Annie Christian

PHILADELPHIA ,2041

Night......A balmy 92 degrees....It's hot.....People are out and about....It's Summer...Too hot to sleep....but not too hot to die.....

A female...young, African -American, scantily dressed lie face down in a pool of blood far from the tourist area at Penns Landing...Past the ships and the fancy hotels and the tony bars and eating establishment...

Me and two uniformed officers stood over the body....Another officer snapped pictures of the corpse , while three others looked for shell casings to put in plastic zip lock bags and tag for evidence...

I'm Detective Nate Nellis...I work Homicides...

My partner and my wife, Detective Monica Nellis walked up...

She looked very sad as she peered down at the lifeless corpse.....

"You knew her didn't you?" I said to her..

"I talked to her yesterday about the other two...I revealed to her that I was a cop, a homicide detective and I appealed to her to get off the streets.."said Monica somberly...

This was the third such homicide in three days...First Black girl...The other two girls were white...All prostitutes and all in this area...

"There are no cameras in this area....Perfect place to kill somebody and walk away..." said Monica looking around...

A young officer ran up to me..

"Found two shells.....45 caliber....just like the one yesterday and the one the day before that." he said to me..

"Bag it and tag it..."I said.

Monica had been down here mingling amongst the working girls ,talking to them, breaking bread with them ,trying to glean any information she could on the first two girls...both of whom were runaways...neither of whom knew the other and neither had anything in common, except that they worked the strip...

We interviewed several johns...Many who were "respectable" businessmen who wanted their identity kept a secret..We cleared all of them...Except for the fact that all three women were shot in the head at close range with a .45..We had nothing else...

"We know one thing though Nate." said Monica..."We are looking for a woman.." she said.

"A woman?? Who told you that?" I asked...

"This one here....Her name is Darlene....That's all I know..She said...She saw yesterday's victim getting into a cab with a woman in a yellowish trenchcoat....She said the woman had purple hair, more than likely a wig and dark aviator sunglasses...I was going to have her give the police artist a description...She may have been the only living witness who got a good look at our killer..She was certainly the last person to see yesterday's victim alive..."said Monica.

"Which means our killer saw you two talking and must have made you for a cop....Where did you two talk?" I asked..

''At that old riverfront bar , a few blocks from here."said Monica..

"Maybe there are cameras in there...maybe there is a Street cam or an ATM cam..Something we can use.."I said.

It was blocks away, but there was certainly more people....milling about...

Our killer could be picking victim number three....Monica's sister, Dr. Monique Talbert and Lieutenant Cotton arrived shortly afterwords...

 "Hey Guys...This looks like number three huh?" said Monique as she kneeled down put on her latex gloves  and observed the body....

"GSW to the left temple....just like the other two....Wow!" she said.

"We definitely have a serial killer...What's her name?" asked Lt. Cotton..

Monica found her pocket book a few feet away...

"Hmmm,it's Darlene Muncy....According to her drivers license....She actually has a debit card and three credit cards....No cash.....Just like the others.."said Monica.

"No connection huh?" asked Lt. Cotton..

"No...this one knew victim number two and possibly saw the killer..She said around midnight last night...They were approached by a woman in a yellow trenchcoat ,with a purple wig and aviator glasses about going to a "party"  ...a party thrown by wealthy gentlemen willing to pay big money....She got in a cab with her...our victim here declined and that was the last time she was seen alive...I was coming back tonight to put her in protective custody, get her off the streets...I was too late..." said Monica, who looked to be near tears...

"I checked the hotels all of em ,all day today...There was no kind of party like that thrown last night.."I said.

"If there was do you really think anybody is going to admit to that? And to you...The cops??" said Lt. Cotton.

"Judging by body temp and lividity...She's been dead about six or seven hours..and this hot weather has already started the decomposing process." said Monique...

"Okay, get her out of here." I said...  I put my arms around Monica and held her tight, hugging her...

"It's alright bae...We are going to get this guy or this woman.." I said.

"It's been three days Nate...We don't have a suspect and no connection between these girls..."said Monica..

"They were workin girls right?  Maybe they had a pimp in common..."I said.

"I don't know about our last two victims...but victim number one did indeed work for someone..." said Monica..

"You got a name?" I asked..

"Guido Diaz.."said Monica.

"Him I know....He runs women up here and he sells a little weed...He's got a pretty decent rap sheet..."said Lt.Cotton.

"Then we need to talk to him."I said.

"Good Idea....Let's go home...Get some sleep."said Monica..

"You two go home...Get some rest and then bring Guido in tomorrow..."said Lt. Cotton.

We watched as the body was removed.....

II-

 Once we got home, Monica laid across the bed...

"God I'm exhausted....Three days we been working on this case and it's leading nowhere...I was getting close and now nowhere again..."she said.

I sat next to her..I was exhausted too...

"Don't worry....Something will pop soon." I said.

"This guy Guido won't know a damn thing...He'll deny knowing the girl, deny he runs women,swear he's a solid citizen..."said Monica..

"I know you can read minds bae...but now you're predicting the future too?" I asked..

She smiled..

"That's why you're so good for me...You've been the only one coming up with any ideas tonight...Frankly..I'm stumped...You're a good partner..." she said smiling...

"I'm good at other things too."I said and kissed her softly....as I took off my shirt and came out of my trousers...

I slipped her black mini skirt off.....and her matching black lace bra and panties....She slipped out of her sandals....

"Ummmm yes you are..."she said as she began kissing me passionately...

We lie across the bed kissing softly...slowly....

"Ummmm Husband , I love you so much..."she said...

"I love you too .."I said in between kisses.....

I truly hadn't expected this..

