By Hooker Or By Crook

PHILADELPHIA, SPRING 2040

 I woke up and noticed that Monica was already sitting up....She saw that I was awake and she smiled at me.

"Good Morning Mr. Talbert " she said smiling...

I sat up and smiled at her...

"Goooood Morning Mrs. Nellis.."I said laughing...

She leaned down and kissed me softly...

"Well not quite...but soon...Soon..." she said. "I didn't want to wake you up...I figured you'd be exhausted from last night....but uh not you...the energizer bunny..."she joked.. "Myyy goodness..." she said again and smiled...

We had been living upstairs in the new Duplex that her identical twin sister and our new coroner Dr.Monique Talbert had purchased for about two months now and we had also been engaged for two months too...

I was using a P.O. Box to get my mail.....My phone number hadn't changed....Monica and Monique were using the new address...but they hadn't told anybody....

My ex-wife, Nyla knew where we lived....In fact ,she and her soon to be husband and my son had been over and had had dinner with us....Had congratulated us on our engagement....Monica and Monique's parents had been over too...Outside of that..They were the only people who knew...

Detective Becker knew that Monica and Monique had moved and were living together, but he had no idea that I was living there too...

Amazing that he hadn't found that out yet...

Monica was openly wearing her engagement ring and surprisingly in a squad room full of detectives...No one had noticed it yet...

We decided..We were going to keep our engagement a secret until we had to reveal it.

II-

New things were happening in our Police Department...We got a new Deputy of Operations for one thing...A female...She relaxed a lot of the rules...One being about fraternization...For the first time , there was no pressure being put on office relationships....There could still be no outward Public Display of Affection,something Monica and I would really have to work on...But partners could now date as long as the relationship didn't conflict with investigations or the regular work flow....Same Sex partners could now be open...

Our Deputy of Operations herself was said to be in a relationship with a Captain.....

I wondered about partners getting married....

Monique came up to our floor...The monitor on our wall ,allowed us to see who our visitor was....

"You guys are dressed aren't you?" she said through the door..

"Oh come in and hush up smarty." said Monica as she let her sister in...using the remote control on her smartwatch...They hugged each other...and then Monique looked at me..

''Welll Mr. Nellis...I suppose you've read the new directive from the Deputy of Operations regarding relationships huh?  Real progressive....And lucky for you two.." she said.

I smiled and put my arms around Monica and kissed her cheek...

"Yeah...Means we don't have to hide anymore.."I said.

"News flash future brother in law...You two aren't hiding anything...EVERYBODY KNOWS you two have somethin goin on....Other detectives have asked me about you and Mo-Mo when they've come to the morgue...I just haven't said anything.. And the females have noticed Mo-Mo's ring....But people actually like you two ,they didn't want to see you two get in trouble..So they've been closed mouthed.How you think you're going to work in a room full of detectives and hide something like that?" said Monique ,laughing at us..

"Yeah,I've heard some people's thoughts...They know...I didn't want to get you upset Nate...How about the Lieutenant?? Does he know?" asked Monica..giving her sister the side eye...

"Why are you looking at me?How would I know if he knows?" asked Monique looking innocent...but fooling nobody...and blushing like crazy....

Both Monica and I gave her the side eye.....She blushed...

"Ohhhhh alright....Mo-Mo...get out of my head...Yes ,he kind of knows...He's using uh plausible deniability...but he saw the ring..and he uh asked me if Nate was living here...I wouldn't answer...but he said he knew already and that he didn't care as long as the two of you keep cracking cases..." said Monique.

''Wowwww future sister in law...That's a lot....You sure YOU aren't hiding a future relationship?" I asked..

Monique whispered in my ear...

"I don't tell your secrets...and you don't ask about mine.." she said and kissed me on the cheek.."Still love you, future brother in law.."

I smiled...

"Be careful Sis...Lieutenant Cotton has a girlfriend...and she's been dropping by the precinct a lot..."she said.

"Well, then he'd better stop coming by my office so much and calling me late at night...I'm not doing anything." she said..

"Yeah, both of you say that...You and your sister...."I remarked...

"You're just hot for my sister Nate, admit it...She doesn't have to do anything...Your eyes follow her around the room..We can't help it if we have good genes." she laughed and high fived her sister..

"Well, good genes or not..Let's all get dressed...We have to go to work." said Monica..

"Yeah...I don't want to miss breakfast today." I said.

Monica and Monique both gave me the side eye..

"Now we all know why you two missed it the past few days...You two was up here doin the nasty that's why.." said Monique..

"That's alright baby..."said Monica who gave me a soft kiss in the lips...

"Keep that up and yall gone miss breakfast again..."laughed Monique..

"Jealous sis?" laughed Monica..

"Hell yeah...I want some steady lovin too...New York is too far.." she said and we all laughed.

''You still seein that guy Sis?" asked Monica..

"Yeah..every now and then...We are uh friends with benefits." said Monique...

