Just Partners

The weather had been so nice for the past couple of days...When I wasn't working, which was good..but today...The weather was humid and wet...It was raining something terrible and I was working...Me? I'm Detective, Nick Munez..San Juan Policia...

I hadn't called Mercedes or texted her in a few days...Which was different for me...I always called or texted, nearly everyday...Sometimes just to say good morning to her..She answered sometimes....but more times than not..I got no response...So tired of that...I just quit calling and texting...

The victim, Norma Santiago was found lying in the street...with one bullet wound to the head...face up, eyes still open.... I arrived just minutes after the call was put in...My new partner..Detective Gloria Diaz was already at the scene.

"Hey Gloria...What we got here?" I said...

"Victims name is Norma....Norma Santiago...age 34...Single...Works at the restaurant down the street..Lives a few blocks from here. Nobody saw anything..." she said.

"Naturally!Is it a robbery?" I asked as I put on latex gloves and attempted to look at the body...She was a huge woman...She looked like she weighed at least three hundred pounds..

"Doesn't look like it....I went through her pocketbook...She had just got paid yesterday and most of her money is here, including three credit cards and a smartphone..." said  Gloria..

I looked at her pocketbook...It looked as if someone had rumaged through it...like they were looking for something and her phone camera was surprisingly on and not off as though somone was looking for  some footage of something or trying to erase something!!!!

"Cause of death determined?" I asked.

It was then that I heard another voice...

"The Cause of death is obvious...She was shot to death"came a surprisingly familiar voice!

I looked up and into the smiling face of Detective Mercedes Rodriguez.....

"Mercedes!! What are you doing here?" I asked...

"I'm a Detective, like you....I heard the call while I was out..." she said.

"Well...We got this pretty much covered.....I want you to meet my new partner...Gloria...uh Detective Gloria Diaz. Gloria...Detective Mercedes Rodriguez...my uh former training officer..."I said.

"Pleased to meet you...I've heard so much about you." she said.

"That's funny...I've heard nothing about you...How long have you two been uh, partners?" asked Mercedes...

"Oh close to three months now...We've closed a number of cases..We work well together...It's like we have a rhythm." she said. Mercedes winced a bit when she said that...I turned my head...I didn't want her to see me laughing.

"Woww...Good...Good...I'm glad to know my former protoge' is teamed up with a good detective... and one that he works so in sync with.Well, uh..It does look like you got this pretty sewed up...So I'll just get out of your way." said Mercedes...

"Nice meeting you." said Gloria.

"Same here....See you Nicky." she said smiling..."

''So long." I said and grinned to myself as she got in her car and pulled off...

"What was that about?" asked Gloria.

"Nothing." I lied.

"You two uh..?" she asked.

''No." I said.

"If we are going to be partners you can't keep things from me." she giggled.

"You're just being newsy....We might have uh...you know..messed around a little bit...but that was in the past."I lied again...It had been in the past 72 hours.

My partner Gloria was very attractive, but I wasn't thinking about her in that way....Not at all and I'm pretty sure she wasn't thinking about me like that either...Which was why we worked together so well...No sexual tension.

Gloria,Like Mercedes was about a year older than me and had been a detective for awhile now...It was cool working with her and hanging out with her in the off hours... We went to the gym and sometimes to the clubs ....We were buddies, but unlike Mercedes...I wasn't romantically attached to her at all.

The victim, 29 year old Norma Santiago was nearly 370 pounds...It took seven policemen and three additional ambulance workers to lift her up, bag her and take her to the morgue...

I had several uniformed policemen doing a house to house search and questioning everyone in the immediate area..  Crime scene investigators gathered the spent shells...Only two shots had been fired! Crime scene photographers photographed the entire scene.

"Tomorrow, we interview the folks on her block and at her job..." I said.

"Good..We can split up the assignments.." said Gloria...

"Hey...Reed Nelson, Bone Hampton and "88" are playing at this club tonight...They been here all week..I know them..I mean I met them!...Wanna go see em?" I asked...

