by KD Jones
“Shit. Maybe we could contact Marcus’s agency since it is closer and share the case with him,” Victor said.
“No. I’ll go. I think the girl might be in danger,” Jagger told him.
“You need to have back up.”
“I’ll go first and see what the situation is like.”
“Damn it! I don’t like this, Jagger. Our job is dangerous enough as it is. You don’t owe this girl anything.”
“I know, but after meeting with her friends and then with her suspicious boyfriend, I feel I need to help her any way I can. Even if she is guilty, then at least I will bring her back safely to face trial.”
“When do you plan to leave?”
“I will head by my place to grab a few things, then I am on my way to the nearest shuttle station.”
“Keep me up updated and stay safe. I don’t want to have to deal with Aunt Michelle if something happens to you,” Victor added the last bit with a chuckle.
“Wow, I feel the love here, cuz. I’ll call you once I get to Zylon.” Jagger smiled. His cousin was a worrier.
“Good luck. Sounds like you are going to need it,” Victor told him.
“Thanks.”
*****
He spent six hours on a shuttle and then Jagger was finally on Zylon. It arrived just after ten in the evening. He got himself a hotel room but decided the sooner he started checking things out and acquiring contacts, the better.
He went to a few of the local bars and nightclubs. He didn’t think he would find her hanging out there but sometimes he found answers in the least likely places. He walked into the third bar on the sleazy side of the town.
His senses were almost overwhelmed by smoke, strong alcohol, and scents of sex. Jagger liked to go out with the guys for a couple of drinks but this place was run down and chaotic. Fights had broken out every few minutes since he walked through the door. He normally drank whisky but worried about what other things might get mixed in with his glass. So he asked for a bottle of beer and watched the bartender while he opened it and handed it to him.
A female wearing black, lacy, skintight clothes sat down next to him. She gave him a look over from head to toe and smiled at finding him pleasing.
“Hey, baby. I’m Ginger. Want to have a good time?”
Shit, a prostitute. “No, thanks. I am looking for someone.”
“I’m someone. I could be the someone you’re looking for.” She leaned closer and he could see her red nipples right through her tight outfit.
He tried not to cringe at her bright orange hair and her acne-ridden face. She was human and maybe a little something else because her skin did have a bit of a glow to it. Having sex with her would be a gamble on what kind of disease he ended up with. As half Decaros, he wasn’t susceptible to human diseases. However, he could get non-human diseases like chlamherpetia, combination of human chlamydia and an alien form of herpes. The worst would be the trichoghonorea, which makes the female unable to have children and the males unable to get an erection—ever.
“I appreciate the offer but there is a specific person I am looking for. Maybe you have seen her around here.” He took out a photo of Daniela and showed it to the prostitute.
The prostitute leaned closer to the picture. She evidently needed glasses. “Pretty girl. She looks too innocent to come to a place like this.”
That was exactly what he was thinking as well. If this place gave him the creeps, and he had been around the block a time or two, what would a gentle and kind person like Daniela think of it? It would be too much. She probably wouldn’t step inside the place to begin with.
“Well, I guess I’ll be going then. Nice to meet you, Ginger.” He paid his bill and Ginger’s before he stood. A thin hand shot out and grasped his arm.
“Wait. The girl might not have come here, but I know this town like the back of my hand. I could show you some places she might have gone to. For a small fee.”
“How much?” Jagger asked. He didn’t need her help but if it cut his search time in half, it would be worth it.
“Pay me one hundred credits now. Take me somewhere to get a meal, a real meal. Then I’ll show you around.”
“How about you show me around first, then I give you one hundred credits and you can go anywhere you want for your meal,” he countered.
She sighed. “Compromise. Take me to get the meal first because I haven’t eaten in days. Give me half the credits before we leave and the other half when we are done with the tour.”
“Deal.” He waited for her to stand and followed her out of the bar.
“So where do you want to get your meal.” He looked around. There were quite a few diners lining the streets.
“Just a couple of blocks down. I hear there is a new cook at Lonnie’s but I haven’t had enough money to go there yet.” She didn’t notice Jagger straighten his shoulders and come to full attention A new cook? It couldn’t be. But it would make sense. Daniela would stick with what she knew. Her love of cooking would always pull her in.
They walked the few blocks to the diner. He went into the small diner following the prostitute Ginger. She found them a table and sat down. One of the waitresses came over with a frown.
“Look, the owner of the diner doesn’t allow any side transactions to take place in his diner. He is trying to keep it clean and out of the radar of the authority.” The waitress narrowed her eyes at the prostitute making it clear what kind of side transactions she was referring to.
“We’re not here for that. Only to try out the food by your new cook. We heard it was amazing,” Jagger told her with a friendly smile. Just like that, the waitress’s attitude toward them changed. She gave them the menus and went on and on about the brand new specials.
“What do you recommend?” Jagger asked.
“Oh, Danny is absolutely the best cook on Zylon. Everything is amazing. My personal favorite is the chicken potpie. It reminds me of being back on New Earth,” the waitress gushed.
