ESCAPADES

Around The World and Back

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Look, there is no reason
for you to believe a word I say..
but what the hell
I'll say it anyway...

I need something short of a miracle to
make you change your mind,
and it's a shame I had to see you with
someone else to find....

How much I need you back...
I blew a good thing..../

Girl,
I've been around the world and back
but every single girl I met just lacked
oh my oh
your simple qualities...

Honey,
I've been from Rome to Timbuktu
and never found anyone quite like you...
Don't know what I'm gonna do..
without you../

Girl..
there's no secret about the late hours I keep...
Seems like I am not able to get any sleep
Sure wish you'd come back to me...
Come back to me../

Look, I know that you've heard this all before..
but look into my eyes..
and I'll tell you this once more..
I was a fool to ever let you go..
I was halfway through Europe
before I came to know..
How much you meant to me..
Look in my eyes
baby can't you see?

Girl,
I've been around the world and back
but every single girl I met just lacked
oh my oh
your simple qualities...

Honey,
I've been from Rome to Timbuktu
and never found anyone quite like you...
Don't know what I'm gonna do..
without you../

I've been to Africa, Asia and Austrailia too...
I might as well have been on the moon...
just couldn't find no one
to take the place of you.../

War Of Roses

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Sat, 18 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

I woke up and stared at Carlotta...She was looking at herself in the mirror...I smiled...She saw my reflection...and she waved at me playfully from the mirror.... It had been a month since she'd moved in with me...I was still tickled pink and still having to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

"What are you doing up so early?" I asked...

"Couldn't sleep....Just nervous energy...No issues or nothing....I just get like that sometimes..." she said.

"And I didn't know this already??...As long as I've known you?" I mused..

"You haven't known me that long.. I mean...Known me known me..." she said...

"I guess you're right...Do you sometimes think that we are moving too fast?" I asked.

"Sometimes....but ,then again...I waited for you for a long time...Someone like you...I kept hittin and missin with guys and then you came and you felt just right..." she said.

"Yeah, that's how I feel about you Lotta." I said.

"Oh,I'm Lotta now?" she laughed....

"Yeah..I thought I'd try that out." I laughed...

" Duke and Tyriq call me "Top" and Boss Lady calls me "Chica", ...Jimmy is the only one that calls me Carlotta...and who doesn't have a nickname for me.." she mused..

"Would you rather me just call you Carlotta?" I asked.

" I like the way you sound when you say Carlotta..I love the way it rolls off your tongue..and the huskiness of your voice when you say my name.. It's sexy." she said and smiled..

"Then Carlotta it is..." I said....I gave her a side eye and said-"That was passive aggressive of you."

Carlotta busted out laughing and got back in the bed... She rubbed my legs with her soft hands and gradually found her way to my stiff erection.

She looked at me...Her eyes got wide...

"Oh My God!!...Were you sitting over here like this the whole time we were talking?" she asked.

"I can't help it...You look so good.." I said.

"You are soooo good for my ego.You can call me anything you like.." she said and we began kissing..slowly, softly...deeply... Which led to me slowly mounting myself on top of her and entering her....

''Always glad to be of service.." I said... Carlotta giggled...

"Ummmmmmmmm....papi, you feel soooo good.." she moaned...

"Sooo do youuuu, ummmmm." I moaned myself...

Carlotta was warm, moist and most of all soft....I began to move in and out of her very slowly...savoring every minute , every second of the experience....She wrapped her legs around me and continued French kissing me as I continued to enter her even slower..

Two hours into the morning and we were still making sweet love...unaware that the alarm clock was ringing...

By the time we had both climaxed......another half hour had gone by...

We lay in the bed in each others arms....

"Damn, I wish I could call out today." I said.

"Me too, but duty calls." said Carlotta...

I pulled her to me and kissed her again...

"Yes, it does....Damn it." I said.

Carlotta just stared at me and laughed.

"The weekend is coming boo...and remember.. We are going to Baltimore for three days..." she said.

"Yeah...I'm looking forward to that...Me and You ,alone and in another city, where we don't know the playas..." I said.

II-

I decided to use one car...Carlotta's car...I drove her to C.I.D. I decided to stop in and say hello to Sissy...Once inside her office I thought I had made a wrong turn...

"Excuse me...Am I at the flower shop?" I asked...

There was three huge bouquets of Red Roses everywhere!!!

"Whoa...What did you do to Eddie C. last night?" I joked...

Sissy looked like she wanted to cry....All of a sudden, I felt bad...

"I'm sorry Sissy ,Did something happen?" I asked.

"Wow, Boss Lady...what is this?" asked Carlotta.

There was roses everywhere....

"You guys have got to help me" said Sissy...."These here on the left are from Rollie Rollerson....ewwwww..He must have bought half the store...and those on the right are from Lt. Edward Cantrell..." she said.

"Oh My God...He must have bought the other half." said Carlotta.

"That's not funny Chica....Those over by the window are from Eddie C. Oh My God...what is going on? I can't keep all of these roses.." said Sissy.."How come they all came today?"she asked no one in particular.

"It's simple..All of these men were thinking about you last night." I said, trying hard to hide my amusement.

"Eddie C. ,I can understand...but Cantrell?? , Rollie Rollerson?? Why? Why Now??...I haven't seen Rollie in two months..." said Sissy.

"Well maybe he's seen you." I said.

"Chica...Send your future hubby to work, He's getting too much of a kick out of this."said Sissy, looking at me and trying to hide a laugh herself.

We drank coffee and talked for about an hour....Sissy tore up the cards from both Rollie and Lt. Cantrell and got on her computer and typed out two labels and attached them to two index cards....Then she made two phone calls...

"Yes...they came here....I guess he was too bashful to send them to you directly girl...you know how he is....Just come down." said Sissy...

Carlotta and I looked puzzled...

Then she made another call-

"It was soo sweet, I thought they were for me at first...and then I saw that they were for you...What? I don't know why he had them delivered here....Bashful I guess...but they're definitely for you girl..yeah...okay...I'll be here." she said and hung up.

Sissy went to the intercom and summoned Detective James "Jimmy" Barlow into her office...

"What's up Lou?" he asked upon entering the office...Then he looked around at all of the flowers and then looked at Lt. Sissy Van Buren...

''Whoa...You sure made someone happy last night. They bought the whole flower shop!!" he mused with a wry smile...

Carlotta giggled and held her head down...

"Detective...I'm going to forget that last remark....Listen...How would you like to do your favorite Lieutenant a big favor?" she asked...

"Uh Ohhh...This sounds like a trick question." he said.

Carlotta and I couldn't contain our laughter at this point...Sissy ignored us...

"Here...These roses....They are from you to Detective Belton." she said.

"Huh?" said Jimmy...

"I already called her..She's on her way down here now." said Sissy...

"Huh? What??"said Jimmy....

Sissy had cut the card that had come from Rollie Rollerson off and had replaced it with another card...a typewritten card that read... "To my favorite Detective in the whole wide world...Love always, Jimmy Barlow."

Detective Angie Belton walked into the squad room and looked around at all the flowers and was astounded...

"Damn Sissy, what did you do to Eddie C. last night??He bought the entire flower shop!" she exclaimed...

Carlotta and I cracked up laughing....

"These aren't mine....they are yours." said Sissy..."Isn't that right Detective Barlow?" she said looking at Jimmy....

"Yeah..Uh..Yeah Ang...I uh hope you like them...I was too bashful to uh er ruh bring them up to your office." he lied looking at me and Carlotta....Carlotta shrugged her shoulders...I laughed my head off...

"Wow! Really?? No guy has ever bought me roses before...and this many?? You bought half of the store Jimmy...Wow..." she said....

She walked over to him and gave him a long,slow,sensual soul kiss....He looked like he was about to faint...

"This is soo sweet....I'm going to do something really nice for you this afternoon after work." she said and she winked at him as she and Jimmy took the roses out ...He looked at Sissy as they were leaving and Sissy innocently smiled back at him....

Sissy was back on the phone again...

"Detective Baylor...Could I see you in my office a minute?" she said.

Duke strolled in and looked around....

"What's up Lou....Dang, someone bought half the flower store...What did you do last night Lou?"

At this , Carlotta and I busted out laughing again...Sissy just shook her head and looked pleadingly at Duke.

"What's Up with the lovebirds?" laughed Duke..

"Oh nothing that's not always wrong with those two...They're in love...Listen...Hazel is on her way over here..." said Sissy.

"She is?" said Duke..

"Yes ,to get these roses you bought her?" said Sissy...

"I didn't buy her any roses.." said Duke.

''Sure you did...These!" said Sissy giving Duke the serious side eye!...

"Huh?" said Duke..

Just then...Dr. Hazel Hunter walked into the office..

"Hi Sissy, Guys!" she said. "Oh My..Look at this...Somebody made somebody happy last night. They bought half of the flower shop!" she mused...

An interesting observation!

Carlotta and I fell up against the wall laughing...Dr. Hazel Hunter looked at us puzzled...and so did Duke..

"Hazel...My detective here is still very bashful around you." said Sissy.

"He is? He certainly wasn't bashful a few nights ago. Calling me up at 2:30 in the morning and keeping me up until 6:00." said Hazel who smiled slyly at Duke..

Carlotta, Sissy and I looked at Duke, who obviously, embarrassed laughed sheepishly.

"He bought these roses for you and had them delivered here...but I don't have room for them in my office." said Sissy..

Hazel looked at Duke...

Sissy passed her a typewritten card that read...To my favorite Forensic Investigator in the whole wide world...Love always, Edwin "Duke'' Baylor."

Hazel smiled... "Aww Duke, you shouldn't have...I love these, Come here you big lug." she said and planted a kiss on him that had me getting excited myself just watching...

Duke played along....

"Heh, Heh,Heh....well you know me...I'm a bashful romantic..." he said.

I cracked up and slapped my palm against the wall.

"Awww...You don't have to be bashful Duke, we are practically living together." she said.

Again, Sissy, Carlotta and I stared at both of them with surprise.

Duke motioned for her to shush....She looked around, smiled and said nothing else...Duke smiled sheepishly, put his arms around Hazel and began helping her move the roses out of the office...He looked at me...I shrugged my shoulders...He just grinned....I'm betting I knew why!

III-

I looked at Sissy and smiled....She looked surprisingly relieved.....

I picked up the lone vase of Roses....She took that from me and placed it back on her desk..

"Those are mine...They're from Eddie C." she said.

"Dag Sissy, you hooked up everybody except me and Carlotta..."I joked.

Carlotta was back in the office now....She had her arms around me...She was smiling...

"Sorry ADA...you make more money than anybody in this office...You're going to have to hook my girl up yourself...Eddie C. is coming down here today to take me to lunch...If he had seen all of those roses and from two different men, it would have been very hard to explain.." said Sissy...

"So Boss Lady, You've got three men all vying for your attention at once huh? Wow!! I want to be just like you when I grow up." said Carlotta.

"Aww Chica..Not you too? I thought we was girls.." said Sissy...

"You know I love you like a big sister ,Boss Lady...but you gotta admit...This is funny." said Carlotta laughing...Sissy laughed too!

"Girl, I don't wish this kind of attention on anyone...See how Keith slobbers all over you and follows you around like a puppy dog? Imagine that and two guys you have zero interest in doing the same thing? Not the best situation to be in." said Sissy.

Carlotta playfully passed me a tissue...

''Wipe up your slobber."she laughed.

"Heyyy,I don't slobber over Carlotta or follow her around like a puppy dog." I protested...

''Then why are you still in my office??...My girl here might have a murder to investigate...We are murder police!" joked Sissy.

"Okay Sissy...I'm leaving.." I said.

"Oh stop being so sensitive Keith..I was just kidding...Stay as long as you want." laughed Sissy.

Eddie C. walked into the office just then... He kissed Sissy in the lips...

"Hey Counselor, Heyy Carlotta. Sissy ,Did you like the roses I sent?" he said pointing to the vase that had six long stemmed roses and a little water in it...

"I loved them baby." said Sissy , who winked at us as she and Eddie C. walked out of the office..

"Watch the shop Chica.." said Sissy as she and Eddie Left..

Detective Tyriq Pile and his wife, who is also a detective...over on the fugitive squad...Detective Sirena Pile came by the office...

''Heyyy Carlotta...Hey ADA Wallace...this is the first chance I got to congratulate you two on your engagement."she said.

''Oh Thank you..."We said.

Tyriq pulled me to the side and said-

"Hey man...My wife got a huge bouquet of roses delivered to her over at fugitive squad.. yesterday from me!" he said.

''Hey Tyriq, that's great!" I said, trying not to laugh...

"Only thing is, I didn't send em...She got some typewritten letter saying it was from me...." he said.

I couldn't contain my laughter....

''What's up?" he asked.

"Listen...this is between me and you....Sissy sent em." I said.

"Huh? Lou?? What?? Why? " asked Tyriq...

"Rollie Rollerson and Lt. Cantrell have been trying to out do each other sending her roses for the past two days....She gave some to Detective Angie Belton ,said it was from Jimmy and she gave some to Dr. Hazel Hunter..said it was from Duke..Don't let on that I told you.Neither Duke ,nor Jimmy know what's going on." I said.

"Wow, that's funny. That's hillarious. Lou is fine as hell, I certainly understand why Rollie and Cantrell are hot for her." laughed Tyriq... She didn't send none to you and Top?" he asked.

"Nah...it wasn't our turn." I laughed.

"Yeah, well Sirena has been all over me...Gave me some in her bosses office just this morning when I was over there..I can't tell you how many times I've tried to do that and she wouldn't let me." he said..

I knew the feeling.

"Yeah?" I said...

"Yeah man..and tonight...Mannnn sheeeeeeeeeeeet....I might not make it to work tomorrow." he laughed
slyly...

"Hahahahaha." I laughed.

"Man ADA, this could work out to be a good thing...Let em keep on making a fool out of themselves, sending Lou flowers...You and Top are up next.....Sheeeeeetttttt..Man, Me, You, Duke and Junior...we could have it made..." laughed Tyriq...

I laughed some more and patted Tyriq on the back as he left the office...

He looked at me and smiled..."Mannn look,I'm tellin you Keith...This could be a good thing."

I shook my head...

IV-

Another Bouquet of roses was delivered within the next half hour!!!...It had a message that read...

''Sissy, I can't stop thinking about you...Hope you like.. Ed Cantrell"

Carlotta signed for them...

Within Minutes....Sissy and Eddie C. entered the office....

''Whoa, look at these roses!!!!!....Looks like somebody bought half the store." said Eddie C.

Sissy's mouth dropped...

Carlotta picked up the card and slipped it in her purse...

"Boss Lady...look what my future hubby bought for me.. Isn't he something?" she said and walked over to me and gave me the kiss of life...

Sissy played along....

''Wow..He really loves him some you, Chica." she said.

"Uh, I uh just wanted to surprise her.." I said...

''Wow man,looks like you woke up with a smile on your face this morning." laughed Eddie C.

"Yeah man, I sure did.." I laughed...

"Well,I gotta get back to work...I'll see you tonight babe." said Eddie C. who placed a wet sloppy kiss on Sissy's lips and walked out...

"Whoa, that was close...Good lookin out Chica..I owe you." said Sissy.

"These are from Lt. Cantrell...They arrived just before you all came back."said Carlotta.

"Oh my God...What does he want?" said Sissy.

"Oh I can think of what he might want...hahahahahaha." I said.

"Carlotta, can I punch your future hubby?" asked Sissy who playfully punched my arm..

"By the way Sissy, who sent the flowers that you sent to Tyriq's wife?" I asked.

"Oh...They were from Rollie Rollerson.."she said...

''So both of them have sent roses twice?" I asked.

"Yes....and I'm not the least interested in either one of them...Though, if I was single,I might have given Eddie Cantrell a play...That is until I discovered what a egomaniacle
hound dog he is...but he is handsome and he does have that swag about him." said Sissy.

''Yeah he does have swag." agreed Carlotta.

"I just hope he doesn't send anymore flowers...Rollie neither..He's got NO shot...At least I'd consider Eddie Cantrell under other circumstances." said Sissy.

I shook my head and smiled...

Women!

EPILOUGE:

A few nights later ,Carlotta and I were at the Aqua Bar enjoying drinks and listening to some Salsa music that they were playing...

I left for a minute and then walked in with a bouquet of roses....They were white, red,blue and yellow...

"For you baby." I said.

The women sitting around us who witnessed clapped and went -"Awwwww, that's so sweet.."

Carlotta blushed....

''Keith, you didn't buy these because of what happened in Boss Lady's office did you?" she asked.

"Well yeah Carlotta...Everybody was giving their girl roses and I felt bad because I've never sent you flowers...All this time I've liked you.. Even before I made it known...I could have sent you flowers a long time ago...now here we are engaged and I'm just getting around to it." I said.

''Awww that's alright... You've done other nice things...but thank you, they're beautiful.." she said and she kissed me.

"I'm going to send you flowers at least once a week...I swear." I said.

She looked at me ....

"No...Please don't!!...I'm serious!!!...This is fine..Rollie and Lt. Cantrell are just trying to out do each other...It's all about them...some crazy competition they have going on..It's not really about Boss Lady..And if she hadn't of given Tyriq, Duke and Jimmy those flowers, who knows when or if Sirena, Hazel and Angie would have gotten flowers from them? It's better when it's sincere and from the heart..." she said.

"You think Sissy knows that Cantrell and Rollie are competing?" I asked.

Carlotta just smiled...

"Of course she knows...that's why she gave all of their roses away....because she's not impressed.....Eddie C. sent one small vase with six roses...but his were from the heart, his were sincere...He wasn't trying to impress or outdo another guy...That's why Boss Lady kept his..." she said.

I looked at her and smiled myself...

"You know something ,Future Mrs. Wallace? You're a very smart woman...and I'm a very lucky man to be marrying you." I said.

"Awwwwwwwwww,Thank you baby" she said and kissed me softly...

Land Of Make Believe

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Later on that night...I met Peeping Tom, Lockpick Johnson and Sean Jackson in the van, which was parked six blocks away...

I bought them all tumblers of coffee and pastries from a nearby all night Bakery...

''Gee Thanks Kevin." said Peeping Tom...

"Man,it got pretty nasty in there for a minute...I thought you was about to buy the farm...Good thing those coppers showed up." said Lockpick Johnson..

"They were listening too Lock....They were always in play." said Sean Jackson...

"Ohhh...Damn Kev, you always stay one step ahead of the bad guys." said Lockpick Johnson...

"That's how I stay alive." I laughed..."Plus, I'm wearing a vest and a plate and I'm double strapped..."I said.

Peeping Tom smiled...He knew the deal...He and I both were former members of the intelligence community...That was just how we played the game.

My three friends all laughed...

"How was that address I gave you?" I said,

"It was perfect Kev...That's Coker's spot alright...We had more than enough time to get in and wire that spot for sound and video...We cloned his smartphone too....Anything he does or says...We'll see and hear." said Peeping Tom...

"Good Job guys as usual..."I said.

"Clerow is on Larry "Baby" Santana and Owen Todd is on Ludi...." said Sean Jackson...

"Good...because I'm going to go up there and move Lynette out later on today....Clerow said that I can use some of his storage rental units to keep her things in until she can ship them back to Brooklyn.."I said.

"Man...This guy Coker is connected to everything but the neon...He aint gonna just let you do that." said Lockpick Johnson...

"Hopefully, he 's not going to be around much longer..Go home, get some sleep guys and thanks!" I said as I waved to them and got in my car and pulled off..

II-

I went home, showered, shaved and then got in the bed with my wife, Sepia....She was sleeping good....She woke up breifly and cuddled up with me....

''Hey Sepia?"I asked.

"Hmmmm.." she moaned...

"Could I get another down payment?" I said..

"Tomorrow...I'm tired honey." she said and went back to sleep...

I kissed her cheek softly....Her hands began to run down my legs..her hands were so soft, she gently began to fondle and massage me....Naturally,I responded...

"Ohhhhhhh...Ohhhhhh my godddddddddddd.." I moaned....

It didn't last long...Soon she was sound asleep again...I smiled.. Hopefully this case would be over and I'd be home at night again.

I was asleep no more than two hours when my smartphone began to vibrate.... I picked it up...It was PeepingTom...

"Hey Kev...we are outside of your house...You need to hear what we just picked up." he said.

I threw on my Trousers and my shirt and some slippers and walked outside of my house...The van was across the street...

''What'cha got guys?" I asked.

"Listen, said Tom...Who had now been joined by Clerow and Owen Todd!

"Hello..."

"Lynette?"

''Oh My God is this Eddie?"

"Yes...We need to talk!"

"It's two in the morning Eddie!"

"What are you wearing?"

"I'm hanging up.."

"No please....Look...I can't sleep...I need to see you tonight."

"No..absolutely not...That's over..It's been a year and a half.."

"Please...I need you...I can't sleep...I can't eat...All I do is think about you Lynette,baby I love you...I'm gone over you,please let me come over."

"No!...I don't love you Eddie...I don't want you....And a booty call is definitely out of the question...I can't stand the sight of you now..."

"I didn't hurt your friend...The Private Investigator...He's fine...He's probably home bangin his wife....Doin what I'd like to do to you."

"You killed my fiance..."

"It wasn't me...Baby killed him, because he disrespected him."

"You ordered it...Nobody does anything unless you say so."

"Okay...I ordered it, but he wasn't for you...He didn't have enough in his pants to be for you...I'm the only man for you...You know it...I know it, the world knows it!"

"You're crazy...You're insane....You kill people....You're a monster..."

"Look...Yeah I've had people killed...Twelve to be exact, but that was business baby, Those were gangsters....That's business, that's got nothing to do with me and you...When I'm with you I'm different,I'm so much better as a human being, I'm pure..
I need you baby...I need you...I love you."

"Listen at you, you're crazy...I saw you and Baby kill little Frankie Flowers in that restaraunt in 2010 remember, Up in Northern Liberties??"

"He disrespected me...I couldn't let that just go...What would people have thought? My name don't ring out on these corners because I let things go."

"You got everything, you got the city on lock...You own everything,everybody, What you need with me?"

"I'd give all this up, All this gangsta mess...For you baby...I'd give it all up..I love you baby! I swear...I got more money than I'll ever live to spend...We could leave Philly, go live somewhere else...Me and You...Me and you girl.."

"Eddie, you're living in the land of make believe...I just want to get as far away from you as possible...I don't love you, I never will...You and Baby killed the only man I ever loved...Tyrone "Buddy" Dwyer...You'll never replace him in my heart."

"He wasn't the man for you...I'm the man with clout that everybody is yappin bout..I'm what's hot in the streets...If I can't have you...Nobody will....I'm serious Lynette...Anywhere you go...I'll know it...Anybody who looks like they tryin to holler, I'll slump em..I swear,I'll kill em all."

"Why don't you kill me Eddie and set me free?"

"I can't do that...I love you baby..Please...Let me come over...We don't have to have sex...Just let me talk to you, just let me look at you, please...please...."

"You're living in the land of make believe Eddie.You're never going to get next to this again...Never!"

(Click!)

"Don't hang up on me... Lynette...I love you baby,please...I-I-I can't live without you,babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy....aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. I neeeed you, arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh lawdddddddddddddd, arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

I slapped palms with PeepingTom, Sean Jackson,Lockpick Johnson, Clerow and Owen Todd.....I wondered if his boys Baby and Ludi would have respected him if they had heard him pleading and crying over a woman like that over the phone...I doubted if they knew how messed up their boss was over Lynette...

"You guys are my dudes!!!.....We got him!!...We got him talking about murders...Admitting to having Dwyer killed...We got him and Baby!!....Clerow, you know what to do...Copy this....Get a copy to ADA Keith Wallace and get one to Lt.Sissy Van Buren...Tell her to meet me at this address..."I said and gave Clerow a piece of paper..

"I'm on it boss." he said.

"Hey man, Where you going?" asked Sean Jackson...

"I'm going to move Lynette out of there...She could be in danger..."I said.

''Shouldn't you take Kool Kat?" asked Owen Todd.

"Kool Kat and Chelsea are in the Bahamas on vacation." I said.

We all busted out laughing....

"Yeah man...No way the big man wouldn't have been in on this if he was in town...Him and Ludi had a falling out some years back...He'd jump at a chance to get at that guy!" said Lockpick Johnson.

Ludwick "Ludi" Nelson was a murderous thug himself who was feared amongst a lot of people...He had at one time been high priced muscle in New York ,before moving to Philly to offer his services to the highest bidder. Like Baby Santana, he didn't mind killing if it served his purposes.

"Owen, stay loose...I'm going over there in an hour...I'll call you if I need your help. "I said.

"Cool, that will work." he said.

III-

I called Lynette and told her that I was coming to get her out of that apartment now..

"Pack a small bag and be ready when we get there." I said.

"Kevin...I thought they killed you." she said.

"Nah, not at all....but I've bugged his phone...I heard that last conversation he had with you...He might do something crazy, that's why I'm coming over now....Just be ready..."I said.

"Okay...Kevin ,I'm scared..." she said.

"Don't be...We gonna work this out." I said.

Within an hour, I was headed toward her apartment complex...My wife, Sepia was with me..So was Owen Todd...I have to admit...This was a time I wished I had Kool Kat with me..but it was okay...It would work out...

I parked the car two blocks away...

"Sepia, Owen...Wait here...In 15 minutes, pull up to the front of the apartment..I'm going to be coming out hard and fast..."I said.

"I'm on it Kev." I said.

"Be careful lover." said my wife as I left the car.

I only hoped that Sissy and ADA Wallace got my little package and got warrants issued in time..

I ran into the building and took the steps rather than the elevator.. I knocked on Lynette's door..

She answered the door on the first knock.. She had one bag packed...I looked around...

"Come On Lynette. Sepia and a friend of mine are parked down the street.. Let's go." I said.

"Oh My God...Be careful Kev...I have this feeling that they're already here." she said.

"Let's take the elevator down." I said. I didn't want to risk taking the steps and running into them coming up.

We ran to the elevator...

We got on the Elevator...Somewhere between the 5th and the 4th floor the Elevator stopped...

"What happened?" she said...

Then we heard a thump! A loud thump!!!

"Oh My God!" said Lynette...

"Didn't Buddy get shot in this elevator?" I asked..

"Yes..." she said, shaking like a leaf!

I looked up, somebody was removing the panel at the top!!!!!

It was Larry "Baby" Santana...He was already in the building...He had his pistol with a silencer on it...He looked at us and smiled and aimed!!!!...

I pulled out my .38 smokeless and fired three shots....Two hit him square in the chest, the third one went right between his eyes and out the back of his head!!!...

He said nothing, he pitched forward and fell through the hole....His dead body smacked on the floor of the elevator!!! He was still holding his pistol as his blood ran like a river all over the elevator floor....

I shielded Lynette's eyes!!!!

The elevator started moving again and stopped on the ground floor...It opened up and
Lynette and I stepped over Baby's dead body and headed toward the front door...

Out in the street sat a Silver 2013 Mercedes Benz....It belonged to Eddie Coker, who was sitting there with his driver, the murderous, Ludwick "Ludi" Nelson at the wheel...

"I heard shots Boss...Baby might be in trouble.. I'm goin in...I'll drop that Kevin charactor." he snarled...

"Yes...Don't give him a break, shoot him on sight, but don't hurt Lynette...Bring her to me." said Eddie Coker.

Ludi cocked his .45 and got out of the car, but just then two cars pulled up, One on both sides...!!!!

''Ludi, drop it, you're under arrest!!!" came the voice of Detective Edwin "Duke" Baylor...

Ludi fired three shots at Duke that missed...But Detectives Tyriq Pile and James "Jimmy" Barlow fired five shots a piece at Ludi....He was struck with ten bullets...He spun around like a top, yelled -"Whoooooooooooooooooo.." like a woman, tossed his gun up in the air and fell to the pavement...very, very dead! His blood was running like a river into the street.....He was on his back, his cold gray eyes staring at the sky!

And then to my surprise...Someone I hadn't seen in a few weeks came running up with a riot pump shotgun and trained it at the window of the car , right on Eddie Coker!!!...
It was Detective Carlotta Rodriguez!!!!...He was startled...

"Eddie...Throw it out the door!!!...Throw both pistols out the door...DO IT NOW!" she barked!!! and she cocked the riot pump shotgun...

The window of the car came down and Eddie Coker dropped two .45's out of the door.. into the street...

"You got him Top?" asked Duke, who was headed towards the car with his Glock drawn...

''I got him covered Duke!" she replied...

Lt. Sissy Van Buren walked up to the other side of the car and smiled at Eddie Coker...

"Get out of the car Eddie, keep your hands where I can see em.....It's a wrap...." she said...She had her glock aimed at his head....He was no fool!

Eddie Coker opened the door and quietly got out of the car... Detective Edwin "Duke" Baylor handcuffed him....

"You're under arrest for the murder of Tyrone "Buddy" Dwyer." he said. Eddie Coker said nothing..A huge crowd had started to gather in the street.. They had heard all of the gunfire!

Owen Todd and Sepia drove up in my car and I walked out of the building with Lynette....

''Where's Baby?" asked Carlotta..

"He's in the elevator in the front lobby....I put Baby to sleep....Forever!" I said.

"Damnn , Remind me never to piss you off." joked Detective Jimmy Barlow...Detective Tyriq Pile smiled.. "My man Kev" he said...

Carlotta smiled that sweet smile of hers....So different from the tough detective that had just jammed a riot pump shotgun in the face of a killer..

''And how are you Little Sister?" I said.

''I'm just fine Kevin.."she said and laughed..

Eddie Coker looked as Owen Todd and Sepia helped Lynette get in my car... I walked over to him....I stared at him for a minute ,then I said softly....

"All you tough guys talk about how different you are....And in the end, you all fall so hard ....It's over for you, you cheap punk!." I said....

He ignored me...He was looking at Lynette....

He began to sob....Uncontrollably....Carlotta, Sissy and I were stunned....

"Lynette, I loved you baby....I would've given all of this gangsta stuff up for you...I would have...I loved you...I swear to God...I loved you...Lawd Jesus knows I loved you...I had the whole world...I had it all, but all I wanted was you...I was different..I swear baby..I was a better man when I was with you...Oh my god...Oh my god...I loved you baby..Why couldn't you stay with me...Whyyyyy?Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,lawddddddddddddd,,arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh "he sobbed...

''Oh My God.." said Sissy.

"Get a hold of yourself ." said Carlotta...

Tyriq, Duke ,Jimmy and Owen Todd looked disgusted at the sight of Eddie Coker, crying uncontrollably and slobbering....Carlotta handed him a few tissues to blow his nose and Sissy rubbed his back...Sepia and Lynette wouldn't look at him, they turned their heads..

Suddenly, all the hatred, all the disdain , all the contempt I felt for him was gone...I suddenly felt sorry for him ....This big gangster, this man who had sent 13 people to their deaths was now reduced to mush by the woman he loved ,but couldn't have...

