2 In the Doodoo with Voodoo

by steve higgs

  ‘I didn’t get anything yet.’ I protested.

  ‘Then wear nothing. I promise it will be a surprise he will love. We have to go though, there are uniforms coming.’

  I glanced at the doors. Outside Shaniqua was waving her arms animatedly at the three security guys and there were two Police officers with them now. Macey Eldritch and Mark Spence. Just as we vanished from sight where the lifts were in a recess, Macey's gaze followed Shaniqua’s pointing arm and she spotted me. Macy hated Patience, I didn't know why, but she did so Patience was right – we needed to go before they found out she drew her baton.

  Halloween. Monday, October 31st 1732hrs

  It was full dark out when I returned to my car. On the short drive home, I saw dozens of small children already out with their parents and dressed as pirates or ghosts or witches. It drew a smile from me as I remembered doing the same when I was little. Older kids could be a nuisance, there were always a few that thought it was okay to ruin everyone else's fun by genuinely playing tricks. Most of it was harmless but it was also a day when the Police could guarantee someone would utilise the busy streets as an opportunity to commit a crime.

  I locked my car and went into my building and up the stairs to my place on the top floor. Big Ben was sitting on my doorstep, his enormous long legs stretching almost completely to the opposite wall and my neighbour's door.

  ‘Benjamin? What are you doing here?’

  ‘Waiting for you.’ He said getting up. ‘I got to thinking after you dropped me off, that with Tempest away you would have no one to call upon if you needed a hand with any casework. Then I called Jane and she said that you were looking into a voodoo case and might need a hand with it.’

  ‘Oh, did she?’

  ‘Yes, she did. She was genuinely concerned that there might be some tangible danger associated with the case.’

  I would need to have a word with Jane about empowering women and how we were quite capable of managing without men to chaperone and protect us. Jane was a man underneath the makeup and silk underwear though, so perhaps she didn't really get it.

  As Big Ben stepped out of my way, I opened the door with my key and let him follow me inside. In my handbag, my phone started ringing.

  It was Kimberly. ‘Kimberly. Good evening.’ I answered the call.

  ‘He’s outside right now. I can see him! I called the Police, but they said it was just trick or treaters outside and I should stop worrying.’

  ‘Okay, Kimberly. You are safe enough inside your apartment, right? He cannot get in, can he?’

  ‘He uses voodoo magic, Amanda. He can do anything. A locked door is not going to stop him. You need to get me out of here!’

  I could hear the panic in her voice. Big Ben could hear it too, the phone was loud enough that her voice was carrying. I thought about it for no more than a second. I had met Bartholomew myself. He was dangerous, I believed that, and he had an entire entourage of followers that could provide him with a false alibi and combine their efforts to make Kimberly's life a misery. Plus, he had threatened to seek retribution against her for hiring me.

  ‘Kimberly I will be there in ten minutes. Pack a bag.’ I turned to Big Ben. ‘Time to make yourself useful. We have a damsel in distress to rescue. Let’s go.’

  My instruction was moot as he was already out the door and heading toward the stairs. Big Ben liked to be involved, especially if there was a woman in trouble or a chance that he might get to thump someone.

  ‘Is this the voodoo case?' he asked as we got into my car again. This time he folded the front passenger seat forward and climbed into the back seat. There, he was able to lay across the two seats and wrap a seatbelt around his waist.

  ‘Yeah. The client believes she has been cursed by a chap she went on a date with and then rejected.’ I went on to tell him about meeting Kimberly last night, about her skin and hair ailments and about meeting both Bartholomew’s parents and then the man himself.

  ‘How come you didn’t just call the Police to his friend’s house after they chased you out of it?’ It was a sensible question to ask.

  ‘Because they didn’t do anything. They were inside their own property, no one assaulted me, even if they were scary as anything. The marijuana could have been present in a quantity that would have warranted an arrest, but equally it might not have been and because I am still a Police Officer for another week and I did not identify myself as such, and was not there as an official undercover officer, any arrest or subsequent prosecution would be thrown out within seconds.’

