The King of City

28 THE BARBER

Lionel was very shocked to see that his housemate was installing these devices, what is more, he was mortified by the fact that he didn’t know what the real reasons were that Corrine was watching him, he was no longer even sure that 'Mary 'outside her real name, to tell the truth, it was too common a name, one that would serve to conceal a true identity. So, he had made some inquiries to clear his doubts once and for all. While he was lost in those thoughts, his cell phone rang, which made him jump and his cell phone fell to the ground, just under the chair, which forced him to bend down to pick it up, seeing who it was, he hurried to answer so that the call won’t end.

"What you got for me?". Lionel asked immediately, who was in a hurry to know what information his interlocutor would have.

“Don't worry, you have a bad habit of not saying hello”. His interlocutor reproached him. "Another one and I’ll 'accidentally' drop this phone and you won't know what I have for you". He said jokingly to exasperate Lionel.

"I don't have time for these stupid things! To the point Beau”. Lionel said crudely that he was too stressed for jokes.

"I really don't know why I'm your friend, you treat me like the maid". Beau said melodramatically, who didn't like taking a lot of things seriously. "I have good news from our friend".

"Who is she?". Lionel interrupted who was desperate to know Corrine's true identity.

"Shut your mouth! I still don't know who she is, however…”. He paused to suspend the conversation; he was fascinated by making Lionel suffer. "I know of someone who can give us a more decisive clue".

"Larson, are you here?". Asked a female voice in the distance.

"I have to go. I'll call you". Lionel said to Beau and hung up on him so as not to generate suspicions, he quickly hid the cell phone and answered aloud. "Yes, what happened Mary?".

"What question is that? Remember that I’d call you to eat when the food was ready”. Corrine kept saying at a distance.

"I'm going!".

Moments later Lionel came to the kitchen, it really smelled pretty good, Corrine had made potatoes with chicken and a special salad, also, apparently, made a blueberry pie, it looked delicious. Lionel had learned to love the food Corrine made, for some reason she had extremely improved her cooking skills, which she liked because she wasn’t always in the mood to eat that synthetic protein from him rigorous diet.

"Why did you take so long?". She told Lionel that it had actually taken him a long time to appear after she summoned him to the table, considering he was only a couple of rooms away. "Your food got cold."

"I had lost a shoe; I didn't want to come barefoot". Lionel answered the first thing that came to mind.

"Okay, I just want you to taste hot food, you know I've been learning the past few weeks how to cook so that an incident like the last time doesn't happen". And they both laughed out loud remembering that time Corrine's food had more salt than the sea. Also, it was true, Corrine had been watching many video tutorials to learn from the basics in cooking, however, after two weeks her food was already edible and after a month, it was delicious, she truly had a talent for cooking that Lionel praised a lot and that was the reason why she was always ready to cook for him.

"You know, you don't always have to cook me."

"Don't worry, it's already become a hobby. Who were you talking to on the phone a while ago?". Corrine asked that she had heard Lionel talk to someone, but there was nobody with him, besides, she needed to get the information she could because she still didn't have enough.

"It was my father". Lionel lied that he already had an alibi ready in case she asked. "He isn’t so angry anymore, so I asked about the family".

After dinner, Lionel stayed in the kitchen only to do the dishes, or so Corrine thought, so she went up to her room to rest and it was the right opportunity for Lionel to call Beau again and they could finish their conversation.

"Has your 'mommy' already left you alone?". Beau scoffed.

"Stop! Tell me, who is your source?”. Lionel asked to get to the point.

"I never said that he was a source, he is more of a person that I know can help us, of course, with the proper encouragement".

"Then who is he?".

"A LICB deserter, who now works at a barbershop near where you are". He paused and continued. "If there is anyone who can give us information without committing an international crime, it’s him".

"Send me the coordinates!".

"Right away, 'boss', I'll send them to your cell phone". Beau said before Lionel hung up.

Lionel opened the files that Beau had sent him, not only sent him coordinates, also, enough photographs of the guy, photos of the environment, names of people with whom he related in his environment, and a phone number to make an appointment for a cut. It was all in the information Beau had sent him, for Lionel, he could be an infuriating person sometimes, but he does an excellent job and can be trusted with almost any task. After that, he contacted the barbershop to make an appointment with the guy to start looking for clues about Corrine. Soon the day of the meeting at the barbershop arrived and Lionel approached his ‘barber’.

"Good morning, sir. What cut do you want today?". He was told by a tall and thin man with a very gaunt face, despite his profession he had a very neglected beard, it seemed that he didn’t shave for months and had a horrible breath in a gulp.

"Do something simple for me, Douglas". Lionel said waiting for a reaction.

"We’ve seen each other before?". Asked the barber, because Lionel's face didn’t seem familiar.

"No, but we can become good friends if you want". Lionel said making use of the intimidating skills he learned from Frederic.

"Stop the detours! What do you want?". The barber asked who had already lost patience because he didn’t like people with Lionel's attitude.

"Look at this picture!". Lionel told him, stretching out the photograph of Corrine he had taken the day before while off guard. The barber put on his glasses and watched carefully.

"It doesn't seem familiar to me, I think I've seen her pass by a few times around here, but not more". The barber said convincingly.

"Don’t lie! I know that you are a deserter from the LICB and that she works there, you have to know who she is”. Lionel said, getting a little enraged.

"Boy, take a good look at me". The barber told Lionel to watch him closely. "It seems like I'm quite old, right?". The lord asked very patiently.

"What does that have to do with this?". Lionel asked contemptuously.

"That I belonged a long time ago to the LICB". He paused and continued. "If that girl is the age you show me in that photo, she was just a child when I deserted, so it is impossible that I have met her". The barber argued, Lionel found what he had said very coherently, however, he didn’t want to leave without any information, so he asked for the details of people who could help him with his search, but he didn’t get help, in fact, he replied. "Boy, all those who worked with me are dead or I already lost track of them."

"Thanks also! At least you tried to help”. Lionel said disappointed and leaving from there with the same clues that he had arrived.

The barber left the premises to bid him farewell since Lionel had left him a generous tip, and he stayed for a moment at the entrance of the establishment, until he couldn’t see him anymore when at last he lost sight of him, he entered the barbershop again, He sat in the chair where he usually cuts and made a call before attending to his next client.

"A certain Larson came to ask me questions about you". Douglas said.

"And what did you say?". Corrine asked on the other end of the phone.

"That I had seen you pass a few times around here".

"Perfect, fill out the report and send it to me". Corrine said with a tone of satisfaction. "I knew it was a good idea to pose as a barber, I didn't think he went there, but I think it was a stroke of luck".

"I’ll send the report to the headquarters in the morning, director". And hung up.

As Lionel was walking home again, he received a call that he wasn’t in the mood to receive, at the time, but he had to answer in order to advance Corrine's investigation.