Expose ,Part 1

It was one of the rare weeks that I was actually in the office everyday of the week. Sean and I had taken some wonderful photos of Reed Nelson, Ingrid Rhodes, Downtown Rob Brown, Symphony Sam, Brooke Taylor and the All Star Band that had played at the recent week long Jazz Festival that my firends, Chris Thompson and Chess had thrown with the help of local business people, Mabel Jenkins and sisters, Dollar Bill and Ralph Scallion and of course Gus.... Our entire next edition was going to be on this....I had commissioned our staff writers to write a peice on each one of the people I had just named and I was spending time with Sean Jackson and his wife Sheila editing the stories and photos that were going to go into our special edition..We had put in some late hours...On this particular night, My wife Sepia had come up with some dinner for the four of us...I say four, because our recent new hire, Harry Charles was working with us too on this edition...

After we chowed down...We all agreed to call it a night....

"Thanks for the food Sepia, it was very much appreciated." said Sheila.

"Yeah...Your husband is a slave driver...if not for you, we would've starved to death" joked Sean Jackson.

"Oh it was nothing....At least I know where my hubby is at night." said Sepia....To which we all burst into laughter....If you notice..I said nothing...I was busy finishing off the last bits of the project.

"Okay guys...that's a wrap..We are officially done..." I said.

"Good...you guys wanna stop at Josie's for a couple of cold ones?" asked Harry Charles.

"Nah, we are going home." said Sean...

"I think Sepia and I are going home too....We'll probably stop in Josies tomorrow." I said.

"Okay Kev, Sean, guys....I'm headed over to Josies...See you tomorrow." said Harry.

"Not in here you won't....I'm off." I said.

"I heard that" laughed Sheila and Sean....We all laughed and headed out the door....

As we walked out ,a familiar guy was standing near my car.....

"What's the matter Kev...you can't say hello to an old friend?" came the voice of Seth Kinnison, an old friend and fellow writer who I hadn't heard from in three years...

"SETH??? Oh my God....How long has it been?" I said ,incredulous! Seth had been a writer at this magazine when Sean Jackson and I first started...He was a hell of an investigative journalist..He could easily be doing what I do on the side now....and that is Private investigative work.

"Hey Seth..what's up man?" said Sean Jackson.

"Good things and not so good things...I been keepin up with you guys...I see these lovely ladies have made honest men out of the both of you...Ladies, you have my sympathy." he joked.

"Sepia...this is an old friend of mine...Seth Kinnison...used to work here....This is my wife Sepia."

I said.

"And Seth, this is my wife ,Sheila" added Sean.

After we all exchanged pleasentries....Seth said to me....

"Kev...I hear that you're in the Private eye business now of days." he laughed.

''You really do your homework." I laughed.

"Here is my cell phone number...I got somethin hot for you...Call me and we'll hook up tomorrow. It's very important...I gotta run right now...Can't be caught out in the open like this too long." he said.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked...

"Nothin..Just get at me tomorrow." said Seth...

"Good Night ladies." he said and with that, he headed toward the opposite corner to hail a taxi. We all went to our respective homes and went to bed.

The next day, I did in fact call Seth and he agreed to meet me at Mabel Jenkin's Soul Food Joint.

We had a couple of Cokes and a Rib Sandwich a peice...

"So what have you got that's hot?" I said.

He passed me a zip drive.

"Put that in your pocket Kev...That represents probably the last bit of journalistic work I'll ever do." he said.

"What? , What are you talking about man?" I said.

"Listen...two weeks ago you guys threw one of the greatest week long jazz fests in the country...I think you out did New Orleans, just this once.....a man, a big time gambler who fashions himself as a major player brought in some stick up guys out of New York..." he said.

"Yeah... a guy named Bristol...I was looking into him." I said.

"Don't know how deep you looked....Anyway...these cowboys robbed a seafood joint....and they robbed Ciros and Mulberry Street....but that was just the preliminary...they really wanted the $10.000.000.00 safe that Chess and Chris had to bankroll the event....Did you ever ask yourself why?" said Seth.

"Ten million dollars? I don't have to ask why." I said.

