Trouble in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law, #1)(58)

“I don’t think locating Harold will be a huge problem, and I’d bet anything he’s in touch with Hank,” Maryse said. “I’ll tell Mildred to spread the word during her manicure at the beauty shop, and the whole town of Mudbug will know within a couple of hours.” Maryse said. “So if you have the fake ready this afternoon, then the fraud just has to hold for three days.”

“That’s correct,” Wheeler replied.

Maryse bit her lip. “Do it. I’ll track down Harold so you can let him know.” Maryse took a deep breath and stared out the café window, trying to assuage her guilt by thinking of everything rationally.

After all, if she was wrong about everything, Hank would probably only have to worry about staying alive for twenty-four hours or so. Way better odds than her three and a half days.


Luc insisted on taking Maryse back to the hotel after the meeting with Wheeler and Sabine seconded the motion, leaving her with no choice but to comply. Not that it mattered. She was sore and tired, and a nap probably wouldn’t be the worst thing that could come out of the day, especially since she had a loosely formed plan rolling around her mind. A plan that involved a nightly escapade.

Maryse protested when Luc insisted on accompanying her to her room, but he refused to let her inside without checking the room first. Not wanting to waste valuable energy on an argument that she was going to lose anyway, she waved him inside. A minute later, he popped back in the hall and declared everything clear.

Which would have been accurate if Helena hadn’t walked through the wall from the room next door, sending Jasper scurrying under the bed.

“Oh, no,” Luc said, and pointed a finger at Helena. “You have caused quite enough trouble already. Maryse needs to rest, no thanks to you, and you need to start working on how to fix this mess you made instead of just popping through walls and aggravating people.”

Helena looked a bit repentant, but it passed so quickly that if you hadn’t been looking closely, you would have missed it. “I am here trying to fix this mess. Do you think I meant for any of this to happen? I might have been a bitch…might still be…but I never wanted to get anyone killed. And I certainly didn’t want to roam the earth in cheap polyester.”

Maryse waved a hand at Helena. “Don’t you two start. There’s no use getting your feathers all ruffled—or your polyester. Besides, I have something you might find interesting.”

Luc narrowed his eyes at her, wondering what she had up her sleeve and why she hadn’t mentioned it before now. Helena looked expectant, like an eight-year-old opening birthday presents. “What is it?” Helena asked.

Maryse reached into her pocket and pulled out a small ring of keys. “Christopher dropped these when he was scrambling in the storage closet. I figure one of them ought to open the door to medical records, right?” She dangled the keys in the air, jiggling them in front of Helena.

Helena’s eyes widened, and she smiled. “Holy shit! Jackpot.”

“Wait a minute.” Luc cut in. “You’re not thinking of breaking into the hospital, are you? That is just plain foolish.”

Maryse turned to face him. “Oh yeah, and what would be less foolish? Letting Helena walk the Earth every day annoying the ever-living hell out of me until we find her murderer? Or maybe we should just let him get me first, then I can be stuck in limbo with her.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Of course, you’d be able to see and hear us both, right?”

Luc’s jaw twitched at Maryse’s words, and Maryse could tell she’d struck a nerve. “So can I ask exactly what you think you can gain by reading medical records?” he asked.

Maryse nodded. “I’m hoping that if I can figure out what someone put in the brandy snifter that killed Helena, it might tell us who did it, or at least narrow down the list of who I need to avoid for the next three and a half days. There can’t be that many people in this town who know poisons and explosives.”

Luc crossed his arms in front of him, silent for a moment and clearly not convinced. “Do you have any idea what could happen to you if you get caught? I don’t even want to know what kind of charges you’d be up on. Medical information has gotten to be such a big deal lately that the authorities could probably find a way to make it a federal case if they wanted.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Maryse said. “It would be a hell of a lot harder to kill me if I was locked up in a jail cell somewhere, right? So what’s the downside?”

Luc placed his hand on her arm and squeezed. “You are not safer in jail. That I know for sure. Anyone in jail, including the guards, can be paid to get to you.”

Maryse shrugged and pulled her arm away from his grasp. “So what do you suggest? That I sit around Mudbug and wait to die? Maybe I should spend every day standing in the middle of Main Street just to make it easier on everyone. At least that way, Mildred and Sabine would have a body to bury and would be less likely to be caught in the crossfire.”

Luc crossed his arms in front of him again. “You put things in motion with Wheeler to cover you.”

“Yeah, but can you guarantee that whoever is behind this will be fooled? They seem to know a lot about the inheritance rules. What if they don’t buy the fake?”

“What fake?” Helena asked. “What have you done with Wheeler?”