Resurrection in Mudbug

by Jana DeLeon

  “That’s a good question. Mildred and I can both see her and unfortunately for Luc, he can again.”

  “Oh wow. I bet he’s pissed.”

  “So much that he’s suggesting we move.”

  “I can’t say that I blame him. I don’t suppose you know where she is now?”

  “She was eating a cinnamon roll with Mildred when I left the hotel.”

  Hank rose from the bench. “May as well get this over with.”

  Maryse nodded. Famous last words.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Wow!” Colt stared up at the massive iron gate that guarded the old cemetery. “That is some serious ironwork. If this key doesn’t open it, we’ll have to come back with a bulldozer.”

  “Sounds like the best idea ever!” Helena boomed from the backseat.

  It had been a bit of a fight to get Helena to come with them. Tears were shed, accusations were flung, and finally Mildred put her foot down and told her she wouldn’t take her to visit Hank and her grandchild as they’d all agreed upon earlier when Hank was at the hotel and much to his dismay, could see his mother in all her ghostly glory.

  Jadyn wasn’t convinced having Helena along was worth the trouble, as the ghost had done nothing but complain from the moment she’d sat down in the truck. The fact that Jadyn was the only one who could hear her rantings and completely lacked the ability to respond didn’t seem to faze Helena at all. She just kept belting them out.

  “Why haven’t you ever seen it before?” Jadyn asked as they climbed out of his truck.

  He frowned. “I don’t know. I guess because it’s in the opposite direction of all the best hunting and fishing. No reason to come back here.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Helena said. “Why don’t we leave?”

  Jadyn cut her eyes at Helena then looked back at the gate. “I guess there’s no shortage of swamp for boys here to tromp around in.”

  Colt pulled the key Hank gave him from his pocket and stepped in front of the gate. “Here goes nothing,” he said as he slid the key in the lock.

  He twisted it to the left and it turned effortlessly, then emitted a loud click.

  “That was easy,” she said.

  “Too easy. Someone’s been here recently and oiled this lock.”

  “Not a good sign,” Helena said.

  It was probably the only accurate thing Helena had said all day. “I can’t think of any reason someone would come here,” Jadyn said. “Can you?”

  He slipped the key back in his pocket and pulled out his pistol. “Not a single one.”

  “Probably grave robbers,” Helena said. “Though if they took any of my family, they probably brought them back. I would.”

  Jadyn held in a sigh. Oh the irony.

  “Let’s get the supplies,” Colt said. “You have on your vest, right?”

  “Yeah,” she said as he walked back to his truck and hauled the rifles out, handing one to her. Then he pulled a backpack out of the truck and slung it over one shoulder.

  “Ammo?” she asked. She’d been hoping they wouldn’t even need what was chambered, much less additional rounds, but he was smart to prepare for the worst.

  “Ammo and a CB.”

  She nodded. “Because our cell phones won’t work out here.”

  “Ha!” Helena hooted. “If you’re not calling about speckled trout biting, no one on that CB’s going to care.”

  “Well, let’s hope we don’t need either.” Bart had told Jadyn that law enforcement had their own channel. If things got bad enough to send out a distress signal, she hoped someone was listening.

  “That’s the plan.” He shut the trunk and pulled out his pistol. “You ready?”

  Jadyn pulled her pistol out of her waistband and chambered a round. “As ready as I’m getting.”

  “Then let’s do it.” He strode to the gate and pulled it open wide enough for them to slip inside. Jadyn looked back at Helena, who was standing on the other side, her arms crossed. She let Colt get ahead of her and motioned to Helena to hurry up. Helena let out a long-suffering sigh, then walked through the gate and into the cemetery.

  The center path that led into the cemetery branched off in four different directions about thirty yards in. The cypress trees, which had been thinned out around the main path, grew closer together here, with giant sheets of moss hanging off of them. In spots, the branches touched, forming canopies that completely blocked out the sunlight. Jadyn noticed that the trees got closer as each path progressed, making it look as if you were walking into a cave.

