Free Swamp Team 3 by Jana DeLeon Page A

we can’t laugh at ourselves, who can we laugh at?”
    I stared at her. “Other people?”
    “Got that right,” Ida Belle said.
    “Absolutely,” Gertie agreed.
    Ally laughed. “Tonight, we are going to open up a bottle of wine, and you’re going to share the trash bag story with me.”
    “What do I get out of the deal?”
    “Chocolate cake?”
    I felt myself weakening. “Maybe.”
    “And I might tell you about the time I went skinny-dipping with Bobby Hanson and his little brother stole our clothes.”
    I waved a hand in dismissal. “I bet everyone around here has one of those stories from their childhood.”
    “It happened last year.”
    I smiled. “Chocolate cake and ultimate humiliation it is.”
     

 
    Chapter Seven
     
    I managed to convince Gertie and Ida Belle that we should delay our Swamp Bar trip until the next day, and they headed out to return Maisey’s car. Ally decided that hours of prayer and insults from Celia rated a long, hot shower, and hurried upstairs to indulge. I took advantage of being alone to make a trip to the General Store to talk to Walter, the owner.
    The reason I’d given Ida Belle and Gertie for wanting to delay the Swamp Bar trip was because I wanted to keep a close eye on Ally since we’d had a creeper the night before. And that wasn’t completely a lie. Except for the part where I wanted to keep a close eye on Ally. What I really wanted to do was set my sights on the creeper. And assuming he was stupid enough to return, I wanted a way to make him pay without involving myself in a law enforcement incident. But I wanted to keep my plan on the down low.  
    It was much easier to cover your tracks if no one else was stepping in them with you.
    Walter, unlike Ida Belle and Gertie, was happy to give advice without wanting to have any part in the actual activity, especially if the activity bordered on the illegal kind. The really cool thing about Walter was that despite being Carter’s uncle, he didn’t seem to have any desire to inform his nephew of other people’s business. Basically, conversations with Walter were in a locked vault, which probably made him the most valuable person in Sinful.
      Despite my new goal to exercise more, I drove my Jeep to the store. If things went the way I expected, I would be returning with goods—the kind of goods I didn’t want people to see me walking down the sidewalk with.  
    The store was empty when I walked in. Walter looked up from his newspaper and gave me a smile and a wave. “About time someone came in here and took me away from boredom,” he said.
    I slid onto a stool across the checkout counter from him. “I thought you were reading the newspaper.”
    He folded the paper closed and tossed it on the counter behind him. “It’s all political nonsense and sports statistics. No one has anything interesting to say anymore. How are things going with the cat?”
    “Considering I can’t keep cactus alive, I guess it’s going well.”
    “Tomcats have survival skills that match the best of military special forces. He’ll be fine.”
    “He’s definitely interesting. I’ve never been around cats before and the things he does are fascinating. The other day I was cleaning one of Marge’s guns and activated the laser sight. He bolted off the couch and chased that pointer until he was too tired to move. I’ve never laughed so hard in my life.”
    “Hunting instinct. It’s still strong with him because he was fending for himself for so long. And most cats can’t ignore a moving light.”
    “Hunting instinct…that makes sense.”  
    He nodded and his expression shifted from cheery to serious. “I hear Ally’s staying at your house. Why don’t you bring me up to speed?”
    “When Carter suspected the fire was deliberate, he asked me to keep an eye on her, so as far as I’m concerned, she can have the guest room until Carter is certain it’s safe for her to go back home.”
    Walter shook his head. “I can’t imagine