Showdown in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law, #3)(3)

“With no memory of what happened, right? I’ve heard this tale before, Ms. Bordeaux, when I was a kid and my parents were trying to scare me into staying in the backyard.”

Raissa raised one eyebrow. “Oh, they all remembered something, but probably not anything you’d want to hear. You have a narrow window of opportunity to catch this person, and I’m guessing, since the victim is the mayor’s granddaughter, you don’t want to mess this up.”

Zach narrowed his eyes at the woman. “And how exactly do you know about these other kidnappings?”

She hesitated—rarely a good sign—then sighed. “I’m a psychic, Detective Blanchard. I saw the other girls in a vision.”

Zach felt his jaw clench. “I see. Well, thank you for your information, Ms. Bordeaux. I’ll be sure to add your name to the reward list in case of an arrest.”

Raissa’s face flushed with red and her eyes flashed with anger. “I debated a long time whether to come here, and it certainly wasn’t because I care about extorting money from a frantic family. Do yourself a favor and check the database. Unless, of course, you’re not interested in getting the best of your friend, the helpful Detective Morrow.”

“I can’t access that database without a direct order from my captain, which I’m not likely to get off the vision of a so-called psychic. There’s a little girl missing out there and you’re wasting our time.”

Raissa leaned across the desk and lowered her voice. “The house had a security system that was armed, but the alarm never went off and it was still engaged the following morning. There is no trace evidence, and unlike most public kidnappings, you haven’t received a ransom request.”

Zach straightened in his chair. “We haven’t released that information.”

Raissa rose from her chair. “One of us is wasting time, Detective, but it’s not me.” That said, she walked out of the precinct without so much as a backward glance.

Zach leaned back in his chair and shook his head. A psychic. Yeah, right. No wonder Morrow had been so tickled to send her over to Zach. “By-the-book Blanchard” had limited-to-no patience for anything remotely screwy. Psychics were definitely screwy. Likely, Morrow had fed her the information about the security system and ransom note just to make the practical joke more believable.

He watched as she passed on the sidewalk in front of the big window at the front of the station, and couldn’t help admiring her long lean legs, or the way she filled out a pair of jeans. What a shame. She was probably the best-looking woman he’d seen in forever.

Unfortunately, nut or no, the woman was right. He should run the case through the FBI database even though the captain hadn’t quite gotten to that point. Time was of the essence, and the case had strange components that would send up an immediate red flag if there were others with the same MO. He sat up straight and logged on to his computer, hoping like hell that the mayor’s granddaughter didn’t fit the profile of the other missing girls. If that was the case, the captain might have a heart attack, and with the way things stood now, Morrow was next in line for his job.






Raissa stopped at the corner of the block, angry at herself. You should have left it alone, but noooooo, you had to go taunting him with what you knew. She punched the button for the crossing light and jammed her hands in her pockets, trying to control the urge to slug someone. But it’s a child, just like the others, and maybe this is the time he’ll be caught. She watched the screen on the other side of the street and tapped her foot. It’s not your problem anymore. You risked everything before and got less than nothing. Why risk it again?

She heard running steps behind her, but before she could turn around, someone hit her from behind, launching her into the street—and directly into the path of an oncoming bus. Before she’d even tensed the muscles in her legs to move, an older woman yanked her by the arm, darn near pulling it from her shoulder, and she leaped up from the street just as the bus came to a screeching halt a good five feet beyond the spot where she’d been lying. Raissa clutched her shoulder with one hand and spun around.

But the street was empty.

She figured whoever had pushed her had kept running and was long gone by now, but where was the woman who had pulled her out of the street? The bus driver rushed off the bus, his face white as a sheet.

“Are you all right? I saw that guy push you, but I couldn’t stop. I don’t know how you managed to move that fast, but I’m glad of it.”

“Did you see the guy who pushed me?”

“Yeah, but he was wearing one of those hooded shirts and sunglasses. Coulda been anyone.”

“And the woman?”

The bus driver shook his head. “Didn’t see no one but you.”

Raissa motioned to the street. “You had to have seen her. The woman who pulled me out of the street.”

The bus driver studied her for a moment. “Ma’am, I don’t know how to tell you this, but there weren’t no other woman anywhere on this street. I gotta have perfect vision to drive this bus, and that’s what I got.” He looked around the street, then back at Raissa. “Maybe you should pay a visit to the Lord’s house sometime soon. That’s the only explanation I got.”

Raissa nodded. “Thank you, Mr…”

“Cormier. Been driving for going on thirty years and ain’t killed no one yet. I’m glad that didn’t change today. You going to be all right? I can call nine-one-one or something.”