The Thing You Love The Most

I sat up in the bed and gazed at my wife, Detective Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace getting dressed in the morning...She was in a black slip....and was sliding into her pantyhose ,while sitting on the side of the bed.. I smiled at her....

"Hey babes."I said.

She looked at me and smiled...

"Hey papi.." she said..

I got out of bed and walked to the bathroom...I brushed my teeth and washed my mouth out with Scope...Then I put my arms around her waist and kissed her long and softly....as she slipped her skirt on and then a nice black flowery bra and a white blouse. She was fixing her hair and slipping on her long coat...

"Leaving without me today?"I said. I didn't have any court appointments and was coming in late.

''Yes...I'm taking my car.." she said ,giving me another long and soft kiss...

"Damn girl, you look too good to be a Homicide cop." I said...

''Awww thank you baby." she said ,smiling and lightly rubbed her index finger over my lips.

She,Jimmy and Tyriq had been working this latest murder very hard for the past few days and even though we had identified a suspect...We couldn't find him...I never expected it to be easy...

We had plain clothes policemen stationed all over the airports and at the train and bus station and even at the toll booths and on all three bridges leading into and out of Philadelphia.. No sighting of him.. He was hiding in plain sight.

In addition...Sharon had undercover FBI agents in the same places..

If Haywood Coley Jr. tried to leave Philly, He was going to be intercepted....Not to mention...His photo was plastered on the news and all over the city...

Haywood Coley Jr. was identified as the number one suspect in the murder of Carla Brown..The city had offered 100G's to anybody that had any information on his whereabouts...He truly was a trapped man...which had to frustrate him...

Sirena, Hop and Duke were working another angle...They had men staked out at the suburban home of Dr.Natalie Tucker, his girlfriend and accomplice who hadn't been seen or heard from since they initially vanished...

They were interviewing her friends and relatives and monitoring her credit cards, debit cards and bank accounts for any activity....Not one of the people they interviewed had heard anything from her in close to six weeks...

Carlotta,Jimmy and Tyriq had interviewed all of Haywood Coley Jr.'s family and friends and had men stationed at or near their homes...They were monitoring his bank account and his credit and debit cards...So far they had found little to lead them to the elusive serial killer..

I listened to a tape of her voice on the zip drive they had sent us...and thought about the anonymous call that had tipped us off about the body of our victim....It was one in the same...Which meant that she was here in Philly too with him..

I hugged Carlotta one last time before she left..

"I love you babes." I said.

She smiled at me...

"I know that...I love you too." she said and she waved as she got in her car and pulled off.

II-

Sissy was sitting in her office looking at reports when I came in....All of the detectives were out working the case...

"Heyy Keith...I just got a disturbing report back from Belize..." she said...

''Belize?" I said.

''Yes...Two things...The DNA from semen found in the missing girl from Alabama ,who vanished there is a match for Haywood Coley Jr. ..and that's not all...Remember you said that FBI Agent Vanderbaum mentioned a woman named Rita ,masquerading as an FBI agent??" she said.

"Yeah, apparently she drugged him and handcuffed him and helped Coley Jr. escape..."I said..

"Well her real name was Rita Santiago...A local prostitute and aspiring actress...She was found shot to death in a semen stained bed in an apartment on the outskirts of Belize...The semen ,found in her vagina and anal area and on the floor, in the bathroom and in some wet panties also found on the floor is a match for Haywood Coley Jr." said Sissy."They found his fingerprints all over the apartment."she added.

"Hmmmm...All of his victims were strangled and raped...This one is different...A gun shot??" I said.

"I'm thinking the same thing...This is someone else...An Angry or scorned lover...Natalie Tucker.!!" said Sissy smiling..

"Only thing is...We can't prove any of it..and that's out of our jurisdiction....But at least we know he's killed two people since he's gotten out of prison...And you know what...It's what I have suspected about him all along...He likes it...Killing and sex....Somehow in his warped mind, the two go together." I said.

"Or he kills to cover up what he's done...The rape and or a poor performance...premature ejaculation."said Hazel ,who had just entered the office.

She and Sissy looked at each other and cracked up laughing.....

"Okay...Very funny ladies." I said.

