To Have And To Die

PHILADELPHIA 2042-


It was a mess!  The Fire Department was still putting out the small fires on the
adjourning blocks....The car was totaled....The victim or what was left of him had already been removed....


It was very fortunate that no one else had been injured...Not  so fortunate for our victim...

I'm Detective Nate Nellis...I work Homicide.....  A team of five uniformed policemen and about ten CSI personell was with me, snapping photos, looking for forensic evidence..and scoping out the area....


"The street cam on this corner was destroyed detective as well as the ATM machine across the street and the ATM camera...." said an officer...


"Damn....Well look around, see if you can find anything.."I said.

My wife and my partner, Detective Monica Nellis walked over to me...


"Don't feel so bad Nate...At least my sister identified the vic." she said.

"She did? How???...He was burned to a crisp?" I said.

"No Brother in law...Not completely." said my sister in law and my wife's identical twin...Dr. Monique Talbert...Forensic Investigator and Coroner...  "His hands were still intact....I got fingerprints and ran them...He's Millionaire-Socialite, Jerome Dodd..." she said.

"He got married recently didn't he?" I asked..

"Sure did...about six months ago..." said Monica. "That little mind of yours is working and for once it's not focused on the color of my bra and panties." said Monica..

Monique laughed....

"What's the matter Brother in law? She didn't tell you today?  She must have gotten dressed while you were in the shower." she said and kissed me softly on the cheek..

I laughed...

"Don't worry, At some time tonight, you'll find out." she said and laughed....

"You're crazy sis.."I said.

"But I'm on point, right?" she said..

Monique was at times like my sister....We often teased each other....

"Look , three weeks ago....Stanley Carson, another millionaire socialite had a fatal accident...His car exploded....Remember..?" I asked.

The explosion was worse than this...And like this...it was in a remote ,densely populated area....No one was hurt except the intended victim, who was blown to bits..

"That's Kylie's case..

She's working it hard.." said Monica...

"Yeah, well how bout our other two open cases...?  Robert Branton....Millionaire socialite...."I said..

"His car didn't blow up...He was scuba diving and his tank had a malfunction...

"We haven't even ruled that a homicide yet? Right now, it looks like an accident...But I see where you're going with this." said Monica, now no longer smiling, but starting to take me seriously...

"He too was wealthy and he too had just got married...and was dead within months of the wedding....and let's not forget our first victim... Thomas Arrington.. Millionaire Playboy....Who was drunk and fell on the trolley tracks and got run over!...

We haven't ruled that a homicide yet either...but let's look at them..."I said.

"He was a known alcoholic ! Oh My God...They do follow a pattern....Thomas Arrington,  Robert Branton, Stanley Carson and now today, Jerome Dodd... A,B, C, D....all rich, all dead within months after their marriages...But.. They were all married to four different women...Women who didn't appear to know each other..." said Monica..

"We don't know that.. We never checked...because we didn't believe the cases were related.. I also know that all four of the women were from Eastern Europe." I said.

"You're right....And since this is definitely a homicide....I'll compare notes with Kylie.." said Monica..

"I'm going to look into the other two.....and we'll compare notes.." I said.

"I was going to have my hair done tonight...Wow...Something like this always comes up.." said Monica.

"Go ahead...I got you covered...." I said...

"Awww..He is my sweet ,sweet babyyyyy." said Monica...

She gave me a soft and sensual kiss...

"Ummmm That Kiss belongs in the bedroom..." laughed Monique..

''Speaking of which...You're getting hitched soon...You nervous?" I said to Monique..

"I'm excited...but Frankie...I mean ...he's over the moon....I can't contain his joy....It's kind of cute..." she said, smiling dreamily!

The three of us watched as the body was moved....

"Wow, what a mess." I said.

"I know right?" said Monica...

"What are you two complaining about?  I have to autopsy what's left of him.." said Monique..


Monica and I both kissed Monique on the cheek...

"You do have a point Sister." said Monica..

"I'll say." I said.


II-

Back at the squad room...Detective Kylie White was busy studying a report the Bomb Squad and Arson had sent her...

"Definitely a Bomb....A small type.. but very explosive and from what fragments they gathered...Of European origin.." said Kylie..

"Hmmm, maybe you better call the FBI and see if they know anything or can give you some insight.. See if any guys are presently at large who work with that kind of explosive." said Lieutenant Cotton..

"I'm on it Lou.." said Kylie..

"Me and Mo-Mo have an almost identical case...Look at the crime scene photos." I said.

Kylie and Lt. Cotton looked at the photos...

"Not only that.. but both men were loaded  and both men died months after they got married." said Monica..

"But they were married to different women and I don't think these two guys even knew each other.." said Lt. Cotton.

"It's worth checking out...as well as the Millionaire who drowned a few weeks ago while scuba diving.." I said.

"I thought that was an accident.." said Lieutenant Cotton..

"Just like the other Millionaire who got drunk and fell on the trolley tracks and got run over...That looked like an accident..but what if it wasn't?" said Monica.." Seems like a lot of rich guys who just got married are having untimely deaths lately doesn't it?' said Monica.

"Okay, now you two are scaring me....and their names start with A,B and C...Who was your guy today?" asked Kylie..

"Jerome Dodd!" I said..

"Oh Crap, now I'm scared..."said Kylie..

"Serial Killer?" asked Lt. Cotton..

"Or something more deliberate, more sinister..."said Monica..

"Okay, work on this quietly....I don't want any newspaper or media attention to this.. For all they know, this is four separate incidents...,Nate, Mo-Mo go over those first two.. Again.. Maybe you missed something.. Kylie, keep working this hard and compare notes with Nate and Mo-Mo on todays....There might be some similarities.." said Lieutenant Cotton.

