Definitely In Trouble

The "Fishbowl" The nickname the detectives gave the interrogation room....

For the second time in his life..Former Judge Pinkney Bach found himself sitting in here accused of First Degree Murder...Acquitted just last year of murdering a judge's wife...Now here he was accused of killing a fellow attorney at his new firm.. He couldn't believe it...He apparently couldn't go into hiding..He was caught just an hour after he got himself situated..

Lt. Tragg the same man who wrongly arrested him last year had wrongly arrested him again, was staring at him...He had had him up for nine hours questioning him...And he had exercised his right to silence...

"Look, we got your fingerprints on the handle of the exit door in your building..The Desk clerk has you on camera going  up and never coming out..your prints are all over the office...and we know you were banging that guy's fiance and he clocked you earlier in the day....My only question is what did you do with the murder weapon...We got an anonymous call that you hid it under your bed...but it wa gone when my men got to your loft...WHERE IS IT PINKNEY?? WE GOT YOU COLD!!" said Lt. Tragg.

This got a rise out of him.....He stared at Lt Tragg and smiled.

"Go To Hell." he said.. "I want to call my lawyers.." he said.

 "Nobody can help you but ME!  Make it easy on yourself...Tell me what happened?" asked Lt. Tragg.

"Lieutenant, I honestly don't know what happened...because I didn't kill  him...You got the wrong guy, which for you is par the course...Now if you don't mind...I need some sleep..."said Pinkney...

 "WHY YOUU ARROGANT LITTLE!" yelled Lt. Tragg..

 "That will be enough Artie..Interview over!!!.." said Yvette..

 "You've had him all night...Now it's our turn." I said and smiled.

 "Good Morning."said Bee Bee with a smile.

 "Good Morning everyone.." said Sofia..

 "Damn Bruh, what did you do, turn yourself in?" joked Kahlil.. He had just left our office, saying he was going to vanish until this could be sorted out and here he was in police custody the next morning.

 Pinkney managed a smile..

"You would think so huh?" he said to Kahlil.

 "We figured you might be hungry...I'm certain Lt. Tragg didn't buy you steak and eggs like he once did another female suspect.."said Yvette, alluding to how notoriously he  bought a big breakfast once for a pretty blonde murder suspect he fell for...

Lt. Tragg flinched at the memory of that....That story had gotten around,. Even his fellow detectives and officers laughed about that...

 "You just don't have the boobs or legs or short skirt for that kind of treatment Pinkney...So we brought coffee, doughnuts and bagels instead.."said Sofia..

 She opened up a Thermos and placed paper cups for all of us..

 She poured us all coffee and served doughnuts and

 Fresh bagels to all of us..

 Pinkney was famished and he devoured the doughnuts and bagels and quaffed down the hot coffee...

"Awwww thank you so much guys..." he said.

 "I don't believe it....You guys got a real winner this time..He's as guilty as sin." said Lt. Tragg..sneaking a look at both Sofia and Yvette's shapely legs.

and Bee Bee's breasts..

As they set the table.

 I laughed...

 "That's our job...to free the guilty."laughed Kahlil..

 "Easy Kahlil.." cautioned Bee Bee about taunting Lt. Tragg....So far, he didn't bother us the way he bothered Dabnis Coley and Olivia, Beverly and crew...We were on at least neutral terms with him and she felt it would be good to keep it that way..

 "Yvette, I can't thank you enough.." said Pinkney..

"You'll get my bill, that will be thanks enough.." said Yvette, defending the man who fired her once after she refused his sexual advances and who jailed her as a judge, when she was trying a case in his courtroom...She figured she'd be the last one he wanted to represent him.. But she knew 50 percent of that was because he respected her talent and that of her four young attorneys and the other 50 percent was because he still wanted to sleep with her.. She removed his hands from under her skirt and off her legs sternly without saying anything to him..She gave him a look...He got the message and calmed down...

 ''Where is your uh Asian Associate?" he asked...Speaking of

Ms. Jade, our investigator, who he also found extremely attractive...

''She's Interviewing people and going over the crime scene and then she's planning to stop by the Medical Examiner's Office..We are going to try and get you arraigned later on today and get you out on bail... Once we do that, we'll talk about your case.." said Yvette.

"Yvette, I am forever in your debt." said a surprisingly contrite and grateful Pinkney Bach..

He kept staring at Ms. Yvette...

She looked so good  he thought....How bad he wanted her...He'd been wanting her for close to four years...Since he'd first met her and they worked a case together...






II-

 We got him arraigned and out on bail.. And we whisked him back to our office...

 Relieved to be out of jail, Pinkney Bach sat back and tried to relax...

 His eyes watched Bee Bee

and Sofia wherever they went...

