Green Carnation

The hardest part about having to leave home was being without my wife Sepia....I was used to seeing her everyday....and I hated being seperated from her...

I tossed four thousand dollars on the bed that night when I came home and said...

''Put that up for safe keepin doll."

''You got a case?" she asked..

''Yeah..looks like an easy one...A woman asked me to escort her slain husband's coffin to San Juan.. She paid me up front...and supplied me with airline tickets....both ways." I said.

"And all you gotta do is escort the casket there..A guy picks it up and pays you the balance...You hop on a plane and come back???" she asked.

"That's the gist of it...Easy money." I said.

"No such thing as easy money Kev...You taught me that...."she said.

"Yeah..you're right..This does seem too easy..." I said.

"You leavin in the morning?" she asked..

"Yeah....."I said.

''Well..Mama might as well give you a little somethin to tide you over until you get back." she said and we preceded to kiss right there on the couch.....

We seemed to always start in the living room, kissing passionately and deeply and then eventually, me lifting Sepia up, taking her upstairs to our room and my hoisting her nightgown up..slipping her panties down and me, entering her soft, warm and moist parts...and moving slowly and deliberately inside of her, savoring every last moment of pleasure...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh lover....you feeeeeel sooooooooooooooooo  gooooooooooooooodd.." she moaned...

"Damn girllll, so do youuu." I moaned myself...

Eventually, we wound up on the bed...really going at it...

''Ohhhh My God Kevin...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.."Sepia moaned.......

Somehow or another we wound up actually in the bed...making sweet love for several hours...until we both were spent and satisfied....

''Now that's the kind of send off that makes me want to give this girl her money back and tell her to find somebody else." I said laughing.

''Is she going?" asked Sepia.

"No." I said.

"Good." she said and laughed..

"I wish I could take you." I said.

"Can't...I've got a house to sell and I've got to get my dress for Keith Wallace and Carlotta Rodriguez's wedding ready." she said.

"Yeah that's right...When I come back...Remind me to get fitted for my tux." I said.

Sepia kissed me again.... I rolled over on top of her and began kissing her  and it wasn't long before we were making sweet love for the second time and well into the early morning...

"Damn girl.. we keep this up and I might be late for my plane." I said.

"Good" she laughed!

II-

Everything seemed to work on cue... I arrived at the airport on time that morning, just as planned and a hearse from the Rest Well Funeral Home arrived a little bit after I did...

Eva accompanied the funeral director and his assistant...

They loaded the casket on the plane...in the back...To my utter surprise, there were regular passengers getting on the plane too...

Eva smiled for the first time...

"I have called Mr. Castro....This is a photo of him..." she said and gave me a photo of a tall, slender Latino man who I did not know...She then pinned a green carnation on the lapel of my sports jacket.

''Wear This...When he sees you with this...He will know who you are.." she said.  She then passed me what looked like a claims ticket..it was from the Good Rest Funeral Home..

"This ticket will enable you to claim the casket once you land...Don't lose it."she said.

"Okay" I said and smiled..

''Everything is set." she said.

"Yupper..Everything is set." I said.

"Thank you so much Mr. Kevin." she said.

"You're welcome." I said.

She kissed me on the cheek....

''Maybe when I return, we can meet for drinks and talk." I said.

''I don't really think that will be possible."she said and waved and walked away briskly...

Something about the abrupt way she said that and then hurriedly exited made me suspicious...This was very strange.. And seemingly too good to be true...

And you know what they say when something is seemingly too good to be true!

III-

I'm sure San Juan, Puerto Rico is a beautiful city....It's just that ,the last time I was here...I didn't have such a good time...I was drugged and kidnapped and held prisoner by that mad man Mr. Tickle for close to a week before Robert and I escaped and turned the table on Tickle and his gang...It wasn't a very pleasent experience...and yet my good friend, ADA Keith Wallace came here with his girlfriend, Detective Carlotta Rodriguez and had a wonderful time...Got engaged here!

My musician friends, Reed Nelson, Downtown Rob Brown, 88, B-Flat, Symphony Sam,Bone Hampton,Chazz Gillison and Dutch Van Buren have all played gigs here and raved about the place....Even Kool Kat , Chess and Chris Thompson managed to have a great time here...Maybe this time , it would be different for me!

Little did I know...That was not to be in the cards...

IV-

My flight was uneventful....I landed with no trouble....I waded through the crowds....and found a bar at the airport....

I ordered a Carona...

I sat at the bar and drank...I watched my watch for close to twenty minutes...I checked to make sure I had my claims check for the casket and I checked the returning flights to Philadelphia...

It wasn't long before a tall ,well dressed Latin man, wearing a panama hat and dark sunglasses walked in the bar...He saw my Green Carnation, smiled and sat down next to me...

"Hola...Are you Kevin?" he said.

"Yeah, and you are?" I asked.

"Fillipe' Castro" he said.

I checked the photo Eva gave me...It was him alright. We shook hands...

Just then, a woman, a very petite, yet attractive woman began walking my way...She had a gold shield and a glock nine in a shoulder holster...I could tell..She was a cop!

Fillipe Castro saw her coming and he didn't say a word to me.. He quietly got up and walked away...

She looked at me and smiled...

"Green Carnation eh? Very original?" she said.

"You speak English very uh familliar...Like you're not from around here." I said.

"Well...actually I'm not...but I've been living here for a few years now." she said.

"I take it you're a cop." I said.

"Yes I am...I'm a detective...Detective Mercedes Rodriguez." she said.

"Wow...I know a Detective Rodriguez...Back where I'm from." I said.

"Really?  , Well we can talk about that later..Would you come with me please?" she asked.

"Is there a problem?" I asked.

"It could be. but for now...I just want to talk to you, ask you a few questions." she said.

"Well ,alright...I don't have a problem with that...Most men wouldn't have a problem talking to you at all" I said and smiled at her...

"Ouuuu, you're such a flirt!...." she said and smiled at me very sweetly...

"I know...Bad habit of mine....I really must stop that." I said.

"No..go ahead...I'm flattered....It won't get you anywhere, but a girl likes to hear she's appreciated every now and then." she said and laughed...

''Well in that case...you're welcome ,Detective." I said as I got in the back of her car and we began to pull off!

There was no sign at all of Fillipe Castro on the street.. He had seemingly vanished into thin air....

"Your boy sure got ghost when I showed up didn't he?  He didn't even have the decency to tell you to run also." she laughed.

"Yeah...Something tells me he's more than a funeral director." I said.

"Funeral Director? Is that what he told you he is?" laughed Detective Rodriguez...She just shook her head...

I had the feeling that I had been duped and big time...I was kind of embarrassed.. Me ,the big city private investigator , who would like to think of himself as streetwise  and somewhat savy had been played by a very beautiful woman and her tears...Surely no guy could have pulled this off..

Detective Rodriguez was beautiful too and all of a sudden,I felt very embarrassed, sitting in the back of her car headed for the police station..in her presence...I felt like a country bumpkin.

This case had looked too easy to begin with...Normally I would have smelled a rat....I was losing my touch....I was mixed up into something...Something way more complex than what I originally thought it was...

And now instead of me making a simple transaction and hopping on a plane..I was headed downtown to the police station with a foxy detective....I could do worse I suppose.

Only I could get myself in these messes.

(TO BE CONTINUED)