Don't Look Like a Seal Pt. 01

"You convinced me and that isn't why I'm offering you this job. It's about what really happened to Scottie," He said.

"You're talking about how it wasn't a carjacking gone wrong but a kidnapping attempt that he broke up," I stated.

He stared at me for a couple of long moments before speaking.

"Maybe you don't suck so bad at the P. I. thing after all," He said.

"Your confidence in me is overwhelming Alex," I answered sarcastically.

"Remind me how many times you fell into the same frozen lake again?" He chuckled.

"After the first time my brain was frozen anything that happened after that was not my fault," I defended.

"Keep telling yourself that, Ken. Now this thing with Scott," He started in.

"Kidnapping attempt," I reiterated.

"How did you know? Who spilled the beans because we were supposed to be keeping that under tight wrap," He said.

"No one said anything," I assured him. "Scottie might like to play the hero but there's no way he'd put someone he loves in danger unless he had no other choice. I'm guessing that Lissa was going to be collateral damage or worse when whoever attempted to snatch Addison Voss. What I don't know is whether Scott just happened to be there or if he was put there by you, Alex."

"He wasn't," Alex said. "He hasn't done any jobs for me for awhile now. I told you that."

"You did but who really knows with you," I stated.

"He wasn't," He reassured me. "He just happened to stumble into it by accident."

"Stumbled into it and nearly got himself killed," I sighed.

"I know you would have done the same thing he did, Grayson," Alex said.

"I'm no hero, Alex," I told him. "Not anymore. So they've hired your firm or whatever to provide security?"

"My people are reinforcing the existing security that is already in place," He stated. "I volunteered my services what with it being Scottie and all."

"And you want me to volunteer too?" I asked curiously.

"I've been to your place, Ken. I know that you can't exactly afford to volunteer right now but you owe Scott. We both do," He reminded me.

"Yeah, we do," I nodded. "All right, what is it exactly that you want me to do?"

"How does the night shift sound?" He asked.

"Sounds like that you want me to play babysitter instead of finding out who is behind this," I stated.

"I want you close by in case they try again," He shared while he gave me a knowing look. "Leave the investigator badge at home, Ken. I'm serious."

"I'm not sure I can make that promise," I stated.

"Let the police handle it," He told me. "You help me keep Lissa's friend safe and that's all I need from you."

"Night shift, huh," I asked and sighed. "Well I don't really sleep all that much at night anyway."

"You've got the nightmares too huh? I still get those but talking to my psychiatrist has really helped," He explained.

"When you can afford the best one in town I'm sure he was very helpful," I pointed out.

"He is a she and she is great. You should go see her instead of whatever overworked guy they have at the VA nowadays," He told me.

"I only went to the VA a couple of times and that poor guy barely had time to write me a prescription before I was hustled out the door," I shared. "The side effects seemed worse than the nightmares so I stopped taking them."

"I found that snuggling up to warm, naked woman helps," Alex shared with a grin.

"If that's what your shrink is prescribing then you can sign me up," I chuckled.

Alex chuckled then fumbled in his pocket for a few seconds while I drove along the nearly deserted streets. He produced a business card from his pocket and handed it to me.

"That one I figured out all on my own but give her a call sometime. She's pretty good," He said.

"As a warm body or as a shrink," I teased him.

"As a shrink, smart ass. Now that you mention it though," He answered wistfully.

"I don't think I want to know." I interrupted him. "Sleeping next to someone sounds really nice though. I may have to try that sometime."

"Our waitress tonight seemed more than willing to sacrifice herself for your comfort," Alex grinned.

"She was very cute but seemed a little on the young side for me," I shared.

"Uh huh," Alex sighed. "Well, I met someone else today that might fit that bill for you. She was nice but a little on the quiet side. Blonde. I remember just exactly how you love blondes and..."

"You can stop right there, Alex" I told him. "I can manage on my own in the women department thank you very much."

"Have you had anyone steady in your life since the thing with Kris?" He asked and when I didn't answer right away he concluded aloud. "That's what I thought. Damn, Ken, that was like six years ago!"

"Five. It was only five years ago," I weakly defended.

"You haven't been laid in five years?" He asked incredulous.

I chose not to answer that question and posed my own to him instead.

