Kent Conwell - Tony Boudreaux 15 - The Mona Lisa Murders by Kent Conwell Page A

teaching English at Madison High popped into my head. ‘There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries.’
    Why those particular words spoken by Brutus came to mind, I have no idea, but I knew of what he spoke. We had no choice but to keep going. And hope we were skipping over the shallows and miseries.
    I couldn’t help admiring Latasha’s gritty determination even though it bordered on reckless abandon. I hated to see such foolish courage go unrequited. Taking another sip of coffee, I visualized our route in my head. Turning to Edmund, I said, ‘How long do you figure it’ll take us to get to the Southplace Courtyards?’
    The wiry Melungeon frowned. ‘Southplace?’
    Latasha cleared her throat, but I spoke up. ‘Yeah. Why?’
    ‘It be flooded. Four, maybe five feet.’
    I muttered a curse. Without the key—
    Latasha Domingue had the proverbial ace up her sleeve. ‘No problem. That’s what I started to tell you,’ she responded brightly. She pulled off her running shoe. From inside the lining, she extracted a key. ‘A spare,’ she announced. ‘So we’re set to go.’ She gave me a smug grin of superiority and slipped the key in her pocket.
    Even though I don’t figure we were kissing cousins, I could have kissed her. She saved us a long trip to Metairie and Southplace Courts. Suddenly, I was miffed. ‘Why didn’t you tell me about the spare key?’
    One side of her lips ticked up in a wry smile. ‘You should know. You never lay all your cards on the table. Never can tell when you’ll need a joker.’ She punctuated her remark by taking a deep drag on her cigarette.
    Edmund chuckled.
    I shook my head. ‘All right. So that’s settled, but what about the river. It’s bound to be full of debris.’
    He shook his head. ‘No worry.’ He tapped his chest. ‘Me, I know this river like you know your face. I, Edmund Benoit, be the greatest pilot on this old river.’ He took a drag on his cigarette and winked at Latasha. ‘Don’t you be worrying, cher . Edmund, he get you where you want to go.’
    Edmund’s cell phone started playing ‘Geaux Tigers’, one of the Louisiana State University fight songs. He grabbed it. ‘ Oui ?’ he listened and nodded; nodded and listened, muttering an occasional ‘ oui or oh-mon-non ’. A grim expression had tightened his face by the time he punched off. ‘Three men who say they be the law come see Octave. They ask about the four-wheeler and where you both be. Octave, say he don’t know.’
    Looking around at Latasha, I muttered. ‘Those guys aren’t stupid. If they found Octave, they can find Edmund.’
    ‘You be right,’ the little Melungeon said, punching out his cigarette. ‘We go now. I take us to fish house near river. We put Octave’s pickup inside, spend night, then leave before the sun, she come up.’
    I nodded to his cell phone. ‘Mind if I use yours? Mine is back in the swamp somewhere. I’ll pay for the calls.’
    Edmund slid the phone across the table. ‘Here it be. You keep it.’ With a shrugged, he added. ‘You and Latasha, you might need it. Me, I use Zozette’s.’
    I reached for my wallet. ‘Let me pay you—’
    ‘ Oh-mon-non . No pay. Not in family, oui ?’
    ‘Yeah.’ I grinned. ‘ Oui .’
    ‘Number be on back,’ he said.
    Latasha frowned up at me. ‘Who are you calling?’
    ‘An old friend. I can do it on the way to wherever we’re going. I don’t like this mess we’re in, especially since I don’t know what it is all about.’ I looked at her and then Edmund. ‘I feel like an idiot going through all this without knowing why.’
    Angrily, she crushed her cigarette in the ashtray. ‘My tuition, that’s why. Look, Edmund can tell you. Growing up, I had nothing. Everything I have, I earned myself and took care of my mother until she passed away. I’ve never taken anything from anyone, and I don’t plan