Death Of The Hound

"Vanessa Brillington?" asked the Police Officer...

"Yes....That's me.." said Vanessa..

"You put in a missing persons report three days ago for your brother, Levinson....Well mam..we regret to inform you that we found him..." said the officer..

"You found him? Is he locked up? Is he in the hospital?" asked Vanessa.

"He's dead mam!" said the Officer somberly..

"Dead? There must be some kind of mistake?" said Vanessa..

"No mam, it's him.. We identified him by his fingerprints...We found his body down near the end of the pier.. He was mauled to death by what looks like some kind of animal......From the state of his body...he's been dead at least two days.." said the policeman..

"OHHHHHHHHHHH MY GOD!!" screamed Vanessa!

She began crying profusely...

"Levinson...Oh My Goddddddddddddd!"

Hot Chocolate Johnson put his arms around her...

"Come on Baby...Let's go to the Beach House..." he said.

Just as he said that...We all heard the hound....The barking was louder, closer and more mournful...

Everybody, even the patrolman had a look of horror on their faces...

The barking got louder....

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh Hell..It's that Hound...It's come to kill us...Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." said Nellerd Beane...

Hortense wanted to go now and I wasn't  against the idea...until we heard that hound barking and beying like that....

"Hortense...Kayla.. Get your bags...put them in our room..." I said.

"Okay." said Kayla..

''Alright." said Hortense...

''What's going on?" asked Sepia.

"Load your .22, lock yourselves in...I'm going out..." I said.

"Are you crazy? That Hound is out there....You'll be mauled to death."said Sepia...She really looked scared and tears were streaming down her face...

"It's okay...I got my .38 smokeless and my .40 cal...Either one of these guns will make a huge hole in that thing...It'll put it down...I've got to find that Kennell and I think I know where it is.."I said.

"Kevin please....Don't be crazy...Let me go with you.." Sepia pleaded..

"I can't baby...I can't put you in harms way like that...You're the mother of our child.." I said.

"And you're the Father...I don't want her to be Fatherless.." said Sepia..

"It's alright...I'll go with him...I've got a .38 smokeless too!" said Hot Chocolate Johnson.....

"Okay....Girls ,lock yourself in your rooms..." I said.

"You don't have to tell me twice..UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPPPH!" said Nellerd Beane , who ran to his room and slammed the door..

"Oh Lordddddddddd!" said Vanessa, who ran to a small room on the first floor and locked her door..

Sepia gave me the softest, most moist kiss she'd ever given me....

''Wow, I almost don't want to go now.." I said...totally dazed...

"I'll give you more if you won't go..." she said...Then she sighed.. "I know you...You have to do this.. That's part of what I love about you the most...Just be careful baby..." she said.

"Always" I said.

Kayla and Hortense had their bags and ran into our room...

Sepia went in with them and locked the door..

I looked at Hot Chocolate Johnson and said-

"Let's Go Man.."

"Uh...yeah, right." he said.

II-

We took my rental car and drove along the roads on Martha's Vineyard...Truly beautiful country...

We drove for a good while...

''Where are we going Kevin? You drive like you have an idea of where this hound is?" asked Hot Chocolate Johnson..

I didn't answer his question....I changed the subject..

''So Hot Chocolate...The Private Investigation business kind of dried up for you huh?" I asked.

"Yeah...I should have done like you... Diversified...Got into another business and just did this on the side.." he said.

"All the Attorneys around and you couldn't hook up with them? My friend, Donnie Ray Alexander ,married Attorney Olivia Bennett and works with her and her niece, Beverly, who is also an Attorney and is her firm's in house investigator...He makes a very good living.

and I have another friend, Bonnie Shay who is an investigator for Cyclops Insurance...

In addition to Kayla...I also

 work for another attorney, Gloria Brown... I make good money just working for the attorneys...

...The days of having an office and drinking coffee like Marlowe and Sam Spade and waiting for a wealthy , good lookin dame to walk in is a thing of the past.." I said.

"You're young....you adapted...I lost my office, damn near got evicted from my apartment with this business.....Things were so lean, I was thinkin of going back on the police force...Then I met Vanessa and worked a case for her...and we got involved..." he said.

"You guys are getting married...She just inherited a fortune...That must be golden for you...Huh?" I said.

