My My Little Prince

by Rod Lacy Rod Lacy

  “I sure do. Where does he live? Maybe I will not have to go to Port-Au-Price after all … maybe he is still here or somewhere close by. You say the computer was taken too?”

  “Yes, I'll get you that address too. Do you think he would steal only items that prove someone else’s ID?”

  “As I said before, Dr. Campbell has been many people in the past. Maybe our Dr. Campbell is now Dr. Pierre and is in Santo Domingo, or at least still in the Dominican Republic.”

  “Oh my God!” Nurse Nadia said as she noticed her shaking hands. “Oh my God. This is all my fault! How stupid I am … How horribly-horribly stupid. I may have killed Maria and Dr. Pierre. I killed my friend and a patient, Oh-o-o! No, no, no-o-o!” she moaned.

  34

  “Knock, knock,” Joe whispered as he quietly opened the hospital room door. “Sherine honey, it’s Joe. I’m here with your mom.” They both entered slightly.

  Sherine looked up in a daze. She took a few moments, rubbing her eyes and suddenly screamed, “My mom! Oh God, my mom. Evon, what in the hell are you doing here?” She shook violently as she twisted the sheets in her hands. Evon turned and stepped back into the hallway with a nod from Joe.

  Joe was taken by surprise. Evon was not. She had expected something like that to happen. Joe walked towards the bed and he grabbed Sherine’s hand while leaning over her, hugging her, and he tried to sooth her, rocking back and forth, “Sh-sh-sh, baby, it’s ok … I’m here … Sherine honey, I thought you would love to see her.”

  Sherine pushed Joe away and scooted as far away on the bed as she could and screamed, “Yeah over my dead body!” Her face contorted into a Kubota mask. After a pause she continued, “I'm her mom, I'm here. She drifted back into a trance that lasted for a few seconds and then waking up some she silently said to Joe.... “I’m so confused.” Joe wrung his hands and paced back and forth in front of her.

  “Oh Joe, I’m sorry! I was not thinking straight, I – I was dreaming! Where is she?”

  Joe’s look was a mixture of relief and wonder. “She is standing in the hallway waiting for me to tell her it’s okay for her to come in. She wanted to give us a moment alone.”

  Sherine, took a breath and said “Yes Joe, I’m sorry! I would love to see her; I've missed her so … it was just the dream honey. I’m alright now.”

  Joe started to tell her that he would call her in but Evon had stuck her head around the door. She walked in when Joe beckoned her forward. Sherine said in a voice so unwelcoming Joe was again flummoxed. “Hi ‘Mom’.”

  Sherine turned to Joe and sweetly said, “Joe honey, can I have a moment with my mom in private please? I want to tell her how much I’ve missed her. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her and I’m afraid I might lose it and I do not want you to be here if I do. You can understand, right?”

  “Yes of course, I understand.” Joe agreed; not understanding at all. He walked to the door and opened it, then turned, “I had imagined you would be overwhelmed to see your mom since it’s been such a long time.”

  He stepped out and the door closed slowly behind him. Sherine looked up as her mother came hesitantly closer. She dared as far as the foot of the bed. “Listen ‘mom’, I don’t know what in hell you are doing here but you had better not blow it for me. Joe is rich, successful, and powerful. Not to mention good looking. And he loves me mom. And I actually love him. Got it?” Evon stood still nodding her head like a yes-man to his capo.

  “For the first time in my life I actually love someone and if you ruin it for me I will kill you. Don't say anything about my past, got it?”

  Evon looked at Sherine and immediately defaulted to denial mode again, “Oh Sherine, what are talking about?”

  Sherine slapped the bed covers along her thigh. “Still the same; aren't you Mom? Pulling the same old denial Bull Shit!” Sherine hissed.

  “I don’t know what you mean Sher … !”

  “Drop it Mom! Just fucking drop it … That’s right; you heard me! You just be sure to keep up that BS smile and living in your dream world. Not a fucking word to Joe!

  “Where is Paul, or Pete, or whatever the hell his name is?”

  Evon smiled now; glad to change the subject. She tried to rub Sherine’s feet but Sherine quickly moved them, tucking them under her. “It’s Paul honey. He is at the hotel waiting for me.”

  Sherine stared at her mom with a look that could kill. “Good, I’m not ready to bullshit two people now. Joe is enough. Call him in; and remember, you had better not say anything that will mess up this relationship. I will marry him and I will love him.” “And his money?” “Mom!!!” “Oh Sherine, I only want the best for you.”

  Evon looked at Sherine; eyes wide with feigned innocence, “Now honey I really have no idea what you are talking about. I have always wanted what is best for you.” “I wish I could believer that.”

  Evon looked at Sherine as if she was surprised and said, “Now Sherine, you are not feeling good, you need your sleep.”

  Sherine took a few seconds to slowly get out of her bed. She tried to sit on the chair in the room but in her weakened state she missed the edge and nearly fell to the floor. She grabbed the edge of the chair and caught herself as she fell back, collapsing like a rag doll. She sat breathing hard for a few seconds and then looked at Evon and said again, “You taught me good Mom, so back off now and don’t do anything that will change my life.” “Sherine, honey, I really do not understand your attitude.”

