by Jana DeLeon
Yeah, that made sense. She’d go with that. It was a temporary state given her precarious position as a target. As soon as this case was solved and well behind her, the attraction she thought she had for Colt would fade away.
At least, that’s what she was going to tell herself.
###
Maryse peeked into the bathroom, making sure the coast was clear before Luc got out of bed.
“You’re looking for Helena, aren’t you?” Luc’s voice sounded behind her, causing her to jump.
“What—no—I was just trying to remember where I left my watch.”
He tapped her arm. “On your wrist. But nice try.”
“Busted.”
Luc gathered her in his arms and kissed her. “You’re a horrible liar, but that’s probably a good thing. Still, we’ve got to address this Helena thing. The aggravation is going to interfere with your work, our lives…hell, everyone’s lives.”
Maryse sighed. “Don’t you think I know that? But what are we supposed to do about it? We can’t exactly talk to God and ask him to take her back.”
“Yes, you can. It’s called prayer, and I doubled mine right after I removed the handcuffs.”
“Do you really think that will work?”
“No, but I have another option.”
Maryse perked up. “What?”
“We can move.”
She shook her head and he held up a hand to stop the barrage he knew was coming.
“I’ve been with the agency long enough to request a transfer, and with my track record, most offices would be happy to take me. Anywhere in the US.”
“This is my home. This is your home. Can you honestly tell me you could up and move without a second thought?”
“I’d have second thoughts and probably thirds, but what I know for certain is that we can’t live with Helena Henry forever. God won’t have her. If he’s smart, Satan’s afraid of her. So that leaves her here with us.”
He gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead before releasing her. “Can you handle it forever—not knowing if your life or the life of someone you love is in danger because Helena’s around?”
“Your life is in danger all the time,” Maryse pointed out.
“It’s my job to put my life in danger, and it’s a job I’m well-trained for, unlike you. And despite the fact that I’ve seen some pretty hairy things, I have to be honest with you—Helena scares me far more than any investigation I’ve ever been on. Drug runners are predictable compared to her.”
Maryse sighed. It was hard to find an argument when everything Luc said was accurate.
“We don’t have to make a decision now,” Luc reassured her, “but it’s something I think we should give some serious thought.”
She gave him a nod as he grabbed a towel from the rack and strolled into the bathroom. Maryse turned around and stared out the bedroom window into the swamp. Could she really leave Mudbug? It was the only home she’d ever known and despite what others perceived as shortcomings, she really loved it here. Well, she loved it here without Helena.
When she’d been alive, Helena had been the bane of her existence. Who would have thought her death would make things so much worse?
But could she pick up everything and move? Luc’s idea had merit—she had to give him credit. Even though she had the ability, Helena was unlikely to follow them away from Mudbug. It was her home too, and where things felt familiar.
She blew out a breath and headed out of the house to her truck. Sabine and Beau returned late last night from their cruise. She needed to get to them and explain the situation before Helena turned up. Luc’s proposal was something she’d think about later. But right now, with Jadyn in danger, Maryse couldn’t justify leaving. Maybe when things were settled, she’d think it over.
It was only 7:00 a.m. when she pulled into Sabine’s driveway. She and Beau had occupied the cramped apartment above her shop in downtown Mudbug for a month before deciding they needed more space. It took another six months to find a contractor and get their cabin constructed, but it had been worth it.
It was set back in the swamp, with a small area cleared for the cabin and a bayou running behind it. The cabin was log construction and blended so well with the surrounding foliage that it looked almost as if the swamp had grown it. It was so well done that it had almost convinced Maryse that she and Luc needed one themselves. Almost.
Despite Maryse’s previous home on an isolated island in the bayou, she’d grown fond of living close to downtown…especially as it meant she never had a problem with meals. In a matter of minutes, she had access to the handful of eating establishments in Mudbug as well as Mildred’s hotel for her coffee wake-up. A year ago, if someone had told her that she’d be living in town and perfectly happy, she would have had their mental state examined. But then a year ago, she hadn’t been with Luc.
Despite the early hour, Maryse could see the light on in Sabine’s kitchen. She’d taken a chance that her friend would be restless and unable to sleep after all the traveling, and was happy she’d been correct. She’d been preparing for days for this conversation and didn’t want to delay it any longer than necessary.
As she stepped out of her truck and walked toward the cabin, Sabine, still wearing her pajamas, opened the front door and walked out on the porch to give her a hug.
“You must have been reading my mind,” Sabine said as she released her. “I was just thinking about how I couldn’t wait to see you and catch up on everything. The coffee just finished brewing. Let’s pour some and sit on the back deck. It’s a beautiful morning.”
Sabine smiled and a wave of guilt washed over Maryse for what she was about to do. Their entire lives, Maryse had never seen her friend so happy, so settled. The last thing she wanted to do was bring news that would upset the balance, and that’s exactly what she was about to do.
“Sounds great,” Maryse said and followed Sabine to the kitchen.
Beau was pouring a cup of coffee into a travel mug as she walked into the kitchen. He popped the top on the mug, then set it down long enough to give Maryse a hug and kiss on the cheek.
