The Casino Snatch

We hit the road early...and I mean early....6:00 am....

Bonnie Shay, Sepia and I stopped at Sam Mother's Diner for a nice hot breakfast....\

"Bonnie girl, don't look so sad....We are going to take care of everything...I have the Annulment papers that Olivia and Beverly drew up right here...Even if he doesn't sign...You have enough grounds that Liv and Bev can take him to court and get your marriage annulled anyway."said Sepia.

"I know, but if they have to take him to court that will make my wedding a week or two weeks off...I'm embarrassed and I feel bad that I have to put you and Kevin and Livy and Bev through this..All because of that horrible man..." said Bonnie Shay..

"Girl please...I could tell you stories about all of the hustlers and deadbeats I met when I lived in West Orange and Jersey City..."said Sepia..

Just then ,I walked in with Kool Kat...

"Did somebody take our order yet?" I asked...

"Yes babes..I put it in for you...Hi Walter.." said Sepia..

''What's up Bad girl?" he said while kissing Sepia on the cheek..

"You remember Bonnie? Bonnie Shay?" said my wife Sepia...

"I certainly do....How are you Ms. Shay?" said Kool Kat...

Something about the way he said that and the way he looked at her told me that he not only remembered her, but knew her better than Sepia and I might know..

We didn't know then that Kool Kat and Bonnie Shay had spent a night of passion together once during the Harris Group Hacking case...

Bonnie smiled..

"Mr. Jones, how nice to see you again...How have you been?" said Bonnie.

"Can't complain...Can't complain." said Kool Kat with a wry smile on his face...

''Walter...She's getting ready to get married...and you have a girlfriend...Don't even get any ideas..."joked Sepia.. "He's one of the ones you have to look out for."joked Sepia..

"Why shame on you Sepia, to think such a thing...I am nothing if not a gentleman..."joked Kool Kat...

Bonnie Shay smiled...



"If they only knew..."she mused...

We finished our meal and paid the tab and got in the car ,headed for Atlantic City...

I drove, Sepia sat beside me.....

She laid her head on my shoulder as we took off...

Kool Kat sat in the back....He was the perfect gentleman....He didn't look Bonnie Shay's way...In fact, soon, the big man was fast asleep...

 "Walter is worse than our daughter...falls asleep as soon as the car starts moving."said Sepia,chuckling..

I laughed....

Bonnie spoke-

"Once I'm out of this mess...I'm going to get married and be the straightest, narrowist road walking lady you ever saw..." she said..

I smiled..

We were all silent the rest of the journey to Atlantic City...

II-

Atlantic City was just starting to wake up when we arrived... We booked a room at a small motel near the Boardwalk for the day...

I hooked up a table with Laptops, Smartphones and tablets so that we would have a base of operations...

I gave Sepia a .38 smokeless...

"Babes..I need you to stay here in the room and act as a conduit between me and the guys...In case I need information...My smartphone has GPS on it ,so that you know where we are at all times.. And plus....I want the mother of my child and love of my life out of harms way." I said..

''Awwww ,you are sooo sweet." she said and kissed me passionately...Maybe our kiss lasted a little longer than it should of..

"Ahem...I hate to interrupt your pillow talk lovebirds.. but we got a deadbeat to find.." laughed Kool Kat..

"Leave em alone Mr. Jones...I think what they have is sweet...It's what I want for myself.."said Bonnie..

Kool Kat smiled and said to her..

"You deserve it....Your husband to be is a very lucky and fortunate man....I hope he knows that." he said softly..

"He does..."she said softly and smiled.

III-

 Raymond Johnson, alias Waymond Johnson...had a car....and an address....We drove to his address, a few blocks from the boardwalk...

No one was home...

''Shame we don't have Lockpick Johnson with us...We could go inside.." said Kool Kat..

"We don't need him...The door is opened.." I said.

We rang the bell....There was no answer...

I cracked the door open and cocked my gun...

Kool Kat cocked his gun....He placed Bonnie Shay behind him and we walked in....The smell immediately hit our noses....

Kool Kat and I both knew that smell..It was death!!