Sissy motioned for Duke, Jimmy and Tyriq to take him away.....I looked at her...

"I guess Love is the most powerful emotion." I said.

"You and Keith Wallace are so alike....He said the same thing after a big case once..."said Sissy.

"My boo is so deep." said Carlotta.. Talking about her fiancé, ADA Keith Wallace.

"You guys find a house yet?" I asked.

''Yes.. We did!!!...It will be ready in two months!!!...Let me go and say hello to your wife." said Carlotta, who ran over to my car....She and Sepia hugged each other and exchanged pleasantries like they had known each other for years...

Sissy smiled and waved at Sepia, who waved back...

''Hey Sissy." said Sepia...

"Hey girl...How you doin?" said Sissy.

"Well Kevin, once again...you helped us bring down a major playa...I guess I underestimated you..." said Sissy.

I smiled...

"Hopefully the bad guys will continue to under-estimate me too." I laughed..

EPILOUGE-

Eddie Coker was convicted of ordering the murders of Buddy Dwyer and 12 other people....He was sentenced to die by lethal injection...He has been put on suicide watch at the prison...He wrote to Lynette a few times ,but she never returned his letters...Chances are ,she never got them!!

She moved out of that apartment building....Clerow allowed her to store her things in his storage rental spaces that he rented out...He didn't charge her...And within a month, She was back in Brooklyn...Free of her bad memories of her time in Philly.

Philadelphia was safe and free from the likes of Eddie Coker and the recently deceased Larry "Baby"Santana and Ludwick "Ludi" Nelson.

Sissy and her detectives had 13 cleared murder cases and once again got commendations from the Police Commissioner for a job well done...Both Sissy and ADA Keith Wallace as well as Duke, Jimmy, Carlotta, Tyriq and Dr.Hazel Hunter insisted that I be present also to receive a special award ....

''Without the help of Private Investigator, Kevin Morris...We could have never of made the case." said ADA Wallace.

So I received an award from the Police Commissioner and The City of Philadelphia also!

The Little Norway Business Association gave me an award a week later.....

Chris Thompson and Chess bought all of the Apartment complexes that Eddie Coker used to own and dropped the tenants rent by 10% for the first year....The tenants were pleased...Clerow bought the Tearoom in Chinatown and rehired the previous manager to run it...

The Sad Lady Bar and Club was bought back by the previous owner also and at last the huge stain of Eddie Coker had finally been lifted...I felt good...

Sepia has been making good on giving me the uh "Balance" of my uh payment for cracking this case!

If you know what I mean ....

And I figure you do!

A Tea Room in Chinatown

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

I stood in the hallway down the hall from where Lynette Dubois lived....A bouquet of flowers were delivered to her door. It was Roses of every possible color...It was beautiful...After the delivery man left.. I walked over ,picked up the roses..There was a card that said.

"To Lynette ,with all my love...Call me please.."
Eddie Coker.

I picked the flowers up....There was a phone number written down the bottom of the card...I took the roses and the card and quietly left out the back hallway and entrance...My car was parked down the street..I quietly got in my car and pulled off..

I had been watching Lynette's apartment for awhile now...I knew that Eddie Coker's man, Baby Santanta came around at least twice a day with Ludwick "Ludie"Nelson, a murderous thug out of Brooklyn ,who moved to Philadelphia a few years ago who drove Eddie Coker around...I knew Ludi....I had kept Kool Kat from shooting him a year ago after they had had a loud argument in the Mermaid Club that nearly turned deadly.

Neither man was around this early in the morning..So I took the roses and the card and left.

I went home, put the Roses in a vase and wrote a card of my own...

"To my dearest Sepia ....with all my love, Kevin.."

I walked upstairs and looked in the bedroom...Sepia was sleeping soundly.... I leaned down and kissed her cheek..She woke up slowly and smiled at me...She motioned for me to come closer and she kissed me softly and slowly and sensuously.....

''Where you been all night lover...Mama missed you?" she said.

" I was out making sure your girlfriend was safe." I said as I took my socks and shoes and trousers off and my shirt and got in the bed next to her..

"Well is she safe?" asked Sepia..

''Reasonably so...for now." I said.

Sepia snuggled up next to me...

"Now I feel safe." she said...

I smiled and drifted off to sleep.

II-

"Kevin, you don't visit like you used to." said My good friend, Attorney Robert Foxworth, who I was visiting at the time...

"That's because I've been busy...Cracking cases, working." I laughed.

Robert's associate attorney, Chance Howard and his other associate attorney, Cole walked in with hopefully what I needed..

"We traced that number to a cell phone and our friend in Telephone security pin pointed an address." they said...

I smiled..

''Chance...Cole..You guys make great investigators yourselves.." I said.

Now I had an address on Mr. Eddie Coker..I had a meeting with Lynette Dubois later on today...but it was good that I had a real address on Coker...It would definitely come in handy in the future.

''Thanks guys."I said.

"Kevin...where are you off to now?" asked Robert Foxworth...

"I got a lunch date with a beautiful woman." I said and winked...

"I'm tellin Sepia." he laughed and winked back.

III-

Lynette asked me to meet her at a Tea room in Chinatown.....I stopped by my house and got a Kevlar vest and a trauma plate and put it on under my shirt as well as my fully loaded .22 and my .38 smokeless...Just in case I had some un-invited visitors myself...

She was there when I arrived...No waiting..I liked that...We both ordered Hot Teas with lemon...

"I'm so glad you decided to talk to me."I said.

"Look Kevin...I'm taking a chance...Eddie has me followed everywhere I go...I've changed my number three times and each time, he's gotten it and continues to call me...He called me this morning around 7:30 am and told me to look outside my door...I did and there was nothing there...He swore that he sent me a bouquet of roses.. I told him there was nothing there and he lost his temper...He was yelling and screaming at somebody...He sent Baby and Ludi to my apartment building and was questioning all of my neighbors about the flowers and doing a door to door search of all of their apartments....I was never so embarrassed.. He's crazy...You've got to get me out of here.." she said.

"You want to go back to Brooklyn?" I asked.

"Yes..I was going to move out anyway...Buddy Dwyer and me was gonna go to City Hall and get married..we didn't want to wait...but Baby came around threatening Buddy....Buddy didn't beat him up like you did...But Buddy stood up to him and told him to beat it..And as you can guess...That didn't set too well with Baby." she said.

"You know that Baby killed him?" I asked.

"I didn't see it..I was working...But I know it was him...Baby kills because he enjoys it...He's a psychopath...I witnessed him and Eddie kill a man two years ago." she said.

"You did?" I said.

"Yeah, a small time hood named Little Frankie Flowers...Frankie disrespected Eddie in front of me in a restaurant....He and Baby stabbed him to death...Baby then visited every diner in there at the time...As you can guess...Nobody testified or said jack to the cops..."she said.

''Look...I have a friend...He's the Assistant District Attorney, His name is Keith Wallace...He can protect you...My other friend is the head of Homicide...Lt. Sissy Van Buren...The lady that interviewed you the other night...They can put Eddie and Baby away forever..If you'll testify...." I said.

"Forget it...Never gonna happen...People that even think about testifying against Eddie Coker don't live too long....I can name you twelve people who didn't." she said. "That's why I want to get away from him...when I first met him,I didn't know who and what he was....I didn't know how insanely jealous and possesive he is..
He's crazy...I can't get away from him...You've got to help me.." she said.

"I can help you...I can make a few calls, get you packed and put you somewhere safe...and then get you out of town.."I said.

"Oh thank you Kevin...Oh My God!! It's them!!" she said...Her eyes got as wide as saucers....

Eddie Coker himself....Larry "Baby"Santanta and Ludwick "Ludi" Nelson walked into the Tea Room..All of the customers got up and slowly eased their way out....

"I suppose you didn't know that I own this place also did you Lynette? I found out that you liked to come here with your girlfriends...So I bought it...I bought it last year." said Eddie Coker, a tall debonair and well dressed man who resembled a young Billy Dee Williams...

He sat down at the table...Ludi stood beside him...Baby stood near me...

"Run along Lynette..I have business with Mr. Morris." said Eddie Coker..

She looked frightened...

"It's okay Lynette.. Go on...I'll call you later." I said.

Lynette slowly walked out...

"Mr.Morris...Mr. Kevin Morris ." he said..then paused...

"You must be the legendary Eddie Coker.. " I said smiling..

"Mr. Morris, you have become somewhat of a nuisance lately, inquiring about me, inquiring about my business.. and talking to my girl." he said.

"She's not your girl." I said.

He smiled and looked at me like I was a fool.

"You know...I know who you are...I know all about you..I've heard of your exploits..Heard you stuffed Mike Train in a dryer, Heard you shot David Cord in the ass...Heard you took down Malik Lockjohn, Junkyard Dog, Johnny Porter, Big Daddy , Bob Big Butt Thornton...and many many big time playas...But sir..You are out of your leauge here...I'm not any of them...I'm your worse nightmare." he said.

"You know...All of you tough guys say the same thing....I'm different and you all fall just as hard in the end." I said.

"Oh really? Well...I won't fall...I'm built to last...and I'm a very impatient man Mr. Morris...I'm real impatient with you...You know,I give everybody a warning, a fair warning...They used to didn't get that, but I mellowed in my old age. One fair warning and then...Well I'm sure you know." he said.

"You kill them!!..Or rather you have your errand boys do it for you.." I said looking at Baby and Ludi.

"You've had your warning Mr. Morris...Baby here gave you a warning the other day." he said.

"Hey Baby...How is your eye? The swelling gone down?" I laughed..

Baby hit me with a sap, which knocked me to the floor... I got to my feet fast...Ludi made a move towards me and I broke a chair over his back, dropping him to the floor... I was just about to go in on Baby when I heard the click of a gun...Eddie Coker had a big .45 pointed at me...

"I am out of patience Mr. Morris. Out of damn patience. You no longer amuse me Mr. Kevin.....My patience has worn thin...I see now that you aren't going to heed any warnings...Funny, I'm told that you're a very smart man...You don't seem smart to me......Ludi...Baby,take him out back and kill him!!" he said quietly....

Before they could make a move we all heard..

''Heyyyyyyyy Kevin..What's shaking baby?"

It was Detective James "Jimmy" Barlow and two uniformed policemen...I was actually glad to see them...It was about to get real funky in here...

Jimmy walked over to the table...

"You must be the great ,great Eddie Coker huh? Heard soo much about you...Nice to finally meet you...You need to get out more! And you must be Larry "Baby" Santana..Wow Kevin, you're really entertaining some class A felons here." he laughed..They said nothing.

"You know me Jimmy, only the worst for me." I joked.

Eddie Coker looked like he could have strangled me if he could have.

Ludi was getting up off of the floor....

"Heyyyyyyyyy Ludi...What happened, you trip?" laughed Jimmy.

Both Ludi and Baby gritted their teeth and looked like they wanted to strangle both Jimmy and I...But we had the advantage now..

I snatched the .45 from out of Eddie Coker's hands and tossed it to Jimmy who put it in a plastic bag and passed it to a uniformed policeman..

"Now Eddie ,I know that you have a license to carry and that this gun here hasn't been used in any MURDERS right Eddie boy?" jeered Jimmy Barlow...

Eddie Coker looked at me and Jimmy with white hot hatred...but he couldn't do anything...Those two uniformed cops, one Black, one White were huge and looked like they'd shoot Eddie as soon as look at him...

"I'm going to take this nice gun down to police headquarters and check it out...If you want it back just bring your license to carry and proof of legal purchase and you can have it back..." he laughed....

"Hey Jimmy ,Can you give me a lift to my car?" I asked.

"Sure thing Kev." said Detective Barlow...

I smiled at the three of them....

"It sure was nice meeting you Mr. Coker....and Baby, you really need to put a cold compact on that eye or wear some sunglasses or something." I said.

Baby Santana stomped his foot and gritted his teeth....

"Oh and Eddie...My wife loved the roses...You have excellent tastes..." I said as Jimmy, the two cops and I walked out of the tea room...

Eddie Coker looked at me like he wanted to strangle me, so did Baby....I laughed my head off.

Once outside...I turned to Jimmy....

"Sorry I couldn't get him to confess to killing anybody." I said.

"That's okay...You rattled his cage to the point that he's going to do something stupid sooner or later and when he does..We'll nab him...I tried to wait a little longer, but it sounded like it was about to get funky in there, so I had to step in..." he said.

"And not a minute too soon..I was about to Black Baby's other eye." I said.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha." laughed Jimmy.

"Tell your Lieutenant thank you and that she'll be hearing from me." I said.

"She worries about you man...I told her that you can take care of yourself.. But she still worries. Be easy Kevin." he laughed as he and the cops pulled off..

"Always." I said.

I had really angered those gangsters...so much that they were bound to do something stupid or desperate...and I was bound to trap them too...

The die was cast!

(CONCLUSION NEXT)

The Outcasts

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

I went back to the area of the city where the Sad Lady Cafe was located and I talked to some 25 people...To my surprise...Most of them was willing to talk to me as long as I kept them anonymous...

They said that little than a year ago...Eddie Coker came out of West Philadelphia and began buying up properties and businesses...He had made his money being a major narcotics trafficker in parts of West and Southwest Philadelphia...Something that didn't go over well with Fathead Newton...

It never resulted in violence...Eddie Coker simply packed up his operation and moved into new territory..He had made enough money to go semi-legitimate..He bought a few apartment complexes and a club...but behind the scenes he had loan Sharking, gambling and extortion going on......

12 of the local players had dared to voice their displeasure at his operation moving in on their territory....and all twelve men were put down....The work of his enforcer, Larry ''Baby" Santana...himself , a one time player in the drug game who had been run out of his area of birth by The Diaz Brothers and the now imprisoned Minolo Sentterro...There just wasn't going to be room for three powers in that section...

Somehow these two outcasts had hooked up and formed an unholy alliance and had taken over this area in record time...

Acting as muscle...Baby Santana, a pyschopathic killer and another thug known as Ludwick 'Ludi' Nelson out of Brooklyn..had moved all of Eddie Coker's adversaries off the street and out of this life!

But my question was ...Why had they killed a guy like Tyrone "Buddy" Dwyer...who from what I was able to find out about him...wasn't in the drug game or any kind of game at all!

He had been born and raised in South Philadelphia..went to Philadelphia Public schools, did three years at West Chester State College, dropped out and did a four year stint in the Marine Corps... Upon leaving the Marines...He entered Temple University and finished his bachelors degree... He worked in a civil service job in center city Philadelphia...No criminal record at all...Not even a traffic ticket! I didn't get it...What did he do to warrant a contract killing?

II-

While I was in that part of town researching Eddie Coker and Larry "Baby" Santana...
Larry boy was in my part of town looking for me... He and Ludi went to Josies, Ciros, The Mermaid Club,Mulberry Street and Aqua Bar searching for me, asking about my whereabouts....They even went to the Bottom of the C. Gus, Honey Brown, Joe Neptune, Sam Mother,Mabel Jenkins, Dollar Bill and Ralph Scallion all told me that Ludi and Baby had paid their establishments a visit..

I had to laugh....They had even stopped by my office from what Sean Jackson and Harry Charles told me...Twice!... I suppose "Baby" Santana probably thought that I was hiding from him...Wasn't the case at all..I was busy gathering information...We were just missing each other.

Eddie Coker was from my old neighborhood...but he was a few years older... We had never actually met...I knew him by reputation and sight only... He didn't have a police record of any type...Surprising for the type of business he was allegedly in...Not one arrest....Not even as a juvenile...I used to see him with his nice suits and nice cars riding around with all of the girls I wished I could have that wouldn't give me the time of day when I was a teenager.

Larry "Baby"Santana had several arrests and all for violent crimes...Assault, Simple Assault...Battery et al...He did a five year stretch for manslaughter in New Jersey....He was arrested and charged with a 1997 murder in Atlantic City....but the charges were dropped when two witnesses against him suddenly vanished....never to be seen again.. Allegedly helped by the local underworld ,with the promise that once freed, he'd leave AC and never return.. Baby was too violent and unpredictable even for them!!

Baby Santana was truly a nasty piece of business...but he was not my main concern...He was at best, just muscle... Eddie Coker was the man...He was who I needed to study further.

Except for the basic facts I'd dug up there wasn't much to talk about...He was rarely seen on the streets...Nothing flamboyant or flashy about him...I didn't even have an address for him...I had checked several places listed as having been his address, but they were all dead ends...He owned the club, but was never seen in it... His face on the streets was Larry "Baby"Santana...He was the enforcer and the one who handled all of the man's business.

III-

I got the break I needed one night in Josies....It came from none other than so called "Blind" Keyboardist, Chazz Gillison...

He sat down with me and Sepia...I ordered beers for all three of us..

"Hey Kev...I hear you been askin around about the principles in that murder the other night...Shame about what happened to that girl's fiance." he said.

''Yeah, he seemed like a nice guy.."I said.

"He was..Just with the wrong girl that's all." said Chazz..

"What do you mean wrong girl? She's my friend." said my wife Sepia...

"I don't mean nothin against her...She is a nice girl...but she's Coker's girl." said Chazz.

''Huh? Come again? How is she Coker's girl and she was engaged to Dwyer?" I asked.

"Look man,I don't know nothin from nothin....but Eddie Coker met her in New York...the way I hear it...They dated for a minute..He told everybody that would listen that that was the best sex he had ever had in his life...Sorry Sepia..but that's what he said..Man he raved about her......The things she did to him in bed just blew his mind..He was sprung like a spring chicken!!

Every week he was runnin up to New York...To see her...Runnin up there so much that his business slipped...That's how Fathead got a foothold on him and took over his territory and run him out of West and Southwest Philly...He was pre-occupied.Pre-occupied with her and the good lovin she was whippin on him."

"Anyway...She moved here....bout a year ago...but for her, the romance was over...She was never as gaga over him as he was her...but Coker couldn't let her go...He was obsessed over her...Whipped...Hooked...When she moved in that apartment complex...He bought it from under the owner...When she started giggin at that club..He bought that and refurbished it and brought in the young crowds..."

"He did all that for her...but she didn't want him...She stopped taking his calls, she avoided him at all costs... She met a nice guy who ironically was also from Philly...Buddy Dwyer and they got engaged...She was gettin ready to move out of that spot...and she was playin her last gig at the Sad Lady this week."
said Chazz.

"This explains a lot...I imagine around this time...Buddy Dwyer got a visit from "Baby" Santana telling him to beat it." I said.

"Yeah...Only he stood up to Baby and paid him no mind...and uh ,well, you see what happens to people who pay that guy no mind...Speaking of which...I heard you beat the piss out of Baby a few days ago....Heard he's been lookin for you..Aren't you worried?"asked Chazz.

"I worry about people like him,like I worry if the sun is going to come up the next morning." I said.

Chazz laughed...

"Dutch told me his eye was closed and it looked like his nose was broke....If somebody busted me up like that...I wouldn't be lookin for em..I'd be looking to go the opposite way." he laughed..

Sepia and I laughed...

We were getting ready to leave when Gus pulled me to the side...

"Hey Kid...a nice looking broad came in here looking for you yesterday." he said.

I smiled...

"Oh yeah?" I said.

''Yeah...You're gettin to be real popular around these parts..Baby Santana and Ludi came lookin for you too and they didn't look too happy." said Gus..

"I heard Baby didn't look too good at all."I joked..

"You put that shiner on him and broke his nose?" asked Gus.

"You might say I did." I said...Gus shook his head and laughed....

"Yeah, well you might want to make yourself scarce for awhile....He's a nasty piece of business..."said Gus.

" So I hear. Now about the good lookin girl?" I asked.

"Her name was uh er...Lynette Dubois...said she's a singer...She gave me this number..
She said for you to call her and to meet her at this tea room in Chinatown tomorrow." said Gus..

"Yeah???, She came in here?" I asked.

"Yeah...She looked scared to death...If she's mixed up with Larry "Baby" Santana, I don't blame her.." said Gus..

I patted Gus on the back...

"Thanks Gus." I said.

"You aint worried?" he said.

''Nah...You should worry about Baby." I said and walked outside where Sepia was waiting for me..

"What did Gus want?" asked Sepia as we drove home..

"Your girl came in here looking for me today....She left a phone number and an address for me to meet her to talk." I said.

"What is she mixed up in Kevin?" asked Sepia...

"Nothing...She just has an obsessive and powerful admirer who will stop at nothing to have her." I said.

"Who is this "Baby Santana" person they say you beat up?" she asked.

"He works for the guy who's obsessed with her.." I said.

"And you beat him up?" she asked.

"A few days ago...I guess not good enough."I laughed.

"Lover, I'm worried...You know what? Forget what I asked you to do...Lynette is on her own..." she said.

"Nah...I gotta see this through...After all you did give me a down payment." I said and looked at Sepia slyly...

I was still thinking about the good loving Sepia had put on me just a few nights before and she knew it!

She shook her head....

"You are sooo nasty." she laughed.

(TO BE CONTINUED..)

Un Invited Guest

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Tue, 14 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

"OHHHH MY GODDDD..NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...NOOOOOOOOO.." came the wails and screams from the dressing room at the Sad Lady Bar.

Lt. Sissy Van Buren, Detective Edwin "Duke" Baylor, Forensic Investigator, Hazel Hunter and six uniformed policemen arrived at the bar a few minutes after I arrived and broke the news to vocalist,Lynette Dubois that her boyfriend, Tyrone "Buddy" Dwyer had been murdered in her apartment complex..

"I'm sorry to have to ask you this Ms. Dubois, but didn't he know you were performing tonight?" asked Detective Duke Baylor..

"No..I hadn't mentioned it to him...He was probably paying me a surprise visit.We 'd just recently got engaged." she said...the tears just streaming down her face...My wife, Sepia put her arms around her as she sobbed...

"It's alright girlfriend...it's alright. How you doin Sissy?" she said.

"I'm fine Sepia....I sure hate to have to break news like this to people." sighed Sissy...

''I know girl...it's never easy.." said my wife.

" Ms. Dubois...Did anybody else know that he might be coming to see you?" asked Sissy.

"I don't think so...No..." she said continuing to sob uncontrollably....

"Are you sure?" asked Sissy..

"Yes...I'm sure...Look ,I don't know nothing else...I'm sorry." she said, continuing to sob.

"I hate to ask this...but is there another man in your life?? An ex boyfriend??..a stalker??" asked Sissy...

"No...No...Noo....I don't know anything..."OHHHH MY GODDDD..NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...NOOOOOOOOO.." she wailed...She wouldn't say anything else...

"Sissy,I'm going to walk her to the ladies room." said Sepia..

"Okay...I don't have any other questions...Nice seeing you again Sepia...We all have to hang out again like we did a couple of months ago."said Sissy.

"Yeah...Bonita, Corrie, Sheila, Bernadette, Bridget and Ms. Carlotta before she becomes a married lady." said my wife..

Sissy smiled....

"Yes...Hope the next time we talk it's under better circumstances Sepia." she said.

"Yeah, I hope so too!" said Sepia.

Sepia walked Lynette to the restroom...

Lt. Sissy Van Buren looked frustrated...

"Come on Duke...Dr. Hunter...Guys...We are not going to get anything out of her...She's too distraught...Maybe we can talk to her another day." she said as she and her detectives and policemen cleared out...

The body had already been removed and there was nothing else to be gained from the night...

I grabbed Sissy's arm just before she left....

"What do you think Sissy?" I asked.

"I think she's distraught...Which I can perfectly understand...She just got engaged recently and now her fiancé is dead.. murdered....I know how I'd feel...but I also think she knows more than she's telling." she said.

"You think she's afraid?" I asked.

"I know she's afraid." said Sissy.

"So this was a contract hit?" I said.

"Can't really say...but it does look like that. He wasn't a playa...At least not a known playa. This guy was a solid citizen." said Sissy..."Good night Kevin. Maybe you can get something out of her...If you do...You know my number" she said and smiled and walked to her car...

The crowd had disapated.. Sepia walked Lynette back out to the bar, which was emptying...It was after 2:00 am in the morning..

''Is she going to be alright?" I asked..

"I don't know Kevin...They were engaged...He had just asked her to marry him last Friday and she had said yes.." said my wife...

''Awww mannnn."I said, shaking my head.

"Lynette...this is my husband, Kevin." said Sepia..

She looked up, but didn't smile...She just continued to cry.....

"I'm-I'm sorry...I hate to meet you like this...Ohhh my God....That bastard, how could he?" she said.

''How could who Lynette?" I asked.

"Nobody...Nobody..." she said.

"Can we give you a ride home?" I asked.

"No...I'll be alright." she said. "Thanks for coming Sepia...Nice meeting you Kevin." she said and then walked out into the Philadelphia night..

II-

That night in our living room, I walked up behind Sepia ..She was wearing one of my shirts and just a pair of bikini panties...I had just gotten out of the shower and walked
over to her...I put my arms around her...I kissed her neck up and down and under her chin...her earlobes and finally her lips....

She broke our embrace gently for a minute...

"Lover...I'm worried about Lynette.." she said.

"I gathered that." I said.

"She's afraid of something...I mean deathly afraid...and she definitely made a slip up tonight...I know you heard her." said Sepia...

"Yeah ,I heard her..."I said.

"Kevin...You know I don't get involved in your work...but could I ask you to do your wife a big favor?" asked Sepia.

"And what is that?" I asked, while kissing her neck and eventually her breasts...and in between her breasts...

''Could you...Could you look into this?.. She's my friend...I think she's in trouble...She's in deeper than she knows..." said Sepia.

''She's in deeper than WE know." I added and laughed.

''What is the going rate you charge your clients?" asked Sepia...

"HA! It depends on their economic situation...You are the co-owner of a business and one third owner of my business, so for you, top dollar!" I joked...

Sepia, turned toward me and gave me a long, slow, sensuous kiss.. She fondled my raging erection softly and kissed me some more..

"Well uh...Can't we uh work something out?" she said...

"Welllllll, uhhh, err, ahhhh,I'm certain that we could uhhhhh,work something out...a discount or something..."I said as she continued kissing and fondling me....

''A discount? Hmmmmm, I'm listening" cooed Sepia as we continued kissing....

I slipped her panties down slightly and with my one hand I could feel that she was moist and getting wetter by the second... Soon I had my shirt off of her and had her in the bed...

I began kissing her neck, behind her ears...under her chin and finally those sweet lips of hers....

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...ohhhh lover, I'm about to come..." she moaned and she slowly broke my embrace....

I rolled over on top of her and entered her moist center slowly..and kept moving slowly until we got into a nice groove...There for hours we made sweet love in the quiet of our bedroom....oblivious to the storm that was coming!! She was on top of me for awhile ,just looking down at me and sweating...moving up and down....

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh lover...Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh Kevin, I love you sooooooooooooooooooooooooomuchhhh...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..." she moaned..

"I love you too baby...ouuuuuuuuuuuuu.." I groaned as we began moving
faster and more furious...I'm glad our windows were closed...I'd of hated for the neighbors to hear the hollering and moaning we were doing...

Sepia was extra passionate tonight and driving me insane with her soft skin, great smelling fragrance and butter soft kisses up and down my chest and on my neck...

We both came simultaneously and explosively....trembling in each others arms....

"Sepia?" I said as we lie across the bed some hours later..

''Yes?" she said.

"After that performance you put on me last night....I'm waiving your fee completely."I said and smiled..

"I knew we could work out something.....That was just a down payment.." she said laughing.

What an incentive, I thought! Sepia cuddled up into the crook of my arms and slowly drifted off to sleep...I smiled and watched her for a long time before I too drifted off into a sound and peaceful sleep.

III-

So, two nights later,I found myself back at the Sad Lady Bar...Watching the same band perform and listening to Lynette Dubois do two sets....After her set was done..A comedian came on...

I left the bar and walked to the back where Lynette's dressing room was..She was sitting by the mirror, crying her eyes out...She had held up well during the show..A true professional.

I walked in...Lynette saw me and stopped crying...She took a hankercheif and dabbed at her eyes....

"Hi Lynette..."I said..

She was startled.

"I didn't mean to startle you..."I said.

"You...You're....You're Kevin...Sepia's husband." she said.

"Yes...Did Sepia tell you what I do for a living?" I asked.

"Yes..She told me that you own a company that publishes magazines and newspapers and that you own a radio station too." she said.

"Yeah, well that's one thing...I'm also a private detective...I help people." I said.

She looked at me like I was crazy...I showed her my P.I. license and my gun and my license to carry.

''What do you want with me?" she asked.

"I want to help you...My wife is concerned about you...She asked me to look in on you." I said.

"Tell Sepia thank you, but I'm okay.." she said.

"No you're not..Your fiance was murdered...He was murdered gangland style..You know it and I know it... Those cops that were here...They're good...They know it too..You want to tell me how much trouble you're in..and with who?" I asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about...Look, Kevin...you shouldn't be in here...Please ,I'm telling you for your own good... Get away from here..." she said.

"Okay..Here is my card...When you feel like talking..Call that number..We can meet someplace else..."I said.

Just then a hand grabbed the card from out of her hands and ripped it in half...

''She won't be needin that." said the man who ripped my card.

"Why don't you let her decide what she needs or not?"I said.

He was brown skinned, about my height, my build..wore a very nice Italian cut suit and had expensive shoes and a nice smelling cologne on...

"What's your name fella?" he said...

Lynette got up and ran out of the room past him..

"My name is Morris, Kevin Morris..What's yours?" I asked.

"My name is Larry...Larry Santana...On the streets they call me "Baby",but never to my face." he laughed...

"Ohhh I see." I said.

"I see you have a habit of inviting yourself places where you aint invited." he said.

"Oh is that so?..How do you know I wasn't invited here?" I asked.

"She didn't invite you in here and more important...I didn't invite you...See, the man I work for owns this joint.." he said.

"That would be Eddie Coker." I said.

"No need to drop names ace... You're uninvited...So get the hell out." he said and pulled a switchblade out and opened it...

"Relax...I wouldn't waste a drop of your blood on these new freshly buffed floors...This is just how I go about making a point." he said and he poked me lightly with the blade...

I pushed his hand away..

"I don't like getting poked with a knife." I said.

''And I don't like uninvited guests...So here is a warning pal...I don't ever want to see you in this establishment again or talking to Lynette...Understand?" he said.

"I'll let her determine that." I said.

"No, No ,I just determined that...Now goodbye Mr. Morris." he said.

I walked by him....

"Nice talking to you." I said sarcastically.

"If I have to talk to you again...It won't be so nice Mr. Morris." he said and poked me in the side again...

I took the door pulled it back and slammed it hard into his face as hard as I could...So hard, the wood slightly cracked...

"Ughhhhhhhhhhhh..." he groaned..and I punched him in his stomach harder than I've punched anybody in a long time...

"Ummmmmmmmmmmph", he groaned and bent over in pain and then I caught him with an uppercut that sent him flying and knocked him to the ground...

He went to reach for his switch blade, but I stepped on his arm...

"Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." he moaned....

