by Matt Hilton
‘Tell him I’ll be right there.’ Zeke stood slowly from tormenting Emilia. He inhaled deeply. ‘Go on, Ty. I’m just gonna finish up here first.’
Tyson closed the door behind him.
‘Talk about an untimely interruption,’ Zeke said to nobody in particular. But then he returned his attention to his captive. ‘You might think that karma is bullshit,’ he said, and his smile grew broad again. ‘But you should thank it all the same. It’s just won you a stay of execution, girl. I can’t go murdering you just yet, not when I intend taking money from your old man. But it’s not through any sense of misguided loyalty. Oh no. See, I don’t trust Darius Chatard one bit. I fully expect him to try to twist out of our agreement when it comes to payment, so I gotta have a contingency in place. What do you say, Emilia? D’you think he’ll pay as much for his daughter’s head as he agreed to for his enemy’s?’
TWENTY-FOUR
It took a little persuading of the nursing staff for them to allow Po back at his mother’s bedside, but he’d convinced them he was Clara’s son, and that he would be no trouble. But when he returned to the parking lot Tess could tell from the frown riding his forehead that Emilia was still a no show at the hospital. They’d arrived twenty minutes earlier, and after gently arguing their way past the nurses’ station on the intensive-care ward, Po had disappeared inside Clara’s room while Tess retraced her steps to the entrance. She stood where she’d last watched Zeke Menon drive off in a pickup. Pinky wasn’t along with her this time; he was still swapping out his wheels when they called him from the hotel, though he promised to be back as soon as possible. But Po couldn’t wait, so they’d hailed a cab. Pinky was due to swing by and pick them up once he’d collected the alternative vehicle from one of his contacts. Tess had decided to station herself at the front of the hospital: should Emilia arrive, she hoped to speak to her first, to warn her she’d nothing to fear from the stranger she’d find in her mom’s room. Emilia would know of her supposed half-brother by reputation, but it would be one painted black by her parents and other siblings. By explaining Po’s good intentions, Tess hoped to avoid a confrontation at Clara’s bedside, where emotions could override good sense.
But Emilia hadn’t shown up.
‘Clara’s still sleeping,’ Po announced. ‘Didn’t want to disturb her, but I spoke with her nurse. Nobody has visited my mom’s room but for us earlier today.’
‘Maybe she swung by her apartment,’ Tess suggested. ‘Or maybe she has gone to see her dad before coming over here.’
‘Step-dad,’ Po corrected. ‘And I doubt it. Rachel said she sounded desperate to get to the hospital, right? So what’s keeping her?’ He thought hard, then took out his cell. Hit buttons. ‘Pinky, you got a vehicle sorted yet? OK. So as soon as you’re mobile again, do me a favor, bra? Go on over to Emilia’s place and check she hasn’t come home yet. Any of those bozos hanging around like earlier; you have my blessing to see ’em off. Me an’ Tess are gonna wait here.’
‘You just want to wait out here in the open?’ Tess asked. She’d donned a thicker jacket, but was still chilled.
Po pulled out his cigarettes.
He walked away from the hospital towards the main road. Stood at the gateway and lit up. Tess watched him smoke, shivering in the frigid air.
‘We’re going about this all the wrong way,’ she said.
‘How so?’
‘We should bring in the police.’
‘I recall you criticizing me for suggesting the same thing not so long ago.’
‘That was different. Ron Bowen was dead. He wasn’t going anywhere, and I only wanted some time to think things through before the cops arrived and kicked us off the investigation. Emilia isn’t dead, but we both know she’s in danger. Look at what happened to those hunters.’
‘We don’t know if anything happened to the Thibodauxs. We found blood, but maybe there’s always blood there.’
‘You don’t believe that any more than I do. I know it’s putting too much emphasis on a hunch, but I’m under no illusions and I don’t think you are either. Emilia witnessed something bad happening there and ran away. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who she’s running from, otherwise why would this Menon character have his goons looking for her. It’s no coincidence.’
Po inhaled deeply, and allowed the smoke to leak from the corner of his mouth. Finally he nodded.
