4 Big Easy Hunter

by Maddie Cochere

  I was hanging on every word. “What did you do?” I asked with my eyes wide again.

  “I made a mess all over myself and the bathroom and ran screaming out of the cabin like a little girl.” We all burst into a second round of laughter. “I’m not proud of it, but I’ve never been so scared in all my life,” he said shaking his head at the memory.

  Nate was always fun to be around, and he was good-looking in a more cute than handsome kind of way. Where Darby often looked like a model with his blue eyes, tousled sandy-colored hair, and muscled but lean build, Nate was taller, thinner, and had dark reddish-brown, wavy hair with a smattering of freckles across his tanned face. His face showed tons of expression when he talked, making his stories even more fun.

  I stood up, still chuckling, and went into the kitchen to dish the java chip ice cream into bowls. A few minutes later, Mick came in to give me a hand, but he first ran his arms around my waist and pulled me against him for a kiss. My heart started to race, and he had me breathless once again. Before releasing me, he whispered “I love you” into my ear. Darby called out from the table, “You know, we can see you guys.” I felt myself blush, but Mick laughed as he gathered up three of the bowls and carried them to the table. I followed with the last bowl of ice cream and sat back down in my chair.

  “Did you send in your RSVP yet?” Nate asked looking at me and Mick as he started to shovel ice cream into his mouth. I almost laughed at him. I could never eat something so cold so fast.

  “Not yet,” I said. “We’ve been waiting to see what Mick’s schedule looks like.”

  “Yeah, we’re starting a new project in Cleveland that week,” Mick said hesitantly, “and I don’t think I can get away until the night before the wedding.”

  “But you’ll miss all the fun,” said Darby. “It’s a destination wedding, and Dell and Lisa have events planned for the entire week.”

  “It can’t be helped,” said Mick. “I have to be at the site to make sure the work gets started on time. We’ll definitely be attending the wedding; we wouldn’t miss it for the world, but we can’t fly out until Friday night.”

  Darby looked at me with a mischievous glint in his eye, turned to Mick and said, “Well, how about letting Susan fly down on Monday with me and Nate. The three of us can join in the festivities all week, and we’ll tell you all about what you missed when you show up on Friday night.”

  I gave Mick a hopeful look, but he said slowly, “I don’t know about that. I don’t think it’s a good idea to turn Susan loose in New Orleans all by herself.”

  “She won’t be by herself. She’ll be with us, and we’ll watch out for her,” Darby said continuing to present his case.

  Mick still wasn’t convinced and said, “Darby, not to be contentious, but she’s been with you before when things went all haywire.”

  “I know,” Darby agreed nodding his head, “but this is a lot of people in a highly-orchestrated atmosphere, and there simply won’t be time for any of us to get into any trouble. We’ll keep her on a tight leash, I promise,” he said winking at me. He knew he was breaking Mick down. “Besides, Susan, didn’t you say your mom and dad would be flying in on Thursday?”

  “Yep,” I said nodding. I really did want to be in New Orleans for the entire week and participate in the fun. We had met pro hockey player Dell Grady when we were in Las Vegas in January, and he and his girlfriend, Lisa, had attended our impromptu wedding. They were now getting married in New Orleans in three weeks. We had all been invited, and I was up against the deadline to get our RSVP in the mail.

  Mick was quiet, and I knew what he was thinking. I understood his apprehension. Trouble seemed to follow me around at times, and I’m sure he was nervous about my being away from him for a week.

  “Mick, I’d like to at least be there when Mom and Dad arrive,” I told him, “but if it bothers you too much, I’ll wait and go down with you on Friday. Why don’t you think about it, and we’ll let the guys know in a day or two.”

  “No,” he said slowly. “I know I’m being paranoid, and I know you can take care of yourself. Go ahead and go down with Darby and Nate. If I can get away sooner than Friday, I will, but you guys go and have a good time.”

