The Love Shack

We all sat in Sissy's office the next morning...It had been a long time since all of us were in her office for a brain storming session....I had to admit...I kind of liked these..When we were all working together on one case...

Sissy Looked around from side to side and then spoke...

''So tell me..what have you guys got?" she asked..

My wife, Detective Carlotta Rodriguez -Wallace spoke first....

"My victim...22 year old Annette Flores , a high school graduate and a recent graduate from Drexel University...Fashion Design was her major...and she had recently finished  a course in Communications-Media from Community...She worked at Allied Communications as a receptionist...No criminal record....Her credit was good...Modest bank account...Owned a 2006 Kia....Had no known enemies....Recently ended a relationship with her boyfriend...a Julio Sorres." she said.

"I interviewed the ex-boyfriend...He was working every night last week.. and he has seven people who place him halfway across town on the last night Ms. Flores was seen.  I interviewed her girlfriends...They said she was this club called "ICE"  ..I've been there...A lot of action... A lot of dealing going on inside and outside at times..
The sale of Oxi- Black market Viagra and Cialis and Meth...  Her girlfriends of course swear that none of them was into that...They said that she left before they did that Friday and that none of them heard from her again." said Detective Jimmy Barlow..

" We checked her phone..all of them called her up until 2:00 in the morning...but there is no record of her making any return calls...Jimmy and I checked everybody that called her....So far, everybody checks out..Has an alibi." added Carlotta.

"Our Victim...22 year old Juanita Townsend....was a friend and co-worker of your victim Top...They both worked at Allied Communications...But she was the personal assistant of the producer, a guy named Van Wilder...He was producing some reality show or something or other...called ''The Last Bachelor." said Tyriq...

"We haven't been able to locate him yet...But she is as clean as Top and Jimmy's girl..
She has an associates degree in Media -Communications from Temple and she took some courses at Drexel around the same time as Ms. Flores.. Like Ms. Flores..She was single..No known boyfriend...But plenty of uh ,let's say "Friends with Benefits." said Rico.

" I interviewed a number of her male friends...Most weren't in that club the night she went missing and the two that were were with other young ladies... This girl had a decent bank account...good credit... had just bought a used car and had no criminal record.. Rico and I interviewed her family and friends and nothing jumps out at you..We went through her phone and we eliminated everybody that called this girl from a few days before she went missing up until she was last heard or seen." said
Duke.

"Well my girl is a little different!  She didn't work at Allied Communications and has no ties to Drexel ,Temple or Community College...She graduated from Kent State in Ohio, moved here only a year ago...No criminal record, good credit..modest bank account and no known enemies..She was however a contestant on the Last Bachelor. I interviewed her family, friends and schoolmates as well as people in the surrounding neighborhood...Didn't come up with anything..." said Detective Hopkins...

"But something is odd about our girl...We found fingerprints in her apartment that don't belong to her...and we found a condom loaded with semen and her panties were ripped off of her...yet she wasn't raped!!...The sex looked consensual.." said Detective Sirena Pile.

"Okay guys, you can lower your eyebrows....We are still talking about a homicide here..it's not going to get anymore salacious than that." said Sissy...

Tyriq, Duke, Jimmy ,Hop and I busted out in laughter as did Sissy... Carlotta and Sirena looked at each other and just said..."MEN!" in unison, before joining us in laughter..

Carlotta and Sirena had been friends since Sirena had helped her and Tyriq catch an elusive heist man several years before...This had led to a blossoming romance and marriage between Tyriq and Sirena, three children and Carlotta being named their children's godmother... They were even closer now that they were working together...I liked that she had a friend...and Tyriq was tickled pink that his wife was working in our unit...Which was not normal for a lot of married couples...but this was working out well.. Dr. Hazel Hunter and FBI Special Agent Sharon Ferrell joined us at this moment..

"I ran the fingerprints and DNA through our database and got nothing and Sharon ran it through VICAP and she didn't get a hit either...Our mystery guest has no record.." she said.

"Which is probably why he could afford to be so careless at the last site." said Agent Ferrell.

''What I find weird is that you didn't find a phone of any type at her place...A young woman like that...She had to have a phone of some type." said Carlotta.

''What if our mystery person took her phone?"said Tyriq.

"That's a thought....All of you got an anonymous phone call right? See if you can run down a number and see who that number belongs to." said Sissy.

Carlotta,Jimmy, Hop and Sirena all headed to the communications room..We had a barrage of monitors in that room hooked up to several computers and an endless row of desks with laptops on them...Where we could look up any number of things...Carlotta,Jimmy,Hop and Sirena and even Tyriq seemed very adept at the new technology...

II-

While we were busy doing that... Lt.Eddie Cantrell walked into our office...Sissy looked up and immediately got that pained look on her face...

