I'll See You In Paradise

Acting on a hunch...Kool Kat ,Clerow ,Owen Todd and I drove out to a Hess Station about two miles from where we had found Bruce Harvey's Pathfinder a day before. We showed the proprieter a photo of Bruce Harvey and sure enough, he remembered seeing him two nights before!

I identified myself as a licensced private investigator and the manager of the Hess station showed me the video from two nights before.  There was Bruce Harvey entering the store at about 1:15 AM in the morning...buying a pack of cigarettes and asking for directions... There was another man behind him...The man looked about six foot three, ,slim athletic look with a very pronounced jaw...kind of like Jay Leno's..He was white and had cold blue eyes and an expressionless face..

They didn't stay long....Bruce Harvey passed the cigarettes to the man who was with him...He looked a bit nervous....The parking lot video showed a white van parked next to his Pathfinder....Bruce and this man got into his Pathfinder.. The Van followed the Pathfinder out of the Hess Station.... The film was so good...I was able to get a licensce plate number....This was my first solid lead in days...

"What next boss?" asked Clerow.

"I agree with Kool Kat that Bruce Harvey is more than likely dead and these two guys more than likely did it...I'm going to Robert Foxworth's office... He's got a pal in records who can get me an address on this van and a name.."I said.

"Unless that van was stolen." said Kool Kat.

"Yeah, you're right..and if it was...Then we back to square one...Which is nothin." I said.

"Well..We can only Hope Right?" added Owen Todd...The young protogee of Donald Smooth, who had joined us on this trip..

I smiled at him..."Yeah, we can only hope."

II-

Later on that day ,I was in Robert Foxworth's Office...I had given his young protogee' ,
Chance Howard, the Licensce Plate number we had pulled and asked him to contact their pal in Records and get me an address and possibly a name for the owner of that van.

"I'm on it Kev." he said as he left...

Robert motioned for me to come into his conference room....I followed him...To my surprise, there was my wife, Sepia, His wife Bonita..Sean Jackson, His Wife, Sheila and Attorney Conrad Nelson and his wife, Jill..Also there was the young cocktail waitress who I'd seen Westly East assaulting at the NAACP Banquet....

"Sepia?? , Sean...What are you doing here?" I asked....

"I'll tell you Kev...We are all going to issue a class action suit against Westly East...For sexual harrassment....Those five women won't talk for some reason, but We intend to talk and testify against him...He is not going to intimidate us..." said Robert Foxworth..

"Okay guys..That's great.." I said.

"I'm sorry about Mr. Harvey...and I'm sorry about the expose he may have been writing that you missed out on...but here is a good story here..right from the horses mouth." said Robert Foxworth...

I was a writer..First and foremost...and here was the story, I could be writing...
So I wrote...I took Sheila's story, My wife Sepia's story and Jill Nelson's Story....Sean Jackson took photos of all of them... And I emailed it to my computer at home to prepare for publication.

I had the names of the five women who had first accussed him of sexual harrassment...
I decided to go to their homes and interview them the next day.

This was not as easy as I thought...Four of the women refused to talk to me at all and had told me that they were now going to retract their statements of before and that they wished to remain anonymous...

The fifth woman ,however did meet with me at Robert's office...Her name was Valerie Bonnett.   She once worked as Westly East's Administrative Assistant...She told me that a man, Woodley Verizon offered her a large sum of money to retract her testimony.
She said that she at first refused...Then she got a call from another man...A man who she said had a middle eastern accent that warned her that if she didn't take the offer, she might have a very fatal accident...

She told Robert Foxworth and I that the other women had gotten the same calls, one from this Woodley Verizon and another from a strange man with an accent...After Bruce Harvey vanished..They got another call telling them that the same thing could happen to them if they chose to keep talking about Mr. East.

"Counselor...Do you know this Woodley person?" I asked Robert Foxworth after Ms.Bonnett left our office.

"Yeah..He's a lawyer..He works for Westly East's foundation...."  said Robert Foxworth...

"These are some serious charges." I said.

"Damn sure is..Thing is..None of those women will walk in a courtroom or talk to a policemen about it...We'll never prove it." said Robert Foxworth...

He was right.

Chance Howard walked in the office just then....

"Jackpot Mr. Kevin...I got a name and an address...Chessly Waters is the owner...He's an ex-con...Local Hood...The van is registered to him....This is the address." he said.

"Thanks Chance...." I said.

"Were are you going Kev?" Asked Robert Foxworth....

"I'm going to catch a couple of killers...Call Kool Kat..Tell him to meet me at this address." I said as I left.

III-

Finding the white van was easy enough.....It was parked in a seedy neighborhood in front of two other white vans...but it was easily indentifiable by the licensce plate...
I got out of my car and studied the van closely... I couldn't really see inside of it...I looked at the address...It matched...Still I was confused...Chessly Waters was a low level hood and nowhere near six four...Plus , he was black...definitely not middle eastern and not the man I saw in the video...Could I have followed the wrong lead??

