Easy Rider

"Well Cousin...Thanks for lettin me crash and all.." said Nestor Cokeley, Sepia's cousin. He had stayed with us for a week and even though I would never say this to my wife...I was glad to see him go. He ate like it was going out of style...He didn't know the meaning of knocking on doors..He barged in on Sepia and I more than I cared to count and he and his soon to be ex-wife argued loudly on the phone all day long.

"Oh it was nothing Nestor...really." said Sepia.

"Jo-Anne..I don't know what I would have done if it hadn't been for you and Kevin." he said.

I hated the fact that he called Sepia "Joanne", even though that was her given name...I hardly ever called her that.. Nobody that knew her did...but then again..He was family...He had been going through a divorce and his wife had put him out....I couldn't blame her..Now maybe, she could keep some food in the house.

He got in his car and pulled off....Good riddance...Now , my house was my own again...I was standing at the door with Sepia watching him pull off when I saw a motorcycle drive behind his car..The rider had on a black leather suit and a Black helmet...It was impossible to determine who he was or if it even was a "he"....Whoever it was seemed to drive right up behind him and to our horror...Pump three bullets into his head at the stoplight at the next corner! Nestor slumped
on to the steering wheel and his car crashed into the traffic light and came to a stop.

Sepia screamed!... Then the motorcyclist turned and headed toward us...

"Get down" I said, as I pulled her down.....and just in time too...The motorcyclist fired two shots at us! Luckily neither of us was hit. We both ran to the corner to check on Nestor....There was no reason to...He was very,very dead!....Blood just pouring out of him..All over the front seat and running down out of the car door.... It wasn't long before a crowd gathered and the Police arrived...We told them what we witnessed and all that we knew, which wasn't much....and they picked up the shells...and eventually removed the body and towed the car....

My wife was nearly hysterical......She had just witnessed her cousin get his brains blown out! I walked her back to our house, where I retrieved two spent shells...They were from a .38 smokeless...the same type of gun I carried...

This was a contract hit...no doubt...but why? Nestor and his wife didn't have any money and he wasn't mixed up in any street mess to my knowledge...No, this was something else. I gathered Sepia and we went over to Nestor's estranged wife's house.

Barbara Cokeley was a very attractive woman....If she would've fixed her hair and applied a little make up, she would've been even more attractive..still, she didn't need much to turn a head or too....She had that natural beauty.What amazed me is what she was doing with a loser like Nestor. Upon hearing that her husband was dead, she broke into tears...and for a minute her and Sepia cried and held each other..I didn't get it...They had argued the entire two weeks he had stayed with us and they were headed for divorce...

"Kevin, Sepia...I know you think that I hated Nestor, but I didn't...I just couldn't stay married to him, He was not the easiest man to live with." she said.

''Yes ,I know.."I blurted out...as Sepia gave me the side eye.

"But he was just trifling...Cheating on me....I could forgive that...but he had a baby with the chick." said Barbara.

"A Baby? He never said anything about a baby." I said.

"Yes Kevin...He and this chick had been foolin around behind my back for three years and then he goes and tells me he has a baby with her." she said.

"When was this baby born?" asked Sepia.

"Last year." she said.

"Last year? All this time, he over our house and he never mentioned it." said Sepia.

"Who is the chick?" I asked.

"You know her...Nicollete Manger." said Barbara.

"What?? The underwear model?" I said.

"Don't look so enthusiastic Kevin." said Sepia, still giving me the side eye.

"No...it's not like that...Everybody has heard of Nicollete Manger, she models for Victoria's Secret, Fredericks of Hollywood and now has her own brand, Dirty Sexy Things "I said.

"Yeah,yeah,yeah....By the way, isn't she married?" asked Sepia.

"Yeah...She's married to Robert Woodcock, who owns Woodcock Lumber..He's loaded...I've seen his commercials on Television...."We give you good wood for a good price...we do it right." I said.

"That's him." said Barbara.

"You think he found out about it?" I asked.

"I don't know...I know about it..." said Barbara.

"Yeah, but you know because he told you." I said.

"No...I got a lawyer, Robert Foxworth and he had two guys, Lockpick Johnson and Tom something or other follow my husband and get the goods on him....Once they got that..I confronted Nestor and he had to admit to it." she said.

I smiled....I wonder if she had "paid " Robert his extra fee for his troubles......I would have to get with him and compare notes I thought.

Sepia pulled me to the side...

"Kevin...I don't get into your business...but I need you to let me help you on this." she said.

"Help me on what? I'm not into anything." I said.

"I know you and I know you're going to investigate this." said Sepia...Actually,I wasn't..but since she was asking...I suppose I had to...

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Look...I know where Woodcock and Nicollete Manger live...Not the kind of Neighborhood where you and Robert and Lockpick and Tom could just blend in....but if you guys wire me up and I go there to say work for them....I can get closer than you guys and pull up some information.."she said.

"So you want to go undercover?" I asked with a laugh....

"Yes...I saw an ad in the paper a few days ago that Manger's Company "Dirty Sexy Things" is
advertising for models...I could apply." she said...

"Yes Lawd." I said..,."I mean , yes, you could but, uh...how does that get me any closer to that hitter?" I asked...

"I might hear something.....and I'll be inside, get a good look at the place and give you guys a run down of the security system." she said.

"Wow..smart girl...I suppose you could....oh and by the way Sepia?" I asked.

"Yes." she said.

"You think you can uh, get some free samples?" I asked.

"Ohhhhhhhh you are soooooo extra." she laughed as Barbara joined her in laughing and looking at me side eyed!

At any rate...The hunt was on.

(To Be Continued!)