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“I don’t know, Maryse.” Jadyn stood in the kitchen at the hotel, frowning down at her cousin, who sat with Mildred and Helena, having blackberry cobbler. The fact that it was approaching evening and both Maryse and Helena were wearing bathrobes was slightly odd, but Jadyn wasn’t about to ask questions she didn’t want answer to.
“It makes perfect sense to videotape him,” Maryse said. “Colt said that Pickett always manages to skate by without arrest. If you arrest him breaking into the garage, that’s all you have on him. He can always claim he wanted to see his car and that he had no knowledge of the diamonds. Then it’s your word against his.”
“One would hope the word of a game warden and the sheriff would carry more weight than that of a known-although-not-convicted criminal.”
“I bet the past judges and juries had the word of cops too,” Maryse pointed out. “Didn’t seem to make a difference. But if you had video of him going straight for the diamonds, it would be impossible for him to argue his way out of what everyone could see. Not only that, without hard evidence, what incentive does he have to give up the other guys straight off? If you have to go to trial, it could take forever to pin down the guys who kidnapped Raissa.”
“I hate to agree with her,” Mildred said, “but she’s right. If a jury sees him go into the garage, raise the car, and immediately remove the box and go for the black bag, there wouldn’t be any possible question as to his motive. And if Pickett sees that footage first, he’s far more likely to deal.”
Jadyn worked to control her frustration. She didn’t think Maryse was wrong—in fact, she thought the idea of video was a great one, except for the part where someone had to sit in the loft above the garage office and turn on the camera when Pickett arrived. Jadyn needed to back up Colt and couldn’t do a good job from the loft. But the last thing she wanted to do was get her cousin involved in an arrest. What if something went wrong?
“It’s too dangerous,” Jadyn said finally. “Why can’t Helena run the camera? That would give us what we want without putting anyone else at risk.”
“I’ll do it for another blackberry cobbler,” Helena said.
Maryse rolled her eyes. “I don’t doubt for an instant your dedication to acquiring more cobbler. What I doubt is your ability to turn on the camera when the time comes. What if, all of a sudden, you can’t touch things? It’s not like your inability to do things on command is an isolated thing.”
Helena frowned. “As much as it pains me to agree, she’s got a point. No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to get consistent on things, and when I’m stressed, it’s even worse. And if I know there’s a chance people will start shooting, I’ll definitely be stressed.”
“Besides,” Maryse said, “how would you explain your acquisition of the video? You can’t exactly parade Helena in front of a jury.
“What about Luc? Won’t he be mad?” Jadyn asked, afraid she was losing the argument.
“He asked me to stay out of the swamps and I am. He asked me to stay at the hotel while he’s working out of town for the next few days and I am. He might not approve of it, but this situation is not what he’s worried about. Besides, I’ll be way out of sight and both you and Colt will be there and armed. It’s only one man. I’m sure you guys won’t have any trouble taking him down.”
“I don’t like it either,” Mildred said, “but I can’t climb the ladder to the loft with these bad knees of mine, and anyone else we could trust is out of town and couldn’t make it back in time. I want those bastards nailed to the wall.”
The hotel owner’s expression left Jadyn no doubt what Mildred would do to those men if she could get her hands on them, and Jadyn would be lying if she said she didn’t want them to go down as badly as Mildred did. Zach was still in a coma, fighting for his life, and somewhere out there, the men who ran him over were walking scot-free. That made her angrier than she could ever remember being.
“I’ll have to talk to Colt,” Jadyn said finally.
Maryse bounced in her chair and clapped her hands.
“But,” Jadyn said, “if he says no, it’s no. I’m backing him up. I don’t have any jurisdiction on this.”
Maryse kept grinning. “He won’t say no.”
Jadyn smiled. “Just promise me you’ll wear something besides your bathrobe.”
Maryse drew a cross over her chest with her finger. “I promise I’ll wear jeans, but as long as I’ve got to hang out in the hotel all day, I’m only wearing items with sashes or elastic waists.”
Well, that explained the robe thing. “Has Ross been back to the hotel?” Jadyn asked.
“No,” Maryse said. “But he was at the café at lunch with Stepford. We sent Helena over to check on them, but he’s not up to much but grousing about his boss and bitching because he can’t find Bart to question him.”
“What do you mean, he can’t find Bart?” Jadyn asked.
“Apparently, he hasn’t been back to his house all day,” Maryse said. “But then, if he’s gone to New Orleans for a job, he might not be back for a couple of days.”
“Ross is wasting his time,” Mildred said. “Bart is a dead end.”
