Missing in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law Mystery/Romance Series) (27 page)

Jadyn laughed. “It’s okay. While I would have appreciated the action at the time, I think it would have made things awkward working together if we’d continued without thinking it out.”

“I guess I can see that. Anyway, I won’t keep harping on it. Go ahead and make your call.”

Jadyn watched as Maryse skipped back down the hall, the ends of her bathrobe fluttering behind her. She couldn’t help but grin. Her cousin was one of the most interesting people she’d ever met—a strange blend of geeky scientist and youthful spirit.
 

She dialed Colt’s number and hoped he was feeling as energetic and creative as Maryse.

###

Jadyn scanned the garage from the side door, making sure her and Colt’s hiding places provided them complete coverage from the entry. To her left, Maryse hurried down the ladder that led to the loft above the office. When she got about three feet from the ground, she pushed off the ladder and landed a foot from Jadyn and Colt.

“All set,” Maryse said.

“Uh-huh.” Colt looked her up and down. “Show me the hardware.”

Maryse frowned and pulled out her cell phone. “Phone and camera,” she said, pointing at the loft. “That’s it.”

Colt shook his head. “Don’t make me have Jadyn frisk you.”

Maryse sighed and pulled her nine millimeter from her jeans. “I only brought it to back you guys up. You should appreciate that.”

Colt raised one eyebrow. “I saw Frank hauling your china cabinet into his woodshop this afternoon. Let’s make a deal—I won’t ask you about the bullet holes in it, and you get your gun back when you leave.”

Maryse handed him the gun. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m ensuring that you stay in that loft where you belong. I’m agreeing to this plan against my better judgment because I’m afraid you’d insinuate yourself into the situation anyway. By allowing you to participate, I maintain at least the illusion of control.”

Jadyn laughed. Colt definitely had her cousin pegged.

He tucked Maryse’s pistol in his waistband. “Okay. Tell me what you’re going to do.”

“I’m going to watch the back entrance,” Maryse said, “and wait for Pickett to enter. Then I turn on the camera.”

“Good. What else?”

“I don’t move the camera at any time.”

“And?”

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t move from my position.”

“Even if?”

“Even if everyone starts firing weapons.”

“And?”

She threw her hands in the air. “Even if a parade of pygmy elephants tromps through the back wall. Even if QVC starts a half-off sale. Even if Daniel Craig shows up.”

His lips quivered. “Well, maybe if pygmy elephants appear.”

“I’m giving away my position if Daniel Craig shows up,” Jadyn said.

Colt looked over at her.

“Just saying,” Jadyn said.

Colt shook his head. “Pygmy elephants and Daniel Craig aside, is everyone ready? Because we’ve got about ten minutes until sunset. I figure Pickett will wait until dark to make his move.”

“Ready,” Maryse said.

Jadyn nodded.

“I’m ready to get this over with!” Helena yelled from the loft. “I’m hungry.”

Jadyn glanced upward and saw Helena standing at the railing of the loft. She was completely decked out in camo, down to the paint on her face, except for the pink pumps that had likely gone out of style before Jadyn was even born. Maryse had said it was a “throwback” problem and she’d explain later. Helena had been so pissed off about it, she’d stomped through the hotel so hard Jadyn wondered if she could break an ankle.

Even if you removed the outfit from the equation, Jadyn was quite happy that she’d be floor level with potential gunfire if the only other option was in the loft listening to Helena. Maryse would need a strong drink when this was over. Maybe even therapy.

“Okay,” Colt said, “then let’s all get in our places. Remember to put your phone on silent and cover it where the screen light won’t give you away. If anyone sees or hears anything, text the others and give a location for the activity.”

“He’s going down,” Maryse said and gave them both a high five before scrambling up the ladder to the loft.
 

Jadyn moved to her position behind a pile of tires about fifteen feet behind Pickett’s Cadillac while Colt took his spot behind a stack of crates near the front of the Cadillac. Nothing else left to do, she sat on a set of tires and prepared to wait.