We walked around ...The house looked like it had been tossed...chairs and tables knocked over...chest of drawers opened and it's contents displayed all over the floor...

"Oh My God...It smells horrible in here..."said Bonnie..

"Walter, come here....Bonnie..Stay back.." I said..

"Holy Crap!" said Kool Kat...

Lying in the middle of the floor was a black man, a little older than Walter, Bonnie and myself...He was dead!!!

I kneeled down and looked at the body...

"From the smell and the fact that rigor has set in...I'd say this man has been  dead for twenty four hours at least!...Looks like he was strangled..."I said.

''And tortured...All of his fingers are broken." said Kool Kat...

"Oh My God..."said Bonnie..

"Let's get out of here.."I said...

I called Sepia and told her to call Atlantic City P.D.  I gave her an address and told her to tell them a dead body was in the house..

"That's not him ,I don't know who he is..." said Bonnie..

"I looked in his wallet..His name is Bobby Systic..."I said...

"Maybe that was our boys partner....Looks like one of his cons might have come back on him..."said Kool Kat.

"They were looking for him...and I guess ole boy there was in the wrong place at the wrong time..."I said.

The three of us headed back to our room....

"I ordered us lunch..."said Sepia...

"Thanks baby..." I said...

I contacted my office at Morris Investigations in Philadelphia...

Clerow answered the phone...

"What's up Boss man?" he asked..

"Clerow is Peeping Tom there?" I asked.

"Yeah.." he said...

"Ask him if he can hack into the Traffic and Street cams here in Atlantic City...."I said.

"You forget who you're dealing with."laughed Peeping Tom....

He ,Lockpick Johnson and their five friends, ex-CIA and KGB operatives easily hacked into the traffic and street cams in Atlantic City....

I gave them the license plate and a description of the car that was licensed to Raymond Johnson....

Sean Jackson got on the phone...

"Kev..we are looking at his house...now we are going to go back 24 hours and see if we can get a bead on the house...I take it you have a relay station set up in your room right?" he said..

"I do."I said..

"Okay...This is going to take some time...When we get a visual...We'll get back to you..."said Sean Jackson..

"Okay cool...We'll be here." I said.

''Wow, your operation is so high tech now...I remember when you relied on information from street sources.."mused Sepia..

"Still do...but we want to find this guy and find out where he might have gone..."I said.

Kool Kat pulled out a deck of cards...

"We might as well play some cards while we wait for the boys to find something..."he said.

"Anybody down for some Texas Hold em?" asked Bonnie...

"I'm down" said Sepia..

"You two are full of surprises."I said smiling..

"Aint they now?" said Kool Kat with a wry smile.

IV-

It took the guys about two hours...but they came through....Owen Todd called me...

"What's up Owen...you guys got something?" I asked..

"Sure do...Link up your laptop and we'll send you the feed."he said.

Peter Gunn never had technology like this ,I mused.

I saw a photo of the house we had just visited...

"That's from 24 hours ago....That's your boy Johnson,packing a bag and getting into his ride...Apparently he was getting out of there fast..."said Owen...

"I see.."I said..

"Okay ,now look...we sped it up...about an hour and look who is entering his crib."said Owen...

We saw the dead man ,who we found on the kitchen floor...


Then we saw a car drive up and about five guys get out...While one guy stayed outside.....

"Look Kev...our boy had company...and they don't look like they comin to give him a house warming gift..."said Kool Kat....

After awhile we saw them leaving....

"Print that...Get the license plate and the address attached to it...The local PD might be interested  in this..."I said... We had just solved a murder for them...but who were these guys I wondered.??

"They look like collections men."said Kool Kat..

"Collections men?" asked Bonnie Shay...

"He means juice men....He must be into somebody for a huge amount of money....His boy probably came there to warn him and got killed...not knowing he had already fled..."I said.


Clerow came back o the phone...

"We got a scope on that car boss...And your boy!" he said.

"Oh yeah?" I asked..

"This is live time...You won't believe this...He's in one of the Casinos....At the crap table.."laughed Clerow...

"Unbelievable..." I said.

"He's at the Golden Nugget."said Sean Jackson...

"Get me a close up of those goons....See if you can get facial recognition..."I said.

