Chaos in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law Mystery/Romance Series) (28 page)

“Do the New Orleans police think I stole the money?” Vines asked. “Are you supposed to arrest me?”

“According to information we received,” Colt said, “you’re suspected of stealing the money and causing the explosion that killed your father-in-law. And given your knowledge of explosives, I don’t think that’s a stretch.”

Vines jumped up from the cot. “I never killed anyone!”

The door to the cabin flew open and Jadyn jerked her head around to see Sophia standing in the doorway, a pistol leveled at them.
 

“Hello Sammy,” Sophia said. “Did you miss me?”

Jadyn’s blood ran cold. They’d been wrong about everything.

Horribly wrong.

Chapter Twenty

Maryse slid to a halt where the tree line turned into a huge span of marsh grass. She frowned, estimating the distance between where they were and the next available set of trees. The two-foot-high grass that covered the half acre gap between their current position and where the trees began again offered no cover at all unless you were one of the lower-stature swamp creatures.

“Do we make a run for it?” Taylor asked.

Maryse looked to the left to see how far out of their way circling around the marsh grass would take them and blew out a breath. It would be a minimum of ten minutes to circle around. Only ten seconds to run across. Assuming, of course, that no one shot them before they got to the other side.

Taylor pointed to the bank on the opposite side of the pond. “There’s your boat.”

Maryse squinted, trying to locate Sophia and her pistol, but didn’t see the psycho anywhere. “Looks like Colt’s boat is on the other side but I can’t get a good look through these bushes.”

She poked her head out of the trees for a better look and saw Helena disappearing into the swamp. “Helena just went into the trees right behind where the boat is docked,” Maryse said.

“Far less chance Sophia will see us now.”

“True. But you don’t need to do this. Why don’t you wait here and flag down Deputy Nelson when he shows up?”

Taylor shook her head. “I brought that crazy woman here. I’m not about to let everyone else clean up my mess.”

Maryse recognized the determined look on the young investigator’s face. She’d worn it many times herself. She nodded. “On three.”

Maryse counted off and they sprang in unison from their hiding spot and sprinted like cheetahs across the open field. They slowed a bit when they reached the tree line but only in order to traverse the thick foliage. The boats were a good quarter mile away, and Sophia already had the jump on them.

With every step Maryse prayed that either Helena figured something out or Jadyn and Colt had the reaction time they needed to stay alive. They wouldn’t be expecting an ambush.

Sophia had fooled them all.

###

Jadyn sucked in a breath as she stared up at the heiress. Both she and Colt had holstered their pistols when they’d entered the cabin. Vines had placed his rifle on a wall shelf. None of them had a chance of gaining access to a weapon before Sophia opened fire. And given the crazed and evil look Sophia wore, Jadyn had no doubt not only that she knew how to use the gun she held, but that she’d also enjoy it.

“What’s wrong, Sammy?” Sophia asked, her cloying tone sending shivers up Jadyn’s spine. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”

“Sammy” looked more on the verge of a heart attack than anything. His face was so white there couldn’t be more than a drop of blood remaining. His eyes looked as if they would pop out of their sockets, and his hands shook as they clenched the edge of the cot.
 

“I know you’re upset, Ms. Lambert,” Colt said, “but this isn’t the answer. I will take Mr. Vines…er Perkins into custody and the New Orleans police will sort everything out.”

Sophia laughed. “You fool. There’s nothing to sort out. Sammy didn’t steal my money or kill my father. He doesn’t have the backbone for such things.”

“I had the backbone to leave you,” Samuel said quietly.

Sophia flushed and she pointed the gun directly at his head. “You dare insult me, when I control everything?”

He shook his head. “You don’t control me now and you never will again. Kill me if that’s what you want to do. But you’ll never again get the satisfaction of forcing me to cover for you.”

Sophia stared. “You’d rather die than be with me.”

He nodded. “Every single day.”