Danny? The new cook’s name was Danny? She wasn’t hiding too hard. “We’ll try the chicken potpie then. Right, Ginger?” The prostitute nodded her head eagerly.
Jagger was looking around the small diner. It was packed and a line was forming outside the door to get in. The smells coming from the kitchen had his stomach growling and his mouth watering. Damn, if it didn’t smell delicious.
He tried to get a look at the cook in the kitchen but all he could see through the little window where the food comes out was someone short wearing all white and had some kind of covering over their head. He stood and went to the bathroom checking out the entrance and exits. He made another attempt to look into the kitchen but there was too many people coming in and out and blocking his view. He returned to his table.
The food arrived and Jagger devoured his chicken potpie. It was the best damn thing he had ever eaten. He should have ordered a second one. He looked up at Ginger and saw that she too had completely consumed her potpie.
“Was it good?” he asked her.
“It was fucking amazing!” She let out a burp.
“Will you be ordering dessert?” the waitress asked, taking up their empty plates.
“No. Will the cook be out soon? I’d like to let him know how much I enjoyed his cooking,” Jagger asked innocently.
The waitress shook her head. “Danny is a she and she has a few more hours left on her shift. But I will relay how pleased you were.” She laid down the bill on the table.
Jagger pulled out his wallet and left the credits on the table. He motioned for Ginger to go out of the diner. This Danny was going to be busy for a couple of hours. He would scout the surrounding area in the meantime. First he had to get rid of his tour guide. He handed her the one hundred credits she had asked for.
“What’s this?” Ginger closed her hand over the credits quickly.
“I won’t be needing your services after all. But I promised it to you so I wanted to give it to you anyway.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it. If you ever ne
ed another tour guide come look me up.” She waved as she walked away.
Now he just had to wait.
*****
“Danny, you are on fire tonight!” Lisa, the waitress, said.
Daniela smiled as she took her cook’s apron and bandana off. “Thanks. I love to cook.”
Lisa was counting out her tips. “Well, you have won over quite a few people. There was this one guy, he was so freaking hot. He asked when you got off because he wanted to tell you how much he enjoyed your food. I told him it would be hours yet.”
Daniela stopped what she was doing. “What did this guy look like?”
“Tall, gorgeous, brown hair, with the strangest gold eyes, and built like a fighter. We are talking blazing hot. I wanted to tell him I was the cook so he might take me home and thank me between the sheets.”
It wasn’t Lial. Who was it? “Is he still out there?” She peered carefully through the kitchen window but most of the customers were gone.
“No, he left hours ago.”
Whew. “I’m heading out. I’ll see you tomorrow, Lisa.”
“Wait, here’s your cut of the tips the waitresses collected for you.” Lisa handed her a wad of credits.
“Thank you.” Daniela tried not to cry. These strangers had done more for her than her own boyfriend had.
“Have a good night, Danny.”
“Goodnight.”
Daniela left through the back door of the diner. She walked toward the stairs that led up to the small cramped apartment she stayed in. She stopped on the first step and looked around the dark alley. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing up. She felt as if someone was watching her, but she couldn’t see anything in the dark. It was times like this she wished she was more than just human.
She quickly walked up the stairs and entered the apartment, locking the door behind her. She looked out the window but still didn’t see anything. Maybe it had been her imagination. Just in case, she went through the one bedroom apartment and made sure all the windows were locked. She also checked her phone but there had been no calls that day. She started to question whether Lial was even trying to clear her name. She sighed and laid down on the bed fully clothed. Maybe tomorrow Lial will have news. Maybe.
*****
Jagger stood in the shadows in the alley watching as the lights went out in the small apartment above the diner. He had identified her clearly. His eyesight was perfect even in the dark. It was Daniela Martin without a doubt. He could have gone and retrieved her right then. She was full human and wouldn't have been a match for his strength. But he didn’t.
Instead, he watched as she paused at the stairs looking around. He didn’t like the fear he saw come over her beautiful face. He felt a need to protect her. So he stayed even after the lights went off in the apartment and watched over her for hours. Then he left to return to his hotel. What was wrong with him? He was acting protective over a woman he had never even met. A fugitive that he was charged to take back into custody. Shit!
*****
The next morning Daniela got up early. She needed to grab a few grocery items for her apartment. She put on a pair of dark jeans and a tank top. Her dark hair was up in a ponytail. She hadn’t had time to get any make-up. She didn’t really wear make-up while working anyway. But something as simple as lipstick was a luxury she yearned for. Maybe soon she could get something frivolous like a pedicure, but not right now.
She headed to the market down the street. It was nice being able to walk everywhere she needed to go. She wondered if Lial would want to move from the big lights and action of the city to somewhere smaller with a hometown feel. They would have to talk about it since they were now engaged, sort of.
God engaged. She was engaged to Lial. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it. Well, she wasn’t happy with how and when it happened. It was rushed and frankly it was bad timing in her opinion. And where the hell was the ring? She wasn’t trying to be ungrateful. But when a girl gets asked to be married, she should get a ring right? Maybe he’ll have one waiting for when this whole fiasco was cleared up. Telling herself that still didn’t make her feel any better. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
It took about fifteen minutes for her to get what she needed. Daniela made her list and stuck to it since she was on a tight budget. On her way back to her apartment she got that weird hair rising feeling on the back of her neck again. She stopped and looked around. On the other side of the street leaning against a building, was a man who seemed to be staring right at her.
