Along Came Joe!

I sat in Josie's two days later and listened to the worst comedian I had ever heard in my life...He was opening for Downtown Rob Brown's quintet!   There couldn't have been a more unfunny guy....You know a comedian isn't funny when the hecklers in the crowd get more laughs...Gus was over behind the bar fuming...I found that funnier than this guy and I wished mightily that Downtown Rob Brown's set would begin and my contact, A guy named Donald Otis would show up!....

The boos and heckles from the crowd continued and finally the comedian yelled out-

"You stupid ghetto nigguhs...Maybe if you read a book you'd understand my humor.." he said.

"Yeah?? Well maybe if you had some humor, we'd understand why we paid money to see you." came a reply... I had to admit...That got more laughs than anything this comedian had said all night.

My search for Larry Devol and Felicia Phenell had turned up nothing.  The address that Johnny Boy had given me was naturally empty by the time ,Clerow, Kool Kat and myself had gotten there...Using Sean Jackson, Lockpick Johnson, Peeping Tom and even Donald Smooth...We turned the city upside down looking for them the past 48 hours... Attorney Robert Foxworth's guy in records gave me the book on Larry Devol....He had one conviction for manslaughter and had done five years in the state pen...Other than that, no other arrests or convictions...He had worked at various jobs, Meat cutter, Short order cook, auto mechanic, et al..and sometimes as muscle for local loan sharks....Nothing big time about him...Felicia hadn't worked since they had come across the windfall of money...

They moved around a lot...My guess was...that if they were back in Philly...There wasn't much money left...Though the place they had just left was in a very nice, well to do neighborhood...A gated community!!! Maybe there was still some of that money left....Larry had been driving a 2012 Jaguar when I saw him!

To make matters worse, Eddie "Paycheck"Green was out of jail....Vinnie Carrol had bailed him out and the two of them were turning the city upside down looking for Johnny Boy and me probably....Sooner or later ,I figured they might get lucky...Just like people talked to me...I'm sure somebody might talk to them...I had to move quick!

My Android went off just then.....I got up and walked outside...It was Kool Kat!

"What's up man?" I said.

"We got problems Kev." he said.

"Tell me something I don't know." I said.

"Eddie "paycheck" Green and Vinnie Carroll are dead!" he said.

''WHAT???? How??? Who?" I asked.   I mean , to me ,this made things easier...but somehow, the way Kool Kat was talking...I sensed it didn't.

"They were gunned down in their hotel room.... The cops don't know it...but we got the whole thing on videotape...It was a guy named Joe...Joe Dixon...I know him...a real heavy cat out of Atlantic City....My guess is...He works for Little Ricky Monday." said Kool Kat.

"Wait a minute..Wait a minute...put a quarter in the meter and park it right there...What happened?" I asked.

"He knocked on the door and they opened it and they were surprised to see him....He told them that Little Ricky had been waiting for the chance to get back at them for kidnapping him....Of course they denied it and he shot and killed Vinnie Carrol right on the spot...Eddie Green denied everything, said that Johnny Boy was responsible..Johnny Boy and Frank "The Boss" Lexington and that that was why they clipped him two years ago as a favor to Little Ricky....Joe laughed and asked where Johnny Boy was and of course where the money was..Eddie told him that Johnny's old girl and some guy named Larry Devol stole the money and that he and Vinnie had been trying to find them...He told them that Johnny Boy ,with some help had gotten away from them...Joe just laughed and shot him dead right there.." said Kool Kat.

"Oh so Little Ricky has entered the game now huh?   This is interesting.." I said.

"I think Little Ricky somehow discovered that these guys kidnapped him two years ago." said Kool Kat.

"But How? Johnny Boy assured me that he didn't know." I said.

"What has Gus been tellin us since we was kids Kev??...No matter what you do, somebody somewhere knows about it and for the right price...Will talk about it.  They had Little Ricky for a month..They had to keep him somewhere...Had to buy food for him..had to have more help than just the three of them...Plus "The Boss" Lexington's people knew about it...Any one of them could have spilled the beans on them after it happened..
But anyway....Little Ricky wants payback...That's why he brought in his "cleaner" said Kool Kat.

"His what?" I asked.