  ‘The law in this country can be quite messed up.’ He observed.

  I nodded.

  There was very little on the road and I was driving with a heavy right foot, so we arrived on the Magdalene Estate ten minutes after we left my place. It was just after six o’clock according to the clock in my car. There were still kids in costume out collecting candy everywhere I looked. There were adults in costume also, some of them probably the parents of the kids they were escorting, others might be on their way to parties, even though it was a Monday night.

  My eyes were darting everywhere, checking for danger, checking for Terrance and Trevor, checking for voodoo priests. All I saw was excited children, holding their mother's hand or running excitedly to the next house. I pulled into the same spot I had parked in last night. I checked all around but there was no one lurking in the shadows that I could see.

  Big Ben was getting out anyway, the passenger’s seat was already pushed forward so he could extricate his huge frame from my small car.

  ‘What number is she in?’ he asked.

  ‘Err, one. On the left, as we go in.' I unclipped my seatbelt.

  ‘Stay here.’ He said, putting a hand on my shoulder. He was looking out of the windows and scanning around as I had been. He seemed alert, more switched on than usual. ‘Keep the engine running and honk the horn hard if you see anything you don’t like.’

  ‘What are you going to do?’

  He grinned at me. ‘I’m gonna get me a woman.’ Then he was gone.

  I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel. Yet again I was being rescued by a man. Okay, maybe rescued was stretching things a bit but he had assumed that as a man he was the best person of the two of us to leave the comfort and warmth of the car and fetch my client.

  She was my client, for goodness sake.

  Then why was I still sat in the car? Dammit. I opened my door, but before I could move, the front door of Kimberly's apartment building opened again as Big Ben came striding through the frame.

  Carrying Kimberly.

  FFS.

  He looked like a Hollywood action hero. He ran down the stairs cradling her like a baby. In his arms, with her petite body, she looked like one. All he needed was a breeze to make his hair flutter and to learn to move in slow-mo. Kimberly had a bag in her arms and was staring at Big Ben with utter adoration. He had already swept her off her feet.

  ‘I shut my door again then leaned across and opened the passenger side. Big Ben upended Kimberly next to the car, patted her bottom cheekily and dived into the back of my car once more. Kimberly's face didn't seem to know what to do with itself. Several emotions were fighting for dominance. In the space of a half-second, I saw fear, excitement, curiosity and sexual horniness.

  ‘Get in, babe.' Big Ben instructed. She almost giggled, but she got in, the door shut, and I got us moving, despite not seeing Bartholomew at any point thus far, I was not going to drop my guard. He had threatened… something. He had not said anything that could be used against him. Was that deliberate? Was he clever enough to not expose himself?

  I reversed hard out of the parking space, picking up speed then threw the steering wheel around and spun the car through one hundred and eighty degrees. The car snapped around to face the direction I wanted to go, and I was about to mash the pedal but there in front of us was Bartholomew. Flanking him, was a dozen or more of his cronies on either side. All of them were men. All of them were bare-chested and thei
r skin was painted with odd symbols. Bartholomew had white bones painted onto his skin as if his skeleton was superimposed on the outside of his body and he had a large snake of some kind wrapped around his shoulders. Several others were also carrying snakes. They were not armed that I could see but once again, in the light from my headlamps I could see only white where their eyes should be.

  Kimberly was hyperventilating in the seat next to me, huge gulps of air that suggested she was going to scream any second. I floored the accelerator and turned hard right. My little car shot across the carpark feeling sluggish with the extra weight in it that I was not used to. Bartholomew and his crew were blocking the exit from the building's carpark but there were other ways out.

  Between two bushes, I hit the kerbed edge of the carpark and mounted the grass that surrounded the building. We barrelled across the grass, Big Ben swearing from the back seat as I found a large bump in the ground and launched all three of us into the air momentarily. Kimberly was bracing herself against the dashboard with one hand while the other was against the ceiling. With nothing holding her bag down, it bounced off her lap and landed on Big Ben. There was another expletive but then I reached the pavement, where I shot across it, narrowly missing a couple out walking their dog and we were back on the road and away.

