Another Kiss

Sepia looked out of our front window and immediately called me....

"Kevin...Come here!!! LOOK OUTSIDE!!!" she screamed...

I got out of bed...walked to the window..I saw an Asian man drive a 2013 White Lexus convertible up to my front door. It had a bright red ribbon on it... I looked out my window...The Asian man smiled...

''Hey Kev.." he said.  I knew him...He worked for Rollie Rollerson...His name was Richard Oh.

"Heyy Richie...Nice Ride!" I said.

Richard Oh pouted, then smiled...

"It's yours...A gift from Mr. Rollerson...We'll be by in a few days to get your old car." he laughed.

My old car as he said was a 2010 Black Lexus...another gift from Mr. Rollerson for saving him from a scandal...My wife has a Blue 2011 Lexus...also a gift for me saving him yet another time from a scandal....and now this!  With this car being White...I couldn't very well use it on my cases...I was going to call Rollie and talk to him about keeping the Black car too, which was in my garage, next to my wife's car.

"Wow...you should save Rollie a lot more...I could grow to love this ,Kev." said Sepia as she hurriedly put on some jeans and a t-shirt and rushed me to do the same so we could go outside and look at our new car...

When we got outside... Richard tossed me the keys... Another car drove up...A Black man was driving it..Richard got in the passenger side..

''Enjoy it Kev."he said.

I smiled and waved...

''Well!! Let's go for a spin in your new wheels." said Sepia.

"Let's get dressed first..how bout that?" I laughed...

"Okay...Hmmm a car like this....I might let you go to first base." she joked and looked at me with a sly come hither type smile and then hurriedly rushed into the house.  I smiled too and followed her...

It had been weeks since I had caught Jennifer West and her associate, Elmer Lawson....Lawson had been released...There was absolutely no evidence of any wrong doing on his part...but Jennifer West was held for three murders..Murders she swore she didn't commit.  I was inclined to believe her.

Jennifer made restitution to Cindy Waters , Mrs. Holmes, the pastor's wife and Portia Collins, Rollie's fiance and as far as I knew..He didn't know or he didn't say anyway if he did know that Portia had hired Jennifer to spy on and set him up. For all intents and purposes..this case was closed...Except that it wasn't~!

Sepia and I rode around in my new car all that weekend..but in the back of mind...I worried that the wrong person was being charged with a triple murder....Why should I feel sorry or care about Jennifer West?? She was a grifter...a con artist...She took advantage of people and bilked them out of their money...But if she wasn't a killer and for some reason, I didn't think she was... a guilty person could still be and more than likely was walking the streets of Philadelphia.

II-

Sepia and I kissed in our living room that afternoon..Nothing unusual...As she sometimes joked..I was always pawing on her!  But while we were kissing...it came to me... a conversation...another kiss!!

Heyyy Paula...I brought you some good weed baby."




"Calvin!!! What are you doing here? I'm working a case." she said.




"I missed you baby...I just...just needed to be with you." he said.




"Calvin...you've got to stop this....I told you that I'm not attracted to you in that way." she said.




"What is it baby?? Am I too thin? I'll lift weights...I'll eat more....I'm buying new clothes...a whole new wardrobe...and I got a new car....Come on baby." he pleaded.




"You know...I should have never slept with you....You just don't get it...You were just a job..I was doing my job then...I don't love you...I never will...Now you've got to stop following me around." she said.




"It's another guy isn't it? Just like the last two." he said.




"What are you talking about? What last two?" she said.




"I saw you kissin that one guy...and then a few months later you was loved up with that old dude...Why can't you do that with me again?" he said.




''Calvin...I can't have this conversation with you....I'm busy right now."she said.




"Well can I at least have a kiss?" he asked.




"Ohhhhh...come here..thanks for the weed." she said and she kissed him on the cheek,
but he grabbed her and kissed her fully in the lips...

"See, right there...you go too far Calvin." she said...

'It was worth it though...Damn girl..." he said.

That was it! Well Maybe....The other man on the videotape...His name was Calvin...Calvin somebody...He might be the key to this case.

III-

I went to the Riverside Correctional Facility, where women inmates were held in Philadelphia...I asked to see Jennifer West...Naturally....she wasn't glad to see me...

"What do you want?" she said as she strode into the visiting room..

"To help you." I said.

"You want to help me?" she said.

"Yeah, I do...I don't believe you killed those three people." I said.

''I didn't...and that girl that was killed with the Reverend...I didn't even know her..Never seen her." she said.

"You set Reverend Holmes and Dwayne Reed up and they were supposed to meet you at the hotel, where you would film them having sex with you right?" I said.

"Yeah...that's all I did..Only neither one of them showed up....I only had half of the money I planned to get."
she said.

''Right, because you planned to string the woman along and keep blackmailing the man to get more money." I said.

''Right...but when they didn't show up...I figured they must have got wise and or they found out who I really was and called the cops...So I pulled up shop and moved on." she said.

"You know we found Dwayne's body in your storage unit?" I said.

"I heard, but I aint put him there...How could I?" she said.

"Anybody else know about that storage unit?" I asked.

"Just Elmer and Clavin.." she said.

"Elmer got arrested the day you moved on some back child support pay...so it wasn't him...I checked." I said.

"Damn...you're good..." she said.

"Who is this Calvin?" I said.

"He's nobody...Some guy that sells me weed...He's a low level drug dealer...a nobody..." she said.

"He has a thing for you." I said.

"Yeah...I uh, slept with him a few times..back when I was turning tricks... He never got over it...but I aint into him like that..." she said.

