The Human side of her wasn’t even acknowledged by her any more. They were a species she was now ashamed of.
After swallowing another mouthful she was pleased to see Curtis enter the study. “What’s happened to you, Trainee Assistant?” He observed her tear-stained face.
After Enya had left the house, Lodax led Baxy into her bedroom. This was their usual ritual.
He gently stripped her of clothing, all the time kissing her and stroking her body. Then he took his own clothes off and dropped them untidily on the floor.
Once she saw his muscular frame, Lodax was always more than happy to fulfil her role as a mating partner. She was good at what she did, and much as she liked to stay aloof from her clients she found this hard to do with Baxy. He was so tender and loving with her she often wondered if he was a lot softer than the persona he liked to portray.
Their love-making was intense and passionate but when she happened to glance down at the floor she noticed a hefty, wooden-handled hunting knife in a leather sheath attached to his belt. She’d never seen it before.
She looked quickly away and devoted herself to their love-session. He gave her the pleasure she craved, but at the back of her mind she began to wonder if he knew she was a known one. If so, he could be planning to kill her as soon their time together was over.
“I love you, Lodax,” he said after they both lay back on her bed exhausted and satisfied.
Lodax was surprised and also relieved. Surely he wasn’t planning on killing her after all?
“I saw you looking at my knife,” he said. “I have some work to do once I leave here.”
She knew better than to enquire what that work was. She never asked him any questions about himself either. She was simply there, an uncomplicated mate, keeping the terms of their agreement and receiving money every month.
“I want you to tell me about your friend, Enya,” he said, reaching for a cigarette. “What is her experience and why does she want the job?”
“She told me she’s short of money,” Lodax said. “Being a Ryxin woman means it’s hard for her to get employment in the Human world, as you well know.”
“And experience in these things?”
“She has been married, but her husband died. She’s alone now,” Lodax lied.
“Was she married to a Human?”
“I believe so. He passed away several years ago.”
Baxy said nothing for a few minutes, just lay there smoking his cigarette. “I’m going to change the contract,” he said. “She must be available twice a week while you’re away. I have needs, Lodax. And naturally you’re the one who I want more than anyone else so I want to change your contract as well, to start once you return. I’ll require two visits a week from you also. I hope you’re willing to do that.” He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray she always put out for him, and sat up.
“Yes, of course, Baxy. You know I’m more than willing.” Lodax didn’t want to see Baxy twice a week. She had two other clients she saw weekly and it would mean she had less time to herself. Besides, she was sure Baxy now saw her as more than just a business transaction. He had never before uttered any words of endearment to her. In fact he was usually quite rough and demanding. But she also knew why Eurwyn had agreed to stand in for her while she was away. So she didn’t need to worry about the proposed change of contract.
Janux told Curtis she’d found out Dave Nabb owned the FANCY FISH van, which he used to deliver daily phone orders. She also told him how Dave had refused to give out any details about who had hired the van that day, ostensibly to shift house.
“You must write up a report for me,” Curtis said and took the whisky glass from her, finishing its contents himself.
Janux grimaced and tried to take the glass back from Curtis. “I’ve written so many reports,” she said. “Couldn’t a verbal one do just as well?”
“You look tired, Janux. I hope I haven’t been working you too hard.” Curtis poured himself another whisky and sat down at his desk. His thoughts were on Luxinda again, something that always happened when he was struggling with his work.
Janux poured the last of the whisky into a new glass and sat down in a leather armchair. “This case is getting me down,” she said. “I think I’m failing to meet the requirements of a trainee.”
Curtis swallowed a mouthful of whisky. He wanted to say something comforting to Janux but he was thinking of Luxinda and the baby inside her. Wasn’t it due soon? How could he possibly penetrate that fortress and get her out? “You’re doing all right, Janux. Don’t worry. Forget about the report. We’ll go quietly to his warehouse and find out who hired his van. The H-police will never know. He’ll never know. I’ll get Jack to do it.”
He could feel the whisky starting to take effect. It was a nice feeling. He looked over at Janux. Her Madonna-like eyes were staring blankly ahead as she drank her whisky. God how he loved her, but Luxinda was the one carrying their baby. That thought overrode everything else sometimes and he was powerless to stop it. He went to the cabinet, got out a fresh bottle of whisky and began to open it.
CHAPTER 25
Janux lay on her bed and craved to go back to her bach at Chamonix Beach. She knew Curtis was still obsessed with Luxinda and it ate away at her. She also wanted her pistol, which was still hidden in the ceiling, and she longed for some time out from the case. It seemed that every way they turned there was resistance waiting for them. Each time Curtis asked for a report now she was on the verge of screaming at him. It felt like a waste of time typing out all this information when they could be moving on with finding Nayxana’s killer. She thought about Oskin Vasco, now in the pre-death row cell and waiting for the day he was summoned to appear in court. The H-police wanted him to be guilty and had made up their minds to condemn him. She and Curtis had to save him. No one else was going to do it.
“Come on, Janux, we’re going to see Ixola.” He opened the door to her room and looked in. “Hurry up. You know how important time is at this stage. I suspect that any day we’ll be told Oskin is going to court. The RJD can do nothing to save him without our evidence.”
