A Hint Of Evil

I looked out of the window of my office and saw my wife, Sepia driving up and parking in front of the building I worked in. She didn't bother to put any money in the Kiosk....She just hurried inside. I wondered what had her so excited.... She knew that I had driven to work today, so she wasn't coming to pick me up! I was now very curious.

Sean Jackson came in with some photos....I looked them over and then gave him the okay to publish them with my story on Jazzman, Rob"Downtown" Brown.. Just as he was leaving ,Sepia burst into my office kind of frantic.

"Kevin...I'm so glad I run into you before you left...you gotta help...this has you written all over it." she said.

"What has me written all over it?" I asked.

"My girlfriend , Patrice....Her sister Tiny has gone missing...and they are very worried." she said.

"She's a druggie...she's always gone missing....and besides...I like to work with paying customers...Patrice and her old man aren't about to pay me anything." I laughed.

"Kevin please...they worried....They gave me $200.00 to give you...that's all they could muster up." she said.

" Two hundred dollars huh? Wow, for them to get that much they probably had to borrow from a few people..." I laughed.

"Kevin,don't be like that." she said.

"Oh alright Sepia...I'll go talk to them." I said.

Sepia gave me a big kiss in the lips that lingered....

"Thank you Kevin..." she said.

"You'll have to 'thank me' a little better than that." I said.

"Don't I always?" she said with a false pout as we both headed to our cars.

April "Tiny" Allen, Patrice's sister was no stranger to trouble....She had abuse problems , first with Heroin, then with Cocaine.....She had been in rehab at least three times and had a rap sheet that listed her crimes as possession, conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, assault, petty theft and burglary....She had just recently gotten out of jail and was supposedly in rehab...This much ,I knew...

Patrice, her sister...while not having a criminal record or a history with drugs...had an abusive relationship with her boyfriend, Haywood...The two of them took turns at being arrested for domestic abuse...Of each other!

When I got to her house, a surprisingly well kept and nice looking place a few blocks from where I lived....Patrice came to the door...She was a very shapely and well built young woman, who when dressed up and with her hair done, could turn quite a few heads...Today was not one of those days...She had on a nightgown that needed to be washed , years ago...her hair was in every direction and she looked like she had just fallen out of bed.

"Oh Hi Kevin...I'm so glad your wife got in touch with you...When Tiny went missing over the weekend...I got scared...." she said.

"Did you call the cops?" I asked.

"Yeah, but they don't care...She's a poor Black girl and she got a history of drug problems and a rap sheet...They not workin this case hard." she said.

"How do you know Tiny is even missing...She might have met someone?" I said.

"Nah...The girl texted me if she was on the toilet....She would have told me if she was hooking up...The last time I saw her was Friday at Mabel Jenkins Soul food joint...She told me she was going to Josies with her girlfriend...Tanganika...but they aint go..They wound up at the Mermaid club and that was the last time she was seent..It's been two days now...that aint like Tiny..We was close Kevin...If she would've called anybody..It would've been me." she said.

"Alright Patrice...I'll see what I can round up......Where can I find Tanganika?" I said.

'Here..Let me step inside...I'll write her address down." she said...

Just then, I heard a loud voice coming from her upstairs...

''Patrice...what you doin? How you just gone leave me at a time like this...I'm butt naked and horny as hell..get yo butt back up here and take care of me." came the voice.

"Haywood ,would you shut the hell up....I'm tendin to business...I'm down here with Kevin, He tryin ta find Tiny.." she yelled.

"Aww Tiny probably with some dude or on a binge..."he said.

"Don' t talk about my sistah..." she snapped..

"To hell with your sister, get back up here and get in this bed..." he yelled.

"I'm sorry about that jackass Kevin...Here is Tanganika's address." she said.

"Okay..I'll see what I can do." I said and hurried to my car.....

I wasn't out of the driveway good before I heard bedsprings squeaking and the sounds of love making...

''Ohhhhhhhhhhh, ohhhhh work me, workkkk me you ignorant stupid fooooooollll...ohhhhhhhhh work me like a jobbbbbb!"

"Ohhhhhhhh, you love it when I'm all up in yours don't you??..ahhhhhhhhhhh..."

"Ouuuuuuu yesssss, yessssss...yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!"

I had heard enough...I drove to the Mermaid club first. I walked over to the bartender, Joe Neptune. Like Gus at Josies..He knew a lot that went on in the bar.

"Hi Joe." I said.

"Heyy Kevin, what's goin on?" he said.

"I'm lookin for somebody...April Allen and possibly her girlfriend, Tanginika Jones." I said.

"Ahhhh, you the second person ask about them two today....They was in here Friday night....Tanginika met some guy...Tony somethin or other and they got to talkin and drinkin and

She went out to his car...They was gone for a long while....Tiny was drinkin with two guys...They bought close to $100.00 worth a liquor for her...She was pretty soused and the three of them left out of here around midnight.....Tanganika and this Tony person came back in here around quarter to one...She asked for Tiny, but I told her Tiny left with two guys...I told her that they left right out the front door...I asked her if she seen them...She smiled and said that she never seen them leave. That was it...The last time I seen either one of them." said Joe.

"You ever see the two guys she was with before?" I asked.

"One of em...Brad Rathers...a local tough guy...the other guy, the one who was spending the money...never seen him before..." said Joe.

"Okay Joe, thanks...I'm gonna rustle up Tanginika...Maybe she can fill in the blanks."I said.

"Good luck with that...She makes her living staring at the ceiling if you get my drift?" said Joe.

"Yeah man, I get it." I said.

I drove over to Tiny's Apartment complex. The minute I got to her door, I could sense that something wasn't right....The door was ajar...and it was eerily quiet...No lights on, No sound of any life at all...I tapped on the door....

"HELLO! Tangy? HELLLOOOO.. Tangy!, Tanginika???" I said. I pulled my gun out and I flicked on the light.....There was no need for the gun....For there in the middle of the floor clad only in a black bra and black panties was Tanginika Jones.....Stiff as a board and very, very dead! With a needle sticking in her arm...Overdose ?? Murder?? Who could say?.....I had once again stepped into something pretty deep!

(To Be Continued....)