“Agent Harold, Jackie Kallen, the Voice of Reason, can you tell us how the killer picked out his victims?” Jackie asked, and then sat down.
“No, I cannot divulge that information at this time,” Agent Harold said.
“Senator, I know that you are pressed for time, but one more question please,” Jackie said, standing up again.
“Okay Jackie, go ahead,” the Senator said, while he adjusted the microphone as Agent Harold stepped to the side so that he could take the center of the podium once more.
“Do you have any words for your fallen opponent, Ed Daniels?”
“Great question Jackie, I know we have to wrap this press conference up, but I want to say that Ed Daniels was a good man and good for our community. Many of the changes that he wanted to implement shouldn’t die because he did. So, I am helping his wife to start the Ed Daniels foundation. I am going to start it off with a fifty-thousand-dollar donation. I am going to give this check to Mr. Daniels wife, who insisted on being here today,” the Senator said and he looked to the side as Mrs. Daniels walked onto the stage and hugged the Senator and shook the F.B.I. Agent’s hands.
The reporters were stunned to see Ed Daniel’s wife and were quiet when she started to speak.
“I felt it was my duty to be here today; Ed would have wanted it that way. I know he and the Senator had their political differences, but they had one common goal, and in light of the recent events, I am giving the Senator my full support and vote, because he and these fine Agents are responsible for capturing and killing the man who took my husband’s life and many others. I will not be taking any questions today. I just felt I needed to be here for Ed, thank you all,” Mrs. Daniels said as she turned and hugged the Senator again and shook the hands of the F.B.I. Agents, who were standing behind her while she spoke.
While the Senator, the two F.B.I. Agents and Mrs. Daniels were exiting the press conference; there was a door being knocked on, in another part of the city.
“Mommy! Mommy! There is a man at our door with a big yellow letter,” little Kat said, jumping up and down and pulling on her mom’s arm as Becky turned off the T.V.
“Okay, go play in your room, and I’ll see who it is.”
“Who is it?” Becky said, looking through the peephole in the front door.
“A friend of your Father,” the voice on the other side of the door replied.
“Why should I believe you?”
“Didn’t he tell you that a friend would come to see you after he was gone?” The guy with the big yellow envelope said.
She did remember her Dad telling her that someone would visit her after he was gone, so she decided to open the door and satisfy her curiosity.
“Okay, what’s this all about?”
“Can I come inside, or would you like your neighbors to hear your business?” The guy with the big yellow envelope said.
“You can come in,” she said, and she looked the stranger up and down.
“So, this belongs to you,” the man said as he handed the big yellow envelope to Becky.
“How do I know this is legit?”
“Here,” the guy said, and he reached into his suit pocket and handed Becky a small white envelope with her name on it, written in her Dad’s handwriting.
She opened the letter carefully, so she didn’t tear the part her Dad wrote on and began to read. “Hey Becky, I’m going to keep this part short, but if you’re reading this then there is a guy in a suit at your house with a big yellow envelope, and I’m gone. Listen to him and don’t worry, you and little Kat are perfectly safe and well taken care of, there is another letter inside the yellow envelope, but for now, listen to the guy that’s there, love you, always – Dad.”
She wanted to cry but held her tears back, and she looked at the stranger.
“You okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine, this is just all a bit much, uh, I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.”
“Paulie.”
“I’m fine, Paulie, so now what?”
” Take the envelope read and see what’s inside, make some decisions, and if you need help call me, it’s free,” Paulie said, and he reached for the doorknob to leave and handed Becky a card.
“Okay, if that’s what you think.”
“Believe me; it’s what I know, look everything over and then call me, it doesn’t matter what time, just call,” Paulie said, and he looked at Becky and closed the front door.
