Showdown in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law, #3)(44)
An older lady bent over and peered down at her. “Are you all right, dear? Do you need us to call an ambulance?”
Maryse struggled to rise, feeling a bit dizzy. “No, I think I’m okay. Just a little woozy.”
“Did that man steal your purse?”
“No. Just the things I bought at the drugstore. I wasn’t even carrying a purse.”
“A smart idea, with all the tomfoolery that’s going on these days. Shall I call the police, then?”
“No, don’t bother. They’re busy with much worse things than this, and it seems there’s never enough of them to go around.”
“That is so true. You should still go downtown when you’re feeling better and file a report. Likely they won’t be able to do anything about your purchases, but they do keep a record of problem areas and try to patrol more often.”
“I’ll do that,” Maryse said. “Thank you for stopping. I think I’ll drive home now and soak in a hot bath.”
The lady nodded. “Excellent plan. Lord only knows what kind of grime is on that sidewalk. Are you okay to drive, dear? Can I call someone to come get you?”
“No. I think I’ll be fine. I’ll just sit here for a minute, then drive. If I have any problems, I’ll call my friend to come get me.”
“Well, okay. You be careful, now.” The lady gave her a nod walked down the sidewalk, the other pedestrians trailing behind her now that the show was over.
Maryse slid into the car and clutched the steering wheel, trying to steady herself. The dizziness was mostly gone, but the fear still raged. “Holy shit!”
“Are you okay?” Helena leaned over, peering anxiously at her. “I didn’t know what to do. It all happened so fast.”
“I’ll be fine as long as I don’t have a heart attack.” She ran her fingers lightly over the bump that was already forming on the back of her head. “Did you call Raissa?”
Helena nodded. “As soon as I saw him put a gun in your back. She could hear me fine. She and Zach are on the way, but we should get outta here, just in case that guy’s still around.”
“Good idea.” Maryse started the car. “There’s a restaurant a couple of blocks over, Wally’s Seafood Place. It’s well lit and probably crowded. Text Raissa to meet us there.”
“I grew up with manual typewriters. What in the world makes you think I know how to send a text message? I was doing good to make the phone call.”
“Never mind,” Maryse said, and took her phone from Helena’s hand. She sent the text, then pulled away from the curb.
“I wonder how Raissa’s explaining my call to Zach,” Helena mused.
“Probably the same way she explained my taking pictures of the man to begin with.”
Helena’s eyes widened. “I hadn’t even thought about that. So what are you going to say if he asks?”
“Damned good question.”
Chapter Twelve
Zach looked across the restaurant table at Maryse and wondered what she was hiding. Ever since Raissa told him there “might” be photos, he’d wondered how on earth someone had managed to take a picture of the guy without him noticing. Obviously, the answer was she hadn’t gotten away with it, or she wouldn’t have been attacked. But how she’d gotten all the way to New Orleans to have them developed was another mystery. It seemed to Zach that the guy could have run her over in the street right there in Mudbug and saved himself the trouble.
Which meant something wasn’t exactly right about her story. The only thing Zach could come up with that made sense is that it wasn’t Maryse who had taken the pictures. But whom was she protecting? Obviously someone close to her, or no one would have followed her to New Orleans to begin with. And someone with a death wish, assuming they’d walked up to the car of a potential killer and snapped a photo. Whoever it was, it appeared to him that Raissa was also in on the secret. She’d maintained a fairly straight face, but Zach got the feeling Raissa was reading information between the lines in Maryse’s story.
“And then I came to on the sidewalk,” Maryse finished up her story, “with some lady looking down at me. I couldn’t have been out for long, but the guy was long gone.”
“With the pictures,” Zach finished.
Maryse nodded. “And the negatives, but I had a contingency plan.” She pulled a set of photos out of the front of her shirt. “I had duplicate copies made and hid one on my body.”
Zach narrowed his eyes at her. “Why would you even think to do that?”
Maryse took a sip of her beer. “I peeked outside and saw a black car at the corner. I was afraid they’d followed me.”
“So you hid a set of photos in your bra and went strolling outside, knowing full well you were probably going to be mugged.”
Maryse frowned. “When you put it that way, it doesn’t sound so smart, does it?”
“Ignore him,” Raissa said and took the photos from Maryse. “It was very smart and very brave. Besides, you called me and put the phone in your pocket on the way out of the store so I could hear what was going on, so you were sorta covered.”
“Yeah…I guess that was pretty smart.” Maryse took another drink of her beer.