The Cat Is Back!

THE CALLOWAY ART GALLERY...
 

"It happened last night....It was just by chance that I noticed it.."said Matt Calloway, who owned this art gallery with his wife..One of the few Black owners of an Art Gallery in Philadelphia.

"If it wasn't for the broken glass...we wouldn't have even known it was stolen..." said his wife..

I looked around... I had my operatives dusting for prints and snapping photos... I am Kevin Morris, Private Investigator.. I am working for the Cyclops Insurance Company....

My friend, Bonnie Shay, is an Attorney and Insurance Investigator for the Cyclops Insurance company...She called me in on this particular case...The theft of an Ancient Portrait...painted by an African American slave in 1859, worth millions...

"You haven't called the police yet?"asked Bonnie Shay..

"No...we don't need the bad publicity....You know there was a murder here a few months ago...We had hoped you two might clear this up fast and discreetly.." said Mrs. Calloway...

"Hmmmm I can tell you this much....Your thief is a pro....My guys dusted for prints and DNA...Naturally...The thief left none... They checked the door...The thief used a sophisticated device to jam the electronic signal and force the door to open...The thief disabled the street cameras and the cameras inside the gallery.."I said.

Lockpick Johnson passed me a small device that he had only used once before.

A Smell sensor... A device the FBI and Homeland security were just getting...

"I'm getting the unique smell of the oils and paints used to paint this portrait and of the thief's cologne..and natural body odor..." he said..

"WOWWW!" said Bonnie...

"That will  help you identify the thief?" asked Matt Calloway...

"It'll tell me things about him.....Like I already know he has good tastes in cologne...."I said.

"You're kidding right?" said Matt Calloway...

"No I'm not...His body odor is unique to him....All of us have a unique body odor...This can be used in identifying our thief down the line." I said.

Bonnie smiled...

"I've seen this type of break in before.. I've seen this type of work, this style...This style fits the profile of one man, but it can't be him...He's in prison....This device, can trace that odor...I know it sounds like science fiction, but it's not...Come on Bon Bon-

"Just get our picture back, discreetly and quietly..I don't care how you do it." said Mrs. Calloway.

The trail lead Bonnie and I across town to sound apartment buildings....

"This is where the trail stops...Our Thief came here..." I said.

"Any street cams?" Bonnie asked...

.

"If this guy is a real pro...He disabled them....but I'm bettin he didn't disable the one in that ATM Machine across the street." I said. This was all like deja vu.,

"Oh Wowwww!" said Bonnie..

We headed back to my basement headquarters....Morris Investigations...Which was in the sub-basement of the building where my legitimate business, Morris Communications was housed..

We got a break...Our Thief did not disable the street or traffic cams...He didn't feel as though he had to...and we got footage off the ATM camera as well as the street cam.

We got footage of his car....An Acura..

used the night of the heist....

"Look at this...We got a photo of him, unloading the painting in his apartment... and we got a license plate on that car...." I said..

Facial Recognition revealed our thief to be Randal "Cat" Stevens...A twice convicted Box man (Safe cracker) and thief...He dealt in high end merchandise and jewelry....

Did two stretches ..One in the state pen and another in club fed.... A real pro... I put him away 5 years ago...He got 25 years....What was he doing out?

A trip to Auto Theft proved fruitless... The car was listed as stolen and found hours before...No prints,no DNA...Bleached down...Damn this guy was good..He was good back then too!

We went back to his apartment complex....The manager knew him as "Joey Caruso" , an alias..and said he moved out this morning..Paid his rent and everything..

We entered his apartment....Naturally , everything was gone...Bleached down....

Wow!  We knew the identity of the thief , but didn't know where he or the portrait was...

"Damn Kev....You and your guys are good...At least we know who did this..."said  Bonnie... This is much faster than I would have determined his identity.

"It means nothing..We don't have the portrait or knowledge of where he is now." I said.

"We should go back to the Calloways with what we have and see if maybe they would like to call the cops." said Bonnie.

"And the cops will do what?  He's long gone and he's ditched that portrait..He was paid to steal it...You know any shot callers in the area?" I asked..

"I can think of one who could move high end merch like that....We've had our eyes on him.. Johnny Porter.."said  Bonnie.

"Johnny Porter.....Him, I do  know..."I said..

II-

A Wednesday Night in Josie's....

A crowded night in Josie's....Seemed like Josie's was crowded every night.....

