ANGEL PASTA: PART FOUR
Everything about Patty and the Epsilon Organization were nothing but tantalizing distractions, Angel realized. The only way she was going to be able to maintain her focus on getting the jellyfish out of the area safely would be by investigating alone.“I thank you for all you have told me,” Angel said. “Know that I am still not leaving, but for now, I will not impede whatever actions you and this Epsilon group are taking either.”
Patty fidgeted. “Oh. You are not interested in perhaps going all in, and helping us? I’m sure I can convince Beam of your good intentions.”
Angel smiled. “Interested, perhaps. But no. First, I must find out more on my own.”
After all, Epsilon could be playing the long game in terms of influencing her, and she wasn’t about to walk into that trap. They were going to have to make more of an effort to get at her.
Patty sighed. “Ah, bien. I suppose that will have to do. It was nice talking with you, at least.”
“Agreed. And if I may, I would like to request two things,” Angel added, leaning forwards and resting her arms on her knees. When Patty nodded, she continued. “I would like a way to contact you. It seems only fair, as you know where I am staying tonight.”
Patty brightened visibly. “For sure. I am staying with my friend Mimi,” Patty said. She gave the address.
Angel nodded. “Thank you. As to the second thing, I would appreciate an introduction to this Mimi LaFleche. She likely has information about the area, via her father or otherwise, which would be helpful for my own investigation. And unlike so many others in town, she’s motivated to talk.”
Patty thought longer about that one, but then nodded. “I am not certain what she might be able to tell you that I cannot, but perhaps that is the point. Very well. She has a break at work today from 1300 to 1500 hours, you could come by the house this afternoon.”
“Excellent.”
Angel rose from her chair at that, and Patty followed suit, sensing that their discussion was over.
“Do be careful,” Patty added, even as Angel reached out a hand. “I would hate to see any harm come to you.” Patty took her palm and they shook.
“Always,” Angel assured. “You take care as well.”
With that, the two ladies parted ways, Patty giving one last look over her shoulder before Angel closed the hotel room door.
She was being followed.
Angel had decided to take the rest of the morning to have a quick look around the area of the jellyfish swarm. She had not done so yet in part because the boat rental prices were steep, and in part because she had not thought it necessary. But if some mystery artifact was involved, perhaps an inspection was warranted.
There was a chance she would spot something out of the ordinary.
She had opted for a small, slower motorboat for ease of navigation. While she might have enough strength to row for a short time, she did not want to cramp up and become adrift.
There were a few other boats out on the water as she left, fishing boats still attempting to bring in some wares, one half full tourist boat, and some passenger boats either out for the day or heading up the coast. But the blue boat with the overhead canopy that left its occupant(s?) in darkness was definitely keeping an eye on her.
It helped that she had read the map incorrectly and had started out by going the wrong way. The blue boat had followed her when she made the turn back toward the proper jellyfish location. It was now idling some distance away.
Angel wondered what they were hoping to accomplish.
Was this a member of the Octopus organization? Was it someone from the Epsilon organization instead? Or perhaps they were small time thugs noticing an unaccompanied woman? The occupant could, Angel reflected, even be Patty herself, though that seemed unlikely.
[caption id=“attachment_3575” align=“alignright” width=“300”]
Jellyfish. Are they the antagonist?[/caption]
Busy speculating, she stared at the jellyfish swarm without really seeing them. Though she did note that the bioluminescence, which one report had said was occurring at strange intervals, here simply seemed random.
She supposed she might have caused a disturbance to the water upon her approach, altering their behaviour, though she had been trying to keep her distance. At any rate, she was seeing nothing unusual.
Diving might be a future option to consider. As long as she was protected from jellyfish stings, and no one attempted to make off with her boat while she was down there. (Is that why the other craft was watching her? Waiting for her to dive?) However, she would want to call her friend Jean-Michel Lestrange for some tips before such an attempt, as he was a proper dive expert.
Angel turned the boat engine back on, and vectored in the direction of the docks.
However, once she seemed committed to that heading, she abruptly turned her boat to aim directly for the mysterious blue one.
That boat spun in place, before fully opening up its engine and heading away. Effectively confirming it wasn’t Patty, who wouldn’t be so rude. Angel also suspected random thugs might have panicked at her approach, or otherwise allowed her to get closer, but there was no way to be sure. So, an Organization?
Angel attempted to catch up, but the other boat had a higher top speed, and she lost it as it executed a curve, disappearing behind a much larger ship. She did get that the name on the bow had been something like ALPHA or ALEPH, though hadn’t approached close enough to be sure.
Something else to ask about around the docks, she supposed.
Angel reached Mimi’s house promptly at 1pm. The house wasn’t a large affair, nestled in between two similar looking structures, but it had two floors with at least a few rooms on each. Plus the grounds were large enough for a small garden, which was fenced in next to a toolshed.
She opened the gate and walked up, both ringing the doorbell and then knocking, but no one seemed to be home.
It was as Angel was heading back down the front path that a blonde with her hair in ringlets made the turn at the sidewalk to approach. She gave Angel a wave. “Hello,” she chirped. “Nice ears. You selling lucky rabbit feet or something?”
“No,” Angel said dryly. “I was looking for Mimi Lafleche.”
“Ahhh. Look, if this is about a debt, I haven’t seen her, but will pass on the message.”
“It is not about that, it is about her father.”
