Carpenter, Chef, Chauffeur and a Cop

The Guest

"Richard?"

"Hey, Marianne. How are you doing?"

"I'm a little worried, I've been trying to reach Michonne, but there's no answer at the house. She promised to send her new contact information yesterday, but she did not. Is everything okay, dear? " Marianne asked her voiced laced with concern.

"I'm sorry about that. Yeah, we had to go to Saint John's yesterday, it turns out her injury was a little more serious than originally thought."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, she tore the ligament, in her knee, so she's now in a temporary cast and we're waiting for her prosthetic to be ready."

"Oh dear, it's that bad? Where is she now?"

"Doc says she'll be good as new, eventually. Michonne's taking painkillers so if you couldn't reach her, she's probably resting. She's supposed to be staying off that leg of hers." I answered rather distracted while looking at the selection of phones that were before me. I was in over my head because I'm not really a techy and my friend, Shane, who was more in tuned with this shit he was of no help at all. He didn't even make it into the store. He was too busy exchanging his contact information with the young woman he met in the parking lot.

"Richard?"

"Sorry, Marianne, I'm a bit distracted... just trying to choose a new phone for Michonne. By the way, you wouldn't happen to know what type of phone she had, would you?"

"Oh, dear, I think we might all have iPhones, but I'm not sure which model she has. Mine is an 8 and it works just fine."

"An iPhone it is then," I said relieved having had the decision made for me. I signalled the clerk to let him know I would be taking two phones, it was high time I upgraded anyway. There was a method to my madness, she was going to be pissed again, but I'd rather beg for forgiveness than to ask her for permission.

"Marianne, I have to go now…. I need to wrap up this transaction, but I'll tell Michonne you called, okay?"

"Of course, dear, sorry to bother you."

"It's not at all a bother, Marianne… I enjoy speaking with you."

"You're such a charmer, Richard, you sure know how to put an old lady at ease. Thank you again for looking out for our wayward daughter; Morgan and I, we truly appreciate it." She added as the earlier concern dissipates from her voice.

"It's my pleasure, really. We'll talk soon." I added ending the call happy that she was at ease knowing her daughter was safe.

"From eighteen months ago to weeks? Man, that's crazy-ass shit. And you believe he lives here?" Shane asked.

"I do."

"Why?"

"Because it's the only place he hasn't revisited in the past eighteen months. The first girl was a mistake. I mean, the fact he took her from here, that is."

"So, you're thinking it was more of a compulsion thang?"

"Exactly. She was last seen at some beach party hosted by some rich kids, but no one remembers seeing her leave."

"It also could be as simple as her being drunk and taking a wrong turn and getting carried out to sea."

"But that's the thang, her body didn't wash-up. The sea eventually gives the body back, but in eighteen months, there's been nothing. Her folks came shortly after her disappearance and claimed her belongings. But her purse, her passport.. anything to prove her identity was never found it vanished with her. Pffff… like she never existed."

"But, unlike the cops here, you happen to have someone in mind, don't you?"

Shane knew me well because we grew up together in Atlanta. We were both detectives with the Atlanta Police Department when we applied to the Bureau and went through Quantico together. Unlike Shane, however, Lori and I returned to Atlanta the first opportunity I got because my dad was sick and mom needed help, that was five years ago.

"I thought you said there were virtually no secrets on this island."

"Well, there's always those that folks are willing to take to their graves."

"Yeah, I get it... it's complicated."

"Exactly."

"Even here, politics runs deep, huh? Probably even more so because of the size of the island..."

Shane's words trailed off. He was no longer listening to me and I didn't have to guess why.

….

"So, Richard, darlin'… wah me gonna get for you and your handsome friend?" Eunice asked in her thick island dialect, flipping her shoulder-length auburn braids winking shamelessly at Shane. I guess it was supposed to make me jealous, but it really didn't.

Don't get me wrong, Eunice was a very attractive woman. She was about average height, approximately thirty-five years of age, light brown skin, hazel eyes, full lips with an hourglass figure. When I first arrived here, she offered me a shoulder to cry on, but I wasn't looking for anyone at the time, so we elected to be friends instead. I knew it bruised her ego at the time, but we became better friends for it. However, she didn't like women looking my way for any length of time and she could be downright catty. She thinks I don't know this, but life is just too short, it's more about choosing one's battles. Her possessiveness, however, worked in my favour whenever I needed to get rid of unwanted attention, so I allowed it. It's kind of a one-sided arrangement between us because the men here weren't stupid enough to overstep her boundaries since Eunice happened to be the Police Chief's daughter, that said, but she wasn't the damsel in distress type neither.