I walked around the back of the house...I saw nothing...I picked the lock and let myself in....It was eerily quiet...Too quiet!!!  I walked around....When I got to the living room...I smelled a horrible , but familliar smell...It was the smell of death....and there on the couch, sat Chessly Waters....Black, about five foot three, 200 pounds...and very dead, with a nice neat hole in his head....His body felt warm..Like he'd just been killed...

I needed to find a light switch...I had the funny feeling that somebody else was in the house...You know how you just have that feeling that someone is watching you? I had it now...I sure wished I had waited for Clerow and Kool Kat and Owen Todd! Or maybe had come with Robert or Chance...Anyone!!!

The large hands wrapped a garotte around my neck with ease and began squeezing...I never saw it coming...The more I struggled...The more I lost air...He was squeezing and the garotte was starting to cut a line in my neck ...This man was big...about six feet four and definitely white...with bad breath too...

"You shouldn't have come here..You should have left this whole matter alone....You wanted to know what became of Bruce Harvey? Now you will know...You'll join him in death.....You'll see him in paradise...." came the voice...

"ARgggggghhhhhhh..can I just say one thing?" I gasped as I struggled with him..

"What is that?"he asked...

"Man ,did you ever think of buying a  pack of  tic tacs...your breath stinks man." I gasped..

"Whyyyy youuuuuuu!!!!" he screamed....

I had just enough of a break to slam my elbow into his adams apple.....

'' Aghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" he gasped as I broke free and landed a nice well placed flat footed kick to his jaw , which sent him flying into the wall...My kick boxing instructor would have been proud!!

He was a tough one....I said before that he was big..He charged at me full force..throwing haymakers...My boxing training kicked in, I ducked his blows...I landed solid lefts and rights to his body and an upper cut that nearly ripped his head off..

He charged me again and I landed several lefts and rights to his head and face, sending him flying.... He pulled the rug from under me and sent me falling to the floor...I fell and before I could move, He was on me and had my neck  in a vice like grip....

"I will see you in Paradise...." he said as he began choking me...

"You'll be there first damnit" came a voice and three loud gunshots!


Blood and brains were splattered all over the wall and my would be attacker was now in the middle of the living room floor, as dead as a doorknob!

It was Kool Kat and Clerow!!! They had followed me and found the address...Kool Kat had shot him with his .44 magnum....

"Whew!! Boy am I glad to see you.." I said.

"Kev..What I tell you about going to these spots alone...With no back up?" the big man chided me..

"You alright Boss?" asked Clerow...

I smiled...

"Yeah... Just glad to be alive...That's all..." I said.

"Yeah...you're in better shape than laughin boy here on the floor."said Kool Kat.

"Or that dude in the livin room." said Clerow.

I shook my head..They were right!

IV-

Inside the white van was huge hacksaws, bolt cutters, body bags, bleach, latex gloves and bloody clothing that I'm sure was set to be burned or discarded....This was a murder van..The type used for dismembering and disposing of bodies....Only our two killers would never be able to tell us anything...They were both dead...


"Well? What now Kev?" asked Kool Kat.

"I'm going to call the cops..tell em where they can find these two....We are going home."I said.

"These two probably killed Bruce Harvey." said Clerow.

"More than likely..but they'll never be able to tell us now." I said.

"Let's go home guys.....I'm going to finish this." I said.

(Conclusion Next!)

As If He Were Never Here

A day went by and still no word came from Bruce Harvey...I called both of his numbers again and got no answer from either...I drove by the house once again....No signs of life...In fact there was two days worth of mail on the porch...I talked to the neighbors on both sides of the street...No one had seen or heard from Bruce in two days...

Later on that night...I came back with Clerow, Lockpick Johnson and Kool Kat...Lockpick Johnson got us inside and Owen Todd, a new associate of Chris and Chess waited outside in the car , ready to warn us and aide us if we should suddenly have any house guests.

I insisted that everyone wear latex gloves...If this was to be a crime scene ,I didn't want mine or my friends fingerprints or DNA on anything.

"Doesn't look like anybody has been here in days Kev." said Clerow..

''Yeah , this is strange, since dude was at my job and was supposed to hook up with me today." I said.

Kool Kat turned on some lights and we walked through the house...There was no sign of forced entry...The place was clean and immaculate....At least, downstairs...Upstairs was another story....The bed was unmade and the shower was dripping as though someone had just taken a shower... There was socks on the floor and clothes in a hamper...It looked as if someone had gotten dressed in a hurry and left..but why and where?

I checked his phone messages...There was several from me and a couple with strange breathing on it...nothing more.

We checked his basement....A very nice wide flat screen Television, a Waterbed, a couch and two speaker towers as well as an ipod set up... A closet full of liquor and wine that hadn't been opened...but nothing else.

"That's it guys...Nothing Here....Let's go Home." I said.

"It looks like the cat was just here and then went out." said Lockpick Johnson.

"Yeah Boss...Like he was just here." said Clerow.

"He was.  Two days ago." I said as we turned the lights out, and departed his house. This was very strange!

