The Face Of Evil

A FEW DAYS LATER -

I was at my office..

I had done a lot of research on Franklin Lewis AKA Frankie Shotgun Lewis. I had been in the neighborhoods he was known to frequent asking questions...From those willing to talk to me ,I learned this-

He was a few years older than Gus and my father...He had an arrest record going back to when he was 12, Burglary, Petty Theft, Assault...He did two stints in Juvenile Hall...He managed to earn his GED by the time he was 19...

He followed that with adult arrests for drug dealing, assaults and Armed robbery....This earned him a 7 year trip up state...

Upon returning home, he worked a straight job for awhile as a truck driver.. -He married..two children were born....He bought a house....

Soon after that....seven people, over a period of a year were shotgunned to death...The trademark, the head was completely blown off of the torso...

He was picked up, but there was little to no proof or evidence and he was released....

Shortly there after, he moved his family into a much larger house...

Five more people met their death through a shotgun blast to the head..Again he was picked up, but released..

He soon opened up a small grocery store , that while it did brisk business, everyone knew it was a front for money laundering...

His one adult arrest was for a brutal beating of one of his workers...He was sentenced to 5-15 years,but miraculously was paroled after serving four years....By now, his wife had left him with the kids...and he had lost his big house.

He bought a smaller house , a little while later....He dressed in the sharpest of clothing, tailored suits, nice shoes and never looked like he wanted for anything...All the while running a small grocery store.

The word was....If you needed someone dead...He was the man you called.

He aligned himself with Stephen "Little Caesarline" Russell and helped him hold Joe Boyd off during their violent street war.

It never really was clear when FBI Agent Jack Stratton got ahold of him and got him to become an informant.....but from what I found out...It may have had something to do with a rumor that he was selling Heroin and got stung by FBI undercover agents..

Facing 15 years behind bars or freedom, he wisely chose the latter and became an informant..The FBI and The Philly D.A.'s office turned their backs on his continuing criminal pursuits, His Money laundering and Book making..

I'm almost certain they turned their backs on some of his known murders too, as long as he kept the information coming in..

Jessica and I used the information we gathered from the Freedom of Information act to find the payroll records of Jack Stratton and one "Frank Lewis", thus proving he was a paid informant...
we needed something more concrete than just street heresay to place him at the scene of the crime..






II-

My good friend, Sean Jackson came to me..

"Kev, you'll never believe this...I found actual footage of that murder.." he said..

''What?" I said..

"Yeah, it's old news footage..." he said..

"Let's go downstairs." I said.

Downstairs meant the sub-basement of the building where my agency, Morris Investigations was

There we loaded the film onto one of the monitors...

"Look Kev...The news was covering the Fish Market that day...

This was a bad for a hit...With all those cameras out there..but everybody in the underworld knew that Joey Coconut loved his  seafood and he always went to the market to buy fresh fish, shrimp, scallops, whatever he had a taste for...The whole murder was right there..Look !" he said..

"There's Nate Russell....He saw him....He knew what was going down...He ran...He got hit in the leg by his buttock...There is the second shot...He got hit in the other leg...He fell up against the stands.." I said.

"Yeah...now look Kevin, right there...In Broad daylight with the shotty..

"That's him....Franklin ''Franky Shotgun" Lewis...Look ...See..Some of the cops have Nate, they are wrestling him down..."said Sean...

''And laughing boy with the shotgun walked right by them brazenly....and blended into the crowd!" I said.

I was incredulous.....

"That's him at the scene.....THAT'S HIM!...Lt. Tragg's father didn't have to go to the FBI or the D.A.'s office...The evidence was right there..IF HE HAD LOOKED!.....This guy was a known felon and he doesn't look anything like Little Mel.." I said disgusted.

"You forget who you're talking about.."laughed Sean..

"Not him! This is his father." I said.

"That apple don't fall too far from the tree." laughed Sean...

I laughed too..

III-

A Dive bar in North Philly...

 "Kevin, I swear, you take me to the nicest places..."laughed Kool Kat...

"If I'd come up here by myself...You would have been mad." I said..

"You're right.."said Kool Kat...