"Yvette sure keeps some fine women around her." he thought...

 Ms. Jade returned with news...

" Well, you left your office at 11:30 pm, you walked down to the coffee shop, got you a coffee and had some small talk with the manager and one of the cashiers...We have that on video...We have you returning to the office at around 11:45 pm and finding the dead body of your colleague....in your office...The M.E.'s office puts the time of death in between 11: 30 pm and 11:45 pm...You discovered the body and you immediately left the scene...They have your fingerprints on the back door, right around the time the emergency alarm went off...That makes you look very guilty..."said Jade.

"Are you a creature of habit Pinkney? I mean do you always run to that store?" asked Yvette.

"You mean do I run down to that store every night? Yes... I get coffee before I leave practically every night...I love their coffee..I raved about it...Everybody knows that...Plus...One of the cashier's was kinda cute and I uh used to run down there to talk to her.." said Pinkney..

 "Brad got a phone call , allegedly from you at 11:15 pm...I traced the number..It was a burner phone..HE arrived right after you left the building and was in your office...I'm thinking the killer called him,pretending to be you, lured him into your office and shot him." said Jade.

"I never called him....I don't even know his cell phone number...I couldn't stand the guy, there is no reason I would call him.."said Pinkney...

"Hold up...Somebody calls him and tells him to meet you in your office at exactly the time it is known you run down to the coffee shop every night.."I said..

"And knowing the animosity between you two, they must have said something to get him to speed over there..."said Bee Bee..

"Who else would know about the beef between you two , other than people you work with?" said Sofia.

"Long story short...Whoever killed Brad is someone you work with...Someone who knows you both well."said Kahlil...

"You're right...When I saw his body...There wasn't a gun near it...Yet I caught a guy , a guy I've never seen before slipping out of my loft...When I went in and looked around...I found that gun..under my bed and Lt. Tragg mentioned that they got an anonymous tip that the gun could be found under my bed..Proof that someone is trying to frame me.."said Pinkney...

 "I'm going to have to send that gun to the M.E.'s office....It'll be done anonymously of course...It'll be wiped down with bleach of course , but they need that , to determine if it's a ballistics match...and maybe trace where it came from...The killer didn't get rid of the serial number on the gun.. Now two more things..One, did anyone else have beef with Brad besides you? And were you really sleeping with his fiance?  Tell me the truth...I don't want to go to court and be surprised.." said Yvette.

"Well, the founding partner's son, Wally Peterson didn't care for him too much, the day we had that fight , he broke it up and Brad said something smart to him...I don't remember now..and yes...I slept with his fiance...but it was only once...I have no idea how he found out..  She's an Attorney, for another firm...We worked a case together , in Bayside...The case was successful and we celebrated by having drinks at Blue Bar...Wally was the one who connected me to her...He told me his caseload was too high and ask if I would work with her.  I did, but I didn't know who she was at the time."

"We celebrated our victory with drinks at the Hotel's Bar and Grill..Wellll we were happy we had won the big deposition and uh one thing led to another and the next thing you know, she wound up in my room in bed with me...

Making Sweet love 

well into the night

and the next morning... She didn't seem like she had to be anyplace.. Heh heh heh!" he laughed..

 "One thing led to another huh?  With you it always does Pinkney." said Yvette..thinking to herself that that very well could have been her four years ago...

 Bee Bee giggled...

 So Did Sofia.

 Jade just shook her head..

"Did you know she was engaged to Brad..?" asked Jade.

 "Not at the time...I found out the next morning , when we were leaving the hotel.."said Pinkney..

 I gave him the serious side eye.. I didn't know if I believed that..

"She knew what law firm you were from...She knew her fiance  worked there too, And at no time did his name come up in any of your conversations?" asked Kahlil..

 "No, why should it?" he asked incredulously....

"Never mind Pinkney...I just needed to know so that I didn't get blind sided in court..Now here is what I want you to do...Check into a hotel room, use your real name, pay with your credit card and just lay low until it's time to make a court appearence...Do not have any kind of contact with any of your colleagues at your law firm..you can contact me at this number...my business phone..Do not call my personal phone...I'll be in touch!" said Yvette.

"Thank you Yvette.." said Pinkney...


III-

 We were home after a day at our office..

Bee Bee was in the kitchen preparing a salad..

 "Heyyyy Boo, come in.." she said..

 as she prepared a big salad..

 ''We are going to have a nice dinner tonight.." I said...

