Breezy

A beautiful morning in the city....Detectives Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace and James "Jimmy" Barlow knocked on the door of the house...There was the sound of a baby crying...

A woman came to the door and took one look at Carlotta and frowned...

''So what is this, Yuri is having his whores come to the door now?"

''Excuse me?" said Carlotta ,flashing her badge...

Then she noticed Jimmy who was behind her and three uniformed police officers..

"Oh..you are police! What has he done now?" she asked..

"We'd like to talk to him mam?" said Jimmy...

"He's probably at the bar...around the corner.."she said.

"The Bar?" said Carlotta...

She shrugged..

"Hey what can I say?" she said.

They signaled for us to follow...They headed for the bar around the corner..

Sure enough...They found, Yuri Bedenoff, six foot three, blond, suspected hitman and ex-KGB operative sitting in a bar at 9:30 am, drinking a beer..

Carlotta sat down next to him and smiled...He looked at her and smiled....

She smiled back...

"Hello Yuri." she said.

"Carlotta....How are you? You're still as beautiful as ever...I heard you got married.. It's been a long time since we've seen each other...You trying to pin yet another murder on me you can't prove?" he said and continued to drink...

"We got one we think might stick this time Yuri." said Jimmy as he sat down next to him..

"Sure you do." he said laughing...

Jimmy took his drink from him and sat it down...He dropped his handcuffs on the bar...

"Let's make this easy pal..put em on.."said Jimmy...

The bartender looked like he was going for his shotgun.....Duke Baylor, who had just entered the bar put his glock to the bartender's head...

"Drop it and get from behind the bar!!!...." he said...He did as he was told and Duke handcuffed him.

Tyriq and Sissy walked in with three uniformed officers....

"Had to make it hard Yuri?" said Sissy...."Rico, hook him up." she said.

"Lieutenant....Like Carlotta ,you're still as gorgeous a woman as ever...If we weren't on different sides of the law...I might consider dating you on the side...Heh..Heh.Heh." he laughed...

"You really know how to flatter a girl Yuri."said Sissy smiling...

"I am the propreiter of the school of love" he joked..

"Looks like school's closed for the day pal." said Tyriq as he and an officer handcuffed Yuri and  read him his rights..

I stood outside with two other uniformed officers as they all came out of the bar..

"Hello Yuri...We meet again...I told you we would ." I said.

"Yeah and I'll be walking out of your station just like I have before." he snarled..

"Think so huh?" I said laughing...

"Yes..I do...Oh and by the way...Congratulations on the wedding to Carlotta..You have excellent tastes" he said laughing.

At first glance ,He appeared to be a pleasent ,gregarious kind of guy...but make no mistake..This guy was as ruthless a killer as you'd ever want to meet...People in this neighborhood shuddered at the mere mention of his name...In fact..they nicknamed him...."Walking Death"

Yuri Bedenoff was an enforcer for Russian gangster Michael "Breezy" Breznefsky, who owned a jewelry store that everyone knew was a front for book making, loan sharking, prostitution and wire fraud... Yuri was ex-KGB and a feared enforcer, suspected in a number of beatings and at least three murders...He was good at covering his tracks...

He was now our number one suspect in the mysterious disapearence of ADA Warren" Red" Granger..

II-

In a dressing room at a strip club a few hours later, Detective Sirena Pile entered and walked past the girls...

One of the strippers stared at her...

"Ouuu, you're a cutie...You're the first black girl they've hired here in a long time...but the guys will love you...one because you're new and two because they fantasize about some brown sugar." she said.

Sirena laughed... "I'm kinda flattered, but I'm not working here...I'm a cop." she said and flashed her badge...

"Heyyy..look..I paid  you guys off....Licenses and Inspections already been out here.." she said.

Again Sirena laughed...."I'm Homicide...Is Natasha around?" she asked..

"Over there."she said.

She walked over to her...

"Natasha...I'm police....I need to..." she said.

Upon seeing Sirena's badge...Natasha leaped up and dashed out of the dressing room..
and right into the waiting arms of her partner...Detective Antonio Hopkins and four uniformed policemen who were ogling her exposed cleavage and the fact that she only had on a g-string...

Hop grabbed her and handcuffed her....The officers were all star struck...Natasha was built and very pretty...

Sirena cooly walked out with a dress and a bra... 

"Okay guys, relax...Natasha...put on some clothes...Did you guys mirandize her?" asked Sirena..

"Yeah." said one of the officers...

Sirena laughed...

"I'm surprised.." she said and shook her head.

Sissy and I walked in...