I pulled out my .38 smokeless and put the muzzle to his nose...

"Uh ugh ugh now....Let's not get stupid...These aren't my nice freshly buffed floors..I wouldn't have a problem wasting your blood all over them." I said...

I picked up the switchblade, put it in my pocket and eased up off of him...His nose was bleeding profusely and his eye was swollen nearly shut....

Lynette and a few people saw him lying on the floor....They were almost in disbelief...

"Next time we talk...If there is a next time...I might consider giving this pig sticker back to you...but then again..Nahhh,I doubt it...It's mine now...Like I said...Nice talkin to you Baby." I said and stepped over him and walked out.

IV-

The next morning, I brought Lt. Sissy Van Buren a tumbler of hot coffee and stood with her on the roof of the C.I.D. Building...

"Sissy ,you ever heard of Larry "Baby" Santana?" I asked.

She smiled...

"Yeah...He's a suspect in about 12 unsolved murders and that's just here in Philly...I hear it's three in Atlantic City...He works for Eddie Coker, the new would be Crime Kingpin. Duke, Tyriq and I questioned him yesterday...He was seen around that building where the Dwyer Murder took place..." said Sissy... "Of course he said he didn't have anything to do with it...And we don't have any witnesses to dispute his claims." she said.

"Yeah...He and I had a little talk too you might say." I said.

"Kevin!! Did you do that to him? His eye was swollen shut...and it looks like his nose was broken..He told us that he uh tripped and fell." she said laughing..

"Yeah well we had a little disagreement, but after I talked to him a little more, he understood my point." I said.

"Like you uh talked to Mike Train huh?" laughed Sissy....

''Well I didn't stuff 'Baby' in a dryer." I said.

Sissy nearly spit her coffee out laughing...

"Sissy, I think you and Duke need to look at Baby Santana a little closer...I went to talk to Lynette and as soon as he entered the dressing room, she got frightened and ran out...I think it's him!!...He's your killer. She's definitely afraid of something." I said.

"I know she is. If Baby Santana is the killer...He did it on orders from Eddie Coker.. Eddie Coker is the power up there...He decides who lives and who dies. He owns that club and that apartment complex where the murder occurred and our girl lives." she said.

"Maybe I can get you something solid on Eddie Coker." I said.

"You know him?" asked Sissy.

''Only by reputation...He's from the neighborhood.. A little older than me...but I remember him...Seeing him around.." I said.

Sissy got serious then..

"Kevin...Don't fool around with Eddie Coker...He's serious business...12 people have had disagreements with him and have all been found dead in the past year...Nobody talks, Nobody sees anything up there...Everybody is afraid of him. This is why we haven't been able to make a case against him. I got 12 other open murder cases related to him and Baby. Kevin please!!!....Oh why am I wasting my time??..." she said.

She pulled me to her and hugged me for a long while...That soft body of hers.. Those sensuous curves almost made me want to stay in this embrace a little longer, but I couldn't..

"There was a time when I didn't worry about you or hardly care about what you did...Shame.. You start liking somebody and then you start caring about them." She said.

"And worrying..."I added and smiled..

"That too." she said and we both laughed.

(TO BE CONTINUED..)

Sad Girl

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Mon, 13 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

This was the rare night that Sepia and I were not in Josies listening to music...Instead we were the Little Norway section of Philadelphia in a club called "The Sad Lady"

The last time I was in this joint,There was only three customers in here. Two were asleep at the bar, the other one was in the restroom moaning and groaning. The bar tender was busy watching television and there was no sign of anybody playing any music...

That's when I was in Private Investigator mode....My name is Kevin Morris...Tonight I wasn't being a private investigator..I was just a husband, doing something nice for my wife,Sepia...Reuniting her with an old friend...

Tonight was different.....The place was crowded...and there was a band playing...and a beautiful black woman on stage singing... I didn't recognize the guitarist, the bass player, the drummer or the percussionist....Didn't recognize the guy on the vibes either...but I did recognize the D.J. on stage with them..It was Symphony Sam's cousin...He usually gigged at Josies... Of course I knew the guy on Keyboards...It was Blind Pianist...Chazz Gillison...my friend and on Saxophone...Dutch Van Buren...Sissy's father and the reason I was up here the first time...

I had been looking for him... On Trumpet was my old friend, Downtown Rob Brown... I had heard that Dutch had toured with Rob in Puerto Rico recently and as a favor, Downtown Brown was setting in with him for this gig tonight...

I was surprised because...Downtown Rob Brown is what they call a jazz purist..and here he was playing with an acid jazz band...A mixture of hip hop and jazz...Wonder what had come over him?? I was going to have his girlfriend write a story on him for my magazine...

"Lover...Lynnette is about to come on next." said my wife ,Sepia...

She was very excited...Her girlfriend, Lynette Dubois , a singer from Brooklyn was performing here in Philadelphia at the "Sad lady" Sepia had lived and worked in Brooklyn for awhile before I met her and she had roomed with Lynette...They hadn't seen each other in years, but were Facebook friends and followed each other on Twitter.

When Sepia heard Lynette was going to be performing in Philly she naturally thought that it was going to be at Josies... We asked Gus and Honey Brown about it and they didn't know anything about her or about any bookings... It was Chazz ,who overheard us asking that told us she was going to be singing here at the Sad Lady...

''Really? At that bust out joint?" I said.

"It's different man...Under new management...A real high roller bought it..His name is Coker...Eddie Coker!! He had it renovated from top to bottom, had a new bar put in..and started booking acts...He's turned the place around...It's actually making money now." said Chazz.

The name Eddie Coker was familliar to me... I didn't know the man, but I'd heard of him..He was rumored to be a gangster...Loan sharking, extortion, gambling and a few drug corners was how he made his money...He was rarely seen on the street....But at any rate...He was bad news...

I ignored that...I was after all not on a case and whatever the owner was into was not my business...I was here with my wife enjoying a great concert... The food was good too...A table of crab legs, chicken wings....and half hoagies didn't last too long...the crowd that was made up of African-Americans, Latinos,Asians and young hip upscale whites devoured the food...

We were having a good time!

II-

Lynette Dubois was beautiful... great to look at and with an angelic voice to boot.. I think I understood why Downtown Rob Brown had agreed to take this gig...Had nothing to do with repaying a favor to Dutch Van Buren...He must have seen advance photos of this bootylicious and fine woman and wanted to be on stage with her... I noticed that his girlfriend....Delores, who worked for me as a staff writer at my magazine was visibly absent tonight...As was Chazz Gillison's new girlfriend, Bridget Jones...I guess you don't bring sand to the beach! I smiled at the thought of what these two guys were up to...

Chazz who was thought to be blind by everyone except me, who knew he could see,stared at Lynette's ample breast and nice shapely rear end so hard that he almost missed his cue for his piano solo....

The same was true for Rob Brown....Who did miss his cue on the trumpet, but covered it up well...Both of these guys were all teeth, all night, just grinning and smiling everytime Lynette uttered a phrase of her songs...

Sepia looked at me and smiled...

"Your friends are something else." she said.

"Huh?, What do you mean?" I asked innocently, although I knew exactly what she meant."

"If Delores and Bridget were here ,I'm bettin they wouldn't be grinning so much." said Sepia..."And why is Chazz grinning? He can't even see." she asked. I ignored that part of her question.

"Oh that eh? ,Well you know how that goes... I'm grinnin myself everytime you get up to walk over to that table." I said....It was true...She was wearing a tight skirt that was blowing my mind and turning the heads of some of the other men in the crowd..

"Awww,you always know the right thing to say....but I know if I wasn't here, you'd be all teeth too." she laughed...

I felt her leg under the table and ran my hands up her legs...almost under her skirt...She blushed and gently moved my hand...

"But you're here right now." I said softly...

"Y-Yess...okay...I-I get it...ouuuuu." she said...

By the way Sepia was blushing,I could tell that I had gotten her a little hot and bothered....A good sign for the rest of my night...or so I thought.

III-

I looked out the window and saw three police cars go zooming down the street....I saw a black Altima following behind them...I knew whose car that was....Something was up.....

I excused myself....I was a little curious...

"What's up lover?" said Sepia...

"Oh nothing...Sit tight...I just want to check something out." I said.."I'll be back." I said.

I walked two blocks down the street...I saw the police congregated outside of some high rise apartments....I saw a body being removed and two familiar figures...

Detective Edwin ''Duke" Baylor and his Lieutenant...Sissy Van Buren....along with a crowd of uniformed policemen....

"Hey guys...what's going on?"I said.

Duke tapped Sissy on the shoulder and smiled as he saw me coming...

"Kevin ,I'm beginning to think you might be behind these killings...Seems like we always see you here of late when something goes down." joked Duke..

"Yeah Duke..I'm inclined to agree with you." laughed Lt.Sissy Van Buren of Homicide..

"I was down the street at the Sad Lady with my wife...Ironically enough,Sissy, Your father is in there performing tonight." I said.

"For real?" said Sissy, those pretty expressive eyes of hers just widening...

"Yeah...you ought to catch his act sometimes...He's really good." I said.

"I will one of these days...When bodies stop dropping." she said sighing.

''What have you got here?" I asked.

"His name is Dwyer...Tyrone "Buddy"Dwyer....He was on the elevator...Somebody shot him three times...Twice in the Chest and once in the head." said Duke...

For the second time...I was meeting their foxy new forensic investigator, Dr. Hazel Hunter...Boyy, Duke was a lucky man to be dating her I mused...and he got to work with her too!

''Hello Dr. Hunter." I said.

"Oh Hello Kevin.....I was just inside...The killer was on top of the elevator..He opened the panel and he shot downward...The trajectory of the bullets in the body bares all that out." she said.

"You get any prints?" asked Sissy...

"None at all...My guess is he wore latex gloves and used a silencer.." she said.

''Yeah Lou...I had uniforms talking to all of the tenants here, and nobody heard anything or saw anything.." said Duke.

"Damn ,it can never be easy can it? What about cameras?"asked Sissy.

"None...They've been out of order for two days...They weren't on tonight." said Duke..

"Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."said Sissy.

"Who is the dead guy?" I asked.

"Nobody...He's not a player or anything...He was visiting his girlfriend...She's a singer who lives here...her name is Lynette Dubois.. .but she wasn't in...Apparently she was working somewhere tonight...but he didn't know it."said Duke.

"Lynette Dubois?? That's my wife's friend....That's who we are watching down the street at the Sad Lady.She's performing down there right now!" I said.

Sissy and Duke's eyes lit up!!!

"Kevin....You're like a good luck charm." she said and hugged me...

IV-

I walked back to the bar and sat down next to my wife...Sepia and the whole crowd was rocking to the beats as Lynette launched into her final number...She really was good..

Then the show was over...The crowd went wild....Sepia and I left our seats and was headed towards her when I grabbed Sepia's arm...

"What up lover?" she asked me.

"A bit of bad news." I said.

''Huh?"said Sepia.

"Remember when I stepped out a few minutes ago?" I said.

"Yeah" she said.

"Well...that was because I saw a throng of police cars go flying by....and I saw my friends, Sissy and Duke..."I said.

"Yeah?" asked Sepia...

"Apparently there has been a murder down the street from here...in the apartment complex your friend,Lynette is staying at." I said...

''Oh My God!!!"said Sepia.

"The murder victim was coming to see her.I think the victim is her boyfriend!! The cops will be down here in a few minutes to talk to her" I said.

"Oh my God. Lynette was engaged...That must be her fiancé..I can't believe this." said Sepia...

And just like that...My night had become something altogether different.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

You'll Be The Death of Me

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Fri, 10 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

I sat in the coffee shop the next morning and looked at my watch...She was a little late...but I was one hundred percent certain that she would be arriving...I was right... Veronica Bennett and the bodyguard of his late sisters ,Mr. James Brown arrived... She saw me and she sat down...She looked a little irritated...

''Mr. Morris , what is this about?" she said, exasperated...

"Where is your fiance?" I asked.

"He's my husband...We were married a few days ago in City Hall." she said.

''Well,normally I would say congratulations...but in this case...I'm worried."I said.

"I don't think you need to worry about me." she said.

"I think I do...I don't think you were paying attention just a week ago when I presented this evidence to your sisters about your husband.." I said.

"I don't care about what so called evidence you have"..She snapped.

"I think you need to be...Where is he?" I asked.

"He took a flight out to Atlanta last night at midnight." she said.

''At midnight eh?"I asked giving her a side eye...

"Yes..." she said.

I layed out several doziers on the table, complete with death scene photos and began to run it down to her...

''Listen to me...I don't think you understand what you've gotten yourself into..Look, that woman there in the car with the water pouring out is first wife ,Betty Mosley....a woman he'd met in the Air Force and looked up after they both got out. He was employed at a nearby Air Force Base as a civilian contractor.

After two years of marriage , In 1993 ,Betty Mosley turned up missing...A thirty day search uncovered her body in her car at the bottom of a Florida swamp...It was implied that she had been drinking and drove off the road into the water and couldn't get out of her car...Mr. Hutton walked away with $300.000 in an insurance policy he took out!" I said...

"Oh My God." she said...looking horrified..

"Oh my God is right...There's more...Wife number two...Look at the photo Ronnie...He married Mary Latham in 1994...They were married for seven years...He worked at an Electronics wholesale store.In the spring of 2000. Mrs. Latham was found in her garage in her car, with the motor running...An apparent suicide!!! A hastily typed Suicide note was found!! Mr.Hutton walked away with $500.000 in an insurance policy he took out. Coincidence??" I said.

"Oh Jesus, please...please stop." she said... I showed her the last ghastly photo..

''Look...Wife number three...He married Patty Phillips...a pretty court reporter he had gotten friendly with during his trial ,ironically enough...They lived in a suburb of Daly City, outside of San-Francisco, California..
In June of 2009, Barbara got up during the night and went in her basement...she heard water running....She went to turn on a hanging light and was electrocuted!!! It was ruled an accident..Mr. Hutton walked away with roughly $750,000 dollars in an insurance policy he took out!!!Another sad co-incidence??? I did some more checking...Look what I found...This is a copy of an insurance policy....It's for 40 million dollars...It's on you! Did you even know he took this out on you? Two weeks ago... Don't be the next accident Ronnie." I said..

"Alright...Alright...Okay...Do you know a good divorce lawyer?" she asked...

I gave her a card...

"His name is Robert Foxworth....You call him..He's a friend of mine...He can take care of you." I said.

"Okay...I'll give him a call as soon as I get back to my house." she said. "Thank you Mister Kevin." she said and she quietly left, got in her car and pulled off.

The Body guard James Brown walked over to me...

"You think she bought it?" he asked...

"Not a chance...She's so in love that she's blind to anything he's done...She was playing me , saying what she thought I wanted to hear so that this could all be over with." I said...

"So why did you bring her here?" he asked..

"Watch and learn" I said...

My friend, Clerow walked in and walked over to me.

"You do it?" I asked.

"Yupper...Lockpick Johnson got me inside the car and I put the GPS unit inside the glove compartment..She'll never see it. Peeping Tom told me it's his smallest ,lightest unit...You'll be gettin a powerful signal." he said.

"Good job Clerow...Thanks...Your coffee is on me." I said.

"Gotta take a rain check Boss!..I gotta go get my kids...Take em to daycare...Corrie is pullin a double today for Mabel .Owen Todd is waitin for me outsisde in the car boss." he said.

I smiled.."Okay..Thanks Clerow." I said.

''Anytime boss." he said and left.

II-

Detective Jimmy Barlow dropped by the same coffee shop about an hour later...

"Kev...I got your message..We checked the airlines...There was no midnight flight to Atlanta at all last night...and no one fitting William Hutton's description was seen at the Airport last night...

Duke covered the Northeast Airport..Same thing...No Midnight flights out to Atlanta..and no sign of Hutton... Carlotta and Sissy checked Newark and BWI too." he said.

"Yeah ,my guess is our boy is still here in Philly....Thanks Jimmy...Tell Sissy and Carlotta to await my call." I said.

"Okay Kev." he said.

I smiled...The die was cast...

III-

With the GPS device...I was able to follow Veronica Bennett without her knowing it..I followed her to the train station at 30th street...The airport and the bus station and several banks...I suspected that she was just covering her tracks in case someone was following her. Finally ,she headed toward wherever it was ,she was staying...I called Sissy.

"Hey Kevin...What's up?" she said.

''She took the bait ,just like I knew she would." I said.

"Does she suspect that you're following her?" she asked.

"I don't think so..Are you getting my signal?" I asked.

"Yes..loud and clear, but I'm on the other side of town from you and traffic is terrible.." she said.

"Well...I've located her house...She parked her car and she just went in and guess who opened the door for her?" I asked.

"Who?" she asked.

"Mr. William Hutton!!" I said.

"So he is here!" she said.

"Did you ever think he wasn't?" I said.

"Well be careful Kevin...Chica ,Tyriq and I are on our way." she said.

"Okay....Let's do this!" I said and hung up.

I parked in back of Veronica's car and walked up to the door..I could hear them talking inside.

IV-

"Ronnie Baby...You got here...Did you get the money?" said William Hutton..

"All of it...It's in my account...our account and if you're a good boy, I'll let you have as much of it as you want.." she said seductively...

"Awwww baby. Can I have as much as I want of er something else?" he said as he pulled her to him...

"Ouuu Mr. Hutton...What is that in your pants?" she cooed...

"Wanna see?" he said slyly...

"Ohhh myyyyyy." she said...

I rang the door bell....

"What the hell?" she said.

"Oh who in God's name is it?" he said and flung the door open!!!

They both were astonished....

"YOU!" they both said in unison...

I smiled..

"Hi, I came by to say congratulations on your wedding....and to inform you that it's Accident prevention week! " I said, laughing...

"You know Kevin...I'm finding you less and less humorous."snapped William Hutton..

"Yeah,I'll bet the last three Mrs. Huttons found you a riot!" I said looking at him side eyed..

"I had nothing to do with their deaths...I was never charged with a thing, why don't you leave me alone?" he said.

"You ought to be locked up anyway...Antoinette and April Bennett are dead...you seem to be bad luck period." I said.

"Hey,I didn't do them,I swear." he protested...

"I know you didn't." I said.

"You do?" he said...

I heard a gun click behind me....I smiled and looked at Veronica Bennett..

"You knew all along didn't you?" she snarled...

"Not at first...but I figured it out...The car brakes...Your murderous hubby here is too slick to do a job that sloppy...Pushing your sister out of a window and writing a suicide note on her computer and printing it on her printer was a little better, but not convincing...and the hitmen???...You hired them didn't you?" I asked.

"You got it all right Mr. Kevin...Unfortunately...the hitter missed didn't he?" she said.

"Yeah...unfortunately...." I said.

"My sisters were never going to give me any peace...All my life they tried to run my life, especially Antoinette...I was tired of it...I had to kill them both. I had to...You kept on asking questions,looking up stuff..You had to go too. My hitman missed you, but I won't."she said.

I looked at William Hutton...

"Look here Doc,I'm the only man who knows that you didn't kill your two sister in laws...you feel me? I'm your alibi." I said.

"Uh yeah...Ronnie baby...put that heater away...He's got nothin...We are free and clear." he said.

She didn't budge...

"Ronnie, put that gun down...Don't be stupid ,PUT IT THE HELL DOWN!" he shouted!

She looked at him in a rage...

"Who are you calling stupid? I killed my sisters for you...For us..Now back up!" she said and fired three shots at me that missed...I dove behind a couch...He ran in the opposite direction...

"You'll never get away with this..I'm wearing a wire...The police are on their way here now !" I said..

She ignored me and cut loose again! I dove behind a coffee table...I pulled my gun, but I didn't really want to shoot a woman!! William ran in the opposite direction...Ronnie shot all of the glass vases off of bureau and shot the glass out of a nearby window!

"Ronnie, baby, put that gun down! PUT IT THE HELL DOWN!" said William Hutton who ran toward Veronica and stepped on a metal plate on the floor...

72 thousand volts of electricity hit him....

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! OH LAWDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD....LALALALALALALALALALALALALAHHHHHHHHHHH....

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"he yelled and then fell to the floor, singed and very,very dead!

I walked over to him...His body was smoking...The smell of burning flesh was making me sick to my stomach..I checked the plate on the floor...It was concealed under the rug ...there were wires hooked on the plate that led to a generator in the basement....He had been electrocuted...Ronnie's mouth flew wide open...

''OH My GOd....He's Dead!" she yelled.

"Pretty much" I said dryly!

Veronica followed me into the basement....I looked at her... There was a fresh body bag on the basement floor...I pointed to it!

"This was the accident he had planned for you Ronnie...He was planning to kill you and get insurance money and everything else you had in the bank." I said.

We walked back upstairs...

She dropped the gun on the floor... I used a hankercheif and picked it up and stuffed it in my inside jacket pocket. She went and sat in a nearby chair.. She had a blank stare!!!

"I thought he loved me...I thought I had finally found the man of my dreams.I thought he loved me...I thought I had finally found the man of my dreams,I thought he loved me...I thought I had finally found the man of my dreams...Ahhhh lawdddd!" she cried..

V-

Sissy and Carlotta opened the front door and walked in, They had their glocks drawn.....They saw me sitting in a chair, I signaled that they could holster their weapons .....They looked and they saw the burnt, charred body of William Hutton lying on the floor in the living room...

"Whoa..what happened here?" asked Detective Tyriq Pile, who came in behind them...

"He's a victim of the booby trapped floor...His latest invention...He had that planned for Veronica as soon as he got the money from her. He walked on it himself by accident." I said.

Carlotta looked at the body...

"Aye Mios Dios....I guess justice was done after all." she said.

"He really did kill all of his wives." said Sissy.

"Yeah...and how ironic.. He died in one of his own traps..."I said.

Over in the other corner sat Veronica Bennett, completely gone....

"I thought he loved me...I thought I had finally found the man of my dreams,He loves me, He loves me not..He loves me..He loves me not...He loves me, he love me not...HE LOVES MEEE.AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH
He loves me not...Aghhhhhhh LAWDDDDD!I MISS YOU TONI...I MISS YOU APRIL....I LOVE YOU..ARGHHHHHHHH LAWD JESUS..." was all she would say...

Sissy stared at her....Tyriq shook his head...Carlotta looked at me, I shrugged my shoulders.

"Whoa.." said Detective Tyriq Pile...

I looked at Sissy and Carlotta...

"Well ladies...I promised you two closed murders...You got em!!She killed her sisters...."I said.

"I never doubted we wouldn't have em.." said Sissy, hugging me softly...

"I suppose she's headed for Blue Skies huh?" said Detective Pile..

"You know it man." said Carlotta...

Sissy walked over to me...

"Did you get your satisfaction Kevin?"

"Yeah...A truly monstrous serial killer got his justice...and a poor deluded double murderer is going to get hers.."I said.

"Yeah...They were made for each other." said Sissy.

Carlotta,Tyriq,Sissy and I laughed our heads off!

EPILOUGE-

Veronica Bennett was found guilty of the murders of her two sisters , but insane...She is presently a resident of the Blue Skies Facility for the criminally insane...Most days she sits in a padded room saying nothing,just staring into space!

A few days later,Sepia and I were chilling in the comfort of our home, drinking a bottle of champaigne and listening to some smooth jazz on the ipod dock.....

''Wow..this was a dilly of a case..wasn't it?" she said.

"Yeah....I helped the Philly PD close two murders and kind of closed age old murders in Sarasota, San Diego and Daly City...Not only that, I prevented a third one from occurring here, for what that was worth..."I said.

"So you happy now?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm happy...I'm most happy because I'm with you...and it's quiet." I said.

''Awwwwww." she said...

"I saw your friends today, ADA Keith Wallace and Detective Carlotta Rodriguez" she said.

''Oh Yeah?" I said..

"Yeah..Bonita and I showed them a house , not too far from here...about six blocks over that they said they might take...They said that they are planning to get married in about a month...The house should be ready for them in about two months..." she said.

''Wow..That's nice... That's nice...I'm happy for both of them...and I'm happy for you and me..I'm serious...Couples that make sense in a world that's becoming more senseless everyday." I said.

"Yeah...You and me and them!" said Sepia, who kissed me softly on my cheek.

<

If Push Comes To Shove

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

April Bennett called me and asked to meet with her in the high rise apartment building she was staying at...It had been a few days and so after work...I dropped by....

"Mr. Kevin...I called you here because I don't feel safe...I think an attempt is going to be made on my life." she said.

"What makes you think that?" I asked..

"My sister Antoinette's death was no accident...I told my other sister Veronica of my suspicions...but she wrote them off...She told me that William got picked up by the FBI and that he was innocent and that she wished I would stop accusing him of such outlandish things...She's totally gone over him..." she said.

"I believe you're right....but what makes you think your life is in danger?" I asked...

"Because I refuse to give Veronica any money if she marries William Hutton....Especially after the information you gave us...She'll surely die...I'm doing this for her own good Mr. Kevin." she said.

"You're more than likely right, I suppose...But it's only the two of you now.....Listen...You call this number..This is Lt. Sissy Van Buren of homicide...She's a friend...Tell her you know me...She can arrange for protection." I said.

"I have a card....I spoke to this Puerto Rican detective yesterday...Her name was Carlotta Rodriguez..She seemed nice." said April..

"Yes ,she is...She works for Lt. Sissy Van Buren...They can provide protection...Meanwhile..I'm going to get to know Mr. William Hutton on a personal basis." I said.

"Thank You Mr. Kevin." said April..

II-

This was becoming one of my most baffling cases.... No sooner than I got down to my car, My phone went off...It was William Hutton!!

"Well,well ,well...The elusive Mr. Hutton...I was on my way to find you." I said.

"Yeah, well listen...We got to talk..." he said.

"Who? You and I?" I said..

"Yeah...You and me." he said.

"Okay...We'll meet at Josies..." I said.

"Cool...In about an hour." he said.

"That'll work." I said.

I smelled a rat...A huge rat...So I stopped by my office...

I went down to the basement and put on a kevlar vest with a trauma plate...under my shirt...I had my .38 smokeless and my .22 in an ankle holster...Now I was ready for action... I headed to Josie's...

Josie's was crowded...It was a Thursday Night... The Bone Hampton sextet,featuring Ella Washington on vocals was packing them in...B-Flat was doing double duty..He sat in with Symphony Sam and the House band and he was setting in with Bone Hampton...I wished that I could be a fan tonight instead of working..
I saw no sign of William Hutton...

I walked outside on the street...There I saw a familiar figure...Walter,"Kool Kat" Jones...My good friend..Kool Kat was talking to two young guys...They laughed and they walked away..He saw me and waved..

''Hey Kev, what's good?" he asked.

''Heyy big man..I was supposed to meet somebody here tonight....They didn't show." I said.

"You workin a case?" he asked.

"When am I not?" I laughed...

Just then...I spotted William Hutton walking down the street...I signaled to him that I was coming across the street...He stopped...

''Later Big man, Got to make this meet up." I said.

It all seemed like it was in slow motion... I was walking across the street to meet William...I saw the guy out of the corner of my eye...He had on dark trousers and a lightweight blue knit..He slipped the gun out of his pants and aimed at me...I saw William Hutton look up in surprise...

I heard Kool Kat yell...

''HEYYY KEV...Look OUT!!!"

I ducked behind a car and three shots rang out.. William Hutton hit the deck also and put his arms over his head....I pulled my .38 smokeless out and returned the man's fire..

The gunman thought better of a gunbattle with me and turned to run.. Kool Kat pulled out, what for him was a small gun...a .38 smokeless and fired at the man...He hit him in the behind...

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...Hottt mommy, I don't believe it..I've been shot!!." he yelled and turned and fired at Kool Kat who ducked and returned fire...By now...I was also returning fire...He turned and ran for everything he was worth, leaving a trail of blood in the street!

''Drive nigga drive....It's two guys shooting at me.. I've been hit...I've been hit...Awwwwwwwwww lawdddddddddd...it hurts...ouuuuuuu.."the gunman yelled...

A car drove up and he jumped in...Kool Kat and I continued to fire as the car sped off into the night! One of our bullets blew the back window out of the car as it zig zagged and sped through the streets!!!

A crowd gathered outside of Josies....There was blood and broken glass everywhere...Kool Kat and I had shattered the car window...and I was sure, Kool Kat had wounded whoever that was...

William Hutton got up off of the pavement....He was clearly shook up!

He walked over to me..

"Hey man...I didn't have nothin to do with that.." he said. Surprisingly enough..I believed him.

Kool Kat grabbed him and lifted him up by his collar...

"It's okay big man...let him go..."I said.

"Look...you been talkin to the FBI and the cops and they been hasslin me all week..I didn't kill Antoinette Bennett,I swear...and now her sister,April is goin around tellin people that I threatened her life...I didn't..I'm tellin you...You gotta lay off man." he said.

"Funny...You call me for a meet..You're late and when you show up..somebody tries to kill me....Seems like death and bad luck just seem to follow you Mr. Hutton." I said.

"It aint me...I swear...I'm leavin town tonight...Damn this...Philly is just too live for me." he said and straightened his clothes out and walked the opposite way down the street...

"You just lettin him go Kev?" asked Kool Kat...

"Yeah...I got nothin to hold him for and for some strange reason...I believe him...I don't think he set me up and I don't think this was him...." I said..

"Well you got any ideas who just tried to have you clipped?" asked Kool Kat.

"Nah...I got nothin." I said.

"Maybe you shouldn't be ridin tame." he said.

"I'm strapped Big man...Got on a vest..."I said.

"Damn boy..Is it like that?" He asked.

''It wasn't, until just now...Stay loose Big Man...I may need you." I said.

"I'm here for ya Kev...Just say the word.." he laughed...

"Come on man...Let me buy you a drink." I said and we walked into Josies.

III-

The night was weird enough....but it got weirder when I got a call from Lt. Sissy Van Buren....

"Sissy...What's up?" I asked..

"I'm over at April Bennett's High Rise...She's dead!!" she said.

"What? ,Dead?? I just talked to her earlier this afternoon.."I said.

"How soon can you get over here?" she asked...

"I'm on my way." I said.

It took me no time at all to get to April's high rise...The Police were removing the body from the street...

I was stunned...Like in front of Josie's... there was a crowd gathering...

Sissy walked over to me..

"It looks like she jumped from the window of her high rise to her death or was pushed." she said.

Detective Carlotta Rodriguez and four uniforms walked out of the building and over to us....

''Hi Kevin...Heyy Boss Lady..we were just up in her room and guess what I found?" said Carlotta..

"I'll answer that...A hastily typewritten suicide letter, unsigned right?" I said.

''Right again." said Carlotta.

"This is bull, you know that Sissy, Carlotta...this was no suicide..This woman wanted to live..I was just talking to her earlier today and she told me she feared for her life." I said.

"I know...I know Kevin...She called us..She told us that she talked to you and that you gave her our number and asked for us to protect her...Unfortunately...We got here too late." said Sissy.

"Hmmm, So where is Mr. William Hutton?" asked Carlotta.

