Picking the Bones

We were meeting at the tony new Brewery's outdoor cantina that had opened up near us...Our drinks had just arrived...Olivia and Bev had been in court today at a preliminary hearing for Frankie Everett, the young man they were repping who had been arrested and charged with the nearly two year old murder of mobster...Charles "Big Tuna" Davis..

Olivia looked very hopeful when she and Beverly arrived tonight...

Both of my girls looked extra sexy today....I smiled as Josie, our Office manager and I sat at the table we had reserved for them...

Beverly's boyfriend, Attorney Nelson East was also with them tonight when they walked over...

They were all very animated when they walked in sat down and began drinking their drinks..

"Hi Honey...Hi Josie..." said Olivia as she kissed me in between slurps of her drink...

"Mmmmm this is good." she said..

"So was that kiss."I said....Olivia looked at me and smiled sheepishly....

''D.R. I can't believe how easy this case is...We have a good shot at getting him off just on the fact that he was denied a speedy trial as is his right...It's been nearly two years..that he's been in jail..."said Beverly...

"Oh My God....I looked at the transcripts from their case...The Case Detective made so many mistakes...I'm surprised that this guy even got indicted....I could have gotten this guy released in my first year..." said Nelson...

"Thank you so much Donnie Ray for pulling the strings needed to get Frankie moved from CFC to Federal lock up...just in case...That scary associate of Manny Spain, June Carson was in court today and yesterday.." said Olivia..

"It helps when I have a friend who is the Deputy Special Agent in Charge of the FBI, Sharon Ferrell Hopkins-

and you have a friend who is the very popular Assistant District Attorney, Keith Wallace...

They were more than happy to do me a solid.." I said.

"And an assistant attorney with a dress on like that...The Judge nearly fell off the bench."laughed Nelson, looking at Beverly..

"Oh Hush up smarty...That was you drooling ,not the judge.." laughed Beverly, blushing..

She was saying a taste in that dress..both of them were...

 II-

 A round of Micro-Brews arrived..Olivia smiled...

 "We are all going to be good and soused before we leave here...Except for my husband...He's driving." she laughed...as did the others...

"Well before you guys get too toasted check this out...I thought it was weird that the three people we know were in that room....Ralph Cardon, Burt Haverford and Jennifer Logan all told the exact same story...Almost like it was rehearsed.....So I did some digging...Spain Or Somebody connected to Spain was blackmailing all of them..Including Mr. Byrd...."I said.

"Blackmailing them?" asked Beverly...

"Think about it Shortcake...It didn't occur to me until after Burt Haverford took a header off of his waterfront condo and we found those photos...And I have to say....It's brilliant when you think of it...
Spain or whoever could have hired a hitman...but then that would have left a money trail that sooner or later could have led to him...Why not get people to kill his hated enemy, who would do it for free....because they would have to??... Let's take Noah Byrd....Who was the one person who said that Frankie Everett killed Big Tuna....He's a three time loser....and a degenerate gambler who was 75K into June Carson...Who we know is Manny Spain's number two....Carson owned him...and by Carson owning him...Manny Spain owned him....Then two....Ralph Cardon, a former Army Ranger, Unemployed mechanic...Going through a nasty divorce...lost custody of his child, lost his house in the divorce and to top it off..was close to 100k in gambling debts himself...Again, owned by June Carson and thus Manny Spain."I said.

"Okay but Burt Haverford..."Mister Public" was not in debt and would never associate with riff raff like those people."said Olivia...

I smiled...

"Ahhh my pretty little legal eagle...are you forgetting those photos? Mr. Public was unknown to the public, not only gay, but into a lot of freaky activities.."I said.

"That's just putting it mildly..."said Beverly...

Josie and Nelson laughed...They had seen the photos we took from the scene...No need for the press to get ahold of them and ruin the man's reputation and legacy..We reasoned..

I sipped a micro brew and continued..

"Manny Spain finds out somehow or other about Mr. Public's not so public secret life and his true sexual orientation....He in effect owns Burt Haverford...He'll bend over and point in whichever direction they tell him...No pun intended ."I said.

Olivia and Beverly cracked up laughing...both women banged their fists on the table in hysterics....

"You two need to stop drinking right now..."I said..laughing at them laughing at me...

"Okay Donnie Ray...So say you're right..All of these people are owned by Spain and will do what he says..what about the girl? She was also in the room?" asked Nelson...

