Showdown in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law, #3)(40)

“Let me get this straight. You want me to stand in front of a killer’s car and take a picture.”

“All he’ll see is the camera. You take the picture, and by the time he jumps out of the car, assuming he even does, it will be too late. You tuck the camera in your pocket and stroll back to the store.”

Helena shrugged. “What the hell. Probably be more interesting than watching you type.” She slipped the camera into her pocket and walked through the wall of the shop and onto the sidewalk.

Maryse moved behind a display of colored rocks so she had a clear view of the street without the driver seeing her in the storefront window. She peered over the top of the display and watched as Helena strolled down the sidewalk, then crossed the street to the black Cadillac. She bent over and peered into the driver’s-side window, but apparently the tint was too dark for her to get a good picture, so she moved to the front of the car. Maryse sucked in a breath and clutched the top of the display.

This is for Raissa, God. If you could just help Helena get it right this one time.

Helena stood in front of the car, studying the windshield. She looked behind her, then moved one step to the right, apparently trying to cut out the glare. She glanced back at the store and gave Maryse a thumbs-up. Maryse tightened her grip on the display. Please God. Please God. Please God.

Helena pulled the camera out of her pocket, but it got stuck on the way out and flipped through the air, seemingly in slow motion, then landed directly in the middle of the hood of the car. Helena froze for a moment, then scrambled onto the hood and grabbed the camera. The car rocked with her weight, and Maryse could see frantic, shadowy movement inside. Helena kneeled on the hood and directed the camera at the driver’s seat as the car roared to life and lurched in reverse.

“Oh, no!” Maryse gasped as Helena rolled off the hood of the car and into the street. She lay there for a second, completely still, and Maryse was certain she had somehow died again. Then she was up and running.

Clutching the camera in one hand held high above her head.

Maryse felt the blood drain from her face and she had to lean against the display for support. The display gave way, and Maryse and a million colored rocks spilled onto the floor of the store. She managed to pull herself up on her knees and peer outside, but the situation was dire. Helena was running as fast as she could, the camera still in plain sight. The car had stopped backing up and was now coming down the street after the floating camera.

Maryse managed to crawl to the front door of the shop and open the door a crack. Surely, the driver wouldn’t hear her yell over the car engine. “Hide the camera,” she yelled as loudly as she could, then slammed the door shut, rose from the floor, and peeked between the miniblinds on the door.

Helena stopped dead in her tracks, which wasn’t exactly smart. The car came to a screeching halt, but not before it bumped Helena and sent her rolling down the street.

Dazed, Helena jumped up from the ground and tucked the camera in her pocket just as the car door opened. Maryse strained to see the driver, but he had his back to her as he scanned the street for the missing camera. Helena staggered down the street to the shop. The driver took one final look in the street, then jumped in his car and tore out of town.

Maryse waited until the car had turned at the far end of Main Street, then opened the door of the shop to allow Helena in. “Are you all right?”

Helena leaned against the wall and slumped to the floor, wheezing. “I guess so. I mean, what could happen to me, right? I’m glad you opened the door. I don’t know if I could concentrate enough to walk through a wall right now.” Helena reached into her pants and pulled the camera out. “I don’t think it got damaged when I fell, or when the car hit me, or when I fell again.”

Maryse took the camera and studied Helena. “You know, I hate to say this, but you’re white as a ghost. I know it sounds stupid, but normally you have color.”

“Of course I’m white. That scared the shit out of me.”

“It doesn’t seem fair, you still feeling fear when there’s really nothing that can hurt you. Kinda a rip, if you ask me.”

“Tell me about it.” Helena looked behind Maryse at the mess on the floor. “What happened?”

“Scared the shit out of me, too.” Maryse looked at the mess and sighed. “I guess I better call Raissa.”

“Think this will scare her?”

“No. And that’s what worries me the most.”





Chapter Eleven


Raissa snapped her phone shut and stared out the windshield of Zach’s car as they drove down the highway back to New Orleans. Zach looked over at her, and Raissa knew he was waiting to hear what was said in the phone call, but she wasn’t sure how to relay the information without his going ballistic. And then there was the whole Helena angle. He definitely wasn’t ready for Helena. No one was.

“Was that Maryse?” he asked finally.

“Yeah. Fields showed up at Sabine’s shop earlier.”

“Was there a problem?”

“Not really,” Raissa said. “Maryse deflected him by saying Sabine was out of the country. He left his card. My guess is, Fields is done with Mudbug.”

“So what’s the problem? And don’t even try to say there’s not one. I saw the expression on your face, and that conversation was far too long to just be chatting about Fields.”