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Chapter 13.
I'd spent too much time talking to my very own friendly unpaid private investigator (retired). Ron at the other end of the bar was going under for the third time from a tidal wave of customers and yelling he really was going to fire me this time. The crowd gave me a rousing cheer when I rejoined the action. The problem was that I had no telephone number for Jennifer. So I decided in a relatively quiet moment half way through my shift that I was going to have to get romantic. I used my mobile to order flowers from the local flower shop and was relieved when they promised me immediate delivery to her door. The message I sent was simple:
'Your friend that we spoke about now has a room opposite you. Affectionately Barry.'
I hoped she would know what to do. He was a real threat and I was scared for her. I wondered how I could do more to help and my eyes fell on Lopez the Younger. He got this name because his elder brother was well known in the local neighborhood and also to juvenile institutions and latterly prisons throughout the country. Lopez the Younger aspired to follow his brother's footsteps but hadn't yet got beyond vandalism and small-scale theft (allegedly). He was sitting trying to unscrew the plaque that reminded everyone that the local businesspersons club met here whenever they could find enough interested for a quorum.
"Lopey," I called. "Have you got a minute?"
Lopez pocketed the screwdriver in a flash and joined me at the bar looking innocent.
"It seemed a bit loose so I was fixing it!"
"Very public spirited of you," I said, disarmingly.
"With all this vandalism around, if you let things get a bit loose, they disappear!"
I smiled understandingly.
"You're a knight in shining white armor," I said, reassuringly.
"Not down to be, my son," was his instant reply. "Museums are not my scene - it was probably that new crowd that are hanging about at the shopping mall."
"It's worth a pint," I said, hoping to attract his attention by appealing to his strongest motivator. I gave him the address and a quick look at the photo.
"Evil looking guy," he commented. "You say he's got a telescope and a bad attitude to your girlfriend. Has he got a car?"
I nodded and handed him the number on a piece of paper.
"We could do the tires on his car! There's a good market for them on the streets. Dunno about the telescope though. Free drinks for an evening?"
"I said a pint!"
"Stroll on ..."
I did a quick calculation. I might actually have to pay some money into the till to keep the stock right but it would be worth it."
"For a very good job doing what comes naturally to you, Lopey, you're on!"
"I'll get right onto it," said Lopez the Younger and pulled a mobile out of his pocket. "A few reinforcements," he commented, moving away into a corner of the bar to talk to his mates. I reckoned I'd got the right person for the job because the mobile still wore its in-store security tag.
I didn't think Lopey and his friends would stop Jennifer's ex. - but I thought they may slow him down and that made me feel a bit happier.
My happiness didn't last long. Towards the end of the lunchtime shift, Ron started talking about his accountant. I thought at first he was trying to make a point about stock losses and adopted my favorite puzzled face. But then I realized he was talking about the guy I'd first seen with Jennifer.
"It was a stroke of good luck," recounted Ron happily. "I was taking a stroll late the other afternoon and I saw her going into an apartment not far from here. I wouldn't have noticed but she was dragging a little boy with her who was screaming his head off. I phoned the accountant fellow who came in the other day and offered us a reward to find her and he said he'd pop round to renew acquaintances with her and drop my reward in after. So if you see him today and I'm round the back, give me a yell."
He wandered off humming a tune to himself - 'sometimes it's so easy to make money! Tra la!'
Ron was looking very pleased with himself. I felt sick. I would have liked to believe Ron had done it maliciously but there was no way he could have known that the girl he had sent the man to see was my Jennifer.
I imagined how Jennifer would have felt when she received the flowers from me and hoped she felt good. Then I imagined how she would have felt when she read my message saying that her ex was spying on her across the road. I knew that this information would squash her good feelings flat.
In my minds eye, I also saw her surreptitiously locate the telescope that was looking into her apartment and then imagined her wondering how she could hit back at him. Then I thought about the man she'd been with at Smokey's knocking on her door following up Ron's tip off and then of her letting him in.
The only question left in my mind was whether she would still need to do the video.
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