Missing in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law #5)(35)
Maryse felt the blood rush up her neck and onto her face. His arrogance had finally put her in the red, and although Maryse knew it was probably best to be political about the entire thing, she had never managed polite when she was pissed.
“Nothing you or anyone else can say will keep me out of this swamp.”
“Really? If you push the issue, I’ll have you arrested for trespassing and interfering in a federal investigation.”
She gave him a smug smile. “I own the entire game preserve. Good luck making either of those stick.”
“The state owns the game preserve.”
She shook her head. “The state leases the game preserve from me, but I own the land and have the legal right to occupy or work on any square inch I see fit. Read the lease documents sometime.”
Ross threw his arms in the air. “You can’t possibly have purchased an entire swamp.”
“No. I inherited it from my former mother-in-law, Helena Henry.”
Ross froze, apparently recognizing the name. “Helena Henry?”
Maryse nodded.
Ross cursed under his breath. “You’re Luc LeJeune’s wife.”
“The one and only, and he’s going to be thrilled when he hears how you’ve manhandled me.” She lifted the binoculars. “I bruise easily.”
Ross’s eyes widened and he spun around to yell at one of his men. “Get her to the hospital and make sure she’s not injured. Drive slowly and don’t let her out of your sight until I get there to question her. No phone calls to her husband, either. If the hospital wants to release her, ask for a psych eval, but whatever you do, don’t let her leave before I get there.”
“Yes, sir. What’s the reason for the arrest?”
“We’re the damned FBI. It’s none of the hospital’s business why we’re detaining her. Now someone get me a boat so we can go after her accomplice!”
The agent grabbed Maryse by the arm. “This way.”
His grip was tight enough to make her wince and she held in a smile. She hadn’t lied about bruising easily. Ross was just digging himself a deeper grave. The agent directed her to a truck and motioned for her to get inside. Then he reached into the glove compartment and brought out a pair of handcuffs.
Maryse stared at him. “Seriously?”
“You’re a suspect.”
“Suspected of occupying my own property? Technically speaking, you guys are the ones trespassing.”
He clicked the handcuffs around her wrists. “You can tell all that to your attorney.”
Before she could reply, he slammed the door. She watched as he walked around the vehicle, unable to believe how ridiculous the entire situation had become. Looking in the side mirror, she could see Ross, directing the extraction of the car from the pond. Farther up the bayou, a boat approached. Apparently, Ross’s backup had arrived.
The arresting agent climbed into the driver’s seat and pulled away from the pond. Only then did the entirety of her situation hit Maryse, and a sliver of panic ran through her. Not because she had been arrested—she knew good and well they couldn’t make anything stick—and facing a judge didn’t worry her in the least.
Facing her husband was an entirely different story.
[page]###
Jadyn climbed back in the boat, mentally calculating how many cabins they’d covered, then checked her watch. “That makes twenty so far.”
Colt nodded and directed the boat down the bayou. “And we haven’t found a single thing. I’m beginning to wonder if we’re going about this all wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe it was a miscalculation to start near where the car was found. Maybe he dumped the car away from wherever he’s hiding to throw us off track.”
Jadyn sighed. It made sense…as much as any of this did. “So do we shift focus to the east side of the swamp or finish up here first?”
“I wish I knew.”
He looked as defeated as Jadyn felt. With every empty search, her spirits dropped as much as her frustration level rose. With Maryse and Mildred counting on her to deliver results, Jadyn knew the pressure was on, and it was getting to her. What if she failed? What if she found Raissa too late, or God forbid never found her at all?
The grim look Colt wore left her no doubt that he felt the same pressure she did, and probably a whole lot more. He’d known some of these people his entire life. And a crime of this magnitude occurring in his hometown would make him feel even more responsibility to restore things to normal.
On the upside, the pressure and stress of trying to locate Raissa and the horror of seeing the mayor decked out like an extra in Pulp Fiction had completely eliminated any romantic feelings she might have had for Colt.
Until now, when she thought about it.
Crap.
And now that she was thinking about it, despite the perpetual scowl, he still managed to be sexy as hell. No man had a right to look that good when he was feeling that down. It wasn’t fair to women. Especially to her.
She sighed. In one flash of thought, she’d undone an entire morning of blockage.
Suddenly, he cut the speed of the boat and she pitched forward a bit. He grabbed his binoculars and focused on a group of trees to their left.
“Shit!” He tossed the binoculars on the bench behind him and made a U-turn before shooting off down another channel.