More Shots Fired

24 HOURS LATER-

A Laundromat in the neighborhoood..just a few blocks from where a triple murder has taken place in the beauty salon....A warm, Sunday Morning...A young man is doing his laundry...There are three females doing their laundry, talking and laughing quietly....

A Black Sports Car drives up...A man gets out and enters the Laundromat...

"Hello Stephen." he says.

Upon seeing him the man recoils in horror...

"Tyrone...What are you doing here...Your picture is all over the television...Did you..Did you really kill Tamika and all of them?" he asked..

"See, that's the problem...Stephen, you know too much and you run your damn mouth too much..You told your big mouth girlfriend about me and Portia and she told my fiance..." he said..

"Nah man, you got it all wrong...I aint say nothin...I swear....Ty-Tyrone, please man...I got a kid man, please.."he pleaded..

"Shut up!" said Tyron coldly as he aimed his Sig sauer at Stephen and fired just once....The bullet went between his eyes and exited out of the back of his head , killing him instantly...

The three women screamed and attempted to run out the back exit...

Tyrone smiled... got back in his sports car and pulled off....

Within minutes we were on the scene....

I stood over the body with my head held down...

"I knew he wasn't through...I knew this was going to happen again...I knew it!" I said.


My wife, Detective Carlotta Rodriguez-Wallace was talking to several uniform policemen...

"Get the footage off of the camera in here..." she said..

Her partner ,Detective James Barlow was taking witness statements......

Tyriq was talking to some other uniformed policemen....

"Bag and tag these shell casings..." he said.


Dr. Hazel Baylor and Detective Sirena Pile had on latex gloves and were looking at the body...

"One gun shot wound to the head is the cause of death...and from the body warmth...He's been dead about thirty minutes...but we know that..." said Hazel...

"The description we have is of the same shooter from yesterday....This was the ex-boyfriend of one of our victims from yesterday...Tamika Rice" said Sirena...who rolled the body over....

Her partner ,Detective Tony Hopkins had just walked in...

"Me and Duke found the getaway car...Six blocks away in an alleyway....Motor still running...Looks like our boy left in a hurry..."said Hop...

"I got a team on the Street,Traffic,ATM and Business Cams for a 15 block radius...My guess is he steals these cars, shoots his victim and then has another car parked six blocks away to escape in....."said Duke..

"The car you guys found was reported stolen yesterday afternoon.....Just like the last one...I have guys dusting for prints and DNA...Judging by how fast he left....I'm certain there is a lot of evidence..."said Angie..

Reporters and a crowd of people were nearby....

The body was removed from the laundromat...

I just stood by blankly staring...Duke walked over to me..

"His name was Stephen Jefferson...He was 30 years old...He was the ex-boyfriend of one of our victims from yesterday...You okay Keith?" he asked..

"No I'm not...None of these people deserved to die..and especially like this.." I said.

"We are going to get him chief..We know who he is..."said Tyriq...

"Yeah, now if only we knew WHERE he is.." said Sirena..

Carlotta kissed me softly......

"Don't worry Honey Bunny, we are all as upset as you are...We mean to get this guy..."she said..

I pulled her to me for another kiss.....She smiled..

"You aren't that upset...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu....Not here Honey Bunny,later, okay." she whispered and giggled..

"We got to figure out this guy's time table..."said Jimmy.

II-

We were back at the safehouse....We had picked up Tyrone Ransom's ex-fiance,Latoya Rice her brother and sister and her parents and we had them holed up in rooms in our safehouse...The government owned apartment complex we used when we were investigating top secret or big cases...It allowed us to be anonymous and to be free from prying or snooping eyes and ears...

We had all packed some bags and moved back into our temporary digs....It was cool..We hadn't all hung out as a group in awhile...This was almost like summer camp for us..

"Thank you all for putting us up..."said Latoya Rice as Sissy's Husband, Eddie C. served them all a nice hot breakfast , he and Sharon had prepared...

 "You'll be safe here...until they catch this nutcase..."said Eddie C.

Latoya's sister smiled...

"I've seen you guys around...In the Hair Salon....in The Malls, In Josie's and Aqua Bar...I had no idea you guys were cops.." she said talking about Sissy, Carlotta,Angie, Sirena and Sharon..

