Because Of Her

"That's the van that took her...and that's the guy...in the hoodie...We can't get a good look at his face..." said Mercedes...

We were at Police Headquarters looking at Street Cam Video...

"That's clearly not Minolo...So he's obviously working with somebody..." I said.

"We pinged her cell phone GPS signal...We think we have an idea of the general area where Carlotta might be.."said Mercedes....

''Detective Rodriguez...Uni's got a scope on that White Van..they located it..."said a uniformed police officer...

"You won't find any trace evidence...and wherever that phone is...You won't find Carlotta. He's not that stupid....He's very smart.." I said.

"It's all we have right now handsome...Who knows..Maybe he got sloppy."said Mercedes...

We found the van....It was halfway across town and it was bleached down...No prints and no DNA...Only one thing was found in it...A small green charm ankle bracelet that Carlotta had been wearing...He wanted me to find that!

We located Carlotta's phone too!  On the other side of town...It too had been wiped of prints and bleached down....

I checked it...There was a photo of Carlotta, she appeared to be asleep or unconscious ,lying across a huge brass bed...and Sentterro had his hand up under her skirt....He had a nasty grin on his face....This was to anger and frustrate me...It worked because I was furious...I wanted to ring his fat neck!!!

 Mercedes looked a little digusted at the photo...

"I never liked Minolo...Even when I was a little girl...now I like him even less.." she said.

"He's playing with us...Toying with us...We'll never get him this way...Playing his little game...We've got to take the game to him..."I said.

"I think I know a way...That guy..the guy who snatched Carlotta...I think I know him..and if he's who I think he is...Minolo just made his first mistake..."said Mercedes..

"Lead the way lady.." I said.

II-

San Juan was a big city...Not as big as Philly, but big enough as cities go...Mercedes, who was born and raised in Philadelphia ,knew her way around these streets like she had been born here...

Mercedes pulled her car up into a very beautiful villa...

I looked around...

"Who lives here?" I asked..

Mercedes smiled...

"A woman!" she said.

Inside...A man was in his boxers, kissing a young woman passionately...When Mercedes snapped several photos of the couple...

''HEYYYY, give me that thing!!" he yelled...Mercedes cooly pulled out her glock!

"Both of you had better back the hell up!" she said, just as cool as a cucumber...

''What do you want?" said the man...

"I know what you don't want Jorge....One...You don't want your wife to see these photos and I can speed dial her and send them to her right now and two you don't want to go back to prison...You just did 7 hard years in federal prison....Minolo won't be there to keep you safe this time...and you enjoy sex too much to go another seven without it....Kidnapping carries a life term.."she said.

"Kidnapping? I didn't kidnap no one!" he said.

"You kidnapped my cousin last night...We got you on the street and traffic cam....." she said.

"No you don't...my hoodie was covering my face."he blurted out...

"Did you hear that handsome???...He just put himself in..."she said...She was good...and he was stupid.

"Yeah..I heard him..." I said..

His whole demeanor changed....

"Look...It's Minolo...He's crazy...He's got this crazy hate for you man....and he's kind of sweet on your girl....My uncle wants him out of here...Look Mercedes...Detective Rodriguez...I'll tell you where he's got her...I will, please....just don't bust me...I-I-I can't go back to jail....I'll give you the location....But you gotta be careful...Where it is...He can look and see for miles...If he sees anything that looks like cops..He'll kill that girl.."he said.

"Oh the cops won't be coming....Just me..."I said dryly....

''And I'm going to have to detain you...Just until this over...To make sure you don't call him and warn him or your uncle doesn't.."said Mercedes...

"Awww come on...My Uncle wants him out of here just as bad as you guys do...After you visited him yesterday, a squad of FBI agents came a callin...My Uncle was furious!"he said..

"Or I can send these photos to your wife."she said..

"You don't have to do that...." he said.

He meekly came with us...

Once Jorge was detained...Mercedes looked at me..

"Keith, you're not really going to try and get him yourself are you??....He'll kill you and my cousin." she said.

"I got an idea..Just back my play." I said.

She smiled dreamily as if she were remembering someone...

"That's something he would say." she said. "Kevin....Kevin Morris, the private detective."she said and sighed...

"Yeah..he would ,wouldn't he?" I said smiling.

III-

Minolo Sentterro poured himself a glass of wine and watched as Carlotta awoke from a long sleep...

She looked around and upon seeing him was about to jump up...but he pulled out a small .40 pistol....

''Don't do that Carlotta!!!..I don't want to shoot you...At least not until your husband shows up." he said..He offered her a glass of wine..She refused...

