Marked For Death

A warm summer night in Philly...Beer was flowing like a river in most bars...It was no different here in this one...Roxys....I had said that I might consider hanging out here on nights when I only wanted my own company...This wasn't one of them...This was work!

Me? My name is Kevin Morris...sometimes...I'm a Private Investigator....This was one of those times...

It's very rarely that a former client calls on me...I mean..once business is closed...That's usually the last I hear of them with the exception of lawyers like Robert Foxworth and Conrad Nelson, who have me on retainer and who I do investigative work for..

Jean Stevens...who had hired me a few months ago to find out who killed her father, a man whose body my wife found in one of the buildings her firm was rehabbing had called me at work and asked me to meet her at Roxys for drinks and for a possible job..

Roxys was a bar where people went who wanted to be alone...People I knew...Most of my associates hung out at Josies...The Aqua Bar and The Mermaid club...Except for a few...No one that I knew came here....Jean wanted to talk to me in private without being seen.

It didn't take long for her to show up...She was a stunningly attractive woman...a real head turner...She saw me and joined me in a booth...

"Hi Kevin...How are you doing?" she said.

"I'm good...How are you?" I said...

"I've been better...What are you drinking?" she asked...

"Corona." I said...

She motioned to the bar maid...

"A Corona and a Vodka with cranberry juice on the rocks." she said.

As we waited for our drinks, She began to talk...

"Guess you wondered why I asked you to meet me here huh?" she said.

"The thought did occur to me." I said laughing...

"I want to hire you to find Rollie Rollerson and find out what's going on with him." she said.

"Huh?" I said...

She passed me an envelope full of money just as our drinks were arriving..

"I suppose you heard the two of us making love the last time you were at my house...I'm not stupid Kevin..." she said.

I said nothing...

"We were an item...I thought we were going someplace and then nothing...He just vanished...Barely answers his text messages and never answers his phone..I'm worried about him." she said.

I passed the envelope back to her...

"Jean...I don't want to take your money....I can tell you where he is right now...He's at Josies...He's probably drunk." I said.

Rollie came in Josies every night, Gus said and would sit and drink until closing..and either fall asleep at the bar or fall off the stool... He'd have Eddie, Andrew or Shine either call a cab or drive him home in his car...

Rollie had slowly become an alcoholic..and it was tied into my good friend, Lt. Sissy Van Buren finally telling him that he didn't have a shot and that she didn't want him...
He had stopped chasing women, had stopped doing anything except drinking...And on the nights he actually saw Sissy with her boyfriend, Eddie C..

His dispair and drinking grew worse....But of course ,I didn't want to tell Jean all of that...

"Well what's bothering him? " she asked...

I smiled.

"Jean...you're a beautiful woman...a sexy woman...don't waste your time on him...He's in a bad place right now...A place you can't reach him....You'd be best to forget about him...Find yourself someone else..Someone worth your while."I said.

"It's another woman isn't it?" she said.

"Kind of sorta..."I said.

"Do you know her?" she asked.

"Jean, why torture yourself? Forget about him...I don't want to take your money.."I said.  "Rollie is right where I told you he is...and yet,he's in a place that you or nobody else can reach him."I said.

We said nothing...We drank our drinks....She paid the tab....Then smiled weakly at me..

"Thank you Kevin...Thank you for not taking advantage of this foolish woman." she said.

"You're not foolish Jean...Not at all." I said.

She smiled and stroked my hand gently...She got up and walked out....I watched her as she walked out...

II-

The night was still young...I still had time to get to Josies... I checked my phone...There was two missed calls on it...One was from the FBI!!! , The other was from Eric "Shark Dollars" Redding...Wow!! Two sides of the law heard from!

I decided to call the FBI first!...

"FBI..This is Acting Special Agent in Charge, Sharon Ferrell." came the beautiful ,melodious voice...

"You know...if you hadn't become a lawman, you easily could've made it as a singer." I said...

There was silence, then a giggle....

"And you must be Kevin Morris, private investigator huh?" she said.

"That I am..." I laughed..

"You know I'm an engaged woman." she said.

"I know....and I'm a married man...aint it a shame?" I joked and we both busted out laughing...

"You're funny....but unfortunately...what I have to tell you is not funny..." she said ,getting serious...

"Uh oh...What's up?" I said...

"Can you meet me at the Federal Building in about an hour? I can't discuss this over the phone." she said.

"Okay....sounds serious." I said.

"It is..." she said.

