Mischief in Mudbug by Jana DeLeon Page B

the car, but a minute later, a floating hotdog that appeared to be eating itself gave her away. Dead people could eat? Good God. Sabine pulled on her sunglasses and slid down in her seat. What the hell was she thinking? Hooking up with Helena? Letting Helena help?Helena’s brand of help had almost gotten Maryse killed.
    You’re desperate.
    Sabine pulled away from the corner and hoped that whatever Helena had gotten her into wasn’t illegal. But she didn’t hold out a whole lot of hope. Helena had never believed the “rules” applied to her when she was alive. Death had given her an entirely new avenue on life…one that could get her living, breathing accomplices in a whole boatload of trouble.
    Sabine circled the block and approached the hotdog stand again, keeping an eye out for any stray floating hotdogs. Nothing. She pressed the gas and circled once more, hoping no one had noticed her circling and called the police. She was almost to the end of the block when she saw a group of policemen rush out of a building a block away. “Police Substation,” the sign on the building read. Great. Just what she needed was the police only a block away with Helena breaking God knows how many laws just down the street.
    They could start with stealing hotdogs.
    She stopped at the corner and watched as the cops came to a halt in the middle of the street, looking both directions, confused expressions on their faces. A bad feeling washed over Sabine. Something wasn’t right. What in the world were they all doing standing in the street? What were they looking for?
    A horn sounded behind her and she jumped. She lifted one hand to wave at the angry motorist and started to make the turn, and that’s when she saw the hotdog stand hurtling down the sidewalk toward her car. Which might not have been so odd in itself, but the fact that there was minimal slope to the roadand no wind at all made the situation far from normal. Not to mention the small matter of the cart owner running ten yards behind and yelling at the top of his lungs.
    The horn behind her sounded again and Sabine panicked, torn between pulling over for the other motorist to pass and hauling ass back to Mudbug as fast as her old Sentra would manage. Abandoning the last semblance of common sense, she jerked the wheel to the right and stopped the car at the curb, waving as the honking motorist drove around her and gave her the finger.
    “Prepare to haul ass!” Helena’s voice sounded above the fray.
    Sabine whirled around in her seat just as the hotdog stand launched off the sidewalk behind her and landed in the street, sending hotdogs flying in all directions. The police had locked in on the commotion and were running toward the stand, closing in on her parking space by the second. To heck with this. Sabine put the car in gear, but before she could stomp on the gas, a mailbag flew through the open passenger’s side window and landed on the floorboard.
    “What the hell are you waiting for?” Helena yelled, her voice booming right next to Sabine.
    Sabine floored the car and squealed away from the curb. She glanced in her rearview mirror just in time to see the cops chasing the hotdog stand onto the other side of the street. Barely slowing, she rounded the corner and accelerated onto the highway from the service road. She’d driven at least a mile down the road before she took a breath and looked over at the passenger seat.
    A hotdog hovered just inches from her face. “Want one?” Helena asked.
    Sabine pushed the hotdog away. “No, I don’t want one. What the hell is the matter with you? You stole something from that police station, didn’t you? All those cops were looking for you…but I don’t understand why or how.”
    A chunk of the hotdog disappeared and Helena said, “Me eifer.”
    “Don’t talk with your mouth full. Jesus, I would think someone of your upbringing would have some manners.”
    “What’s the point? No one to see them but you and