Resurrection in Mudbug (17 page)

“Glad to oblige,” Jadyn said and forced a smile. Clearly the details of Duke’s death hadn’t made all the gossip circles yet. Her recent exploits were going to pale in comparison to that tidbit. 

“The tide’s coming in!” a man at the edge of the bank shouted. “We need to get the car back now or it’s gonna be floating.”

“The keys are under the floor mat,” Shirley said.

The man shook his head and sighed.

“If you guys have it from here,” Jadyn said, “I going to head back to the hotel and put some ice on this bump.”

She didn’t even wait for an answer before starting up the street toward the hotel, making sure she stayed on the opposite side of the street from the sheriff’s department and in clear view of the people who’d stepped outside to see what all the commotion was about. Helena hurried across the street as she approached, a big grin on her face.

“I got it!” she yelled. 

“Thank God,” Jadyn mumbled under her breath, relieved that all of this hadn’t been for nothing. 

She smiled and nodded as residents congratulated her on her car rescue, but pushed past them to the hotel as quickly as she could, Helena jogging behind her and yelling at her to slow down the entire way. It seemed to take forever, but finally, she made it to the hotel and hurried to Mildred’s office.

Mildred was on her cell phone and hung up when she saw Jadyn come in. “Please tell me that Helena did not drive Shirley’s car down Main Street.”

“Not exactly,” Jadyn said. “Are you ready to do this? I want to make sure there’s at least a little daylight given where we’re going.”

“Ha!” Helena shouted. “Dead people scare you too.”

“I know at least one who does,” Jadyn said.

Mildred sighed and grabbed her car keys. “Let’s get this over with.”

###

Colt pulled open the filing cabinet and felt in the back for the envelope with the key. Flashing it around Mudbug wasn’t a good idea given what happened to Duke, but he knew a locksmith in New Orleans who had helped him on a couple of cases. He figured he’d take a picture and send it to him and see if he had any ideas.

His hand touched the cold bottom of the cabinet and he frowned, certain this was the drawer he’d left the key in. He pulled all the folders tightly to the front and peered over the edge into the drawer, but the bottom was empty. A trickle of worry ran through him as he opened the remaining three drawers and searched them. 

No key.

He turned to look at Shirley, his blood starting to boil. “Didn’t you say Jadyn was here earlier?”

Shirley nodded. “Said she wanted to talk to you. Why? What’s wrong?”

“The key I put in the filing cabinet is missing.”

Shirley’s eyes widened. “You don’t think…”

“That’s exactly what I think. She wasn’t happy that I took the key as evidence, but I never thought she’d stoop this low.”

Shirley bit her lower lip then spoke, her voice hesitant. “But I don’t see how it could have been her.”

“Why not? She was here when your car took a trip down Main Street, right? She could have easily snagged the key when you ran outside.”

Shirley shook her head. “She ran outside before I did. And she’s the one who saved my car. I pulled into the parking lot just as she was walking back—on the other side of the street. She went straight into the hotel after that, and I came in here. Been here ever since.”

“You’re sure she couldn’t have taken it?”

“Unless she can be in two places at once, I don’t see how.” Shirley gave him a disapproving look. “I know the girl’s a little high-strung and on the aggravating side of what I prefer to listen to, but after seeing that scene at Duke’s she did get shot at. And she risked a dip in the bayou to save this old lady’s Cadillac. You may want to cut her some slack.”

Colt tried to clamp down on his ever-increasing frustration. He already felt bad about the way he’d handled Jadyn that afternoon. He didn’t need someone else pointing out his less-than-stellar reaction. “Well, if she didn’t take it, who did?”

“I suppose anyone could have taken the opportunity to slip inside while we were all running down the street. I feel really bad about this, Colt.”

Colt stared across the street at Shirley’s Cadillac. “Have you ever had trouble with your car before?”

“Not at all. I’ve had that car almost fifteen years and hardly ever a problem. Certainly nothing like this. Why?”

“Just thinking out loud,” he said.

Her eyes widened. “You think someone could have pushed my car into the street to get me out of the building?”

“Well, your car has never taken a jaunt by itself before and the one time it does, the key is missing. The odds of the perpetrator just happening down the sidewalk at the exact moment that your car pulled a Christine are pretty slim.”

