The Hunt

She hadn't seen anything. She'd finished with a customer, giving him a hand-job for a few dollars, then the customer had left first. As she'd watch her john walk out of the alley someone had grabbed her around the neck from behind. She never saw him, just heard his whispering voice in her ear.

"He said he was gon' 'end my depravity', and stuff like that. Seemed real pleased with hisself," she'd told Etienne, her voice hoarse. "I tried to fight, but he was strong. I clawed at 'em pretty good but I don' know if'n I did any damage."

"Okay Alice. You take it easy. These men gon' take you to the hospital and I'll check in on you later."

"Thank you, sir," she whispered with tears in her eyes for maybe the fourth time. "You ain't come along just then, I'd be lying in that lousy alley like poor Nanette and Sally."

Several patrol officers were there now, keeping the curious at a distance. Etienne borrowed a flashlight from one of them and went back into the alley.

I almost had him, he thought bitterly to himself. I was thirty feet away from him. He knew he'd done the right thing. If he hadn't stopped, Alice very well could have choked to death. It didn't make it any easier to have been so close.

He shone his light around the area. Something against the alley wall caught his eye. He squatted down, pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and picked up the object. It was a brown button, the kind one might find on the sleeve of a suit jacket. Setting the flashlight on the edge of a trash can, he carefully took out one of the small envelopes he kept in his breast pocket, slipped the button inside and sealed it, then slid the envelope back in his jacket pocket. Maybe he could sweet talk that federal agent he'd met a few months prior, when he'd assisted on a big trafficking case, to run it through their fancy fingerprint identification department, or something.

He was scouring the alley for additional evidence when Ronaldo arrived.

"So, you saved the day, I hear," he said, by way of greeting.

"Don't know 'bout that."

"Don't be shy 'bout tootin' your own horn, Etienne. You stopped The Monster from doing away with another of your whores. All the colored folk going to be real happy with you after that."

Etienne said nothing, but continued shining his flashlight around the alley. When he saw there was no response forthcoming, Ronaldo continued.

"Anyways, I've got the scene now. Any evidence you want to let me have?"

Etienne thought about the envelope in his pocket but hesitated.

"You ain't kicking me off this scene. It's not a homicide."

"You shittin' me? This was The Monster. This is my case now."

Etienne turned to fully face the other detective. "This was the scene of an assault immediately following a prostitution transaction. I have as much jurisdiction as you do." He took a step closer to Ronaldo to stare into his eyes and said quietly, "And I know you don't give much of a crap about catching The Monster, but I do."

He turned back to continue shining his light around the alley.

Ronaldo stared at him for a moment, then laughed. "You want to run the scene Cheval, you can have it. I don't mind headin' back to the bar."

~~ Friday, October 30th, Devil's Night ~~

Etienne took off his hat as he walked into Alice's room at Flint-Goodridge Hospital, one of the two black hospitals in New Orleans. The orderly was leaving with her dinner tray, mostly uneaten. Flo and Lolly were sitting in chairs next to her bed and they rose when he entered.

"Evening, Miss Alice. Sit back down, ladies, I'm just here to check on y'all. Hope you doing alright tonight?"

Alice nodded and smiled at him. Her cheek was swollen and bruised, and she had a thick foam brace around her neck that held her head up stiffly.

"Doctor says she's got swelling in her throat, sir, so she cain't talk today," Lolly said, while Alice was scribbling on a pad of paper in her lap.

She held up the pad towards him. It said thank you for saving my life

"Just sorry I didn't get there sooner, Miss Alice. Do you happen to remember anything else about your attacker today?" She looked down at the sheets covering her lap and shook her head. "It's okay, don't worry none. You're safe here."

She wrote briefly on the pad and held it up. What if he comes here?

"I don't think he will, Miss Alice, but I--" he stopped as she started writing furiously. She held up the pad again.

I'm the only woman who's been attacked by him and lived

"We're worried he might think he can't afford to have her walking around, Etienne," Flo said, "Lolly is going to take her out of town, she got some friends in Shreveport. They're going as soon as she's released but the doctor wants to keep her here until tomorrow."

Alice looked at him. She was trying to be stoic, but he could see the fear in her eyes.

"Alright, fair enough. Let me see if I can do something 'bout this."

He picked up the phone from her bedside and dialed a number, looking at his watch as it rang.