  Colt walked back and forth down part of each path, studying the ground. “This one looks like it’s had recent traffic, and some sort of cart…wheelbarrow or dolly, maybe.”

  “Sounds like the place.”

  He nodded. “Stay close, but try to watch behind for any sign of movement,” he said. “And listen. Anything sounds or even feels out of place, you tap me on the shoulder. Otherwise, I want to do this as quietly as possible.”

  “Got it,” she said and fell into step behind him as he started down the trail.

  At first Jadyn thought covering the rear would give her plenty of opportunity to keep an eye on Helena, but it wasn’t necessary. The ghost had lagged entering the cemetery but now that they were off down one of the narrow, dim paths, she was practically on top of her. In fact, when Colt stopped short once and Jadyn followed suit, Helena walked right through her.

  “Sorry,” Helena said and fell into place behind Jadyn again. “Hey, at least I didn’t get solid.”

  Jadyn shook off the chill Helena had caused, not even wanting to think about the possibility of the ghost going solid. The last thing she needed was Colt thinking she was a clumsy idiot who tripped at the drop of a hat—especially while she was carrying two loaded weapons and wearing another on her ankle.

  She scanned the cemetery as they walked, surprised at the number of graves contained within it. Helena’s family either had been here for a very long time or was much larger in decades past.

  “I don’t see any crypts,” Jadyn whispered.

  “No, but I get a glimpse of the tire tracks ever so often. Maybe the crypt is toward the back.”

  “When Daddy dragged me here to spit on Granddad’s grave,” Helena said, “he said at one time, the cemetery had been made up only of crypts, but that stupid ancestors had squandered their inheritance and had too many children, diminishing the lineage and the family fortune.”

  Jadyn shook her head. The more stories she heard about Helena’s father, the more she understand why Helena had issues. Briefly she wondered if there was such a thing as counseling for ghosts. Maybe Sabine, the pseudo-exorcist, would know.

  They rounded a corner past a huge azalea hedge and Colt pointed. “There.”

  Jadyn peered around him and saw white marble glinting through the trees. Her pulse ticked up a notch as they picked up pace until they arrived at the cleared area around a huge crypt.

  Jadyn ran one hand down the marble wall. “How much money did something like this require back then?”

  “A shitload,” Helena said. “Why do you think I never had to work?”

  “A lot,” Colt said. “But I’m less interested in how much the wall is worth and more interested in what might be inside.”

  He set his backpack on the ground near the crypt, pulled the key from Duke’s house out of his pocket, and twisted it in the lock. The thick marble door began to slide open on its own. Colt glanced at Jadyn before pushing the door wide open, allowing the sunlight to enter.

  For a couple of seconds, they both stared in shock. This had to be the right place, but the last thing they’d expected to see was coffins, stacked in the middle of the crypt.

  “Oh, hell no!” Helena shouted. “That’s new dead people. I’m out of here.”

  Jadyn shot a dirty look at the ghost, who backed up several steps but didn’t flee as threatened, then looked over at Colt. “Any thoughts on this one?”

  He blew out a breath
. “I, uh…no. This wasn’t even on the list of things I’d thought of.”

  He stepped up to the coffins and pushed on one of the lids. “It’s sealed.”

  Jadyn leaned her rifle against the outside wall of the crypt and stepped inside. She ran her hands over the wooden surface. “They look real. You don’t think…”

  “That there’s bodies in them?” He shook his head. “I wish I was certain there weren’t, but this entire case has been unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

  She pulled her hand back from the coffin, feeling slightly ill. Behind her, she heard an intake of breath and glanced over to see Helena peeking around the corner of the doorway and into the crypt. She looked as if she would pass out at any moment. “What now?” Jadyn asked.

  “I’ll call Shirley and tell her to get a flatbed truck and some dollies over here. We can open the caskets up once we get them to the sheriff’s department.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t allow that,” a familiar voice sounded behind them.

