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

She sank back into the booth and glared at the wall. “She’s getting worse.”

Jadyn shook her head. “How can taking Mildred’s pie be ‘borrowing’ when she has no ability to pay you back?”

“Oh, she could pay me back,” Mildred said. “She could pay us all back by taking a long vacation in another state. But the likelihood of Helena going anywhere that she doesn’t have a captive audience is slim to none.”

“How can she do that, anyway?” Jadyn asked. “I mean, Helena’s not real, per se, but the apple pie was. So how did she pull it through the wall?”

“We don’t really know,” Maryse said. “It’s not like Helena came with a manual. She’s figuring out new things all the time. The problem is, they’re never consistent.”

Mildred nodded. “At the Johnson wedding, she tried to make out of the reception hall with an entire tray of hors d’oeuvres. She made it through the wall just fine, but the tray smacked right into it and dropped to the floor.”

“Made a helluva mess,” Maryse added, “and got a couple of men who saw the whole thing banned from the open bar the rest of the night.”

“I wish I couldn’t see her at all,” Jadyn said. “It’s already a fine balance, knowing what she does and trying to look the other way, but making up plausible explanations for the things she does is likely to get us all branded as crazy.”

“Or arrested for running down the street waving a gun and wearing a bathrobe,” Mildred said.

“There is that,” Maryse agreed. “Let me flag down the waitress and get you another slice of pie.”

“Don’t bother,” Mildred said. “I need to get back to the hotel anyway. I’ll grab a slice to go at the counter on my way out.”

“I need to get going too,” Jadyn said. “I’m trying to map ten new miles of bayou each day until I feel like I know where everything is.”

“Don’t get too comfortable,” Maryse said as she rose from the booth. “One hurricane and it could all change. That’s why the set of maps you have now is worthless.”

Crap. Jadyn hadn’t even thought about the hurricane factor. The weather variances between north and south Louisiana made her job so different.

As Maryse tossed some bills on the table, her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and frowned.

“It’s Luc,” she said.

Mildred climbed out of the booth and watched Maryse closely, a worried look on her face. Jadyn got the impression that a midmorning call from Maryse’s husband was anything but normal.

“What happened?” Maryse asked, her voice rushed and an octave higher than usual. “What about Raissa?”

Jadyn glanced over at Mildred, but as soon as Maryse had mentioned Raissa’s name, she’d frozen in place, not even blinking.

Agonizing seconds crept by and the blood drained from Maryse’s face before she disconnected the call. “Luc’s at the hospital. Zach was rushed in an hour ago.”

Mildred sucked in a breath. “What about Raissa?”

Maryse shook her head. “He wouldn’t say. He just said to get down to the hospital.” Maryse pulled her keys from her pocket and dropped them on the floor. She stared at Mildred, her eyes stark with fear. “What if Raissa is dead?”

“We don’t know that,” Mildred said. She reached over to pick up the keys and dropped them herself. “Damn it!”

Jadyn grabbed the keys. “I’ll drive.”

“You have to work,” Maryse protested.

“It will wait.” She pulled some money from her jeans pocket and left it on the table, then ushered the two women out of the café. Jadyn didn’t know much about Raissa and Zach except that they were good friends of Maryse’s and Mildred’s. But if Luc insisted on a face-to-face, the situation couldn’t possibly be good.

As they climbed into Maryse’s truck, Jadyn said a quick prayer that whatever had happened, Maryse’s friends wouldn’t be hanging out with Helena anytime soon.





[page]Chapter Two


Luc was standing in the emergency room lobby talking to Colt when they walked in. Jadyn felt her heart beat a little stronger when she saw the sheriff. It must be bad if Colt is here, she thought, trying to convince herself that her reaction to the man was because of the situation.

Maryse immediately ran over to Luc and he pulled his wife into a quick hug. Jadyn lagged back, uncomfortable being present in the midst of a private situation.

“Don’t just stand there,” Mildred whispered, “get over there and find out what’s going on.”

Jadyn shook her head. “Raissa isn’t my friend. I would be intruding.”

“But Maryse and I are your friends, and I’m afraid we might need someone to lean on later.”

Mildred grabbed Jadyn’s arm, giving her no choice but to walk over to where the others stood. As she and Mildred approached, she gave Colt a nod before looking at Luc, waiting for the news.

“I was working a job this morning,” Luc said, “and we came across Zach on the side of Old Mill Highway. He was unconscious and it looks like he was hit by a car.”

“His car was hit?” Maryse asked.

“No. We haven’t located his car yet. It appears as if he was struck while on foot.”