Kicks

Sissy, Carlotta, Tyriq and I sat in the Broad Street Diner and ordered our breakfast.....The four of us had steaming hot tumblers of coffee and glasses of Orange Juice delivered to us...

It was early...Even for me...Carlotta had a Friatta....Tyriq,Sissy and I went with Pancakes, Hash browns and Sausage...

"This is okay, but it doesn't beat the one that Tego makes "said Carlotta who fed me a piece of her Friatta..

"I agree." I said smiling...

Tyriq smiled as he began eating his food...

''So Top...Tell me why we are here again?" he asked jokingly....He had been partners with Carlotta long enough that when she said she had something..He believed her...He was just joking with her..

"Jimmy says he has broken the case wide open...He has photos of the other two crew members and confirmation and a woman who wishes to talk to us..."said Carlotta...

''A woman?"said Tyriq..

"Not just any woman, the wife of one of our stick up crew....I should say ,widow...
Archie Palmer's widow...Sharon Palmer..." said Sissy, who had joined us... Sissy was very interested in closing this case...It had grabbed National Attention...And not the most pleasent attention...The Philadelphia Police Department looked bad...A Policeman's ball, full of cops had been robbed, held up and a cop had been killed...

The Mayor, The District Attorney and The Police Commisioner wanted this case closed...and fast...We had one stick up guy in the morgue and two in custody..including the actual shooter...and we could even report that we had recovered a portion of the stolen money..All well and good...but we needed to round up the whole gang,including the smug leader...

Jimmy came walking in with a young woman, who didn't look like she was anyone's wife, let alone...Trust fund kid, Archibald Palmer..

She was a young Latina woman....

"Morning everybody."said Jimmy...

"You're late Junior...So we started without you."joked Tyriq..

"Sorry Rico...But I had to pick Mrs. Palmer up....This is Sharon Vega- Palmer.. Wife of the late, Archie Palmer.."said Jimmy...

She looked at Carlotta and said- "Hola."  Carlotta spoke back and then they both said something to each other in spanish...

Carlotta laughed...

"She says she can identify the other two crew members...And that they killed her husband." said Carlotta..

"Does she speak English?" asked Sissy..

She answered herself...

"I do....."

Jimmy put two glossies on the table in front of us...

"I took these a few days ago...That cool guy right there is Verne White....and that other guy is James Parker....Both are well heeled...They come from lots of money..Except for some traffic violations, they have no records...Both attended Prep school and college with Reuben Goldberg." said Jimmy...

"Reuban Goldberg is the ring leader...He's very charismatic....Very Charismatic...When he enters a room ,it was as if he just drew all of the energy out of the air and into him...I hated the way he held sway over my husband and practically everybody in their circle..They have always done whatever he said...I hate him...I tell my late husband...Him no good.." she said.

"Make me understand something...All of these guys are well to do guys...They grew up in the suburbs, went to the best prep schools ,have trust funds...The families of the two we have in custody now have already sent a cartel of lawyers our way...Why were they doing this? Stick ups??"asked Sissy..

"For most of them..It was just kicks...Like you said, none of them needed the money..It was all for kicks...The rush of pulling a stick up...The money was nothing, pocket change for most of them...But for Reuben it was different...He had a deep hatred of the Philadelphia Police Department...He wanted to humiliate you guys....The five stick ups before only whetted his appetite...They were just forerunners to the big score..Catching the Police flat footed, robbing the policeman's ball...Nobody was supposed to get hurt..."said Sharon Palmer.

"But somebody did!  A Cop got killed."said Carlotta..."He was a friend of mine...He was La Raza. This goes beyond kicks as you say."she said.

Sharon stared at her coffee...

"I know...Archie felt bad about that...He was sick....He told Reuben that he wanted out, that he was done...but Reuben told him that him being there taking part in it meant that he was just as guilty as if he had pulled the trigger...Archie  didn't accept that..Donnie Contour, the one who actually fired the shot had nightmares...He also wanted out..But Reuben said no.."said Sharon...

''So who killed your husband?"asked Carlotta.

