One For The Money

PHILADELPHIA, 2041

A nice balmy early fall afternoon.....Lunch time... It had been a quiet day....Me and my partner, Detective Monica Nellis, who is also my wife now were having Milk shakes at a tony little bistro called simply..."The Terrace"

Monica sipped her vanilla milkshake,

She had a purple gardenia in her hair...She looked young,like a high school girl...

"Mmmmmm this is good...You know partner, I dreamed of days like this..." she said..

I sipped my chocolate milkshake...I stared at her...

"Mmmmmm this is good..Your sister was right, they do make the best milkshakes... Uh you dreamed of days like what?" I asked..

"Of days like this....slightly overcast, with just a hint of sunshine, a threat of rain and sipping  a milkshake somewhere with my boyfriend..." she said..

''Don't you mean your husband?" I said, smiling..

''Well when I had those little daydreams...I was a girl....I was thinking only of a boyfriend...Not a husband at the time.." said Monica.

"You uh ever live out your fantasy?" I asked.

"Nah..being abe to read guys minds, hear their thoughts , feel their emotions was both a blessing and a curse...I knew who really cared and who just wanted to get in my panties...99.9 percent were the latter...I wasn't going to have a romantic milkshake date with any of them..."said Monica, sighing..

''Well you have it now and I'm glad I'm the one you're having it with..."I said and smiled as I finished off my milkshake..

''You can't keep your hands off of me , but you're the exception....I don't mind.." she said and laughed..

"Mo-Mo...When did you realize that you....that you loved me?" I asked..

"The first time I kissed you...When we were on the moon...on our first case..."she said..

"I didn't know.."I said..

"I know you didn't...but I knew then....I was trying hard to fight it...I didn't want to love you...I just wanted us to be partners...Solving murders together...but once we made love....It was a wrap...How bout you? When did you discover you loved me? and don't say the first time you laid eyes on me because that's not true.."said Monica..

"The first night I spent the night in your apartment...on the eve of our trip to the moon... You fell asleep...I watched you sleeping peacefully and I took you to your room, took your shoes off and your
dress and your blouse and tucked you under the covers...I knew it then...I didn't need to make love to you...I was happy just being near you....I had never felt that way about anyone before...Not even my first wife."I said.

"That was a test...and I was so relieved to wake up and find you hadn't tried anything...I knew then that I could trust you..."said Monica..

There was one Milkshake left....

"Bae, why you order three milkshakes?" I asked..

''So we could share the last one.."said Monica.

We shared the milkshake and kissed each other passionately....

What a picture perfect afternoon..

We had no idea that just a level above us on the roof... a sinister drama was about to play out...A drama that was about to take us on one of our wildest rides....




II- 

 "You'll never get away with this.." came a voice..

"Wrong!  I've already gotten away with it." came another hushed voice and then two shots..

from a gun with a silencer......

"Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" came the moan, and the body fell...

A level below...

Monica and I heard a huge thump on the ceiling...

''What was that?" said Monica....

"I don't know.....Sounded like it was on the roof of this place...."I said..

"This is the roof ...Except for that Terrace.."said Monica..

We saw a Flying Limo flying away at that moment....

For reasons ,I'll never know...I used my cyber eye and got the license plate and the vin number as it flew away at hyper speed...I wrote it down....I don't know why I did that, but it would prove to be useful later...

"Bae LOOK!!"said Monica..

A stream of red blood began to seep over the side and spill down on our table.....

People began to stare at us...

"Let's get up to that roof.." I said.

"Yes..." said Monica...

On the roof we saw the huge six foot seven body of a man in a gray suit...An expensive suit....

He had been shot twice in the head.....

"He was shot at close range and the gun must have had  a silencer on it ,since we didn't hear any shots."said Monica.

"Like the one in the corner?" I said pointing at a gun with a home-made silencer that was still smoking..

Monica walked over and looked at the gun....She used a pencil to lift it up ,since we didn't have our latex gloves...

"It's still smoking...Recently fired..." she said...She looked at the rooftop door..

"No way the killer made his or her escape down this passage way...We would of seen or heard him or her.." said Monica..

"They might have arrived and left in that flying limo ,which is why we didn't hear them arrive either "I said...But luckily...I got a license plate number and a vin number.."I said.

Monica looked at me and smiled..

"You are perfect....Just the perfect partner..."she said and kissed me...

"I just love you.." she said..

I went in the victim's pockets and fished out a wallet...It was empty...No credit cards, debit cards or money

"His wallet is empty.....There is a drivers License and a flying car operators license...His name is Frank Bopper..." I said...

"That License  plate number and vin number you gave me bae?? I ran it through my tablet.....That was his  car....His flying car...It was still a good pull bae." said Monica..

Who kissed me again....

III-

Some time later.. Monica's sister, Dr. Monique Cotton, The City Coroner and Forensic Investigator arrived with a team of C.S.I. personell and police photographers  surveying the scene...

