Edie

The next morning... Kool Kat and I drove Billy Baldwin up to the apartment complex.....

"This is uh where you live Billy? " I asked..

"Nah...my girl Edie lives here..I'm uh staying with her for awhile..." said Billy Baldwin...

"Where is your car?" I asked...

"The cops still have it...For evidence...I should be getting it tomorrow." he said.

After we talked with Billy at Stephen Bristol's Skyport Bar..We drove him out to Fathead's old safehouse...Ralph Mole and Roscoe still lived there...He was safe there...

No one he knew had seen him talking to Kool Kat and I last night...but we thought it would be safer for him if he wasn't seen on the streets yesterday..Especially after the rowdy dow he had with those two thugs...

I called Sissy and she had a team of plain clothes guys on Bridget's two existing stores to make sure nothing happened to them....

Everything seemed to be quiet for now...Maybe a little too quiet...

"Edie is expecting me..." he said with a smile..

"Kev, don't we have to talk to her?" asked Kool Kat...

"Yeah...We'll be back Billy...Tell her to expect a visit....Right now..We are going to visit..Snuffy Gibson."I said.

"Be careful Kev...Those goons we fought yesterday?? They work for him...Snuffy has a little juice on the streets.." said Billy..

"REALLY?  Now that explains a lot....In addition to being a manager, he has juice on the streets." I said.

"That's how he maintains his style of livin when Kid wasn't fighting...We were the only two fighters he had..."said Billy...

"Good to know."I said.

"Be Easy Billy." I said as we pulled off..

"You too Kevin...Kools." he said.

He waved !

II-

As we headed for the boxing gym... Kool Kat grimaced...

"Before we go in there ,let me check my gun...make sure it's ready....  You think we'll need those vests in the back seat?" he asked..

"I don't think so..."I said.

"I'm glad you carry a .40 now...much more effective than your .38 smokeless..."said Kool Kat...

"I still have my .38 and a .22." I said.

"At least you're ready..." said Kool Kat with a smile..

Like most neighborhood gyms....This gym was a storefront...A house that had been converted into a boxing gym...in the middle of the neighborhood...

Inside ,many young men were boxing, sparring,jumping rope, training...Older men were yelling and screaming directions at them....

It took me no time to recognize Snuffy Gibson....An older man who still had an athlete's build and gait...He used to box back when my father was a young man...Had an astonishing record of 10 wins, 11 losses and 15 draws.....You know what they say....Those who can't...teach....In his case...Manage...

He had sold drugs for awhile...Had a couple of corners....Did a five year bid upstate and returned to the more lucrative business of Loan Sharking and managing a hot young fighter named Brian "Kid Galivant"Gallion....Undefeated and about to get a title shot...He was Snuffy's road to the good life...Now he was dead..

Snuffy's suit was cheap, off the rack and wrinkled as if he had  been sleeping in it...He smelled like a mixture of pancake batter and urine...

He spotted us and pointed...

"Don't come in here startin no trouble....I know who you guys are..."he said.

"Good Morning to you too Snuffy."said Kool Kat...

"Walter Jones....You had a future...I coulda made you the next heavyweight champ..Only you turned to driven and being an enforcer for the flashy guys..." he spat....

"Just like you Snuff.."said Kool Kat...

Then he turned to me...

"Kevin, you had a decent little career...I heard you boxed in the service..." he said.

"I did for awhile...but I uh got into other things...Gettin a college degree...startin a business..."I said.

"I heard you was uh one of them NCIS investigators too..." he said.

"I was..for a little while..."I said..."I see you've been keepin up with me.."I said.

"Don't flatter yourself...You got a pretty wife...a new baby..A nice house and you got a business...Why do you waste your time snoopin around in business that aint yours and..and hangin out with losers like Walter Jones..?" he said.

Kool Kat laughed...

Out of the corner of my eye ,I saw Burt Cooney...He was wearing sunglasses...His lips were swollen and he had finger casts on his left hand...It was in a sling....The two goons from the day before were sitting in folding chairs, watching the fighters and watching Kool Kat and I...

"Look...I'm just trying to find out who killed Kid...That's all.."I said.

"You bangin Bridget? I know she's the one who put you on this...She and Kid used to be an item, before she went to New York...She still carried a torch for him...That's why she was so broke up about it.."he snarled...

"Bridget is a friend...She asked me to do her a favor..."I said.

"Well tell her you looked as hard as you could and you can't find nothin..." he spat...

''Did you have Kid Killed?" I asked.

He looked at me as if I was crazy...

