Riley's Choices

The phone rang shrilly in the still air of my office. I picked it
up,

"Yeah?"

"Riley? Is that you?"

"Lotus? How did you get this number?"

"You're the private investigator, figure it out yourself. I just wanted
to make sure that you were still alive."

"I'm alive. Why?"

"I was just wondering. Don't all your old girlfriends call and check on
you?"

"No"

"Well, then I guess I'm special."

"You had a reason to call, and it wasn't that."

"Look, I'm not supposed to tell you this. Really, I've been sworn to
secrecy. But I know that you need to know. Grant Bunker, I know you
remember him, well, his case was dismissed a while back, and now
everybody is convinced that he didn't deserve to even be arrested after
he explained it all. And he's charmed all the ladies. Well, not me of
course, but most of them."

"Yeah yeah yeah, get to the point, Lotus"

"Always so polite. Anyway, I happen to know that he DID deserve to be
arrested and he lied through his teeth and he's out for blood. Yours
and Shadow's. You do remember her, don't you? I don't even know where
she is right now, and my god I'm so worried for the both of you.
Because I know Grant, and I know he can and will find her, and you too,
so you have two choices I guess. Either you come here and talk him out
of it or something, I don't know, or you go and find Shadow and then
hide someplace and keep both of you safe. You figure it out, it's more
your line of work than mine. I'm a restaurateur, not a detective or a
bodyguard and?"

"Is that all?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Great. Thanks. I'll see you in a few hours."

"You're coming here? Are you going to call Shadow?"

"Nah. Don't want to panic her. I think I can talk him out of it or
something."

"Or something? What does that?" I hung up and looked at my watch. It
was just after five, quitting time anyway, and I would probably make it
to Alora before midnight. I packed up my stuff and shut down my laptop,
then, as a last minute, "Why the hell not" sort of thing, I opened my
safe and pulled out my gun, a Ruger six shot revolver. Just in
case.

Shadow had finally found him. It had taken her nearly a year, but
finally, she had found his hiding place, and the secret behind his
leaving. He wasn't an assassin, nor a spy, nor anything horribly
secretive. He just wanted to leave without breaking her heart. Like
hell, he did it anyway. She pulled up to his office, in a large
Victorian manor in a small city. His office was on the third floor, and
you could see it from the street. Shadow looked at her watch. 5:04.
Perfect. Probably he should be just leaving now. Or getting ready to at
least. She parallel parked her car, no easy task, and walked up the
cracked cement walkway to the front door. It squeaked softly as she let
herself in, and, to her dismay, she found no elevator. Glancing down at
her shoes, she kicked them off and carried them up those three flights,
putting them back on when she found herself at his door. Without
knocking, she turned the knob and pushed it open, finding a dark office
before her. Some light came in through the bay window overlooking the
street, and it was enough to show Riley, in silhouette, standing in
front of what was a large safe next to his desk. He was holding his
gun.

"Riley"

I looked up abruptly as I heard my name. Shadow was standing in my
doorway, looking at me, and looking very angry, too.

"Shadow" I answered, setting my gun down on top of the safe.

"Figured out your top secret reason for leaving." She whispered.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. And you know what I think of it?"

"Probably not much. Now if you'll pardon me, I was just leaving" I
picked my gun back up and brushed past her and out the door. I handed
her my key ring "Lock up when you're done" Then I left.

Shadow looked at the key ring in her hand. Utilitarian, just a ring
with keys on it, no little bauble or whatsit hanging off of it. There
were also only three keys on it, a car key, an office key, and a house
key. She looked down the hall to be sure he was gone, then went further
into the office to snoop into what he had been doing. His desk was
messy, but nothing in the clutter revealed anything. She swept her eyes
over the rest of the room, which was stark and dull. Damn, he had
gotten bland. She shrugged and locked the door as she left.

Thanks to her excellent research, Shadow had also found his home
address, and found herself there very quickly. It was a little three
room house in a rather sketchy neighborhood, but the lawn was mowed,
which told her that at least the house wasn't sketchy. She hoped. After
looking over her shoulders and to her sides, she locked her car and
walked up the path to the front door and let herself in. She was sure
that he had wanted her to; after all, he had given her his keys, right?
The house was just as bare as the office had been, with only a sofa,
television and lamp in the living room and a mattress in the bedroom.
At least he probably hadn't been entertaining too many ladies, she was
relieved to think. She wasn't jealous, she had been telling herself
that for months, but in truth, she kind of was. His refrigerator held a
six pack and some old Chinese food. She took a beer and sat on his sofa
and wondered when he would be home.