"This isn't him....He was meeting with me at Josie's about an hour ago and somebody tried to take me out..A gunman fired several shots at me...Missed!!!...The gunman had an accomplice...They both got away...Hutton was just as shook up as I was." I said.

"If it's not him Kevin then who is it?" asked Sissy...

"Oh My God...I don't want to think this...but I'm going to play what you cops call a hunch...Sissy will you trust me?" I asked.

She and Carlotta both looked at me like I was crazy....

"Kevin, Do you even have to ask us that? After all we've been through? Especially you and I?" asked Sissy...

"Okay...tomorrow,I want you to Wire me up good... I have a theory...If I'm right, you two will close two open murders and me...I've already been paid..I'll have a bit of satisfaction." I said.

Carlotta hugged me...I smiled...

(CONCLUSION NEXT)

Wild Eyes

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Wed, 08 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Of course, William Hutton was arrested a day later by the Philly P.D. on suspicion of murder...but they had to release him. He had an airtight alibi...You see, just about an hour after he and the Bennett sisters had met with me in Josies..He had in fact been picked up by THE FBI!!!

It seemed as though the inquiries I had made to the detectives in Sarasota, San Diego and Daly City had got them to making calls and suddenly the local FBI was interested in his past marriages and the subsequent tragic conclusions... He had been in federal custody for close to six hours and released...No way he could have tampered with Antoinette Bennett's car!

Carlotta told me that they lifted a fingerprint from the underside of Antoinette's car....but that it wasn't Hutton's and it wasn't a match for anybody in their database or the VICAP federal database.....With no witnesses and with him actually being with the FBI at the time, they had no choice but to let him go..

I did a check of his phone records before and after he was in custody....The only person he called was Veronica Bennett and a Lawyer and a gambler named Sidney "Wild Eyes" Booker....

So naturally,I did a work up on Mr. Booker...Born and raised here in Philadelphia...He did a four year stint in the Army, then moved out to California where he got in a little trouble and did a four year stint in the Federal Prsion at Lompoc! The same time a certain Mr. William Hutton was also doing time there!

I knew that he played in a high stakes crap game in the backroom of a diner near the airport...I decided to pay him a visit.

II-

Sidney Booker wasn't hard to find...I went in the diner, ordered a tumbler of coffee and called for the manager, a guy named Nat, who I'd done a favor for years ago....

"Hey Kevin...What's good?" he asked.

"Card game still hot?" I asked.

He pointed to the back room....

''Thanks Nat." I said.

''Hey man, say hello to Kool Kat, Donald Smooth, Chris Thompson and Chess when you see em." he said.

''Will do Nat.You need to come out to Josies...They're all in there most weekend nights...They'd love to see you." I said.

''When I get the time Kev...I may come through."said Nat.

I walked to the back of the diner and an electric buzzer opened the backdoor for me and I entered a backroom where a high stakes crap game was going on. Several low level playas were involved in a spirited game....a table of all types of cold cuts and cheeses remained untouched...Proof positive that this was a hot game...Cold Brews and Barbecued Chicken wings were being consumed though and several scantily clad young women were sitting around the men, looking bored...

Sitting there in the middle of it was Sidney ''Wild Eyes" Booker , a high stakes gambling man... He was nicknamed ''Wild eyes " because no matter what kind of hand he had...His eyes got as large as saucers...

I sat down next to him and whispered in his ear...

''You Wild Eyes?"

He looked at me and gave the usual retort-

"Who wants to know?"

I smiled..."I want to know....My name is Morris, Kevin Morris....I'm a private investigator.." I said.

"Private ,which means you're being paid by somebody, Private which means I don't have to talk to you if I don't wanna." he said.

"Now why would you not want to talk to me? I just want some information is all." I said.

"Information on who?" he asked

I showed him a glossy photo of William Hutton....He smiled...

"Wow..Slick Willie...." he said.

"Slick Willie?" I said.

"I did time with him in Lompoc....Federal Prison....He's a real shark that guy...always got somethin cookin." he laughed.

"He ever talk about his wives?" I asked.

"Yeah...just said he was married twice and both of em died and he collected a lot of insurance money.Heard another of his wives died after he got out of the joint. That man didn't need to be married. You know...He never said and I wouldn't expect that he would...But I always thought that he offed all of his wives...He's a stone psychopath man!" said Wild Eyes...

"He called you the day before yesterday." I said.

"Yeah, he's havin a bad week..First the Federalis pick him up, then get this....They cut him loose and then the Philly coppers snatch him..hahahahahahahahahahahahaha...How do ya like that? He called me for bail money!" said Wild eyes..

"You give it to him?" I asked.

''Nah...Didn't have to...They cut him loose..Wonder who will pick him up next? The CIA..hahahahahahaha."he said.

I laughed too...Then looked at his hand..

"You look like you're having a good week eh?" I said.

His eyes got as large as saucers...He looked at me and smiled..

"So what do you know huh? Huh?" he said...and we both laughed....

"Tell me somethin Wild Eyes?" I asked.

''Yeah." he said.

"Hutton ever give you the willies...?" I asked.

He looked at me strangely, then he motioned to me to lean in further...

"Every time I talked to him...No emotion in his face...His eyes , a blank stare...This guy was capable of anything....When I heard he was back in Philly...I avoided him...I don't want nothin to do with the guy...Please don't tell him you saw me." said Wild Eyes..

''Don't worry Wild Eyes...Your secret is safe with me." I said.

''Between me and you..I think he did kill his wives...Somethin in the way he talked about it when we was in the joint...Like he aint even care about them, like all he was concerned about was whether he could have insured them for more cash..."said Wild Eyes.

''A real sweetheart of a guy huh?" I said.

"Not a guy I'd like to meet in a dark alley ."said Wild Eyes...

I laughed...He laughed too.

I got up and left and headed home... I thought to myself...Carlotta told me that the brake job on Antoinette Bennett's car had been a real amateur job...A cool, smooth little hustler like William Hutton would have been more professional, less obvious...As much as I thought he was probably a murderer...This had to be someone else..But who? And if it was somebody else...Were the two of them working together?? So many questions...So few answers!

It was out of my hands now...I had been paid and my work was done..Still something nagged at me....

III-

It was always nice ,ending anyday at home with my wife,Sepia...I liked rubbing her feet , rubbing her soft legs and just feeling her soft brown skin in general...

"So lover , your case is over?" she asked.

"Looks like it...I got them the information they needed on Hutton and I got paid.."I said.

She rolled over on the bed...

"But I know you..something is bothering you." she said.

"Yeah...I know that Hutton killed his three previous wives and got huge insurance payments...and I'll never be able to prove that...I suspected that he had a hand in killing Antoinette Bennett, but I can't prove that either and he's got an airtight alibi.....I mean it's not my job to bring him to justice....but I just feel like something bad is going to happen to Veronica Bennett if she marries him and I'd hate to see that slickster get away with murder again." I said.

"Don't worry...you'll think of something.You always do." she said with a smile...

I rolled over on top of her...and just looked at her and smiled...

"You have so much faith in me don't you?" I said.

"Yes, I do.." she said...

"I don't know about Hutton, but I'm thinking about something right now."I said...

"I can- ouuuu...I can feel what you're thinking about....Ummmmmmmph.." she said...

I slid her nightgown up...and slid her panties down her legs and off... She slipped my boxers down and I crawled up on her and entered her slowly..smoothly...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH KEVINNNNNNNNNNNN...OUUUUUUUUUUUUU.." she moaned softly...

Our lips locked in a slow ,passionate embrace.....The more I kissed Sepia, it seemed as though I got even harder.....She continued to stroke me gently...It was driving me crazy!

I caressed her breasts slowly and began kissing her from her neck down to her belly button...

Sepia giggled like a school girl...I cupped her round shapely buttocks and pulled her closer to me as I began kissing her soft lips again, slowly, softly....

She began to tremble, slightly....

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.." she moaned....

And we continued making sweet love throughout the night and the early morning...Whatever was bugging me about this case would just have to wait until the next day.

(TO BE CONTINUED...)

Love Em To Death

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Tue, 07 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

My name is Kevin Morris, I'm a Private Investigator....Looking into things is what I do....I had been hired by two of the Bennett sisters, Antoinette and April Bennett to look into the life and times of one William Hutton..

The Bennett sisters were kind of like celebrities in the Black community...Their father, Lemeul ''Candlelight"Bennett had hit the powerball for 60 million dollars...Everybody in the neighborhood had heard about it!! He was so shocked that he had a massive heart attack about a month later and dropped dead...

He had left a will leaving everything to his three daughters to be divided up evenly....His three daughters were all very attractive and would have had men running after them anyway,money or not...but now, with them having a fortune and being good looking women!!! You can imagine that men were coming out of the woodworks proposing marriage everyday....

Antoinette and April both had hired a big six foot four, heavily muscled security guard named James Brown...I kid you not! To keep the guys away....Veronica Bennett, their youngest sister had gotten involved with the sly and debonair Mr. William Hutton and declined the services of Mr. Brown...

They weren't hard to find...I saw them eating breakfast at Sam Mother's Diner a couple of days, At Mabel Jenkins soul Food Joint a couple of days and other places around the neighborhood.. They looked like a happy couple...but as I well knew...Looks could be deceiving...

A look into Mr. Hutton's background proved to be very disturbing...

He was born ,William Salmon Hutton in Atlanta ,Georgia.. Did a four year stint in the Air Force after high school and then moved to Sarasota ,Floria where he married Betty Mosley...a woman he'd met in the Air Force and looked up after they both got out. He was employed at a nearby Air Force Base as a civilian contractor.

After two years of marriage , In 1993 ,Betty Mosley turned up missing...A thirty day search uncovered her body in her car at the bottom of a Florida swamp...It was implied that she had been drinking and drove off the road into the water and couldn't get out of her car...Mr. Hutton walked away with $300.000 in an insurance policy he took out!

William Hutton next wound up in San Diego, California ,where he married Mary Latham in 1994...They were married for seven years...He worked at an Electronics wholesale store.In the spring of 2000. Mrs. Latham was found in her garage in her car, with the motor running...An apparent suicide!!! A hastily typed Suicide note was found!! Mr.Hutton walked away with $500.000 in an insurance policy he took out.

William Hutton next moved to the Federal Prison in Lompoc, California...He did a three year bid for wire fraud....

Released in the spring of 2003, He married Patty Phillips...a pretty court reporter he had gotten friendly with during his trial ,ironically enough...They lived in a suburb of Daly City, outside of San-Francisco, California..
In June of 2009, Barbara got up during the night and went in her basement...she heard water running....She went to turn on a hanging light and was electrocuted!!! It was ruled an accident..Mr. Hutton walked away with roughly $750,000 dollars in an insurance policy he took out!!!

He then vanished from sight for a few years and next surfaced here in Philadelphia where he opened up a bank account and was living with an aunt, who has since died...It was around this time that he heard about the good fortune of the Bennett sisters and tried to romance first April and then settled for Veronica!!!

Quite a story...Either this guy was extremely bad luck for whoever he chose to hook up with or he was obviously murdering these women....

I called the Homicide departments in Sarasota ,Florida, San Diego,California and Daly City,California...All three of the lead Detectives told me the same thing...That yes they suspected him of murder, but that they never had enough to prove anything and that as soon as he collected the insurance money, he had vanished!

II-

"Kevin, I swear, when you get mixed up in something...It is never anything dull." said Lt.Sissy Van Buren of Homicide, who I shared this story with...I bought her a tumbler of coffee and was standing on the roof of the C.I.D. building talking to her...A ritual we had started years ago ,when I came to her with info on a case.

"Don't I know it Sissy...What do you think?" I asked.

"He's a murderous little fortune hunter...Those girls are going to have more guys like him coming to their door unless they leave Philly as soon as possible and keep their mouths shut." she said.

"Yeah...you're right...But I was just paid to get the skinny on him....He hasn't done anything in Philadelphia."I said.

"Well at least not yet...but if anybody does turn up dead...He's going to be my first suspect and unlike the others..I won't drop the ball..I'll put that creep away for life." she said.

"Well alright now Ms. Sissy!" I said and laughed..

Sissy looked at me and laughed too..but I had no doubt she would put him down if he got cute in Philly! Sissy was nothing if not thorough!

''Hey when does Chica come back?" I asked.

"Oh she's already back in town...She comes back to work tomorrow." said Sissy.

"Cool...I'm so happy for her...And she's with a good guy too, ADA Keith Wallace..." I said.

"Yeah...I knew those two were going to wind up getting married as soon as they hooked up...You could just see it."

''Yeah, I wish that all relationships were solid like theirs.." I said.

"Me too. So many have so many gray areas." said Sissy...

"Yeah, it's the gray areas that keep people like you and me busy." I said.

''Aint that the truth?" she said.

I hugged Sissy !

"Be Easy Friend.."I said as I kissed her forehead.

"Always Kevin." she replied and smiled as I left...

III-

Josies was not where I wanted to do this...but it was the only place I could meet with these women...Gus pointed to them when I came in and just shook his head...I had to laugh at his imitation of Joe Neptune, the bartender at the Mermaid Club.

The next day,Antoinette Bennett, April Bennett and their waywood sister, Veronica Bennett and her fiance, William Hutton all sat at a table...I passed several doziers to Antoinette...Their bodyguard, James Brown stood menacingly behind me...

"So Veronica...These are the facts...Mr. Hutton here has been married three times and all three of his wives have met a ghastly fate....and in all three cases, he has pocketed a huge insurance payout...Not to mention, he did three years in federal prison for wire fraud.." said Antoinette.

"He told me all about his three wives untimely deaths...He had nothing to do with them...Two were purely accidents...He wasn't even there when they happened and one was a suicide for god sakes...And yes...he told me he did time in Prison...I know all that...But I love him...and I'm going to stick by him." she said.

"That's right....I had nothing to do with my wives deaths...and the jail term...I got in with the wrong people is all.I made a mistake." he added..

"Did you tell her that you dated or tried to holler at her sister April?" I asked him. He looked at me with white hot hatred...

"That was before I met her and yes, she knew about that." said William Hutton..

"I don't care what you all have found out...William has been nothing but forthright with me and I'm sticking by him...you hear?" screamed Veronica..

"Fine...but Ronnie...If you marry him, you won't get a penny of Papa's money." said Antoinette....

''I don't care...I don't need it..William has plenty of money." she said.

I smiled...I'll just bet he did...I checked his bank account...He had run through a lot of his money..Living high off the hog, expensive clothes, a flashy car, trips to Vegas and Atlantic City and Miami...I didn't tell the sisters that...but it was just something I was keeping to myself for the time being.

With that, the two of them got up and walked out...

Antoinette and April passed me an envelope with the rest of my money in it...

"Well thank you anyway Kevin...You did a good job...You're better than they said you were." said April.

I counted my money and smiled..

''Pleasure doing business with you."I said and I watched as they walked out....

Honey Brown walked over to me after they left....

"That is one jacked up family." she said.

"Yeah, but they pay well and on time." I laughed.

"That's what matters right?" she said and we both laughed.

IV-

You would have thought that that was the end of the case right?? Wrong!

A few hours later...April Bennett called me wailing...There had been an accident!!!...Her sister, Antoinette was dead!!!

I was no longer employed by them, but I drove to the sight of the accident...It was bad...the car was totaled..

The only good thing was that I saw my good friend, Detective Carlotta Rodriguez at the scene!!!...

She was happy to see me...She ran over to me and hugged me and kissed me on the cheek.....

''Heyyy Carlotta..How are you doing? And congratulations on your engagement!" I said.

''Thank you Kevin....Hey what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I was employed by the dead woman up until a few hours ago...I heard she'd been killed in a bad car crash...What are you doing here?" I asked.

"This wasn't a bad car crash Kevin..This was murder!!!...Somebody tampered with the brakes...It was an amateur job too....So obvious...even the patrolman who was the first at the scene picked it up.."said Carlotta.

"Ohhh boyyy...My work with her was done....but ohhh crap, somebody else's wasn't." I said.

"What's up?" asked Carlotta...

"We gonna have to go somewhere and talk Chica...It's a long story." I said.

I had thought this case was over...It was just beginning.

(DEFINITELY TO BE CONTINUED!!)

Tall,Dark and Deadly

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Mon, 06 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

A rare Friday night that I'm not at Josie's having a cold one with the guys...I'm just out walking alone, enjoying a nice warm spring night in the city... I spot a tony outdoor bar and grille and spy three very sexy young ladies ,who I recognize...I walk over to them...

"Well hello Mrs. Foxworth, and Ms. Jones...Who is that fox you have sitting with you?" I say slyly....

Bonita laughs out loud...So does Bridget Jones...

''Hey Kevin...What are you doing in this neck of the woods?" asks Bonita, my friend, Attorney Robert Foxworth's wife..

"Oh Just out walking, getting some air...enjoying the night."I said.

''Hi Kevin."said Bridget Jones...

"Hey Bridget,How are you? Whose your friend? And does she have a man?" I joked..

Their "friend" was my lovely wife, Sepia, who is smiling and playing along...

"I'm afraid I'm married sir." she says coyly, blinking her eyes at me...Bonita and Bridget are in stitches...

I sit down next to her and kiss her neck and her cheek and whisper...

"Well,if you don't tell him...I won't."

Sepia cracks up laughing.....

"Ouuu..that kind of talk can get a guy hurt...My husband has a very big gun..." she says..

"So do I." I say and she can't play along any longer, she starts laughing......as does Bonita and Bridget...

Sepia comes and sits on my lap....

''So why are you busting up our "Girls Night Out?" she asks...

"Oh don't mind me ladies..I was just in the area." I said.

"You seen my hubby?" asked Bonita...

"Earlier tonight...We were at Aqua Bar and then he left to meet up with ADA Keith Wallace at Josies.."I said.

"We are supposed to be showing him and Carlotta a house in a few days.." said Bonita..

"Yeah...Robert told me that Keith and Carlotta are engaged and are house hunting...Good for them...They're both good people." I said.

"Yeah, they are..I knew they were going to wind up getting married...I could see it."said Bridget...

"How bout you and Chazz?, Bridget, How's that working out?" I asked.

"Kevin...I think I'm being deceived...He's supposed to be blind right? But I think he can see...I think he's defrauding the public." said Bridget Jones.

I smiled...I was keeping Chazz's secret...but more and more, he was starting to say and do things that would let it be known that the blind piano player wasn't blind at all...Gus, Honey Brown, Dutch Van Buren, Detective Carlotta Rodriguez and Symphony Sam had all asked me if he could see and I had lied to them all saying that as far as I knew he was blind...

"Well,I'm all tapped out...Bridget...I'll drop you off wherever it is you want to go." said Bonita..

"Thanks Bonita. Let me call Chazz, tell him I'm coming." said Bridget...

''Well Hubby...I'm assuming you didn't walk here from Aqua Bar..Where is your car?" asked my wife.

"It's down the street." I said.

"See you Monday girl." said Sepia to Bonita...

We walked to the parking lot to my car and we pulled off....In hindsight..I should have gone straight home...but I remembered something...

''Hey Sepia...I gotta stop by Josies..Do you mind?" I asked..

"No...Not at all...You can buy your wife a drink to top the night off." she laughed..

"Ohhh then you won't be good for anything...you'll be drunk." I joked...

"You buy the right kind of drink and I might surprise you." she said and winked..."

I smiled.

II-

Josies was packed as it was on any Friday...Gus spotted us when we came through the door...

"Heyyyyy, It's Mr. and Mrs. Morris!" he said as we came in...Sepia sat down at the crowded bar...

I peeled off a couple of twenties and put it in Gus's hands....

"That's my tab...from last week...I forgot." I said.

"Aww kid, I know you're good for it." said Gus...

"Give Sepia whatever she wants....Is Chazz here/" I asked.

"Yeah he's over there..." said Gus pointing to Chazz in the corner ,whispering to a young voluptuous young lady, who was giggling...

"You sure that guy is blind?" asked Gus...

"That's what he's told me." I said as I walked over to Chazz...Gus gave me the side eye!

Upon seeing me, Chazz smiled...

"Hey Kev..How you doin?" he said.

"Hey how did you know who he was?" asked the young lady...

"I uh, smelled his particular brand of cologne." said Chazz , thinking fast....

"Wow, you're good." she said.

"How's my money doing Chazz?" I asked...

He owed me money for doing him a little favor of the private investigative type....He went in his suit jacket pocket and passed me an envelope...I counted the money...It was all there...Chazz was good about paying his debts!

"We good?" he said.

"Yeah we solid.....Now listen...Bridget is on her way to your house..I was just with her." I said.

"Ohhhhhhh..Thanks Kev...I gotta get outta here...Where's Mickey?" he asked...

I pointed to a guy who was in the corner asleep...That was his driver...

"Got'cha...Good lookin out Kev..Be Easy babe..." he said.

"Always." I replied..

III-

I was on my way back to the bar to get my wife when my path was blocked by two very attractive women!!

"Ladies...This is definitely not the time." I joked..

"Relax...We asked your wife over at the bar where you were and she directed us to you." said the one..

I looked over at Sepia, who winked at me and busted out laughing...

"I know you don't know me.." said the one..Who I knew to be Antoinette Bennett.

"Uh actually I do...You're Antoinette Bennett and this is April Bennett, your sister...Your late father hit the powerball for about sixty million and left it to his three daughters....and by the way, where is your other sister,Veronica?" I asked. She looked impressed.

"That's why we are here Mr. Morris...We want to hire you."said April Bennett.

"Huh? " I said.

"We know who you are too!...You're a Private Detective...You come with great references.." said Antoinette.

''Is your sister missing?" I asked.

"No, but she's about to make a big mistake." said April who passed me a Glossy photo of a man..He was tall, dark and handsome and dressed well...Brown skinned, with a well cut moustache..

"Who's this?" I asked.

"His name is William, William Hutton....He and my sister are engaged.. We think he's shady and a fortune hunter.Somethin about him isn't right...He has the look of a killer" said April Bennett.

" The look of a killer eh? You want me to look into him right?" I asked.

"Exactly...All we want is information..So we can show her that he's no good." said Antoinette.

"That's it?" I said.

"That's it. We've heard rumors...Stories that he's been married before and that all three of his ex wives are now dead.Possibly murdered." said April...

"Hmmm, So he's Tall dark and deadly." I joked...

''That's what I think. Before he met Veronica, he was tryin to holla at me..But I wasn't feelin him, he was just too slick...too much of a fast talker...Then I started hearing stories about him..You know how the streets be talkin." said April.

Antoinette gave me an envelope full of cash...I knew how money had a way of talkin.

"That's a down payment.Please look into him...We don't want anything untoward to happen to our sister..She won't listen to us...That guy is bad news...It's all over him." she said.

''Okayyyyy.. "I said and pulled out my smartphone...

"Can I have a number and an address to contact you ladies?" I said.

''Why certainly." they said.

We exchanged addresses and numbers....

"I'll be in touch." I said.

"Oh Thank you Mr. Kevin." they said.

IV-

I got Sepia and we went home....

"Well money bags...you got paid today from work...Chazz paid you and you got a little somethin somethin from those Bennett gals thanks to me." said Sepia...

I peeled off one thousand dollars and put it in her hands...The rest of the money,I put in my sock drawer...

"You got paid today too.From work and just now from me.." I said.

She laughed....

"Yes I did.." she said.

"Now...When am I going to get paid?" I joked..

"The faster you help me out of this dress, the faster you'll find out." she said..

"Mmmmmmm..I like it when you talk like that " I laughed...

"I just know you do." said Sepia.

Loved my wife!

(TO BE CONTINUED)

What Do You Say?

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Fri, 03 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

''Okay Keith...What do you think man...This ring is about my cousin's size...You like itttttttttttttttttttttt? asked Carlotta's cousin..Ernesto... At home in Philadelphia...I was the law...but I had also been raised in West Philly, where you didn't ask questions you didn't want to know the answer to...I didn't know where or how he had come across this ring...But I liked it...I had to have it...

"It's beautiful...but man...I can't afford this...At least not right now..This is a huge rock."I said.

"Afford? I told you to leave your money at home...This is on the house family...Consider this my early wedding gift..." he laughed.

''Come on man..I gotta break you off something..." I said.

"Okay...Gimme a G. American money if you insist..." he said.

Everybody has a price....I peeled off one thousand dollars and gave it to him...That was what I had planned to spend..He looked at it...Handed me back $500.00 and said sternly...

"Take that...This five hundred is my party money for tonight...You gotta have somethin to buy my cousin champaigne tonight...Eh? Now don't say nothing else about it...Go make my cousin smile.." he said and flashed that kilowat grin of his..

"You love Carlotta don't you?" I said.

"Don't tell nobody, but she's my favorite cousin..Always looked out for me...Even when we were little..That's my girl..." he said.

"She's good like that." I said.

"You know it...Be good to her....I know you will." he said and patted me on the back.

It had been all I could do to get out of Carms house in the morning when they discovered that I was hanging out with Ernesto..

Both sisters grilled me as to the nature of my business with Ernesto...I gave the same stock answer....

''We just hangin out..."

Carlotta just looked at me puzzled..

Carm whispered in my ear..

"Hanging out eh? You're going to buy something for Carlotta...You don't fool me..A ring right? " she asked.

"Nah...No ring." I said smiling.

She gave me a side eye!

"Uh huh..Yeah...Right...You're a lousy liar handsome!" she said.

I just smiled and kissed Carmen on the cheek...She rubbed my hand softly.

II-

Carlotta and Her Sister were going to get news from a different source than me though...Their Father dropped by Carm's house and sat them both down..

"Carmen, Carlotta.." he said and cleared his throat....

"Uh Oh Carlotta...If he's calling us by our full names...That means this is something major." said Carm...

Carlotta smiled..

"Well uh...as you know...Ahhh..You two are my only children...My hearts...Well uh..Sometimes in life er ahhh, well things happen and uh ..er...Well..When a man meets a woman..uh er..." he said.

"Daddy, what are you trying to tell us?" asked Carm...

"We know about the birds and the bees papi." laughed Carlotta..

"Uhhhh, ruhhhh.. Well like I said...When a man meets a woman..uhhh..." he said.

Just then, Ernesto and I returned...

"We are back! See Carlotta, He's in one peice...and he's got something for you.." said Ernesto....patting me on the back and winking at his cousin, Carmen.

"That's nice...but Daddy was getting ready to tell us something." said Carlotta...

"No...No...Don't let me interrupt...Keith, you're our guest...Tell uh Carlotta whatever it is you have to tell her." he said.

"Uh Carlotta, come outside with me a minute." I said.

"Huh?" she asked...

"Please, it's important..." I said.

"Ohhhhhhhhh,okayy." she said jokingly....She looked at Carm...Carm shrugged her shoulders!

I took her by the hand and led her outside...

"What you got?" she asked...

I pulled out the box and gave it to her...

"Open it!" I said.

Carlotta's eyes got huge....

"Oh My God, Keith ,Did you and Ernesto steal this?" she asked..

"Well, I didn't steal it." I said..

She looked at me funny and gave me a side eye...

''Well, Carlotta Anna Maria Rodriguez, What do you say? Will you marry me?"I asked.

She put both of her hands over her mouth.....Then she let out a scream that scared the hell out of me...

"YESSSS...YESSS...YESSSSSSSSSSSS...YESSSSSSSSSSS!!.."she yelled and kissed me like it was going out of style! Carm was looking out the door...She had a broad smile on her face....

We walked back into the house....Without me saying anything...Carm grabbed Carlotta and they both danced around...

"I told you!!!!....I told you!!!!...I told you he was going to propose to you...Didn't I tell you!..I could see it in his eyes..Welcome to the family handsome!" screamed Carm...Who eyed the rock on her sister's finger and patted me on the back.

''Ernesto...I owe you man." I said.

Ernesto patted me on the back and shook my hand...

"No you don't. Good Job Man....My work here is done.Take it easy...but do take it babe!" he said and he left...Got in his car and pulled off.

"Always..." I said.

Mr. Rodriguez seemed relieved..But Carmen was just as quick on the draw as her younger sister was...

''Okay Daddy, now what was it you had to tell us?" she asked.

"Oh now..now..now..No need to spoil this occasion with my news...This is about Carlotta, My baby girl is getting married...You two crazy kids set a date?" he asked.

''Daddy, he just asked me to marry him..No we haven't set a date..." she said.

"So...What you got to tell us?" asked Carlotta...

"You too baby girl?/" he said..

"Well I might as well get this out....You two are about to have either a brother or a sister in about eight or nine months...My lady friend is uh with child." he blurted out!

The room went silent!

"Oh I knew that." said Carm.

''You Did?"he gasped!

"Yeah, I thought it was something else." said Carlotta...
Even I was puzzled...

"We could see she was pregnant when she came over to meet Carlotta the other day." said Carm..

"Plus she told us....We were just wondering when YOU were going to tell us."said Carlotta.

Again He looked relieved ...I had to laugh...

"Oh Lord....My daughters....just like their mother, may she rest in peace...Can't keep nothin from em." He said..

He and I busted out laughing...

Carlotta picked up her smartphone and walked over to a corner...There was a stream of tears suddenly running down her face...She was making a long distance call...I knew who she was calling...

Carm rubbed my arm....

"She's Alright Handsome!!..She's crying because she's happy! You made my little sister very happy." she assured me.

"Hello." said Sissy..

"Hi Boss Lady." said Carlotta..

"Chica is that you?" she asked..

"Yes..." she said.

"You're crying , Are you alright?" she asked.

"I couldn't be better Boss Lady..Guess what?" said Carlotta.

''What?"

"I'm Engaged!! Keith asked me to marry him and I said Yes!!!!" she said...

I heard Sissy scream through the phone....Carlotta was laughing and jumping up and down !

''I knew it...I knew it..I had a feeling he was going to pop the question soon..You know he can't live without you..." Sissy joked...

"I guess I know now.." said Carlotta...

"Aww you knew...Can I tell the guys or do you want to keep it a secret?" she asked..

"No you can tell em.." she said...

"Duke and Tyriq are out on a case, Jimmy is in court...They all miss you Chica..All they talk about is when is ''Top'' coming back!" she laughed...

Carlotta laughed...

"I'm sooo happy for you Chica..." said Sissy...

"You're next Boss Lady.." said Carlotta.

"We'll see...I actually think Duke and Dr. Hunter might be next..They're getting pretty chummy...Like you and Keith." she giggled.."But look...I'm gonna let you two go and enjoy the rest of sunny Puerto Rico...I Can't wait to see you two." she said.

''Can't wait to see you either,Boss Lady."said Carlotta.

"Give your future hubby my regards." said Sissy.

"I will." she said.

''Sissy said Hi" said Carlotta.

I laughed...I put my arm around Carlotta...

"Come on future Mrs. Wallace...Let's celebrate at that club we were at the other night." I said.

"Okay baby! Wowwww, Mrs. Wallace..I like the way that sounds." she said.

"Me too!" I said and smiled.

