Missing in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law #5)(42)

“It doesn’t. Most criminals are more concerned with getting a not guilty verdict. Seeking revenge on federal agents will only buy them more trouble and they know it, but apparently Rico is not your garden-variety criminal.”

“Jesus.” Suddenly the room felt hot and cramped.

“Do you have any idea what I thought when Agent Ross called and said he’d found you in the swamp?”

She sucked in a breath. “Oh no. You must have thought…I mean, given the circumstances, you thought he meant a body.”

Luc nodded, looking miserable.

Maryse teared up again, horrified that her own stubbornness had caused her husband such pain. “I don’t know what to say except I’m sorry. And I promise I will keep concrete beneath my feet and try to stay in plain sight of others. I can move my computer and some of my equipment to the hotel and work there until you think it’s safe.”

Luc leaned over and kissed her. “I hate for you to change up your entire routine, but I’d be lying if I said that wouldn’t take a load off my mind.”

“Can you help me move some stuff tomorrow morning?”

“Absolutely.”

“So, uh, do you want to know what I was doing?”

Luc shook his head. “I think I already have a good idea, and I assume you didn’t get anything useful or you would have already blurted it out by now. Although I do admit to being slightly curious about the boat theft part of the accusations.”

“Helena stole the boat.”

“Why did I know that’s what you were going to say?”

“Because it’s Helena.”

“True. So where is she now?”

“I have no idea.” Maryse bolted upright. “Crap. We forgot to get my cell phone from Stepford.”

“Stepford?”

“Stepford Agent—the man who was guarding me.”

Luc smiled and moved closer to her. “I’ll get it tomorrow. Now, if the fighting is over, can we move to the making up part?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”





[page]Chapter Ten


Jadyn trudged behind Colt as they left another empty camp behind them. Daylight was fading quickly, and she knew they didn’t have time for much more searching.

“Maybe we could use flashlights and keep going,” she suggested.

Colt stopped and looked at the sun sinking over the line of cypress trees. “I’ve thought about it. We could, but we might miss signs of recent entry using only flashlights.”

“True, but at least we’d know if the camps were empty. Most of them had electricity.”

“Most of the ones we saw today did, but our next group moves us farther into the swamp and that area doesn’t have power. The owners use generators for electricity, but they usually take them with them when they leave to avoid theft. I guess I should have planned better and had us start with those first.”

“No second-guessing yourself now. Besides, we both agreed it made more sense to start with camps nearest where you found the car.”

He nodded and glanced once more at the disappearing sun. “If you don’t have a problem with the conditions, I wouldn’t mind checking out more.”

“I definitely don’t mind. If we see anything suspicious, we can always recheck that location tomorrow.”

“Sounds good.” He stepped into the boat and fished two flashlights out from the seat storage. Jadyn clutched the flashlight and took a seat. It was the right thing to do, continuing their search as long as they were alert enough to do so, but it was also more dangerous. Once the sun went down, the traffic on the bayou would dwindle down to only the die-hard midnight fishermen, and without the general buzz of local boats, someone would be able to hear their boat coming from miles away.

Whoever was brave enough to kidnap a federal agent wouldn’t have any trouble opening fire on local law enforcement.

“That was the last camp in this section,” Colt said. “We need to backtrack a bit to get farther east, but with any luck, we’ll be able to check everything else west of the pond tonight.”

Jadyn nodded and settled in for the ride. Based on what she’d gleaned from the maps, it would take a good ten minutes to wind out of the area they were in and get to where the next section of camps started. Ten minutes for her to consider everything that could possibly go wrong with this plan. She shook her head. What she needed to do was shift her focus to something that could occupy her mind but not stress her out.

Like Helena Henry.

She couldn’t even imagine what all had transpired between Helena and the FBI agents, and God help her, she was dying to know. The fact that Helena had left Maryse behind worried her a bit, but if anyone could traverse the bayou without being sighted it was Maryse. Worst case, Ross detained her and would have to let her go. After all, he could hardly arrest her for being on her own property.

Colt slowed the boat and Jadyn peered into the dim light at the bank, barely making out the outline of a camp about twenty feet from the pier.

“This one belongs to your boyfriend Bart. He inherited it from his father.”

Jadyn threw her hands up. “Why does everyone keep calling him my boyfriend?”

“It’s kinda obvious he’s got a thing for you.”