II-

The next day, I checked his credit cards for any activity....There was none past three days before and there was none on his debit cards either....I had a friend that worked in Telephone security..We checked his telephone activity....All of the calls on his phone made in the past three days were from me....prior to that, there were calls to the office, calls to Rollie Rollerson's office, calls to five women who he had identified as the women who were pressing charges against Westly East and one call from Westly East. The other calls were routine calls, Bill collectors, wrong numbers, utilities , food orders et al.  Nothing mysterious or out of the order.

His cell phone was another matter...After I weeded out the calls I made, and other routine things..There was a series of calls being made from one number to his cell phone.  These calls weren't from me and they were made after his disapearence!!!  Several of the calls were made today!!!!

My friend at Telephone security told me that the calls seemed to be checking voicemail on his cell phone..He pinpointed the pay phone from which the call came from....I picked up Clerow and we drove out to the pay phone...

"Hard to believe there is a workin payphone now of days." said Clerow...

"Yeah, well cell phone batteries run down all the times and sometimes you need a pay phone." I said as we approached the busy corner where the phone was..

It was a busy street corner....Several people were using the phone as we pulled up.

"Man, you won't get no prints off that phone....All these people usin it..Whoever called his phone from that payphone is long gone by now boss." said Clerow.

''Yeah man..This is all kinds of dead ends." I said.

We pulled off.

III-

I remembered something Peeping Tom had told me about Cell Phones and cell phone towers..  I drove over to the Telephone Security office and found my friend there, who shall remain anonymous for now..He took the wireless number I gave him and traced it for activity....He was able to pinpoint where the last bit of activity came from and tell me exactly where the last ping from Bruce Harvey's cell phone originated from...I now had a location...It was off the interstate , right outside of the city limits...

When Sepia went missing that time she had the car accident, that was how I had found her, by tracing the cell phone and the GPS unit...It was a long shot...but it was all I had.  I got Clerow and Kool Kat and we drove out to where the last ping on Bruce Harvey's cell phone had been transmitted.

"I appreciate you guys coming out here with me." I said as I drove towards the area where the last ping had been heard.

''Don't mention it Kev..hanging with you is the only excitement in my otherwise dull daily existence." joked Kool Kat from the back seat... Clerow who was riding shotgun just grinned.

The Car, a 2011 Pathfinder wasn't hard to spot...It was parked right off of the interstate......For the first time in two days...My search had yielded something concrete...I recognized the car..It was Bruce Harvey's alright.
It had his Alpha Phi Alpha-1906 Fraternity license plate on the front and back of it...It had a black air freshener hanging on the inside.

We got out of our car...I was afraid I was going to find Bruce Harvey inside the car, shot to death!  Not so..He was nowhere to be found... The door was open...Inside was his driver's license, his cell phone and his car keys....This was very,very odd!

'This makes no sense...A brand new ride like this, just left here...In the open...Drivers License, Car keys, and smartphone here on the front seat...." I mused.

"It don't seem right boss...and look..it's his wallet." said Clerow...

It certainly was...The wallet had all of his credit cards and debit cards in it as well as close to $300.00 in twenties....Bruce had to be somewhere around...Somewhere near by....Nobody would leave all of this stuff out in the open like this....

Kool Kat stood guard while Clerow and I fanned out and attempted to look for him... but, it was wide open spaces...No trees, no woods, no underbrush..and no sign of Bruce Harvey!!!

"Kev...this dude is dead." said Kool Kat solemnly...

"Nobody leaves a new ride , credit cards, car keys, cell phone,dough and what not out here in the open like this....  He either wants to be missing or he dead man..straight up." said Kool Kat.

Neither Clerow ,nor I could argue with him.... I picked up my cell phone and called Lt.Sissy Van Buren of Philadelphia Homicide...I filled her in with all that I knew and within 90 minutes, She, three homicide detectives and several uniformed  cops were scouring the area , along with a tow truck... There was no sign of Bruce Harvey at all....

IV-

A few hours later, I was at home....I was in my living room staring out the window...Sepia was in the kitchen cooking dinner and talking to Bonita Foxworth, who had dropped by...My mind was far away from their conversation...How could someone just vanish into thin air like that?  I had just talked to this man the day before..and now he was gone as if he was never here...I didn't like it...and I didn't accept it..Somebody was responsible and someone was going to pay!

(To Be Continued...)

Any Other Day

I awoke at sunrise....Sepia was sleeping softly beside me..She had pushed the covers off of her self sometime that night.. She was lying face down..Her nice cocoa brown skin glistening in the sunlight...

She was wearing a flimsy little yellow nightie..I ran my hand along her beautiful shapely legs, up to her buttocks and squeezed them gently...She moved her hand softly over my arm and silently whispered..

"What are you doing?"..

I smiled and whispered.."Mrs. Morris..I'm sexually harrassing you."

"You can't do that...I have a husband..." she whispered back...

"Oh..I don't think he'll mind.." I said with a laugh...

She rolled over..Eyes open now and just grinned...

