Resurrection in Mudbug by Jana DeLeon Page A

bayou.
    She shook her head. Good God, she needed to get a life, and some hobbies, or hobbies and a life. Whatever. But the one thing she would not do was sit in her bedroom for the next fifty years, turning regular small-town sheriffs into action heroes. Sighing, she sank down into the bed and pulled the covers over her shoulders. 
    More than anything, she wished she’d gotten to finish her beer.
    ###
    It was 6:00 a.m. and Colt hadn’t even poured his first cup of coffee when Eugenia yelled at him from the front desk. He put down the coffee mug and hustled to the front of the building where Eugenia sat perched in her office chair, one hand on her headset and one pressing the mute button on the receiver.
    “It’s Leroy Pendarvis, and he’s in a bad way. Best I can figure, something bad happened at Duke Leger’s house. Leroy’s been wailing and mumbling. I’ve tried to calm him down so I can understand better, but nothing’s getting through to him.”
    “Shit.” Colt shoved his pistol in his waistband and grabbed his truck keys. “Call for an ambulance…just in case.”
    Eugenia gave him a nod and he hurried out the door and tore off down Main Street. Colt had known Leroy since he was a boy. Leroy was a lot of things…a poacher, a cheater, and a liar, but the one thing he wasn’t was weak. If something had upset Leroy to the extent Eugenia described, then it was bad.
    Duke’s residence, which could charitably be referred to as a shack, rested on a thin strip of land between two channels. Colt pushed his truck down the narrow, bumpy dirt path as quickly as possibly, growing more and more tense with each passing mile. Mudbug wasn’t New Orleans, and he’d had his share of panicked calls from dispatch, but this one felt different.
    This time, he had a really bad feeling.
    He made the drive to Duke’s house in twenty minutes flat, which was probably a record of some sort. He wasn’t sure what he expected to find, maybe Leroy standing out front waving a knife or a pistol or maybe even a semiautomatic weapon—he’d seen both before. But instead, he found something he never expected.
    Leroy sat on the front porch steps, staring at him as he climbed out of his truck. The older shrimper didn’t move, not even so much as a blink. Colt walked up to him and shook his shoulder, then waved his hand in front of Leroy’s face, but the other man never gave any indication that he was aware Colt was there.
    He’s in shock.
    Colt looked past Leroy to the cabin. The front door stood open but he didn’t see any movement inside. He pulled out his pistol anyway and started up the steps. He paused at the doorway and peered inside. 
    His hand dropped to his side and he had to force himself to grip the pistol before it slid out of his hand and onto the rotted wooden porch. He clutched the doorway with his other hand and closed his eyes, trying to push away the dizziness and nausea that coursed through him. 
    Of all the things he’d seen during his time with the New Orleans Police Department, he’d come all the way back home to see the worst.
     

 
    Chapter Ten
     
    The sound of screeching woke Jadyn up at dawn. She bolted upright, momentarily startled with the unfamiliar surroundings. It took a moment for her to remember she was in the Mudbug Hotel, but that didn’t explain the racket. It took her a while to realize the howling had a pattern and a failed attempt at carrying a tune. Then she placed the loud, tenor voice as Helena. A second later, she realized the shower was running in Helena’s room. 
    How the hell did a ghost take a shower?
    Since sleep was obviously a thing of the past, she threw the covers back and tossed on jeans, a T-shirt, and tennis shoes before heading downstairs. If there was a God, Mildred would be up and have a pot of that paint-stripping coffee of hers brewing. 
    The strong aroma of Mildred’s special brew hit her as soon as she started down the stairs and she smiled. Mildred was in the