Three Closed Cases

It was 7:30 am...Jai Peterson was the lone person sitting in the Airport Wine Bistro....She had one suitcase with her....a small one...She was sipping a glass of wine and awaiting her flight to Paris ,France....One way...

"Traveling light aren't you Ms. Peterson?" said Detective Tyriq Pile , who sat down next to her...

She looked Tyriq up and down and smiled... She found him very attractive for a man....but she was bewildered...She didn't know him...

"I like the way you lead in sir...I don't know you, but you already know my name...If I had more time here...I might give you my phone number..." she said ,smiling salaciously...

Tyriq surprisingly blushed a little bit...

"I think you'll have a little more time here than you know." he said.

"Oh?" she said ,now smiling.....

Just then ,Detective James Barlow sat down next to her...

"A little early for a drink wouldn't you say?" he said as he sat down next to her...

Now she was less than amused...She was beginning to suspect something....Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw someone she did know..Detective Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace and two uniformed policemen...

"Jai...Leaving mami...and you weren't going to even tell me goodbye." said Carlotta,smiling sweetly...

"You said you don't go that way." said Jai sarcastically..

"Oh I don't...but you're going my way....Jai Peterson...you're under arrest for the murder of Ericka Ford...You have the right to remain silent...Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law...You have a right to an attorney....if you can not afford an attorney, one will be made available to you...do you understand these rights as I am explaining them to you?" asked Carlotta.

"Ouuu you are sooooo sexy...I love your accent... and I think your partner here...is very attractive...You know...if I wasn't on my way to jail...The three of us...me,you and your partner here...could have an interesting time together..."she said looking at Tyriq and winking...Tyriq blushed..

"Stand up mam." he said and he handcuffed her.....She looked at Jimmy...

"I've never had a white boy before...but you'd be good for starters.."she said and smiled..Jimmy cracked up laughing....

"What's so funny...you don't cross race lines?" asked Jai...

"My wife is Black." said Jimmy...

"Ummmm hmmmmm, see, you look like you love that black good good...ummmm hmmmm." she laughed...Then looked at Carlotta..."And I love me some mocha latte every now and then too....Ouuuuuuuu."she cooed...

Carlotta smiled and shook her head...As murder suspects go...Jai Peterson was definitely amongst the most pleasent and entertaining.

II-

Although we all were still staying at our second base of operations...The Apartment complex we had nicknamed "Copland" All of us were working in the office today....Duke and I were preparing to go and pick up Wilton Jessup from Deleware to testify at the trial of Drug Kingpin, Amel Redding..when Carlotta,Tyriq,Jimmy and two uniforms walked into the office with murder suspect Jai Peterson...

''Well, looks like Top,Rico and Jimmy got their man or in this case, woman...and what a fine speciman of woman she is."said Duke checking out the shapely and attractive Jai Peterson.

"Yeah, but I hear she's just in to women." I said.

''Wow...that somehow makes her even more interesting."laughed Duke as we both shared a private laugh...

Carlotta ,upon seeing me walked over and gave me one her most softest, sesnsual kisses ever...

"Ummmmmm, I missed my honey bunny..."she said..

I whispered to her...

"It's a damn shame I have to drive to Deleware to pick up this mope...I would sure love to take you in one of these offices or downstairs and have you prove to me how much you miss me."I said..

"Ummm tonight...we'll have some time together..." she said laughing...

"Oh My goodness...no wonder you don't go that way...This is your husband....and your co-workers"said Jai Peterson looking from side to side at Duke,Tyriq and Jimmy and a few plain clothes cops...Ummmmmph." she said , smiling..

"So you guys got Ms. Peterson eh? Good Work." said Sissy....

Jai took one look at Sissy and pretended to faint...

"I'm in love.." she laughed....

Sissy looked perplexed....Carlotta whispered to her...

"Boss Lady, don't ask." she said smiling.

Inside the ''Fishbowl", the detectives name for the interrogation room, all fun and jokes ended...

Detective James "Jimmy"Barlow walked in with some files...Like his partner,Carlotta...He dropped them on the table and just sat down, saying nothing...

Detective Tyriq Pile was already in the room...

"Ms. Peterson..Do you want coffee? tea??  A breakfast sandwich?" he asked..

"Coffee...two creams, four sugars...Other than that..I'm good..reallllllllllllll good."she said smiling salaciously at Tyriq...

Carlotta walked in with a plastic bag....It had a pistol and a silencer in it...She dropped it on the table with a thud...

"That's yours....you half filed off the serial number....it has your prints on it and we got a ballistic match to the bullet that killed Ericka Ford...We found it in the storm drain , a few blocks from the murder where you tossed it." she said.

''We have Traffic cam video of your car leaving the scene of the crime just minutes after the gunshot,which was recorded...We got your plate number..."said Tyriq...

