Made For Each Other

Kool Kat and I walked into Marvin Seville's barbershop....He had been smart...He had gotten rid of the books and the dirty money long before the police raided his shop....They had him under observation...

"Hey guys...want a shave...Haircut?" he said.

"No..we want your boss." said Kool Kat.

"Boss? I'm da boss here boss." he said jokingly....

Neither Kool Kat nor I were in a laughing mood.

"Marv..Where is Jack Diamond?" I said.

Kool Kat cracked his knuckles.....

"He asked you a question?" he said.

"I-I-don't know." he said.

"Let's take a walk outside and refresh your memory" I said.

"Okay..Okayyyy..Look..all them people started gettin arrested last week, bodies dropping it was too much...too much,and, and, and, and he took off....Johnny Ringgold's men were lookin for him too...Lot of people mad at him...They going to jail and they figure it's his fault....He hidin out with his friend...Spanish Guy he met in Spain...His supplier..I aint got nothin to do with that....That's all I know...I swear." he said.

"You mean Ricardo Lopez don't you?" I said.

"Damn, you know his name??? I thought only me and Jack knew his name...Even Charlie don't know his name." he said.

"I doubt that Charlie knows his name right now." I said and Kool Kat laughed...

Charlie Roach had just come out of a coma recently after the beat down I put on him days ago...He had elected to stay in custody....He was facing first degree murder charges and he had no idea who had tipped the cops off and how they had found him so fast...with his victims blood and DNA still on him...All Detective Carlotta  Rodriguez ever said was that she got a "tip" from a citizen who witnessed him entering Frederick Pettijohn's building. That Citizen would of course be me.

Right about now, I figured that Ricardo Lopez and Jack Diamond were both very uncomfortable right now...Lopez was wanted by the FBI and Interpol and Jack was wanted by the Philly PD...There was no one for him to stash his drugs on this time...He had no idea that it had been my surveilience work and my questioning of street people in the know that had built the evidence that had brought him down...He just thought he was having bad luck...But I still owed him...For B-Flat!

II-

A few days passed and as it looked like things were returning to normal...I got a visit...From attorney ,Robert Foxworth and a familliar person....Marvin Seville...the barber.

"Counselor...What's up?" I laughed..."Marvin?" I said greeting him.

"Kev, this is my client...Marvin Seville...I think you two know each other." he said.

"Let's go in my office and talk." I said.

We walked into my office..

"Mr. Morris...I know who you are now....I need your help." said Marvin.

"Oh? You need my help?" I said.

"Kev...I know he's sleazy...I know the whole deal...but the cops found drugs in his barber shop...He's being accused of being the kingpin behind the recent drug operation you busted up....He was no more than a go between...He was never the boss...I'm trying to work out somethin here for him , to keep him out of a lengthy prison stay."said Robert Foxworth.

"I can't go back to jail...I just can't...I'm being set up...I never kept junk in my barbershop...I never even kept any money." he said.

He was telling the truth...This much I knew for a fact...It was Diamond...up to his old tricks...This is probably what he did to B-Flat....Setting him up as a Patsy....

"Seville....I have a friend who might be able to help you....but I need some help from you....Where is Diamond and Lopez more than likely to be?" I asked.

"Lopez has reach...He'll kill me." said Seville...

"Or you can take your chances in Prison....A man your age....That's a life sentence." I said.

He didn't take long to say-

''What do you want to know?" he said.

Robert Foxworth looked at me.... I smiled wryly.

III-

Boathouse Row....Jack Diamond through his business had some very influential friends...They had allowed him to use one of Boathouses to hole up in...His partner, Ricardo Lopez was hiding there...Waiting for an opportunity to get out of Philly...He had lost all of his workers....His warehouse, his product....A number of people had gone to jail...He was persona non grata in the Philadelphia underworld as well as most of Europe..

Kool Kat and I walked in on him...He and one of his goons was drinking wine ...Upon seeing us ,Ricardo pulled a gun... One of his goons went for his gun and Kool Kat leveled him...

Kool Kat then aimed his .44 magnum at him... I aimed my .38 smokeless at the man on the floor.

"Put that heater away Ricky.." I said.

"Why that low down two timing Jack Diamond....He sent you didn't he?" said Lopez..

I said nothing, I smiled and aimed my .38 smokeless at him....

"It was him!!!...He was running the drug business...I did not want to come here....He screwed up, just like he did in Spain, when we had to set up some musician...and leave in a hurry...Him with his flashiness...It was him and now he sends hitters to kill me...ME?? I was the biggest importer in Europe before I hooked up with that loser. Ohhhhhhh, him and that crackpot ,Charlie Roach...I say to him, Jack he is too violent, too anxious to kill, he will attract too much attention....but noooooo, he hires him and what does he do? He kills someone and  brings the law down on all of us." he yelled...."WE HAD A GOOD THING GOING!  A GOOD THING!  Cops didn't even know about it..everything was tight...I say to him...forget about Pettijohn..Forget about Ringgold...but nooooo Charlie Roach say that they got to be taught a lesson....Idiot...He kill him and the law start looking at us...I should have killed Roach myself....ughhhhhhhh.."

Kool Kat Looked at me, I looked at him and we both laughed....This was easier than we thought.....

Sissy Van Buren, Carlotta Rodriguez and ten uniformed Policemen entered the Boathouse....So did ADA Keith Wallace...and FBI Special Agent in Charge Frank Cotton....

Kool Kat and I had been wired....His entire confession was on tape.

"Mr. Lopez....I am Frank Cotton, FBI and this is Assistant D.A. Keith Wallace....We have some people from Interpol who are very interested in talking to you." He said.

"I'm sure they are." he said dryly as he  and his man were both handcuffed, read their rights and ushered off to jail."I'll tell you where Jack Diamond is, if you're interested." he said.

''Of Course we are interested." said ADA Wallace.

As they handcuffed him and led him out...Agent Cotton looked at me and said -"Happy New Year Kevin..."

I smiled at him..."Same to you sir."

"Oh it's going to be.." he added.

ADA Wallace , Sissy and Carlotta all laughed as they left the house....

Jack Diamond was picked up by the Atlantic City police a few days later and extradited back to Pennsylvania....

EPILOUGE:

Charlie Roach was convicted and sentenced to die by lethal injection for the brutal murder of Frederick Pettijohn....

Ricardo Lopez was deported back to Spain , where he was given a 30 year sentence for Drug smuggling and importation....

Jack Diamond was convicted of running an illegal and criminal organization....(RICO) and received only 10 years...A light sentence compared to the other people who were in business with him... I understand that he is not very popular in Prison...There have been three attempts on his life and he is presently in Segregation with the snitches and informants...How fitting.

Marvin Seville surprisingly wasn't charged with a thing!!! He still operates his Barbershop and deals with top paying clients.....He owes that more so to the skill of Robert Foxworth...his attorney! and his co-operation with law enforcement.

B-Flat was given an official pardon by the Spanish Government and his name was cleared....He was also given a monetary reperation from the Spanish government also and allowed to return...I was happy for him..He was slowly getting his life back together...Sean Jackson and I plan to cover his triumphant return to Spain this summer where he will be playing a few dates...and it's a cool excuse for a European vacation!

Sepia and I had decided not to go out this Friday Night...We uh got in the shower...We were going to wash and get dressed, but we decided not to....

IF you know what I mean....and I know you do!