''So you don't know if this guy is a bum or not...You don't know if he can pay you." said Kool Kat.
''Kools...he had a money clip with a G. on it and the suit he was wearing was tailored,just like yours and mines...He has dough....I jut don't know where he makes his dough, that's all." I said.
''And he can't even tell you where his bank is.." laughed Kool Kat..
"Yeah ,well maybe what's in his house will tell us more." I said.
"Shouldn't you have brought Lockpick Johnson with you?" asked Kool Kat.
"What for? I got his house keys out of his pocket...as well as his car keys." I said.
"Must be." I said.
I opened the door of his car and checked around in it...Kool Kat checked the trunk...
''Nothin here boss." he said.
"Okay, let's go inside...."I said.
The door was already open...
Kool Kat pulled his .44 magnum out...
''Looks like we got company Kev..." he said.
I nodded and we both entered the house....
It was a mess...
"Looks like the place has been tossed." I said.
Kool Kat nodded...
"Looks like Clean was here already." he said.
"Or he's still here.." I said..
Just that minute,I heard the all too familliar click of a gun....I looked and the goon who had been driving Clean's car a few days before had a .45 at Kool Kat's head..
"Nice and Easy son or big boy here gets it..." he said...
"So we meet again" came the voice of the man known as Gene "Clean" Mckindles...
I turned and before I could do anything, he grabbed my privates with one of his large hands and squeezed and with the other hand, he grabbed my neck and slammed my head into the wall...
"Thought you was cute the other day huh? Shootin at me...Now you're here in this house...Ugh,Ugh..."he said..
Kool Kat went to lunge...but Clean's goon cocked his pistol...
"Don't even think about it..." he said...
Clean was a little older than Kool Kat and me,about ten years older to be exact but strong as hell..He was squeezing the breath out of me and practically lifting me off of the ground...I took what strength I had left and kicked him in his groin as hard as I could... with my free foot ..He grunted, but he loosened up his hold just enough for me to elbow him in his jaw, snapping his head back and sending him flying...
I didn't have the time to catch my breath before he was heading toward me....He, was silent, didn't waste a lot of time talking..I liked that.He grunted...
I landed some good lefts and rights to his body, but he was equally good with his hands...he landed some good lefts and rights to mine...I countered and landed some lefts and rights to his face, but he equaled me with some well placed lefts and rights to mine...
What I had in my favor was that he was older and out of shape and already winded and I could feel him breathing hard...I cracked him hard in his jaw and saw blood trickle from his mouth...I cracked him again and saw the sweat fly off of his face...I hit him in his stomach and he bent down in obvious pain..I landed some more lefts and rights to his jaw which sent him into the wall...and down on the living room floor..He lay there for a minute...un conscious and breathing heavy...I was holding my neck and still gasping for air...I hauled off and kicked him in his head...
When his friend took his attention off of Kool Kat and aimed at me..Kool Kat elbowed him in his jaw which sent him flying into the other wall...he dropped his gun...He got up and swung at Kool Kat, but he missed..Kool Kat didn't miss..He landed several hard lefts and rights to this guys face...He placed two uppercuts to his jaw and a right cross that sent him into the wall again and down on the living room floor...Out for the count,along with Clean....
''Well, that was fun..." he said and smiled...
"Go out to the car and get some rope..."I said.
He did and we tied both of them up....and gagged them....;They were both still unconscious..
"After we search this place, I'll call the cops..." I said.
"The cops? What are they going to charge them with?" he asked ,nearly laughing..
"Ohhh, breaking and entering....Weapons" I said, unloading both of their guns and leaving the empty guns on the table...
"Breakin and entering? Aint we guilty of the same thing?" laughed Kool Kat.
"No...I had a house key...and these guys were already in here when we got here....Plus...I don't plan to be here when the cops get here...Do you?" I asked..
Kool Kat just shook his head and laughed....
''And I used to be the criminal...." he said.
"Let's search this house...See if we can find something..Anything.."I said.
II-
"Hey look....It's a diploma...This guy graduated from Penn!" I said.
"Yeah...Here's another one...from Columbia in New York..." said Kool Kat....
"So what is a guy with two Ivy league degrees doing living in this house...in the hood?" I asked.
"Maybe you should ask him.."laughed Kool Kat...
"Come on...let's get out of here." I said.