We walked into the bar...We ordered some drinks and began talking to the locals...As soon as the name Frankie "Shotgun" Lewis came up....Some people got quiet...

The Bartender turned around and said..."You two need to leave that alone!  Feel me?" he said.

"I don't...."I said and ordered another drink...."Kools, watch my drink...I'm going to the restroom.."I said..

"Don't be too long." he said..

"I'm going to the john" I said as I tossed a few dollars on the table...

"Okay Kev..I'll wait for you." he said.

This bar was a dive where a lot of unsavory cats hung out...but it was kept up very nice...It was clean, new wooden floors...Nice stylish bar, flat screen tv's..the works...Still a dive.

I finished my business as they say and was washing my hands when the stall door slowly opened...I saw a big hulking figure in a dark suit slither out....before I could turn and dry my hands...the man had a garrotte around my neck and was squeezing hard....It was .an old time playa who had heard me and Walter asking about Frankie Shotgun Lewis....

"Heard you was askin a lot of questions about Frankie Shotgun Lewis...you need to leave that alone..For you it's too late."he said silently..

''Who are you...His mother?" I asked as he tightened his grip..

He was my father's age,maybe older. but strong as hell..He was squeezing the breath out of me and practically lifting me off of the ground...I took what strength I had left and kicked him in his groin as hard as I could...He grunted, and he loosened up his hold just enough for me to elbow him in his jaw, snapping his head back and sending him flying...His head smacked hard against the bathroom wall.

I didn't have the time to catch my breath before he was heading toward me....He,  was silent, didn't waste a lot of time talking..I liked that.

I landed some good lefts and rights to his body, but he was equally good with his hands...he landed some good lefts and rights to mine...I countered and landed some lefts and rights to his face, but he equaled me with some well placed lefts and rights to mine...I again doubled up on the lefts and rights to his body and face...He attempted to return in kind..but this time ,I was a little bit faster on the draw. I landed more lefts and rights to his face and body ,shaking him up a bit and surprising him...I blocked his next shot and clocked him hard....Blood flew out of his nose.. and mouth and he stumbled..For the first time..He looked afraid...He realized he was in a fight.. I landed more precise lefts and rights to his head and face..He spun around in pure surprise...

What I had in my favor was that he was older and I could feel him getting winded...I cracked him hard in his jaw and saw blood trickle from his mouth...I cracked him again and saw the sweat fly off of his face...I hit him in his stomach and he bent down in obvious pain..I landed some more lefts and rights to his jaw which sent him into the wall...and down on the bathroom floor..He lay there for a minute...still conscious and  breathing heavy...I was holding my neck and still gasping for air...I kicked him hard in his side for good measure...He groaned in pain....

 I stumbled out of the restroom, trying to catch my breath and trying to run down the back hall when  came out with his gun, a .45, drawn and aimed at me...I pulled my .38 smokeless out and spun around..I got down on one knee and aimed...

"Don't try it pops...from this distance....I won't miss..and I'm bettin I'm a tad faster than you.."I said.

Kool Kat stepped into the corridor  just then and aimed his .44 magnum at his head...

''Don't shoot Walter...I think he'll co-operate." I said..

The old man emerged from the bathroom and walked back in to the bar with us...His face was swollen..One of his eyes was swollen shut...His lips were swollen...He looked a mess...

Kool Kat and I had taken his gun...

Another thug, much younger attempted to approach us...

I grabbed him in the collar, kneed him in his groin and slammed his head into a table..hard!  He fell to the ground and was out for the night...

Every one else gasped and sat down....We had made our point..We were not to be played with...

"What do you want? Who are you?" asked the man who had attacked me in the bathroom, now visibly shaken...Apparently, he was an enforcer of some type...a neighborhood tough guy and the other man I had knocked out was one of his associates....

''Questions aint in your vocabulary...We want an address..An address on Frankie "Shotgun" Lewis.."said Kool Kat...

"And I don't plan to wait all night for it." I said.

The man wrote down an address....

"If it's not the right address and this is some type of trap...I'll be back.." I said and we got up....I tossed a few dollars on the counter..

"Give those two whatever they want to drink."I said..

