Chaos in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law Mystery/Romance Series) (24 page)

Jadyn nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

Colt shook his head. “If you’d told me two days ago that these two cases might be related, I would have called you crazy.”

“But now you think they might be?”

“As incredible as it sounds, I do. And you know what cinched it for me?”

Jadyn shook her head.

“The name of his boat.”

“Oh!” Jadyn gave a single laugh. “The
Houdini
.”

“Master escape artist.”

 
“I thought it was an odd name for a boat, but in this context, it would make perfect sense. I guess all that remains is proving it out.” She glanced out the window again. “The search parties are all waiting at the dock. We best get moving.”

Jadyn headed out of the sheriff’s department and around back to the dock. Sophia’s revelation had been unexpected and more than a little strange, but neither that nor the impending search was what worried Jadyn. Instead, what kept playing through her mind was the e-mail she’d read.
 

Colt hadn’t had a chance to read it yet and probably wouldn’t until tonight, so his behavior toward her hadn’t changed. But what about after he read it? It sounded to her as though Maria was offering him everything he’d always wanted, and at a time when he was frustrated with the way things were going in his hometown. And that was just the job part. The second part of her offer worried Jadyn even more. Was there really a man alive who could refuse a woman who looked like Maria? If so, Jadyn wasn’t sure she’d met him yet.
 

If only she’d seen the e-mail before she’d slept with him. Maybe then she wouldn’t feel as if someone were stabbing her in the heart. And she could have escaped with a little dignity and self-respect. But now…if Colt left for the job in New Orleans, she’d be the woman he’d left in his wake. Someone to be pitied.
 

And that sucked.

Even worse, she had to spend an entire day in the boat alone with him, trying to pretend everything was normal when absolutely nothing was normal anymore. Not her life. Not her future. Not even the Clifton Vines investigation.

It was going to be a very long day.

As she approached the dock, she caught sight of a man fiddling with his cell phone and drew up short.
 

“What’s wrong?” Colt stepped up beside her and followed her gaze. “Do you know him?”

“Yeah. That’s Peter Vincent.”

Colt’s jaw twitched. “I thought he didn’t recognize Clifton’s boat.”

“That’s what he said.”

“Then let’s go find out why he’s here.

They walked toward the dock, Jadyn watching Peter the entire time. As they drew closer, he looked up from his phone and his gaze locked on Jadyn’s.

“Mr. Vincent,” Jadyn said as they stepped in front of him. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

“Some of the fishermen were talking yesterday about the search party. Finances prevent some of them from helping, but I don’t have the same restrictions. Bobby’s handling things back at the shrimp house.”

“I didn’t think you knew Clifton,” Jadyn said.

“I don’t. I mean, I checked the records and we’ve bought from him before, but I don’t know him by sight. Still, I make a good living off the hard work of these men. I don’t like to think about one of them stranded somewhere in the swamp.”

“It’s nice of you to help,” Jadyn said and waved a hand at Colt. “This is Colt Bertrand. He’s the sheriff here.”

Peter’s eyes widened just a tick. If Jadyn hadn’t been watching him closely, she wouldn’t have caught it. Colt shook Peter’s hand, and Jadyn could tell the two men were sizing each other up.
 

“Thanks for volunteering,” Colt said. “We can use all the help we can get. The knowledgeable kind, anyway.”

Peter nodded. “The swamp is no place for the inexperienced.”

“I’m going to get this started,” Colt said. “Since you’re probably not overly familiar with the area, I can pair you up with one of the locals.”

“Nah, that’s all right. Just give me a rudimentary map and I can find my way around most places.”

“All right then.” Colt headed to the dock where most of the volunteers had gathered. Peter set off behind him as Jadyn hung back and watched. Peter was lying. Jadyn hadn’t liked the feeling she got from him at his shrimp house, and she liked it even less now. No doubt he knew Clifton Vines. The question was, why lie about it?

She had a feeling if she knew that answer, then some of the mystery surrounding Clifton Vines would start to unravel. She waited as Colt handed out maps with the assignments for each search party and gave them instructions for CB usage. As the groups began to head for their boats, Colt motioned to her and called out to the two fishermen they’d questioned in the diner.
 

The men stopped and turned around as Colt and Jadyn approached them. Colt shook hands with both men and thanked them again for joining the search.
 

“We’ve received some strange information,” Colt said. “I’m not at liberty to go into it as it’s related to an ongoing case, but I was hoping you could help.”

The two men looked at each other and nodded. “Anything we can do to help,” the first man said.

“Did Clifton have a camp?”

“Not that I ever heard of,” the first man said as the second shook his head.

“Did he borrow anyone’s camp?”

“I suppose he could have,” the first man said, “but I don’t know of any in particular or on a regular basis. Clifton didn’t take a day off very often.”

“He usually went fishing when he did,” the second man said.

The first man grunted. “So he always said, but I think he just took his bass boat out and slept. He never caught much, and had no tales about the one that got away.”

The second man shrugged. “You’re probably right. I never saw him at the hot spots.”

“Did you see him fishing anywhere?” Colt asked.

“Saw him coming out of channels in the evening several times recently,” the second man said. “Two were regular fishing locations that most of us know about, but the other one doesn’t make much sense now that I think about it.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a small channel with a lot of cypress trees making up the bank. The hurricane did a pretty good number on the older trees. I don’t think you could get very far back, and the channel’s too narrow to have much good fishing.”

The first man nodded. “Sleeping. I told you.”

Colt smiled. “You’re probably right.”

