Trouble in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law, #1)(63)

Helena gave her a solemn look. “I promise, Maryse, I will do everything within my power to see that this turns out all right for everyone.”

Maryse nodded, not even wanting to think about Helena’s meager power. If only she could make Helena visible to the bad guys, maybe she could distract them with her wild wardrobe changes.

Maryse sighed. The earnest look on Helena’s face let her know right away that she was sincere in her promise, if not entirely adequate to do the job, and Maryse didn’t have the heart to point out her shortcomings. Not at that moment, anyway. “Let’s get out of here,” Maryse said. “We’ve already pushed our luck far enough.”

Maryse had just replaced Helena’s file when she heard a jangle of keys outside the record’s room door. “Holy shit,” she hissed, and Helena stared at her in alarm. “Don’t just stand there,” Maryse said, waving her arms at Helena. “Figure out a way to stop them from coming in here.”

“How?” Helena’s eyes were wide with fright.

“I don’t know,” Maryse said, and dove under the desk. “But you need to come up with something in a hurry.”

Maryse peered through a narrow crack in one side of the desk, watching Helena hustle toward the door just as it swung open and someone entered. A second later, the lights came on and Maryse squinted, trying to focus in the bright glare. As her eyes adjusted, Maryse made out a nurse walking across the room toward the desk.

Helena vainly tried to knock items over in her path and finally resorted to jumping in front of her, but the nurse passed right through her continuing on her task. And it looked like that task was taking her, straight to Maryse’s hiding place. When the nurse was a foot or so from the desk, Helena really turned up the volume. Only problem was, no one could hear her but Maryse.

Wailing like a banshee, Helena pummeled the nurse with invisible fists and feet that never connected with their mark. Oh, but she’d managed another costume change and was now wearing long, bright purple boxing shorts with a neon green muscle shirt and swinging at the nurse with a pair of black boxing gloves. Apparently, something had gone wrong in the change, however, and instead of the new Nikes, she was back in the old pink pumps.

Maryse shook her head and almost hoped she’d get caught. Jail had to be better than this. Just as she thought the nurse would swing around the desk and discover her hiding spot, the woman turned and walked down a row of the shelves. Maryse let out a breath and sucked it back in again until the nurse returned from the row and made her way back out of the room, securing the door behind her.

“Are you still breathing?” Helena leaned down to look underneath the desk.

“I’m not sure,” Maryse said as she crawled out from her hiding spot. “Ask me again in a minute.” Maryse brushed some dust off her pants legs and looked back at Helena, who was still wearing the boxing outfit. “What’s up with the shoes?”

Helena threw up her gloves in exasperation. “Hell if I know. I hope this isn’t going to happen often. I’d hate to see a mixed combination of everything I’ve worn since my death each time I try to change clothes.”

“Well, at least take off those gloves. You look ridiculous.”

Helena glared, then focused on her hands, a wrinkle of concentration forming across her forehead.

Nothing.

She relaxed for a moment, took a deep breath and focused again.

Nothing.

Maryse groaned. “Forget it. You can figure it out later. Let’s just get the hell out of here before the nurse comes back.”

Helena stomped through the wall of the record’s room, then stuck her head back inside. “It’s clear. We can make a run for it.”

Maryse nodded. “Good.” She eased open the door and stepped into the hall, locking the door behind her. She had just started down the hallway toward the employee exit when Helena yelled, “She’s coming back. Run!”

Run? How was she supposed to do that without making any noise? She yanked off her shoes and ran as fast as possible down the hall, slipping her way across the cold, hard tile. She could hear the clacking of heels behind her and knew Helena wasn’t far behind. She rounded the corner to the employee exit and stopped for a moment to peer back around, using a medical cart that was positioned at the corner to hide her face.

Helena was huffing down the hall as fast as her heels would allow, which wasn’t exactly setting speed records compared to the nurse about twenty feet behind her wearing those white tennis-looking shoes that they all wear. Maryse spun away from the corner and dashed toward the employee exit. Helena could fend for herself. It wasn’t like anyone could see her anyway.

Maryse had just unlocked the exit door and was about to edge through when Helena rounded the corner and hit the medical cart, sending all of the contents flying down the hall. Maryse let the door close with a bang and ran across the parking lot, waving her sneakers like an idiot and hoping like hell Luc was paying attention.

Apparently, he was on high alert, because the car started immediately, then raced across the parking lot, headlights off. He screeched to a stop beside her and she jumped in and yelled, “Let’s go!”

Luc tore out of the parking lot without question, and Maryse turned around, kneeling over the front seat, her eyes fixed on the employee exit door. Sure enough, the nurse burst out of it as soon as they hit the parking lot exit. Helena came barreling behind the nurse and knocked her clear to the ground as she ran out the door.