Title: "Angels Back In Flight" (Part 3)

Author: Drew Roberts ([email protected])

Disclaimer:  This story is based on characters that are Copyright@Spelling-Goldberg Productions. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes, and I retain only the rights to the plot, not the characters.
 

PART 3:  "CITY OF ANGELS"
 

CHAPTER 14:  THE PISTOL PACKIN’ ANGELS BECOME THE GLOCK PACKIN’ ANGELS!”

“Well, Kelly, I have several leads that we can follow.  As for your assignments, well, all of you were pretty good at figuring those out for yourselves.  First, let’s start with Kris’ case.  The police have been able to track Ted Burton’s movements since he got out of prison to the mechanics shop and his apartment he had while working there.  They’re both in Santa Monica.”  Charlie then gave Kris the addresses for both places while passed along a recent photo of Ted Burton.

Kris shuddered when she saw it and looked away.  Burton had all white scraggily hair now and he looked old, hard and haggard.  “Well, I suppose I can check these places out.  I can talk to the mechanics as well as any landlords or apartment managers and neighbors that he might have dealt with or seen.  Maybe they might have an idea of where he might have gone to.  Have the police already talked to these people?”

“Yes, the police have already been to both of those places and didn’t get much cooperation.  It seems that that part of the city isn’t too fond of cops or any kind of detective for that matter,” Charlie replied.

“Great!  Just like old times,” Kris remarked sardonicaly.  “I’ll have to come up with some kind of cover.  I wonder if any of them would either recognize or suspect Kris Munroe, television reporter.  I could give them some kind of phony story I’m doing on people just getting out of prison.  They might be more willing to say something that way.”

"Don’t forget, sis, I’ll be right there with you.  I can be your camera woman,” Jill reminded her.

“I definitely think that’d be the perfect cover for you - holding the camera,” Kris teased.  “Charlie, I don’t have a TV camera with me. This wasn’t exactly a network assignment.  I’ll also need a mike to go with it.”

“Of course, Angel.  There should be a camera sitting over by the big screen and stereo system. I think there’s a microphone somewhere over there as well.”

“Charlie, why do you have a camera and microphone just laying around on hand?” asked Jill, giving a curious look towards the speaker box.

“Well, sometimes certain friends of mine that have stayed here love to do karaoke and they needed a microphone to sing whatever song they’d picked.”

“Well, some things never change,” Kelly laughed.  “What about my case, Charlie?  What leads do you have?”

Andy clicked the computer mouse on the next picture and Harry Owens appeared on the big screen.

It sent a chill up Kelly’s spine. Owens, like Burton, also now had all gray hair and looked old and haggard and wearing the huge, bizarre glasses he always wore still added a crazed look to him.

“Well, Kelly, the LAPD found out that Harry Owens got a job after being released from the institution," Charlie continued.  "Once again, he was working in the music industry, however, not exactly to the same stamina of what he originally did at Freddie’s Disco.  He got a job in a music store in down town L.A.  He unpacked the boxes of CD’s, cassette tapes, vintage records and stocked the shelves.  The owner of the store wouldn’t let him work the cash register because of his assorted past.  It seems that the owner didn’t trust him very far.  I guess he was right.  Harry only worked about two weeks and then disappeared, just like Ted Burton.  Both stopped showing up to their jobs and seemed to have left town.”

“Well, I think we all know that they didn’t leave town," Kelly commented.  "They may have quit work, but I think we can all safely assume they’re still around. The person or persons who’ve hired them are probably supplying them some money, supplied Burton the plane fare to Frisco and back, some old cars to sneak around in, and whatever else they might need to carry out this psychotic plan.  They probably know exactly where we are.”

“I think you're right.  You could try talking to the owner of the music shop.  If you don’t come up with anything there you could try talking to Owens’ sister. That’s supposedly where he was living right after he got out of prison.  His father died several years ago and the sister is the only family that we know of. First, though, you might try talking to Mario Montero. From what I remember of the disco case, Harry Owens was not too fond of Mario, let alone Hector. Now that Mario owns his own disco club, maybe Harry would try and do something to Montero’s club to get back at him. Mario’s club is called The Mirror Ball.” Charlie then gave Kelly the addresses for all three places.

“What am I supposed to do, Charlie? If we don’t know who’s been after me, then who can I talk to?” Sabrina asked in frustration.

“Sabrina, I’m not sure……wait a minute, Angel!” After a few moments, Charlie came back on the line. “This is interesting and perfect timing. One of my assistants just came in with a message dealing with your case, Sabrina. The LAPD just phoned in on my other line to say that, on my request, they’d looked back into the old arrest files of Cliff Culver, and the coroner’s report on him after the prison fight. They also looked back into old records and the coroner’s report on Capt. Bill Glover. Culver had no close family members but Capt. Glover does. The police sent over a photo of a woman, seems Glover has a daughter, a Lisa Glover. She’s forty-one years old and has been in and out of jail since she was about seventeen. She just got released from prison three months ago after serving only two years of a ten year sentence for her part in an armed robbery. Like father, like daughter, it would seem. Once again, Angels, she disappeared not long after getting out and hasn’t checked in with her parole officer for weeks. This seems like too much of a coincidence to me, Sabrina.”

