Cajun Justice(36)

“I’d like to make a collect call.”

“What’s the number?” the operator asked.

“It’s going to be an international number.”

A few moments later, he heard Bonnie on the other end of the line. “Moshi moshi.”

“Hey, sis.”

“Hey, brother. It’s really early here. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, it was just my turn to wake you up.”

She half giggled in her groggy state. “Are you still enjoying being back home?”

“I was.”

She cleared her throat. “Was? What happened?” Her voice was suddenly much clearer, as if she had sat up in bed.

“I was at a picnic with Elise.”

“Elise LeBlanc? She’s got a lotta drama. You can do so much better than her.”

“In all fairness, you’ve never liked any of my girlfriends.”

“That’s not true!” she fired back. “I loved Claire.”

At that moment, Cain heard his cell phone ringing. Without even looking at who was calling, he hit the button to silence and send the call directly to voicemail. He figured it was Elise, and he wasn’t interested in speaking with her right now. He went back to talking to his sister, and the phone started ringing again. “Hold on one sec, sis. Let me turn this damn thing off.” He saw the caller ID. It was a Washington, DC, number: LeRoy Hayes. Why the hell would he be calling me? he thought. “Bonnie, can you hold on just one more second? It’s LeRoy. Let me see what’s so important he’d be calling me on a weekend.”

Cain answered his cell. “I got Bonnie on the other line. It’s an international call, so make this quick.”

“Nice to hear from you, too,” LeRoy said sarcastically. “I just thought you’d like to know. Figured I owed you that much.”

“Know what?”

“Who turned state’s evidence and ratted on the other agents.”

Cain wanted to say he didn’t care, but that would have been a lie. “Indulge me.”

“None other than Tom Jackson.”

“You’ve gotta be shittin’ me—he caused this whole storm, and then wore a wire to incriminate the others?”

“Yep.”

“Unbelievable.” Cain ended the cell call and put the handset back to his ear. “Bonnie, I’ll take that job.”

“Really? That’s fantastic news! What changed your mind?”

“Surely my string of bad luck can’t cross the ocean with me to Japan.”

“You’re going to love it here. Trust me: you won’t regret it.”





Part Two





The Gaijin





Chapter 33



Cain slipped on a pair of Bose headphones and closed his eyes to the sound of jazz music playing softly in his ears. The international flight afforded him plenty of time to think.

“You an’ your sister are two peas in a pod,” Claude had said as he drove Cain to the Lafayette municipal airport.

“We are twins,” Cain said lightheartedly.

“Jus’ when I got you back home—you’re leavin’ again.”

“It’ll be just for a while.”

“Dat’s what Bonnie said, too. An’ now eet’s been over a year.”

“I’m going to go reconnect with Bonnie. Bring family a little closer to her until she can get transferred closer to home. Plus, it’ll give me the time and distance I need to clear my mind and make a little money. Then I’ll be back.”

“I’m thankful you an’ Bonnie are gonna be reunited. I jus’ fear you gonna stay like her—maybe even find a family an’ make Japan your new home.”

“I ain’t gonna stay there forever, Pops. And Bonnie ain’t, either. Look at the bright side. She’s doing really well with the airlines, and this keeps her far away from that ex-boyfriend of hers. You know: the one with that sketchy import-export business.”

“I never liked dat New Awlins man,” Claude said with a scowl. He sighed. “She had to git away from dat ol’ boyfriend, an’ I guess you gotta git away for a bit, too.”

“I do,” Cain said.

“I can tell someting’s eatin’ atcha. Fightin’ a man at da park in front of hees kid ain’t you.”

“That’s only half of it,” Cain said. “But I don’t feel like getting into it right now.”

The ANA flight attendant gently placed her hand on Cain’s shoulder. She was sharply dressed in a blue-and-gray suit, with a pink scarf loosely tied around her neck.

“I’m sorry to wake you,” she said meekly.

“It’s okay. I wasn’t asleep. Just thinking.”

“We are serving our in-flight meal now.”

“Great! I’m starving.”

“Would you like spicy octopus or freshwater eel?”

Cain was used to eating unusual things both abroad and at home in Louisiana, but these options did not sound appetizing. “Neither. I’ll just have a sandwich, please.”

“I’m so sorry. These are our only options on this flight.”