"Hey, Flaherty, it's Detective Cheval, from the Eighth," he said when the call was answered, "Is Coates around? He should be getting ready to start his beat... Good. I want you to pull him off the street, I need him at Flint-Goodridge tonight... yeah, my authority. Well, tell your Captain I said so and I'll get with him later to make it right... okay, good. Tell him to come to room four-fourteen... yeah, soon as he can. Thanks, Flaherty."

He hung up and turned his attention back to Alice. "Alright, Miss Alice, I have a patrol officer comin' and he's gonna sit right outside this room all night, to make sure ain't no funny business until you get out of here tomorrow."

Alice looked dubious. Lolly said hesitantly, "Detective, not that we don't appreciate it, but..."

"Johnny Coates is one of NOPD's two black officers, he works the Ninth. Don't worry, I wouldn't stick you with someone who wasn't all that interested in making sure you were okay."

Alice smiled gratefully at him and scribbled something. You are a good man Detective

"Well... thank you Miss Alice. Can you let me know how I can get a hold of you when you leave town? If I catch this guy I might need you to testify to help me put him away."

The resolve on her face as she nodded told him she'd be there if he needed her.

"I'll leave a phone number with Miss Flo, Detective," Lolly said.

"Thank you," he said. He opened his wallet and pulled out two twenties and a five, the only cash he had on him. "Here, take this,"

Alice was shaking her head as Lolly said, "We can't accept--"

"Hell you cain't, Miss Lolly," he said, setting the bills on Alice's side table. "I'm sorry I haven't gotten The Monster yet. I'm sorry he got his filthy hands on you. And I want you to know, I'm still after him. Ain't gonna stop until he's off the streets."

"We know you won't, Detective, thank you," Lolly said.

He broke the uncomfortable silence that followed, "I'd better get back to it. Good luck Alice, Lolly. Good night Flo,"

As he strode down the hall he heard Flo call his name and he stopped by the top of the stairs as she caught up with him.

"Etienne..." Flo seemed at a loss for words, "I... I just..."

"You okay Flo?"

"I am. I want to say, you're a good man Etienne. There ain't enough of you around, but you're doing the best you can and I wanted you to know that I know it."

He felt himself flush. "Shoot, I'm just doing my job."

"There's not another detective in the city who would do right by those girls the way you are."

"Well... thanks. I'd better get out there. Sun's going down."

"I caught on at Marie's Lunch Counter. Working breakfast and lunch. Come by and see me, would you?"

"How are the beans and rice?" he asked, with a grin.

Flo laughed. "Fantastic, and the bowls are bigger than at The Clover."

"Alright, I'll be by then," he said, with a chuckle of his own.

"You be careful," she said, and squeezed his hand.

He gave her hand a squeeze back. "Thanks again."

With Halloween the next day, tourists and locals alike were taking advantage of Friday night to celebrate early, with almost every reveler on the street sporting costumes or masks. He spent the evening checking the usual spots but it appeared the attack on Alice had been the straw that broke the camel's back for the rest of the ladies of the night; after four hours of walking he had yet to see a single prostitute on the street, black or white.

He pondered stopping into one of his normal drinking spots for a nightcap, but the fatigue of the past few weeks made him head home instead.

His apartment was a third-floor walk-up, one block off the main parade route. The apartment was tiny and too expensive for the size, but Etienne loved the balcony with the wrought iron railing off the combination living room-kitchen. The view somewhat ameliorated the guilt he felt about taking his share of the monthly bribe. He also felt living in the Quarter made him more connected to the people and places he was entrusted with watching over.

He pulled off his necktie as he walked into his bedroom and tossed it over the arm of the chair in the corner. His suit jacket followed, then he pulled the leather holster and gun from the waistband of his pants and opened the cigar box he kept on his dresser where he kept it when off-duty. He frowned at the sight of the evidence envelope with the button from the alley laying in the box.

"I really gotta get that logged into evidence tomorrow," he muttered to himself. He'd forgotten to take it with him this morning.

He looked to the icon of Saint Michael, the patron saint of police officers, that he kept on the wall next to his mirror.

"Anytime you want to help me out with this case, Mike." Then he sighed with guilt. He knew his momma would've rapped his knuckles for calling a saint a nickname.

