" Wow...Look at me, sitting on the rooftop with you, drinking coffee in the early morning hours...I always imagined doing something like this with my man." joked Sissy..
I just laughed and looked out at the city skyline..
"This has been a great week for ADA Keith Wallace." she said.
"I imagine it has." I laughed.
"That information you gave us was right on the money...He was laughing when he told me that you should've seen the looks on the faces of those three goons , who were hiding in that lingerie store, when he, Detective Pile and the Tactical squad raided the place! It was utter shock...They arrested them and they confiscated every mannequin in the store...Mannequins that were loaded to the top with Heroin, Marijuana, Cocaine and Meth." she said.
"Glad I could be of some help." I laughed.
"Not only that..Chica had a good night too.." laughed Sissy.
I raised my eyebrows...
"I'll bet she did!" I said.
"Ohhh get your mind out of the gutter...I'm talking about police work." said Sissy laughing..
"So was I?" I said.
"Liar" said Sissy. "You need to see your wife....Where is she?" she asked.
"Someplace safe...Her and Bridget are with friends.." I said.
"You seen her?" she asked.
''Everyday...I check in on both of them." I said.
"Good. I like your wife...She's cool people...Anyway as I was saying... Carlotta and Detective Barlow and some more Tactical Squad members raided that other Lingerie shop and rousted three more goons and confiscated more mannequins with more Heroin, Coke, Meth and Marijuana...All in all, last night was a great night for us...and a bad night for the bad guys..." she said.
"I suppose I can't keep you from hitting their warehouse now that you have all of their product can I?" I said.
"We wanted to hold back, but The Lieutenants from Tact squad and Narcotics wanted to hit it and they did....but it was all for naught...Cord and Tucker left the warehouse and set it on fire." she said.
"Damn...I had been setting on that Warehouse...I was hoping to find out more about their operation." I said.
"You for all intents and purposes put David Cord out of business...And whoever he answers to in New York is probably very displeased with him right about now.." she said with a smile.
"If he's the Psychopath you say he is...He's probably looking to even things up with me and Bridget." I said.
"Yeah...About that....Kevin did you ever wonder how they came to start stocking their product in mannequuins and why they were using two relatively new lingerie stores as a storing place? I mean the plan was brilliant...Too brilliant for David Cord or Tucker to plan.....This was somebody else." she said.
"Frankie Cash of New York maybe?" I asked.
"Sounds like him...but here is the rub...Nobody has seen or heard from him in months....I called the Chief of Detectives in New York City and they said that there was no trace of him...Frank Cotton of the FBI sent some agents up to New York and they took the city apart...Nothing....Mr. Cash has apparently dropped out of sight." said Sissy.
"He's a heavy hitter isn't he?" I asked.
"Yes... a suspected supplier and connect to every drug organization from New York to D.C." she said.
"You think Cord aced his boss and took over?" I asked.
"That's my guess and the way he's screwed things up..Thanks to you...He's probably not welcome in New York City anytime soon." she said.
I laughed..
"Be careful Kevin....He's in the wind now....He could be anywhere waiting to make a move on you." she said.
I kissed Sissy's forehead...
"After this is over...I'd like for You and Eddie and Keith and Carlotta to have dinner with Sepia and I at Bottom of the Sea...The cook over there, Ralph Scallion is a great chef." I said.
"At Dollar Bill's place? I'm familiar with it...Rollie used to take me there." she said.
"Hmmm, well maybe not." I said.
"It's okay." she said.
II-
"Happy New Years Robert" I said as I entered The law office of my friend, Attorney Robert Foxworth and his two protege's Cole and Chance Howard....
"Heyyy Kev, To what do I owe this visit?" he asked.
"I need to do a little research....Can you call your buddy in public records?" I asked.
"Sure....Hey man...It is too much temptation at my house...Between my wife, your wife and Bridget Jones..I am going out of my mind...All these fine women up in my crib....My neighbors think I'm a pimp." he laughed..
I looked at Robert with a side eye, then laughed...
"You counselor?...nahhhhhhhhhhhh..Who would think that?" I said...I saw Chance Howard and Cole laughing their heads off..
"I need to look into the licensces and ownership of two establishments..one is Lady Chatterlies Lover...panties and bras for the discriminating woman...And the other is called Simply Underwear." I said.
Robert's eyebrow raised....
"That's Bridget's store...I know cause I got Bonita some stuff from there and let me tell you...mannnnnnn look." he said.
"I know Robert, my wife bought some stuff from there also." I said.
"Did she buy the edible panties..?" he asked.
I didn't answer, I just shook my head.
"Kev, Nicole bought some nice things from both places." said Cole.
"Fellas..I'm not looking to buy..I'm investigating something." I said.
Within an hour I had the information I needed... Both Lady Chatterlies Lover and Simply Underwear were bought and owned lock stock and barrel by one Franklin John Cashew of New York City....Frankie Cash
This explained mountains....I now looked into Bridget Jones background.....
Her birth name was Bridget Paulette Cashew...She was born in New York City....Her mother, Paulette Cashew divorced Franklin John Cashew when she was two years old and moved first to Newark and then to Philadelphia PA. where she raised Bridget in public schools..Mother ,now deceased. Bridget graduated, attended Temple University, graduated and then attended Fisk University....Got her Masters and then Attended Columbia in New York City...She married a man named Paul Jones.....divorced him after three years, moved back to Philadelphia , where she opened a business...Lady Chatterlies Lover.
