Remember When

Lieutenant Tragg found himself sitting in the small diner, eating breakfast...He had Steak, Two eggs sunny side up and Hash Browns and a tumbler of coffee...Black...

He heard a familliar voice...

"Arty you old dog...You never change....You'd think you'd eat Pancakes or Waffles or French Toast...Instead...You order the same thing you been eatin since we were patrolmen....Steak, Two eggs sunny side up and Hash Browns and a tumbler of coffee...Black..." came the voice..

He turned...

"OH MY GOD! BUD...BUD CARSON!" said Lt. Tragg...

"Hey Arty...how ya doin pallie?" came the voice of retired Detective Sgt. Bernard "Bud" Carson...

"God, How long has it been since you were on the job....huh?" asked Lt. Tragg...

''Too Long..Too Long...God...It sure is good to see that some things ,some people haven't changed Arty....Look at you.....Wow!  I remember when you were straight outta the academy....a patrolman...gettin me and Jimmy coffee...Always eager to please...You and that colored fella, what was his name?" asked Bud..

''Cantrell, Ed Cantrell.."said Lt. Tragg..

"You never liked him...The feeling was mutual I guess...You made Detective before he did...I remember you rubbing it in his face...heh, heh ,heh...Then the next round, He made Detective...You two were always trying to one up each other...But that was good...You two cracked a lot of cases...Me and Jimmy used to laugh at both of youse...." said Bud..

"You guys were no slouches yourselves...Cracking some big cases.." laughed Lt. Tragg..

Bud looked at the waitress...

"Hey doll, a three stack of pancakes, sausage and hash browns and could you uh get me the same to go...?" he said..."Oh yeah and two coffees..One for me and uh one to go." he said.

"You eatin for two Bud...?" asked Lt. Tragg..

"I uh....I uh got a lady friend ,sleepin in ,in my apartment...I live right upstairs..I would invite you in..but uh..well you know.."He said...

"Heh heh heh heh...Wow!  I remember when you were head over heels in love with that Investment Banker, Kendra Bailey....Wow....I was uh so surprised that she wound up marrying your uh partner, Jimmy...Uh Mr. Scott..." said Lt. Tragg...He realized he had brought up a sore subject... "Sorry Bud." he said.

''Forget it...Water under the bridge..I see you are uh a Lieutenant now!  Wow!..I never made it past Sgt..Good for you Arty and that colored guy, Eddie..Eddie Cantrell..He made Captain..Imagine that!! I remember when you two were just detectives....Wow! And that partner of mine..James Scott...James Freakin Scott...Took my girl and kissed so much ass,he's now the Deputy of Operations..Look at him..a real big shot!" said Bud Carson with more than a tinge of anger.. He then smiled..

"Arty..wow!  Look at you ..A lieutenant.....I remember...Ed Cantrell was such a hound dog..

''He started cracking cases and he fancied himself as somewhat of a mentor for the Black cops...I guess he thought he was Martin Luther King...He mentored that sexy young detective, Sissy Van Buren..

and her cute partner..Carol somethin or other...oh I know...

Carol Redding...I thought Eddie was sleeping with both of em...I was never sure...Me and Jimmy used to take bets...we didn't know....Right around the time I left...Both of em became Sergeants...we wondered what was goin on there... I remember Sissy mentoring those three cops , fresh out of the academy that she used to hang with...uh Tyriq Pile...Angie Belton and uh Eddie Baylor...They used to call him "Duke"

Those three worshiped her and followed her everywhere..They're all detectives now...I see they're still with her...and Eddie is married to Sgt Redding.." laughed Bud..

"She's a fed now...DEA, Regional Special Agent in Charge..."said Lt. Tragg.

and yeah, he's married to her, but believe me..He's still got the hots for Sissy..She's got him bent around her finger...He does her all kinds of favors.." said Lt. Tragg....

"Yeah that's how it works...Maybe I should have mentored some young detectives...I might have made Lieutenant ,even Captain.."said Bud Carson...

"Sissy took three of my young detectives...when She made Lieutenant and took over the Criminal Investigation Division...

"Tyriq Pile, Carlotta Rodriguez and James Barlow...All good detectives and all making her look great ."said Lt. Tragg..

"Yeah, she's got a couple of other young ones...That Sirena Harris..

"I remember when she was fresh out of the Academy and another young guy...

"I don't know him....and Duke and Angie are with her..

She's got quite a line up...They're doin big things...before you know it...They'll propell Sissy to the Deputy of Operations office after Jim either retires or somebody finds out what a big phony baloney he really is." said Bud...

"You're still bitter about that huh?  It was a long time ago Bud..Have you two talked..?" asked Lt. Tragg..

"Talked...?? No...Screw him....He knew I was crazy about her...I told him everything about Kendra...Everything...when we'd be on stake outs...I took him to meet her..Then the next thing I know..They're dating and engaged...I was crushed..You don't do that to your partner...you don't do that to a friend!"said Bud, not even trying to conceal his anger...She's loaded I hear and he's not doin bad himself..You know what happened to me?  I got a lousy stunkin pension that pays the bills...and a Job as a P.I.  I worked for a couple of Lawyers...I did alright...but not like he's doin....It aint fair.."said Bud..

''Life aint fair Bud..Guys like me and you...we should be runnin things..but it's a new day...Huh?" said Lt. Tragg..

