Kent Conwell - Tony Boudreaux 15 - The Mona Lisa Murders (13 page)

He nodded.

Casually, I ambled back to the camper, climbed in, then slithered up from beside Latasha. ‘Keep your foot off the brake, but start the engine.’

‘Huh?’ Her brow wrinkled in a frown.

‘Our friends across the street have got company coming.’

‘Company? But—’

Tires screeched as a police cruiser slid around a corner and roared toward the gray Nissan. A second police vehicle was right behind him.

‘Okay. Let’s go. Nice and easy.’

She pulled out on the main street and headed north.

As we rolled past the city limits, I snapped. ‘Let’s move it.’

A few minutes later we sped through Fluker. A mile or so outside of town, we cut west on Farm Road 10. ‘Do you know where you’re going,’ she asked as we sped along the narrow macadam roads.’

‘West.’

She cocked a skeptical eyebrow. ‘Where west?’

‘Away from east,’ I replied. ‘Don’t worry. The main highway linking Baton Rouge to Natchez is ahead of us. When we hit it, we’ll drop down to One-Ninety. That’ll take us straight into Opelousas.’

With a chuckle, she replied. ‘These roads out here go every which way.’

‘Yeah. Isn’t that great? Those bozos won’t ever find us.’

Flexing her slender fingers about the wheel, Latasha laughed.

I laughed with her, but I couldn’t ignore the worry nagging at me. Just how many Throat Cutters were out there?

Chapter Twenty-Two

At Scotlandville, we hit Highway 190. A little over an hour later, we rolled into Opelousas. We spent fifteen minutes zigzagging through town, doubling back, and pulling into alleyways before showing up at Catfish Lube on Falcon Drive, the fifth service facility of Leroi’s eleven franchise chain throughout Central Louisiana.

As we pulled up in front of the lube shop, one of the bay doors slid open. Leroi stood in the middle of the opening, waving us in.

Over a round of beers, Latasha brought Leroi up to date while I went online in Leroi’s office and checked my e-mail.

Nothing.

When I sat back down with them, Leroi nodded to the backpack in the middle of his desk. ‘So, once you turn the package over to your friend in the morning, you’re out of it?’

Latasha glanced at me, her eyes filled with hope.

I took another swig of beer. ‘I sure hope so.’

He looked around at Latasha. ‘Just goes to prove,’ he said with a hint of I-told-you-so in his voice. ‘Anytime something seems too good to be true, it usually is.’

Her tone defensive, she shot back. ‘I checked out Bianchi and de Luca. They were legitimate. How was I to know they stole the ashes from Nemo?’

Leroi snorted. ‘Some legitimate.’

‘You know what I mean.’

A knock at the office door interrupted us. A lean young man around twenty-one or –two, wearing a Catfish Lube shirt and jeans that fit stuck his head in. ‘Got the hamburgers, Leroi.’

‘Bring them in, and Lucas.’

‘Yeah.’

Leroi hooked his thumb over his shoulder. ‘That red Dodge in the first bay. Run it over to the warehouse and lock it up. Have Maurice follow you and bring you back. You boys stop and grab something to eat if you wants.’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Good looking kid,’ I said when Lucas left.

‘All them that be working for me is good kids. Dress right. Talk right. None of that underwear-showing crud or floppy shirts what look like flour sacks.’ He paused and studied the closed door with pride. ‘That’s how I reckon Stewart, he’d be right now.’

I bit my bottom lip remembering how his son’s death had shattered Leroi. Almost turned him into a drunk. ‘Yeah. Shame. He was a good kid.’

Latasha spoke up. ‘Thanks for helping us out, Leroi.’ She laid a slender hand on his arm. ‘I’ll pay one of your boys to drive the pickup over to Carl at Pearl River.’

He shook his head. ‘Don’t sweat it. That’s what big brothers do, right?’

He and I had grown up together, spent time at each other’s house, gone to school, got in trouble, and just about everything mischievous little cousins do together, and at that moment, I was sure proud to call him my cousin.

The hamburgers were thick and juicy. I managed to down one, and watched in awe as Latasha scarfed down two of those large suckers.

Leroi handed me another beer. ‘We could do that when we was young, cousin.’

‘Yeah.’ I chuckled. ‘There’s a lot of things I can’t do anymore.’

He changed the subject. ‘You ever get back to Church Point?’

‘About once a month. Mom and Grandmere Ola are fine. They say you drop by from time to time.’

