The Mystery Of The Black Bag

A Wednesday afternoon...Middle of the week...I knock off from work early and am sitting in my favorite bar,Josies ,having a cold one and talking to Gus..

"So how goes it kid?" he says as he serves me a cold Corona....

"Couldn't be better Gus...Business is good...I've got my satellite radio station on the feeds in just about every business around here...and online subscriptions for all three of our magazines are going up and spreading into the tri-state area..."I said.

"Imagine that...You , a mogal....and I knew ya when." laughed Gus...

"You sure did..." I laughed...

"No big cases?" he laughed , talking about my other line of work...Being a private investigator.... My name is Kevin Morris...I own and run Morris Communications by day...It entails three magazines...a newspaper and a radio station...by night...I'm also a private investigator...

"I did a few insurance jobs for Robert,Cole and Chance...and that new attorney, Olivia Bennett has thrown some work my way....but other than that...Nothing heavy...Nothing involving gangsters and guns.." I said.

"Yeah...it's been kind of quiet..I like it that way." I smiled...

"Don't we all " laughed Gus...

II-

Honey Brown walked over to us..She passed Gus the day receipts and then she gave me the side eye...

"Kevin...Do I have to have a talk with your wife, Sepia?" she laughed...

"Huh?, What are you talking about?" I asked.

"There's a very attractive lady over there, sitting alone that asked for you by name and asked me to come get you." she said.

I looked across the bar to the table Honey Brown pointed to and there was a very attractive woman sitting by herself...

"I'm sorry Honey, but I don't know her...Never seen her before in my life." I said.

Honey Brown and Gus gave me the serious side eye...

"You sure kid?" laughed Gus.

"I'm positive....but I will go and see what she wants." I said.

"I just know you will."laughed Honey Brown..

I smiled and walked over to her table...I sat down and smiled at the woman...

"Uh Am I mistaken, or did you ask to see me?" I asked...

"You're not mistaken...I asked for you...Your name is Kevin Morris right? You're a private investigator."she said.

"My reputation follows me." I laughed...

"It does..Everybody knows about you and how you help some people...put others in jail." she said.

"Hmmm, I don't know if that's good or bad." I said.

"For my purposes...it's good.." she said.

"Oh? and what would your purposes be?" I asked.

"I need your help....My name is Kim...Kim Andrews...I was an administrative assistant at the Cyclops Insurance company...You may have heard of it." she said.

"I have..." I said.

"Well...I was privy to a lot of sensitive material....Material that maybe I shouldn't have seen...It turns out that my employer...a man who I can not name...has been embezzling money, a lot of money, of several of our high line clients...across state lines and over the internet..." she said.

"And you know this how?" I asked.

"I have the evidence...Phony claims...documents and bank transcripts...It's all here in this black bag." she said.

She removed a black briefcase from under the table.

"It's all in here." she said.

"You removed these files?" I asked..

"Yes...I was crazy....I've already been fired....but this man is dangerous,....he wants them back or he's going to have me killed.." she said.

"Did you go to the cops?" I asked.

"Are you crazy? Noooooo.." she said.

"So where do I come in?" I asked.

"I want you to deliver them to this address...." she said and handed me a card.

"Just like that huh?" I asked...

She slipped me and envelope...It had $4500.00 in twenties  in it...

''Oh my...This is really important to you huh?" I said.

"My life is very important to me." she said.

"Yeah,I can imagine it would be.." I said...

"So when do you want me to make delivery of this bag?" I asked..

 "Could you do it now?" she said.

"NOW!" I said..

"Yes ,the quicker I get this situation taken care of ...the better." she said.

"I see." I said.

 "You'll go to this address...A man will meet you there...He'll ask if you are Kevin...and you hand the bag over to him and then you get the hell out of there...You can meet me here....and I'll pay you the rest of what I'm going to pay you." she said.

"Kim, how did you even know that I'd agree to do this for you?" I asked.

"Ive heard so many good things about you...I knew you'd help me."She said.

I didn't bother to smile...This all sounded bad..

