No Honor Amongst Theives

Calvin "Sweet Tooth" Jordan was a stone cold gangster.... He laundered money for a number of drug crews, (but didn't sell or use drugs)...through his very successful bakery...

He had been trained as a baker the first time he went to prison...And had come out baking cakes and pies....Soon he opened up a very successful bakery..

and hired bakers to bake his cakes, pies and pastries on the premises...

and there was an assortment of sweet things to eat in his bakery..Cakes,Pies, Doughnuts, Danish, you name it...Thus his nickname..."Sweet Tooth Jordan..."

His bakery did great buisness...but everyone...Everyone in the know knew that this bakery was just a front...

He laundered dirty money for the drug boys...and he hired stick up crews and safe crackers or Box men as they were known on the streets and set up high line scores..mostly of jewelry stores, banks, and the homes of the well to do...

He had been doing this for years...The cops knew, but they never could put a tag on him...

I wasn't aiming to today...I just wanted that painting back...

I walked in by myself...

There was a pretty little girl working there..

"Can I help you sir?" she asked..

"Yes...Can I have a large tumbler of coffee..three creams, six sugars....A Bear Claw and a fresh doughnut from the oven...?" I asked..

"Coming right up...That'll be $7.50 sir." she said..

I gave her a ten...

"Keep the change...Uh and could you ask Mr. Jordan to come over here?..I would like to discuss some business with him.." I said.

She smiled. She was probably used to shady people coming in here from time to time ,asking for the boss..

"Sure..I'll go and get him.." she said..

Sweet Tooth was a very nattily dressed man...Tall, thin, with a toothy grin...

He saw me  and he walked over to my table..

''Who are you?" he asked.

"Sit down"I said calmly...

The smoke was coming up off of my coffee...

My Bear claw and my doughnut arrived..

"They were both fresh out of the oven...

"This is good.. Good Coffee too!" I said.

Sweet Tooth Jordan was impatient..

"You didn't call me out here to critique my doughnuts or my coffee...Now I'm gonna ask you again ,who are you and what do you want?" he asked.

I pulled out my smart phone and showed him a photo of a portrait....

"See that? It's a portrait....It was stolen from Tommy Don's Art gallery....Day before Yesterday...The thief was Randy "Cat" Stevens....I stopped by his last known residence and I even found the Acura he used to transport it...Car was clean and apartment was empty..He's good..but not that good..Now I know you're the guy in this area..You're the shot caller...No score goes down without you getting a piece of the action....Now I want that portrait back..."I said..

Sweet Tooth Jordan smiled..

"Oh really? You don't look like a cop.."he said..

"I'm not...but the man who is paying me wants that portrait back...and sooner rather than later.."I said as I munched on my doughnut and my bear claw..

"Damn Man, these are really good.."I said and finished my coffee...

Sweet Tooth Jordan smiled..

"How bout if I tell you I don't know what you're talking about?" he said..

"How bout if I re-iterate...I want that portrait back...Tell Cat to get it back...I'm certain you haven't moved it yet....I want it back ,by this afternoon if possible.No questions asked."I said.

"Get out of here.. Next time you come back it better strictly be to munch on my pastries and to drink my coffee....Anything else...and I know some people that will make your life very uncomfortable...You feel me on that?" he said..

I stood up and smiled..

"This afternoon...Remember that!" I said..  "Good Bye Mr. Jordan....oh and my compliments...The coffee and the pastries are off the chain.."I said..

I quietly left his establishment...I walked three blocks down the street and got in my car and pulled off..

II-

Naturally He walked to the door to see which way I walked..  A .44 magnum was put to his cheek..

Kool Kat was wearing a ski mask..

"Turn around and I'll blow your gotdamn head off.." he said quietly...

Clerow also had on a mask and a .45 in his stomach...

"Okay...Okay...Just don't shoot me..please...What-What do you want?" he asked.

"We'll get to that! But I think you know.."said Kool Kat...

They walked the startled Sweet Tooth Jordan to an old beat up truck..

Owen Todd was at the wheel...

They drove him up to the old water tower we used to play in as children and tied him up...

The tough talking gangster was frightened to death...

"What- What do you want?" he asked...Urinating on himself..