‘Try. You going by when you leave here?’

Latasha shot me a worried look. ‘No time. I want to get into Dallas and settle down for the night. Can’t afford to miss that nine o’clock appointment in the morning.’

He laughed. ‘Don’t blame you. I—’

The jangling of the telephone interrupted us.

‘Catfish Lube,’ Leroi answered. His eyes grew wide. ‘What’s that you say? Lucas! He be all right?’ His eyes closed in pain, and he muttered. ‘Dear Lord. Sure, sure, man. I be right over.’

He hung up the phone and in a voice trembling with disbelief, said, ‘Lucas is dead.’

Chapter Twenty-Three

‘Dead!’ I gaped at Leroi. Latasha had pressed her fingers against her lips in shock.

‘They stopped for some boudin at Johnson’s Market by the warehouse. When they come out, Lucas, he climb in pickup and it explode.’

My blood ran cold. I looked around at Latasha. She whispered. ‘They found us again.’

I jumped to my feet and grabbed the backpack. ‘Where’s the car, Leroi? We best get out of here while we can.’

‘This way.’ We followed him to a bay at the rear of the facility.

‘You better keep an eye out. Those bozos might come looking for you.’

‘They do, and they be mighty sorry.’

I jerked to a halt at the last bay. Setting there was a nondescript gray 2006 Ford F-150.

Leroi grunted. ‘I know what you be thinking, but believe me, cousin. This plain looking, everyday run-of-the-mill jalopy is a jewel. She’ll gets you anywhere you wants to go. V-8, overhead cam, three hundred horses. Full of gas. Thirty-eight gallons.’ He gestured to the open bed. ‘Ice chest with food and drink. And half-a-dozen dealer plates under the seat.’

He opened the front door. ‘The boys—’ He stopped in mid sentence, his rugged face wreathed in wrinkles of pain. ‘I had your clothes and toilet stuff stuck in here.’ He stepped back and pressed a button. The bay door rolled up. ‘Now get. I gots to go over to Lucas.’

Latasha asked for the cell phone as we pulled away from Catfish Lube. ‘I want to call Carl. See about Edmund and tell him about his Dodge.’

‘Hold on. I’m going to stop up here and get another phone.’

She looked around at me. ‘What’s wrong with this one?’

‘Probably nothing, but it’s registered to Carl. Those bozos know we had Carl’s pickup. They’re not stupid. They could have access to information about our location. A new phone with a card will keep us anonymous.’

‘I didn’t think cells could be traced back to an address.’

‘If you signed a contract, there’s information they can use. I don’t trust any of them.’

‘But, won’t they ask your name when you buy one?’

‘I’ll lie if they do.’

Five minutes later we were on the road. I tossed her the phone. ‘Here you are. Now we’re in business.’

She punched in Carl’s number as we pulled on the highway.

Antibiotics had counteracted the infection. Edmund was steadily improving. And according to Carl, no strangers had made any contact with him or inquired about Edmund.

On the outskirts of Dallas, we filled up the F-150, then drove to the west side of the sprawling metropolis and pulled into an upscale Regency Inn well after dark.

Latasha flashed a bright smile when I locked the motel door behind us. ‘Another ten hours, and we’re out of this.’

I responded with a wry chuckle. ‘We hope.’

Opening the cell, I dialed Leroi.

‘Man, it be real good to hear from you,’ he said. ‘Where you be?’

‘Pulling into Kansas City in about ten minutes.’ I winked at Latasha.

‘What? Oh. Okay. You and Latasha are all right.’

‘As well as could be expected. What about the explosion? Cops find anything?’

‘Too soon. Lucas is at the funeral home. Lived with his mother. That one, she be a complete wreck.’

‘Nobody’s been by to see you, huh?’

‘No, man. Ain’t seen nobody different.’

‘Thanks. Talk to you later.’

I punched off.

Latasha leaned forward. ‘Well?’

‘No more than what we already know.’

She grimaced. ‘Tell me more about this Danny. You said he was a friend, but he sounds awfully important.’

‘He is in a way. He works for some really influential people.’

Eyeing me curiously, she said. ‘Influential as in Mafia type.’

‘Naw. The Mafia of the movies is just that, the movies. These people are businessmen first.’

‘What about second? What are they second?’

I grunted. ‘I never ask.’

‘Why is he helping you?’