The second man narrowed his gaze at Colt. “You don’t think Clifton is off somewhere in a camp, letting us all run around like fools, do you? Because I can’t see him doing something like that.”

Colt shook his head. “He doesn’t sound like the kind of guy who would let everyone worry for no reason, but like I said, I got some information that I have to check out or I wouldn’t be doing my job.”

“I guess not,” the second man said, but he still looked confused.

“Would you mind pointing out the channel with the hurricane damage?” Colt asked.

“Sure.” The man took the map from Colt and pointed to an area a good bit north of the search area. “You used to be able to access it from Bayou Bend, but I don’t think you can get through anymore.”

Colt folded the map and nodded. “I won’t hold you guys up any longer. Thanks for the information.”

The two men gave him a nod and headed for their boat. Jadyn fell in step with Colt as they walked toward the dock.
 

“What do you think?” Jadyn asked.

“At this point, I don’t know what to think. He may have a hideout back off that channel or have just been sleeping. Still, there’s no way he got that far north without a boat. Clifton’s bass boat was parked on the side of his house, and I haven’t had any theft reports.”

“So if he was hiding out, you think he’d be using the camps closer to the wreckage site.”

Colt nodded as he untied his boat from the dock. “Easier to get to. Easier to get away from. To get that far north, he’d have to swim several channels as there’s no logical walking path around that wouldn’t take him hundreds of miles out of his way.”

Jadyn stepped inside the boat and took the seat next to the driver’s seat. “Then I guess we should start with the camps. What about the Peter Vincent situation?”

Colt frowned. “I don’t believe for a moment he’s here out of the goodness of his heart.”

“Neither do I, and I think he lying about knowing Clifton.”

“So what’s his angle?”

Jadyn shook her head. “Maybe he’s the one who damaged Clifton’s boat. Maybe Sophia’s opinion on what happened isn’t the answer to all this.”

“Maybe.” Colt sighed. “This mess has more layers than my mom’s ice cream sundae cake.”

“I bet they’re not nearly as pleasant.”

“Not even. Well, I assigned Peter to the area farthest from us. Right now, I’d like to keep you as far away as possible from anyone we suspect could have poisoned your water.”

“Fine by me. I never liked the guy. Something about him is off.”

Colt tossed the rope into the boat and climbed in. As he guided the boat down the bayou, a flood of thoughts ran through Jadyn’s mind, but no matter how hard she tried to focus on Clifton Vines, the mystery surrounding him, her attacker, and who he might be, she couldn’t stop herself from going back to the e-mail.
 

When they returned home tonight, Colt would have a chance to read it. And then everything she hoped would happen between them was over. She didn’t think for one moment that Colt would turn down the job opportunity he’d always wanted.

And even if the job didn’t hold the same glitter that it once did, she had no doubt that Maria would.

Chapter Seventeen

Colt closed the door on the last of a string of camps along their current stretch of bayou and pushed the dead bolt back into place. It had been a long and completely fruitless day. They’d spent five hours searching camps that morning, then returned to the sheriff’s department for gas and lunch before heading out again. Now, six hours later, they were out of camps and no closer to finding answers than they had been that morning. None of the other search party participants had gotten lucky either, and many had finished their areas and were loading up their boats to leave.
 

“Is this the last one?” Jadyn asked as they headed back to the boat.

“Yep. And we’ve accomplished a whole lot of nothing.”

Jadyn shook her head. “You realize we may never get answers for this, right? Vines might have drowned and the chances of finding evidence of that is slim to none. And if he is Sophia’s disappearing husband, he could have vanished again.”

“Not knowing doesn’t sit all that well with me.”

“Me either, especially as I picked up a stalker while investigating this case. I’m hoping finding nothing will be enough reason for the stalker to cut his losses.”

Colt stepped into the boat behind Jadyn, his frustration mounting. Jadyn’s stalker was the primary reason he needed answers. No way did he want something like that hanging over her head. It was no way to live. Look at how crazy it was making Maryse, and Jadyn could hardly be expected to stay out of the swamps unless she resigned from her position. So until they had a motive or name assigned to her stalker, they had to assume she was still at risk.

Colt had been invested in Jadyn’s welfare almost since the moment she’d set foot in Mudbug, but after last night, he wasn’t even going to try to deny that everything concerning her had become incredibly personal. This morning, he’d fought the urge to suggest she stay behind. He knew it was a completely illogical suggestion. First off, there was no way she’d agree to it. And second, finding Vines was her job and she took her job seriously.

But it didn’t stop him from wishing he could handcuff her to his desk.
 

“What now?” Jadyn asked. “Should we check out that sketchy fishing place the diner guy told us about?”

Colt glanced up at the sky. “We’ve got about another two hours of sunlight, but I don’t think I know a way through there that’s not currently blocked with debris. The direct route is definitely a no-go. A huge cypress tree is blocking entry to the channel. I was going to talk to you about getting a crew out there to move it, as one of the ponds off that channel is a favorite fishing hole for the locals. They’ve been bitching.”

“Is there any way around?”

“I’m sure there is, but offhand, I don’t know it.”

“Would Maryse?”

Colt nodded. “Probably. No one knows these channels as well as Maryse.”

Jadyn motioned to the CB. “Give her a shout and ask. Last night, she offered to listen in on the search talk in case she could help.”

“Great,” Colt said and picked up the CB. “Maryse, this is Colt. Are you out there?”

“My husband says I am,” Maryse replied, “so it must be true.”

Colt smiled. “I need your expertise.” He gave Maryse coordinates for the area they wished to search. “The hurricane blocked the normal access points but we were hoping you knew a way around that wouldn’t take hours.”