Kent Conwell - Tony Boudreaux 15 - The Mona Lisa Murders (12 page)

We drove until almost dark, then pulled off the interstate into the small village of Amite for the night. The storm had curved back east, allowing the small town some respite from the quickly dying winds.

We found a Dollar Store and picked up a few necessities, clothing, shoes, and a red and black backpack for the package.

On the outskirts of town, we paid a convenience store owner twenty bucks to park behind his store and hook up to his water outlet.

A shower and clean clothes never felt so good.

While I was showering, Latasha stepped outside the camper for a cigarette.

The camper’s small generator provided more than enough power for the small unit.

Carl had stocked the camper with Cajun favorites, boudin, Vienna sausage, and Spam, along with soft drinks, beer, and whiskey.

A couple links of boudin, a mixture of dirty rice, pork, and various peppers, and two more drinks of Jim Beam, and I was ready for bed. Latasha took the big one over the cab. I took the narrow one that served double duty as a seat for the collapsing table.

There was no TV reception, but the radio informed us that the floodwaters were beginning to recede. I pulled out the cell phone and went to Edmund’s contacts. Sure enough, his brother, Carl, was listed.

Latasha and I both sighed with relief when we learned Edmund was going to be okay. They’d given him antibiotics, cleaned him up good, and right now, he was sleeping like a baby. ‘And Boudreaux.’

‘Yeah.’

‘The pickup. You keep it as long as you need it. That Latasha, she good kid. Us, we do all we can to help that one. You know?’

I chuckled. ‘I know.’

We turned out the lights and immediately dropped off to sleep.

During the night, a light rain began to fall. Any other time, the patter of rain on the aluminum roof would have been a comfort, but now I just hoped it wouldn’t add to the problems the hurricane had already served up.

Next morning, a loud knocking on the door jerked us awake.

Chapter Twenty

‘Tony!’

‘I hear it. Be quiet!’ Grabbing the revolver, I opened the door a crack.

It was a city employee there to pick up the store’s garbage and we were parked in front of the Dumpster.

With a sigh of relief, I muttered. ‘Sorry. We’ll move.’

Latasha laughed nervously as I closed the door. ‘I’m still spooky.’

‘You’re not by yourself.’ I laughed with her, but my hands were shaking.

We gassed up and headed north. A mile or so out of town, I pulled off the road onto the grassy right-of-way. ‘How about some coffee and breakfast?’

While Latasha busied about in the small kitchen area, I called Carl. Edmund was improving, but there had been a couple rough looking men asking questions around the hospital. ‘It might be nothing for you to worry about,’ he said. ‘Me, from what I hear, they be asking about their family.’

After punching off, I stared at the small phone. Why hadn’t Eddie replied? It had been two days, three? They all blurred in my head. The cemetery seemed like months ago. As soon as I had time, I had to go online and check my universal e-mail.

Latasha wore white shorts and tank top. I had to admit my newly found cousin was very attractive. I grinned to myself when I tried to imagine Leroi’s reaction when he learned she was his half-sister.

‘Here you are,’ she said sliding a cup of coffee and fried boudin on the table. ‘Everything all right with Edmund?’

‘Yeah.’ I decided to say nothing of the two men Carl had mentioned. I sipped the coffee. I almost shivered. All chicory. ‘I figure we’ll head up to I-Twenty for Dallas.’ I stared at the backpack containing the box on the seat beside Latasha.

She saw me looking at the box and gave a wry laugh. ‘I bet you wish you’d never seen that package.’

With a mischievous gleam in my eyes, I replied. ‘You’d win your bet.’

She grew serious. ‘I’m scared. This whole thing—it’s not what I expected. I thought this kind of stuff only happened in movies.’

I’d seen enough in my years as a P.I. to know that the average Joe Six-Pack has no idea of the multiple layers of cultures within our society. Those at each level have no idea how the others live, whether it is the ghettoes or Martha’s Vineyard.

‘It happens.’

The cell phone rang. It was Danny. ‘Good news, Tony. Maybe you and your cousin are off the hook.’

I caught my breath and winked at Latasha. ‘How’s that?’

‘Joe Vasco contacted this Uberto Bianchi. I got no idea what was said except Joe wants the box.’

‘You won’t get an argument from me. How do we get it to him?’

‘You can’t. One of my boys will meet you in Dallas. At the Holiday Inn on I-Twenty between Fort Worth and Dallas. In the morning, nine o’clock.’

