Criminal Affairs

Chapter 2

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At 9:00am we were driving through the streets of a decent neighborhood north of Midtown. I recognized those streets, having lived in this town for eight years. As Molly continued driving, I realized that the streets were very familiar; we must be near where Melina and I used to live, I reasoned.

It got even more incredible as we turned into the streets of my old neighborhood. And then Molly turned into a driveway of a split-level house, where a car was already parked and a redheaded real estate agent was waiting for us.

No... it couldn't be, I thought as I looked at the window above the garage, knowing the bedroom behind the panes of glass. Yes, it was...

"This is Patricia Quinlin." Molly said, introducing me to a smoking-hot redhead with magnificent legs.

"Are you Leanne Quinlin Gonzalez's sister?" I asked.

"Oh yes, I am!" said Patricia. "Do you know her?"

"She sold me a house up in my home County." I said. "So, tell me about this one."

Patricia showed us through the house, the kitchen on the left side, the stairs to the upstairs to the right. The master bedroom was in front instead of the normal behind, and had a little sitting room on the far side, with the window overlooking the driveway. The memories came flooding back.

"I really like this sitting room." said Molly as I observed that there was new carpeting installed everywhere.

"So did the next-to-last owner's wife." I said. Cindy peered at me as we continued to look around, with me pointing out little things like where the stairs to the attic were, what the basement was like without us having seen it. I continued "Patricia, who owned this house previously?"

"I think they were a lobbying company." Patricia said. "They bought it from the previous owner, who moved out of town. They used it for a while as a temporary place for their executives to stay while they were here, probably while having meetings with the State politicians. But then their CEO and other officials got busted for bribery, and the company went bankrupt. The J.P. Goldman Bank of Midtown acquired it on the Courthouse steps."

"J.P. Goldman Bank, eh?" I inquired, my heart surging. "Did they change out the hot water heater? The old one was getting to be a maintenance problem." I wondered if anyone would notice...

"Yes, they did... the bank did. All new A.C., heating, hot water tank." Patricia said.

"Wait just a frickin' minute..." Cindy said, peering at me, the look of understanding on her face growing. "No, it can't be."

"Good job, Cindy." I said, trying not to laugh. "Mom would be proud of you."

"What are you two talking about?" asked Molly.

"This was Don's house! He and Melina lived here when they lived in Midtown." Cindy replied, then looked at me. "It was, wasn't it?"

"Oh my God!" Molly exclaimed.

"Yep." I said. "Melina also loved that little sitting room. She's having one put into the house she and Daniel are building." I was looking at that sitting room, remembering the day and the moment Todd and Ned had driven up, watching through the window as they got out of Todd's expensive car...

"Oh, you lived here before?" said Patricia.

"Yes." I said. "And in this house. I would never have believed it was on sale again, much less that Molly would've found it. Patricia, is this house a short sale?"

"No, it's a bankruptcy acquisition." Patricia said. "Molly's last offer is going to be rejected, I can tell already, so if you make one together, I can submit it."

"Let me go to the car and then meet you guys in the kitchen." I said. I went outside and got my briefcase, then returned to the kitchen, where the ladies were gathered, all agog that I had once owned the very house that Molly had discovered.

"So Molly," I said, "is this the house you want?"

"I love it. But if you're not okay with it, we can move on and find another." Molly said.

"I'm great with it: I liked this house when I was here before, and it'll be even better with you as the occupant." I said, smiling at Molly. "Okay, Patricia, I'm just filling in the details of the contract. My offer will not be rejected." I said, getting a sheaf of papers out of the briefcase and filling in some numbers.

"Well, I have to submit it to the bank." said Patricia.

"I know." I said. "Here is a card with J.P. Goldman's personal number on it, as well as the number of his highest vice president and de facto operations officer, Selena Steele. Call them directly with this contract, and they'll not only verify the cash is in my account for this cash-on-the-barrelhead offer, but they'll approve this deal the moment you give them my name... before they even hear the offer. Why don't you call them now and see if I'm right?"