"Heh, Heh , Heh...yeah....it's perfect.....My lean days are over..." he said..

We pulled up at the Kennell...

We both got out and looked around....

"Where is this place?" asked Hot Chocolate Johnson...

"It's the only Outdoor Kennel on this side of the island...You know this place don't you?" I said.

Hot Chocolate Johnson laughed..

"Ha Ha Ha...Damn Kev...Damn...You're good...You're Damn Good...Too Good." he said..

III-

I turned towards him...

"I know it's you Ronnie... That's your dog!!!....My question is why?" I said.

"Well you're partially right...but it's not my dog...but I was using the dog...." he said.

"Why Man?" I asked. "You had Vanessa....You marry her and you get 25 million dollars...That dog has killed her brother..."I said.

"I didn't know you and your pretty wife and that pretty lawyer were coming...The dog killed Levinson, Vanessa gets his part of the money...That's in the will too....I knew Nellard wasn't getting a penny..and just in case that little whore ,Hortense got a large share, the dog was going to have her for dinner too.!" he said.

"Jetty Dukes and you were in on this together...He read the will to you a week ago didn't he?" I said.

"He's not in on anything.. I paid him to read me the will in advance...that was it..." said Hot Chocolate Johnson...

"You tampered with the brakes on Hortense's car didn't you?" I said.

"Yes...and when that failed...I knew the dog would have to get her... The dog is kind of out of control, I didn't mean for that Horse to get mauled or that innocent man to get killed  the other week.. but the dog was hungry...That's how we kept it mean, ready to kill...What gave me away? I am curious.." he said.

"I did some checking... Large Dogs arriving in local kennels....and I got this one and a payment by credit card ...Yours....You should have paid for his upkeep in cash.  I also found large payments for dog food and again.. I saw a payment on your credit card...  That man, that ex con that I was fighting..That was your friend...He was taking care of the dog for you...I went to his apartment after he died...I found several checks ,signed by you in his apartment...You knew him...He worked for you..I checked his prison record...He was in a dog training program when he was in the slams...That's how he got paroled.Once  I knew all of that, it was easy to figure out the rest and put all of the pieces together." I said.

"Very Good Kevin, Very Good...Damn, I was sloppy...Thanks for clearing that up...After I leave here....I'll have to clean that up.." said Hot Chocolate Johnson..

"You're going to shoot me Hot Chocolate?" I asked..

"No...Too messy....You're going to become the latest victim of the hound...He'll be here...He's well trained... You know...Sometimes I'd look at that dog and think that he hated me...You know.. I put gun powder in his food, to make him extra mean, and I'd whip him sometimes...But actually, that's exactly the kind of dog I need to finish this.. Ohhh, eventually Animal control will kill him, but only after he's eaten up everybody except Vanessa..." he laughed..

''She in on this too?" I asked.

"No, this was all me...The less she knows about this...The better...I hate to do this Kevin...I always liked you...I sure wish you and your wife and that pretty little Attorney hadn't come up here...I might spare them...but I have to get rid of you...You know too much...You were just too good.You should have left this alone...Just let Kayla get her gift and escorted her home...I wasn't targeting her.. Just Hortense and Levinson...Hell.. I wasn't even going to harm horny ass Nellerd Beane.. That day I followed you and saw you asking the mechanic questions and then dropping by  Animal Control...I knew you were going to be a problem....I just told Rutherford to rough you up, not kill you.. but you beat the crap out of him..You weren't out buying wine that night were you? You were out nosing around some more ,weren't you?" he laughed..

"I was...Does it even matter at this point?" I asked..

"Damn man...I hate having to do this...You were cool...Me and you go way back...I gave you some pointers when you first got your P.I. license...remember?  Look, why don't you just forget about this??..Charge it to the game...and you and your wife just take Kayla and get out of here?" he asked.

"I can't do that...Hortense is my client too and now two men have been slaughtered by that dog..I can't do that! I can't let you hurt Hortense" said Kevin.

"I was trying to give you an out...I figured you'd say that....Sorry Kevin....Just know that this is not personal....You'll always be my main man..." said Hot Chocolate Johnson.

He whistled and the largest Doberman Pinscher I ever saw appeared..