“I rarely believe in coincidences, Charlie. I think we’re beginning to figure my case out. Can you post the picture of this Lisa Glover and send it to the computer here?”

“I’m scanning it right now. It should show up in a moment.” In a few seconds the image of Lisa Glover popped up and Andy sent it to the big screen. She was only forty-one but looked like she could have been closer to sixty.

“Well, age has NOT been kind to her! She is blonde though, Bri,” replied Kris.

“Certain life-styles and prison can age a person quick, and yes, she is a blonde isn’t she. Lisa Glover could easily be the blonde woman that was following me in Phoenix….and probably has followed me back here to L.A. If she’s forty-one, then that would have made her around….fourteen or fifteen back in 1977, when her father and Culver terrified Angie and tried to hijack the plane. She could be harboring some sort of anger and hatred towards me, since I was who Angie talked to and hired. Because of that, her father, Capt. Glover, ended up getting killed,” stated Sabrina.

“Then, once again, we’re back to the original theory that someone has hired each of these people to come after a specific one of us. The person or persons obviously found out that Lisa Glover was getting out and decided to use her to come after you, Bri. We just have to somehow figure out who this could be!” Kelly exclaimed.

“It looks like that’s where we’re at, Angels. If we can find just one or all of these people, then we might be able to get them to tell us who hired them and why. All of these leads may be long shots but they’re all we’ve got.” Then Charlie gave Sabrina the last known of address of Lisa Glover.

“Where are we going to stay, Charlie?” asked Kris.

“Well, I assume all of you still have your bags with you. As you probably already noticed when you came in that this is now a guest house rather than an office building. Andy already has a bedroom. There should be five other bedrooms to choose from. Some face the front and a couple face out towards the back. I’ll leave it to you Angels to pick the ones you want. Each bedroom has a connecting bathroom complete with hot tub and shower. They aren’t huge but I think you’ll find them very accommodating.”

“Charlie, after my experience I don’t think I’ll be showering for quite some time! I think I know how Janet Leigh must have felt while filming “Psycho!” Kris remarked. “The hot tub will be just fine.”

“Will we have any kind of gun, Charlie? I haven’t really carried one on a regular basis since I worked for you, so I didn’t bring one. However, with what’s happened to all of us I’d say we all need to carry some sort of protection,” said Kelly. Everyone else agreed.

“Andy, below the bookshelves are a couple of storage doors that open out of the wall. Look in there and take out the five small wooden cases, take them to the desk,” Charlie instructed. Andy did as he was asked and set the five cases on the desk. He then opened the top one. Everyone gasped.

“Sweet!! I’ve gotten to shoot a Glock several times at the police shooting range but it sure wasn’t platinum plated!” Andy cried. All of the Angels stared in amazement. Inside each case was a brand new platinum plated 9mm Glock handgun, along with ammunition.

“Charlie, they’re beautiful! I was afraid we’d get the old 38 snub noses again!” exclaimed Kris. Sabrina groaned at the thought of the old 38 and Charlie laughed.

“I don’t think so, Angel,” he replied. “The old 38 days are gone. Now, when we’re trying to protect ourselves, we’re not fooling around!”

“I don’t know, though. It’s been a long time since I’ve fired a gun. Alan has a few and sometimes we go out to a shooting range but we haven’t done that for a long time. I’m not sure I’d be any good at aiming at anything without practice again,” Kelly stated, smiling.

“You’ll be fine, Kel! It’ll come back to you! Besides, these work a lot better than some tiny old snub nose,” Sabrina replied as she opened another one of the cases and took the Glock in her hand, admiring it. Each of the Angels and Andy picked out one of the guns and loaded them. Sabrina wasn’t too thrilled with Andy having one at all! But she relented with his promise that it wouldn’t come out unless absolutely necessary. Charlie then told them that they’d been issued a temporary investigator’s license and that they were licensed to carry the gun.

“Okay, let’s go! What cars are you providing, Charlie?” Jill asked.

CHAPTER 15: THE COBRA RIDES AGAIN!-“PLEASE, NO PINTOS!”

“Angels, about fifteen years ago I decided that having to park on the street out front or out back wasn’t exactly very accommodating. So, I built on, from the back out. You can’t see it from the front but I built on a four stall garage that is accessible from the first floor. Your cars are waiting in each of the stalls, which are connected by doors. There’s a speaker phone on the wall of each stall. I’ll remain on the line if you all want to go down to the garages and see what you’ll be using to track down our illustrious mad-hatters!” The Angels grabbed their purses and then they and Andy took the guns and headed for the first floor.

Once there they found a door across from the elevator that said garage exit. They opened the door and stepped into the first stall. Kris and Jill immediately began squealing and stammering “I can’t believe it’s” and “Oh my goshes” over and over. All of them stared in awe at the shiny car. In the first stall sat a brand new Mustang Cobra SVT, complete with the customized original Cobra paint job—white with blue racing stripes. Sabrina walked over to the phone on the wall and hit the speaker button.

“Well, how do you like it, Jill, Kris? It’s a 2004 model, the only ’04 Cobra out right now! I also had it custom painted with the same paint job the ’76 Cobra II you used to drive had.”

“Charlie, it’s gorgeous! Thank you so much! How in the world did you get a hold of an ’04 model? They’re not supposed to be out for a few months yet!” exclaimed Jill.

