Free miss fortune mystery (ff) - bubba dub dub by sam cheever

calf and finally succeeded in bringing him down to one knee.
    “Go!” she yelled at me.
    I went. I ran toward the water, where Bubba’s boat still bobbed on the opposite side of the short, rickety dock from Lyle’s boat. Dodging around the stinky gator carcass, I hit the dock and stopped as it swayed beneath me. The board under my feet shifted and I scrabbled toward the center until it settled back down.
    I dropped to my knees and crawled toward Bubba’s boat, quickly climbing inside.
    The sounds from the shore were ominous and troubling. The meaty sound of flesh hitting flesh was terrifying, because I wasn’t at all certain Lyle wasn’t beating the bat snot out of all three of my friends. But I forced myself not to look. Because I was afraid the few seconds I’d take being distracted would be the seconds that would spell the end of my friends.
    I quickly searched the small boat, pulling aside rancid pieces of clothing, a Ziploc holding something gooey and nasty looking, and a mildewed and torn boat cushion. I didn’t see anything that looked like a clue. A single push pole lay along one side and stuck out the back, a six inch long piece of pvc pipe glued to the end that rested inside the boat.
    I quickly searched the length of the pole, cringing as someone yelled in pain, followed by a crash.
    “Hurry up, Felicity!”
    I sucked air as I realized I was holding my breath. Fortune was still kicking, probably literally, and that meant the geriatric 007 were still okay. Fortune wouldn’t let anything happen to her friends.
    There was nothing carved or written on the pole. Frustration made me scream and I started to throw the pole down, but my gaze caught on the pipe handle. I hadn’t searched that. Scrambling toward the bow of the boat, I grabbed the pipe and lifted it, peering down its length. It took me a second to spot it. It had been taped along the inside of the pipe and was fairly well hidden.
    But one corner of a small white envelope stuck up from the tape. I reached in and grasped it between two fingernails, ripping it out of the pipe, and stood up too fast, nearly falling into the water.
    Screeching, I grabbed for the edge of the dock, and climbed out as fast as I could. As soon as my feet hit the warped wood I took off running, praying the half-rotted surface would hold. I made it to shore, punched the gator carcass out of my way, and was sprinting toward the house when Fortune spun around with the baton she must have taken from Gertie, hit Lyle on the side of the head with it, and kicked him in the gut as he started to fall.
    He slammed backward, into the chair he’d been sitting in when we arrived, and it crumpled under his weight, folding him into it as he crashed.
    We left him, big feet sticking into the air and limp as a dead snake, and ran around the house.
    I didn’t even think to look at my treasure until we were several miles from Lyle’s house and I could finally breathe.
    “Did you find anything?” Gertie asked from the front seat.
    I opened my hand and looked at the rolled, white envelope. Unfolding it, I frowned. “It looks like a collection envelope.” I looked inside. “It’s empty.”
    Ida Belle and Gertie shared a look. “Which church?” Ida Belle asked.
    “Sinful Catholic.”
    There was a collective groan in the car that made me wonder if the next phase of our clue collecting was going to be just as much fun as the last one had been.
    ###
    When we got back to Gertie’s there was a long, black car idling at the curb in front of her house. We headed for the car and the back window slid down, framing the wide, fleshy face of Big Hebert. Little sat beside him and Mannie glared at us from behind the wheel.
    Fortune waved at Mannie. “Hey! How was your stint at the Sinful jail?”
    He gave her a tight smile. “Just peachy.” Hostility radiated off the big thug like heat off a Louisiana highway. Nobody seemed to notice it but me.
    “You ladies are quickly rising to the top of my