"Okay then...but you'd better make it quick..we don't want to get caught.."

I climbed on top of her, slipped her panties down and took them off of her and then eased myself slowly into her .......

She felt warm and wet and more than willing to take all of me inside of her as I gently and slowly began to thrust....

We both moaned in ecstacy as we continued to make sweet love.....

I moved in to kiss her and she moved her head away..

"Uh Uh...no kissin...neither of us has brushed our teeth yet ." she said as we continued to make love slowly...

We carried on like that for close to an hour before I believe we both climaxed simultaneously...

"Ummmmmm that was good...I needed that." she said as she rested her head in my arms.

"I needed it too." I said.

"You always need it" she laughed.

I got up and headed towards the shower...I turned it on...While I was waiting for the water to get nice and hot...I said to my wife-

"Guess what?  I'm supposed to meet with that reporter..Bruce Harvey today.."

"The one doing the investigative report on that horn dog Westly East?" she asked...

"One and the same.." I said.

"Good...Somebody needs to expose his ass, Nasty buzzard." she snapped.

I chuckled as I got into the shower.

II-

I showered, shaved and got dressed.....Sepia had prepared breakfast..Two eggs scrambled light, Bacon, Toast and a tumbler of coffee...While eating, I decided to call Bruce and let him know I was coming...

His phone rang several times before going to voicemail.  That was his cell phone number. I decided to call his landline phone...Again...It rang and rang and went into voicemail...That was odd..Maybe he was in the shower...He did say that he wasn't married and that he lived alone.

"You working today?" I asked Sepia.

''Yes sirr." said my wife...  I pulled her to me and attempted to kiss her but she moved her face away again...

"What's the problem?" I asked.

"Two things...I've got lipstick and make up on now and I don't want it getting all mussed up and two, if we start kissin, we gone end up in bed again and neither of us is going to get anything done today." she said with a smile.

"You're right...I'll see you tonight." I said.

"Okay Kev...Tonight is a different story." she said with a sexy wink as I went out the door and got in my car.

Bruce Harvey drove a black 2011 Nissan Pathfinder...I drove down his block and parked...Funny..but his car was nowhere around...I looked on both sides of the street..Nothing!

I walked up the steps and rang the doorbell...There was no answer..I waited about 15 minutes and rang the doorbell several times..No answer!  I called his cell phone...Now surprisingly it went straight to voicemail...  I called his landline phone...It rang and rang and rang and finally went over to voicemail...

Could he have forgotten that we were supposed to meet?  I decided to drive to his office at the newspaper and catch him there.

Another bust...Nobody in his office had seen him since late last night...He was expected in at 9:00..It was already 10:30 am and he hadn't shown....I called both of his numbers again...and again there was no answer...

I talked to two people, The night janitor and an employee who said they saw him leave at around midnight the night before.. I asked a few people who knew him if there were any spots where he went to drink after work...

"He was known to stop in the Mermaid Club for a drink or two and maybe Jake's Hot Dog joint for a bite to eat..That's all I know." said another reporter who was close to him.

I drove over to the Mermaid Club....I asked Joe Neptune about him...He knew him, but hadn't seen him in about two days...I then went to Jake's Hot dog joint... Neither Jake , nor any of his employees had seen him either....

I drove back to his office...He hadn't called, nor had he showed up...I was now very concerned...I called his home phone and his cell and still got nothing..I drove back to his block and waited..It was now 3:00 pm...No sign of his car...His door was locked and his blinds were closed.

I went from door to door, talking to his neighbors...Asking if they had seen Him..One thing was sure..All of them had seen him in the morning the day before..Leaving for work..It was trash day and he had tripped and fell down the steps bringing his trash out and had cursed loudly...

One person had seen him around noon, come in, change his clothes and leave again...That would have been right before I saw him...No one saw him after that....I know that after he left me..He apparently went back to work..because he was there until midnight....

I went back to his office and looked at the tapes...and sure enough..he's leaving the lobby alone at 12:15AM......He's on the tape...and that is the last known time that he was seen by anyone!..

I was beginning to get a bad feeling about this....but no...We weren't investigating a gangster or an agent or something...Just a guy that couldn't keep his hands out of some woman's pants or up her skirt...This wouldn't warrant this!

Then again, maybe he got a line on something else...Another story..Another witness..He'd call me ...I was sure of it!

This had started off like any other day and now it had become something else all together....It was now 6:30pm...I called both of his numbers again..No answer..Then I drove past his block...No sign of him or his car...

I didn't like this....I didn't like this at all!

(To Be Continued.....)

A Monster Amongst Us

"Wow...It's a good thing Rollie Rollerson is picking up the tab for this...because at $125.00 a plate, I don't think I'd be sitting here." I whispered to my wife Sepia. She giggled...She was sitting next to the person that was being honored... Westley East... One of the city's biggest African-American movers and shakers..He was a millionaire, who gave money to hospitals, charities and what not and somewhat of an activist for women's rights......Very highly respected..