“Well, Jill, the owner of one of the main Ford dealerships here in L.A. is an old friend of mine. He’s the one who provided us with our agency cars originally too. Even though he’s retired like me, he still has a lot of say in the dealership business matters. They had this Cobra that was one of the first few made for the coming year. It was supposed to only be a ‘teaser’ and put out in the show room to show what was to be coming soon. When he heard I was needing some new cars, he, as a favor, let me buy it. He also is the one who, at my request, had it painted with the old Cobra look,” Charlie replied.

“Well, as a showroom teaser, I’d say it definitely teases! It’s beautiful! I suppose you’ll be wanting to drive since you’re the master racer,” Kris joked at her sister. Everyone laughed.

“You know it, sis! I’m dying to try out the V8 horsepower in this baby, see if the new year measures up!” cried Jill. “I might let you drive later,” she joked back to Kris.

“I still have a place in my heart for my Camaro! I’ve done a fair amount of peeling around in it myself! Unbeknownst to my son of course,” Kris threw out with a sly smile. This broke everyone up again and Jill hugged her sister, still laughing.

“What about my car, Charlie?” Kelly inquired. With Charlie’s instructions, they all proceeded through a door on the other side of the Cobra, which led to the next stall. Again everyone gasped and Kelly cried out in delight! In this stall a brand new 2003 black Mustang GT Convertible shimmered in the garage light. “Oh, Charlie, thank you! It’s beautiful! Alan better not hear about this, he’d be jealous! I was afraid that there’d be this old beat-up yellow Mustang from the years when they were ugly!” Kelly joked. Everyone laughed and agreed that the ‘70’s wasn’t exactly the Mustang’s better decade.

“What will Andy and I be driving?” asked Sabrina. Once again they went through the door to the next stall. This time everyone exploded into laughter—except Sabrina. Her face was stone-set in a firm frown of annoyance. Kris, Kelly, and Jill began laughing so hard that no sound was actually coming from them-except the occasional taking of a new breath and tears started streaming down their faces. In this stall sat an old, dented up, very oxidized, orange 1976 Ford Pinto-complete with faded and torn orange plaid interior. Sabrina noticed two of the bald tires were almost flat, there were several cracks in the dashboard, and the windshield was so dirty and smeared with dust and grime (from being stored for a long time) that she could hardly see into the car. Andy stared in confusion.

“Charles Townsend!!! This is not funny!! I am NOT driving this stupid, ugly box-of-a-thing anywhere! I did it for three and a half years and I refuse to do it anymore! Nobody drives a Pinto anymore! They were ugly then and they’re even more grotesque now! Now, you get rid of this…. this….death warmed over looking ladybug or I’ll squash it myself!” This last sarcastic remark caused Sabrina to smile somewhat herself. The other Angels were still almost retching with laughter.

“I don’t know, Bri. I think the old Pinto sort of shows off the highlights in your hair. You should drive it….that is if it still starts,” Jill remarked in a hoarse whisper from laughing so hard. This statement threw everyone back into a roar of laughter and Kris and Kelly grabbed their stomachs in aching protest.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha….shut up!” Sabrina spat back at Jill, however, with a smile and small laugh herself. Charlie even broke out into laughter over the phone.

“Mom, I don’t get it,” Andy replied.

“You’re lucky, son. Now, Charlie, where’s my car?” Sabrina demanded!

“Calm down, Angel! This was just a little joke I put together to help lighten things up a bit, especially after what we’ve all been through the past several days. I have an old storage building here in L.A. and a few days ago I had it cleaned out, to get rid of a lot of stuff I no longer use. There were some cars in there and this happened to be one of them. It’s one of our old agency cars and you probably drove it at one point or another, Sabrina. I had it towed here and rolled into the stall for everyone to see. It does start but runs terrible! Now, push the master garage switch and open the door. Your car, Sabrina, is in the parking lot out back. Sabrina did as he asked and there was a brand new 2003 forest green Ford Thunderbird, glimmering in the afternoon sunlight.

“Charlie, it’s awesome! Thank you!” she exclaimed. Andy too was glad that the old Pinto wasn’t their means of transportation while in L.A.

“Like the Cobra, Angels, I had this Thunderbird custom painted. I chose this car and this color in honor of Bosley. He always liked to drive the green T-Bird back when our agency was still going and I thought this would be a good way to remember him by. Maybe it’ll bring us some luck.” They all agreed that the T-Bird was a nice touch and Sabrina said that she’d be honored to drive it in remembrance of Bos. Charlie also promised that when they returned later that day or evening, the Pinto would be gone.

Jill and Kris got into the Cobra and Jill started it up. She squealed with excitement when, with a short peel of the tires, the throaty V8 quickly took them out into the alley.

“Okay, let’s see….why don’t we start with the mechanics shop where Burton started working after getting out of prison. After that we can go over to where his apartment is,” said Kris as she gave Jill the address of the shop. The Cobra handled the streets and highways of L.A. with superb precision as Jill sped towards Santa Monica. Because it wasn’t directly behind them, neither Kris nor Jill noticed an old green sedan a few cars back. Inside was a white haired man who was seething with anger. He gripped the old cracked steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were white. The thought of killing Kris Munroe was so exciting that his heart was slamming in his chest. He was tired of waiting for Master to tell him when to kill her. This whole thing was taking way too damn long! Whether or not he actually got paid the money he was promised didn’t really matter anymore. The important thing now was to kill Munroe! She needed to pay for what she did to him! He’d follow the two blonde sluts a while longer, and then when the time was right he’d kill her….both of ‘em if the other got in the way.

