Trouble in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law, #1)(50)

Maryse nodded. “Oh, yeah. The fire department, the police department, and who knows who else. Not that there’s much left to look at.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Luc said. “If the fire department suspects foul play, they’ll call in specialists. There’s very little that gets by an investigator trained for this sort of thing.”

Johnny paled a bit and looked at Luc, his eyes wide. “Foul play?” He looked back at Maryse. “I never thought…you’re sure?”

“The entire place was leveled,” Luc said. “What are the chances that’s accidental?”

Johnny stared down at Maryse and hesitated a few seconds before speaking. “Maryse, I heard a little about the will reading. Maybe you should take an extended vacation or something. Get the hell out of here until it’s safe.”

“And when will that be, Johnny? No one has any way of knowing, and I’m not leaving here with this whole inheritance mess hanging over my head.” She clamped her mouth shut, not about to reveal the real reason she couldn’t leave.

Johnny nodded but didn’t look pleased. “Harold was in here raising hell last night about him and Hank being cut out of the will.” He frowned. “You know, he’d be just crazy enough to try something like this.”

Mayrse nodded. “He’s already threatened me, and believe me, that will be the first name I give to the police.”

Luc shook his head. “I could be wrong, but I think whoever set that blast knew what they were doing. Someone with experience.” He looked up at Johnny. “You got any ex-military in Mudbug?”

Johnny let out a single laugh. “Are you kidding? Hell, practically every man in this town over the age of forty was military. The economy back then didn’t offer as many opportunities for young men as it does now.”

Luc sighed. “I was afraid of that.”

Johnny scrunched his brow in obvious thought. “Harold was military. He’s always in here bragging about it.”

“What did he do?” Luc asked.

Johnny shrugged. “No way of my knowing for sure, but he’s always claimed he was special forces.”

“Thanks, I’ll look into that.” Luc studied Johnny for a moment. “What about you?”

“Me?” Johnny laughed. “Oh, hell, I was a mess cook. Why do you think I opened this place? Toss some food on the grill, pour some beers. Just like being back in the service.”

Maryse smiled. “You might need to throw a burger or two on the grill for yourself, Johnny. You’ve dropped a few pounds.”

Johnny looked a bit embarrassed. “Wouldn’t hurt me to lose a couple more.” He placed a hand on Maryse’s shoulder. “You let me know if you need anything. I’ll send Jeff over to get your order.” Johnny nodded to Luc, then walked back to the kitchen.

“Well,” Luc said, “looks like the first thing we need to do is find out exactly what Harold did during his time in the military.”

“And how are we going to do that?”

Luc grimaced. “We should probably start with asking Helena.”

“Great,” Maryse mumbled. She stared out the window for a moment, trying to roll everything that had happened to her in the past couple of days into some kind of sense, but it was so extraordinary that she couldn’t even start. Giving it up as futile, she looked back at Luc. “What family tradition?”

“Huh?”

“Back at the hospital, you said you could see Helena because of family tradition. What does that mean?”

“Oh, well, it’s simple really. People in my family have been seeing the dead for as many generations as there are stories about it. My great-great grandmother claimed to have seen over sixty ghosts in her lifetime. But then, she lived to be a hundred and five.”

Maryse gasped. “Sixty ghosts!” She was completely unable to grasp the idea of seeing, and more importantly hearing, sixty Helenas. “How in the world did she live past a hundred with all those ghosts around? I’m ready to kill myself over one.”

Luc laughed. “They weren’t all around at the same time. Hell, that would give anyone a heart attack. In fact, I think the most she ever had speaking at once was two and they were twins, so I guess it sorta figured.”

Maryse shook her head in disbelief. “And none of this bothers you? Because I have to tell you, I’m creeped out every time I see her, even if only for a millisecond.”

“Hell yeah, it bothers me,” Luc said. “Why do you think I left a small town and hightailed it to the city? There may be more ghosts roaming around, but it’s a lot harder for them to figure out you can see them if they’re among so many people. I’ve managed to fly below the radar for ten years. Until now. Damn small towns.”

Luc glanced around the room and leaned across the table toward Maryse. “You know someone’s trying to kill you.”

Maryse was a bit taken aback at the directness. “Wow. I know the explosion couldn’t have been an accident, so that’s really the only explanation, but when you put it that blunt, it makes it even scarier than before.”

Luc nodded. “It’s not the first time, either.”

Maryse stared at him and narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“My buddy at the dealership said someone cut your brake lines on your truck. Your wreck was no accident.”