Sweet Dreams ,My Sweet

A light rain began to fall over the city..I pulled my car across the street from the Apartment Complex....Several Police cars were there ,as well as photographers and CSI personell...

I had Attorney Kayla Bennett with me....

"You sure you're alright with this? You can stay in the car you know." I said.

"I'm a big girl Kevin...I can deal with this.." she said.

We got out and walked toward the building...I showed my ID to a policeman....But was greeted by Detectives James "Jimmy " Barlow and Tony Hopkins..

"They're okay Phil...Let em through" said Jimmy...

"They're upstairs Kev" said Hop...

We walked upstairs and down the hall....Kayla gasped when she walked into the apartment and saw the dead body of Latroy Sparks sitting upright with blood on his cheeks and a small bullet hole in the side of his head...

"Oh My God!" she said..

I put my arm around her...

"It's alright baby.."I said.

 Detective Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace was looking at the body,particularly the head wound...

"It was a twenty two....I can tell by the size of the hole..." she said.

 "Anybody find any shell casings?" asked Lt. Sissy Van Buren...

"Hmmm judging by body temp and lividity....I'd place his time of death at 24 hours ago....This summer heat started early decomposition..." stated Dr. Hazel Baylor...

"What's goin on Kev?   "said Detective Tyriq Pile , who along with uniformed officers and CSI personell was searching the room for a shell casing...

"Hey Rico.."I said.

"The neighbors said that he only lived here for about a month..Was quiet...Didn't have many guests if any and mostly kept to himself...They say he came in here around midnight with a woman..A Petite woman with flaming red hair..Nobody recalls hearing any ruckus..."said Detective Sirena Pile...

"What brings you here Kev?" asked Detective Duke Baylor..

"I know your vic...I was investigating him....This is my client...Attorney Kayla Bennett..Cousin of our mutual friends..Olivia Bennett-Alexander and Beverly West." I said.

"He looks like a playa."said Detective Angie Belton....

"He used to be...Used to run drugs for Bob "Big Butt" Thornton. " I said.

"Now there's a name I haven't heard in a long time...Remember him Boss Lady? We busted him.."said Carlotta.

"Sure Do...What has this got to do with Bob "Big Butt "Thornton?" asked Sissy...

"Nothing...He's an ex-convict...His real name is Terry Latroy Sparks... He started out as a heist guy, putting down scores.. robbing payroll trucks and jewelry stores...He did a five year stretch in the State Pen for it... Once out... He began running drugs for  Bob "Big Butt" Thornton...He did three years of a five year sentence for that...Then about 11 years ago.. He and a guy identified as John Payton were suspected of a six million dollar Payroll Truck robbery...The feds caught him and recovered four million dollars...and captured him...He refused to give up his partner, Johnny Payton .."I said.

"Kevin is right...I put his fingerprint on this tablet and looked him up and everything Kevin said came up.."said Jimmy...

"We scrubbin the Traffic Cams and Street Cams for a 15 block radius..and we got teams on the ATM and Business cams in the area.."said Hop.

"I got two people who saw the woman giving a police artist a description."said Duke..

"Smells like Bleach in here." I said.

"That means somebody wiped down fingerprints and DNA evidence." said Tyriq..

"That means the killer was here when I discovered the body a few hours ago....There was no bleach smell then...I didn't touch him..I just backed out and called you guys."I said.

 Angie and Sirena began looking in closets and under beds......

"She may have left through the back window and down the fire escape and if she did ,there is no cameras on the back alley..."said Sirena..

"Which explains why nobody remembers the woman leaving...She was described as short and petite with red hair."said Carlotta.

"Hooker?  Robbery that went wrong?" I said.

"Could be...This was a guy that was definitely tied to the underworld...It could have been many many things involved.."said Sissy..

"He had sex before he died...There was lipstick on his penis...We could possibly get DNA off of that...Our Killer forgot to wipe that down.."said Hazel.

"We are done with the body Hazel.."said Carlotta..

"Never get used to this...Sudden Death."said Detective Angie Belton to no one in particular..

I kissed her softly on the cheek...

"That's because you're human Angie.." I said.

She smiled..

I walked over to Sissy...

"I need to talk to you later." I said.

"Okay Kevin." she said..

Kayla and I walked out ahead of the body...

II-

The rain was really coming down...As I drove Kayla home..

"So you and your guy workin it out?" I asked.

"Yeah..We trying.. He's chasing a dollar more than I am.. We had a nice dinner and went to the movies the other night and he spent the night with me....And now he's gone again...He's in San-Francisco trying a case...He'll be back in two days." she said.

"You alright with that?" I asked.

"Yeah...For now!" she said.

"A guy like Latroy Sparks looked dangerous and fun and he made your blood boil for a minute didn't he?"I said.

"Yeah...He kinda did.."said Kayla..

"But this guy was into some bad stuff..Stuff I haven't even told you about and you see how he ended up....That could have been you in there.."I said.

