Poisonous Love

Stoleys was getting crowded....More people were coming in...Josie and Beverly didn't find every guy unattractive....Pretty soon the DJ was spinning music that appealed to them both and they both found guys to dance with...

I didn't mind...I just sat back and ordered another beer and waited patiently for the man named "Cowboy", the gay ex-lover of the recently deceased David Blake..

I had to admit that I was mildly surprised by how packed this joint got.......I sat and enjoyed the music...Well, some of it...and watched the door and the bartender....

A tall ,well muscled white male walked in...He had a blond ponytail and a cowboy hat on...The bartender looked at me and nodded his head...This had to be "Cowboy"..

Cowboy sat at the bar and ordered drinks...

I walked over to him and sat down...

"Allow me...Bartender...His drink is on me...:" I said.

He looked at me and smiled...

"Welllllll...That was pretty quick and pretty nice of you too... Have we met?" he said with a wry smile..

"It's not that kind of party pal...I'm straight." I said.

"A lot of guys I've been with swear that they are too." he said smiling...

"Well ,you'll just have to take my word for it...I wanted to ask you some questions." I said.

"Cop right?  You got cop written all over you....I talked to two of your pals yesterday..." he said.

"I'm a private detective..." I said.

"I'll bet you used to be a cop didn't you?" he said.

"Very observant of you...Yes I did." I said.

"And you got a southern drawl...You aint from around here are ya?" he asked.

"You're right again...I'm from New Orleans originally, but I live here now."I said.

I showed him a few photos....One was of Amber....

"I know her...or rather knew her...She worked here sometimes...Was a party planner..." he said.

Then I showed him David Blake.

He smiled..

"Know him even better.... We used to be lovers..." he said.

"Were you steamed when you two broke up?  Did you want revenge?" I asked.

"Revenge for what? I broke it off with him...I uh got a new main squeeze.!!" he said.

"You broke up with him?" I asked.

"Yeahhh..two years ago...We were cool...I hadn't seen him for awhile until I guess the night he died." he said.

"You see anybody in here with him that night?" I asked.

"He was with that rapper..Alan XO....He's so in the closet...They were trying to keep what they were doing on the downlow...I sat with them for awhile....We all chopped it up.." he said.

"So you didn't buy them or him a bottle of Ciroc?" I asked.

''Nah...that was this other guy...a black guy...tall guy, thin...real effeminate...Not the type of guy you'd expect to see around a gangsta rapper...  Alan XO treated him bad...He offered them a bottle of Ciroc as a peace offering and XO took it from him and told him to get lost...Treated him real bad..." he said.

"You know this guy's name?" I asked.

"Nah...He'd never been in here before..but he was somebody to XO...somebody from his past...He was wiped out...Outside the bar just crying like a baby...He got in his car , a silver Corvette Stingray and pulled off." he said.

I had been looking at this thing all wrong...I handed the bartender $50.00 dollars...

"That's his tab....Cowboy...Thanks for your time." I said.

He smiled..

"Thank you." he said.

I walked over to where Bev and Josie were finishing their drinks...

"You girls ready to go?" I asked.

"You talked to Cowboy?" asked Bev.

''Yeah...It's not him...but I think I know who the killer is." I said.

''You do?" asked Josie...

"Yeah...Gotta go find your Auntay." I said to Bev...

II-

I talked to Olivia in detail for about an hour and she made a call to XO....He drove over to our office alone like she had asked and sat  down...I let Olivia do the talking, since she was his lawyer and she knew him.

"XO....That night you and David were at Stoleys...There were two people there with you weren't there?" she asked.

He looked surprised...

''Damn, how did yall know where I was at?" he said.

"It's my job as your attorney to know these things...just in case you get into a jam.." she said.

"But I said I didn't kill him...I didn't..." he said.

"Tell me what happened...everything?" she asked.

"Well..Me and David were at Stoleys havin drinks...On the low low right? And David's ex.. a cat named Cowboy comes in...But it's all good...He's not ,you know effeminate and he looked like he coulda been a bouncer and what not..We talked for a few minutes and then he bounced...And then my ex- Langford , shows up....Langford is acting all effeminate and getting loud and I didn't want a scene...He offered me a bottle of ciroc..Knowing I don't drink Vodka..He had got it from the promotion girl...It had already been opened...I told him that giving somebody a bottle that was already opened was tacky and for him to leave...
He got all hysterical and so I snatched the bottle and tossed him out myself...I felt bad, but I couldn't have him expose me in public...Have people even thinkin you know that I'm gay...So I had to act hard, you dig?" he said.

Bev whispered to me...


''What a pretentious jerk...I'll never download any of his music again...Phony -baloney."

