The Atlantic Club

"I knew if you two got together we'd have success." said a very happy Elwood Barnes, chief counsel for the Cyclops Insurance company...

"Do you know how many lawsuits we avoided?" he said.

"I can imagine, quite a few.." I said..

Bonnie Shay just smiled.

"They all got their money back...That super virus was killed..and  the cops found the hacker...

shot to death in his apartment this morning...I guess whoever he was working for wasn't too pleased with him, that he screwed it up.." said Elwood..

''We nuked his system...after we transferred the money back into the right accounts..We found his dead body yesterday.....We checked his computers...Hard drives were bone dry and it didn't look like he had a back up system...but whoever he was working with....Is still out there ,looking for a new victim." I said.

"Oh?" said Elwood..

"Yes....I went to all of those companies and I added safeguards to keep them from being hacked again...but that arsonist is still out there...Kevin and I think we know who he is...We are trying to find him and his boss as we speak..."said Bonnie.

"Damn good work, both of you...I'm just glad we didn't get sued and we didn't lose a client...They have new confidence in us now.." said Elwood... He then looked at Bonnie...


"Oh, do you have that uh other thing I asked you for?" he asked..

"Yes... Her name is Zoey Easter....She's an Attorney and this is her home address...I used to live in that same condo...Years ago...It's nice....This is where she works and her phone numbers.." said Bonnie..

"Good Work...Stay on it." he said and walked away...

"Who is Zoey Easter? She part of this case?" I asked.

"No, she's an Attorney...I don't know her....He asked me to find out where she lived and works..I just think it's another woman he wants to screw..." said Bonnie...

"Oh.....Oh Bonnie..." I said.

"Yeah Kevin?" asked Bonnie..

"Funny that except for one person....All of your victims were clients of this company...They weren't the only person hacked....How did they get that kind of sensitive information?" I asked..

Bonnie's eyes got as wide as saucers....

"You've got a mole in this office baby girl...Somebody in here is a conduit for them too." I said.

"Hmmmmm...." said Bonnie..

"Check it out....I've got to go and get a tux..."I said.

"A Tux?? Where you goin?" asked Bonnie, smiling..

"To catch a Fat Man." I said.


II-

The Atlantic Club was beautiful, Opened in 1990...It was the foremost gourmet club in the city of Philadelphia...You had to be invited to eat here... You can believe that most of the invitees left a sizable financial contribution to the club....

The finest chefs in the area showcased their signature dishes for the wealthy and well heeled guests to partake...

You wouldn't think that a gangster like Fat Masterson would even know about this...but he had millions to spend before the government took it from him and he invested heavily in this club...Enough to get them to give him an invitation, even though he wasn't, let's say classically rich....

I looked and felt like James Bond in my mind...in my tuxedo......

Kool Kat, who always dressed for occasion had a tailored tuxedo ,made just to his specifications by Sam the Tailor...posed as the doorman...

Sepia and Bonita looked hot as hell in their French maid uniforms with matching fishnet pantyhose...I have to admit...They both looked hotter and sexier than Big Chicken's girls...I couldn't keep my eyes off of either of them...

I made sure every plate, every knife and fork and spoon

 was in it's proper place...

"Honey Bunny...You look good...I'm getting excited just looking at you in that Tux..." said Sepia..

"Not as excited as I am looking at you...in that French maids uniform ,with those fishnet pantyhose.." I said.

"I'm sure you are but ...It's cold....."said Sepia...

"I wish we could...I'd take you in the back and make sure you were warm....You're going to wear that for me at home....in the bedroom.." I said.

"Why do guys fantasize so much about French maids uniforms?" asked Sepia..

Meanwhile Bonita was checking out Walter in his tailored tux...


"Ouuuuu, he is built and that tux fits him just right...It's a good thing I'm married..wow!" she thought to herself..

Kool Kat for his part was as cool as a cucumber...escorting everyone to their seats...


Damn near everybody was white and portly....There wasn't one man or woman for that matter that didn't weigh at least 250 pounds....

We were looking for a 745 pound man.....and I didn't see one yet...


"You think maybe, he's not coming? After all this mess...His Hacker/Partner getting nuked and then murdered?" I whispered to Kool Kat..

"He'll be here...Like Ralph Scallion told you...It's the eating event of the year....He'll be here..."said Kool Kat...who looked at the steak dish...


"Damn that steak dish looks good...I'm gone get me a doggie bag before we leave." he said.


He was dead serious.

Ralph Scallion was here...He had two dishes on display....

He knew we were undercover, so he didn't talk to me or Walter at all...He did speak to Bonita...who he had had a brief dalliance with years ago ,before she married Robert...

He smiled at Sepia....

Sepia smiled back at him...

Even though this was a gala event....You could feel the tension, just above the surface...


I had a feeling, the party was about to begin....