She didn’t have to wait long.

Only twenty minutes after they’d taken their places, a loud creak signaled the opening of the back door. They’d tested it earlier and Jadyn had no doubt the sound came from that entry point.

A minute later, Pickett emerged from the dark corner near the back door and walked into the dimly lit center of the shop. He looked around, then when he spotted his car, made a beeline for the far end of the shop where the Cadillac was still on the hydraulic lift that Colt had used earlier.

Pickett located the lift lever on the wall and raised the car, then pulled out a screwdriver and immediately went to work on the gas tank. It didn’t take him much time to get the box removed from the tank, but then Jadyn figured he’d probably been using that device for some time.
 

He made quick work of the box and pulled out the black bag. In the quiet of the shop, Jadyn could hear the marbles they’d put in the bag clinking together, but the charade would only hold another second. Pickett felt the bag and frowned, then loosened the string and poured the marbles into his hand. He cursed and flung them across the shop, the pings echoing across the open building.
 

That was all they needed.

Colt stepped out from behind the crates, his gun leveled at Pickett. “Don’t move or I’ll shoot.”

Pickett whirled around to face Colt. His arm dropped to his side and the bag fell to the floor, scattering the remaining marbles across the shop.
 

“Sheriff Bertrand,” Pickett said, trying to pull an innocent look and failing completely. “I just wanted to check on my car. I couldn’t make it here during regular business hours but the back door was open. I know it’s trespassing, but I didn’t think the owner would mind.”

“That’s a nice story,” Colt said. “We’ll see if a jury believes it, especially after they see the pouch of diamonds I have tucked away.”

Pickett sneered, dropping all pretense of innocence. “I’ve gotten out of far worse than this. Do you really think someone like me works without a backup plan?”

“Then it’s your backup plan against mine,” Colt said. “Now, turn around, get down on your knees, and put your hands on your head.”

Pickett turned around, then launched for a toolbox about five feet away, pulling a pistol from his waistband as he went. Jadyn moved to the far side of the tires, trying to see if she had a shot, but her line of sight was blocked by a stack of cardboard boxes.
 

Pickett began firing and Colt dove for cover behind a car frame that offered minimal coverage.
 

“They’re shooting!” Helena screamed from the loft and Jadyn looked up to see the ghost scrambling down the ladder as fast as the pumps allowed. A couple seconds later, there was an enormous crash and she looked over to see Helena emerge from a pile of hubcaps.

Jadyn checked Colt’s position and her chest tightened so hard it hurt. If Pickett could manage a shot, even inches to the right, he’d have a bull’s-eye. She gripped her pistol, preparing to fire through the cardboard boxes and hope for a hit, when Colt returned fire from the far end of the car body.
 

Pickett screamed and she knew he’d been hit, but had no way of knowing if the hit had incapacitated him. She crept around the edge of the tires as Colt inched across the shop toward the toolbox. He whipped around the back and Jadyn heard Pickett cry out again. A couple seconds later, Colt dragged him from behind the toolbox and pulled handcuffs from his pocket.

Jadyn let out a sigh of relief and she watched Colt click the handcuffs in place.
 

“So nice of you to do our dirty work,” a man’s voice sounded from the rear of the shop. “The man turned out to be such a liability to the organization.”

Jadyn ducked down and peered between the tires. The voice sounded familiar…too familiar.

Oh my God! Agent Ross.

Chapter Sixteen

Jadyn sucked in a breath. Suddenly, it all made sense. The second crew had kidnapped Raissa because they knew the family had someone in the FBI on payroll but didn’t know who. When they found Raissa and Zach, two FBI agents, in a car just like Pickett’s, they must have assumed Raissa and Zach had confiscated Pickett’s car and planned on keeping the merchandise for themselves.