He laid his gun on top of the envelope, closed the lid and went out to the tiny kitchen. He opened his noisy refrigerator and took out a can of Jax beer, punching two triangular holes in the top with his church key opener and went out to the balcony. Taking a long sip, he leaned on the railing, watching the revelers pass by beneath him.

He'd been staring at nothing, his mind adrift when he suddenly realized one of the costumed figures wasn't moving along with the rest of the sea of humanity below him, but was leaning against the building across the street, watching him. He straightened up and took a closer look.

Josephine was wearing a green, sequined flapper dress straight out of the Roaring Twenties and an elaborate, black domino mask. It was easy enough to recognize her, regardless. Her hair was unbound tonight, and the natural curls formed a huge tawny mane around her entire head.

Not knowing what else to do, he raised one hand and waved.

He could see a grin spread across her face from three floors up. She returned his wave, then walked directly toward him, vanishing from sight under his balcony.

Scarcely seconds passed before he heard a knock at his door, causing him to jump.

That can't be her, no way she had enough time to get up here, he thought. He set his beer down on the little table he kept on the balcony and went to the door.

Opening it, he was dumbfounded to see Josephine standing there, one hand on her hip, her smile peeking out beneath her mask. Up close, he could see the mask had feline features, with whiskers painted on it, and pointed cat ears protruding up into her curly hair. The huge mass of hair around her head not only made her look somewhat top-heavy, but combined with the cat mask, looked like a lion's mane.

"How did you...?" He froze. Does she have... cat's eyes? he thought.

"Well good evenin', Sugar," she purred. She blinked and he realized it must have been a trick of that light from the hallway. Her brown eyes were dancing with amusement. He tried again.

"How did you...?" he started again.

"How did ah what, Cher?"

"You... never mind." I must be more tired than I thought. "What can I do for you?"

"You could invite a lady in, fo' one thing."

"Ah, yeah, ah'm not so sho' that's--"

"A great idea? Why yes, yes, it is," she said as she brushed past him into his apartment.

He closed the door and followed her as she walked through his living room and out to his balcony.

"Why this a lovely lil' home, Sugar. The view up he'ah is a delight." She picked up the beer from the table and took a sip.

"What are you doing here?"

She set the can down. For the first time since he'd met her, her expression wasn't either amused or dangerous. She looked... grateful.

"Ahm he'ah t' thank you, Detective. You's wuz the'ah to save my friend last night when I wuz not."

"Ah's just doin' mah job," he said nervously, slipping back into his childhood accent. Everytime he was around her, he seemed to want to do all he could to put her at ease.

"No. No you ain't just doin' yo' job. You didn't hafta check on her at the hospital tonight. You didn't hafta give her money to get outta town. You didn't hafta get that nice officer Coates to watch over her." She stepped closer. "You treat us like we's people. You know how rare a thing that is? Not just us colored women, but us women who's doing what we's doing?"

"Y'all still human," he said, quietly.

"We is, but precious few willin' ta acknowledge it. You do."

"Well, I--" he started but she took another half-step closer, laid both her palms on his chest and kissed him. The liquid heat of her lips startled him, as her tongue invading his mouth like a living thing of its own. Almost in defense, he wrapped his arms around her slender waist.

After an interminable moment, he broke away from her and looked into her eyes.

"Josephine, this... this isn't the best idea."

Stepping even closer, she pressed her body against his. He felt her thigh press against a part of his body which obviously thought that, yes, this was a fantastic idea. She grinned under her mask. He gasped as he felt her hand gently grip his length through his pants.

"Don't worry none, Sugar, I ain't gon' tell no one. No one ever need t' know."

She kissed him again.

"I thought you ladies didn't kiss," he said, after a moment.

"That's only with customers, Cher. You sho' ain't that. You's a kind man, and I'm gon' show ya how much I 'ppreciate ya."

She kissed him again, his resistance crumbled as he felt nimble fingers unbuckle his trousers and reach inside. She wrapped her fingers around him through his boxer shorts.

"Ooh, Sugar! Don' know if you gon' believe me or not, but you a fair piece bigger'n mosta my customers!"

"That right?" he said, quietly with a grin.

"Fo' sho'," she said. Then she sank to her knees in front of him.

"Are you nuts?!" he said, looking over the edge of the balcony at the mass of people partying on the street below.

"Don' worry none, Sugar," she purred as she tugged on the waistband of his underwear. "Ain't nobody ever seen me when I don't want t' be seen."