"I really don't have time for him right now." she said.

I smiled...

"When do you ever?" I said.

"I know right?" said Sissy.

Just then...Her phone rang....

''I've got to take this." she said.

Duke, Tyriq and Agent Ferrell were still mulling around...Lt. Cantrell was talking to the Desk Sgt.

I looked at FBI Agent Sharon Ferrell and struck up a conversation with her..

''So..What brings you around Sharon?" I asked.

"Well two things really...One..I'm interested in Serial Killings...I worked on the task force when I was in D.C. and your killer fits a certain profile...He doesn't seem to be organized...He seems to be angry and wreckless and at the same time cocky...The first two murders were clean..no evidence ...and then he carelessly leaves you a fingerprint and DNA at the third scene...Almost like he's throwing caution to the wind...Plus the fact that he's been very busy....Three murders right on top of each other...This isn't a case of simple homicide...It's something else." she said.

"Hmmmm...you have to share that with the group." I said.

"I was just telling Duke and Tyriq that..."she said.

"Okay that was one reason...what's the other reason..." I laughed.

"I miss my sweetie pie..I came to see him at work." she said.

''Slow day at the FBI?" I joked.

"Kind of....Sort of" she laughed..."Frank Cotton is coming back next week." she said.

"Oh Yeah? What happens to you then?" I asked.

"Well...They are quite happy with me...I cracked that Bank Robbery case...and helped bring down Big Uncle out in the midwest and most of Cat Daddy's people here in this area....They would like for me to be the FBI laison to the Philadelphia Police's Criminal Investigative Division...I'm going to have an office right here as of next week and a staff of 6 agents." she said.

"That's great Sharon....and I've got good news for your guy too...His transfer is complete...Effective immediately..Detective Hopkins is now officially a part of Homicide!! I know he'll be happy, because he wanted to stay with us ." I said.

''Oh this will be great...Me and Him working in the same office suite and Tyriq and his wife !" she said.

"Yeah,I didn't get a chance to tell her , but Sirena 's transfer is complete too..She's now a part of us officially...Now if Rico can just keep his hands off of her and work...It'll be perfect."I joked.."Oh and Duke's girl...Hazel will be getting the other big office..and like you..she'll have a staff of five or six people working with her in there also...We are having both offices gutted and turned into suites for the both of you." I said.

"Wow...It's a shame you don't have an office over here..You can't be with your sweetie." she said.

"Yeah ,I know...but I see her enough..."I said.

"You love my girl Carlotta don't you?" she asked.

''So much it scares me some times..." I said.

"Awww, that's so cute!" she said.

Sissy's phone call was over and she walked out amongst us...So did Lt. Cantrell..

III-

"What's going on folks?"He said.

"We are in the middle of what looks like  a serial killing case." said Sissy.

''Well, usually when I come over here it's a social call...but this time it's business."he said and produced a plastic bag with a smartphone in it...

"I read the dailies and I saw that Detectives Tony Hopkins and Sirena Pile had a victim named Veronica Hall...Well somebody dropped this in my trash can this morning...right outside my office...I used Nylon gloves to pick it up and I went inside and saw that it's your murder victim's smartphone.!!!" he said.

"Oh My God...This is the phone they couldn't find in her apartment." said Sissy..

"Guess what we found out Boss lady?" said my wife, Detective Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace, her beautiful eyes just flashing with excitement!

"What's that Chica?" said Sissy...

Jimmy and I, Rico and Duke and Hop and Sirena all got anonymous calls from the same number...This number!! and the number belongs to Veronica Hall." she said.

Sissy showed them all the iphone...

''And that number comes from this phone...A phone dropped in Lt. Cantrell's trashcan this morning." said Sissy.

Carlotta, Duke, Tyriq, Hop, Sirena and Jimmy's eyes all got as large as saucers.....FBI Agent Ferrell smiled...

''I'm not surprised...You can dust for prints, but I doubt that you'll find anything...and you can check for calls...I'll bet that the phone is clean. Your perp is playing with you." she said.

"Already beat you to that...I had my guys dust for prints and we did check the phone..There is not a print on it and every call made was erased.." said Lt. Cantrell.

"That means our boy made each of the calls from this phone and had already killed all three of these girls...He's been playing with us... all along...Just like Agent Ferrell said.  The cocky bastard!" said Tyriq.

''Yeah, but he's not so smart...The phone provider can still provide us with a list of the calls and the times.." said Jimmy.

"Yeah and they can also give us an approximate area those calls were made in too..Jimmy, Rico...Let's get over there." said Duke...

Once they left...Sissy turned towards her remaining detectives...Carlotta, Sirena and Hop and said...

''Well...good work ...All of you... Hang loose guys...Go get some lunch...." she said.

