Missing in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law #5)(53)

When they reached the hospital, Mildred practically jumped out of the car before the engine died, and Jadyn rushed after her. They stopped short in the waiting room, and Jadyn whistled, taking in the two sides of the room, divided for war. On one side was Mildred, Maryse, and Colt. On the other was Agent Ross and three of his minions.

“You’re out of line,” Ross said to Colt. “This is my case and Raissa is my witness.”

Colt’s jaw flexed and Jadyn could tell he was beyond angry. “More importantly, she’s the victim. She’s specifically asked to speak to her friends first. You’re welcome to go in and try to get her to talk, but I have to tell you, I don’t think you’ll get anywhere. She’s as stubborn as the rest of us.”

“You all have interfered with this investigation from the beginning.”

Maryse stepped forward and stuck her finger in Ross’s face. “It’s a damned good thing we did, since we’re the ones who found her. What have you accomplished?”

Ross sneered. “I don’t answer to you.”

“That’s a shame, because apparently, I’m a lot smarter than you.”

“Excuse me.” A doctor stepped into the room, nervously glancing at the people gathered. “Ms. Bordeaux is asking for her friends. Are you all here?”

Ross flashed the doctor his badge. “No one is speaking to Agent Bordeaux until after I’m through with her.”

The doctor frowned. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. Ms. Bordeaux’s instructions were specific, and given her precarious health, I’m not about to upset her. You can wait here until she asks for you, or I can ask her to give you a call.”

The doctor turned to look at them. “I assume you are the friends she’s referring to?”

“Yes,” Maryse said and shot a smug look at Ross as they followed the doctor through the double doors. Jadyn didn’t bother to hold in her grin and she strolled past Ross.

They followed the doctor down the hall and he directed them into a room.

The woman propped up in the hospital bed looked far better than she did in the boat the night before. More bruises were starting to form on her arms, but some of the color had returned to her face. She looked up as they entered, and smiled.

Maryse and Mildred ran across the room and hugged her, careful to avoid her bandaged head. They held one another and whispered for a bit. Jadyn shuffled, feeling like she was intruding on a private moment.

When they finally released her, Maryse waved Jadyn over and introduced her. Raissa shook her hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you,” she said.

Jadyn nodded. “You, too. I wish it were under better circumstances.”

Raissa smiled. “No better circumstances than being alive.” She looked at the rest of the group. “So who wants to tell me how I got here? The doctor wouldn’t give me a bit of information other than who brought me in. An Agent Ross has apparently been insisting on talking to me, but I wanted to talk to you guys first—make sure I’m clear on the facts.”

Colt stepped forward and filled her in on what had transpired over the last couple of days. Raissa listened quietly, then whistled when he was done, glancing from Colt to Jadyn. “Sounds like you two got the worst of it. Thank you for ignoring Ross’s directive. He has a reputation at the bureau for strong-arming his way through a crowd to kiss the right ass. If you’d listened to him, I would have died out there.”

No one said a word. They all knew she was right.

“Well,” Raissa said, breaking the silence. “I guess you want to know what happened to me.”

Jadyn’s pulse quickened. “Do you remember?”

She nodded. “Most of it. We got a flat tire after leaving the diner. Zach had just opened the trunk, and I was still in the passenger’s seat, digging in my bag for gum. Some guys pulled up on Harleys and asked if we needed help, but Zach told them no and they went on. Only seconds later, a car pulled up and I figured they were also stopping to see if we needed help.”

“But they weren’t?” Maryse asked.

“No. Three guys jumped out, guns blazing. One had his weapon trained on Zach, one held a gun on me through the driver’s window, which was down, and the other guy came around to the passenger’s side and opened the door, telling me to get out.”

“Did you recognize them?” Colt asked.

Raissa shook her head. “Never seen them before, but based on their accents, they were all Creole or part. So I got out, and one of the guys starts searching the car—going through the trunk, the engine, even crawling underneath. Then he orders us to tell him where the merchandise is. We have no idea what he’s talking about, and Zach tells him that.”

“But they don’t believe you,” Jadyn said.

“Not for a minute. The guy who asked me to leave the car reaches inside and pulls my badge from my purse. He flashes it at the others and tells them we’re feds, and they take Zach’s gun and toss it in the swamp. Their driver gets really agitated and says he doesn’t care who we are. No one is going to get him in trouble with the boss for not delivering. He tells us to turn over the merchandise and he’ll let us live. We insist, again, that we have no idea what he’s talking about.”

Raissa took a deep breath and continued. “The driver said to put me in the backseat. That they had ways of making me talk. One of the guys clocked Zach with the butt of his pistol. Zach hit the ground, but as they shoved me in the backseat, I could see him starting to stir. The driver took off in their car and the other two got into mine. When we took off, I got low in case Zach started firing with his backup weapon.”