I met him in a pub. It was six o'clock and he was right on time. I'd been watching him for weeks now, but finally, it was time for action. I had sat myself right next to his usual seat. Sure enough, he joined me on my left, with a scotch whiskey in his hand. $5 a glass, but he tips generously and hands over a $10 note every week.
"Hi,"
I almost leapt in delight. To finally talk to him! What to say?
"Hello," I replied with a modest smile. I checked my hand, yes. All of my notes about pirate raids in the Charleston district were intact. Conversation was a-go for launch.
It didn't take him long to launch into his studies into the piratical culture of our region. I slipped in a comment here and there, but just let him talk to double check my information gathered from an easily bribed taxi driver who takes him home every week after 7:30.
The bartender slapped the counter, it was closing time.
Offering me an arm, Lucien led me to the taxi and insisted on letting him take me to his place for another drink. I accepted.
*
By 10pm I had had it with pirates. Pirates this, pirates that. Like a little boy with a new toy, he couldn't stop talking about his discoveries.
"Did I mention I'm distantly related to Blackbeard the Great?" Lucien asked.
Yes, I think. Four times before this time.
"Well, during his first big raid, he stole a necklace called the "Phoenix's Eye" made of Topaz from a French ship called The Concorde. The French didn't stand a chance! They were just about all wiped out. The captain, Pierre Dosset just surrendered the ship- what a coward. Had he not done that, the treacherous Blackbeard legend might not have existed. Fool, if only he knew," laughed Lucien, leaning back and taking another swig of his drink.
I sat a little straighter. "Is that so?"
"Yes, quite amazing, ain't it?" said Lucien, thinking for a moment before he stood up and swayed a little before staggering over to a locked cupboard. Taking a key from behind the cupboard, he unlocked it and removed a box adorned with more jewels. Fakes, but very believable.
He pulled out a necklace with a stunning golden jewel in the centre of a metal sun.
"Here, try it on," he said, his words slightly slurred with intoxication. He tripped over towards me and put it over my head. His breath smelt sour right next to my nose. Stepping back, he stared at me, like an artist admiring his handiwork. "It brings out your eyes, a sun for a radiant beam," he said laughing at his own metaphor.
I forced a smile.
Lucien turned and headed towards the kitchen counter to refill his glass, but paused. Turning around, he came face to face with my gun, staring down the barrel like a possum in the headlights.
"Wh- what?" he spluttered.
"Maybe you shouldn't show someone you just meet an artefact worth over $1 million. Especially not to me. You really mustn't brag about your family's horrific accomplishments. Honestly, it is terrible manners," I said.
"Who are you?" Lucien growls.
"Excuse me, have I not made it obvious? My name is Claire, Claire Dosset. And you, Mr Lucien Teach, you are my enemy."
With that, I squeezed the trigger and froze the look of confusion on his face forever.
*
Being a big man, it made it hard to drag his body into the car, but I got there in the end. After driving out of town, into the marshes, I found my little cottage. The air already smelt bad because of the rotting corpse of Lucien's taxi driver, but I would soon solve that.
*
I stood back and watched my house burn. Lucien and his taxi driver sitting on chairs on the porch. I fiddled with the necklace and thought. It was a shame Lucien had been who he was, he was almost a gentleman. Justice must prevail, and with that I slipped off my blood-covered gloves, threw them onto the blaze, smoothed my dress, and drove off.
An eye for an eye.