"WHY WOULD I DO THAT? HE WAS MY TICKET...MY TICKET OFF THESE STREETS...BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME.."he snarled..

I believed him...

"IF ANYTHING I WOULD HAVE HAD THAT BUM THAT FOUGHT ON HIS UNDERCARDS WHACKED....BIG WASTE OF TIME THAT KID...I ONLY KEPT HIM AROUND BECAUSE KID DEMANDED IT!" he said.

"You didn't always manage Kid...I remember..His manager was Leon Cousins...."I said.

"Was Leon Cousins...Leon had a cash flow problem and then had a hard time paying me back....Rather than break his kneecaps...I took his two fighters off of his hands..." said Snuffy....

"I never would have imagined you as a Juice man Snuff.."said Kool Kat...

"What are you doin with yourself now?" he spat...

"I work for Kevin..I'm an Investigative Consultant for Morris Communications and Investigations." he said, which was after all...True...

"Investigative Consultant my ass..You're muscle...Cheap muscle at that!" he said.

"Damn Snuffy who peed in your cornflakes this morning?"laughed Kool Kat ,who took a deep breath..

"Ohhhhhh I know...You did!!! And from the smell of it...You peed in your suit too" he said....

I couldn't help but laugh....

Snuffy didn't enjoy our humor...

"If I was thirty years younger...I'd kick both your asses.....GET OUT!!! AND DON'T COME BACK IN HERE." he yelled...

I noticed a photo of a pretty young woman on his desk.....

"That your daughter Snuffy?" I said observing the photo...

"NO..THAT'S MY GIRLFRIEND...SMART ASS...GET THE HELL OUT!" he barked..

I smiled..

"Okay Snuffy...See ya around.."I said.

"Not if I see you first..." he said...

Kool Kat eyed his two goons from the day before...I eyed Burt Cooney...as we both left..The three of them looked like they wanted to kill us...The tall man had a black eye and swollen lips...and so did the shorter man...The walking wounded.

III-

 "You think Snuffy had Kid killed?" asked Kool Kat as we drove off...

"I can't see why he would want to....He stood to lose ,not gain by Kid being dead...Like he said...That was his meal ticket..."I said.

"Yeah...but you saw those two goons and Burt Cooney....They work for him....Why would they want you to stop askin questions ? Why would they try to lean on Bridget??" asked Kool Kat..

"You have a point...Unless they did something independent of Snuffy.....Maybe they're working for someone else..??? Let's go talk to Edie.."I said...

IV-

We stopped at Edie Galore's apartment...She had been expecting us...

She was an attractive brown skinned Black woman with a bob haircut....I could see why Billy was so head over heels for her...But what would make Snuffy Gibson think he had a chance...It was her photo that was on his desk at the gym...

"Billy went out for awhile...He told me you guys were coming...Can I pour you a cup of coffee?" she asked..

"That would be nice." said Kool Kat smiling gingerly....

I smiled as we sat down and she poured us two tumblers of coffee...

"I made this cake too....Try a slice..." she said...

The cake was out of this world....

''Wow...You're pretty and you cook too?" I said.

She blushed...

"I'm the Baker at Bottom Of The C.  That's where I met Billy....He bounces there on the weekend.."she said.

"So you know Ralph Scallion too?" I said..

"Who doesn't know Ralph?  I'm actually friends with his daughter, Roquell.." she said..

"We know Roq."said Kool Kat..."This is some damn good cake missy...You have to share the recipe.."he said.

"You cook too Mr. Jones?" she asked..

"I'm not Ralph Scallion,but uh ahhh..I know my way around the kitchen." said the Big man...

He wasn't lying...Kool Kat was quite a good cook.

"What is your connection to Snuffy Gibson?" I asked..

She frowned..

"NO CONNECTION!!!!  He came to Bottom of The C. for dinner.. We talked a little bit...He asked me out for drinks afterwords...We went to Josies...He bought me drinks all night...He thought that meant that he was going home with me...I refused.....He kept coming to Bottom Of The C. asking for me..I gave him my number....He called me so much that I changed it...He found out what it was and kept calling me..He's obsessed with me...I never went out with him again...But he sends me flowers regularly and poems....I've tried to tell him that I'm not interested ,but he never got it...When he found out I was dating Billy...He went berserk...He threatened to drop Billy as a fighter if I wouldn't date him...I told Kid and Kid chewed him out...Said he'd never throw another punch if he cut Billy...." she said.

"That pissed him off with Kid didn't it?" I said.