"Wow, everybody came out tonight....It's the middle of the week.." said Bonnie.

"Guess everybody needed a cold one.." I said.

I spotted our good friends, Olivia Bennett-Alexander, her husband and fellow investigator, Donnie Ray Alexander, Her niece, Beverly and her husband, Nelson...My baby, Josie and her husband, Paris and Bresha and Tony Billips.. Beverly's mother Alfreda and her husband, ADA Rockland Cambridge was also with them... 

 

They were surrounded by much drink..

Sitting right behind them were their close friends and neighbors, Yvette Jones-Lockwood and her husband, D.A. Investigator, Gary Lockwood, Keith Jones, his wife Beatrice, Sofia Garcia-Ahmed and her husband, Kahlil Ahmed , Fellow investigator Jade Lee and her husband, Lt. Danny Ho of Robbery -Homicide , who I wished I could talk to about this..but right now Bonnie and I decide not to do it..Virginia Shaw -Dukes , their Office Manager and her husband, Judge Jetty Dukes were all sitting together..They waved at Bonnie and me.. 

 

 Rounding out the group was Jasmine Coley and her husband, Dabnis, Olivia's cousin, Kayla St. Jacques, her husband, Ray, Jessica Sanchez-Burrows, her husband, Chip, and newcomers, Natalie and David Charles, Brooke and Sean Marks and Zoey and Lem Anderson and newcomers, Renee and Tyrell Jones..

 

They were all drinking and laughing and enjoying the sounds of the live band tonight..

On the other side of the bar were my good friends, Lt. Sissy Van Buren and her detectives and spouses..

Eddie C. , Carlotta and ADA Keith Wallace, Rico and Sirena, Jimmy and Angie, Hop and Sharon and Duke and Hazel...

It was good seeing everybody in here tonight...This is the way it used to be...Warm,.Community like.

 

The person I was looking for was here tonight...In a corner, drinking alone..

Walter "Kool Kat" Jones......

Bonnie and I sat at the bar..

.

''Walter" I said.

''Mister Jones" said Bonnie.

Sitting next to us was my buddy, Walter "Kool Kat" Jones...Once one of the most feared enforcers on the street....Now my friend and associate...

" You two are the only two who can call me by my government name and live to talk about it. What'cha drinkin Kev, Bonnie?" he asked..

"Corona... and a Citris Martini for the lady, right?" I said..

"Right...Thank you." said Bonnie.

"I gotta introduce you to some international brews....Honey....A Corona and a Citris Martini." said the big man...

"Coming up...Hey stranger...Hey Bonnie." said Honey Brown...

Who brought us our drinks..

"Hi Honey..." said Bonnie.

"I'm down...Thanks for the drinks.."I said..

"So what's up?" he asked..

"Kools, I'm chasin a thief...A real good thief....He stole a very very valuable painting from a gallery, that Black owned Gallery..."I said..

"The Calloway's Gallery....Damn, it was just a murder there a few months ago...Your Attorney friends over there cleared that up." he said.

Kool Kat never ceased to amaze me with how up he was on the goings on..

"Yeah. You're right.." I said..

"And somebody stole it?" asked Kool Kat..

"I know who stole it...Randall "Cat" Stevens..."I said..

Kool Kat's eyes arched...

"Wowwww..I thought he was a guest of uh the Federallis" said Kool Kat...

"I thought so too...but he's out and he's back to work..We Traced him to the apartment he used to live in....but I was too late.."I said..

''Wow!..He's good..but so are you...He never leaves a trace..No prints, DNA...Nothin...And I'm pretty sure he disabled the street cams...Just like before."said Kool Kat..

"Oh he did...Hacked into the security system and was in and out just like that....but I got him and I traced him..."I said..

"But he's gone.....And you need to find his shot caller right?" said Kool Kat.

"I have an idea who it may be... Johnny Porter..."I said..

Kool Kat laughed and slapped his thigh....

"He's the biggest shot caller around right now...He sets up high end scores...Only big stuff...He must have had a big time customer..."said Kool Kat...

"Where can I find him?" I asked..

"He's like Sweet Tooth Jordan, He owns a  real classy rooftop restaurant downtown......But everybody knows it's a front...He launders money for the dope boys...and he puts down scores...High end merch only or he doesn't even talk to you....I'll meet you early in the morning and we'll go and catch up with him...So don't you and uh bad  girl stay up too late tonight.."said Walter with a laugh...

