“Did they really think Ralph would give them money?” Gertie asked.
“Who knows what they think,” Lucinda said. “Those boys were never bright and always trouble. Their mother bailed them out until she drank herself into that car wreck and then they wound up with Ralph. I think they thought he’d be a pushover like their mother. I’ll give him credit for trying, but those boys were more than Ralph was equipped to handle.”
Gertie nodded. “Hard enough taking on kids that aren’t your own, but when you’ve never raised any yourself and the kids you’re taking in have been running wild all their life, well, he didn’t have much of a chance.”
“No, he didn’t,” Lucinda agreed. “I tried to help what little I could, but I had never raised children either and quite frankly, had no idea what could be done. I think he finally just gave up and prayed nothing horrible happened until they turned eighteen.”
I shook my head. “They must have been really desperate to hit Ralph up for money. Surely they knew the answer before they called.”
“Oh, they tried to assure him it was just a loan,” Lucinda said. “That they had a line on work and would pay him back in no time, but he didn’t buy it.” She frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Ida Belle asked.
Lucinda sighed. “I’d never say this to Ralph, of course, because it would just cause him to stress over something he can’t control, but I can’t help but wonder if it was them that broke into Hot Rod’s place.”
“But New Orleans is their home turf,” I said. “Wouldn’t it make more sense for them to boost cars there? Why come all the way out here? Hot Rod had a couple of nice things, but nothing like the cars you can get off a lot in the city.”
Lucinda shook her head. “That’s something I don’t have an answer for, and I could be completely wrong besides.” She paused. “But the timing just seemed odd, you know? All these years and no car thieving around these parts—I mean no more than drunk teens joyriding—and then this.”
Ida Belle nodded. “I see why that might have occurred to you, especially given that you had close proximity to their past exploits.”
“I pray I’m wrong,” Lucinda said. “For Ralph’s sake. He’s a bore and a grump but he doesn’t deserve any more grief from those boys. He did what he could, but they were too far gone by the time they got here.”
I leaned forward in my chair. “Gertie told me the brothers claimed they were related to Barry Seal. Is that true?”
Lucinda rolled her eyes. “That old story again. I never met the boys’ father. That loser died before I met Carol. Always unemployed. Always running some kind of scam. Do you know he was killed while trying to steal equipment from the drilling company he worked for?” She shook her head. “I doubt the boys even remember him very well. Carol sure knew how to pick ’em.”
“So the boys made it up?” I asked. “I just wondered since they did go to prison for drug dealing…”
“Of course.” Lucinda nodded. “Makes sense to wonder from an outsider’s perspective and it is a good yarn, but I’m guessing the boys made it up to make themselves more important. I know it sounds odd.”
“Not really,” Ida Belle said. “Given that the boys ran with a rough crowd, having a famous criminal as a relative might have gotten them street cred.”
“Even though he was a snitch?” I asked.
Lucinda shrugged. “The people who made Barry Seal into a folk legend like to believe he was playing the federal government and was supposed to be recovered from that work crew and whisked off to live the rest of his life on an island, rather than killed, like he was.”
“I guess when you don’t have anything,” Gertie said, “that’s as good a lie to believe as any.”
“They were a pitiful case,” Lucinda said. “And not very bright. I heard the police clued in to their gig in New Orleans because of their spending habits. Flash and show are not good traits to have if you’re doing something illegal.”
“A low profile is definitely the more common route for that type of career,” Ida Belle agreed.
Lucinda sighed. “I really hoped they’d get out of prison and try to do things a different way.”
“But you don’t think they’re going to?” I asked.
She shook her head, her expression sad. “No. I’m afraid I don’t.”
Chapter Fifteen
When I pulled away from Lucinda’s house, I looked over at Ida Belle and Gertie. “I’ve burned off my sandwich,” I said. “Let’s grab some dinner at the café. That way, no one has to cook anything and we get something better than sandwiches.”
“You don’t have to convince me,” Gertie said. “I always end up doing the cooking, which normally, I don’t mind. But I’m not feeling it today.”
Ida Belle nodded. “Too much other stuff cluttering things up there. I could do with a good hot meal and no dishes afterward.”
I headed for Main Street and parked in front of the café. Ally was working the dinner shift and waved us to our favorite table in the back when we walked inside.
“Any news on Hot Rod?” she asked as we sat down.
“No change in his condition,” Ida Belle said.
Ally looked disappointed. “I didn’t figure, but I still had to ask. There’s always the chance something good could have happened between now and ten minutes ago when I asked someone else.”
Ida Belle nodded. “We’re still hoping for positive news but right now, I’m afraid it looks pretty grim.”
“Speaking of grim,” Gertie said, “where’s your aunt? She’s been suspiciously quiet and it’s making us all a little nervous.”
“That’s a good question,” Ally said. “I went by her house Monday evening to check on her…you know, the whole niece thing, and I saw a suitcase in her living room. She tried to shove it behind the coffee table, but it was sticking out enough that I saw it.”
“Did you ask her about it?” I asked.
Ally shook her head. “She would have just lied. Clearly, she didn’t want me to know she was going somewhere. I stopped by her house this morning and rang the doorbell and knocked for a while, but no one answered. I went around back and peeked in the windows, but other than a light on in her kitchen, there was no sign of life.”
Ida Belle frowned. “I wonder what she’s up to now.”
“If she had any kind of sense,” Ally said, “she’d get out of town long enough to give people time to forget her latest stunt.”
“She doesn’t have enough sense to be embarrassed,” Ida Belle said.
“True,” Ally said. “Besides, she’s back already. I saw her driving down Main Street toward the highway about an hour ago. So whatever she’s up to only required a day.”
“You’re just assuming she was gone somewhere overnight,” Gertie said. “For all you know, she could have been hauling body parts out with that suitcase.”
Ida Belle shook her head. “If she’d been hauling body parts, one of us would have been in there.”
“I guess we’ll have to wait and see if someone doesn’t turn up for church on Sunday,” Ally said. “Let me go grab your drinks.”
“Any ideas?” I asked as soon as Ally walked away.