Shirley’s hand flew up to cover her mouth. “That means the killer was in this office, right here in this space. Oh God, I feel faint.”

“Don’t go getting all dramatic.”

“Colt Bertrand! After what happened to Duke, you have the nerve to accuse me of dramatics? I’m beginning to understand why our new game warden is so frustrated by you.”

He held in a sigh. “I’m just saying, if he’d wanted to hurt you, he wouldn’t have staged the incident with the car to get you out of the building.”

“So you’re saying that a cold-blooded murderer cared about me so much that he decided not to stroll into the sheriff’s department in broad daylight and shoot me at my desk before stealing the key. Yeah, I can see how that would have been the better option.”

Colt closed his eyes and counted to ten. 

“No,” he said when he opened his eyes. “I’m saying that if he’d wanted to kill someone, he would have waited until midnight and shot Eugenia at her desk before stealing the key.”

Shirley paled. “Oh, well then why not do that? As horrible as it is, it seems easier than what he did.”

He drummed his fingers on the desk, a million options rolling through his mind. “I don’t know. Maybe he needs the key before tonight.”

“Why?”

“If I knew the answer to that, I’d be well on my way to solving this case.” He blew out a breath. “You’ve got your pistol, right?”

Shirley pointed to the desk. “In my purse, as always.”

“Take it out of your purse. Put it somewhere you can easily reach in a matter of seconds.”

Shirley’s eyes widened. “You don’t think he’ll come back?”

“I doubt it, but I want you to be ready if he does.” He grabbed his keys off Shirley’s desk. “I’m going out for a while. Lock the door behind me. Until further notice, anyone who needs something can knock.”

He left the sheriff’s department and strode off in the direction of the hotel. Jadyn probably hadn’t had enough time to cool down, but that didn’t matter. He needed every detail he could get out of her about the shooting and about the incident with Shirley’s car.

Maryse was behind the lobby desk when he walked in the hotel. He gave her a nod. “Good to see you, Maryse,” he said. “How’s Luc doing?”

“He’s fine,” Maryse said with a cheerful smile. “The DEA manages to interrupt our dinner at least three nights a week, but that’s just more ammunition for my argument about not learning to cook.”

He nodded. “I remember those days well. I thought I’d never make it through a sit-down meal again. Hey, I don’t mean to be short, but I really need to talk to Jadyn. Is she upstairs?”

“I don’t think so. Mildred said she was working.”

Colt frowned. “Can I talk to Mildred?”

“Sorry. She went shopping for hotel supplies. That’s why I’m covering the front desk.”

Colt reached inside his jeans pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed Jadyn’s number, but it only took a second for the call to flip straight to voice mail. He disconnected without leaving a message and dialed Mildred’s number, but it rang until voice mail finally kicked in.

“Mildred’s not answering her phone,” Colt said. “Any idea why?”

Maryse frowned. “It’s pretty loud at the warehouse. If she’s got it in the bottom of that giant purse of hers, she may not hear it ringing. Is something wrong?”

“No,” Colt reassured her before she launched into panic mode. “I just need to go over some things with Jadyn and was hoping Mildred knew what area of the swamp she was headed to.”

“I wish I could help. If I hear from either one of them, I’ll have them give you a call.”

“Great. Thanks.” He headed out of the hotel, waving one hand over his shoulder as he closed the door behind him. Something was wrong. He was sure of it. Just as certain as he was that Maryse didn’t know anything about it, which made the situation very interesting. The brainy botanist was one of the most intelligent people he’d ever met, but she sucked completely at lying.

Whatever Mildred and Jadyn were up to, they hadn’t bothered to fill Maryse in on it. Otherwise, she would have started to panic when he couldn’t reach them. And Mildred not telling Maryse the juicy details was odd.

So odd he wondered what the hotel owner was up to. 

But something else was bothering him that he couldn’t quite put his finger on…something about the boat. They hadn’t found any identifying marks and one shrimp boat pretty much looked the same as another, but something about it seemed off. Something besides the obvious.

He started back to the sheriff’s department, then changed direction and headed for the garage. Maybe another look at the boat would make something click. 

