A Double Cross To Bear

"You ever been in Patterson before Sepia?" I asked as we headed up the interstate towards the North Jersey town...

"Are you kidding?  I've been here lots of times." said Sepia, who was driving...I was sitting up front next to her.....

Kool Kat had brought tumblers of coffee for him and Bonnie Shay and pastries...

"Oh thank you Mister Jones..."she giggled like a high school girl with a crush...Sepia and I both noticed it...

He subtlely ran his hands up her shapely legs... she smiled...but she didn't move his hand at all...He slowly moved his hand up her dress...She didn't move his hand...He palmed her soft behind and rubbed it softly....She looked at him and smiled sheepishly....She eventually did move his hand though...She was surprisingly sweating....She sighed.. He laughed...

''I thought you were a Philly girl Mrs. Morris."said Bonnie Shay ,who slyly eased Kool Kat's hand from under her dress again...She looked at him and smiled sheepishly...He smiled at her but decided to stop being touchy feely...Neither of them was in any position to get all hot and bothered...

"Nah...We adopted her...She aint really one of us." joked Kool Kat.

"Oh hush up Walter....I moved here several years ago and I met Kevin..We got married and the rest is as they say history..."said Sepia..

''So where exactly are you from?" asked Bonnie Shay.

"West Orange...Which is not far from where we are going?" said Sepia..

''You ever go back to visit? Don't you have family there?"asked Bonnie..

"My Father is dead and my mother no longer lives there...She lives in Upstate Pennsylvania...And I'm an only child...."said Sepia...

I smiled at the reference to her mother's living arrangement.

"No cousins?" asked Bonnie Shay...

"My cousins live in Philly....You may know them...Mabel Jenkins-Moore, Corrie Hamilton, Anita Jenkins, Victoria Weatherford."said Sepia...

"YES!!!...They run the soul food bistro...I know them quite well...They're your cousins? Wow...So you live around family in Philly....That's good...And I guess in the years since you've been married to Mr. Kevin, you've made new friends..."said Bonnie.

''Sure have...Sooo many friends..And in my business....Selling homes...I continue to make friends...How about you? You from Philly?" asked Sepia..

"Born and Raised here...I went to Temple...and then lived in new York for awhile....I'm a Lawyer by vocation...Got my J.D. from NYU...I practiced law in New York City for awhile..Then I got an MBA...and went into Accounting...I got married for awhile, then divorced and then I returned to Philly and got into Insurance Investigation...I'm looking for a residence in your area...perhaps we could talk after this is all over.."said Bonnie.

"Sure! See...I just made a new friend."joked Sepia..

"Yes you did!!!Your area has everything...Two shopping centers with every store imaginable....Nice playground, several condos and apartment complexes and nice clubs....Looks like my kinda place."she said..

"When I first moved out here...This area was a dump."I said...but within the past decade,it really turned around..."I said.

"Kevin always had a good eye for seeing the coming trends."said Kool Kat...

''You two known each other a long time?"asked Bonnie Shay...

''Since we were what? Eight huh Kools?" I laughed.

"Yeah...might have been 7 or 8..." laughed Kool Kat...

It was light banter ,light banter for a job that we wanted to wrap up and wrap up fast.

II-

 I had been to Patterson, New Jersey a few years before...on another case and with my good friend, Lt. Sissy Van Buren...I had returned to Patterson , a few years later on yet another case involving my friend, Ralph Scallion...and here I was up here again on yet another case...

Amazing...I had not one relative or friend in Patterson and no real reason to come to this city...and ironically, three different cases had brought me here...

Patterson , New Jersey is the largest city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States in the New York City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third-most-populous city^.

  The Census Bureau estimated a 2014 population of 146,753,  Paterson is known as the "Silk City" for its dominant role in silk production during the latter half of the 19th century.

The city has since evolved into a major destination for Hispanic and Latino emigrants as well as for immigrants from the Arab and Muslim world. It has the second-largest Muslim population in the United States...

We found a Motel outside of Patterson and rented three rooms..One for Sepia and Me, One for Ms. Bonnie Shay and one for Kool Kat of course.

In Sepia and my room...We had a Laptop and a Fax Machine that I had brought from home....I had copies of the evidence I had compiled against Cadillac Jenkins little operation...I had already faxed this information to both the Harris Group c/o Rich Cornfield and the FBI in Philadelphia and nearby Newark....

I had the rest in a dozier that I planned to take to the police...The four of us met in my room..

"Fabersham's Nephew is a guy named Eric Stroh....He hangs out at an upscale establishment in Patterson called The Stinger...Where he gambles and drinks..."I said.

