Falling Short

Two days later, I came into the office with tumblers of coffee for my wife and her fellow detectives...

She,Tyriq, Jimmy, Hop and Sirena were in the "Fishbowl" or interrogation room with the two thugs arrested the day we were rescued from that refrigeration truck...

This was the first time I had ever seen this many detectives in the fishbowl at one time... I stood outside with Sissy ,Duke and Sharon watching...

The two hoods, identified as Marty Duckery and Travis Tremble were very nervous...They were in a lot of trouble and they knew it..

"You guys are in a lot of trouble...Accessory to Kidnapping and attempted murder." said Carlotta.

"Nah..Nahh, it wasn't like that...I was paid by this white dude...just to watch you two and let him know where you guys went...I had no idea it was the Assistant District Attorney and you was a cop...I was just paid to watch you guys...I didn't know what he was plannin...He approached me in a bar...Nat's club up by the airport and flashed a lot of cash...He was with a woman ,a Puerto Rican woman..She had the cash." said Travis Tremble...

"Look...this white dude..Skinny,Blonde haired..He tasered you Detective Wallace...I helped him transport you to the refrigeration truck...and I got paid....I had nothin to do with what he had planned..and if I had known it was the ADA and you detective, I would have given him his money back, I swear.." he said.

Jimmy pretended to be playing a violin,which made Hop laugh....Tyriq looked at Travis Tremble...He clearly was not amused.

''Where is Mr. Coley and his girlfriend laying their heads now of days?"  asked Tyriq.

"She is loaded...Apparently, she had a place out on the main line....that they were stayin at...I heard her say that her folks didn't know that they were there...I can give you the address." said Marty Duckery.

Sirena looked at Carlotta,Jimmy and Tyriq...

"If I know right...they've probably skipped that place by now...but it's worth a look.." she said.

"Hey...Can-Can we work something out here?" said Tremble...

"That's up to the ADA." said Hop...

Tremble's part was so miniscule that I decided not to charge him with anything...I was going to cut him loose, but have him watched... Dockery had tasered both Carlotta and myself and helped him load us into that refrigeration unit...I was charging him with conspiracy and accessory..He would probably do about 5 years...If that...

II-

The detectives took about ten shotgun toting uniformed policemen with them and raided the house in the suburbs....They also took several Lower Merion policemen also...

Sirena was right...Haywood Coley Jr. and Dr. Natalie Tucker had left and from the looks of the house..They had left in a hurry...They left behind laptops, smartphones and maps as well as a wad of cash....This time there was no smart alecky message or zip drive...

We turned everything over to Sharon and the FBI.. for analysis..

 "They're running scared....This has been a complete fiasco for him...I imagine right about now they could be at each others throats..literally." she said.  "I have agents fanned out in the area searching for them.." she said.

"Just call me Sharon if you get a tip...I personally want to be there when you get him." I said.

"That goes without saying ADA." she said with a laugh.

Since the abduction...Duke,Tyriq,Jimmy and Hop didn't let Sissy,Carlotta,Hazel,Sirena or Sharon out of their sight and when they couldn't be around..They made sure that a uniformed officer was with the girls at all times...They walked around with their glocks ready to draw...I felt better...I knew that my wife was safe..

III-

In the back of my mind, the thought lingered that I was the central target of Haywood Coley Jr. ,not the detectives...I doubted if they'd risk going after another detective...but I was a different story...So when I was in the underground parking lot going to my SUV...I wasn't surprised that I saw her...Dr. Natalie Tucker!!!!

I pulled my .38 smokeless out and aimed at her....
''ADA Keith Wallace...You are a gorgeous hunk of man...Carlotta is so lucky!" she said smiling and looking at me salaciously.

"I'm placing you under arrest!" I said.

"You don't want to do that.....Not yet anyway...I'm here to offer you something."she said.

''No deals."I said.

''Hear me out...I'll tell you where Haywood Coley Jr. is.."

"For what? Why?"I asked.

"He's not the man I thought he was...He really is a monster...I broke him out of prison...Though you'll have a hard time proving that...but I didn't kill anyone...and I thought he was innocent..thought he'd been framed...That is until we went to Belize...He became infatuated with that girl from Alabama...Had to have her and then he killed her...He apparently fell short if you know what I mean and she laughed at him...He strangled her and then as usual, he needed me to cover up his mess..It was then that I began to see him for what he really is..a scared little boy." she said.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

"I don't know...I guess I don't share the same hatred for you that he does...I was the one who called in the anonymous tip that helped you catch Claude Hopper." she said.