Leanne was skeptical, but called the number and got Selena Steele, the woman the Black Widow had failed to destroy because I was just a step ahead of the game... and admittedly due to some sheer luck, as well. A moment later, Leanne handed me the phone.

"Is that really you, Don?" I heard Selena's voice ask.

"Sure is, my friend." I said. "I want this house."

"Consider it yours." Selena said. "Put the real estate agent back on the line."

As Patricia talked to Selena on the phone, I said to Molly "It's a done deal. We may can even close by May 15th." Closing would actually be on May 31st, as it took some extra time to do the legal paperwork for Molly and I to own it 50-50...

Part 4 - Reserve Actions

"Never ceases to amaze me." Cindy said as we were driving to Molly's precinct. Molly had been called in and asked to bring us along. "Molly happens to find and fall in love with the one house that Don and Melina lived in for eight years.

"Sure that's not going to be any problem for memories for you?" Molly asked again. I assured her that it would not be a problem, and that she (Molly) and I would be making some great new memories. Cindy smirked at that one.

---

"This is Lieutenant Moynahan." Molly said, introducing Cindy and myself to her boss. The Midtown Force was large enough to have groupings of officers instead of the more general designation like we had in the T&C Police. Lieutenant Sean "Cav" Moynahan had been in the 1st Cavalry in the Army and was a grizzled police veteran. His brown hair was cut very short, like a flattop except that there wasn't a lot on top to begin with.

"Glad you guys are down here. Call me 'Cav', Don." said Moynahan. "I'm glad you're down here. I'd like to ask you to deputize yourself as SBI Reserve and help us out. A body just washed up on the riverbank. Detective Ross, we'd love to have you help as an observer, professional courtesy and all that."

Cindy nodded as I deputized myself with my 'SBI' app on my iPhone (they seem to have an app for everything, don't they? There's even a Literotica app! :o) ). We were then introduced to Molly's team.

Detective Frank Soltis was Molly's partner. He was a good detective and a master-level chessplayer. He had black hair and a British-looking face (like Patrolman Tommy Gunn, but more decent looking).

Unlike the TCPD, the rank of Detective was not that high, like a very Senior Patrolman, and beneath Sergeants. So Midtown Police Sergeant Wes "Coldiron" Masters outranked the Detectives in his team. He wore a dark blue 'street' police uniform but with a thin black leather belt as a sash over the right shoulder to left hip.

He was in his low 30s, but his hair was already grayish, and he had it cut high and tight, similar to Lt. Moynahan's flattop. He was extremely straight-laced, exceptionally dedicated to the law, and probably should be heading the I.A. Department; hence, the nickname "Coldiron" behind his back.

"An honor to meet you, Lieutenant. I've heard about some of your successes in your County." Sgt. Masters said to me as he firmly shook my hand, and firmly took charge of the situation. "Let's go to the crime scene now, the Coroner's team is wrapping up. Lieutenant, if you'll ride with me, Detectives Evans and Soltis can bring Detective Ross in their squad car."

On the way to the crime scene, which was on the east bank of the River and not far from the more exclusive hotels in the area, Sergeant Masters showed why he was called 'Coldiron' as he spoke in his smooth, almost-quiet voice: "Respectfully but frankly, Lieutenant, we do things by the book down here. I've heard about your crowbar, but please don't beat anybody up while you're here. Doesn't work so well around here, with al the Media and politicians trying to start something just to have an issue to scream about."

"Okay, I won't beat anybody up." I said. "So tell me, what kind of detectives are Evans and Soltis?"

"Both very good." Masters replied in his clipped and fast way of talking. "I've heard Ross is very good, and her sister is one of my best people. She's pregnant now, so we're going to lose her on some field duty. Soltis is good, but not imaginative. He's reliable, tireless and sometimes shows brilliance, but his chessplaying ability has not evolved into what we'd hoped as a Detective. By the way, where does Ross rank by our system?"

"Probably about where you are, Sergeant-level, supervisory." I said. "She's a Senior Detective, almost a Supervisor in Major Crimes. Our Detectives are above Uniformed Sergeants in our County."