III-

Just as I was about to get discouraged.....A man walked in..Like the others...He was white...unlike the others...He wasn't fat...Also unlike the others who were dressed immaculately...He had on a cheap and ill fitting suit...He looked like a fish out of water..

He took one look at the people seated at his table and busted out laughing....

"Boy you people sure are fat.." he bellowed...

"ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my word!" said one man...

"Well I never " said another indignant man....

"Ohhhhh, that man is perfectly preposterous!" shouted another....

"Look at that suit.." said another woman...

The man with the ill fitting suit sat down.....

"Well come on...we are here to eat...So let's eat!! HEY!! WHERE IS THE GRUB?  THESE FOLKS IS HUNGRY!!! Frankly, they don't look like they've missed a meal, BUT THEY ARE HUNGRY...COME ON!!! BRING DA GRUB!" he yelled....

The Appetizer was brought out...Several hot steaming bowls of soup, prepared by some of the Marque chefs of the city..

I kept looking at this man....Kool Kat walked over to me..

"That's your firebug Kev...Ronnie Brinkley..." he said.

''What? No way a bum like him can afford this place." I said.

Ralph Scallion heard us talking and whispered to us...

"A member can always send a guest or a proxy in his place....Fat Masterson cancelled at the last minute and sent him as his guest."

''Damn it.." I said.

"You been wantin to find out who the arsonist is.....Now you've found him....If we take him out...We've effectively checkmated Fat Masterson..." said Kool Kat..

"Yeah, but we can't do anything now...but watch him." I said.

IV-

 Pink had been as good as his word...He had given me a good address for Ronald Brinkley....Lockpick Johnson had let me, Peeping Tom, Sean Jackson and our five ex CIA/KGB operatives into his apartment

a day before...We disabled the street cams and the security cams in the building to conceal our identity naturally.

We wired it for sound and video and Sean Jackson snapped photos of  the tools of the arsonists trade as well as photostats from his computer of payments to his account that co-incided with all of the dates of the arsons and photos of the actual arsons....

I had enough circumstantial evidence to have him arrested.
I recognized him only from his mug shot...I had never met the man in person until now.

"Ouch!" said Bonita....Ronald Brinkley had pinched her behind...

"Damn baby....Do fries come with that shake?" he laughed...

"Watch your hands....Touch my ass again and you'll get these hands." she said..

Ronald Brinkley laughed..

"Could ya bring me some Ketchup and some crackers?" he asked...

"I'll get it Bonita." said Sepia..

She came out with a bottle of Ketchup and some crackers...He palmed her behind...

"Ummmmmmm, damn, both of yall are yummy....The only thing I like about this joint...The Brown sugar they got workin here." he said...

Sepia removed his hands and glared at him...

"You can like from afar playboy!" she said...

He laughed and broke crackers up in the soup....and poured Ketchup in the soup, while the other diners gawked....

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my word!" said one man...

"Well I never " said another indignant man....

"Ohhhhh, that man is perfectly preposterous!" shouted another....

"Ketchup in this gourmet soup??? Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is unheard of.." said another..

"What an uncultured lout!" snarled another man...

Ronald Brinkley slurped and smacked his lips and turned the bowl up and drank the remainder of the soup...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my word!" said one woman observing this...

 "What an uncultured lout!" snarled another man...thoroughly disgusted...

The entree was brought out, Fettucinni-Alfredo, with a wonderful cream sauce....

"Damn, this pasta is pretty damn good...Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.." he moaned as he ate...

He took the Italian bread and sopped up the remaining cream sauce and ate it....

He poured himself a glass of wine and quaffed it down...

"To the Head." he said..

Another entree came out...Seared lamb Shanks...

"Gotdamn....No wonder you all are so fat...Eatin like this...Dayummmmmmmmm!" he said and began tearing into the food..

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my word!" said one man...

"Well I never " said another indignant man....

"Ohhhhh, that man is perfectly preposterous!" shouted another....


"What an uncultured lout!" snarled another man...

He called Sepia to the side..

 "Baby, you got a toothpick?"he asked...

Sepia passed him one...He picked his teeth at the table...

He stood up and fixed his pants....He whispered to me..

"Yo...this joint has some great grub.....you should tell the girls...They need to be a little friendlier..." he said.

I smiled.

"I'll be sure to mention that to the manager." I said..

He quietly left....

"Well thank God for that." said one man...

"Ohhhhh he was horrible.." said a woman...

"What an uncultured lout!" said another man....

"Pinchin my ass...He was about to get these hands...I'm serious Kevin..."said Bonita...

I put my arms around Bonita and my wife Sepia...

"You know I love you girls...You're my favorite realtors." I laughed...

"You owe us big time Kevin." said Sepia ,with a big pout....

"Clerow called me...He's on him..." said Kool Kat....

"See you later girls...We gotta go.." I said.


(CONCLUSION NEXT)