“Mmmm.” The blonde gave that one some additional thought. “Okay, I’m Mimi. Come in.”
As Mimi walked past her, pulling a key out of her handbag, Angel gave her a similar once over to what she had done with Patty that morning.
A white long sleeved blouse with a dark skirt, which had on it a flour stain that stopped abruptly, implying the presence of an apron there earlier in the day. Moderate build, not too curvy, and it seemed Mimi had strong arms. Which could be needed to carry trays of food. She had sensible shoes, no jewellery to speak of, a hint of makeup, and of course those ringlets.
Angel was very ambivalent about ringlets in hair, though she now wondered whether Patty had the two curls on either side of her face as some effort at pale imitation.
“I gather you’re the woman Patty was going to see this morning,” Mimi remarked as she unlocked her door. “She mentioned someone with bunny ears was poking about, looking into the jellyfish.”
“Oui,” Angel confirmed. She frowned. “Yet there was no mention of my dropping by at this hour?”
“Oh, haven’t seen her since breakfast,” Mimi said. “She’s probably out buying parts for one of her electronic gizmos. I’m hoping she can make something that will deal with our sea life problem, you see.” She walked into the house as she continued to speak. “Patty really is good with electrical things.”
Angel’s frown deepened as she realized she hadn’t really asked Patty about any of her hobbies or other specialities that might have made her a recruit for the Epsilon Project, aside from her being a lesbian. Rather short sighted of her. Even rude.
And yet, personal details of the locals were not the reason for her visit to this town. Right? It wouldn’t do to get too familiar, Angel rationalized.
She followed Mimi inside and closed the door behind her. The hallway featured an archway on one side into a living room area, while a set of stairs ascended on the other side. Mimi took neither path, striding down the hallway into what turned out to be the kitchen.
“You’ll pardon me,” Mimi said as she pulled open the fridge. “My plan is a drink and a quick siesta before returning to work. I will, of course, attempt to clear up any issues with my father in the process.”
“Bien,” Angel said. “Then I will be brief. First, do you know of anyone who might want to frame your father for what is going on now?”
“Hmm, aside from me?” Mimi said with a half smile. She produced a bottle of white wine and went to get a glass.
Angel stared. “You willingly implicate yourself?”
Mimi shrugged. “Might as well be up front about it. Dad doesn’t approve of my dating the owner of the restaurant where I work, you see. It’s more about the power imbalance than Louis himself, but still. I think that’s why he visits town, to check up on us.”
“Ah. And you would rather he did not visit.”
“More like I would rather he not poke into my private affairs when he does so,” Mimi clarified, as she placed a wine glass on the kitchen counter and reached for the bottle. “I enjoy talking with him, but would prefer a topic like jellyfish, or frankly anything other than my personal life decisions.”
“But then, if you want him distracted, why ask your friend Patty to clear up the situation?”
“I asked her to look into it,” Mimi corrected. “Because I thought he might be implicated. That’s not the same as clearing it up. Also, you asked who would frame my Dad, all I’m saying is me or Louis might have a motive to keep him away.” She had a sip of the wine.
There was definitely more to Mimi than met the eye, Angel decided.
“Very well,” Angel said. “Anyone else?”
Mimi seemed to consider it. “That head of tourism, Jules, is definitely not a fan after this. And the dock master Vesso sometimes loses his patience with Dad over the attitude he has. There’s perhaps a couple of the other boat captains who have had a run in with him. And the local priest dislikes his tendency to swear. There’s no one else of consequence that I know.”
Angel nodded. “Now then, might any of them have tried to get him out of the way before the jellyfish arrived? Or do you know for a fact that he is, indeed, simply docked somewhere else up the coast?”
Mimi stared, then pointed at Angel. “I like you. We never considered a kidnapping to prevent him from self-advocating.” She took another sip of wine. “And I guess there is no way to know for sure. He did leave with his boat a few days before the swarm arrived, but perhaps someone got ahold of him at sea. I haven’t heard from him either way.”
The revelation seemed to trouble Mimi, Angel decided, after attempting another of her empathy readings. It seemed like the other woman did care for her father, even if she wanted him to pry less into her love life.
“Very well. Are there any particularly good places where one could hide out in town?” Angel continued.
Mimi stared. “You think he is being held captive here in town?”
“I think there are many possibilities,” Angel said. Such as how the captain could be a prisoner, willing or otherwise. Alternatively, the entire jellyfish affair could be a ruse to have people looking at the sea and talking about the captain, instead of noticing something else happening on land. She did not elaborate for Mimi.
Mimi set her glass back down. “There are some hiding places. Patty is using one right now for her equipment. Do you think she could be in danger there?”
It was Angel’s turn to feel troubled. “Danger? What makes you say that?”
“You indicated that she was going to tell me of your visit here. She did not. It could be because she became distracted, but… could something sinister have occurred?”
Mimi had a point. For that matter, by insisting on staying in town, had Angel unwittingly brought the wrath of the Epsilon Project down on Patty? Was Patty in trouble, and was it partly her fault?
Angel placed her hands on her hips. “Mimi, could I trouble you to tell me where Patty’s equipment hiding place is located?”
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The new poll will be open until mid-December January 6, didn’t even get a vote until Dec 19. Related, should Mimi come along when Angel leaves? Consider a comment if you have an opinion. I hope to have another part out before the end of the year. The annual ChristMaths special will come first, on my other site. Thank you for reading!
