Too Far Gone

55

Alexa and Manseur sat across from each other at the dining table in his Uptown home eating the shrimp po’boys they had picked up en route to his house. They were studying the printouts of the telephone records that Alexa had requested covering persons of interest in the West case.

“How can people talk so much?” Alexa said.

Outside, car doors slammed.

“Sounds like my girls are home,” Manseur said.

The kitchen door opened and two young girls Alexa recognized from their pictures in Manseur’s office burst into the kitchen, laughing. Upon seeing Alexa, the girls stopped laughing and stared at her. Both had long hair and large expressive eyes. The elder was a head taller than her sister, and thinner. The younger was stocky and resembled her father.

A woman carrying groceries entered the house and closed the door behind her using her foot. She set the bags on the counter and turned.

“Girls, this is Alexa Keen,” Manseur said. “Alexa, may I present my daughters, Emma and Madge, and my wife, Emily.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Alexa said, standing. She extended her hand and greeted each girl with a handshake.

“I’m Emma,” the youngest said, pulling her blond hair back and tucking it behind her ears.

“Madge,” said the other.

“You a police lady?” Emma asked.

“Alexa is an FBI special agent,” Manseur said.

Emily Manseur radiated confidence. She was thin, had olive skin, long black hair, and smiled easily, exposing a slight overbite. “Agent Keen, Michael speaks very highly of you.”

“Are you really an FBI lady?” Emma asked Alexa.

“Yes, I am,” Alexa said.

“Don’t let us interrupt, Agent Keen,” Emily said. “Michael, we’re packed. There are enough can goods, bread, and bottled water to last you two solid weeks. Everything’s in the pantry. There’s candles, matches, flashlights, and batteries.”

“Then y’all need to get going.”

“We could wait until tomorrow to leave. It might turn.”

“It isn’t going to turn much. You should go now,” he said. “I-10’s bumper-to-bumper, and it’ll be worse in a few hours. The Toyota’s gassed up, and don’t forget to take the charger for your cell phone. Call me when you get there.”

“I wish you’d come with us,” Emily said. “Not like you don’t have weeks of sick leave and vacation time due you.”

“All leaves are canceled. I told you that.”

“Do you arrest people?” Emma asked Alexa.

“Of course she does,” Madge said. “She’s an FBI agent.”

“Sometimes I have to,” Alexa said.

“I’m going to be an FBI agent when I’m big,” Emma said.

“I’m sure the FBI would love to have you, Emma,” Alexa said.

“Do you have a gun like Daddy’s?” she asked immediately.

“Yes, I have a gun identical to your daddy’s,” Alexa said.

“Where is it?”

“I keep it in my purse.”

“You ever shoot anybody dead with your glop?” Emma asked.

“Glock,” Madge said, giggling. “Not glop. Glop is an ice cream that falls on the floor.”

“I’ve never had to shoot anybody with it yet,” Alexa answered.

“Neither has my daddy,” Emma said. “But you could if you wanted to, couldn’t you?”

“If she had to,” Madge corrected, frowning at her little sister.

Emma put her hands flat on the table and tossed her head to get her hair out of her eyes. “Daddy catches murder perks. Did you know that?”

“Yes, I did know he does that,” Alexa said, smiling. “You must be very proud of him.”

“Girls, let’s go see Aunt Janie,” Emily interposed.

“My sister was supposed to have her first communion Sunday,” Emma told Alexa. “I was going to wear a white dress, too, and watch her eat Jesus in front of everybody. Now I can’t because the church might get blown down.”

Madge nudged her little sister. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Emma.”

“I do too,” Emma said, nudging her sister playfully. “I’m going to be an FBI lady arrester when I grow up.”

“She is not,” Madge said to Alexa. “She’s just saying that because you’re one.”

Alexa told Emma, “You can be whatever you like.”

“Yesterday she was going to be a gymnast and get a gold medal,” Madge said. “And before that it was a nun and a teacher and a doctor and a high diver…”

Emma smiled. “When I’m an FBI, I’m going to arrest Madge and put her in jail for being mean to me.”

“That’s silly,” Madge said. “You can’t arrest your own sister.”

The words uttered by an innocent child shot through Alexa’s heart, and she felt her smile melt.

“Okay, girls,” Emily intervened. “Tell Agent Keen good-bye and go get your bags. We’ll leave you two to your work.” She kissed Michael on the lips before following the girls out.

“Something wrong?” Manseur asked Alexa. “You look like somebody just walked across your grave.”

“Nothing,” Alexa replied. “Just thinking about something. You have wonderful women around you.”

“I do at that,” he agreed.

She looked down at the phone numbers in front of her and fought to focus on them.

“They’re very competitive, my two. But they sure love each other,” Manseur commented.

Swallowing, she murmured, “Sisters can be very competitive.”

Alexa felt Manseur’s eyes on her, and she wondered if the detective knew what had happened between her and her sister. That she had arrested Antonia and charged her with a dozen serious federal crimes. She had no idea how widespread that particular knowledge was, because cops swapped more gossip than hairstylists.