London Calling

JULY 2014-

The City of Camden ,New Jersey....Philadelphia's sister city...It sits right across the river from the city of Philadelphia...

Originally a suburban town with ferry service to Philadelphia, Camden evolved into its own city, as industry and neighborhoods grew. Camden prospered during strong periods of manufacturing demand and faced distress during periods of economic dislocation.

Like most American cities, Camden suffered from decline in the 20th century as the manufacturing base and many residents moved out to other locations. Currently, government, education, and health care are the three biggest employers in Camden; however, most employees commute to Philadelphia and live in nearby suburbs such as Cherry Hill. Revitalization has occurred along the Camden Waterfront and in the neighborhoods of Cooper Grant, Cramer Hill, and Fairview, with direct access to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

I had never been to Camden before....but today,I Donnie Ray Alexander, ex-Homicide detective, currently private investigator for my very lovely wife, Attorney Olivia Bennett-Alexander was driving  my wife across the Ben Franklin Bridge to Camden to the Camden Aquarium....Not for a romantic visit...Just the two of us type of thing...but rather to a secret meeting with a client..

Yes, I know it sounded strange...but he insisted that they meet and that she come alone...No way I was going to allow that...She'd be alone as far as he knew...but I'd be nearby listening...She had a micro GPS tracker in her purse...Loaned to me by fellow private investigator, Kevin Morris's ex-CIA operative friend,Peeping Tom...They both assurred  me that average attempts to detect it would fail...I didn't figure I was dealing with CIA types....so I wasn't worried about detection....

Olivia was also wearing a bra that contained a likewise micro listening device...Which I took great pleasure in installing and helping her put on....If you know what I mean..and I know you do....

"Donnie Ray I'm going to be just fine...I mean..I know this guy." she said.

"I know...but he wants to meet you in another city at the Aquarium and he tells you to come alone...That sounds kind of fishy...No pun intended.." I said.

Olivia looked at me and laughed and shook her head...

"I think you're being paranoid and over-protective...but it's cool..I like a man that makes a fuss over me..It's kind of sweet." she said and smiled..

I smiled and reached over and softly rubbed her hand.... I parked the car and watched her as she walked toward the aquarium...

II-

I watched Olivia from the sidelines as she walked ...Lawd that woman has a sexy walk.....to the outside of Camden's  Adventure Aquarium...She was there for three minutes when a white SUV drove by blocking my view...And just that fast ,Olivia was gone!!!

She wasn't far...She was actually inside the Aquarium with a white man...Her client...Lawrence Stevenson...An Attorney and also a Forensic Accountant who does financial autopsies of major corporations...

"Livy!  You still look great! How are you doin?  Heard you got married...Have your own law firm now and your little niece,Beverly is your partner in the firm....Talked her out of the Public Defender's office huh?" he said.

"More money and a chance at a partnership will do that for you..." laughed Olivia...

"Hahahaha...I know that's right..." he said.

''So Larry..Why so cloak and dagger? What is this about ?" asked Olivia..

"Olivia....I'm in trouble...Big trouble...I need your help..." he said.

"Larry , you could have stopped by my office or called or emailed me for that mater." said Olivia..

"Not for this..I couldn't chance this being on the phone or electronic media..."he said...

He passed Olivia an envelope...He looked around...

''Livy,put that in your purse...Listen to me...Lock this away in a place where only you know it is..Use a safe deposit box...Don't lock it up in your home or office...Tell no one about this..Not your husband, Not your niece...no one...The less people know...the better...If anything happens to me...Turn this over to U.S. Attorney Brendan Burns...You know him..." said Lawrence Stevenson..

''Yes...I know him quite well...Larry, what is this about?  You're scaring me." said Olivia..

He looked around again...

''As you know...I have had numerous dealings with both the Harris Group and Lock 15...both as their attorney and as their forensic accountant...Quite by accident I discovered that a powerful Senator..A Senator who has a shot at being on the Ways and Means committee got a huge donation from both The Harris Group and Lock 15.." he said.

"So? Corporations give money to political campaigns all the time.." said Olivia..

"This is different Livy, very different..This isn't some lobby...This isn't sanctioned by either group...And it's not for a run at office...It's to finance his campaign...This Senator had two operatives within both groups funneling him money ...."said Lawrence Stevenson.

"You mean stealing it."said Olivia.

"Exactly Livy!"he said.

''So you discovered that this money was illegally being funnelled to this Senator to fund his campaign without either group knowing or consenting.....Why didn't you bring this to the corporations attention?" asked Olivia..

"That's the thing...I was going to ...but I got a phone call telling me to stand down and to stop my investigation...A few days later ,my offices were broken into and all of my files pretaining to the money transfers were stolen...That's what's on the zip drive in your envelope...The account numbers that were compromised...The ip addresses of the computers where the money transfers occurred , photos taken of the two operatives inside both organizations who were responsible for this and enough information to bring this Senator down..I had recordings of him actually talking to these people and making the arrangement..They were also stolen..but it's all on the zip drive...My contact person knew about the existence of the zip drive...He was tortured and murdered...Which is how they know about the zip drive...My home was broken into recently and my office as well..I went to my safe deposit box and there is evidence that someone has been in that...I had to get this out of my person and put somewhere where they can't find it.." he said.

"I take it , this They you refer to is Oliver Miller's people right? If you have all of this ,why don't you take it to Brendon Burnside?" asked Olivia..

''Because I'm running out of time...My life is in danger...This guy...and I'm not going to give you his name...He's bigger than you might think and has resources at his disposal that you can't imagine Livy..has threatened my life...Remember I told you he had two operatives? Make that one... The man he had at the Harris Group, who talked to me and put me on to this in the first place is dead!!That's the man who I said was tortured and then murdered...I'm next.." he said.