Uniformed officers kept the crowds off the roof..

''Wow! this is pretty high up...." said Monique..

Monica passed the murder weapon to a uniformed policeman..

"Bag and  tag this..." she said...

Just then....my phone rang...

"Nate Nellis, Homicide"I said.

"Hello Nate...Stand By...I'm sending you a photo.." came the voice...

A photo of the dead man ,being shot and falling was sent to my phone....

''Who are you?" I asked.

"ONE FOR THE MONEY
TWO FOR THE SHOW...
THREE TO GET READY
AND THEN AWAY I GOOOOOOOO....hahahahahahahahahahahahaha." laughed the voice and then
nothing...They hung up..

''Who was that Nate?"asked Monica..

"Our killer....Look what they sent to my phone." I said and I showed Monica and Monique film footage of our victim's very last moments....being shot and falling down dead...

"Oh My God...How Cruel..!!!" said Monique...

Just then Lt. Cotton walked up.....He put a Gardenia corsage on Both Monique and Monica..

He pulled Monique to him and kissed her..

"MMMMM,Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Frankie...Not in public...."

moaned Monique, who actually was liking how he was making her feel and swooning a bit..

 ''So what do we have here?  "he said. Then he took a good look at the dead man....

''Oh My God...That's Frank, Frank Bopper.. Frank "Big Bopper" Bopper." he said.

"You know him Lou?" I asked..

"Not personally....but I know he's loaded...Millionaire Socialite and Playboy." said Lt. Cotton...

"His wallet is empty...No credit cards, debit cards or cash...." said Monica..

"Robbery?" asked Lt. Cotton...

"The killer went to too much trouble for it to be a simple robbery...Kidnapping him and bringing him to this rooftop in his own Flying car and filming him being murdered and then sending it to my phone." I said.

"WHAT?? You know all of this?  How?" asked Lt. Cotton..

''We were having Milkshakes right downstairs when it happened..His blood poured right down on our table...Nate saw a Flying Car leaving here immediately and he got the Vin Number and the License plate..I ran em and found out it was the victim's car..."said Monica.

''Right before you came, a blocked number called me.."I said , showing the Lieutenant...my phone and playing back the conversation-

"Nate Nellis, Homicide"I said.

"Hello Nate...Stand By...I'm sending you a photo.." came the voice...

A photo of the dead man ,being shot and falling was sent to my phone....

''Who are you?" I asked.

"ONE FOR THE MONEY
TWO FOR THE SHOW...
THREE TO GET READY
AND THEN AWAY I GOOOOOOOO....hahahahahahahahahahahahaha." laughed the voice and then 
nothing...They hung up..

 ''We've possibly got another nut on the loose."said Lt. Cotton.

IV-

We watched as the body was moved out of the terrace.....

 Monica and I wasted no time in starting our investigation.....

We knew that Frank Bopper, 44 ws born and Raised here in Philadelphia...The Son of two architects.
A trust fund baby who went to the best private schools and graduated from University of Pennsylvania...He then took over his late Father and Mother's architectural business and made it several times more profitable...

He was a millionaire many times over!  He was known to be quite the ladies man too!  His lovers was a who's who of Philadelphia Society...

Monica first interviewed his business associates and close friends and checked their alibis...Then she interviewed all of his known lovers.

While I interviewed his relatives....and checked their alibis......I monitored his bank accounts and credit cards and found no activity...In fact, within hours...I located all of his stolen credit cards and debit cards....

I had them checked for prints and DNA....There was none...I wasn't surprised...

 We met back at headquarters and began putting together our notes, when Detective Kylie White walked in...

''We located his flying car Nate..."she said..

''You did? This fast?/" I said..

"Yeah...Whoever parked it near the docks....I have CSI dusting it for prints and DNA...I gotta tell you though...It smells like bleach....I don't expect you'll find anything..." said Kylie..

 Damn it...A who done it....I thought...

"Nate?  How did whoever ...Know we were at that Terrace?" asked Monica.

"That was a question, I hadn't pondered...."I said..  How did the killer know I was there, right below them?

"Mo-Mo...Let's go up to the roof, take a look at my flying car." I said.

We found four GPS devices.....

"Now we have to track your movements and determine when somebody could have done this."said Monica..

 "I had it detailed earlier...before we went to have Milkshakes..."I said.

"You and I need to check that place out first thing in the morning..."said Monica...

''Yeah, I'm getting ready to pull up myself...It's been a long day.."said Kylie..

V-

We stood outside our duplex...The Duplex we shared with Monique and Lt. Cotton...

''Well I'm sorry our milkshake date got ruined by this...I'll make it up to you..."I said.

"You don't have to do that...It was a nice date...It was finished by the time this happened...Thank you  though...For everything...For the past three years...They've been great...I've never been happier or more in love."said Monica.

"Me neither.."I said.

We kissed passionately......

The game of cat and mouse between us and this new killer was just beginning....

(TO BE CONTINUED)