"I figured that." I said.

"I told the authorities in Belize where they could find that girl's body...She has parents...they deserved to know." she said.

"You sent the text message that told the cops where to find Carlotta and me too right?" I asked.

"Yeah...The way you took your coat off and covered her and the way you two talked to each other...It touched me...I want a love like yours....Haywood Coley Jr. can't even satisfy me in the bed and he's as dumb as a bag of rocks when it comes to anything else...You think you know somebody, you know?" she said.

"You deserve to go to jail." I said.

"I deserve a lot of things....but I've killed no one.." she said.

"No one in America....That hooker in Belize...that wasn't him...That was you!" I said.

She smiled..

"We are in America....I'm going to walk out of this parking lot...I'm going to send you a text and instructions on where you can find Haywood...I know that you want him more than you want me."she said and she boldly walked past me...She was right after all.

"I'll be in touch." she said and then she was gone!...

I should have stopped her...I wanted to...but somehow.........I believed her...I also believed that somewhere deep inside her was a decent human being...More than I could say for Haywood Coley Jr.



IV-

Tyriq and Jimmy stood on one corner of the block on a sunny Friday morning...

Hop stood on another corner...

When Haywood Coley Jr. walked out of the bodega with a six pack of beer and cigarettes ...Hop nodded his head..

With that...Tyriq, Jimmy, Duke,Sissy,Carlotta,Sirena,Hop and Sharon pulled out their glocks and crossed the street and surrounded him...

He looked like he had urinated himself when he saw them...Two police cars drove up and several plain cars drove up with FBI agents in them...

Tyriq and Jimmy cuffed him and read him his rights and then turned him over to Sharon and The FBI agents...

Finally,I walked over to him....

"Well...Look a here....What do we have here?...Mr. Haywood Coley Jr....Looks like you've fallen short once again." I sneered...

He said nothing....

"No smart remarks?" said Carlotta.

He just hung his head.....Tears streamed down his face...He stomped his foot in frustration several times!......Sharon signaled for the FBI agents to take him away....The second criminal career of Haywood Coley Jr. had once again come to an end...

Sissy looked at me ...

"Keith...How did you know where he was?" she asked.

"I got an anonymous tip." I said.

She and Carlotta looked at me funny, then they both headed towards the cars...

EPILOUGE:

Haywood Coley Jr. was convicted of Interstate Flight , Prison Escape, Kidnapping, Attempted murder and Murder in the first degree...In light of the fact that he was already serving Life,No parole for five other murders...He was sentenced to die by lethal injection....He is currently on suicide watch on Death Row..
Could  his luck get any worse??...The state of Alabama tried him in absentia for the murder of the young lady who vanished in Belize, who was a citizen of their state...He was convicted and again sentenced to death...He was buried...
Even though I believed he was innocent of at least this murder...He was indicted in Belize for the murder of Rita Santiago, the prostitute and aspiring actress who had helped him escape us earlier..
At this point...It didn't really matter...

I never saw Dr. Natalie Tucker again and eventually...both the FBI and I dropped conspiracy charges against her and stopped looking for her.

Carlotta and I were relaxing in our home a little while later...She was wearing a t-shirt and panties only and sitting on my lap....

''You know..We started out as a couple when we were investigating him and here we are ending our investigation of him, still as a couple....A married couple." she said in between wet ,juicy kisses...

"Yeah,if I remember that last case practically ended up the same way...With you and I barely dressed and kissing.."I laughed...She cracked up laughing...

"Yessss...Haywood Coley Jr. was good for us." she joked...

"In a crazy,warped kind of way, yeah...He was.." I said in between more kisses..

''Where do you suppose his girlfriend...Dr. Natalie Tucker is?" asked Carlotta...

''I don't know...but if I had to guess...I'd say ,as far away from here as possible...Some place warm ,looking for what we have..." I said.

"And what do we have?" asked Carlotta...

I kissed her and rubbed her legs and said..

"Lots of love, lots of lust...lot's of sex.." I said laughing...

"Si...We are not falling short in any of those areas.." said Carlotta as she leaned over and kissed me again....