III-

Carlotta and I drove up to the club just in time to see the police arresting a woman..She had her face covered by a jacket...

Carlotta's cousin, Detective Mercedes Rodriguez and Officer Munez were there as uniformed police officers brought the woman out, handcuffed her and put her in the patty wagon....

"Cousin Carlotta." said Mercedes...

"Is that your victim's wife?" asked Carlotta...

"Yes...The boyfriend gave up the entire thing...She hired him to bash in the boxers head after she witnessed their fist fight in the bar earlier that night. They were fighting over her, ironically enough. And they strung him up to make it look like it was a suicide after he was already dead...Only the belt wouldn't hold him...I was right...or rather You and handsome here were right...Thanks again for your help.." she said.

"Nah...you were on the right track Mercedes...you would've cracked this case whether I was here or not."said Carlotta..

"Thanks Cousin..."said Mercedes.

"Handsome here as you call him, will soon be a member of our family!He just asked me to marry him today and I said yes."said Carlotta, showing her the engagement ring.

"Ayyye Mios Dios...Look at that rock!! Cousinnnnn...you took my advice!! Congratulations! Welcome to our family!" she said and she kissed both of us on the cheek!...

I looked at Officer Munez....He shrugged his shoulders..

"Uhh Mercedes..Officer Munez has something to say to you." I said.

He looked horrified..

"Uhhh, errr..Uhh Detective Rodriguez...I uh, would really like to uh, go out with you for a drink sometimes....You know sometimes when we are off duty.." he blurted out!

"And then you want to jump my bones right?" she laughed...

''Mercedes stopp!" said Carlotta laughing!

He blushed...

Carlotta smiled.."Awww he is sooo cute...He likes my cousin." she said.

"I'll go out with you...But when you make Detective, you know we won't be working in the same precinct, You know that right? We won't be partners...This aint Telemundo." she said.

"Yes..I know..." he said.

"You knew all the time didn't you?" I asked Mercedes...Who just smiled.

"Of course...This guy brings me coffee and pastries everyday, Always remembers my birthday...and follows behind me like a puppy..Even sent me flowers once on Valentines Day,because he knew I was bummed about being alone and didn't sign...but I knew it was him..Yes..I knew.I'm a detective.I was waiting for him to say something...and getting a little impatient" she said and laughed..She sounded just like Sissy.

"Hmmmm, kind of reminds me of somebody else I know." said Carlotta giving me the side eye..

Carlotta and Mercedes burst into raucous laughter....

Carlotta and I sat at the bar later on that night...

''Carlotta?" I said.

''Yes?"she answered..

"Look..We had a deal...That if your Father really liked me..That you'd move in with me...But I see how you were raised and I respect your principles..You don't have to do that...We are gettin married soon...And that will be time enough for you to move in.." I said.

"A deal is a deal...We are engaged now!!..I'll move in with you.." she said.

"Yeah?" I said.

"Yes..I was kind of gettin tired of going back and forth from your place to mine anyway...I live halfway across the city from you." she said.

"Well, I'm plannin to sell that loft and buy a house in a few months.."I said.

"For real??" she said.

"Yeah...Kevin's wife,Sepia and Bonita, her business partner are supposed to show me some homes in the area when we get back...I'd sure love it if my fiance came with me and had some say so in it." I said.

"Wow...Fiance..I like the way that sounds."she said..

''Me too! Sounds a little more serious than girlfriend." I said.

We walked outside.... Carlotta's cousin, Detective Mercedes Rodriguez and Officer Munez were standing around the corner from the club kissing passionately....

I stared...

"Is she older than him?" I asked...

"Mind your business." said Carlotta as she tugged on my shirt...

''You're my business now, Future Mrs. Wallace." I said.

"You better know it, Mr. Wallace." she said.

We both laughed and walked towards our rental car.

EPILOUGE:

Carlotta's cousins all came to see us as we got ready to go...Her sister Carm shed a few tears...

"Oh My God...My baby sister is getting married.." she said...

"Ohhh Carm, don't cry, you're going to start me crying." said Carlotta...

They embraced.... Ernesto walked up to me and gave me dap....

"Okay Homie...I'm gonna check you out when I come to Philly." he laughed...

"I'll be looking forward to your visit man...You know you'll always have a place to stay..." I said.

"Oh that won't be a problem..I got places to stay...feel me?" He said and grinned..

"I feel you." I said and laughed..

Salizar Rodriguez shook my hand and hugged me....

''Welcome to the Family son...Take care of my baby...She doesn't think she needs protection, but she does." he said.

"I know....and I will." I said.

They helped us put our luggage in our rental car and all of them gave us something to take with us...

"When we get a date set...We'll call you....I do hope you all can come up to Philly." said Carlotta...

''Wouldn't miss it" said Mercedes...

Carlotta hugged everyone...Mercedes and Carm shed a few tears but said nothing...And we got in the car and pulled off slowly..Watching them wave as we drove off towards the airport...

I stared out the window and watched as we left San Juan and headed towards Philly....

''Wow..We are getting married...I can't believe it...Just a year ago..I was too nervous to say anything to you and now look." I said.

"Yes, now look!..You are real comfortable with me now , Taking my clothes off at will..,Chasing me around the bedroom.." she joked...and laughed , squeezing my hand.

"You know Carlotta, That's not going to stop." I said.

''Wouldn't want it to sweetie." she said and kissed me..

Primos Amados (Beloved Cousins)

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Thu, 02 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

I awoke the next morning to the nice smell of Jazmine incense...and a nice warm breeze coming into the window...I had a cold towel on my head...I looked up..Carlotta and her sister Carm were sitting on the side of the bed...Even though I had wanted to make love to Carlotta the night before..I doubt if that happened...I remember talking to her, her giggling slightly and me drifting off....It was the most peaceful sleep I'd had in ages...

Carlotta leaned down and kissed me long and softly in the lips.....

" MMMMMM, How you feelin this morning boo?" she asked as I looked up at her...

"I'm feelin great now!" I said.

Carm smiled...

"You really hung one on last night, handsome...My Dad and my cousin were impressed..Don't feel bad ,they're in the same shape....They're both sleeping it off at our cousin's house..." she laughed..."How's your head?" she asked.

Surprisingly, I didn't have a headache...

"I'm good!" I said.

''You da man" laughed Carm.. Carlotta smiled...

How lucky was I, to wake up in the bedroom with not one, but two gorgeous women sitting on my bed...This was the stuff of fantasies...

"I got breakfast cooking....I'm pretty sure you're both hungry.. Especially you,handsome." she said. Handsome was Carm's nickname for me....Hey I could do worse right?

She left the room, and I got up...Looked out the window....

"This is beautiful Carlotta...Thank you so much.."I said.

"Thank me for what?" she asked,puzzled...

''For letting me into your world...It's a beautiful world...Just like you."I said..

She hugged me for a long time....

"Awww thank you...You can be so sweet at times.." she said..."When you're not trying to get sex from me..." she added and then winked and laughed...

''Well I did kind of think that by saying that, it might be kind of like a precursor." I joked.

"I know you did." she laughed and playfully slapped my arm...

''See? Later though..I promised I'd visit Mercedes down at her precinct today...She wanted my advice on something.... Get dressed ADA, I want you to come with..." she said.

"Okay, but Carlotta we are on vacation...We aint crackin no cases." I said.

"You already sound like my husband...I know that..She just wanted some advice." she said.

"I'm sorry Carlotta...I didn't mean to come off like that." I said.

"It's okay...I need that sometimes...And you almost are my husband.." she said and then got up and walked toward the door....

''Hey Carlotta." I called.

''Huh?" she said.

"Why don't you uh close that door,come over here and uh let's uh pretend we are married?" I said slyly...

She looked at me and laughed and shook her head...

"Later okay!...I promise...We gotta eat before my sister gets mad..." she said..

II-

We had a delicious breakfast...Spanish Omelets and Bacon and Mimosas....and coffee and a fresh bowl of fruit...Carm didn't spare anything... I washed all of the dishes and cleaned the kitchen for them both..

Carm looked at Carlotta and smiled..

"Girl, all I can say is I hope I find one just like him... You better hold on to him like gold."

Carlotta just smiled...

We drove down to the Police station where her cousin...Detective Mercedes Rodriguez was...

Not only was she a looker, but she reminded me more of Sissy than she did Carlotta.
She was the younger sister of Ernesto..She was younger than Carlotta and Ernesto by a year, but I could tell she thought a lot of her cousin..She had become a police officer because Carlotta had and when Carlotta became a detective in Philly..She soon became one here in San Juan...

She took us to the medical examiners office...

Here we saw the body of her murder victim...A tall muscular Latino male, about 32 or 33 years old, Athletic build...

I took one look at him and I recognized him..

"Hey that's Arturo Guzman, the boxer...." I said.

''You know of him?" asked Mercedes...

''Yeah..I'm a big fight fan...I've seen him fight a few times..Me ,Duke and Soloman saw him fight Zack Williams in Atlantic City..." I said.

"Well , you unfortunately won't see him fight anymore...He was found dead in his loft on Friday night...Hung...They want to write it up as a suicide, but I don't think so..." she said.

She showed Carlotta his neck....his neck had a long thick belt mark on it...almost as if some of the skin had been cut off.

"We found blood from the head Carlotta....He had been in a fist fight that night." said Mercedes as Carlotta examined the head, which was badly swollen..

I looked at his face...He had a black eye....

''Looks like he got the worst of it."I said.

"No..he knocked the guy out cold."said Mercedes...

"This isn't consistant with hanging..Look at this belt...This guy is at least 200 pounds...This belt couldn't hold my weight and I'm about 119, 120 pounds...Forget you heard that Keith." said Carlotta, winking..

Mercedes laughed....

"You don't care do you handsome?" she said..

What was this? Was every woman in Carlotta's family going to call me Handsome? Not that I minded, I kinda liked it..
Because from what I could see, It seemed like every woman in her family was fine as wine...They could call me anything they wanted.

"I sure don't.." I said with a smile..

"Have someone purchase a belt like that..I'll demonstrate that it's too flimsy, too light to hold someone up.." said Carlotta..

"I'm waiting for the autopsy report...to determine exact cause of death...I think he was bludgeoned." said Mercedes...

''So do I cousin."said Carlotta.

"Was he married?" I asked.

''Seperated.. They had a child..but at the time of his death..They were involved in a bitter custody battle." said Mercedes...

''Was the wife here in San Juan?" I asked.

"Yes...She found the body." said Mercedes..

"Hmmmm ,He have a pre nup?" I asked.

"Yes...and in it..she got nothing!!!...But he had recently drawn up a will and in that will she got half and the baby got the other half..."said Mercedes..

"I'm a lawyer...That will trumps that pre nup....You need to be looking at the wife."I said.

"She's a small woman , No way she could over power a big man like this."said Mercedes...

"Then look for a boyfriend, an accomplice." I said.

Carlotta smiled with pride...pointed to me and said-"See why I love him...Sexy and smart..."

Mercedes laughed..

"I see."

Carlotta whispered in my ear....

"Let's get out of here..I am sooo turned on right now...Really...No joke!" she said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Really." said Carlotta.

"Okay...let's get out of here." I whispered.

"Uh...Is there anything else Mercedes?" asked Carlotta..

"No...you gave me more than I was lookin for, Get out of here, enjoy the city." she said.

We were leaving, but we weren't going to see much of the city...At least not for a few hours!

III-

We drove back to Carm's house..Carm was not home...We went back to our guest room, closed the door, and preceded to pull our clothes off...Carlotta had not been lying..I had been turned on myself...Around all of these beautiful women...All this good food, great smells...No way I wasn't...This was right on time!

We found ourselves in the middle of the floor kissing passionately..I was kissing her neck and under her chin, her breasts, her navel...She was kissing my chest ,my neck and finally my lips....

She was holding my now raging erection and just massaging it with her soft hands.. and pretty soon we were in the bed..

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. Keith...Keitttttttttth.ouuuuuuu..ohhh my goddddddddddddddd!" she moans and cums very easily as I begin... She holds me and wraps her legs around my back as I really begin going in and out of her....

We got into a nice rhythm and began moving together slowly at first , for close to thirty minutes....I was trying to savor every moment, every minute...and then we began moving faster, harder...

I could've stayed inside Carlotta like this forever , I just kept pounding and she kept moaning and grabbing ahold to the pillows and tossing them and moaning and howling...and I kept pounding in and out ,in and out for close to an hour...I was sweating profusely....so was she....I began kissing her neck and her earlobes and her cheeks...She held me tighter and continued to kiss me...Which got me even more excited!!

"AYE DIOS MIO....OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AYE DIOS MIO....AYE DIOS MIO PAPI...OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU..." she screamed as the bed began rocking furiously , headboard slamming against the wall....Her speaking spanish during lovemaking excited me even more!!!

I came furiously...So did she....And we lie there for a long time sweating profusely...
She leaned over and kissed me for a long time..and then she just cuddled in my arms..

We eventually got up...Showered and changed our clothes....Carlotta took the sheets and pillow cases and washed and dried them and changed the bed linens...

"My sister is going to know what we did here...." she giggled...

''Yeah,I know...but it was going to happen anyhow eventually.."I said.

"Yeah, it was.." she laughed.

Carlotta lit some Jazmine incense and opened the windows....

''Come on, Let's get out of here." she said.

"You're the boss." I replied and smiled as Carlotta took me by the hand and led me out of her sisters house and to our rental car...

IV-

For the next few days and nights, Carlotta and I toured the town, went shopping all day one day, Bought presents for Detective Tyriq Pile's kids...(Carlotta is their godmother) and a few others on another day.

We visited a few more of her friends and relatives another day...On our next to last day in San Juan, we visited the beach for awhile..and had a picnic on the beach...Just me and her...It was incredible..

I don't know what was more beautiful...The beach and the beautiful water or Carlotta!
That night,We had a fantastic meal at a hip bistro and wound up at a club...where a very familliar band was playing....Downtown Rob Brown's quintet,featuring Dutch Van Buren on Saxophone... That was Sissy's father..This was almost like being in Philly...Nice seeing somebody down here from home that I knew. Then a Latin Band came on...and all bets were off..The dancefloor exploded!!
Percussion, Horns...the works.. Downtown Brown who was known to be a jazz purist of sorts ,let his guard down and played trumpet with the band...So Did Dutch..He added his Saxophone to the group...Carlotta and I loved it!

"Carlotta, this is the best vacation I've ever had in my life." I said..

It was...Eating good food, dancing, partying, shopping, the gorgeous women in Carlotta's family alone and just being with her! It didn't get any better...I would always remember this!

"You know what? Me too." she laughed as we fell into each others sweaty arms..

Carlotta is a great dancer and she and I danced the night away...Within hours ,we both were sweating profusely...I felt someone tap me on the shoulder...I turned around and it was her cousin, Ernesto...He had two very voluptuous ladies on both arms..

"Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy man...I saw you and my cousin out there on the dance floor." he laughed...

''Ernesto...my man!" I said.

He laughed...."I see you are leaving the hard stuff alone tonight.."

I had a bottled water...

"Yeah man.."I said.

"Me too...In my profession,it's not good to drink like that." he said.

"Hey Ernesto..I need you to do me a favor tomorrow." I said.

''What kind of favor?" he asked.

"Know of any jewelry stores around here? I got a little money, I want to buy something for your cousin...but I don't want her to uh know about it." I said.

The two women smiled...

"Awwwwwwwwww...isn't that nice?" they said.

"Ohhhh...Is it like that homie?" he said.

"Yeah man...I'm ready..." I said.

"Okay..I'll come get you tomorrow morning...Just tell Carlotta we hangin out..And save your money...I can get you a nice rock...I know a guy who owes me money...We can make a trade...." he said.

"That'll work.." I said. "Thanks man" I said.

He patted me on the back...

"Go on with that..You bout to be family." he laughed.

Carlotta was over by the bar....

"Was that my cousin you were talking to?" she asked ,laughing...

"Yeah.." I said.

"Hope you weren't picking up his bad habits...As you can see ,he's a womanizer." she said.

"I hadn't noticed." I joked...She punched my arm playfully...

"He wants to hang out with me tomorrow...He's coming by to get me." I said.

"Really?" she said.

"Yeah...It's all good..I suppose he's getting a feel for me." I said.

"I suppose."she said and looked at me strangely...

"Relax...We aint gonna be gone that long..When we get back, it's me and you all day, all night.I promise" I said and pulled her to me, hugging her...

V-

"Isn't that your other cousin over there?" I asked...I had spotted Mercedes and a man entering the club...

"Yes..so it is." said Carlotta..

There was a big hulk of a man at the bar...He had a bandage over his nose and a bruise on his cheek...He had the look of a thug..

She walked over to him and pulled her badge out of her pocket book...As soon as she did that, about four or five guys got up and walked away....God she reminded me of Carlotta...I had watched her clear out a bar the exact same way...

Mercedes was talking to the guy and he seemed to be getting belligerent and angry...

He went to raise his hand to her, when another man grabbed his arm put it behind his back and tackled him..

Carlotta and I ran over to them...Mercedes raised her palm to let us know it was alright....

"Heyy Cousin...It's cool...This is undercover officer Nicky Munez...He's going to make a good detective.. Nicky...This is my cousin...Detective Carlotta Rodriguez from filadelphia..and that's her boyfriend...Keith Wallace...He's a Lawyer." she said smiling at him...

Something about the way he looked at her was different from the way say Jimmy Barlow looked at Carlotta...This guy was looking at Mercedes with kind of goo goo eyes..More than admiration, more like lust...or love!

He handcuffed him and walked him out of the club...

"He's the guy who my victim,Arturo Guzman had a fight with....He's also the estranged wife's boyfriend..... Took us a few days to locate him, but we did. You were right handsome..You said to look for an accomplice..And cousin..I took your advice...I bought another strap like the one that hung him...I weigh less than you and it couldn't hold my weight...Arturo Guzman wasn't hung... We got the autopsy report..He died from blunt force trauma..Somebody tried to make it look like a suicide." said Mercedes...

''You pick up the wife?" asked Carlotta..

"Not yet, but it's coming..." she said.

I stood outside with Officer Munez....

''So you're about to make Detective eh?" I said.

"Yes...Detective Mercedes has been mentoring me." he said with pride..

"So...How long you been in love with her?" I asked.

He looked a little taken back, then he shrugged his shoulders..

"You know huh?" he said.

"I know the look." I said.."I had it when I met her cousin.

"I've loved Mercedes ever since I've known her...but uh, she'd never give me the time of day." he said.

"You'll never know if you don't ask her..." I said.

''She's out of my league." he said.

"And what league is that? The league you put yourself in? Tell her how you feel..What have you got to lose? If she's not feeling you, Well you didn't have her anyway...But what if she is?" I said.

"Hmmmmm." he mused..

"Don't waste too much time thinking on it." I said and patted him on the back...

I went and got Carlotta...

"Let's go home baby...It's been quite a week ." I said.

"It has...hasn't it papi." she said.

"Yeah..Best week of my life to date. I just want to sit in a quiet room with you and just gaze at the stars tonight." I said.

"Nothing else?" she said and looked at me side eyed...

"Well,I'm always down for that, but tonight..I just wanna chill with you.." I said.

"That works for me too." she said and we held hands and walked to the car...

Mercedes and Officer Munez waved as we pulled off!

(CONCLUSION NEXT)

(For Amaryllis)

San Juan

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Wed, 01 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Carlotta and I boarded a plane for San Juan,Puerto Rico early in the morning...This was major...I was going to meet her Father and the rest of her family....She had already met my mother and father in West Philly...They loved her...My Sister loved her too...Which was surprising to me because she wasn't a Black woman, which I'm sure they would have all preferred for me...but Latina...But in the case of my folks...Latina was close enough to being Black....So they accepted her graciously....

My mother said..."I can see that she makes you happy son, So I'm happy for you.I've never seen you this happy before...and I love her."

My Dad kept smiling and patting me on the back and whispering..."My man..You gotta hot spicy one there boy...Good job!"

My Sister, Keisha smiled and said- "I like her, she's down to earth...Not pretensious and hoity toity like some of those others you brought around here...Good job Brother.....You better hold on to her.." she said... She said to Carlotta... "Girlll, keep my brother in line...He needs it." and hugged her... Both Dad and I were stunned...Keisha never liked anybody I brought around...This was a first!!

I'm Keith Porterhouse Wallace, Assistant District Attorney ,Philadelphia PA. I'm on vacation...So is my girlfriend, Detective, Carlotta Rodriguez!!

I had worshiped at Carlotta's parish and she in turn had went to church with me a few times...And I had met her older sister, Carm during the Christmas Holidays, but this was major...I was going to meet her father and her cousins....and in what I considered a foreign land, even though...Puerto Rico is part of the United States...

"You Nervous Papi?" she asked as we sat on the plane holding hands..

''Yeah, a little...I hope I don't say anything stupid." I said.

"Oh stop it...you'll be just fine...You were cool around Carm." She said.

"Yeah, but I was also in my home and in my home town." I said.

She laughed and patted my hand softly...

"You'll be fine." she said.

"So you were born in Philly right?" I asked.

"Yes sir...So was Carm....and my cousin Ernesto and his sister, who you will meet..He's a boxer...42 wins, 4 losses and 3 draws...Pretty good." she beamed with pride.

"Your parents are from here?" I asked.

"Yes...My mother and Father were born and raised in San Juan...They moved to Philly when my mother was pregnant with Carm...I was born three years later...My Uncle and Aunt moved to Philly next and Ernesto was born in Philly too. Same year as me..We are like, weeks apart in age...We were more like Brother and Sister than cousins when we were growing up." she said.

Our Flight was smooth...We arrived in San Juan and Carlotta rented a car at the airport....She drove us into the city to her cousin's house....

When we arrived there...It was as if she was a returning celebrity....The first one we saw was her sister,Carm..

Carm smiled broadly and almost yelled-

"CARLOTTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA....COME HERE BABY SISTER.." she said as she grabbed Carlotta and swung her around...."So good to see you baby.." she said kissing Carlotta and then looked at me...

"And you brought Handsome along too???....Heyy Keith! How are you?" she yelled and let Carlotta go and gave me a nice warm hug....

Her body was just as shapely and round and just as warm as Carlotta's...Both women had the softest skin, smelled great and looked good...I could see why Natividad Diaz was so torn between which sister he wanted to date.

"I'm good Carm...I see you're doing well." I said.

"Heyyyyyyyy, what can I say?" she laughed.

II-

Within minutes a group of lovely ladies entered the house....All relatives...Cousins I believe...They were happy to see her.. Carlotta introduced me to them and they all seemed very friendly and inviting...Then they began bringing in food and libations... It looked delicious...

I should have felt at ease...but I didn't...I was waiting for her Father to enter....That didn't take that long...The doorbell rang within minutes...And a medium sized ,handsome man with a white beard and moustache and just a trace of gray in his hair walked through the door with a much younger woman...A woman that looked younger than Carlotta.. He took one look at Carlotta and let out a wild yell-

"Carlotta?? Is that my baby? CARLOTTTAAAAAA!" he yelled and grabbed his daughter and spun her around much like her sister.."

Carlotta screamed with excitement-"Put me down....Daddy put me down." and kissed her father...

"Let me look at you....Oh my God..I've missed you sooo much baby." he said.."So where is this fella ,I've been told about?" he said.

Carlotta smiled and pointed to me...All of the women went-"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..." and laughed....

He looked at me without a smile and then walked over to me...

"I've heard about you! You gonna make my daughter an honest woman?" he said with a stern look...

"Sir..I'm gonna do the very best I can." I said.

He hit me in the gut....It hurt, but I didn't flinch...I just looked at him...He smiled and pulled me to him, hugging me...

"I LIKE HIM....AYEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!...You didn't flinch....I hit Carlotta's other boyfriend...Mickey Lolo and he fell to the floor, collapsed like a sack of potatoes..AHhahahahahahahaha." he said.

"Okay Daddy let's not bring him up..." said Carlotta...

"Where is that bum anyway? In Jail by now?" he asked..

"He's presumed to be dead sir." I said.

"See? I'm not surprized...What's with all this sir business? I am Salizar Rodriguez...You can call me Sal...When you become family, you can call me dad!" He laughed...

"Daddy?" said Carlotta...

"Daddy what, Baby Sis? We can look at both of you, the way you look at each other and see that there is love in the air...Especially him!" said Carm, answering for her father...and pointing to me as all of her cousins laughed...

"Excuse my manners...This is the love of my life...Rosalita Rivera..Rosalita..You know Carm, This is my youngest daughter,Carlotta,and her fella,Keith from Philadelphia." he said introducing us to his young girlfriend, who looked like she might be pregnant...Carlotta smiled weakly, but hugged her just the same...

A younger man, a man who looked in between Carlotta's age and mine walked into the doorway....He was about my height, Athletic and well muscled...he wore his hair in a ponytail....He moved like a boxer, but he had the look of a playa...

Carlotta took one look at him and ran into his arms...

"Ernesto!!!" she yelled...

''Carlotta!! Aye.!!!!............" he yelled as again she was lifted up and spun around..

"Keith, this is my cousin Ernesto...Ernesto this is Keith.." she said.

"I read about you in the papers...Crime buster.." he said.

"Ahhh, your cousin is the real crime buster...She's a great detective...She makes my life easier." I said.

He smiled slyly and gave me the side eye...

''I'll bet she does aye! AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH." he laughed...

I laughed too...So did everyone!

"Come on, let's eat!"said her father...

We all sat down at the tables outside and ate the delicious food and drank Tequila and rum all night...Within hours I was more than a little tipsy.

The women laughed and talked and kept looking at me and whispering things to Carlotta ,which made her laugh and Salizar and Ernesto and I kept doing shots and laughing...

"So tell me Keith, How did you meet my baby daughter?" he asked.

"I met her in 2009, when she cracked a major case...I knew I liked her even then, but I never said more to her than "Hi and Bye" until last year when her Lieutenant asked me to put together a special unit of the best detectives...She was one of the best in that unit and we got close during a serial murder case...That's when I told her how I felt about her." I said.

"Her Lieutenant??...Is her name Sissy by any chance?" asked her Father..

"Yes..You've met Sissy?" I asked...

''No, but I saw a photo of her and my daughter that was among some photos that Carlotta sent to me last year...I say Aye Mios Dios..What a woman! I asked Carlotta about her..She say...'Leave my Boss Lady alone papi'."he laughed..

I cracked up!

"Watch it Uncle Sal...You already got one woman too many." laughed Ernesto...

"I know...Looks like I got a bun in the oven...I think Carm suspects...I don't know how Carlotta is going to take it!" he said.

"She'll be alright....Pass me some more of that rum." I said.

"Aye! I like this guy...Carlotta, you gotta winner mami." laughed Ernesto , who slapped me on the back!

Her Father busted out laughing...

"I see Carlotta schooled you....No way you'd know about this rum..." he laughed...It was true.

"Don't get my boyfriend drunk.." said Carlotta...

"Too Late!" laughed Ernesto.

"You guys got started and didn't wait for me?" came a voice at the door..

Everyone turned around and the room was suddenly silent.

III-

Did Carlotta have nothing but beautiful women in her family? I wondered....I now understood Kevin's friend, Clerow...Who was married to Cora beth , a sexy woman, Had once been the boyfriend of Cora Beth's older sister,Mabel Jenkins, a stunningly sexy woman herself and had also at one time bedded Corabeth's Older sister, Victoria, who also was sexy and attractive...

Standing in the doorway was a short sexy woman , who had on a shoulder holster with a glock nine in it and a gold sheild hanging around her neck...She was some type of cop...

"Carlotta, is that YOU?" she said and she ran over to her...She didn't spin her around, but the two hugged each other...

"Keith, this is my cousin...Mercedes...Mecedes Rodriguez...She is Policia..." said Carlotta..

"You never told me about her..."I said.

"Yeah..A little over sight on my part..She's a Detective too..." said Carlotta..

"I'm just like my cousin here...A Murder policia." she said.

''Oh My God...The criminals better look out...Two Detective Rodriguezes.." I laughed..

''So this is your fella huh? Carm didn't lie..He is cute...You hit the jackpot mami." she said.

Carlotta was blushing something terrible..

"Don't just stand there...Ernesto ,fix your sister a plate.." said Carm..

"How long you stayin Carlotta?"asked Mercedes..

''A week...We are stayin at Carm's house." she said.

"Good..I know you're on vacay...But tomorrow..I need you to drop by my precinct...I caught a bad murder tonight...I just need your expert advice." said Mercedes...

"Sure." said Carlotta.

''Meanwhile...you better get your fella to the bathroom, I think he's sick." she said laughing...

Carlotta, Mercedes and Ernesto lifted me off the couch and got me to the bathroom.... Mercedes and Ernesto left, but Carlotta stayed....I must have vomited my guts out in the toilet...I was kind of embarrased that Carlotta was sitting on the side of the tub watching me.... Carm and her Father stuck their heads in...

''He Alright?" asked her father.

"He'll be fine." said Carlotta..

Carm laughed..."Now that's love...Cause I'm not watchin nobody vomit unless I love them." she said.

She and Carlotta laughed that conspiratorial laugh that Carlotta and Sissy laughed sometimes...A girl thang...

After they left...Carlotta took my shirt off...She ran some warm water on a towel and placed it on my neck...

"Carlotta!" I said.

"Yes.." she said.

"I love your family." I said.

"They seem to love you too." she laughed..

"I love you too.." I said.

"I know you do...I love you too.." she said.

"That's good" I said.

She laughed....

"I'm serious ,I do love you." I said.

"You're drunk...." she laughed..

"I'm not that drunk.."I said.

"Okay, but you gotta lie down" she laughed..

"Okay...the room is spinning." I said.

"I know...I know...Let's get you to bed...." she said as she lifted me up, slung my shirt around my neck and walked me down the stairs..

Her family members cheered ,whistled and clapped as we came down the stairs...

"Carm, give me your keys....I'm going to take him and our stuff your house.." said Carlotta..

''Awww,that's so cute..Close the door to your room and lock it...I don't want to walk in on nothing."she laughed..

"I don't think there's going to be anything tonight." she laughed...

I looked at her and smiled...

"What? Are you kiddin?"

Her Father, Ernesto and everybody clapped and cheered some more..

"That's my kinda guy" said her father..Ernesto slapped me on the back!

Carlotta smiled ,looked at me and said-

''Okay Hero, come onnnn...let's get you to bed..."

IV-

Carlotta drove us to her sisters house...The cool night air had cleared my head and surprisingly enough ,I was able to walk by my own power to the house...I pulled Carlotta to me...

She giggled...

"Carlotta, I'm sorry." I said.

"Sorry for what baby?" she said, smiling...

''For getting drunk at your father's house. I asked.

''That wasn't my father's house..That's my cousin's house...and you don't have to be sorry, I'm bettin about now..everyone there is loaded" she said.

" So you're not mad at me?" I said.

''Mad at you? For what? I wanted you to relax and have a good time and it looks like you did." she said..

