Hazy Shade of Murder

3:45 am....The sun is just maybe an hour from rising......Many Philadelphians are still sound asleep.... Most...but not me, Assistant District Attorney, Keith Wallace...and not my wife, Detective Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace...

At the time...I was making hot ,sweaty ,early morning love to my wife, Detective Carlotta Wallace..

It started out with her blowing softly in my ear..which woke me up.....

I smiled at her and began kissing her neck...


"Papi,I can't sleep!" she said...


"Well..I was sleeping good." I remarked..


"I thought maybe you might be interested in something else besides sleep." she said coyly...


I smiled at her...


"Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.."I said.


She began blowing in my ear and then slowly running her soft hands down my legs and finding my hard and very erect penis...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu papi...you are always ready...You always want it..." she moaned...

I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek softly....She smiled at me sweetly and motioned for me to come closer...I leaned in closer and she put her arms around my neck and kissed me slowly, softly, sensuously....

 It was a work day...We kissed passionately like that for a good while..
.
I rolled over on top of her...I eased her nightie up and slipped her panties down. and slipped my pajama bottoms down...

I entered her slowly....


''Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu papi, you feel so gooood ,Aye Mios Dios...." she moaned..

"I love it when you speak spanish!" I said, continuing to move in and out of her warm center....

"Oh you love it when I speak anything...When have you not..." she said....

 "This is trueeeeeeeeeeeeeee...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." I moaned as we started to make sweet love...


She was so warm, so wet....She felt so good,I thought I was going to lose my mind as we got caught up in a nice rhythm and began to move so smoothly...Like a smooth jazz solo...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu papi..."she cooed..

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Carlotta..." I said.

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm  this is soooooooooooooooo goood..ouuuuuuuuuuuu.." she moaned..


''Ouuuu ayee mios dios...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"she moaned softly....She was so warm, so moist....

I thrusted into her ,first slowly, then faster and harder....

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..papi.." she moaned as our bed rocked from side to side...The headboard sounded like it might come off...

"You do have the good good. Best I've EVER had in my life!!" I moaned as we began making sweet love...

She smiled and then laughed....."You are wonders for my ego." she said.


"You're wonders for me period.." I moaned.


"Awwww, you're soo sweet!" she said in between deep kisses...

We continued to kiss deeply,passionately as I rubbed those breasts of hers and continued to thrust mightily..hoping I was wrecking it like ralph as Lt. Cantrell used to say...We could hear each other's breathing more clearly than ever!!

We were making sweet zesty love in the early and hot steamy morning hours of a summer day..  Something we hadn't done in a long while..

 Carlotta and I made love well over two and a half hours...both of us climaxing mightily and holding each other tightly....


"Ouuu papi..I hear ringing..."she said..


"It was that good huh?" I laughed..


"No silly, the phone is ringing...Mine and yours!" she said, laughing...

While we were making sweet love ,Out in the park...Something of a more sinister nature was going down...

A young African-American woman was handcuffed to the steering wheel of the black car.... A white man with a long trench coat on and a brim pulled down so his face couldn't be seen , pulled a white man out of the car and tossed him in the grass...

The white man's hands were tied...He was none other than Saxophone player, Dutch Van Buren...

The father of our Lieutenant and friend...Sissy Van Buren...Sissy's mother was African-American...Her father was White....

If Sissy hadn't told you ,you would never know she was bi-racial...She seemed one hundred percent Black...

The handcuffed woman was crying....

"Tarantula...Don't do this...Dutch and me don't know nothin...I swear..We was just havin a drink...I swear that's all...He played a set...I know him him from back in the day..We was just catching up..."she pleaded..

He cocked his .357 magnum...

"Just catchin up huh?" he growled.

"Tarantula look...I didn't have nothin to do with your brother's death....Man, I'm a musician...For gods sake...." pleaded Dutch...

"You and my brother played in those floating crap games....How much was he in for and who was he in to?" growled the man known as Tarantuala....

