him as he hurried after her. The ground was spongy, the soil a rich, dark color.
"They must have acres of flowers."
"They have all sorts of plants. Many of them native to Louisiana, like bearded pink orchid, brown-eyed Susan, honeysuckle and blue sage. Others, not native, are carefully controlled, such as lavender, poppies, and of course there's all kinds of plants and grasses, too many to name. Charisse had the gardeners give me a tour once. The schoolchildren come out once a year and tour the gardens and then see how perfume is extracted from the plants and made. It's all quite interesting."
Drake was more interested in the trees rising up out of the lower marshes and the rake marks on them. Saria knew where she was going and followed a narrow trail to a flat spot up above the water lin
e where she spread out the blanket and indicated he could sit.
"You didn't have to provide me with lunch, Saria."
Saria laughed as she opened the picnic basket. "No, I didn't prepare lunch, although Miss Pauline is an incurable romantic and wanted me to tell you I did. She is certain the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. She did all this and wanted me to take credit."
"She should know you better," Drake said, "no way would you take credit if you hadn't done it."
"Not even to impress you?" she teased.
"You know you don't have to impress me. I was impressed the first time you spoke."
Her eyebrow shot up. "Spoke? Not my looks?"
"There are a lot of beautiful women in the world, Saria, and you're certainly one of them, but your courage and honesty is a prize beyond everything. That and your loyaltyont>
"I don' feel very loyal takin' you out to the marsh," she replied in a low voice as she handed him a bottle of cold water.
"What were you supposed to do, Saria, let him keep killing? Sooner or later he'd kill someone you knew. Someone you love."
"What if it is one of my brothers?" Her hand trembled as she passed him a sandwich.
"I think it's safe to say that if it was one of your brothers, the rest of your brothers would know and they'd stop him. We tend to police our own."
"The reason the male leopard who marked me didn' do it correctly might have been because it was a warning, not his leopard trying to get mine to accept his," she pointed out.
He took the sandwich with a nod of thanks and slipped his arm around her. "Saria, your leopard didn't accept his. She didn't rise to the surface looking for a potential mate. She didn't want him. And that male leopard probably has nothing to do with the note at all. You thought it was a warning, but he would have stopped at raking your back. He must have done that because his leopard was in a fury, but he bit your shoulder hoping your female would override you."
"There's a lot to this leopard business I don' understand," she said, leaning a little into him for comfort.
"Give it time. We're just getting started. Your leopard retreats and stays hidden for long periods of time. You're close to the emergence, but not quite there, and believe me, if any male leopard was to push her, she'd fight back ferociously."
"What are we goin' to do next?"
"I want to see the marsh where you found the bodies and then I think I need to pay a visit to your brothers."
She went ramrod stiff. "I don' think that's a good idea."
"I'm not going to go behind their backs, Saria. I need to talk to them about us."
"I'm a grown woman. It's not their business what I do." She stuck her chin out.
Drake leaned toward her, brushing her chin with a light kiss. "They're going to think differently. I would never respect a man who would try to steal my sister rather than court her properly with the knowledge of her family." He pulled her closer, beneath the protection of his shoulder. "What are you afraid of, Saria? If they object, will you back out?"
"No. No, of course not. Why would you think that? I just don' think it's a great idea talkin' to my brothers. They've been actin' weird lately. Really weird."
Which was another reason she worried the killer might be one of her brothers. Drake knew she wouldn't voice it aloud again, but she was definitely worried.
"Weird how?"
"They never paid any attention to me at all while I was growin' up. Well, Remy sometimes tried to tell me what to do, but he was always in a hurry and he'd leave after he'd give me some stupid order. They've lived their own lives and suddenly they're all back and I can feel them watchin' me. They want me in the house at night. Remy said not to go out into the swamp at night and more than once 's checked up on me."
He had to hide his smile at the disgust in her voice. "Imagine. Your big brother checking up on you," he murmured.
She glared at him for a moment and then began to laugh. "I suppose that does sound silly. I don' think any of them realized I grew up, and suddenly they've noticed and they want to put me back in my toddler suit. I'm so not appreciatin' their attention." She took a bite of her sandwich and chewed, thinking it over. "It's strange when you think about it. I spent a good portion of my early years tryin' to get their attention and now that I have it, I definitely resent it."
He rubbed his shoulder against hers, a small feline gesture of affection. "I don't think you were ever into authority figures, Saria. You just wanted to be part of them."
She rubbed her chin on her knee. "I was happy when you told me about my leopard because all these years I've felt as if I didn' belong with my brothers. It scares me, but at least I really have a family."
He stroked a caress down her silky hair, his fingers lingering on the nape of her neck. "Of course you're part of them, whether or not you have a leopard. You would still have all the instincts. I was injured some time back and couldn't shift. I've been shifting since I was a boy. For the first time I experienced what it would be like for someone of our blood to have all the drives of a leopard without being able to unleash it."