His beers arrived .It was an international

I took out my phone and showed him a photo of the painting..

"That's the painting...It was painted by a slave in 1859." I said.

"Right before the Civil War! Now it's worth a lot more money than it ever was before.."said Kool Kat...

''Exactly.." I said. Like I said... Kool Kat never ceased to amaze me with his wide knowledge of things.

"Come Heavy... Johnny Porter has goons...but I think between you and me, We can uh "persuade them to cease and desist...you feel me?" said Kool Kat..

"Yeah...I'm hoping it won't come to that...but if he insists on being stubborn...He's just going to need some convincing.." I said..

"Exactly!" laughed Kool Kat menacingly... I was glad he was on my side..

III-

-

Sepia sat in the living room....She had just bathed Kimmie and put her to sleep...

"Bonnie called...She told me about the case you are working on...Another art theft huh and at that Calloway Gallery....There was just a murder there a month or so wasn't there?"she said..

I saw now where the Calloways didn't want anymore bad publicity...Seemingly , everybody knew about the unfortunate murder that occurred just months ago.

"Baby...we know who stole it...We traced them to their apartment...They're gone...but Walter and I are going to go and see someone who might tell us where the portrait is.. The thief is someone we dealt with five years ago and who we thought was in jail , Randall "Cat " Stevens... Apparently, he's out of jail."I said..

Sepia's eyes lit up...

"Are you serious?" she asked..

 "Never been more serious in my life...I'm going to find out who has that portrait and get it back...Bonnie and  I've already gotten farther than we expected...We are ahead of schedule."I said..

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" she squealed...

She was sitting on my lap in a short shirt dress...I ran my hands up her skirt and slipped her panties to the side...

She unzippered my trousers....

"Oh My Goodness..." she said, upon seeing how hard and erect I was..

We kissed passionately.....

I Unsnapped her bra and took it off, along with her top...

She eased herself down on me and slowly and softly moved herself up and down on me...

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.."I moaned..

"Shhhhhhhhh, not too loud..We don't want to wake up the baby!" she whispered...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." she cooed softly as she continued moving up and down on me...

We continued to kiss softly....

and make love quietly on the living room couch.....

 Soon I had Sepia's dress off and we lie across the couch, kissing .....She was nervous that Kimmie might wake up and hear us...but Kimmie cakes was softly and safely asleep upstairs.

I entered her and begin to thrust inside of her deeply. I tried to catch my breath, Sepia wrapped her legs around me and her arms around my neck as if I was falling off a cliff.

"Ouuuuu Kevin...ohhh my goodness..wooooooooooo.."she moaned..laughing and turning her head from side to side....

"Awwwwww lawddddd!" I moaned myself....

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Kevin....my lord..ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...." she moaned...

"Girl, what are you doing to me?" I asked...I was losing my mind...

Sepia laughed and kissed me slower,softer....

"Just trying to make you feel goooooooooooooooood...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." she cooed.

"Well...you're doing a good job...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.."I moaned...

"Wowwwwwwwwwwwwww!" she said...... "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh myyyyyyyyyyyyyy.." she further exclaimed...

We quickly got a nice deliberate rhythm.. I just wanted to go hard and fast, but she slowed us down. I could barely stand it.It felt so good...

"Take your time sweetie...Mommy isn't going anywhereeeee..ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my goodness...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuu" she cooed...

"Ohhhhhhhhh.." was all I could mutter......

"Shhhhhh, we don't wanna wake the baby!" she cautioned...

I slowed it way down with deep, long strokes that made me feel like I was losing my mind...She kissed me softly and blew into my ears...

"Yesssssssssssssss...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh I love me some daddy...ouuuuuu that's niceeeeeeeee! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!  Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" she exclaimed...

We made nice sweet ,slow love for the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS.....

We walked upstairs to our bedroom.....

We were exhausted.....

We collapsed on each other and drifted off to a peaceful sleep...

IV-

The next morning there was a beautiful rainbow outside.....I don't know if it had rained the night before or not...I went downstairs to gather up our clothes from the couch, but there were none...

Sepia had gotten up and taken care of all of that....She was a good wife..

I got up...Took a nice hot shower and and shaved...

Got dressed and sat on my front step, waiting for Kool Kat...

It was 6:00 am...

I needed to be in bed asleep...At best I needed some coffee..

I was going to tie a can to the tail of the cat this time.

(TO BE CONTINUED)