"Man,I swear ,I don't know...Jimmy Newlin...I don't know man...I was tryin to cover my end...I wasn't even playin in the same game man...I didn't have nothin to do with it..I swear..."pleaded Dutch..

"LIAR! You know good and damn well who killed my brother...Now I want a name Dutch.." he growled..

The woman in the car pleaded -

"He's telling the truth Tarantula and I really can't help you." she sobbed..

He cocked his pistol...

"No, you really can't." he said and fired one shot, which hit her in the temple...The force of the shot knocked her from one side of the car to the other...blood poured down the side of her face....Her lifeless eyes were still staring...

"JEEEEEEEEEEEEEESUS TARANTULA...WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?" screamed Dutch...

"I just killed your little girlfriend..That's what I did." he growled..

"Listen you insecure son of a bitch...I wasn't foolin around with your girlfriend...We were just having a drink,catching up on old times...I have a live in girlfriend and a baby.."said a now angry Dutch Van Buren...

"I know that and I don't care...Now give me the name of who killed my brother." he snarled..

"You're gonna kill me whether I do or not...So Genius let me tell you somethin you may not know...I have another daughter..An older daughter...Ask around..She's a cop..And not just any cop..She's A Lieutenant..of Homicide!!"said Dutch...

"I know who she is...and if she gets in my way,she's gonna be just as dead as you're gonna be...Now give me that name....

From a distance...A Siren was heard..Tarrantula stomped his foot in disgust...

He stared down at Dutch....

"Today is your lucky day  Dutch....You get to live.....FOR NOW!...."he said and untied him...

"Get out of here...Oh and don't go blabbin to your daughter..I'd hate for something to happen to your Latina girlfriend and your baby girl..Get my drift?   Stay close....I'm gonna be meeting with you again...Real soon..." he said as he headed in an opposite direction...

Dutch ran for all he was worth and didn't stop running until he was on the street and could hail a cab...

II-

7:00 AM.....A Hot and Hazy 97 degrees......

By the time my wife, Detective Carlotta Rodriguez- Wallace and I arrived at the scene, Several policemen and CSI officials were already there snapping photos and searching for evidence...

Carlotta put on her latex gloves and greeted one of her partners, Detective James Barlow and Forensic Investigator , Dr. Hazel Baylor...

"Hey Jimmy, what do we have here?" she asked..

"Black female...Her drivers license says.... Odessa Harris....She was 40....and she worked at Josies...Our spot..but I don't recognize her.." said Jimmy...

"Me neither." said Carlotta...

"She was shot in the temple....Single slug from a .347 magnum pistol...Judging by body temp and lividity...She's only been dead for one hour..."said Hazel...

Detective Tyriq Pile, Carlotta's other partner was on the other side of the car with Detective Antonio Hopkins...

''We found the shell casing.....357 mag, just like Hazel said...Death was immediate....Quick..."he said and passed the shell to a police officer at the scene..

"Bag that and tag it.."said Tyriq..

"Yes detective."said the young officer...

"The cops were responding to a report of domestic violence ,across the street from the park, when the gunshot was heard.....By the time they got over here,they discovered this..." said Hop...

"This seems like a routine murder...Why are we here?" I asked..

"Look at that car ADA.....That car belongs to the Mayor of Philadelphia's corps...It's a city car." said Detective Sirena Pile who was walking back with some uniforms...

I looked at the car...and did a double take..

"Oh My God!!! "I said...It was indeed a city car...."It must have been stolen!" I proclaimed..

"Not an easy thing to do Keith...but I thought that too...I'm on the line with the city motor pool right now.." said Detective Duke Baylor...

Detective Angie Belton-Barlow..was overseeing some CSI personell who were dusting for fingerprints...

"Lots of fingerprints on this car...not a hint of bleach...probably DNA too." she said.

"So maybe this was a lovers spat...that went sideways..."I said.

"She's handcuffed to the steering wheel and the shot came from over here...The killer was outside the car...This was done calmly..."

"There's a sign that someone else was here too."said Tyriq,observing the soil and the grass.

"A second killer Rico?" asked Jimmy....