  My word, Bartholomew was scary. No wonder Kimberly had called the firm when the Police failed to do anything.

  ‘Everyone okay?’ I asked.

  Kimberly nodded mutely.

  From the backseat, Big Ben swore again. ‘I think the middle seatbelt cup went up my arse when you went airborne. Otherwise, I am just peachy. Shall we go back to yours now?'

  Oh no.

  With some dread, I realised that I had rescued Kimberly but now had no plan for what to do with her. I was not going to be able to convince her to go home. I wouldn't go back there if it was where I lived, and Brett was supposed to be coming to my house tonight. I would have to cancel.

  Dammit.

  ‘Are you okay, Amanda?' asked Big Ben from his prone position on the back seat. ‘You are muttering to yourself.'

  ‘Oh, err. Just trying to work out what to do with Kimberly.' I briefly considered asking Big Ben if he could put her up for the night. It would mean I could tidy myself up and still have my date with Brett. Before I voiced that idea though, I acknowledged that he would happily say yes but then spend the night pounding her into his mattress. She would go with him because she would feel she had no choice and that would be my fault. I had a responsibility to look after her.

  My brain was racing, trying to work out what I might be able to do about Bartholomew. From a legal position, he had still not done anything that would get him arrested. Stalking cases were notoriously hard to prove and often went on for months. I could report his latest escapades, but I needed evidence that he had perpetrated a more serious crime than standing outside his house with his friends, which is what any defence lawyer would claim. That he was dressed in a scary fashion on Halloween would be laughed out of court.

  By the time I arrived back at my building, my pulse had returned to normal and I had resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to call Brett and cancel our evening of fun. I was angry about it. The whole evening was planned out in my head, from how I was going to greet him at the door, to how I was going to lead him to my bed and what I was going to do with him then. I had been really looking forward to moving our relationship forward. Plus, a damned good seeing to was long overdue.

  Dammit!

  Who Sleeps Where? Monday, October 31st 1945hrs

  ‘Good evening, Amanda.’ Brett said as he came onto the phone. His deep voice went right to my Doo-Dah and made my legs feel weak. God, I wanted to feel his weight on me.

  ‘Uh, Brett. Hi.’ I started, stammering and making no sense. ‘I, ah. I need to cancel our date tonight.’

  ‘Oh.’ He replied. If he had been trying to avoid sounding disappointed he had failed. He didn’t say anything else though and a couple of seconds ticked by.

  I needed to fill the void in our conversation. ‘Sorry. Truly I am. I have gotten myself caught up in a case and had to take a girl in. She will be sleeping on my couch tonight…’

  ‘Understood, Amanda.’ He replied, his usual confident, relaxed manner returning. ‘It is disappointing, of course, but life is not a linear journey. Will the lady be staying long?’ He asked.

  ‘Only for the night. I will make alternate arrangements tomorrow.’ Even if I had to send her to stay with Patience for a night so I could have Brett visit.

  ‘Shall we reconvene tomorrow?’ his voice had that husky edge again that always appeared when he was talking about intimacy. It was making me feel breathless and horny.

  ‘Tomorrow, yes. Same time?’

  ‘That would work for me. Shall I bring something to drink? A bottle of champagne perhaps? One of the ones you helped me to select in Paris?’ I hadn’t helped him at all, other than to say that I liked the look of one bottle because it had a cute bunny on the logo. Champagne sounded good though and he only bought the stuff that was so expensive it had no price tag.

  ‘That would be lovely, Brett.’

  ‘I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to it, Amanda.’ We were still calling each other by our first names. I wondered if pet names would follow as so many couples did.

  ‘Me too.’ I squeaked, momentarily losing control of my voice in my desire.

  I needed to go, Kimberly was already in my apartment with Big Ben waiting for me. I had told them I needed to make a call, then stayed outside to make it. Brett and I said our goodbyes and reluctantly disconnected.

  With disappointment ruling my emotions, I pushed my door open and went inside.