Ross’s sudden attitude shift toward Colt had nothing to do with his investigation and everything to do with their finding the Cadillac in the pond. Ross was looking for Pickett’s stolen Cadillac and was afraid Colt and Jadyn had stumbled across it before he could locate it. His insistence that he inspect the car before the forensics team arrived now made perfect sense.
 

She watched as Ross walked into the light, his gun trained on Colt.
 

“Put down your weapon,” Ross said, “and kick it over to me.”

Jadyn could see Colt gauging his options, but there was nowhere he could hide before Ross emptied a magazine into him. Colt leaned over and placed his pistol on the ground, then kicked it over to Ross.

“Why am I not surprised you’re dirty?” Colt asked.

Ross smirked. “You think the federal government is without complicity? Half of the things they do under the guise of protecting the public only serves their own interests and lines the pockets of executives. The rest of us risk our lives only to give them more power over us and make them wealthy.”

“That’s what you tell yourself,” Colt said.

“I don’t have to tell myself anything. My bank account speaks for itself.”

“How did you know the cars were here?” Colt asked.

“When I was looking for that thief Bart, I saw Pickett parking a rental car on one of the back streets. I figured there was only one reason he’d be in Mudbug, so I had him followed.”

“And he led you straight here.”

Ross waved his pistol toward the loft. “Who’s up there?”

“No one.”

“I heard a crash when we came through the window.” He looked to his left. “Check it out.”

Stepford emerged from the shadows and headed across the shop toward the loft.
 

Maryse!

Jadyn watched as Stepford approached the area, praying that Helena made a noise somewhere else, distracting him from the loft. Then she caught sight of Helena, standing next to a stack of boxes. She swung at them like a prizefighter, but with each pass, her hands went right through them.
 

“I can’t touch them,” Helena wailed and swung so hard, she spun herself around and fell to the ground.
 

Stepford walked up to the ladder and looked up. “Come down or I start shooting through the roof.”

Maryse rose slowly from the loft floor, her hands in the air, and carefully made her way down the ladder.

“You?” Stepford looked surprised. “It’s LeJeune’s wife,” he yelled and pushed Maryse toward Ross.

Ross cursed. “Like I need the shitstorm her murder is going to bring.” He glared at Maryse. “Why can’t you stay at home and bake cookies like a good little wife?”

“Why don’t you kiss my ass?” Maryse shot back.

Panic flooded Jadyn. While she appreciated her cousin’s backbone, she had no doubt Ross intended to kill Maryse. Jadyn pulled her cell phone from her pocket and texted Mildred.
 

Ross and Stepford dirty. Maryse and Colt captive. Get backup.

She knew the hotel owner was in her office, cell phone in one hand and the other poised over her landline. Jadyn had no doubt that Mildred would raise a cavalry worthy of a small war.
 

But would they make it in time?

“Where’s your girlfriend, the game warden?” Ross asked.

“Arresting the guy who was chopping cars,” Colt said.

Jadyn watched Ross closely, trying to see if he bought Colt’s lie. He studied Colt for several seconds, but Colt must be a convincing liar because Ross finally broke his stare and looked over at Stepford.

“What do you want to do with them?” Stepford asked.

“Later. First, I want the diamonds.” Ross looked at Colt. “Where are they?”

“In my safe-deposit box,” Colt replied.

“Mudbug doesn’t have a bank with safe-deposit boxes, but have it your way. When you’re dead, we’ll search your house. If I don’t find the diamonds there, I’ll kill everyone in the sheriff’s department and search there. The one thing I won’t do is leave this town without the boss’s product.”

Jadyn’s pulse pounded so hard she thought her head and chest would burst. She had no doubt Ross would live up to everything he said. He couldn’t afford for any of them to be left alive or his entire life unraveled. But with Stepford holding Maryse and Colt with nowhere to hide, could she risk firing? She was good, but she imagined Ross and Stepford were no slouches. Her odds of taking out both of them before one of them took out Maryse or Colt were slim to none.