 "Roger That!" said Kylie...

Lieutenant Cotton looked at her with a side eye..

"Roger That?, Where did that come from?" he said ,nearly laughing...

"Every now and then I like to change things up!" said Kylie...

We All laughed.

 Monica changed her mind about getting her hair done and went with me to investigate further , the death, a few weeks ago of Robert Branton..52, a millionaire jet setter and Scuba diving enthusiast who had a fatal diving accident...Or was it?

The case was still open...We hadn't declared it a homicide as of yet...But now was the time to look at it again...
III-

We headed to the M.E.'s office...

Monique smiled when she saw us...

"I was meaning to call you two...Your case today , is an exact match for Kylie White's case...I talked to the Bomb squad and Arson and they said it was the same type of device....Of European origin...I'm ruling Mr. Dodd's death and Mr. Carson's death's Homicides.." said Monique...

''We are here about Branton's death."said Monica...

"Oh yes...Come here...Look at this report...Nate.., you and Mo-Mo have seen this before.. You had another case like this.. You two have a murder!  I found Nitric Oxide in his air tank...Not something he would have loaded into his air tank and I found a barbituate in his blood stream..." said Monique...

"Yes...We did have a case like that before...about two years ago...before we got married, remember Nate?" said Monica..

"I sure do..." I said.

"He drank a protein shake laced with it about an hour before he got in the water...He passed out shortly after he went under the water and then he choked to death...
 

His death was as painless as possible...kind of like a lethal injection...Then of course he drowned.. which is why his body is bloated." she said and passed Monica the Coroner's report.

Monica showed it to me...

"It's conclusive....Three rich guys...all married recently, all had unfortunate accidents....

One we know beyond a shadow of a doubt was poisoned before he went diving...two had automobiles that exploded...Now how about our first victim...Thomas Arrington...." I said.

"Thomas Arrington...the man who got drunk and fell on the Trolley Tracks right?? " said Monique..

"Oh yes...We finished up on that one today too.." said Monique...

"Homicide??" asked Monica..

"He was a known drinker...His alcohol level was ten times the legal limit for driving...To say he was drunk was an understatement...but we found a large amount of barbituates in his bloodstream too...Always a lethal combonation. Leading me to think he was unconscious ..Too out of it to walk or stumble anywhere on his own...My theory.. He was dragged there and left there....Homicide!!" said Monique..

''Wow Sis...We have four open homicides..." said Monica...

"Wow!" I said..

"Well the good news is...I cleared my desk..." said Monique....Laughing...

IV-

At home....In our living room, I mused over our case...

"Like you said Mo-Mo...Thomas Arrington, Robert Branton, Stanley Carson and now today,Jerome Dodd... A,B, C, D....all rich, all dead within months after their marriages...but..they were all married to four different women...Women who didn't appear to know each other..." I said.

"I'm certain these women had huge insurance policies on these guys..." said Monica..

"We gotta look at the widows...find a connection of some kind between these women and most of all the money.....These murders are obviously connected in some perverse kind of way...." I said...

"My question is who is E.? Our next victim?" said Monica..

"Let's hope we can stop whoever is behind this before this gets any further...We don't want it to be another victim."I said.

''Well we have an advantage...If one or more people are behind this...They don't know that we are on them yet, at least partially on to them." said Monica.

"Yeah...How about that?" I said.

I unzippered Monica's sweat suit....She giggled...

She was wearing a very pretty, Aqua colored bra....


"Nice." I said.


"I wanted to surprise you.." she said..


"I'm very surprised.." I said as she ran her finger across my lips..


"You like it?" she whispered...


"Yesssss.." I said softly...

"I figured you would." she said softly...

I slipped her sweat pants down....

She was wearing matching aqua colored panties!!!

She took off my shirt and unzippered my trousers...

"Ouuuuu Nate, this doesn't make any sense...You being this hard...Ummmm." she moaned..


"Why doesn't it?" I asked..

Before I knew what was happening, we were kissing passionately in the middle of the living room floor..

"I wanted to do this all day.." I said in between our sloppy kisses.

"I know you did.." she said...

"Ummmmmmmmmmm, ohhh Mo-Mo..."I moaned softly...

"Ohhhhhhhhhh Nate...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." she moaned...

I lifted Monica up and entered her.....

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm Nate...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." she moaned..

We wound up on the side of the bed....making sweet love...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Nateeeee...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.."moaned Monica....She was straddled over me and lowering herself down on my engorged and eager penis, which was as hard as it had ever been..

"Nate...Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh my goddd...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." she screamed...

 "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh lawddd..."I moaned as she moved up and down slowly....I didn't know if I was going to be able to stand much more...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Nate...I Love you sooo much...I aint never loved nobody as much as I love you...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.."she moaned...

"Me neither girl....Oh my goodness..I love you soo much.".I moaned as she continued to move up and down...

FIVE TO SIX HOURS elapsed... We were still making sweet love...Our new bed was barely making a sound...but our headboard was slamming hard against the wall..

Soon...Monica was moaning....then she broke into the sweetest smile I had ever seen...She was shaking..tears and sweat were running down her face....She was climaxing....And before I knew it ,I was cumming so hard that I almost panicked..it was soo sudden, so out of control....

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.."I moaned...That's all I remembered....I drifted off into a peaceful and fitless sleep..

Next thing,I know...I was waking up...It was morning...Monica was smiling at me...

"Wake up sleepy head...We've got four murders to solve.." she said..

I showered and shaved and dressed...

After all..This was the kind of case we liked..Complex...The kind that made us think.....And...This was exactly what we got!

We were back on the hunt....


(TO BE CONTINUED)