On A Clear Day You Can See Forever

It was early morning in Philadelphia....I was used to these kinds of mornings....

I stood on the roof of C.I.D. headquarters....It was cool out...I was drinking a tumbler of hot coffee...So was Sissy....Lt. Sissy Van Buren...Who ran the C.I.D. (Criminal Investigation Division)

"I like it up here early in the morning...It's quiet...not too many people are stirring.." she said.
'Yeah,I like this too." I said.

"Kevin...You and me...Me and you, we've stood up on this roof drinking coffee and discussing a case many times." said Sissy.

"I know..." I said.

''Here we are yet again.." I said, Smiling at my old friend.

"He has an alibi for all of the dates of the disappearences..."I said.

"I know..We checked...On the day Haney vanished....He was at the DMV paying a fine ,dozens of witnesses....When Culligan disappeared..He was hosting a dinner party...At least 25 witnesses...and when Brannon vanished, He wasn't even in the city...He was in New York....Meeting with the men who we believe are his suppliers...We don't enough for any kind of warrant..At least not yet..." said Sissy...

I knew all of this...I had done some digging myself...

My wife and her partners signed a contract with Jackson Branner..They optioned those houses that his company is building..Next thing they knew, they get a visit from Mike Traine Jr. saying that he now owned Branner's copany and they would have to work out a new deal...If that wasn't bad enough...He made a bid for their company..."I said.

"Nothing really illegal about that!" said Sissy...

"No, but if he's anything like his old man and I have every reason to think he is worse...If that is possible..He's not the type to take no for an answer...Just the day before...He tried to shake down Meek Rollins..."I said.

"The Music Producer?" asked Sissy..

"Meek foolishly borrowed money from him to buy new studio equipment and spruce the place up a bit." I said.

"But don't you own that studio?" asked Sissy..

"I do and Meek paid him back on time and in full with interest.." I said.

"But a guy like this collects on the principle..."said Sissy...

"Exactly...I told him that I owned the studio now lock ,stock and barrel and that I wasn't paying him a red cent..." I said.

''And Junior didn't take that too well did he?" asked Sissy...

"No he didn't....Next day he's trying to put the moves on my wife's company and my wife...So now he's lost twice...and yesterday was really humiliating for him...I Expect a reprisal and soon..." I said.

"I can put a team on your house...Your business...Your wife's business.."said Sissy...

"Thanks Sissy...But I expect him to do something different, not so obvious..."I said..  "Look, I know you guys got nothing to hold him on....and you can't get a warrant for a wire tap, but I don't need one...I have the means to get all kinds of information for you....Let me nose around and see what I can scare up..." I said.

''And of course I never asked you to do this and this conversation never occurred.."said Sissy with a sly and sexy laugh...

"But of course not.."I said and we both laughed and finished our tumblers of coffee..

II-

In a tony downtown office building....I wasn't the only one meeting with someone on the roof...

Mike Traine Jr. , his two Lieutenants and a short white man with a haircut like Moe Howard of the Three Stooges and horn rimmed glasses stood on the roof..

"My people in New York tell me you're the best...A Day of the Jackal type of guy..." said Mike..

"That is correct..." he said.. "As we speak...I have several Drones

Armed with powerful cameras photographing the three targets you have named...The shopping center office of The Unity Group...

The neighborhood and the home of Private Investigator, Kevin Morris...

and his building which houses his business...

Morris Communications and Investigations..." said the man...

"That's right....what about your other drones?" asked Mike Traine Jr.

The man smiled..

"They are armed with enough C-4 to take down his building, his house and his wife's business..." said the man...

Mike Traine smiled..

"He probably is expecting a fire bombing or a hitman... Something Mundane....He's not expecting this....I want him and all he holds dear blown off the face of the gotdamn earth!" he said.

The Man looked at him...

"You really hate this guy don't you?" he said.

Mike Traine snarled...

"You don't know how much....He put my father in prison for life ,but worse...he humiliated him by stuffing him into a washing machine....I'm going to make sure he pays and pays dearly for that..."said Mike Traine Jr.

The man named Migos looked at him and shook his head..

"I am controlling the entire operation from this remote control...." he said.  "It is extremely difficult for this signal to be traced..It'll be under most radar...." said the man...

"You'll be on the outskirts of the city with my two guys....I'll be somewhere where there is much visibility...Once the deed is done ...My guys will drive you to the airport...A passport and a plane ticket has already been purchased for you and money has been wired from my off shore account account to yours." said Mike Traine...

"Alright...Drive me to the Airport ,Northeast ....I have to arm my Drones...I'll be ready in a few hours..." he said.

"Goood ..Goood...Goodbye Kevin Morris.!" laughed Mike Traine Jr.

III-

Shortly after I left Sissy, I got a call from my guys....I stopped by my sub-basement headquarters...

"What's Up?" I said..

"You got problems Kevin."said Sean Jackson...

"What kind of problems?" I asked..

They played the entire conversation between Migos and Mike Traine and associates...

Lockpick Johnson and Peeping Tom led me to the monitors...On it I saw a Drone...

''See that? It's a drone  and it's armed with a camera...The kind that takes photos and does calculations.." said Peeping Tom...

"Clerow and Owen Todd brought it to our attention...We saw it hovering over the shopping center

where they have their office

with your wife and Ms. Bonita..