"I believe someone asked you to return that portrait....TONIGHT! ,DIDN'T THEY?" growled Kool Kat...

"Look, I haven't got it....Look a man..a man named Jennings...He paid me 25 Large to have that portrait stolen..I paid Cat Stevens...4 large to do the job...He did it..I'm no longer involved.." he said...

"I swearrr..don't hurt me..pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.."he pleaded...

Clerow was doing the best he could to contain his laughter..

"Where is Cat?" he asked..

Sweet Tooth Jordan gave him Cat's address....

"That's the truth...I got my money....I 'm out of it..." he said..

"If we find out you're lying...We'll do this little song and dance again.."growled Kool Kat...

"I'm not lying..I swearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....I swearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" Sweet Tooth Jordan cried out, tears streaming down his face and his legs shaking like a leaf!

With Owen Todd driving....They drove him back to his bakery and released him unharmed...

He stood in front of his shop with urine soiled trousers...but otherwise, unharmed... He hadn't been hit or smacked....But he was scared to death.....Whoever these guys were, they weren't playing...He called Cat Stevens...He was scared...

So scared that he closed up shop and went home for the rest of the day...

III-

 Sepia was at home with Kimberly talking on the phone to her mother who was up at The Dolly Madison Correctional Center for Women in Upstate Pennsylvania..

"That's right Mommy...I found that old portrait of Mom-Mom that Pop Pop painted..." said Sepia.

"What? The one with her by the Brooklyn Bridge at Night?" asked Mrs. Cokeley..

"The same Mommy...It's in an Art Gallery, it was to be auctioned...I was going to buy it.."said Sepia.

"You said was gonna...what happened? Somebody out bid you?" asked Mrs. Cokeley...

"No, somebody stole it...Stole it from the Gallery....Supposedly it's worth much more than it was when you had to sell it..."said Sepia..

"WOW!...and I sold it for $350 dollars..."said Mrs. Cokeley..

" Well the bidding starts at $5000.00."said Sepia..

"It starts at $5000.00? whoooooo Lord!"said Mrs. Cokeley..

''Kevin knows who stole it...He's been out for the past few days trying to find them..."said Sepia.

"If Somebody stole it...They did it for somebody else...Somebody with deep pockets and they've probably unloaded it by now...but if anybody can find it..It's that husband of yours....You know Sepia, if I subtract the fact that he's responsible for me being here...He's not so bad....He's taken care of you....He's given me a granddaughter and he keeps money on my books....And plus this prison isn't so bad...He's alright as Son in laws go...He's a lot better than that damn Cock Robbins.."said Mrs. Cokeley...

"Pleasssse...don't say his name...Come here Kimmy cakes..Say hi to Nana..." cooed Sepia..

IV-

Kool Kat and I stood outside the high rise condo where Randal "Cat" Stevens resided...

I knew what he looked like.... and I knew he was too smart to use his real name...

 I had pulled up his criminal file and had accessed all of his aliases...I figured a guy like him was too lazy to make up a new one..Especially when he didn't feel as though he had to...

It was easy to find the name he used and even easier to find his floor...

I knocked on the door..

He came to the door in his boxer shorts....

He was stunned to see me..

Even more frightened to see Kool Kat...

We didn't ask for an invite, we barged our way in and pushed on to his couch....Just to let him know we meant business.. Kool Kat opened his suit jacket and showed him his .44 mag...

I showed him my holstered .40 cal....

"So you're the mysterious Cat, I've heard so much about.." I said.

He was speechless...

"Cat got your tongue pal? Let me help you get it back!!" threatened Kool Kat..

"Whoa...Now hold on...Who are you guys? How do you know my name?"

"Questions aint in your vocabulary...."I said and pulled my .40 cal out and loaded it..

"You stole something I want back BADLY!!" I said..

''Who me? Nahhhh man!" he said..

I pulled out my smart phone and showed him the portrait of Sepia's Grand mother standing by the Brooklyn Bridge that he stole from the art museum...I showed him film footage of him unloading it from his Acura and taking it into an apartment complex...He couldn't argue with that..

"How did you find me? How did you trace me and get that footage?" he asked..

"I'm just that good..The man I'm working for wants it back...NOW!" I said..