"It's not something we advertise..." said Sharon...."I'm the Deputy Special Agent in Charge of the FBI." she said.

"Wow...You single?" asked Latoya's brother, Travis....

They all laughed...

"I'm afraid none of us are...Eddie C. there is my husband...

Sharon is married to Detective Tony Hopkins,

"Sirena is married to Detective Tyriq Pile..

''Angie is married to Detective Jimmy Barlow.."

and Detective Baylor and our Forensic investigator, Dr. Hazel Baylor are married..

said Sissy...

"Wow...So you guys are married to each other and you work in the same unit...I've never seen that before.."said Latoya...

"Chances are you won't...We've all known each other a long time...Long before we worked together or got married to each other...We are like a family..."explained Sissy...

"Heyyy what about the Spanish babe...??She married...She's hot!" asked Travis...

"TRAVIS!!! STOP IT!!"said Latoya and her sister.....

Sissy laughed heartedly...

''Sorry Travis...She's married to Keith Wallace...The ADA..."said Sissy...

"Damn!" he shrugged....

It was just then that we all returned....

"It's bad boss lady...our guy struck again...Killed a guy named Stephen Jefferson..."said Carlotta..

"Ohhh nooo.,he killed Stevie..." said Latoya, crying...

"He seemed to be his only target in the laundromat....There were three other people in there and they were all unharmed thank goodness."said Tyriq..

"Sirena and Hop will be here shortly, they are talking to friends and next of kin..." said Jimmy...

"We got the film footage from the laundromat..it's definitely our guy from yesterday..."said Angie..

"And same M.O. too..Stolen car and quick escape in a tow truck.. Hop and I caught him on the Traffic cams..."said Duke...He then tossed a plastic bag full of shells to Sharon...

"Sig Sauer shells...He used a different gun today.." he said.

"I'm tracking those guns...None of them were purchased legally.."said Sharon..."I'm in contact with the ATF now." she said.

III-

I looked at Lotoya and sat down...

"Tell me...what was this about? What started all of this?" I asked..

She looked at me and held her head...She was a pretty , brown skinned young girl with expressive hazel eyes...Very shapely and attractive...The type of girl I might have dated as a young man...

"I met Tyrone at Aqua Bar...He was built nice..had a cute little pony tail...."she said

"And was light skinned." added her brother Travis..

"Shut up." she said...She continued..."We danced all night long...He seemed a little rough around the edges, but I kind of like rough necks...He asked for my number and I gave it to him... He called me a week later and I went out with him...He was from the beginning, a little controlling and very jealous...I thought it was cute at first, but Aquilla,Tamika and Robin thought it was a bit much and they spoke on it...We continued dating for awhile and finally we were intimate...After that first time having sex..He got even worse...Wanting to know when I got off work, showing up at my job for lunch, questioning me about my male co-workers and going through my phone...Calling to find out what I was wearing to work that day...At first I thought it was cute ,but then it began to get a little much..."she said.

"He found my number and called me up, questioning me...and I'm her brother..."said Travis...

She continued.."We broke up several times...and he would always send roses everyday to my job and stop by and call ,apologizing profusely until I took him back...By now my girlfriends,Aquilla, Tamika and Robin couldn't stand him...and he asked me to stop hanging with them...He once accused us all of being lesbians. Gave me an ultimatum...I told him no..That they had been my friends since kintergarden...He broke up with me for about a week, then he was around begging me again....I took him back...We went to Atlantic City and he asked me to move in with him....My girlfriends advised against it...but I did....He became very controlling..Wouldn't let me talk to them...When they called, he'd hang up or tell them I wasn't home...Didn't want me talking to my family....I had Aquilla,Tamika and Robin come and move me out...He pulled a gun on them...That was the first time I saw that side of him....I was frightened...While he was at work...They came back again with my brother and moved me out..."

"He called my house ad nauseum....To the point that we took our phones off the hook so we could sleep...Then he would come and stand outside.....It was creepy...A month went by and we met for lunch...We had a long talk about the future and he asked me to marry him..I surprisingly said I would and he promised to get his act together...He actually got himself together for a few months..and then came Portia....She was another girl,I had heard he was seeing..." she said..

By now, Hazel, Sirena and Hop had walked in...

