The Booby Prize

"Kevin,I am so sorry...I meant to call you last week...And then I got called out of town on another case.."said FBI  Deputy Special Agent in Charge Sharon Ferrell-Hopkins...

"Sissy told me that her ex-husband and some other guy you know have been missing for two days now...and that your daughter was almost snatched.." she said.

"Yeah...Thank God...The lady at that center has common sense and didn't turn her over.."I said.

"Cyrus Tickle and Levi Morgan escaped from Prison about two weeks ago...They were both in court in that small upstate town, when three guys dressed as cops walked in and dropped shock bombs on the floor..." she said..

"What the hell are shock bombs?" I asked...

"It's military...High grade stuff...It gives off a mind numbing light and makes an incredibly loud sound...They had automatic weapons and they sprung Cyrus Tickle and Levi Morgan....Morgan is a real psychopath...He's a bank robber ,who killed a federal agent...He was about to be turned over to us....He must have been planning this escape for awhile... We found the van they escaped in a few miles away...We pulled a couple of prints,...Floyd Carpenter, Jack Tanner and Mack Barrow...All former Special Forces, all convicted and recently paroled Bank Robbers..." she said.

"I see..Did Sissy tell you that we now know that two of the kidnappers was Floyd Carpenter and Jack Tanner?" I said.

"She and Duke told me...This is now an FBI matter...They're all on the FBI's most wanted list...Sissy and her people and the FBI are now looking for Cyrus Tickle, Morgan,Carpenter ,Tanner and Barrow.." she said.

"There is a woman working with them too.."I said...I showed them surveilience photos of the young woman at the child care center...

Sharon put them through facial recognition and got a hit...

"That's Jean Bell...Also known as "Jazzy Belle" ,She's got convictions for Prostitution and she did a three year bid in the fed for transporting drugs over state lines but nothing heavy like this..." said Sharon.

"Wow...You guys are the truth.." I said..."We have identified the entire crew.." I said.

"Yeah...but we don't know where they are...I know there was a big bank robbery ,a few days after these guys escaped....In Western Pennsylvania..Two million taken down.."said Sharon..

"That sounds like Tickle...He and his gang did the same thing right before I tangled with him before.."I said.

"You got a message in a box....But he didn't ask for anything..."said Sharon...

"He will!!...I imagine he's looking all over the city for my wife and my baby and or Bonita...He's frustrated that he can't find them...He'll be trying to make contact soon.."I said.

"Where is your wife and child?" she asked..

"Someplace safe..He'll never find them.." I said..."I talk to them every hour on the hour to make sure they are safe...From a clean phone...And I haven't been staying at home.."I said.

"Well I got agents combing the city looking for them..We are keeping it out of the news for now and Sissy and her detectives are looking for them...We'll find them for you Kevin."said Sharon...

"Thanks Sharon." I said and hugged her...

II-

I wondered where they could be holding Robert and Otis....I was certain that Mr. Tickle had told Levi Morgan all about the money he could get from me and had these heist guys enticed by the idea of a big score...

He started first by kidnapping my friend Robert and then by snatching Otis....who he despised...He might not release Otis alive...I wouldn't put it past Tickle if he killed Otis...Otis Teller had helped me capture Tickle the first time and Robert had told me the truth about who he was and had helped me capture Tickle the second time...He had no love for either of them..but he knew that capturing my wife, my newborn baby and Robert's wife would be the icing on the cake..The Booby prize that would definitely get a response ...

Speaking of response...The alarm in my car had went off as I headed towards my job...I was driving at top speed and changing directions several times to make sure I wasn't being followed...I had had the FBI and the police sweep my car and make sure it had no GPS or other tracking devices on it...I was pretty sure they had no clue as to where we all had vanished to..

They had been to Sepia and Bonita's real estate office and found that neither of them had been to work in two days...I'm sure they knew that my baby wasn't in the daycare center...and I hadn't been to work either...

These clowns were in my house...Unknown to them..A secret alarm went off the minute they entered my house and micro-cameras filmed and recorded their every move..

I smiled.. This was going to be good..

III-

In the basement of my office building ,I turned on my monitor...and there in my living room was Cyrus Tickle, Levi Morgan,Floyd Carpenter and Jack Tanner...

"He's not here...I tell you...He's too smart for that...He knows something is a foot..He's hiding.." said Mr. Tickle..

"Well we got his two friends and we aint heard Jack from him..."said Jack Tanner..

"Because I haven't sent him any correspondance...If you'll just be patient my plan will fall into place.." said Cyrus Tickle.

"Your plan?? You said when we snatched the lawyer and the old man he'd deal...Then you told us to snatch the baby and maybe his girl...Well we can't find them and I for one am tired of searchin for them....There's a safe in here....Here it is..." said Floyd Carpenter...

"Do you really think he keeps that much cash in a home safe? I told you,He's smart ,a lot smarter than you goofs.."said Cyrus Tickle...

"Who you callin a goof? Us goofs busted you out of jail..We didn't even come there for you...We let your sorry ass come along and now you tryin to call the shots??I think not." said Carpenter...

"I'm going out to the car..."said Cyrus Tickle, stomping his foot...

"Go on then...."said Levi Morgan...

"With him gone..I can concentrate and crack this safe." said Floyd Carpenter...