Tess went on, ‘I know you’re burning to go and front things out with him, and I know it’s only because I’m here with you that you haven’t yet. You don’t want to cause trouble for me, and I appreciate that, but we’ve been over this before. I’ll back you to the hilt every time, Po, but not if I think you’re doing the wrong thing.’
‘He needs stopping.’
‘I agree. But he can be stopped in ways that don’t send you back to prison. We can come clean to the cops, explain we’ve been looking for Emilia and it led us to check out the trapper camp where we found all that blood. The police weren’t involved before because neither Emilia nor Jason Lombard have been reported missing, but it’s different now. If the Thibodauxs were hurt … no, let’s face it, if they were murdered, and I’m beginning to believe that something bad has happened to Jason too, we need the cops. We have to let them know that Emilia’s in danger from whoever hurt them. With their resources, they can help protect Emilia and take down the people threatening her.’
‘Emilia’s not missing, she’s on her way here.’
Tess returned his gaze.
‘You can’t hide it from me, Po. That strong, rocky facade doesn’t fool me one bit. You’re worried.’
‘She should’ve been here by now,’ he agreed. ‘But what if we’re wrong? What if Emilia didn’t witness a thing, and the reason Zeke Menon’s looking for is for an entirely different reason, like we thought, that maybe Darius asked him to find her? Maybe he has nothing to do with the Thibodauxs, or anything other than that Emilia and her boyfriend owes him money. From the sound of things Jason is heavily into the drug scene, so maybe Zeke was his dealer and he’s hiding from a bad debt. Would explain why Emilia could have run off with him.’
‘Jason wasn’t with her when Rachel picked her up in Catahoula. She said Emilia looked like she’d spent the night sleeping in the swamp. How far is Catahoula from the Thibodaux place?’
Po walked away, to flick his cigarette end into a storm drain. It was also to give him time to think before answering. As he returned to her, he dug out his packet again and fed another cigarette between his lips. He stood, peering at the hospital over Tess’s head while he lit his second cigarette. ‘You’re right,’ he said.
‘About calling the cops.’
‘About her possibly spending the night in the swamp. About the Thibodaux camp being too close to Catahoula to be a coincidence. About Zeke Menon’s interest in her being something more. And about me being worried. But the thing is, we don’t know anything for certain. If we call in the cops now, you know who’s going to spend the next few days answering awkward questions, don’t you?’ He watched her for a response, but all she did was lower her head and stare at the sidewalk. ‘We’ll be put in the frame for the trouble at the Thibodaux camp. I know it can easily be refuted, once they get the forensics back on the blood, and how old it is because we’ve strong alibis being half a continent away when they died, but that will take time. I’m not sitting in an interview room, or a goddamn cell, while Emilia could be on her way here. I’m damned if I’ll do it if she’s in imminent danger.’
Tess wasn’t as concerned by the prospect of being treated as a potential suspect, but he had a point. They’d have to explain why they went to the trappers’ camp, and that would lead the investigation back to Jason Lombard’s roommate who’d sent them there, and she didn’t trust the junkie to play straight with the investigators. He could even lie, and say that they had been threatening towards him, and had been angry with the Thibodauxs for selling drugs to Po’s sister. It would be a possible motive for Po to e
xact retribution on the dealers. He would be locked up while things were straightened out. They’d also want to know what had led them to Jason Lombard, and who they had learned the boyfriend’s name from. Tess could show she’d identified Emilia’s girlfriends through their social-network activity, but not where she’d got their names from in the first place. God help Po if the cops learned of the armed confrontation he’d had with the thugs staking out Emilia’s apartment. And there was also Pinky’s inclusion to consider. He was offering his assistance selflessly, and it’d be unfair to drop him into the centre of a police investigation that could have repercussions on him.
‘OK,’ she finally said. ‘So phoning the cops might not be my most inspired plan. What do you want to do?’
‘If Emilia isn’t here by the time Pinky gets back, we do what I originally planned. I call Darius Chatard, ask him if Zeke’s his man, and if not … well, I call Zeke.’
Tess shivered again, but this time it wasn’t due wholly to the cold.