Robert Foxworth and his wife Bonita sat on the other side of me and Conrad Nelson and his wife, Jill sat next to them....Cock Robbins and his wife Vanessa sat  across from us... Hot steamy platters were delivered to us..I must admit ...The food was good...but not worth $125.00 a plate...

My friend, Sean Jackson and his wife Sheila were also there , at another table....For some reason Sheila had refused to sit at the same table with Westley East....I wondered what was up with that... While we ate, I noticed that my wife Sepia appeared to jump or twitch as if someone had pinched her..at least twice.. and then I saw her get an angry and flustered look on her face and move her left arm as if she was moving something..

Rollie Rollerson took a small spoon and clanged on his wine glass.....

"Ladies and gentlemen...Ladies and gentlemen...I hope you all are enjoying your food......." he laughed...

'It cost enough." came a voice from the crowd.   That remark was met with laughter....

"I uh hope you all are enjoying this meal....It is my great pleasure to introduce a man who should need no introduction to you....He's given generously to several charities and been a crusader for women's rights....Tonight we are honoring him with the Philadelphia Chapter of the NAACP's IMAGE AWARD FOR
2011..EVERYONE , GIVE A HAND FOR MR. WESTLY EAST..." said Rollie Rollerson..

There was thunderous applause..He stood up.....

'Heh ..Heh..Heh...You all are too kind...you're too kind....All I can say is thank you for this prestigious award...Thank you...I am humbled..." he laughed....

Sepia looked very irritated at him and got up from the table and headed towards  the open bar...

I followed her to the bar and gently touched her arm.....

'What's eating you?"  I asked.

"When we go back to sit down, can we trade seats?" she asked.

"Trade seats? What for?" I asked.

"I can't sit next to that man another minute Kevin...I'm just two seconds from decking him." she said, now visibly angry.

'What's going on?" I asked.

"He's a pig..He's been running his hand up my leg and up under my skirt all night..pinching me and copping a feel like some damn school boy....I wasn't going to tell you because I know Rollie Rollerson is on the board of directors at your job and I didn't want you making a scene." she said.

"I won't make a scene..but I damn well will go say something to that jerk." I said...Now angry myself.

"No Kevin...No....Just switch seats...Forget about it." she said.

"You sure?" I asked..

"Yeah..I'm sure." she said.

II-

I didn't make a scene...I simply switched seats with Sepia....I noticed that Conrad Nelson had switched seats with his wife, Jill also on the other side of us...A light skinned woman, she looked as red as a beet...Conrad looked as if he could rip Westly East's head off.. It wasn't the least bit funny, but I found myself chuckling  a bit.

Later on, I excused myself and went to the men's room....Like Mulberry Street...The Men's room was at the end of a long dark, dimly lit  corridor....As I was coming up...I saw in the shadows...a man who had a woman pinned up against the wall...

'Please Mr. East..Please....let me gooo." said the woman...

"Not until you give me some sugar.."came a male voice..

There was the sound of a kiss.....

"Okay..I gave you a kiss..now let me go...." she said...

"Aww come on...I've been fighting and giving money to women's rights organizations...I should at least get a reward huh? Heh..Heh..Heh..." came the male voice...

"Please...I gave you a kiss..now let me go..."

"Aww come on...don't leave me like this...I'm as hard as hell..." came the male voice...

'Mr.East..If you don't let me go..I'm going to scream." she said..

''Come on...Just one more kiss,,,,a long one...come on...."he begged...

She must have stomped on his foot and kneed him, because I heard a loud yell....

'UMMMMMMMMMMMMph...owwwwwwwwwwwwww..ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.." came the male voice ,who by now was apparently Westly East....who fell down...as the young woman took her cue and ran off.!!!

I now made my presence known and helped him up....

"You okay Mr. East?" I asked...faking my concern...and trying to hide my desire to laugh in his face...

"Yes....ummmmph, yes....I uh, uh...I tripped....It's very dark down this hall...I'm going to speak with management about that...Thank you young man." he said...as he stumbled back to the ballroom...

I pulled Sean Jackson to the side and told him about what Sepia said East had done to her and what I had witnessed him doing to another lady....What he told me next surprised me.

''Hey Kev..That's why Sheila didn't want to sit at the table with him...She told me that years ago before she and I met...She went to him for a job...and he put his hands under her dress and tried to force her to give him oral sex in his car..She fought him and leaped out of his moving vehicle and ran like hell...She didn't even want to come to this...but Rollerson paid for our tickets and all...The man is as slick as canned grease Kev..He's a real pig."

''Yeah..I see... I think he put the moves on Jill Nelson too...She and Conrad switched seats ....You think he was drinking?" I asked.

"Drinking? He's a pig 24/7 ..He don't need alcohol for that." said Sean....

"Well ,I don't know about you buddy, but I'm out of here....Because if I see him near my wife..I might have to hurt him." I said.

"Man Kev...Sepia is so mad , she might cut that dude." he laughed...."Me and Sheila are right behind you." he said.

Just then Robert Foxworth walked past me...He appeared to be angry..