Eunice could easily handle her own shit. On more than one occasion, when thangs got rowdy, I've seen her pull out the baseball bat that was kept behind the bar and bring order to the place. She didn't rely on the fact that there were almost always off-duty law enforcement officers who frequented her establishment to protect her. She was an independent badass.

Her physical attributes were exactly what Shane liked. She was top-heavy with a Barbie waistline and hips to match her top with long toned legs; she also wore the skimpiest pieces of clothing too. She needn't do so, of course, but she confessed drunken fools tend to be more generous with tips when the women staff dressed a certain way, so they obliged.

Minutes before she announced her presence, Shane's eyes bugged out of his head, his tongue fell to the floor and I could literally see signs of drool at the corner of his mouth. Based on his reaction, I knew Eunice had materialized on the scene and she was approaching our table, my table really because I always sit in the same spot. It was to the point now that no one sits here whether or not I was in the restaurant. The seat gave me a perfect vantage point of the entire dining room, bar, and both the front entrance and the hallway leading to the back door.

Shane was a tits and ass man and Eunice had it all. Unfortunately, he didn't like his women for their intellect.

Eunice, on the other hand, she owned and operated this establishment. She had more going on between the ears than Shane would care for, but I wasn't about to tell him that, so I decided to sit back and watch the two size one another up. It was gonna be fun watching Eunice's magic at work, so I smiled.

"Hey, Eunice. This is my buddy, Shane. Shane Walsh… Eunice King."

"Howdy, ma'am. Mighty nice to make your acquaintance," he said with a pronounced southern drawl. He was pouring on the southern charm taking her hand into his, lips brushing gently against her knuckles with his eyes locked on hers. Witnessing the whole thang made me feel like a damn voyeur.

Eunice surprised me though, I thought she could spot a player, but what do I know? Shane wasn't acting like a married mand and Eunice was an adult as I've said before, she was the Chief's daughter, so she needs no added protection from me.

With Shane's attention on Eunice, he wasn't sniffing around Michonne and that was just fine by me. What the fuck? The thought came out of nowhere. It surprised the hell out of me. Here I was analyzing the Island Princess who seemed to be smitten by Shane's roguish charms only to have thoughts of the complicated wanderer surfacing out of the blue, it was no doubt because of all the bullshit Shane said earlier.

I cleared my throat interrupting the two before me. "Eunice, I'll take my usual for here, Shane too and the seafood platter with a passion fruit smoothie to go for Michonne."

"Sorry, love,... me forgetting me manners, how di patient doin'? Doc Sinclair tells me y'all went over to the Saint John's clinic to see his dad." She said with a smile on her lips and a faraway look in her eyes. It was obvious, Michonne was an afterthought because Eunice seemed more interested in the memory of Sinclair's father than any true interest in Michonne's condition.

Just hearing the lil prick's name had me bristling. The piece of shit was playing games. There weren't many secrets on the island, so Eunice could have easily found out the information through multiple sources, but it came from him. He was sending me a message because Sinclair wasn't a regular at King's Bar & Grill. Where the hell was his patient confidentiality?

"Er… Eunice?" I called out to bring her back to the present.

"Sorry, sweetheart…" she blushed, "dat be di two specials. Di missus' dinner an' a smoothie to go?" She asked winking at Shane.

It was her not so subtle way of trying to get a confirmation as to the status of Michonne's and my relationship, something I would never confirm one way or the other.

"You boys be wantin' a pitcher o' beer or pints?"

"Two pints of Guinness would be great to start, thanks, Eunice."

"Sure, thing darlin', whatever makes you happy. Anything else, you boys, best holla because me doing double duty today." Eunice added sliding the small pencil behind her ear and placing her notebook in her apron pocket.

And with that, Eunice was the businesswoman once again. She walked away giving Shane more than an eyeful no doubt from the goofy look on his face. It was only a matter of time before she mopped the floor with him and kicked him to the curb because my brother was way out of his league… he just didn't know it yet.

….

"Seriously, Shane. Wipe that goofy look from your face. You're looking as though you ain't never seen a woman before."

"Shit, man, no wonder you don't wanna come home."

"Speaking of home, you said, Eugene found my photo online?"

"Yeah, he said it was a meme or some shit. Hell if I know, man. You know that guy from the beer commercial," Shane was doing a miserable job of explaining himself, so he pulled out his phone and pulled up the photo. It was a shot which was manipulated with me pouring a drink into a glass and superimposed over the photo, was the phrase, "Stay Thirsty, Bitches".

"What the fuck is this?" I recognized the photo, it was one of the first photos Michonne had taken of me, so I made a mental note to talk to her about it.