"And we know all about the insider trading you and Ericka were doing...buddy up with some unknowing dupe and get him to talk all about his business while in the throws of passion....You made a fortune...Only one of you was making a little more right? So what happened...Did Ericka threaten to tell? Did she want out?" said Jimmy...

"You don't understand....You would never understand...I was in love with Ericka....Ericka was the sexiest woman I ever knew...She could take you places in bed ..she could do things that drove both men and women wild....She had a playboy, a cock hound like Rollie Rollerson on his knees,crying for her not to leave him...She had meglo egomaniacal Stephen Bristol to the brink of suicide...and there were two others....What she could make those men do in the bed was something....I came up with the idea to get them to give her stock advice...Yes it was my idea and we were making money...big money....but I wasn't cheating her..I had set up dummy accounts for both of us in the Caymen Islands...you can check....Her pussy whipped fiance lied to her...told her that I was keeping all of the money...I wasn't....I had set us both up nicely...I swear.."said Jai Peterson..

"So what happened Jai.?" asked Carlotta..

"You just don't understand...First time Ericka kissed me....I was ready to come out of my panties right then and scream hallelujahhhhh! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!....I couldn't lose that...I couldn't lose her...She told me...She told me she was breaking up with me...That she was going back to her spineless fiance...I-I-I couldn't lose her....I couldn't.....I lost myself...All I had done..All we had been through...I couldn't lose that..."said Jai.

"So you shot her?" asked Carlotta...

Jai was quiet for what seemed like an eternity...Then she hung her head and said -"Yes"...Tears were streaming down her face now...All of the flirtatiousness, all of the swagger was gone...

She signed a confession and Two uniformed officers handcuffed her and led her out....

Sissy nodded....

"Good work guys....this case is down..."

Just then ,FBI Deputy Special Agent in charge ,Sharon Hopkins and Forensic Investigator, Hazel Baylor walked in...

"Siss, where is Duke?"asked Sharon...

''He and Keith went to Deleware to pick up Jessup.."said Sissy.

"I ran another check of the fingerprints and the DNA evidence from those panties and bras and the saliva on the envelopes and I got a hit."said Sharon...

"We didn't get a hit before because we were looking for criminals.. We went through the Federal database which keeps DNA and fingerprints from it's agents and employees on file too and one FBI Special Agent Kelly Dickerson turned up..."said Hazel..

"The woman from the airport who was swooning all over Duke???....Oh My God...It makes sense..."said Sissy.

''I called in a few favors...and well..It appears Agent Dickerson has been seeing a therapist for sometime now...She's been engaged three times and all three engagements have ended and ended badly...All three men have restraining orders out on her...She has deep abandonment issues..I don't think she's dangerous...but she has to be found.."said Sharon...

" Where is she staying?" asked Sissy..

''At the Marriot."said Hazel.

III-

 Sissy dispatched Detectives Sirena Pile and Tony Hopkins to the Marriott to bring her in..She hadn't actually committed a crime yet...but we wanted to talk to her...Sirena,Hop and three uniformed policemen got the Hotel manager to take them to the room.

Detective Tony Hopkins and three uniformed policemen entered the hallway....His partner, Detective Sirena Pile was already there...she pointed to the door...

"Agent Dickerson...This is Detectives Pile and Hopkins...Philly P.D.  Can we come in and talk to you?"asked Sirena...

There was no sound....

The Manager used a key card to open the door...

Once the door opened...the smell overwhelmed everybody...

"Oh hell, it smells like death in this piece."said Hop..

"Partner....I think it is...."said Sirena...

As Sirena, Hop and the three uniformed policemen entered...what they saw next astounded them...

Panties, Bras.....babydolls, thongs, dildos.....condoms were scattered about the floor and lying across the bed was the stiff ,nude and very dead body of FBI Special Agent, Kelly Dickerson....On her wall was large blown up photos of Duke, and the men she had been engaged to....along with drawings of penises and people making love....There were a number of porn magazines strewn about too...No suicide note...

Sirena called Sissy....

"Oh My God" was all Sissy would say when she arrived...

''No sign of any foul play...there is an empty bottle of barbituates on the table and from the funny color of the saliva around her mouth...She may have overdosed....I'll know more when I get her back to the morgue..Judging from lividity...She's been dead for close to 48 hours..."said Hazel....

Carlotta,Tyriq,Jimmy,Sirena and Hop stood by and watched...

They said nothing...They had never seen anything like this before in their lives...Sharon walked in kneeled down and looked at the body of her fellow agent..

"Suicide Hazel?" she asked..

"Can't say for sure...but that's what it looks like." said Hazel...

Sirena looked at Hop...

"We can release the body." he said.

They all watched as the body of Kelly Dickerson was removed from her hotel room...CSI people continued taking photos and dusting for prints...

