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“Us, too,” Carlos said. “We hear you, Mrs. M.”
Her sigh told him that she hadn’t been fooled. “I love you all. Carlos and Manny, you’re like my own sons. You all deserve a future.”
“And they’ll have it,” Willa Mae said firmly. “Stop borrowing trouble, Cicely. It ain’t helpin’.”
“Are the cops in place?” Xavier asked.
“Yep,” Carlos said. “At least I think so. A black car got in front of us right after Willa Mae cut in between the last two cars. A black car is beside us. And... yeah, I see Burke Broussard on that street corner.” They’d found his photo on his PI company’s website. “Jesus, he’s a big guy. You should move over a little bit more, X. When he jumps in, one of his boots could squash you like a bug.”
Xavier rolled his eyes, ignoring the fear coiling in his gut. “I’m not getting squashed.”
“Whatever.” Carlos was quiet now. Very serious. “Five, four, three, two—” His speech stuttered to a stop when Willa Mae floored it, wheels squealing as the minivan lurched forward. The black car in front of them would have cleared a path, allowing her to accelerate so that the car beside them could slip in between them and the white BMW SUV. That was the plan. “Hold on, X!”
“Oh, wow,” Manny said, just as a police car siren started to wail. “Flashers and sirens. They have the Beemer completely boxed in. Shit.”
The last curse was due to the sharp right Willa Mae took. Two seconds later, she threw the minivan into park, the side door slid open, and Burke Broussard jumped in.
“Hi,” Xavier said from the floor when Burke had jerked the side door closed, not waiting for Willa Mae to hit the button. “I’m Xavier.”
Burke grinned down at him. “I’m Burke. Nice to meet you, Xavier.” He looked around the van. “Manny and Carlos. And Miss Cicely and Miss Willa Mae. Welcome to New Orleans, y’all. Take a left at the next stop sign, ma’am. Then you’ll see a man waving you through the gate into off-street parking.”
“Will do,” Willa Mae said. “And then you’ll tell us what the hell is going on here?”
“We’re going to wait for Molly Sutton and Gabe Hebert to join us,” Burke said. “But we have lunch waiting.”
Lunch waiting, Xavier thought with a mental snort. Like it was a fucking garden party. “Where are Molly and Gabe now?” he asked.
“Still on I-10, I imagine,” Burke said as Willa Mae made the next turn. “There’s my tech guy, ma’am. His name is Antoine. Just pull in where he’s signaling to us.”
“Oh, dear,” Cicely said quietly. “He looks unhappy to see us.”
Burke shrugged very wide shoulders. “He gets cranky when he does all-nighters. He hasn’t slept yet. We’ve been exploring a few leads. All right, now,” he said when they made another turn. “We’re here and still alive. I think we’re doing pretty well.”
Xavier heard his mother’s anxious intake of breath. “Where exactly is here, Mr. Broussard?”
“My office, ma’am. I’m so sorry. I’m afraid everything’s been a little cloak-and-daggery up until now. We will share everything we know. I promise. And we have lunch.” He repeated this last bit about lunch a little too brightly, as if hoping that giving them food would keep them from demanding answers. Xavier was about to say hell no to that when Manny spoke up.
“I can eat,” Manny said. “You’re not going to poison us, are you?”
Burke laughed. “No. I’ll even eat a bite of y’all’s food first, if it’ll make you feel better.”
“Not mine,” Carlos said. “I could eat a whole cow myself. I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving,” Manny complained. “What else is new?”
Burke looked amused. “We ordered lunch for fifteen people.”
“That oughta be about right,” Carlos agreed, totally serious. His BFF could put away an astounding amount of food. “Thank you, sir.”
Xavier finally exhaled when the minivan stopped and Willa Mae cut the engine.
They were finally going to get some answers.
And, apparently, lunch.
The Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana
TUESDAY, JULY 26, 3:00 P.M.