The photo was taken on the beach. In it, the island of Redonda, the uninhabited rock was featured prominently in the background behind the ferry, so it wasn't very hard figuring out the geographical location after that.

"So exactly why are you here, Shane?"

"I miss you, bruh. You don't write, you don't call… I tried finding you but you went ghost, man."

"Have you ever stopped to think that maybe this is exactly what I want."

"What? Being off the grid like this…" he gesticulated with his arms wide open looking surprised.

"I could do worse."

"What about your mama?"

"Ma's fine."

Since dad's death two years ago, my mother sold the family home and bought herself a small condo. She kept herself busy by going on cruises and seeing the world, something dad wasn't too keen on doing. She returned home for my wife's funeral but was off again within three months, so my decision to leave Atlanta wasn't sudden… there just wasn't anythang keeping me there. Ma and I kept in touch via email and she promised to spend Christmas on the island if I was still here by then.

I didn't want to dwell on that fact either, so I changed the subject.

"So, about The Hunter…?"

"You got a working profile?"

"Yeah. Male between eighteen to thirty-two. He's intelligent because he's been at this for at least eighteen months that we know of and hasn't been caught. He's educated because he shows discipline in order to have lasted this long while having law enforcement literally chasing their tails for as long as he has. He's organized because he leaves nothing to chance… no crumbs to follow so he's meticulous. He's also charming, he puts women at ease they don't feel threatened by him, quite the opposite… they're attracted to him and it's their death sentence if, in fact, he's killing them. He knows how to manipulate any given situation to suit himself, and he's a chameleon because he blends into wherever he hunts with ease and we know he has money to be able to move whenever and wherever he wants."

"All solid points brother, but why is he doing it?"

"He's bored?... Still trying to figure that out."

"Fuck, if that's a hazard of living in paradise… I could be gainfully employed here."

He no sooner finished speaking when he received a text, no doubt from the very same young woman he exchanged contacts with earlier in the parking lot. Shane's face lit up, I could only imagine what triggered that predatory look in him.

Shane was never going to change. I'm sure Jessie, his wife thought he was down here being all altruistic saving his best friend from himself, but if she only knew... Shane was still the same guy who got a blow job by a woman he did not marry an hour before taking the vows of matrimony eighteen months ago.

Just then, Eunice returned with our food.

"You boys best be hungry cause me slaved over these just for you."

"Looks amazing, Eunice. Thank you." The platters were huge and we dug in.

"My pleasure, darlin'..."

"Two more pints, ma'am," Shane ordered.

"The missus' order be ready by the time you're done here."

The squeaking noise woke me up. I was a little disoriented not quite sure what it was I was hearing. It didn't take long, however, to recognize the distinct sound of the headboard banging against the wall, the creaking of the bed begging for mercy while and a woman begging for more, faster, harder again… until the crescendo and what sounds like a woman screaming in tongues and a wounded animal howl.

I couldn't believe that within twenty-four hours, the asshole next door has turned the place into a tawdry fucking motel. I couldn't sleep anymore, so I got out of bed, grabbed my crutches and hobbled my way to the kitchen.

After pouring myself a glass of Rick's scotch, I abandoned one crutch in order to carry my drink outdoors with me.

I hadn't turned on the light opting to use the moonlight instead. I would have never noticed him until my eyes adjusted had it not been for the scent of the cigarette and the perfect circles he blew upon exhaling.

Great, he couldn't sleep either, so here we both were together under the cover of moonlight because neither could or wanted to go back into the house… nor did we want to be in the presence of the current company. The situation was awkward all around.

After sitting down, I downed half the shot and stole the cigarette off him and took a drag. He looked at me curiously when I did choke or cough.

"You're medication, says it shouldn't be mixed with alcohol."

"Are you going to tell Dr. Sinclair?"

He said nothing.

"I'm sorry… I was being ungracious. Thank you for the phone. I sent an email to my folks and some friends, so my contacts are slowly reappearing. I don't feel so anonymous anymore."

"You're welcome… It was either that or Marianne would be on the next plane down here. I didn't think you'd want that."

"Not at all."

"Are you okay?"

"In as much as you are, Rick. Look, I get that he's your buddy and I'm your tenant, but this is unacceptable…"

"I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting him to come back here tonight. But I will speak to him tomorrow."

"There's no need to run him off…. But, if you were to replace the door across the street, we could go back to the way things used to be… you know, before the storm."

"I'll fix the door if I have to, but only so Shane could sleep there. You keep forgetting what I told you. Plus, I promised Marianne I would look out for you."