"He's into Cadillac Jenkins for over one million dollars and he's still gambling?" asked Bonnie Shay..

"He thinks his uncle has handled it."I said.

"But his uncle is in jail." said Sepia..

"Yup and he's probably just heard about that....but they still have sensitive information on six very well heeled people...They can still blackmail them directly or the Harris Group or both! I suspect it's in a zip drive in their possession...Bonnie...Here is my .22...You take Strol....Walter and I are going to the police and nab Cadillac Jenkins...He probably has the Zip Drive..." Then I looked at Sepia..

"This is my .38 smokeless, rent yourself a car and follow Kool Kat and I from a safe distance...There is a GPS on the car ,so you can track us and I'm wearing a wire."I said.

"Wow...you take nothing to chance do you Mr. Kevin?" asked Bonnie Shay.

"I can't!!...That's how I stay alive...Patterson is not my town...I don't know the players here like I do in Philly...You guys are all the back up I have..."I said.

It was a simple plan...It should have went off without a hitch...but like I said...I didn't know the players here in Patterson...and you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men right?

III-

Detective William "West Side Willie" Johnson had been a legend in Patterson, New Jersey...As a Homicide Detective he had the highest clearence on the force one year...and commendations up the wazoo...He was now working on the Organized Crime Task Force....He had successfully ran many of the major Patterson players out of town....He was an effective guy...So naturally...He was the man that Kool Kat and I went to with our evidence against Cadillac Jenkins...

He was a big man, Brown skinned, about six foot, four inches..a little overweight...with keen insights...He looked at the evidence we placed on his desk...

He looked up at Walter and me and smiled..

"Well...Mr. Morris, Mr. Jones..You two are very,very thorough...And you traced this con all the way from Philly to here...Patterson huh? Wow! So tell me..What is the connection?" he asked.

"Charles "Cadillac" Jenkins is a former Philadelphia player...He would have known about the Harris Group and their well heeled clients...and the fact that they were ripe for plucking.."I said.

"Now you say their contact person and the actual hackers and several of their co-conspirators are all in prison..."he asked..

"Yeah...We took care of that on my end..."I said.

"So why are you here?" he asked..

"Mr. Jenkins is the head of this conspiracy and he still has sensitive information of six very welled heeled people that my employer needs back...We suspect it's on a zip drive..."I said.

"And you want that back right?" he said.

"Exactly!" I said..

He stood up..He put on his shoulder holster and got a shotgun...loaded it and cocked it..

"Okay gentlemen,let's go get your bad guy....I've been wanting to put a tag on Charles "Cadillac "Jenkins ever since he arrived here from Philly."he said.

Kool Kat and I smiled...

"Hey man...Aint you callin some back up?" asked Kool Kat...

"What for?  I have you two...I'm West Side Willie baby..I'm known in Patterson.."he said and winked..

We got in his car and we pulled off...

 Meanwhile...Bonnie Shay had no problem locating Eric Strol....He was in the bar known as The Stinger...Drinking...

Bonnie sat down next to him and ordered a ginger ale..

"Pretty early in the morning to start drinking Eric..."said Bonnie Shay...

He looked at her and smiled..

''Who are you? A cop?" he asked.

"No...I'm an insurance investigator...I'm from Philadelphia...Your uncle cooked up a nice little plan to checkmate two of his rivals and get you off the hook...Only it didn't work.."she said.

He smiled..He was blond...about 23 years old....A perfect stereotype of the preppie, trust fund baby who could always count on some relative to bail him out of trouble...Bonnie was betting that his whole family was disappointed in him...His older brother was a successful Doctor with a practice in Manhattan...His sister was an Attorney ,working for a lobbyist in D.C.  ,While he had flunked out of college after three unremarkable years...and hadn't been doing much of anything productive...And now here he was ,busted out and on the hook to a lowlife Patterson Gangster...

"Okay,so it didn't work...but Cadillac will still get his dough, so I'm off the hook." he said.

"You sure of that?" asked Bonnie..

Just then, another man sat down on the other side of Bonnie....Upon seeing him Eric's eyes got wide as saucers...

Bonnie turned only to see a nickel plated .45 pointed at her ,but concealed from public view...

She went to go in her purse, but the man cocked his gun..

"Don't try it mam...I won't hesitate to splatter your guts and the kids all over this bar..."he said and took the .22 I gave her and pocketed it...

" Mr. Bonin...My uncle held up his part of the bargain..You guys got the information...."said Eric..

"Your Uncle is in jail!!!.....You're insurance that he won't open his mouth up about my employer and his partner..Let's go....You too Sugar Britches...From what I overheard...you know way tooo much." He said and ushered the two of them out of the bar.