He was attractive with brown hair and he had a great body. She wondered if this was the same man that Lisa told her about last night. She wasn’t going to wait to find out. She turned and rushed to the alley entrance leading to her apartment. No one followed her. She must be losing her mind. Paranoid much?
Chapter Four
For a moment Daniela didn’t know what the sound was. Then she dropped the bags and rushed to answer her cell phone. “Hello?”
“Daniela, I have been trying to call you for hours. You should have been there waiting on my call!” Lial’s voice sounded annoyed.
“Well, you haven’t called me in days, Lial. I can’t sit here and do nothing the whole time,” she said back to him.
“I have been busy trying to clear your name,” he told her.
“What’s happening with the case?”
“I think I found the guy. You may be coming back sooner than we thought. Are you still at the same location?”
“Yeah, same town.”
“Have you run out of money yet?”
“Yeah, I had to take a job at a local diner to support myself.”
“Sorry about that. The authority have been tracking our finances. Which diner?” he asked.
“Lonnie’s. The owner is letting me rent the apartment above the diner. How much longer do I have to stay gone?”
“Not much longer, baby. Hang in there. Oh, I have to go. Call you later.” He hung up.
Daniela frowned. Again, he didn’t say that he loved her. What was worst was that she was relieved he hadn’t. Otherwise she would have had to say it back. It made her question whether she actually had feelings for Lial. What kind of marriage were they going to have if there was no real love between them? They would have to figure that out when she got back home.
She had a few hours before she had to get to the diner to do the prep work for that night. She was grateful they allowed her to do only evening shifts. She didn’t want to be seen during the daylight if she could help it. She was sure there were wanted posters with her face on it. She bought a box of red hair dye, just in case she needed it. But she hadn’t done anything with it yet.
*****
“Jagger, did you find your fugitive yet?” Victor’s rough voice rumbled over the line.
“Yeah I did,” Jagger answered, leaving out the details.
“When are you bringing her back to lockup?”
There was a brief pause as Jagger thought about how to answer. “I’ll bring her in soon.”
“Soon as in tomorrow?” Victor persisted.
“I don’t know, I haven’t secured her yet.”
“What? Why are you sitting on this fugitive? Bring her pretty little ass in!”
Jagger was suddenly pissed off. “Don’t talk about her ass!” Where the hell did that come from? Shit!
Victor paused before replying, “Okay, when are you bringing Miss Martin in for lockup?”
He sighed. “Tomorrow morning. I’ll secure her tonight and get transportation first thing in the morning.”
“Good. Call me when you are en route for Fin-Dieskau.” Victor hung.
Tonight Jagger would finally meet Miss Martin in person and this whole twisted infatuation thing, whatever it was, would soon be over. Her guilt or innocence wasn’t up for him to decide. He had a job to do, bring her back for lockup, and he was determined to do that job.
*****
Later that evening the diner was packed. A
nother line waited outside on the sidewalk. Jagger had to wait there with the rest of the crowd for almost an hour. Miss Martin was causing quite a stir in this beat up town. Not smart for a person that was supposed to be low key and on the run.
The same waitress from the previous night sat Jagger down at a stool at the bar, handing him his menu. “Hope you don’t mind the bar seating, we are trying to reserve the tables for parties of two or more.”
“I don’t mind.”
“Hey, you were here last night right?” the waitress asked.
“Yeah, the food was amazing. I had to come back for more. Can I get a beer?”
“Dark or light?” she asked.
“Dark.”
“Be right back with that beer.” The waitress shuffled off toward the kitchen window.
“Danny! You won’t believe it,” Lisa said excitedly.
Danny kept working the second serving of meatloaf roll she was going to bake. “Can’t believe what?”
“You know the hot guy I was telling you about last night?”
Daniela stopped rolling the loaf and looked over at the other woman. “Yeah?”
“He’s back. Said he was so amazed at how good the food was last night that he had to come back for more. His exact words, I swear.” Lisa was beaming at her.
Daniela felt the color drain from her face. “He’s here now?”
“Yeah. He’s sitting at the bar looking all sexy. I could just lick him up,” Lisa said.
Daniela handed Lisa her order and lingered at the kitchen window. She looked around and then saw him. She pushed back inside the kitchen. Oh God! It was the brown haired guy from earlier. The one that had been watching her from across the street. He was back.
“Danny, we need that meatloaf!” Lonnie, the owner and head cook, called out.
She had to keep going until she could think straight about what she should do. Should she call Lial? He wouldn’t be able to help her right now. She worked another hour checking to see if the guy was still there. He was. It left her no choice but to pick up and leave town.
“Lonnie, I’m feeling kind of sick,” Danny told him.
He looked at her with a frustrated look on his face. “You’ve kept your hands clean while working with the meat right?”