III-
I decided to do some investigating of my "client" now that I knew his name and address...Even if he couldn't remember who he was...I now knew who he was...
John Kilroy Jr. was born and raised in Philadelphia PA. ,Educated in Philadelphia Public Schools...A graduate of Central High School...One of the best public high schools in the city of Philadelphia..
He attended the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton Business School, where he received both his Bachelors and his Master's degree...He was the only son of a Lawyer and a school teacher and they put a high premium on education.
He next moved to New York City ,where he received another Masters degree from Columbia...Very Impressive... A year later, he received his J.D. from St. Johns University and passed the bar in New York...
So he was a lawyer in addition to a stock broker...He worked at the New York Stock Exchange for seven years and got married while working there...His and his wife had no children and they divorced soon afterwords...
He moved back to Philadelphia where he worked for the Philadelphia Stock Exchange for a few more years and then he left abruptly and began working as an analyst at the mysterious Lock 15 company.....Where he was working up until about a month ago...
He had been living in a downtown condo at the time until his employment ended...
After that...I saw where he sold his condo and began renting the house, Kool Kat and I
had just been in...He sold his Lexus and got the Caddy...
There the trail went cold...Just what was he into? What happened in the past few weeks
that made him make such desperate life changes?
Who was the mysterious man who had contracted two area hoods to either capture or kill him?
As for "Clean" and his hoodlum associate....The police arrested them both...The hood with him, Jeff Taylor was wanted on an outstanding warrant for armed robbery and assault...so he was held over....Gene "Clean"Mckindles was released on bond....
"Who released him? Who paid his bail?" I asked.
"Kev,I don't know...The guy wired the money to the courthouse and they cut him loose hours ago..." said the policeman...
''Wow, that was quick.." I said...
"And here's the funny thing...Most of these humps have to put up collatteral or pay a percentage of the amount....Whoever is Mckindles benefactor paid the whole bail like it wasn't nothin..." said the police officer...
"Hmmmmmm." I said...
IV-
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I walked inside the smelly office and there on the floor was Gene "Clean" Mckindles...
ex-cop, ex private investigator, current hood and muscle for hire and currently very dead!!
"No..He tried to kill my client..Took a shot at me the other day and tried to strangle me earlier..."I said.
"Yeah...With him out of the way...I figured I could help my client out..."I said.
"Well he's good and out of the way now Kev."laughed Detective Jimmy Barlow...
"Hey man...What are you doin here? Aren't you supposed to be on your honeymoon?" I asked...He had just married Detective Angela Belton a few weeks before..
"We want to go after Sissy and Eddie C. get married in a few weeks." he said.
"Oh yeah that's right..." I mused...It was going to be a season of weddings...I once again had to get a tux, I mused...
"I imagine this guy had a lot of enemies.." said Tyriq.
"I don't know....My client took a pretty bad beating..He can't remember much...That's what I was trying to help him do...before this guy and his goon tried to strangle me.."I said.
"How did you guys know about this?" I asked.
"Hmmm this all sounds fishy.."I said.
"Okay...and I'm working my angle...If I get anything, you guys will be the first to know." I said.
"Okay Kevin. Thank you baby," said Carlotta, who placed a warm and soft kiss on my cheek...
ADA Keith Wallace was a lucky man ,being married to a sexy woman like this I thought to myself...
"Release the body " she said as the M.E.'s assistants began removing the body from the dwelling.
V-
The way I figured it...Whoever hired Clean and his associate to find my client was not satisfied with how long it was taking and really not happy that he had managed to get himself arrested...He had effectively cleaned up...Which meant he had a professional
looking for him..He wasn't going to fare any better either..
I wondered to myself....Just what was this guy into? Who was he dealing with? Obviously somebody very dangerous who was through playing around... I had to step my game up...because whoever was behind this...had already stepped their game up.
I could still hear that icy voice ...the voice I heard over the phone wiretap the other day,...
"If this matter isn't handled and handled as quickly and discreetly as possible...then Mr. McKindles..it will become MY business and if it has to become MY BUSINESS....I'll make sure you are out of business for good...Do I make myself understood?"
"Yes...Yes sir..."
"I'm paying you a hefty fee for your services...I want a positive return on my down payment...."
Looks like it had become this man's business....It was my business too now!
(TO BE CONTINUED)
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