"Reuben did it himself...He said no way was he going to burn because Archie was weak...He thinks I'm too scared to tell, but I'm not...He would have eventually gotten around to killing me...because I know too much..." she said.

"I can protect you...Will you testify?" I asked.

She didn't hesitate...

"Yes...I'll tell you where they all are...I'll tell you where the murder weapon is..What else do you need to know?" she said.

Carlotta tossed a sheet out on the table...

"Reuben Goldberg enlisted in the Marine Corps after his college graduation...He entered the Officers Training program....Washed out after three weeks... He bummed around here in Philly for awhile and then entered the State Police Academy...Washed out in three weeks...A year went by and he entered the Philadelphia Police Academy." she said.

"Let me guess...He washed out of this too?" said Sissy..

"You guessed it Boss Lady...Washed out in two weeks...Couldn't take it..."said Carlotta.

Just then, Forensic Investigator, Dr. Hazel Hunter-Baylor...Duke's wife joined us...She sat down and looked at Carlotta's report...

"Reuben has a deep hatred for organized authority...because of his failure in training for the Marines, State Police and City Police...Plus deep seated feelings of inadequacy..
He hides this by a false feeling of superiority...He masterminded these heists, not for the money...Like you all said...None of them needed it...but for the thrill, Kicks if you will of humiliating the police...of proving he was smarter than them....He hand picked guys who he could dominate and trained them to be a very well oiled stick up crew...He even knew how to hide evidence..He knew what we would look for...All this gives him those kicks, those highs he needs to feel better about himself." she explained..

"Well, he's gone too far...It's time to show him something about who we are." said Tyriq.

We all agreed!

II-

Detective Sirena Harris-Pile knocked on the apartment door of  23 year old Vernon White..
He came to the door in just his boxers and a bathrobe... He saw Sirena and he said-

"Tyrone lives a few doors over...."

"I'm here to see you playa." she said.

"Uh ,Do I know you?" he asked...looking at her and smiling salaciously...

From the background the voice of a young lady was heard.....

"Vern, hurry up out there...I'm like super naked and it's cold in here...Close the front door."

"You don't know me, but you're going to get to know me.." she said and showed her badge...

"Ohhhh you're a cop!" he said laughing....

"Yesssssssssssssss...now get dressed...I'm taking you in for suspicion of six robberies and accessory to murder." she said.

"Oh Yeah?" he said.

"Yeah...And I'll bet if I search your apartment....I'll find a black shirt,black slacks ,black shoes  and a black ski mask used in all six robberies , plus one of the guns on my list that was used." she said.

"Oh really detective? My dad is a lawyer, a big time lawyer so I know how this works..  I don't know what you've heard...but I'd feel a lot better if you had something called a warrant!  You do have one of those don't you?" he said smiling...

Just then ,her partner, Detective Antonio Hopkins walked up along with three uniformed officers.... The smile vanished from Vernon's face...Now he knew that things had just gotten real!!!

Hop put the warrant in Vernon's hand....

"I believe that''s one of those things called a warrant....For you! That's bedtime reading."said Hop, smiling at Vern...

Sirena looked at Vern and smiled...

"How you feelin now Vern?" she said.

III-

A few hours later ,James Parker had just finished playing three games of Tennis that day....He was sweaty...Detective James "Jimmy" Barlow passed him a clean towel and a bottle of cold Gatorade..

"Thanks man...Hey, that's a pretty snazzy suit...Too snazzy for a towel boy." said James Parker, laughing gingerly....

"Come on man...I'm no towel guy..."said Jimmy...

"No? Who are you?" he asked.

Jimmy pulled out his badge...

"A cop!" he said.

James looked like he wanted to run until he turned around and saw Detectives Edwin "Duke" Baylor and Tyriq Pile staring at him balefully...

"Ohhh hell" he said...

"Ohhh hell as in..I'm in deep doo doo." said Tyriq...

Duke looked at the two uniformed policemen that came with them...

"Hook him up boys." he said.

They read him his rights and took him away....

With his arrest..We had the entire crew....Except it's smug ring leader...

IV-

Reuben Goldberg had just come back from riding his bike...he pulled out his smartphone and made several calls...It appeared that no one was answering him...