''Counselor...What's up?" I asked.

"Man..If that dude wasn't who he is..I'd deck him...He palmed my wife's behind just now....I grabbed him and asked him what his problem was and he just laughed, like it wasn't nothin....I'm out of here." he said as he stormed toward the coat room..

"Come on Sean..Let's grab our wives and go." I said.


III-

It wasn't a week later that the newspaper ran a front page story about Westly East......"BLACK MILLIONAIRE- PHILANTHROPIST ACCUSED IN SEXUAL HARRASSMENT PROBE!"

I wasn't surprised...Given the way he'd acted at that dinner the week before...I read the story with amusement about how three young women were saying that he had made improper advances towards them.....He of course was denying everything....I had to laugh...What a crock...He was blaming it on ,who else-"The Media" that was slanted against him......

His foundation was now losing donations and a huge hue and cry was going out....I read day after day as two more women came forth with accusations and he of course had more denials...This scandal was becoming the talk of the city....

Then one day...I got a visitor in my office.. It was a young man named Bruce Harvey....I didn't know him, but I certainly recognized his name...He was an investigative reporter at the Inquirer...He had written the story.

"Mr. Harvey...Mr. Harvey...What can I do for you?" I asked.

''Well  Mr. Morris... I know that in addition to being an Editor of this magazine and a brilliant writer and blogger...I've been a fan of your writing for years....that you are also a private investigator...I need you to do some investigative work for me." he said.

''Who me?. For you?/" I asked.

"Yes...The subject matter is Westly East." he said.

"From what I've been reading in the papers..You've done a  good job yourself.." I said...

"Yes....I found three to five women who told me about him and his activities....Only thing is...They insisted on being anonymous and just a few days ago...Three of them retracted their stories and refused to talk anymore..." he said.

"You think they were bought off?" I asked.

''Somebody got to them...That's what I want you to find out." he said.

''What about the other two?" I asked.

"They're scared...This may be deeper than just a pay off..." that's what I want you to look into." he said.

"Well....for a chance to work with you...It's worth the risk...even though he is a friend of a guy who is on this magazine's board of directors." I said.

"I'll pay you handsomely for your help." he said.

''Deal" I said.

I couldn't know it then....but this would be the first and the last time...I would ever see Mr. Bruce  Harvey.

(To Be Continued...)

Smoke & Mirrors

Chris and I drove and parked behind the gray surveillance van that belonged to Kevin Morris and his crew...
We had tumblers of coffee, doughnuts and pastries and orange juice for Kevin, Sean Jackson, Clerow, Kool Kat ,Peeping Tom and Lockpick Johnson..

''Hey Thanks Guys...we should work for you cats more often." Laughed our friend Kevin, who was only too glad to help us..

Just two days before we rented the entire first floor of our new condo out to Bruce Studden...We had Lockpick Johnson and Peeping Tom wire the entire floor for sound and video... Clerow and Sean Jackson drove around the complex ...Always in a different car snapping photos of all of the shady charactors coming and going... A lot of them were drug couriers coming to drop off the days take and pick up payments...Some were pimps ,dropping off money and receiving payments for the girls...Others were just people who owed Bruce money.  True to his word...There was no actual illegal activity being run from the building, but neither Chris nor I wanted Bruce and his cronies collecting and distributing money used in a criminal enterprise in our building either.


"Chris...Chess...With the phony paper work you got from Robert Foxworth and Chance Howard and the existence of this tunnel and just the shady ex-cons we have going in and out of this building..We got enough to send Bruce Studden back to prison for violation of his parole." said Kevin...

'Yeah ,I know...but I want to really put the kibosh on him..once and for all...I know this cat is planning something big...the robbery of that bank...He's being cool for now..but I know it's just a matter of time.." said Chris.

Chris and I had mostly kept a low profile..We sent Owen Todd around to collect the rents with Donald Smooth and another guy usually waiting in the car....They never saw Kevin's people and even if they did...Except for Kool Kat..They didn't know any of them...

Then one night, Kevin called Chris and Me...we got the break that we wanted.

"You guys gotta hear this." said Kevin as Peeping Tom played the videotape.... There sat Bruce Studden and four guys who we knew to be expert box men and heist guys....

''Everything ready boys." said Bruce .


''Yeah.. We got silent explosives...Flashlights and cuttin materials..." said one guy...


"And we got bags and two cars parked three blocks away." said another..


''What's the take?" asked the third guy.


"This is a big take...I'm talking close to ten million a piece for all of us... Tomorrow night...We go through this basement and walk in and take the vault....We come back through here and we all walk out and vanish into the night....Just like that." said Bruce Studden.


"What about the alarm?" asked a third...


''Already taken care of...When we bought the design of that bank from a "friend" a few years back, we found out where the alarm is....I gotta guy on the inside who will cripple the alarm just before midnight....Then we walk in ,blow the safe and walk the hell out." said Bruce Studden.


'I gotta admit Brucie...When you told me about this when we was in the joint...I thought you had gone mad..but I gotta admit...This is incredible..." said one guy...