"If there is six million in here...We'll kill Tickle and that Lawyer and that old man and we'll divy it up amongst us." said Levi Morgan.

"That'll work..."said Jack Tanner..

I laughed with glee....

They should have listened to Cyrus Tickle...for once , the little man was right...I kept no more than maybe one thousand dollars in that safe and it could be opened one of two ways...Either with a key,which Sepia and I had or the combonation ,which Sepia and I knew by heart...

This clown was using a drill...and trying to listen to the tumblers...Big mistake...

The explosion blew out my front window..but worse...It blew Levi Morgan's head clean off of his body , as well as the head, arms and legs of both Floyd Carpenter and Jack Tanner..!!

Cyrus Tickle shook his head...He got in his car and pulled off..

Sometime  much later ,I stood outside my house with Sissy and her detectives.....as the three bodies were removed from my house...They had seen the film footage on my tablet...The first body had no head, no arms and no legs...wow! what a way to go!

"Good Lord....such Carnage..."said Sissy...as the second body was brought out...It had no arms or legs or head either!!....Just a torso!!!...

Carlotta and Sirena held their noses as the arms and legs were collected by CSI people and people from the medical examiner's office and put in plastic bags...Two bags came out with the barely recognizable heads of two of the gang members...

"Aye Mios Dios...I'm so glad ADA Rios isn't here..." said Carlotta..

"I know right? She'd be vomiting all over the place." said Sirena as another body with no head was brought out next!

"A year ago that would've been me....Goddd...I 've never seen anything like this.."said Hop..

"That's okay partner...You're way beyond that now...You're a seasoned murder police."said Sirena to Hop...

They were Sissy's two newest detectives and had become more than just partners..but good friends in the process..

"Couldn't have happened to a sweeter bunch of guys..All three were stone cold killers."said Jimmy...

"I'll second that...These guys have been robbing banks and sticking up people for years..One of em killed an FBI agent last year. And two of them shot and critically wounded an armored car guard a few years back..Real sweethearts." said Duke..

"Geez, here comes the last one.." said Tyriq as the third body was brought out...It had no arms and no legs...

''Pretty powerful stuff you had in there Kevin.."laughed Tyriq..

Believe it or not ...I was mortified...I never meant for anybody to trip that alarm...and ironically enough..I was planning to deactivate that booby trapped safe and take those explosives out..

Sharon and several FBI agents walked up...

"Is Hazel here?" she asked...

Sissy and I pointed to Hazel ,who was busy talking to some M.E. officials..

"Well...This lessens our most wanted list." said Sharon wryly.....

"We've identified Levi Morgan, Floyd Carpenter and Jack Tanner...as the deceased...My god..We've got seperate bags with arms,legs and the heads..as well as the torsos...These will definitely be closed casket funerals."said Hazel...

Sissy,Carlotta, Sirena, Tyriq,Duke,Jimmy , Hop,Sharon and myself all nodded our heads in agreement.

"And we know Cyrus Tickle was here....That puts him at priority level...I want an all points bulletin out for him.."said Sharon to her agents ,who went scampering...

"Well Kevin..What is your next move?" asked Sissy...

"I'm calling my insurance company...My front windows and part of my living room was singed..but I'm sure that will all be taken care of.."I said.

"With a small child in your house...You might want to cool it on the booby trapped wall safes..."said Sissy, smiling..

"You're right...No more of that...I'll stick to silent alarms.."I said.

Sissy smiled..

"I feel so much better hearing you say that." she said.

"These guys are dead..But Tickle and at least two people still have Robert and Otis Teller somewhere...I've got to find them..."I said.

"Let us handle it...We 're on it.."she said.

I smiled...I said nothing...

Sissy hugged me...

"Where you stayin tonight friend?" she asked..

"I have a place to lay my head...and thank you Sissy." I said.

"Always ." she said..We hugged each other and I stood there and watched as the crowd and the police slowly began to disperse...

IV-

I went back to my office...This time I walked upstairs to my actual office at Morris Communications...There was another package with pretty wrapping on my desk.....I opened it...Inside was another zip drive...

I put it on my monitor....

There was Robert Foxworth ,blindfolded and sitting at a table....Next to him was Otis Teller..Someone had a gun aimed at their heads...He or she was wearing a black hood,a black sweater and black pants...

I heard a voice that was disguised electronically....

"Hello Mister Morris...It has been a long time... We have old business to take care of...If you want to see either of your friends alive again...You will deliver six million dollars to the address I send you in my next communication...This is not negotiable..
Six million dollars...or they both die...You've got twenty four hours...The clock is ticking...I need this money..I have plans for this money... Oh and by the way..Cute little trick at your house today..You saved me the trouble of disposing of those boobs myself.."

That was definitely Mr. Tickle....He was back...I knew that Sharon and her FBI and Sissy and her detectives were some of the best in the city...I trusted them completely..but Me and Mr. Tickle had history...

I knew him in a way that they didn't...And plus...I didn't have much time to waste...I fully knew that he'd kill Robert and Otis,especially Otis who he hated with a passion..Mr. Tickle was as crazy a man as I had ever met...

I had to find him,but most of all...I had to stop him..Once and for all...

Would I ever be rid of this pest?

(TO BE CONTINUED)