''Do you remember when we were kids Carlotta...I came to your house with flowers...I asked you to go out on a date with me ? It took all week for me to get my nerve up to ask you to go out with me.." he said.

''You? The neighborhood bully!!! ...The junior enforcer for Vallie Diaz and his brother...Nervous?" Said Carlotta ,smiling in disbelief...

"Yeah..I know...You were the only person who could ever make me speechless and nervous..." he said smiling at her....She allowed herself to smile....

For that one short moment they weren't Detective and Fugitive...They were just two people who grew up in the same neighborhood...

''I remember...I had a cold that day...I didn't feel good."she said..

"You had that cold for a long long time...You didn't have a cold when Mickey Lolo came a calling did you?" he asked..."You didn't have a cold when, Keith Wallace came a calling...did you?" he snorted..

Carlotta looked at him with pity first,then with anger..

 "What is your point Minolo??..We were what? Fifteen? What is the point of bringing all of this old stuff up?That was years ago..."said Carlotta.

"The point is..I had a big crush on you Carlotta...I have wanted you for a long time Carlotta..A long time...I used to watch you from a distance on your way to school,with your sister Carmen and your cousin,Mercedes...With that Black girl, Sharon that you used to hang around with...and I always wanted you...I always wanted you to be my girl..."said Minolo Sentterro.

"Well I never wanted you...You were always a fat,loud mouthed bully...I was never interested in you." she said.

''You know,your boyfriend,Mickey Lolo was nothing, a nobody until he got with me...I put him on the street with his first package...It was me who introduced him to the Diaz Brothers..I helped him make his first bit of  real money..To buy that car that he sported you around in...Did you notice how his wardrobe improved?  He started dressing nicer, Had a few bucks in his pocket to take you to the movies,to buy you CD's ,To take you to the Sixers games ....To the Boyz II Men concert...That was me...All me."he said..

"So what?...Mickey Lolo was my boyfriend...the guy I liked...and he's dead now!!!...THAT WAS YOU TOO!" she said..

"That was just business Carlotta...just business...nothing personal....But what I feel for you, what I've always felt for you was real...I thought he was a fool to break up with you just because you became a cop...I came to you again remember?? And again, you rejected me...asked me how could I come on to you when I was supposed to be Mickey Lolo's friend..."he said...

"Yes...How wrong I was...You were never his friend... but then again...I told him that...So did my sister..He didn't listen to us and look what it got him."said Carlotta..

"I'll make you a deal Carlotta...You grant me this...and you have my word..I'll release you safe and sound and I won't kill your husband.." he said.

''What? What kind of deal?" asked Carlotta.

''Sleep with me!!  Sleep with me Carlotta!!!...Let me make sweet love to you..I have dreamed about it for years...Let me make love to you and this will all end.." he said..

"This will end?" she asked..

"Yes...it will end...no more contracts on you and your friends lives...No more nothing...I just want to feel your soft skin, to smell your fragrance....to run my hands up your legs....to taste you...to have your body entwined with mine .....ohhhhhhhhh.."he moaned just thinking about the prospect of making love to her..

Carlotta got nauseous just thinking about it...

"Never!!...I'm sorry Minolo...I just can not...I could never sleep with you...I couldn't kiss you ,let alone sleep with you..You make me nauseous..."she said...

He stood up....He slapped her face hard!

"Then your husband will die and you're going to watch it and that will be your punishment..Then I will shoot you.......Now How do you like that??? HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT???....PUNTA!!! WHORE!!!!" he said...

"You can call me all the names you want ,but it won't change a thing...I loved Mickey Lolo, not you...and I love Keith Wallace now...not you...and my husband beat you,outsmarted you and you can't deal with any of that."she said.

"WHYYY I OUGHTA..I OUGHTA SHOOT YOU RIGHT NOW!!!" he screamed...stomping his foot in frustration and kicking over a table....

''Then do it ! Shoot me you pig!!" said Carlotta angrilly!!!.

"I can't....I can't!!! ...I want to...but I can't....I've killed men for less...Far less...but I love you Carlotta....I've always loved you, ever since we were 15. I can't shoot you....But I can shoot your husband!!!....Him,I have no love for....I can kill him dead just like I killed Mickey LoLo...Now think hard.....Think very hard Carlotta... Let me kiss you,let me have you....let me make love to you...This all ends...I release you free and clear and we call it even..I'm out of your lives forever...I need to have you...I've dreamed of it for years...Your soft skin...your sweet lips...Ouuu...I have to have you...please Carlotta...I'm losing my mind just thinking about it....I've got to have it...I need you..please!" he said kissing her on the cheek...and rubbing her soft legs...Carlotta winced in disgust at him touching her , at smelling his hot funky breath on her skin....