What the white haired man didn’t notice himself was a Chrysler Cirrus a couple cars back from him. Inside, Master was seething with anger too. Burton, the stupid ass wipe, was going to screw up everything! Burton’s usefulness had now quickly dissipated. Like Owens, he too was now an unneeded risk and needed to be taken care of!
 

CHAPTER 16: KRIS AND JILL - “DROVE UP THE HILL TO FETCH A PSYCHO KILLER, AFTER DRIVING AROUND THEY CAME BACK DOWN AND THE PSYCHO CAME TUMBLING AFTER!”

Once at the mechanics shop in a less-than-reputable part of Santa Monica, Jill and Kris were preparing to put on the reporter act.

“I hope what I’ve got on will be believable as a reporter with these guys. I usually wear a suit of some kind,” Kris commented as they got the camera and microphone ready.

“You look fine. These guys will probably be happy just to see a good lookin’ woman anyway. Just freshen up your make-up and hair and talk to the camera. I don’t think they’ll mind,” Jill replied.

“Okay, both of us have our guns, cover figured out….let’s do this!” Kris stated as they got out of the Mustang and walked into the mechanics shop. She motioned for Jill to pretend to turn the camera on as she began to talk into the mike.

“This is the mechanics shop where Mr. Burton got a job at. He was only allowed to clean up as a janitor. Is this the kind of life after prison to look forward to? Let’s ask some of the other employees what they know about Ted Burton.” They walked over to some of the guys working on an early ‘90’s mini-van. Excuse me sir, but I’m Kris Munroe, television reporter. I’m doing a piece on people who’ve just gotten out of prison and the kind of jobs they can still get. Do you know anything about a Ted Burton that worked here for awhile?”

“Buzz off, lady! I don’t have anything to say about him! The guy was a real ass and I’m glad he’s gone!”

“We’re really trying to get some good information on ex-cons and their jobs once they’ve gotten out. Please, even if you didn’t like Burton, any information on the kind of worker he was and possibly where he’s at now would be very helpful! This would be a good way to get yourself on TV and if we end up doing a full documentary, you might end up getting paid to be a part of it,” Kris tempted with a smile. This last statement caught the man’s attention. He seemed to ponder the idea and then finally relented.

“Possibly get paid, huh? Okay, just a couple questions and then I don’t want to talk about Burton anymore.” The mechanic’s name turned out to be Daryl and he went on to tell Kris and Jill that Burton had been crazy and every time someone asked him to clean something up, he’d explode in anger. Burton had even tried to assault Daryl when he’d told him to clean out the bathrooms, because he hadn’t done it the day before. While talking to Daryl, Kris, out of the corner of her eye, noticed a young African-American guy watching her very closely. He seemed nervous and very anxious to hear what was being said. Daryl had no clue to where Burton had taken off to or where he might be now. However, he directed Kris’ attention to the African-American guy saying that Burton and he had seemed real tight. Daryl said that the black guy’s name, or rather what he went by, was Sly Dog and that he was well known around the area for selling drugs - maybe he and Burton had had ‘business’ dealings.

Jill had also noticed Sly Dog watching them. He seemed very nervous when they looked over at him. Daryl and the other guy working with him seemed to hate Sly and had no problem sending Kris and Jill his way, or implicating him with Ted Burton. As they walked towards Sly and away from the old mini-van, which had probably last seen a ‘better day’ around the time of Desert Storm, Mr. Dog seemed to act like a deer caught in a car’s headlights. Kris also almost laughed out loud when the thought that here she, the ‘Sly Mike’ was going to question him, the ‘Sly Dog.’ Just how much of a ‘dog’ he really was was the real question.

“Mr….Sly Dog is it? I’m Kris Munroe, a reporter. I’m doing a story on people who’ve just gotten out of prison and the jobs they can still acquire. I’ve been told you knew a Ted Burton that worked here. Could you tell me what he was like here and where he might be so I can interview him.” Sly stared at Kris and Jill with fear and irritation. He seemed to be sizing up the situation as well as trying to locate the nearest and/or fastest exit.

“You were told I knew him, huh! I bet that hick, white piece of trailer-park trash Daryl told you that didn’t he?” Sly spat while giving a hateful glance towards Daryl and the other guy. They gave Sly a huge sarcastic smile and then flipped him off. Sly proceeded to call Daryl and the other guy a long line of profanities and four-letter-words, and then he seemed to calm down a degree. “Okay, reporter tight-ass, you want to know about Ted Burton? I’ll tell you. Meet me in the back alley, behind this shop. I don’t feel comfortable talking in front of all these other idiots, especially Daryl-the-dick. Only you, not your camera lady! Anybody else shows and I take a hike!” he declared. He then walked away. Kris turned to Jill.

“I love the dialogue of a druggie L.A. mechanic. It’s so……   educational,” she remarked sarcastically. Jill laughed.

“Oh, tell me about it! Now, let’s go meet Sly in the proverbial back alley,” Jill replied.

