Free miss fortune mystery (ff) - bloodshed in the bayou by Leslie Langtry Page A

table. Thank God. I was grateful for the distraction.
    We followed as if she was the pied piper. I got the lemonade out and we dove in. Apparently Ally had worked the lunch to late afternoon shift at Francine’s and ordered dinner to go. I gave a silent thanks for having such a thoughtful friend.
    Fortune was reading the letters as the rest of us filled Ally in on the story and gorged ourselves on what was feeling like my last supper.
    “Maybe I should just put the key on Hugo’s tombstone at the funeral tomorrow.” I joked.
    “That’s not such a bad idea.” Ida Belle said. “Your father’s accomplice will probably show up at the funeral. Murderers usually do.” She looked excited. I wish I was.
    “There’s something here.” Fortune said, finally looking up from the letters. “These sentences are weird.”
    “In the letters?” I asked.
    She nodded. “At first I just thought this was how Southerners talked. You guys do have some strange dialogue. But it’s not that. At least, I think it’s not that.”
    “What do you mean?” I asked.
    “I don’t know. Can I keep these for a little bit?” Fortune looked at me hopefully.
    “Of course.” I said with a nod. “I’m too tired to figure it all out.” I looked at my watch. “The funeral is tomorrow. I should head home soon.”
    As I stood to go, my cell rang. The number was unfamiliar, but had the same area code. I answered.
    “If you want to see your mother alive again,” A voice I didn’t recognize hissed, “Bring the key to the place where Hugo’s body was found in the next thirty minutes.”
    The call ended.
     
     

Chapter 11
     
    “Margaret?” Ally asked. “What is it?”
    “You look white as a sheet!” Gertie cried out.
    I stared at the cell in my hand. The blood in my veins ran cold. “I think the intruder just called. He has my mom.” I looked up.
    “What did he say?” Fortune asked. She didn’t seem as freaked out as I was. In fact, she looked alert…eager…ready to pounce.
    Glancing at the others, the only one who was as horrified as me was Ally. Gertie and Ida seemed to come alive at this news.
    “He said we have thirty minutes to bring the key out to the place where they pulled Hugo out of the water, or he was going to kill my mother.”
    Saying the words left the poisonous taste of fear on my tongue. Was this psycho really going to kill Mom? Over a key? No way was I going to let that happen. I snatched the key from Fortune and headed for the door.
    “Do you remember how to get there?” Ida asked as she shoved a pistol into the elastic waistband of her polyester slacks. She was going with me. Okay. That was fine. Whatever it took to save Mom and kill this bastard was all right by me.
    “I don’t think I could forget it.” I said grimly as I stopped at the door. “We can use the agency boat. Let’s go.”
    Exactly four minutes later, Gertie, Fortune, Ida Belle and I were in the DNR boat, racing to the scene of the crime that had started all of this. We were all armed. And if the kidnapper had any idea what was headed his way, he’d abandon this altogether. My fear had given way to a murderous fury I’d never known before.
    Fortune snapped her fingers, “Old place! That’s it!”
    I looked at her questioningly. “What are you talking about?”
    She was busy tying up her long blonde hair into a messy bun. “The phrase ‘old place’ kept coming up in the letters. But they were used in strange situations, like ‘remember the old place,’ and ‘how’s the house – the old place?’ That phrase kept coming up. It’s a clue to where the money is!”
    Ida Belle nodded. “That’s got to be it.”
    “But there’s no old place where we’re going.” I protested. “It’s just a muddy shore in the swamp.”
    We were no closer to solving this, but I let the two words revolve in my mind. Something about the phrase stood out to me. And then it hit me! That was the clue on the stairs, when I’d been looking at our