IV-

Duke and I wouldn't hear about any of this for a few hours....We were busy ushering our witness into the courthouse...

We wisely stopped and parked three blocks away..Our plan was to bring him down the backstreets and to the back of the courthouse.

"You guys making sure I'm safe." said Jessup as we headed for the courthouse...

"You're alive aren't you?" I asked...

"You don't understand...He aint never been in prison before...this guy aint got so much as a parking ticket...He's scared to death to go...He'll stop at nothing to keep from going." said Jessup..

It was true...Amel Redding didn't have a juvie record and positively no arrests at all as an adult...To date this was the first time this guy had even been arrested...Which was why he was so hard to finally bring down..but Sissy,Duke,Tyriq, Carlotta,Jimmy,Sirena, Hop and Hazel with help from Sharon and the FBI had put together an incredible investigation and case against him and his entire organization....

Duke kept looking off into the distance...I wondered what he was looking at and then at the last minute...I saw what he saw....A bright shining light......

Both Duke and I looked at each other at the same time and said....

"GUN!!"

I dove and pushed Wilton Jessup down...Duke dove for cover and three successive shots went off...One hit a trash can, one shattered the wind shield of a car and the other broke the glass of an establishment near by...

"SEEE???? I told you..I told you..." said Wilton Jessup....frightened out of his wits......

"Stay down." I said...

Several uniformed police officers returned fire....The sniper fired back at them, forcing them to scatter...

Duke yelled...

"Keep him busy...I'm goin up...On my signal....let him have it..." he said...."One...two...three...okay guys....Light him up!" he said..

"DUKE!!!" I yelled.

"I got this counselor.."he said.

All at once...The police officers unloaded a fusilade of gunfire the sniper's way...Duke ran across the street and up the stairs of the building we were in....He was nearly winded when he got to the rooftop..

He counted and then kicked the door open to the roof...The startled sniper turned toward him but was too late..Duke shot him seven times with his glock....

The sniper dropped his rifle and fell off the roof, crashing into the top of what we were to find out was his car.....

The dead sniper was identified as 29 year old Claude Mason, a recently discharged marine with a history of mental problems....

Weeks later we would find out that some money had been transferred to an offshore account in his name by one of the lawyers for Amel Redding....Not his main attorney.....

That lawyer was found...dead!!!...an apparent suicide in his home...It looked suspicious to me...

Angered that it appeared that his former partner, Amel Redding had tried to have him hit...Wilton Jessup talked long and colorfully about Amel Redding's crimes...

The Jury came back with a verdict of death by lethal injection for nine murders and conspiracy in five contract killings....He was less than pleased...

"Jessup...youse a lousy stinkin rat...Watch your back in the joint...Where ever you go...My word will find you...Where ever you go...I can't go to jail...I cant!!!!  I can't die...arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh noooooooooooooooo..lawd jesus help me...Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" he screamed, stomping his foot and jumping up and down like a child despite the judge warning him against it....

The bailifs had to drag him out of the courtroom kicking and screaming..Eventually he had to be sedated....

Wilton Jessup was given Life no parole and sent to a Federal Prison in California with a new name and identity as promised...No way Amel Redding could get to him....and Redding went to Death Row ,where he is on suicide watch....Thus ending his short deadly reign on the streets of West Philadelphia.

''We got him boss"said Duke at the end of the trial...

"You guys got him....And that was why I put this team together...To take down high profile criminals.....You guys haven't failed me yet...."I said smiling..."Come on Duke...Let's go home."I said putting my arm on his shoulder....It had been a long couple of weeks..I was glad all three of these crazy cases was over!

EPILOUGE-

All three of our cases had come to a close....Jai Peterson was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10-15 years.....She deserved more....

Everything was over...but it was Friday night....Sissy and I both decided to finish the weekend out and then return to our homes...All of us were too tired to go out...So we just decided to hang out...When Duke and I got there we found Eddie C. , Sissy's husband, Tyriq, Jimmy and Hop manning grills....filled with Hamburgers, Cheeseburgers, Hot Dogs, Hot Sausages  and what not...

My wife Carlotta and Sharon were preparing tacos at another table....

"Mmmmmm looks good everybody....." I said.

Sirena, Hazel ,Angie and Sissy were setting up another table with Sodas and Beers on it...

I stood smiling thinking about how long I'd known most of these people and how much they had enriched my life and career...They were more than just co-workers and friends...They were family...

Hazel walked over to Duke and kissed him softly....

''It's all over babe.. We caught the murderer...Your stalker is dead and you guys got a conviction on Redding....We can all relax until the next big case.." laughed Hazel..

"Yeah baby..." said Duke...

"And the only one coming out of their panties for you is going to me." she said and kissed him softly again...

Duke smiled...

"That goes without saying." laughed Duke slyly....



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