16 Shots

Early Morning in the spring in Philadelphia is perhaps my favorite time of the year.....but for someone....the man lying in the street near a development where new housing was being built..it was not...

You see the man is dead.....lying in a pool of his own blood....

This is my job, kind of sort of....I'm Assistant District Attorney Keith Wallace...I prosecute homicides...This was one of many...

 My wife, the beautiful Latina Homicide Detective, Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace called me to the scene...she doesn't always call me when she investigates a homicide...Just when it's a weird one...She knows I like the weird ones...

I passed two tumblers of coffee to Carlotta and Hazel, our forensic investigator...She ,Hazel and Detective Tyriq Pile, one of her partners were kneeling down examining the body....

It was a white male, about 40 or 41 years old...

"He was shot...and shot several times." said Carlotta..

"This looks like it was a crime of rage, of anger." said Hazel...

"Yeah...there is no pattern...the shots are everywhere, his sides, his legs, his chest...one shot to the head...That's probably the kill shot." said Detective Tyriq Pile..

My wife's other partner...Detective James "Jimmy"Barlow walked over to us ...he was with three uniformed
policemen...

"Your vic's name is Brian Thomas...He teaches math at Community College, sattelite campus.." said Jimmy..
"He's 47 years old." he said.

"That's three blocks from here...I attended there." said Carlotta.

''So what's he doing over here in this development..?"I asked..

"I can tell you that" came the melodiously sexy voice of their supervisor, Lt. Sissy Van Buren  and Detective Edwin "Duke " Baylor who drove up with two people...His wife and a teacher he worked with ..Samuel Rasulala.

"This is Dr. Samuel Rasulala...He worked with the deceased.." said Duke..

My wife Carlotta smiled wryly...

"Him I know quite well." she whispered to me...

"One of your old professors?" I asked..

"He was....and he wanted to be more than that...He must have asked me out seven or eight times....I never went out with him....He made me so uncomfortable..the way he was always staring at me and always insisting that I sit up front with him...I was sooo glad when my class with him was finished."she said.

"I'll bet you got an A...I know I would've given you an A." I said,looking at her salaciously....

"I got a B plus...I imagine it could have been an "A" if I had given him what he wanted..."she laughed...

Brian Thomas's wife Corrie walked over to the body and burst into tears..

"Oh My God...That's him....That's Brian...Who would've done a thing like this?" she cried as Sissy held her and comforted her...

"That's what we are going to try and find out......What was your husband doing out this late? Didn't he teach in the day time?" asked Sissy.

"I can answer that...He worked two shifts....He taught two classes in the day and another class at night...but that class ended at 9:30 pm."said Sam Rasulala...

"But time  of death is estimated at about midnight..Where was he in between 9:30 and midnight?" asked Tyriq...

"Well he and I went to Josies and had a couple of drinks....We left each other at around 11:00 pm...I uh ruh had a date with a young lady and I left him there at 11:00....That's the last time I saw him...And he was fine..He said he was on his way home."said Sam...He looked at Carlotta and did a double take...

"Sayyy,Don't I know you?" he asked ,smiling...

"Yes...Dr. Rasulala...I had one of your classes years ago...I used to sit in the front of the class."said Carlotta..

"Carlotta? Carlotta Rodriguez?? Administration of Justice major...You're a detective now? Wowwwwww!" he said.

"I'm Mrs.Carlotta Wallace now." she said showing him her wedding ring...

"Oh wowww...some lucky guy took you off the market eh?  Nice seeing you again...I mean really niceee seeing you again...my lord..." he exclaimed...Looking at her salaciously...

''So...You were saying.."said Carlotta...

"Yeah...I left at 11:00 pm with my lady friend and he said he'd see me in two days...He had some time off..and that was the last time I saw him." said Sam Rasulala...

"He called me at 11:15....He told me he was on his way home and that he was going to stop and get a sandwich and some coffee at a local WAWA and head home....That was the last time I heard from him."said his wife Corrie who showed Jimmy her phone.

''So if he called you at 11:15....Our timeline is about 45 minutes....because within that time he ran into his killer.."said Jimmy...

"But why was he down here? Was this a robbery???...Did his car break down?" I asked...It was about a block away from a Wawa.....and on the way to the expressway...

"It wasn't a robbery papi...We found his wallet on him with his three credit cards and a debit card and about $500.00 in cash in it."said Carlotta.

"Then this was personal.....There is no sign of his car being forced off the road...though there are tire impressions of another car right over here...Across the street."said Duke...

