Missing in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law Mystery/Romance Series) (23 page)

“Makes sense.”

“So a couple of days later, it was gone. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. I mean, I guess I figured friends or family had picked it up for him, or maybe he wasn’t that bad off and had picked it up himself. But I didn’t think anything was odd about it.”

“But now you do.”

“Yes ma’am. Gordon showed up about an hour ago to collect his car.”

“Was he confused? Maybe he’d sent someone and forgot.”

“I thought that at first. My great-aunt Elise had a stroke and was never quite the same. But he insisted that he didn’t have any close family or friends to send.”

“Did you call the cops and report it?”

“Oh yeah. Took forever and they weren’t overly polite, insisting that Gordon had probably picked up his own car and due to his heart attack, had forgotten.”

“But you don’t think so?”

“No. We were really slow, so I talked to him for an hour the night before he had the heart attack, and I’ve waited on him several times before. Except for the fact that he looked like absolute hell, I didn’t notice anything different about him conversation-wise. And trust me, working the night shift, people acting different is something I pay attention to.”

“That’s smart.”

“So anyway, I don’t know that it means anything at all, but I thought it was strange, two black Caddies both disappearing from around here. I can’t even remember the last time a car was stolen in this town, except for kids joyriding, of course.”

“I agree. Something definitely feels wrong about all of this. I don’t suppose you know how to find Gordon?”

“Sure. He gave me his phone number, in case I heard anything. Let me dig it out of my purse.”

Jadyn heard some shuffling, then Dee hopped back on the line and gave her the number.
 

“I really appreciate this,” Jadyn said as she jotted the number on the back of a business card.
 

“No problem, and hey, when y’all find that missing woman, would you let me know? I been thinking about her a lot lately. I mean, she was just sitting at my counter, chatting and happy, and then she disappeared. It’s the kind of thing a girl’s nightmares are made of, know what I mean?”

“I know exactly what you mean, and I’m happy to tell you that you don’t have to worry any longer. Raissa was found last night. She’s been knocked around a little, but she’ll be fine.”

“Oh wow! That’s great. Did someone steal her car with her in it?”

“The FBI isn’t giving out any information about the case, but I’m sure they won’t care if we let people know she’s all right.”

“I’m really happy about that, especially for her aunt. Older people tend to take things so much harder. Well, I best get back to it. I’m behind busing tables after messing with Gordon and his hysterics.”

“Thanks again,” Jadyn said before disconnecting the call.
 

She slipped the cell phone into her jeans pocket and stared out the window.

“What’s wrong?” Colt asked.

She repeated the conversation. “That’s three black sedans stolen within the last ten days. Doesn’t that seem odd to you?”

“Definitely. A place this small usually doesn’t average one auto theft a year, not if you discount kids, domestic disputes, and the like.” He blew out a breath. “I think we need to get that car we ran up on yesterday out of the channel, and see if there are any more with it.”

He pulled out his cell phone and called Deputy Nelson, then instructed him to draft whoever and whatever was necessary to drag the cars out of the channel. When he was done explaining himself three times, he disconnected and sighed.
 

“Is Deputy Nelson confused?” Jadyn asked.

Colt snorted. “You could say that, and the damned shame of it is, he’s the more capable of my two deputies. I inherited Deputy Simon, and have been trying to figure out a kind way to relieve him of his duties ever since.”

“I might be able to help with that one. The other day, I overheard someone say they saw Deputy Simon smoking weed with the kids behind the high school.”

Colt stared at her in obvious dismay. “Who said that?”

“I didn’t recognize him,” Jadyn hedged. “But now that you’ve busted the mayor’s son, I bet you can get some others to talk. It might not stick in court, but it would probably be enough for Deputy Simon to gladly resign if you let it go.”

“Jeez Louise. This town is going to hell in a handbasket.”

“All problems with questionable personnel aside, can Deputy Nelson handle the car extraction?”

“Oh yeah. They’ve both had to haul things out of the bayou and know whom to contact for equipment and the like. My guess is Deputy Nelson is wondering why I’m so worried about some trash in the bayou when the mayor’s son is still locked up in the jail.”

A flash of the mayor and his obscenely young girlfriend raced across Jadyn’s mind and she grimaced. “I guess the mayor is lying low and letting his son hang out to dry?”

“As it currently stands. Serves the little moron right.”

Jadyn nodded. “So are you going to call Bart or are we just going to show up?”

“I prefer just showing up. That way, people don’t have time to plan things. And as of this morning, I’m officially back from vacation, so no issues with my being in a professional capacity.”

“I guess since we found Raissa in the swamp, I can claim jurisdiction. That gives us both the right to question Bart, even though I doubt Agent Ross will see things that way.”

Colt slowed his speed as he pulled through downtown Mudbug, then accelerated again once they’d left the last building behind. “Ross dug his own grave over the car situation. He overreacted and now he’s paying for it.”

Jadyn nodded. “Is Bart’s house far?”

“No,” he said as he made a turn on a one-lane road. “It’s about a half mile. The road dead-ends right into his place. Nothing else back here.”

Minutes later, they pulled up in front of a two-story home. The clapboard siding dated the house, but it had a fresh coat of paint on it and after seeing the state of his camp, Jadyn was surprised that the lawn and building were neatly kept. A large metal shop stood about thirty feet to the side of the house with Bart’s truck and an enclosed trailer parked nearby.

As they climbed out of the truck, the door to the shop opened and Bart stepped outside. He stopped short and his eyes widened, then he quickly recovered and headed their way. “You two are out and about early. You still looking for Raissa?”

“No,” Colt said. “We found her last night. She’s a little banged up but will be all right.”