"Not gonna happen Minolo...I'll take my chances."said Carlotta...trying to move away from him..

''Don't you want me Carlotta? Just a little bit baby?" he asked ,almost pleadingly...

"Not even a little bit Minolo.."she said.

"You are a very stubborn PUNTA!   YOU HAVE NO CHANCE...I'VE WON!!!..I HOLD ALL OF THE CARDS!!! CAN'T YOU SEE???....I WON THIS!!!....I WON THIS!!!! I'll kill him and make you watch and then I'll kill you too!!!....YOU MADE YOUR DECISION WHORE! ...WHORRRRRRRRRRE!!!"he yelled..Jumping up and down like a child and stomping his foot...He kicked over the table and tossed a chair at the wall....None of this intimidated Carlotta, which drove him even madder...

"I'd rather die than get close to you, you pig!" said Carlotta..

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHORE!  I CAN'T WAIT TO KILL YOUR HUSBAND!!! I'LL KILL HIM DEAD!!!!DAMN YOU...WHOREEEEEEEEEEE!" he yelled and stomped his foot in anger!!! He banged his head into the wall,which must have hurt...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" he moaned...He then kicked another chair!

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"he yelled...

Finally,he calmed down....He stared at Carlotta for a few minutes and calmly asked...

"Last chance Carlotta...Let's stop all of this name calling..Let's make sweet love...There is wine if you need to get relaxed...Let's make love...." he said...

"Go to Hell Minolo...The thought of making love to you makes me sick on my stomach!" she said.

He stood up and walked out of the room and locked the door. He stomped his foot and angrily kicked the door several times...

 ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! WHORE,WHORE,WHORE!!!!!!"he yelled in frustration...he rammed his head hard against the door....

"AGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!"he screamed out in pain...




IV-

I located the rooming house where Minolo was holding Carlotta....Mercedes got me a complete design of the street and layout of the house...I was surprised he was holding her prisoner on a crowded street like this...Hiding in plain sight...

I slipped down the driveway...I jimmied the lock...It was easy...Too easy! And I slipped in....

It was eerily quiet...I had a .40 caliber hidden in my waistband of my trousers..I could hear no sign of human co-habitation...I quietly walked up two flights of stairs and down a hallway...I smelled Carlotta's jazmine fragrance...She was either here or she had been here...I quietly crept down the hall..I should have pulled my pistol out..

Just as I got to the door,I heard his voice...

"You didn't wait for my call Mr. Wallace!!..You didn't play fair...I didn't suspect that you would!!!He cocked his pistol and put it to my head.. and marched me inside the room where Carlotta was tied to a chair...Bound and gagged....

''Look!!!...I got your wifey!!!... Hahahahahahahahahahahaha..What do you think of that? I might have failed to take out your friends in Philly, but I got you and your wifey...That's for damn sure...You picked the wrong time to take a vacation."he laughed...

I looked at Carlotta sitting in the chair,bound and gagged...I wanted to run towards her,but he hit me again and knocked me down...I went to lunge at him,but he stuck that .45 in my face...

"Try it..Just try it!!!.."he said.

"You coward...Put that gun down and I'll show you what kind of man I am.You may bully others ,but you have never scared me, you fat stack of crap." I said.

"HA!  You're no man...You're a punk from West Philly who got lucky....You aint in Carlotta's league.. You're not the man for her!!!"he snarled...

"And you are? That's a laugh.."I said...

He went to hit me again...I blocked him and wrestled him into the wall and punched him in his fat stomach...but he hit me in my head again and knocked me a few feet away...

He cocked his pistol...

"Look Carlotta...I'm getting the best of your precious loverboyyyy.."he snarled..

"Minolo Sentterro...King Rat!" I said derisively...

He smiled...

"You can call me what you wish because I'm going to kill both you and your whore...I was only waiting for you to get here...I knew you were coming..I knew Jorge would be weak,he always was weak...Nothing like his Uncle or Me...I knew you'd recognize him in the film footage and lean on him and he'd break...I wanted you here...so I could kill you both...Now give me that gun.."he said...

I passed him my .40...and he slugged me in the head ,knocking me down.....I went to lunge at him and he stuck his gun, a .45 in my face...

"Come onnnn, Give me a reason....I'm going to enjoy killing you..."he laughed....

''Enjoying this Minolo?" I asked wiping the blood from my mouth....

"Immensely."he said....

