Annie Goes Wild!

Monica and I rang the doorbell of Guido Diaz...a small time pimp , who sold a little weed on the side as well as ran women...I had busted him twice when I was a rookie detective working vice and Monica had busted him once during the short stint she did in Special Victims Unit....

He must have been doing well...He was in a beautiful floating waterfront condo...with two floors and an ocean view...It also looked like he had a boat...

He smiled when he saw us....

"Detective Nellis, Detective Talbert....How long has it been?" he laughed....

"Not long enough Guido...I'm Detective Nellis too, now." she said and showed him her wedding band...

He looked absolutely shocked...

"YOU? You got married?? To Him??? Ohhhhhhhh wow!  Nate..My mannn, congratulations.....And you're partners?? Homicide...Wowwwwww..It has been a long time." he laughed..

"It has....So tell me Guido...Running women must be lucrative for you....I mean, look at this..A waterfront condo...A floating one at that..."I said.

He raised both palms of his hands...

"Don't let this place fool you...I rent this place and the rent is incredibly high for what I'm gettin..."he said.

"Still, Girls and Weed must be pretty lucrative."I said smiling...

"Come on Detective...You won't find any weed around here...and I don't know what you're talking about as far as any girls." he said laughing uneasily.....

"Stop lying...You lie through your teeth...Besides....We aren't Narcos...We aren't Vice or Special Victims Unit anymore...Neither me nor my partner care about any of that...We are Murder Police now!"said Monica..

"Ummmph and you are murdering me...You killin it in that damn sweat suit babe...No disrespect Nate..but you got yourself a winner there.." he said.

"I know...That's why I married her." I said.

Monica blushed and said to me...

"Nateeeeeeeeee.."

Then Guido , who was one or two years older than us, Latino with beautiful brown eyes and jet black hair and immaculate dress got serious...

"Murder Police eh?  You think I don't know why you're here???..My three girls....Somebody killed them." he said.

"All three of our victims were your girls?  But Darlene didn't know our first victim.."said Monica.

"Cause she was new...but yeah, they worked the same area....I'm sick about it..." he said.

"You got a rival Guido? Anybody lookin to maybe muscle in on your territory...??"I asked.

"White Boy Slim has a couple of girls ...but he's not really a rival...My girls are wayyyyy cuter than his...You saw mine.." he said.

''Where would we find White Boy Slim?" I asked.

"Some of the low rent joints...Off The strip..." he said.

"What's his government name?" I asked..

"I never knew it...All I've ever known him by is White Boy Slim"

"White Boy Slim have an enforcer?...Somebody to keep the girls in line...Somebody to handle his heavy work?" asked Monica...

Guido laughed...

"You're kidding right?  He is small potatoes...He handles his heavy work...just like uh, I do...I don't even have an enforcer..."he said.

"Look, keep this under your hat...Any girl work for you that was uh kind of weird, thrown off or who might hold a grudge?" asked Monica..

"Nah....nobody I can think of...He might be able to tell you more..." he said.

"What does he look like?" asked Monica.

"Never mind Mo-Mo...I sent a text to Vice...They know him...His name is Vern Maxey....Has a long sheet, they're sending me a photo and an address now."I said.

"Mo-Mo...Awwwww you guys got cute nicknames for each other.....That's funny...I knew you both at different times...I didn't even know you two knew each other..."he said.

"It's a small world Guido...."said Monica.

"Yeah it is.." he said.

''Well look..We are off to see White Boy Slim...Keep your doors locked and watch your back."said Monica.

"You think a broad is doing this?  Wowwwwwwwww, What is the world comin to?" he said.

"I know right?" I said , smiling as we left....

II-

We headed to the apartment of Vern "White Boy Slim" Maxey.....Monica rubbed my hand softly....

"Partner....I've been in Homicide, a whole year and a half before you arrived..." she said softly..

"Yeah,I know.."I said..

"And I've cracked a lot of homicides....both by myself and with you..." she said.

"Yeah...I know...You're the vet, the seasoned homicide detective..."I said.

"No...I don't mean it like that....I-I mean...this case scares me...It's something different about it...I just have this feeling of dread.." she said..."I've never felt like that before...about any case.." she said.

"Don't worry....I won't let anything happen to you...I'm here.." I said..

She kissed my cheek, but she didn't say anything...

III-

Vern "White Boy Slim"Maxey was as pale as a ghost....He dressed immaculately.....Had the blondest of blonde hair and was as dead as a doorknob when we got to his apartment....He was hanging from the ceiling fan.....and had two .45 gunshot wounds in his torso and one in his head...

It was an eerie sight...

 An hour later.....Monique and Kylie met us at his apartment....

"Three GSW's to the body, two to the torso and one to the head and hung from the ceiling fan...This woman is strong or high on something."said Monique...A crew of crime scene investigators were searching the room for shell casings and dusting for prints...

''She didn't have to be that strong...He's about 95 pounds ,soaking wet." said Kylie...

"He smells like he just got out of the shower....His body is still warm...We just missed our killer.."said Monica...

"The uni's talked to everybody in the building....Nobody  saw or heard a thing..."I said.

''The cameras in this building might yield something.."said Monica.

"This makes five victims...We gotta catch this woman.."said Kylie...

Monica's phone rang...

"Hello..Detective Monica Nellis..Homicide.." she answered...

"Her name is Annie...Annie Christian!  You were on the right track, but you took too long.." 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..And she killed that pimp this afternoon....You've got to stop her."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? Who are you?"asked Monica..