We stood there looking at each other and slowly and softly began kissing right in the middle of the bed....This is how it always began..

 I thrusted my tongue practically down her throat and while squeezing one breast with my hand...She softly stroked my engorged penis...I shivered...I was nearly losing my mind....We stared deeply into each others eyes for a minute and then began to softly and slowly kiss.....I lifted her up and slowly entered her more than moist center....I had never felt anything as soft and as good in my entire life...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GOD, OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" she screamed as I continued to thrust , harder and feverishly more.....

 I entered her softly and gently and began to stroke her softly and slowly....She moaned and put her arms around my neck and drew me closer to her..I kissed her neck, between her breasts, her cheeks....She continued to kiss my lips and my ears and my chest...

"Ohhh My God...Nate...I was sooo turned on the way you handled this loser case tonight" she moaned..as we got into a nice groove...

"Wow you were?  Well I'm turned on now!" I said.

 OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GOD, OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Nate..." she screamed as I continued to thrust , harder and feverishly more.....

Five hours came and went as Monica and I made sweet and passionate love...

 "Ummmmmmmmm,I'm definitely going to make you pancakes in the morning..."moaned Monica as
she began to climax....Her body shook,tears flowed down her face and she had the most serene look I'd ever seen in my life.....

I soon came myself....my back stiffening up and my bottom lip quivering....

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..."I moaned... .and smiled at Monica ,who smiled back at me...It was the first time she'd smiled all night...

"We don't have time for you to make breakfast in the morning."I said.

"I know ,but it was nice to say."she said as we both drifted off to sleep.

III-

The next day at the station....Monica had photos of all three of our dead women on the murder board....

"Darlene Muncy...Last Night.....Brenda Pugh, the night before.....We know that they knew each other...They worked the strip together...."said Monica...

"I talked to the locals and some guys over at Vice...Both girls had a light sheet...a couple of arrests for soliticitation and pandering...Nothing major....They were regulars in the clubs....I've got guys looking at the cameras in all of the local clubs and ATM Cams, Street Cams and Traffic cams in the general area..."I said.

"Good maybe we'll get a hit or see them with somebody.."said Monica... "Okay...We have victim number one...Nicole "Nikki" Maxwell.....She didn't know the other two, but she worked the strip...Was seen in a number of the clubs...And according to a witness, was seen getting into a cab with a woman in a yellow trenchcoat and purple hair and dark glasses...The same woman , victim number two got in a cab with....I've called the cab companies and I've got the names and the plates on all of the cabs that were working those nights..."said Monica.

"Anything pop?" I asked...

"No....Well...I've got three cabs that were operating that route on all three nights..Maybe we can talk to them and find out who picked up our girl..."

"Or maybe you won't have to!"came the voice of Detective Kylie White..

"I caught a murder, early this morning....might be related to your three...A cab driver...Louis Higgins,found a block from where you guys found that girl the other night...Two GSW's to the head....45 slugs...Wallet empty.....I was just with your sister....and get this...We found a strand of purple hair....It's from a wig...."said Kylie..

"Purple Hair....Just like the description of the woman who picked up two of our vic's....."I said.

"Then your cabbie is victim number four.."said Monica...

Lieutenant Cotton walked in with Monique just then....

"I heard you caught one this morning Kylie and it may be linked to your three, Mo-Mo, Nate!  "he said.

"Yeah.."I said.

"I'm going to try and keep this out of the media...I don't want to create a panic by advertising that we have a serial killer on the loose.." he said.

"I've got guys trying to pull DNA off of that strand of wig hair....It's a crap shoot...but we have to try." said Monique..

"Thanks sis...I'm going to have some people check all of the wig stores in that area and see if they've sold a purple wig to anyone lately....That too is a crap shoot, but we might get lucky.."said Monica..

"Don't you guys have a person of interest to talk to today...Guido Diaz?" said Lt. Cotton...

"Yeah....Come on Partner."said Monica...

"She's got you sooo whipped." laughed Lt. Cotton as I strapped on my side arm and followed Monica..

I smiled... " And she doesn't have you whipped ....sir?" I said..looking at my sister in law...

Monique smiled...

Lt. Cotton smiled..

"Nope ,not at all..I've got her turned out." he said laughing...

"Hmmmm,is that right?" laughed Monique...

"Kylie...Re canvass that crime scene....Take some uni's with you."said Lt. Cotton.

"I'm on it."said Kylie...

I joined Monica on the rooftop....

She smiled at me and said -''Why thank you.."

 "Huh?" I said..

''For thinking I'm still sexy,even though I have on this sweat suit and this old Army cap..."she said.

She had scanned my thoughts...I was so used to her now...that I didn't even think about the fact that she is a telepathic mutant...

She pulled me to her and kissed me, slowly and softly.......I returned her passion....When her phone started vibrating...

She eased out of my embrace...

"I have to take this honey bunny..."she said.

"Detective Monica Talbert, Homicide..." she said.

"Her name is Annie...Annie Christian!" said the voice...

"Huh? Who?" said Monica..

"The woman you're looking for...She killed those three girls...I saw her murder that cabbie last night.."came the voice.

"Look...you ought to come in to headquarters and make a statement.."said Monica..

"No....No....Nobody is safe...She's evil...She's the Anti-Christ...She's killing all sinners..." he said.

"Where are you?"asked Monica..

"I'm in a cab...I'm downtown....Catch her...Crucify her....Until she's caught.....Nobody is safe.."came the voice and he hung up.

"Who was that?" I asked..

"Someone who knows way too much about our case.."said Monica ,who had the strangest look on her face I'd ever seen...

A feeling of dread came over me for some reason!


(TO BE CONTINUED)