"Think it will ever be serious?" asked Monica..

"He isn't serious...I'd like it to be serious...but he's just not there yet...."said Monique...

"New York is quite a haul.."said Monica.

"Who you tellin? Long distance relationships are always difficult..I sure would like to be more uh local."she said.

III-

 I flew all of us first to breakfast at a tony new eatery and then to work....

We entered the squad room together like we always did and sat at our desks........

Monica thought to herself..

"I hope Nate is alright with people kind of knowing about us and not saying anything.."

To my surprise...I heard her thought...I didn't even realize it...I responded...

"I'm good with it...I'm kind of relieved really.."I said.

Monica's eyes lit up...

"Nate...I didn't say anything...but you heard my thoughts...." she said...

I whispered...

''Yeah...I guess I did.." I said and smiled..

"Then it's happened...I told you after we got really close to each other...you'd be able to hear my thoughts..It's strange isn't it?" she said...

''So I'm a telepath now like you?" I thought...Knowing she could hear me...

''No...you just will be able to hear some of my thoughts sometimes..My sister,Monique...She can hear my thoughts sometimes...Just mine...Me? I can hear everybody's thoughts...and believe me..that is no picnic...When I was in Professor Xavier's school for gifted(mutants) children...I learned how to cut all of that off.." she thought...

"This is soo cool being able to have a conversation without talking...So uhhhh do you uh have dirty thoughts about me...Like uhh,I sometimes have about you?" I asked in my head..

"Of course I do...Guess it's kind of boring for you now that you live with me....You used to wonder what color panties or bra I was wearing everyday and now you know...Not much else dirty for you to think..huh?"she said in her mind...

"No, I still think things ." I said...

"I know you do...." she thought and smiled...

Just then...the phone rang...I picked it up...

''Detective Nate Nellis...Homicide.."I said "Alright...We'll be there." I said.

''Somebody managed to get themselves killed right?" said Monica..

"Almost like you read my mind.." I laughed..

So Once again...The two of us were off and racing toward a crime scene...

IV-

Today we were in a sleazy transient hotel...the type of place foreigners just arriving in town who don't know any better stay for a few nights or people who only need the room for a few hours ,if you know what I mean stay....

The victim was a caucasian female, about 23 at the most....blond hair, blue eyes that in death were staring up at me...pretty, very attractive and wearing a pink mini skirt and matching pink shoes with stilletto heels...

 "Well , this one has her clothes on at least." I remarked...We had had a run of cases where the victim, male or female was usually found either nude or in their underwear...This wasn't the case...I put on my latex gloves,kneeled down next to my future sister in law, Monique ,who was already at the scene and looked at the body...

''She's been dead for at least 12 hours...which puts the time of death at around a little after midnight..and cause of death is a single gun shot wound to the right temple ,I'm guessing." she said as she lifted the head up and I observed the blood that had run out of the back of the head and on to the floor...

 "Hmmm, look at her nails...perfectly manicured....She wasn't a transient and her hair...this was a recently done hairdo...." said Monica...

 "What have we got guys?" asked Lieutenant Cotton...Monica and I looked up in surprise...He rarely came to a crime scene...

"White female...death by GSW to right temple lou." I said....

"Damn shame...such a young girl....And how are youuu Dr. Talbert?" he said smiling at Monique..

"Oh I'm just peachy today Lieutenant...and yourself?" said Monique grinning from ear to ear...

"The same...here...I brought you a tumbler of coffee...just the way you like it..Hazel nut creamer, three sugars.."he said laughing sheepishly...

"Oh thank you..." she laughed...winking at her sister.....

"You haven't bought me coffee since I was a rookie." said Monica ,pretending to be jealous...

"You got a man....That's his job..." he said looking at me...

"Sir?" I said.

"Oh hell detective knock it off...I know the deal...I know you two are together...I've suspected it for awhile now...and I don't care...Everybody knows...nobody cares and with the new directives sent down by the deputy ops...yall got it made in the shade as long as you maintain an air of professionalism ,which you two so far have managed to do.." he said....

Monica asked one of the officers...

''Anybody hear anything?"

"No detective...we asked everybody on the floor...nobody heard nothin."

''Silencer?? For a girl like this?" I asked.

''Well we don't know who she is..or rather was yet....Let me root around here...See if I find a purse or a phone or something." said Monica.

"I found a purse....and a phone...oh and a drivers license....Her name is....Skye Blue?" I said.

"Skye Blue?   That can't be a real name...Here's a phone...the sim card was taken out...it's dead....This drivers license is phony...as are these credit cards and debit cards......Just who is this chick..."

"I'll tell you who she is...she's a hooker...a who...are.." said a woman...

"Now Anna Mae...you don't know that..." said another man...

"The noise coming out of this room at night...Yes she was...a whoo ..are..." said the old woman..