“Sure, no problem meeting a suspected drug dealer in a back alley. Just where are you going to be?” Kris inquired with a grin. Jill gave an ornery smile.

“I’ll be with…‘Simon’ coming around behind the ‘Dog!’ Kris laughed.

“Sis, you’ve been watchin’ way too many “Hunter” re-runs! I assume that means you’ll be covering my back,” Kris stated, still laughing.

“Of course! I’m coming around the other way. Hopefully, Sly won’t be so….‘sly’ and we can both take him by surprise. Now, don’t ‘knock’ “Hunter!” I loved the series the first time around and I’m still pissed at NBC for canceling the new revival series, just a couple months ago! As Hunter and McCall would say….‘Simon’ and I definitely got your back,” Jill declared. They both laughed again.

“Okay, ‘Fred Dryer,’ it works for me!” Kris exclaimed as they both headed for the alley. Kris went to one end and Jill to the other. Kris saw Sly Dog standing about half way down, smoking a cigarette. However, as she got closer, she realized it wasn’t a cigarette but a joint. The unmistakable smell of marijuana engulfed her as she came up to him.

“Alright, Sly, what do you have to tell me?” He took one last drag on the joint and then crushed the lit end out, putting what was left back in his dirty shirt pocket. Without warning, Sly suddenly had a hold of Kris’ arms! He slammed and pinned her up against the chain link fence that was the barrier between the alley and the next building behind the mechanics shop. He’d moved pretty quickly, especially for someone just smoking pot. Maybe being ‘high’ increased his reflexes, Kris thought.

“Yo, bitch! No more of this reporter crap! Now, why you lookin’ for Burton? He said that if anyone came around lookin’ for him or started asking questions that I should find out who and why. He said it’d probably be cops, and miss tight-ass, I smell cop! Now who are you and why ya’ lookin’ for Burton?” he screamed in Kris’ ear! If only she could sneak her hand in her purse and get her Glock. Where the hell was Jill? Then she heard her.

“Yo….Dog! I see only one bitch out here and I’m lookin’ at it! Now, why don’t you be a nice gentleman and let my sister go! Otherwise, I’ll splatter your black ass all over this alley!” Jill commanded. Sly started breathing hard and he let loose his grip on Kris. She immediately turned around and saw that Jill had her Glock to his head. She reached into her purse and got out her own and pointed it at Sly’s chest area.

“Okay, start talking! Did you supply Ted Burton with drugs?” Kris demanded. Sly shook his head yes and started pleading.

“Please don’t shoot me! I’m unarmed! You can’t shoot me unless I have a weapon out! Don’t arrest me! I wasn’t going to really hurt you, I swear I really wasn’t!”

“Shut up! We have no intention of doing any arresting! I think something else would be more appropriate anyway! Besides, we’re not done yet! Now listen up, have you been in recent contact with Ted Burton and where is he?” Kris screamed at him. Sly started shaking his head back and forth and he got a frightened look on his face.

“You aren’t cops, are ya’?” Kris smiled sarcastically and shook her head no. “Oh God…..you must be drug people he owes or something!” Sly whimpered, looking at Kris for some kind of answer. Kris immediately used his assumption to her and Jill’s advantage.

“You Got it!” she hissed, nuzzling her Glock closer to his chest. Sly moaned and sweat started running down his forhead.

“I haven’t talked to him for a couple weeks! I don’t know where he is! Now, let me go, don’t kill me!” he pleaded once he realized that Kris and Jill weren’t police and a simple arrest wasn’t what they had in mind. Kris looked at Jill.

“I don’t believe him. I think he thinks he can lie to us and we’ll actually go for it. Guess we’ll have to show him differently,” she declared.

“I agree!” Jill stated in agreement. “Say goodbye, Sly!” she declared as she moved a little back from him and once again aimed her Glock at his head. Sly yelped like a dog as urine gushed down the inner sides of his dirty work pants, turning them a shade darker than they already were. Kris and Jill both fought to keep from busting out laughing.

“Oh no, Jill, it seems Mr….‘Dog’ here forgot to hike his leg!” Kris exclaimed in a sarcastic, high-pitched tone of voice. “Now, why don’t you start telling the truth, Sly, and you might get to live through this!”

“Okay, okay! I’ll tell you, just please don’t shoot me! I hadn’t heard from Burton for over a week when just yesterday he called me, wantin’ some….nose candy, if you know what I mean. Even though the dude is crazy and he’d just gotten out of the joint not too long ago, he always somehow had money to pay me. I had no personal problems with the nut, and I didn’t want to create any, so I agreed to get him the snort. Besides, if you refuse him somethin’ he gets real nasty! Now, please let me go!”

“Couple more questions, Sly. Did you already deliver the cocaine to him or do you still have it?” demanded Jill!

“I’m supposed to go to an alley at this address he gave me and put it under the metal trash can, not the plastic ones. I’m supposed to do it at 4:00 today. I was going to go drop it off in just a little bit.” Kris looked at her watch and saw that it was 3:00. Jill forced him to tell them what the address was and it turned out to be an alley a block down from the apartments where Burton was listed to be living since getting out of prison. That was Kris and Jill’s next stop.