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!" I screamed and I lifted her up..She motioned for me to put her down...

"I know you're happy Keith honey, but baby my ribs hurt.Please put me down..My family ,as you can see are huggers." she said laughing and gave me a long ,slow, sensuous kiss ...The kind she knows I like..

I smiled...

"I am going to make you an honest woman."I said.

''I thought I was an honest woman" she said, then busted out laughing.

"Of course you are Carlotta.." I said.

"Wow..." she said-"You smell like rum." and she laughed some more.

" Look at us...Two drunk lovers." I said.

"Speak for yourself Keith, I haven't had a thing to drink but soda....Let's get you in bed..." she said.

"I guess your ribs are hurting too much for uh anything extra huh?" I said.

"They aren't hurting that much! " she said and winked.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Checked Out

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 04:00:00 +0000

I've checked out of this world...
Because nothing has been the same
since you left me girl...
I've chosen to live in a world of
fantasy..
because reality doesn't work for me
since you're not with me
anymore../

I long for a tender touch..
the soft skin that meant so
much..
The sound of your laugh...
Your sexy walk...
The sound of your voice
when you talk...
and now that that's gone..
Everything in the so called
real world is wrong..
So I'm content to live in a world of
my choosing...
And this is where I'll stay..
A world where you'd never ever dream
of going away../

I've checked out of this world..
a world that makes no sense
anymore without you in it..
I've checked out...
I'd rather live in my world of fantasy...
A world that to most doesn't exist...
but a world where I'd always
have the ecstacy of your kiss..
That's where you'll find me../

You can call me crazy
I suppose..
but this is the world I chose...
And it's better than so called
reality...
At least here, you're always
with me...
Even if it is a fantasy....
Everything in the so called
real world went wrong...
The minute you said
bye bye..
and I realized you were gone.../

Oh, how I...
I long for a tender touch..
the soft skin that meant so
much..
The sound of your laugh...
Your sexy walk...
The sound of your voice
when you talk...
and now that that's gone..
Everything in the so called
real world is wrong..
So I'm content to live in a world of
my choosing.../

Until you come back to me..
On Vacay from reality..
Girl, until you come back to me..

Parting Shots

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Detectives Edwin "Duke" Baylor and Tyriq Pile arrived at the Mall with three police cars and a Paddy Wagon...The two of them and six uniformed policemen fanned out and had no trouble finding and arresting mall security guard, Dominick Evans and charging him with the double murders of Joshua and Cynthia Washington and the murder of Lawyer, Melvin Feingold..We didn't have enough to charge him with the murder of Gangster, Willie ''Shoes" Shoemaker...but he was a suspect in that case also...He surrendered quietly without a struggle...He almost looked relieved to be caught...Tyriq Pile would later tell me.

I got them a warrant and they raided his house, where they found a Glock nine and bags of latex booties and gloves...The same kind homicide detectives use in some investigations to keep from contaminating a crime scene...

They found black jeans, black t-shirts, black ski masks, and a taser...All of which we impounded for evidence and the White Impala, with the license plate that matched the one Detective Jimmy Barlow Saw on the Video....

Meanwhile, the love of my life, Detective Carlotta Rodriguez, Detective Jimmy Barlow and their Lieutenant, Sissy Van Buren were not so lucky...

They took six uniformed officers with them also and raided the coffee shop where I told them that Barbara Dennison worked.,I accompanied them....They were told that she had quit a day before....

I got them a warrant and they raided her house. (We had gotten her home address from the computer that Jimmy and Carlotta had examined days before..)Turned out It was a rental home in her name.....When they got there..they found it empty!!!

Barbara Dennison had flown the coop!

''Man, this broad must have a sixth sense....She must have known we were on to her." said Detective Jimmy Barlow.

"How could she have known? We gave her no indication that we were even close to an arrest...Nothing has been in the papers." said Detective Carlotta Rodriguez...

"Neither of you really knew her like I did...She is very smart, had great instincts...Almost like a sixth sense..She knows that with the rate the bodies were falling that the pressure to find the culprit was on...She probably knows that we are working on it...She knew that the time to leave was now...and that's what she did...Pack it in guys....She's quit her job and it looks like she's got a head start on us...She's gone." said Sissy.

"I hate to lose like this...I wanted to crack this case." said Carlotta....

"Relax Chica...We did crack it...We know who we are looking for." said Sissy who smiled and put her arms around her.

II-

When we arrived back at C.I.D.. Sissy smiled upon seeing Duke and Tyriq and their prisoner, Dominick Evans in the fishbowl....

''Well we did get lucky...We got one half of the murderous duo..." she said. "Good Work Tyriq, Duke." she said.

''He's not talking Lou. Hasn't said a word.. Just sits and stares."said Tyriq.

"Where is Babs?" asked Duke.

''Gone" said Sissy.

"Gone?" asked Tyriq...

"She quit her job yesterday and we went to her house and it's bone dry." said Jimmy.

"Damn..." said Duke.

"Hey guys...Let me brace Dominick? " said Sissy..

"You Boss Lady?" asked Carlotta.

"You?" asked Duke and Tyriq in unison...

Sissy never braced or interviewed suspects...She usually left that up to Carlotta,Jimmy, Duke and Tyriq, but she had been a Homicide Detective, It's not like she hadn't done it before...

"Yeah...I know him...Jimmy come in and be my second." she said.

Jimmy smiled and stuck his tongue out at Carlotta, Tyriq and Duke...I just stood and laughed as they went in...

Sissy walked in and sat down...Dominick looked at her and smiled...

"Sissy Van Buren....How long has it been?" he said.

"Hi Dom...It has been a few years..." she said and smiled.

"Is this little Jimmy?? Oh My God..He's a Detective now...I remember when he was fresh out of the academy, runnin to get my coffee." he laughed...

"Yeah but you know, they say the worst conversational piece is Remember when." said Jimmy.

''Is that what they say?" asked Dom sarcastically.

''Yeah" said Jimmy.

I could tell that Jimmy didn't like being reminded of that and especially not by him.....I looked over at Carlotta and she bristled at his mention of those days when she and Jimmy were young uniformed officers...I didn't know either of them then...but I'm bettin she was cute ! I walked over and put my arms around Carlotta, she leaned her head into my chest, but continued to watch...

"Dom! You're in a lot of trouble, you know that right.?" said Sissy.

He put his head down....

"Yeah, I know....I never dreamed that one day I'd be sittin in here, with handcuffs on being braced....I used to be on the other side doing the questioning...When I saw Duke and Tyriq in the mall and the cops...I knew that the jig was up..I suppose you guys been to my house too huh?" he asked.

"Yes, we have." said Sissy.

"I figured that this might happen...I-I-I been bitter for years...I was a detective Sissy,Like you!!...I had a gold shield...I was the elite of detectives...a Homicide cop!!....and I got reduced to being a rent a cop, at a damn mall...couldn't even collect my pension..Living in a rental house...because of some hookers?? And some girl with mental problems?? Come onnnnnnnn." he said.

"Dom...Come on....You know better...You knew better..." said Sissy.

''Awww Come on Sissy? All the guys played around..Everybody wasn't married to a lawyer like you were at the time...By the way,how is Robert? ,I always liked him?" he said. Sissy wasn't buying it.

" He's fine! He's remarried. When did Barbara sell you on this?" asked Sissy.

"She came to me about a year ago...I ran into her in the Aqua Bar...She told me that after she got canned..She was a stripper for a little while...Then she tried her hand at the Casinos, doing security for awhile and then gave that up altogether ,came back to Philly and was working as a cashier at a coffee shop..

She said.."Look at us...What are we doin living like this??, You working at a mall as a security guard..Me working security in a casino in Atlantic City..and stripping at one point!!!...This wasn't supposed to happen..It didn't have to happen."

She was more bitter than I was..She was pissed at ADA Joshua Washington....She hated him with a passion and that Jew Lawyer that exposed her , well he wasn't far from the top of her hate list...She was obsessed with them both!!...She blamed both of them.Knew their schedules, where they lived...studied their movemants..She had em down pat." he said.

"But why did you get involved...Neither of them did anything to you?" said Sissy.

"Washington recomended that I be dismissed from the force..Told Lt. Cantrell that I blew every one of my cases that he tried to try because of my unprofessional manner..Maybe he shoulda been a better lawyer!!...Barbara said if it looked like two people were involved it would be harder to figure out a motive...She said they were symbols of everything that was wrong with the department.At the time I agreed..I mean,I hated Washington almost as much as she did...but I had no beef with Feingold or Washington's wife..I didn't even know em...That was all Babs.." he said.

"Why did you kill Mrs. Washington?" she asked.

"I didn't do her...Barbara did her...We didn't know she was home...We heard her rummaging around upstairs after we lit Josua Washington up...She ran upstairs and popped her. She was supposed to be on vacation..I guess she returned early...We had nothing against her..." he said.

"What about Melvin Feingold?" asked Jimmy...

Dominick looked at Jimmy and smiled, then he laughed....

"Imagine this...YOU asking me a question..." he said.

"Answer the detective's question Dom." said Sissy.

"Yeah, we both did him too!...The next night!...You guys didn't find him until the next day...We saw You, Detective Pile and the uniforms when you arrived..We were right across the street in a rental car with shaded windows watching and laughing." he said.

"And Shoes?" asked Sissy.

"Shoes? Who?" he asked.

''Willie "Shoes" Shoemaker, a wiseguy..." said Sissy.

"I don't know nothin about that." he said.

That meant that Barbara probably went solo...A parting shot before she left town, I thought.

"You want a lawyer?" asked Sissy.

"Nah....I'm tired..I haven't been able to sleep....I can't believe that I took part in this crap... I didn't really have the heart for anymore killin..." he said.

"How long had you two been sleeping together?" asked Sissy...

"Damn Sissy, you're good...Off and on since we were Detectives on the force...I wasn't the only one...Lt. Cantrell was banging her too..That's why he wouldn't fire her , Even after ADA Washington demanded it..Washington had to go to the Deputy Ops to get that done."he said.

Sissy shook her head....

"Goodbye Dom." she said as she got up..."Jimmy, take his statement." she said.

III-

Sissy walked out of the Fishbowl and walked over to Detective Tyriq Pile... As Carlotta and I watched...

"Tyriq, call Special Agent in Charge ,Frank Cotton over at the FBI and tell him to put out a fugitive flight warrant for Barbara Ann Dennison." she said. "Duke...Good job here, Go home, get some sleep. Tell Tyriq he's done for today too." she continued.

"Thanks Lou." said Duke.

"Boss Lady?" asked Carlotta.

"Yes Chica?"

"I heard him mention that Lt. Cantrell was sleeping with her too." she said.

"Uh huh." she said.

"What if she went to visit him? What if she hasn't gone yet?" she asked.

"You really want to catch her don't you?" laughed Sissy.

''Well...She's gotten everybody else that had a hand in her losing her job and the guy who used to be Deputy Ops when she was on the force has been dead for years.....Lt. Cantrell is the last piece of the puzzle." said Carlotta.

Sissy pondered the thought for a minute...

''Hmmmm, you've got a point Chica... I mean, it can't hurt to look right?" said Sissy..Who looked at me and winked..I smiled.

"Let's use your car Keith." she said.

III-

It was a warm Spring night...Unseasonably warm...almost 79 degrees...Most of the windows on Lt. Cantrell's block were open...His was no exception..

Carlotta and Sissy had their guns unholstered and walked around looking for anything suspicious...and then we got in front of his house...

From the streets the three of us could hear bed springs squeaking loudly, headboards slamming against the wall..and wails of lust and ecstacy

''Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..."

"Ohhh baby, give it to meeeeee....ummmmmmph..."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....Barbara ...ouuuuuuuuuu, more, more... ohhhhhh..."

"Sock it to me Eddie...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh gooooddddddd lawdd it's soooo goood...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh I've missed you girl...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sweeeeet jesusssssssssss you are a demon in the bedddddddddd...arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.."

"Morrre...Morreee....morrre...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. Edward..ouuuuuu..Edward....OHHHHHHH."
she wailed...

"Ohhhh Barbara, why did you leave me?,ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..I'm losin my minddddddddd!! "

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...I love you soooooooooooooo much...ouuuuuuuuuuuu.."

"Damn, I kind of hate to interrupt the man at a time like this." I said.

Both Sissy and Carlotta gave me the serious side eye and said in unison- "Men!!!"

Finally there was silence.....Perhaps they were finished...

''Girl, where are you going? You gettin dressed??" said Lt. Cantrell...

"Got to go." said Barbara Dennison...

"Go where?, We just got started good.." he said.

"That was my parting shot..See...ADA Washington got me fired and you promised to go to the F.O.P. and get me a lawyer and get me re-instated...You never did...You never returned my calls..All those years..All those years I let you have me whenever you pleased...All I did with you and you acted like you didn't know me." she said.

"Barbara wait..I did all I could for you...I swear ...I did everything I could...but there was people over my head...It was out of my hands!!!!...I swear. Heyyyy, Wait a minute... It was you wasn't it? You killed The Washingtons and Feingold, Didn't you??Oh my God!!!...Hey put that gun away..What you doing with a gun??" he yelled...

We heard a shot!

"ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH, YOU BITCH! I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!! I'VE BEEN SHOT!!!!!YOU ALMOST HIT ME IN MY JOHNSON GIRL..ARRRGHHHHHHHHHHH, OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.." came the moan...

I picked the lock.....Carlotta and Sissy looked at me with astonishment.... I smiled weakly....

''What? Before I was an Attorney, I was a kid from West Philly..I wasn't always the sterling guy you see today!....Go get her." I said..

Sissy smiled broadly and shook her head...

"Got any other things we should know about, counselor?" she asked.

"Well, I'll let you know as it comes up." I laughed...

Carlotta whispered in my ear...

"I'm really turned on by you right now." and then she winked and cracked up laughing..

I shook my head and smiled.

Barbara was dressed and coming down the stairs when she looked and saw Sissy and Carlotta with their glocks drawn and aimed at her....

"Barb...It's Over...We got Dom, he laid the whole thing out...He gave you up! Please ,don't make me kill you." said Sissy.

Barbara Dennison smiled..dropped her weapon and allowed Carlotta to handcuff her....

"Well,if I had to get arrested, I'm glad it was by you Sissy...One of the best." she said....She looked at Carlotta and she smiled...

"For what it's worth...I'm proud of you....You always were a sharp young patrol officer and you look like you're a pretty good Detective." she said.

"She is...She's one of my best." said Sissy...

Carlotta smiled...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU, Girl ,YOU ALMOST HIT ME IN MY JOHNSON GIRL..ARRRGHHHHHHHHHHH, OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.."came the moans of Lt. Cantrell from upstairs..

''Ladies, uh let me attend to him...Give him some dignity." I said.

Sissy laughed.....Carlotta smiled and Barbara Dennison herself, laughed too.. I ran past them on the stairwell and went to the bedroom where Lt. Cantrell lay on the floor in his boxers...He had been shot in the thigh, just inches from his penis...He was bleeding profusely, but he would more than likely live...

"Lt. Cantrell. Sissy and Carlotta have Barbara in custody and we picked up her accomplice earlier today." I said.

"Good..Good..I knew you guys would crack the case..Don't let Sissy up here..I don't want her to see me like this, OH and ADA Wallace?" he said ...

"Yes sir.." I answered...

"Could you please keep this part of the story out of the papers? My Pastor reads the paper and there are several of my peers who would use this to humiliate me.They're jealous because of , you know...my way with the ladies." he said.

"I'll do the best I can sir." I said.

"Thank you son..ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...broad tried to ruin my sex life..ohhhhhhhhhh lawdddd it hurts, Throw the damn book at her son....ughhhhhhhhhh! Crazy woman...I was layin that pipe too.." he moaned...

I called an ambulance and a Police car!

Sissy and Carlotta looked at me as I ran down the steps...

"He okay?" asked Sissy..

"He'll live....His pride is wounded." I said.

"Sounds like more than that!' sneered Barbara Dennison.

Sissy and Carlotta looked at each other and burst into laughter!

EPILOUGE-

Dominick Evans got himself a real sharp lawyer and turned in State's Evidence against Barbara Dennison, which got him a 15 years to life sentence rather than the death penalty or life without parole that he deserved..

Barbara Dennison got the Death Penalty for the murders of Joshua and Cynthia Washington , Melvin Feingold and Willie "Shoes" Shoemaker. She is currently on Death row and has indicated that she does not plan to appeal her sentence.

Lt. Cantrell recovered from his wounds, but walks with a limp...Nothing about his part in the capture was ever leaked in the press...

Lt. Sissy Van Buren, Detectives Carlotta Rodriguez, Tyriq Pile , Edwin "Duke" Baylor , James "Jimmy"Barlow and Forensic investigator, Dr. Hazel Hunter all received special commendations from The Police Commissioner for solving the case...I was proud of my little unit...

Later on at my loft, I watched as Carlotta packed her things...The case was over and her stay at my loft was over...I was going to miss her...I had enjoyed coming home to her everyday the most...Not just the great mind blowing sex...but having her to talk to, to watch a movie with...And now she was going back to her apartment..

She looked at me and pouted...

''Why you looking so sad?"

"I'm gonna miss you." I said.

"You act like you're never going to see me again...You'll probably see me tomorrow." she said and kissed me on the cheek.

"Yeah, but I really liked seeing you everyday.." I said.

"Don't you ever get tired of me?" she asked, half laughing.

"You know...Come to think of it...I never do...Other girls..I did...But not you." I said.

"Wow..." she said.

"You get tired of me?" I asked ..Then I thought better of it and said-"Don't answer that."

She kissed me for a long time in the doorway....

"The answer to your question is no..I don't...I'm going to miss being here with you too. Pack yourself some clothes you big baby...You're coming over my place for a few days." she said.

"Are you serious?" I said.

"Yes...I kind of like waking up in your arms..." she said.

''You still want me to come to Puerto Rico?" I asked.

"Yes,of course!!...In two weeks...Can you make it?" she said.

"Yeah....and let's pray no major crime occurs in between now and then." I said.

"Yes, Let's pray." she laughed as she walked me back to my bedroom and helped me pack!

Wet Shoes

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:00:00 +0000

I stood at the river bank as the Marine Unit fished the body out of the river....It was early in the morning..Earlier than I'm used to getting up...but when I got the call, I came...

Carlotta ,Tyriq and Dr. Hunter had on rubber boots and were out in the water bringing the body up to the boardwalk along with the police marine units..

"Man this job is starting to wear on my sleep." said Detective Tyriq Pile to no one in particular.. I felt his pain..

They laid the lifeless body on the boardwalk.... Carlotta and Dr. Hunter kneeled down and observed it...

"Now this is odd...Same M.O. as your lawyer Tyriq and the same as our still unsolved double." said Detective Carlotta Rodriguez......

"He was shot 27 times...Glock nine...." said Dr. Hunter....

"Let me look at the holes.....Look ,Defensive wounds...holes on both sides...Looks like two shooters." said Detective Tyriq Pile.

I walked over and took a look at the body....I knew right away who he was...

"Oh My God...It's Shoes...." I said.

"Huh? Who?" said Carlotta..

"He does have on an expensive pair of Gators." said Tyriq....

"No...No...That's Willie "Shoes" Shoemaker....He's a gangster...I told you about him the other day Carlotta." I said.

"You did?" she said.

''Well ,I didn't use his name..He was the gangster that we had on a murder rap...Detective Barbara Dennison worked the case....It was before you were a detective." I said.

"Yeahhhh...Yeahhh,I remember that case...She planted evidence on him and then lied under oath..." said Tyriq...

"Exactly....That sleazy lawyer Michael Feingold discovered the deception and caught her in a slew of lies on the stand remember?" I said.

''Yeah...Yeah..Yeah...Joshua Washington was the ADA on that case..He had to throw out her testimony...His lead detective...He tried to try the case with other evidence...but he lost and "Shoes" Shoemaker walked...I remember....In fact..We found out that he did commit the murders, but we couldn't try him again because he was acquitted." said Tyriq..

"Yeah....Guess there's Justice after all..." said Tyriq..

"Your lawyer, this guy who he repped and the guy who prosecuted them..All dead within a matter of days..." I mused...

''Seems like it would be a conflict of interests here." said Tyriq...

"There has got to be a connection." I said.

"Nothing else to do here...Release the body...See if anybody saw anything..." said Detective Pile to some uniformed policemen..

II-

Carlotta and I sat in Sissy's office some time later talking about the three open murder cases we had this week..

"Boss Lady....Did it ever occur to you that these murders might be being committed by cops?" said Carlotta.

Sissy and I stared at Carlotta.....

"Cops?" I said.

"Cops,Chica?" said Sissy.

"Well look...all three cases involve a glock nine...That's a standard issue for cops...
The surveilience cameras in two cases were disconnected so that we couldn't get any visuals...No fingerprints, No DNA...barely any shell casings...All the things we would look for..." she said.

Sissy and I looked at her..She was making a point...

"A Homicide cop would know what we would look for... Who better but one of us.." I said.

"Chica, you don't think someone in this unit or in C.I.D. is doing this?" said Sissy..

"It wouldn't have to be someone here presently...Maybe someone that used to be here with an axe to grind..." she said.

"Oh My God...I think I got it!!!..I think she's right Sissy...Someone with an axe to grind..." I said.

"What are you getting at?" said Sissy.

"Barbara Dennison....It makes sense....Do you remember her?" I said.

"Yeah...We worked together under Lt. Cantrell...She was a brilliant Detective...Taught me a lot when I first made Detective..Had a high clearence rate."said Sissy.

"Yeah, well Carlotta and I ran into her a few days ago...She's a cashier in a coffee shop a few blocks from here." I said.

''What? Oh My God.." said Sissy...

"She planted evidence on Willie "Shoes" Shoemaker remember?? And she lied under oath....That lawyer,Melvin Feingold caught her in several lies during cross examination and discovered that she planted evidence....It all fits... That cost her her job." I said.

"Okay...I understand why she'd kill the gangster...He really was guilty and he walked ,I understand why she'd kill the sleazy lawyer...He exposed her as a fraud....but why Joshua Washington and his wife? He's one of us?" said Carlotta.

"You tell her Sissy." I said.

"Chica...After Joshua lost that case, he was distraught....See this guy Shoes executed a drug dealer named Pete Jarkley and his wife who had nothing to do with the drug game, execution style and their three month old baby...It was a horrible crime..a triple murder.....ADA Washington wanted to put that guy down like nobody's business and when she blew that case for him...he was beside himself....He called for her head...." said Sissy.

"Lt. Cantrell tried to do his best to save her job... He offered to transfer her to Property Inventory, down in the basement...and said that she'd never do any investigatory work anymore...But Joshua Washington wouldn't hear of it...He wanted her gone...When Lt. Cantrell refused to fire her....Joshua went over his head to the Deputy Ops...and she got fired....17 years on the force...No pension..." I said.

"Oh My God...What about the second shooter?" asked Carlotta...

"I think I can answer that." said Edwin "Duke" Baylor, who entered the room with Dr. Hazel Hunter....

"I got a hit from the DNA on the discarded chewing gum left at the murder scene for
the lawyer, Melvin Feingold...Remember that about ten years ago they started bonding all of our employees, DNA samples and fingerprints? Well this belongs to a former Homicide Detective...Dominick Evans!!!" she said.

"Oh My God...Him? He's too stupid to plan something like this...Barbara Dennison must obviously be the ring leader.." said Carlotta.

"Heyy go easy on him Top...If not for him you might not be a Detective." laughed Duke.

"Ohhh?" said Sissy.

"Yeah Lou...Top here solved a murder...His case...When she was still a uniformed patrol officer...She got an accomodation for that...Lt. Cantrell and Sgt. Sanchez told her to take the Detective's test...She did and the rest is history!" said Duke.. "That's when Tyriq and I started working with her, teaching her the ropes,mentoring her,making her into the great detective she is today." he laughed.

"It's true Boss Lady, that's how it went down..Probably Evans only cleared case of the year." said Carlotta...

Duke cracked up! I smiled myself!

"Hey guys...All that watching video paid off in spades." came the voice of Detective James Barlow..

"Another country heard from." said Duke.."Where have you been Junior?" he asked.

''Watching video... I went three blocks down and I got an old Impala and an Suv...The SUV belonged to some guy visiting his girlfriend...The Impala belongs to...Get this, a former Homicide Detective named Dominick Evans....I thought that was odd...So then I canvassed the blocks close to where Tyriq's lawyer was found and guess what?? I got the same Impala, same license plate.!!!..This guy, an ex cop is at both scenes of both murders...And then I thought, no wonder these crime scenes are so clean...Who better to commit a perfect murder then someone who knows how to solve them? Somebodywho knows what we'll be looking for." he said.

Carlotta smiled and high fived Jimmy...

"We came to the same conclusion." she said.

"Great minds think alike." he said.

"That puts Dom in for at least two of these crimes...but if Barbara is the ring leader..we got nothing that put her there..." I said.

"Nah Keith, we got somethin...Look..."said Detective Tyriq Pile...he put a photo on the desk..

''I had that store blow the photo up and clean it up...The blond that bought the bleach at 9:30 pm, just hours before the murders of ADA Washington and his wife is her, former Detective, Barbara Dennison and standing outside...look...Dressed in black, Former Detective Dominick Evans...That puts the both of them at the scene."said Tyriq...

"Nice...Looks like old Shoes in death did something good...He connected the dots to this baffling case." I said.

"Well guys...Let's not stand around...Pick em up." said Sissy.

(CONCLUSION NEXT)

Ham Salad and Coffee

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:00:00 +0000

One morning , a few days later was certainly an eye opener...I drove up to the corner and parked and got out...I let Carlotta out and we walked hand in hand to Sam Mother's Diner..It was early....

"You know something....This is always going to be a special place to me." said Carlotta.

"Sam Mother's Diner?? Really?? Why?" I asked..

"It was our first date.....Remember? You took me here and bought me breakfast during the Haywood Murder case." she said.

"Wow...I didn't think of that as a date...but yeah,I guess it was the first time you and I were alone together." I mused..

By the time Carlotta got settled and sat down...We saw another familliar car drive up...
It was Lt. Sissy Van Buren and Eddie C.!!

Sissy smiled upon seeing us...So did Eddie...He laughed and pointed....

''Just grabbing some breakfast...I just uh happened to er ah run into Sissy..."he said.

''Stop it Eddie...They know I'm staying with you....They're staying together too." said Sissy...

Within minutes...Duke drove up with Dr. Hunter.....No surprise there....

Duke looked at us and smiled...Dr. Hunter was kind of embarrassed...It was not widely known that she and Duke were seeing each other....It was obvious to all of us...

The real show stopper was the next arrivals...

Jimmy Barlow and Angie Belton!!! They had been a couple for a couple of weeks now...but none of us had seen them actually together...Until now.. Jimmy came in and saw all of us and had a look of pure astonishment...Angie surveyed the room and just hung her head.....

I laughed my head off!

''Well two things are for sure...One, Sam Mother is completely safe with all these coppers eating in here and two...The entire unit will be well fed this morning." said Jimmy...

Carlotta, Duke, Sissy,Eddie C, Angie, Dr. Hunter and I burst out into raucous laughter, leave it to Jimmy!

II-

We all ate hearty meals and then one by one slowly got up to leave... Carlotta and I, although the first ones to arrive ,were the last ones to leave...While I was at the counter, paying for our order, I heard a voice I hadn't heard in years..

"Hey Sam..I'll take my regular...Ham Salad on Jewish rye...and a cup of coffee to go." came the voice of Dominick Evans, another former Detective...

''Dom? Dominick Evans...is that you?" I asked.

He turned ,looked at me and smiled..

"Oh My God...ADA Keith freakin Wallace..Oh My God...How long has it been?" he said.

"About ten years." I said...

He looked at Carlotta and he just marveled....

"Oh Lord... Carlotta..Carlotta...Carlotta...you don't remember me do you?" he asked.

''I remember you....You used to send me and Jimmy out to pick up your coffee and your lunch....Ham Salad sandwich and coffee.." she said.

"Yeah..Yeah...you was a cute little patrolman..Now you're a homicide detective..Wow!" he said.

"I see you keep up huh?" she said.

"Uh yeah...I talk to uh some of the old guys from the unit from time to time.." he said.

"What are you doin with yourself?" I asked.

He hung his head...

"Since I left the force...I uh been workin as Mall Security...I'm a Mall Security guard..I'm thinkin about gettin a P.I.'s license and tryin my luck at being a private investigator..." he said.

"Well..uh...I wish you the best of luck Dom.." I said.

"Tell Sissy,Duke, Tyriq and Jimmy that I said Hello...." he said.

"I will Dom...Be easy babe." I said.

" Always...Nice seeing you again Carlotta." he said.

Carlotta and I got in my car and pulled off...She looked at me and said...

"Now there was a waste of time if ever there was one." she said.

"Yeah...he was a mess wasn't he?" I laughed..

"He had the lowest clearence record of any detective in the unit....Couldn't crack a case if the suspect turned himself in and confessed." she said...

I busted out laughing......

It was one of his murder cases that Carlotta solved while still a uniformed patrol officer...She found the murder weapon, which Dom had overlooked twice and she located a witness that described the shooter.... This led to her taking the Detectives exam and becoming a Detective...It ended her days of fetching coffee for the detectives..

Dom got busted by Vice Detectives with two prostitutes in an undercover sting...and to make matters worse...While that was being investigated...A young lady sued the department and the city because of him...He was following her, had ran her licensce and was calling her up late at night making lewd remarks and asking to come over...

That was the last straw...He was dismissed from the force...Wow! In two days ,I had run into two disgraced cops...This was too much!

III-

Hours later, I met Sissy and Detective Tyriq Pile at a crime scene.....

''What do we have Tyriq?" I asked...

"A mess ADA Wallace...This is a lawyer, Melvin Feingold...He was shot 28 times with a glock nine....Same M.O. as our double murder the other day...Nobody saw a thing...and like the other shooting...It looks like there was two shooters...No fingerprints that I can see." he said.

Sissy looked world weary......

"I can't believe this...We haven't even begun to get any headway on the first one...now we got a second...We gotta keep this out of the paper...If you have to make a statement Keith, say that there is no connection between the two killings." she said.

"Ms. Sissy, our killer wasn't that smart...I found some recently chewed gum in an otherwise empty trashbasket...I'm bagging it and going for a DNA sample."said Dr. Hunter.

"Good pull Dr. Hunter." I said.

"Somebody had an axe to grind with these guys..Did they know each other?" said Sissy.

"Sure did...Melvin Feingold represented a lot of neighborhood Drug Dealers ..They went up against each other in court several times..but they weren't social friends or anything like that...I went up against Feingold myself...Very smart cat...Sleazy, but a very good attorney." I said.

"Sissy, Duke and I have interviewed about 20 ex felons that Joshua Washington sent up ,who were recently released and we alibied all of them....." said Detective Tyriq Pile....

