Showdown in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law, #3)(84)

“There were other girls…from years ago. Do you remember?”

Raissa frowned. “I don’t know any other girls. Only Melissa.”

“You investigated the cases when you were undercover in Sonny Hebert’s organization.” Zach nodded toward Sonny, who cocked his head to one side and studied her, a confused look on his face.

Raissa stared at Sonny for several seconds, then gave Zach a bewildered look. “I don’t know that man.”

“That’s Sonny Hebert,” Zach explained. “You were undercover in his organization when you were in the FBI.”

“The FBI?” Raissa widened her eyes and looked from Zach to Sonny to the cops.

Zach sucked in a breath. “You left protective custody over nine years ago and have been pretending to be a psychic in New Orleans.”

Raissa laughed. “Pretending? I’m not pretending. I have a lot of clients. You guys are kidding me, right? Really, what’s all this about, Zach?”

The room went instantly silent, and Raissa was fairly sure no one was breathing. The doctor walked into the room and immediately checked Raissa’s vitals. “Do you want me to remove your visitors, Ms. Bordeaux?”

“No,” Raissa said. “They’re trying to pull a prank on me.”

Zach looked over at the doctor, his face panicked. “She doesn’t remember things. Some recent events and anything from about ten years ago.” He pointed at Sonny. “She worked for this man for two years, but doesn’t know him. I don’t understand.”

The doctor shone a light in Raissa’s eyes and felt her scalp. “The injury was to the section of the brain that stores memory. Memory loss is always a possibility, and long-term memory is the most likely to go.”

“But it will come back, right?” Agent Fields asked.

“There’s no way to know,” the doctor said. “I think it’s better if you all let Ms. Bordeaux rest, and no more questioning until I say she’s ready. Is that clear?”

Agent Fields and the New Orleans cops didn’t look happy, but they couldn’t exactly argue with the doctor, so they trailed out of the office. Sonny, following behind them, looked the most confused of the lot. At the doorway, he paused and looked back at Raissa.

Raissa stared at him, held his gaze. Sonny’s eyes widened and he barely nodded, then left the room. Maryse hopped up from her chair, pulling Mildred with her. “I think we ought to give you two some time,” Maryse said. “We’ll go get some coffee. Call if you need anything.”

Helena hopped off the end of the bed and trailed behind them, giving Raissa a wink and a thumbs-up on her way out the door.

“Thanks,” Raissa said. She lay back against the pillows and looked over at Zach, who was frowning at her.

“You’re faking,” he said. “Holy shit, Raissa! This is not a game. Why are you faking memory loss?”

“Between my undercover work and hiding because of my undercover work, I’ve lost eleven years of my life to Sonny Hebert. And the ironic thing is, if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have another eleven years to make things different. He saved my life, Zach. And probably Hank’s, too.”

“But the racketeering case—”

“I know Sonny’s done some bad things, but he did help us find out who was taking those girls, and he found Hank. If the FBI has to have me to make a case against him, then it wasn’t much of a case to begin with, was it?”

Zach nodded. “You know what? You’re right. You’ve given more than your share. Let someone else take up the slack. I’m sure Sonny’s not going legitimate anytime soon. They’ll get him, eventually.”

“Maybe, or maybe not. If they didn’t make a case in the nine years I was hiding, I can only guess that Sonny’s gotten a whole lot better at his job.”

“And what about you?” Zach asked.

“What do you mean?”

“What are you going to do, now that you’re free?”

Raissa smiled. “Well, I’m not going back to the FBI, that’s for sure. Honestly, I don’t know what I’ll do. I haven’t had the freedom to choose anything in a long, long time.” She leaned toward Zach and whispered in his ear, “But I hear there’s this detective who needs someone to keep him in line.”

Zach smiled. “And just what makes you think you can do the job?”

Raissa softly kissed his neck once, then again, then his earlobe. He groaned and turned to her, crushing her lips with his. He gathered her in his arms, and in an instant, Raissa knew she’d made the right decision.

She’d seen the future, and it was very bright, indeed.





Epilogue


One week later





The party started at five that evening. Maryse had worked her magic with the historical society, one of the recipient’s of Helena’s massive estate, and they all gathered in Helena Henry’s mansion, now a historical landmark. Maryse, Sabine, Mildred, and Raissa had done all the prepping and planning, baking, collecting premade trays from a caterer in New Orleans, and stocking the refrigerator with enough booze for New Year’s Eve at a fraternity house. Helena, of course, was there to sample everything before it was deemed worthy of the festivities.