Lit Up

An early spring morning....The sun had just come up....a nice warm breeze blew through the window in Carlotta's apartment...It woke me up immediately....I looked over at Carlotta...She was sleeping so peacefully....Or so it seemed!
In a short time, Detective Carlotta Rodriguez had become the love of my life...Who am I?..Assistant District Attorney, Keith Porterhouse Wallace...

I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek softly....She awoke, smiled at me sweetly and motioned for me to come closer...I leaned in closer and she put her arms around my neck and kissed me slowly, softly, sensuously....

It was 5:00 am...It was a work day...We kissed passionately like that for a good while...
I rolled over on top of her...I eased her nightie up and slipped her panties down. and slipped my pajama bottoms down...

I entered her slowly....

''Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu papi, you feel so gooood ,Aye Mios Dios...." she moaned..

"I love it when you speak spanish!" I said, continuing to move in and out of her warm center....

"Oh you love it when I speak anything." she said....

"This is trueeeeeeeeeeeeeee...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." I moaned as we continued to make sweet love...

After a night of furious lovemaking, we didn't usually make love the next morning like this...but this was a welcome surprise...Every now and then Carlotta would break one of her rules for me...She still wouldn't let me make love to her in Sissy's office!

II-

Later when we'd both showered and dressed...Carlotta and I headed for the elevator and the street...

''You left your car back at C.I.D. last night, didn't you Keith?" she asked.

''Damn...That's the second time I've done that." I laughed.

She smiled and shook her head...

"You are something else...The thought of sex with me just makes you forget everything doesn't it?" she giggled..

"I have to admit...You have been having that effect on me." I laughed sheepishly...

"You are sooo cute when you blush...I'll drive you to your car...but first..I know this coffee shop that just opened up..Let's stop there and get some coffee." she said.

"That'll work." I said as I got in her car and we pulled off.

"I meant to tell you...I have some leave time coming...I plan to go to Puerto Rico to see my Dad and my sister." she said.

''Damn...I'm gonna be climbing the walls while you're gone." I said.

''Well...I wanted to ask you if you could take some time off and come with?" she said.

"Really? Puerto Rico??? To meet your dad?/ That's major.." I said.

"You know Carm....and she loves you....I'm certain my Dad and my cousins will love you too." she said and smiled..

"Wow..I'm pretty sure...I can swing that." I said...

"Plus..If Papi really likes you..It might help me make up my mind about moving in with you." she said and winked.

"Yeah?? Really?? Word!" I said.

"I knew that would convince you to come." she laughed.

III-

The coffee shop we went to smelled great...I could tell that they not only had great coffee, but that they baked their bread and doughnuts on the premises.....Carlotta and I ordered  Cherry croissants and two tumblers of coffee..We were getting ready to sit down when the cashier caught my eye....She was a striking Blonde , who was about my age and who I knew...I didn't wish to talk to her and I was hoping she didn't recognoze me...but usually when you don't want someone to recognize you...They do..

"Keith Wallace is that you?  Oh My God...Is that Carlotta?? " she said.

She was Barbara Dennison..... a one time detective who was now serving coffee and ringing up customers in this coffee shop....

Carlotta looked at her funny....

''Keith is that Barbara Dennison .....?"

''Yeah...that's her....." I said as we both grudgingly walked over to Barbara's register....

"Oh My God...You're still as handsome as ever.....and is this Patrolmen Rodriguez??? Oh my God Girl....You're a Detective now...You made Detective??"  said Barbara.

"For about 10 years now...I'm in Homicide." said Carlotta.

"WOWWW!  I remember when you and little Jimmy Barlow were patrolmen...riding around in a patrol car, gettin coffee for me and my partners..." she said.

''Jimmy is a detective too..He's in Homicide with me." said Carlotta...

''Whatttttt?" she said...''Wow, yall two came up.."she said marveling...

"Yeah, time doesn't stand still." I added...

''And you two are a couple huh?"  said Barbara slyly...

"Wha-Huh?" I said.

"I saw you two kissing in the car before you came in and you were holding hands...It's kind of obvious...Just don't let Cantrell or Tragg find out...Which one do you work under honey?" she asked.

