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"I guess I haven't got my sea legs yet," he said.
"Get back inside," I said, and jumped down into the boat.
"We're going after speckled trout. They always hit in the rain. At least they do on the Texas coast."
The rain was cold and stung like BBs. From two feet away I could smell the heavy surge of beer on his breath.
"I'm going inside," I said, and pulled open the cabin door.
"Sure. That's what I was trying to do. Invite you down for a sandwich or a Dr Pepper or a tonic or something," he said, and closed the cabin door behind us.
Kelly Drummond wore leather sandals, a pair of jeans, and the Ragin' Cajuns T-shirt with my name ironed on the back that Alafair had given to Elrod after he had fallen into the bayou. She picked up a towel and began rubbing Elrod's hair with it. Her green eyes were clear, her face fresh, as though she had recently awakened from a deep sleep.
"You want to go fishing with us?" she said.
"I wouldn't advise going out on the salt today. You'll probably get knocked around pretty hard out there."
She looked at Elrod.
"The wind'll die pretty soon," he said.
"I wouldn't count on that," I said.
"The guy who rented us the boat said it can take pretty heavy seas. This weather's not that big a deal, is it?" he said.
On the floor was an open cooler filled with cracked ice, long-necked bottles of Dixie, soda pop, and tonic water.
"I can outfit you with some fly rods and popping bugs," I said. "Why not wait until the rain quits and then try for some bass and goggle-eye perch?"
"When's the last time you caught fresh-water fish right after a rain?" He smiled crookedly at me.
"Suit yourself. But I think what you're doing is a bad idea," I said. I looked at Kelly.
"El, we don't have to go today," she said. "Why don't we just drive down to New Orleans and mess around in the French Quarter?"
"I planned this all week."
"Come on, El. Give it up. It looks like Noah's flood out there."
"Sorry, we've got to do it. You can understand that, cain't you, Mr. Robicheaux?"
"Not really. Anyway, watch the bend in the channel about three miles south. The water's been low and there're some snags on the left."
"Three miles south? Yeah, I'll watch it," he said, his eyes refocusing on nothing. His suntanned, taut chest was beaded with water. His feet were wide spread to keep his balance, even though the boat was not moving. "You sure you don't want a tonic?"
"Thanks, anyway. Good luck to you all," I said.
Before I went out the cabin door, Kelly made her eyes jump at me, but I closed the door behind me and stepped up on the gunwale and onto the dock.
I began pushing huge balloons of water out of the awning with a broom handle and didn't hear her come up behind me.
"He'll listen to you. Tell him not to go out there," she said. There was a pinched indentation high up on her right cheek.
"I think you should tell him that yourself."
"You don't understand. He had a big fight with Mikey yesterday about the script and walked off the set. Then this morning he put the boat on Mikey's credit card. Maybe if we take the boat back now, the man'll tear up the credit slip. You think he might do that?"
"I don't know."