Chapter Seventeen

Maryse frowned as Colt left the hotel. He’d tried to act nonchalant, but Maryse had seen that tension in Luc’s shoulders and neck enough to know that something was wrong. When Mildred called her this afternoon, she’d thought it a bit strange that the hotel owner needed to go shopping when Maryse knew she’d been the week before. She’d hauled at least ten boxes into the storeroom of the hotel.

Mildred rarely took a shopping trip outside of the one day a month she had allocated. Sure, things like hurricanes might disrupt the normal schedule, but that wasn’t the case now. And then there was the feeling…that strange feeling she’d had all day that something was off. She’d thought it had something to do with her current lab experiment, but that had actually proven a success for a change. 

The “Back in 15 Minutes” sign was on the front desk when she’d arrived, and Mildred was already gone. Everything had seemed in order as she’d driven down Main Street, but she couldn’t shake the niggle of fear in the back of her mind. Fear that she had no basis for.

She drummed her fingers on the counter and chided herself for not getting out of her lab more. When she got involved with her experiments, the entire world could vanish and she’d walk out without knowing a thing. Something was going on with Jadyn. She could feel it in her bones, but the very person who usually kept her informed was either so engrossed in a toilet paper sale that she couldn’t hear her cell phone or she was knee-deep in something she had no business wading into.

Before she could change her mind, Maryse put the “Back in 30 minutes” sign on the front desk and hurried across the street to Bill’s. The evening crowd wouldn’t start filtering in for a bit, so it ought to be fairly empty. If anyone besides Mildred knew the local gossip, it would be Bill. 

She stopped short in front of the door to the bar, unable to force her arms up to push the door open. Her hands were clammy and her fingers ached from clenching them as she’d walked across the street.

It’s just a building.

She started to run back across the street and forget the whole thing, but then she remembered that look on Colt’s face when he hadn’t been able to reach Mildred on the phone. What if Mildred was in danger? For all intents and purposes, Mildred was her mother. If she could walk inside that bar for anyone but herself, it would be Mildred.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door and stepped inside. Bill was wiping down the counter and looked momentarily surprised to see her. He quickly recovered, then smiled and waved her over. “You’ve picked the best time to come in…before the average IQ of the place gets significantly lower.”

She forced a smile, knowing that’s what he was trying to get her to do. “Maybe I should stick around for a while then, and raise the average a bit.”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid the odds are stacked against you. Do you want something to drink? I got a new wine the ladies seem to like. Said it tastes fruity.”

“No, thanks.” She pulled herself up on a stool and glanced around the bar. The only occupants were a couple of old fishermen sitting in the far corner. “I know this is going to sound crazy, but is something wrong in Mudbug?”

Bill frowned. “That’s a bit of a loaded question given everything that’s happened today.”

Maryse’s pulse quickened. “That’s the problem. I’ve been in my lab all day—cell phone turned off, no television. I stopped by the hotel, and everything looks like normal, but something feels wrong.”

Bill nodded. “Like the air is filled with a negative charge.”

Maryse stared. “Yeah, that’s it exactly. So I’m not imagining it.”

“I’m afraid not. You sure you don’t want that drink?”

“Yeah, maybe I should,” Maryse said. Being inside the bar was stressful enough, but she already knew that whatever Bill was about to tell her, it was going to make sitting in the bar seem like a stroll in the park.

Bill served her a double shot of scotch then started to talk about the rumors flying around town about Duke and the way he’d died. The longer he talked, the bigger sips Maryse took of the scotch. When he finally finished, the glass was empty. 

“I can’t believe it,” Maryse said. “Of all the horrible things that have happened in this town, that has to be the worst. You’re sure this hasn’t been blown out of proportion?”

Bill nodded and poured himself a scotch while giving Maryse another shot. “I thought the same thing at first, but my cousin works for the coroner and she confirmed it. Said the coroner passed out cold at Duke’s house and Colt threw cold water on him to wake him up. Said when he got back to the office, he was so pale it looked like all the blood had left his body.”

“Wow.” Maryse was completely out of words. If Duke’s death had affected the coroner that harshly, then it must have been as bad as the rumors said.