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The fist released, and she could breathe again.
“And what’s his name?”
“Robbie. Robert James Fontenot III.”
“Where does he live?”
She gave an address. A run-down area of blue-collar businesses over by where the Mardi Gras floats were stored, not far from the old sugarcane processing plant. Who the hell lived over there? People who had no choice.
The lining of B’Lynn Fontenot’s jacket was signature Burberryplaid. Expensive. The diamond engagement and wedding set she wore carried larger-than-average stones. Why did her son live in a shithole?
“That’s within the Bayou Breaux city limits,” Annie began.
B’Lynn’s back stiffened. “Don’t tell me I need to go to the Bayou Breaux police,” she said sharply. “I have been to the Bayou Breaux police. Several times. They told me a twenty-seven-year-old man doesn’t need his mother’s permission to go somewhere.”
And they were correct. Robbie Fontenot was an adult, free to come and go as he chose, with or without the knowledge and consent of his mother. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t be missing.
“When were you last in contact with your son?”
“Halloween. I spoke with him on the phone around three. He was supposed to meet me for dinner the next day, but he didn’t show up and I didn’t hear from him. I haven’t heard from him since.”
Nine days.
“And he hadn’t said anything about taking a trip anywhere?”
“No.”
“Have you spoken to any of his friends?”
“I don’t know Robbie’s friends anymore,” she confessed. “I don’t know if he has any.”
“Does he have a girlfriend? A boyfriend?”
She shook her head.
“Where does he work?”
She glanced away. “He’s…between jobs.”
Annie wroteunemployedon her legal pad.
“So he could have just decided to—”
“He didn’t.”
“He normally stays in touch with you?”
“He calls me every day, twice a day.”
“You’re close.”
“We have a deal,” B’Lynn said plainly. “He calls me every day, twice a day, and we have dinner on Sunday. Every Sunday.”
Deal??Annie noted.
The door swung open, and Valerie Comb came in with a single mug of coffee and two thimble-size containers of fake creamer. She gave Annie the side-eye as she set the cup on the table in front of B’Lynn.
“So sorry, Annie, I couldn’t carry everything,” she said with saccharine sweetness.
