Trouble in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law, #1)(22)

Helena sighed. “You’re right, but that’s not what I’m worried about. Pull out that stack of papers in the back.”

Maryse reached inside, removed a stack of envelopes, then looked at Helena.

“Flip through them,” Helena instructed. “I’m looking for one from Able & Able.”

Maryse shuffled through the envelopes one at a time, studying the return addresses. When she reached the end of the stack, she looked over at Helena. “There’s nothing here with that name on it.”

“Double damn!” Helena paced the bedroom up one way and down the other. “I knew it. There’s no telling how long that worthless husband of mine has been pilfering from my safe.”

Maryse studied Helena, a bad feeling washing over her. Should ghosts really be this worried about things they couldn’t control? “What exactly was in that letter, Helena?”

Helena stopped pacing and looked at her for a moment, her expression wavering as if on the verge of saying something important. Finally, she shook her head and looked away. “Nothing to concern yourself with. At least not yet. If it becomes an issue, I’ll let you know.”

“You’ll let me know? I have news for you, Helena. All of this is an issue for me. I don’t believe in ghosts. I don’t believe in breaking and entering, and furthermore—”

Before she could complete the sentence, a tiny red light in a small box on the backside of the bedroom door started to blink. Had that been there before? She didn’t remember seeing a blinking light when she’d entered the room. Surely she would have remembered.

“Uh, Helena,” Maryse said and pointed to the box. “What exactly is that red light?”

Helena whirled around to look at the light, then spun back around, a panicked look on her face. “It’s the alarm. Harold must have set it when he left. It’s on a delay, but we don’t have much time left before it goes off.”

Maryse tossed the stack of envelopes back into the safe, slammed the safe door and whirled the dial, then hung the picture on the wall as quickly as she could. She’d stepped one foot outside the bedroom door when the sirens went off. The shrill shriek of the alarm deafened her for a moment, and Maryse froze.

“Run!” Helena cried and ran down the staircase.

Maryse took the steps two at a time, passing Helena on the way, and almost fell as she hit the foyer floor. The scream of police sirens was far too close for comfort, and Maryse struggled to pick up the pace. Skidding on the polished wood, she dashed around the corner and onto the textured tile in the kitchen, where her shoes had a much better grip and she picked up some speed. She ran into the laundry room, shoving down the window where she’d entered the house. Then she rushed out the side door, locking it before she slammed it behind her.

She made for the huge hedge of bushes that separated Helena’s yard from her neighbor’s and ran as fast as she could to the dock. She jumped in the boat from shore, banging her knee against the metal bench, and stifled a yell. Limping over to the controls, she started the boat, threw it into reverse and shoved down the throttle.

The boat shot out from between the dock and the cattails, and she changed it to drive and forced the throttle all the way down again, causing the boat to leap out of the water and slam back down onto the bayou, jolting her so hard her teeth hurt. She looked back at Helena’s house and blew out a breath of relief when she didn’t see police or any curious neighbors observing her departure.

Her knee was throbbing now, and Maryse could feel a tiny trickle of blood down the front of her leg. Her aching head would probably never be the same. As soon as she rounded the bayou out of view of Helena’s house, she’d stop and assess the damage. She slowed a bit, so as not to look suspicious, and twisted on the bench to look back at Helena’s house. The police were just pulling into the driveway, and she breathed a sigh of relief that she’d be well out of their line of sight before they got out of their cars.

She turned back around and almost panicked when she realized she was headed directly toward an anchored boat.

She threw the throttle in reverse and the engine whined in protest. The boat jerked one direction, then another, and as every muscle in her body strained to hold her inside the bouncing vehicle, Maryse knew she was going to pay for this tomorrow.

Miraculously, the boat stopped just inches from the other vessel. Maryse sank down on the bench, trying to catch her breath.

“Quite a stop you made there,” a voice sounded from the other boat. “Do you do everything as fast as you drive a boat?”

That voice was too familiar and wasn’t one she wanted to hear. She raised her head a tiny bit and saw the smiling face of Luc LeJeune. Just what she needed—an opportunity for Luc to file a reckless endangerment charge against her with his uncle. This day just kept getting better.

“Hi, Luc.” She tried to force her voice to normal. “I was having a bit of engine trouble. I thought I might have a little trash collected down there. Figured I’d blow it out.”

Luc looked at her, still smiling, not believing a word of it. “Uh huh. Hey, what’s that noise around the bayou? It sounds like an alarm? Cop cars have been racing along the highway to get here.”

Maryse looked behind her even though she knew she couldn’t see around the bend of the bayou to Helena’s house. It bought her a moment, and in that moment, she was hoping to come up with a better answer than “I didn’t hear anything.”