"My stuff is already packed and shipped... I plan to just vanish into thin air...Like I was never here....By the time these jumolks figure out what I did...I'll be a thing of rumors...like that D.B. Cooper guy.Hahahahaha." laughed Bruce.


"They don't call ya Killer Bruce for nothin." said the fourth guy.


"Hahahahahahahahahahaha."laughed Bruce.

Sean got good photos of all four of our bank robbers. That and the video footage ,plus copies of the fake paper work was all we needed to box up and send anonymously to one Special Agent ,Burt Shylock of the FBI.

Chris and I shook Kevin's hand....

''Kev...you did it again." I said.

"Nah Chess, Chris...You had this whole thing figured out before we even got involved..." he laughed...

Me, Chris, Kool Kat, Donald Smooth, Kevin, Sean Jackson, Clerow, Peeping Tom and Lockpick Johnson all opened a bottle of champaigne and toasted.. Tomorrow night was going to be an interesting night.

II-

It had been the first time I'd actually been in Rita Davis's presence since we had made the deal to buy the condo...

She was a completely different woman around Chris than she had been just a month ago when Conrad Nelson and I were going through the initial negotiations... I don't know what Chris had done to her, but she was friendly...engaging...warm...

The power of love!

"Ohhhh Chess, I'm sooo happy for you and your wife...You've got to bring your new baby around for me to see...and if you need a baby sitter, I am available." she cooed.. "I just love babies." she said.

"Heyyyyy...what about me?" said Chris, pretending to be hurt...

''Awwwww...mama didn't forget about youuuu.." she cooed..

"Damn right..cause you know I need my little snickerdoodle.." said Chris...

This was sooo unlike him....I think I liked her better when she was a harpy...

A little after midnight...We heard what we had been wanting to hear....

"FREEZE SLIMEBALLS...YOU ARE ALL UNDER ARREST!!!!! I AM SPECIAL AGENT BURT SHYLOCK OF THE FBI...IT'S ALL OVER BABY BLUE!"

Chris looked at me.....

"Where does he get his dialouge?"  he asked...

I laughed and shrugged my shoulders....

''It's all over baby blue? He sounds like he was on Miami Vice." laughed Rita..

The three of us looked out the window and we saw about 16 FBI agents with automatic weapons marching four guys in handcuffs to a huge van....

We saw our old friend Agent Shylock perp walking his prize catch, Bruce Studden to the van alone...Killer Bruce looked perplexed, He couldn't understand just what had happened.... Everything went perfect..except that when he and his four guys entered that bank from the sub basement...The FBI ,(who had been anonymously tipped off by us) was waiting!!!!!How could they of known???...He had told nobody..Nobody..except the people actually involved and they were all in handcuffs...He must have been thinking.....

Chris said that it had taken him and Owen Todd close to six hours to find the entrance to that secret sub-basement and tunnel..It had been very well hidden...Which was why all of the construction crews and work men and inspectors who were running in and out of that building knew nothing about it....Not to mention that the paperwork detailing the work had been well hidden for years!


The three of us watched as they drove off with the would be bank robbers in tow...We raised our glasses of champaigne and toasted...

"Nice going guys...I'm glad that that toad is going back to jail..." said Rita.

''So am I...He was just trouble." I said.

"Wow, guess you guys are nice guys after all...Looks Like I was wrong about you two." said Rita.

"We told you." said Chris as he kissed her on the cheek..

A kiss on the cheekturned into a long passionate kiss on the lips between Chris and Rita that frankly made me feel uncomfortable ,being that I was there without a woman myself!!

With that...I saluted them both and headed home to my own wife...I doubt that they even noticed that I had left.

EPILOUGE:

Bruce Studden was sent back to State Prison to finish out the last three years of his original sentence and then he faces five years in the federal pen for the attempt to rob the bank...The other four guys all got five to ten in the federal pen for their part in the bank robbery....

A few days later, Owen Todd, Donald Smooth and I sat in a Dunkin Donuts having Coffee and doughnuts..

"Anybody seen Chris?" asked Owen Todd.

"Nah...I aint seen him." said Donald Smooth...

''He'll be around...Right now,he's in love...He's with that babe, Rita, twenty four seven." I said.

"Wow...I've never seen him like that , Not over no one broad..." said Owen Todd.

"Nah, me neither.." said Donald Smooth.

"First time for everything gents." I laughed as I sipped my coffee and stared out the window.

Over And Under

Donald Smooth and I sat in Attorney Robert Foxworth's office early the next morning....He had Coffee and Water waiting for us....His protoge' , young Attorney, Chance Howard brought the documentation we had asked for the day before and presented the documents to us.

"So according to these documents, A Ralph Butler originally owned that building...You familliar with him?" asked Robert Foxworth.

