Read Online Missing in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law Mystery/Romance Series) by Jana DeLeon - Free Book Online

Colt and I are doing.”
    “Good point,” Mildred said. “Are you ready to call Maryse?”
    Jadyn nodded.
    Mildred pointed a finger at Helena. “You need to stick around and listen to this. I don’t want to have to update you later on.”
    “I don’t suppose you could whip up a quick banana pudding?” Helena asked.
    “No, I can not.” Mildred put the phone on speaker and dialed Maryse, who answered before the first ring even finished.
    Jadyn proceeded to recap everything that had happened that day. She figured they’d already heard some of it through the Mudbug grapevine, but all three women listened without interruption. Mildred’s worried expression, however, told Jadyn everything the older woman was thinking.  
    “You’re going to start checking camps tomorrow morning?” Maryse asked.
    “Yes,” Jadyn said. “Colt thinks if someone’s holding Raissa nearby, one of the camps is the most likely location.”
    “I agree,” Maryse said, “but there’s so many.”
    “Can we cover them all in a day?”
    “No way. Not every one in the game preserve, anyway. You might be able to cover three-quarters. If you move fast and work the channels efficiently.”
    “Then that will have to do,” Jadyn said. “We’ll cover the rest the next day.”
    “Is there anything we can do?” Mildred asked. “I feel so useless and guilty just sitting here, but for the life of me, I can’t think of anything I could do to help.”
    “Helena can help by shadowing the FBI, particularly Agent Ross.”
    Helena shook her head. “I was married to an asshole for over three decades. I’ve had enough of that to last me a lifetime.”
    Jadyn narrowed her eyes at Helena. “Mildred told me all about your husband, so I know you could have paid him to go away but were too cheap or stubborn to purchase a better life. But the point is, this isn’t about you. It’s about finding Raissa and you owing Maryse huge…enormously, as a matter of fact. So you’ll follow Ross, even into the restroom, just in case he says something that the FBI has been keeping from us.”
    Helena slumped down in the chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “Guess I can see how you and Maryse are related. You’re both rude.”
    “Never claimed otherwise.”
    “I suppose I could have the rooms bugged,” Mildred said, “but with the rate things get done in this town, Ross would be retired before I got anyone out here to do it.”
    “For a change,” Jadyn said, “I’d like to try to stay on the right side of the law. I’m all for bending the ever-living hell out of it, but I don’t think our own personal Watergate is a good move at this point. It’s not like anyone can prosecute us for having a ghost spy on them.”
    “True,” Mildred agreed, “but surely there’s something I can do besides sit here and worry. It’s giving me wrinkles and I’ve already eaten an entire bag of Oreos this afternoon.”
    “You had Oreos?” Helena asked.
    “Forget the Oreos.” Jadyn waved a hand at the ghost. “There is the diner up the highway from where Zach was found. Colt figured the feds would be all over it today, but we were going to hit it tomorrow on the off chance that someone says something.”  
    “I know the place,” Maryse said. “Lots of truckers and shrimpers. A little rough but the chicken-fried steak is decent.”
    “I like chicken-fried steak,” Helena said.
    Jadyn counted to three, then looked at Mildred. “Colt and I will be in the swamp all day tomorrow, but there’s nothing stopping us from going to the diner tonight.”
    “But we’re not cops,” Maryse said. “We don’t have any right to question people.”
    “No, but we’re friends of the victim, and people may be more willing to talk to us than to the police.”
    “She’s right,” Mildred said. “Play up the worried friend angle to the hilt and lips tend to loosen a bit.”
    “I think it’s a good idea,” Maryse said, “but I don’t think all three of us