Resurrection in Mudbug by Jana DeLeon Read Free Book Online

rude.”
    “Helena can stand guard,” Maryse explained. “Since no one can see her, she can be on constant patrol and lookout for anyone who might want to harm you.”
    Jadyn glanced over at the ghost and struggled to keep from blanching. “I’m not arguing with you in theory, but as you already pointed out, I’m in the swamp all day. A crack shot with a rifle—and I’m guessing Mudbug has more than one—could easily get me from a hundred yards away, probably more. Helena doesn’t look like she can cover a hundred yards in every direction, even if I was sitting still.”
    Helena threw her hands up in the air. “I’m so sorry. If I’d known I’d have the role of security detail in death, I would have done Weight Watchers and the elliptical before I died. But as I didn’t get a say in dying, either, this is what you get. That whole ‘you get a new perfect body when you die’ thing is bunk.”
    Then Helena jumped up from the chair and walked through the wall.
    Jadyn blinked and stared at the wall for several seconds before looking back at Maryse and Mildred, who didn’t seem fazed with Helena’s fit.
    “Don’t worry,” Maryse said. “She’ll be back.”
    Jadyn nodded, not entirely sure she wanted the ghost back. “I’m not convinced that death would be worse.”
    Maryse smiled and Mildred let out a guffaw. 
    “Welcome to our world,” Maryse said. “Here’s what you need to know to deal with Helena. One, she was rich and spoiled in life and she is used to getting everything her way, but she’s also a bully. So if you tell her directly to do something, she’ll usually back down. Two, even though she’ll never admit it, you can guilt her into doing things your way by telling her it’s her fault your life is in danger.”
    Mildred nodded. “It may sound a bit mean on the surface, but trust me, after you’ve dealt with Helena for a couple of days, you’ll grasp at any relief.”
    “So true,” Maryse said.
    “I’ll give her the room next to you,” Mildred said, “so that she’s not sitting on top of you all the time.”
    “If she gets to be too much and you get desperate,” Maryse said, “then tell her that Sabine will perform an exorcism on her.”
    Jadyn stared. “Who’s Sabine?”
    “She’s my best friend and owns the psychic shop in town.”
    “And she performs exorcisms?” Jadyn asked, a trickle of worry running through her. “Is there a large need for that around here?”
    “Hmmm,” Maryse said, and scrunched her brow, making Jadyn worry even more.
    “I don’t suppose there’s a need for exorcisms,” Maryse said, “unless they can fix stupidity. And Sabine has no idea how to do one anyway. But Helena finds Sabine just odd enough to worry her, so I use that to my advantage.”
    Jadyn blew out a breath. “So I have a ghost as a bodyguard, which doesn’t sound like a huge advantage as she can’t shoot a gun.”
    Maryse’s eyes widened and she looked back at Mildred.
    “Shit,” Maryse said. “If Helena has gotten adept at touching things, she can fire a gun, but her accuracy would be highly suspect.”
    Mildred shook her head in dismay. “Let’s just hope she doesn’t figure that out anytime soon. No way that would turn out well.”
    Maryse nodded in agreement before turning back to Jadyn. “Mildred and I were just discussing getting Helena a prepaid cell phone before you showed up. You won’t get signal in most of the swamp, but at least when signal’s available, she can call for help if you run into trouble.”
    “She can use a cell phone?” Jadyn asked.
    Maryse shrugged. “We’re assuming so. She can touch things and God knows, Mildred and I can hear her. She couldn’t call 911, but Mildred and I assume we could hear her over a cell. We’re going to give it a try, anyway.”
    Jadyn struggled to wrap her mind around a ghost with a cell phone, but simply couldn’t make the stretch. It was too bizarre to register as real. “So that’s it? On my side,