Vodka Makes It Better

PHILADELPHIA ,2041-

The Blue Shark, Philadelphia's Trendiest Bar and Grill, A Friday Night....Hot young  food critic, Angelica Dallas was sitting with the club's owner, Ray Penzo...A handsome, well dressed Italian Man...

He was watching her attentively as she surveyed the landscape........Behind them, was a huge Shark in one of the many illuminated tanks...Swimming aimlessly....A Stingray, swimming under it...It was a beautiful place...

"Well, how do you like it?" he asked..

"It looks great...."she said..."I love the ambience....Where did you get real live Sharks from Ray?" she asked..

He smiled..

"Come on...I employ some of the best fishermen in the region...Hahahahaha...Tell me how you like the meal...I have a new chef...After you savaged my last chef...I had to fire him....This one comes highly rated." he said and smiled.

She and Ray ate the food....

"Ummmmm, it is good....This chef is a keeper..."she smiled..

"So you'll give my place five stars....You have the most downloaded Podcast and the most read Food Blog in the business.." he said nervously....

''Wellllllllllllll, I don't know about five stars...but you're getting better.."she smiled..

"Awww come onnn.....Ange, you're killin me here...I need Five Stars from you to draw in the big crowds." he said.

Just then another man walked in with a bottle of Vodka.

"Angie girl, try this..." said the man..

''Rico..Thank you...Vodka makes everything taste better."she laughed...

"Are you tryin to tell me that you need Vodka to make my food taste better?" asked Ray ,now getting a little perturbed...

"Nooo...Noooooo...I just like Vodka..." said Angelica.

Just then, Ray's wife, Corrie joined them...

"Hello Angelica...Nice seeing you again..." she said.

"Hello Corrie."said Angelica..."Have some Vodka with me...Is there an extra glass?" she asked.

"No.Nooooo...I don't feel like drinking tonight...Enjoy yourself though." she said and left with the man named Rico...

"Cunt !! I can't stand her!" she said to Rico as they left the room...Rico and Corrie enjoyed a sinister laugh together.

Rico smiled...

II-

 That was going on in that room...Ironically enough...I, Detective Nate Nellis was with my wife, Detective Monica Nellis in another part of that same club...It was Friday Night...We had just got off work and were relaxing...

I'm Detective Nate Nellis, Homicide...My Wife, the former Detective Monica Talbert is now Detective Monica Nellis, also with Homicide...She's my partner in crime and my partner in life you might say...

''What?" asked Monica, who was smiling at me...''Why are you staring at me so hard?"she asked.

"You mean you don't know? You must be losing your mind reading powers."I joked... My wife Monica is a mutant....She has the power to read and or hear people's thoughts and feelings...Something that would probably make most people uncomfortable...Which is why she keeps her powers secret....As do most mutants ,who are mixed in with the human population...

"I occassionally like to let you tell me things...I'm not reading your mind all the time..No need to...I know what's on it.." she laughed..

''Wow, that's a change from when we first met."I said.

"I had to...I didn't know you that well yet..."she laughed!

I poured her some Vodka.....

"Ouuuuu, Trying to get me drunk Nate?" she laughed..

"They say Vodka makes it better." I laughed...

"Ouuu ,Makes what better .....Sex?" she asked smiling slyly...

"Now you read my mind..."I laughed as I leaned over and kissed her in the lips and ran my hands slowly up her tight blue mini skirt...I rubbed her soft legs and her buttocks...

''Awwww..ouuuuuuuuuuuuu Nate...What are you doing? Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." she moaned silently...The room was packed...Other couples were sitting, chatting, kissing and sipping drinks...No one noticed us...

"Nateeeeeeeeeeee, we can't do this here...Let's go homee.."said Monica...

I smiled and kissed her neck and her cheeks...

''The night is still young..."I said.

Monica leaned over and kissed me...I pulled her to me and poured another glass of Vodka..

"Ummmm baby, Vodka does make it better." she cooed..