"I know you wanted me here....I let you lure me here...You don't think for one minute that Jorge fooled me do you Minolo? It was too easy...You had her snatched on a crowded street with street cam and witnesses...You allowed us to see the van and ping the cell tower locating her phone...you purposely didn't turn her GPS off....It was too easy...I knew you were playing me ,playing me ,like a deck of cards...So I let you lure me here...I had to let you lure me here so I could find her...And now I have....and your criminal career is over!" I said laughing at him...

"Oh really Mr. Wallace??...I have the gun on you!!! I have your wife tied up!!....If anything...YOUR CAREER IS OVER!" he snarled...and cocked his gun...

I laughed some more....

"What is so funny Keith Wallace? That you and your beloved Carlotta are seconds from death??" he asked..

"You know...All this time...I thought this was about me....Your hatred of me because I put you in jail..and it wasn't...It was about her!!!....All these years you've wanted her...You killed your number two man..Mickey Lolo...because he had her and you couldn't..You told everybody it was because he was a rat ,an informant...but that wasn't really why...It was because of her...He could talk to her, He made love to her, he sported her around the neighborhood and face it..She hated the sight of you....and you couldn't deal with that...That just rubbed you the wrong way..You see her again after all these years and she's with me...Married to me...Once again, you are reminded...reminded Minolo of what you can't have...You who took over the neighborhood..You who had everything...The drugs, the rackets,the whores, loan sharking,protection...Everything!!!  You couldn't have her and I guess that has been driving you crazy...Remember the day we confronted you in that bodega?" I said...

He remembered...It was three years ago, before Carlotta and I were married...We had only recently become an item...a couple..

We walked into that bodega in Fishtown and there sitting in a booth with one of his lieutenants and a very attractive young latina woman was the man himself.. Minolo"The King" Sentterro!!!  I called him King of the Rats!

When he saw us he broke into a huge smile!

"Pretty Carlotta and her fella..." he said. He had a toothy grin, a kilowat smile...

" Well Minolo...You had a good day today didn't you? she said.

"I don't know what you mean Detective." he said.

"She means that we are going to clear our desks of all of our pending cases and concentrate on you...and I guaruntee you that you're going down this time." I said.

He smiled then looked at Carlotta...
.
"Carlotta you have moved up...You started out with small fry like Mickey Lolo...Now you turn tricks for the ADA eh?" he laughed...

Carlotta slapped his face...His goon made a move to lunge toward her...I pulled my .38 smokeless...

"You don't want it like that pal. And speaking of Mickey Lolo...How's he doin?" I said.

"Him?  I wouldn't know." laughed Minolo Sentterro.

Carlotta laughed...Minolo looked at her and smiled...

"Relax....You cops, you lawmen, you always come around...You wave your guns, you make your threats...but you got nothin....nothin...Keith Wallace....Yes, I know you, I know who you are..How long you been tryin to put me in jail? Years....I'm not Jersey Sly...You'd do better sticking to serial killers or low level street dealers...You're good at putting them away...but me.??...You're not in my league...I give you credit..I never thought a punk like you could get Carlotta...She's definitely out of your league..but everybody gets lucky....You got lucky...Me??...I don't need no luck,I rule the world...Everybody wants to rule the world...but there can only be one king." he said and laughed.

I smiled...then I leaned down so he could hear me.

"Minolo, when I get you..When I take you down....I'm going to take you down right....By the book and all the way...You can make book on that. King Rat!" I said.

He laughed..."King Rat....is that what you call me? King Rat! Ha hah ha..You're a joke..I laugh because you're a joke...a joke that got lucky and snagged a fine woman from my neighborhood...A woman that shoulda been with me...hahahahahahahahaha."

The woman sitting with him snarled..."Heyyyyyyyyyy what am I chopped liver Minolo?"

"Of course not....but you aint in Carlotta's leauge, ,now shut up!!, Can't you see two men are talking?"he snapped.  The woman got up and stormed away.

"Havin Girl problems Minolo?...I feel sorry for you son...I got 99 problems...but...you know the rest." I laughed.

Carlotta laughed....

"My man aint no joke Minolo....So I'm going to say goodbye to you and I do mean goodbye." she said.

"Yeah right..You'll be saying hello to me a lot more." he snarled.

"I remember...Did you know..I offered myself to her...before you came...I said if she let me have her sexually...I would release her free and clear and not kill you...I would've done it too...The little whore hates me so much that she'd rather die and see you die rather than sleep with me.."He spat...

"That says a lot about how she really feels about you huh Minolo..?  See, I saw that nasty little photo you took on her phone of you running your hands up her dress while she was asleep....That's the only way you can touch her soft legs...but not me..I can kiss her anytime I feel like it...Take her clothes off..make love to her...That drives you crazy that you can't...doesn't it Minolo?" I laughed...