Meanwhile Kool Kat and I and West Side Willie arrived at a "Social Club" in downtown Patterson,New Jersey......

He smiled...

"You guys packin?" he asked.

"We straight." said Kool Kat...

He smiled...

He buzzed the back door....

"It's me...West Side Willie." he said..

That sounded a bit too familiar to me..but this was his town...

West Side Willie,Kool Kat and I entered and took and elevator up to the third floor...

Cadillac Jenkins was sitting behind his desk...Upon seeing us he smiled..

"Hey don't I know you guys?" he said.

I smiled..

"Cadillac!!! Baby,don't act like you don't remember me....I see you've moved up since Philadelphia huh?  I like the decor....The decor in the state pen is going to be decidedly different."I said.

He smiled...Like an old friend who recognized another old friend..

"Well I'll be damned...Kevin Morris...Kool Kat...How long has it been?"he laughed...

West Side Willie dropped my dozier on his desk...

"It seems you've graduated to the uh information sharing business Cadillac....These men here found out about your deal in Philadelphia and they uh not only traced your little business here to our fair city, but they are responsible for Mr. Fabersham being arrested as well as your two partners and their other clients...They now want you to turn over the zip drive."said Detective Johnson...

Something about the way he talked to this guy was a little too friendly and he seemed to know a lot more than he should have about the operation...Every bone in my body seemed to tell me that I had just been hustled..

Cadillac Jenkins smiled...

"You always were a meddler Kevin..Just couldn't keep your nose out of other people's business..And now you have caused me to lose a great deal of money...Somewhat." he said...

"Now I'm causing you to lose your freedom..Let's cut the crap Cadillac...Hand over the zip drive...You're going to jail."I said.

"Am I?" he laughed....

I heard the click of a shotgun....

Kool Kat whispered in my ear...

"Kev,I think we just got hustled babe." he said..

West Side Willie had his shotgun leveled at us both...He took Kool Kat's .357 magnum from him and my .40 caliber...I had given my .38 smokeless to Sepia and my .22 to Bonnie Shay...I had nothing...

"I get it...How long you been on his payroll Wille?" I asked..

"Oh for a number of years now...West Side Willie has done an excellent job busting all of my competition...keeping the streets safe, trading information...I on the other hand have added money to his kid's college fund, paid off his alimony settlements from all three of his divorces..and even helped him buy a new car or two..."said Cadillac Jenkins..

I smiled..I looked at West Side Willie..

"I guess this works out well for you huh?" I said...  Nothing I hated more than a dirty cop....

"It has and I hope for it to continue to."he said laughing...

But the biggest surprise was yet to come...The door swung open and a man I never expected to see again walked into the room...

"YOU!!!!!!" I said astounded...

"Ahh we meet again Mr. Morris...You know...I was living peacefully here in Patterson...I didn't intend to bother you, but you just couldn't stay out of my business...Once again, you have deprived me of millions...MILLIONS that I had coming my way...I needed that money." said CYRUS TICKLE!

"Mr. Tickle I should have known you were mixed up in this...This has you written all over it..."I said.

"I thought you were on death row, awaiting execution?" said Kool Kat...

Mr. Tickle smiled.

"Oh I was...I was....I met a most enchanting young lady...a prison guard ,whose boyfriend was an expert forger..He was so good...He manufactured some official looking stationary and a letter from the Governor of Pennsylvania and the State's Attorney authorizing my immediate release...I walked out of prison a free man and none in that backwards, back wood town was the wiser...They are probably just now discovering it was a hoax....And meanwhile...I've been here in Patterson for the past year or so...Heh,heh, Heh...I like it here...I don't wish to leave or be exposed..."he laughed...

"How do you know Cadillac Jenkins..??"I asked.

''When I was a lawyer...I repped him..back in Philly.....So when I arrived here...He was gracious enough to put me up and I in turn came up with a big money scheme in which nobody would get hurt and it would never lead back to us....And it was working until you started meddling.."he said.

"You never counted on the Harris group hiring me to get to the bottom of it did you?"I said.

"No..I didn't...I expected them to roll over...Ahhhh but I tire of you Kevin..I'm sick and tired of you foiling my plans, keeping me from my money.....I need that money...I had plans for that money...I am so sick of you getting in my way."he said and stomped his foot.

Kool Kat laughed..

"Something funny Mr. Jones?" laughed Mr. Tickle....

"Yeah, but I choose to keep it to myself.."said Kool Kat.

"West Side Willie ,take em to the sub -basement..We'll be down shortly." said Cadillac Jenkins..