Sophia’s expression contorted into a rage that Jadyn had never seen the likes of. Her fingered whitened on the trigger and Jadyn watched closely, waiting for her to squeeze off the shot. That split second of distraction may be the only chance she and Colt had for accessing their weapons, and even then, it was likely only one person was walking out of the cabin.
 

The rest would be leaving in body bags.

As Sophia’s finger squeezed the trigger one millimeter more, then another, Jadyn prepared to spring. Just two more seconds and it would be time to make her move. She had no doubt Colt was thinking along the same lines.
 

One second.
 

But before Jadyn could spring, she heard someone yell “Rambo” and Helena Henry crashed into Sophia, knocking her away from the doorway and into the brush at the side of the cabin. Jadyn and Colt both sprang up at once, accessing their weapons in a flash, then Colt hurried to the door to see where Sophia was.
 

As he peered around the doorframe, a shot ricocheted off the door hinges only inches from his head and he ducked back inside and crouched down. “What the hell happened?” he asked.

“Thorns!” Helena screamed somewhere outside the shack. “I fell in thorns. Oh my God, it’s a snake!”

Jadyn shook her head. “It’s like she had a spasm of some sort.”

A second shot tore through the wall of the shack, grazing Samuel’s shoulder. His hand flew up to cover the injury and Jadyn pushed him off the cot and onto the floor before she dropped down beside him. “Stay low,” she whispered. “How many shots is that?”

“Two that we know of,” Colt replied. “That magazine holds fifteen rounds but she could have backup.”

“Someone shoot that crazy bitch!” Helena yelled. “I accidentally touched a snake. I need therapy.”

“We have to do something,” Jadyn said.
 

Samuel pointed to the corner where his makeshift kitchen was located. “Under that shelf, there’s a section of the wall that comes off. I won’t stay somewhere with only one way out. I have this…thing.”

“Small wonder,” Colt said and reached under the shelf to remove the wall panel. “I’m going to circle around her. Stay low.” He locked his gaze on hers. “If you get her in your sights, take her out.”

Jadyn nodded. The time for talking things through was over. All of them weren’t leaving the swamp on their own accord. She just hoped Sophia was the only casualty. She crouched on the floor next to Samuel, giving her a clear view of the doorway.

Footsteps sounded outside and her hand tightened on the trigger. A second later, Helena came to a sliding halt in front of the door. The outfit that she’d been wearing when she tackled Sophia was gone. In its place were jeans, a checked shirt, and boots. A pink fluorescent cowboy hat completed the outfit.
 

“I’m going to round her up,” Helena said. “I’ve got rope.”

Jadyn’s eyes widened when she saw that Helena was clutching a snake in her right hand and not the rope she thought she had, but before she could say a word, the ghost dashed off.

“Hi-yo, Silver! Away!” Helena yelled and bounded off into the swamp.
 

Jadyn inched closer to the door, straining to hear what was going on outside. It seemed as if every second that ticked by took an hour as she waited for any indication that Colt had found Sophia, or Helena had discovered she was holding a snake, but the swamp had gone oddly silent.

She looked over at Samuel, who stared back at her, his fear apparent. “Hand me that pillow.” She pointed to a travel pillow on the back of the cot.

Samuel passed Jadyn the pillow and she leaned as close to the door as possible, then tossed the pillow out the door. A second later, a shot rang out and foam from the pillow scattered on the ground outside of the cabin.

“She shot me!” Helena yelled. “I’m going to lasso her. Holy shit, I’m holding a snake! I hit her with the snake.”

Sophia let out a bloodcurdling scream and Jadyn knew Helena’s ghostly snake had transformed into the live version when she’d tossed it at the insane heiress. A second later a shot rang out, then another.

“Help!” Helena yelled. “They’re shooting everybody out here!”

Jadyn stressed over her options. Did she risk leaving the cabin by the front door? Or maybe she should head out through the wall panel and follow Colt’s path. But that left Samuel alone, and that wasn’t the best idea either. The man had a way of disappearing and he still had a lot to answer for.