"Sure, I'm not doing anything tonight." she said..

I drove Gloria to her house and then I went home, Showered, shaved and changed clothes...

I picked her up at her house and headed to the club...She looked great!!! And when we enetered that club...Men's heads turned and necks snapped...I just grinned...How lucky was I to be with her, even though there was nothing going on between us.

II-

Gloria and I got to the club in the nick of time...The guys hadn't went on yet....There was a nice Salsa band playing...

As we entered the club...I saw two familiar faces...Mabel Jenkins-Moore...88's wife and Debbie Nelson, Reed Nelson's wife...

They saw me with Gloria and their eyes got as large as saucers...I walked over to their table...

"Hey ladies..What's happening?" I said.

"Nickyyy! You must really be a fan, You're back again!" joked Mabel...

''Heyyy Nicky, who is your friend?"laughed Debbie...

"Well I'm Detective Nicky tonight and this is my partner, Detective Gloria Diaz." I said as I introduced them..

"Pleased to meet you" said Debbie and Mabel....

"I didn't miss the guys did I?" I asked.

''Ohhh nooo...They're just about to come on.." said Mabel...

Within minutes, Reed Nelson, "Bone" Hampton and Kerry "88" Moore were on stage with his quintet settin it off!

The audience was clapping and dancing and having a good time.....

''Do you two step Gloria?" I asked my partner...

''I don't know if I know that..."she said.

"You're Puerto Rican...Of course you can pick this up right away." I said...

''We'll show you" said Mabel.

Next thing you know...Gloria and I are two stepping...Debbie and Mabel are two stepping with each other and laughing...The crowd is going wild!

"Heyy Nicky...What you know about that?" laughed Mabel...

"I've been to Philly and New York City....I know things...I'm a gonna teach you two how to Salsa during the break." I laughed.

"Now that I know!" laughed Gloria...

"You doin alright girlfriend." laughed Debbie..

Reed Nelson was playing his backside off and he peered out in the crowd and saw me and Gloria two stepping and saw his wife and his best friend's wife two stepping together and he just smiled...I have to admit...I was having a ball..

Then the number was over...

"88" broke into a nice ,pretty solo and a male and a female singer sang a duet...Gloria and I sat down at the table with Debbie and Mabel...

Debbie smiled and asked outright...

"So you guys are just partners on the police force right?...You're not uh romantically involved or dating right?" she asked.

''Wow girl, you get right to the point." I joked.

"Ohhh no...no...We are just partners..." said Gloria..

"Yeah..just partners.." I said.

"The reason I asked is because uh...You got company buddy boy." said Debbie...

I turned slightly and saw Mercedes...Sitting at the bar.. A couple of guys were trying to make time with her, but she was basically ignoring them...

I didn't care....It had been three days since our night together and I hadn't heard from her...I hadn't called once!...I was through playing games with her...

I'd be her booty call for awhile if that's what she wanted...I couldn't lie...The sex was great and I couldn't resist... Her body was so round, so curvaceous... her skin was so soft...and she smelled like a new born baby..but I was no longer going to lay my heart out there for her to play with....

''She's been staring over here since you two came in..We don't want any trouble."said Debbie.

''And there won't be any..She's not my girlfriend."I said.

"I thought something was going on between you two.....Something in her voice tonight when she saw us earlier...So you and her? You and your training officer have been gettin it on? Nicky!! You devil you! I can see that..She is very pretty. My training officer was an old guy with a pot belly who spilled coffee on himself all the time."laughed Gloria.

Debbie and Mabel laughed ...

"Nicky is somethin else..Aint he now?" they said.

"Hey ladies...ladies...Come on...She and I had a little lightweight...Uh how do you say it...Fling for a minute, but that's over..." I said.

"Is it?" asked Debbie.

"She's not with it...." I said.

"You want me to talk to her partner....I think she's missing out on a great guy." said Gloria.

"Nah..Forget about it...Let's have another round of drinks...Party time...huh?" I laughed...

