Page 61 of The Cajun Doctor

“Listen, Dan, this is your problem, not mine. You brought her . . . them . . . here. Deal with it.”

“Yeah, but she called you. You were her first choice for rescuer.”

“Oh, no, no, no. First responders take precedence.”

“Who told you that?”

“It’s a man thing.”

“Bullshit!”

“You stepped up to the plate, Mickey Mantle. That means you save the day. And by the way, if you’re planning on hitting a home run, change the sheets.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“I know.” Aaron grinned, as if Daniel had paid him a compliment. “Where’s my phone, by the way?”

“Out in my car. In the console.” He waved a hand toward the window fronting the driveway. “If the pig didn’t eat it.”

Aaron grinned.

Daniel had to grin then, too. It was a ludicrous situation.

He walked over to his apartment with Aaron and gathered a few items himself . . . shaving kit, underwear, clean T-shirt, and shorts . . . then sat down wearily on the sofa.

“You know, Dan, this could be dangerous,” his brother said, sinking down to the sofa beside him.

Daniel nodded. “Tell me about it. You didn’t see the two gun-wielding mob dimwits.”

“Death by stupidity is still death,” Aaron remarked.

“I’m calling Lucien LeDeux this morning. I don’t care what Angus says. Luc can advise us on whether to involve the police. And, dammit, as a doctor I have an obligation to report the kind of shenanigans that Coltrane is involved in.”

“Shenanigans? Been hangin’ around Tante Lulu much?”

“Way too much!”

“You still have that pistol?” Aaron asked him then.

“Yes, but I’ve never shot at a human before. Just targets. And snakes.” Even though Tante Lulu recommended killing the snakes with a shovel, he just couldn’t see himself getting that close. And bullets made for a cleaner kill.

Aaron enjoyed hunting and had several rifles and firearms. Back in Alaska, he’d often bagged a caribou and brought back enough venison to fill the freezer of their mother and Aunt Mel. Daniel, on the other hand, had never had the time or inclination. He had bought a pistol, though, and trained himself in its use, when there had been a string of drug-related armed robberies at the medical center where he’d worked.

“I have a couple jobs today, taking some Japanese bigshots out to the oil rigs,” Aaron said then. “I wish I could stick around and help you.”

“Sure you do,” Daniel said. “I’ll tell you one thing. You need to get some more furniture for the house. Not just because of the gang I brought here tonight, but if Aunt Mel decides to come, you can’t have her sleeping on an air mattress.”

“You’re right. Well, you’ve got a plantation credit card. Go out today and buy some stuff.”

“Buy some stuff,” he muttered. “Me? Furniture shopping?”

“You went with me when I picked out paint colors.”

“And had a headache for three days afterward. Who knew there were fifty colors of white? Honey Milk, Lily of the Valley, White Wisp, Summer Fog. And then you getting it on against the paint can shaking machine with the sales clerk.”

“I did not ‘get it on.’ I was just talking to Melinda. Her brother is a pilot in the Air Force Reserve,” Aaron contended. Then, “You can do it, Dan. Just a little shopping.”

“Would that be before or after I meet with the LeDeuxs? Before or after I give Lily Beth the prenatal exam Samantha insists on? Before or after I check to see if this dump has any kind of security system? Before or after I put the brakes on Tante Lulu’s plans to set up a medical practice for me on the bayou?” When did I turn into such a whiner? Daniel thought with disgust.