Missing in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law #5)(6)

“And Raissa?”

Luc shook his head. “We found no sign of her, but the search-and-rescue dogs are on their way.”

“Maybe she wasn’t with him,” Maryse said. “Oh God! She probably doesn’t know what happened.”

“According to their handler at the FBI,” Luc said, “Raissa and Zach were on their way back to Mudbug last night. They left New Orleans around nine o’clock after wrapping up the case they’d been working the last couple of months.”

Jadyn’s pulse quickened. No one had ever told her that the couple worked for the FBI. And if they had a handler, that meant they worked undercover. That explained the heightened concern she’d felt as soon as she entered the hospital.

“You think the handler’s telling you the whole story?” Colt asked.

Luc shook his head. “I don’t know. He sounded as confused as we are, but even if he knows anything, he’s not about to tell me.”

Although it was frustrating, Jadyn understood the bureau’s policy. If Raissa and Zach were still on a case, it was likely that everything about and leading up to this incident would be confidential. “Any sign of their car?”

“Not yet.”

“No GPS?”

“No,” Luc said. “They were in Raissa’s personal vehicle.”

Colt frowned. “Was there any sign of a struggle?”

“It was impossible to tell if any hand-to-hand combat took place, but we found Zach’s pistol several feet away from him. The magazine was empty.”

“How many rounds?” Colt asked.

“Seventeen. We found all the casings on the highway.”

Jadyn’s heart dropped as Luc’s expression went from worried to grim. She knew he was running through all the possibilities that flooded her own mind, and like her, he hadn’t found a single one that was favorable for Raissa.

“Look,” Colt said, “this is all outside of my jurisdiction, and I assume the FBI will take lead anyway, but I’ll get in touch with them and see if I can get in the middle of it somehow.”

Luc nodded. “I appreciate it. They’re certainly not going to let DEA know anything.”

A doctor walked through the emergency room doors and over to Luc. “You brought in Mr. Blanchard?”

“Yes. How is he?”

“We’ve stabilized him, but his condition isn’t good. He sustained a couple of broken ribs and a broken femur. We set the leg but the bigger worry is the considerable swelling on his brain.”

“Oh no,” Maryse said. “How much damage?”

The doctor shook his head. “We have no way of knowing until he’s conscious. And we have no way of knowing when that might occur. Certainly not in the next several hours, but anytime after that…hours, days, weeks…we just don’t know.”

“So we wait,” Maryse said, “indefinitely?”

“No,” the doctor said. “When I spoke to the FBI agent who’s handling this case, he informed me that Mr. Blanchard left specific instructions concerning life support. If there’s no change in his condition within thirty days, we’ll remove him from support.”

Maryse’s eyes filled with tears and Mildred placed her arm around her and squeezed. “Can he survive without support?”

The doctor shook his head. “In his current condition, it’s highly unlikely, but if he improves in the next few days, he might be able to. However, there is always the possibility that he won’t regain consciousness.”

“Oh my God.” Maryse swayed a bit and Jadyn saw Mildred’s arm tighten on her shoulders to keep her steady.

“I’m sorry I don’t have better news,” the doctor said, “but I want you prepared for the worst-case scenario.”

“Of course,” Luc said. “Thank you.”

The doctor gave them a nod and left. Luc leaned over to kiss Maryse’s ear and whispered something to her that Jadyn couldn’t hear. She looked over at Colt, who inclined his head toward a vacant corner in the lobby. She backed away from the emotional scene and joined him in the corner.

“Trying to expand your jurisdiction?” Colt asked, but Jadyn could tell he was making an attempt to lighten the mood.

Jadyn shook her head. “I don’t think I want any part of whatever this is, but given that Maryse is my cousin and Raissa and Zach are important to her and Mildred, I wouldn’t stay out of it if I thought there was something I could do.”

“Good, because the FBI will run this investigation, and they probably won’t even give me information, much less let me participate. And without a local involved, I don’t know how far they’ll get, especially if they start questioning residents.”

Jadyn frowned. “So what do you want me to do? I have even less jurisdiction than you do.”

“Not necessarily.”

“How’s that?”

“Mill Highway runs right through the game preserve, and if I understood the location right from Luc, Zach was found in a protected section. That gives you the right to be in that area regardless of what the FBI wants.”

“I thought Luc said that search-and-rescue dogs were on the way. Those bloodhounds will be able to find her a lot quicker than me.”

Colt shook his head. “There’s a million channels back in that swamp. If she got in a boat…”