"You two get the hell out of here.." said the bartender.. He was visibly shaken too....I guess he was surprised that I had made such short work out of this tough guy....

We left..

Apparently.....Frankie 'Shotgun" Lewis had fallen on hard times by the look of his North Philadelphia Row house... We found the door open...and to our horror, we found Frankie "Shotgun" Lewis in the middle of the floor, dead as a doorknob.....

 ''Good God...He won't be talking to you or anybody else."said Kool Kat..

"Looks like it was natural causes.....Phewwww...He's as stiff as a board...Rigor has set in..."I said.

I called the police and the Medical Examiner's Office..

''From the stage of Rigor and decay....I'd estimate ,he's been dead for two weeks.." said Hazel, when she examined the body...

''He wasn't the type of guy people would uh come to check up on said Detective Jimmy Barlow..

"Jimmy stop!! The man is dead!" said Detective Sirena Pile, smiling..

 "Junior's right...This guy was a cold blooded killer.."said Detective Edwin "Duke" Baylor..

"He is said to have 14 or so bodies on him.....Never got tagged for a one..." said Detective Tyriq Pile.

''Wow...My pop used to talk about this guy."said Detective Tony Hopkins..

 ''He'll be judged by a higher court now."said Detective Carlotta Rodriguez- Wallace.

"That's for sure.."said Detective Angie Belton-Barlow..

"Oh My God...This smell is horrible...Get him out of here..."said Lt. Sissy Van Buren...

We watched as they wheeled the body of Frankie " Shotgun" Lewis out of his small row house

 ''Well, you guys still got enough to get Little Mel's name cleared.. I mean, it's not like this guy was going to confess to you...He would have probably have told you to go to hell."said Kool Kat..

"Yeah, you're right Walter...Come on man...Let's go home.." I said.

This man certainly belonged in prison....instead he died...having never been brought to justice for perhaps his most famous hit..Perhaps Carlotta was right...He'd be judged in a higher court now..


IV-

ONE WEEK LATER...

It would be a week before we found out that Frankie "Shotgun" Lewis's death was by his own hand, a suicide...Perhaps he was haunted by the ghosts of all of the people, who's lives he had taken...Who knows..

I smiled as Jessica and Melvin "Little Mel" Harris walked out of the courtroom..

"You did it..You cleared his name.." I said.

 "I couldn't have done it without your help Kevin...That film footage of the actual shooting you found, plus the affadavits and testimony of Nate Russell and his Doctor was more than enough for the Judge to vacate his conviction completely and thus clear his name...Not only that, the State of Pennsylvania is going to financially compensate him for the wrongful conviction.."said Jessica.

"That's the sweetest part of the deal." laughed Little Mel...

"I'm happy for you man...The Record has been set straight and Frankie "Shotgun" Lewis has been named as the most likely killer...Even though he's now dead and can't be charged.."I said.

''That slick bastard.....Always did know how to beat a jail sentence.."said Little Mel..

Jessica Sanchez and I both busted out in gales of laughter..

ADA Karen Page walked out of the courtroom...

"I am sooo happy for you guys...I start a new job soon..."she said.

"Really?" I said..."You're leaving the D.A.'s office?" I asked..

"No,No, No... but I'll be in charge of the unit that looks into wrongfully convicted people and tries to right that wrong...I expect to see you and Chip and maybe Olivia and Beverly and Yvette Jones more."said Karen..

"That is a good thing and Kevin...I expect to be working with you in the future as well."said Jessica..

I went to shake her hand...She gave me a warm hug instead.....

''We're family now Kevin, Muy Famillia!" she said..

Another Happy customer...End of a long case...

EPILOUGE-

Neither Jessica or I

decided to be on HARD BOTTOM....

ADA Karen Page declined also...

B.L. had his story though... He interviewed Melvin "Little Mel" Harris

who spent 22 years in prison for a crime he not only didn't commit, but was known he didn't commit by the late FBI agent, Jack Stratton, the handler of the real killer, Frankie ''Shotgun"Lewis, found dead by suicide in North Philly...

