The airboat with the two bearded men flew on top of the water, headed straight toward the girls. Adrienne took off, cutting across tall grasses in the marsh.
“Who is that?” Vivian yelled and glanced back. The guys were following them.
“Coupla coon-asses,” Adrienne yelled. “Trouble.”
The guys were in a smaller airboat and closing in. Adrienne banked a hard right, cutting through more tall grass. The guys didn’t anticipate the turn and lost some ground but soon caught up.
Adrienne swerved hard to miss a gator and Vivian lost her grip. She jerked and hit her ribs on the metal handle on the side of the boat.
Kate reached out for her and pulled her back. “Don’t fall in! They’ll run over you!”
“I’m trying not to!”
The coon-ass boat flew up behind them, only inches away. Adrienne, unable to go any faster, yelled to the girls, “I’ve got a plan. Hang on!”
The other boat rammed them. Adrienne held up her left hand and gave them the finger. They were so close Vivian could see one of the brothers smirking to the other with a yellow-toothed grin.
Adrienne swerved hard to the left toward an open-water pond lined with cypress trees.
“We’re trapped!” Vivian yelled, but then she saw what Adrienne was aiming for — a three-foot wall of sticks and mud, the work of a busy beaver. On the other side of the dam lay more open water.
“Get ready!” Adrienne said as they neared. “This might hurt!”
The airboat launched through the air and Vivian yelled, “Aiiiyyyeeeeeeeee!” She held on for dear life.
The airboat hit the water hard, jolting everyone, but no one flew out. Adrienne let off the throttle and turned to the left.
The coon-asses didn’t fare as well. They attempted the dam but went over at an angle and landed too far to the right. The driver couldn’t maintain control and veered off course, crashing onto the bank amongst the trees. The airboat landed on its right side, and the brothers flew into the grass.
Adrienne shot them the finger again while the girls cheered.
“Take that, suckas!” Lucy shouted.
Just to show off, Adrienne swung the airboat around and jumped the dam again. The girls yee-hawed as they went by. Adrienne steered them back to her parents’ and the girls got off, glad to be on solid ground.
“That was some ride,” Vivian said, giving Adrienne a high-five. “Bravo!”
She grinned. “I’ve been piloting since I was old enough to climb up in the chair. Those guys may have had a faster boat, but they didn’t stand a chance. Sorry we didn’t get to go fishing, though.”
“That was almost like Deliverance,” Lucy said. “I think I heard banjos.”
Adrienne laughed. “I wasn’t that worried. I never had to give Wendy the signal.”
“Thank goodness for that,” Wendy said. “Last time I held a gun, I shot my brother in the butt. It was just a BB gun, but still!”
This got a round of laughs as they walked to the house. The Robichauxs greeted them on the porch and Adrienne told them about their coon-ass adventure.
“I’ll have a talk with their daddy,” Mr. Robichaux said. “Not that it’ll do much good. He’s a piece of nutria rat shit, too.”
“Those boys are just into all kinds of things lately,” Mrs. Robichaux said, wringing her hands on a dish towel. “Just the other day I was at the grocer and somebody they’d been talking to almost hit my car in the parking lot. I waved, trying to be friendly, and tell him it was okay, and you know what he did? He shot me the bird.” She raised her middle finger in display.
“You didn’t tell me about this,” Adrienne’s dad said, getting more pissed by the moment and gently taking her hand down.
“Oh, Billy, it was fine.” She rubbed his shoulder.
“That’s no way to treat a lady,” he said.
“Well, it turned out all right. But that boy in the hot rod, I’ve seen him parked over at the Benoits’ camp, which surprised me since it’s usually empty. Maybe the kids finally sold it?”
“I don’t remember seein’ a for sale sign or hearin’ anybody talking about it. That kind of stuff usually comes up.”
“Well, it’s over now, Billy. Don’t go messin’ with that man in the hot rod or those two Breaux boys. They’re trouble.”
Wendy, a car buff, asked, “So what kind of hot rod was that guy driving?”
“It’s the one that’s still real popular with the kids. Antonio had one when he was a teenager.”
Adrienne looked at the girls. “Mustang.” She turned to her mom. “What color was it?”
“Dark, almost black but not quite. Looked real pretty. Very shiny.”
“Damn kids these days,” Mr. Robichaux said. “Gets my blood pressure going. I gotta sit down.” He went inside and Mrs. Robichaux followed, the screen door slamming behind her.
Vivian turned to Adrienne. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
Adrienne pulled out her phone. “I’m calling Antonio.” He didn’t pick up so she left him a message, describing their mother’s encounter with the Mustang guy and seeing the same car at the Benoits’ place. “I’m driving by there on our way out. I’ll call ya after. Love ya, little bro.” Click.
“Don’t say a word to my parents,” Adrienne whispered. “Let’s get going.”
They all went inside and the girls thanked her parents again for the delicious meal and the hospitality. Rex and Roux followed the SUV down the drive, barking and wagging the whole way. Adrienne took the girls back to the highway but turned the opposite direction from where they’d come, and soon after she turned down a different dirt road, one that was bumpier and full of holes. Overgrown brush and trees lined the path.
The SUV bounced along and Adrienne said, “The Benoit camp has been mostly unused since Maggie and Burt passed away a few years ago. For a while the family would come out around holidays, but lately the place has just sat. I can’t imagine the kids selling it without letting folks around here know. A lot of times, neighbors will buy up places like that to expand, you know.”
She parked in the grass just after pulling into the drive. “We’ll have to walk, need to maintain our element of surprise. It’s only a quarter mile, maybe less.” She pulled her Lady out of her purse and popped open the glove box. She dug around for a moment, then took out a Swiss Army knife. “Never know.”
The girls walked slowly down the road and went around a bend. A dilapidated trailer sat on cinder blocks, right along the banks of the bayou. A sleek, gray Mustang was parked in the grass out front.
Adrienne hustled the girls into the trees, where they ducked down, and pulled out her phone. “I’m texting Antonio the license plate.”
Vivian, using her 20/20, called the numbers and letters out to her.
“Let’s give Antonio a few minutes to get back with me.”
Two or three quiet minutes passed, then a tall man wearing a grungy wife-beater and camouflage shorts walked out onto the stoop. He had a large potbelly, pale bird legs and carried a shotgun. He looked around, then yelled, “I know you out there, motherfuckers, I heard ya. There ain’t nothin’ here for you, so get the hell out.” He cocked the gun and lifted it up, scanning the perimeter.
The sound of glass breaking came from the side of the trailer and he took off in that direction. “Goddammit, sonofabitch!”
A girl screamed and he yelled and cussed some more before coming back around the corner, squeezing Simone Hitchens in a chokehold. She tore at his arm, kicking and trying to break free.
He shoved her up the three steps and into the door. “You better stop this shit, bitch, or you’ll end up with the other one.”
Vivian’s heart raced. She couldn’t believe she was seeing the missing exotic dancer whose face had been broadcast all over the news.
After he slammed the door, Adrienne snapped to attention and handed Wendy her car keys and phone. “Keep calling Antonio until he answers. Y’all get back to the car. Kate, you call 911 and tell them what’s going on at the old Benoit place on Water Moccasin Lane.”
Wendy dug into her purse, pulled out pepper spray and handed it to Lucy, then she and Kate ran back to the car.
“What should we do?” Vivian asked.
A terrifying scream and a crash came from the trailer and Adrienne replied, “This guy’s probably going to kill her.” She flipped open the Swiss Army knife and handed it to Vivian. “Puncture a back tire but keep the knife. I’m going into the house. Y’all stay behind me and keep low.” With that, she took off running across the clearing to the trailer.