Free miss fortune mystery (ff) - bayou backup by mary hiker

Chapter 1
     
    This girl snores louder than a freight train .
    I turned the volume up on the CD player to help drown out the snorting ruckus, then stepped on the gas a little harder.  The faster I could get this RV to Texas, the sooner I’d be free of my cousin Jayne.  My precious cargo was fun and entertaining in short bursts, but this road trip had already given me a great big overdose of crazy. 
    My back sunk into the comfortable tan captain’s chair and I glanced at the map spread out on the floor next to me.  A bright yellow line drawn by grandma with her highlighter marked the route she insisted we take.    One more day and I should be home free.
    My Yellow Labrador, Shiner, sat across from me in the passenger’s side bucket seat and looked back at the snorting lump of tangled blankets sprawled out on the RV’s couch behind us.  He gave a pitiful whimper and turned to me with pleading eyes.  He’d claimed the camper couch as his spot early in the trip, but Jayne gave him the boot when she decided to take a nap.
    “I’m sorry, buddy,” I said and reached over to scratch him on the head.  “This whole thing will be over soon.”
    Boom!
    I gasped as the RV’s over-sized steering wheel jerked in my hands and pulled sharply to the right as the front of the RV dropped in the same direction.  I pressed my foot on the gas, being careful not to stomp too hard.  My fingers turned white as I gripped the steering wheel, straightening the rig and making sure I had control before I slowed down. 
    Jayne gave a couple snorts and fell off the couch with a rolling thud, a few choice words flying from her mouth in the process.  “What the…?”
    I ignored her, focusing on bringing the camper to a stop.  Wouldn’t you know we rolled right past a wooden sign on the side of the road proclaiming, ‘Welcome to Sinful, Louisiana’.
    “Sure didn’t expect to be stranded in a place called Sinful on a Sunday morning,” Jayne said as she leaned over my seat and looked out the window, dropping potato chip crumbs on my shoulder as she crammed a handful of snacks into her mouth.
    That’s probably a big red flag , I thought and turned off the engine.
    A blast of hot humid air slapped me in the face as I opened the door and climbed down from the camper.  Shiner bounded out behind me while Jayne took his place on the passenger seat, looking for her lost shoes.
    I walked to the passenger side of the rig and found two tires had gone flat. That was strange.  Two tires had to be unusual.  I blew out a deep breath and tried to remember when I’d last checked the tire pressure.  I sure didn’t remember running over anything that could’ve done this type of damage.  Hopefully, there’d be a service station open in this town of Sinful.
    Jayne bounded out of the RV with her brown hair flying in several directions and called out, “Hey Madison, let’s walk into town and get some lunch.”  She pulled the elastic waistband of her tan knee length shorts out in front of her and slipped her bare feet into a pair of brown Crocs.  “These size eighteens can stretch to a twenty.  I’ve got plenty of room for some good southern food.”
    I chuckled and my stomach growled in response.  I didn’t own a pair of stretchy pants, but I could surely find room in my jeans for some fried chicken.  “I doubt anything’s open around here on a Sunday, but we might as well scope out our options since it looks like we may be here overnight.”
    Jayne’s small teal backpack bounced on her back as she skipped down the road ahead of me.  I admired her ability to enjoy herself in the middle of any type of problem.  My older cousin may have been on the far side of fifty but had the enthusiasm an adventurous spirit of a twenty-five year old. 
    Shiner was off on the side of the road intently walking in a circle and sniffing the grass, so I shouted, “I’ll catch up to you in a minute.”
    Jayne waved and continued her trek toward