What Lovers Do

"Kevin, you really are a great detective....I mean seriously...You found Meaghan in just one day...I-I can't believe it." said Shane Bradley as we drove to her apartment..

"I got lucky" I said.  Indeed...I was at a dead end until a chance conversation with my friend, Clerow revealed her whereabouts...It just so happened that he and Owen Todd had helped her and Jacques, her lover move into their new place.  I didn't know this Jacques fellow, but I knew his friend, Ralph Scallion...an excellent cook and ladies man...I wondered to myself if Jacques was anything like his friend, Ralph?..I smiled.

I must admit I should have called first...When we got within an earshot of their apartment...We got an ear full...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....OHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GOddddddd.....
Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuu Jacques...OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH babyyyy, put it on meee..ohhhhhhhhhh.."


"Ouuuuuu girllll...ohhhhhh you feel so damn goood...OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..."

We could hear the bed springs squeaking and hear the headboard slamming hard against the wall...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..."


"Ohhhhhhhhhh Meaghannnnnnnnnnnnnnnn..ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....."


"Ohhhh Jacques....I loveeeeeeeeeeeee you...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.."

I felt his pain...I also felt kind of embarrassed...

"Hey Shane..Look...Obviously this isn't the right time...I have the phone number...I'll call her..I'll arrange for her to meet you somewhere...Somewhere quiet!." I said trying to force a smile.

"She sounds like she's very happy." he said dryly and hung his head... I could imagine how he must have felt.

Changing the subject a minute, I said to him....

"If you've got time...We need to get that envelope you gave me to the proper person...a mutual friend of ours." I said.

"Time is what I don't have much of Kevin...but as you wish." he said and shrugged.

II-

I put some mileage on my new car...I drove him to "Peeping" Tom Constanoble's house.   When I first started out as a private investigator, I used my buddy Sean Jackson to do my surveiliance . He is a great photographer and knew a little bit about installing bugs in places they might not be found...But when I met Peeping Tom, a former CIA man and his assistant, a Black ex-con named Lockpick Johnson , who could break into just about anyplace, I struck gold...These two guys became invaluable to me and my investigations..With my friend Sean Jackson and those two...I was able to make cases against some of the most unsavory people in the city without them ever having a clue as to how the case was made.

I knocked on the door. When Peeping Tom came to the door...He took one look at Shane and jumped back in shock!

"My God man, what happened to you?" he asked.

"Tom...I'm sick." he said.

"I can see that." he said.

"I'm dying...I've been poisoned.....I got maybe a day, two days tops to live...Here.." said Shane.

"Come on in...Come on in..let's not stand outside ."said Tom as we walked into his house.

"So....I guess I should ask you...What have you been up to?" asked Tom...

"Well, here is the long and short of it... I got in on a business deal with the late Colin Huxley and a man named Sylvester Hemlock...We became partners in a Bio-Tech company with several government contracts." Colin was the rich boy...our pal...It was his front money that bought me and Hemlock into the deal...We added our share...but nowhere near what he brought to the table...Before 9/11 and in the years afterwords...Our Bio-tech company made a lot of nasty Bio-Chemical products to be used by our government for war....We started out as a research organization...but under Hemlock..It grew into something far more sinister....Anyway...in 2008..We were told to close it down...The whole thing....We stood to lose a pile of money...Colin was just a partner...He never knew what was actually goin on." said
Shane.

''But you did of course?" said Tom.

"Yeah..I did...I acted like I didn't want to know of course...but I did...and I think Hemlock felt that I might go to the authorities with what I know...So he had me poisoned..." said Shane.

"Poisoned? With what?" asked Tom..

''I don't know man, but I'm dyin...I've lost sixty pounds...My hair has fallen out...I'm throwing up at night , havin hot sweats.." said Shane.

"Hell man, why aren't you in a hospital?" asked Tom...

"Long story." he said.

"It's a woman.....He needs to make things right with a woman." I said...and I dialed Meaghan's number while they continued to talk.

Tom frowned...

"Look Tom..This envelope...Take it to the proper authorities....There is enough evidence in there to take Hemlock and all of his associates down...They don't even know that I have it..I'd been collecting this stuff for years...I never trusted Hemlock or Colin...This was life insurance...Because I figured a day like today might happen...After I'm dead...take it to the Feds Tom and bust his ass."said Shane.

"Sure buddy, but you sure you don't want to get to a hospital?" he asked.

''They can't help me...They wouldn't know what to look for." He said.

"No...but I have some friends in the uh company world...they might be able to help you." said Tom.

"I don't have that kind of time." he said.

"Let me make a few calls..Where can I reach you?" he asked.

"Nah..I contact you..Here's a number." said Shane.


"Hey lover boy...This is your lucky day...I got in contact with Meaghan...It took some teeth pulling, but she has agreed to meet you at Josie's tonight..." I said.

"She hangs out there?" he asked.  I figured he meant had she gone all Black, sleeping with a Black man, hanging out at a Black jazz bar.

"Actually she doesn't...But I suppose she figures that nobody knows you there and nobody will bother you." I said.

"Uh...Oh...I meant no offense." he said.

Tom looked at me and managed a weak smile.

I simply said..."None taken."

III-

He had left his car in the parking lot of Josie's that morning when he met me...So taking him back to Josie's was no problem...I had my .38 smokeless, just in case this guy Hemlock and his cronies showed up...He had to have somebody out looking for Shane..Which was why he was being so stealth...Yet ,he was taking a chance to come out and see Meaghan...The power of love or was it lust? I wondered.

Meaghan was easy to spot...She was the only white woman in Josie's...Not that white people didn't come in Josie's...But usually only when somebody was performing...Tonight...In the middle of the week...There was only a DJ... Gus was at the bar ,serving drinks and sharing small talk with the customers... I sat down with my back turned to Shane and Meaghan and ordered a beer.

Meaghan was taken aback when she saw Shane...

"Oh my God...What happened to you? Do you have Cancer?" she asked.

"Hello to you too Meaghan." he said.

"I'm sorry Shane....It's just ...It's just..." she said.

"It's okay...I understand.....I'm sick baby...I'm sick....I had to come and see you." he said.

"Shane...I'm...I'm kind of involved with someone right now." she said.

"I know....He's a cook at the Bottom of the C...His name is Jacques right?" he said.

"Very good...you did your homework." she said.

"You happy? Does he treat you good?" he asked.

''Yes....Yes to the second question..." she answered.

''You love him?" he asked.

She was quiet for a minute , then she said- "Too early in the relationship to tell, but I think I do...Yes." she said.

She had certainly yelled that out during sex earlier in the day ,I thought to myself and smiled.

"Meaghan...I was wrong to you...I was foul....If I had of been doing what I was supposed to have been doing, You would've never left me for Colin...and maybe I'd have you now...I just came to say that I was sorry and I hoped that you'd forgive me." said Shane.

"Colin's dead Shane and you and me? That was a long time ago...I've allowed myself to heal." she said.

"I know...but I had to know that you forgive me." said Shane...

"I do....I do......I forgive you Shane...Like I said...It was a long time ago....Shane? Why aren't you in a hospital??" she asked..

"I'm too far gone for that baby...I don't expect to live the week out." he said.

"What?/ What happened to you?" she asked...

"It's better for you if you don't know." he said .....

They sat silently and held hands...as though they were still lovers...

I sat at the bar and wondered just how such a horrible poison got into him...He said he had eaten all of his meals out..I wondered where and who was around....

Meanwhile, I watched the two of them, doing what lovers do...talking, drinking beer and holding hands...

(To Be Continued...)