Judah came down the steps and looked at me, his pale eyes lingering on me longer than he’d dared all day. “How’s the shower?”
“The shower?” I blinked at him.
“Darlene told me yours wasn’t working,” Judah said and his eyes gained an odd glint.
“It’s not,” I said, a sudden heat sneaking into my cheeks, reminding me of just how well Darlene’s shower had worked. “I tried calling the plumber but he’s down with the flu.”
“In the middle of July?” Billy asked, a dark blond eyebrow cocked.
I shrugged. “That’s what I was told.”
“Fucking astounding, isn’t it Beaumont? Such afinetown, this St. Frank, and yet we have just the one plumber. Ever thought about investing in the local blue-collar trade?”
Judah shot him a look. “I can come by later. Take a look.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to bother you—”Yes. Yes I would.
Billy pulled a face. “It won’t be a bother, Mercy. Certainly not to our Judah.” He stepped over to Judah and snaked an arm around his shoulder, clapping his chest — grinning like a child in a candystore.
Judah’s his eyes went to Billy.
“Then it’s settled!” Billy laughed. “He’ll come by at ‘round eight, yeah? Don’t go to sleep just yet, doll face.”
“Inside,” Judah hissed.
“Why? It's cooler out here now.”
“William.”
Billy sighed and pulled away from Judah. He caught my eye as he turned. His expression saidsee what I deal withandisn't it greatsimultaneously and somehow without contradiction.
The door closed.
I stood in the full weight of the noon heat with the Jaguar and the dead joint and the smell of expensive cologne still hanging in the air.
He’ll come by at ‘round eight.
That sentence played over and over in my head.
Billy dropped into the chair across from Judah's desk and got straight to it.
“Man named Hall. Been in town four days, staying at the Prosperity Inn, paying cash for everything which makes him more noticeable, not less.” He stretched his legs out. “He's beentalking to Thibodaux Junior, two of the dock workers from the March run. Tried to get in to see old Herbert broad.”
“She run him off?”
“Chased him down the driveway with a broom.” A pause. “He's not law. The questions are too loose, too scattered. But somebody gave him enough of it to make him come down here, and now he's trying to put flesh on it.”
“Fontenot.”
“That's what he's thinking, judging by everything.” Billy watched him. “You want me to handle it?”
“No.”
“Judah—”
“No.”
One word. The conversation ended on it. Billy had known him long enough not to push past it. He sat back and looked at the window instead — the oaks outside, the moss hanging dead-still, the afternoon going nowhere fast.