"Look the thing with Kris, the way it turned out at the end, it just burned me out on the whole relationship thing you know?" I asked him.

"They're not all like her," He insisted. "You know that right?"

"How did we get on the subject of my love life?" I asked.

"Lack of love life," Alex pointed out.

"Fine, how did we get onto my lack of a love life when we were talking about Scott and then your shrink?" I asked.

"I don't know," He shrugged. "Anyway, call the doc, she might be able to help you out better than someone from the VA."

"I'll get right on that just as soon as I win the lottery," I joked.

"If you want to go, set up an appointment and I'll cover you until we get paid from this job," He offered.

"I thought we were volunteering on this? Have they changed the definition of volunteering and I missed it?" I asked him.

"Maybe I'm counting on us doing something spectacular and the Voss' being very grateful." Alex answered.

"I'll consider us making sure that no one else gets shot pretty spectacular," I responded.

"Just call her and make an appointment," He prodded.

"I'll think about it but thanks," I told him as I pocketed the card. "Maybe I'll call and see if she has an opening after this is done."

"Seriously, Ken, call her up," He urged me as I parked his car. "She can help."

I nodded and got out of his ride and sighed.

"It's not fair that I got to drive her and I gotta grab an Lyft back home," I told him.

"You aren't taking my Jag home, Ken," He shook his head.

"Shame," I said as I handed him his keys. "Call me tomorrow once you've sobered up enough to remember that you offered me this job. I'll give you a chance to back out."

"I told you that I'm not that drunk and I'm not going to back out of hiring you," Alex argued. "I will call you tomorrow to set a few things up."

"Sounds good," I nodded then pulled my phone out to check and see if there was any ride services available to take me home.

****

The next morning I tried to sleep in but my body had become too accustomed to waking up with the sun so I'm out bed when the first rays of sunlight greeted the morning. After a quick shower I pulled on my swim trunks and headed out the door for my morning swim. It sucked to have to drive to a beach when you live so close but I couldn't afford anything close to oceanfront property these days. As I headed downstairs I met my neighbors Jamie and Jasmine as they were coming home from their night job as dancers at a gentleman's club in Myrtle.

"Morning ladies," I called out in greeting.

Jamie, the youngest one, greeted me with a hug as had become her customary greeting for me.

"Are you ever gonna take me up on that freebie I offered you Kenny?" Jamie asked as she flipped her platinum blonde hair and rubbed her pert breasts against my chest seductively.

"I would have taken you up on that about a dozen different times by now if I didn't think being with you would take everything I have and leave me a shell of a man," I smiled at her.

"You know I'd take it nice and slow with you, baby," She said as she ran her fingers playfully over my chest.

"Prolong my agony. Is that it?" I laughed.

"If that's what your into, Kenny," She whispered with her lips teasingly close to mine.

Thankfully Jasmine was there to reel Jamie in as my ability to come up with witty comebacks had faltered.

"Don't make me turn the hose on you two!" Jas called out as she pulled Jamie from my arms.

"Damn it, Jas, I almost had him this time!" Jamie argued with a playful wink at me.

"Yeah, Jas, I don't know whether I should thank you for saving my virtue or show you how disappointed a certain part of me is going to be very soon," I joked.

"I'll take option two," She announced and pulled me into a hug of her own.

She pressed her tight body to mine before I had the chance to dodge her. Jas was just a little shorter than me so when she pressed herself to me she easily felt my growing erection.

"Boy, you weren't kidding around were you?" She giggled.

"With the two of you around, I save a ton of money when I shower. I never get to put the hot water to use," I chuckled.

"I'll bet you don't," Jasmine said as she released me. "Shit, I almost forgot to tell you! There was this suit asking around here about you the other day. Hot, GQ looking guy with a limp. Jamie and I played dumb like we didn't know you but I think that jerk in 2B sold you out."

"He was the hottest and best dressed process server I've ever seen," Jamie commented.

"He's not a process server. He's an old friend from my Navy days that actually just gave me a job believe it or not," I told them.

"I guess we shouldn't have played dumb then, huh?" Jamie asked.

"You did right by me and I appreciate it," I assured her. "I owe you a dinner."

"Are you buying or are you cooking?" Jamie asked.