"Good Work..We picked up Yuri this morning...Let's grill both of these guys."I said.

Sissy smiled...

"Don't tell me I don't have good detectives."she said like a proud mother...

But we weren't out of the water yet and we still didn't know what had happened to ADA Warren "Red "Granger....72 hours had passed and we still had no idea where he could be or if he was even still alive.

III-

The work of our forensic investigator, Dr. Hazel Hunter-Baylor...Duke's wife and FBI Special Agent ,Sharon Ferrell -Hopkins and her FBI lab technicians was invaluable...

They were able to take that photo we got from the spy shop where the phone rerouting equipment was found and enlarge it ,getting a positive id of Yuri Bedenoff...Hazel lifted his fingerprint off of the equipment...She lifted his fingerprint off of a GPS unit found on the bottom of ADA Granger's car in Bayside city and she found DNA on the panties found under the passenger seat that tested positive for Natasha Konski...who had several arrests and a few convictions for prostitution and soliticiting...

Tyriq, Jimmy, Duke and Carlotta took another look at his debit card, credit card and bank transactions and discovered that for the past six months...Red Granger had been making huge payments via wire to an offshore account...an account that of course had a phony name and that was almost untraceable...

I brought this account to the attention of the FBI...and our own represenative ,Sharon Ferrell-Hopkins did some investigating and using her contact at Homeland Security discovered that the real owner of the account was one ..Michael "Breezy",
Breznefsky...The Russian Crime Boss...who owned a jewelry store that everyone knew was a front for book making, loan sharking, prostitution and wire fraud...

There seemed to be a pattern...It appeared that ADA Warren "Red" Granger was being black mailed..

Sirena, Hop and Carlotta pulled Grangers case files and it appeared he had several open investigations of Mike "Breezy" Breznefsky and his activities pending....Now we had a definitive motive for why he was being blackmailed...To end the investigations..It had nothing to do with the Dunski molestation  trial or so I thought...

Carlotta came to Sissy and I with a small tidbit of information that turned out to be a big deal..

"Boss Lady....Dunski...who is accused of molesting those three girls in the shower is married to Breezy's sister.." she said.

"We've been wanting to bring him in for a long time...We finally have something to indict him on...Conspiracy to commit murder and extortion....Duke...Rico...go pick him up....Wear kevlar and trauma plates and take back up..."said Sissy...

They were almost giddy...

''We on it Lou." they said.

 In the fishbowl , Yuri was just as arrogant as he could be....Jimmy and Carlotta sat with him...

"You have nothing.."he laughed..

"I wouldn't say that...We have your fingerprints on some electronic equipment that rerouted a phone call, several phone calls from an apartment building owned by you....and surveilience photos of you in that apartment...We know that ADA Granger called you on several occassions."said Jimmy...

"So he called me...I didn't want him or anybody to know where I lived..."he spat..

"We have your latent print on his car ,inside his car that we found in Bayside City, two days ago as well as the GPS system which you bought with a stolen credit card that you put on his car..We know you bought it because we got a photo of you making the purchase."said Carlotta who showed him the photos..

"I am saying nothing more."he said, suddenly looking shaken...

"You slipped up papi...We got you for conspiracy to commit murder..." she said.

"Murder? You have no body, you can only prove that I was following him and that I talked to him." he said.

Carlotta smiled..

"Think So Huh?" she laughed...

In another room, Sirena and Hop were having better luck with Natasha  Konsky...

"We found your panties under the front seat of his car in Bayside ,Natasha...We know they are yours because your DNA and his are in the panties...and we have you in the system..."said Sirena..

"I've never been to any Bayside...I don't know what you're talking about?" said Natasha

"We found the photos of you and ADA Granger in a hotel room having sex...You were blackmailing him...Yuri hired you didn't he?  We already know the deal....and now the ADA is dead...That's blackmail and murder. We found the camera in the hotel room....We lifted Yuri's prints off of the camera...He should have removed it."said Hop...

"Murder?? I didn't kill anybody,I was just told to take him to the room...I had nothing to do with any murder..."she said.

"Who hired you to do this?" asked Sirena...

"Yuri...Yuri Bedenoff...He gave me cash...But you know that."she said.

Sirena smiled and left her with Hop....She whispered to Carlotta who smiled..They high fived each other.

Carlotta whispered to Jimmy who smiled and looked at Yuri...

"We got you pal....Your girl just gave you up...You're under arrest for conspiracy and suspicion in the disapearence of ADA Granger....All we need to know is where is the body?" asked Jimmy.


