Missing in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law #5)(52)

Jadyn was troubled too, but not only about Raissa.

At the pier, Luc quickly filled the other men in the search party in on the shooter. There were several exclamations and a couple of muttered threats against the perpetrator, but all seemed to understand the importance of returning in a group and the imperative to keep a close watch the entire time.

Since they had no reason to assume the shooter had targeted them personally, Jadyn and Colt both rode with Luc and Maryse third in the troop of four boats. The party pushed up the bayou as quickly as possible, all eager to get back to the safety of the town. Jadyn sat on the rear bench with Maryse, who directed a spotlight at the bank as they passed. Jadyn had no doubt her cousin was looking for Raissa, and her disappointment at the failed search increased.

Suddenly, Maryse jumped up from the bench and grabbed Luc’s shoulder. “Stop!”

Luc held up his hand to alert the boat behind him, then cut the power on the boat. “What is it?”

“I saw something on the bank. Something white.” She lifted the spotlight and cast it across the bank behind them. “See there, just inside the tree line.”

They all peered at the lump of white that was illuminated by the spotlight.

“I can’t tell what it is,” Luc said. “I’ll pull closer.”

He yelled out his intentions to the other search party members and asked them to stay put, then carefully directed his boat to the bank.

Colt jumped onto the bank, drew his weapon, and headed for the lump of white. He leaned over the lump then sprang back up. “It’s Raissa!”

Maryse clutched Jadyn’s arm. “Is she alive?”

“Yeah, but we need to get her to the hospital fast.”

Luc jumped out of the boat and went to help Colt lift Raissa. Maryse grabbed the CB and called the sheriff’s department dispatch, asking them to send a helicopter to meet them at the dock. While she called, Jadyn dug some life vests from beneath the bench and made a bed of them across the bottom of the boat.

A couple seconds later, Colt placed Raissa on the vests and Luc took off, slowing only to tell the men that Raissa was found and injured and to move as quickly as safety allowed. Jadyn sat beside Maryse in the bottom of the boat next to Raissa and checked her vitals. Her pulse was weak but steady, her breathing shallow. Her wrists were marked all the way around and had bled in some places. Jadyn lifted her pants legs and found the same marks around her ankles.

But the most distressing thing was the purple lump on the side of her head.

Clearly, she’d been conscious when she escaped, probably losing her captors in the swamp, but had the head injury caught up with her and caused her collapse? And was there permanent damage?

Two unconscious FBI agents, and no hard facts as to why.

She could only hope that Raissa awakened soon and had some answers.

[page]###

Jadyn was in the midst of a dream where she and Colt were stranded in a camp, but this time, his sheet was gone and he hadn’t been stopped at a single kiss. He had just ripped off her toga when someone started knocking at the door. Seriously?

It took her several seconds to realize that the scene with Colt was a dream and that someone really was banging on her motel room door. A second later, she locked onto Mildred’s anxious voice and popped out of bed, flinging open the door.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Raissa is awake! We need to get to the hospital. And keep it quiet, if you can. I’d like to get out of here without having to deal with Helena. I’ll tell her when we get back.”

Jadyn waved Mildred inside the room while she threw on jeans, T-shirt, and tennis shoes. “Won’t Agent Ross be there?”

“He’s on his way, but Raissa has already made it clear to her doctor that she will not speak to the FBI until she speaks to her friends.”

“But I’ve never even met her.”

“Doesn’t matter. Maryse and I want you there. Raissa would too if she’d already met you, especially after what you risked searching for her. So hurry up. I’ve called a friend to cover the front desk for me.”

Jadyn pulled her hair back in a ponytail and grabbed her weapon and wallet. “What are we waiting for?”

Mildred hauled butt downstairs and grabbed her purse off the front counter, nodding to an older woman with curly gray hair. Jadyn had to pick up her step to keep up with the hotel owner and knew Mildred was anxious to see for herself that Raissa was alive and well. Once she’d been admitted to the hospital the night before, the staff refused to let anyone see her and they’d all gone home, worried but hopeful. The fact that Raissa was awake and talking was the best news Jadyn could have possibly awakened to.

Jadyn had planned on driving, but before she could pull her keys out of her pocket, Mildred jumped into her still-dented car and waved frantically at her. Not wanting to hold things up any longer than she already had, Jadyn hopped into the passenger’s seat.

Mildred’s anxiety extended to her driving and Jadyn cringed as the older woman barreled down the highway at a good twenty miles per hour faster than her normal speed, especially since Jadyn was well aware the air bags were currently missing in Mildred’s car. In between worrying that Mildred would get them to the hospital safely, Jadyn wondered what Raissa had to tell.

Would she remember everything that had happened? Lots of times people had lapses of memory when something traumatic happened. Granted, Raissa was better qualified than most to handle extreme pressure, but those marks on her wrists and ankles were no joking matter. Whoever had held her was cruel, and Jadyn worried about what else they’d done to her.