Trouble in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law, #1)(23)

“I don’t know,” she said. “I didn’t hear anything.” So much for the moment.

Luc studied her, a curious expression on his face. “Really? That’s odd, because the sirens and everything are pretty loud. Of course, if you were working on your engine, you might not have heard it over the motor.” He gave her another smile that clearly said, “you’re full of shit and up to something and I know it.” “What happened to your knee?”

Maryse looked down at her leg, just realizing that she’d been massaging the top of her kneecap. A patch of red was seeping through her jeans, and given that it was growing in size, she probably couldn’t pass it off as an old stain.

“I banged it on the bench when I was working on the engine. I didn’t even notice it was bleeding. Must have a sharp edge somewhere. I’ll get the metal grinder after it tomorrow.”

“After the bench or you knee?” Luc asked, clearly amused.

Maryse sighed. “The bench. Look, I need to get going. I have a lot of things to do tonight.”

Luc waved one hand across the bayou, as if to say “What’s stopping you?”

“I’ll see you at the office tomorrow,” he said as she backed her boat away from his.

Managing a weak smile, she turned the boat and headed down the bayou toward the station. She was halfway there when she realized she’d locked Helena inside her own house, and she hadn’t gotten the promised information on Hank.

Damn it! Things were out of control, and she had to get a grip on them fast or she was going to end up costing herself everything. Breaking and entering? What had she been thinking? All that drama for a fractured kneecap and a reinjury to her throbbing head, and she still hadn’t gotten what she’d gone in for, which was information on Hank.

She’d hoped after the will reading that the situation with Helena would resolve itself and she could go back to her regular life, minus Helena Henry, of course. But it looked like things were far more dire than she’d initially thought, and her options were limited.

What she needed was professional advice, and the only two people she could think of to give it were her priest and Sabine. One of them had to know of a way to help Helena pass or cross or whatever it was that she needed to do.

And if anyone would know how to make that happen, it would probably be Sabine.


Luc watched as Maryse headed up the bayou in her boat, wondering what in the world was going on with that woman. He’d stepped right in the middle of something strange and for the life of him couldn’t figure out what.

He’d followed after she left the office, the GPS he’d installed on her boat made finding her among the hundreds of bayous an easy task. But when he’d initially arrived at the location the equipment had specified, he wondered if there had been a malfunction. Her boat was nowhere in sight, even though the tiny gray monitor clearly showed a blinking red light not fifty yards in front of him.

Then the alarm sirens had gone off, and seconds later, he’d spotted Maryse running along a group of dense hedges, away from the house with the sounding alarm. He glanced down at the bank and saw a tiny tip of her boat peeking out from the cattails, suddenly realizing why she’d shown on the equipment but not to the bare eye.

She’d made a leap into her boat from the bank that Indiana Jones would have been proud of, and it probably explained the injury to her knee, but it didn’t explain why a seemingly rational woman would break into a house in broad daylight. Before she could catch him spying, he’d hustled around the corner and anchored directly in her flight path.

He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and pressed in a number. His buddy and fellow agent answered almost immediately.

“LeJeune here. Brian, I need you to check on something for me.”

“Go ahead,” Brian said.

“There’s a house in downtown Mudbug along the bayou where an alarm just went off. The police responded, so I know the alarm system is linked to an outside provider. I need to know who owns that house.”

Luc heard tapping and knew Brian was working his magic on the computer. It took less than a minute to get the answer.

“The house belongs to a Helena Henry,” Brian said. “You want me to pursue anything further?”

“No,” Luc said. “That’s it for now. Thanks.” He flipped the phone shut and shoved it in his pocket.

Maryse had just broken into her dead mother-in-law’s house. He was certain. And even though it probably had nothing to do with his case, he couldn’t help wondering what the woman had gotten into. The information on Maryse from the DEQ research department didn’t allude to anything remotely dangerous or illegal. Truth be told, on paper she was probably the most boring human being he’d ever read about. In person, well, in person obviously things were a bit different.

Luc smiled. He couldn’t wait to find out why.


Fifteen minutes after she’d risked a criminal record, Maryse docked her boat and left the office before Luc could show up and start in with any more embarrassing questions. It was fast approaching supper time, and since she’d completely forgotten lunch, Maryse was on the verge of starving. She had thirty minutes to snag a clean pair of jeans and make the drive into Mudbug. Sabine would just be closing up shop for the day, so the two of them could grab some burgers, and Maryse could fill Sabine in on her ridiculous day.