"Maybe he's needs pursuadin...I bet after I take him out on the terrace and hang his ass over for a couple of minutes he'll talk..he'll tell us more than we need to know "snarled Kool Kat...

The Cat was terrified...

"No..No...Look I already unloaded that portrait....A man named Jennings...C. Bartlett Jennings..." said The Cat...

"That's what Sweet Tooth Jordan told us.."said Kool Kat,...

"You guys went to see him?" asked Cat..

"How do you think we found you here genius.....He gave you up with very little persuasion.."said Kool Kat..

Cat looked disappointed..

"I'll be damned...He put me on to this score in the first place..." said Cat...

"Know what else he did? he ripped you off...he paid you 4 large to steal that painting....He was paid 25 large by Mr. Jennings....He pocketed 21 Large..."said Kool Kat.

Now Cat was furious...

"That gotdamn chisler...He ripped me off and fingered me on top of that...I'll steal it back for you for price.." he said..

"You've already been paid...How bout you'll steal it back in exchange for your life?" I said...growing very impatient with him...

"You've got 24 hours...and don't try to run..I found you once...I can find you again."I said..."24 hours..I'd better hear from you.."I said.

Kool Kat and I left...

"Kev ,you don't really trust this guy do you?" asked Kool Kat...

"Of course not.." I said. "He's got a car registered to him in the parking garage...Conveniently on the second level..While we were doing that little song and dance with him...Lockpick Johnson broke into his car..and the guys put micro cameras and listening devices all through it as well as very small GPS devices........He's going to take that car and split.....When he does , we'll be able to track him and listen to him .." I said..

Kool Kat laughs...

"That's why I rolls with you...you think of everything..." He said..

An hour later in the sub-basement headquarters of Morris Communications, Kool Kat, Owen Todd, Clerow, Sean Jackson

and Peeping Tom, Lockpick Johnson, the five investigators and myself

sat around....Kool Kat and I had stopped by Sam Mother's Diner before they closed and ordered a couple of Corn Beef Specials, Roast Beef Sandwiches ,Cole Slaw,Potato Salad and Cokes..

As we chowed down, we followed the progress of our thief...

Who packed his clothes and belongings into the Jaguar and pulled out of the Condo...And just like that...made a phone call...

"I knew he was pulling out of there as soon as we left...I knew it.." I said...

We could now track him to where ever he chose to hole up and hear his conversations...

"Who do you think he's calling?" asked Clerow..

"Whoever paid for that portrait...Not Sweet Tooth Jordan..he was the middle man...This is the guy we want to be talking to..."I said..

"Hello!" 

''Hello Mr. Jennings..."said Cat Stevens..

''Who is this?"

"I'm the man who lifted the painting you wanted from the art gallery.."

"Where are you? are you on a protected phone?"

"I am...I'm in my car....We have a problem?" 

''What kind of problem? I reached out to find the best talent to get that painting...I reached out with 25 large.."

''So they were telling the truth.."

"Who is they?"

"I suspect Tommy Dee hired somebody to find this painting...And whoever he hired is good..They found me and they found Sweet Tooth Jordan...and they know your name..but not much else...They paid us both a visit today..They didn't know that I still have the painting....I'll deliver it to you tomorrow...I had to cut out of my condo...They even found out where I live..I' going to my other safehouse over in Camden...I'll meet you tomorrow after noon for the exchange..but it's gonna cost you.." 

"Cost me? I've already paid 25 large for that damn painting.."

"I only got 4 large out of the deal.."

"That's between you and Sweet Tooth Jordan...Not my problem.."

"Oh I think it is....I still have the painting...If you want it ,it's going to cost you 20 Large.."

"20 Large?? THAT'S ROBBERY!!!"

"That sounds funny coming from you....I could always sell it back to Tommy Don...I bet he'd pay."

"Alright...Where do we meet?"

"The Camden Aquarium..Come with the money...No games!"

"You'll be paid..Don't worry!"

"Glad we understand each other Mr. Jennings.."

(Click!)

Kool Kat grimaced and looked at me...

"I swear, there is no honor amongst theives." he said..

I cracked up laughing.....

"Never Thought there was partner!" I said.

(TO BE CONTINUED)