I laughed silently...

"Anyway...David and me bounced and we sat in my car in the parking lot...He went down on me...and girllll,my toes nearly turned.." said XO...

"Uh ,that's okay...I didn't need to know that."said Olivia...

"Well you said to tell you everything....We left in seperate cars and went our seperate ways and met up in secret that night and smoked a joint....and then made sweet love for hours.. After David came...he drank that entire bottle of Vodka...No chaser...We kissed and he drifted off to sleep.. That was it Ms. Olivia...I woke up and he was dead....dead!!!!....I thought he and I might have something...Oh lord...." he cried...

"Get ahold of yourself....XO...maintain ..maintain....Where is Langford?" asked Olivia gently...


XO wrote down an address....He was in tears..

"That's where he lives....You think he did this? Oh My God...That boy is so extra...That's why we broke up...He just couldn't be cool...Oh my word." said XO...

''Ewwww, Josie girl can you believe this?" said Beverly...


"I know right? He's supposed to be the hardest ,realest rapper in the game...And he Gay...Wowww?" said Josie.

"It doesn't mean he's not real ladies...You still like his music right?" I asked.

"I can't listen or look at him the same now...I used to want him." said Josie..

"For real?" asked Beverly...

"Yesss..He was hella sexy...but now, after seeing this...I don't know." she said.

I laughed...

Olivia walked into the foyer where I was with the girls and gave me the address....

"You need anything else?" she asked...

"I do....but only you can provide it." I whispered in her ear...Olivia blushed like crazy.....

I went in the bag and took out the bottle of Ciroc that I had taken from XO's apartment.. I'm sure it had fingerprints and DNA on it...

"You still wearin a wire?" asked Olivia...

"Yeah...Get on the phone...Call your friend ,Hazel...Tell her to tell her husband to meet me outside at this address." I said.

III-

I drove over to Langford's apartment... He was a tall, thin young man, who dressed very neat...Everything he was wearing was expensive and stylish....His cologne smelled incredible...

I knocked on his door...

"Who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Donnie Ray Alexander...I'm a Private Investigator..."I said.

"What do you want with me?....I talked to two detectives yesterday..." he said.

"What did you tell them?  That you don't know nothing...That you didn't know David Blake?" I said.

"That's right ,I didn't know that fool." he said.

"But you knew of him...didn't you?  You knew he was your ex-lover, XO's new main squeeze...You didn't like that did you?" I said.

My questions seemed to open a psychic wound in him...

"Why are you asking me these questions?" he said ,nearly in tears...

"Did you put a muscle relaxer in that Ciroc?" I asked...

He looked at me like I was crazy...

"Before you answer....I have a credit card receipt from the store you bought that drug from....You should've used cash...and I've got the bottle downstairs with your fingerprints on it in my car..." I said.

He sat down and he held his head down...He began to cry...

"If I had known that David was Bi-sexual and that he went over that girl's house and had sex with her...I would have never of done it...I thought he was moving in on XO....I just wanted XO...I was tired of him pretending...I wanted him to come out of the closet and be who he was...So that I could be who I am..so that our relationship could be out.....I was tired of being his hidden lover!" he said, weeping..."I didn't mean to kill David, I swear..I just wanted to get back at XO....The phony!" he wailed..

Detectives ,Edwin "Duke" Baylor, James "Jimmy" Barlow and three Philadelphia Policemen walked into the apartment....

I whispered to Duke...

"Did you get it?" I asked.

"Every word....Thanks for the heads up...We got the receipt and the bottle with the latent fingerprint too." he said.

Jimmy handcuffed Langford, read him his rights and marched him down the steps and outside...

Duke looked at me..

"Thanks Donnie Ray...You remind me of another private investigator who helps us from time to time." he laughed.

"That would be Mr. Kevin Morris...I've met him...He's good people." I said.
"That he is... You're good people too." said Duke ,who tipped his hat to me and left..

EPILOUGE:

Langford Huffington was convicted of 2nd Degree Murder and sentenced to 15 years....Unfortunately for the rapper, XO....Langford blabbed and blabbed about their 3 year secret, torrid love affair..The tabloids ate it up and try as she might, There wasn't much Olivia could do to fix it...His reputation was ruined and his record sales dropped considerably...

Olivia is working out a book deal for him presently and an offer for a reality show!

Football Player Jamie Mitchell cleaned up his act and married his talk show host sweetheart...

Olivia and I stood in the window of our place ,looking down at the street... Beverly and some guy, the young lawyer from the public defenders office known only to us as "Nelson" were kissing passionately at the front door... He clearly wanted to come in, but she wasn't having it...At least not tonight.. The way they were kissing, He certainly deserved to come inside...but that's just me...

