Never My Love

The house was at the corner of the block....It was eerily quiet....We were in Cherry Hill,New Jersey, a twenty minute ride over the bridge from Philadelphia...I had Sissy, Carlotta,Tyriq and Jimmy with me in the van...

We stopped by Cherry Hill P.D. first and met with Lt.  Lester Garrett....

"Nice Meeting you ADA Wallace and Lt. Sissy Van Buren...I'm going and I'm taking five officers with me..do you reckon that will be enough?" he said.

"More than enough Lieutenant...I've got three detectives with me." she said.

"Do you have a signed warrant?" he asked.

"Yes sir..I have one signed by Judge Turner Freeman and one signed by your own Judge Wilkerson..."I said.

"Good Job...Good job..I heard you were sharp....Ahhh, uhhh That uh Judge Freeman fella...I guess I shouldn't be telling this...but uh cop to cop...I was over in Philly for something about a year ago and the guy had on some loose fitting pants...and he had on ladies panties ...I kid you not....My ADA even called him on it and he said ladies panties were comfortable to him...We both looked at each other and were like..Whoa, this judge is something extra..."

Sissy and Carlotta looked at me and smiled....I smiled and went-

''Really? Ladies panties....Imagine that?"

And we all busted out laughing....

"We know all about Judge Freeman...You saw him on a good day when he at least had pants on." I laughed.

"Oh My god...He's a real whackadoo." said Lt. Garrett.

II-

Detective Jimmy Barlow, Lt. Sissy Van Buren and three Cherry Hill policemen went around the side of the house...Two Cherry Hill policemen with rifles followed Carlotta and Tyriq to the front door...They were all wearing kevlar vests and trauma plates...I was behind them with one other policeman and Lt. Garrett.

"Avril...Avril Krall....This is Detective Carlotta Wallace...Philadelphia P.D.  I have a warrant for your arrest, Come out with your hands up....No one will hurt you..." she said.

He came to the window with a gun to the head of his aunt....

"You know I can't do that right?" he said.

''Whoa buddy, take it easy.."said Tyriq.

"Too late for taking it easy....I'm close the edge mannnn." said Avril.

"Come on out man...It's all over..We know everything...we know what those three girls did to your dad...we know about your dad's suicide...we know....Come on out...this isn't the way to go Avril....Not like this...You got a wife man...Don't make things any worse than they already are."said  Detective Tyriq Pile.

"Ha. Can't get any worse than this. I got no future man....I got nothing..." he said.

"It's never as bad as it may at first seem Avril....You need to surrender peacefully...Don't cause un-needed bloodshed...You're already in deep enough as it is." said Tyriq.

Jimmy came around the side and motioned to Carlotta to follow him...She quietly did while Tyriq talked to Avril...One Cherry Hill Policeman followed them.

"Come out man,let's talk...Let's work something out..." said Tyriq...

"There's nothing to work out....I'm done....and if you come any further, so is my aunt." he screamed...

"Why did you do it man?" asked Tyriq...

"Those bitches ruined my dad's life and mine....When I found out they knew each other and were friends...I had to do it!" he screamed...

Somehow, both Jimmy and Carlotta and two cops were now inside the house!!!

Jimmy and one cop charged him and struggled with him....Avril fired up in the air...His Aunt got away and Carlotta wrestled him down to the ground with the help of one other Cherry Hill police officer...

"You got his gun Jimmy?" said Carlotta...

"Yeah...I got it.." he said.

"Okay....TYRIQ!...ALL CLEAR!" Yelled Carlotta.

Tyriq gave us the high sign....

Carlotta , Jimmy and three Cherry Hill police officers brought him out of the house as Tyriq put the cuffs on him and read him his rights.....He didn't offer any further struggle.

"Thank you for your help Lt. Garrett..." said Sissy....

"It was my pleasure....You say he killed three girls...?" asked Lt. Garrett..

"Yes and a young man.." said Sissy...

"Wow, you got a real heavy hitter there..." he said.

"Thanks again for your department's help" I said.

"Anytime ADA Wallace and uh say hello to Judge Freeman for me." he said and winked....

We all busted out laughing at that!

