Missing in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law #5)(9)

Realizing he’d never responded to Ross’s original question, he shook his head. “If this isn’t about the case they were working, I have no idea what to think.”

“You got no problem around here with carjackings, that sort of thing?”

“This isn’t New Orleans. We’ve had more than our share of unusual crime in the past year, but nothing like that. Besides which, who would carjack a six-year-old Cadillac? Hell, most every truck in the parish is worth more than that. Some of the bass boats cost half as much as my house.”

“So two federal agents just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when a brand-new criminal decided to launch his business?”

Colt’s jaw flexed involuntarily. He knew what Ross was implying but damned if he could find an argument to the contrary. The reality was that a hell of a lot of coincidences would have to happen in order for things to play out this way. And if there was one thing Colt had a problem with, it was coincidence.

“I hear what you’re saying,” Colt said, “but I’m being straight with you. I can’t connect this with anything I’ve run across lately. And if something was going on in my jurisdiction and Raissa and Zach found out about it, they would have told me.”

Ross studied him for a couple of seconds, then nodded, apparently satisfied that he was telling the truth. “Well, Sheriff, clearly something is going on here. Whether it’s in your jurisdiction or not remains to be seen. But for now, we’re moving forward on the assumption that Raissa and Zach walked into the middle of something.”

Colt nodded, but the uneasy feeling he’d gotten when he coupled Ross’s information with his own didn’t subside, even a bit. Granted, Raissa had disappeared outside of his assigned territory, but he didn’t think for a minute that made it any less his problem. He fell in step next to Ross, hoping Jadyn was able to figure out how to make him a contractor for the game warden’s office.

For the moment, Ross was being polite, but if this search yielded nothing, he’d call for more backup, possibly even the state police, who had far more resources than Colt did. Unfortunately, Colt’s experience with the state police had been nothing like his experience with Ross. They pretty much thought anyone but state law enforcement officers were a bunch of unqualified hicks and wouldn’t allow or appreciate any interference in their investigation. The last time Colt had inserted himself in state police business, he’d spent two days in jail for the privilege.

He looked over at the highway and watched as the bloodhound strolled on the side of the road, completely relaxed. It wasn’t a good sign. If Raissa had exited the road anywhere nearby, that dog would pick up on the scent as if it were right under his nose. If they’d driven out of this area, Colt had no idea what he could do to help. He wouldn’t even know where to start.

And if they were in the area, he could only hope that Jadyn could get both of them legitimate access to everywhere they needed to search. As he thought of Jadyn, his mind flashed back to the day before, when he was standing at the front window of the general store as she walked across the street from the hotel to the café. No one had a right to look that good in blue jeans.

He’d hoped his attraction to her had been a temporary thing—something born of near death and high emotions—but he was fooling himself. The fact of the matter was Jadyn St. James was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen, and her courage and capability with a gun might just make her the best-looking woman on the face of the earth.

To a man determined to go down in the bachelor hall of fame, Jadyn was kryptonite.

Since the big showdown at the cemetery, he’d managed to put some distance between them. He’d nod or wave if he saw her, as he did with any other Mudbug resident, but he didn’t linger to chat and he tried to avoid the café when he knew she was inside. All of which made him feel like a coward, but as of yet, he hadn’t figured out another way around it. Not until the feelings went away.

And now, he might be signed up to be alone in the swamps with her every day.

He sighed. If this situation could get any more complicated, he didn’t know how.





[page]Chapter Three


Maryse pulled open the door to Sabine’s new age shop, happy her best friend was back early from her buying trip in New Orleans but dreading the conversation they were about to have. Sabine looked up from the box of candles she was emptying and smiled as she saw Maryse, then her smile began to slip the closer Maryse got to the counter.

“What’s wrong?” Sabine asked. “Is it Helena?”

A memory of how her morning had started flashed through Maryse’s mind for the first time since the hotel. “There’s always something wrong with Helena, but this time, it’s something worse.”

Sabine’s eyes widened and she stopped fussing with the candles. “What’s worse than Helena?”

“Maybe we should sit down. Do you have some of that tea…that one you said calms your nerves?”

Sabine reached out to squeeze Maryse’s arm. “Okay, now you’re scaring me. You hate tea.”

“The tea is for you.”

Sabine stared at her for several seconds, then gave her a nod. “I put on some water to boil before I started on that box.”

They headed toward the back of the shop to the break room. Maryse grabbed a bottled water from the refrigerator while Sabine made her cup of tea. When she’d taken the seat across from Maryse and had her first sip, she put the cup down.