over my kitchen floor for about two seconds before launching into action. I flew upstairs and threw on street clothes, then ran back downstairs and dumped the rest of the coffee into a thermos. The floor would have to wait as I could hear Ida Belle’s SUV pulling into my drive. I dashed out and jumped in, taking note of the excited expressions and flushed cheeks my two friends wore.
“Fill me in,” I said as we took off.
“According to our hospital contact,” Ida Belle said, “early this morning, Molly walked into the emergency room. She said she’d fallen off her boat and was rescued by a Creole man who lived deep in the swamp. She said she vaguely remembered being pulled onto his boat and him pouring chicken stock down her throat.”
“She didn’t even know what day it was,” Gertie said. “She said she woke up early this morning, before daylight, in a cabin in the middle of the swamp. The man realized she was awake and told her he’d take her to the hospital. He drove her to the hospital and let her out on the road in front of it, saying he didn’t want to see ‘no people.’”
“Is she all right?” I asked.
“She has a lump on her head and some bruises that are already healing but good Lord, those could have been from her fighting that day as much as having an accident,” Ida Belle said.
“Did she say what happened?” I asked.
They both shook their heads.
“She claims she doesn’t remember,” Gertie said. “Said she remembers taking the boat out and calling Angel, but then the next thing she was really aware of was waking up in the man’s cabin.”
“I can’t believe it!” I said.
Gertie grinned. “I know, right? Best ending ever. Molly is alive and okay. Silas is going to prison for killing Johnny. Ida Belle will have awesome catering at her wedding, and Jeb promised me he’d call me for a date. This has been one heck of a week.”
“I assume Carter knows?” I asked.
“Of course,” Ida Belle said. “The nurse at the hospital recognized Molly as soon as she walked in and called the sheriff’s department. Molly’s disappearance was all over the local news. Nothing like working the night shift and thinking you’re seeing a ghost walk in the door.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet,” I said.
And I’d bet Carter was elated but also dealing with a very unhappy DA. Once again, I was really happy to be a lone agent and not under the thumb of the red tape bureaucracy and career climbers that Carter dealt with every day. I imagined the DA wasn’t going to be excited at all about Molly’s return from the dead.
“Did someone call Nickel and Angel?” I asked.
“I’m sure Molly did as soon as they got her in a room,” Gertie said. “We figure they headed that way as soon as they got the news, but Ida Belle thought you might want to be on hand because they’re sure to tell her about Johnny.”
Ida Belle nodded. “I think she’ll have questions.”
“Don’t we all,” I mumbled, staring out the window.
This was all exciting and I was thrilled that Molly was all right and even happier that she would finally have some answers about what really happened to her brother. But once again, I had that niggling feeling that I was missing something.
The hospital nurse greeted us as soon as we walked in and appeared as if she was expecting us. She directed us to Molly’s room and asked that we try to keep our voices down. Apparently, all the excitement coming from Molly’s room had been disturbing the other patients.
Angel and Nickel were sitting in chairs next to Molly’s bed and they both jumped up when we walked in. Angel rushed over to give me a huge hug and whispered, “God bless you for everything,” when she pulled me in. Nickel surprised me by following suit with the hug and saying, “I can’t thank you enough.”
Molly was sitting up in her bed. She was bruised but smiling.
“Get over here and give me a hug, skinny girl,” she said.
A tiny tremor of fear ran through me, but Molly took it easy on my rib cage and I came out of the hug with everything intact. Molly sniffed as she released me and shook her head.
“I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you,” she said. “But I’ll make you that dip every darn week, I know that.”