“Not for me, you don’t.”
“You’re with Dixie Belle?”
“I’m half owner. Somebody gave you a bum lead. We’ve got our own people.”
One of his eyes was watery and had no color and kept blinking, like an injured moth. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and press
ed the moisture out of it. “We drove all the way from San Antone. I think you’re mixed up.”
“No, I’m not the one with the problem. You’ve got the wrong address.”
“Hang on. I’ve got the paperwork on the bus.”
“Don’t bother. Obviously, a mistake was made. But that’s it. This conversation is over.”
“Sir, don’t turn your back on me. Sir? Sir, did you hear me?”
I turned around. The men on the bus were all looking at me through the windows. “Who do you work for?”
“Minuteman, Incorporated.”
“I’ve heard about you,” I said. “This isn’t your fault. But you need to leave now. I’m sorry about your men. There’s a campground outside Lake Charles where they can shower and rest up.”
“You think we’re just gonna drive off?”
“Unless you want the mosquitoes to start eating on you.”
I walked away. A couple of minutes later, I heard him start up the bus and clank the transmission into gear. “What was that about?” Hershel said.
I told him.
“How did he get our name? How’d he know where we were?” he said.
“You got me.”
“He’s out of San Antonio?”
“Yeah, same place Lloyd Fincher lives,” I replied.
That night the phone rang in my motel room. I hoped the call was from Rosita. It wasn’t. “What the hell is going on over there, Weldon?” Fincher said.
“How you doin’, Major?” I said.
“Not very well. I just heard from a labor office we use. Minuteman is their name.”
“How’d you get my number?”
“From your wife. You told the crew leader to get lost?”
“No, I told him he’d made a mistake.”
“You didn’t get my message that these guys were headed over there?”
“No, I didn’t. When did you become an executive with our company?”
“Maybe you don’t quite understand the nature of our arrangement. Our loan agreement guarantees us one percent of Dixie Belle’s profits as long as the contract is in effect.”
“That’s right,” I said.