  Jadyn spun around and saw the coroner, James, standing just outside of the doorway, a handgun leveled at them.

  “Throw your weapons out the door,” he said. “Come on now. I know you have pistols in your waistbands.”

  Jadyn pulled her pistol from her waistband and tossed it out the crypt door, but didn’t make a move for the one on her ankle. If James didn’t know about it, she might have an advantage. Colt tossed his gun out the door as well, but never took his gaze off James.

  “Why?” Colt asked.

  “Do you know what the coroner’s salary is? Do you know how many years I’ve stared death in the face, knowing my own was coming and that I’d never get the life I wanted?”

  “So you’re trafficking...corpses?”

  “Heavens no. I’m trying to get away from dead people. Those caskets are full of automatic weapons. I know it seems an odd choice, but it’s simple economics, really. It takes only a few arms deals to amass a healthy retirement, and finding the buyers and suppliers was surprisingly easier than I expected. So many interesting things can be found on the Internet.”

  “You weren’t scared you’d get caught?”

  “Of course, there was risk, but I had far less than most people. I ship the guns to the New Orleans buyers in caskets. No cop is going to open a sealed coffin without a warrant, and they’d need a damned good reason to get one.”

  Colt shook his head, his disgust apparent. “How could you kill Duke like that?”

  James’s eyes widened. “I didn’t do that. Why do you think I passed out when I saw him? When the guns weren’t delivered as promised, the buyer must have come looking for Duke to collect his weapons.”

  “But Duke didn’t know where they were?”

  “Of course not. Even I didn’t know where they were. Not until you found them. The seller doesn’t provide the location of the merchandise until they receive payment.”

  “Why didn’t Duke give the buyer your name? I can’t imagine him dying to protect you.”

  “I arranged the entire deal by phone. The buyer made the money drop. Duke was supposed to make the delivery, and that was the only role he was to play.”

  “Then why did he steal the crypt key?”

  James shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, but when I realized the key was missing, things clicked into place. There’s been some vandalism in some of the wealthier families’ crypts in New Orleans. A lot of the older generation insisted on being buried with quite a bit of expensive jewelry. Each time the crimes occurred, Duke and Leroy were in New Orleans for one of their casino binges.”

  “You think he stole the key hoping he could steal jewelry off of dead people?”

  “That’s my theory. What I know for certain is that Duke was in the coroner’s office when I put the key in my desk drawer, and I found his cell phone on my desk after he’d gone. He’d been commissioned to make a coffin for Mr. Elroy Senior, who was too tall to fit in any of the standard offerings.”

  “That would also explain why Leroy skipped,” Jadyn said.

  “What about the gate key?” Colt asked. “How were you supposed to retrieve the product without a gate key?”

  “My suppliers always remove a panel from the cemetery fence large enough to move the merchandise through. I’ve never asked how they get the keys to the crypts. I don’t think I want to know.”

  Colt shook his head. “So Duke stole the key from you and buried it in his backyard, not even realizing that you were the middleman and the key was half of the reason he was tortured to death.” Colt shook his head. “That’s the most ridiculous set of ironically bad choices I have ever heard of.”

  “Things weren’t supposed to happen this way,” James said. “I never meant for anyone to die. If Duke had used his own boat instead of borrowing Junior’s none of this would have happened. He should have known that boat had problems as long as it’s been sitting there.”

  “Did you really think you could take up with these kind of people and not have something like this happen?”

  He sighed. “I guess I did.”

  “So who killed Junior, and don’t even tell me it was natural causes?”

  “I imagine Duke did.”

  Colt shook his head. “That doesn’t jibe with time of death.”

  “Oh, I lied about that. I wanted to give myself an alibi, you see, and what better alibi than being with you?”

  “If Junior wasn’t part of the plan, then why would Duke kill him?”

  “I’m just guessing, of course, but I know Junior didn’t tell you it was his boat sunk in the pond. There’s only one reason I can think of that he wouldn’t have.”

  “To get money out of Duke for keeping quiet.”

