A Common Denominator

We sat in our control room 

A Handsome and Suave Man 's photo was on the big screen..

''Ouuuu he's attractive."said Sirena.

"He is" said Carlotta

"Yessssss." said Angie.

''Attractive maybe...Deadly almost assuredly...His name is Nathan Bedford and after cross checking practically everything in our ten missing women's lives and I mean everything...We found that he is our one common denominator.."said Duke.

"His name is Nathan Bedford, he's from Atlanta ,Georgia originally...He's been a D.J. , a local Radio Personality , A Concert Promoter , a little bit of everything.."said Tyriq.

"He married a young woman from Atlanta Years ago..This woman helped him set up his Travel Agency...Six months after they were married.. She went missing..She was declared dead in seemingly record time and he cashed a one million dollar life insurance policy on her.. The Atlanta P.D. thought it was suspicious, but before they could get up on him..He vanished.."said Jimmy.

"He next turned up in Las Vegas , where he married one of the workers in the Casinos...She too, turned up missing after about a year of marriage...He had her declared dead and he cashed another policy for one million dollars.. Before the Las Vegas P.D. could get up on him..Once again, he vanished.."said Hop..

"He next turned up in Detroit, Michigan, where he was a local D.J. and Radio Personality and concert promoter...He married the owner of a small independent radio station he was employed at...But he lived high on the hog, gambled a lot vacationed a lot and soon was flat broke..The marriage suffered..Tension arose..She filed for divorce but went missing without a trace...A year or two later she was declared legally dead and he cashed in a 500K life insurance policy and promptly left the area.."said Sam Jones.

"Ouuuuuu creepy..."said Carlotta.

"Beyond Creepy, none of his three former wives has ever been seen again." said Jimmy..

''So let me guess..His next stop was of course, Philadelphia."said Angie.

"Cherry Hill , New Jersey to be exact...That's where he is listed as living...but he has set up a travel agency here..for singles." said Sissy..

"Naturally" I said.

Hazel and Sharon cracked up laughing....

"It's called ,get this..Afro Disiacs (Sexy Singles Travel)  I understand he makes a pile of money off of it..It attracts a lot of lonely black females who take flights to Miami and then to Jamaica.. By studying the credit card transactions of all ten missing ladies going back three years we found that all ten women went on one of these travel junkets...all ten ladies were widowed or recently divorced and had come into large sums of money via a huge divorce settlement  or life insurance policy..."said Sam Jones.

"They all were engaged to Nathan Bedford for a time and then suddenly vanished, shortly before the wedding and then just as suddenly, their bank accounts were cleared out..."said Tyriq.

"And All of the money was transferred to a bank account in Jamaica...More than likely a dummy account under the name, "Bobby Sheets" said Sharon.

''Bobby Sheets..HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"laughed Carlotta.

"Bobby Sheets.wowwwwww can he get anymore obvious..?"laughed Sirena.

"As shady as this operation may look, we don't have any proof at all of any real wrong doing on his part..We I hate to say it can't prove that any of these women are dead..They are just missing for the time being...Remember..Rita Wilson was missing and then we found her." I said.

"These ten women have been missing for two to three years some of em and his three wives..They've been missing even longer.."said Duke.

Sissy's Phone vibrated...

"Damn it...Sam we've gotta go... Comstock Meeting." said Sissy..

"What a waste of time!" snarled Sam Jones. 

II-

"Papi ,what has gotten into you lately???, You seem to want it all the time, even more than usual."said Carlotta..

"Can't a man want to enjoy his wife sometimes?" I asked.

As we kissed passionately...

We were upstairs in one of the rooms we stayed in when forced to work overnight on a big case..It was nice to have rooms to stay in, rather than drive home exhausted...

Hop, Sirena, Duke and Angie went to Cherry Hill to visit Nathan Bedford at his home.

While Jimmy and Tyriq paid a visit to AFRO DISIACS, SEXY SOUL SINGLES, travel agency in downtown Philadelphia.

while meanwhile back at our headquarters..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...OUUUUUUUUUUUUU

PAPIIIII! AYE MIOS DIOS!" moaned Carlotta..

The bed was squeaking loudly and the headboard was rattling..Thank goodness, no one was on this floor right now!