"Good Question counselor...and I did some digging...On the day he died...Jennifer Logan took a flight from Philadelphia to Atlanta....She stayed  in Atlanta for only two hours and was right back on her way to Philly and conveniently in the seat next to Big Tuna....Big Tuna likes the ladies and she's attractive and the next thing you know..She's in his room..for a few cocktails...and conversation.."I said.

"I'm thinking,it's for a little more than conversation and drinks."said Josie..

"Okayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?" said Beverly who high fived Josie...

"Oh definitely..."I said. "So...Ralph Cordon is in there fixing the air conditioner....Jessica is on his lap, keeping him comfortable and Burt Haverford comes to the door to welcome him to the city..

At this point..Big Tuna is suspicious...maybe just a little...But it's too late...Burt Haverford more than likely pulls the trigger and gives him three to the chest...killing him...The three co-conspirators get up and leave...They don't wipe the place clean of prints because they want it known they were there and they provide the perfect alibi for each other...

Frankie Everett has been given a mysterious call and told to meet with Big Tuna....He brings two guys ,who mysteriously vanish...He walks in on the aftermath of the murder and high tails it out of there....and is seen by our fourth conspirator....Mr. Byrd,who positively ID's him for detectives..." I said.

"That's a great story Donnie Ray...I mean it and I believe that that is exactly what happened..but how do I take that to court and prove it?" asked Olivia...

''Auntay...We may not even need to go that deep..We have a good chance of having him released with the fact that he was denied a speedy trial as is his constitutional right and all of the mistakes the Detective made...among them...No powder burns was found on the man's hands...No weapon was ever produced and the witness was a three time convicted criminal who has perjured himself several times before and there for unreliable and a known associate of both Manny Spain and June Carson."said Beverly...

"Shortcake is right...but believe me...They are afraid of something...June Carson has been to every hearing..And check this out....That girl's airline tickets were paid for by June Carson...Charged to his credit card...I have the records...Why would he pay for her to have a round trip ticket to Atlanta and why was she there for just two hours?" I asked..

"What's her connection to them? What are they holding over her?" asked Olivia..

"I don't know...I have her address..I'm going to ask her."I said.

III-

I called Jessica Logan the next day. Rather than me come to her apartment...She insisted on meeting me at Josies that night....

For one thing, neither Manny Spain or June Carson ever hung out in Josies...No chance of seeing either of them there, she said...

The plot thickens...I reasoned....

I sat in the back...I sat at a table  with the bones of some hot wings I had devoured lying across from me...I was picking the bones...That way..She'd know who I was...

She was an attractive woman... About my age...With long hair...brown skin and auburn streaks in her hair...She was dressed well and smelled great...

She sat down...I immediately wrapped all of those chicken bones up in a napkin and moved them away from the center of the table..

"What are you drinking?" I asked..

"A dry Martini..." she said...

I called the waitress and ordered a dry Martini for her and a beer for me..

She smiled..

"You a P.I.? " she asked...

"Yeah...I am.." I said..

"You work for that lawyer who's tryin to get Frankie Everett off don't you?" she asked..

"I do.."I said...."I'm also married to her.." I said.

She was surprised...

''She's cute...You lucked out...Not bad for you....Did you used to be a cop?" she asked.

"I did." I said.

" That was a good move for you...Marrying her, working for her...You ballin now.." she said.

"So how about you? You don't look like you're doing bad.." I said.

"I'm life insurance policy rich."she said.

I was shocked at her candor..

"What happened?" I asked..

She leaned over to whisper to me..

''Let me tell you a story."she said.

"I'm all ears doll." I said.

IV-

 "If you've done your homework you know I used to make porn movies...Out in Cali for a good part of my twenties...After I turned 30...the demand for me stopped and to tell you the truth...I was a little tired of it...So I came back North...I'm from New York....but I had burned all my bridges there...So I moved to Philly and took a lot of jobs in offices as an administrative assistant....office manager...what not..

I had a little problem....I was married...To a jerk of a guy named Dirk Smith....He was a former Porn Movie producer/director /manager...He too had burned out in Los Angelas and came here to live..We were seperated..I wanted a divorce...Only...He wouldn't divorce me...He wanted me to come back to California with him to try and start up our careers again...

I wasn't bout it...No more porn for me..

We were having a very violent argument in Stoleys One Night ....June Carson overheard us...He came up to me...and made me a proposition...

"I've been watchin you for a long time baby." he said.

"I know that...You aren't the subtle type." I said...

"You know...I could take care of that jerk of a husband of yours.."he said.

I was angry and I said...

"I'm sure you could...but your kind of help I don't need.."I said...I knew he was connected...Everybody knew that when Manny Spain spoke...June Carson's lips moved....Manny Spain had all of the corners in the area at the time..June Carson was his face on the street...

