Kent Conwell - Tony Boudreaux 08 - Death in the French Quarter Read Online Free

Stewart”
    Her black eyes flashed fire. “What’s to talk about? I
haven’t seen him since before Christmas.” She shook
her head. Then, in a voice heavy with sarcasm, she
continued, “Man, that boy has a smooth tongue, and I
fell for it like some starry-eyed little pickaninny.” A
wry smile played over her lips. “Tough way to learn a
lesson”
    Puzzled, I studied her a moment. “Apparently, miss,
you didn’t know.”
    She frowned. “Know what?”
    “Well, I don’t really know how to tell you”
    Alarm replaced the anger in her eyes. “Tell me what?
Is something wrong with Stewart?”
    “I’m sorry, but Stewart is dead. Last December.”
    Her face went slack. She stared up at me in disbelief.
    A voice from the rear of the apartment called out.
“Who’s out there, Aayalih?”
    I glanced past her as a tall black man entered the living room. We locked eyes. I nodded. He gave me a
brief nod. In the same precise speech as the young
woman, he said, “Can I help you, mister?”
    Aayalih spoke up in a soft trembling voice. “This is
my brother, Xavier. Mr. Boudreaux is Stewart’s cousin.
He says that Stewart’s dead”
    The young man froze. “Dead? What happened?”

    I glanced around the porch. “Can I come in?”
    The young woman shook her head sharply, jerking
herself from her trance. She pushed the screen further
open. “Please, come in. I’m sorry. The news stunned
me. Please, come in.”
    The duplex was small, but neat. To my surprise, a
bookcase filled half of a wall. I was further surprised
when I noted some books on classical mythology, some
of the same titles I had on my bookshelves.
    She gestured to a couch. “Would you care for some
coffee, water, a soft drink?”
    “No, thank you.”
    Xavier sat on the other end of the couch, and Aayalih
took the chair across the coffee table. The young man
leaned forward. “What happened to Stewart?”
    I glanced at the young woman, wondering how I
could delicately phrase a gang execution, feet and
hands bound, two bullets in the back of the head. “He
was shot,” I replied simply.
    Aayalih buried her face in her hands, and her slender
shoulders trembled. Xavier muttered a curse. “I told
him not to stick his nose into anything.”
    My ears perked up. “You knew what was going on?”
    “No. I worked at Austin Expediters with Stewart.
That’s how he met my sister, Aayalih.”
    She forced a weak smile.
    Xavier continued. “We delivered documents from
one business to another, attorney’s briefs, contracts,
blueprints-you name it. The second day Stewart was
there, he mentioned that he thought there was more go ing on than just document deliveries. I told him to mind
his own business. A few days later, Stewart didn’t show
up for work. Bones, that is, Guilbeaux said he had quit.
I wondered about that. Stewart hadn’t mentioned leaving, but anyway, my schedule at school was changing,
so I had to find another job”

    “School?”
    The young man grinned. “Studying to be a teacher
like my sister here. She teaches high school English.”
    That explained the books and their speech. I nodded.
“I used to teach English out at Madison High.”
    Aayalih dried her tears. “Really?”
    “Reall”
Y•
    Xavier frowned. “Why’d you quit?”
    I couldn’t see any sense in telling them I just got fed
up with ambitious administration, pouting parents, and
surly students, all of whom were shocked, even outraged when a teacher actually tried to teach and demanded students study. Instead, I simply replied, “It
wasn’t for me” I turned to Xavier. “Did you work at
Austin Expediters long?”
    The tall, straight-backed young man shook his head.
“June through the middle of January”
    “Why did you tell Stewart he should mind his own
business?”
    The younger man shrugged. “Hard to say. There
were rooms in the building Bones kept locked. I picked
up the feeling that something wasn’t right. Then Stewart came