"Neither..I work for Sissy and she already knows." said Carlotta.

"Sissy?? Detective Van Buren??" she said.

''Lieutenant Sissy Van Buren."said Carlotta proudly.

"Sissy made Lieutenant huh? Well she deserved it..She was smarter than most of those guys in our old unit..and she didn't take any mess either...Cantrell wanted to sleep with her so bad, but she wouldn't go there with him...I thought that that was a career killer for her, but she perservered huh?? Isn't that something? You and Jimmy work for Sissy..Hey how bout Tyriq Pile??, Duke Baylor??...They still on the force?" she asked.

"Yes...They're both in our unit too." said Carlotta.

"Sissy has a squad of all stars....The Dream Team of detectives..."  said Barbara.

I laughed at that!......

"Hey what ever happened to Angie Belton? She had just made Detective when I uh got canned." she said.

"She was in Homicide for awhile...Now she's in Internal Affairs." I said.

"Internal Affairs huh?  That aint for her...She's a hunter.. She'll be back in Homicide..you just wait. Everybody moved up....If I was still on the force..I'd of been a Lieutenant myself by now.." she mused.

"Well uh.....It was nice running into you again ." I said as I pulled out my credit card and paid for our coffee and pastries...This whole conversation had made me uncomfortable...I felt bad for what happened to her, but it was her own fault...She was over zealous...Barbara didn't realize that we essentially have to play fair, even if the bad guys don't!

"Yeah ADA Wallace...Say hi to Sissy,Angie, Duke and Tyriq for me." she said as Carlotta and I left...

''I certainly will." I said, smiling uneasily!

"Wow...I feel kind of sorry for her Keith...What happened with her? That was so far back...I was still a roller then."said Carlotta.

"Barbara Dennison was a great detective....Reminded me of you at this point in your career right now Carlotta...Good instincts...Tough as nails...High clearence rate... But she went too far on a case one time...She planted evidence and gave false testimony in the case of a major player, who probably was guilty of murder....His lawyer discovered her ruse and brought it to the ADA's attention...They tried to try the case anyway and they lost...The guy went free...He's still free...Laughed in our faces..
The ADA called for her head and he got it..She was fired....She had 17 years on the force...All for nothing...She can't even get a pension...What a waste." I said.

''Wow." said Carlotta.

"So remember Carlotta...Do the job...Don't overdo it...Don't be so anxious to take a perp down that you cross lines and become as bad as the perp. Take em down right...Or not at all." I said, surprisingly very passionate and serious as though I was lecturing new recruits or something.

Carlotta looked at me and smiled.Her smile completely disarmed me, even though I was dead serious...She might have been the only one ,with the possible exception of Sissy ,who could do that..Make me laugh at myself...

"I'm already crossing lines...With you...Being in love with you." she said.

"Yeah...I know...I'm crossing those same lines too."I said..

''Well just don't stand there...This is the part of the story where we are supposed to kiss again." she said.

I pulled her to me and kissed her gently.....

IV-

I didn't expect to see Carlotta anymore that day after she dropped me off at my car and we went our seperate ways...But a few hours later,I got a call from Sissy..She was in shock...

"You'd better get over here Keith...It's Joshua...He's been killed." she said, her voice choking up.

Joshua...Was ADA Joshua Washington...A good friend of both Sissy and I.....I had just been at a 76ers game with Joshua Washington, Robert Foxworth, Duke Baylor and Tyriq Pile just a month before..

I drove to his house...

There was four police cars around and a throng of bystanders....I went inside the house... Sissy ,Carlotta and Tyriq Pile were in the living room where Joshua's bullet riddled body lie in the middle of the floor...

Sissy was visibly upset, trying hard to hold herself together.... I put my arms around her...

''What happened here?" I asked.

"Keith, I -I-I don't know....Oh My God...who would do something like this?" she said.

Carlotta tried not to step in the blood...She had on nylon gloves and Nylon booties...Observing the body with her was Dr. Hazel Hunter...

"Oh My God...He's been shot 27 times...I'm counting 27 bullet wounds...." said Dr. Hunter...