He talked about Frankie "Shotgun" Lewis being a paid informant of the FBI , while still committing crimes, most likely murders...and Stratton and others in the FBI turning a blind eye to his crimes.

But worse...He said the slip shoddy police work of Homicide Detective, Arthur Tragg Sr. , who never co-operated with the D.A.'s office or the FBI and who missed an obvious clue in the news footage that clearly shows the second shooter, Frankie ''Shotgun" Lewis walking right by the police ,who had the first shooter, Nate Russell in custody further led to the tragedy....

In footage both Nate Russell and Melvin Harris told Lt. Tragg that he had the wrong man and he refused to even look into his obvious alibi...

"Not only does this man look nothing like the real killer, who was three inches taller and 100 pounds heavier  and had a beard...He was in crutches at the time he was arrested...Such stupidity and slip shoddy police work should have never been allowed to happen...My god!" said B.L.

All of this was being watched in Curly's Bar.....

"Hey Artie...That was your Dad's case wasn't it?" asked a young police officer..

Curly cautioned him...

"Let it go....PLEASE...Let it go.." he said..

The question brought a crescendo of laughter....

Lt. Tragg was furious...

"THAT'S WHY THEY WERE DIGGING AROUND IN MY FATHER's CASE...." he muttered angrily...

"THAT DAMN B.L. BENZ... he put them up to this...I'm gonna get him, if it's the last thing I do!"vowed Lt. Tragg.

 I was personally glad that neither I,

 Jessica

or Karen Page , had agreed to be on the show...

and Karen had wisely told B.L.

"I don't think you should go in Curly's Bar anytime soon...." she said..

At Home, Sepia was finishing up watching HARD BOTTOM..

 "You guys did a good job, exposing that corruption and shoddy police work and getting that poor man's name cleared.." she said..

"Yes...we did....I had no desire to go on that show and inflame Lt. Tragg anymore than he's already been inflamed , knowing his father loused up the case..Much like he does today.."I said and laughed..

"You enjoy the hell out of that don't you?" laughed Sepia..

She was only wearing a sweat shirt..

I smiled..

"Nowhere near as much as what I see in front of me...I enjoy that immensely" I said..

"Do you really?" she whispered..

"Yes I do..." I said..  I pulled her to me...

and we kissed passionately...

I lifted her sweatshirt up over her head and continued kissing her and running my hands down into her panties...and we continued kissing...

Sepia took her top off and lie across the bed...

I smiled as I undressed..

I stood there staring....

Sepia was stretched across the bed in some black panties with blue lace.......

My eyes nearly popped out of my head...

''Don't just stand there ogling, come to bed?" she said softly..

"OH MY GOD! You don't have to ask me twice." was all I could say....

 We lie across the bed kissing for a few minutes.....

"Ummmmmmmm, ouuuuuuuuuuuuu.." she cooed..

''SEPIA....my goodness girl.." I moaned..

I pulled her to me and kissed her passionately.....

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu myyyyy, you like it daddy?.."she asked

"Yesssssssssssssssssssssssss most definitely.."I said..

"OHHHH MY GOODNESSS....You don't make any sense, being that hard and that huge.." she said as we kissed passionately and she softly stroked me...

"It doesn't make any sense you being this sexy.." I said...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuu...Flattery will get you everywhere..." said Sepia in between hot kisses...

We wound up on top of the bed..we didn't bother to turn back the covers.....I  entered her softly,gently...She was wet and warm...I was losing my mind...as I began to move up and down slowly at first and then gradually faster...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu HUSBAND..Ohhhhhhhhh my godddd!!" she moaned...

FIVE to SIX hours of lovemaking continued...The bed had been squeaking loudly and the headboard was moving and silently slamming against the wall...

 Ummmmmmmm Husband, ouuuuuuuuuuuuu...give it to me...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"Sepia moaned..

"Yesss baby yes...." I moaned..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned loudly...


The bed was squeaking pretty loud and the headboard was slamming against the wall hard...I have to admit...This bed was far noisier tonight than it had been before.......And the headboard sounded like it might come off at any minute...

  Sepia was feeling so good,she slapped me across the face...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu KEVIN MORRIS...OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" she cried out....