“Ross was all pissy about him not being home,” Helena said. “Put out an APB on his vehicle with orders to hold him for questioning.”
Mildred shook her head. “The man is grasping at straws. It will be a wonder if someone doesn’t sue the FBI before he’s done making a mess.”
Jadyn nodded, not about to get into a conversation about Bart. Granted, from the looks of it he had nothing to do with the diamond smuggling or kidnapping Raissa, but he was hardly an innocent. When the business with the diamonds was over, Colt still had to arrest Bart, and that was going to be a blow to these women who’d known him his entire life.
“There is one problem that I haven’t quite worked out yet,” Jadyn said. “Assuming Colt is okay with the video plan, that means we have to get three of us and equipment into the garage without being seen. For all we know Pickett could be watching the place already, or he could have a partner watching it for him.”
“I have an idea!” Mildred popped upright in her chair. “I need to take my car in for repairs since someone flopped on top of it like a dying whale.”
“Hey.” Helena shot Mildred a dirty look.
Mildred put her hand up. “Try to defend yourself and you’ll be digging in my Dumpster for your next meal.”
Helena slumped back in her seat and stabbed another bite of cobbler.
“Anyway,” Mildred said. “You, Colt, and Maryse can hide in my car. I’ll drive it to the garage to leave for repair close to closing and once Marty has closed up for the night, you get out.”
“What about me?” Helena asked.
“You will walk,” Mildred said. “You can’t ride in my car with Colt. He can’t see you and you have zero capacity for keeping quiet or transparent when those without the curse are around.”
“That’s actually pretty brilliant.” Jadyn pulled out her cell phone and headed out of the room. “Let me run all this by Colt.”
She started down the hall and had just reached the lobby when Maryse stopped her. “Hey,” Maryse said. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure. Is something wrong? Are you and Luc okay?”
“We’re fine,” Maryse reassured her. “I am blessed to have a husband with never-ending patience.”
“And he loves you.”
Maryse grinned. “In spite of all the challenges I present, yes, he does.”
“So what’s up?”
“Actually, I wanted to ask about you and Colt.”
“What about us?”
“I, uh…well, you already know I’m not exactly girlie, and God knows most things tied to emotions tend to fly right over my head—it’s the scientist thing, you know? But I’ve noticed the tension between you two, and my limited-capacity lady parts are telling me it’s nothing to do with this case.”
“Is there a question in there?”
“No. Yes. Oh hell, I know Mildred and I have ribbed you some about him, but I want you to know, in all seriousness, that Colt is a good guy—one of the best. You could do a hell of a lot worse than hooking up with him. He’s direct, to the point of borderline rude at times, but I have a feeling you see that as a plus. He’s loyal and unless he ran wild in New Orleans, he’s not a player that I’m aware of.”
Jadyn’s lips quivered as she tried to hold in a smile. Her cousin was so far out of her element with this discussion, but so earnest about her beliefs that Jadyn was touched. The only person who’d ever shown an interest in her love life was her mother, but she was only concerned about finding Jadyn a rich husband who would set her up for life and produce beautiful grandchildren that she could be proud of.
“You’re laughing at me,” Maryse said, looking dismayed. “I knew I sucked at this.”
“No! I was just thinking about how you couldn’t pick two worse women to have this conversation if you tried.” She put her hand on Maryse’s shoulder. “The truth is, I’ve never had people who cared about me the way you and Mildred do. My family isn’t exactly traditional—or emotionally healthy, for that matter—but I’m just as rusty at this type of thing as you are.”
“If you’ve never had people care about you, then you’ve been hanging out with a bunch of douche bags. You’re great. Since you first arrived, you’ve taken everything in stride. My craziness, Mildred’s mothering, Helena. Need I say more?”
“Probably not after Helena.”
Maryse smiled. “Anyway, what I’m trying to say and haven’t done it very well is that I want you to stay in Mudbug. And if you’re going to stay, you might want a man. Colt is a good man to want.”
“I get that. But I’m not sure he feels the same way about me.”
“I think he does. He looks at you a certain way when you’re not watching. His expression is this mixture of confusion, excitement, and fear. I think he wants to make a move, but something is holding him back.”
A flash of their kiss in Bart’s camp ripped through Jadyn’s mind and a wave of heat ran through her.
“You’re blushing,” Maryse said, breaking into her thoughts. “Okay, fess up.”
“He sorta made a move when we were stranded in Bart’s camp…a kiss anyway, but one of those kind that make your toes curl. I think it would have gone further. At least, I don’t think I would have told him to stop.”
“Then what happened?”
“You and Luc showed up to rescue us.”
Maryse groaned. “The worst-timed rescue ever.”
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.