  I reached over and grabbed his hand to give it a squeeze. After some of the predicaments I’d gotten myself into, I knew how hard this was for him to send me off to yet another unknown city where we didn’t know what awaited. But I planned to mind my own business and simply follow the crowd. I couldn’t get into trouble if I was doing what everyone else was doing.

  “Susan, do you want to come with me to grab the game?” Nate asked as he stood up from the table.

  “Yes! Wait for me,” I said hurriedly while getting up and going into the kitchen. “Let me make a little sandwich first.”

  Darby and Mick started clearing the table and cleaning up the dishes while I made a little corned beef on rye sandwich. I walked out of the apartment with Nate, and we hurried down the wide hallway to his door. He opened it to a smiling and exuberant Joe, an eight-year-old black and tan coonhound with red ticking on his chest.

  “Hi, boy! Did you miss me today?” I asked happily as the 80-pound hound jumped all around me and barked his greeting. I plopped down on the floor and held my palm out with the little sandwich. He was overly excited but took it from my hand gently. After wolfing it down, he started rubbing his head into my shoulder and neck. I scratched behind his ears and all down his back. “You’re a good boy,” I told him while nuzzling the top of his head with my cheek. “What did you do today, Joe? Did you chase any rabbits? Did anybody love you today?” We were practically rolling around on the floor together now.

  “Susan, I don’t know what you do to that dog,” Nate said shaking his head and laughing. “It isn’t just the little treats. He really loves you, and he livens up so much when you’re around.”

  “Oh, I luv Joey, too,” I said in a baby-talk voice to the dog while rubbing his belly with both hands. “Where’s his leash?” I asked Nate. “I’ll take him out for a quick run around the building and a potty break. Come on, Joe. Let’s go outside,” I said with excitement as I stood up from the floor. The dog scrambled to all fours and looked up at me with light in his eyes, his tongue hanging out, and a smile on his face.

  Nate was still laughing as he handed the leash to me and said, “That poor old dog hasn’t had this much attention in years.”

  “Well, I think he’s wonderful,” I told Nate. “I never had a dog, and I never knew how much personality they could have. If Mick would let him in the apartment, I’d let him sleep at the foot of our bed.”

  “He wouldn’t stay at the foot, Susan. Trust me. It gives you a jolt to wake up in the morning and realize you’ve opened your eyes to a hound dog with his head sharing your pillow. Or you’ll find him under the blankets and up against your legs on a cold winter night.”

  I smiled at the thought of Joe under the blankets as we ran down the three flights of stairs and out into the parking lot at the back of the building. We kept on running past the carport, the small yard, and out into the freshly mowed field. Mick had allowed Nate to mow down a large section of the field, so we would have a place for Joe to run and do his business. After frolicking with the dog for a good ten minutes, we headed back around the carport, and I took him for a brisk walk around the apartment building.

  As we rounded the front of the building, I thought I heard a familiar sound and was surprised to see a red Chevelle go speeding by. From what I could tell, it appeared to be exactly like mine. This must be the car Martin was talking about earlier. I had no way of knowing who it was, but they were going to be getting a lot of speeding tickets if that was the way they were going to drive. I chuckled to myself. After Dad had given the car to me, I collected more than a few tickets that first year and was even in danger of losing my license. I finally settled down and stopped driving like I was in a race every time I got behind the wheel.

  “Come on, Joe. Time to go in. Maybe I
can talk Mick into letting you lie by my feet while we play Trivial Pursuit.”

  Chapter Three

  “Sam, that’s terrible! Is she going to be ok?” I asked. I was startled at hearing the news.

  Samantha was sipping juice while sitting on a stool at the front counter of the racquetball club. She was keeping me company while I worked my Sunday afternoon shift. We were both watching Larry and Husky play racquetball on the glass court to my right. There had been a number of attacks on women over by the mall area, and one of the recent attacks had been on her cousin, Mae.

  “She’s upset, and definitely afraid to go out by herself,” Samantha said, “but she was lucky. A couple of kids were cutting through by the dumpsters to try to sneak into the theater, and when the guy saw them, he ran off. He dragged her in there and smacked her around some, but wasn’t able to do anything before the kids showed up.”