Lt. Cotton was busy staring at Monique...Monica stared at him and she accidentally got a vision from his mind...of him pulling Monique's panties down and him thrusting into her wet ,warm center mightily...

She gasped....

''Oh My God...That's my sister you're thinking about like that" she thought...I heard the thought...I smiled..

She knew I'd heard her thoughts...She blushed a bit...

"The noise coming out of this room at night...Yes she was...a whoo ..are..." said the old woman named Anna mae..."Men moanin and groaning...and her just a cooin and meowin like a hot cat.....I tell you it was terrible." she said.

Monique laughed ,but turned her head away..

"Mam, can you describe any of the guys who came in here to see her?" asked Monica..

"That's the funny thing...I never seen none of em...Never seen anybody come in with her or leave ...but I sure heard em late at night.." she said.

''Aww Anna Mae..stop with your filthy gossip...You don't know what you're talkin about..." said the other man...

"Aww Lionel, you was sweet on her that's all..but didn't have the guts to ask her for some hoochie coo....Or was that you in there doin all that moanin?  Yeahhh that's what I thought...It wasn't you..." she spat..

''Awww Anna Mae hush up."said Lionel.

Monique held her head down and put her hand over her mouth....She was laughing so hard and trying to hide it that even I was laughing...

"Officer , get some men on the surveilience cameras in the elevators here and on the street cams, the traffic cams and the ATM cams in the area for a five mile radius and have your men talk to everybody on this floor and the adjoining floors.." said Monica..

''We're on it detective." he said.

"Lionel...I take it you knew Skye Blue.?" I said.

"Yeah we would talk...She only moved in here about six weeks ago...Sometimes she'd come in my room and sit on the bed and we would just talk.." he said.

"You still didn't ask her for no hoochie coo...She'd of gave ya some...She was givin them other men plenty." said Anna Mae..

Monique and Lt.Cotton walked into the hall, they were both cracking up at this point...

''Lionel ,I'm going to need to talk to you tomorrow..Where do you live?" I said..

"Right next door detective.." he said.

"Okay...I'll be back...Anything more here partner?" I asked..

"No, the crime scene investigation team is going to search for prints and DNA and luminol the walls and the floor....We can release the body." she said..

"You're the primary on this one babes?" I asked..

"No you can be the primary this time..."said Monica with a sweet smile...

We both looked outside the door at her sister and our Lieutenant who were laughing and giggling and talking quietly until his phone rung....

"Damn it!" he said ,looking at the phone...."Excuse me...I have to take this..."he said with consternation...

"Sis...you can release the body.." said Monica...

"Uh Okay..." she said..

Anna Mae looked us up and down...She looked at me and Monica...

"I can tell by the way you two talk to each other and look at each other that you two are doin the hoochie cooo...and that pretty boy over there on the phone wants to do the hoochie coo with you..." said Anna Mae...

Monique's mouth flew open- "Oh My Goddd!" she said and busted out laughing...

"Anna Mae..Go on back to your room and mind your business."said Lionel, shaking his head..

"I'm at a crime scene...A murder!  What do you mean what am I doing at a crime scene? I'm the Lieutenant of Homicide...that's my job...You need to stop being so suspicious...Do I call you at your job every minute??" he said on the phone..He was obviously talking to his girlfriend ,who always managed to call when he was near Monique...Almost like she knew where he was.

Monique waved at him as she and her staff got in their car and left and Monica and I left and pulled off..

V-

Later that night at home...That felt funny saying that...Monica and I sat in our bedroom watching television and talking..

"You know nothing about that girl said hooker...She wasn't dressed like one...and just didn't seem like one."I said.

"But Ms. Anna Mae heard sounds of men moaning and groaning..."said Monica..

"Yeah, but she never saw anybody...Nobody ever saw anybody...That bothers me..." I said.

"Maybe the cams will pick up somebody being snuck in..."said Monica..

"That Lionel fellow talked to her...He said she wasn't." I said.

"It's not like she would tell him that...Who would?" said Monica..

"Yeah, you're right.."I said.

"Lieutenant Cotton sure likes my sister...More than I thought....I caught him having a very naughty thought about her..."said Monica..

I laughed....

Is it like the naughty thought I'm having about you right now?" I said.

She looked at me and smiled seductively...

"'Worse...It's like the thoughts I'm having about you right now.."she said and began kissing me passionately..

It wasn't long before I was slipping her panties down and mounting her on top of the bed and slowly and gently entering her ...

''Ouuuuuuu...I'm liking this...Nate..ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.."she said as we slowly began to make love...

"I'm liking it too.."I said..."ummmmmph.."I moaned...

"ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.."she gushed..

The bed began to squeak a little bit and the headboard gently slammed against the wall...

Monique was a floor below us, slowly taking off her clothes and getting into a warm bath..........she closed her eyes and allowed herself to imagine herself in Lt. Cotton's arms, slowly embraced in a warm kiss...She smiled devilishly...

(TO BE CONTINUED)