FBI agent Ferrell walked over to Hop and said.

''Hey baby...I'm going to be the new FBI laison to CID... That's going to be my office over there!!!...The big empty one." she said.

''Oh yeah? that's great!" he said.

"Let me show you my new office." she said.

"It's empty!!...and plus..I've seen in there before." he said.

Both Sirena and Carlotta silently kicked him...

''OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...Oh yeah..uh let's take a look." he said.

Sharon and Hop walked into the office ,closed the door quietly and locked it! and pulled the shades...

I smiled...I looked at Carlotta..

"I need to have you." I whispered to her.Knowing what Hop and Sharon were doing in that office just made me want my wife, Carlotta that much more..

She smiled...and rubbed my arm softly....

"We can't go into the other office...Too many people are here..We'll get together...Maybe tonight...I promise...I want you too." she whispered to me...

''Let's go down to my car in the garage...It's in the back." I said.

Carlotta looked around...Sirena smiled...She didn't hear our conversation...but our body language gave everything away...

"Go on......I'm going to run over to Sam Mother's place." she said.

Carlotta and I were holding hands and walking out...I looked into Sissy's office...Lt. Cantrell was in there...

"That was a good pull wasn't it? Me finding that phone...eh?" he said...

"Yes it was...You may have blown this case wide open.." she said.

"Hmmmm...I know somethin else I'd like to blow open." he said..

''Don't talk like that Lt. Cantrell...Be nice." pleaded Sissy, who hated his crude talk..

"Well don't I get something for helping you guys out huh?" he laughed.

" Thank You...I said Thank You." she said.

"How about a kiss?" he said.

"Lt. Cantrell...please...I have a man and that's not professional.." she said.

"Professional? Come on Sissy...This is a regular love shack...ADA Wallace is married to Detective Rodriguez, Tyriq has now got his wife working in the same unit with him...Duke is dating Dr. Hunter and Jimmy just melts everytime he sees Angie Belton...Not that I blame him....She is sayin a taste! and even your rookie, Detective Hopkins is engaged to your new FBI Laison person." he said.

''And your point is?"asked Sissy.

Carlotta and I were laughing silently...

"Well ,we should be in a relationship....Me and you...It evens out the circle,Do you know how bad I want to put my johnson in you girl?" he said.

Carlotta put her hand over her mouth to conceal her laughter when he said that...I couldn't believe he had said that myself...

''Okay Lt. Cantrell that's enough...You're being crude.I don't like that kind of talk...I have a man, you know that!!!...You're just wasting your time..." said Sissy.

"I don't think I'm wasting my time...I think you want it...you're just fighting it." he said.

''Ohhhhh god...Please stop with this."said Sissy in frustration.

I looked at Carlotta..

"As bad as I want you...I'm going to wait...Sissy is our friend and she needs our help." I said.

Carlotta smiled...

"Awww thank you honey bunny...I swear...When we do get some time alone...I'm going to really take care of you.." she said and kissed me..

"Hey Sissy...Carlotta and I are going to Sam Mother's for lunch..You wanna ride with us?" I yelled.

Sissy looked relieved...

"Oh yeah!!...yes..They have a special today...I forgot that you and Chica asked me earlier." she said.

Lt. Eddie Cantrell was staring salaciously at Sissy...

"Come on girl, I oughta get more than just a "thank you" for that piece of evidence." he said.

Sissy grudgingly gave him a warm hug....and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you Eddie for  all your help.." she said seductively.

His mood changed immediately...He smiled...

"Damn girl, you smell so good and your body is so soft..Lawd....How can I resist you, when you turn me on so much?" he muttered...

''Lt. Cantrell....Aren't there other female detectives around that you're interested in? Single ones?" asked Sissy...

"They don't move me like you do." he said.

"You'll never know if you don't give them a chance." she said.

''You'll never know unless you give ME a chance!" he countered.

Sissy just shook her head.

''I gotta go." she said.

Sissy, Carlotta and I rushed out and got in my car and took off...

"Oh My God...Thank you two sooo much...I won't tease you two anymore this week I swear...That man gets worse and worse everyday...I don't know what I'm going to do about him...He had an erection just now when he hugged me!!!"she said...

Carlotta laughed out loud!!!

I said- ''Sissy, I don't think you can afford to tease us this week." I laughed.

"I got Tyriq and Sirena, Hop and Sharon and Duke and Hazel... so much to choose from..." she said.

"The inhabitants of the Love Shack" laughed Carlotta....

Sissy looked at Carlotta and she laughed too.

''Yeah plus this damn Serial Killer." I laughed.

''Yeah plus that. He's right you know...This is crazy...All you people and your significant others all working together like this...None of this was planned."said Sissy with a smile.

''Nope..It just worked out that way." I said.

(TO BE CONTINUED)