I felt a thousand pounds lighter. ‘Nine o’clock. How do I recognize him?’

‘Ask the desk clerk for Jimmy George. That’s all you need to do.’

‘Thanks, Danny. When I get back, it’s my treat out at the County Line Barbecue. I’ll even feed Huey.’

Danny chuckled. ‘You know better than that. Huey’s a vegan.’

After punching off, I gave Latasha the good news. She was even more excited than I. ‘You told me who Danny was, but who’s this Huey you were talking about?’

The first time I had met Huey was one night on a narrow road west of Austin. At the time, his square face looked like a chunk of chipped granite, square, solid, with no distinguishing features other than a couple fissures for eyes, a square knob for a nose, and a third crevice that was probably his mouth. His face hadn’t changed over the years, still full of knobs and fissures and nooks and crannies.

‘He’s a work. He’s Danny O’Banion’s bodyguard, but he could pass as a body double for Godzilla. Wears Nicky Hilton suits. He can scare the bejeebes out of you.’

She shivered, then laughed. ‘What are we waiting for? Let’s hit the road for Dallas.’

Five minutes later, we were speeding north at a steady fifty-five miles an hour with smiles on our faces and the proverbial song in our hearts.

For the first time since we had been thrown together, we had a chance to relax. Each had hundreds of questions for the other.

‘How long have you known that Leroi was your brother?’

‘Not long. A couple months. Just before Mama passed away, she told me.’ Her brow knit. She blinked away some tears. ‘She’d kept it a secret all these years. I don’t know why or what harm she thought it would do.’

‘What did Leroi say when you told him?’

An impish grin dried the tears in her eyes. ‘He didn’t know what to think. All he knew was his daddy had deserted them when he was a teenager.’

I glanced at her, then turned back to my driving. ‘I think he was fourteen when Uncle Theophile left.’

‘He didn’t believe me at first, but when I showed him a picture of Mama and his daddy, he knew I was telling the truth.’

‘Theophile must have been around fifty or so by then, huh?’

She shrugged. ‘I don’t remember him. Mama always said he come to town and got a job at the lumberyard. Then not long after I was born, he just up and disappeared.’

I told her a little about Leroi and me growing up together and then Mom moving us to Austin. ‘Leroi and I always kept in touch. He had a son. I don’t if you knew it or not.’

‘Stewart? I heard about him. He was living with you when he was murdered, wasn’t he?’

‘In Austin, yeah. He stayed with me awhile, then moved out.’

‘Drugs?’

‘Yeah. Thought he could beat the system.’

She gave a wry chuckle. ‘There’s a bunch that think that way. Mama would have killed me if I’d touched them.’

‘Sounds like a fine lady.’

‘She was. Made me do the right things. Talk like a lady. Said never to be uppity, but don’t be trashy either. Either way brings trouble. That’s how she was. Mindful of others and always saying her prayers. She never thought herself better than anyone, but she never did anything to shame herself.’

The LSU fight song rang on the cell lying on the dashboard.

Latasha answered. ‘Carl? Anything wrong? Edmund all right?’

Her eyes grew wide. She cut them at me and her lips parted in a silent gasp. Nodding emphatically, she said. ‘Yeah. I’ll tell Tony. Don’t worry. And thanks.’

She punched off and stared at me.

‘Edmund?’

‘No. He’s fine. Carl said somebody’s been asking questions at vehicle registration in Pearl River. The same rough looking men he told you about.’

‘Vehicle registration? What for?’

‘This pickup.’

Chapter Twenty-One

She stared at me, her black eyes narrowing. ‘What two men is he talking about? Why didn’t you tell me?’

I muttered a silent curse. ‘He said a couple guys were asking questions at the hospital last night. He guessed they were inquiring about their own families. That was it, but now, I wonder.’ I met her steady gaze for a moment, then turned my eyes back on the road ahead.

‘You don’t have to draw me a picture. What do you want to bet they’ve got a black tattoo on their forearms.’

‘No bet.’

‘Nemo’s boys!’ She drew a deep breath. ‘I’ve got to have a cigarette.’

She started to open the rear window and slip back into the camper, but I stopped her. ‘Smoke up here. I don’t mind.’

She glanced at me. A faint smile played over her lips. ‘Thanks.’ Plopping back down, she opened her window a crack to draw out the smoke. ‘What is it, four hundred miles or so to Fort Worth?’