  We both shuddered at the thought. I sometimes used to close the club at 1:00 in the morning and walk through the darkened building and out into the dark parking lot by myself. I don’t think I could ever do that again, and I’m sure Mick wouldn’t ever let me anyway.

  “Thanks, Jack. Have a good evening,” I said to a member as he handed his towel and locker key back in to me. I turned to a young girl who was literally running up to the counter and said, “Hi, Sheila. Jessie’s waiting for you on court number seven,” I had seen her running through the parking lot and knew she was late for her game. I handed a towel and a locker key to her before she took off running again around the corner to the ladies’ locker room while yelling in my direction, “Thanks, Susan.”

  Samantha and I continued chatting and watching the guys play their match around the continual small interruptions working at the front desk brought. We were used to it though and didn’t mind.

  “Did I hear you two talking about the rapist at the mall?” asked Lugnut, one of the local auto mechanics in town.

  “Yeah,” Samantha answered him. “My cousin had a close encounter with him, but she’s ok.”

  “My wife’s scared to death to go over to the mall for anything,” he said. “I don’t understand why the police can’t catch this guy. He seems to only be in the one area. You think they’d step up patrols or somethin’.”

  “I know I’m not going to the mall for anything until they catch him,” said Samantha. “Susan, have you talked to the girls over at Slimmers?”

  “Not yet. I should check in with Angela and ask her if security in the building has been tightened up. I’ll do that first thing tomorrow.” The local Slimmers center that I used to manage was in an office building on the east side of town right by the mall area. Before heading out to Chagrin Falls in the morning, I’d drive over to the center and talk with Angela, the new manager, to make sure they had enough security when they left the building in the evenings.

  Lugnut gave me an impish grin and asked, “Hey, Susan, have you thought any more about my suggestion?”

  “Lugnut!” I raised my voice at him. “If you bring that up one more time, I swear, I’m going to talk to your wife.” I tried to be somewhat joking with him so as not embarrass him in public, but my eyes were giving him an I mean it look.

  He let out a little laugh and said, “Ok. I’ll drop it, but if you change your mind, you know where I am.” He grabbed a towel and locker key from me and ran up the stairs to the men’s locker room. He didn’t play sports or exercise. He was one of a small percentage of members who only used their club membership for the shower facilities before and after work.

  “What was that all about?” Samantha asked with a confused look. I think she didn’t know whether what she had just heard was funny, enticing, or alarming.

  “I don’t know what’s up with him,” I told her. “You know most of the tenants moved out of our apartment building when it went up for sale, right?” She nodded her head. “All of the leases were suspended, so anyone who wanted to leave could go. Only me and Mick, Darby, and Mr. Tensel and his cats stayed. After we bought the building, Mick and his construction crew went through all of the apartments and made repairs, repainted, and installed new carpeting. When it was time to rent, so many people wanted a unit, we literally took all of the qualified prospects, threw them in a hat, and drew names. Lugnut and his wife were in the hat for one of the apartments, but their name didn’t come up. He didn’t seem to care, but he joined the club shortly after, and he’s been kind of talkative ever since. He acts like we’re old friends.”

  “Yeah, that was weird,” Samantha said. “Other than grunting at you when you drop a vehicle off at the garage, he’s not known for being the talkative type. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile until he just now smiled at you.”

  “That’s the thing,” I told her in a hushed tone. “Several Sundays ago, he was in here, and no one was around. He was hanging around the desk and kind of flirting with me. I’m used to it, and I’ll play along to an extent, but he came right out and said he wanted to have an affair with me.”

  “GET OUT!” Samantha yelled.

  “Shhh!!” I snapped at her. “I don’t want anyone to know about this.” I looked around to be sure no one was close enough to eavesdrop. “At first I thought he was joking, and I laughed it off, but he asked again the next week. I told him I was happily married and had no intention of ever having an affair. But he insisted everyone cheats, and I think he would have pushed harder if the club hadn’t become so busy right then. And now you heard him today.”