"Don't I usually?" I asked back then shook my head. "Wait, I'm going to be working nights at this gig. How about breakfast one morning?"

"Mmm, you are very good at breakfast," Jasmine winked at me. "Just let us know when and we'll bring the supplies."

Jamie stepped back over close to me with a wicked grin on her face. She leaned up and kissed my cheek.

"We'll also bring our pajamas too, Kenny. Those ones that you really like," She smiled.

"You're killing me, sexy," I whispered to her.

She smiled and gave me a wink while Jasmine shook her head at us.

"Come on, Jamie. We need sleep and Kenny needs a break from your antics," She laughed.

"And a cold, cold shower," I laughed.

After I told them goodbye I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned back to them.

"You two be safe out there tonight," I called out to the pair.

"Always, thanks to you," Jamie called back then, together with Jasmine shouted, "We love you!"

"I love you two too!" I shouted back and probably annoyed the jerk that lived in 2B but that made me smile. The love thing goes back to the night I first met my two lovely neighbors. Jasmine was trying to get a barely conscious Jamie up the stairs to their condo after some drunk college asshole didn't take kindly to her spurning his advances. After she threatened to emasculate me more than a few times if I tried anything with her friend, Jasmine finally agreed to let me help her. It took some convincing but I got Jasmine to agree to stay the night at my place by telling her it'd be better if we both watched over Jamie. The next morning I made them breakfast and told them my story when they asked.

A couple of days later I showed them how to turn the tables on anyone that tried to put their hands on them in a way they didn't want. They were both quick studies even though Jamie kept flirting with me most of the time and by the end she had Jasmine doing the same. I got them to focus long enough to learn how to hurt someone if the need arose.

The next week the same guy approached Jamie this time out back of the club as he had been barred for what happened last time. This time when he grabbed her she snapped his wrist like it was a twig. They came right over and told me all about it as soon as they got home.

The girls were enthusiastically grateful when they got home after that night, offering me a threesome anytime I wanted it. Every time I looked at the pair of them I wanted it. Badly, but I held off. I wanted to keep them as friends because they would be first I had made in what felt like a lifetime and sex always complicates things.

****

I got into my black 2007 Mustang and cranked her up. She was a recent purchase from a case I was able to close out to the satisfaction of my client. I drove down to a nearby public beach access that was nearly deserted at this time of the morning except for those few retirees collecting seashells or getting in their morning exercise. I grabbed a towel out of my trunk and headed down to the sandy beach. I gave a friendly nod at a couple of the people in passing. I stretched for a couple of minutes then discarded my shirt onto my towel and headed into the surf. The water was cool that morning but it was a refreshing kind of cool and considering some of the places I've swam I would call it downright warm. After I swam out beyond the breakers I settled into a combat sidestroke to warm up and then switched to a normal rhythm to get my blood pumping. I swam for half an hour before I returned to shore and collapsed onto my towel to catch my breath and let the sun dry me off. I laid there and wondered if the job Alex offered me last night was legit or, despite his assurances otherwise, it was just the booze talking. I wouldn't have been surprised if he called the whole thing off once he sobered up but even if he did I still owed Scott. If Alex didn't hire me then I would look into this Voss thing myself. I headed home, took a quick shower, shaved, grabbed my cell phone then placed a call to Alex to make sure he was serious about the job offer from last night. It only took him a few times to answer.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" He asked in greeting.

"It's morning," I retorted. "Shouldn't you be at the Voss estate or something already?"

"When you own the company there's a little leeway," He informed me then sighed. "I should be getting up and heading over there, now that you mentioned it. A few of people need a talking to or so I've been told. Why? What are you doing?"

"Just finished my morning swim and was thinking about heading to where Scottie got shot up," I confessed. "I want to poke around a bit. See if the cops might have missed something."

"Oh for fucks sake, Ken," He sighed. "Leave that to the police! You've already got a job."

"So you weren't bullshitting me about the job last night then," I asked.

"Yours if you want it," He assured me. "The night shift sucks but that way I know that you can't get into too much trouble."

"I'm sure I'll surprise you," I joked.

"And I'm already regretting this," He sighed.

"What could possibly go wrong?" I asked him.

"With you there," He asked. "I'm just hoping nothing blows up."

