an espresso coffeemaker, a fancy stainless steel version by DeLonghi. According to the box at the back door, the thing cost nearly a thousand bucks. I hoped I hadn't paid for that.
Before I studied the info Alex had, I put tea together. While the tea water sizzled on the stove top, I pulled up a chair near Stinky. Who definitely was not getting any fast food today. "Show me," I said.
"Lucas Vazquez de Allyon purchased property in several states, including Louisiana last year. He has property in New Orleans, in Lafayette, and in some little towns between Lafayette and here. I put them on a map."
It was a melded map, showing topo, streets and street names, bayous, rivers, airports, bus stations, and a lot of other stuff I would need if I had to go to each of them hunting him. "Have you found de Allyon yet?"
"No, but I'm close."
"Good. Now go take a shower. You're living up to your nickname." At his puzzled look, I said. "Stinky. I've named you Stinky and it'll stay Stinky until you remember to shower every day."
"And when I remember?" he asked, sounding belligerent.
"Then it'll be Kid."
"Like Kid Rock?"
"More like Billy the Kid, Cisco Kid, the Durango Kid." When he still looked puzzled, I said, "Do an Internet search. And it's a crying shame when an American teenage boy doesn't know his gunslingers." I slapped him on the back of the head. "Good work, Stinky."
I finished making my tea and went back to my laptop. Shortly, I heard footsteps up the stairs and then shower water going. "The Durango Kid? He's a modern-day shooter."
I looked up to see Eli standing in front of the open bookcase. He had a habit of standing with his arms loose, one hand near the spot where a military sidearm might go, the other on his thigh where he might wear a military knife. "Yeah. A cowboy six-shooter. There was an old black-and-white film about the Durango Kid."
"You watch old black-and-white cowboy films." It was said with a hint of disbelief.
"Yeah. The kind where your people kill off my people and steal our land, and somehow make murder and theft seem heroic."
A hint of amusement twinkled into Eli's eyes in response to my sarcasm. He said, "My people? You mean the mongrels of society? I have ancestors who were slaves and ancestors who owned slaves."
He was of mixed blood, mixed race, which I had suspected from his skin tone. Alex was much paler than Eli. Maybe they were half brothers? I brought my mind back to the conversation and tilted my head to show he had made his point.
"You're good with Alex," he said. "We were doing nothing but fighting about him showering." The twinkle bled away. After a moment he said, "We were fighting about everything, actually."
"Yeah. You treat him like a son or a soldier, instead of like a brother. He wants you to like him and admire him and love him. Maybe in that order."
"Hmmph," Eli said. "And you know this about families when you were raised in a children's home?"
That could have been intended to be snide or even hurtful, but the look on his face was simply puzzled. I squelched the retort budding on my lips. I didn't explain about my early years very often, mainly because it sometimes brought the memories back, like a tsunami, overwhelming, overpowering, visceral, and intense. With Alex's ability to ferret out info on the Web, it wasn't a surprise that the brothers knew about my history. "I came out of the woods at age twelve, give or take, with no language, no social skills, no nothing. I watched the body language and interactions between the kids and the adults in the home long before I could understand what they were saying. Tone and intent were clear enough even to the outsider. Your tone and body language say you don't trust him. Your tone and body language say you are the boss and he better listen to you or else."
"Yeah? So?"
"What do you mean So?" Men can be so obtuse sometimes. "He's not a soldier under your command. This is family, not the army. And Alex doesn't understand that you love him and want to protect him and that's why you are all over him like white on rice. Tell him you like him. Tell him you admire what he can do. And back off and let him make mistakes. He'll respect you more for it. Sheesh." I went