"From what I hear....That's not hardly your problem."  whispered Sissy in my ear,laughing and patting my shoulder..."No wonder Chica comes in here with sunglasses on some mornings...You don't give her too many hours to sleep do you?"
joked Sissy.

Hazel looked at me sheepishly and smiled...

"We are very happy with each other" was all I would say and looked at both women shyly.

"Yesssssssssssssssssss" said Hazel...

"Nothing wrong with that!" said Sissy ,who high fived Hazel...Both women looked at me and cracked up laughing.

I smiled and shook my head laughing.

I loved this unit and these people.

III-

I left for lunch...It felt weird...With Carlotta and all of the detectives on the street...Sissy and Eddie C. went to lunch together...She seemed much happier now that they lived together and saw each other everyday...

 Hazel had to go back to the M.E.'s office to run some more tests in another case...So I went to Sam Mother's Diner...

When I got there I saw all of the guys...minus one, Carlotta!!!!!

"Hey guys...Where's Carlotta?" I asked.

"You mean she's not with you?" asked Tyriq..

"No..Last time I saw her, she was heading out to work...Around 8:00 am this morning." I said.

"She never showed up for work...I thought she was with you." said Jimmy..

"That was the last time you saw Top?" asked Duke..

"Yeah...None of you guys saw her today??" I asked.

"No..Which is surprising ,because she's usually the first one here and with coffee for everybody." said Hop...

"Yeah.."said Jimmy.

"Maybe she's running down a lead." said Sirena , rubbing my shoulders and attempting to comfort me.

"She would have said something...."I said. I could see Duke, Tyriq and Jimmy looking concerned.

"Let me call her cell" I said.

I did and the thing I feared the most had come to pass.... Haywood Coley Jr. answered the phone..

"Well Hello ADA Wallace...I wondered how long it would take you to call your wife." he said.

"You bastard, if you've hurt my wife,I swear....There is no place you can hide....I'll drop the law books and I'll find you and I swear I'll kill you." I said...

The others could hear the anger and fear in my voice....

"Ouuuuuu,I'm scared ADA Wallace....You can relax....Your precious Carlotta is still alive....For Now!
You see...I had a lot of time to think when I was in Belize of how I was going to pay you back for locking me away....I decided the best way to make you suffer was to take away the Thing you love the most....and that just happens to be Detective Carlotta Anna Maria Rodriguez-Wallace....She put up a good fight...Didn't know she was a kick boxer....She nearly beat the crap out of me...before I tasered her..." he said.

My girl Carlotta, I thought...

"Guess you were too beat to try and rape her huh? What a brave guy you are...Had to taser a woman in order to get the best of her." I sneered...

"What?   I could have had my way with her...I was just too tired that's all...What are you talking about?" he said...I knew I had struck a nerve...Sissy and Hazel had been right...He did have masculinity and sexual issues ,but I didn't want to anger him and have him hurt Carlotta...

"Look...Don't hurt her,please....It's me you want!!!..." I said.

"I was counting on you saying that...I am offering an exchange....Her for you...I'll tell you where to find her....Don't come in your car...I know about the GPS tracking device...and don't try to track this phone..I'm dropping it in the trash soon.....You'll find her car at the gas station that she uses...She is in the refrigeration truck...The same one you found Carla Brown in...She's unharmed and fully clothed..
You go there and she leaves and you wait....Take a car with no tracker and don't get any ideas about having Duke,Tyriq,Jimmy, Sirena or Hoppy follow you...I have a guy watching...He'll know...You try to get cute and it will uh get considerably cooler for your girl...get my drift?"he asked.

"I got it..."I said and he hung up...

"He's got Lotta?" asked Sirena.

"Yeah....He wants me....None of you guys can follow...I said looking at Duke and Tyriq and winking.
I was hoping they understood what I meant.

IV-

 

I did as I was told, I got an unmarked city car and drove to the original crime scene...I opened up the refrigeration truck where we had found the body of Carla Brown....There was no one inside...Had he lied to me?? Had he really killed Carlotta?? I feared the worse...Then I got hit by a powerful taser blast...I felt like I was losing control of everything...I felt incredibly weak...and then I felt nothing at all...The whole world went black!!!