"I know...Thank You Kevin....Thank you for lookin out for me...I hope we can work together more in the future."said Kayla..

"If you need me, I'm as close as your smart phone."I said as I pulled up in front of her house..

"You're so cool." she said and kissed me softly....I watched as she waved and walked up to her door ..Then I pulled off.

III-

Sissy and I stood on the roof of headquarters some hours later..

"I knew you had more to tell me Kevin...What are you working on?" asked Sissy...

''That's the thing...Nothing really and yet something..A few weeks ago...My wife and I and a few others were at Rollie Rollerson's engagement party..Your victim was hanging around and trying to put the moves on my client....I handled three unrelated investigations for her....She asked me to look into him and I did...But here is the rub..I was talking to Rollie about his new fiance.... He said that she had asked him for  40K and he had offrered her 50K during sex..."I said. "Which got me suspicious about her...So I did a little digging...His fiance, Genviere Payton listed her birth date as November 12, 1978...Which would make her thirty eight...and her birthplace as Philadelphia,PA....Yet..I couldn't find any birth certificate for Genviere Payton...anywhere...
She told Rollie that she's been married before..I couldn't find any school records anywhere under her name,No marriage licenses,  No Divorce decree,No drivers licenses before 2005..No birth certificate in the State of Pennsylvania...Nothing...And nothing on her that goes beyond 2004...Her business began in 2005..All of her credit and debit cards and bank accounts begin in 2004 or 2005..
Her drivers license was issued in 2005...Her residences don't go beyond 2004 and get this...Her social security number formerly belonged to a long dead white man who died in 1958..." I said.

Sissy, who had been Rollie's lover when I first met her was clearly amused by what I was telling her...

''Did you tell Rollie any of this? You know they are planning to get married in a few days." said Sissy, who was laughing uncontrollably now..

"No..I didn't have the heart to tell him..He's so in love with this woman...He's even stopped chasing women....He's a completely changed man." I said.

"Until he gets bored...Or until another opportunity presents itself...Rollie is full of crap...But anyhow, What has this got to do with my dead ex-con?" asked Sissy..

"I'm gettin to that." I said. "He gave her 50K..just like that...and later on..My client Ms. Bennett represented his fiance in a pre nup agreement in which she blindly agreed to all of Rollie's terms..."I said.

"Hmmmmm, but she wouldn't care about a pre-nup..If she can get 50K out of him that easy.."said Sissy..

"Kayla told me about a woman named Salima.....Who showed up seemingly out of nowhere and has been hanging around Genviere...So I looked into her too..She's also from here,Philadelphia PA....but I have a date of birth and school records for her...It appears she married John Payton in 2000...They didn't have any children..He was a suspect in a heist involving Latroy Sparks in 2003...He was killed in a car explosion and their other partner vanished without a trace in 2004....Sparks did a nickel in the pen...but two million dollars was never recovered from their last heist...Now Salima started a very lucrative business in 2005 with insurance money from John Payton's death...and as far as anybody knows There never was any Genviere in her life...Not in any school she ever went to,nor anyplace she ever worked....So my question is...Where do they know each other from?  She's lived in three apartment complexes....No Genviere Payton there and I talked to members of her family..friends and former classmates and people she worked with before starting her business..Genviere is not a relative and they have never heard of her or heard her name mentioned by Salima ever...And yet the two women know each other from somewhere.. Besides her business, which began about ten years ago..I have no record of this Genviere working anywhere else....Now how did she survive for 28 years without working?" "I said..

 "She have any parents? Brothers or Sisters?" asked Sissy..

"She told Rollie both of her parents are deceased.... I can't find any record of them and she told him she was an only child...And get this...I checked the High School she claimed she graduated from...Latroy Sparks and Salima Crawford ,who married John Payton and became Salima Payton both attended there along with the late John Payton....but no Genviere Payton....I thought maybe she was his sister or brother...but he was an only child and both of his parents ,who are married to other people now say that they didn't have another child... If you check your boy Latroy Spark's bank account... Salima Crawford Payton shows up all of a sudden...I checked her out..She took 20K out of her company's bank account three weeks ago and then took another 20K advance off of her company credit card  later that same week..Ole Boy's bank account went from $500.35 cents to over 40K.....Then his bank account jumps 50k , the next week...And this guy aint workin nowhere...Suddenly he's flush..." I said."

 Sissy stopped laughing...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...This sounds like Latroy was blackmailing both Salima Payton and Genviere Payton...I know Salima Payton was John Payton's widow..But Genviere is not a cousin or relative...and you say John Payton had no siblings right? What is the connection there?Or is it a co-incidence that they both have the same last name?" asked Sissy..

"I don't know...But you guys should bring her down here and question her."I said.

"You're right...I'll have her brought in...You may have broke this case wide open.. "said Sissy...

"Only too glad to help." I said.  As I walked out...I saw my friend, FBI Deputy Special Agent in Charge, Sharon Hopkins...Sissy and I briefly talked to her about the case..