She took a sip of her water. Fascinated, he watched her throat work. The sun bathed her soft skin in a golden glow. He was fast becoming addicted to the sweep of her long lashes and her expressive face. He knew he was intrigued with her, drawn to her by more than the chemistry of their leopards. Her lack of guile appealed to him. The fact that he could occasionally catch glimpses of that sultry, sexy woman hidden beneath her innocent face only added to the appeal.
"What do you mean by that?" She rubbed her mouth with the back of her hand and turned her head to look directly at him.
His heart lurched. Those enormous dark eyes seemed a deep well he was in danger of falling into. Drake would have laughed if someone had told him just a few days earlier how fast and hard he would fall for a woman, but now . . . He was so far under her spell he knew there was no way out. He wanted to be lost in her forever.
"Leopards are moody, cruel, cunning, and passionate. Trap all those intense emotions into a body without an outlet, and you could have a very disturbed individual." His fingers settled on the nape of her neck a little possessively.
She didn't move away from him, rather snuggled closer to him, her thigh sliding against his as she reached for Pauline's famous sweet dough lemon pie. The container was chilled to keep the pie as cold as possible.
"I feel moody sometimes," Saria admitted as she carefully extracted the pie from the container. "Especially when someone tries to tell me what to do."
He laughed. He'd never seen anyone enjoy food the way she seemed to--she seemed to enjoy life more than anyone he'd been around. She just lived each moment, in the moment.
"It's true," she said and held out the lemon pie to him. "You have to taste this. No one does a sweet dough lemon pie the way Pauline does. She Paus amazing. When I was little I'd go to her house nearly every day and she'd teach me to cook. She never got annoyed with me, or impatient, and she made the lessons fun. I love to cook because of her."
Drake took note of the unconscious love in her voice. Pauline Lafont was a very special woman in Saria's life whether she knew it or not. He didn't take the pie from her hand but leaned over to take a bite. His gaze remained locked with hers. Her eyes went dark, those golden flecks flaring bright. Her lips parted, an invitation, although she seemed unaware of it. The tangy lemon burst through his mouth and he couldn't help the slightly shocked look. "That is pure heaven."
She used her finger to wipe at the lemon on his lip. He opened his mouth and drew her finger in. Her eyes went even wider, darkened with desire--for him. This was Saria, not her leopard, and he wanted Saria. He took his time, savoring the lemon flavor over her soft skin.
"I'm going to marry you for your cooking."
She looked more shocked than ever. She pulled back, frowning a little. "Whoa. Back off, my man. Marriage isn't a word you just throw around, not even when you're jokin'."
He took the lemon pie from her
hand. "Who said I was joking? If you can make this concoction, believe me, baby, I'd die a happy man."
Her lashes fluttered. He resisted the urge to kiss that look of utter confusion right off her face.
"Maybe you should just marry Pauline."
He laughed. "I'd get certain benefits from marrying you."
Saria took her lemon pie from the storage container and thoughtfully took a bite. They both watched the egrets walking with their long sticklike legs through the marsh as they savored the dessert. The water lapped gently in a soothing rhythm and a light wind rustled the leaves in the trees. Drake felt at peace. He waited for Saria to finish her pie and take another drink of water before shifting her so that she lay curled, her head in his lap. The breeze created a wave through the fields of flowers, a riot of color shimmering in the early afternoon sun. They sat in silence for a long time, with the sun beaming down on them and the wind kissing their faces.
Saria suddenly opened her eyes and caught him staring down at her. She lifted her hand to trace his strong jaw with the pads of her fingers. "I've been thinking about those benefits," she said. "You'd think they would be worth it, but I'd drive you crazy. Or you'd drive me crazy. Marriage seems to give men a license to boss women around."
He captured her fingers and brought them to his mouth to gently bite at her fingertips. "You have a very skewed view of relationships, Saria. I'm certain there are men who boss their woman around, but some men are looking for partnerships. If I'm attracted to you as you are, with your independence and opinions, why would I want to change you?"
"I always wondered that--why men would want to change women."
"I don't," he said firmly, nibbling on her fingers.
"So I was wrong when I thought you were upset this mornin' because I went into the swamp by myself? You didn' think I needed my brother's permission?" There was a challenge in her voice.
"I never thought you needed anyone's permission, honey, but there's a killer running around loose and you know it. The fact that the letter disappeared from the post office and ended up tacked to your boat was a clear warning that the killer knows you found the bodies. And then there's the little matter of a male leopard attacking you. Common sense tells us you're in danger and shouldn't be wandering alone out in the swamp--especially if no one knows where you are."