''Awww come on baby...Let me come up for coffee.." he begged..

"Nelson...There is a 24 hour diner and coffee shop just two blocks away." she said, easing out of his embrace..

''Come on now girl...How you gone get a brotha all steamed up like this and just send him off?" he begged.

"A few more dates and maybe I'll let you come up for....coffee.."she said.

"Aww come on now...you got me all steamed up." he said.

"Take a cold shower...See, that's why I didn't want to kiss you...I knew this would happen." she said.

"But you did kiss me..Was it that bad?" he asked...

"No...Actually,it was very nice...You have soft lips and you obviously know what you're doing...Guess you've had a lot of practice huh?" she joked...Then giggled..

He looked hurt...

''Stop pouting."she said.

Beverly pulled him to her and kissed him passionately for a few minutes...

"I'll let you come up soon...Once we get to know each other better." she said.

"I want to get to know you better now." he said.

She laughed...

"Not tonight Nelson...but soon...okay?" she said.

Olivia laughed....

"My niece...My niece....Come on Donnie Ray, get out of the window, give them their privacy.." she said.

I pulled her to me and kissed her for a long time...

"Thank you for settling that matter and not jeapordizing my clients...But you don't have to do that.." she said in between kisses...

''I didn't help XO out...He got exposed." I said.

"His secret would have come out eventually...That was just karma..." she said.

"Ummmm Karma...What is my karma?" I asked in between kisses..

Olivia began to unzipper my trousers...

"I'd say you're about to have a very good night sir." she said smiling seductively at me...

"That's the kind of karma I like ." I said...

Stoleys

 I began my investigation by looking up the two dead people...The girl was 28 year old Amber Renee Blythe.. a party planner and  employee of Stoley's...Her basic facts were..She was born and raised in Philadelphia...Attended Philadelphia Public Schools, Graduated from North Catholic High School...Went to Columbia in New York City for two years, dropped out...Did a little modeling for awhile, got into event planning with a friend and gravitated from New York City to Philly to D.C. with the hip ,jet setting crowd...
Was known to be a groupie...Rappers, Rock Stars, Athletes...anyone up and coming, she was in their circle and in their bed....

I found out that she had an irregular heart beat and had been treated for it throughout her life....she had been told to watch her diet and keep her blood pressure low...She had been known to do a little cocaine and had been seen doing some blow on the last night of her life...

The man...David Blake , was a bartender...also an employee at Stoleys.... Like Amber, he was born and raised in Philadelphia...attended Philadelphia public schools, Graduated from Northeast High, attended Community College, had an Associates degree, Did a short stint in the Navy and then went to bartending school....

Only a few of his friends knew that he was gay....He had actually had a few girlfriends and while some of them suspected that he was a little "awkward" , none knew that he was gay...Apparently, he was closeted...
He was also a club D.J., who had worked a number of clubs...Which is probably how he and Alan XO had come into contact with each other...He knew Amber Renee, because  they both worked at Stoleys, but he didn't know Jamie Mitchell, the football player...  I presented all of this to my wife, Attorney Olivia Bennett-Alexander.

''Wow Husband of mine...The bedroom is obviously not the only place where you don't waste any time..." she said and winked at me...

"I talked to a number of people who knew them both and looked up a few things..." I said.

She kissed me softly...

"I know you were a great homicide detective." she said.

"I was....and I'm better at other things" I said pulling her to me..

She giggled...

"I know...I know...but uh let's go see a friend of mine...Maybe she can tell us more about the contents of their bodies.." said Olivia.

''When do I get to see the content of your body? " I asked jokingly ,pulling her to me and kissing her..

''Ummmmm, Mr. Alexander....I thought you saw it last night and early this morning..." she laughed.

"I'd like to see it again." I joked..

She laughed...

''Come on silly, we've got work to do."

II-

Olivia and I drove over to the Medical Examiner's Office....A nice, shapely brown skinned woman in a white jacket greeted us...Upon seeing my wife she said..."Skeeee.. Weeeeet."

Olivia returned the call- "Skeeeeeeeeeeeeee weeeet. What's up Soror?" she said and hugged her....I knew enough from being around Southern University in Louisiana to know that both were members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

"Olivia....It's been awhile ...I heard you got married..." she said.

"Yes Hazel and I heard you got married too." said Olivia...."Oh excuse me Hazel...This is my husband...Donnie Ray Alexander...He's also a private investigator who works for my firm...Donnie Ray, this is Dr. Hazel Hunter-Baylor...Forensic Investigator for the Criminal Investigative Division..and my soror." said Olivia.

I shook her hand...."Pleased to meet you." I said.