Carlotta and I were five floors above our headquarters, making sweet love..

"AWWWWWW...CARLOTTTTA, YOU ARE DRIVING ME OUT OF MY MINDDDD!" I moaned..

"OUUUU PAPI...OUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned..

Kissing me and moving up and down on me slowly....

Sissy and Sam Jones were at the monthly Comstock meeting at Police Headquarters which miraculously ,Lt. Tragg still chaired..

He was the Lieutenant with the most seniority and he used his position to upbraid other Sergeants and Lieutenants monthly on any shortcomings....He took pleasure in upbraiding three in particular..

Lieutenant Danny Ho of Robbery/Homicide..

Detective Sgt. Sam Jones, who he despised (the feeling was mutual) and...of course.

Lt. Sissy Van Buren, who he called "The darling of the department..." who 's unit had their very own building , administrative staff and uniform and plain clothes cops.. a building they shared with the Feds and which had been a hotel at one time.. It had rooms where the cops and feds could stay overnight if need be and a cafeteria and staff... He hated that Sissy had all of this.. he hated that Sissy and her unit had 100 percent clearence also and their consistant clearence rate is what got them their own building.

"Danny, you've got seven open murder cases...It's been two weeks..What is the problem?" he said.

''We are working them hard sir." said Danny Ho."

"Perhaps Sam Jones should transfer over there until you clear up your murders...He's not doing anything in Missing persons.."laughed Lt. Tragg.

''Actually I am..I'm busy with 10 open cases right now...I just closed one case a few days ago."said Sam Jones.

"You mean you actually found someone? ALIVE?" sneered Lt. Tragg..

It was met with nervous laughter...

"I want you over  at Robbery-Homicide until further notice.." he said.

"Look Artie...I'm working on something big.. Danny Ho is an excellent Detective and he's got great guys working for him...but-"said Sam Jones..

"That wasn't a request Sergeant...That was an order.."said Lt. Tragg.

"Don't worry about it Sam, I'll call Captain Cantrell on your behalf."Sissy whispered to Him..

"Lieutenant Van Buren...Is there something you would like to share with the rest of us?" asked Lt. Tragg..

"Wellllll I'd like to ask you about some of YOUR latest cases SIRRRR!!!! Uh ,oh yeah, there was the arrest of Eddie Jefferson, the city councilman recently for murder..Ouuuu that turned out pretty ugly, you arrested the wrong guy and the killer was the same guy who killed the person Nora Desmond was accused of killing..Another false arrest by you...I hear both ADA Gerri Williams and JAmes "Jumpshot Jim"Taylor were pretty pissed with you... Oh and let's see..Billy and Aida Gleeson, You arrested Billy for the murder of his wife and the killer turned out to be their manager..Ouuuuu you really screwed the pooch on that one..Oh yes and lets not forget you arrested Franklin "Hoagie"Carmaichel , the dean of Philadelphia Attorneys for Murder and he turned out to be innocent..ADA Baronski never wants to work with you again...If Danny Ho and his guys take awhile to make an arrest it's because they want to make sure they have the right guy...and not have their case solved by defense attorneys...And Maybe you should go to Missing Persons and help Sam Jones out..You're good at finding people who aren't there."said Sissy..

This was met by raucous laughter and clapping....And everyone getting up and walking out..

''Wait a minute!  I'm not finished talking.,.This meeting isn't over yet..." screamed Lt. Tragg, who was as red as a beet..

Meanwhile Carlotta and I were in the shower...

"OUUUUU PAPI, I can't believe you are still so HARD!!!...OUUUUUUUU HOLSTER THAT THING!!  AYE MIOS DIOS....UMMMMMMM! YOU ARE TOO HORNYY!!!" she cooed as hot soapy water splashed off of us and we continued to kiss each other passionately...

III-

After the way they had embarrassed Lt. Tragg in the meeting today...

Sissy and Sam knew he'd be in our building loaded for bear...So She and Sam met on the upper floors in the Federal Meeting room where Lt. Tragg wasn't allowed.

We all met her there..

"OH MY GOD, YOU SAID ALL THAT SISSY? " I laughed , when she told me what she had said and what had happened next..

"Boss Lady doesn't play."laughed Carlotta.

