Excerpt

“This is the worst night of my life.”

Actually, it was morning, but the sun hadn’t made an appearance. As long as I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face, it was still post meridiem in my book. To make matters worse, it was just after the three o’clock witching hour on All Hallows’ Eve. “Remind me again. Why are we dumping the evidence out here?”

The airboat grazed a log and if it hadn’t been for Gertie, I would’ve tumbled overboard. She grabbed the back of my jacket as the boat continued its glide across the Louisiana swamp. “Takes some time to get your sea legs. You’ll get used to it.”

“I hope not,” I mumbled.

“We’re almost there!” Ida Belle leaned forward in her elevated seat. “Let me know when you see a brown canoe!”

“Are you serious?” Gertie hollered. “In this heavy fog? We wouldn’t see a red ship with Walter standing on the stern wearing flashing boxers.”

“Nice image.” Ida Belle snorted a laugh. “I’ll stay the course. Gertie, keep the comments coming. Fortune, you’re on watch.”

Ida Belle’s idea of “watch” varied from mine. My gaze shifted to the right then back to the left. Ghost-hunting required a certain level of attentiveness. Thanks to an overactive imagination, wherever I looked the shadows stared back.

Five-foot-four. No. Five-foot-nine and hanging from a tree. Faces with no names. Bodies without faces. Ghosts and other creatures rising from the fog. We’d need some luck if we were going to make it out of the swamps alive. Without luck, we were doomed to become…I shivered. I couldn’t go there.

I shouldn’t be here at all. It’s Halloween.