"How are you?" she said.

"Wow Liv...Looks like the second time is the charm for us both huh?  And we both have something in common,besides being Black females and AKA's...we are both married to detectives.." she said.

''I used to be a Homicide Detective in New Orleans, before I became a Private Investigator."I said.

"My husband is a Homicide Detective on the Philly P.D." said Hazel....

"Small World huh?" said Olivia...

"Indeed it is Livy. You said you needed some information...What kind of information...?" she asked.

''You have the bodies of two people...Amber Blythe and David Blake... They both worked at Stoleys...And uh, one of my clients is an intimate of both of them...My client asked us to look into their deaths.." said Olivia.

III-

"I did Autopsies on both of them....The girl, Amber...died of natural causes...Kinda sort of...she had a heart condition...That she knew about and yet she used cocaine...She did some blow at least three hours before she went back to her place with Mr. Blake and had sex...She died of cardiac arrest ,triggered by the sex and brought on by the cocaine in her system... Her death is listed as "Misadventure." said Hazel....

"So that's not a homicide." asked Olivia.

"Nope" said Dr. Hunter-Baylor...But this guy, David Blake is a whole nother matter..We found a chemical that relaxes your muscles mixed into some vodka that he drank...Probably at the club....He was poisoned to death...His death was definitely a homicide....My husband, Detective Edwin "Duke" Baylor and another detective, Jimmy Barlow are investigating...

Two people at the bar say that he left with a bottle...But we didn't see or find the bottle in his car, which was parked miles away or Amber's apartment where the two of them ironically died the same night or in Amber's car...." she said.

"That's odd." I said.

"We didn't find any semen in Amber or a condom anywhere or any semen on the bedspreads...we are just assuming ,since they both were nude that they had sex..." said Hazel.

"Wow...well thanks for the info....We'll inform our client." I said.

Olivia hugged Hazel...

"Hazel...it was soo nice seeing you again...We've got to go out and have lunch or something and catch up."said Olivia...

''We do girl...Let me give you my number and my new address." said Hazel.

They exchanged numbers and agreed to meet for lunch...

I drove Olivia back to the office... I had some more digging to do...but first I had to catch up with Bev and Josie.

IV-

I picked Bev up from court and then I went back to the office and picked up Josie...I filled them in on the entire deal and then Josie led us to the club called Stoleys..

"D.R. , how come you always get me when some dirty work has to be done?  You know that I'm an attorney?" joked Bev...

"Me and you...We are like Batman and Robin...a team..."I said ..I noticed Josie Smiling..

''So who is Auntay...Alfred?" said Bev..

"A hell of lot better looking than Alfred.." I said.

The three of us laughed.

Beverly wired me up and then followed me inside the club...

V-

Like Aqua Bar...Stoley's was located on the third floor of a warehouse...It was beautiful inside...Like Aqua Bar, the drinks were high...The people, Black,White,Latino,Asian, young, ultra hip...The music...Hip Hop, Trap, Ska, Euro-pop....Not really my type of music...but I could see Bev and Josie liking a place like this..

Upon walking in , a Black Boho type looked at Beverly...

"You have the most beautiful eyes and you got a body like whoaaa..I just gotta sleep with you." he said.

Beverly looked at him...

"Really Playa...Is that how you come on to your girls?" she said.

''Hey, I'm not a romantic type." he said.

"No, really?" laughed Bev...Josie cracked up...

While they were entertaining laughing boy...I walked over to the bar and showed the bartender a photo of
the dead...David Blake...

''Do you know him?" I asked.

"You another cop? I already talked to two detectives yesterday.. Yeah I know him.. He worked here." said the bartender.

"I'm not a cop...I'm a private investigator." I said.

"Wow....What did David do? He's got Homicide Detectives and you coming in here asking about him..." said the bartender...

"Did you know that David was gay?" I asked...

"Uhhh...He said he was Bi-curious." he said.

"You know anybody that would want to hurt him?" I asked.

"Nah...David was a nice guy...He didn't bother anybody..." he said.

"He involved with anybody?..."I asked.

"Yeah...he messed around with a guy named..uh...uh..They called him Cowboy...I don't know his real name.." he said.

"He hang in here?" I asked..

"Some times..." he said.

''He been here lately?" I asked.

''A few nights ago...He might come in tonight.."he said.

"Okay...I'm gonna buy my little lady friends some drinks...When he comes in, you just give me the high sign...Here's a little cash for your troubles." I said and peeled off about five twenties...

When I was a Homicide cop, duking a guy some cash for information was unheard of...It was  a different world for me now...

Beverly, Josie and I sat in a corner and waited for "Cowboy"

(CONCLUSION NEXT)