The Salsa band was up again...

Gloria was teaching Debbie and Mabel how to Salsa...By now Bone Hampton, "88" and the rest of the band had walked over to where we were....A crowd was looking on...and cheering..Debbie and Mabel were great dancers and caught on right away....Bone Hampton and "88" joined in the fun as did the Male and female vocalists...

I was clapping my hands and laughing and having a good time...I grabbed Gloria's arm and spun her around and preceded to Salsa with her....We danced until we were both sweaty and spent....

Reed Nelson was laughing and slapping his thigh....He walked over to me as I was trying to catch my breath!

''So how goes it kid?" asked Reed Nelson.

"I took your advice....I stopped playin." I said.

''I see...and you come in here with another hot number to boot...You are the man." he laughed.

''Nahh, that's just  my partner...My co-worker...It's not like that with her." I said.

"Oh...Well, you're puttin on a good front at any rate...My mannn!" he laughed.

I looked over in Mercedes direction...She was gone!!!

III-

PHILADELPHIA....

"Hola!"

"Carlotta!"

"Mercedes is that you?"

"Yeah?"

"What's the matter mami? You sound like you're crying?"

"No......noooo, I'm alright..." 

"You don't sound alright....you sound like you're crying or have been crying and you never call me this late at night...What's going on?"

"I'm sorry, Tell Handsome I said hello."

"He's not here..He's at the pre-season football game with his friends..He should be home shortly....Talk to me...Why are you crying?"

''I don't know what I'm thinking, what I'm feeling...I may have lost a good guy , a chance to be happy, but I'm scared Carlotta..I'm scared.."

"Talk to me mami....Remember when Mickey Lolo and I broke up and I cried for like 40 nights and 40 days and wouldn't eat?  You and Carm talked to me and you got me to straighten up and go back out again..remember? You even tried to hook me up with a couple of guys..None of whom I liked."

"Yeah...that was a long time ago...Maybe that's why I've been so scared....I never wanted a guy to make me feel like that ...Not ever..."

"That's life mami..got to go through it to get to it ..."

''Yeah I know."

"You talkin about that cute young Detective Munez that was so crazy about you? You broke his heart?"

"I think I did...I think he hates me and I think he's moved on...I think I went too far Carlotta."

"Did he say that?"

''No...but I saw him with someone else...Somebody he didn't tell me about!"

"I thought you told me you two agreed to be friends with benefits?"

"Yeah ,kinda sorta..''

"Well Mercedes..He was under no obligation to tell you ,according to the rules..the unwritten rules.."

"Stop being a cop Carlotta."

"I'm not being a cop...I'm just saying...Did you tell him you had a crush on my friend, Kevin Morris?"

"Oh that was nothing...Nothing happened...I just told you he was attractive and kind of sexy."

" But you ask me about him everytime you call me."

"Okay Carlotta...you're right..."

"Mercedes...Do you have deeper feelings for Nicky?"

"I think I do...I didn't want to , but I do...I can't help it...I do... and  now he hates me and I think he's moved on...I think I went too far Carlotta."

"Maybe not.....Where are you mami?"

"I'm at Ernesto's spot..."

"Put some tea on....That's what I'm gonna do and let's talk."

"Remember when we were teenagers we used to do that and call each other and talk until your mother or my mother made us get off the phone and come to bed?"

"Yeah...We used to talk about everything...We haven't done that in a long time have we?

"No, we haven't..."

"Don't cry Mercedes....If he is as crazy about you as he seemed when I last saw him..You still may have a shot....You know he was up here a few months ago..Helped us crack a big case...He talked about you a lot...When I mentioned your name his eyes just lit up...I think you still got a hold on him Mercedes..."

"You always could make me feel better when I was unsure Carlotta."

"Hey you're my favorite cousin...Don't tell Ernesto I said that!"

"Okay, I won't.........I love you Carlotta."

"I love you too mami..."


TO BE CONTINUED!