''He's Dead?" asked Olivia..

''Yes...Dead..He was shot to death last month in Washington D.C....after having all of his fingers broken and cigarettes burned on his skin...He was visiting his girlfriend..No relation to this mess...His murder is unsolved...I got a call saying that I'm next.." he said.

''So what are you going to do?" asked Olivia..

"I'm going to disappear for awhile..Until I'm safe...This is my insurance ...This will keep me alive until I can come up with a plan...a plan that will work. A plan to take him down...They don't know about you...You haven't repped me in years...You are the perfect one to hide that envelope with that zip drive in it...Put it someplace safe...Tell no one.."he said.

He then placed another envelope in Olivia's hands...She opened it..it was filled with one hundred dollar bills...

''Larry...I-I-I" she said counting the money..

"Take the money Olivia....Consider it a late wedding present..For your time and trouble." he said and began walking away...

''Don't follow me.. Leave out the front...I'm leaving out the back....I'll be in touch...Bye Livy...Take care of yourself." he said..

III-

"I don't like this...Him getting you involved in this mess..."I said as I drove Olivia back across the bridge to Philadelphia....

"But...since you are involved and you uh kinda did get paid....We need to take some precautions.."I said.

''Donnie Ray!! It's three hundred thousand dollars in here.."said Olivia...her eyes lighting up..."I'm going to divide this three ways as evenly as possible.."she said.

I smiled...

"Not only are you sexy, you have a good heart as well...but look..as I was saying...since we are in this..How bout we make a copy of the information on here...Just in case...place this in one safe deposit box and place this somewhere else...Who ever these people are...They're good...They probably know about the existence of this...So it makes sense to have a back up copy." I said.

"The cop in you huh?  Okay...I'll go along with it...It does make sense..." she said.

''And we tell no one..Not Bev, Not Josie.." I said.

That night ,we placed the envelope with the Zip Drive in it ,in a Safe Deposit box...I then mailed the second copy to my sister in Monroe ,Louisiana...with instructions to put that in her safe deposit box and if anything happened to me and or Olivia, to mail it to the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Orleans...I assured her that we were both fine..but that this was just a precaution...

IV-

TODAY- SIX MONTHS LATER!

Beverly West, my wife's pretty little niece and also an attorney had a big smile on her face...She kissed me on the cheek as she entered the office of our law firm...

"You look happy...I take it you won your case?" I said as she put her briefcase down...

"Yes I did..got an acquittal on all charges, thanks to your brilliant investigative work...Thank you so much D.R." she said.

"Sorry I couldn't be there...I was in court with your auntay this morning.." I said.

''I know...Where is she anyway?" asked Beverly..

Just then, Olivia walked into the office...

''Heyy guys..How'd your case go?" she said, hugging her niece...

''I won.."she said..

"I won a nice settlement for my client too...but I had a boring civil case...I wish I'd had a juicy criminal case like you did." she said and gave me a nice juicy kiss that may have lingered a little longer than Beverly was comfortable with...

"Gee Donnie Ray,let Auntay take her coat off before you start pawing all over her.." joked Beverly...

"Heyy, she kissed me..." I protested...

''You missin Nelson?" asked Olivia.

''Yes...He and Chance Howard and Robert Foxworth have been in Miami for about a week working on that case...and I miss my baby...Face timing just aint gettin it...Chance's girlfriend, Anita Jenkins said the same thing this morning at breakfast.." said Beverly..

"Oh you ate at Mabel Jenkins Soul Food joint?" asked Olivia..

"Yes...They had Sweet Potato Pancakes that was to die for." said Beverly...

''Damnnn..I haven't had those since I left Louisiana." I said. "Let me know the next time you're goin Bev" I said.

''Yeah.." said Beverly...

Just then ,our office manager, Josie Boyd walked in...

"Ms. Livy, you have a long distance call...It's from London in the U.K.  I transferred it to your line.."she said.

"Okay ,thanks baby.."said Olivia..

''Who does Auntay know in the U.K.?" asked Beverly...

I shrugged my shoulders.. "Beats me" I said.

Olivia picked up her line...

"Olivia...it's me...Lawrence....Lawrence Stevenson..." he said.

''Oh Hi Lawrence..How are you?" she said.

"I need your help...I've been arrested and charged with murder!!!" he said.

"Murder?" asked Olivia..

Now both Bev and I were looking at her..

Olivia put the phone on speaker..

"I believe I'm going to need your help and your husband's expertise...Call my home office...They'll arrange for your transportation...I'm being framed...It's the man I told you about six months ago..he's making his move, he's cleaning up all loose ends..and Liv...I hope you put that thing we talked about somewhere safe...He or whoever he is working for may know about you.." he said.

"How is that?" asked Olivia..

''Several photos of you were found in the dead girl's flat...I'll explain when you all get here...I dearly need your help...I'll make it worth your while.." he said.

"Okay...Okay Larry...you're in luck...my roster seems to be clear for the next few weeks..."said Olivia..

"Thank you my dearest.." he said.

Bev and I looked at Olivia..

''Auntay..what is this about? Who do you know in London?" she asked.

"I know what this is about...I had forgotten all about this..I didn't think anything was going to come of it..I should have known it would." I said.

"D.R. what are you talking about?" said Beverly...

"Baby...I've got something that will take your mind off of Nelson for a minute...How would you like a mid winter vacation to London?" asked Olivia...

(TO BE CONTINUED)