Bad Girlz

I am Assistant District Attorney, Keith Wallace...I prosecute homicides amongst other things....I don't usually show up at every homicide...believe it or not...I'm a busy man...despite being married to a very beautiful and sexy Latina Homicide Detective named Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace, who I will use almost any excuse to spend time with....

Tonight was difference...I got a call from her and from another Detective I had worked closely with over the years.... The Sergeant over at Robbery-Homicide and my wife's former supervisor...Detective Sgt. Danny Ho...

Due to the fact that I got calls from both of them...I knew that this was different...Not your run of the mill Homicide...

I liked this..

 I arrived at the brightly lit Highrise Apartment complex with my friends, Lt. Sissy Van Buren and Detective Edwin "Duke" Baylor..

A uniformed police officer led the three of us to the crime scene..

 Upon entering the scene...I saw a white male, about my age...lying face down in the middle of the room with two neat bullet holes in the back of his head and a stream of blood running from his head to the hallway and blood splattered on the wall of the condo....His safe was wide open and empty....

My wife, Detective Carlotta Rodriguez -Wallace had on latex gloves and was observing the body ,along with her partners, Detectives Tyriq Pile and James Barlow and Forensic Investigator,Dr. Hazel Baylor...Duke's wife..

Upon seeing me...Carlotta got up ,walked over to me and planted a soft kiss on my lips...To both her surprise and mine...I blushed like crazy...She smiled....

"Hiiiii Honey-Bunny....Look what we caught..a real bad one." she said...

"Looks like old boy walked in on his place being looted and he got shot..."said Tyriq...

"He got shot from behind....So I'm guessing it was more people at this party than just the jewel thief.." said Jimmy...

"Anybody see or hear anything?" asked Duke...

"I have uniforms on that now...So far..Nobody heard or saw a thing!" said Detective Sirena Pile...

"Two gunshot wounds to the head was the cause of death....Doesn't look like there was much of a struggle here...Whenever you're ready...We can release the body." said Hazel...

C.S.I guys were going over the condo with a fine tooth comb and crime scene photographers were finishing up taking photos of the crime scene...

"Long time no see Keith, Sissy." came a very familiar voice.... Detective Sgt. Danny Ho of Robbery-Homicide.

"Hey Danny"said Sissy ,who hugged him warmly...

''Sissy, you get prettier everytime I see you." said Danny Ho...

"Ouuuuu...I'm going to get you your Lieutenant's bars...right now..."she  joked..

"So Danny...What brings you here?" I asked..

"Look...This safe has been blown...This is the 12th of this type of robbery in the past six weeks...These guys are good..They override the security systems...the get inside...the blow the safe and they are out..Like ghosts...Shadow and glass...I've been on these guys for six weeks...We've turned this city upside down looking for this crew...I got my best man on this...He's not here right now..Anyway...We got lucky....The last spot this crew hit...We caught em on the traffic cam and the ATM cam in the area...They had back up systems that they didn't know about...and we found out that these "guys " are girls..."he said.

"Girls?" said Carlotta...

''And they're a new crew...Nobody on the street seems to know them.."he said.

Detective Hopkins arrived with three uniforms just at that moment...

"I caught a break guys...I found a witness that gave me a plate number for the getaway car and we may have snapped a photo of this crew on the ATM camera at the WAWA down the street." said Hop...

"Good Work Hop." said Sissy smiling like a proud mother...

"Siss...I know you're wondering why I called you guys...Up until now these three girls were just blowing safes and stealing high end jewelry...But now we have a murder...Your victim here is a very high end and well connected jeweler...Rumored to connected to the Secreto crime family..."said Danny Ho.

"You think Tony Secreto is mixed up in this?.." asked Sirena..

"No...These are cowboys and this is a real new crew...Your guy here...His name is Vince Gilligan is not a made guy....just an associate..someone Secreto may have done business with from time to time..I doubt if he cares that much."said Danny Ho.

"Well we 've got a murder and I suppose you want us to help you with this crew?" said Sissy, tongue in cheek...

"I could use the help Siss..I've got a bunch of rookie detectives now ....and none of them have the expertise of your guys...Two of who used to be my very best detectives.."he said looking at Tyriq and Carlotta..

They both smiled sheepishly...

"Okay...Chica,Rico, Jimmy,Duke and Sirena...you guys work on identifying this crew...Hop, you and I will work this murder..." said Sissy...

''Already on it."said Hop.

''And as usual Danny..we'll run everything through you and your detective."I said..

"His name is Ray Slaughter....Not the most personable guy, but he's good...He 's got a high closure record for me...I'm surprised he's not here tonight." said Danny Ho...

The Van from the M.E.'s office arrived...

"Can we release the body?" asked Hazel...

"Yeah release the body.."said Hop...

"Look at my partner...Acting like a primary." said Hop's partner...Detective Sirena Pile..smiling...

We all watched what was now a very familiar sight...a dead body being put in a bag , a bag that was zippered up and put on a stretcher and moved down the hall....

Carlotta and I stayed behind and watched from the rooftop as the body of our victim was loaded into the van...In the coming days or however long it took us to find his killer..We would get to know the dead victim as though he was our friend...We would be speaking for him...His advocate in a sense..

"It's a lovely night Honey Bunny.."said Carlotta...

"It is.."I said Smiling, staring over the side of the building..

A cool breeze blew past us...We turned towards each other and began kissing passionately...Far from the eyes of everyone ,who were now on the street...

II-

The next day, I went with my wife, Carlotta,Tyriq and Jimmy over to Robbery-Homicide to meet with Detective Ray Slaughter, Danny Ho's Point man on the case...

''Aye caramba...This place hasn't changed a bit since we left Rico...Same dull green walls,same drab desks.." said Carlotta..

