by Gerald Lopez
He spotted a beautiful girl with platinum hair dancing, and looking his way just as the front doors of the club burst open, and the thugs he’d been fighting walked in. The girl ran to stand between the detective and his enemies, then spoke some words in French. All the men disappeared, except for the first man the detective had encountered on his own. He walked up to Marianne who slapped him on the shoulder.
“You—American,” the man from earlier said. “Today’s your lucky day. My sister saved your ass. I would’ve shoved my foot in it.”
“The phrase is ‘kicked my ass’,” the detective said.
“Enough of this foolishness,” Marianne said, now speaking in English. She turned to her brother. “What’s this about, Arnou?”
“He was following the boys.”
“Which boys?” Marianne said.
“Gabriel and Galen,” Arnou said.
Marianne turned to the detective now. Both brother and sister had sensual, pouty lips, the detective thought. They were the same sort of beautiful. Captivating as well as dangerous.
“He might be some kind of pervert or something, Marianne.”
“Are you, Mr…?” Marianne said before Ranvir ran in out of breath.
“He has business with Mr. Peters,” Ranvir said, then walked up to the detective and grabbed his arm. “And it’s time we were leaving.”
“You’re not a pervert who chases after young men and their brothers, are you, Mr. Detective?” Marianne said.
Her response from the detective was a head shake from left to right, and a flirty smile. It was significantly different than the tough look and kick to the groin he gave her brother before leaving.
“Trying to leave them with a lasting impression, huh?” Ranvir said, when he and the detective were in the taxi.
BY THE TIME her mother had stopped paddling her butt and legs, Louise could no longer stand so she slumped down on the floor.
“Don’t think I’m having a liar and thief sleeping in my home tonight,” Nina said.
“What did you say?” François said. “She’s not going to sleep in the street.”
“The hell she isn’t,” Nina said.
“No, Mama, please,” Louise said, but only succeeded in getting her face slapped with the paddle.
“Nina, what is wrong with you?” François said. “Look what you’ve done to our daughter. She’s never grown to the height she should be because of how you beat and starve her. The doctor told us that. Look at her!”
“I can barely even stand to look at that pitiful creature you inflicted upon me!” Nina said.
“No, Mama. Don’t put me out. He’s out there.”
“He is, Nina,” François said. “Another young girl was found murdered yesterday. And Louise won’t be able to defend herself.”
“Good,” Nina said. “Let him take her. It’ll be one less mouth to feed. Hell, apparently she can eat gelato while you and I only have the dirt on the floor to fill our stomachs.”
“I won’t let you do it, Nina,” François said. “You’ve gone too far.”
“Not far enough away from you or this hellhole… yet,” Nina said, then looked at the suitcase full of money. She walked into the tiny kitchen and grabbed the one pan they owned.
“And what do you think you’re going to do with that?” François said. “You won’t use that on Louise.”
Nina uttered some words in Spanish then whacked her husband on the side of his head with the pan. François grabbed the side of his head, stumbled, leaned against the wall, then slid down to the floor.
Louise screamed when she saw blood on the side of her father’s head.
“You killed him!” Louise said.
“I hope I did,” Nina said. “I despise him almost as much as I hate you. Time for you to go outside with the other sewer rats.”
“No, Mama, please. The dancing man will come and he’ll get me. He’ll kill me.”
“We should only be so lucky,” Nina said. “Get up.”
Louise tried to stand then bent over to pick up her tattered dress.
“That’s my property, sewer rat. Remember that gelato you stole from me when you’re sleeping on the street.”
Louise’s legs trembled then shook, and she fell back on the floor.
“Get up,” Nina said, as she kicked Louise and pushed her body with her foot. “You’re not sleeping in my house with your stomach full of gelato.” She grabbed a handful of Louise’s hair and dragged her out of the house.
Louise screamed and cried as she felt pieces of her hair being torn from her scalp while being dragged.
“Keep the panties you’re wearing as a parting gift, gelato girl,” Nina said, then slammed the door shut leaving Louise lying on the street bruised, beaten, and bleeding.
WHEN HE WAS back at the La Mer hotel, the detective was met in the lobby by Walter.
“God, look at you, babe.” Walter said. “This is like old times. Let’s get you up to your room and in the shower.”
It was almost like he was in a daze when they got in the room. Walter stripped off both their clothes then helped him into the roomy shower. They stood under the rainfall showerhead for a while letting the warm water cascade over their bodies.
“Nice,” the detective said, as he felt Walter holding him from behind.
“It would be so easy to take advantage of you right now, Detective.”
“Promises, promises,” the detective said.
After drying the detective off, Walter helped him into bed, and got up to leave when he was pulled down onto the bed.
“Time to make good on what I said in the shower, huh?” Walter said, then smiled and proceeded to take his detective’s mind off his aches and pains.
“ARE YOU SURE you want to stay in here while I work on poor Corinne’s body, Ms. Adele?” Maxime said.
They were inside Maxime’s preparation room, and Corinne was on the table. Father Albion was with them, but at the last minute Lucie had decided she wasn’t up to going out.