  Big Ben had found a bottle of wine and had poured Kimberly a large glass, probably to settle her nerves and the two of them were sitting on my three-seater sofa waiting for my return.

  ‘Everything alright?’ Big Ben asked. My face probably betrayed my mood.

  ‘Yes. I needed to change my plans for the evening. I had a date arranged.’

  Kimberly’s head shot around to look at me and then at Big Ben. ‘You two are not a couple?’

  We both said no simultaneously.

  Kimberly was visibly pleased by this news, her body language changing instantly. Somehow, without moving, the distance between her and Big Ben on the sofa reduced. She took a gulp of wine and stared at him. He smiled back at her. No words exchanged but plenty being said.

  I rolled my eyes.

  ‘Ben only popped around to check on me actually. We sort of work together. You can go now though Benjamin. I think us girls can handle it from here.’

  ‘What if Bartholomew comes here?’ asked Kimberly. ‘He might track me here.’

  ‘He cannot possibly know where I live.’

  ‘He does voodoo magic. I told you, he can do anything. He probably has a strand of your hair and is performing a tracking spell already. Don’t you think Ben should stay with us for a while just to make sure we are safe.’

  I thought about the tug I had felt on my hair when I was escaping his house earlier today.

  ‘Kim, we don’t need men to make us safe. We can do that for ourselves.’ Her attitude was ticking me off, or perhaps I was already ticked off because my plans for this evening had been ruined, but whatever the case, I was displaying impatience.

  Kim’s face looked upset at my comments. I genuinely thought she might start crying and reminded myself that she was probably a little on edge.

  Big Ben spoke before I got a chance, ‘We can all just hang out and watch some TV, Amanda. I can stay a while and if any voodoo cronies turn up you will have an extra pair of hands to deal with them.’

  ‘Fine. I need a cup of tea. Anyone else?’ I asked over my shoulder as I walked across the open plan living space to my kitchen.

  ‘Yes, please. White, no sugar.' Answered Big Ben.

  ‘I would like more wine. Shall I pop out and get some?’ asked Kimberly.


  ‘I'll go.' said Big Ben getting up. ‘There is a metro shop around the corner, isn't there?' he asked me. 'Shall I grab a pizza while I am at it?'

  I nodded and waited for him to shut the door. Now that he was out of the house I took the opportunity to have a quick chat with Kimberly about Big Ben and his social habits.

  The kettle was getting agitated behind me as I sat down next to her on the sofa.

  ‘Kimberly.’

  ‘Yes.’ She said, turning to meet my eyes.

  ‘About Big Ben.’

  ‘Oh, my God. How are you not sleeping with him? He is so gorgeous. I swear I thought my knickers were going to fall off when he smiled at me. Is he your ex or something? Is it okay if I sleep with him?’

  The words had burst out in a torrent as if that was the only thing she was able to think about. I just stared at her, no idea what to say next. I got that Big Ben was attractive. I just wasn’t attracted to him. ‘Kimberly, I have to warn you that Big Ben sleeps with a different woman every day, sometimes more than one woman in a day.’

  ‘Really?' she breathed out, her voice incredulous and her eyes up and to the right while her brain was sorting the new information. Maybe I had put her off a bit. ‘So, he must be really good then. So much experience to call upon and no chance of irritating clinginess afterward, just guilt-free, attachment-free sex. Do you know if everything is in proportion? Because, you know… the rest of him is huge.'

  OMG, I really did not want to think about Big Ben's junk or what size it might be. I rolled my eyes again and got up to make my tea. Behind me, on the sofa, Kimberly was deep in thought.

  ‘Do you mind if I get a shower and change?’ she asked. ‘I didn’t get a chance after I came home from work today.’

  ‘Of course.’ I showed her the bathroom and turned the light on.

  ‘I, err. I forgot to pack toiletries in all the excitement.’

  ‘Help yourself to whatever you find.’ I couldn’t afford expensive shampoos or other items and my decent perfume was in my bedroom so there was nothing she could use that I cared about.