  Evon looked at Sherine and said, “Oh, by the way. His name is Paul; you know, my husband. Since we are letting it all out immediately, I will tell you what I think you want to tell me. If you ruin my relationship with Paul I will kill you, got it? Don’t think you are the only one capable of that! I’ll kill you when you least expect it! I’ll kill you when you are in one of your drunken stupors!” Her face was so deformed even Sherine was stopped in her tracks.

  Both women stared at each other for a long time; their ragged breathing subsiding. At some unknown mutual signal they slowly nodded at each other. Sherine shed a tear again from her right eye as Evon stared and grinned.

  “Well then.” Evon continued almost evenly now, “Since we are talking about it, I see you are still taking drugs. Don’t you think Joe will get tired of you always being drunk?”

  Sherine smiled and said, “Mom, I have the power over men that you so lovingly taught me and he loves me and I drown him in my love and I will screw him into ecstasy.”

  Then it was Evon’s turn to smile, “Honey, now that we understand each other let’s get to know each other’s new rich lover.”

  Evon opened the door and called for Joe, “Joe, my dear, your lovely fiancé would love to see your lovely smiling face now. She loves you so much and needs you by her side.”

  An embarrassed Joe said, “Thanks Evon, I am so glad you are here. I know she missed you so much. She always tells me how much she misses you and that she has been looking forward to your visit.” Joe leaned over and gave Evon a gentle kiss on her cheek. As he started to pull away Evon cradled his head in her hands and pulled him back down. She kissed him on the forehead and said, “Joe, you have no idea how much we love each other; even though we have not seen each other for some time.”

  “Oh I know the love you both have for each other Evon. Distance is not a barrier when there is sincere love.”

  Evon smiled and walked back over to Sherine, “Sherine I love you and I am so glad I can tell you that. It hasn’t always been easy on us; especially after your father left.”

  Sherine shot her a warning look. She tried to stand up again. Joe grabbed her and told her to stay in the chair. She smiled up at him. “Oh Joe, I'm so glad to have you here and my mom too. Thank God I have such wonderful people here with me. It's so nice. Joe” She slumped back in her seat and continued dreamily. “When I was almost dead I kept seeing you drifting away Joe. I could not touch you, speak to you or hear you; only see you drifting away. I was so scared!

  “Joe I want
to get married right now, right here. I don't want to lose you. Will you do that for me? Will you Joe?”

  Joe looked at Sherine and said, “Sherine whatever you want. I'll call my secretary and she will get all the legal papers done and we can be married as soon as possible if that will make you happy. We’re in the right place for our blood tests,” he joked.”

  Sherine started at this but quickly recovered, “Oh Joe; that will be so nice. Where is Michelle?”

  He held her hand and said, “She will be here any moment. They are finalizing the reports to release her. And, while they do this, she is actually talking to the police.”

  Joe looked deeply into Sherine’s eyes, “And my dear, I will marry you today; right here, and love you forever. But please,” he laughed, “if you ever celebrate in the future, do it with me and only me! No more drinking like that! You know you cannot do that, your tolerance … uh, … well, you scared the life out of me!” His eyes were bright with happiness.

  He included Evon in his hug and said, “Sherine will be so happy to have her mom nearby. She has truly missed you so much! And, we are really looking forward to meeting Paul.

  “Soon this whole event will be over and we will all be celebrating the wedding with a great family reunion on our yacht … ” Neither Sherine or Evon missed the significance of the ‘our’. “ … on our way to the Bahamas!”

  The door banged open and Michelle was wheeled in. She had several dressings covering her scrapes and scratches. Her wrists were almost all yellowed bruises from where she’d been held down so brutally. She looked at the blissful trio and just smiled. Then they all chattered on happily.

  “With the power invested in me by the State Of Florida I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride … gently.” The notary said.

  As Joe leaned over to kiss his bride, Sherine sucked in a gasp. She pushed Joe’s head to the side and grunted painfully, “Wait a second Joe!” And she doubled over in pain holding her head in both hands. “Nurse,” She screamed, “Agh, the pain! I need more meds.”

  35

  Frank was back in his hotel room and decided to call Mike, his computer guru. He had Dr. Pierre’s email address and a couple other leads he felt he could put to good use. He put the call on speaker phone so he could take notes.

  After the small talk he said, “Hey Mikey, I have a dumb question for you. Can I track an IP address on a computer to get a physical address? You know, specifically I need to know when it was logged in to a new address? I mean when it was last logged on and has acquired a new IP address … and where by the way?”

  Mike answered, “Well, there are ways of locating where a computer is, generally. But whoever you’re chasing would have to be an idiot to use the computer if you’re looking for him.”

  Frank laughed, “Hey, who says I am chasing anyone? It’s not really ‘chasing’ if a guy leaves trails so big a bulldozer could fit in it.”

  “Ok,” Mike said, “so who are you not chasing?”

  “You know that Dr. Pierre, the research doctor I told you about?”