"He was shot at close range with a Glock Nine...." said Carlotta....

Detective Tyriq Pile kneeled down and observed the scene...He was collecting shell casings...

"It was two shooters....I can tell by the way the bullets hit him...The trajectory..Two glock nines...Close range....He was lit up." he said.

I looked around....

"Any sign of forced entry?" I asked...

''None" said Detective Edwin "Duke" Baylor, who entered from outside with three uniformed policemen... "He must have known his killers...or at least let them in..When I got here, the front door was wide open." he said.

"Hey Lou...We got another one upstairs..." came the voice of Detective Jimmy Barlow..

He was on the upper level... Sissy,Carlotta, Dr. Hunter, Tyriq ,Duke and myself went upstairs and in the bedroom and there we found Joshua's wife, Cynthia Washington lying on the floor in a short nightie.....She was a shapely woman....

She had one gunshot wound to the head...

"She was only shot once." he said as he and three uniformed policemen moved out of the way and allowed Carlotta, Dr. Hunter and Tyriq to study the body...

"This looks like she was surprised..." said Tyriq..

"You suspect possibly Murder-Suicide?" I asked.

Carlotta shook her head...

"No...Joshua Washington was shot by multiple shooters...and one of them must have heard her stirring around up here or screaming....It looks like she was trying to call 911..Her phone is over there on the floor...One of them came up here and shot her." she said.

"This was aimed at him...She was just collateral damage." Said Sissy...

"Duke...check out his cases...Especially recently released felons that may have had a grudge against him...Jimmy backtrack their phone calls...Chica...You and Tyriq check both of their laptops for any threatening or odd emails..and I'm going to check the surveilience cameras." said Sissy...

Funny how a day that started out so good, so mellow had ballooned into this...This was a major, major case...Because he was so high profile..I feared that the D.A.'s office and The Police Brass might call in all units to solve this....I didn't want that...Too many people involved would sully this case...

I was hoping that my so called "Dream Team" of Detectives, Carlotta Rodriguez, Tyriq Pile, Edwin "Duke" Baylor, James Barlow and their Lieutenant, Sissy Van Buren, a great detective herself..could crack this case and crack it fast...

"We've got people dusting for prints and checking for DNA." said Sissy to me...She still sounded as though she was about to lose it..

I pulled her to me and held her....Her body was as soft as Carlotta's and she smelled great...

"It'll be okay Sissy, we'll get whoever did this..If anybody can solve this case...You and these guys can..." I said.

I walked over to Carlotta who was finishing up...

"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you...Looks like you guys will be busy." I said.

''Nooooo, don't go...Stay with me...If you stay with me...I'll come over your place and stay with you!" she said.

My eyes got as large as saucers...She smiled a little bit...

"Oh my goodness, you are such a horn dog...Just the hint of sex.." she whispered...

"What can I say?" I said, a little ashamed that I was thinking about sex with Carlotta in the middle of a murder case...and the murder of a personal friend at that.

Dr. Hunter walked over to us...

"Can we release the body?" she asked.

"Yes, release the body." said Sissy...

Everything was bagged and tagged.... Duke, Jimmy, Tyriq, Dr. Hunter and the police all left... Sissy and Carlotta and I stood in front of the house as the crowd and the reporters all subsided...

"Wow ,this is major." said Carlotta.

''We gotta do this right..We are gonna have a lot of eyes on us." said Sissy.

"Yeah...I hate cases like this.." I said.

''Me too." said Sissy..

"Well, let's get a good night's sleep..Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. See yall." said Sissy as she walked to her car ,got in and pulled off.

Carlotta looked up at me...

"Follow me in your car ,I have to stop by my place and pack some things...I think I'm going to be staying with you for a few days.." she said.

I smiled...She looked at me and smiled...

"I figured you'd like that." she said.

"Well, we've got a big case to work on...We uh need to be together..You know , We are all going to be working late." I said.

Carlotta just smiled and shook her head...

"If you say so." she said.

I pulled her to me and kissed her for a long time....

When we came up for air...

" If you say so baby." she said with a whisper.

Part of me was going to hate when this case was over!

(TO BE CONTINUED)