It was a tedious drive up to Alora, with there being no easy way to get
there. I had to stop for gas once, and that was at a little mom and pop
gas station that had higher prices, but deserved the money much more
than the T-Bird across the road. The roads were nearly empty on the
Tuesday night, and the driving was fast. It was 11:25 when I pulled up
in front of Lotus's home, and she greeted me at the door, with a man
standing behind her without a shirt on.

"Lotus" I said.

"Hi Riley. This is Gustave. He doesn't speak English and I call him
Gus. Gus, Riley Brown" I held out my hand at the end of her
introduction, and we shook hands. He had a strong grip, and instantly I
liked him.

"Riley Brown" He said with a heavy accent, nodding. I smiled at
him.

"He's visiting from just outside of Tours, France. Three weeks."

"I wasn't aware that you spoke French."

"About six words. Enough to know that much. Our relationship isn't much
built on talking, anyway."

"Ah" Gus had gone back inside and was sitting on the sofa, watching the
channel out of Montreal. Lotus took my arm and pulled me inside
gently.

"Come on in, my home is yours. Can I get you a drink?"

"No, thanks." I sat down next to Gus. "I think I'll head out soon
anyway?"

"What do you mean, head out? You are staying here, right?"
"I wasn't planning on it. I was going to go stay at Piney Hill."

"You're going to stay here. It's better. Come on, I'll show you the
guest room. Don't you have any bags? I can have Gus?"

"No bags. Just me, myself and I."

Shadow looked at her watch. It was well past eleven. Where the hell was
he? Was he even coming home tonight? Maybe he was fooling around with
other women, just not here. Maybe at their big, fancy mansions.
Frustrated, she sighed at went into his bedroom. She stripped down to
her underwear and laid down on the bed, covering herself with his
blanket, the same blanket she remembered from when she had first met
him. Damn, it brought back way too many memories. A single tear slipped
down her cheek, and with that, she closed her eyes and went to
sleep.

He wasn't back by the next morning, either. Shadow was a bit
disoriented when she awoke, but quickly realized where she was and that
Riley had not yet returned. Slightly pissed off, she stormed into the
bathroom and took a long shower, hoping that he would come home wanting
a nice, hot shower, and there would be no hot water left.

Before she left, she locked the door, hoping that he had no spare keys.
She didn't want to make things easy for him at all.

She took a trip back to his office, but he wasn't there. Nor was his
car. So, being the ever-diligent person she was, she went door to door,
asking every tenant in the building if they had seen him since last
night. The first door, the one right next to his, yielded a "Riley
who?", as did most of the rest of the offices. On the second floor,
however, Shadow did find one promising person, an elderly woman who
rented an office and lived in it because it was cheaper than anyplace
else. A sad state, she had thought. She knocked on her door, and she
answered a moment or so after she had called out "Be right
there".

"Good morning, ma'am" Shadow started, hoping that she looked and
sounded respectable, "My name is Lizzie Bunker, and I was just
wondering if you'd seen Riley Brown since last night. He has an office
on the third floor, and, I tell you, that rascal done stood me
up!"

"He did? Well, I'll have to have a talk with him when he gets back. He
said that he could be back today, but it might be longer. I do hope
that you two aren't seriously involved with him running off without
telling you."

"Oh, no, not anymore, not since last time he did this"

"He's done this to you before? Oh you poor dear. Here, how about you
come on in for some tea and cookies, and you can tell me all about
it."

"Good morning Lotus, Gustave" I said as I entered the kitchen the next
morning. I helped myself to a cup of coffee and sat down across from
the Frenchman, nodding at him.

"How do you know Lotus?" Gustave asked me after Lotus had left to go
take her shower.

"Old girlfriend. We stayed friends."

"You see, now that's nice. More people should be like that."

"I agree. I like you, Gus. I can tell that you are a good man. And
you're quite good at English, by the way." I drained the rest of my
coffee and headed to my room, letting him ponder why I had told him
that. After all, it would ruin the surprise if I told him that I'd
already pegged him for FBI, now wouldn't it?

I hopped through the shower, and, within half an hour of getting up, I
was out the door. Lotus had waved goodbye from her front stoop, with
Gustave's face visible just over her shoulder. I really did like him,
even if he was lying to us. I turned right onto the town's main street,
which wasn't called Main Street but Harbor Street., and drove about a
mile and a half to the road that lead to the point where Grant's mother
lived. She was a decent, kind, good woman who doted on Shadow like her
own daughter, even though the two had just met the previous year. I
highly doubted she had seen Shadow since she saw me last, however, and
that was eleven months ago. Hopefully she would talk to me.