"His "cleaner"...Joe Dixon don't leave living witnesses...Just like he killed Paycheck and Vinnie...He will keep killing until he has that money...That's how he rolls,...He's a ruthless son of a bitch Kev." said Kool Kat.

"You and him got history?" I asked.

"Yeah...Back when I worked for Chris Thompson and when I worked for Fathead....Little Ricky tried to make a move on both of them....He and I nearly butted heads... He nearly killed Roscoe too..Roscoe hates him with a passion...but we respect him...He's lethal as they come man." said Kool Kat.

"Hmmm, I see...." I said.

"Where you at man?" he asked,

"I'm at Josies.." I said.

"Sit tight...Me and Roscoe are comin down there." he said.

"Roscoe?? Fathead's man?" I asked.

"Kev...Joe Dixon is kind of a deadlier version of you..He's smart and he's ruthless..He aint no joke....He's killed enough guys to fill up a chinese cemetary...When Big Daddy and Little Ricky had that war back in 2004.  Big Daddy sent a crew of high price hitters after Little Ricky....Joe Dixon put every last one of em down by himself....Big Daddy hired that psychopath Malik Lockjohn and he and Joe nearly killed each other.
That was the only thing that cooled the war off." said Kool Kat.

"Ohhh yeah, Malik Lockjohn...I knew him...He come up against me...He's taking a dirt nap now." I laughed.

"Yeah, I heard you handled him....but Joe Dixon is just as lethal....This calls for heavy duty action...Sit tight, we on our way." said the Big Man...

"Okay...I'll be right here." I said.

I got ready to walk inside when the guy I was waiting for walked up to me..

"Hi ya Kevin.." he laughed...

I pulled out a wad of bucks and peeled off a few, then I placed them in the palm of his hand.

"I like that...A guy that takes care of business first." said Donald Otis.

"Let's Go Inside." I said.

By  now the bad comedian was off and Downtown Rob Brown was playing...

Donald Otis was short, fat ,light skinned with Freckles and a short cropped haircut...He dressed immaculately and had a huge pinky ring....He had heard that I was looking for Larry Devol and had sent word that he knew where he could be found.

"Larry and his girl come in town...They rent a place for a few months , then they roll to New York, Where he has people and sometimes other places...but they always come back here." he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"His girl gets homesick....Her mother lives here in Philly.." said Donald.

"You know he shot a man a few nights ago?" I asked.

"I heard........Guy used to go with his girl...The guy done disapeared..He must be scared..." said Donald.

"Anyway...You know where they are?" I asked.

"Sure do....I rented em the place." he said.

"So why are you givin him up?" I asked.

"Because I don't like him....Don't like the way he treats that girl....Granted, she is kind of stuck up and shallow, but I don't hold with nobody slappin no broad around like he do sometimes.." said Donald Otis.

"I can dig it....Does Larry flash a lot of cash?" I asked.

"Not really....I mean, I know he must have some because he aint worked in two or three years and he always keep a new car and always be wearin some nice clothes..and he and that girl have been eating out at some pretty pricey joints when I did see them." said Donald...

"Okay, write the address down on this piece of paper." I said and handed it to him..He did and I peeled off a couple of more bills and gave them to him.

"Gus...his drinks are on me." I said...Gus nodded..

"Kevin, you're alright with me." he said.

"Oh and Donald....We never had this conversation and don't tell anybody else where he is." I added.

"That's cool by me Kev" he said and he raised his glass to me.

Kool Kat walked in and motioned me to him....

" We got both murders on tape...Peeping Tom and Lockpick Johnson went in there and got our bugging equipment out after the police left...Sean Jackson has everything...He's waitin on you to call and tell him what to do with it." said Kool Kat.

"Well we certainly don't want Joe Dixon in the mix...So call him...Tell him to turn it into Lt.Sissy Van Buren from Homicide...I know where Devol and that girl are holed up..We gotta move and move quick...Let the cops handle Joe Dixon." I said.

"Okay..I'll call Sean.." said Kool Kat.

"Where is Roscoe?" I asked.

"He's outside , in the car." said Kool Kat.

"Okay..Come on...Let's wrap this up." I said.

Kool Kat and I got in Roscoe's car and pulled off... This should have been easy....Things just never are!

(Conclusion Next)