"Yeah I heard..and Chica and Jimmy have gone over all of their phone records and come up with goose eggs..They're going to a Cyber Cafe in Chinatown today."said Sissy..

"A Cyber Cafe?? " I asked..

"Yeah..they traced some threatening emails to a computer to a certain Cyber Cafe." said Sissy.

IV-

Sissy and I left Detective Pile and Dr. Hunter at the crime scene...We drove over to the Cyber Cafe, Where Detective Carlotta Rodriguez and Detecive Jimmy Barlow and some police computer experts were doing a forensic examination of the computer the threatening emails had been sent from...

"Hey Boss Lady...Hey Baby...We found the computer...and we may have gotten lucky...We got a grainy video of the person using it ,that uses the I.P. Address.." said Carlotta.

"Each computer has a seperate, what they call Mac address Lieutenant....We backtrack and trace that Mack address and it'll give us a home address of our culprit possibly..." said Detective Jimmy Barlow..

I looked at Sissy and smiled..

''Young People huh?" I said.

"Yeah." laughed Sissy..

Carlotta was the baby of our unit , with Jimmy being the next to youngest, older by only a year... They had a tech knowledge that was invaluable...Plus they were both very intelligent and astute...

V-

I ran into Detective Edwin "Duke" Baylor later on in the day....He saw me standing outside of C.I.D. Headquarters and he stopped me..

"We may have gotten a break ADA." said Duke...

"How is that?" I asked.

"I found a cashier who sold a woman a bottle of bleach around 9:00 pm ,just three hours before the murder...She was with a man...the man didn't come in, he stood outside...She was blond, caucasion, had on a black t-shirt, real tight, black jeans, black sunglasses and a black baseball cap...Her hair was in a bun......I'm waitin to get video." he said.

''Good Pull."I said.

"Where is everybody else?" he asked.

"Tyriq caught another murder...Same M.O. as our double...He's running down leads now...Carlotta and Jimmy were looking at video tape...trying to find a vehicle in the next few blocks... They found a computer that the emails came from...They are waiting for an analysis ...IT'll give us an address..." I said.

"Wow..We just might crack this thing." he said.

I smiled..

"Get some sleep Duke." I said and patted him on the back...

Just then ,Carlotta walked down the steps...She waved to Duke and Dr. Hunter who were leaving...

"You Hungry?" I asked.

"As a matter of fact..I am." she said.

''What do you want?" I asked.

"I thought maybe we'd stop by that Deli...I want some Ham Salad on Rye and a tumbler of coffee." she said.

"Are you serious?" I laughed...

"Yeah...Kind of a reminder of how far I've come." she said.

I kissed her forehead..

"You have come a long way...."I said..

(TO BE CONTINUED..)

Another Eddie

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Carlotta and I arrived at Sissy's office the next day with steaming hot tumblers of coffee for Sissy, Dr. Hunter,Tyriq Pile ,Jimmy Barlow and Duke Baylor...We also bought two dozen doughnuts and some extra coffees for several uniformed policemen who were also present...

"Man thanks ADA Wallace, you're the only ADA who brings us coffee and pastries ." laughed Detective Jimmy Barlow..

"That's why you guys love me." I joked...

"Uhhh, save that love stuff for Top." joked Detective Tyriq Pile as nearly the whole room burst into laughter..

It was the gallows humor of men and women who had a grisly task....The task of trying to solve the ghastly double murder of one of our team...ADA Joshua Washington...a man I called friend..a Man who had helped all of these people do their job better over the years.

"Okay guys, settle down..settle down...Here is what we know so far...A. Whoever did this, is a professional...They knew what they were doing...I checked the survelience cameras...They were disconnected before the perps entered the premises...The alarm system was disconnected also..
We can determine that this murder occurred approximately twelve hours before the bodies were discovered." said Sissy.

"Duke and I and some uniforms interviewed some neighbors...None of them recalled seeing anything...but one woman said that close to midnight, she heard some yelling and screaming...and what sounded like a rapid succession of fire cracker like pops." said Carlotta.

"Yeah Lou...at least two people said they heard like a rapid succession of fire cracker like pops around midnight...then nothing!!..Then one loud scream and another, single pop....Then the house went quiet...Nothing...Nobody saw anything..or anybody at the house." said Duke.

"What about the crime stopper cameras?" asked Sissy.

"Negative Lou...No car driving up, no nothing....These guys walked to the house...Jimmy, some uniforms and I canvassed the neighborhood....We went from door to door..We looked at video...Every car on that block is accounted for..." said Tyriq.

"These two might have walked to the crime scene.." said Carlotta... "They might have parked their car down the street or a few blocks away and walked..." she said.

"My people didn't find any Fingerprints or DNA whatsoever in that house...And of all the shots fired..the only bullets recovered were the ones in the body and maybe one or two loose casings..Whoever did this took most of the shell casings with them and we detected a smell of bleach throughout certain areas of the house." said Dr. Hunter.

"Wow, this was a professional hit...A contract killing.."I mused.

"No...Even wiseguys and players aren't this meticulous ." said Sissy.."but whoever it is..They seem to know what we would be looking for...They got rid of all the evidence.."said Sissy.

"Lieutenant..what if what Carlotta said is true...They parked blocks away and walked to the house in latex booties and latex gloves? That would explain why there is no foot impressions, no finger prints..." said Jimmy Barlow..

"And what if there was no forced entry because...Joshua Washington knew them?? Duke was the first at the scene and he said that the door was already open." said Carlotta.

"That's something to think about...Duke, how did you happen to come across the scene?" asked Sissy.

"911... They sent the call to Officer Hopkins and Officer Malpass and they patched it to C.I.D...I was up and me and Jimmy went to the residence.." said Duke.

"That's odd aint it? They got clipped around midnight and we don't get a 911 call until close to noon...Yet none of the neighbors called 911 or even knew what had happened." said Tyriq.

"Yeah, strangest thing." I said.

II-

"Go On...Don't let me interupt you." came the voice of Lieutenant Edward Louis Cantrell...who had just entered Sissy's office and was listening intently to Sissy and her detectives and the uniformed policemen detailed to her discuss the case..

Sissy looked up...A broad smile appeared on her face...The kind a young school girl has when she sees her crush...It wasn't the type of look I saw on Sissy's face often...

Eddie Cantrell had been her mentor, her teacher....He was a Detective's Detective..Tall, about six foot, three, urbane, Handsome and smooth as silk...Women melted when he walked in a room...Young detectives, Sissy Van Buren , Angela Belton and Barbara Dennison all began their careers working under his command..I remember...All three of them used to melt when he walked in a room and all three tried to sit up front to hear his morning address...

He was a good man...He mentored all of them and many more detectives...Including Edwin"Duke Baylor...and Tyriq Pile...who got snatched by Lieutenant Tragg later on...This method Sissy had of allowing her detectives to brainstorm together and work out a case was a method Ed Cantrell had mastered and taught her,first when she made Sergeant and later on when she made Lieutenant and left his command and took Angie Belton with her...He had trained them both well..

''Ahhh Sissy, it is so good to see you again...And I mean GOOD to see you...lawd Jesus."he said ogling her curves...

Sissy giggled like a school girl...Carlotta and I both gave her the serious side eye..

"Hello Lieutenant Cantrell.." she said..

"I just came to tell you that I've got your back...I was sick to death when I heard about what happened to Joshua and his wife yesterday...The Commisioner and The Deputy of Operations wanted to put the entire C.I.D. on this...but me and ADA Wallace fought for you..We held em back...I told em that you got some of the best detectives in Philly working under you....and that judging by your unit's recent successes..I'm one hundred percent certain you guys can and will crack this case...Hell, I oughta know...I trained most of you,
You, Duke, Tyriq, Is Angie Belton still on this squad?" he asked.

"No Lieutenant, she's in Internal Affairs." said Sissy....

''Alright... She's movin right along...And who is this pretty little thing here?" He said looking at Carlotta..

Carlotta found herself reduced to mush as well...She giggled and blushed...

"That's Detective Carlotta Rodriguez.."I said...

"I remember you...You used to be a roller, Rode around in the patrol car...Used to get coffee for my detectives.." he said.

''Yes...That was me." she said.

''Yeah, then you helped us solve one...You found something that all of my detectives overlooked." he said.

Carlotta blushed like crazy...

"Yeah and Sgt. Sanchez told you to take the Detectives test...I remember...I see you took his advice." he said.

"I did...I've been a Detective for ten years now.."said Carlotta proudly...

"No more running for coffee for you huh? You got patrolmen doing that for you now huh?" he laughed..

Carlotta just laughed.

"Sissy ,you still married to that silver tongued lawyer?" he asked.

''No..we've been divorced for a number of years now." she said.

''Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh..reallly now." he said with a sly grin.

"But I uh...I am involved with someone...His name is....His name is Eddie ..also." she said.

"I'll be damned....I missed out...I hated when you left my unit...But you had to move on...You were progressing....I shoulda kept in touch." he laughed. Sissy didn't say a word...She was blushing like crazy.

"Oh-Okay guys...Duke...check out his cases...Especially recently released felons that may have had a grudge against him...Jimmy backtrack their phone calls...Chica...You and Tyriq check both of their laptops for any threatening or odd emails....And somebody...I don't care who...Look at more video footage of the next three blocks going both ways...Maybe we can pick up a car or something.." she said.

''We're on it.."said Tyriq, Jimmy and Duke as they,Dr. Hazel Hunter and all of the uniforms got up and left the office... Carlotta was getting ready to leave when Sissy subtlely grabbed her arm indicating that she didn't want to be left alone with Lt.Cantrell...

She didn't leave and I didn't leave either..

Cantrell sat and chewed the fat for awhile...When he realized that we weren't leaving...He got up quietly...

"Well Sissy, It was nice seeing you again...I just wanted you to know that whatever you need, manpower..
,hours, resources..You just call ole Eddie C. and I'll get it for you....Call me anyway sweetness."he said and kissed her on the cheek...Sissy was now beet red if that was possible...I smiled as Lt. Cantrell let himself out of the office.

III-

"What was that about boss lady?" asked Carlotta laughing...Sissy was always laughing about me and Carlotta and now it was Carlotta's turn.

"Chica...I had a mad crush on that man for years...I mean..I was like ADA Wallace is when you come around....and Keith you know I love you like a brother, but Carlotta reduces you to mush....You know it's true and that's okay, because you really love her and me being her best friend...I know that she loves you too..With Cantrell...it was different...I was married...and here I was lusting after this man, My supervisor at the time...Thinking about him when I was at home with my husband." she said.

"You two didn't?" I asked...

"Oh no....No never...I never cheated on Robert while we were married...Unlike him of course...Anyway...Cantrell, who I idolized....All of us female detectives lusted after and idolized the man.. was just so smooth and sexy, but proved to be a bit of a hound.." said Sissy.

"He is attractive...But I can see that he has wandering eyes...He was trying to look down my blouse. and then I caught him checking out Dr. Hunter" said Carlotta... I just laughed.

I couldn't say that I blamed the man...Between Sissy, Carlotta and Hazel Hunter we had three of the finest women on the force in one unit...I certainly loved coming over here...

''Well, shortly after I made Detective Sgt., He started coming on to me...He knew I was married...but he started coming on to me strongly...He cornered me in his office one day after all the other detectives left and tried to kiss me...I backed away...He apologized profusely...I kept my distance from him after that and I never wore skirts again...Just pants or tights...Not that it mattered...He didn't care, I often felt him undressing me with his eyes...What he did bordered on sexual harrassment...But I got promoted despite him.I kind of lost respect for him after he did that and never thought of him the same way again...Funny he asked me if I was still married...He must have forgotten.. He knew...As soon as my divorce became known..He started calling me, stopping by my new house...Asking me out."said Sissy.

"You ever go out with him?" I asked.

"Only once, To Josies...and I took Angie Belton with me..I guess he got the message.He stopped calling...I went my seperate ways as a Lieutenant and he went his...He's a good cop..He did teach me well." she said. "But I didn't want to be alone with him...Thank you guys for staying." she said.

"Just remember your Eddie C." said Carlotta.

Sissy smiled..

"I did Chica..I did..and it wasn't hard...but I did...Eddie has been so good to me lately....Sent me those flowers over there in the vase...Got up this morning and cooked me breakfast..." she said, suddenly realizing she may have let something slip...She looked at me and smiled..

"This may be a long case...I'm going to need some, well some companionship.." she said ,blushing..

"It's okay Sissy..I told your girl here the same thing." I laughed and slapped my knee.

"I've been staying with Keith all week boss lady." she said.

"See?..We gonna be alright girlfriend.." said Sissy...

"Yeah."said Carlotta as the three of us laughed...

IV-

Carlotta had left her car back at my condo...I picked her up in my car....

"What a day huh?" I asked as we drove off..

"Yeah...We may have gotten something." she said.

"Oh yeah, what?" I asked.

"Tyriq and I backtracked both computers and we found a series of threatening emails sent to both of them from somebody calling themselves "The Avenger" We traced the origin of the emails to a computer in a cyber cafe in Chinatown....That's where we are going tomorrow." she said.

"Good stuff." I said...

"Yeah and Jimmy found something on that video cam too..." she said.

''What?" I asked.

"A White impala about three blocks down and an SUV that doesn't belong to anybody in the neighborhood..Maybe that's what transported our killers...He also got a grainy video of two people, looks like a man and a woman in black latex or spandex body suits with sunglasses on and baseball caps." she said.

"Now we are gettin somewhere." I said.

"Yeah...and now counselor...I don't want to discuss this case anymore..until tomorrow." she said and leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.

"You know what?" she said.

''No what?" I asked.

"You reduce me to mush too." she said and pulled me to her and kissed me long and softly for a long time...

"Damn girl..." was all I could say...

"Keith,let's go home..."she said.

''Home? Home Carlotta?" I said.

"Ohhhh, you know what I mean...Your place."she said.

(TO BE CONTINUED...)

Lit Up

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:00:00 +0000

An early spring morning....The sun had just come up....a nice warm breeze blew through the window in Carlotta's apartment...It woke me up immediately....I looked over at Carlotta...She was sleeping so peacefully....Or so it seemed!
In a short time, Detective Carlotta Rodriguez had become the love of my life...Who am I?..Assistant District Attorney, Keith Porterhouse Wallace...

I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek softly....She awoke, smiled at me sweetly and motioned for me to come closer...I leaned in closer and she put her arms around my neck and kissed me slowly, softly, sensuously....

It was 5:00 am...It was a work day...We kissed passionately like that for a good while...
I rolled over on top of her...I eased her nightie up and slipped her panties down. and slipped my pajama bottoms down...

I entered her slowly....

''Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu papi, you feel so gooood ,Aye Mios Dios...." she moaned..

"I love it when you speak spanish!" I said, continuing to move in and out of her warm center....

"Oh you love it when I speak anything." she said....

"This is trueeeeeeeeeeeeeee...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." I moaned as we continued to make sweet love...

After a night of furious lovemaking, we didn't usually make love the next morning like this...but this was a welcome surprise...Every now and then Carlotta would break one of her rules for me...She still wouldn't let me make love to her in Sissy's office!

II-

Later when we'd both showered and dressed...Carlotta and I headed for the elevator and the street...

''You left your car back at C.I.D. last night, didn't you Keith?" she asked.

''Damn...That's the second time I've done that." I laughed.

She smiled and shook her head...

"You are something else...The thought of sex with me just makes you forget everything doesn't it?" she giggled..

"I have to admit...You have been having that effect on me." I laughed sheepishly...

"You are sooo cute when you blush...I'll drive you to your car...but first..I know this coffee shop that just opened up..Let's stop there and get some coffee." she said.

"That'll work." I said as I got in her car and we pulled off.

"I meant to tell you...I have some leave time coming...I plan to go to Puerto Rico to see my Dad and my sister." she said.

''Damn...I'm gonna be climbing the walls while you're gone." I said.

''Well...I wanted to ask you if you could take some time off and come with?" she said.

"Really? Puerto Rico??? To meet your dad?/ That's major.." I said.

"You know Carm....and she loves you....I'm certain my Dad and my cousins will love you too." she said and smiled..

"Wow..I'm pretty sure...I can swing that." I said...

"Plus..If Papi really likes you..It might help me make up my mind about moving in with you." she said and winked.

"Yeah?? Really?? Word!" I said.

"I knew that would convince you to come." she laughed.

III-

The coffee shop we went to smelled great...I could tell that they not only had great coffee, but that they baked their bread and doughnuts on the premises.....Carlotta and I ordered Cherry croissants and two tumblers of coffee..We were getting ready to sit down when the cashier caught my eye....She was a striking Blonde , who was about my age and who I knew...I didn't wish to talk to her and I was hoping she didn't recognoze me...but usually when you don't want someone to recognize you...They do..

"Keith Wallace is that you? Oh My God...Is that Carlotta?? " she said.

She was Barbara Dennison..... a one time detective who was now serving coffee and ringing up customers in this coffee shop....

Carlotta looked at her funny....

''Keith is that Barbara Dennison .....?"

''Yeah...that's her....." I said as we both grudgingly walked over to Barbara's register....

"Oh My God...You're still as handsome as ever.....and is this Patrolmen Rodriguez??? Oh my God Girl....You're a Detective now...You made Detective??" said Barbara.

"For about 10 years now...I'm in Homicide." said Carlotta.

"WOWWW! I remember when you and little Jimmy Barlow were patrolmen...riding around in a patrol car, gettin coffee for me and my partner..." she said.

''Jimmy is a detective too..He's in Homicide with me." said Carlotta...

''Whatttttt?" she said...''Wow, yall two came up.."she said marveling...

"Yeah, time doesn't stand still." I added...

''And you two are a couple huh?" said Barbara slyly...

"Wha-Huh?" I said.

"I saw you two kissing in the car before you came in and you were holding hands...It's kind of obvious...Just don't let Cantrell or Tragg find out...Which one do you work under honey?" she asked.

"Neither..I work for Sissy and she already knows." said Carlotta.

"Sissy?? Detective Van Buren??" she said.

''Lieutenant Sissy Van Buren."said Carlotta proudly.

"Sissy made Lieutenant huh? Well she deserved it..She was smarter than most of those guys in our old unit..and she didn't take any mess either...Cantrell wanted to sleep with her so bad, but she wouldn't go there with him...I thought that that was a career killer for her, but she perservered huh?? Isn't that something? You and Jimmy work for Sissy..Hey how bout Tyriq Pile??, Duke Baylor...They still on the force?" she asked.

"Yes...They're both in our unit too." said Carlotta.

"Sissy has a squad of all stars....The Dream Team of detectives..." said Barbara.

I laughed at that!......

"Hey what ever happened to Angie Belton? She had just made Detective when I uh got canned." she said.

"She was in Homicide for awhile...Now she's in Internal Affairs." I said.

"Internal Affairs huh? That aint for her...She's a hunter.. She'll be back in Homicide..you just wait. Everybody moved up....If I was still on the force..I'd of been a Lieutenant myself by now.." she mused.

"Well uh.....It was nice running into you again ." I said as I pulled out my credit card and paid for our coffee and pastries...This whole conversation had made me uncomfortable...I felt bad for what happened to her, but it was her own fault...She was over zealous...Barbara didn't realize that we essentially have to play fair, even if the bad guys don't!

"Yeah ADA Wallace...Say hi to Sissy,Angie, Duke and Tyriq for me." she said as Carlotta and I left...

''I certainly will." I said, smiling uneasily!

"Wow...I feel kind of sorry for her Keith...What happened with her? That was so far back...I was still a roller then."said Carlotta.

"Barbara Dennison was a great detective....Reminded me of you at this point in your career right now Carlotta...Good instincts...Tough as nails...High clearence rate... But she went too far on a case one time...She planted evidence and gave false testimony in the case of a major player, who probably was guilty of murder....His lawyer discovered her ruse and brought it to the ADA's attention...They tried to try the case anyway and they lost...The guy went free...He's still free...Laughed in our faces..
The ADA called for her head and he got it..She was fired....She had 17 years on the force...All for nothing...She can't even get a pension...What a waste." I said.

''Wow." said Carlotta.

"So remember Carlotta...Do the job...Don't overdo it...Don't be so anxious to take a perp down that you cross lines and become as bad as the perp. Take em down right...Or not at all." I said, surprisingly very passionate and serious as though I was lecturing new recruits or something.

Carlotta looked at me and smiled.Her smile completely disarmed me, even though I was dead serious...She might have been the only one ,with the possible exception of Sissy ,who could do that..Make me laugh at myself...

"I'm already crossing lines...With you...Being in love with you." she said.

"Yeah...I know...I'm crossing those same lines too."I said..

''Well just don't stand there...This is the part of the story where we are supposed to kiss again." she said.

I pulled her to me and kissed her gently.....

IV-

I didn't expect to see Carlotta anymore that day after she dropped me off at my car and we went our seperate ways...But a few hours later,I got a call from Sissy..She was in shock...

"You'd better get over here Keith...It's Joshua...He's been killed." she said, her voice choking up.

Joshua...Was ADA Joshua Washington...A good friend of both Sissy and I.....I had just been at a 76ers game with Joshua Washington, Robert Foxworth, Duke Baylor and Tyriq Pile just a month before..

I drove to his house...

There was four police cars around and a throng of bystanders....I went inside the house... Sissy ,Carlotta and Tyriq Pile were in the living room where Joshua's bullet riddled body lie in the middle of the floor...

Sissy was visibly upset, trying hard to hold herself together.... I put my arms around her...

''What happened here?" I asked.

"Keith, I -I-I don't know....Oh My God...who would do something like this?" she said.

Carlotta tried not to step in the blood...She had on nylon gloves and Nylon booties...Observing the body with her was Dr. Hazel Hunter...

"Oh My God...He's been shot 27 times...I'm counting 27 bullet wounds...." said Dr. Hunter...

"He was shot at close range with a Glock Nine...." said Carlotta....

Detective Tyriq Pile kneeled down and observed the scene...He was collecting shell casings...

"It was two shooters....I can tell by the way the bullets hit him...The trajectory..Two glock nines...Close range....He was lit up." he said.

I looked around....

"Any sign of forced entry?" I asked...

''None" said Detective Edwin "Duke" Baylor, who entered from outside with three uniformed policemen... "He must have known his killers...or at least let them in..When I got here, the front door was wide open." he said.

"Hey Lou...We got another one upstairs..." came the voice of Detective Jimmy Barlow..

He was on the upper level... Sissy,Carlotta, Dr. Hunter, Tyriq ,Duke and myself went upstairs and in the bedroom and there we found Joshua's wife, Cynthia Washington lying on the floor in a short nightie.....She was a shapely woman....

She had one gunshot wound to the head...

"She was only shot once." he said as he and three uniformed policemen moved out of the way and allowed Carlotta, Dr. Hunter and Tyriq to study the body...

"This looks like she was surprised..." said Tyriq..

"You suspect possibly Murder-Suicide?" I asked.

Carlotta shook her head...

"No...Joshua Washington was shot by multiple shooters...and one of them must have heard her stirring around up here or screaming....It looks like she was trying to call 911..Her phone is over there on the floor...One of them came up here and shot her." she said.

"This was aimed at him...She was just collateral damage." Said Sissy...

"Duke...check out his cases...Especially recently released felons that may have had a grudge against him...Jimmy backtrack their phone calls...Chica...You and Tyriq check both of their laptops for any threatening or odd emails..and I'm going to check the surveilience cameras." said Sissy...

Funny how a day that started out so good, so mellow had ballooned into this...This was a major, major case...Because he was so high profile..I feared that the D.A.'s office and The Police Brass might call in all units to solve this....I didn't want that...Too many people involved would sully this case...

I was hoping that my so called "Dream Team" of Detectives, Carlotta Rodriguez, Tyriq Pile, Edwin "Duke" Baylor, James Barlow and their Lieutenant, Sissy Van Buren, a great detective herself..could crack this case and crack it fast...

"We've got people dusting for prints and checking for DNA." said Sissy to me...She still sounded as though she was about to lose it..

I pulled her to me and held her....Her body was as soft as Carlotta's and she smelled great...

"It'll be okay Sissy, we'll get whoever did this..If anybody can solve this case...You and these guys can..." I said.

I walked over to Carlotta who was finishing up...

"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you...Looks like you guys will be busy." I said.

''Nooooo, don't go...Stay with me...If you stay with me...I'll come over your place and stay with you!" she said.

My eyes got as large as saucers...She smiled a little bit...

"Oh my goodness, you are such a horn dog...Just the hint of sex.." she whispered...

"What can I say?" I said, a little ashamed that I was thinking about sex with Carlotta in the middle of a murder case...and the murder of a personal friend at that.

Dr. Hunter walked over to us...

"Can we release the body?" she asked.

"Yes, release the body." said Sissy...

Everything was bagged and tagged.... Duke, Jimmy, Tyriq, Dr. Hunter and the police all left... Sissy and Carlotta and I stood in front of the house as the crowd and the reporters all subsided...

"Wow ,this is major." said Carlotta.

''We gotta do this right..We are gonna have a lot of eyes on us." said Sissy.

"Yeah...I hate cases like this.." I said.

''Me too." said Sissy..

"Well, let's get a good night's sleep..Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. See yall." said Sissy as she walked to her car ,got in and pulled off.

Carlotta looked up at me...

"Follow me in your car ,I have to stop by my place and pack some things...I think I'm going to be staying with you for a few days.." she said.

I smiled...She looked at me and smiled...

"I figured you'd like that." she said.

"Well, we've got a big case to work on...We uh need to be together..You know , We are all going to be working late." I said.

Carlotta just smiled and shook her head...

"If you say so." she said.

I pulled her to me and kissed her for a long time....

When we came up for air...

" If you say so baby." she said with a whisper.

Part of me was going to hate when this case was over!

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Fluff,Dried and Handcuffed!

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 04:00:00 +0000

In one day I had crippled Mike Traine's organization..At least 69 of his people were in custody...and a number of his people had left Philadelphia on the fastest thing smoking, believing that someone was moving in on him fast...

The funny thing, the thing that really made me laugh was that he didn't even know it...Wasn't aware that his offices were closed , his legitimate employees had quit, or rather had been strongly urged not to return Under Advisement from the likes of Kool Kat, Chris Thompson, Chess, Donald Smooth, Big Nasty and others...and that for all intents and purposes..he was powerless....

He still thought that my wife was his prisoner... He really didn't have a card to play and was under indictment himself...but I wanted to play my last string.

Stevie "Hats" McMillian contacted me early in the morning...

I drove to his girlfriend's aunts house in Camden the next morning...

"Hey Kev, whats good?" he said.

"I talked to ADA Wallace man...you got your deal Hats..."I said.

"Yeah?" he said...

"Yup, you turn yourself in and turn in the money and neither the D.A.'s office or the bank will press charges." I said.

''Wow that's great."he said.

I need a favor from you though." I said.

"What's that?" he said.

"I need two of those thousand dollar bills" I said.

"Kev, you can't spend them, the serial numbers are known." he said.

"No..No..Not for that...Mike Traine is still out there...He thinks I'm going to double cross you and turn the money into him...He kidnapped my wife and was holding her hostage." I said.

"Oh My God." said Hats..

"Relax..She's safe now...but he doesn't know that...I got a trap set for him...I owe him some payback." I said.

''Yeah, I see that the swelling in your face is just startin to go down ..Guess you had a run in with him too." said Hats.

"Yeah and hopefully I'll get to pay him back in kind." I said.

"Awww yeah...I hate that bad skinned cowardly weasel myself. He hides behind his thugs..I'll take you to the money Kev." Said Hats ,Who was wearing a purple and yellow baseball cap with rhinestones on the edges.

II-

Hats and I drove to a safe deposit box in downtown Philadelphia.....He peeled off two one thousand dollar bills and passed them to me...He took the box with the rest of stolen money and surrendered to Detective Carlotta Rodriguez and two uniformed policemen.

"Thanks Kev." she said.

"Tell Keith, everything will be set for tonight." I said.

"Okay, I can't wait." she said and kissed me on the cheek..

''Do be careful papi.."she said.

"But of course...that goes without saying." I said.

III-

Later that afternoon, I called the number Mike Traine had given me from a payphone...

"Hello.." he said.

"Mike Traine...This is Kevin Morris." I said.

"Yeah, You got good news for me?" he said..

He still didn't know how bad things were.

"I got your money.."I said.

"Very good..." he said.

"Is my wife alright?" I asked.

"I suppose...I haven't been to the safehouse...I been busy...Nobody has answered the damn phone over there. I suppose my guy lost you huh?"he said under his breath.

"You had somebody on me? Wow, I never knew."I lied.

"Okay smart guy , you shook him...Probably why I haven't heard from him...He knows how I feel about failure." said Mike Traine.

"Yeah whatever, Just meet me in front of the laundromat tonight at midnight." I said.

"That's in two hours." he said.

"Good , you can tell time." I said.

"Still got the smart mouth eh?" he said.

"Let's just get this over with." I said.

''Hey Boss...I can't seem to reach anybody on the phone...I called a couple of our offices..I called the lawyer, the accountant, the book keeper, some of the other guys..Nobody is answering their phones." came a voice.

"It's the weekend...They're probably with broads...Don't worry about it." said Mike Traine.

''Havin problems Mike?" I asked.

"Nothin you need to worry about...just be there with my dough." he said.

"I'll be there...I can't wait." I said.

He didn't know how bad I couldn't wait!

IV-

I sat in my Lexus outside the laundromat....At 11:59 pm..Three guys approached the passenger side and Mike Traine and two of his goons approached the drivers side..He motioned for me to open the door, so I did...

He got in...He was holding a .45..

"Okay, so where is the loot?" he asked.

I went inside my coat pocket...

''Easy...Easy." he said.

"Relax...Here are two thousand dollar bills just to show you I have the money in good faith. I'm sure you know the serial numbers" I said.

He looked at them, then shook his head.

"Okay, where is the rest of it?" he said.

"It's not like I'm carrying three million on me." I said.

''What? You aint got the money on you?" he screamed...

"No ,I didn't say that...It's in the laundromat." I said.

"What?" He asked.

"In the dryer!!!...Number Three..The one that's got out of service on it..."I said.

"You're a real creative guy Kevin...I'm creative too...I put two hot ones in Little Willie Tate's head...It was my idea to stuff him in the dryer." he said..

"Yeah, that was pretty creative. Cruel, but creative." I said.

"What was cruel? He was already dead when my guys brought him here." he smirked.

"You're all heart." I said.

"Okay laughin boy..We are all going in to get that dough...If it aint in there...I'm makin a call and your wife is dead....Now get out the car...Let's go." he said.

I got out...Five of his goons surrounded me..

"You always travel with such an entourage?" I asked as we walked into the laundromat.

"Yeah...There is security in numbers ." he said.

"For a punk like you, I suppose so." I said.

''Huh? What? I oughta belt you one." he said.

"Look around sport...There's too many people in here...You don't want to draw a crowd..Just get your money and get out of my life!" I said.