''It is Arty.." said Bud Carson..."Didn't mean to bring you down.....Hey listen...Maybe sometime when my uh lady friend aint here...You come up and visit..We'll have a couple of drinks, a couple of laughs and talk about the old days..huh?" said Bud Carson..

''Sure Bud.."said Lt. Tragg as they both finished their meals and paid their tab...

II-

''It's been 72 hours guys..Any new developments?" I asked..

''The kidnapper contacted us again..from a cold site ....We couldn't trace it...He gave us instructions on how the money is to be delivered...It's to be wired to an account in St. Thomas.. An account belonging to ,get this "Johnny Carson." laughed Sharon...

"The Late King of Late Night is our kidnapper.." laughed Jimmy...

"Carlotta, Rico,Sirena ,Hop and I have been interviewing friends, family, business associates and other cops, Anybody who had dealings with James Scott or his wife Kendra ." Said Angie..

"We found out something interesting...He had a partner...A Bernard "Bud" Carson." said Carlotta..

"I knew him...He was a Detective, back when I was just starting out...Hell of a detective too! He and Deputy of Operations ,Jim Scott were quite a duo...They knew how to bring in a case...To tell you how long ago it was...Captain Cantrell and Lt. Tragg were young detectives...and I was just a rookie...studying for the detectives test.."said Sissy..

"I vaguely remember him....I remember that things didn't end up well between those two.." said Tyriq....

''What Happened?" I asked...

"This Bud Carson....

 was crazy about a young investment banker named Kendra Bailey...

She was on the rise...Making money for her firm and then going into business for herself..."said Sirena..

"I don't know how it happened or when it happened...but somehow or other , she wound up dating Detective James Scott..the future Deputy Of Operations.." said Hop..

"They did more than date...She got pregnant...and they got married...Just like that." said Duke..

"Gosh...He married his partner's girl....That's low!Lower than Low." said Jimmy...

"It was horrible...They were never the same again...They never spoke to each other again...Bud took it very hard...He left the force ,shortly after their daughter, Margo was born...He became a P.I. , Worked some Security gigs until he could collect his pension...He had put his time in...From what I hear...He was very bitter." said Sissy..

''James Scott became Lieutenant Scott, then Captain Scott and then Deputy of Operations...Very Fast..People say...He had a lot of friends...." said Angie..

"Or his wife had a lot of influential friends that were in the Mayor and the Commissioner's ear...At Any rate..He is where he is today!  And in addition to his pension...He will be very, very well off when he retires.."said Carlotta..

"Hell of a story...Sirena, My Hubby and Jimmy got me an even better story...They have this Bud Carson on film....

"All those late hours of Triangulating Street Cam, Traffic cam, business cam footage paid off...We have

Street Cam footage of Bud Carson...Leaving that building , just minutes after Sissy got the call ,leading us to the body of Bobby McShay...we got his car, a license plate and an address."said Sharon...

"Rico, Duke, Angie and I have checked his financials...for the past few days.."said Carlotta..

''He's been ordering meals for two...Every meal..It's on his credit and debit cards and he's bought ladies underwear and ladies clothing from several stores lately..."said Tyriq..

"As well as things like Tampons....Now what would a guy like him need with that?" said Duke..

"Sharon and the FBI are still working on that Bank account in St. Thomas.." said Angie..

"My agents in St. Thomas just sent me a photo from the bank of the man who started that account in St. Thomas...Take a look.."said Sharon..

"Well I'll be damned..It's Bud Carson.."said Sissy..

"Bud Carson is our guy...anybody got an address on him?" asked Sissy..

"He lives in an apartment on top of this restaurant.."said Carlotta ,showing Sissy a design...He eats his meals there and except when he's shopping...He doesn't leave the place." she said.

"We have to get close to there and get a visual...See if we can get a place across the street from there ,where we can set up without him getting suspicious.."said Sharon...

"So Sissy...You gonna tell our partner, Lt. Tragg?" asked Hazel, who had just joined us...

"No...We are not going to endanger that girl...we move quickly and in stealth!" said Sissy...

III-

Lt. Tragg bought a case of beer with him, he felt guilty about seeing Bud , and Bud being depressed..Hell, He felt Depressed himself..

He took the elevator up to Bud's apartment...

It was a hot humid summer night..


"Yo Bud...It's Arty...Open Up..." he said.."I bought a case of beer.." he said..

The door was open...

He walked in....

He saw women's clothes laying on the chair...Jeans,Panties, Bras...Blouses and a couple of suitcases...

He saw a Laptop on a table..

"Yo Bud!" he said..

He walked inside...The Kitchen was a mess..Filled with dishes...The trash can loaded with take out boxes..

He peeped into the bedroom and saw Margot Scott, the daughter of the Deputy of Operations tied to a chair ,bound and gagged...

"Oh My God!...Margot!   It's you!!! BUD!! Bud is the kidnapper?? Oh My God..I hit pay dirt...I solved this case...I beat them...This is my moment...Oh My God.."he said ..but just as he was about to untie her...He was hit with a taser..

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH LALALALALALALALALALALAAAA!" he yelled as he fell to the floor....

''Ohhh Arty...Always looking for the big score...This would have been your moment...But it won't be...I always liked you...Always so eager to please..." he said as he tied Lt. Tragg up and gagged him....

"When I get my money...I'll release you Margot...but Arty...You know who I am..You know my secret...You won't be so lucky old boy...Sorry...I remember when you were a good cop..Now...unfortunately....You're gonna be a dead cop!"

Ironically enough, a cop car drove by...

(CONCLUSION NEXT)