One of my other investigators then showed me another photo on another monitor..

There is another one....Look where it is...he asked..

"That's a block from my house..."I said..

"Yes and the most chilling of all ,look at this screen "said another of my investigators..

The third drone hovered right above our building..

"Oh My god....It's above us...." I said.

"That's right...Those are called Forager Drones they go out and scope the area and make calculations....Then the big dogs come...The ones armed with C4....They come and destroy the target.."said yet another Investigator...

"This is the move he planned to make...He's going to blow up my house....This building and my wife 's business...With all that C4...He could take out half of that shopping center...cause a lot more casualties...Same thing with my neighborhood and this building...."I said, now feeling a chill down my spine...This guy wasn't playing...

"We've been watching Mike Traine, like you asked us to...We got inside his office and wired it for sound and video and his condo as well and we cloned his phone...He put in a call to somebody in New York and they sent him this cool guy."said Lockpick Johnson..

"We got his office wired and his Condo...We hear every conversation...We got enough on him to put him away ." said Peeping Tom.

 ''Well Let's take care of this clear and present danger first.." I said.

The monitor showed a photo of a short white man with a haircut like Moe Howard of the Three Stooges and horn rimmed glasses..

"His name is Migo Salador... He's a killer for hire...He uses drones...Used to be part of British Intelligence....He was kicked out...He's from Spain..Mike Traine really reached out for this kind of talent.."said Peeping Tom...

 "Anyway to jam the signal?" I asked..

They all smiled..

''We did better...We can trace it...and reverse it...We hacked into his signal..It's coming from a hand held device...He appears to be in a car...and the car seems to be on the outskirts of the city..."said one of my investigators...

"Where is Clerow and Owen Todd?"I asked..

"They're with your wife and Bonita...selling a house..."said Sean Jackson....

"But my daughter is in the child care center in that shopping center..."I said , now visibly concerned..

"Don't worry Boss, we've locked into his system..We don't want to draw his hand yet...We want to wait until he sends out the big dogs...."said another of my investigators..

"I thought he said that his signal was untraceable?" I asked.

"It would be because the Feds and The Cops wouldn't know where to look...We know it's coming from a hand held device...and we are looking lower."said another one of my new investigators...

How lucky I was to have such capable guys in my employ...
"They're going to get a real bang out of this...Trust and believe..."said Lockpick Johnson...



IV-

The first Drone lifted off.....

"We got it...It's coming from a hanger at Northeast Airport..."said Peeping Tom...

They had traced it and hacked into the Street cam near the Airport....They had it....

The second drone took off....

Within a few minutes , the third Drone took off..

Peeping Tom smiled...

"Okay...Here comes the fun....Jam the signals....NOW! " he said...

All Six Drones stopped in mid air...and turned!

The three drones with the cameras turned and headed towards the outskirts of the city...

In the car....Mike Traine's two goons turned and looked at Migos..

"Hey man...those white drones...They're hovering over us...taking pictures..."said the driver...

"Yes I can see that...I don't understand.....They shouldn't be here..." he said.

He fiddled with the controls...

"Something is wrong...They're not obeying the commands..." said Migos...

"You want us to drive closer to the city?" asked the Driver...

"Yes...Try that...For some reason those three aren't obeying.."said Migos...

The other man on the passenger side looked up..

"They aint the only ones not obeying ....Those Three, the ones loaded with C4....They're heading this way and they're diving...!!!" he said..

"WHAT? THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN...THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!!!" screamed Migos..

"DRIVE NIGGA DRIVE!!!!!, THEY COMIN AT US!!!" screamed the guy in the passenger side..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HELL!" screamed the man driving..He put his foot on the gas and pulled off at 120 miles an hour...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH LORDDDDDDDDDDDD!"!!!! screamed Migos in horror.


"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! THEY HEADED FOR US!!!!"they all screamed..

 "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HELL!" screamed the man driving.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH LORDDDDDDDDDDDD! NOOOOOO!"!!!! screamed Migos in horror.

All six drones hit the car....The Explosions....Miles away was so loud..It shook the city....

Migos and the two men were disentegrated in the blast...nothing was left of them....There was a big hole in the ground...I'd leave that for the Fire department, Homeland Security and The FBI  to figure out...

At my headquarters , we smiled and high fived each other...

We had averted a major disaster....Saved many lives....Mike Traine Jr. was getting to be as much of a pain as his father...Worse...He would have to be dealt with....I told my guys to up their surveilence of him.

V-

It was on the news  the next day....A major explosion in the outskirts of the city...He knew what it was....He knew by now he had failed..My house , my wife's business and my own business was safe...I sent a video of the explosion to his phone from a burner phone we took from his loft ironically enough..

He was not amused..

I sent a text from a blocked number......

"The next explosion is for you! Hope you get a bang out of it!"

Some hours later...

His beloved town car exploded...

I had had my guys place a bomb in it...I made sure Mike Traine was nowhere near or anyone else for that matter and then we detonated it...

He was furious....Witnesses say he kicked over a table ,threw a chair across the room shattering his window and turned over his desk... He jumped up and down like a child having a tantrum...

He had failed and in failing he had lost his prize car and two of his prize lieutenants......but what's more..He knew that I had thwarted him...

Now...It was war!!!....It was on!!!.... My move was next...

(TO BE CONTINUED)