Lousiana Hotshot

half a mind to take Aucoin down too, mostly because he’d called her “sister.” She was no sister to pond scum, she didn’t care what color he was.
    The question was, how was she going to protect two girls at two different schools, single-handedly? She couldn’t, obviously. She needed help. Darryl was out of the question for many reasons, one being that he not only wouldn’t do it, he’d try and stop her as well. Another being that she was damned if she was going to run to her boyfriend every time the going got tough. A third being that she needed someone in the business, someone cued in to the case. Eileen Fisher was the only person she could think of, and she was an even more absurd idea than Darryl.
    Angela, though— now there was a thought. A little on the hysterical side, but game, very game.
    Suddenly the solution occurred to her. Not Angela. Tony. He was an Italian male whose dad had been shot— and who had plenty of guilt about said dad. She figured he’d already have hit the streets if he’d known where to look.
    She reached him at the hospital. “Tony, Talba. How’s your dad?”
    “Hanging in there.” He sighed. “He’s still in a coma. That’s the scary part.
Goddam,
this is frustrating.”
    “What is?” she asked innocently.
    “I just wish there were something I could do.”
    “Tony, I think I know who did this.”
    “Who did it? You mean it wasn’t an accident?”
    “I don’t think so; I really don’t. You want to get together and talk about it?”
    They got together over some truly terrible hospital coffee, and Talba told him everything. She started with Cassandra, then graduated to Toes-as-the-Baron’s brother, the death of Rhonda, the disappearance of Aziza, the disinterest of the cops, and ended, finally, with the hit-and-run attack on Eddie. He listened with a great deal more attention than she’d have thought an Italian male had in him, not once interrupting her, until that last, crucial chapter.
    “Wait a minute. Hold it. Why just Eddie? Why not you?”
    She nodded. “Yeah. Good question. Maybe not
yet
me. But I’ve been watching. So far, no tails.”
    He shook his head and made a sound like someone with a mouthful of food. “Mmmmf. Not yet’s right. If there’s anything to your theory, you’re an endangered species, baby.”
    She didn’t mind that he called her “baby.” She liked it. She’d long since realized that in a city as affectionate as this one, feminist objections applied only if there was malice involved. She said, “It’s not me I’m worried about. It’s those two girls.”
    He stood up, slapping his own face. “Oh, shit. This guy’s not a crime wave, he’s a tsunami. He’ll go for ‘em. Sure he’ll go for ‘em.”
    “Yeah.” She was letting it sink in.
    “Maybe we can hide them somewhere.”
    “I thought of that. Cassandra’s scared, I can tell you that. I could try to convince her. If it worked, maybe she could help us with Shaneel. The problem is, their parents.”
    “Why don’t we just whisk them away?”
    “And face kidnapping charges? Besides, where would we take them?”
    “Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you right. I used to say that all the time.”
    “I still say it.”
    “Well, what’s the alternative?”
    “Just be there. Keep an eye on them— be ready in case he tries anything.” She flung her arms wide, feeling helpless.
    He pulled at his lip, maybe to stimulate thought. She had an image of him as a child, a fifth-grader maybe, doing the same thing and getting scolded for it. On the adult, it looked cute as anything.
    She kept talking. “The only problem is, they go to different schools.”
    “Well? There are two of us.”
    It was what she was hoping he’d say, but she was suddenly overcome with doubt. “I don’t know, it could be dangerous. And you’re about to get married— and with the baby and all…” What had she been thinking? But it was too late now.
    “Oh, for Christ’s sake. I’m a man.”
    You sure are,
she thought.
That’s how they think.
    They went back and forth a time or two, and then they were both in it, both determined, both unstoppable. And when it got to that point, they were partners.
    Talba volunteered to take Shaneel because this way, once and for all, she could follow her home and at last confront the parents. Maybe talk them into sending Shaneel away for a while. It made sense for another reason— Tony could recognize Cassandra by the picture of her that had run in the paper when