“You may need my help putting Mama’s old dress on her,” Adele said. “Besides, I’ve seen a lot of truly disgusting things since I’ve been caring for my brother these last thirty-five years. The stroke left him unable to even clean himself after a shit.”
“Not a pretty picture, Ms. Adele,” Father Albion said.
“A woman’s work and life isn’t always as pretty as most men would imagine,” Adele said. “Part of what we do as women is bring beauty into a man’s world. But never doubt we are strong and fierce creatures when a need arises.”
I have no doubt that what you say is true,” Father Albion said. “You and Lucie were very good to your brother when he was alive.” His phone rang, and he took it out of his pocket to look at the number. “If you’ll both excuse me, I need to take this call.” He left the room.
“Men can be strong too,” Adele said, as she scooted closer to Maxime and smiled. She ran her hand along Maxime’s arm. “You’re stronger than one would think. And I’m sure you look better naked in the bath than my brother ever did. An old out of shape man’s body is not a pretty sight.” Her words conjured up an ugly image in her mind, so she changed the subject. “Maxime, the way you picked up Corinne with such ease, took her out of my house, and placed her on your table, showed that your body is in fit condition.”
“She didn’t think I was strong,” Maxime said.
“Corinne was too young to know better,” Adele said. “Wisdom comes with age. As do other wondrous things.”
Maxime was growing uncomfortable with how close Ms Adele was to him, and where she’d placed her hand on his upper thigh.
“Corinne didn’t know a real man when she saw one,” Adele said. “I’m old enough to know better.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Maxime said.
“Excuse me?” Adele said.
“I was agreeing that you are a very wise woman,” Maxime said.
Father Albion entered, to the relief of Maxime who sighed out loud.
“Are you alright, Maxime?” Father Albion said.
“Yes, Father, just a little warm. It’s always difficult working on someone you knew.”
“I should think it would be. Ms. Adele we’ve been here a while and it’s getting dark. Why don’t I walk you home, then come back to sit with Maxime?”
“My sister does get nervous home by herself at night,” Adele said. “Maxime, if you need to talk or anything, feel free to knock on my door at any time.”
WHEN THE DETECTIVE woke up it was dark outside. He got up from bed, looked for Walter, then peered out the window. He’d forgotten that Walter had left earlier to deal with hotel business. That meant the detective had time to get cleaned up, and ready to go out on a manhunt to get some answers about the murder of Cabot Chambers.
Chapter 5
Night on the Town
STILL FEELING GRUBBY, the detective took another shower, then shaved. He wrapped a towel around his waist, placed a call to Ranvir, then walked to the dresser. Per usual, Walter had put his clothes away for him—and just the way he liked. Three years away from each other was too long. They should’ve at least been friends, if they couldn’t be lovers during that time. But then friends don’t usually do what the two of them had done earlier.
The room door opened, and Walter walked inside.
“What a hunk,” Walter said, then walked over to the detective who shook his stomach toward him. “You really have gained a gut, babe. But your body was too perfect before anyway.” He stood behind his detective, and ran his hands across his broad, strong shoulders. “The shoulders and arms are still as nice as ever, Detective. As are the legs and that perfect ass. The chest looks beefier, as do the nipples—sexy.”
The detective shot him an “are you crazy?” look.
“Oh yeah, I love big nipples on a man,” Walter said. “And with that bit of weight gain, yours have gotten bigger and more erect than before. Hang on, the last guy you dated was into nipple play, wasn’t he? But a while back you mentioned to me you had nipple piercings. What happened?”
“They were a liability in my line of work.”
“Yeah, I guess a perp could put a real hurt on you by yanking one of them out, if you still had them. But I bet they were sexy. If you really do retire after this case maybe you can get them put in again.”
“You talk too much,” the detective said, then kissed Walter.
“As much as I’m loving this, you’ve got a dinner date to get ready for, Detective.” he went to the closet, and began taking clothes out for his detective to wear. “I already told Ranvir that I’d be taking you out for a night of dinner and dancing.” He handed his detective a long-sleeved, black, silk shirt to put on. “I’ve always loved this shirt on you. And I know you well, so I have thoughtfully arranged to mix business with pleasure. We’ll be ‘bumping into’ some important and helpful people this evening.” He looked at the black and blue on the right side of his detective’s face, and softly traced its outline with his finger. “Don’t say it. I hate seeing it there, but I can live with it now. Did you ever find out what happened to my blonde friend Corinne, or catch up with Louise?”
“No to both,” the detective said, then finished getting dressed.
WHEN IT GOT dark, Louise crawled away from her parents’ doorway. She couldn’t yet stand and as much as the street hurt her she used her elbows to drag her limp body toward some trash cans and a pile of boxes. With a great deal of effort she managed to hide herself under some wet, broken down, old boxes and newspapers. It was chilly and she shivered. Then she heard the music and knew what would come with it.
No, she thought. Not Dalida. If she had to die, why would it be while listening to Dalida singing “Besame Mucho.” She cried, and tried to remember a prayer that a visiting missionary had taught her.
“WHY ALL THE police?” the detective said, as he walked beside Walter.
