Honor Amongst Thieves

I stopped in Josies a few days later....Gus smiled when he saw me....

"Kid,I don't know what you've been doin...but that broad has been in here four or five times lookin for you." he said..

"I'm guessing you mean the young lady that was in here last week.." I said.

"Yeah...that's the one..." he laughed.

"I'm sure she was...."I laughed...

"Oh look..there she is.." he said.

"Kevin....Oh My God...I'm so glad you're okay..." she said as she rushed over to me and hugged me...

"Really?" I said smiling...

"Yes of course..I heard there was a gun battle soon after I left...I was concerned." she said.

"Why don't we cut the crap Mrs. Wilkins." I said.

She looked like she saw a ghost...

"I know the whole story....You set your husband up to take a fall for the robbery as soon as you found out where they had put the stash and then you attempted to murder Johnny...his partner and your ex-boyfriend..Only someone else was in that car when the bomb went off...You thought he was dead ,until a few weeks ago when he come around wanting his money....That's when you came up with a plan to set me up...Have me carry an empty bag....a bag you told Lyles had the money.....Then you had Lyles and his guys grab me right outside the bar.....It was a nice touch having the cops come...That way either they got caught killing me or even at worst..they all got hauled off to jail...Except that it didn't work out that way...Two got killed and Lyles got away...  Oh by the way...He found me a few days ago and I gave him the bag...He's probably left town already....and by now..he's found out that he's been snookered.." I said.

"Oh My God....He'll be back then...He'll kill me!" she said.

"Looks like you got a problem sis." I said...

"You've got to help me!" she said.

"Nah...I'm done with this entire caper sweetie....I can't work with someone who tried to have me killed...Beat it." I said.

She turned and ran out of the bar.....

Gus had heard the entire thing...

"Guess there is no honor amongst theives eh?" he said.

"Nope...None at all." I said.

II-

Wherever he was...Johnny "Green Eyes" Lyles still had that briefcase...I was still getting a strong GPS signal from it...He had to know by now that he had been taken...That it was full of phony money...

I was still watching and listening to the live feed from Kim Wilkens house too...and a night later my live feed showed me something very disturbing...

She was packing her things....She was planning to get out of her apartment and probably skip town...when there was first a knock on her door, then a loud crash as the hinges came off and the door went flying....

"Oh My God...Johnny!!!" she screamed...

"Thought you was funny huh Kim?  Thought I couldn't find you huh?" he said.

"No...Nooo, what do you mean?" she said..

"You had me chasing that guy with that bag....a bag filled with phony dough." he said.

"No...the dough was in there...He must have stolen it.." she said.

"Try again sister...It had a time lock on it...He couldn't have gotten inside...He didn't know what was in the bag....He was just another pigeon....I got all the way to Miami...
opened the bag and found out there was phony money in it...You lyin little trick." He said.

"No..Noooooooooooo...I didn't put anything in that bag...He must have gotten inside and put phony money in it." she said.

"I'm sick of your lies ..STOP THE LIES!!!!! I WANT THE MONEY AND I WANT IT NOW!" he bellowed...

She passed him a safe deposit key...

"Okay...that's it...Southland Holding Company....There is a safe deposit box that matches that key...That's where the dough is...I swear." she said.

He produced a .45...

"You're comin with and if my dough aint there....You're as good as dead....Let's go." he said...

"Johnny look.." she said.

He fired one shot, which broke her window....

"LET'S GO!" he screamed...

She meekly followed....

It was time to call Sissy!


III-

"Kevin...what a surprise..." she said laughing...

"You want to get that heist money and put Johnny Lyles on ice...Meet me at the Southland Holding Company pronto." I said.

"I'm short handed...Duke and Hazel got married and are on their honeymoon...Sharon and Hop got married as you know and are on their honeymoon and since it's been so quiet...Tyriq and Sirena are on a little mini-vacation.." she said.

"Carlotta around?" I asked.

"Yeah...I'll bring her and Jimmy." she said.

"Bring some uniforms too...This guy is a pretty nasty charactor..."I said.

"We'll be there." she said.

"The party don't begin until you arrive, you know that."I laughed..

"Bye Kevin." she said.

IV-

By the time I got to the Southland Holding Company...Johnny "Green Eyes" Lyles and another man and Kim Wilkins had just pulled up...The other guy had a small pistol jammed into the small of her back...

Johnny said to her..."Get cute and Bobby here will ventilate you....If my money isn't here...Now is the time to tell me..because if it aint...I'll kill you myself." he said.

"It's here...I swear..it's here.." she said...

I could tell that she was very afraid and no longer playing games...

"Let's go baby." he said.

" Okay...just don't hurt me." she said.