"Let's go guys." he said and marched me and Kool Kat down the stairs, past the basement into a sub basement...

"You like being a stooge to somebody like Cadillac Jenkins?" I asked Willie..Trying to see if there was an ounce of good policeman left in him..

"I like knowing that both of my kids from both marriages will be going to college on a free ride from me and will graduate and have no loans to pay...I like wearing a new and expensive, tailored suit everyday...I like silk shirts and three thousand dollar shoes and I like driving a new ride damn near every other year...That's what I like.."said West Side Willie.. "The ladies like it too!" he added..

"Can't argue with that." I said sighing sarcastically.

IV-

In the sub basement....There was a huge tub of water..A man was filling it with ice....Kool Kat and I were made to sit down...I knew what was coming...

To my surprise, another man walked in..His name was Bonin...Will Bonin, a slick hood,also from Philly...He had Bonnie Shay and Eric Strol....Eric looked terrified...He should be...Will Bonin was a remorseless psychopath...Had killed at least nine people on orders from whoever was paying.

"Hey,come on man...Come on...You making a big mistake...My uncle held up his end of the bargain.." he
said.

"Shut up."said Will Bonin..."This woman here has got more stones than you." he said as the four of us was seated..

Cadillac Jenkins and Mr. Tickle joined West Side Willie , Will Bonin  and another goon......

Cadillac Jenkins spoke to me..

"Kevin...Let me tell you something...My friend here Mr. Tickle hates your guts...but me? I admire you...I really do...You and sweet cheeks here found me and traced all of this to me... You're far better than the FBI or the Police...This was a fool proof plan." he said.

 "Fool Proof?...Hahahahahahahaha." said Kool Kat.

Will Bonin dunked his head in the cold water and held him down for a long time and then pulled him up...Cold water ran down his bald shiny head....It almost sparkled...Kool Kat took deep breaths...

"Still find it funny Walter?  Breathe in...That was ice cold water....Your lungs probably feel like fire right now...don't they?Got somethin else to say?"asked Cadillac Jenkins.

Kool Kat gave him a baleful stare...a stare that scared the piss out of a lot of so called tough guys..

"You better hope I don't get loose Cadillac...Aint nobody here gonna stop me from snapping your neck."said Kool Kat...

Never had I heard the big man sound so murderous...

Even Cadillac Jenkins looked a little un-nerved..

He turned his attention to me..

"I promise you...If you play ball with me Kevin...I'll put a bullet through all four of your heads and make sure you die a quick and painless death....Screw around and you'll be begging me to kill you.Now how much do the cops know about me and this operation?" he laughed..

Will Bonin then took my head and dunked me in the cold water, holding me down even longer and then pulling me up...

Cold water ran down my face, down my neck...I gulped deep breaths and coughed...He was right.... My lungs did feel like they were on fire...

 ''Don't tell these assholes nothing Kev."spat Kool Kat defiantly......

I spat water out of my mouth and took deep breaths...

"I can't Kools...I gotta tell em...The cops already know..."I said breathing heavily...

"They do?" he said.

"Yeah,they know all about me and your mom." I said..

Kool Kat busted out laughing and Will Boni dunked both of our heads into the water,holding us down for a long time and pulling us up...

"Still find something funny Kevin??" he snarled..

"Hey Bonin....Still havin a hard time gettin it up?" I snarled...Hinting at a problem I'd heard he'd had for years....Whispered about by several strippers and other women who had been involved with him...

Kool Kat busted out laughing...

"WHY YOU!!" he snarled and dunked Kool Kat and I down in the cold water again,holding us even longer...I thought I was near death, when we both were yanked up again...

Cold icy water ran down our faces and we both coughed and spit water out of our mouths...

Mr. Tickle had heard and seen enough....

"Enough of this foolishness Cadillac...Neither of them will tell you anything....The girl...Dunk her..See if they are man enough to watch and still say nothing...." he said.

 Will Bonin grabbed Bonnie...She looked at both of us....in horror...

Eric Stroh protested...

"Big Brave guys...snatching a woman....Leave her alone...Take me instead."he yelled..

One of the goons backhanded him..

"Shut Up...Your time is coming."he said.

"If I get loose...YOUR TIME WILL BE COMING...I PROMISE YOU THAT! All of you!~!" I said..

Cadillac Jenkins, West Side Willie and Will Bonin busted out laughing...

Mr. Tickle didn't laugh however....He looked at me strangely...

"Well Mr. Morris...That is why is you're not going to leave this basement alive...None of you!!"he said.

They say it's always darkest before the dawn....Well...It was pretty damn dark right now...

(CONCLUSION NEXT)