“I’m sorry to greet and run,” he said, “but I got a call this morning from a long-term client in New Orleans. Her grandson is missing. I’m going to see if there’s anything I can do.”
“Oh, that’s awful,” Maryse said. “I hope you find him.”
“Me too.” He gave Sabine a lingering kiss that made Maryse smile then hurried out of the cabin, waving to Maryse as he went.
“He’s so wonderful,” Maryse said.
Sabine beamed. “He is. So is Luc.”
Maryse nodded. “We are the luckiest women in Mudbug.”
“I will agree with you as soon as we both have a cup of coffee and are sitting on that deck.”
“You don’t have to ask me twice.” Maryse grabbed two mugs from Sabine’s cabinet and Sabine poured. After a quick dash of sweetener, they both headed outside on the deck and plopped into spacious lawn chairs with thick cushions.
Maryse drank her coffee in silence for several seconds, focusing on the beautiful view of the rising sun glistening on the water of the bayou.
“Now that you’ve had half a cup of coffee,” Sabine said, “are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
Maryse sighed. “How do you do that?”
“Know when something’s bothering you? Well, showing up at my doorstep with the chickens is a dead giveaway, but even if you’d arrived at noon, I still would have known from the sound of your voice. You did an excellent job attempting to sound fine, though. I don’t think Beau noticed a thing.”
“Like that’s a big accomplishment. Beau never notices anything when you’re in the room.” Maryse took a minute to collect her thoughts. Three days of mulling this over—you’d think she would already know what she was going to say, but she’d yet to come up with a good way of delivering the news.
“Helena’s back,” she said, giving up on a better way to inform Sabine that her pleasant life was
now over.
Sabine’s eyes widened and her hands started to shake. She placed her mug on the patio table and took a deep breath, then slowly blew it out. Maryse figured twenty years of yoga and meditation were still no match for Helena, but everyone had their own way of dealing with things.
“So many questions,” Sabine said, “I guess the big one is ‘why?’”
“Yeah, and that’s a loaded one.”
Maryse recounted Helena’s sketchy and brief commentary about her trouble with God. Sabine’s eyes grew wider and she shook her head.
“That is so much bad karma,” Sabine said when Maryse finished. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“No doubt. Unfortunately, that’s not the worst of it.”
“What can be worse than directly pissing off God?”
“My cousin, Jadyn, arrived this week to start the game warden job.”
Sabine nodded. “I remember you saying she was coming.”
“She can see Helena.”
Sabine’s hand flew up to cover her mouth. “Oh no,” she whispered. “Do you think…”
“That’s exactly where my thoughts went, and since someone tried to kill her yesterday, it looks like I was accurate.”
“I understand that you don’t know Jadyn well, but do you have any idea why someone would want to kill her?”
“Yeah,” Maryse said and told Sabine about the boat of money, Duke’s murder, and the host of other incredible things that had happened in Mudbug while Sabine had been gone.
“So you think the boat of money is the nexus?” Sabine frowned. “And Jadyn says the boat is connected to Duke’s death, which I have to say is the most horrible thing I’ve ever heard, and I’m sure you went out of your way to make it less horrid than it actually was. If you put all those thing together with Helena’s appearance—”
“We got trouble.”
“Again.”
Maryse nodded, certain she looked as miserable as she felt.
“I don’t suppose I have to ask if Helena’s being as difficult as ever.”
“More than ever,” Maryse said. “Mildred and I convinced Jadyn to keep her around as much as possible, but that’s a lot to ask of anyone.”
“Have her skills improved any?”
“She’s more accurate with touching things, but still misses a lot, and even worse, she seems to be ‘going solid’ more often than before. I thought getting her a prepaid cell phone would be a good idea, because that way she could call for help, assuming she’s in cell range.”
Sabine’s eyes widened. “And you can hear her over a phone?”
“Loud and clear. Unfortunately, she lost the first one in a bar fight, the second to a boating mishap, and the third running through a cemetery.” She sighed. “I’m rethinking that plan.”
Sabine placed her hand over Maryse’s and gave it a squeeze. “We’re going to figure this out. We did it before and we can do it again. The important thing is to protect Jadyn.”
Maryse’s heart warmed at Sabine’s words. Her friend was the most generous person she’d ever known. “Then I guess we better get to work.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
It took Colt forever to fall asleep, but once he did, he slept like the dead. Overslept like the dead was a more accurate description, so it was close to 8:00 a.m. before he left his house the next morning. He stopped by Junior’s house on the way to the sheriff’s department. Given the hour, it was possible the man was already shrimping or fishing, but at least his truck would be gone, and Colt would know that Junior was somewhere around Mudbug and could be tracked down later on that day.
As he pulled into the drive, he frowned when he saw Junior’s truck in the same place it was the evening before. He hurried up to the house and banged on the door, hoping the shrimper was sleeping off a monumental drunk, but the twinge of bad feeling he’d gotten the day before had now launched into overdrive.
