''Uptown Girl"

The next morning, I hit the street...I was looking for Lance Flintlock....A white hipster who hung out in the Black Community a lot..This was the alleged lover of Connally's wife....I was thinking that maybe he could fill in the missing pieces of my mystery...

Instead...I found a deeper mystery...

No one had seen him in 72 hours...He had gone missing shortly before Bonnie Shay had come by his house...

I spent a good part of the morning talking to Exotic dancers,Hookers, Juice men and Con men...The type of people he normally associated with...

Yes, the stories were true that he was sleeping with an "Uptown babe" as they thought...What they didn't know was that his "Uptown Girl" was just like them...a professional grifter named Ginger Stevens , who married rich and then somehow, someway....inherited millions.

With Lockpick Johnson, Clerow,Sean Jackson and Owen Todd...We got into his apartment...We found nothing...Place was clean...No dishes in the sink...Bed made...Food in the refrigerator and his wallet, full of cash on the bed....as well as car keys...

A search turned up his car , a block away....We popped the trunk...Nothing was in his trunk...and the smell of bleach told me that this car had been wiped clean...

We returned to headquarters , where Peeping Tom and his crew tapped into the Street Cams, ATM Cams, Business cams and Traffic Cams in that neighborhood...We picked Lance Flintlock and another man ,whose face we couldn't make out getting into a white van and pulling off..

That was just one hour before Bonnie Shay came to pay him a visit..\

And the last time he was seen.....

To make matters worse...Sean Jackson,Clerow, Owen Todd, Lockpick Johnson and I visited the Connally House...

Not a sign of Dr. Connally, who hadn't been seen in a week or his wife, Ginger...

Once again, a check of the Traffic, Street,ATM and Business cameras in the area ,showed Ginger driving to a building....the same building that Bonnie Shay was last seen in front of...She goes in...but never comes out..

A man , whose face can not be seen ,wearing all black gets into her car and drives it two blocks from the Connally House...

It took me little to no time to find  her car....I could smell a strong bleach scent...Whoever had last driven it  had bleached it down....

Just what had I stumbled into here?

My friend Bonnie Shay was missing and so were the three people she had been investigating...

II-

"Baby, you didn't find out anything?" asked my wife,Sepia...

"Nothing...Bonnie was investigating a heavily insured guy,Dr. Micheal Connally...He apparently married a woman from Florida...former Exotic dancer.." I said.

"You mean stripper." said Sepia.

I smiled..

''Yeah..Stripper....She has a penchant for marrying rich guys.."I said.

"Let me guess..She insures them for milliions and then they suddenly turn up dead and then it's on to the next mark." said Sepia.

"You seem to know a lot about this."I said arching my eyebrows...

"Don't you know...I married you for your money....but now uh,I just hang around for the sex." she said laughing..

We both busted out laughing...

Then Sepia turned serious...

"What are you gonna tell Ronald? He's worried sick...You still haven't found Bonnie"asked Sepia...

"I don't know what to tell him...I don't have a clue as to what is going on..."I said.

"You don't think Bonnie is dead do you?" asked Sepia..

"I hope not...but things don't look good and every sign tells me that she is.."I said.

Sepia held me in her arms...

"Maybe this is over your head boo...Maybe you'd better call Sissy." said Sepia..

"That is a thought...but I want to check out a few things first..." I said..

Sepia's body was so warm,so round and seem to fit right inside mine so perfectly...

''Well don't get yourself killed baby ...You got a wife and a daughter who need you around." she said.

"I need to be around."I laughed and kissed her softly.

III-

Back at headquarters...I looked up files on Ginger Stevens...

Born Ginger Riley in Palatka ,Florida,the same year I was born... She dropped out of school in the 9th grade...Got pregnant shortly afterwords, had an abortion....Married Ray Stevens...Got pregnant again, had a miscarriage, Divorced him and moved to South Beach where she worked as a waitress, exotic dancer and prostitute...