"No Kevin...You're missing the big picture. This Bristol fellow is a gambler, a big time gambler...he plays high stake games...games where there is a big pot...He hates to lose...That real estate that Chris and Chess bought...was HIS???" said Seth.

"Nah, they wouldn't have bought anything from him." I said.

"They didn't know they bought his property...A guy named Harry Chambliss originally owned that property...He lost big to Bristol....Owed him a grip.....He gave the property to Bristol to settle his debt...Only ,it wasn't his to give....He owed to Government big time also and they took the property...the land that Chess and Chris are building their big Shopping center on..." said Seth.

"Okay..so what?" " I said.

"Bristol is crazy...He hates to lose and he hates being embarrassed...He wanted to rob that safe so that Chris and Chess would not be able to pay those people and would have to either back out of that deal or at best be discredited....It wasn't personal against Chris and Chess..it was aimed at

Chambliss." said Seth.

"Okay, but the plot was foiled and from what I understand, Chris and Chess forced him to return all of the money and they run him out of town." I said.

"Bristol isn't out of town...He owns property all over this city...He's here, he's hiding in plain sight and he's planning to get back...He's got a hitman...a high priced guy from out of town....and he's got a contract on Chris Thompson, Chess, Walter "Kool Kat" Jones ,Donald Smooth and another guy." said Seth.

"What? How do you know all of this?" I said.

"Because, I've been investigating this whole thing and more...It all leads to Bristol ,along with some other things..." said Seth.

He was a great investigative journalist...If he said something, then I know it was true...because this guy was the best..I studied under him...He taught me how to get to the bottom of things.

"Okay Seth...What is your angle in all of this?" I asked.

"The other guy on Bristol's hit list...is me my friend...I've already called Chris, Chess, Donald "Smooth" and Kool Kat and told them to watch their backs..They're street guys...it won't be easy for this guy to hunt them down....but me...I'm not like them...There are only so many places I can hide." he said.

"Why would this hitter want to shoot you?" I asked.

"Because Bristol knows that I'm on to him and that I plan to expose him for the killer and psychopath that he truly is....See ,there is more to this story Kev....Harry Chambliss....That was my step-father...He raised me and he rescued me and my mom from poverty...He was a good man with a weakness for gambling...He lost his shirt to Bristol...I could have dealt with that...he was a degenerate gambler...but they found him in a phone booth up in North Philly with his brains blown out! That I couldn't take..." said Seth.

"You think Bristol was behind it?" I said.

"I know that bastard was and I told him...He had the audacity...the nerve to come to my step dad's funeral....I told him that I would get him if it's the last thing I do." said Seth..

"Wow man...tht's something." I said.

"Kev....You have to get my revenge for me...I don't have much long to be here.." said Seth.

"Aww man..No hitman is that good...I should know...I've tangled with the best..They're human like you and me...and they all cry like babies when they get shot."I said.

"This guy aint like no local man....He's on some CIA shit man...He's that good...I know I'm done...but you take that zipdrive home...put it in a secure place....veiw it on your computer..Then you take it and do what you do....Get him Kev...Don't let him get away with this....He's a bastard and I'll be waiting for him in hell....I gotta go.....Can't stay out in the open too long...It was great knowing you Kev...Say hello to your wife and to Sean for me." said Seth as he left and walked down the street.

I didn't know what to make of what he had told me...It was a fantastic story....I knew of Bristol...We all did...Nobody thought of him as being dangerous....I considered Fathead Newton to be more lethal...but who really knew anybody...It certainly was a fantastic story..I finished my coke and paid the bill for both of us. One thing hadn't changed...He always did skip out on the bill.

I went home and laid down , took a nap.....I was asleep for about two hours when I felt my wife ,Sepia nudging me....

"Kevin...Kevin....turn on the television....your friend...Seth..the guy we met a few nights ago..."

"What? What about him? " I asked.

"He's dead!" she said.

"Dead? I talked to him this afternoon." I said.

I jumped up and turned on the television in time to hear the socking news.....

"Today , a former investigative journalist, Seth Kinnison, former President of the Black Journalists Association was found shot to death in the offices of HYPE Magazine where he once worked....It is not known what he was doing there at the time...It appears to have been a robbery gone bad." said the report.

I knew better!

(To Be Continued.....)