It was just then that we heard a blood curdling scream !!

It was coming from another part of the club....

III-

We saw people running and we heard a commotion...We both got ourselves together and we ran into the other room...

We saw a very young and beautiful woman sitting on one of the lounge chairs....Her lifeless eyes staring at nothing now...Behind her, we saw a huge Shark in one of the illuminated tanks...Swimming aimlessly....A Stingray, swimming under it...

I looked around....I saw a half drank Vodka Bottle sitting on the table and a half eaten meal..

Monica felt the woman's pulse..

"She's Dead!  That's for sure...This is Anjelica Dallas, the Food Blogger...I used to watch her podcast and occassionally read her food blog."said Monica.

"Oh really?  Is this Food Poisoning?" I joked...I looked at her..There was no sign of any physical trauma...

Monica pulled out her phone....

"Who can say? I'm calling my sister..She would know better than either of us." she said.

IV-

Suddenly the room was crowded with people...I was so glad when my sister in law, Coroner and Forensic Investigator, Dr. Monique Talbert showed up about 45 minutes later...

  "Hi Brother in law." she said and kissed me softly....''Where is my sister?"she asked..

 I pointed to Monica and the dead girl's body....

Several Policemen had shown up and were blocking the crowd....

Monique leaned down and looked at the body and then looked at her sister.....

"Nice dress Sis...I don't believe I've seen that.."she said.

"Brand New Sis....So what do we have?"asked Monica.

"Did you know that this is the food blogger, Anjelica Dallas?? Wowwwww..I used to read her food blog and watch her podcast..Cause of Death???I don't know...No sign of physical trauma...The body is still warm...Judging by body temp and lividity,I'd say she just died within the last hour or so." She said.

Just then , a .A handsome, well dressed Italian Man...walked in...

"Heyyyy what happened? Is Anjelica alright?" he asked..

Monique looked at him...

"She's dead...Do you know her?" asked Monique...

"Yes..She's a food critic...Angelica Dallas.." said the man... "You a cop?" he asked.

"No, but they are? I was a fan of hers" said Monique...pointing to us...

He smirked..

"Then you obviously don't own a restaurant.." he said..

"I'm Detective Nate Nellis, Homicide and this is my wife, Detective Monica Nellis, Also of Homicide."I said.

The man looked at Me, then Monica ,then Monique...

"Hold up...you're married to this one??...and this one here...The Medical Examiner has got to be her twin sister and she's the M.E.  ??Damnnnnnnn, you guys got here pretty damn fast." said the man..

"My husband and I were already here...We weren't on duty...We heard a scream." said Monica..

He smiled...

"I'm Ray...Ray Penzo....I own this joint....How'd you and your husband enjoy my club and it's cuisine?" he asked..

''Oh just fine...That Peking Duck was off the chain Ray....Now about Ms. Dallas...Did you know her personally?" asked Monica..

"Yes...Yes...We are uh old friends...She was my guest tonight...What happened to her? My wife and I and my business associate were having dinner with her just a few hours ago..." he said.

"I went through her purse...Her car keys and her credit cards were there and she had about $600.00 in cash on her....She's wearing a very expensive smartwatch too.. and a platinum bracelet...She wasn't robbed..."I said.

''You said you guys are from Homicide? She was murdered?" asked Ray.

"We don't know yet....but she is dead!  Were you eating with her? I see she only ate half of  her meal."said Monica..

Ray Penzo frowned...

''She was a food critic..as you probably know...She has a Podcast and a popular Food Blog...She works for National Public Radio and Television services...She ate like a bird...Probably because she sampled so much food at so many places in a night." he said.

"Was that bottle of Vodka hers?" I asked.

"Yeah,Yeah...she chased down the meal with Vodka...She said that Vodka made it better." he said.

''Yes, that's what I've heard too." said my wife, giving me the serious side eye and then laughing....

"My Food is good...You don't need Vodka to chase it down.." said Ray defensively...