It took a half an hour....This time Lockpick Johnson called me back...

"Kev...we got all five of those guys....They are all thugs and their boss man..The one who stood outside is Jake "The Snake"Gibbons...He's a juice man...All five em got sheets on em." said Lockpick..

"Good deal...thanks ."I said.

"Thanks guys...I said... I put on my Kevlar vest and a Trauma plate and got my guns...a .38 , a.Glock nine and my .22....

I made a call to  a person in the know...A guy I hadn't talked to in awhile...An Atlantic gangster named Eric "Shark Dollars " Redding...

"Shark!" I said.

"Kevy Kev...What's good bossman?" he said.

"I'm in town baby!" I said.

"Yeah? Where you at?" he asked.

"I'm at a spot off the boardwalk."I said.

"Man..All you had to do was call me and I would've hooked you up..You know that." he said.

"Well for operational purposes,it's better if I'm where I am..."I said.

"You workin a case huh?  Is Walter with you?" he asked.

"Yeah and Sepia too and another woman..."I said.

"Go head Pimpin...I feel you..."he laughed.."So what you need to know?" he asked me..

" Jake The Snake " Gibbons.."I said.

"Oh Him!  He's a juice man....He's got juice on the streets...I don't deal with him myself...Some guy named Ray Johnson...is into him for 50 large I hear....He's turning the city upside down lookin for him."said Shark Dollars..

"I'm looking for him too ,but for a different reason....I hope I find him before this Jake fella finds him."I said.

"I hope so too Kev...Gibbons is a psycho...He'll kill your entire family if you cross him...Be careful man,walk a very thin line..."said Shark Dollars..

"Thanks Shark...I will." I said as I hung up... I put on my Kevlar vest and a Trauma plate and got my guns...a .38 , a.Glock nine and my .22....

Kool Kat strapped on his .357 Magnum and .40 caliber...as well as his Kevlar Vest and Trauma Plate...

"What are we waiting for?" he said.

Bonnie got up...

"I don't know if you should go on this one doll."I said.

"Sit this one out...Me and Kev are going to bring him here."said Kool Kat...

"No! I got you into this...I brought you here....I need to see him face to face." said Bonnie, who pulled a
.22 out of her purse ,loaded it and cocked it...

"My girl!" said Sepia....

V-

It took us no time at all to find Ray Johnson's car in the garage of the Golden Nugget...and it was even easier to find him in the Casino playing blackjack and surprisingly doing very well...

"Okay boys...Roll em!" he said...

''Hello Ray or is it still Waymond?" asked Bonnie as she approached her husband...who she hadn't seen in three years and who she wasn't even aware she was married to....

He looked like he'd seen a ghost....

"Bonnie? Bonnie is that you?" he said..

"Hey man, you playin cards or you talkin to the babe?" asked a card player..

"He's tending to his business...Is that okay with you fella?" asked Kool Kat shooting the man a baleful stare that put the fear of god into him and everybody else at the table..

I just smiled...

Nobody else at that table had anything to say....

"It took me a long time to find you Waymond or Ray.."said Bonnie...

He looked at Kool Kat and me and shrugged...

"Who are they?" he asked..

"They're friends....from Philadelphia....I moved back there..."she said.

"Ohhh cool...You know...I'm thinkin of movin there too...As soon as I uh get myself out of some hot water.."he said,laughing uneasily...

"Yeah well, I have to get myself out of some hot water....."said Bonnie..

"Really? what hot water are you in?"he asked..

"I'M MARRIED TO YOU AND HAVE BEEN FOR THREE YEARS!!"she said angrilly...

"Oh yeah that...I thought all of my uh marriages were annulled.."he mused..

"ALL EXCEPT OURS...I'M STILL YOUR WIFE AND I DON'T WANNA BE!" she said.

He looked at her and smiled..

"Damn girl....You still got a sexy body....in fact ,you've filled out even more than when I knew you..WOWWW!  You sure you don't want to stay married to me? I could get us a place in Philly and I might even get a straight job and be a good upright man..."he said.