"I want my lawyer."he spat..


Jimmy laughed...

"I'll just bet you do." he said.

IV-

Michael "Breezy" Breznefsky was larger than life... Six feet, five inches...240 pounds, with a beard and a gregarious nature...He sat and laughed as Duke and Tyriq brought him in the fishbowl...He had never been convicted of any crime...but it was known that he controlled the neighborhood...With an iron hand... Three unsolved  murders and numerous brutal beatings gave him that undisputed title...If people shuttered at the mention of Yuri's name...Nobody mentioned Breezy...

Sissy and I stood outside and watched the interrogation..

"I bet you've waited your entire life for this moment...To bring me down here with evidence that you think you got..."he said laughing...

Tyriq smiled...

''We got your boy Yuri.....Your enforcer...and we got him cold...fingerprints....photos and phone calls...enough to make a case for blackmail and conspiracy...."he said.

"You got nothing..a whole lot of nothing."he spat...

"We got your little trollip too....Apparently she left her panties in the ADA's car...We got DNA...and blackmail photos and wire accounts from an offshore account that belongs to you....Did you know we froze it?" laughed Duke...

Breezy smiled "You're going to make a case against me on panties, bank transfers and phone calls? Come on Duke...Maybe your buddy Tyriq there would stoop that low...but I know you better than that....Are you kidding me?" he snarled..

"ADA Granger was on you tough....that was bad enough...but your stupid brother in law was caught in the shower with those girls...and your sister was getting on your nerves about it...You knew that ADA Granger liked the ladies...So you had your boy procur a hot young thing and set him up...You had been blackmailing him for months.That alone could earn you a few years in the cooler...Extorting a court officer..."said Duke..

"And that's just for starters Breezy...How about Murder one??Soliticiation of Murder...We know you didn't do it...You never get your hands dirty, but everybody knows..When you want someone gone...They don't hang around too long." said Tyriq.

 

"Nice story....but it's just a story...You can't prove any of it.."he said.

"The girl already gave Yuri up...and I suspect that Yuri won't take long to give you up...especially when he's looking at life in prison or a possible needle."said Duke.

Breezy laughed...

"Yuri doesn't work for me...Not anymore...If he did anything...it was on his own.."he said.

"Not with money going to your account...We got you Breezy...We got you cold...Where is ADA Granger's body?"asked Tyriq..

"I don't know what you're talking about."he said and laughed some more...

"You won't be laughing in lock up."said Duke...

"When My Lawyer arrives...I'll have the last laugh...This conversation is now over fellas."said Breezy, still smiling.

V-

Funny how things work out.... We had to release Breezy after 48 hours, because we had little to indict him on...He was right...Not enough to make a murder conspiracy case on anyway....

A day later, Yuri Bedenoff was found hanging in his cell at County lock up...an apparent suicide!!...It looked awfully suspicious to me...

Natasha Konsky was found in her apartment dead of a drug overdose...Heroin and Cocaine mixed...that same day....That also looked suspicious, but there was no evidence of anyone else being there but her and no one who would talk to us if they had seen anything...

Obviously, the Russian Gangster was covering up....We knew it, but couldn't prove it....He appeared to be home free.....Except that fate stepped in...

We had the last laugh ....

Mike "Breezy" Breznefsky walked out of his favorite bar in little Norway ,after celebrating by eating barbecued shrimp and barbecued chicken wings and drinking vodka heavily...He snorted a little coke also... Witnessess say he grabbed his chest, his eyes began to roll into the back of his head....He turned blue and collapsed!!!!!!!

He suffered a massive heart attack and dropped dead on the sidewalk...He was 40 years old!!!

Nobody seemed very upset about it!  In fact, if you walked around the neighborhood...There seemed to be a sense of relief!!

Sissy ,Carlotta and I stood on the roof of C.I.D. headquarters the night of his death and took in the early spring breeze..

"Damn..I really wanted to take those guys down...I had a good conspiracy case built up...We had Yuri...I think we could have gotten Breezy too..."I said.

"They were judged by a higher court."said Sissy...

"They more than likely were responsible for ADA Granger's disapearence..."said Carlotta...

"Oh most definitely...We know the reason why and we know who...Only thing we don't know is where is ADA Granger or his remains?" said Sissy..

"You think he's dead Boss Lady?" asked Carlotta....I put my arms around my wife and kissed her cheek.....She smiled....

Sissy smiled too..

"Yeah,more than likely..and the only people who might have told us where he is are now dead themselves.." she said.


Strange...How justice is...

(TO BE CONTINUED)