"Hurt you? Hurt you?   You strung me along for a year and then you married my friend...and then after we pulled the score of a lifetime, you set him up and then tried to kill me...and you're worried about me hurtin you?.." he snarled...

"Look Johnny....why don't you and I work somethin out huh?  We could go away together...Me and you, just like before..." she said seductively, but he wasn't hearing it...

"The meter ran out on you a long time ago sugar...I could never trust you." he said.

"You're going to kill me anyway aren't you?" she said...

"Yup...The only difference is...Whether I kill you now or later." he snarled...

She got the key and opened the safe deposit box and there it was...All of the money from the heist....He and his partner's eyes got as large as saucers.....

"Well..Look at this...You finally told the truth about something...." he said.

"Yeah...too bad neither one of you can keep that." I said and pulled my .38 smokeless and aimed at the trio..

"Drop your weapons...it's all over." I said.

"It's two of us and one of you sport..." he said.

"Uhh,I don't think so...Look behind you." I said.

"Yeah right." he said.

"Oh he's telling the truth."came the voice of Lt.Sissy Van Buren... She was flanked by Detective Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace and Detective James "Jimmy" Barlow and six uniformed policemen with glocks aimed at his head.

Carlotta handcuffed him....and two police officers read him his rights... Jimmy handcuffed his partner, Bobby Lewis and two police officers read him his rights...

"We've been waiting for you and this money for a longgg time Johnny....You've probably been told this before, but you've got the prettiest green eyes." said Sissy...

He shrugged...

Kim Wilkins sighed a sigh of relief and hugged me....

"Gee Thanks Kevin...You and the cops got here in the nick of time" she said smiling...

That smile was short lived...Carlotta put the handcuffs on her...She looked shocked.

"Hey what are you doin?" she said.

"You're under arrest for the murder of Saul Cooper!!!  That was the man in the car..The car that you booby trapped....It was meant for Johnny Lyles ...but you had no way of knowing that he let his mechanic drive his car that day....Jimmy and I finally got an ID of the body after all this time and we kind of put two and two together." she said.

I smiled.....Johnny "Green Eyes" Lyles laughed his head off....

"Wow, talk about poetic justice....The little trick finally got tricked " he laughed...He was still howling when Jimmy and the policemen hauled him ,Kim Wilkens and Bobby Lewis off in the paddy wagon...

Sissy smiled broadly....

"Kevin...How can I ever thank you? We recovered the money from the heist and we captured a long wanted fugitive and closed a four year old cold case of murder....Couldn't have done this without your help." she said.

"Hey ,you guys are pretty good too...You identified that body after all this time and came to the same conclusion I did." I said.

''We make a pretty good team don't we?"said Carlotta...

I put my arms around Sissy and Carlotta...I kissed them both on the cheek...

"My girls...Yes we do." I said and the three of us laughed.

EPILOUGE:

Johnny "Green Eyes" Lyles was convicted of the robbery of the armoured car and sentenced to 15 years in prison... Kim Wilkens was convicted of Manslaughter ,surprisingly enough and sentenced to 15 to 25 years in prison...There was a possibility that they both might be getting out around the same time....depending on who got out first, they could each buy the other a beer and laugh about this...Although I doubt that either would find any of this funny.

Bobby Lewis was sentenced to one year in prison and released after six months....

A week later, My wife Sepia, Attorney Robert Foxworth and his wife, Bonita, Josie Boyd and Attorney Olivia Bennett and Her niece, Beverly West met with me at the Oyster House and we enjoyed Oysters and Beers...Mostly beers...

"Kevin..Robert...You asked me if I had staff for my new law practice...Well I do...My neice, Beverly has decided not to take that job at the Department of Immigration...She's going to join me as my second attorney." said Olivia Bennett...

''Wow that's great!"said Robert, Sepia, Bonita and I....

"And Josie is joining me as our administrative assistant and office manager." she said.

I looked at my suragate daughter and remarked...

"Jo..All that dough your old man left you and you're going to work?" I said.

"I need something to do Kev...I'm tired of sitting in my house alone all day with nothing to do until Bridget or Ms. Sissy or Ms. Angie calls and wants to hang out.." she said...

I shrugged my shoulders...

''Well if it works for you , then go for it..."I said.

Robert Foxworth smiled...

"Another round of beers for everybody." he said.

Olivia and her neice and Josie working together was great....Gave me yet another law firm to visit...And as much as I liked Robert and Chance Howard and Cole...I had to admit...These girls looked a lot better..

I put my arms around my wife Sepia...and kissed her gently...

"Everything okay lover?" she asked.

"Yes Babes...for the first time in a long time..Everything is just peachy." I said as we slurped more oysters and drank more beer.