Death In The Afternoon

"I'm tellin  ya Kev...I'm feelin mighty bad man...real bad....it wasn't supposed to happen this way...Nobody was supposed to die.." came the voice over the phone... It was the voice of Chico Harris, a low level drug dealer and informant who I had been leaning on...My client's daughter, a beautiful but lost young lady named
Andrea Carter had been found dead in her apartment recently...Dead of an overdose of bad heroin that had been floating around the neighborhood...My Client had asked me to look into her death....

We knew it was an overdose.....but he wanted to know who was responsible....My Client was the young lady's father, Anthony Carter......He was grief stricken...It was his only child and now she was gone....I didn't want him to be out here in the streets dealing with these local playas....Their answer to any opposition is to put a bullet in somebody's head....I was going to find out who sold her the dope and take them off the street..Legally! Which meant alive!

This is where Chico comes in....It only took me one day and a few questions of a few folks to find out that Chico was the man who was selling all of the good dope and coke in the neighborhood.....Only problem was...Chico had had a change of heart...He started going to Basil Robinson and Pastor Struther's Young Man's Outreach and had apparently turned a new leaf...He had given up his drug dealing career ,just as Basil and Chris Thompson had done before him....Problem was...Unlike them...He had sold one last bag to Andrea Carter, a one time promising model...and she was dead.....Just like three other people in the past month...

Somebody was selling a deadly batch of Heroin that was indeed a killer...That's what I needed to find out!

''Chico... get ahold of yourself man....Tell me what happened." I said.

"Kev...I sold it to her about three weeks ago....right before I quit and gave up my connect.....She was my last customer...I swear....Man..I just gave my life to the Lord....I was tryin to do good and now this..." bawled Chico into my phone...

"Look man...Where did you get the dope from?  Who is your connect?" I asked.

"A guy named Pony Boy....I was sellin for him...You know him?" asked Chico...

"Yeah...I know Pony Boy....He lives in a Condo.......Runs with a cat named "Grease"....." I said.

"Yeah, that's the guy..but listen Kev...He aint the boss...He's just the guy you see on the street." said Chico..

"Who is the boss?" I asked.

"Look Kev...Meet me at the Church...Twelve Noon..I'll lay it all out for ya....I don't want to talk on the phone any longer...I'll tell you in person...I'm supposed to be talking to Pastor Sruthers and Deacon Weatherford." he said.

"Okay Chico...I'll meet you in front of the church at 12:00 noon..." I said.

"Bet..I'll see you then Kev." he said and hung up....

I put my Android away and peered over at Kool Kat , who was sitting across from me...

"What did I tell you Kev...Pony Boy lives in that Condo and he wholesales his product...He has his dealers sell quietly and he keeps a low profile....He only leaves to bank his take and pay his dealers...Grease is his driver , bodyguard and number two...He's a pretty rough charactor...You may need my services to take them two on." said the big man...

"Okay..Well hang loose...I got a meet with Chico Harris at the church..." I said.

"Just hit my cell Kev..I'll be close." said Kool Kat as he tossed a couple of dollars on the table and left the restaurant.

II-

I drove over to the block where I and most of the people I know attended church.....As I walked down the street toward Pastor John Struther's church....the air was punctuated with a loud and angry argument.....It was between "Chinese Bob" Lee and his young wife, Susan Lee...

"I tell you...It wasn't me...It wasn't me in those photos....I was never with that woman.." he screamed...

"You lie...I see you...I see you looking at big booty girl all the time...You think I don't, but I do.." she screamed...

"I no look at Big Booty girl...I look at your booty and I must say, it is looking great today Susie..." he said.

''Shut up..I am tired of your lies.. Get out...Get out....Take all of your things.." she screamed..

"But Susie...Where am I to go..?" he yelled...

"Go stay with Big Booty girl." she screamed....and then ran back into the store crying....

Just as I was walking by he ran up to me...

"Mister Kevin...Mister Kevin, you must help..." he said.

"I'd love to help you Chinese Bob...But I am really in a rush...I've got to mee with someone at the church..It's very important.." I said.

"I have been set up..Someone sent phony photos of me and big booty girl...I don't even know her...I was set up..I need your help to prove to my wife that I have not been with Big Booty girl." he said.

"I tell you what Chinese Bob...Stop by my house tonight..Leave the photos with my wife..I'll look into it." I said.

"Thank you Mister Kevin...I can pay you." he said.

I smiled and kept walking briskly toward the Church...

III-

As I approached the Church, Deacon Basil Robinson and Deacon Larry Weatherford greeted me...They both smiled gingerly...

''Brother Kev" said Basil

"What's goin on young man?" said Deacon Weatherford..

"Was Chico Harris here?" I asked.

"Yeah..He's talking to Pastor now...He should be out in a minute...That kid is sure tormented...He's gonna take a lot of work." Said Basil Robinson...

Just as he said that the doors of the church opened and Chico walked out...Pastor Struthers was right behind him....

He saw me and he smiled...

"Hey Kev...You sure don't operate on C.P. Time" he said.

"In my business, I can't afford to." I said.

Just then...A lone  shot rang out!!!...... Basil, Larry Weatherford and I dropped to the ground immediately.....It was too late for Chico Harris...the shot had gone straight through his heart....He fell backwards dead into Pastor Struthers arms....

''OH MY GOD." said Pastor Struthers...

"He's been shot!!!" said Larry Weatherford...

Basil and I rushed over to where the body was.....I felt for a pulse...but it was too late...I instinctively knew that he was dead....

"Basil...call the police...." I said somberly.....

A crowd of people gathered on the street.... I studied the possibly trajectory of the bullet....It could have come from the rooftops of two buildings across the street.....

One was a bank , which was highly unlikely and the other was a recently abandoned building...I pulled my .38 smokeless out and ran across the street and over to the abandoned building....but to my surprise...All of the doors were locked!!!!!

The Bank???  I went inside and questioned the tellers and a few officials....They led me to the top floor, which they weren't using....There were open exits and a rooftop entrance....We climbed to the top and I found one spent casing.....It was from an M-16!  Having been in the military..I recognized it....The gunman had shot from here... I knew the police were on their way and would be all over the place, So I left...

'Thousands of people come and go in this bank everyday..." said the Bank's President..

"Yeah, but who comes in this bank and gets that far upstairs?" I asked.

"They wouldn't have to come inside to get to that roof..They could go down the back alley and climb up those stairs.." said a guard...

He was right....The gunman could have had access to any roof behind there.....and have slipped away undetected which apparently..He did.....Incredible.......Somebody didn't want Chico Harris talking to me or anyone.....Didn't take much to figure that it was Pony Boy and Grease on orders from whom ever was pulling their strings....This case had really gotten deep!


(To Be Continued....)