  “Yes, the one that lived in Haiti that went to find his family, right? I remember you talking about him. He was originally from New York, right?”

  “Yes, that’s him.” Frank popped some fresh pineapple in his mouth and talked through the chewing. It was as sweet as simple syrup. “Yeah, he’s gone missing and I need to locate him”

  “Well, let’s see, if he has been working on research with any of several websites, we should be able to track him. If anyone logs on to a computer at any time and uses any one of a number of programs that run in the back ground, the computer will report back to the main server; … not only where they are, but also when they logged on. It will report the specific city location, as well as other basic information like the time and user name.”

  “Really,” Frank said perking up now. “So what do I do next?” “Look online at a few websites; try Seti-At-Home, or maybe Folding-At-Home first and then there is always Lojack for Laptops. You know like the car. If he had that, you can find him in a few seconds with no effort.”

  “Thanks Mike, you always come through.”

  “Hey what are friends for?”

  “Mike, this guy has been so sloppy up to now why would he get any harder to find?”

  “He probably doesn’t know such a smart guy like you knows an even smarter guy like me!” Mike teased. “Good luck and call me if you need anything else.

  “Will do Mikey! Thanks!” Frank switched off the speaker phone and sat back in his chair. He chewed another piece of the sweet fruit. “I’ll find you my little pretty!” he thought to himself.

  A few minutes later Frank looked up Seti-At-Home. He found out the codes for locating computers and there it was. The computer had been used in a city called Las Terrenas. It was on the Samana Peninsula on the northern coast of the Dominican Republic. “This guy is an idiot!” Frank thought to himself, “A real minor leaguer. Well it looks like I´m going to Las Terrenas. But first I´ll call David to give him an update on my progress, he´ll be very happy.”

  Frank hit the button on the phone again and dialed the United States. When David answered Frank said “David, Frank here. I´m sure I found him.”

  “Take me off that fucking speaker-phone; you know I hate that shit,” David barked; always Mr. Nice Guy.

  Frank hit the button and listened for a second “… Yeah, he´s in the north of the country. … Yea, I´ll leave in the morning. He´s an idiot David, his trails are easier to follow than bread crumbs. Of course when you have a genius like me … No, I’m not sure where he is staying yet, but I looked up the town and it is really small. … Yeah, it’s sort of land-locked. It is surrounded by mountains. The pictures make it look like a village in Hawaii or something. ... yeah, it should not take more than a couple hours to get there, I’ll leave early. I´ll call you when I´m there and give you another update. Get ready to throw some darts.” Frank laughed and said, “Yes, I’ll cut them off clean so you can mount them. … Got it, call you tomorrow.”

  Frank started to hang up but he heard more talking. “David, are you still there? I didn’t catch that.”

  “Yes, … Oh, what? … No, he doesn’t know me at all. …”

  He heard David say, “Don´t let him know that you are there. Find a way to talk to him without him knowing anything about you and who you are. Let´s watch him for awhile and find out what he is doing and why he is doing whatever he is doing. Who knows? Maybe we can use him or have some fun with him. We own him and he doesn’t even know it. A guy like that is always up to something. This may be an asset we can use in the future.

  “Just do what you do best Frank. Keep an eye on him, play with him and maybe even play friendly with him and have a couple drinks. You know what to do. Keep him in sight and let´s see what he´s all about.”

  “Okay,” Frank nodded, “I’ll work him out and see what he is made of, but remember, David, he’s no pro, but he is sneaky … and dangerous.”

  “Well, you’re dangerous too, and you have the advantage since he doesn’t know you. Just b e careful and be smart and get me what I want!”

  “Gotcha. Adios”

  “Frank,” Frank sat up at David’s tone and stopped chewing, “that market there in the Dominican Republic is ripe. You know for our business. I’ve done some talking to a few good friends and that country has no underground web. We may need you, you know what I mean? You play your cards right here Frank, …”he let the bait drift.

  “Yup, sure do, David, sure do.”

  “It´s only a rag tag band of locals that run the show there and the show is really small, so far. Who knows … maybe we can test the waters with our new friend and see what price he will pay to live a little longer. You know, do a market survey.”

  “Very cool,” Frank says, “I like it and I get to enjoy paradise while we do the survey.”

  “Ok Frank, be cool and just keep an eye on him while I make a few more calls to see how we ca
n use our new friend before he pays the piper.

  “I´ll call tomorrow when I arrive in Las Terrenas. Adios.” Frank clicked off this time and tossed the phone on the coffee table. He stabbed another piece of yellow fruit and tapped it against the side of the bowl watching the nectar pool. He held his other hand under it as he guided it in his mouth and munched contentedly. “That David is a smart fucker all right. He’ll use that guy like toilet paper, then throw him in the pot and flush him down the drain!” He slipped his shirt over his head. “A nice hot shower is what I need, and then it’s a night on the town for this ol’ boy!”

  36

  “Hey Michelle, please answer the door, will you? It’s probably Mom, she called and said she was coming over.”

  Michelle stopped dead in her tracks and turned to Sherine. Her jaw fell open and she stared at her bug-eyed. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me Sherine. Why the fuck is she coming over today?”