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

"Mo-Mo...That your mysterious guy in the cab again?" I asked..

"Yes....He sounds terrified...He knows this girl....He's tracked her every move...but he's too afraid to turn himself in...."said Monica...

"I'm going to have your phone tracked and traced...Find out where these calls are coming from..."said Kylie..

My cyber eye peered out the window...

"They may be closer than you think.." I said.. I ran outside with my gun drawn just as two cabs sped off...

Monica and Kylie followed me..

"Bae...Did you see anybody..?"asked Monica..

"No, but I got the plates on both cabs...we can trace them ,find out who was driving..."I said.

The four of us watched as the body of Vern "White Boy" Slim Maxey was removed from his apartment..

"Hmmm,I can't help but wonder what he might have told us had we of gotten to him first?" I said.

"Probably as much as Guido Diaz...and he didn't know anything..." said Monica.

"From the smell of bleach in here and the empty bottle I found in the trash...There are no fingerprints or DNA to be found...but you never know."said Monique...

IV-

A little while later I returned to the squad room...I didn't know where Monica was...but Lt. Cotton had been there...

"Any luck at the Cab Company?" he asked.

''Well one cab had gotten a call and was told to pick someone up there...a woman...but she never showed up...When he saw me come out with my gun drawn, he took off....He was legit...He didn't work any of the routes where the girls got killed either...The other cab was stolen, belonged to another cabbie there.."I said.

"We find that and we may be on to our killer.."said Lt. Cotton..

"We did find it....It was bleached down...No prints...No DNA..."I said.

"Nuts...and we have five people slain...We gotta get this guy or gal."said Lt. Cotton ,punching his hand...

''Do you need more manpower?"he asked.

"I got two teams on those ATM, Business, Apartment, Street and Traffic cameras...triangulating that entire area.... and I have unis going door to door 15 block radius asking if anybody saw these girls or anyone with them...Kylie's all over the cabbie murder .."I said.

"What about the hotels?" he asked..

"Mo-Mo and I went to every major hotel and discreetly questioned close to 200 people...Nobody recalled seeing anyone with those girls...That is those who admitted seeing the girls at all.."I said.

"By the way...Where is your wife?" he asked..

"I'm right here....Checking the area wig stores...panned out...I found the store on South street that sold a woman a purple wig..."said Monica.

"Any number of women could have bought that wig..." said Lt. Cotton...

"My sister matched the hair to a manufacturer and we found the one store that sells that brand...and get this..we got a still photo of the sale..Look there.."she said and showed us the photo..taken from a store cam..
It was of a blonde , attractive woman in a yellow trenchcoat and wearing a black spandex body suit and stilletto heels...

"Good Pull Mo-Mo...We may have our first look at our killer...Please tell me she used a credit card..." said Lt. Cotton...

"She did, but it was stolen....she used it before it was reported and cut off..."said Monica..

"Damn good work.."said Lt. Cotton...

But Monica's phone rang again...

"Hello..Detective Monica Nellis..Homicide.." she answered...

"You got a problem....You're on the right track...but you're way behind..."came the mysterious voice..

"Who is this? How did you get my number?" asked Monica ,who signaled to me..

I put a trap and trace on the line...

"Got it babes."I whispered...

"Annie dropped two more bodies...You've got to stop her...before she kills again!" he said.

"How do you know so much about Annie?" asked Monica..

"Because...She's my ....You're trying to keep me on here and trace me...Aren't you?  You better go down by the river first.." said the voice and they hung up...

"That's okay....I got it....He was , right outside...Guido's floating Condo!"  I said.

"He said to go down by the river side.."said Monica..

V-

I headed over to Guido's Floating Condo...The door was open and the place appeared to be empty...

I had four uniforms with me...We entered with guns drawn...

"PHILADELPHIA POLICE!! GUIDO!!! GUIDO!! THIS IS DETECTIVE NATE NELLIS...YOU ALRIGHT MAN?" I asked.

" CLEAR!"shouted one uniform...

"CLEAR" shouted another...

"CLEAR!!!"shouted the third...

"DETECTIVE!!!! OUT HERE!" said the fourth officer...

Outside...Lying face up was Guido Diaz....One gunshot wound to the temple....a .45....his small boat filled with blood...

We found at least three witnesses....They all said the same thing..

"It was a woman...She had Orange Hair...Aviator sunglasses...Body suit...He ran out of his house and she shot him dead..He fell over into the boat and she got into a cab that was waiting for her.."

"Annie "had gotten wild ,She had killed two yesterday and three today, bringing her total to seven...

Near the bridge area that Monica and I liked to go to lie the body of a young woman...This woman was blonde...shapely and attractive and wearing a latex body suit and a purple wig....and aviator sunglasses...

"Any ID on her?" I asked.

"No,Nothing.."said Monica..

"She died the same way...Single gunshot wound to the head...." said Monique..

"My God....I can't believe this...but..we got a suspect or a photo of our suspect." said Lt. Cotton.

''Do we? Take a look at her Lieutenant..That's the girl in my photo...The girl who bought the purple wig...We have nothing.."said Monica.

''And witnesses at Guido's murder say that he was shot by a woman with Orange hair.." I said.

"Annie has gone wild."said Kylie.....

Monica's phone rang again...

"Hello..Detective Monica Nellis..Homicide.." she answered...

"Until you catch her...Until she's crucified...I'll live my life in a taxi-cab..."came the voice..

Monica had a look of pure fear like I've never seen on her face before.

(DEFINITELY TO BE CONTINUED)