"Get Him Boy...Sic him.." laughed Hot Chocolate Johnson...


Before I could pull my gun....The Dog leaped on Hot Chocolate Johnson!!!...

"HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!  WHAT THE HELL?  STOPP..ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! He screamed as the dog attacked him...

It ripped his trousers off...

"WHOAAAAA!!!Now you done done it...Now you done done it...You are in so much trouble dog! Do you know how much I paid for those trousers?? I got em from Banana Republic, they weren't cheap" he snarled, which made the dog even angrier!!!!

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!....WHOOOOOOOOOO,. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! YOU DAMN STUPID MUTTT. WHOAAAAAAAAAAAA!" he screamed as he ran for his life...

The dog growled and ripped his suit jacket off....and his shirt!!!!

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH,.....ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! THAT'S A $300.00 suit jacket...ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! That shirt was $79.00" he screamed..

Now clad only in his boxers  ,socks and loafers and the belt from his trousers, still around his waist...He ran for all he was worth..The dog ripped his undershirt off....He tried to fight the dog off, He had a small stick...The dog knocked the stick out of his hands...and ripped the belt from around his waist...  the dog knocked him to the ground...

"Now you done done it...Now you done done it...You are in so much trouble dog! Got me out  here naked as  a damn jaybird!!! What the hell is the matter with you????" he snarled, which made the dog even angrier!!!!

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH  ...OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.. OHHHH LORD....Help me...HELPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!  ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH  ...OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.. OHHHH LORD...."HELPPPPPPPPPPPP...AFGHHHHHH!!! OWWWWWWW! Ouuuuuuuu! "he screamed..

The dog bit him in the neck...He tried to fight back....but the dog mauled him.....blood splashed on the wall,

"WOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! ..ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH  ...OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.. OHHHH LORD....Help me...HELPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!  ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH  ...OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.. OHHHH LORD...."HELPPPPPPPPPPPP...AFGHHHHHH!!! OWWWWWWW! Ouuuuuuuu! HELP ME!!!! HELP meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!Oh hhhhhhhhhhh  Lawddddddddddd!HELP meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....Woooooooooooooooooooo!" he screamed in agony!!!!...

A loud shot ran out.....A Riot Pump shotgun!!!

It was a man from Animal control...He shot the dog with his shotgun, killing it instantly  But it was too late for Hot Chocolate Johnson...The dog had ripped his midsection to shreds....He lay on the ground in just his boxers, his socks and his loafers...Blood was everywhere...His lifeless eyes stared in shock at the sky... His mouth still open...but no sound was coming out.! He was dead!

"That dog attacked us..." I said.

"Yeah...I heard....Damn good thing I got here..Whoooooo....You alright fella?" he asked..

"Yeah...Wow..I was scared to death.." I said..

"I don't blame you buddy...That's the largest meanest creature I seen around here or anywhere in my life....Whoooo...Well, people can sleep peaceful now...I finally caught up with that damn thing...I been trackin it for weeks.. Ever since it killed that horse.." said The Animal Control Marshal..

"Thanks for saving my life." I said..

"Don't mention it...Unfortunately...I couldn't save your pal there.. Wow...that damn dog tore him to shreds..." he said as we both looked at what was left of Ronald "Hot Chocolate" Johnson.

 I identified the body and watched as people from the Medical Examiner's Office took his body to the morgue...A sad and pathetic end for such a colorful guy!

IV-

I drove up to the estate....

"You all can come out...Coast is clear." I said..

Sepia ran into my arms...

She gave me a passionate, wet, sloppy kiss...

"I was sooo worried about you..." she said..

"I was too, So glad you're alright.." said Kayla..

"Oh My God...We heard that dog howling and then we heard a shot..." said Hortense..

"I take it that damn hound is dead?" asked Nellerd Beane..

"It is..Animal Control killed it..." I said dryly...

"Where is Ronald?" asked Vanessa...

"He's not coming back.....Vanessa sit down....I have something to tell you." I said.

EPILOUGE-

Sepia, Kayla Bennett , Hortense Robinson and I boarded a plane within an hour headed for Philadelphia..

"I have to admit...at first I thought your story bordered on paranoia Hortense...but you were on the money about everything...There was a plot to kill you...It just wasn't Vanessa, Levinson and Nellerd Beane...It was Hot Chocolate Johnson...and he wasn't even in the family yet..." I said.

