Seeing Things

"You sure it's him?" asked Brendan Burnside as we watched the  video screens in the federal lockup control room.....

"I'm positive...Your guy on the inside gave that information to my girl yesterday...He was pretty positive." I said.

"Okay...There's our guy getting out of his car." he said as we watched...

"Yup...now the only way he could be getting the stuff in here is through his bag...But it's beeing searched...See?" said Brendan..

"He might have a pouch sewed in the bottom or side of that bag." I said.

"Or the guard searching him is in on it too." said Brendan....

I laughed...

"Who knows how deep this runs? He works on the cell block where Malik is housed..."he said.

"He wouldn't give it to him personally...There is a go between...Look for a trusty." I said.

He smiled...

"You're right....You sure you were an ex cop?  You sound like an ex-con." he said and laughed patting me on the back.

"What made me a good cop is that I could think like the criminal....That's how I caught so many of em."I said.

He laughed and smacked his thigh...

"Touche'  ,so what's your next move?  " he asked.

"Your guy has to find out how he gets the dope to Malik and how it's distributed...Meanwhile...I'm going to follow this chump when he gets off work and find out where the dope comes from...I'll be in touch..This may take a few days." I said.

He looked surprised...

''A few days?"he said.

"Yeah...He just supplied him...I have to wait until he's low and needs to re-up."I said.

''Boy, you're good...And you got good tastes in women too.. Olivia is quite a gal...You're my kind of guy Donnie Ray." he said and laughed...

II-

And speaking of my wife...She was in the third day of Renee Gentile's trial....Beverly West, her neice was acting as her second...Bev wasn't currently working on a case..so she agreed to be Olivia's second...

Olivia was tenacious and a challenging attorney..but her and Beverly together were something to behold...

The Prosecutor, John Lively was a gifted attorney, a real shark ,I had heard...A man ,.not  used to losing...but he was in big trouble in this case... Olivia and Beverly were eating him alive...

He was having a hard time with just about every point he attempted to raise...And Olivia and Beverly had a jury of six women, all African-American, two Latina women and Two young white males ,one white woman and one African-American male...Not the Jury that Lively wanted...but the one he was stuck with...

Renee was looking more and more sympathetic by the minute... The police didn't take a breathylizer, so they didn't know if she was in fact high or not was the main argument...

Lively was using the argument that she was promiscuous and unfit and that she had had the child with a multiple murderer and drug kingpin... Not in her favor....yet Bev argued that who the baby's father was, was not important...She had already been punished for that...She'd been fired....She shouldn't further be punished by being registered as a sex offender and spending time in county for a crime she more than likely had not committed...

I smiled as I watched my wife and her neice argue Renee's case... I smiled and left the courthouse... I had other business to take care of.

III-

I was surprised that Correctional Officer, Russell Grissom went to Roxys of all places... I expected him to go to a place like the Mermaid Club where a lot of riff raff drank...

Roxys was a respectable establishment...They had a nice little crowd...No live music...no DJ...You went here to drink, talk and watch sports or videos.. The crowd was much younger...and much more upscale...

It was mixed, racially...but most of it's clientele was Lawyers,Doctors, Accountants and the young and recently rich...I had been here with Olivia once...

I smiled thinking about how good she looked last summer when we came here..It was after a successful case...She just wanted to talk quietly with me...That was the first time I thought about asking her to marry me..

Russell Grissom walked in...He sat at the very end of the bar...After about an hour..a young white guy walked in...I watched Russell pass the white guy an envelope.. I slyly took a photo of this exchange with a micro camera...

The white guy nodded...He ordered a beer...Russell ordered a beer....Another white guy walked in and whispered something in Russell's ear...He got up and walked out of the bar...

I paid my tab and discreetly walked out of the bar,just in time to see a car drive up..

A 75 coupe...Russell looked around, They passed him a package...He opened his gym bag...I was right...He had a side of it cut out....He put the package in the bag and closed up the secret side...He smiled and got in his car....

I photographed the license plate of the car and even got a partial of the two inhabitants of the car...

I smiled...Got'cha!!!...

IV-

I met with Brendan at his office.....I gave him huge glossies of the exchange in the bar, the exchange outside the bar, the car and the plates...

''You did all of this and nobody noticed you?" he said incredulously.

"Who knows me?" I said.

"Yeah,I guess you're right.."he said.

"I blended into the crowd and got em all."I said.

"I'll have the FBI run these plates and see if they can do a make on these three guys.." he said.

Within hours ,Philadelphia Police Narcotics Detectives and FBI Agents arrested , Nathaniel Frederick,the man in the car who passed him the package, Ralph Simpson, the driver and Tony Piarulli....The guy in the bar the money was passed to... They had a really small operation...But never the less, Malik Clarke was out of the drug business for the time being...

Brendan made me aware of the night's developments...

''We got all three of em.. They're being held in the city jail.... Malik isn't aware of it yet, neither is Grissom...I need to hear from my guy on the inside first..." he said.

"Okay...You know where to find me man.."I said.

"Good work man." he said...."How is your wife doing with uh that girl?" he asked.

I smiled...

"I think Renee will be a free woman and have her child back any day now." I said.

"Good.. Good Night Mr. Alexander." he said and smiled...
V-

I ran into my wife and Beverly at Stoleys later on that night....They looked celebratory..

''Hey ladies..what's the occassion?" I asked.

''We won our case." said Beverly...

"You did?? WOW!" I said.

''The jury took thrity minutes to find her not guilty of driving under the influence..She's
a free woman... With no criminal record and no sex offender status"said Olivia...

"I know Lively was seething.."I said.

"He sure was...He's still fuming."laughed Olivia..

"Yeah, but now ,we've got to see if we can get her baby back."said Bev..

Ahhh, the job continues...I mused.

Bev passed me a drink...I smiled at her....

Olivia leaned over and kissed me.....

A man who had obviously had too much to drink fell off of the bar stool....

 On his way to the floor he said...

''You're one lucky somovabeetch. You got three women kissin you.."

Olivia and Bev looked at me, then him...All three of us busted out laughing.

(CONCLUSION NEXT)