‘More like five and a half.’

‘Eight or ten hours, at least.’

‘Yeah, and we have to assume those bozos know we’re heading toward the Brazos River. That means they’ll be watching the Interstates.’

‘So?’

‘So, we stay off the Interstates.’

She arched an eyebrow. ‘That’ll take longer than ten hours.’

I gave her a crooked grin. ‘We’ve got until nine o’clock in the morning. If we—’ An idea hit me. ‘Hold on. Maybe we’ve got a better chance.’

I heard the puzzlement in her voice. ‘A better chance? What do you mean?’

Ahead was the small town of Arcola.

Pulling in at the side of the Arcola Stop N’ Grab convenience store, I hopped from the Dodge pickup. ‘Leroi,’ I said. ‘Leroi can get us on to Fort Worth.’

She looked around at the small town. ‘Why are we stopping here?’

‘Pay phone.’

‘What about Carl’s cell?’

I headed for the store. ‘Call me paranoid. Pay phone is safer.’

Latasha chuckled. ‘If they still have one.’

They did, and Leroi picked up the second ring. I laid out our situation in a few terse words. ‘We need a car and a place to stash the pickup. We can be there in about two hours.’

‘No problem. Meet me at number Five, the lube shop on Falcon. I just built a warehouse on the other side of town where we can stash the truck. Nobody’ll find it in a hundred years.’

When I jumped back behind the wheel, Latasha was in the camper peering through the curtains in the rear door. ‘Ready?’

Without taking her eyes from the window, she waved me to her. ‘Come here, Tony.’

‘What?’

‘Just come here.’

I started to climb out of the pickup but she stopped me. ‘No. Through the window.’

‘The window?’

She didn’t look around at me. ‘Hurry!’

I rolled my eyes. Women! But, I slithered through the window and onto the seat below. ‘Okay, so what’s going on,’ I asked with a hint of impatience in my voice.

She glanced at me through narrowed eyes, then turned back to the window. ‘Come look! The parking lot of the Triple A Grocery across the street. That gray Nissan with two men in it. They drove past once, then did a U-turn and parked over there. I think they’re watching us.’

My young cousin was right. At least, they were parked across the street, and they were looking in our direction. ‘Yeah. I see them, but I can’t tell if they’re watching us or not. They could be casing the convenience store for all we know. Or just killing time.’

Latasha blew through her lips. ‘And they might not.’

‘Yeah.’ They might not, and the longer I studied the car, the more convinced I became that she was right.

‘One thing for certain,’ she muttered, her eyes still fixed on the Nissan. ‘We can’t outrun them in this.’

Talk about an understatement. ‘And we can’t hide it from them either.’

‘Okay.’ She drew a deep breath and looked around at me. ‘What do we do?’

Completely at a loss for a solution, I made the flippant remark, ‘We could pray.’

My cousin’s reply surprised me, pointing out that she was much wiser than her twenty-eight years. ‘Yeah. My Mama always told me, ‘pray, but keep swimming’. I think this is the time we keep swimming.’

I couldn’t resist putting my arm around her slender shoulders and hugging her to me. ‘You know, you might be the only smart one in this entire family of ours.’

She laughed and gave me a playful slap on my chest. ‘You got any ideas?’

Fate, fortuity, fortune—I don’t know which one it was but some angel must have witnessed our struggles in the waters of desperation for at that moment, the goon on the passenger side climbed out and disappeared into the Triple A Grocery.

An idea clicked in my head. ‘Quick. Climb behind the wheel. Don’t touch the brake. I’m going inside the convenience store.’

‘Inside?’ she frowned. ‘Why?’

Opening the rear door, I climbed out. ‘I’ll explain when I get back. You just go up through the window and get ready.’

Inside, I stopped the storeowner, a portly man around sixty. ‘I might be wrong, but I think you might ought to call the sheriff.’

His eyes grew wide. ‘Sheriff? Why?’

I pointed out the Nissan in the parking lot across the street. ‘You remember me. I used the pay phone earlier. That car was there when I came in. I got the feeling something’s wrong over at the grocery store. One of guys just went inside. I’m not sure, but it looked like he had a gun in his hand.’

The olden man’s face blanched. He grabbed the phone and punched in a number.

‘I’ll wait outside so I can keep a better watch on things.’