Showdown in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law, #3)(69)

“Not many. What are we going to do? Spencer was the best lead we had.”

“Which is probably the main reason he’s dead. I’m going to call the captain about getting a search warrant for Spencer’s office and home, but it won’t happen immediately. Meantime, I’m calling in Morrow to cover this.”

Raissa frowned.

“I know, he’s a dickhead, but he’s also an idiot. With any luck, he won’t find any evidence that incriminates you in all this.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to continue with my original plan to check up on Susannah Franco. Someone close to the Francos bypassed that alarm system. I originally thought it was the mayor, but now I wonder. Anyway, get the hell out of here before someone else decides to question you.”

“Okay, wait,” Raissa said, confused. “Won’t your captain have a stroke if you let me get away?”

“He sorta sanctioned contact with you in order to get leads on the kidnapping case.”

“Sorta?”

“Yeah, as in, I’m allowed to contact you as long as I don’t get caught. Then, my guess is, he wouldn’t know anything about it.”

“Then I guess I’ll sorta get the hell out of here before I make things even messier.”

“Get back to Mudbug and close yourself in somewhere safe. I’ll call you as soon as I have some information on Susannah Franco.”

Raissa hurried back down the block, her head low so maybe no one would remember what she looked like and associate her with Zach, at least not right away. None of this made sense. Why had Spencer tried to kill her? Was he tied to the Heberts? And who had taken Hank Henry and for what reason? Even more important, where was he now?

The first thing she needed to do was check the feed from Sonny’s. If Sonny’s men had anything to do with Spencer’s murder, she’d be able to hear all about it, provided they were in Sonny’s office. She got into her car and headed back to Mudbug as fast as Mildred’s ancient sedan would allow.





Zach’s phone rang the instant he climbed into his car. He knew it was the captain without even looking at the display. He could swear that even the ring had a desperate, angry sound to it. He pressed the button to answer and the captain’s voice boomed out, making him wince.

“Damn it, Blanchard! What the hell is going on? You tell me this morning that you don’t have any leads to speak of, then the doctor you questioned about Melissa Franco turns up dead in the psychic woman’s shop. I guess you’ve got plenty of leads now. What I want from you are some answers.”

“I wish I had them, Captain. All I can tell you is that it looks like Spencer’s been stalking Ms. Bordeaux, but neither of us know why.”

“How do you know that the Bordeaux woman didn’t kill him herself? Maybe they were having an affair. Maybe she thought he’d kidnapped the kid, and she’s lost it from so many years of hiding out.”

“I’m sure that’s not the case, sir.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because when Spencer was shot, I was sitting in a café with Ms. Bordeaux having lunch. And witnesses saw a black Cadillac, not an old tan sedan. It wasn’t her, but it has all the signs of a hired hit.”

“Which puts us right back to the f*cking Heberts.”

“It looks that way.”

“So would you like to tell me why you called Morrow to take over for you on the hottest piece of evidence that we’ve got so far?”

“I’m tracking down some background information on Susannah Franco.”

“Please don’t tell me the mother has anything to do with the disappearance of her own child.”

“Okay, I won’t tell you that, but I have to wonder.”

“Wonder about what?”

“Why the Social Security number Susannah Franco’s been using belongs to a woman that died over thirty years ago.”

There was dead silence on the other end of the phone, and for a moment, Zach wondered if the captain had finally had that heart attack he kept threatening the department with. “Sir, are you still there?”

“Yeah, but I’m starting to wonder for how much longer. Jesus H. Christ, Blanchard. You call me as soon as you have any information on the Franco woman. I’ll make sure the detail watching her doesn’t let her out of their sight. Is there anything else that can pile onto this case?”

“As a matter of fact, remember that kidnapping you sent me on this morning?”

“Yeah, the adult male. So? Probably out on a bender.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Do I even want to know?”

“The guy was a friend of a friend of Ms. Bordeaux’s and an ex-associate of the Heberts. He warned Ms. Bordeaux earlier this week that one of the Heberts asked him to kill her.”

“Blanchard. I’ve changed my mind.”

“About what, sir?”

“Don’t call me again. When I can handle it, I’ll call you.”





Forty minutes later, Zach was perched on a hard chair covered in hideous fabric and sipping tea from china cups with Magdalena LeBlanc, Susannah Forrester’s old friend and neighbor. Zach took a sip of the tea and tried not to grimace. Why in the world did people actually like that crap? “So, Ms. LeBlanc, did Susannah have any children?”