The two were in the crowded historic district on their way to a restaurant.
“It’s because of the dancing man killer,” Walter said. “No one knows who he is, just that he plays music before killing a young girl. Then he dances with the corpse in the street.”
“How do they know that last part if they haven’t seen him?”
“I’m not sure, babe. I think some people have seen him in the shadows. Last night he killed a twelve-year-old girl. Before her it was an eight-year-old. He doesn’t molest them or anything just kills them, then dances with their dead bodies. The world is a crazy place.” He held his detective’s hand. “We’re in the gay district. Hand-holding is fine here.
After smiling, the detective gave Walter’s hand a gentle squeeze.
“Stay when this case is over,” Walter said. “Let’s give each other a second chance. I’ve missed you. More than I can say. Have you missed me?”
The detective put his arm around Walter’s waist, pulled him close, then kissed his cheek.
“Do you have anything at all to say?” Walter said.
“I’m hungry,” the detective said, and they both chuckled.
As they walked by two policemen speaking in French, Walter listened in on their conversation. He then whispered in his detective’s ear, when they were a good distance past the policemen.
“They just found the body of a young girl. Eight or nine years old, maybe slightly older.”
WHEN HE CAME to, François looked around the room for Louise.
“Louise!” he said.
“She’s gone,” Nina said. “Lucky bitch. Maybe she crawled into the sewer or the dancing man got her.”
“Go look for her.”
“No,” Nina said.
“I said go get her.”
“Get her yourself. I don’t answer to you.”
François grabbed his wife’s arm, but felt himself getting dizzy.”
“If anything happens to Louise, I’ll kill you, Nina.”
“You probably can’t even stand long enough to take a piss,” Nina said, then pushed his hand away and walked out the door with the suitcase Louise had brought them from La Mer.
François left soon afterward.
MAXIME RETURNED TO his work space alone. Father Albion would be along shortly, but for now Maxime and his beloved Corinne were by themselves. Looking down at her, Maxime ran his finger down her face and wept. Even in death she was so beautiful, truly like an angel in his eyes. He leaned over just to kiss her lips softly but couldn’t bring himself to do it. She had never let him kiss or touch her in life and he wouldn’t dishonor her now that she was dead.
THE DETECTIVE WAS thoroughly enjoying the steak and shrimp he was eating. So much so that he didn’t mind playing footsie with Walter.
“I forgot how complacent you get when your appetite for good food is being satisfied,” Walter said. He slid his hand across his detective’s for a quick moment, but didn’t linger. “There hasn’t been anyone in my life since you. All my time and concentration went into making the hotel a success.”
“And is it?”
“Enough of one to support two nicely for the rest of their lives I think. I’m being pushy, sorry.” His detective reached over and held his hand, and he thought he might cry. “I’ve made this all about me again, haven’t I? For all I know you have someone else in your life. You’re a great guy, there’s no reason you shouldn’t have someone to love.”
There was silence. Walter noticed his detective looking around the dimly lit restaurant with its red walls and ornate gold gilding. The crystal chandeliers were a bit much for a seaside town, but somehow it all worked. While munching on a shrimp, the detective looked at Walter and realized how completely clueless he was about “them”. It was almost heartbreakingly sad.
“Is there someone else?” Walter said. “Are you in love?”
There was just no way he could do this to Walter anymore. Although he wasn’t a man of many words, the moment called for them—but he wouldn’t be rushed. He reached for Walter’s hand once more, raised it to his lips, then kissed it.
“I am, always have been, and always will be in love with only one man,” the detective said, then pointed toward Walter.
He tried to let go of his detective’s hand, but his detective only held it tighter, then smiled and let it go. All that needed to be said had been said. Walter wanted to both cry and laugh out loud, but did neither. Either reaction would’ve ruined the moment.
When the waiter came by to see if they needed anything else, both men ordered creme brulee for dessert. Walter also took the opportunity to ask the waiter a question.
“Did I miss Naomi tonight?”
“No, Sir. But it is highly unusual for her not to have come by. She won’t show up this late.”
“Thank you,” Walter said.
The waiter walked away, and Walter turned his attention to his detective.
“I’ll arrange an invitation for you to see Naomi at her home,” Walter said. “You’ve probably noticed that all sort of languages are spoken in this town, but mostly French and English. There are Italians and Spanish here too, as well as tourists from all over the world. Don’t worry about needing to learn languages I know how much you hate trying to speak anything other than your native tongue.” His detective laughed. “People here can spot us Americans from miles away and you wouldn’t gain any special insights even if you did speak their language.”
“What do you think was in the luggage Louise took from La Mer?”
“My first guess would be money. Cabot always had plenty of cash on him. And it’s hard to find workers who are completely honest when an opportunity presents itself.”
“And the leather folder?”
“That’s harder to guess. Maybe some sort of business papers. But what good would that sort of thing be to those boys?”
“Could they be deeds to local properties?”
“Cabot only held one deed in town, and that was to Naomi’s place. He gave it to her outright last year—signed, sealed, and delivered. That’s not to say he didn’t have properties elsewhere… although—”