“Alright, Sly, get outta’ here! Don’t even think about contacting Burton and telling him anything about this! If you do, we’ll be back and next time you won’t be given the time to pee yourself! We’ll shoot first and ask questions later! Now, get lost before I decide to change my mind for the fun of it!” Kris yelled. Sly took off like a rabbit down the alley. “Think I’ll notify the police where they can pick up a loser drug dealer instead,” she muttered out loud after Sly had bolted. “Whew! That was interesting. Thanks, Jill! I hope he won’t contact Burton and tell him we’re on our way to his apartment.”

“No problem, Kris! I rather enjoyed that! I don’t think we have to worry about Sly telling Burton we’re on to him. He didn’t seem too fond of Ted himself, almost seemed afraid of him. I bet Sly skips town or finds a different part of the city to peddle his poison,” Jill replied. Once back in the Cobra, they headed towards Ted Burton’s apartment complex. They still didn’t notice the old green Ford following them as they headed into a neighborhood that was known to be dangerous during the day, let alone at night.

Jill pulled the Mustang into a cracked and pot hole-filled parking lot of the Mermaid Palms Apartment Complex. By the look of things, Kris speculated that the Mermaid Palms had probably been built some time during the Nixon Administration. From what she could tell the last time anyone had fixed or cleaned anything was probably when “Hawaii Five-0’s” Jack Lord was declaring—“Book ‘em, Danno!” every Thursday night.

The Mermaid Palms was in an extreme state of decay! The huge plastic mermaid and palm tree above the front entrance had definitely seen better days. The colors had long since faded and ran together from years of sun and weather abuse. They now looked like grotesque, gaudy invitations to apartments of hell! Several of the apartment units seemed to be abandoned for the windows were busted out, some doors even looked as though they’d been kicked in, and the gaping holes where air conditioning units once were gave one the idea that the filthy, crazy world of roaches and rats was beckoning from just beyond.

The pool was one of the biggest eyesores of all and had obviously not been used in years! The old wrought iron tables and chairs had been white at one time but had long since turned black and dark orange with rust. Several chairs and one of the tables were toppled over on their sides and were bent up as though someone had taken a sledge hammer to them. The umbrellas that were left might once have been yellow and white striped but, just as the plastic figures on the front entrance had, the colors had long since bled together and now looked as though someone had repeatedly urinated on them. Kris snickered to herself as the snide thought that maybe Sly had been the last one to use them occurred to her. The pool itself was only half full of the most foul brown and black, mud looking sludge that Jill or Kris had ever seen! As they stepped out of the Cobra, the smell from the pool that wafted over made Jill think they’d just entered a sewer.

“Care for a swim, anyone?” she joked.

“I think I’m gonna’ hurl!! That stench is horrible! They could have at least drained the thing at some point!” Kris cried, covering her nose and mouth with her hand in disgust. “What apartment was Burton in?”

“It was 305. Let’s check it out. Make sure you have your gun.”

“Oh, believe me, after seeing that pool and…. the ‘Little Mermaid’s’ dead grandma above the front entrance, the gun is at a second’s reach!” Kris jokingly replied. “I’m afraid they both might crawl up behind us and attack!” Jill laughed as they walked towards unit 305. No one, of course, answered the knock at the door. Kris pulled out a small leather case full of different sizes and kinds of lock picks, and after the door was open, they both searched the filthy horror that Burton had supposedly called home for a few weeks. It contained nothing but junk and filth—comprising mostly of roaches, mouse droppings galore, dirty crusty clothes, rotted food, tons of cigarette butts, empty beer and/or whiskey bottles, and porno magazines.

“Well, what a ‘prince’, huh! He hasn’t been here for at least a couple days, if not longer. Maybe we should stake-out that garbage can down the block,” Jill suggested. Kris agreed and got her cell phone out to let Charlie, Kelly, and Sabrina know what they planned to do and then they went back down towards the Cobra.

As they were starting to cross the parking lot, out of the corner of her eye, Kris saw an old rusted out green ’73 or ’74 Ford Galaxie 500 drive in. She didn’t think anything about it at first because the old Galaxie seemed to go along with the apartment complex so perfectly. Halfway across the parking lot, the green Ford decided to make itself known! As Jill and Kris were making more remarks about the Mermaid Palms’ pool, the screeching of tires and the roar of the dilapidated engine suddenly got their full attention!

“Jill, look out!” Kris screamed as she shoved her sister out of the path of the oncoming car. She herself hopped up onto the hood of an old 1980’s Buick. The old Ford smashed into the Buick, sending Kris flying to the ground! When she looked back around, her heart gave a lurch as she recognized Ted Burton behind the wheel of the green Galaxie. He leaned out the window and aimed an old revolver at her, and she barely had time to jump out of the way before the shot sounded and one of the windows of the Buick exploded!

“Stupid whore! I’ll kill you yet!” Burton wildly screamed as he threw the Ford back into reverse. The thirty year old transmission, and now smashed front end, groaned in protest as the old Galaxie tried to back up. Kris jumped out from behind the Buick, her Glock in hand and she pointed it at Burton, whose Galaxie was barely moving as engine fluids and steam came gushing from underneath the bashed in hood. The transmission, and probably several other major parts, had obviously blown.

“Freeze! Stop the car, throw your gun out, and get out with your hands in the air! You okay, Jill?” Kris yelled at the top of her lungs, as Jill came around the other side of the Ford.

