Trouble in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law, #1)(65)

Damn. She’d forgotten about those undies. She bit her lower lip and stared at the tiny bit of string and lace. It’s not Sunday. She tore her gaze away from the sexy panties and stuck her other foot in the yoga pants. But they match. She looked at the undies again. You have no business dividing your attention right now. She closed her eyes, trying to block the pink lace from her mind. What if someone kills you and you’re not wearing underwear? They’ll talk about you forever.

That did it.

Before she could change her mind, she stepped out of the yoga pants and grabbed the panties. The barely-there scrap of fabric clung to her curves, revealing more than they covered. The shade of pink was perfect against both the tanned and non-tanned parts of her body, and since a lot of both was showing, that was a good thing. Maryse turned to face the mirror and was surprised at the woman that looked back at her. She was almost…well…sexy.

She lifted one hand to her hair and fluffed her bangs a little. Okay, so she needed a cut, and a few highlights wouldn’t hurt, and the combination of too much stress and not enough sleep had left bags under her eyes that her tinted sunscreen wouldn’t put a dent in, but the rest of her wasn’t all that bad. Which surprised her. How long had it been since she’d taken a real interest in her looks—months, years? She couldn’t even remember.

And now Luc LeJuene had her longing for highlights and a better brand of makeup. Like she didn’t have more important things to worry about. But even the thought of sudden death didn’t stop her from pulling out the sunscreen, teasing her bangs just a bit to get that fluff she wanted, and positioning her breasts in the sports bra for the best display possible. By God, if she was going to croak, at least she was going to look good in the coffin.

With all her vacillating over underwear and makeup and eye bags, she was twenty minutes late for the morning meeting and still racking her brains trying to come up with assignments. Her goal was to make everyone feel useful while cleverly keeping them from harm’s way without them figuring out what she was doing. A bit of a challenge to say the least.

“Good morning, everyone,” Maryse said, and tried to sound cheery as she entered Mildred’s office. She poured a cup of coffee and glanced around at the sober group. Luc still looked as frustrated as he had the night before when she’d delivered the bad news about the plant used to kill Helena. Sabine and Mildred both wore grim expressions, and she figured Luc had spent the last twenty minutes filling them in on the hospital escapades and subsequent lack of information they’d gained.

“Try and look a little more festive, people,” Maryse said. “As far as I’m concerned, every day I can stay alive is cause for celebration.”

They looked a bit guilty, and Maryse could feel some of the tension lift.

“Sorry, Maryse,” Sabine said. “You’re right. We should approach this with a positive attitude.”

Like you approached your testing? Maryse wanted so badly to ask her friend that question, but now was definitely not the time. She looked closely at Sabine but couldn’t find a single item different than it had been for years. Her skin looked fine, her hair was as thick and lustrous as ever, and although she seemed a bit less perky than usual, it was not quite seven-thirty in the morning and a good two hours before she usually awoke.

Maryse was just about to start in with her plans for the day when Helena entered the room through an exterior wall. Maryse did a double take. The gloves were gone, thank God, and so was the boxing/pink suit outfit. It was replaced, however, with blue jeans, the Nikes, and a T-shirt that read “I See Dead People.”

Maryse tried to contain herself over the T-shirt but made the mistake of looking over at Luc, who had his face buried in his coffee mug, obviously straining not to laugh. She shot Helena a frown and cleared her throat to begin the meeting. “I suppose Luc filled you in on last night’s hospital raid?”

Sabine and Mildred nodded, not saying a word, but Maryse noticed that Mildred’s lips were pursed. Oh, boy. Maryse knew that as soon as Mildred got her alone, she was in for it. And since Mildred didn’t know about Helena’s rising from the dead, it was going to be hard to convince the hotel owner that last night was a necessary risk.

Maryse held in a sigh. It seemed that at almost every turn, she was pissing people off. Except Helena, who spent all of her time pissing Maryse off. “Okay,” Maryse said finally, “so you know that we’re back at square one with trying to figure out who might be trying to kill me. I have assignments for everyone so that we can cover more ground.”

Maryse looked around the group, waiting for dissenters, but no one said a word. “Mildred, I need you to check in with your friends at the beauty parlor and find out where Harold’s living and what he’s been up to. I need to give Wheeler a way to reach him, and his cell phone’s been disconnected.”

Mildred nodded. “I think I know some people to get in touch with about that.”

“Good. Luc, I need you to contact your uncle with the state and see if he can get a line on any of the oil companies who’ve shown serious interest in the Mudbug preserve. I know a corporation is a lot of ground to cover, but if we know who’s interested, we might be able to find out who’s been talking to them about the land.”

Luc looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, “I’ll call him as soon as the office opens this morning. He should have some ideas.”