"Yeah like the killer set up over here or followed him.... I wonder if his car broke down?" asked Tyriq..

Jimmy put the key in the ignition and started the car up...

"No...His car is fine..,but when we got here the hood was up...Like he was looking at the engine..."said Jimmy.

Carlotta surveyed the area and found a tube sock lying near one of the buildings...

"Ouuu..look..a sock!" said Carlotta.

Jimmy and Sissy looked at her kind of funny..

''A sock?"They both said in unison...

"Yes...If you put a sock in the gas tank...When you start the car...the sock expands and shuts the car down..The killer may have run into him at WAWA and then put the sock in the gas tank... Then followed him....knowing the car was going to shut down within a few blocks and then killed him.."said Carlotta ,who motioned to a uniform officer to bag and tag the sock...

''What? Why do you look at me like that?  I grew up in Fishtown." she remarked...

Duke and Tyriq smiled and high fived each other....

"I knew this girl was special the first day I saw her..which was three days after she got promoted to Detective..."laughed Duke...

"And when you brought her over to Robbery-Homicide to work with me...I didn't think much of her at first...but she soon proved to be somethin else...Best partner I ever had.."laughed Tyriq with pride...

"She is indeed something else." laughed Sissy...

"We ready to move the body?" asked Hazel...

"Yes Hazel.." said Carlotta..

"There is no street cams around here yet....This is the perfect place for an ambush..I suspect our killer knew this..This was no random ambush...This was planned...I'll get a team together and see if there are any street cams in the blocks before this and ATM cams ..."said Tyriq...

"I'm gonna take some uniforms down to that Wawa and see if anybody saw anything...They're bound to have some store footage.." said Jimmy...

"I'll take some guys over to Josies and see if Gus or anybody saw anything." said Carlotta...

"You know where I'll be...At the M.E.'s office with Hazel." said Duke..

Sissy gave him the side eye...

"But of course..." she said and laughed...

"He's actually quite helpful sometimes..." laughed Hazel....

Sissy just laughed...

"I'm sure...Nothing like a man who enjoys his work." Laughed Sissy...

While Duke may have enjoyed his work....I knew and Tyriq knew that what he really enjoyed was being around Hazel's sexy body....

II-

While Carlotta,Jimmy and Tyriq were busy beginning their investigation of this murder...Within 24 hours...I found myself riding with Sissy and Duke into South Philadelphia to yet another homicide...

Unlike the last neighborhood ,this was a populated neighborhood of row homes...Detective Antonio "Hop" Hopkins met us as we pulled up..

"Good Morning Lieutenant!" said Hop who handed Sissy a tumbler of coffee...

"Ohhh Thank You Detective" said Sissy....

"There is two creams and four sugars...The way you like it Lieutenant Sissy." said Hop.

"See that??...Now there is a detective who is going places."laughed Sissy...

"Sirena is inside...We got an elderly man, about 70 years old...Shot eight times...The time was midnight...Nobody in the neighborhood heard a thing...We got guys on the ATM's ,Traffic Cams and street cams and we have uni's checking trash cans and dumpsters up to a five mile radius...and going door to door." said Hop..

"Good Work Hop." I said as we entered the row house..

Once inside...I saw Hazel and detective Sirena Pile, Tyriq's wife kneeling down looking at the body of the dead man...

"Hey guys...Our victim was identified as 70 year old Phillander Bostic....He was single..lived by himself."said Sirena...

"Home Invasion?" asked Duke...

"No...Look at what's here...Ipad dock....Computer, 50 inch curved Television screen...smartphone...and his wallet...filled with cash, credit cards and debit cards....Nothing was dis-arranged...so there was no struggle."said Sirena..

"No sign of forced entry..I think this man knew his killer..Let him in....I'm thinking around midnight..."said Hazel...

"Look at the gunshots...They are just like Carlotta's victim yesterday...Shot eight times...but they are all over the place...In the kneecaps..the sides...the chest and two in the head..."said Sissy...

''Anybody hear anything?"I asked...

"Talked to the neighbors...Nobody saw anything...but shortly after midnight...one neighbor heard two men arguing loudly and then a loud thump and the sound of something breaking and then nothing else..Another neighbor said her dog was barking very loudly and then howling...around 12:15 am ...."said Hop..

"This was rage...pure rage...Somebody was very angry..."said Sissy..