“I’m great! Thanks, sis, for returning the favor,” Jill stated, aiming her gun at Burton too. Ted Burton and Kris locked eyes and his brimmed with hate. “Get your hands up and get out of the car!” Jill commanded. By now several other tenants and spectators had gathered around to see what the commotion was. Jill yelled at them to stay back and then got her cell phone out to call the police. Burton then got out of the Galaxie and started towards Kris!

“That’s far enough, Burton! I said get your hands in the air!”

“You sent me to prison, Angel bitch! Now you’re gonna’ pay with your life!” Suddenly, out of nowhere, he had the revolver in hand and started shooting at her! Kris flew to the ground and rolled behind the Buick again. The second Burton stopped firing, she popped up with her Glock and fired twice! The back driver’s side window of the Galaxie exploded and a nice sized hole appeared in the fender below it as her shots pelted the old Ford.

“Drop the gun, NOW!!” Jill screamed from the other side, her Glock pointed straight at his chest. He whirled around at her and fired two more times. However, the second he’d turned towards her, Jill had dived behind a nearby dumpster just as his shots slammed into it! As Burton’s attention had suddenly turned towards Jill, Kris was finally able to get her aim. As his shots at Jill hit the dumpster, Kris fired her gun once, hitting Burton in his right shoulder. He instantly dropped his revolver and fell to the ground, grabbing his shoulder and screaming his head off.

“Jill, you okay?” Kris yelled again.

“No problem!” Jill replied and both she and Kris held Burton at gunpoint while waiting for the police. However, he soon stood and continued screaming vile threats at both of them.

“Shut up, psycho, and tell us who hired you to terrify Kris!” Jill’s demand suddenly quieted him and he looked as if he’d been smacked in the face.

“How did you….I don’t know what….shut up! You’re trying to trick me! Stupid whores! I’m not telling you nothin’!” he screamed in anger and pain. Then he eyed Kris with unbelievable hatred. “Especially you, slut! I should have killed you over twenty years ago! Instead, I gave up way too easy and you sent me to prison! But not this time, no more waitin’ for the okay from Master. I’m gonna’ kill you my way and in my time! From now on be lookin’ over your shoulder, bitch, because I’m gonna’ be there!” By now he’d turned as red in the face as his shoulder was getting. He also had started to back away from them into the middle of the parking lot, like he thought Kris and Jill were actually going to let him go.

“Where do you think you’re going? Don’t move another muscle until the cops get here! Now, who is this….master person, Burton? Who hired you to do this?” Kris demanded! Suddenly, another squealing of tires grabbed the attention of all three of them. A white Chrysler Cirrus flew into the parking lot and aimed straight at Ted Burton! Both Kris and Jill screamed at him to look out and get out of the way but he didn’t seem to comprehend. The hood of the Chrysler buckled and a large red spatter of blood shot across it, giving it a white-on-red marbleized effect, as the Cirrus slammed into him, sending him flying off to one side.

Jill and Kris immediately started running over to him. However, they both stopped and stared in shock at the Chrysler and what its driver did next. The windows were all darkened so they couldn’t see who was driving but the driver’s side window suddenly lowered part way. A gloved hand appeared with a crossbow gun and fired an arrow straight into Burton’s already dead body! Jill’s hand covered her mouth and Kris cried out in horror as the Chrysler roared out of the parking lot as fast as it had come. They rushed over to the body as the far off sounds of police sirens were starting to get closer. Suddenly, Kris noticed a thick piece of paper around the arrow that had pierced Burton’s chest, it had the word ‘Angels’ on it. Jill ran over to the Cobra and got out the first-aid kit. She got a couple latex gloves out and ran back over and gave them to Kris. Kris tore the paper off the arrow as carefully as she could to read it.

“What the hell is that?” Jill exclaimed! Kris was silent for a few moments, then handed her the paper. The sickening taunt read: “Only a pawn, Angels—and a stupid one at that! You’ll have to dig a lot deeper to find the master of this game. Need a little clue? Here goes—You’re above the sea and the ambiance is equestrian! Good luck, and remember—I’m watching….and waiting!”

“What is this talking about? What does that bizarre clue mean?” Jill cried! She noticed that Kris had gotten a strange look on her face. “Kris, what’s wrong, babe? What is it?” Kris shook her head in confusion. Jill put her arms around her and hugged her. “It’s okay, Kris, we’re fine and we’re all still here!” She led her away from Burton’s body, as police cruisers flew into the Mermaid Palms almost as fast as Burton’s Galaxie and the mysterious assassin’s Chrysler had.

“Jill, I….I know this sounds crazy but that clue….I’ve heard it before, or something like it. I can’t remember where or from whom….but it sounds so familiar!”

“Is it something you’ve maybe said or quoted while doing a story or interview?” Jill suggested. Kris shook her head.

“No….no, it’s nothing like that. Oh….I know I’ve heard something like it before but I can’t think where!” she yelled in frustration.

“Don’t worry about it now. Right now we need to tell the police what happened, then call Charlie.” Kris nodded her head in agreement as she tried to steady her shaking legs and allow her slamming heart to slow down. She then added a sarcastic comment.

“Aren’t we getting a little old for this?”

