Dixie City Jam (Dave Robicheaux 7)

'Max and Bobo always have three or four intermediaries between themselves and whatever they're in.'

'I had the impression you thought they were connected with Lonighan and that Lonighan was mixed up with this psychopath who keeps coming around your house.'

'That's right.'

'So do you have a better lead?'

'Not really.'

'Good. I'll meet you at the jail in two hours. Also, I'm a little pissed, with you this morning, Mr. Robicheaux.'

'Oh?'

'You can't seem to stay out of other people's business.'

'What is it now?'

'I'll tell you when I see you,' she said, and hung up.

Lucinda really knew how to set the hook. All the way across the Atchafalaya Basin, on a beautiful, wind-kissed fall day when I should have been looking at the bays and canals and flooded cypress and willow trees along I-10, I kept wondering what new bagful of spiders she would like to fit over my head.

She met me in the parking lot at the lockup. She wore a pair of white slacks and a purple-flowered blouse, and her hair was brushed out full on her shoulders. She had one hand on her hip and a pout on her face. She looked at the tiny gold watch on her wrist.

'Did you stop for a late breakfast?' she said.

'No, I didn't. I came straight from the office. Get off it, Lucinda.'

'Get off it?'

'Yeah, I'm not up to being somebody's pincushion today.'

'My son is back home. He told me you made some inquiries about the company I keep.'

'No, I didn't.'

'He said you seemed to take an interest in the fact that I had a white man at my house.'

'Kids get things turned around. He volunteered that information on his own.'

'Do you think it should be of some concern to you, sir?'

'No. But one troubling thought did occur to me.'

'Yes?'

'Was it Nate Baxter?'

She looked like a wave of nausea had just swept through her system.

'Do you stay up all night thinking of things like this to say to people?' she said.

'I've known him for twenty years. He'll try to coerce a woman in any way he can. If he hasn't done it to you yet, he will later. He's a sonofabitch and you know it.'

'That doesn't mean I'd allow him in my house.'

'Okay, Lucinda, I apologize. But I know what he did to some women in the First District.'

'I'll buy you a cup of coffee later and tell you about Nate Baxter. In the meantime, our man is waiting on us.'