"Those guys gave her a standing ovation and then walked out.."laughed Sam Jones..

"I called Captain Cantrell and explained the situation Sam, You are assigned to me and this Unit until further notice."said Sissy...

Hop,Sirena, Duke and Angie Returned..

''Well We went to Bedford's home In Cherry Hill."said Hop

"Struck Out...The neighbors said that he's one of his travel junkets to Jamaica."said Sirena.

''Probably setting up victim number eleven."said Duke.

"The thought of that sends a chill down my spine."said Angie.

Rico and Jimmy returned.

"We went to his Travel Agency...AFRO DISIACS, SEXY SOUL SINGLES." said Tyriq

"Goose Eggs...He's in Jamaica on one of his Travel Junkets."said Jimmy...

"Hey guys look on the monitor, your buddy is downstairs.."said Sharon.

On the Screen, Lt. Tragg was in our office, surprised to find all of us gone for the day..

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY ARE GONE FOR THE DAY??" bellowed Lt. Tragg..

"Detectives Pile, Hopkins, Baylor and Mrs. Barlow went to Cherry Hill sir"said the receptionist..

"CHERRY HILL? FOR WHAT??" he bellowed again..

"I don't know...It's case related.. and Detectives Pile and Barlow are on the street on another case..I haven't seen Detective Rodruigeuz-Wallace since this morning and Lt. Van Buren is out for the day sir." said the receptionist..

Lt. Tragg stomped his foot..

"Well THAT's just great!" he said and stormed off..

Just then , his phone rang...It was The Deputy of Operations.

"Hello Sir!" said Lt. Tragg.

"Just a heads up Artie....Detective Sgt. Sam Jones of Missing Persons has been assigned to Lt. Sissy Van Buren and the Criminal Investigation Division per my and Captain Edward Cantrell's orders until further notice." he said.

"But sir, I assigned him to Robbery-Homicide."said Lt. Tragg..

"AND I ASSIGNED HIM TO THE C.I.D.  WHAT ABOUT THAT DID YOU NOT UNDERSTND??"said the Deputy Of Operations.

"I uh perfectly understand sirrrrrr.." said Lt. Tragg.

"Good, now get back to work!" he said.

"YES SIRRRRRRRRRR SIRRR!" said Lt. Tragg, who stormed out of our office in a huff.

"I guess he got the news."laughed Sam Jones.

"Guess he did."laughed Sissy..

IV-

"We need a way in...A way to prove he's doing this...Who is your best undercover?" asked Sam Jones.

Sissy pondered.

"Angie is my best...She was undercover for a month once..Helped us take down a major drug kingpin...The man fell in love with her, wanted to marry her..

Sirena is good too...She worked in the old Special Investigations Unit..Was Undercover a lot of times.

And Carlotta helped us take down a major drug lord years ago...undercover." said Sissy.

"But I know someone else...Who is perfect for this...Perfect because the person I have in mind isn't married. ...My girls are married now and

 their husbands wouldn't like it if they went undercover.. Which is why I don't send them undercover much if at all anymore."said Sissy..Thinking about Jimmy, Tyriq and myself.

"Hmm I see..You say you have somebody in mind?" said Sam Jones.

"I do...I have to clear it with her Lieutenant....and her of course...I should have an answer by this afternoon." said Sissy.

That afternoon...

Duke entered our building with our guest--

"Traffic was Murder, but we made it in...I'm starving.." He said..

We were all staying here at headquarters in the rooms above....

''We are all going upstairs to eat..Detective Sgt. Jones...This is our way in..." said Sissy.

"Yesssssss I seee...She's perfect!"said Sgt Sam Jones.

''Why didn't I think of her?" I said.

"Because we aren't cops" laughed Hazel

"HEYYYYYY THERE GOES MY PARTNER FOR SPADES TONIGHT!" said Sirena.

"OLA BABY!"said Carlotta..

"Can't stay away from us can you?" laughed Jimmy....

''How you doin?" said Tyriq

"Heyyyyy  girlfriend.."said Sharon.

"Heyyy there."said Hop.

"Heyyy lady." said Angie.

"Heard you guys needed some help, so here I am.." said Detective Barbara Hutton, Bayside Homicide.

(TO BE CONTINUED)