Missing in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law #5)(23)

A second later, the air bags deployed.

“Are you all right?” Jadyn asked.

“I just got an unplanned facial,” Mildred said, “and my neck may never be the same, but I don’t think I’ll die. I can’t say the same about others. How the hell do you get out of these things?”

“Hold on. I have a pocket knife.”

Jadyn pushed against the air bag, trying to move it enough to reach her back pocket. Four years of gymnastics training and two years of yoga were pushed to the very limit, but she finally managed to snag the tiny knife and release her and Mildred from their nylon prison.

Helena was still piled on the hood of the car, not moving, and for a minute, Jadyn worried if it was possible to die twice. Part of her hoped so.

She stepped out of the car and poked Helena with a finger. “You alive?”

“Of course I’m not alive!” Helena shouted. “I’ve been dead for over a year.”

“My bad. Then I need you to get off the hood and into the car so we can get out of here before someone calls the cops.”

“I can’t move.”

“Why not?”

“I think I broke a hip.”

Jadyn blew out a breath. “That’s not possible. You’re dead.”

“Now you remember.”

Mildred climbed out of the car and looked across the hood. “What’s the holdup?”

“Helena thinks she broke a hip.”

Mildred put her hands on her hips and glared at the lump. “If you don’t get up off that hood, I swear to God I’m going to climb up there with you and strangle the afterlife out of you.”

Helena lifted her head up and glared at Jadyn. “You two are cruel.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Mildred said. “Look what you did to my car. Why can’t you just remain transparent?”

Helena rolled over and slid off the front of the hood. Jadyn had turned the headlights on before she climbed out of the car and now, they were like a spotlight on the ghost. It was like something out of a horror movie.

The Batgirl mask was torn on one side, leaving only one eye and bright red lips protruding. The spandex body suit, which had already been stretched beyond intended capacity, had given way in the tumble and now rolls of Helena spilled out of various rips and tears.

“What’s wrong?” Helena said when she realized they were staring. She whipped around, apparently thinking their looks of dismay were caused by something behind her.

And gave them a full view of the biggest bodysuit tear of all.

Mildred groaned and lifted her hand over her eyes. “It’s a full moon over Mudbug.”

Helena grabbed her butt. “I thought I felt a draft.”

Jadyn cringed as Helena fingered the tattered suit. “Why are you wearing that in the first place? Didn’t getting shot at by Maryse teach you anything about wardrobe selection?”

Helena let out an exasperated sigh. “This was my Batgirl suit. The other one was my scary cat burglar outfit.”

“I’ve got news for you,” Mildred said. “They’re all scary.”

“Can you change into something that covers everything that should be covered and get into the car?” Jadyn asked.

Helena turned around to face them and shrugged. “I suppose so. This suit is shot anyway.”

She waved her hands in the air, but nothing happened. “Uh-oh.”

“What do you mean, ‘uh-oh’?” Jadyn asked, already afraid she knew the answer.

“It’s not working,” Helena said. “It happens sometimes.”

“Hmmmph,” Mildred said. “It never seems to happen when you’re wearing jeans and a sensible shirt.”

“I think I’m stressed,” Helena said.

Mildred’s eyes widened and Jadyn was convinced if the hotel owner had a gun, she would have fired off a magazine into the ghost. “You’re stressed? Really? Do you want to take a look at my car and tell me what you’re stressed about? Because I have to either make up a believable story for the insurance company or pay for that out of pocket.”

Helena had the good sense to look a tiny bit contrite. “I’m just saying…oh, never mind.” She stalked past Jadyn and passed through the back door of the car into the backseat.

Mildred sighed. “Now she’s transparent.”





[page]Chapter Six


It took more patience than God dispersed for Jadyn to listen to Helena whine all the way home about her sore hip and lost pie. The fact that she’d stolen the pie in the first place was completely lost on her and the damage she’d done to Mildred’s car had apparently fled her mind. To keep from launching over the seat, Mildred alternated between clenching the seat belt and rolling down the window to stick her head outside. Several times, Jadyn had started to pull over and order the ghost out of the car, but ultimately, it seemed more expedient to just get them all back to the hotel and into separate spaces.

Shortly into the ride back to the hotel, Jadyn tuned out Helena and tried to work what they’d learned at the diner into a logical scenario. Based on what Dee said, Raissa and Zach had been in good spirits while in the diner, and no one sketchy had been present. The bikers had indicated a flat tire where Luc had found Zach.