There was two women doing laundry... two guys doing their laundry on the other side and a young white guy listening to an ipod with his headphones on sitting on top of a washing machine...He looked like he was high.

Mike thought better of hitting me with this many customers in here...

" You lucked out this time..Just show me the dryer and get me my money." he said.

"What about my wife?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'll have em cut her loose.. Ya know..It coulda been worse...She looks kinda sporty....I coulda demanded she give me a taste of the goodies ya know?? I thought about it...but even a jamolk like you deserves a little respect." he jeered..

My temper had now reached it's boiling point...

Lt. Sissy Van Buren, dressed in black tights and a denim top spun around...I can't tell you how hot she looked in those black tights, which hugged every curve...She pulled a glock nine out of the washing machine!

"Game over fellas drop em!!!" she said.

One goon was foolish enough to draw his weapon and Sissy shot him in the shoulder and in the thigh...I don't think she is the one to piss off!

He yelled out in pain..

"ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGHH...I don't believe it ,I've been shot." and fell to the floor.

Carlotta ,spun around and flipped another goon and put his arm behind his back...I wouldn't piss her off either!! She pulled out her Glock nine and stuck it in the base of his neck...He didn't offer any resistance...

Detective Tyriq Pile, wearing an apron for some reason pulled his revolver out of a washing machine and backed another goon up...

"Don't hurt him Top." laughed Tyriq Pile as he backed his man up.

" I always wanted to do that move."laughed Carlotta...

"I can tell." laughed Tyriq.

''Hey sexy chocolate, take that apron off...You look ridiculous." said Sissy.

Sissy and Carlotta howled with laughter...

Tyriq just smiled as he handcuffed his man.

While Detectives Edwin "Duke"Baylor and Jimmy Barlow pulled their guns and handcuffed the remaining goons..

I grabbed Mike Traine and punched him so hard in his stomach that he fell up against the dryer and dropped his gun..I kicked it away and then punched him several times in his face...I hit him so hard and so often that his fat face began to swell and blood began to trickle out of his mouth and nose....Then I grabbed him and rammed his head into the dryer until the glass broke..

"Now Mr. Fluff and dry, let's see how you like it." I said and I flung the door open and stuffed the short, balding gangster into the deep dryer...dropped three quarters in the slot, slammed the door and turned it on...

''ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH." he screamed as the dryer spun around with him in it..

A crowd gathered and laughed as he spun around and tumbled, screaming to the top of his lungs for help! ... Finally Sissy walked over to me, put her arms around me gently and whispered...

"That's enough Kevin." she said....She had a way about her that was so soft ,so tender that she could totally disarm me...Again I wondered how Robert could have ever let her go and hoped that Eddie C. made an honest woman out of her one day and married her..Sissy was and is an amazing woman.

Tyriq, Jimmy and Duke were laughing uncontrollably, So was two other plain clothes detectives who also happened to be in the laundromat....Carlotta walked over to Sissy and I, took one look at Mike Traine tumbling in the dryer and fell out laughing herself...

"Did you get his confession on tape?" I asked.

"Every word...We got him for murder one. Chica, Jimmy, get him out of that dryer" said Sissy softly..

Carlotta and Jimmy pulled him out of the dryer and handcuffed him...He was clearly dazed...

"Fluff, Dried and handcuffed." said Jimmy...

Duke ,Tyriq,Carlotta and the two other plain clothes detectives fell out laughing...

"Okay,Okay...Get him and his gang out of here.Get an ambulance for him and the guy I shot." said Sissy as some uniforms arrived and helped the detectives lead them all out...

Sissy looked at me..

"Hey Kevin, you got any quarters?" she asked.

"Yeah...You want a soda or something?" I asked.

"Uh no...Since I knew we were coming to the laundromat tonight...I brought a few things I wanted to wash." she said...

She actually had a box of detergent and a laundry bag full of a few things.

I laughed....

"You serious?" I said.

"Yes I'm serious..." she said with a straight face.

I laughed, a good hearty laugh....First time in days.

Sissy smiled and laughed too...

I handed her four quarters and she took her clothes out of the washing machine and put them in the dryer..

She looked back at me and winked...

Sissy was too much!

EPILOUGE-

All 69 of Mike Traine's associates got from 25 years to Life for a variety of charges , ranging from Extortion of business, Bribery of public officials, Conspiracy to operate a criminal enterprise, money laundering and even murder!!...The young lady and the five goons who kidnapped Sepia and I got Life sentences...The other five guys arrested in the laundromat that night got 15-25 years on assault ,attempted murder and various conspiracy charges...

Mike Traine himself was sentenced to two life sentences without possibility of parole for the murder of Little Willie Tate and the kidnapping of Sepia and I...

In prison, he was no longer the big cheese...He was hated and blamed for most of his one time associates being there with long sentences... Several attempts were made on his life.He had to be transferred to protective custody for his own safety.

Stevie ''Hat's"McMillian is a free man...He returned the money as agreed and was not prosecuted..He and Edie got married and their laundromat is pulling in big bucks...
At his wedding he wore a White Top Hat with gold trim and blue polka dots... Imagine that!

He paid me handsomely...More than was originally agreed...

"I can't thank you enough Kev...The whole neighborhood thanks you for gettin that bum, Mike Traine off the streets." said The Hat Man...

"Yeah, from what I understand, he's not the big man on campus at the prison." I laughed.

''I heard a couple a guys tried to take him out." said the Hatman...

"Couldn't be happening to a more deserving person." I said. We both laughed.

"Heard you got creative with him..Stuffed him in one of my dryers." he laughed.

"Oh yeah..I'll pay you for that." I said.

"Relax Kev...It's done...I just wished I was there to see it." he said.

"So what will you do now?" I asked.

"Oh ,Edie and I are goin to the Bahamas for our honeymoon Kev..I'm gonna have a nice tall cold drink on the beach somewhere, Somewhere I don't know the playas and the cops don't know me...and the beer is cold and flowing.Then we'll be back."he laughed...

"Good for you Hatman...Good for you." I laughed...."Be Easy Hatman."

'' Always Kev...Always." he said.

Sepia and I relaxed in our house one afternoon...
"Sepia ,I'm so sorry about this...This is the second time you've been kidnapped by my enemies..I'm going to make sure this never happens again." I said.

"Don't worry about it lover...I'm licensed to carry...Next time..I'll have my .38 smokeless in my pocketbook and I'll bust a cap in any would be kidnapper." she said.

I looked at her kind of funny.

"Kevin...I was born in Newark...I'm essentially a street girl." she said.

"My ride or die chick." I joked..

"You better know it." she said..

I kissed her forehead...

"What's with this forehead kissing?" she said.

She grabbed me and kissed me slowly, sensually and softly for a few minutes...

"Wow!" was all I could say...She put her forefinger on my lip....and spoke softly,almost in a whisper...

"I'm going down in the basement...I've got a few things in the washing machine...I hope the washing machine isn't the only thing down there rocking." she said and curled her lip sensually...

We stood at the basement door and we kissed some more....Sepia's skin was as soft as a baby...and she smelled great...She was hard for me to resist most times...

"Well alright!" I said as she took my hand and lead me to the basement and turned the lights off!~

"I didn't think you'd mind." she said.

"Not at all." I said as I sat her up on the washing machine and hiked her dress up...

The Quiet War

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 04:00:00 +0000

The next day....Big Nasty , Eddie , Andrew, Chess, Donald Smooth, Chris Thompson, Owen Todd , Clerow and Kool Kat walked into a store front, pistol whipped three of the bodyguards inside and brought the book keeper out and tossed him into the back of their van and pulled off...I don't normally agree with that method, but this time I was willing to make an exception.It was important that I not be present for these activities...

I was still being tailed by one of his men and I didn't want him to tip Traine off.. He followed me to Mabel Jenkins's Soul food Joint where I had breakfast and to my home and finally to Josies...where I slipped out the back exit and Gus pulled his .45 out and subdued him before he could follow....Gus and I tied him up and gagged him and releived him of his smartphone, his gun and a pair of brass knuckles. A real sweetheart!.. My guys stopped by and tossed him in the back of the van also.

They visited three more of Mike Traine's joints and did the same, leaaving with boxes of records which they took to our van, where Peeping Tom and Sean Jackson photocopied and xeroxed everything....Then they put a "CLOSED" sign on all of the doors.

They took the book keeper and Traine's goon to a downtown office where they beat up and "escorted " the entire staff of the office with three more boxes of records...With them was an accountant... Peeping Tom and Sean Jackson photocopied and xeroxed the contents of these records and files also. Big Nasty locked the door and had the administrative assistants put a "Closed for the day" message on their phones...

They delivered boxes of records and books to the law offices of Robert Foxworth....Robert, Cole ,Chance and several of their assistants pored through the boxes of records and books and looked at me in shock!!

''Oh My God Kevin... You've got evidence goin to bed here, Evidence that could put a whole lot of folks in prison for a long stay..You've got blackmail, outright extortion of businesses and payoffs to some very important people in city government for all kinds of things..all of it illegal...How did you get this?'' he asked.

"Counselor, you don't even wanna know...just box it and mail it to ADA Keith Wallace
and Lt. Sissy Van Buren..I had Sean Jackson and Peeping Tom make copies of everything...We are going to return the originals...and all of those employees have been told (at gunpoint ) not to return to those offices." I said.

''Man, talk about bending the law." he laughed.

"Yeah ,talk about it." I said and left...

We delivered the goon, who was wanted on outstanding assault charges ,the accountant and the book keeper to Lt. Sissy Van Buren's office...Where Sissy and Detectives,Carlotta Rodriguez and Jimmy Barlow were more than happy to handcuff them and take them into custody.

On the streets,The quiet war continued.. Chris Thompson, Chess, Owen Todd, Donald Smooth, Big Nasty, Eddie,Albert ,Clerow and Kool Kat rousted everybody known to associate with and or have some dealings with Mike Traine...and told them at either gunpoint or a severe beating, (some times both) to either leave town now or make themselves scarce....They were told if it was thought that they made contact with Mike Traine there would be dire circumstances...They got the message and made themselves scarce...Chris Thompson and Kool Kat, though no longer gangsters still had tough street reps and few people wanted to get on their wrong sides....As a result...The bus stations, train station and airport was full of people who decided that today was a nice day to visit elsewhere!! Included in that group was Mike Traine's sleazy lawyer, who he kept on retainer.

While I had been held captive....I had dropped one of those GPS units on the floor and slid it under a couch at the house where Mike Traine's people had been holding Sepia and I the night before...

The signal was perfect...It was stronger than some of the signals we had gotten before and sure enough ,it led us right to the house where Sepia was being held...

II-

Sean Jackson got a good look at the house from all sides and took infra-red photos of the upstairs with one of his newer cameras..

He walked over to our van ,which was two blocks away...

''Kevin, Sepia is in the front room on the second floor..." he said.

"I got a good scope too Kev...Mike Train and about five of his guys left about an hour ago...Clerow is on them...He's got a rental car..." said Owen Todd...

"Okay...that leaves five guys and a girl...Let's take em." I said.

Chris Thompson, Chess, Donald Smooth and Owen Todd went to the front door and rung the door bell, meanwhile...Lockpick Johnson let Kool Kat,Big Nasty, Eddie, Albert and I in from the back....

When the lookout guy answered the door, Chess cold cocked him and Chris Thompson stuck a pistol into the chest of the second man and backed them both into the living room...There was two other men on the first floor...Owen Todd took one and Donald Smooth took the other...Big Nasty, Eddie and Albert secured the downstairs.

Kool Kat and I walked up the stairs...Turns out...there was an armed man there....Kool Kat's .44 magnum persuaded him to keep his mouth shut...I kicked in the door of the front room where Sepia was...The female was stunned..She went for a gun but I put the muzzle of a riot pump shotgun in her belly...

"Please give me a reason...Just give me a reason to splatter your insides all over the floor." I said.

She didn't resist...

Lockpick Johnson untied Sepia and unbound her...

She ran to me and kissed me passionately ....while Lockpick Johnson held the shotgun on the young lady.

"Oh My God...I knew you'd come back and get me lover...I knew it.." she said in between kisses that were coming close to making me forget why I was here and the work still to be done.

"Most definitely babe..Wasn't no way I wasn't coming back for you....Too bad Traine got away. I sure wanted to square things with him." I said.

We tied up the girl and all five of her little helpers....I thanked everybody immensely and told them all that I could handle things from here... Everyone left except Owen Todd, who stayed with me and Sepia just in case...Traine and his crew returned before the cops arrived.

III-

Lt. Sissy Van Buren and her detectives and her uniforms stood outside of the house as The young lady, and all five of her associates were arrested and hauled into the paddy wagon, charged with kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment...

"It's been a good day today Kevin." she said.

''Is that so?" I said.

''Oh yeah...we got two boxes of stuff sent to us anonymously...records of all kind of RICO violations, even murder...ADA Wallace got warrants and Detective Pile and Detective Baylor were very busy ,Must have arrested 60 people connected to the Mike Traine organization..Plus the the three you turned into us earlier..That makes 63.I had to request extra manpower for all of the raids..but it's money well spent..I know my two guys will sleep well tonight.They earned it...and oh yeah, they both told me to thank you for all the overtime they got." she said looking at me and laughing.

"Good for them." I said.

Detective Carlotta Rodriguez walked up....

"That's the last of them boss lady....That girl is ADA Wallace's Administrative Assistant...I never liked her...I always thought she was dirty." said Carlotta...

Sissy and I smiled and looked at her side eyed...

''What?" she said laughing.

Detective Jimmy Barlow walked up to me...

''Hey Kev, I got ADA Wallace on the horn...He wants to talk to you."he said.

''Excuse me Ladies." I said.

I walked over to one of the police cars...

''Hey Kevin...I guess Sissy told you that we have had a great day." he said.

"So I've heard..." I said.

"Well, I got good news for you...Tell your client that we will not press charges and the bank said that it won't press charges provided he returns all of the money."said Keith Wallace.

"It's a done deal...He should be calling me soon." I said.

"I'm keeping the arrests out of the paper...for 48 hours Kevin..." he said.

"Okay...I'll make the deal...I think I can still deliver Traine to you...He hasn't yet found out that his key people are missing." I said.

"Funny thing Kev...I mean we arrested some 63 people and all of em are trying to cut deals and willing to talk about Mike Traine..No honor amongst thieves...but he is known to have several more associates that were not in any of the indictments that we couldn't find...Seems like all of his neighborhood support just up and vanished." said Keith Wallace..

''Yeah, funny how that happens." I laughed.

"Good Night Kevin...you are something else." he laughed.

I walked over to Sissy ,Carlotta and Jimmy....

"Well I've done my good deed for the day." I said.

''Yes, you did." laughed Sissy..

"I'm going to deliver Traine to you tomorrow by midnight...I need you guys to do me one last solid." I said.

"And what is that?" asked Carlotta...

"Feel like doing some laundry?" I asked.

Sissy and Carlotta looked at me and smiled.

IV-

That night ,Sepia and I relaxed at our home...

"So lover, the cops arrested a lot of Traine's people and you and your guys ran everybody else out of town?" she said.

"Yup, under threat of death." I said not cracking a smile...

"Wow...I want to see the look on his face when he discovers that that safehouse is empty." she said.

"That's just the thing...He don't even know yet...He went to Atlantic City with his boys...Clerow tailed him there and then followed him back...He's staying with some girl tonight...Tomorrow ,I'm going to make the deal with Hats and bring the curtain down on Mike Traine." I said.

"Well for tonight...Why don't you close those curtains and take care of your wife?" she asked.

"With pleasure." I said as I rolled her over on the bed and began kissing her...

'Ummmmmm..I thought you'd prefer this kind of uh protection." she joked in between
kisses.

''Yessssss lawd...anytime." I said slipping my hand up under her short nightgown...

"Me too." she giggled.

(CONCLUSION NEXT)

Gimmee The Loot

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Because I was blind folded, I had no idea where Sepia and I were being taken...All I know is that we rode around for what seemed like hours and finally we stopped , we were both marched into what felt like a row house...I was pushed into the living room and Sepia was walked upstairs...

I smelled a woman's perfume and from the sounds of the steps and voices...I could determine that at least nine or ten men were in the house...

Mike Traine walked over to me....I couldn't see him, but his breath smelled horrible...I remembered that much from our initial meeting...and he had really bad body odor..I don't know how his underlings and especially a woman could bare to be around him all day...but I guess money and fear will make you put up with a lot. Even the house smelled bad...It smelled like a combonation of foot odor, sweat and bad breath...I was getting sick on the stomach just breathing.

"Kevin Morris...So at last we meet...You're the private detective that has ended the careers of so many of the neighborhood playas..huh?" he said with more than a hint of sarcasm...

"Give me a chance and I'll end yours too." I said.

He punched me hard in my stomach...He knocked the breath out of me and I fell to the floor...I felt two guys lifting me up...

"Like that huh?" he said.

"Where is my wife? You hurt her and I swear I'll kill you." I said.

He punched me in my stomach again...The pain was maddening...I was near unconsciousness...

"Got anything else smart to say?" he asked.

"Yes...You ought to drink a bottle of Scope ,and while you're at it, a hot bath wouldn't hurt you neither." I said. I heard several snickers amongst the men there...

I felt several guys cold cock me and punch me in my face, head and torso....I fell to the floor and I felt myself getting kicked..I was in extreme pain, but so angry, it was negating the pain and my fear of sudden death...which was looking like a very real possibility right now.

"Alright, knock it off boys, pull him up." said Mike Traine..

"You gonna learn to keep that smart mouth of yours closed." he said.

"I wish you'd keep your closed, damn man, your breath.." I said.. He slapped me again...

"SHUT UPPP!" he bellowed..

"Screw you...Now hit me some more...I'll say even more, you fat smelly bastard!" I said.

He punched me in my stomach....I sensed where he might be and I kicked him or somebody in the shin...

''OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...you son of a...." came a scream.....

I was once again belted...in the sides....I coughed up blood.

"Now , the reason why I bought you here is because I want you to tell me where the money is.." he said.

''What money?" I asked.

''What money? , What money?" You hear this boys?" he asked and then slapped me so hard I saw stars.

"Look, I know that Hats McMillian hired you to make a deal with ADA Keith Wallace...He wants to turn himself and the dough in." said Mike Traine.

"Oh yeah, is that so?" I said.

Then I heard a female voice...

"Yeah it's so...I work in the D.A.'s office...I'm an administrative assistant...I was in the other room arranging some files when you came down there the other day...I heard the whole conversation..." she said.

"So ,you're Mike Traine's eyes and ears huh?" I said.

"That's right." she said.

"Okay Esther, that's enough...Now Gimmee The loot...I need that money!..." he said...

"Hats never told me where he had the money stashed...I didn't want to know until ADA Wallace could broker the deal." I said.

"Where is Hats?...We can't seem to find him" said Mike...

"If I knew that, I still wouldn't tell you, but I don't know...I told him to sky up and to contact me when he was somewhere safe." I said.

"How was he supposed to contact you?" asked Mike Traine..

"Through a go between...Walter "Kool Kat" Jones.." I lied...

His name alone invoked a sudden fear in every guy in the room...None of them wanted to mix it up with the big man...

"Kool Kat eh? Well smart mouth...Here's the deal...I'm gonna let you go...How do you like that?" he said.

"Yeah right" I said.

"No...I believe you....If you knew where the money was, you woulda told me by now after the way we been beatin on you. but your pretty little wifey is going to stay here...This is insurance that you don't run to that foxy Lieutenant and her equally foxy Puerto Rican cutie side kick that you're so chummy with...You get seen talking to any cops and your wife is gonna get the same working over that you got...Bet she can't take it like you can. I gotta hand it to you, you're one tough guy." he laughed...

"What do you want?" I asked.

"You got 24 hours...Convince Hats to give you the loot....Then you call me at this number...We'll pick the dough up...Once we have the dough...Wifey will be safely delivered right back to the lot where we snatched her...And if you even think about going to Wallace and the cops...just remember...We got you once..We can get you again." he said.

"Traine....I promise you....You won't live to spend that dough.... I'm going to find you and kill you and everybody in this room." I said.

"No...No you won't...See...I'm not like all the others...They were all a bunch of amateurs ,lightweights ,I don't leave anything or anybody around for anybody to follow ...You don't even know where you are...You can't say for sure that you even saw my face.I got people everywhere watching...You make one wrong move...and you're gone...Furthermore, after I get my loot...You're out of the private investigatin business....I run this neighborhood...Deal with it..Don't feel bad...Chris, Chess, your boy Gus, your wife and her business partner,Mabel Jenkins and her sisters and all them guys will soon be kickin up to me...a percentage of all their profits or...they won't live much longer...Believe that! Now get out of here and gimme that loot." he sneered.

I was spun around and marched down a hallway and thrown into the back seat of the Escalade and driven back to the shopping center and thrown out the car on to the side walk....

The Escalade drove away!.....I was still blindfolded..I was in terrible pain...I blacked out....The last thing I remember was hearing two voices...a man and a woman..

''Oh My God, Cal...That's Kevin!!"came a woman's voice.

''He alive?" came the man's voice.

''Yeah...help me get him to the car...Let's take these ropes off of him and this blindfold." came the woman's voice..

Then I blacked out!

II-

I don't know how long I had been out, but when I woke up...I was in a strange apartment...It was clean, it smelled nice....I was laying across a bed... My old friend, Calvin Wardlow was administering a cold towell to my head....

"You okay now Kevin?" he said.

I looked up...Cherry Johnson...The manager of Victoria's Secret was smiling at me...

"So glad you're okay Kev" she said.

"This is your place Cherry? Niceee!" I said.

''Yes...Sorry you had to visit me for the first time this way..." she said with a smile.

"Yeah man, we was closing up and we saw those guys toss you out that Escalade...I'm just glad you're alive." said Calvin...

"Thank you, Thank you for helping me..." I said.

I got up and looked at myself in Cherry's mirror...My face was swollen and my whole body was sore...but I couldn't worry about that right now...I had to rescue Sepia..

Cherry can I use your cell phone?" I asked.

"Sure Kev." she said and tossed it to me.

I called Kool Kat , told him where to meet me...I called Clerow, Sean Jackson, Owen Todd,Peeping Tom and Lockpick Johnson... I also called up an old friend I hadn't called on in a long time.. Patricia "Big Nasty"
Porterhouse and Gus's two guys..Eddie and Andrew...I told em all to come heavy....They knew what that meant.

"Anything else we can do for you Kev?" asked Cherry....

"No, you guys have done more than enough...Thank you so much for everything...Cherry ,Where is the back exit?"I asked.

''I'll show you." she said and she and Calvin led me down the back hallway ,down the stairs and to the back exit.

"Take care of yourself Kevin." she said.

"I will darlin.." I said and kissed her forehead.

''Be Easy Doc." said Calvin.

"Always babe!" I said.

III-

Kool Kat drove by and picked me up...

"Damn Kev...What happened to you?" he exclaimed upon seeing me...

"Mike Traine is what happened..."I said.

"He did this?" asked Kool Kat..

"Him and about ten of his boys...They kidnapped me and Sepia...They still have her." I said.

"We gotta come back on him and come back on him hard..." said Kool Kat getting angrier and smacking his big fist into the palm of his hands...

We drove to the basement of my office...It was closed now...I figured that I had lost whoever was tailing me.

In the basement of my new office building, Clerow stood with his .45, Owen Todd had his .45, Eddie and Albert, Gus's two security guys had riot pump shotguns, Kool Kat had a .44 magnum and a riot pump shotgun..Patricia "Big Nasty " Porterhouse...Who I hadn't seen in years greeted me with a hug...She had a riot pump shotgun....and a Glock nine...Baby girl didn't play.

"Oh My God Kevin...How long has it been?" she said.

"Too Long Babe." I answered...

"When you called..I had to come..." she said.

''Glad you did.."I said.

''So who we gotta take down?" she asked.

"Big Fish...Mike Train." I said.

"We on it... I can't stand that fat smelly bastard...Walkin around like he owns the neighborhood." Said Eddie.

"That's his plan ,to take down all of your businesses eventually and have you paying him tribute." I said.

"I'll be damned."said Albert.

I smiled...I knew taking down Mike Traine would not be a hard sell. Nobody liked him.

Peeping Tom and Lockpick Johnson and Sean Jackson arrived too...

And to my surprise...there was another knock on my back door...

"Who is that?" I said.

Kool Kat smiled...

"Open the door Kev...They insisted on coming.." he said.

'Who?" I said.

"Freinds of ours...When I told em what Mike Traine did to you..I couldn't stop em from comin." said the Big Man.

It was Chess, Donald Smooth and Chris Thompson!!!...

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"Heard you was in need of some muscle....So , we here babe!" said Chess.

''Damn right..We here for you Kev!" said Donald Smooth.

Chris Thompson looked at me and smiled...

"Nobody kidnaps you my man as far as you and me go back and my girl Sepia too!and just gets away with it...Uh Uh....It aint gonna stand.Now order us some hoagies and steaks....Let's sit down and eat,put our heads together and talk about how we take this jamolk down!"he said.

Mike Train wanted war...Now he was going to get one!

(TO BE CONTINUED...)

Deals That Go Down

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 04:00:00 +0000

ADA Keith Wallace and I had been friends for as long as Sissy and I had known each other...Going on five years or so...He was a cool brother and a smart and fair guy to boot...

I liked him...I could talk to him on and off the record...So on Monday morning, I stopped by his office...

"Heyyyy Kevin...To what do I owe the pleasure of this rare visit?" he said.

"I got what you law enforcement guys might call a good pull." I said.

"OHHH?" He Said.

"Listen, Do you remember the Phillips Armored Car robbery of 2001?" I asked.

"Yeah....Wowwww, three million taken and not a trace of the money ever surfaced and
nobody was ever arrested for the job!! That's kind of like an urban myth now." he said laughing.

"What would you say if I told you, I could deliver to you not only the money, but the guy who took the money?" I said.

He looked at me funny....

"I mean, I mean you've delivered us some great cases in the past Kev...but this one is a little out of your league isn't it?" he said.

"Well my client, who wishes to remain anonymous claims that he and a recent murder vicitim, Little Willie Tate took down that armored car back in 2001. He's willing to turn himself in and the money." I said.

"What's the catch?" he asked me.

"He wants a clean slate...No prosecution and protection." I said.

"I have to do some research , I think the statute of limitation might already apply to the actual robbery...I don't know...Plus, I have to check with the bank...I need at least 48 hours.." he said.

"Fair enough." I said.

"What or who does he need protection from?" he asked.

"Local players....As you may suspect...The natives are getting restless...."I said.

"I'll bet they are...and Little Willie Tate was the first casaulty ,I suppose...And would those natives happen to belong to one Mike Traine?" he asked.

"Yupper." I said.

''Yeah...I figured...I've been watching him....He's a slick one... Rumored to have his hands in a number of criminal enterprises...a rising star in the world of crime." he said.

"Yeah...I've heard a lot about him...Never met the man myself.." I said.

"Look...I got people over me...I gotta run it by them and run it by the bank...Give me 48 hours...and I'll give you an answer...Okay?" he said.

"Fair enough." I said.

"But then Kev...I may need you to either step aside and let my guys go after him or turn him in...I'm sorry, that's how the game is played." he said.

"I know that...Thanks anyway for at least being willing to try." I said.

"We owe you too much not to Kevin." he said.

I thanked him and got in my car and pulled off.

II-

That afternoon, Peeping Tom and Lockpick Johnson dropped by my house...Sepia and I were just finishing dinner...

"Mrs. Morris, Can you get any more beautiful?" said Tom , tipping his hat as Sepia answered the door...My wife smiled and pointed to the kitchen...

"Hello Tom, Hi Lockpick...He's in the kitchen.." she said as they came inside...

"Hey guys...What's good?" I said.

"Something for you and the missus....A new toy I came across.." he said and passed me a small disk the size of a quarter..

''What's this?" I asked.

"What that is is a micro GPS unit....It's also a magnet...This is virtually impossible for anyone to discover...Here is one for the missus too.." he said and tossed one to Sepia..

"It is even more powerful than the ones we were using to track vehicles..." he said.

"Wow! Thanks man." I said.

"This of course cost me a pretty penny to get ahold of." he said.

I smiled...

"Stop by the office tomorrow...I'll have a check for you." I said.

"Pleasure doing business with ya Kev...By the way, how is the home security system working?" he said.

"Like a charm." I laughed..

Sepia and Lockpick Johnson watched us and just laughed.

"Well, we are out of here...Enjoy the rest of your evening folks." said Tom as they left...

Sepia looked at me, smiled and shook her head...

"What a pair..An Italian Ex CIA operative and a Black ex con, former heist man...What a pair." she laughed..

"If I didn't know them myself, I wouldn't believe their partnership...

Lockpick Johnson and Peeping Tom had helped me immeasurably over the years...I was glad to know them and have them as part of my team.

III-

I returned to the Laundromat.... I met Hats McMillian in the upstairs office...

"Well Kev, did you meet with ADA Keith Wallace?" he asked.

"I did." I said.

''He go for it?" he asked.

"He's got to run it by some higher ups...He's going to get in touch with me in two days." I said.

"Oh man." said Hats...

"I'd advise you to sky up...Get your girl and vanish for awhile...Call me when you're someplace safe okay?" I said.

"Okay.." he said.

"Do you have anyplace to go?" I asked.

''Yeah..I got an aunt in Camden." he said.

"Go get your girl now and sky up....Mike Traine is ruthless." I said.

I didn't realize how ruthless at the time I told him that.

IV-

As soon as I left the laundromat...I walked over to my wife's job....Her car was still parked in front of the office.. I walked in...Bonita and of their administrative assistants was there...

''Hey Kevin...How you doin?" said Bonita..

''Hey Neet...Where's my Girl?" I asked.

''Sepia showed a house to somebody two hours ago and I haven't seen her since." she said.

''Really? Her car is still in the parking lot." I said.

"It is? ,Then she must have come back, but that's not like her to not check in.." she said.

"Maybe she's at one of the stores here in the shopping center." I said.

"Yeah maybe!" said Bonita.

As soon as I walked out of their office ,two men, dressed in black suits with white shirts walked up behind me...

''Kevin isn't it? Kevin Morris?" said one of them.

"Who wants to know?" I asked.

"Mikey...Mike Traine." said the other one who shoved a pistol in my back, while the other one took my .38 smokeless and then reached down and took my. 22 out of my ankle holster..

A White Escalade pulled up...

Mike Traine himself was driving...

"Get in and don't get no funny ideas...Take a look in the back seat." he said...

Sepia was in the back seat!!! She was blind folded and her arms was tied behind her back...

"Get cute and your pretty little skirt gets it first, then you....now get in..I aint askin you again." he said.

He was a bald headed, light skinned guy about five foot , ten...with a pencil thin moustache...

Another guy blind folded me and then tied my arms behind my back... They pushed me into the back seat

and then they pulled off into the night.

( DEFINITELY TO BE CONTINUED...)