"That Payroll Robbery is still an open investigation...We never recovered the lost two million...Some agents think that their partner...A Shot caller named Jerry Parker made off with at least a portion of it...He hasn't been seen or heard from in ten years...

Keep me posted on where this goes." said Sharon.

"We will.. What I've got right now is a dead gangster who might have filled in all the blanks...and a deeper mystery." said Sissy..

IV-

A few hours Later.....Genviere is released from police custody....after being questioned...

"Baby you knew that guy?" asked Rollie..

"Yes...From my past...A terrible, terrible man...He was trying to blackmail me...I told him I didn't want to sleep with him anymore and he threatened to release naked photos he had of me."explained Genviere..

"Baby I wouldn't have cared.. I love looking at you naked..Thanks Livy, Bev, Donnie Ray for coming down on such short notice.."laughed Rollie..

 "No problem Rollie.." said Olivia.

 "Glad we got that all cleared up."said Beverly...

"Let's go and get some drinks..."said Donnie Ray...

Sissy smiled as they all walked out..Rollie walked over to her..

"Sis, this could have been me and you baby.."said Rollie..

Sissy laughed...

"Ohhh poor poor me.." she said smiling..

Sissy had had Carlotta ,Tyriq and Jimmy pick up Genviere for questioning hours before...

  They questioned her for close to six hours about Latroy Sparks and her relationship to him..

She was surprised at what they knew...Thanks to me...but still admitted to nothing...

She did appear to be genuinely shocked that Latroy Sparks was dead.....But appeared to have an air tight alibi..

I met with Sissy later...

"She told me that she didn't know what he had on Salima, but that he had naked photos of her ."said Sissy.  "She said she knew him in high school."

"But that's a lie...She never attended High School with them..Or any school..."I said.

"I know...And I'm sorry...I just don't believe naked photos taken twenty years ago is going to net anybody nearly 90K,but unfortunately...I can't prove any different and she is not my killer..She and Rollie were at a Photo Shoot and then at a club during my window of opportunity for the murder..It's not her.." said Sissy.

"What about the friend..Salima?" I asked.

"Apparently , she's moved....I had Duke and Angie..

stop by her last known residence...and it looked like she had cleared out... And Sirena and Hop went to another one of her residences...

and it was the same thing...Gone!!!!"said Sissy...

"Well Babes...I did the best I could...Looks like you got a dead blackmailer, who nobody is gonna miss and I don't have a client or a case." I said.

"Sometimes it just goes down like that "said Sissy, hugging me as I left...

VI-

Later that night in a booth in the back of a tony bar known as Mink's...Genviere sat down with Salima ..

"Look I thought you were leaving.." said Genviere..

"I am...I just wanted to see you one last time before I left.." said Salima..

"These drinks are delicious..I know what you like..I ordered before you got here."said Salima..

"Thank you Salima..You always were very attentive to me.."said Genviere..."I'm sorry for what I put you through...I am..." said Genviere.

Genviere gulped down all four drinks....Salima's eyes got as large as saucers..

"My god..You gulped down all of those drinks...I did plan on drinking one..." she laughed..

"You killed him didn't you? We could have handled this another way...I told you I was thinking of something."said Genviere..

"How would he have been handled in a different way? He would have never of left us alone..He knows your secret...but he had an even bigger one on me...Your secret wouldn't have put you in prison..What he has on me could have gotten me sent away for life...I've worked too hard to be legitimate to risk that..No way...He had to go."said Salima..

"Oh My God...WHO ARE YOU SALIMA?" asked Genviere...  "The cops had me downtown for close to six hours...They know a lot more than I thought...but they're just grasping at straws...They don't really know the whole story."said Genviere..

"No...And they're not going to know...See...Genviere...You've always been weak....In High School..and in life...I always had to be the Alpha Dog..Always had to protect you....I'm tired...Some Private Investigator has been asking my people about me and about YOU!  And now Detectives are asking you questions...This is all too much...I have to nip this in the bud!"said Salima..

"I didn't tell them anything...I swear...They let me go...Rollie  has got enough lawyers to see to that!  You got nothing to worry about...I swear , they don't really know anything...They just have some suspicions they can't prove."said Genviere..."We have nothing to worry about."she added.

"I know that....That's why I can't take that chance...Goodbye Genviere....I love you baby.."said Salima.

"What are you talking about? Salima...Y-You put something in my drink..Uh...Ohhhhh...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...."said Genviere as she looked at her friend in horror...

Her muscles were paralyzed...She was gasping for air, but her lungs had collapsed....She felt herself getting woozy and her head fell on the table with a thud!

Salima felt her arm for a pulse....There was none..She leaned over and kissed Genviere's still warm corpse and said.

"Sweet Dreams, My Sweet....I love you Genviere!"

She got her pocket book and quietly walked through the crowd...and left the club...She walked out into the Philadelphia Night..

(CONCLUSION NEXT)