Trouble in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law, #1)(44)

“No! Wait!” Helena hurried after her. “I think there’s something wrong with your cabin.”

Maryse stopped short. “What do you mean, something’s wrong?”

“Your truck wreck got me to thinking. What if it wasn’t an accident at all? So I’ve been watching your place as much as possible, figuring if the truck didn’t work, then they might do something here. I made a quick trip to my house this morning after your phone call and hightailed it back here as soon as possible, but I was too late. I saw a man leaving as I walked across from the dock. He was carrying a duffle bag and got in a boat that was parked in that cove behind the cabin. Then he tore out of here something fierce.”

“It was probably just kids. You know how teenagers traipse around the bayou.”

Helena shook her head. “It wasn’t a kid. This guy moved like an adult, his frame was mature—medium height and a ball cap.”

Maryse stared at her. “Then who was it? C’mon, Helena, you know everyone in this town, same as me.”

Helena shook her head again, the panic starting to show on her face. “I didn’t see his face. And I couldn’t catch up to the boat in time to read a license tag or anything. But he was up to no good. I know it. Why else would he dock in that cove and wade through the marsh to get up here when there’s a perfectly good pier out front?”

Maryse glanced over at her cabin and bit her lower lip. Unfortunately, Helena was right—it didn’t sound good. Suddenly, entering her cabin for a map didn’t appear as easy as she’d originally thought. She looked once more at the cabin, then back at Helena. “So why don’t you pop through a wall and take a look?”

Helena gave her a withering stare. “Don’t you think I’ve already done that? I still can’t move things. If he hid something in a cabinet or a drawer, I’d never see it. Not like I know what I’m looking for in the first place.”

A sudden thought struck Maryse and she felt a chill rush over her. “Jasper was in the cabin this morning.”

“Who the hell’s Jasper?”

“My cat. I can’t let anything happen to him.”

Helena stared at her. “You mean that ragtag old tomcat missing an ear? That’s what you’re worried about?”

“I rescued that ragtag old tomcat from a fight with an alligator, and yes, I’m worried about him. He’s family, whether you get that or not.”

Helena shrugged. “You have strange ideas about family, Maryse, but it doesn’t matter either way. The cat took off out the kitchen window as soon as I walked into the cabin.” She frowned and pursed her lips. “Maybe it’s true what they say about cats seeing ghosts. He shot out of the room the first time I visited you, too.”

As interesting as Helena’s observation may have been some other time, Maryse just couldn’t care about it at the moment. “You’re sure he’s not in there?”

“Positive,” Helena said, and nodded. “He was halfway across the marsh when I looked out the window, but I’ll pop in and take another look.” She strolled up the path and through the wall of the cabin, then reappeared a couple of minutes later. “He’s not there. I checked every nook and cranny.”

“Okay. So what do you think I should do?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t want you going in that cabin. What if they left the gas on or something?”

Maryse considered her words and weighed her options. “You think he could have rigged something…like an explosion, maybe?” She ran one hand through her hair and tried to think. “Okay, if he rigged something to explode, then it would probably happen when I opened the front door, right? I mean, one look at my kitchen and anyone could see I don’t cook, and besides, I had my gas turned off when I started construction on the cabinets.”

Helena shook her head, clearly miserable. “I guess. I just don’t know.”

“Well, hell, that’s the way it happens in the movies.” She blew out a breath in frustration. “How should I know? We didn’t exactly cover this sort of thing in college.”

“Well, it wasn’t covered in the society pages, either, so I don’t know why you’re getting all pissy with me. I’m trying to save your skinny ass from whatever that man cooked up.”

Maryse clenched her jaw, not about to launch into why she was pissy with Helena. If not for Helena and her games, Maryse’s skinny ass would be nice and safe. She took another look at the cabin. Mind made up, she drew her keys from her pocket and began walking toward the front door. Helena started to protest, but Maryse beat her to the punch. “I’m not going inside. I’m only going to unlock the door.”

She crept up the path, feeling like a fool for sneaking up on her own home, and stopped at her front door, easing the key into the lock. It slid in silently, and she heard the barely audible click of chambers rolling inside the door as she turned the key to the left. Then she backed away from the cabin as quickly as possible and stopped at the dock next to Helena.

“What now?” Helena asked.

Maryse jumped into her boat and lifted the back seat to get into the storage box. “The latch on the front door is so old it doesn’t hold anymore. Unless it’s locked, even a good wind will blow it open.”