He lived in a very Tony Condo.... He locked his bike up to the rack.....

"They aren't answering are they?...They are a little busy." came the voice of my wife, Detective Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace...She was sitting on a bench finishing a bottle of cold water...I have to admit..She looked so sexy that I myself would have surrendered to her....But then again...Hadn't I already??

He looked at her and smiled...

"Detective Rodriguez-Wallace isn't it?" he asked..

"Yes..You remembred.."she said and smiled at him sweetly...

"I always remember an attractive woman..A hot chick like you...How would I forget.."he said.

Carlotta blushed...

"I'm glad you did...Remember what I told you about a week ago? That I was going to put cuffs on you and take down your entire crew?" she said.

"Yeah, you did say that....And I told you to come back with something called evidence.." he laughed...

"I got more than I need...and to top it off...I have your entire crew in custody and they were so nice, so co-operative....They gave you up and I didn't have to wear an extra short skirt or bat my eyes and smile at them or nothing......."said Carlotta...

"Plus" she continued and pulled out a plastic bag with a Glock nine  in it..." I took the liberty to remove this from your condo while you were out...I'm betting this will be a ballistics match for the Archie Palmer murder...And before you ask...Yes..I have a warrant!" she said and smiled sweetly.

She pulled some hand cuffs out her pocketbook...

"It's Tank time Papi....Put them on. You're under arrest for the murder of Archie Palmer , Conspiracy in the Murder of Detective Carlos Tegron and Conspiracy in six armed robberies.." she said...

He smiled and looked like he was going to run and then he saw  three uniformed police officers with shotguns aimed at him!!!!.....and  two more uniformed officers with glocks, in a crouching position aimed at him...

He shrugged...

Carlotta put the handcuffs on him and read him his rights...

"I told you I was going to put cuffs on you."she said ,smiling...

"Yeah I know..but I was thinking of something a little kinkier.."he said laughing...

Carlotta cracked up laughing...So did Reuben. Game set match..The entire crew had been taken down.

EPILOUGE-

Joshua O'Dowd and Donnie Contour got 7 years a piece for their part in the stick ups and their co-operation....Vern White and James Parker got 10-15 years for their part in the stick ups...

Reuben Goldberg got life for Conspiracy and the murders of Detective Tegron and Archie Palmer......He had just missed the Death Penalty!! He should have considered himself lucky...

Despite the fact that she didn't want to...Duke,Tyriq, Sirena,Carlotta,Jimmy,Hop,Sharon,Hazel and I insisted that she attend that Press Conference with the Mayor, Police Commissioner and The Deputy of Operations to announce that the case had been cracked and all of the guilty parties were in custody..

Since She supervised the detectives that actually cracked the case..There was no need for Lt. Tragg to be there and he was not included in the coverage...

This made Duke, Jimmy and Tyriq quite happy to know that he had been one upped!

Carlotta and I enjoyed a nice quiet candlelight dinner...Sometime later...

''Wow Baby..you cracked this case just in the nick of time...Our anniversary is in a few days." I said.

"I was hoping the investigation would be over before our anniversary..." she said.

"I've got a surprise for you too." I said.

''Oh really? What?"she said.

"I've got some time off and I cleared it with Sissy...and well, how would you like to go to Puerto Rico for a few days...To see your sister and your cousins and your dad?"I said and produced two plane tickets...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh  Papi.....I love you sooo very much" she said.

"Will you take that Leather mini skirt you bought recently?" I asked...

She laughed...and gave me the serious side eye...

"Of course..."she said ,looked at me and sighed...

"And that lavender dress...The tight one......that hugs all your curves...???"I asked..

She gave me the side eye....

"Yessssssssssssss...Anything else you want me to take?" she asked..

"You been to Bridget's store lately or Victoria's Secret??" I asked..

She shook her head....and gave me a serious side eye..

"Sure...Tonight..you tell me what you like and I'll pack it..Silly ,silly husband of mine."she said and she laughed in spite of herself...

I laughed too!

Carlotta leaned across the table and kissed me, softly and passionately....

"Anything you want papi." she said.

 I smiled broadly....How lucky was I?