They sat down with us and listened to Latoya's story...

Tamika's then boyfriend...Stephen Jefferson mentioned to her that he saw Tyrone with Portia in a booth in Josie's all hugged up and kissing and Tamika told me...The next time I was riding with him,I found a pair of panties and a bra that weren't mine in the car....I confronted him with it....and I broke off our engagement...I changed my number and blocked his number on my phone at work...Stephen or my brother picked me up everyday to make sure he didn't bother me and I moved to an apartment across town where he couldn't find me...Then I heard he got fired from his job at the Tow Truck company where he had worked for three years...He was a repo man...and I guess that was the last straw..The last I heard from him...He sent me a cryptic letter that read -"Lonliness made me realize...It's only you that I need" she said.

''Sounds like an old Motown song..." said Sissy..."Did you know he had a record?" asked Sissy.

"He said he had been in jail, but for something minor.." she said.

"I'm afraid not...First off...he lied to you about his age....He's 37 years old...He did three years in the state pen for Writing bad checks...He did another two years in prison for selling drugs...and he did another three years for assault and battery...He was on parole when he got that job at the towing company.."said Tyriq..

"We went by the Towing company yesterday...They fired him for missing too many days and they say he took one of their trucks...They were holding up his last pay until the truck was returned.." said Jimmy..

"Does he have any relatives?? Any friends?? Anywhere you know of he might stay? We've been by his apartment...He hasn't been seen and we have some undercovers staking out his apartment.."said Carlotta.

"His mother and father are dead and his brother is in prison in California...doing life for murder...No cousins ,Aunts or Uncles that I know of...but there is one friend...a guy named Bruce...Bruce Sauken..I only met him once...A real scary guy...Always had a lot of guns lying around." she said.

"Bruce Sauken eh?  I might want to talk to him.."said Sharon...

"Sissy....Duke and I are going to talk to this girl, Portia..."You got an address for her?" asked Angie..

"Yes...but he wouldn't hurt her....That was his side chick."said Latoya..

"You never know." said Duke.."Come on Ang...." he said as they left...

"He's on the Laundromat footage...and we caught him on the Street cam."said Sirena.."

"He's running out of money....and resources...It's just a matter of time before he breaks down.."said Hop..

"Or Kills again.."said Sissy glumly...

IV-

Duke knocked on the door.....There was no answer....

"Hmm..Maybe she's at work." he said.

"On a Sunday?" asked Angie...

"We workin on a Sunday? Let's go in.."said Duke..

"We have no warrant...and no probable cause..."said Angie..

"Well the door is unlocked and listen...didn't you hear some yelling for help?" asked Duke..

"No,I did not.." said Angie...

"Well I did!" he said and opened the door and walked in....

"WHOAAAA!" he said..

Lying on the living room floor with a big hole in her forehead and in a pool of blood was Portia Givens...age 26

"Oh My God!!!" said Angie....

So for the second time today...I was at a crime scene....I stood in the doorway in utter shock...

This was crazy.....in 24 hours, five young people had lost their lives in a senseless vendetta by a deeply disturbed and controlling young man....

Hazel looked at the body....

"Same as this morning...Sig Sauer....to the head...Body temp and lividity say this woman has been dead about six hours..." she said.

"He came here after he left the laundromat.."said Carlotta...

"He's killing everybody who he feels kept him from Latoya..."said Sirena..

"I had an obsessive guy like this once...Oh my God..He wouldn't take no for an answer..." said Angie..

"I'm sorry Angie, you're just too sexy."said her husband,Detective Jimmy Barlow..

Angie looked at him and laughed..

"Hush up silly...I wasn't talking about you...And after all..I said yes to you.." she said and kissed him softly...

 "The neighbors described a man that resembles our suspect coming in here this morning...They said he was driving a blue Tow Truck..."said Tyriq..

"I'm checking the Street Cam's..He should be on it.." said Hop...

"We know who he is..We know his motive...We have to determine where he will strike next..."said Duke.

"That's what I thought I was doing by sending you guys here..."said Sissy ,who hung her head in frustration....

I knew this guy wasn't done yet....I knew it...

Our Long Nightmare could be just beginning...Maybe we hadn't seen the worst yet!

(TO BE CONTINUED)