"Forget it...I haven't seen you in three years...I only knew you for that one day...You got me drunk and high and took me somewhere and married me against my will and then vanished...I don't even know you,what makes you think I want to stay married to you?" asked Bonnie...

"I guess you have a point..."he shrugged...

"For what it's worth...I felt bad about leaving you like that....I came back for you, but you had left..I got arrested and spent a week in debtors jail and my boy Bobby S. bailed me out...I looked everywhere for you..I even went to New York City looking for you, but I never found you...That's the truth...We had a fantastic night...No woman ever made me cum as hard as you did....I wanted some more ,I aint lyin and I wanted to stay married to you...I swear that's the truth Bonnie.." he said.

"That's all well and good..but I want a divorce, actually an annulment...I have the papers here with me...If you refuse to sign, my lawyer will take you to court anyway...I have enough grounds for an anulment anyway with or without your signature.." she said.

"Well if you don't really need my signature...Why are you here?" he asked..

"Because....I wanted to look you in the eye one last time....and more important..I'm getting married next Saturday and I want this out of the way, so I can get married..."she said.

He smiled devilishly...

"So I could take my chances with your lawyer and not sign this...??" he laughed.

Kool Kat cracked his knuckles and glared at him balefully...

"You could take a lot of chances buddy.." he said.

The smile dropped off of Ray Johnson's face...

"Okay...Now that he uh put it that way..I see your point.."he laughed.

I laughed too..

"How much are you into Jake for?" I asked..

He looked stunned...

"Jake? How did you know about that?" he asked..

"Well, your boy Bobby S. went to your house to warn you and ran into some of Jake's playthings...Who killed him...I have a friend here who knows the lay of the land..I made a phone call to him and he told me that you're into a loan shark named Jake" The Snake"Gibbons for a large sum of money."I said.

He shrugged..

"I'm into him for 50 large, which was why I was into this high end crap game...I was going to try and win it ,so I can pay him off.. Oh My God..They killed Bobby S?? He was my friend...My only friend." he said and began to shed tears...For the first time...This guy began to shed some tears and actually show some remorse...but I had to remember...He was a grifter...a con man...Could any emotion he showed be trusted???...

"Well you can get into that later..Right now...You're going to sign this woman's papers..."I said.

"Okay...Okay....I'll sign...Can I go to the little boys room?" he said.

"You really going to make us do this?" asked Kool Kat...

"Awww man." he said.

"Wait here Bonnie...We're going with him..."I said.

''Who are you guys?" he asked.

"I'm a private investigator...Out of Philly..I'm the one that found you...Mr. Jones here is my associate."I said.

He looked at Kool Kat and hung his head...

"I'm in a world of hell." he said..

"You sure are...Now let's get to steppin."said Kool Kat...

As we walked to the restroom...I noticed five guys walking behind us briskly....They all had on suits...

"Kools, we got company..."I whispered...

The big man nodded...He spun around and pulled out his .357 Magnum....I pulled out my glock nine...

This was just the kind of confrontation I didn't want in a Casino...

Someone yelled "Gun" and people started running...and screaming...

The five men all pulled out their guns and aimed at us...

The shortest one looked as though he was the leader...

"Hold it...I don't know who you guys are...but we got no beef with you...We just want laughing boy there.."he said as one of them grabbed Ray Johnson...

"He knows why we want him...Don't you Ray?" he asked..

"I swear ,I didn't say nothin...I didn't say nothin..." he said.

"Well Tony wants to talk to you, to make sure you understand what's at stake here.." he said.

Kool Kat and I couldn't do anything...They had us outnumbered and out gunned...

"Now we are gonna walk out of here....If you're smart, you'll stand pat...That way...Nobody gets hurt." he said and they walked away with Ray Johnson in tow and out of the Casino...

Bonnie came running into the hallway...

"What happened.?" she asked..

I sighed...

"Your husband is in more trouble than he let on.."I said.

"Was that that loan shark's guys.??" she asked.

"No...These were wiseguys...Which poses an even bigger problem.."I sighed...

"Damn girl...you really know how to pick em don't you baby?" said Kool Kat...

Bonnie didn't find any of this funny at all.

(TO BE CONTINUED)