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

in the bayou.”
    My eyes went wide. “So you’ve been to Sinful before?”
    He pulled the wooden screen door open and stepped back to let me precede him into the store. “No, but I’ve been within a dozen miles of this place. These bayous have the best fishin’ in the state of Louisiana.”
    I realized with a start that it was the most Cal had ever told me about himself. The new knowledge put chips in the image of the marble god on a pedestal I’d created for him.
    His marble had become slightly flesh colored.
    I soon forgot my revelations as I looked around the store. It was filled to burstin’ with stuff. All kinds of stuff. Everything from cans of tuna to sleeveless party dresses. Cal fixed me with a look that glittered with humor. “You okay?”
    My mouth had fallen open as my shopping fixation was engaged and I started down the first aisle like a zombie. I’d spotted a rack filled with purses. “Be right back,” I murmured.
    I vaguely noted the sound of voices as the slightly less godlike Cal apparently discovered Walter.
    I was all but oblivious. I’d found a one of a kind purse. My heart sang.
    When I approached the checkout counter on the Bayou side of the store a few minutes later, Cal’s ocean-blue gaze locked onto my treasure, narrowing slightly. “What the hell is that?”
    I was undaunted. A man couldn’t be expected to understand the genius of eclectic purse-wear. “It’s a one of a kind beaded, alligator shaped purse.” And so it was. The detail was amazing. The big, bulgy eyes of the critter looked so real I almost expected the gator to snap the grimace right off Cal’s face.
    I handed the bag to the man behind the counter and he nodded. “These are handmade by a local woman. Her shop is in a cabin on stilts down in the lowlands.
    I gave Cal a smug, see I told you so , look.
    “You mean like the Baba Yaga?” Cal asked.
    I glared while Walter chuckled.
    Cal shook his head as I paid for my treasure. “Do you have a map of the bayou that will take us to Number Two?”
    Walter reached beneath the scarred wooden counter and pulled out a photocopy of a hand-drawn map. “I tried the state maps for a while but folks just kept getting lost. So I drew one up myself.”
    Cal looked it over and nodded. “This is good. Thanks.” He offered the owner his hand and slid me a look as I claimed my new purse. “You gonna take that on the boat?”
    “I am.” I didn’t want to explain to him that one of the reasons I’d gotten the bag was because it had a wide, soft strap that was long enough to wear across my body. The gold I’d reclaimed from Pim Gordon was so heavy my leather bag was cutting into my shoulder. Plus it had a zipper so I didn’t have to worry about the gold falling out.
    I didn’t think it was safe to leave the gold in the motel or the car so I was carrying it around with me. My new bag would make that a lot easier. “Let me just run out to the Jeep and switch my stuff over to the new purse.”
    “So what kinds of stuff does Bubba buy from you?” I heard Cal ask Walter as I stepped out into the bright Louisiana sun.
    I glanced quickly around before I opened the door of the car and started transferring the gold. A few people were fishing off a nearby dock. Several yards away, two women stood in the shade created by the roof’s overhang, their backs to me, chatting. And a man disappeared around the corner of the building, heading for the water. I frowned, thinking something about him was familiar. But I didn’t get a good look at him so I shrugged it off and did my business.
    “Gettin’ some supplies?”
    I jumped, cracking my head on the door frame and turned, rubbing the sore spot. The two women I’d noted in the distance were standing a few feet away. I realized who they were.
    “Hi, Ida Belle. Fortune.” The younger woman stiffened slightly as I looked at her and one of her hands slipped around to the small of her back. I couldn’t shake the feeling we’d met before.