"You're the one that blew up that damn barn while I was still inside it, asshole," I reminded him.

"I told you those timers were fucked but you used them anyway. Then there's the matter of the boat, the house, the other house, that barn," Alex reeled off.

"All right, all right but none of those were my fault," I said then sighed. "Okay maybe the boat was my fault."

"The boat was definitely your fault but it's damn early and I had enough reminiscing last night," He told me. "I'm going to catch another hour or two of sleep then I'll be at the estate at about ten or thereabouts. Meet me there and I'll introduce you around. Grayson, do not go by the crime scene, I'm serious."

"I am an investigator, ya know? Got a badge and everything. Even says Investigator on it," I smiled.

"My offer of a job does not include bailing you out of jail. Remember that," He told him.

"I'll behave," I assured him.

"There is a first time for everything I suppose," He sighed.

****

Detective Jennifer Young knelt beside the blacktop road just a few feet from where the attempted abduction took place.

"Jen, the squints went over this place with a fine tooth comb. There's no way they missed something," Her partner Detective Robert Lang called out as he leaned against the hood of their car.

"Maybe not but since this thing involves one of this towns wealthiest families I'd rather quadruple check just to be on the safe side," She answered him as she brushed the dust from her pants.

"Thought we weren't supposed to discuss that," He said.

"Afraid that the trees have ears or something," She asked him as she looked around.

"No but then you never know when one of those paparazzi is disguised as a tree or a bush or something," He said as he glanced around.

"The way I understand it, they still think Addison Voss is in Milan at the moment." She shared then stopped. "Does something feel off to you about this whole thing?"

"A man almost died here, places like this are always gonna feel off," He shrugged.

"You aren't going to tell me about the time you saw the phantom hitchhiker down in Florida are you?" She asked him.

"She disappeared, Jen! She was there one minute and the next she was gone. I got out of the car, looked around and nothing," He argued.

"And the place felt weird, I know. You told me this like a hundred times already," She sighed.

"Doesn't make it any less true," He argued as a car pulled to a stop on the shoulder of the road right behind theirs.

"You were saying about the paparazzi," He stated. "Want me to run'em off?"

"I'll get it. It might be a phantom driver or something," Det. Young joked as she pulled her badge and walked toward the car parked on the shoulder of the road. "Myrtle Beach PD, Sir, this is a crime scene. I'm gonna need you to move on."

I got out of my car with my Private Investigator badge in my hand and held it out so she could see it.

"I don't mean to intrude, Detective," I said as I handed her my license. "Scottie's a friend of mine and I just wanted to have a look around."

"Even if that were true, Mr. Grayson," She said after she read my name on the license. "You'd be contaminating my crime scene and I can't have you snooping around."

"The road's been reopened detective. It can't get any more contaminated," I pointed out.

"Maybe so but I don't need some P.I. nosing around my investigation," She stated. "In fact, Bobby, run his ID and confirm he is who he says he is."

I leaned against my car and waited while they ran my ID. After several minutes Det. Lang nodded.

"He's clean and both of his licenses are up to date," He shared.

"Both?" She asked.

"I live up near Calabash but the real work is down here so I got licensed in both states," I explained.

"All right Mr. Grayson but that doesn't mean that you knew my victim," She said.

I reached down, undid the sleeve on my left arm and rolled it up to uncover my forearm.

"Scott has this exact tattoo on his left arm as well. We all got them on one drunken night in Vegas," I shared.

She stepped over and took a closer look at the pair of dice that were inked onto my arm.

"What do you think, Bobby?" She asked.

"Looks legit to me," He nodded. "Why dice? I've been wanting to ask since I saw them on your friend. You guys some kind of degenerate gamblers or something?"

"Drunk in Vegas," I shrugged. "One of the guys mentioned carrying our own paradise with us. Paradise. Pair of dice. It was lame but we were really drunk."

"Sounds like it," Det. Young shook her head. "The matching tat's get you five minutes."

"Just five minutes, huh," I asked. "Best not waste any time then. Care to walk me through the kidnapping angle and not the carjacking that the press is running with."

Det. Lang made an unhappy face but if Det. Young was surprised she hid it well.

"Guess that means you're in the loop huh?" Det. Lang commented.