When I woke up...it was semi dark...I was lying on the floor in a refrigeration truck....I smelled my wife's familliar fragrance...I looked up and there she was....Smiling at me...Carlotta!!!!...I was so relieved.

"Heyy papi....I started to wake you up, but you were sleeping so soundly, I just let you sleep.."she said. I was nearly in tears...I was sooo glad to see her...So glad he hadn't killed her.. So proud she had put a beat down on him before he tasered her...I pulled her to me and kissed her passionately...

''I'm just glad you're alive babes...I was so afraid he had hurt you. Where are we?"I asked.

"We are in a refrigeration truck....." she said.

Just then I heard his voice...He apparently had a microphone and a speaker inside the truck...

"Wellllll, Welcome to the terrordome.Hahahahahahahahahahahaha." came the voice of Haywood Coley Jr.

"Alright ,I'm here...Let Carlotta go...We had a deal."I said.

"I know, but I'm afraid I can't do that...I'm afraid she knows where we actually are...and I can't chance being caught...So it looks like you two are going to be united in death......" he said.

"I should have known you weren't a man of your word...MAN being the operative word here. You bastard...You're going to need the help of your girlfriend to stay free...She 's the only one smart enough to pull this off.."I said.

"I'M SMART...SHE'S NOT THE BOSS OF ME...I'M THE BOSS...I'M THE BOSS...I KNOW THINGS ...I KNOW HOW TO PUT THINGS TOGETHER!"he screamed...

"Is she still even your girlfriend?  Do you satisfy her in bed?" I asked...

"NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS!"he screamed...

"You sound like a sixty second man or are you even that long?" I asked.

"SHUTTTTT UP!!! SHUTTTTTTTTTT UP.....I DO JUST FINE IN THE BED." he screamed..

"Yeah...I'll bet....Is that why you kill the girls...to keep them from laughing at your performance or worse, telling somebody else?" I sneered...

"SHUTTTTT UP!!! SHUTTTTTTTTTT UP.....I DO JUST FINE IN THE BED."he screamed...

"That poor Dr. Tucker...She loved you sooo long and then she risked her freedom to free you and was sooo disappointed when you two finally got together...She could have drank a V8." I said.

I thought I heard a female giggling in the background when I said that!

"SHUTTTTT UP!!! SHUTTTTTTTTTT UP.. JUST SHUTTTT THE HELL UPPPPPPPPPP!" he screamed...He was near tears....

"I'LL FIX YOU." he said.

It began to get colder, considerably colder....

"Papi, it's getting colder.." said Carlotta...

"YA DAMN RIGHT....HERE IS A QUESTION...WHAT WILL RUN OUT FIRST?  THE AIR?? OR YOUR LIVES??? WHEN THEY FIND YOU TWO..YOU'LL BE IN A DAMN BLOCK OF ICE...JUST LIKE CARLA BROWN!" he screamed...

"You killed her first didn't you?" I asked.

"Yes...Then I brought her here...You two, are going to freeze to death or suffocate, whichever comes first." he said.

"Couldn't satisfy her either could you? Or did she reject your corny ass?" I said..

"SHUTTTTT UP!!! SHUTTTTTTTTTT UP.. JUST SHUTTTT THE HELL UPPPPPPPPPP!"he screamed again....It was now obvious that he was crying....

It was the only way I could get back at him....and I was milking it for all it was worth...

"You have always under performed haven't you? All your life...Even your girlfriend is smarter than you."I said.

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!!!!....I TOLD HER WHAT SHE WANTED TO HEAR SO SHE WOULD HELP ME...." he yelled..

"YOU COULDN'T SATISFY HER IN BED COULD YOU?"I yelled...

"SHUT UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP! JUST SHUT UP!!!!" he yelled...

"IS SHE WITH YOU NOW??SHE HEARING THIS??" I YELLED..

"Keep talking, your oxygen will run out soon enough..Mr. Stud."he said..

I said no more...I took my jacket off and wrapped it around Carlotta and held her close to me...I showed her my smartphone...He hadn't bothered to take it from me...It was on...Sissy,Tyriq,Duke,Sharon,Sirena,Jimmy and Hop probably heard our entire conversation and were tracking us..I just hoped they found us before we suffocated or froze to death..

DEFINITELY TO BE CONTINUED