"Or a hostage....Those look like knee impressions in the soil.."observed Hop...

''So maybe our killer is a jealous or spurned lover and he brought both people out here...He shot and killed the girl and tossed the boyfriend or whoever on the ground.."said Sirena..

"So where is victim number two?  There is no blood and only one shot was fired that we know of?" asked Detective Angie Belton...

'The killer got interrupted...You said the rollers arrived in response to something else , a domestic disturbance across the street.."said Duke..

"The killer heard the sirens or saw them and he and his second would be victim fled."said Carlotta...

"Or his victim got away!!! Look..a second pair of footprints and they are headed in the other direction...look!"said Angie Belton...

"Angie's right...!!! The would be victim might have seen this as a chance to escape...."said Sirena..

Jimmy and Hazel directed the CSI people to make impressions of both sets of footprints....

While Tyriq ,Duke and Hop surveyed the area...

"This was the perfect place to do something like this...No cameras....Plenty of cover and it was early,early morning...Nobody stirring around...."said Tyriq...

"But there are Traffic cams outside the park....Maybe they caught something.."said Duke..

"The killer came by car...So both he and his hostage had to leave by foot...." said Hop...

"Thank God, it's early morning..Not that many people would be mulling around or running out of here." said Sirena..

"I'm done now...Can I release the body?" asked Hazel..

"Yeah, release it." said Tyriq..

The nine of us stood solemnly and watched as another body was being removed from a death scene...I didn't know the young woman....but she didn't deserve a cruel death like this...I wanted to make sure whoever did this got his just desserts....

 I shook my head...So tragic, So cruel...This murder...

III-

Lt. Sissy Van Buren had a smile on her face as we all marched into Headquarters.....

"Wow...I come back from Vacation and none of my favorite people are here....I was beginning to feel some kind of way.." she joked...

"The Guys caught what could be a big case.." I said and hugged Sissy and kissed her on the cheek..

"How you been Sis?" I asked.

''Good...Eddie C. and I both needed that vacation...We both feel so refreshed now."she said practically glowing..

''It's been pretty quiet around here...pretty normal days and nights.." I said smiling..

"Ohhh ,so I come back and you got a major case huh? "she laughed..

"Might be major..might not be...On face value..It looks pretty routine..except that one of the cars from the Mayor's Motor pool was used."I said.

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuu that makes this juicy...."said Sissy ,smiling slyly...

Duke walked in with crime scene photos...

"We got it early this morning....Hazel said  the time of death was about four in the morning...We picked it up at around 7:00 AM."said Duke..

Sissy grimaced...

"Oh My God...handcuffed to the steering wheel...and shot in the head....And from the look...with a high powered ,high velocity weapon..." she said.

"Welcome Back Boss Lady" said Carlotta ,smiling...

"Hi Chica....You are just my little ray of sunshine."said Sissy smiling...

''Hey Sis...Sorry we had to welcome you back with a fresh murder case....but you need to come in the observation room..We might have something." said Angie..

"Hey girlfriend...Welcome back...."said Deputy FBI Special Agent in Charge...Sharon Hopkins...Detective Hopkins's wife...

We took a look at the surveilience screens...

"The car used in the murder was one from the Mayor's motor pool...So we scrubbed the film footage from the City Motor pool."said Hop..

''And here is where it gets cute."said Sirena...The car was registered to this man, Henry Jackson...Here he is on film footage getting tasered around 5:30 pm yesterday...You can't see the guys face..but he's at least six foot two...He's got on a long black slicker ,pretty warm for this time of year and that big black hat...Black gloves,Black slacks and Black shoes, size 13....We found a size 13 shoe in the park."she said.

"Jimmy and I picked up Henry Jackson...He had signed the car out and he got tasered from behind when he was trying to return it...He reported it to Auto Theft yesterday....He's clean...No record...."said Tyriq..

''So we followed Traffic Cams, Street Cams and ATM cams in the area and we were able to pinpoint this cars destionation....He went to Josies, then Roxy's...Then Aqua Bar....There he is walking out with our victim at around 10:00 pm..Still can't get his face..."said Jimmy...

