Mischief in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law, #2)(2)

“You’d be surprised,” Sabine muttered, thinking about Helena Henry. Her best friend, Maryse, had gotten more than a handful when her dead mother-in-law turned up as a ghost even harder to get along with than Helena had been as a living, breathing human.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” the voice boomed again. “Tell her the money is in her mattress. She’s been sleeping on it for years.”

Sabine sucked in a breath. No, it couldn’t be. God wouldn’t play that unfair. “The money’s in your mattress,” Sabine said as she rushed over to the table and pulled Thelma out of her chair.

“My mattress?” Thelma repeated as she allowed herself to be hustled to the door. “No wonder Earl never wanted to get rid of that lumpy piece of crap.”

Sabine nodded and opened the front door to the shop, pushing a confused but excited Thelma out the door. “I’m sorry, Thelma,” Sabine said, “but something’s come up that I have to take care of. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Thelma shook her head. “You young people are always rushing around to something. Slow down, Sabine, all you’ve got in this world is time and when it’s done, it’s done.”

Sabine slammed the door shut, locked it, and flipped the “Closed” sign around in the window. When it’s done, it’s done. Like hell. Her heart pounding, she turned slowly around and faced her empty shop.

“I know you’re there, Helena,” Sabine said, then felt a wave of nausea sweep over her at her own words.

“Well, I’ll be damned! You did hear me,” Helena said. “For a minute there, I thought you’d actually gone psychic.”

Sabine’s gaze swept from side to side, casing every square inch of her tiny store. “I can hear you, but I can’t see you. Where are you exactly?”

“I’m standing next to your table. See?”

Sabine looked at her table but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary—until her crystal ball began to rise from its stand and hover a good two feet above the table. “I see the ball, but I can’t see you.”

“Hmm. That’s weird, right? I mean, is that supposed to happen?”

“How am I supposed to know? You’re the ghost.”

“Sure, sure, always trying to make me responsible for everything. Hell, all this paranormal stuff is your bag. I didn’t ask to stick around after I died, and no one handed me an instruction manual when I crawled out of my coffin.”

Sabine yanked her cell phone from her pocket, punched in a text message, then slipped her phone back into her pocket. She stared at the ball, still suspended in midair, not even sure what to say, what to do. Aside from drinking, nothing else really came to mind. She was saved from reaching for the bottle by a knock on the door.

Sabine hurried to unlock the door and allowed Maryse to enter. “That was fast,” Sabine said. Thank God.

“Luc and I were having a late breakfast across the street at the café,” her friend said, the worry on her face clear as day. “What’s wrong? Your text message seemed a bit panicked.”

Sabine pointed to the hovering ball. “I sorta have an issue here.”

Maryse looked over at the table and frowned. “Helena, what in the world are you trying to do—give people heart attacks? That’s not funny.”

“Oh, admit it, Maryse, it’s a little funny,” Helena said. “You shoulda seen the look on Sabine’s face.”

Maryse shook her head. “I don’t need to see that look. I’ve worn it for weeks now. Would you stop freaking people out and find something to do?” Maryse turned to Sabine. “Please tell me she did not do that in front of a customer.”

Sabine shook her head, squinting at the area surrounding the hovering ball, trying to make out a body or form or outline or anything, but she saw absolutely nothing.

“I have plenty to do,” Helena argued, “and I was doing some of it. I was helping that fool Thelma find Earl’s money. She’s been bitching about that money for forty years. Everyone down at the beauty shop is tired of hearing about it.”

Maryse sighed. “And how were you planning on helping—hitting Thelma on the head with that ball? It’s not like you could whisper it in her ear. No one can hear you but me.”

Helena laughed and Sabine cleared her throat. “Actually, Maryse,” Sabine said, “that’s the issue. I can hear her. I just can’t see her.”

Maryse stared at Sabine, her jaw slightly open. “You can hear her?”

Sabine nodded. “Loud and clear, unfortunately.”

“Oh my God,” Maryse said and sank into a chair. “That can’t possibly be good.”

“Hey,” Helena said, “no use being rude about it. I’m not doing anything to Sabine.”

Maryse glared at the ghost. “Yeah, you weren’t doing anything to me either, but not long after you appeared, people started trying to kill me.”

Sabine sucked in a breath and stared at Maryse. “Oh my God! You don’t think…I mean…”

Maryse cast a worried look from the hovering ball to Sabine. “There’s no way of knowing for sure, and God knows, this is one of those times I wish I was a decent liar. But it’s like you told me before, if it involves Helena, it couldn’t possibly be good.”