''Hell yeah...He was an old school player...Long before Eldorado Mack, Cakeman Raven, Mingo Robinson or any of them...He was the man!  Used to run everything in this area...I'm talking late 70's...80's through to the mid 90's...Then he went to jail and while he was gone...Several young bucks, starting with Big Daddy and Wally Gator and leading up to Johnny Porter took over and lost all of what used to be his...." said Donald "Smooth".

"Well...You say that this, Bruce Studden said that he owned the property before he went to prison a few years ago?  Not according to public records...It was purchased by a Bernadette Lorita Davis...Lock stock and barrell and owned by her until you guys purchased it a couple of weeks ago." said Robert Foxworth.

"Bernadette Lorita Davis?...That's Rita Davis....Mingo's fiance and Chris's main squeeze." I said.

"Yeah...We looked her up....She owns two beauty salons and a cosmetic store on the east side...and before that, check this out...she used to be an exotic dancer...." said Chance Howard...

"Oh really? And she buys an apartment complex? That's real interesting." I laughed...

"Not really..Not when you think about it Chess." said Robert Foxworth.

"Huh?" I asked.

"What he means is this Chess....She was Mingo's old lady....Mingo had about ten corners operating in his heyday...He was pulling in big dough....Those guys don't put anything in their names...Not their cars, their homes, their businesses....Because if they get busted..The feds will seize everything they own..They get a girlfriend or a relative...Somebody with a clean record to sign off on their purchases....They own it in name only.....Mingo probably gave that building to Bruce Studden or Studden may have put up the money...but on paper...It belonged to Ms. Davis legally.....He has no claim to it." said Chance Howard.

"Okay, so that explains that." I said.

"Oh and one other thing we found kind of odd." said Robert Foxworth.

''What was that?" I asked.

"A construction company called Meyer Stucky and Sons built a tunnel or sub-basement in that building about five years ago...See, it's on this map and plan of the building..." said Robert Foxworth.

"A Tunnel? Sub-basement?  Really? " I asked..

"Yeah...it was kind of hush -hush and according to the paperwork here...There was some shady dealings involved....Like phony city permits written up that nobody has any memory of and that are just plain phony."
said Chance Howard.

"Well where is Stucky?" I asked.

''Dead.  Heart attack three years ago.  His son moved to Europe and sold the company to...Guess who?" said
Robert Foxworth.

"The lovely Ms. Bernadette Lorita Davis!" I said.

"Yup and she didn't even know that she owned it until about a month ago...when she unloaded it to a rival company for a profit...More than likely, Mingo Robinson and Bruce Studden actually owned it or bought it out and used her name...." said Robert Foxworth.
"So what do we do now?" asked Donald Smooth...

"We go and find Chris and Owen and tell em what we found out." I said.

"Okay...so they have a sub-basement and tunnel under the building...I guess for a speedy escape or is there something else? " I asked.

"Well....Guess you have to figure that one out Chess." said Robert Foxworth.

"Well counselor...you've been a great help." I said as Donald and I got up and we shook Robert and Chance's hands and left.

"So what do we do now?" asked Donald Smooth.

"I guess we have to contact Chris and Owen and tell them what we found out." I said.

II-

Donald Smooth and I found Chris and Owen and told them what we had learned at Robert Foxworth's office....He smiled and he and Owen led us to the sub-basement that they had found...The door that led to it would easily be missed, because there was already a basement in the building...but no one would have suspected a sub-basement and a tunnel unless they had the master plan of the building...

"Man...I don't know how many strings these guys must have pulled to do this..but I got to hand it to them..It was a bit of genius...." said Chris.

"Chris man..What are you talking about ?" I asked.

"Come on you guys, let's go upstairs to the roof of this building...It will all be apparent to you." Chris said.

Our construction guys were doing amazingly good work, renovating this building. They weren't finished yet, but both Chris and I were pleased with the job they had been doing...

Once on the rooftop...Chris ,Owen Todd, Donald Smooth and I stood there, taking a breath of fresh air and just staring at the buildings in the surrounding area.

"Okay guys..what do you see?" asked Chris...

"Buildings" said Donald Smooth...

"Correct and what building is right across from this building?" he asked.

"The Philadelphia National Bank." I said rather non-chalantly...

"My man Chess...I knew you'd get it." he said.

"Get what?" I said.

"The bank Mr. Chess....This tunnel leads right to the bank..." said Owen Todd.

"What?" said Donald Smooth and I almost in unison...

"I don't know how long these knuckleheads have been planning this....but they have a direct line into that bank's vault...They plan to just walk in and take the money and walk out.....And here's what is really cute..At first they were willing to kill us or get us to turn ownership over to them...but now, Brucie is willing to let us be the owners , while he and his crew rip the bank off and walk away scott free!" said Chris.

''Well we can't sell to him now...We've got to cover this tunnel up." I said.

"Nah...I got an idea Chess..We are going to rent that floor out to them and let them take the bank." said Chris.

"Are you nuts?" I asked.

"Nope...Don't we know a certain FBI agent who owes us a favor?" asked Chris....

I thought, then I smiled.....

"Man...I like how you think..." I said.

"I knew you would." said Chris.

(Conclusion Next)