"I'm in my car now...I'm on my way." I said and headed in the opposite direction.

III-

I parked in their garage....If it was this serious...I didn't want my car seen on the street at the federal building...

I took the elevator to Agent Ferrell's office...Like Sissy, she had a hot tumbler of coffee waiting for me...

"Agent Ferrell...We meet again." I said.

"Yes, we do...You have pissed off some people in some high places Mr. Kevin." she said.

"That's what I do." I said..

"Listen to this...You ever heard of a guy named Big Uncle"? she asked...

"Vaguely...A Detroit playa..."I said.

"A Big Detroit Playa...A real heavyweight as gangsters go." she said.

"I've never had any dealings with him.." I said.

"No, you haven't...but you recently helped Sissy Van Buren and her detectives clear Lt.Eddie Cantrell of murder...didn't you?" she asked..

"Yeah..But what's that got to do with Big Uncle in Detroit?" I asked.

"Nothing...But it has everything to do with a gangster named Cat Daddy in Camden, New Jersey...See, you put his number two man and one of his most trusted lieutenants behind bars with the help you gave the Philly P.D. and that effectively gumed up the works in Cat Daddy's plans to expand into Philadelphia." she said.

"Ohhhhhhhh...I see...Coyt and Barrington.."I said.

"Yes...and Coyt's replacement ,Phillip.."Philly" Pierce is younger, ambitious and worse than Coyt...He wants revenge...On YOU!!! They figure that ADA Wallace and The Philly coppers would still be spinning their wheels had it not been for your help in catching Coyt and Barrington...But listen for yourself..This is from a wiretap we had on Big Uncle's Lieutenant ,Eddie Sutton...." she said.

"Heyyy Eddie, How ya doin? Heard you was in AC last week...Why didn't you stop by?"

"Philly...Are you serious?? Stop in Camden?? You must be outta your mind."

"Okay,Knock it off...Soon enough, we gonna be in Philly...Philly is wide open and my boss man wants a piece."

"Oh yeah? Good For him..How is Cat Daddy nowadays?"

"He's good...We uh kind of got slowed down in our move to expand."

"Oh yeah, sorry to hear that...Philly is like Detroit ..a tough town."

"Which brings me to my reason for callin you...I need a mechanic...A top rate guy..."

"Yeahhh, for what?"

"We got a little problem...a potential problem...a guy who sticks his nose where it don't belong and who is just a little too cozy with our new  young crime busting Assistant District Attorney and his coppers..."

"He a cop?"

"Nahhh, he's worse...A Private Investigator....Name is Kevin Morris....He wore a wire and set three of our guys up...They got knocked...Now we are temporarily out of the mix...Until I get set up...."

"If he's private...He has a price...Pay him and he's on your side...If you think your guys will roll, have em uh straightened out in jail...That's how I'd play it anyway."

"He won't do business like that...He's responsible for quite a few guys being locked up right now...He's real friendly with a lot of the top detectives and the ADA...Can't be bought."

"Everybody has a price...If he's got friends like that...He's too dangerous to hit.."

"Nobody is too dangerous to hit....You got a guy?"

"Yeah...I got a guy...He lives in Atlantic City....Goes by the name of "Slim Shady"..Real name is Chris Cummings...Works good, Efficient...Quiet...He's expensive though..."

"I'll pay him one million dollars up front...Another mil when the job is done."

"Ohhhh wow...you really want this guy dead.."

"I sure as hell do."

"Okay...I'll text you his contact information...and his bank account...When the money shows up in his account... He'll be in Philly."

"That'll work...Thanks Eddie."

"My pleasure....And I want you to send 500G's to my account...A finders fee."

"No problem Eddie...Thanks again."

"You got it babe...Be easy."

(Click)

"Our Midwest office picked up this conversation three weeks ago and just sent it to me yesterday...I just listened to it...They don't know you, but they are compling enough on Eddie Sutton to bring him up on charges,an assortment of them...Maybe he'll roll on Big Uncle..Who knows...And we are monitoring the accounts of Philly Pierce and this Chris Cummings....Hopefully, we can put the bite on them and stop Cat Daddy in his tracks...I just wanted to give you a heads up....Watch your back...This 'Slim Shady' guy..He's a suspect in close to 100 contract killings...Has no arrests or convictions...That's how good he is...He's ex-military...He's very good...A real psychopath...Please be careful...You mean a lot to Sissy and her guys and I'm just meeting you...but from what I have heard...you are a real good guy and a great help to law enforcement...." she said.