I pulled up in front of her one-story home, a small cottage built for
her parents when they had married with weather-beaten wooden shingles
for siding and slate for roofing, and got out of my car. She was
standing on her front porch the moment after she had heard my car, I
was sure, and I smiled and waved as I walked up to her.

"Why, Riley dear, how nice to see you again. Where's Shadow?"

"She's at my house, most likely."

"Are you two married yet?"

"No. May I come in? I need to talk to you."

"Of course. I'll make you some coffee."

"That would be great."
Grant was just passing the Wendy's in Biddeford when his cell phone
rang. He glared at it, wishing it wasn't ringing, until he noticed the
number. Quickly he snatched it up.

"Yes, Terri? What do you want?"

"Where are you?"

"Biddeford. Where are you?"

"I'm almost to Manchester. Heading North. I didn't find her at the
places you had me check, but I've got a lead. I think she was headed up
to Alora. That's what her cousin told me"

"Terrific. Would you like to check out Riley's place, or shall
I?"

"You can. I'm beat. I just want to get home."

"If you meet me there we can?"

"No, I'm just headed back up. I'll see you tomorrow, or the next day,
whenever."

"If you see her, or him, you know what to do, right?"

"Yes, Grant. It's not like it's easy to forget. Love you" Grant hung up
the phone and smiled as he cruised down the narrow road.

Shadow followed the little old lady into her little, old apartment and
took the seat offered to her on the sofa. The little old lady then
moved into the kitchen and put a kettle on to boil, chattering at
Shadow about nothing all the while.

"So anyway, that young man, Riley, came here about ten months ago, and
he got his office. I've never seen much for traffic around here, it's
mostly just people like me, but he's got his office. I think he just
sits up there all day and plays with his gun. He seems like that type
to me."

"Actually, he is. All the time. He's like a child."

"And irresponsible, too, leaving you all alone, without a man around to
take care of you. You're so young and innocent?well, if you know Riley
Brown I might not say innocent, but there really isn't any harm in
that. He is a handsome man. But I've heard about him, and I've heard
that he'd quite the lady's man. But last night, that's what you wanted
to know about, right dear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Oh, don't call me ma'am, I'm Mrs. Hoffmann. Or Lottie, I do prefer
Lottie. Well, he came to my door last night and said to me, 'Lottie,
I'm leaving town for awhile. I don't know how long. But I've given my
keys to a pretty young woman who looks too young for me, even though
she isn't, and you should treat her as you treat me. But don't tell her
where I've gone.' And then he told me where he was going, and gave me
this, which I suppose goes to you. I'm not sure. Then he left." She
took an envelope from the sofa table and handed it to me. The kettle
whistled, and she hustled back into the kitchen, emerging a few minutes
later carrying to tea cups and a plate of cookies. Meanwhile, Shadow
examined the envelope. It had nothing written on it, and felt thick.
She opened it. Inside, she found five hundred dollar bills, a
photograph, and a letter. The letter was in Riley's handwriting.

"Charlena-This is Elizabeth Fontaine, or Shadow. You can trust her?"
Quickly, she stuffed the envelope and its contents into her purse,
wondering who Charlena could be, and why Riley had told her that she
could trust her. Wife? Girlfriend? Sister? Hell, it could be his next
door neighbor or mother for all Shadow knew. Actually, Shadow knew
absolutely nothing. But Charlena might know where Riley was, or that
might even be where he was. She was going to have to find her.

"Look, Mrs?mama, I need to know where Grant is."

"He's still around. Just got his case dismissed two weeks or so ago,
and he's just been living his normal life. He went down to his
brother-in-law's cousin's camp to go hunting for a few days earlier
today."

"Where is that?"

"Why are you asking all these questions?"

"I've heard from a source I feel is reliable that Grant is looking for
Shadow and I, and he wants to hurt or maybe kill us."

"Oh dear. My son? My Grant? But, why?"

"I'm not sure. If his case was dismissed, I can't see any reason to try
and find us. Do you know of any reason?"

"I didn't even know he was upset with you. Well, that's not entirely
true. I figered he'd be upset, but not to this point."

"Ok, well, where is this hunting camp?"