“All clear!” Colt yelled and Jadyn jumped up from the floor and dashed out of the shack, pulling Samuel along behind her.

She spotted Colt in the swamp about twenty yards from the shack and hurried over. He stood above Sophia, who was prone with a single hole through the center of her head. The back half of a water moccasin was trapped beneath her and struggled to get loose. Colt holstered his gun and motioned to Jadyn, who grabbed Sophia’s hip and pulled her up as Colt pulled from the shoulders. The snake shot off into the swamp, apparently having no desire to mix with crazy humans.

“Is she dead?” Samuel asked.

“Oh yeah,” Colt said.

“Thank God,” Samuel said and collapsed down on a log.

Jadyn looked over at Colt and realized blood was seeping through his shirt on his right side. “You’re shot.” She leaned over as he lifted his shirt. Relief washed over her when she saw it was a surface wound. It would sting like heck for a while, but he would live.

“It only grazed you,” she said.

“Only? Says you.” Colt grimaced as he dropped his shirt back into place. “That smarts.”

“We need to get back to Mudbug,” Jadyn said.

“We won’t all be going back to Mudbug.” Peter Vincent’s voice sounded behind them and they whirled around to find him standing about twenty feet away, holding a shotgun.

Chapter Twenty-One

Before Jadyn could even register the danger, the words “not again” ran through her mind. Then she processed their huge disadvantage and her heart fell. Everything they’d endured today had been for nothing. They would all die in the swamp and no one would have any idea what happened.
 

“Throw that pistol on the ground, honey,” Vincent said.
 

Jadyn clenched the pistol, not wanting to part with it, but also knowing there was no way she could get a clean shot before Vincent did. As she started to lift her arm to throw the gun, a shot rang out.

A wave of dizziness passed over her and she waited for the pain to come. A split second later, she realized she hadn’t been shot at all. Vincent’s eyes widened and the blood rushed out of his face, and a second later, he dropped like a stone to the ground. In a flash, Jadyn lifted her pistol, ready to take out whoever had shot Vincent.

“Don’t shoot, Ms. St. James!” Deputy Nelson stood about twenty feet behind Vincent, holding his arms in the air.

Relief washed over Jadyn and she lowered her arm. “Jeez, Nelson. I’m not going to shoot you.”

She looked over at Samuel, who was hunched over on the stump, propping his head up with his hands. He looked like a running year of bad weather. But he probably wasn’t a flight risk now that everyone who wanted a piece of him was out of commission.

Deputy Nelson dropped his arms and hurried over to Vincent. Colt was crouched beside him and had already tossed his shotgun to the side.

“Did I kill him?” Deputy Nelson asked.

“No,” Colt said. “He passed out. But he’s going to be thinking about you for a while every time he sits down.” Colt pointed to the bloody hole in Vincent’s pants.

Deputy Nelson’s eyes widened. “Wow! I can’t believe I shot someone.”

Colt rose from the ground and patted him on the back. “The first one’s always the hardest. I’m happy to get you some counseling.”

Deputy Nelson frowned. “I was thinking you should buy me a beer.”

Colt grinned and Jadyn laughed. “It’s a deal,” Colt said. “How did you find us, anyway?”

Deputy Nelson opened his mouth to reply but before he got out a single word, Maryse and Taylor burst through the brush and into the clearing. Maryse took one look at the scene and rushed over to Jadyn, throwing her arms around her.

“I’m so glad you’re alive,” Maryse said.

Jadyn smiled as Maryse released her. “Me too.”

“I am so sorry we brought that crazy psycho woman out here,” Maryse said, huffing to catch her breath. “If she had killed you and Colt, I would never have forgiven myself.”

Things Jadyn hadn’t understood—like how Sophia had found them and how Helena had gotten there—now started to make sense. Speaking of which, she wondered where the ghost had gotten off to. She glanced around but couldn’t see hide nor hair of the galloping ghost. “You came looking for us?”