"Does that mean that you like me Agent Ferrell." I joked..

"Yeah,I guess it does.." she said and smiled..

"Then I promise...I'll do my best to stay alive and healthy." I said.  "Thanks for the heads up." I said.


IV-

As much as I joked and portrayed a cavilier attitude with Agent Ferrell, I took this and any attempt on my life extremely serious...I was even a little unnerved... I decided to call Eric "Shark Dollars " Redding...An Atlantic City Gambler and Loan Shark who Kool Kat and I had befriended and who had once been a former client of mine...

"Speak to me."

"Shark Dollars...What's good baby?" I said.

"Kevy Kev...What's goin on?" he answered..

"You tell me..You called me." I said.

"You got problems baby...A big time gangster from Detroit was out here with a local guy from your neck of the woods.." he said.

"That would be Eddie Sutton, one of Big Uncle's boys and Philly Pierce...Who works for Cat Daddy right?" I said.

There was silence then...

"Damn baby, you on top of everything...So if you know they was out here, you know why right?" he said.

"Yeah...They hired a cat named Slim Shady to stop me from breathing in and out." I said.

"Damn...right again...Who did you piss off Kevin?" he asked.

"Cat Daddy...He's trying to move into Philadelphia...Two of his guys framed a friend of mine for murder...I kind of broke the frame and in the process...His two guys are in the slams.."I said.

"Ohhhhh and Philly Pierce is tryin to score points with the boss by having you knocked off right.?"said Shark Dollars.

"Right." I said.

"You got a plan?" he asked.

"Not yet, but I'll think of somethin."I said.

"Yeah babe, well think fast...Slim Shady aint one to sleep on...He's good..good and deadly...." said Shark Dollars...

"So am I." I said.

"That you are...Ya know I know...." he laughed...

"Thanks for the heads up Shark Dollars....Save me and my wife a room at one of your joints...We comin down in a few weeks..."I laughed..

"You got it Kev...A few weeks huh?" he asked.

"Take that to the bank." I said.

"My money is on you playa...Be easy Kev."

"Always." I said and hung up...


I made a few calls...I called Robert Foxworth and Bonita...I called Clerow and Owen Todd... I called Chess and Chris Thompson.I worried about the guys who worked with me...I always made sure I kept their identities secret...even from law enforcement...For just this reason..I didn't want anyone coming at them because of me...

I cancelled my plans to go to Josies and instead went home... Sepia was there....

"Hey Lover, where you been?" she asked with a smile as I walked in the house...

"Out and About.." I said...I hugged her and kissed her softly...

"You alright?" she asked.

"Pack a bag babes...Enough clothes and things to last you for a few days.." I said solemnly...

"What's going on?" she said...

"I've uh pissed off some very dangerous people..." I said.

"Huh?" she asked, now looking concerned..

"I've called Robert...He's going to meet you around back... Clerow is going to be in a car behind his to make sure you aren't followed....You're going to stay with him and Bonita for a few days until I straighten this out...Clerow and Owen Todd are going to make sure you two get to work and back safely... Chris Thompson and Chess are going to have their guys watching the entire shopping center where you guys are working and my office as well.."I said.

"Oh my god..this is serious isn't it?" she said.

"Yeah...I don't want to take any chances...But don't worry...I'm going to take care of this." I said.

She kissed me and leaned on my chest...

"I just know you will..." she said.

"You still my ride or die chick?" I said.

"Always baby." she said...

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

Robert Foxworth drove up in the driveway of my house... I put Sepia and her luggage in...He looked around and he pulled off...Clerow was behind him in his car....

I then called Gus at Josie's... I got in my car and drove to the parking lot in Josies....

Eddie and Andrew put a black car cover over my car...Gus let me in through the back and led me upstairs to the spare room on top of Josies...

"Who did you piss off this time kid?" He asked.

"Cat Daddy's boy Philly Pierce." I said.

"You don't piss off the slackers do you?" he said.

"Come on Gus...You know me...Only the best for me." I said.

"Where's Sepia?" he asked.

"She's safe.She's with Friends." I said.

"Good...You can stay here as long as you need." he said.

"Won't be long..It's best if I keep moving." I said.

Gus looked at me grimly and shook his head..

He closed the door...I had my Kevlar vest, my trauma plate, My .38 smokeless, my .22
and my ankle holster and another .22...Couldn't be anymore ready than this.

(To Be Continued..)