"She's the daughter of a gangster?" asked Robert Foxworth...
"Yeah..Which explains all of this....Her father reconnected with her sometime after she left Temple...paid off all of her student loans from Temple paid for her to attend Fisk and Columbia...and set her up in his business..a business she must have figured out was a front for his drug smuggling enterprise...The mannequins in both stores were filled with Dope and Coke...Rather than keep them in a warehouse, which might get hit at any moment...They kept em in the stores...When somebody wanted an order...They simply had the drivers move the mannequins...It was brilliant." I said.
"Which is how she just happened to come upon you." said Robert Foxworth.
"You think she always knew what was going on?" asked Chance Howard.
"Nahh..I think she figured it out and didn't want any parts of it...Which is why she called me.." I said.
"What about her father?" asked Robert.
"Hasn't been seen in months." I said.
"You think he's....he's dead." asked Robert.
"Most likely....but I have to know for sure. I'm going home with you tonight." I said.
"Heyyyyy don't say it like that...People will talk." said Robert.
Chance,Cole and I laughed at that.
III-
"It's so good to see you again lover." said my wife Sepia as I lay across the bed with her in Robert Foxworth's house...
"It's good to see you too baby.." I said.
"Owen Todd, Clerow and Donald Smooth have been driving me and Bonita to work and making sure we've gotten back here safely like you asked." she said in between kisses...
"How's Bridget doing?" I asked.
''She's fine..She wants to go to her new home and back to her job." said Sepia...
"In time...Where is she? I gotta talk to her." I said.
"Down the hall." said Sepia.
"Good...I'll be right back." I said.
I walked down the hall to Bridget's room...She was lying across the bed watching television...
''Heyy Mr. Morris" she said.
"Heyyy yourself...David Cord is out of business...but he's still on the street...Once I locate him and get him off the street,everything will return to normal." I said.
"Good ...I never trusted him...I knew he was bad news.." she said.
"Your father thought so too.!" I said.
She looked at me in astonishment, then she hung her head low..
"You know huh?" she said.
"Yeah I know...You didn't think I'd find out?" I asked.
"Marco told me you were good." she said.
"Marco Jervay???" I asked.
"He was my boyfriend in high school...I went to him..I told him I had a suspicion that my dad and his friends were smuggling drugs through my store and I wanted it stopped." she said.
"Where is your dad? Why didn't you just go to your dad and confront him?" I asked.
" I was going to...but no one in New York had seen him. Three months now...He hasn't answered my calls or texts ....I went to his place in New York...Nobody's seen him...Nobody knew nothing." she said.
"You know what your father did for a living?...You know who and what he is ?" I said.
"I didn't know for a long time...Mother shielded me...Then when I graduated from college ,Daddy reappeared...He told me that he ran an importing business in New York. He paid for me to attend Fisk and Columbia...the full boat...He paid for my divorce and he set me up in business...The money I paid for my new house..was money from a trust fund daddy set up for me." she said.
"All the while you never questioned anything? Importing Business eh? That's one way to look at it." I asked.
"I started questioning things,people I saw...strange comings and goings at night...Before my dad disapeared he told me not to worry about it.. He told me he was coming to Philly to talk to David Cord, and then...Nothing...Mr. Cord told me that he hadn't seen my dad.I talked to Marco about it...He said that he had a friend ...You! who could get to the bottom of all this..find out for sure." she said.
"Yeah..I did...People have died...People are in jail....and now,I've got a bounty on my head ..." I said.
"I'm so sorry Mr Morris." she said.
"It's okay....This is what I do." I said.
"Why? You've got a thriving business, a beautiful wife, a beautiful home...You don't look like you hurtin for money." she asked.
"Call it a hobby." I said and smiled.
"You think my dad is dead?" She asked.
"I don't know....but I think his business partner, David Cord...got him out of the way somehow...He seems to be calling all of the shots." I said.
"Ohhhh...Between you and me...I think my father is dead..He would never not contact me for two months." she said.
"If he is...I think I know who did it and I'm going to see that his death is avenged." I said.
She smiled weakly.
IV-
Sissy called me just as I was leaving Robert's house... I drove to the scene of yet another fire......
A body was being removed from the basement of a burning row house.....
"Wow...another fire huh?" I said.
"Not just any fire Kev...Whoever started this fire was sloppy....and firemen were able to retrieve the body before it got burned too badly..." she said.
"I imagine it's not identifiable." I said.
"No, it's in pretty bad shape....almost like it had been in this old abandoned house awhile before the fire started." she said.
Sissy walked up to me...She was holding a burnt wallet...
"They should have taken the clothes off of the dead body and searched it thoroughly" she said.
"Huh?" I asked.
"Look at the Drivers License inside this wallet." she said and handed it to me...
It read -Franklin John Cashew....Frankie Cash!!
"Well that answers one burning question....Frankie Cash is definitely dead." I said.
"Your boy David Cord is cleaning up..." said Carlotta..
"Definitely....You guys hang tight....I'm going to bring you somethin good soon." I said.
"What?" said Sissy.
"I'm going to finish this." I said.
CONCLUSION NEXT!
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