‘We go way back to high school. Like I told you before, I once kept his cousin from riding the needle in Huntsville. Another time, I saved his bosses a few million bucks. Like the good businessmen they are, they never forgot.’

She considered my reply, then lifted her eyebrows and shrugged. ‘If it’s good enough for you, it’s sure good enough for me.’

We rose early and had a solid breakfast of pancakes and coffee, then pulled onto I-20. Fifteen minutes later, we turned into the parking lot of the I-20 Bowling Center next door to the Holiday Inn.

‘We’re early,’ she announced.

‘We’ll wait.’

A steady stream of vehicles pulled into and departed the Holiday Inn. I studied the cars parked around the motel, focusing my attention on those few with occupants.

At five until nine, I started the truck and pulled up in front of the main door to the lobby of the motel. ‘Okay. Grab the package. Let’s go.’

‘You going in with me?’

‘We’re too close to the finish to take any chances.’

She climbed out with the package. I held the lobby door open for her. At the desk, I asked for Jimmy George.

The clerk gave us a bright smile. ‘That’s me. How can I help you, sir?’

I glanced around the lobby. Two men sat in the continental breakfast corner reading the morning news with their coffee and bagels. ‘I’m supposed to meet a man. I was told to contact you.’

His eyes brightened with recognition. ‘Oh yeah, yeah. Over there in the parking lot.’ He pointed to several cars parked in front of a neatly trimmed edge. ‘That red Camaro. The one facing us.’

‘You know who he is?’

George shook his head. ‘Nope. All I know is a guy slipped me a hundred bucks to point the red Camaro out to you.’

‘Thanks.’

I pushed open the lobby door for Latasha. As the door swung shut behind us, a thunderous explosion rocked the building, deafening us.

Chapter Twenty-Four

An orange ball of flame swallowed the Camaro.

‘Run,’ I shouted, grabbing Latasha by the arm and shoving her into the pickup. I jumped behind the wheel and raced away, heading west on the interstate, taking care to stay within the speed limit so as not to call unwelcome attention.

I muttered a few choice curses and tried to still the butterflies fluttering around in my stomach.

She looked at me, her black eyes wide with disbelief. ‘How did they find us?’

‘No idea. Keep an eye out behind us.’

‘What am I looking for?’

‘Cars that are following us.’

A frown wrinkled her forehead. ‘You think they saw us?’

‘Someone was watching. The bomb couldn’t have been on a timer. They couldn’t take a chance on us making the drop a few minutes earlier and the package being in the car.’

‘Maybe one of Danny’s men slipped up.’

‘Maybe, but we can’t be too careful. Just keep an eye out.’

She looked at me in frustration. ‘How do I tell on the Interstate?’

I eased my foot off the accelerator. ‘You will. Just watch.’

As our speed dropped to fifty-five, cars and trucks whipped past us, some with an irritated blast of the horn. A crooked grin played over her slender face. Her black eyes danced. ‘Yeah. I see what you mean.’

Flexing my fingers about the steering wheel, I looked at the side mirror, spotting a black car with heavily tinted windows pulling out to pass us.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw the large sedan pull up beside us then abruptly slow. Before I could react, he swerved toward us.

I cursed, hit the brakes, and cut right, all in the blink of an eye.

Latasha screamed. ‘Tony! What—’

‘Shut up!’ As soon as the black Lincoln shot past, I floorboarded the F-150, slamming into the rear bumper with a resounding crash and jarring impact.

The Lincoln shot forward. I tried to keep up with him, but his engine was too powerful, but I kept up the pursuit, waiting for the right moment to break it off.

Traffic grew heavier. I guessed we were probably approaching some sort of interchange. I spotted an off-ramp to Arlington. At the last moment, I cut right across two lanes and shot down the ramp amidst a cacophony of irate horn blasts.

Back on the interstate, the Lincoln’s brake lights flashed. I grinned to myself, hoping the next off ramp was twenty miles distant.

We wound through the city of Arlington just east of Fort Worth proper, gradually making our way west. It was not yet noon, but traffic was stop and go.

‘Let’s find a place to hole up. We’ll head out after dark.’

We found a Park Heights Inn near Eastside Central Mall.

I parked the F-150 across the lot in front of another wing of the Inn. From under the seats of the pickup, I pulled out the dealer plates Leroi had mentioned. 

I quickly removed the Louisiana plates and placed the dealer plate on the back window after which we drove to the mall where we located an Online Café. Over a cup of coffee, Latasha looked on while I pulled up my email.