III-

Back in Philadelphia, Avril Krall Jr. confessed to killing Kim Dewey, Michelle Lord and Amy Ryan because they had ruined his father's business and he held them indirectly responsible for his father's suicide...He also confessed to killing Lance Gold, the wine delivery boy....because he didn't want him to tell the police that he was the one who had paid him to deliver the bottles filled with poison.

Dr. Hunter discovered that the poison came from Eastern Europe and was purchased on line by Avril Jr. a year before...

Avril Krall Jr. was sentenced to 15 years to Life in prison. A strange sentence , but one I could live with.

"Chica, Tyriq,Jimmy...You guys did great work cracking that case...We cleared four murders and a suicide...You guys have the next two days off with pay..." she said.

"Oh Wow...I'm not going to know what to do with myself. Thank you boss lady." said Carlotta...

"I know what I'm going to do...Anything I wanna. Thanks Lou." said Tyriq...

"Wow...Two days without seeing anything or anybody that's dead...radical. Thanks Lou.." laughed Jimmy...

"No thank you guys, for being such great detectives.." said Sissy...

I smiled..beaming with pride at the unit I had put together.

IV-

A day later, Duke and Hop had called me...I met them out at Curran-Fromhold Correctional center....They weren't happy campers...

''When did it happen?" I asked.

"The guard found him in his cell this morning...hanging from the ceiling..." said Detective Tony Hopkins...

Hitman, Benny Gillespie was found in his cell, hanging from the ceiling!!!....Now he could never tell us who hired him to kill Mickey Lolo... Carlos Losada had led us to the murder weapon and it matched the slugs found in the body and it had Gillespie's fingerprints and DNA on it...but he would never do a day of real time for it...and more so, he would never indict his bosses, Joey Neverand and Minolo Sentterro...

"Well ADA...We got a cleared murder..and we finally found Mickey Lolo's body....Hazel told me that she identified him positively through DNA and dental records...That's definitely him!" said Duke..

"Yeah...Who do you think did this?" I asked...as Bennie's lifeless body was cut down.

"It could have been Angel Ortega's boys...They are thick in here...Joey Never did try to get Ortega hit...which is how we caught Carlos Losada in the first place...but on the other hand...Joey Never could have had it done himself...so that Benny wouldn't give him up!He couldn't get to Carlos Losada, so Bennie would be the next best thing..Losada really never talked or saw Joey Never, so he can't hurt him." said Detective Tony Hopkins...

"That smug little bastard drinks at the Mermaid Club....You guys feel like havin a drink?" I said.

Duke smiled...

''Come to think of it...I could use a beer."

V-

Joey Never was sitting at a booth with two girls drinking and talking...He was a tall, handsome well dressed young black man about my age or maybe a year younger....Dressed like a Wall Street banker and with a nice fresh haircut and well manicured fingernails..He laughed and smiled and sipped his drink as the the two women seemingly went out of their way to impress him...

I walked in with Duke and Tony,One of his thugs stood up and blocked our way...

I looked at him....

"You can't be serious right?" I said..

He made a move as if he was going for a gun....

Duke grabbed him and slammed his head into the table, which knocked him senseless....and took a small .22 out of his jacket pocket...Hop put the gun in a plastic evidence bag and passed it to a uniform officer we brought along. They both pulled the man up off of the floor and handcuffed him...Read him his rights.

Another guy stood up and Tony stuck his glock into his side...

"Take a walk tough guy...NOW! While you can!" he barked... The man was no fool, he moved away quickly and left the bar!

Duke and I smiled....

"The kid has got a pair on him, don't he?" laughed Duke...I smiled...

I flashed my ID and Duke flashed his badge...We sat down with Joey and his girls...Hop  stood guard...

Joey didn't flinch...He played the tough gangster to the hilt...

"Well...I was wondering when the city's dashing young ADA would show up.... and Duke...I'm surprised at you, your level of violence is increasing.." he said.

Duke and I smiled...

"Ladies....take five for a minute...The lawmen want to talk with me." said Joey Never....

"So....what's crackin baby? Oh and ADA Wallace congrats on the wedding...Detective Rodriguez is a stone cold fox...You got great tastes and apparently you got some game to ya......You snagged a winner baby," he said.

"Can it Joey...You know we here to talk about Benny Gillespie."said Duke..