Bart brightened. “Ah man, that’s great news. Was she in the swamp?”

“Yes. We found her collapsed on a bank after she’d escaped from her captor. She was being held in one of the remote camps.”

Bart nodded. “Probably the least occupied given the heat right now.”

“She was held in
your
camp,” Colt said.

Bart’s eyes widened and he looked back and forth between Jadyn and Colt. “No! That’s not possible. I mean, I guess it’s possible, but…” A flash of fear washed over his face. “You don’t think I had anything to do with her kidnapping, do you? I haven’t been to that camp in months, maybe half a year. I swear to you!”

Colt studied him for several seconds. “Someone shot at Jadyn and me last night when we went to leave your camp. Sank my boat and left us stranded.”

Beads of sweat began to form on Bart’s brow. “Probably someone hunting out of season.”

Colt raised an eyebrow. “At night? Deputy Nelson put together a search party last night. He says he called you but your phone went straight to voice mail.”

Bart stuck his hand in his jeans pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He fumbled a moment with the power. “I was working on a job last night. I turned it off so I wouldn’t be interrupted and must have forgotten to turn it back on.”

“Have you loaned your camp out to anyone recently?” Colt asked.

“No. I mean, everyone in Mudbug probably knows it’s unlocked, but then most of the camps are.”

Colt nodded. “What kind of job?”

“Huh?”

“You said you were working on a job last night. I thought all your work was in New Orleans.”

“Oh…ah, sometimes I can do some prep work here. Cuts down on the time I have to be on the job site.”

“Makes sense,” Colt said. “Thanks for your time, and if you recall anyone who might have been using your camp, give me a call. I’m sure the FBI will close it off as a crime scene. Check with an Agent Ross to see when you can get back in.”

“All right.”

“Oh, and I’d expect Ross and his agents to be around here sometime soon.”

Bart’s eyes widened and he nodded. “Yeah, of course. Thanks for letting me know.”

“No problem.”

Jadyn walked back to the truck with Colt, trying to assess Bart’s expressions, what was said, and what was possibly left unsaid. As she climbed into the cab, she looked over at the welder and saw him making a call.
 

“So what do you think?” she asked.

Colt looked over at Bart and frowned. “Seemed nervous.”

“Definitely,” she agreed. “I’m sure anyone would be if their property was used for a crime, but it seemed to me that his nerves were beyond just that.”

“Yeah.” Colt blew out a breath and pulled away from Bart’s house. “But is it because of Raissa or something else entirely?”

“Wouldn’t Raissa have recognized him if he was one of the kidnappers?”

“Yeah, but any number of people can be involved in moving car parts.”

“He’d have to have connections somewhere else, right? Probably New Orleans?”

Colt nodded. “That would make the most sense. At least as much as any of it does.”

###

Colt drove away from Bart’s house, a million thoughts running through his mind. Could a man he’d known since kindergarten really be party to kidnapping a federal agent and trying to kill him and Jadyn? Had he completely lost his ability to spot when something was wrong? Or was he simply too close to the people involved, and emotion and history were overshadowing his instincts?

He glanced over at Jadyn and clenched the steering wheel. Speaking of involvement—what the hell had he been thinking, kissing her the way he did in Bart’s camp? Granted, it was an emotionally charged situation, and people had been known to do things outside of their character when subjected to that level of stress, but he knew that was bull.
 

The bottom line was that his attraction to Jadyn St. James hadn’t lessened one bit since his self-imposed distancing. If anything, he was more drawn to her. She seemed to occupy his thoughts more the less time he spent with her. And after the kiss in Bart’s camp, he knew he’d crossed a line he couldn’t retreat from.
 

He stared down the road and blew out a breath. When all of this was over, he needed to do some serious thinking about his future, especially when it came to relationships. Because pretending that he wasn’t interested in Jadyn wasn’t going to work. So either he put himself out there again—risked being hurt in the hopes that this time would be different from the last—or he spent the rest of his life wondering what might have been.

His cell phone ringing brought him out of his thoughts. “It’s Deputy Nelson,” he said as he answered.

“I think you need to get over to the channel,” Deputy Nelson said.

“You having problems getting the cars out?”

“No, sir. The road runs close by and there’s a nice slope. We’ve got three out already and it looks like there’s another one down there, but we might need a diver to get it hooked up.”

“Sounds good. Then what’s the problem?”

“Well, the first car was Old Man Humphrey’s, like you thought. The other two didn’t have plates but I had Shirley check the VIN numbers.”

“And?”

“The other two cars were stolen as well. And it looks like they’ve been stripped down.”

Colt gripped his cell phone. “I’m only a couple minutes away,” he said, then disconnected.

“What’s wrong?” Jadyn asked.

Colt told her what Deputy Nelson had found, and a couple minutes later, they pulled up at the channel. Deputy Nelson waved them over to the cars, looking relieved to see them.
 

“We know one more is down there,” Deputy Nelson said, “but we couldn’t hook it. I’ll call a diver.” He waved at the cars. “I don’t know what to make of this.”

Colt walked around the cars, studying them. The interiors had been stripped, the tires and hubcaps removed, the hoods, trunks, doors, and engines, all gone. “I know exactly what to make of it. Someone is running a chop shop and this is their dumping ground. Maybe one of many, for all we know.”

Deputy Nelson stared. “A chop shop? In Mudbug?”

“Someone who knows the area well enough to pick a good dumping site. No one fishes this channel since the hurricane shifted the banks. Only someone who fishes here regularly would know which channels are traveled and which aren’t.”

Deputy Nelson’s jaw dropped. “I just can’t imagine…”