"Yeah, we eat out all the time...I figured it would be nice to eat in for a change..Plus, nobody feels like being questioned by Lt. Tragg while they try to eat... I saw Beverly

 at the market...She said that she and

Liv and Donnie Ray and Nelson and Josie and Paris have been doing this a lot, buying groceries and cooking and eating in a lot.. She said ...Tonight the six of them are eating at home ,

Their cousin, Kayla and her husband, Ray will be joining them, she said.

and ADA Rockland Cambridge and Alfreda, their office manager

will be their other guests.

the way we all used to do when we'd go out of town and stay at an Air BNB."said Bee Bee..

 "Yeah I remember, that was so much fun....We haven't left town in awhile. So that's what we are doing tonight huh?  Cool.. Lt. Tragg will be going out of his mind..He won't be able to find any of us..." I laughed..

 "That's the plan.." said Bee Bee...

I took her in my arms and backed her into the wall

and kissed her passionately....

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, how long have you wanted to do that?" she asked as she returned my kiss...

"All morning." I said..

"I thought so..." she said as we continued kissing..

We heard Sofia's key in the door...Unlike a time years ago when we were here kissing and Sofia came in, we didn't stop..

 "Ouuuuuuuu, it's a wonder you got the salad finished...In here making love.." joked Sofia as she and Kahlil put the groceries down..

"Break it up, Break it up...Let's get some cooking started." said Kahlil..laughing....

"Yooo Hooo, your door was open...So I just came in....I brought some things..." said Jade.. As we all began preparing a feast....There was a lot of food..

THIRTY MINUTES LATER-

Fried Chicken was frying..

Collard Greens were prepared and placed on the table

Candied Yams

Chinese dishes and Paella..A favorite of Sofia's.

We had Soul Food, Asian Cuisine and Spanish Cuisine...

"So Much food and we forgot wine and Beverages.." I said..

"I'll run out and grab some..The wine and Spirit's store is still open." said Kahlil..

"Relax...Our guests are bringing Wine and Beverages.."said Sofia.

 "Our Guests?" I asked.

"Guests?" asked Kahlil..

"Yess...You didn't think all of us could eat all of this food by ourselves did you?" laughed Bee Bee, as she arranged more chairs around the huge dining room table..

The doorbell rang..

"Get that please." she said.

 "Hiiiiiii" said Ms. Yvette..."Ohhh ladies, your apartment is beautiful."said Ms. Yvette, who had sat on our terrace with us, but had never been in our apartments...

 "Ummmmm smells good , what do we have here?" asked Gary.

 "Smells like something for everybody.."said Lt. Danny Ho..

 "Ohhhhh wowwwww this is soooo nice...We should do this more often.."said Jazzy..

 ''We'll have to invite everybody to our place one night."said Dabnis..

 "Aye Mios Dios, look at all this food..."exclaimed Jessica..

"We brought wine.."said Chip....

 and along with wine

our guests supplied us with plenty of beer...

We had a great meal and lots to drink...It was truly an enjoyable night...We indeed needed to do this again..


IV-

 At Sam Mother's Diner...

Lt. Tragg was going nuts.....None of the people he tormented was in tonight,... They were all either at Olivia and Beverly's place or our apartment... This night didn't just haphazardly come together...It was planned..

"NONE OF EM ARE HERE TONIGHT!!! NOT ONE!!!  UNBELIEVABLE!!!" he snarled...

We knew when word that that gun,

the murder weapon turned up at the M.E.'s office anonymously, he was going to be livid and was going to make dinner unbearable for everyone involved...If we weren't there, he'd be wanting to know where we were...He knew we all lived near each other..So a few calls were made, We all hit the grocery store and we all began cooking right after work and getting our places ready...

We all had a nice relaxing dinner with food, wine, beer and relaxing conversation and music, no yelling and screaming and being harrassed.

 Pinkney Bach would not be so lucky tonight...

 He was at a nice restaurant in town, enjoying Seafood Pasta...

with a young lady...

"You enjoying your food?" he asked.

"Ouu yess.." she said..

 Lt. Tragg barged into the restaurant with a Tactical Unit..

 "We got'cha...we found your gun today...The murder weapon." he said.

"Oh you did huh?" laughed Pinkney....

 "You're under arrest, Murder One!" snarled Lt. Tragg.

"WHAT? I'm out on Bail..."said Pinkney...."You can't do this!~" he said.

"BOOK HIM!" snarled Lt. Tragg..

The men handcuffed him at the table and dragged him out of the restaurant  in handcuffs....

He just couldn't win for losing....

He sat in the "Cooler" again, on a hard mattress, staring at the ceiling....Tears flowed freely from his eyes...He was in a state of rage! Pure rage..

He made up his mind that as soon as he was acquitted, he planned to make Lt. Tragg pay and pay dearly...He was going to sue the Philadelphia Police department and him for harrassment..

He wasn't the only one that was in trouble.

(TO BE CONTINUED)