"Oh yeah...him!  Well that's a shame...Young man going to jail and not even safe there...You know ,you guys gotta tighten up on your security in there." he laughed...

"How nice for you man...Now he'll never testify that you sub-contracted the Mickey Lolo hit for Minolo Sentterro and now we won't be able to lay another murder on Minolo." said Duke...

"Did somebody tell you that I had something to do with that?  Oh wow...Somebody sure has a great imagination."  he laughed.

"This is about you Joey." I said.

"Come on counselor....You got nothin on me....You know it and I know it..." he laughed..."You found Mickey Lolo...you caught his more than likely killer...You won...So come on, give me a break....Tell ya what...Hey Joe...Beers for the ADA and his two cop friends...Just to show...No hard feelings huh? What do you say?"he said.

I smiled...

"That's okay...These two detectives are on duty and I'm working...Good bye Joey....You won today!...But I'll tell you like I told our mutual friend Minolo ...You'll slip up one day and when you do...It's bye bye Joey!" I said.

"Never my love...Never my esteemed ADA... Joey Never ,never slips up!Hahahahahahaha." he laughed..

''Angel Ortega might beg to differ...Word on the street is that he still has a bounty on your head." said Duke..

"Ha...Do I look like I'm the least bit worried???...I'm too fast for you cops and for a nobody gangster like Ortega." said Joey Never.

"Remember what I said..It only takes one slip up and it's..Bye Bye Joey!" I said as Duke, Hop and I left the bar...

"Have a nice afternoon officers" he laughed as we left the bar.

VI-

Two nights later...I arrived on the scene of yet another Philadelphia murder... I made my way through the crowd....I saw Lt. Eddie Cantrell and about six uniformed police officers...Some CSI guys and crime scene photographers standing over a body...

"Hey ADA Wallace...Come on over..Take a look at what I stumbled on." said Lt. Cantrell...

I brought him a tumbler of coffee...He smiled...

"I see why Sissy and her guys are so loyal to you....Look at the victim! I think you know him." he said smiling...

It was Joseph Neverand!!!!!!...better known as Joey Never.....Looks like he slipped up!

"Looks like Joey Never took one for the team!" I said.

"He took 17 for the damn team! Somebody lit him up on this corner...He was leaving some girl's house and a car came by and sprayed him with bullets...He got hit at least 17 times and there are more shells on the street. He got one good shot off..Killed the driver...We found the car two blocks away...The driver was dead at the wheel..He's from out of town...a Jersey guy." said Lt. Cantrell..

"Whoa!!!You think it was Ortega's boys?" I asked.

"I don't even care...Nobody will miss this dreck...and somebody else will take his place in record time.I already called Homicide...I thought I might get to talk to your esteemed Lieutenant, but she's gone for the day..Any way, two of her guys are on their way over here." said Lt.Eddie Cantrell...

"Nature of the beast Lieutenant." I said.

"Don't I know it....Go home Keith...Go home to that fine pretty wife of yours." he said.

"Not a bad idea at all. Good Night Lieutenant." I said.

EPILOUGE:

According to our deal...We dropped attempted murder charges against Carlos Losada and released him from custody...As far as I know, he's still alive and still on the streets....

Detectives James "Jimmy" Barlow and Tony Hopkins arrested a suspect in the murder of Joey Never within days...He was an associate of Angel Ortega...but refused to roll on Ortega.

I did go home to my pretty wife...

We went out to Roxys and to the Aqua Bar to celebrate the closing of her big case and the deaths of Bennie Gillespie , killer of Mickey Lolo and the man who contracted him..Joey Never...

"Wow babes...This has been some couple of weeks huh?" I said.

"Yes...I feel good...For the first time in a few nights...I think I'm gonna sleep good..." she said.

"That's great...and I won't bother you tonight..I know you're exhausted." I said.

"You're not bothering me...but I do want to get some sleep tonight ."she said.

She downed another Tequila and then drank some water....

"After of course some ...how you say it?...freaky sneaky."she said and looked at me and winked..

"Alrightttt..That's what I'm talkin about." I laughed...

Carlotta kissed me slowly right there at the bar...

"I love you...and don't you ever get the idea that I don't...You hear me?" she said.

"Never that...Never my love." I said.