He waited several seconds, listening for any sound of movement inside, but didn’t hear so much as a creak of flooring. Reaching out, he checked the door and found it locked, but he was beyond caring. If he was wrong about this, he’d apologize and buy Junior a new door, but if he was right, that apology would be too little too late.
He took a step back, then slammed into the door with his shoulder. Lucky for him, it wasn’t the best framing job and the jamb splintered easily, allowing the door to swing open. He scanned the front rooms but when he saw no sign of Junior, he started down the hall. The guest room was currently utilized as storage and showed no signs for alarm so he continued to the master bedroom.
As he pushed the door open, he caught sight of Junior lying in his bed, eyes closed. He stepped next to the bed and put his fingers on Junior’s neck, but he knew the man was dead before he ever touched the cold skin.
“Damn it, Junior. Were you involved or simply a liability?”
He pulled out his cell phone and called the coroner, then called Jadyn.
“We’ve got a problem at Junior’s house,” he said when she answered.
“He’s not…”
“I’m afraid so.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.”
She hung up before he could stop her. There wasn’t anything she could do. The coroner would take pictures and he’d be willing to bet he’d find no sign of forced entry. He started with the master bedroom, checking the windows, and worked his way down the hall back to the front of the house. By the time he reached the living room, Jadyn was pulling into the driveway.
“You find anything?” she asked and stopped to look at the front doorframe.
“That’s my handiwork,” he explained. “I had a bad feeling…”
“I get it. Any other sign of entry?”
“It’s all locked up like a drum.”
“Any possibility it’s natural causes?”
Colt frowned, realizing that thought hadn’t actually crossed his mind. “I didn’t see any marks on him, and his eyes are closed, but something tells me we’re not getting off that easy, especially since we know it was Junior’s boat carrying the money.”
“His dad’s boat,” Jadyn corrected. “Do you really think he wrecked the boat, then called everyone on the CB to scoop up the money?”
“No. I still think Duke was the boat captain. But I think it was Junior who put out the CB call about the money.”
“Junior had to have recognized the boat that day at the pond.”
Colt nodded. “Probably. The fact that he didn’t say anything makes me think he either lent Duke the boat or knew he’s the one who took it. I figure he put out the call on Marty’s channel hoping the men would collect all the money before I heard about it, and the boat would sink low enough in a day or two that no one would check it.”
“Why didn’t he say anything after Duke turned up dead?”
“Maybe he was going to. Until we have a time of death, we won’t know for sure how long he’s been dead. Air-conditioning is on. It could be they killed him before he could get to me.”
“Or he thought he could get something out of keeping that tidbit to himself.”
Colt sighed. “He was stupid enough to try it, that’s for sure.”
A crunch of tires on gravel echoed through the house and they stepped outside as James climbed out of his car. He grabbed his bag and walked up on the porch.
“Is there anything I need to know?” he asked, hesitantly.
Colt knew exactly what he was referring to. “This one looks normal,” he said.
James blew out a breath and some of the blood rushed back into his face. “Thank God. I mean, not that I’m saying it’s good he’s dead, but…”
“I understand,” Colt said. “This way.”
James nodded to Jadyn then started down the hallway with Colt.
As soon as they entered the bedroom, James pulled out his camera and snapped some shots of Junior. Colt saw Jadyn enter the room behind them, but she stayed just inside the doorway, leaned against the wall.
&n
bsp; After taking pictures from every angle, James put the camera back in his bag, and started examining Junior’s body.
“How long has he been dead?” Colt asked.
“Without an autopsy, it’s hard to say for certain, but based on rigor, I’d say he died sometime yesterday around or after noon.”
“So while we were processing Duke’s house?”
James nodded. “That would be the earliest, but given that the air-conditioning was on, it could have been as late as yesterday evening.”
“Can you tell what killed him?”
James frowned. “You mean does it look like foul play? On the surface, I’d have to say no. There’s no bruising, no cuts or bullet holes. Nothing that clearly screams poison.”
“He’s young to die in his sleep, isn’t he?” Jadyn asked.
“Well, yes.” James sighed. “But Junior didn’t exactly lead a healthy lifestyle. He drank half his weight in booze every night and his daddy has heart problems. It’s highly likely Junior inherited them.”
The paramedics entered the bedroom and James motioned to them to load the body. “I’ll let you know as soon as I have something more concrete.”
“Thank you,” Colt said.
James gave him a nod and followed the paramedics out of the house.
“Natural causes?” Jadyn said. “Two days after his boat was used to commit a crime. That’s a hell of a coincidence.”
“Yep. A hell of a coincidence.”
“You don’t think it’s natural causes, do you?”
“Do you?”
Jadyn shook her head. “Who all knew that you were looking for Junior yesterday?”
Colt frowned. “Shirley, of course. Marty and Bill.”
“Marty’s had access to the boat from day one. He could have stripped anything out of it before we did our search.”
“Yeah, but Marty’s the one who noticed the name was painted over. Why would he point that out if he had something to do with it?”
“Because it was Junior’s boat and he knew Junior was already dead?”
He ran one hand through his hair. “Damn it. I suppose it’s possible.”
“What about the bar? Was anyone else in the bar when you told Bill you were looking for Junior?”