He was now in a rage...Just like I wanted him....


"I'VE HAD ENOUGH...ENOUGHHHHH!!!!TIME FOR YOU TO DIE!!! TIME FOR YOU TO DIE!!!YOU AND YOUR WHORE!!DIE!  DIE! DIE!!" HE SCREAMED!!!STOMPING HIS FOOT AND COCKING HIS GUN!!! "DIE !!! DIE!!! DIE!!!!!" he bellowed and kicked another chair over!!!


''No King Rat!!!...Time for you to die!!!....Nicky...Take the shot!" I said.


"Who is Nicky? Did you come here with somebody?" he asked...


A single shot broke the window and entered Minolo's chest, right above his heart and exited out of his back...He winced...


Blood poured out of him like a sive...


He stared at me in disbelief...


"I don't believe it....I've been shot!" he said....


He looked at me with pure hatred...

"Yes you have...Very good observation!" I said..

"You son of a bitch... You lousy son of a bitch ,You-You..You tricked me!!!...You didn't play fair...I hate you now..ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." he groaned and he fell to the floor  with a loud thud...all 400 pounds of him.. and knocked over the table and chair....blood still running like a river from his wound.......


I stared out the window...

Mercedes's boy friend...Detective Nick Munoz was in the apartment across the street with an M-16 Sniper rifle...He had fired one shot...That was all he needed...He gave me a thumbs up...

I leaned down and  felt Minolo's pulse...He was dead!!! His lifeless eyes were eerily staring at the ceiling! He would trouble us no more...

I untied Carlotta...I hugged her and kissed her passionately...


"I knew you would come for me papi..I knew you would save me." she said...


"Always..babes" I said as we continued to hungrily kiss each other...

Mercedes came into the room with several policemen...

She stared at Minolo's lifeless body on the floor....She frowned..

"He's looked better.....He could have used a diet of a few more salads....Less Burrittos."she said dryly....


She hugged Carlotta...

"I wasn't going to let old Minolo kill my favorite cousin...Don't you dare tell Carmen I said that." she said..

"I won't."laughed Carlotta...

Detective Munoz walked in...

"You guys okay?" he said..

"Oh yes...Much better than him." said Carlotta,looking at Minolo's lifeless body!

Carlotta and Mercedes kissed him on the cheek...I shook his hand...

''Thanks for saving my cousin Nicky.."said Mercedes...

"Thanks for saving my wife's life man.." I said...

"Just doin my job man."he said...

"Oh he is sooo modest and sexy.."said Mercedes...

"I am hungry...Let's all get some food and some drinks." said Carlotta...

''Best Idea I've heard all day."said Nicky..

"I'm down..How about you handsome?"said Mercedes...

''Are you kidding?Lead the way!"I said..

We all laughed as we walked out into the afternoon....

I stared as they brought Minolo's big portly body out of the building in a body bag....Ironically he was safer in prison...He had escaped and gotten himself and practically everybody he associated with killed..The King of Rats was dead..Long live the king!

EPILOUGE-!

In Philadelphia...Rocco Montana was convicted of seven counts of Conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison...Jimmy Malone, the shot caller and lone survivor of the hit squad that tried to take out Rico,Sirena,Hop,Soloman and Celeste was convicted of a single count of Conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Because he did help us get Minolo Sentterro...No charges were filed against Jorge and he was released...

His uncle, Crime Boss Manny Santana barely escaped being indicted because there was little to no proof that he had aided or housed Minolo Sentterro..but he is constantly watched by the FBI and local police...Something that irritates him to no end..

The Body of Minolo Sentterro laid in the morgue in San Juan for six months...No one claimed the body...Finally, his old friend, Manny Santana claimed the mummified remains and had them cremated...He went out on a boat and spread his ashes in the ocean...

"I told you your hatred and your lust for that man's wife  would be your undoing Minolo...You wouldn't listen...Rest well old friend!" he said..

 Carlotta and I enjoyed our last few nights in beautiful San Juan..

''You know...I've had a great time here with you and your family...but I'll be glad to go back home..See Sissy,Rico,Jimmy,Duke,Sirena, Hazel,Hop, Sharon..Angie...the whole gang.."I said.

''Me too papi..It was a great vacation...Too bad some of it got ruined by that mad man,Minolo Sennterro."she said.

"Yeah..Well he's dead now...He will never bother us or anybody again.."I said.

''What are you staring at?" she asked..

"You...You look good in that skirt..."I said.

"Thank you papi."she said..

''Good enough to drive a man to commit murder.."I said looking at her salaciously..

"That's not funny papi.."she said...As we held hands and walked into the San Juan night..