miss fortune mystery (ff) - bayou bubba Read Online Free PDF Page A

lifted.
    “Yeah. Just like that.”
    A few minutes of silence and sipping later, Francine returned with too many plates for one woman to carry. Somehow she managed. Settling plate after plate in front of Cal, she looked at me and frowned. “Oh, that’s what I was forgetting. I’ll be right back.”
    I rolled my eyes as Cal dove into his food. He tucked a fork full of eggs into his mouth and then realized I didn’t have anything in front of me. “Where’s yours?”
    “She forgot it.”
    He set his fork down.
    “Go ahead, your food will get cold.”
    “I’m not eating until you do. My mama taught me better manners than that.”
    “Really, go ahead.”
    His expression turned to stone and I knew it reflected his will. A more stubborn man I’d yet to meet. It’d been an asset while searching for my father when everyone else had given up, but it was a titch annoying to deal with on a daily basis.
    Francine finally arrived with my muffin.
    Cal pulled the picture of my father out of his pocket. “I was wondering if you’d ever seen this man around the café?”
    Francine took the picture and nodded. “That’s Bubba. ’Cept he doesn’t look like this anymore.”
    Cal took the photo back from her. “He comes into the café?”
    “Every Sunday, during church services. He likes to get a banana pudding before the church ladies get here and grab it all up.”
    I couldn’t resist asking. “Pim Gordon says he’s always kind of disheveled.”
    Francine fixed me with a bored look. “He doesn’t wear a suit or anything. His hair’s long and kind of straggly. But he’s usually clean. His clothes aren’t ratty.”
    I nodded, feeling guilty for being so judgmental.
    “Does he ever talk about where he lives? Or what he does with his time?”
    The proprietor of Francine’s shook her head. “Bubba’s real private and soft spoken. He doesn’t talk to anybody. He orders his food and sits quietly until I bring it. Then he pays me in cash and leaves.”
    I nodded but inside my head alarm bells were going off. Felonius Chance was anything but soft-spoken and private. He’d always been a take-charge kind of guy who liked to be the center of attention wherever he went.
    “You didn’t happen to notice which way he goes out of town?”
    Francine cocked her head, looking suspicious. “Why’re you askin’ all these questions about Bubba? He’s not in some kind of trouble is he?”
    I opened my mouth to assure her that he wasn’t, but Cal ran me over.
    “He might be. We just want to make sure he’s all right.”
    She scanned us both again and then said, “He rides his bike South, down toward Alligator Bridge.” Francine started to turn away and stopped. “I don’t know if it means anything, but Bubba didn’t come in last Sunday. I hope he isn’t sick…or somethin’.” She let her gaze skim over us one last time and returned to the kitchen.
    “Bike?”
    Cal dug into his food. “That’s new information for sure. We’ll check out Alligator Bridge tomorrow.”
    “What are we doing today?”
    He swallowed a big bite of pancake, swiping his napkin over his mouth. “We’re going to Number Two.”
    Shoving all the potty jokes that jumped into my brain aside, I grimaced. Wonderful. I’d always wanted to visit a gator infested island in the swamp that smelled like turds.
     

 
     
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
     
    Turned out we needed a boat to visit Number Two, so the intrepid Cal and I had driven the few blocks across Sinful to the General Store to rent one. Fortunately for us, Cal had explained as we climbed into the Jeep, we needed to talk to Walter the owner anyway about Bubba, so we could “kill two Black-bellied Whistling-ducks with one stone.”
    I skimmed him a glance as we headed for the brick-fronted store. “Well look at you, all bird watchy and stuff.”
    Cal’s lips turned up in an embarrassed grin. “My dad’s family is from n'awlins. Dad and Uncle Mike used to bring me down here in the summer to fish