  James nodded. “They were both too foolish to make good criminals. If everyone sticks to his assigned task and doesn’t try to navigate outside of his pay grade, then no one dies.”

  Jadyn’s stomach rolled. “How can you be so callous? You’ve known those men your entire life.”

  “And both were fated for lives that ended badly. Their choices precluded any other final chapter. When one spends so much time around death, you begin to understand the logic of it.”

  “You mean the coldness?”

  “I’m not cold, and I’ll prove it. I have no intention of killing the two of you, although it would probably be the smarter thing to do. I’m simply not a murderer. Instead, you’re going to haul the coffins out of the crypt and then I’m going to lock you inside. When I make it out of the country, I’ll call and tell someone where you are. It will be uncomfortable, but you’ll live.”

  He waved his pistol at them. “The two of you should have no trouble lifting the coffins. Go ahead and bring the first one out. And no funny business. It wouldn’t take much to change my mind on the murderer thing.

  Seeing no other alternative at that moment, Jadyn grabbed one end of a casket and she and Colt hauled it outside, placing it where James indicated. Helena, who’d apparently been shocked into silence for a bit, came alive when they hauled the first coffin out of the crypt and started pacing along beside Jadyn.

  “Do you think he’ll kill you or just lock you in like he said? I can get help if he just locks you in. What do I do?”

  Jadyn’s mind raced with a million possibilities, but every possibility attached to Helena came with risks that might outweigh the benefits. And how was she supposed to give instructions to the ghost without Colt thinking she’d lost her mind?

  “I wish we’d brought the CB inside,” Jadyn said to Colt as they hoisted up the next coffin. “We could send out a distress signal.”

  Helena perked up. “I can send out a signal.” She ran out of the crypt ahead of them, Jadyn staring after her in dismay. The backpack was on the side of the crypt in plain sight. No way could Helena get that pack without James noticing, and even if she could, the likelihood of someone hearing her was slim to none.

  As they started out the door with the casket, Helena bent over the backpack. “Stop fo
r a second,” she said. “Pretend to stumble or something.”

  Jadyn glanced over at James and realized that with the way they were currently positioned, the coffin blocked his view of the backpack. She shuffled a bit and pretended to lose her balance.

  “You okay?” Colt asked.

  “Yeah. I just need to reposition.”

  “Hurry up,” James said. “There will be plenty of time to rest when you’re locked in that crypt.”

  Jadyn shifted her hands a bit on the bottom of the coffin and saw Helena lift the backpack off the ground and disappear into the trees. Thankfully, Colt was too busy watching James to see the activity going on beside him, and as she continued forward with the coffin, she said a quick prayer that James wouldn’t notice that the backpack was missing.

  And a second that Helena knew how to operate a CB radio.

  ###

  Maryse had spent an exhausting morning on the bayou, searching for a plant that seemed perfectly content to remain elusive, despite being native to the region. Oysters had moved in on two known locations and the plants had disappeared, causing her to search for a new cultivating spot.

  She was just pulling up to the dock at her office when her CB radio blared.

  “Help! Someone help! He’s got a gun and he’s going to kill them in the cemetery.”

  Helena!

  A wave of dizziness washed over Maryse as Helena’s words sank in.

  Jadyn!

  She bolted over the bow of her boat and jumped into the shallow water of the bank. The thick Louisiana mud sucked her rubber boots down and locked them into place, but it didn’t slow her one bit. She simply ran right out of them and kept running up the bank, barreling into a startled Luc, who’d just walked out the back door of her office.

  “Helena!” Maryse shouted, breathless from her panic and the dash. “She’s on the CB—the sheriff’s channel. She said a man is holding them hostage at a cemetery. It must be Colt and Jadyn.”

  Immediately, Luc launched into action. He called Shirley and verified Colt and Jadyn’s location, then called two coworkers who lived close by for backup. It was a testament to Luc’s reputation that he asked only that the men meet him in downtown Mudbug in five minutes and come armed, and that’s all it took to launch them into action.