Death In Aqua

I'm glad Gus invited me on his fishing trip....I needed to get away from Philly for awhile and clear my head...My wife,Sepia, Bernadette, Corabeth and Bonita had taken off for a girls week in Jamaica...They had taken Kool Kat's girl, Chelsea along with them...So it was just us guys... Me, Clerow, Kool Kat, Sean Jackson...the only one of us whose girl was still in Philly, Skillet Jackson and Dollar Bill on Gus's fishing boat.
Gus and Skillet had rented a van and picked us all up and drove to Ocean City, Where we boarded his boat and went out on the ocean.

As we headed out to sea, we saw some white guys who had caught the longest fish I'd ever seen.

''Hey Gus...you think we'll catch anything like that?" I asked.

Gus smiled, looked at the men and their fish and then replied-

"I sure hope not...You guys smell bad enough without a big fish like that on the boat."

"Heyyyy man...I showered." laughed Dollar Bill.

"Yeah? How many years ago?" countered Skillet Jackson..

We all burst into laughter and boarded the boat.....

Gus had all kinds of food on the boat...Ribs, Fried Chicken, Fried Fish, Collard Greens, Sweet Potatoes, Potato Salad, Corn Bread....the works...

Mabel Jenkins and her sisters had catered the food just for this trip and the food was down below in nice covered trays....Sean Jackson, Kool Kat, Dollar Bill and Clerow played marathon games of Pinocle, Bid Whist ,Black Jack and Poker down below....Up top, Gus and Skillet were the only ones actually fishing...
His two bodyguards/bouncers- Eddie and Albert were actually manning the boat...I was just watching and enjoying the beautiful sunny day and the warm weather and just being with the guys on the Ocean....

Kool Kat walked up to the top deck and yelled-

''Anybody catch anything yet?"

"Nah...we just gettin started." said Skillet..

Within minutes...Kool Kat, cigar in mouth was up there with Gus and Skillet, with his rod, fishing....I smiled.

"You don't fish Kev?" asked Kool Kat.

"Him? nah...I'm surprised he's even out here." laughed Gus.

"Yeah, remember when you and his old man took him fishing...when he was about eleven or twelve?" laughed Skillet.

''Sure do... Kid puked at the smell of fish...threw his guts up all over the floor of the boat." laughed Gus...I smiled..I remembered only too well.

"That's okay kid...that was a long time ago...I see you got over it." added Gus.

We all had a good laugh...and the day continued...Eventually as the hours went by, Sean, Clerow and Dollar Bill came topside and joined everyone else...Only Kool Kat seemed to be catching any fish...Everyone else was drinking beer and munching on Chicken, Fish or Ribs...Gus walked over to me..

"Any interesting cases lately ?" he asked.

"Nothing big...Some businessman was getting blackmailed....and he asked me to look into it...I was working the case for two days and then the guy hung himself!!!" I said.

"Yeah? Wow...So where does that leave you?" asked Gus..

"With no case, no paying customer and on this fishing trip with you guys...Good thing I have a real 9-5..." I laughed.

"Shame the dude hung himself...you know...We black folks didn't used to commit suicide like that...That's the second one I done heard about...in like a month...damn shame." said Gus.

''The second one?" I asked.

"Yeah...The City Councilman's aide was found in his car with the windows up and the car runnin in his garage a few weeks ago." said Gus.

"What? , really?" I said.

"Yeah Kev...times is gettin tough out here...He had just been in the bar with a cute little chippy a few days before they found him." laughed Gus.

"Really?" I said.

"Yeah man...it's somethin..." said Gus.

I didn't think anymore about what Gus had said ,I just continued to look out at the water...Sean Jackson came and passed me a beer...

"Hey man...aint seen you all day.." he laughed..

"I'm just chillin man." I said.

'Yooooooo..WhAT THE HELL?" came a voice...Clearly that of Kool Kat...

"Oh lawdddddd!" came Dollar Bill's voice...

Sean and I ran to the other side of the boat....What we saw shocked all of us...Here ,out in the middle of the ocean was a body!!! The body of a black girl....She was dark skinned with long micro braids...She had on a pair of jean shorts so short and tight...they looked as if they could have been panties....She had nice shapely legs and a tan blouse....Her hands had been tied behind her back and her ankles had been tied together...the rest of the rope had been tied to an anvil that had for some reason broken into three pieces , thus allowing her body to float to the top of the water....Kool Kat's hook had gotten caught to the back of her shorts...Figured!

Gus, Dollar Bill, Skillet, Sean Jackson, Clerow  and I were stunned.... Kool Kat and I pulled her closer to the boat .....

"How long you think she's been down there?" asked Eddie, one of Gus's guys..

"Well, I'm no medical examiner...but considering the fact that her body hasn't decomposed...I'm bettin ...not longer than a day or two." I said...

I took another look at her face...Oh my God...I recognized her!!!!!

"Gus...Remember I told you I was working a case?  A guy was gettin blackmailed??" I said.

"Yeah, what about it?" he asked..

"This is the girl that was in the photos....The guy was in the bed with her." I said.

"Kev....This is the same chippy the city councilman's aide came in the bar with a month ago..." said Gus.

"Kev....I know this broad.." said Kool Kat.

"What? So everybody knows her?" I asked.

"Her name is Heather...Heather Gentry...She's one of Big Chicken's girls..." said Kool Kat.

"Big  Chicken is doin a stint in prison aint he?" asked Gus.

"Sure is...So it's one of Rollo's girls." I said.

"Whatever...She made her livin staring at the ceiling." said Kool Kat with a shrug!

"Yo Al...Call the Coast Guard." I said.

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



Within an hour...The Coast Guard came  and took the body...Kool Kat made a positive ID and we all gave our statements and that was that....Of course there would be no DNA or fingerprints or other evidence to say who did this...And of course it was a hit.....plain and simple...What I did know was that this woman had been with my now deceased client and with another man who just happened to be dead....Something was going on here...Something Sinister...and you know me...I was going to get to the bottom of it!

(To Be Continued...)