Three days later...Dirk's car exploded out on the highway...Dirk was incinerated...There wasn't much of the car left....nor Dirk...

I was astonished...and shocked...

June sat down next to me in the club.....

He smiled..

"I uh took care of your little problem for you.." he said.

I said-"I didn't ask you to do anything..."

He smiled and said..

"Relax....I see you had a one million dollar life insurance policy on him...."he said..

"He had one on me too..." I said.

"Sure might look funny...You know..Him dying in a suspicious car accident and you all of a sudden flush with cash....If I was you...I wouldn't cash that policy for awhile..It would uh look better, you know what I'm sayin?" he said..

I looked at him...

"You beast...you're a murderer.." I said..

"Maybe...but nobody is going to look my way....." he said.

"What do you want?" I asked...Realizing that he owned me now...

"Oh you know what I want baby...I been wantin it since you moved here...You been tellin me no.."he said.

"You disgust me...Is that all you want?" I asked...I thought he wanted my money...

"I don't need your money..." he said..

We went to a cheap hotel room....

"Ohhhh baby..I've been wantin this sooo long." he said..

I didn't...

He watched me undress....

He was shaking like a leaf....

He grabbed me and started kissing me roughly....The whole thing was rough....He was moaning,groaning and shaking...

"Can't you wait until I get my clothes off?" I said...

"No...I can't wait...ughhhhhhhhhhhh.."he moaned....I thought he was cumming right there on the spot...

He tossed me on the bed  like a rag doll and mounted me...and began kissing and slobbering all over me..I was so disgusted...I was so glad I made him use a condom..

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.......
yeah baby yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." he yelled...

Between him and that squeaky old bed...there was a lot of noise coming from that room...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.."he yelled....

And then after only about a half an hour...he came....He came hard.......and then the sucker put his thumb in his mouth and rolled over...and went to sleep..Imagine that!

"Ohhhh let me catch my breath....I want some more..." he said, but drifted off to sleep!

I got dressed and got the hell out of there...When I got home I showered for like an hour...He was disgusting...There was definitely not going to be a second time and I think he knew that...

I didn't hear from him again until a year later....He needed a favor...He gave me a round trip ticket to Atlanta and showed me a photo of a man ..He told me to get in good with the man and to come back here with him and go up to his room...He bought me some sexy lingerie and told me to wear it up under my clothes....He made me feel as if I didn't have a choice.

I thought they were pimping me out...I got undressed....I sat on the guys lap...

We're in the room and it's hot as hell..Next thing I know...Some guy comes in to fix the air conditioning... 

It's annoying the man because he clearly wants him to go so he can get in my panties...and then the door rings and it's Burt Haverford....and he pumps three slugs into Big Tuna's chest, killing him instantly....

He tells us that June Carson made him do it and for us all to get out of there and wait for further instructions...

Those instructions came from.......wait for it...Noah Byrd...he told us that June Carson said for us to go home and wait for his call...If the cops approached us...Tell them exactly what happened in that room..Minus Burt Haverford shooting the guy of course....

We did and we all walked away clean...

Later when I heard that Frankie Everett was arrested and charged...I felt bad...He didn't have nothin to do with it...He wasn't even there when it happened." she said.

 I looked at her...

"You knew who I was and what I wanted when you agreed to come here...Why did you tell me all of this?" I asked..

''Because I've wanted to unburden myself for two years...I've felt guilty about all of this...I know how you P.I.'s work...I know that you're probably wearing a wire...I also know you're a gentelman so I'm assuming you aren't working with the cops...You just want to help your wifey's case...So if she's listening..She can use this in court....My testimony....but I've already shipped my stuff to places unknown,except to me and after I leave here..I plan to disappear....I hope she can get Frankie Off..He's totally innocent and shouldn't have spent this long in jail." she said.

She stood up...She thanked me for the drinks and I watched her walk into the street...A car was waiting for her..She got in it and she and whoever drove off...She was right..I had been wearing a wire...I wasn't working with the police...

Olivia walked into Josies after she left....She smiled at me...

I looked at her..

''Did you get it?" I asked.

"Oh Every word...You were right." she said..

I pulled her to me and kissed her slowly and softly for close to ten minutes...

"Wow ,that was some kiss."said Olivia.

"You're some woman."I said smiling..

"I know...Let's go home Donnie Ray...And I'll uh show you how much woman I am and my appreciation for all you do for me." she said and winked......

That was the best idea I'd heard all night,I mused...




(CONCLUSION NEXT)