"Same smell of bad coffee too."said Tyriq...

"I remember coming over here to see you Carlotta...When I was in Narcotics...Remember when we worked that "Roadrunner "case?" said Jimmy...

"Oh yeah..I remember."laughed Carlotta..

Ray Slaughter's desk had a newspaper....It was turned to the sports section...A half eaten sandwich and a cold cup of coffee...His badge and his glock in full view...Something Sissy's detectives never did...

Ray Slaughter was the stereotypical Television detective...Dark brown rumpled suit..
Tie untied...Wrinkled shirt....Toothpick in the side of his mouth....and Pork Pie hat...

As Danny Ho had told us..Not the most personable of people..

"What can I do for you?" he said dryly....

"I am Detective Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace and these are my partners, Detective Tyriq Pile and Jimmy Barlow..We are from C.I.D...Tyriq and I used to work here in Robbery-Homicide.."said Carlotta nervously and smiling sweetly...

Ray Slaugheter was not impressed...He looked her up and down, but said nothing...

''Detective Tyriq Pile man.."said Tyriq who offered his hand for a handshake. Ray Slaughter looked at him like he was dirt,but did not offer his hand...

"What do you want?  Hey whats up Jimmy? I remember you...From Narcotics right?" he said looking at Jimmy...

"Yeah man...As my partner said..We are from C.I.D. We are here to work with you on this new stick up crew who have been taking down high end scores...We believe it's three girls..."said Jimmy..

"Yeah Sarge told me you guys might be coming over...but uh..I got it covered...."he said.

"You got it covered? It's been six weeks and they've hit twelve joints and now they've killed somebody...That doesn't sound like you've got anything covered...You don't even have the names of the girls in this crew..."said Tyriq.

He looked at Tyriq and smiled...

"What I've got is probably more information than you bozos got.."he said snidely...

Tyriq smiled...And knowing Tyriq like I knew him..When he smiled like that...Somebody was in trouble...Carlotta tried to smooth the situation out..

"Look, we understand that it's your case..and we are not here to step on your toes..We are here to help ,to work together...We are all cops..We all want the same thing..To catch these girls before they rob again and kill again.."said Carlotta..

He laughed and looked at her again and then in a phony spanish accent he said...

"Si Senorita..We are all cops and we want the same thing...and I assure you...I'll catch these girls before they kill again esse'."he said and laughed again..

Carlotta smiled and then got in his face...

"Are you making fun of me..gringo? "she said, still smiling...but very angry..I could tell....

I cracked up laughing...

"Detective Slaughter...Here is how it's going to go...You're going to share your case files with these detectives....If you don't...I'll talk to your Sergeant, who sent us over here in the first place...If that doesn't work...I know a Lieutenant and a Captain who might change your mind...and if you disrespect my wife again...I'll see to it that your dentist is in a whole new tax bracket."I said.

He smiled, but he didn't budge...

"So that's your wife eh?  Not bad....Nice looking broad....I imagine the perks she gets are wonderful...Pretty good for you too eh? You don't scare me ADA..I know some people in high places too..This is my case....I'll work with Jimmy,cause I know him....but your wife and uh Pile...Uh-Uh...I don't know them and you know what they say...Too many cops spoil the case..Heh heh heh..."he laughed...

"Ray, you're still an asshole..You aint changed a bit since Narcotics...Come on guys...Screw him...We'll work this case on our own..We'll start from scratch and we'll probably crack it before you do.."said Jimmy...

"Be my guest...but I doubt it.."he laughed...

"Nice meeting you Slaughter."said Tyriq sarcastically...

"Byeeee Gringo!" said Carlotta with biting sarcasm....

He looked at her and laughed...

"Happy hunting hotshots.."he laughed....

III-

Duke was waiting for us with Chinese take out when we got back to headquarters...
He smiled when he saw us...

"I take it you met the delightful Detective Ray Slaughter huh?" he said..

"Yeah,he's a real sweetheart."said Tyriq...

"I thought Tyriq was going to cut him for a minute."I said.

"He should have!  I had the pleasure of uh working a case with him once...racist and sexist...ouuuu,I was so glad when that case was over...He and I almost came to blows..Remember Duke?" said Sirena..

"Yeah ,I remember...Man, that guy is so over the top, Cantrell had to reign him in. He's a brilliant detective but an ego-maniac and just over all, nasty....He 's had six partners and all six of them asked for transfers..."said Duke..

"Let's act as though he was never on the case and work it ourselves.."said Jimmy...

"That's the best route to go...We've already wasted time with that fool...Let's just do what we do...We'll probably crack the case before he does anyway."said Duke...

"Where is boss lady?" asked Carlotta...

"She and my partner are out working the murder..."said Sirena...

"Okay..Top..Me ,you and Junior will tackle this way we used to tackle a case...Look at all of the past crime scenes...Take photos....Get the crime scene photos off of the police web...Talk to C.S.I. and Crime scene photographers...They always keep copies of their work..."said Tyriq..

"Me and Sirena here will co-ordinate with Sharon and see if we can get anything off of the Traffic cams, ATM cams and Street cams around all of the scenes.. We'll shake down our C.I.'s on the street...See what the word is on this crew..and compare notes with you guys at the end of the day..."said Duke..

"What about the murder?" I asked...

"Well Boss Lady and my partner will definitely share with us...and maybe asshole over in Robbery -Homicide will come around to our way of thinking."said Sirena...

"Don't bet on it ..He wants to be the big hero and crack the case by himself.."said Carlotta...

"This has a Lieutenant Traggish feeling to it..."I joked...

"Please...Don't bring him up...Let him stay out at sea."said Carlotta..

We all busted out laughing.....

(TO BE CONTINUED)