  “Wow, that’s kind of scary,” Samantha said with big eyes.

  “Not really,” I said. “I honestly think he’s harmless. He’s married, and maybe he does mess around on his wife, but he hasn’t been ugly or aggressive about it. I think it’s more wishful thinking on his part than anything.”

  Samantha sort of nodded while thinking about it for another few seconds. “What time is Mick going to be home tonight?” she asked.

  “I don’t think until midnight or after. He took Alex to Cleveland for the ball game, and I’m sure they’ll stop on the way home for something to eat.”

  Husky and Larry exited the court, and Larry yelled over, “Hey Susan, you wanna be Samantha’s partner for a few rounds tonight?”

  “Sure,” I told him with a big grin. “I’m off in forty-five minutes, and then I’ll be up.” With Mick gone for the evening, I might as well spend my time in the pub playing euchre.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  I turned down one more street. There was no movement whatsoever, and I needed to head for home. It was almost 2:00 A.M., and if I wasn’t home when Mick came in, he would panic like nobody’s business.

  The rumors of me and my car driving around in the middle of the night were starting to unnerve me. I heard them from three more people at the club since Martin mentioned it yesterday afternoon. And there was talk I was up to no good, but no one had any concrete information as to what type of no good I was supposed to be up to.

  I left the club around midnight. Mick had called and said the ballgame went into extra innings. They were still planning on stopping somewhere to eat ribs, so he was going to be very late. I was guessing he would be home right around 2:00.

  Ten minutes of fast driving, and I was pulling into the carport. I jumped out of the car, dashed into the building, and took the stairs two at a time to the third floor. I raced into the apartment and then into the bathroom, flinging my clothes at the hamper, slipping into pajamas, and jumping into the bed just as the front door of the apartment opened. I took deep breaths trying to slow my racing heart and calm my breathing. Now I needed to pretend to be asleep. I didn’t want Mick to know I had been out driving around.

  Several minutes later, he was sliding into bed beside me. I was lying on my side with my back to him and would normally have been sound asleep when he crept into bed late like this. I felt him run a finger lightly along my shoulder as he softly nuzzled my neck with a few kisses and whispered “I love you” before turning over to settle down to sleep.

  Oh
my gosh! What a sweet thing to do. I wondered if he did it every time he came to bed late. It took every bit of restraint I had to keep from turning over and asking for more, but I didn’t want him to know just how awake I was. I wasn’t a good liar and would probably end up telling him what I had done, and then we’d be up arguing about it.

  It was only a few minutes later, and I could tell by his rhythmic breathing he was asleep, but I was still wide awake. I was going to be tired in the morning. What a stupid thing to do – driving around at night looking for a clone of my car. I sat watching from the deli parking lot for about forty-five minutes, and only two cars had driven by. I drove over the viaduct and through the neighborhoods on the west side of town, but didn’t see anything at all. And what would I have done if I had spotted the car? Nothing. I was done with this. If people wanted to talk, they could talk. I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong, and as far as I knew, the girl driving the other car hadn’t done anything wrong either.

  Chapter Four

  “Susan, Detective Bentley is here to see you,” Mick said sticking his head around the corner of my little library.

  I looked up from my book and knew I had a look of fright on my face. I couldn’t hide it. “What does he want to see me about?” I asked with concern in my voice.

  Mick laughed at my expression and said, “How would I know? He was pleasant enough. Come see what he wants.”

  Mick didn’t fully understand how much Detective Bentley unsettled me. He was always trying to scare me when I hadn’t done anything, and he could be a real smart aleck at times. Mick liked the man and couldn’t understand why he upset me so much.

  “Ok. Tell him I’ll be right out,” I said with a resigned sigh.

  I slipped a bookmark into my book and placed it back on the bookshelf. I crossed the hall to our bedroom and went into the bathroom to brush my hair and check my overall appearance. I wasn’t attracted to Detective Bentley, but he was handsome and looked as though he could have been a movie star. If I wasn’t comfortable with how I presented myself to him, I would be even more intimidated.