Part 4 of 4

As quiet as the little courtyard was, now you could hear a pin drop as Richard Poole does a pretty good grouper imitation, much to Jacko's amusement. Finally the big man flaps a hand and looks away, "Oh, relax, mon. I'm not gonna say nothin'. Not t' her an' not t' my cousins. They might be big an' brawny but they can't hold a candle t' you. I'm not gonna be the one t' tell 'em they's out-gunned. They wouldn't b'lieve me anyway."

Richard finally sorts out enough brain cells to ask, "They wouldn't? Why not?"

Jacko looks up to the night sky, "They won' b'lieve me 'cause they's the type a guys who think muscle outdoes brains… which tells you how much brains they actually don' got. Me, I'm a little smarter, notta lot, but I could see how she look a you there at my front door."

Richard no longer cares if Jacko notices his blush, "HOW did she look at me?"

Jacko sighs, "Like you wuz the be-all an' end-all of her day. Like you wuz the prize in the bottom o' the popcorn box. Sorta like how you looked at that food you just et. Tha's how."

Richard feels all the blood drain out of his face. Mockery. This is mockery. He's gotten used to not being mocked and this sudden attack feels fresh and fierce and he simply won't stand for it! He stands up and says coldly, "Mr. Gardiner, I'll thank you to keep your japes to yourself. I will not stay here and listen to you disparage such a fine officer as…"

Jacko reaches out again, grips Richard's sleeve, and pulls him back down, "Naw, this be no jape, I'm serious. You think jest 'cause I don't like wimin that way don' mean I don' unnerstan' 'em? I got sisters, mon, I got a mother an' aunties an' she-cousins. Me, I was raised by wimin an' I think I knows 'em pretty well." Richard has subsided back into his chair and Jacko nods, "Yah, I don' think I'm mistaken here. That officer o' yourn thinks the world o' you yet here you sit, all alone, alone this whole year. So, I gotta wonder, why is that?"

Richard's lips feel stiff and wooden as he parrots, "Why is what?"

Jacko rolls his eyes, "Mon, yer makin' this a LOT harder than it needs t' be! Why is you alone?"

"Well… I… well… it's… um… because…" There doesn't seem to be enough air for actual speech.

Jacko frowns, "Mmm-hmm, tha's all good reasons but… really… have you tol' her?"

That breaks the dam! Richard jerks in his chair, "TELL her?! Are you insane? She almost tore my arm off for standing too close! She'd dig my heart out with a spoon for annoying her! She's not just a hell-cat, she's a hell-TIGER! Your cousins are lucky they still have their heads!"

Jacko listens with a bland face, "Hmmm, you got it bad. You gotta do somethin'."

Richard gulps, "I do? What?"

Jacko huffs a puzzled breath, "I dunno, I hafta think on it." He stands, "Inna meantime, thanks fer the coffee an' yer company. If things don't work out wit her, maybe you an' me could…?"

Richard shakes his head with vigor, "Oh! Oh, no, Mr. Gardiner, sorry, but no. I most definitely do NOT feel that way about you… I mean… not just you but about ANY man. I'm not wired that way. If things don't work out with… with… um… well, then I'll be a life-long bachelor."

Jacko turns back, just his eyes gleaming by candle-light, "Pity," and then he's gone back inside leaving a very shaken (but not stirred) Richard Poole to finish his cooling coffee in solitude.

Now

Which is why, three weeks later, DI Poole is unnerved to hear Jacko's voice on the phone. Poole steels himself for an unpleasant conversation but Jacko's next words catch him by surprise, "Good news, Inspector, you ain't gonna be a bachelor after all..."

Poole blinks, gulps, "I ain't? I mean, I'm not? I mean... what?"

"Yah mon, I heard a rumor an' I tracked it down so lemee tell yah somethin' interestin' 'bout whut my cousin heard frum a friend whose boy works at La Kaz... 'bout fights 'tween mother an' daughter an' what wuz said in the heat a the moment..."

Poole scrabbles paper and pen into play and writes for almost a minute before saying 'Thank you' and hanging up with a distracted air. He jerks as a sultry voice says right at his shoulder...

"Got a hot tip there, sir?"

He folds the paper up and tucks it into his jacket pocket and nods, "Yes, I believe so but..." He looks up into her eyes so close and almost quails. Then he rallies, "... but I trust my source. I also need your help in dealing with it." He stands, "Come, walk with me."

She nods, "OK, we can stroll to La Kaz for lunch."

He shakes his head as they go out the door, "No, I'd rather we walk the other way, if you don't mind. We can go see your mother later, if we can decide on a solution to a quandary that's been defying my faculties for some time now." He pats his jacket, making the note crinkle.

Her eyebrows go up, "You need Maman's input? That's a first. It must be some hot tip!"

He gives her a most serious look as he gestures her to precede him down the stops, "Oh, yes, the hottest I've ever received."

END