"But--"

She interrupted him by leaning forward and taking him into her mouth. His thoughts immediately dissolved into a mindless fog of pleasure as he sucked in his breath and leaned back against the door frame.

"Lordy," he breathed.

She looked up at him as she bobbed her head along his length, then closed her eyes and, wrapping her hands around to grab his butt, slowly pushed forward, taking nearly all of him down her throat. She held herself there for a moment, then pulled back with a gasp, a thick line of spit trailing from the end of his cock to her bottom lip. She ran her tongue over her lips, breaking the string of saliva and it fell to the balcony floor with a soft splat. She made a pleased sound, leaned forward and ran her tongue along the underside of him, from the base to the tip and then sucked him back into her mouth as she stared into his eyes.

With her cat mask and mane of hair, she was probably the single most erotic sight he'd ever beheld in his life. He certainly wasn't inexperienced. He'd even hired a lady of the evening himself once in Tokyo when he was on R-and-R during the war. Bar none, Josephine was the most uninhibited woman he'd ever encountered.

"Ohhh... Lordy," he repeated, then he reached down and pulled her to her feet. She let his cock slip out of her mouth with an obscene pop. Her disappointment was obvious.

"C'mon Cher, don't tell me you ain't interested, cause the lil' gentleman says otherwise." She gripped him with her hand and slowly stroked him as she spoke, spreading her saliva along his length.

"Ain't gonna lie, ah'm interested. Just now that we goin' down this road, I'm not looking for a quickie and you was 'bout to finish me right he'ah."

Smiling, she took a step back, and reached behind her neck. Her dress fell from her shoulders and, with a shimmy of her hips, puddled on the floor around her feet leaving her in just her domino mask, garter belt and stockings.

Etienne drank in her beauty, letting his gaze roam up and down her body, her dark nipples standing up in the cool October air.

"You's a fine-looking woman," he murmured.

"Thank you, Detective. You pretty easy on the eyes as well."

He glanced down at the street. No one seemed to have looked up and seen the show being put on by the two of them. Still, this wasn't exactly in his comfort zone. He pulled his pants up from mid-thigh and fastened the button, then offered her his hand.

"Shall we retire inside?"

She stepped out of her dress, reached down to pick it up, then took his hand and they walked back inside. She draped her dress over the back of his couch and turned back to him.

"Well Detective, what's yo' pleasure? Want me to keep mah heels on? My stockings? Want me nekkid as a jaybird? Do you want me in yo' bedroom, or right he'ah? Yo' sofa looks awful comfy."

He kicked off his shoes then took her in his arms. The skin of her back felt like warm velvet under his hands. "Mah pleasure is that you call me Etienne, rather than 'detective', right at this moment." He kissed her, then wrapped an arm around her, bent his legs to slide an arm under her knees and scooped her up into his arms.

"Woo, the'ah ya go, Sugar!" she exclaimed, then giggled, kicking off her shoes as he carried her into the bedroom. He laid her on the bed, and she leaned up on one elbow to watch him strip off his clothes. When he was naked, he slid into the bed next to her, cupping her breast as he did. Her nipple was already hard, poking into his palm.

He let his hands roam up and down her body as they kissed again. Her hair was like a halo, covering the entire pillow.

"Mmmm, yes, Etienne!" She moaned as his hand slid between her legs, a finger parting her lips.

"That sounds much better than 'Detective', don't it now?" he said. He kissed her neck, as he stroked her with his fingers.

"Too right," she said, then pushed him to his back and sat up to straddle his legs. "Foreplay's fine, Sugar and we can get more inta that later if ya want, but right now I need me some more o' this!" She gripped his cock, stroked it a few times then took him into the heat of her mouth again. As her head bobbed over him, he reached out towards the ties of her mask behind her head. She abruptly sat up out of his reach, grabbing his hands and removing them from her hair.

For the first time since he met her, he saw the smallest flicker of doubt in her eyes.

"Why Miss Josephine, you finally gettin' shy on me now?"

She sat still, staring at him, her face unreadable. He shifted uncomfortably underneath her.

"Ah'm sorry... thought what with you kissin' me and callin' me Etienne and all... I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

She was still a moment longer, then she made a strange gesture with her hand and suddenly was holding a tiny foil packet. She used both hands to rip it open, then pulled out a condom and started rolling it down Etienne's shaft.