"Oh yes, the camp. It's um?I'm not really sure, but I think the name of
the town started with a D and might have had another D in it,
too"

"Um?that's all you can tell me?"

"I'm really sorry. But if it makes you feel any better, I don't think
he could actually hurt either you or Shadow dear."

"Thank you for all your help. Excellent coffee, by the way." I left by
way of the back screen door that I had come in through, thinking all
the way down the steps that Grant could and would hurt Shadow and I,
just like he had killed those five people last year. But was I one to
tell that to his mother? Nope.

I got in my car and backed out of the gravel drive, turning around in
the parking lot of the Bed and Breakfast next door.

"Gus?" Lotus called into the kitchen. He looked up. "I'm going into
Ellsworth, want to come?" He looked at her questioningly. She motioned
with her hands as she spoke, trying to clarify. "Ellsworth. I'm going.
I go. You come?"

"Ah. Oui?yes" He replied after a moment, neatly folding the newspaper
in half and setting it on the table. He stood, crossed to Lotus and
kissed her. "Tu es incroyable."

"I don't know what that means, but right back at you. Come on." She
grabbed his hand and led him outside. "You drive or me? Toi or
moi?"

"Toi." She smiled and opened the passenger door for him. "Oo la la" He
replied, and she couldn't help but laugh.

"I wish you spoke English." She muttered to herself after she had
closed his door for him, and was walking around the car. "I really wish
you did."

All the while, he was muttering to himself "I wish I could tell her. I
really wish I could."

Hoping Charlena was some close relation, Shadow began her search with
the phone book. There were no Charlena's listed under "Brown," but
there were several C's, each of which she called. She spoke to an old
man who liked his women "Young and perky," a teenaged girl who was
probably stoned out of her mind, and a man whose age she couldn't
guess, but denied knowing any Charlena. Shadow decided that it might be
prudent to go visit him, to see why he had been so adamant about not
knowing a Charlena, and to find out why he had hung up on her.

His address was listed in the phone book as a large, ramshackle home on
the north side of the river. It was green, an imposing figure on top of
a hill. Until you got close enough to it to see the broken rain gutter
and peeling paint. Then it just saddened you. Shadow climbed from
behind the wheel of her small Toyota truck and stumbled up the front
walk, which was made of crumbling concrete. Half of the blue-painted
planks on the porch were either loose or missing, and it was unclear
whether the doorbell worked or not. She pressed the small white button
and waited a few minutes, then pressed again. After she received no
answer, she pounded on the door.

"Mr. Brown! Hello?" She heard nothing. Then she got a bright idea. She
tried the doorknob. It turned, much to her surprise, and the door swung
freely open for a brief moment, only to be caught six inches off the
frame by a hook and eye on the inside. Having already gotten that far,
Shadow used her car key to shimmy open the hook and allow her
inside.

The hallway was carpeted with a very worn yellow carpet and wallpapered
with yellow wallpaper. There were stairs leading up to a second story
on her left, and to her right was a door which, she assumed, led to the
main part of the house. Shadow pushed open this door, and was taken
aback by what she saw in front of her. A wooden parquet floor gleamed
in the sunlight that entered through several floor-to-ceiling windows
which were each covered with a transparent lace panel. A Victorian
green velvet sofa was against one wall, and against the opposite wall
was a grand mantel piece, which was made of carved mahogany. The walls
were papered with a lush tone on tone fleur de lis, with a thick,
glossy molding abutting the ceiling. A crystal chandelier hung in the
middle of the room. Suddenly, a man stepped from a doorway unseen to
Shadow. He had a towel around his neck and was wearing sweatpants
without a shirt.

"Hi" said Shadow.

"Hi" replied the man. "Do I know you?"

"I-I'm the one who c-called about Charlena Brown. Do you know
her?"

"I told you know and I meant it. Now please, I'm in the middle of
something. You can either leave or join me"

Grant pulled up in front of Riley's home at 2:20 that afternoon. He
looked up and down the street, peered in the windows, and, satisfied
that Shadow wasn't there, but probably had been, he pulled away from
the curb and headed to Riley's office, determined to find both of them
before the day was out.

My mother always told me that if you can't find something, all you
have to do is just keep looking, and if you don't find it, then you'll
know that it never existed anyway. That's the advice I always followed,
especially today as I drove south, looking for the camp Grant's mother
spoke of. Possibly the town started with a D and had another D in the
name. It's my experience that when a person says something like that,
the town has neither in its name. But I was looking anyway.