"The man was shot right here...There is a gunshot hole in his left hand...A defensive wound...He fell over on this coffee table and the legs broke and he landed on the floor..The killer then fired two shots in his head...The fatal shots." said Sirena...

"I think our killer used a silencer..." said Hop...

''My partner is right...Nobody heard any gunshots...just a little yelling and then a splat...a sign of something breaking...The card table.."said Sirena...

"Carlotta,Jimmy and your husband caught a murder yesterday...Halfway across town in which a man was shot 8 times just like this...but it was in an isolated area where there were no people and no cameras...They may not be related...but it was the same wild angry shooting patterns..."said Sissy...

"I'll get with Lotta when we get back...We are done here Haze." said Sirena..

"Okay guys...move the body out ."said Hazel....As her team put the body in a body bag and on a stretcher and wheeled it out of the house as a crowd of bystanders looked on.

III-

Detective Angela Belton-Barlow walked out of the office of Internal Affairs back at headquarters and was grabbed from behind and pulled into the electrical closet!!!....

She spun around and laughed ....

"Ohhhhh! Jimmy....You've got to stop this..."she said smiling...

"When you stop being so sexy cupcake...I'll stop."he said and pulled his wife of a few months to him and kissed her passionately....

Angie wanted to resist at first...but then she gave in and began kissing him passionately....

"Ummmmmmmm...Somebody is going to hear us.." she said, giggling and continuing to kiss him..

Jimmy spun her around and reached up under her skirt...

"Jimmy!! Come on..we are going to get caught..." she said trying to move his hands...

"I don't care at this point." he said..

"I know...You're horny...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..oh my goodness" she moaned...

He had slipped her panties down and pulled his zipper down and had entered her from behind...

"Ohhhhh my goodness...ouuuuuuuuuu lawd boy....ohhhhh..." she moaned as he thrusted into her...She laughed....and then moaned.."Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..goodnessss..."

''Shhhhhhh Ang...you're going to get us caught" said Jimmy as he continued to thrust inside of Angie..

He bent her over and began thrusting as though his life depended on it...

 "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...""Ohhh baby, give it to meeeeee....ummmmmmph..."she moaned silently....

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... Angie Angie......ouuuuuuuuuu, more, more... ohhhhhh..."he moaned..

"Jimmy...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."she moaned.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh gooooddddddd lawdd it's soooo goood...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh damnnn girl...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sweeeeet jesusssssssssss  ..arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.."he cried ...out!!"Morrre...Morreee....morrre...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. "

"Jimmy..ouuuuuu..Jimmy....OHHHHHHH. Jimmy I'm cumming...ohhhhh my goodness..ouuuuuuu!"she wailed...

 She was sweating profusely....So was he.....

"Ohhhhhhh,ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, here it comes...here it comes....ohhhhhhhhhhhh." he yelled...

"Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssss..ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, Jimmy!!!!" she yelled...


A hour went by...

Angie began easing backwards on him slowly...and moaning softly....

"Yessss baby...yesss sweet baby."she moaned..

Within seconds...Jimmy exploded....She was climaxing herself....and partially relieved..She wanted to hurry up and get out of here before they got caught...

Jimmy fixed his clothes and she pulled her panties up and straightened her dress out....

She turned and kissed him passionately for a few minutes...She eased out of their embrace...

"You alright?" she asked..

"I am now...I needed that." he said.

"You have just gotten so bold ,so aggressive with me since we got married."said Angie..."I LIKE IT!!!"she said surprisingly...and kissed him again for a few minutes..

"You do?" said Jimmy...

''Yes...It kind of turns me on...You just grabbing me and taking me like that...but I don't want to do it in the electrical closet again...Find someplace else..more isolated.."she said.

"Where?" he asked..

"You're a detective...find it." she said seductively and smiled and kissed him again......"Tell Siss and the guys I said Hi...and I'll see YOU ,when you get home ....mmmmmmmm!" she said and winked and kissed him one last time.

IV-

Jimmy walked into the conference room and tried to straighten his shirt.....and fix his hair...

Sissy and I looked at him...

''How's Angie?"asked Sissy...smiling wryly!

Jimmy turned as red as a beet...

Carlotta and Sharon, Hazel and Sirena all looked at him and smiled sheepishly...

Duke,Tyriq, Hop and I cracked up.....

"Face it Jimmy ......We've all been there." I said.

"Some of us are still there!!"laughed Duke...giving me the serious side eye...

Tyriq and Hop just smiled sheepishly...

I love this unit...


(TO BE CONTINUED)