An ambulance drew their attention. Its flashing lights came on, followed by its siren, and as they watched it go, Tess wondered if it was streaking to Emilia’s assistance. She forced down the horrible notion and didn’t mention it to Po, because she suspected he had had a similar thought. She watched him glance sourly at the burnt stub of his cigarette, before he flicked it away into the curb.
Behind them another vehicle approached, turned into the hospital, mere yards from them, and suddenly braked. It was a silver Toyota Camry XV50, one of the most popular models of passenger car in the US. Before Tess got a good look at its occupants, it pulled away again, and drove for the parking lot. Po watched it go, but he seemed unconcerned by the driver’s sudden stop then acceleration. Maybe, as they were, the driver expected to see someone they were looking for at the hospital and had pulled up sharply before realizing his mistake.
They waited for Pinky to return for them. But neither expected an imminent arrival, not if he’d followed Po’s request to swing by Emilia’s apartment first. He was at least fifteen minutes out.
They kicked their heels, occasionally glancing along the main road in hope that Emilia would materialize out of the gloom.
After a while Po lit a third cigarette.
Tess exhaled.
‘You want a coffee or something?’ he asked. ‘Help warm you up while we wait for Pinky.’
‘You want anything?’ she offered.
He held up his cigarette. ‘I’m good.’
Tess headed inside. While in the lobby she used the public facilities, washed her hands, and then checked out the coffee machine. She fed dollars into the slot and waited while the machine worked its magic. She chose a black coffee with extra sugar. A caffeine kick and the extra calories were very welcome. Finally she wandered outside again, sipping gratefully on the hot coffee and wondering if by now Po was on to his fourth cigarette in quick succession.
He was nowhere to be seen.
TWENTY-FIVE
‘Zeke! For God’s sake! Are you totally insane?’
Al Keane’s face was slick with perspiration, despite the cold. He was seething, and not a little terrified of the consequences of Zeke Menon’s actions.
‘It has been suggested before,’ said Zeke, and offered his employer a snarky smile that tugged at one side of his mouth. ‘But before you get yourself all bent out of shape, I’ve thought everything through, and everything’s under control.’
‘Are you freakin’ kidding me? You’ve got a goddamn witness who could potentially bring us all down locked in one of my offices!’
‘She can’t cause us any trouble from in there.’
‘You were supposed to shut her up, Zeke, not bring her here. It’s bad enough you made a mess of clearing up the Thibodaux problem, you’ve gone and made it ten times worse by not silencing all the damn witnesses. What were you thinking, bringing her here?’
‘Where would you suggest I took her, Al?’ Zeke’s tone had lowered.
‘Out in the damn swamp, where you’ve taken everyone else.’ Keane ran his hands over his face, and sat heavily in the chair behind his walnut desk. ‘If she’s traced here, I’m finished. Corbin’s finished. And you can bet your damn ass you’ll be finished too, Zeke. And don’t think you can escape. Corbin will have you hunted down like a dog wherever you go.’
‘You always were prone to exaggeration, Al. Chill a moment. Let me explain.’
‘Don’t be so patronizing,’ Keane snapped. ‘You’re not talking to a frightened young woman now.’
Zeke grunted in mirth. ‘Am I not?’
Keane’s fists came down solidly on the desk. ‘It’d do you good to remember who signs your damn paycheck! Watch your damn mouth, why don’t you, and show some respect?’
‘I earn my money,’ said Zeke, and left the suggestion that respect should be earned too for Keane to realize. But he wasn’t in an argumentative mood, so shrugged in something approaching apology. ‘Al, I can understand your frustration, but you haven’t thought things through clearly. Emilia has been running around for the last five days, and who knows how many people she’s talked with. I brought her here because before I put her in a hole I have to question her, and make sure that her loose tongue doesn’t unduly affect your and Nate Corbin’s businesses. I could easily give her to Cleary if you wish; my brother would love to take her out in the swamp as you suggest, but what then? This is about damage control, the very thing you employed me to take care of. So I really don’t see what you’re concerned about.’ He thumbed at the doorway. ‘What? You thought I was going to dismember her in there or something? Forget about my insanity crack from before, I was just yanking your chain. I’m not mad. When I’m positive that we’ve nothing to fear from Emilia Chatard, I fully intend doing my job. She’ll disappear. But not until I’ve dragged the names of everyone she’s been in contact with out of her.’
