Lousiana Hotshot

day. Girls, really. Even Talba; for the life of him, he couldn’t shake off the sense of a resemblance to Angie. She was just a kid, and she was way too big for her britches, but he had let her get away with stuff and wasn’t sure how he felt about it. A little voice inside of him said it wouldn’t matter, wouldn’t be his responsibility once she got an apprentice license and he didn’t have to witness the crap she pulled. But he also felt an uncontrollable urge to straighten her out, the way he did with Angie half the time, even though she was a grown woman.
    He could have crawled under the carpet when Talba mouthed off at the client. On the other hand, the woman’s idea of motherhood appeared to be letting the kid’s little friends baby-sit while Aziza fucked her boyfriend. Sure the kid wanted to have sex— she probably even wanted a baby. Anything to get away from a woman who declared herself in charge, probably nagged a hundred and fifty percent of the time, and didn’t enforce rule one around the house. Eddie didn’t have to see it to know what Scott’s mothering style was like. He could hear it now:
    “Cassandra, you ready for church?”
    “I’m not going.”
    “What’s wrong, baby? Aren’t you feeling well?”
    “I’m not going, that’s all.”
    “Baby, church is very important for your spiritual well-being.”
    (Eye-rolling at this point.) “Now go get your good clothes on.”
    “Mama! You can’t— there isn’t time. You just can’t make me do it. It’s too mean.”
    Whereupon Aziza would look at her watch, her boyfriend would arrive in a suit and tie, and she’d dash out the door, leaving Cassandra to watch cartoons on television.
    Of course, the kid felt superior to her mom— she probably won every argument with her. What the hell, Eddie wondered, ever happened to “because I said so”? The kid was a mess— even Talba, a kid herself, could see that and could see why. Eddie frankly thought Aziza should be prosecuted for neglect, but there weren’t any laws to handle it, and, furthermore, she was the client. He wasn’t about to mention her maternal shortcomings.
    So he’d let Talba do it for him. Do it and get away with it. He wondered if he could work up the resolve to reprimand her for it.
    Then there was the way she took over the interview at the school. Totally out of line. But the girl’s instincts were good. When he tried to get around that one, he couldn’t.
    It was also sharp of her to pick up the bad-cop role at Scott’s house. Or had she realized she was doing it? He had his doubts.
    She was a handful. But other things were bothering him.
    Cassandra was. He hated seeing a kid that miserable. He wanted to get the bastard who’d exploited her, but in truth he was as angry at the mother as he was at the rapist.
    Most of all, there was this Rhonda thing. The coincidence of her death was a bit too much to buy. Eddie had been a cop for a long time, and his cop’s belly told him one thing: Toes.
    Maybe the kids weren’t lying about his identity— maybe they really didn’t know who he was. And maybe Cassandra told her friend Pamela that her mother was pulling out all the stops to find him, and Rhonda told Toes, who realized she was the only one who knew who he was, and he killed her. It was amazing how little regard some people had for human life. A guy who’d lure three fourteen-year-olds to his house and have sex with them was a monster by definition.
    But taking it further— this was what bothered him the most— taking it further, maybe the others did know his identity. Maybe Rhonda was only the first.
    This was why he was in no mood. He needed to figure out what the hell to do.
    Okay. First call Scott and tell her to call all the other parents. That was obvious. But damn, he hated the idea of that call. Maybe Talba could make it.
    Also, there was the question of telling the police the whole story. It was going to be a few hours before he could find out if anyone saw the hit-and-run. Maybe if a white woman were driving… nah, that was no good. No matter who was driving, Toes could be behind it. No question he had to warn Scott. Damn. He had to talk to her himself.
    When they got back to the office, he said, “You take Rhonda. I’ll take the cops and Aziza,” and closed the door behind him.
    His head pounded.
At this rate,
he thought,
I’m not gonna make sixty-five.
His birthday was two weeks away.

Chapter 6
    Talba thought,
Okay, fine, if you want to be