Janux got up and followed him, picking up her pack of essential PI tools as she went. Then they were speeding towards Pigeonwood Road. They turned onto the dirt track and parked outside the tiny, unpainted bach, which to Janux looked more like a shed.
Curtis got out and knocked loudly on the door. Janux joined him. It was opened and Ixola stood there, with Jack by her side. “Just the two people I wanted to see,” Curtis said.
“Jack’s beens helping me with foods,” Ixola said. “I losts my moneys.”
“No,” Jack interjected, “I think someone stole it. Her bach cannot be locked, and when I brought her home yesterday she saw immediately that her money was gone from where she’d left it.”
“Jack wants me to goes to his house to stays,” Ixola said, taking his hand.
He blushed. “It’s not safe for her here. I want to make sure she’s all right. Poppa doesn’t mind. He said he’d enjoy having another person around.”
“Can we come in?” Curtis said. “I have a proposal for you both. To be done immediately, if you can. You see, time’s running out for our client and we still haven’t enough proof to take to the RJD to get him a fair trial.”
“I’ve heard Uxxl Aogan’s a good lawyer to have,” Jack said as Ixola prepared coffee for them.
“He’s not a well man right now,” Curtis said.
“So what is it you want us to do?” Jack said.
Curtis observed how perky Jack seemed despite their trip to Briar Manse ending in such a heartbreaking way. His girl, Sheela, and their baby were still prisoners of the Ryxin Breeding Programme and both were unlikely to be freed in the near future. “It’s like this, you see, Jack. I want you to go down to the northern end of the fishmonger’s wharf until you see a shed with FANCY FISH painted on the side. It’s owned by a bloke called Dave Nabb and we’re trying to find out who he rented his van to on 13th M
ay. It was seen at the murdered woman’s house that day. Janux phoned him but he clammed up, so I thought maybe you could do some digging – or even searching – to find out who that person was. This could be the breakthrough we’re looking for.”
“No worries, mate, I’ll go there today,” Jack said brightly.
“Thank you. Ixola, I know you once spent some time at the Xlesky Street house.”
“Yes, I beens there a lot. I knows some of the womens there.”
“That’s why I want you to go there for us. Ask them about a large, fat Irishman with a small head and roving hands. Does anyone know anything about him? Where he stays on the island? Any information at all will be good. Can you do that? We know him as The Controller, but he will likely be using an ordinary name.”
Ixola smiled at him. “I can visits there today and finds out for you.”
“You must make sure no one in authority knows you are asking about him. Be very careful, Ixola. He’s a dangerous man.”
“I wills be carefuls.”
“While those two are helping us with our enquiries we’re going to Pohatu Cove,” Curtis said heading for his car.
“Why are we going there?” Janux asked.
“To see if Claudette Peace is still working at the house in Lighthouse Drive.” He slowed down on the way through Muritai Village. “She left a message on my answerphone while we were away and I’ve never got back to her.”
A short time later he stopped the car outside number 18. “Come on, Janux, we’re going to see how our old friend is doing.”
“If I remember correctly, she wasn’t looking too good last time we saw her.”
“Right, and I regret not coming here sooner and making sure she’s okay,” Curtis said.
The house was painted white with yellow trimmings and looked well kept, with tidy gardens and a neatly manicured lawn. Curtis pressed the doorbell and they both stood in the porch, apprehensively waiting. Eventually the door opened slowly and she stood in the doorway, contemplating them with a slightly dazed look.
“Is that really you, Curtis, and your assistant?”
Curtis saw a scar on Claudette’s face, just below her right eye. She was thinner and her hair, still cropped short, was brushed straight back, giving her face a naked, spare look. Her demeanour was nervous.
He stepped forward and gave her a big hug. “Yes, it’s us, all right. We thought we’d look you up after receiving your phone message when we came back from Ireland. Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner, but we’re on a difficult case right now.”
“Come in, both of you. I’m the only one living here now.” She looked past them, scanning the street.
“Is anything wrong?” Curtis said, noticing her uneasiness.
“I rang you because I was worried about something,” she answered. “After Sly Onyx became ill with the sacred blood-sickness things became rather chaotic here. Vandy and Spryz went to Australia and all the other staff members eventually left. No one was being paid any more and we never saw any of the RBP committee. I was the only one who stayed on. I suppose you know I’d been badly treated by Sly Onyx so I wasn’t sorry he was out of action. Even Vandy was physically abusing me. I’d fallen in love with him so I was blind to the fact he was using me to get revenge on Sly. He and Spryz wanted to take charge of all Sly’s RBP activities but eventually the whole thing fell apart. Anyway, I had nowhere else to go. Then the other day when I was out I saw Spryz Frurster and Vandy. I hid behind a shop door and they didn’t see me. But I know what those two are like. I’m scared they’ll come round here and find me on my own.”
“I don’t think you need worry, Claudette. It seems they’ve been back on the island for a while now. Spryz has set himself up in a small fishmonger’s business down on the wharf and Vandy is probably helping him. Who owns this house?”