''We found two sets of fingerprints in the car....The victims and someone elses...We are still going through them...There was a lot of sweat...Hazel says she is trying to get a DNA match for it..

"Now..he drives to Little Norway and he's pulling a guy out of the bar at gunpoint..We can't make out the face..."said Duke..

"God, that guy looks awful familliar...Hmmm..I could swear I know that guy..."said Sissy...

''Our killer is good at concealing himself...He drove into the park...Some hours later...And that's where we lost him...We need to find out where he went and why he didn't kill the second man.."said Angie..

"Maybe they were working together."said Sissy.

"We thought about that, but we found knee prints in the soil and signs of s second struggle...A Police siren interrupted him and that might have given the second person, a hostage..A chance to escape..."said Tyriq...

''We need to take another trip out there, find out if our second guy was tied up..If he discarded some rope or something."said Carlotta..

"Why would the killer steal a car from the Mayor's motor pool?" I mused..

"To throw you guys off..Which he has done...Quite Well, I must say...You don't know what he looks like, who he is...or where he went....Or who his second victim or accomplice might be."said Sharon...

"If it were easy,it wouldn't be fun...That's why I came back to this unit...You guys get the best cases.."said Angie..

"And all this time ,I thought it was because you wanted to work with me."joked her husband, Jimmy with a pout...

Angie kissed him slowly..

"Awwww booo, that too." she said...

"Holy Mush."laughed Tyriq...

"Yeah you two, get a room."laughed Duke...

Angie stuck her tongue out at both of them...

The temperature had spiked to 100.....

'Is the air conditioner working? It's awful hot in here.."mused Sissy...

"I know right?  I think it's cooler on the street,"said Sirena...I'm going back to the park with Lotta,Rico and Jimmy..Come on Partner."said Sirena...

Hop whispered in his wife, Sharon's ear....

"It is hot in here....NOw that I think of it..."he said and squeezed her buttocks..

"Ouuuuuuuuuu Tony, stoppppppppppppp it.." she said like a little girl and giggled..

Carlotta looked at her two friends and smiled..

IV-

Carlotta and I, Tyriq, Jimmy ,Sirena and Hop went back to the park...We took about ten police recruits from the academy with us...My wife Carlotta thought that they made the best foragers...So eager to please and so alert....She was right...

"No courtroom drama for you today counselor?" asked Tyriq jokingly...

"I was in court last week and the week before, while you guys were taking extra long lunch breaks and enjoying not having any cases..."I laughed..

"It was nice going home on time..."said Hop as he and some recruits looked around...

"Angie and I even went to a few movies and had a few candlelight dinners.."laughed Jimmy....

"Awwww that's so cute."laughed Sirena..

"I think I found something here." said Carlotta, who instructed the recruits to bag and tag what she found...

Ropes...

"There is a slight strain of blood on these ropes..." said Carlotta..

"Probably sweat too.Hazel can definitely get a DNA match from this."said Tyriq...

While at Headquarters....Hazel was briefing Duke,Angie and Sharon...

"I found two sets of prints...One is our victim and the others belong to someone else...I'm running a check now...There was a lot of perspiration in that car too...The DNA is not a match to our victim or the second, unknown man...Definitely three people at the scene."said Hazel..

"Angie peered at the screen....Hey Duke..Sharon..Look there...Coming out of the east side of the park...There is our guy...With the brim and the slicker..."said Angie...

"He's leaving on foot...I wonder if he caught the bus or a subway .....or hailed a cab..??" asked Duke..

"Look...on that side...leaving from the west side....Look ,there is the other guy and we can get a clear look at his face..."said Sharon...

Angie took one look at the man and gasped...

"Oh My God....I KNOW THAT MAN!!!!!  THAT'S DUTCH VAN BUREN!!!!"said Angie..

"Yeah..The Saxophone player...!!!"said Duke...

"And he's Sissy's father!" said Angie!!!!!


TO BE CONTINUED!!!!