As the days went by things started to calm down, and the death of the C.C.K. Killer became old news and the biggest story of the decade started to fade into history, but the star of the Senator started to shine brighter than ever. The Senator and even his wife were fast becoming the talk of the town and the World. The Senator was too busy to do an entire season of a dancing show, so there was a special one night only event, which the Senator and his wife won quite easily. Barry and the gang had made it back to America from their trip to Europe and were sitting at the building, enjoying it and waiting on a certain guest to arrive while Karen was texting Aunt Ledley. Corey saw an S.U.V. approaching the building and hit the door opener so the S.U.V. could pull right inside and then Corey closed the door behind them.
“Looks like the big man is here,” Corey said, and he pushed the button closing the big steel door.
“Okay,” Barry said, and he and Karen and Corey headed downstairs.
When they got downstairs, and the elevator door opened, the Senator was already out of his S.U.V. and looking at the steel door.
“Hello Senator,” Barry said, as Karen and Corey smiled.
“Hello all,” the Senator said, and he continued to look at the door and tap on the walls.
“Everything look good so far?” Barry asked, touching the wall.
“Yes, superior work indeed, I bet this door could take a direct hit from a rocket and still be intact, very nicely built indeed.”
“Thank you. We tried to get quality work done.”
“It looks as if you accomplished that goal, and I must say this Impala is very nice,” the Senator said, still looking the room over but paying special attention to the fully restored Impala convertible.
“Thank you, my wife had it finished and brought here after our trip to Europe,” Barry said, looking at Karen and smiling.
“That was a great surprise I would wager.”
“Yes, I was totally surprised.”
“I could only imagine.”
“Would you like to look at the rooms and upstairs?”
“Yes, please,” the Senator said, looking at the elevator.
While the Senator was getting the grand tour of the building, Becky and little Kat were saying goodbye to their old house as the movers took out the last boxes and loaded them into the truck.
“Can I just go inside one last time Mommy, please?” Little Kat said to Becky while she held the doll Dave had given her on his last visit.
“Okay, just don’t take too long, we need to go,” Becky said, and she looked at Paulie who nodded his approval.
“Man, I still can’t believe the C.C.K. Killer is a closed case,” Sam said, while she and Hutch sat on a drug stakeout.
“Yeah, I thought it was that Barry guy like you did, even after the Senator came and talked to us. I checked on him after the Ed Daniels murder, and he was out of the country when Daniels was killed. So he was the wrong guy.”
“I was disappointed too, but I’m glad that the killing has stopped for him, now we just have to, uh look I think the deal is going down,” Sam said, and she pointed toward the car they had been watching, which had a guy on a bike next to it, handing them a package he pulled from his backpack.
“All units move in,” Ricco said over the radio while Sam and Hutch got ready to hit it once again.
As Sam, Hutch, Becky, and little Kat were all going through their day albeit, at very different kinds of moments, the Senator, Barry, Karen, Corey, and Dale were wrapping up the tour of the building and sitting down to some cold lemonade.
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br /> “I made it on the sweet side as you like it,” Karen said, and she poured everyone a glass looking at the Senator.
“Ah, it is perfect,” the Senator said, and he put his glass down after taking a big sip.
“I don’t know if it’s that good, I’m going to need another glass to decide,” Corey said, and he pushed his empty glass toward Karen to re-fill.
“You’re such a pig,” Karen said when she refilled Corey’s glass. Corey drank half of what Karen poured in his glass before she could walk away.
“It’s aight,” Corey said, and he burped which made everyone laugh, the Senator and Dale included.
“I think it’s a little better than alright, but to each, his own and I’ll hold the burp,” the Senator said, still laughing.
” Ah, man, now I’m getting roasted by the Senator and this ain’t even no confessional hearing,” Corey said, and the Senator and everyone else looked at Corey a bit puzzled.
“You mean a congressional hearing, but the Senator is in the Senate,” Karen said, and she hit Corey in the back of the head as Aunt Ledley did.
“You all saw that that’s domestic abuse,” Corey said, looking around the room for help.
