Her hair was cut short and without any obvious intention. White was the only word one might use to describe it. Even with its limited length, it somehow found a way to escape from beneath her ball cap. She was tanned in a way that screamed 'I have nothing else to do but lay beside my pool.' But, her jeans, knee-bare and faded, and the un-ironed plaid shirt clearly contradicted that assumption.
She crawled onto a bar stool and looked around the open-air pub that sat waterside at the north edge of the marina. A tourist attraction it was not even though the dΓ©cor, with its palm frond roof and lacking walls, might make one think otherwise. It was a haven for seasoned boaters, fishermen and deck hands. Gina was the skipper of the twin mast, 48', 'Nouvel Amour', a small-group charter operation working between the Yucatan and the northern Caribbean islands.
At thirty-eight, Gina was a rarity in the charter boat business. A graduate of The University of Maryland with a degree in psychiatry that she obtained in spite of spending the vast majority of those four years working on an oyster boat. She was tall at five-ten. She was slender yet very physically fit. And, she was an amazing beauty.
A guy of around thirty, shirtless and who appeared to have a fondness for weight-lifting, was behind the bar. He winked at her as he leaned on the bamboo top in front of her. "What would you like?" He flexed his bicep.
Gina looked at him and decided to be nice. "Just information." She said.
"Too bad." He said.
"Well." Gina said. "I'm guessing you are the guy who attracts girls like a magnet." She smiled at him. "I'm sure one will be along real soon."
He nodded. "You want a drink?"
"Palmer Brother's bourbon?" She asked.
He retrieve the bottle and looked at her. "Glass or shot?"
"Glass, no ice." Gina replied.
He poured the drink and sat the bottle on the bar. "What kind of information?"
"I'm looking for a girl." Gina said.
"You and me both sister." He flashed a smile.
"Her name's Anna." Gina paused. "I don't have a last name." She shrugged.
The guy shrugged. "I don't know an Anna." He replied. "Sorry."
"She works as a deck hand." Gina offered. "When she's short of cash."
"Doesn't help." He said.
"I was told she is quick to get into fights." Gina added.
"Darling." He said. "That is every woman who is crazy enough to be in here after ten o'clock."
Gina downed her drink. "She has a Leopard tattoo." Gina ran a hand down the length of her right arm. "It looks like it's crawling over her shoulder and down her arm."
"Ah." The guy said. "You should have led with that." He shook his head. "I'm afraid you are a day too late." He added.
Gina turned her hands palm up with a questioning look.
"She damn near broke the place up, night before last." He pointed at a table top leaning against a railing, two of the legs were broken. "She body slammed a dude on top of that." He explained. "The guy must have been two hundred pounds and she kicked his ass just for patting hers when she walked by his table."
"Any idea where she went?"
"Damn straight." He said. "She went to jail." He shook his head again. "It took four deputies to put her in a squad car."
"Where might that be?" Gina asked.
The guy's face went blank. "Where might what be?" The guy asked.
It was Gina's turn for a head shake. "The police station." She said.
"Did you hear me say four cops?" He said.
"Did you hear me say I was looking for a deck hand?"
Armed with what the guy offered as directions, Gina caught a taxi and now stood on the sidewalk at the main entrance to the Gillette Parish jail. She paid off the taxi since she had no idea how long this might take. She went inside and stood at a counter. There was a small plaque indicating the deputy setting there was the desk sergeant.
"I'm looking for a girl." Gina started.
The deputy was a large robust man with puffy rose cheeks and mustard on his chin. His shirt gapped wide between the buttonholes. "Well, we got some." He replied. "You particular?" He eyed Gina.
"She would have been brought in the night before last. I think her name night be Anna, something." She said. "A disturbance at the Waterfront bar?" She added.
"Hot damn" He said. "Hey, Warren." He shouted over his shoulder. Another deputy came from a room down the hall. "This here lady says that wildcat you tangled with on Saturday night was nothing more than a disturbance."
"That's not what I said...exactly." Gina explained.
The deputy named Warren had a fair sized Bandage on the right side of his face. "Yea." He said and looked at Gina. "I guess I was disturbed for about three hours in the emergency room."
Gena had no idea what to say or do. She chose to simply nod in his direction.
"So, will she have to appear in court or something?" Gina inquired.
"Mam." The desk sergeant said. "If you're interested in paying the seven hundred in damages court costs, we would be..." He smiled at Gina. He put his finger tips together. "We would be fucking thrilled to get that crazy..." He stopped. Held up his hands. "I strongly suggest you rethink what you are considering. However, as I said, seven hundred dollars U.S. cash money right here on this desk and she can be your problem."
"Any chance I can see her, talk to her?" Gina asked.
"My dear, I highly recommend it." He said. "Warren, take this lady back there and let her talk to your little disturbance. Also known as." He looked at a clip board. "One, Anna McKenna."
When Gina was in front of the cell she could see there were five women in there. Four stood together on the far left side and a single girl sat on a steel bench to the right. Her legs stretched out with her feet resting on the stainless steel urinal. Her back was against the concrete wall. Her arms were folded so that the famous leopard was clearly visible and it looked angry but Gina guessed it might always look that way.
"I'm Gina." She said, looking at the girl.
"I'm not interested." The girl replied.
"I have a 48' two mast." Gina added.
"Again." The girl shrugged. "Not impressed."
"I could use a deck hand." Gina said.
The girl was clearly looking Gina over now. "Bet you could." She said.
"And." Gina said. "I can get you out of here."
The girl stood up. She came up close to the bars. "Why the fuck didn't you lead with that?"
"I have a charter in a week. Four women, fourteen days. Here to Key West, down to Providenciales, and then up to Miami." Gina said.
"What's my job and what's the pay?" The girl said.