Trouble in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law, #1)(76)

“Already ahead of you.” Brian clicked to open a spreadsheet and pointed to a list of names. “These are the eight Mudbug residents who own stock in any of the three petroleum companies. Most have small investments. Nothing worth acting crazy for sure. But this one…” Brian pointed to a name on the spreadsheet. “He has a 5 percent share and a brother on the board of directors.”

Luc read the name. “Thomas Breaux.” He looked at Brian. “The doctor? Shit. That would explain everything.”

“How do you figure?”

“We have to figure that Maryse wasn’t the first target. Her mother-in-law had to be first, and Breaux was her doctor. If anyone would know how to bump off Helena Henry and get her buried without an autopsy, it would be her doctor.”

“I don’t suppose I have to tell you how he paid for medical school, right?”

“The military. Jesus, Brian,” Luc said, and shook his head. “How do I get myself mixed up in this shit?”

Brian looked up at him and cocked his head to the side. “You know, I would say it’s the white-knight syndrome—that whole damsel-in-distress thing, but this time it’s different.”

Luc shoved his hands in his pockets and avoided his buddy’s gaze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. This is hardly the first woman I’ve helped out of a tough spot.”

“Yeah, but it’s the first one you’ve fallen for.” Brian smiled. “Unbelievable, LeJeune. I never thought I’d see the day. This botanist must be something else to have you so wound up.”

Disappearing husband, exploding cabin, killer inheritance, a dead mother-in-law who hadn’t quite left this world, and let’s not forget trying to save the world from one of the worst diseases known to man. “Yes, she’s something else all right,” Luc agreed.

Brian grinned and opened his mouth, probably to rib Luc some more, but the door to the lab flew open and the boss strode in. “Damn it, LeJeune,” he ranted. “You don’t check your messages, you don’t return calls, and now you’re standing in the office and haven’t checked in with me. I yanked you off the Mudbug assignment yesterday. Why weren’t you in the office this morning?”

Luc looked at Wilson but didn’t meet the other man’s eyes. “I have a couple of things I need to wrap up down there.”

“The hell you do! We’ve got our informant.”

Shit. “Who is it?”

“That accountant that Duhon was following. Seems the profit margin increased a little too much for his taste, and he decided he was James Bond or something. Fucker isn’t five foot two and scared of his own shadow, but he went poking his nose into things and found all the big shot’s secret files. Then he made the phone call to the DEQ, got scared they’d kill him or something, and has been trying to find a new job ever since. Dumbass.”

“Sounds like it,” Luc said, stalling until he could figure out some reason to convince Wilson to let him stay in Mudbug another couple of days.

“Anyway, I need you to work with our scared shitless Sherlock and the other agents to gather enough evidence to prosecute. We have enough information to pin down the dumping sites, so your days of dallying with that botanist are over.”

“There’s some other things I’m looking into. Just a couple of days, boss, that’s all I need.”

“No way, LeJeune. You better be in this office at ten tomorrow morning for debriefing. Otherwise, don’t bother coming in at all.” Wilson spun around and strode out of the office, slamming the door behind him.

Brian whistled. “I haven’t seen him this worked up since the Superbowl.”

Luc nodded. “Football can be very emotional.” He stared out the window for a moment, then looked back at Brian, the vaguest notion of an idea forming in his mind. “Hey, have you started mapping out the spots that informant said the dumping occurred?”

“Yeah, we’ve drawn samples from three so far.”

“Can you get me the info on the exact locations and the results of your testing?”

“Not a problem. I’ll e-mail everything as soon as I scan it all in.”

“Okay,” Luc said. “Do me another favor. E-mail me the phone number of the lab guy here who researched Maryse’s work.”

Brian narrowed his eyes. “I’ll do it, but, dude, you are gonna be in some serious shit if you don’t let this botanist thing go.”

Luc stared at the shadowy figure on the monitor. “I can’t. Not just yet.”


Sabine stared at Maryse in shock. “How did you find out? Everything was supposed to be confidential.”

“Your file was on the medical records desk when Helena and I broke into the hospital,” Maryse said. “I’m sorry, Sabine, but I had to look. You understand, right?”

Sabine sniffed and rubbed her nose with her free hand. “I guess so. I probably would have done the same thing. But, Maryse, you have to know that everything is going to be fine. This one is no different than the others. I’m sure of it.”

More than anything in the world, Maryse wanted to believe Sabine, wanted the faith of her friend’s conviction, but the scientist in her knew the reality. And the girl who’d lost both her mother and father to the same disease was scared to death. “How can you be sure? Maybe you need to see a specialist. I know a doctor in New Orleans.”