“I would testify on your behalf, but we’re not here, sorry,” the Senator said, and he laughed again, and they all heard Dale laugh and snort.
“I got nothin’,” Barry said as he laughed looking at Corey.
“That’s what you get, snitches get stitches,” Karen said, pulling her hand back to deliver another blow.
“I have to remember that, that is a good one,” the Senator said, still laughing.
“I guess we better get down to business, or we will be here all day,” Barry said, trying to stop laughing.
“Yes, I guess it’s that time,” the Senator said, while he gathered himself.
“Okay, I’ve already let everyone know that you may have someone interested in the building, but the decision wouldn’t be made until you saw the place and then had the interested party do their walkthrough.”
“Yes, that is correct, so the building has passed my litmus test, we just need to get the other party in to take a look, but they require some privacy, as you may understand.”
“So, what we supposed to do, leave the key under the mat?”
“You can give me a time and date, and I will get the party in and out.”
“Sounds good,” Barry said, and he looked at Karen and Corey, who nodded their heads in agreement.
“So, I guess we will let you know what date and go from there.”
“Sounds good,” the Senator said as he stood up and reached into his coat pocket and put on his Locs.
“Damn, I been looking for a pair of Locs.”
The Senator smiled, and he and Dale got on the elevator and headed out.
A couple of weeks later, Barry and Corey were on their way to the gym, Karen had stayed home because she had been feeling sick. Barry got a text message confirming the Senator’s client wanted to lease the building. Three years at three hundred and twenty-five thousand a month, and of course he had the pair of Locs that Corey had thrown in as part of the deal. Barry didn’t want to touch Corey’s radio because Corey had warned him before never to touch a black man’s radio.
“Hey!” Barry said over the music Corey was playing or bumping as he put it.
“What’s up?” Corey said when he turned the radio down.
Barry explained to Corey that the deal was a go and they would need to move, provided Karen said okay and that the Senator even had his Locs.
“Cool, I’m with it, and you didn’t have to yell, you could’ve just turned the radio down,” Corey said as he turned the radio up, but not as loud as before and Barry looked at him a little cross.
When Corey turned the radio back up the song had changed, and it was the Spice Girls “Tell You What I Want,” playing. Corey looked at Barry, and Barry looked at him.
“You can change it dog,” Corey said while he drove.
“I was told never to touch a black man’s radio,” Barry said laughing.
“True that but you have permission, so you can change the song if you want to that is.”
“I don’t have a problem with it.”
“Your choice.”
“It’s your playlist.”
“Whatever.”
A minute or so later Corey and Barry were singing the song as they cruised toward the gym where the rematch of Corey versus Jonathan was going down today, which Corey had been saying he was getting his revenge and bringing in a few surprises. When they turned into the parking lot, Corey switched the song to some gangster rap and went into full chicken hawk mode looking for a fine female to put his Mack down on, as he would say. Corey pulled the Lambo into his usual parking spot and set the alarm twice while a few people looked to see who was driving a Lamborghini to the gym.
“Maaaan, there ain’t nothin’ but some chicken heads out here, let’s roll,” Corey said as he led the way to the Basketball court.
When they walked into the court area, more than a few guys were shooting around already, and there was Jonathan, sitting in a chair drinking a sports drink and wiping some sweat off his head with a towel.
“Oh mothafucka, I better check to make sure I brought plenty of chalk because school is about to start,” Jonathan said when he saw Corey.
“Yo’ ass is going to think this is a tennis game, ‘cause you about to get served.”
“That was a good one, and that’s what you are going to say when I hit the winning shot on you again,” Jonathan said as he laughed his deep monster type laugh.
While Corey and Jonathan went back and forth, two big guys walked into the gym and straight over to Corey and hugged him. Corey brought the two guys over to Barry and introduced them.
“This is Barry, my homie, and these are my two cousins, Olin and Oliver.”
They shook hands and exchanged a few words as another guy came into the gym and yelled out when he saw Corey.