"Think he could be capable?" I asked..

"Him?...Nah...He aint got the heart...You're wasting your time." she said.

"Maybe...but what have you got to lose? I've already paid your bail...Don't seem like nobody else is willing to do anything for you...You play ball with me and at least I can get those murder charges off of you..." I said.

She looked like she wanted to cry...

''Why you helpin me?" she asked.

"I don't know myself...I just don't think you should take a murder charge and possibly a needle if somebody else is responsible....Now are you gonna play ball?" I asked..

"Yeah sure...if you can get these murder charges off of me." she said.

I didn't completely trust her, so once she was bailed out...I put Owen Todd on her..Told him to shadow her movements and follow her and report to me.

A week later I had Peeping Tom and Lockpick Johnson wire her ,so that we could hear her and we put a gps tracker on her car so we could follow her.

Clerow and I and Sean Jackson followed her in Clerow's car... She made the rounds to Josie's, The Mermaid Club, Bottom of the C ,Ciros and the Aqua Bar....It wasn't long before Calvin...Who I found out was Calvin Bottoms, a low level dealer of high grade marijuana made contact with her...In The Aqua Bar...

"Hey Baby..I heard you was out...Need anything?" he asked her as they sat in the bar drinking and talking.

"Yeah, no thanks to you..You aint come to see me...nothin..You always talkin about you like me so much..you aint even make my bail.....and I know you got the money...You doin real well sellin that killer." she said admiring his suit.

"Who paid your bail?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it..a nice young man I met." she said.

"Met where?" he asked.

"Why you worried about it? I met him before I got pinched." she said.

"How you even get bail on a triple murder rap?" he asked.

"It was pretty high...but this guy is connected..he got me out...Now I gotta get a lawyer." she said.

"You'll beat it...They aint got no evidence on you...Nothin they can prove anyway...I shouldn't have hid that one body in your shed...I was gonna move it ...but the cops found it before I could." he blurted out.

"What? You killed Dwayne? And you put his body in my shed??" she said incredulously...

"Yeah...I didn't have a place to ditch him at first...I didn't think the cops would find him...By the time I popped that damn cheatin ass Preacher and his whore...I had a couple of vacants where I could stash them..." he said just as matter of factly as if he were talking about buying groceries...

"You...You...You're crazy.." she said...Now clearly afraid...

"When I saw you kissing them dudes...I couldn't stand it....and that guy Dwayne...He was cheatin on you..He was bangin some lawyer...You deserved better than that...and the Pastor ..He was married...They both deserved to die....I love you baby...I'd of done anything for you...Now that you out..I'll get some lawyers for you." he said...Jennifer looked at him in horror.

"You may need a lawyer for yourself pal." I said as Kool Kat and I stood at their table.

"What? What is this?? You guys cops?? You set me up!!!! Jennifer...you set me up ." he screamed...Patrons were beginning to turn around now...

He went to pull a gun...He saw the business end of my.38 smokeless and Kool Kat's .44 magnum at his face..

"Wouldn't do that if I were you son...Might be hazzardess to your immediate health and well being." said Kool Kat.

Jennifer, Calvin and I all looked at Kool Kat...He didn't crack a smile...~!

Lt. Sissy Van Buren , three detectives and six uniformed policemen walked into the bar and grabbed him and handcuffed him....
He looked at Jennifer in astonishment....
"I don't believe you...You from the streets like me.....You done turned snitch...ohhhh lawd...You done set me up...I-I-I was the only one who loved you baby..I loved you baby...I loved you!.." he shouted...

"Come on lover boy , let's go...Tell it to the judge and jury." said Sissy Van Buren as Calvin was handcuffed, read his rights and hauled off...

''WE coulda made it baby...Me and you...WE coulda made it!!! " he yelled as the Detectives dragged him down the hall...

Sissy looked at me and smiled...

"You are somethin else Kevin.." she said.

"Yes you are.." said Jennifer West... "I see you're a married man and you don't strike me as the cheatin type..If you was...I'd give you some right now." she said smiling from ear to ear.

I didn't crack a smile...

"Find some honest work....This kind of thing is bound to go bad for you." I said.  Kool Kat and I left the bar. She just smirked...

"Come on Kev...Let's go get some drinks....That babe is married to the game...and when they married to the game like that...they aint never gonna go straight...At least not til they ready...That's who she is right now!" said Kool Kat.

The big man was right!  I just nodded in agreement!

I cut the rest of the guys loose...Kool Kat and I drove to Josie's to have a few beers and relax.  Now, the case truly was closed!

EPILOUGE:

Calvin Bottoms was convicted of three counts of First Degree Murder and sentenced to death...Jennifer West was charged with two counts of fraud and fined and sentenced to a year and a day in State Prison...She was released after serving six months...Her whereabouts are presently not known.

Sepia and I packed a picnic bag....Fried Chicken, Potato Salad..Corn on the cobb and two bottles of wine and went for a nice drive the next weekend in my new car courtesy of Rollie Rollerson...He agreed that I could keep the old car if I wanted...

''Hey Kevin?" asked Sepia...

"Huh?" I said.

"You think Rollie Rollerson will stop cheating on Portia and settle down?" she asked as we drove ...

"I don't know...but he's going to have to...We don't have anymore room for anymore cars." I said.

Sepia laughed out loud...."You are soooo stupid..." she said and burst out laughing some more..

"I thought you said I was nasty?" I laughed...

"THAT TOO!" she said as we both continued to laugh and drove off into the sunset!

(For SLC!)