Keane nodded, but was still worried. He again pawed sweat from his brow. ‘Mr Corbin might take some convincing. It’s why I’m here. He’s coming to see what the hell is going on, and wants answers. What the fuck is the deal up at the Thibodauxs’ camp?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Corbin got a call from one of his contacts in the New Iberia Police Department. They’ve received an anonymous tip-off about a potential murder at the camp. The NIPD and IPSO have teams out there now, and are treating it as a potential crime scene. What the fuck happened, Zeke? You were supposed to sterilize it, not leave pools of blood for the cops to find.’
‘So there was a little blood left behind. So what? The place was a goddamn slaughterhouse as it was. Given a few more days the rain would’ve completed the clean-up for us, and failing that the site is due to be dug up by your construction crews. This anonymous tip? I grant you, it couldn’t have come at a worse time.’ Zeke glanced at the door, wondering if Emilia had called the cops when she phoned Darius Chatard and learned of her mother’s plight. Perhaps she had doubted his warning about talking to anyone, and had realized it was her only option if she intended returning home to her mother’s bedside. Stupid bitch had been wrong on that count. He’d warned her what he’d do to her loved ones …
Yet he wasn’t prepared to do harm to any of the other Chatards just yet. He fully intended having his reckoning with Nicolas Villere, and being paid handsomely for the privilege sweetened the deal for him. He was an opportunist, yes, but also a player in the bigger picture. If he was careful, and as fearless as ever, then he could use the fuck-up at the Thibodaux site, and the fallout involving Emilia, to his benefit. Until now he’d relied on generating terror based on his and Cleary’s ferocious reputations, but wouldn’t it be neat if he actually toppled those who believed him their superiors through the manipulation of events?
‘The blood at the camp won’t prove that the Thibodaux brothers are dead. I’m confident their corpses will never be found, and without their bodies I’m doubtful the cops will launch a full murder investigation. This tip-off from Corbin’s guy in the NIPD, di
d it mention murder?’
‘No. Come to think of it they just said there’d been some kind of a disturbance,’ Keane replied.
Zeke shrugged at the less than hysterical report.
‘So they might find some blood. You know Cleary, he gets kinda carried away at times, but as I recall it wasn’t excessive. Couple of puddles here and there, but somebody could bleed that much from a busted nose. Cops could assume this disturbance was down to the Thibodauxs having a fallout, throwing punches and curses at each other. Do you really think they’ll take things seriously and treat it as a major crime scene?’
‘And when they can’t find the Thibodauxs?’
‘They’re renegades, drug dealers who have no truck with the law. The cops will assume the brothers are lying low or have disappeared into the bayous on another hunt.’
‘They aren’t stupid,’ Keane warned.
‘Just predictable. Look, let me reassure you, Al. The Thibodaux brothers are history in the best sense of the word. Period. The stupid kid that stumbled into the scene when we were doing clean-up, history. His girl in there … well, her days are numbered. Then she’ll go where we put the others. Their cars are all chopped and crushed and on a truck to a scrap-metal dealership in New Orleans. There’s nothing out at the camp that can tie me to it, so neither you nor Corbin need worry I’ll lead the cops back to you. With the Thibodauxs off the land, Corbin can assure his investors that there’ll be no further delays in getting that pipeline of his in place. I’ve done what was asked of me, so I don’t know what you’re both so upset about.’
‘You got those squatters off our land, as you promised. But did there have to be so much blood? After all the recent news stories, it’s bound to attract attention. Especially if the media get onboard.’
‘News stories that people aren’t taking seriously. For fuck’s sake, Al. Even the Daily Iberian ran copy with headlines about a freakin’ werewolf. Nobody but some of the most superstitious Creoles out in the swamp are taking that shit about a rougarou seriously.’