"Oh My God...I didn't even suspect him....I just thought he was Ms. Vanessa's boyfriend..." said Hortense..

"Oh he was...He was playing a high percentage game!...Being her husband and making sure she got the hugest slice of the pie available.. A cotisal of the will was that the survivor at the time of the will got all of the money.. Except for the gift he gave to Kayla's client...Kayla and Nellerd Beane might have walked away with their lives... Nellerd didn't get a cent and Kayla's gift was in stone.. But You were marked for death Hortense...Especially after Levinson died.. He didn't count on me and Sepia being there.. Maybe he would have spared us...had I not figured it out and gotten too close...He was planning to murder me ....I knew he was, so I deliberately drew him out..." I said.

"Neither of you figured on the dog turning on him...." said Sepia...

"No, I didn't...I was hoping to get a good shot and kill it...but that dog mauled him before I could pull my gun out and the Animal Control guy did the rest.....I turned my information over to the Sheriff before we left...They've got a closed case....." I said..

''What will Vanessa do now?" asked Kayla.

"Anything she wants....She has 25 million dollars and an Art collection worth even more.. Vanessa will be just fine.." said Sepia..

"Oh yeah, She just has to be wary of the type of man she chooses to get involved with..." I said.

And at that very minute on Martha's Vineyard at the Beach House...Vanessa was doing just fine..

"Woooooooooooooooooo...Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Sock it to me...Sock it too meee...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...MISTER BEANE...

OUUUU, I NEVER KNEW YOU EVEN LOOKED AT ME THAT WAY" said Vanessa as she and Nellerd Beane made sweet love in the bedroom in the beach house...They were the only two left in the house...They had all the privacy they needed...He was helping her grieve the deaths of Ronald "Hot Chocolate" Johnson and her brother, Levinson.

''Awwwwwwwwwwwwww Lawwwwwwd gal...ummmmmmmmmmmmmmph....yesssssssssssssss of course I did...I just never thought I had a shot...

.UMMMMMMMMMPH!" moaned Nellerd Beane,.

''Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Mister BEANE...MISTER BEANE....Ouuuuuuuuuuuuu, you are just showing off in this bed...Just showing offf...Ooooooooouuu..."

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuu, you are just showing off in this bed...Just showing offf...Ooooooooouuu..."she cooed...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...Ummmmmmmmmmmmph.."he moaned...

The bed was squeaking out of control......the headboard was slamming so hard against the wall It sounded as if it was going to go through it...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Mister BEANE...put that long thing in meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...OUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" came Vanessa's howls from the cabin..

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh lawddddddddddddd woman....ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...Let me put some Satin in ya panties gal!" came Nellerd's rough voice...

"Woooooooooooooooooo...Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Sock it to me...Sock it too meee...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" 'she cried out...

''Awwwwwwwwwwwwww Lawwwwwwd gal...ummmmmmmmmmmmmmph....what are you doing to me?"

''Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Mister BEANE...MISTER BEANE....Ouuuuuuuuuuuuu, you are just showing off in this bed...Just showing offf...Ooooooooouuu..."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...Ummmmmmmmmmmm.." "GIVE IT TO ME...GIVE IT TO ME STRONG!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS OUUUUUUUUU NELLERD BEANE...YESSSSSSSSSSSS!" moaned Vanessa.

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu girl..I'm bout to explode...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuu here it comes..Yessss OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" howled Nellerd Beane..

"MY GOODNESS MISTER BEANE! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SWEET LAWD MAN! OUUUUUUUU!"

The bed was squeaking more out of control now.......the headboard was slamming so hard against the wall it was knocking the paint off the wall...They were making so much racket, the birds were flying away and the squirrels were running for cover.. She was getting through her grief just fine...

"Wooooooooooooooooo...Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh , sock it to me... YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh Nellerd....Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuu Thank God for you....Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Nellerd! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! OHHHH GOOOD LAWD MAN...WOOOOO!" she screamed in joy....

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPH! WHAT YOU SAY GIRL?...UMMMMMMMMMMMMMPH!" he moaned!

The Hound of Martha's Vineyard was dead! The only howling and moaning was coming from the beach house!