"Are you crazy?  Kid was the only one Snuffy was afraid of...He backed off of cutting Billy...But he kept pestering me for sex and dates.....Calling late at night, begging to come over...Asking me what I was wearing ,whether I was nude or not...Asking for forgiveness and begging me to go out with him again...I kept refusing...Then two weeks ago he called and asked if we could sleep together just one night and I'd never hear from him again...I absolutely refused...He hung up in tears....I felt a little sorry for him...but not too sorry for him. He sent me a letter saying he couldn't live without me...The man smells like warm pee...I couldn't see myself in bed with him...I don't want him touching me..Ewwwwww"she said.

"It's a wonder you could even talk to him...Even his breath smells like urine.."said Kool Kat laughing...

She busted out laughing....

"I KNOW RIGHTTT?Woooooooooooo!" she said.

Kool Kat, Edie and I laughed so hard our ribs were hurting....

"I'm trying to figure out who killed Kid...So far,I'm drawing a blank...I've met nobody with a motive.."I said slowly getting myself together...

"Kid was a beautiful man and a good friend to Billy and me..."she said..."We were going to be attending he and his fiance's wedding..." said Edie.

"I spoke to her...She is taking this very hard,which is understandable."I said.

"She's six months pregnant..."said Edie..

"Damn!" said Kool Kat.

"Last question Edie...Do you know or have any idea why somebody would want Kid dead?" I asked.

"No...Not at all...If it was Billy...Yeah,I'd understand...Snuffy and his boys hated Billy....But not Kid.." she said.

Something about what she said...The way she said it...Started the wheels in my mind turning..

"If it was Billy...Yeah,I'd understand...Snuffy and his boys hated Billy....But not Kid.." she said.

I shrugged my shoulders...


"Come on Kools..Thank you for your time and your hospitality....I hope Billy realizes what a gem he has in you." I said.

"Oh Thank you Kevin." she said.

Kool Kat looked at Edie...

"Thanks for the coffee and the cake...I still want that recipe.."he said with a sly smile..

V-

"I'll give it to Billy to pass on to you." she laughed..as we both left...

 As we drove home ,I said to Kool Kat...

"I know in my bones now that Snuffy Gibson had something to do with this...Burt Cooney and those two goons work for him...They're too stupid to do something outside of him...I know they had something to do with this...but I can't put my finger around a motive..."I said.

"Go home Kev...relax...It may come to you.." said Kool Kat...

"You're right man.."I said.

V-

 Kool Kat and I didn't know that an SUV with very tinted windows was parked across the street from the apartment complex...

We left and headed home...But the SUV sat there...We weren't the target....Inside sat two men, the same two goons who had slapped Billy around the day before..and who were hanging around the gym today...

They watched as Billy Baldwin  walked into the Apartment complex...

"Hey Baby...Your friends just left." said Edie as she kissed Billy softly...

"Awww, I was hoping to get back before they left..." he said..

"Where you been?" she asked..

"I went to see Kid's Fiance...I gave her the last of his things and a lockbox he wanted her to have."said Billy...

"You hungry?" she asked..

"Yeah..I am Horny.." he said...

"Silly...I asked if you were hungry..." she laughed..as he walked into the apartment and closed the door.

He slipped his shirt and trousers off and slipped Edie's clothes off...Soon they were both in the middle of the floor naked..Kissing passionately..

 "Ohhhhhhhhhh Edie..."he moaned..

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh Billy...I guess I was horny after all.."she said softly fondling his now massive erection...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuu..."she moaned...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh babyyyyyyyyy.."sighed Billy...

"Yessssssssssssss..."sighed Edie...

Soon they were in the bed..making sweet love.....

"Ohhhh Billy,I love you soo much..."she cooed...

"Edieeeeeeeeeee...I love you too baby,ohhhhhhhhhhhhh..."

Six hours went by....They had no idea they were being monitored........

The two thugs in the SUV were listening to every bed spring squeak, every whisper...every kiss...every moan of passion....

The phone rang....

"Yeah..??"

"It's me, Snuffy....You find him?" he said.

"Yeah Boss...He's in the girl's apartment...He's really puttin it to her...they been goin at it for like six hours...Guy must be on Viagra..." said one of the thugs...

"I DON'T NEED EVERY DETAIL..ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! "screamed Snuffy...

"Boss, you want us to break in there and take him out?" said the other thug..

"No......No..Come back here...I have an idea...An idea to bring him to us...And this time...THIS TIME, You two lunkheads get it right! Got it?" said Snuffy...

"Sure boss...." said the other thug...

(CONCLUSION NEXT)