III-

I watched her as she left Josies as did half a dozen other male patrons...I walked over to Gus and Honey Brown...

"What's in the bag?" asked Gus...

"Good Question....It's got some type of time lock on it...I can't open it..I wish Lockpick Johnson and Peeping Tom were around..."I said.

"Why don't you call em?" asked Honey Brown...


"Normally, I would...but I don't have time..I have to deliver this tonight." I said.

"Tonight?" they both said in unison...

I showed them both the address...

"Be careful Kevin...That's a rough area..." said Gus..

"I don't plan to stay long...I'm just droppin off this bag and gettin in the wind." I said.

"Be Easy Kev" said Honey Brown , who then kissed me on the cheek.

"Always babes...Later Gus." I said as I walked out of Josies...

IV-

I walked out of Josies and headed towards the parking lot...A big hulking figure walked towards me...Very briskly...Two men got out of a car and blocked my passage...

"Nice and Easy pal...Hand over that bag.." he said and stuck a gun in my back...

One of the men with him opened the front door of the car...

"Get in." He said.

I had to think fast...but not too fast...I saw another car come speeding into the lot...followed by a police car..
I thought fast....I took the door of the car and slammed it into the guys knees...

"Ummmmghhh.." he groaned....

I ducked and slugged the gunman in his belly with the briefcase and then I ran for all I was worth, across the street and dove behind a neatly stacked row of  Trash Cans....

"Alright fellas, drop those heaters, you're under arrest." came the voice of Detective Edwin "Duke" Baylor..

''Eat it cops" said the gun man who foolishly fired at Duke...

Detectives Tyriq Pile and James "Jimmy" Barlow, along with Duke returned the fire, wounding the first shooter several times and killing him instantly.....

Whoever was driving the car aimed his .45 at the three detectives...only to be hit with both a blast from a riot pump shotgun and a shot from a glock...

Detective Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace and Lt. Sissy Van Buren were bringing up the rear, along with two uniformed policemen...

This left the gunman who initially tried to get me to get into the car...He floored it and pulled off at top speed..

The two uniformed officers fired at and into the car, but the car rounded the corner and took off into the crisp autumn night...

By now, a crowd of people had assembled outside...Gus and Honey Brown ran into the parking lot...I came from under the trash cans with my black briefcase...

"You okay kid?" asked Gus...

"I'm fine...Somebody either doesn't want me to deliver this bag or they wanted to get it a little early..." I said.

Duke, Tyriq, Jimmy and the two officers were looking at the bodies of the two thugs....

Carlotta and Sissy walked over to me...

"Wow...Nice pick up Kevin...We've been looking for those two guys for a couple of weeks..." said Sissy.

"Yes..Thanks again Kevin...They were both wanted for a home invasion and a murder that occurred last week...A Gangster named Reese Wilkins.." said Carlotta.

"Really?" I said.

"Didn't you have someone call us and tell us you were meeting with them here?" asked Sissy.

"No....They were trying to rob me, kidnap me...I've never seen these three guys before in my life..."I said.

"So you didn't call us?" asked Duke.

"No...Not this time...but whoever called you guys did me a favor....You guys got here just in the nick of time."I said.

"What's in the bag?" asked Jimmy.

"Something those jokers wanted real bad...I have a client who liberated some files from the Cyclops insurance company...Files she said could put a powerful man behind bars for an assortment of crimes...She asked me to deliver this bag to this address tonight...Apparently she had cold feet and wanted to return them to their owner...Only, their owner must have got antsy and hired those three goons to take the bag early."I said.

"What's your clients name Kevin?" asked Sissy...

"Kim...Kim Anderson."I said.

"Got an address?" asked Tyriq...

"No...we were supposed to meet back here after I made the drop...She already paid me close to 5 G's." I said.

"Not bad for a night's work.." laughed Carlotta.

"Listen...This bag has a time lock on it....I can't open it...How bout,I take a ride downtown with you guys and we have a look at the contents?" I said.

"That's a good idea Kevin..."laughed Sissy....just shaking her head...

What kind of mess was I in now? I wondered.

(TO BE CONTINUED)