“It still belongs to Sly Onyx. I had a phone call a couple of months ago from Ferdy Xyle. He said he’d taken charge of the RBP business while Sly was sick and asked if I would stay on and keep the house in order until further notice. He said I could live here rent free as long as I kept the gardens and lawns tidy and the house clean. He’s going to get back to me in a few weeks.”
Curtis wanted to ask her if she’d seen Marzy but instead he said, “Are you all right for money?”
“Yes, I get welfare payments,” she said, looking down.
Then Curtis remembered - Humans were entitled to these handouts.
“We think Vandy is living at the same address as Spryz. We saw him coming out of there only last week,” Curtis told Claudette. “So I don’t think you need worry about him.”
“But I had a visitor the other day,” she said, knotting her fingers together. “He said he was looking for Vandy because he had some work for him. I didn’t like the look of him. He was tall, very fat and had a small head, and he was very pale and sickly looking.”
“Did he say what his name was?” Curtis asked her.
“No, but he left a card and told me if Vandy came round to give it to him and tell him to phone the number on it straight away.” She reached over to a small table and handed Curtis the card. It had TC and a phone number on it, nothing else.
“How long ago was this?” he asked.
“Um, let’s see. It was May but I can’t recall which day, sorry.”
“Was there anything else about this man you can recall?”
She thought for a moment. Then she brightened. “Yes, I remember now. He had a very broad Irish accent and was hard to understand.”
“We’re trying to find the killer of a Ryxin woman called Nayxana,” Curtis said. “Her husband’s been jailed for the murder, but we’re convinced he didn’t do it. And we believe the whole thing has something to do with the man who came here looking for Vandy.”
“Why was she killed?” Claudette asked, her eyes looking anxiously from Curtis to Janux and back again.
“I’ll tell you more about that another time,” Curtis said, looking at the card she’d given him. “May I keep this?”
Claudette nodded. “Thanks for thinking about me.”
He noticed her eyes were filled with tears as they turned to go.
Baxy sat at the kitchen table in Lodax’s home and surveyed the woman standing in front of him. He was jotting down some points he wanted to ask his prospective employee.
“Sit down, Enya,” he said gruffly, pointing to a chair on the other side of the table.
“Yes, sir,” she said, sitting down.
“Tell me why you want this job.”
“My husband died a few years ago and I have to earn my own money now, sir. That is why I am seeking employment.”
“You’re only a stand-in for Lodax – you know that, don’t you?” he said, looking her in the eyes. They were beautiful eyes, which drew him in.
“Yes, sir. Lodax told me.”
“Then why aren’t you looking for something with a guaranteed regular income?” he shot back, trying to unsettle her composure.
“I’m willing to help out my friend,” Enya replied straight away. “Perhaps later I can take up some more work of the same kind.”
“If you find you like it, you mean?”
“Yes, sir. I’ve never hired myself out before, sir. This is a new kind of employment for me.”
“What’ve you done before then?”
Enya paused. “Made sandwiches, waited on tables, and cleaned the homes of rich Humans,” she said.
“You’re a fool then,” he said. “Humans like it when they can treat Ryxin women like slaves. Why stoop so low?”
“I needed the money, sir.”
“And now you want to be my slave, a stand-in mating-partner?”
“Yes, sir, that is my wish, to work for someone of my own species.”
“You’ll need to be available twice a week and provide somewhere for us to meet. My place isn’t suitable – I’m caring for a sick man there. Do you understand?”
“I understand, sir. Yes, I am available twice
a week and you can come to my home for our meetings.”
“Good. Does anyone else live there?”
“No,” Enya lied. “I live alone.”
“So, I suppose you want to know how much money I’ll be paying you.” He glared at her, hoping to unnerve her so that she’d at least show some feelings of humiliation. He found it annoyed him to see her looking so relaxed and composed.
“Yes,” Enya said, remaining calm and unruffled by his abrupt questions.
“This is how it works for a new employee like you. Because I don’t even know if I’m going to like you, I’ll pay you half-fee for the first two weeks. That’s four visits, okay? Once the trial period is over, as long as I think we’re going to hit it off, I’ll pay you full wages. But if you ever let me down, even once, by not being there or being late, then you give your services free for the following month. So that’s the contract. If you agree, sign here. Just your first name will do. Have you any questions?”
Baxy watched his new employee closely. Her skin was milky white and it contrasted nicely with her glossy black, curly hair. He couldn’t wait for their first liaison. She reached for the pen with a slender hand. “I just have one question,” she said, the pen poised above the paper. “When do I start work?”
“As soon as Lodax departs on her overseas holiday. Leave me your phone number and I’ll call you when I’m ready.”
Enya waited only for a moment, and then signed the contract. She left soon after, smiling sweetly as Lodax opened the front door for her, and she walked out into a cold, wet, winter’s afternoon, laughing silently.
It was late afternoon when a car pulled into the driveway of Curtis’s home and Jack and Ixola got out and made their way into the kitchen. Janux was preparing spaghetti bolognaise and had just put a bottle of dry white wine in the fridge. “You must stay and eat with us,” she said, “and you can tell us what you’ve found out. Good news, I hope.”
Nayxana Alien Woman Page 15