  The bed squeaked even louder..

Yess...Yessssssssssssssssssss...YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Ouuuuuuuu YESSSSS!" Sepia screamed....

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu ...oh my god...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"I moaned...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu lawd...ohhhhhhhh KEVIN...You are just showing off...You just showing off...ohhhhhhhhhh" she wailed..

She moaned softly as the massive bed began to squeak and slam against the wall harder...
''Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...Ohhh baby, give it to meeeeee....ummmmmmph...GIVE IT TO ME, GIVE IT TO ME STRONG!!!"

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... SEPIA......ouuuuuuuuuu, more, more... ohhhhhh..."

 YES BABY YES...CALL MY NAME.....ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...You can have all you want!!"she moaned.

 "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh gooooddddddd lawdd it's soooo goood...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh girl...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sweeeeet jesusssssssssss ...arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.."I cried ...out!!"Morrre...Morreee....morrre...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. "

"You feel good.., you feel good baby...?/" she cooed.

''YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS"I moaned..

Another TWO HOURS must have gone by 

 "KEVIN...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee  KEVIN..ouuuu calm down honey...I aint goin nowhere...woooooooo" she screamed...

"Oh girl, you better not...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......ohhhhhhhhhhhh.." I moaned.
.
 "KEVIN..ouuuuuu..KEVIN....OHHHHHHH. HUSBAND!!!!! Stop showing off in this bed...whooooooooooooo lawd.... GIVE IT TO ME DADDY.....ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."she wailed...

  The bed was squeaking like crazy and the headboard sounded like it might come off at any minute..

 ''Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...Ohhh Kevin, give it to meeeeee....ummmmmmph...ouuuuuuuuuuuu...yessssssssss baby...yessssssss!"she yelled...

"Ohhhh Sepia, baby this is sooo damn goooood,ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..I'm losin my minddddddddd!!  BABY..I'm losin my minddddddddd!!  lawdddddddddddd girl, ummmppppppppppph! "I cried out!

"UMMMMMMMMMPH,Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...Ohhh HUSBAND!, give it to meeeeee....ummmmmmph...ouuuuuuuuuuuu...yessssssssss baby...yessssssss! Give it to mama..."she yelled...

 OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...OHHHH...OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU"  we both  yelled in unison...both of us cumming and cumming hard!

 "Ummmmph, ouuuuuuuuuu you were really putting it down tonight....Wouuuu, it may be dangerous for me to wear that panty and bra set again.....my goodness.!" said Sepia, dazed and out of breath....

I just smiled....

Now this marked the end of the case!  For me maybe , but not everybody...

Night time in the city... ADA Karen Page and her boyfriend, Television Host , B.L. Benz walked  down a city street. They had just had a delicious dinner and drinks..

 "B.L. I saw HARD BOTTOM....That was very moving.." she laughed..

"Mannnn oh Mann, They're talking about me being up for an Emmy for that program...I sure wish you, Kevin and Jessica had come on the show too!"said B.L.

"Nahhh, you didn't need us...Our jobs were done...You did just fine." said Karen..

"Enough about that..How about me and you head back to my place and end what has been a perfect night huh?" laughed B.L.

"Ouuuuuuu excellent idea.."cooed Karen...

They both were totally oblivious to a car with tinted windows following them...

Inside sat Lt. Tragg, fuming..

"Ouuuuuuu, My Father is dead...You had to bring up this old loser of a case and embarrass me and destroy his good name...I won't forget this B.L....You're gonna pay...When you least expect it...POW!" he said...

Just then...a real POW was heard!

The front tire on the passenger side exploded...then went horribly flat...….

 "Oh My God that guys tire must have rolled over something in the street....It's gone flat and this time of night there is nothing open...Wowwwww what luck.."mused B.L.

"Indeed...Makes me glad we are walking distance from our destination..."said Karen...

"Poor unlucky slob...Whoever he is...I sure feel sorry for him....Hope he's not out on a date."said B.L. as he and Karen continued walking...

After they were out of sight...Lt. Tragg got out and looked at the tire..

"Geeeez, I'm having the worst luck!" he exclaimed..

FOR SLC!