“Corey! What up, fool?” The guy said as he came over and shook everyone’s hands.
“What up Jaq lobster?!”
“Jaq lobster?” Barry said, knowing with Corey there would be a crazy story behind the name.
“Randy and I were jammin’ to the B-52’S, and instead of rock lobster I said Jaq (like jock, but with a Q) lobster, it’s the start of his last name. we were on full tilt, you had to be there,” Corey said while he and Randy (Jaq lobster) laughed.
“You all going to do a talk show or run it,” Jonathan said, bouncing the basketball harder than necessary to emphasize that he was ready to play.
“Oh, we gonna run it, we gonna run you and your squad into the ground. Your tennis shoes going to be smokin’ like a ’64 Chevy that needs a ring job.”
“I’ll play the five,” Oliver said.
“I got the four,” Olin said.
“I got point,” Jaq said.
“I’ll take the two, and my boy Barry will take the three,” Corey said.
“Oh, let Sweet P referee the game, I don’t want no excuses,” Jonathan said.
“I know Pat, he’s cool,” Corey said as Sweet P or Patrick got waved over to center court.
“Hey Pat, can you ref the game for us?” Corey asked, bouncing the basketball.
“Yeah, no problem,” Sweet P said.
The game got started, and Corey and Jonathan did the jump ball at center court, which Corey won, and he tapped the ball over to Olin who quickly threw it to Jaq who sent a thirty-foot bounce pass to Oliver who was cherry-picking for a quick lay-up.
“That’s cool; we’ll give you that one,” Jonathan said, rubbing his shoulder, still warming himself up.
“You didn’t give us anything, we took it,” Oliver said, and he ran past Jonathan to play defense.
T. Witt or twit as Corey called him took Corey to the hole and reversed a lay-up on him, then he hit two three-point bombs on Corey and talked some trash of his own.
“Question, if I�
��m a twit and you can’t guard me, what does that make you?” Tom said, and Corey just acted as if he didn’t hear him and ran down the floor.
The game went back and forth for the next fifteen minutes until Olin blocked a lay-up by a guy, they called A.D. and had to set him straight.
“Don’t bring that in here young fella,” Olin said after blocking A.D.’s shot, and A.D. looked a little embarrassed.
Jaq got the rebound and went down the floor and sank a three-pointer. The block by Olin started a run by Corey’s team that Jonathan couldn’t get his team to come back from. The score was 16-12 when Jonathan went to work on Corey, with the raggedy Hookshot. Corey and Jonathan were bumping and slapping at each other, which made Sweet P call three fouls. They kept going at each other until finally, Jonathan put up the raggedy Hookshot that missed to the right. Barry got the rebound and sent an outlet pass down the floor to Olin, who dunked on Steve. Steve covered up like he was in a disaster drill. Everyone was laughing, and that’s how Oliver was able to steal the ball from Ricky, which seemed to get Ricky a little mad. Ricky’s anger brought out a smart-ass comment from Oliver.
“Protect yourself at all times,” Oliver said, and everyone started laughing again.
Ricky tried to come over and play shut down defense on Oliver who threw a cross-court bounce pass to Jaq who went inside to Olin, but he was quickly double-teamed.
“That’s right, shut ‘em down!” Jonathan said while he ran from one side of the court to the other.
“Dee, what’s the score?” Jaq asked while he dribbled the ball.
“18-8,” Dee said while he watched the game and Jaq passed the ball to Corey who was back around the half-court line.
“Three points and it’s over,” Corey said, dribbling the ball behind his back and between his legs.
“Then shoot it and end it, if you bad that is,” Jonathan said.
Corey looked at everyone on the court, and all his teammates were nodding their heads. Oliver went toward the three-point line.
“If you miss, it’s going to be a long rebound,” Oliver said and took a few steps back from where he was standing, obviously anticipating a long rebound.
Death of the C C K Killer Page 22