"No Offense Mr. Ray....Your food was excellent...Very good..I was just making a joke." said Monica.

"Well....I wish you were rating my establishment." he scoffed.

 "You sure she liked the food?" asked Monique..

"Yes..she was going to give me five stars." said Ray...

''Was she really? asked Monica. The way she looked at him,I knew that she knew he was lying...

He shrugged...

"Well uh, at least I thought she should have..You said yourself that you thought my food was excellent.""he said.

"I do...but I'm not a Food Blogger."said Monica.

"Ray...we are going to have to interview your entire staff and everybody presently here tonight and I need to see all of the video footage from this place..."I said.

"You got it man. My Associate Rico will round up the staff for you.  It wasn't my food." he said.


"I'm sure it wasn't...but you understand we have to do this."I said.


"Well could you keep it out of the papers that she died here?" he asked..

I gave him a blank stare and said nothing.

Monica called an officer over...

"Get some guys.,..put a team on the business ,traffic, atm and street cams in this entire area....15 block radius..I need to know everything.." she said.

"I'm on it Detective..." he said.

"I need to talk to your wife and your business associate." said Monica.

We walked back to his wife's office...She wasn't there..

Ray looked surprised...

"She must have left early.. ANYBODY SEEN CORRIE?"he asked.

"She left an hour ago."said a kitchen helper.

Another man, shorter, muscular with jet black hair walked up...

"Detectives...This is my associate...Rico." he said.

"What's goin on Ray?" he asked.

"Anjelica!! She's dead!!" he said.

''What?  Was she sick or somethin?" he asked.

"We don't know yet....Monique...release the body..."I said.

"I'll know more when I get her to the morgue." said Monique...

I kept staring at the dead woman...Very shapely, very attractive with long hair....down to her hips....Just staring into nothingness...

"Look at her Mo-Mo...Staring....like she had somewhere else to be."I said.

"You know partner...I can only read the minds of the living....You readin the minds of the dead now?" she asked..Smiling..

"Nah...I'm just sayin.."I said...

The body was removed as gawkers looked on and photos were snapped...

It was going to be a long night....

V-

It was nearly daybreak,Saturday Morning when Monica and I finally got home...We had taken statements from all of the guests and we had teams looking at Street ,ATM, Business and Club camera footage from around the club and the entire area...


We took statements from Ray and Rico....We never did find Ray's wife,Corrie...She wasn't at their home either...At this point we didn't know if we even had a murder...We just had a dead girl...but we wanted to cover all of our bases..

"I'm exhausted honey bunny...I didn't figure on that...I gotta stop hangin with you....We always catch a case...Even on our night off!"laughed Monica...

I pulled her to me and kissed her passionately...

"Ha, ha...I can't believe you..." she said and returned my kiss....

"Ummmmmmmmmmm, believe it.."I said and placed my hand up under her dress...This time I slipped her blue sheer panties off and she stepped out of them...

"Ummmmmm, hah ha...you so nasty..You've got a one track mind..."she said.

"When it comes to you...I do."I said..

She unzippered my trousers and I slipped her skirt and top off...

We continued kissing passionately....

"Ouuuuu Nate, you're so hard....." she exclaimed....

I kissed her neck, in between her breasts, her ears and finally her lips...We were both breathing heavily....

Her skin was baby soft, she smelled great too....

 We soon wound up on the bed...not waiting to uncover the sheets....making sweet love...

"Ouuuuu, we are going to be soooo tired tomorrow morning." said Monica as the bed began to squeak and the headboard slammed against the wall..

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...."I moaned...

"You should have brought home a bottle of Vodka Nate." said Monica..

"Ummmmmmmmmm yes.....Vodka makes it better..." I laughed as I continued to slowly thrust inside of her warm and moist center...

''Ouuuuuuuuuuuu yes...yessssssssssss baby...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." she moaned.

I didn't know if that was true or not, All I knew was that we were smack dab in the middle of another murder case..

(TO BE CONTINUED)