She married the owner of four car dealerships in Tallahasse, Florida...They were married for two years...He died in a mysterious boating accident...His boat exploded while on a fishing trip...She collected 100k in insurance and married a wealthy man in Oklahoma...Married for three years ..He died in a mysterious car accident...She collected 300K in insurance...Married a wealthy man in Atlanta ,Georgia...He died suddenly of what appeared to be heart failure...Though the coroner wasn't sure....

She collected 500K in insurance and wound up in Memphis...a fifth marriage,and another untimely death....He fell off a cliff to his death....She collected another cool 500K and matriculated to Miami, Where she married for the sixth time to Dr. Micheal Connally...She insured him for a cool one million dollars...This was going to be her biggest payday of all.

I wondered ...where did Flintlock come in? He was small time...What was his angle.?? My guess was ,these two were in this together...Bonnie must have gotten too close...found out something she wasn't supposed to...

Ginger Stevens was also missing...And Like Flintlock...She had been missing for the past 72 hours..

Coincidence?? I think not...

I got the plates on the van off of one ATM cam photo...I ran the plates...They belonged to a rental car company...The van had been rented to a Douglas Tyman....

It was a phony name...Douglas Tyman had been dead for 20 years....Just what was going on here?

I checked out the address too...That was phony...And the van was two days overdue, the company told me...

IV-

I was ready to call it a day when my phone suddenly rang....I didn't recognize the number,but I recognized the voice..IT WAS BONNIE SHAY!

 "Kevin?" she said.

 "Hey baby...am I glad to hear your voice....I've been turning this city upside down looking for you.."I said.

"I'm in trouble Kevin...I need your help....I need you to come to this address.." she said and she gave me a center city address...

''Bonnie what's going on?" I asked.

"I don't have time to explain...just come to this address..And come alone...Don't tell the cops or anybody..Hurry please....I'll explain when you get here." she said.

"Bonnie wait!!" I said..

She had hung up..

V-

I didn't have time to call Kool Kat or the guys....I got in my car and drove....I parked in a lot and walked the rest of the way...

The building looked ordinary....I got on the elevator and rode up to the top floor as I was told...I encountered an empty hallway...

"Bonnie?" I called out.."BONNIE!!!" I said..

I pulled my .38 smokeless out and eased down the hall.....The building looked abandoned....It was eerily quiet..Too Quiet...I felt like I was in a horror movie and was about to be the victim...I didn't know how right I was..

Suddenly, the lights began to dim....

I remember the color aqua...It nearly blinded me.....then nothing........

When I woke up...I was in an empty room...well not completely empty......I smelled a very sweet,familiar women's fragrance and felt the soft dark skin of Bonnie Shay...My head was in her lap and she was gently rubbing my forehead...She was a very attractive woman...I could see how a man could lose himself to her easily....

''Kevin,it's so good to see someone I know...Though not under these circumstances.."she said..

I felt a stinging pain in my neck...I went through my pockets...My phone was gone...My .38 and my .40 was gone..I felt my ankle holster..my .22 was gone and my wallet was gone..

''Where am I?" I asked.

"That's what I'd like to know.." said GINGER STEVENS...the UPTOWN GIRL!

 "YOU!!  What are you doing here?" I asked..

 "My husband called me,told me to meet him here.. I came here and walked down that hall and saw this bright color and that's all I remember..." she said.

"Yeah ,and I got a call from her...or so I thought...I come here and zap...I'm waking up in this room..."said
Lance Flintlock, who looked and dressed more like a wall street businessman than the cheap grifter he was known to be on the streets...

I looked at Bonnie..

"So I suppose you didn't call me about an hour ago did you?" I asked..

"No..Call you With what?  Whoever it is that is behind this...Took my phone.." said Bonnie....

There was one other white guy in the room, who I didn't know....

"I'm Riley Queen...I'm a priest....I was lured here by one of my parishoners, supposedly...I've been here a week.."he said.

All of a sudden I realized that this case was more than I imagined and that it might have nothing to do with what Bonnie had been investigating...Except for Dr. Connally..All of the parties were here...

I'd been in some weird predicaments...but nothing like this...

(DEFINITELY TO BE CONTINUED)