Jill smiled and winked at her. “Never!” she stated, still smiling. Kris smiled back and then despite the gruesome events that had just occurred, she let out a snide laugh. Jill gave her sister a bizarre look. “You wanna’ tell me what’s all of a sudden so darn funny?”

“Is it just me, Jill, or have almost all of the criminals or murderers we’ve ever gone after driven an old Ford? What is it about a mid-‘70’s Galaxie that attracts these nuts?” Jill exploded into hearty laughter!

“I have no idea, good question though! I’m also glad to hear that you haven’t lost your sense of humor! Now, let’s go explain World War III to the ‘lost-lookin-rookies’ over there. Come on,” Jill said as she put her arm around Kris and they walked over to the officers and began the wild tale.

CHAPTER 17: KELLY GARRETT-“DISCO ANGEL DANCES LIFE’S LESSON OF…STAYIN’ ALIVE, STAYIN’ ALIVE AH, AH, AH, AH, STAYIN’ ALIVE!”

After leaving the office with the top down on the new Mustang, Kelly headed for the Mirror Ball. She decided to stop there first and see Mario. Then she’d head over to Barbara Owens’, Harry Owens’ sister’s, house to see if she’d heard from or had any contact with Harry lately. Kelly turned the radio to a local rock station that played a mixed compilation of songs starting from the ‘60’s and on through to the present. When she pulled away from the office building the summer breeze was whipping through her hair and the 1969 hit “Incense and Peppermints”, by Strawberry Alarm Clock, came blaring out of the speakers. Kelly hummed along as she thought that with the awesome new car, the music, and gorgeous weather—it was almost enough to make her forget that psychotic killers were after all of them….almost enough. But, almost only counts in horseshoes. As Strawberry Alarm Clock gave way to a new song by Nickleback, Kelly’s cell phone rang on the seat beside her.

“Hello?” It was Alan. “Hi, babe! I’m fine! Yes, we’re making progress. I don’t have time to go into all of it right now but I’m on my way to talk to a couple people. Honey, I don’t know when all of this will be over. When we find out who set this all up, I guess. No, I don’t need you to come down to try and help….at least right now I don’t. I don’t want you put in danger because of me! I know you don’t care but I do! Alan, I don’t want to argue! I’ve gotta’ go. I love you! I’ll talk to you later tonight and tell you what I’ve found out. Bye.”

The Mirror Ball parking lot was packed, even at 3:30 in the afternoon! Judging by the cars that were there, Kelly speculated that people with money definitely frequented the club. She pulled the Mustang up to the front entrance and a valet helped her out. Another one opened the door for her and as she entered, The Village People’s “Macho Man” was vibrating throughout the whole building. The Mirror Ball was obviously one of the more popular retro dance clubs in L.A. It was very lavishly decorated and the drinks, food, and service were superb! Kelly was impressed, for the last time she’d really spent any time around a disco club was when they’d investigated the bum murders around Freddie’s Dico. The Mirror Ball made Freddie’s look like a corny, get-to-know-everyone college dance. The dance floor was full of people and so were the tables and booths. Kelly walked over to the bar and asked the bar tender if she could speak to a Mario Montero. But, a voice behind her interrupted.

“Kelly Garrett! How are you? You still are beautiful!” Kelly turned around and there was Mario with a huge smile on his face.

“Mr. Montero!” Kelly replied, smiling too. He took her hands and kissed them.

“Call me Mario, please! My, my, age has definitely been kinder to you than me! You don’t look any older than the last time I saw you, and that was….twenty-four years ago! What’s your secret?” he praised her. Kelly laughed.

“Oh right, Mario, I wouldn’t go that far! But, thank you very much! You don’t look that bad yourself!” she defended him, noticing only a slight gray hue starting to form around his temples. However, she thought it only made him look that much more distinguished. “How are you doing?” Kelly asked as Mario led them over to a private booth and ordered champagne.

“I am doing wonderful! My law practice is going great and has allowed me to have this little jewel,” he replied as he referred to the dance club. “I even still get on the dance floor myself and show the younger generation how it’s really done.” Kelly laughed heartily.

“I bet you do, too! I remember your father could disco better than most of the people at Freddie’s could.” Mario smiled and nodded his head in agreement as the champagne was set down in front of them and they both took a sip.

“Charlie told me about what happened to you and who is responsible. I am so sorry, Kelly! I can’t hardly believe that Harry Owens is out-and-about. After what he tried to do to pop and what he did do to those poor homeless men, I would think he’d be locked up for the rest of his life! If I’d have known that they were releasing him, I would have tried every legal way I know of to stop it!”

“I know, Mario, and I’m sorry! I would have thought Harry would’ve never gotten out either, but I guess the mental hospital decided to declare him sane after that long. As usual, they were wrong. This is a huge long-shot, Mario, but have you noticed anyone weird, acting strange, or causing a ruckus hanging around? Any kind of threats, strange warnings or phone calls?” Mario shook his head.

“No, nothing like that. The guys at the door are trained to watch for ‘weirdoes’ trying to get in. If they feel someone should not be admitted, for whatever reason, then they have the authority to refuse them. If someone really causes a scene then I’m usually called down to the front entrance to help deal with it. It hardly ever happens! As far as threats or warnings, nothing like that has happened to me, both at the firm or here at the club. I’m afraid that Harry Owens has singled you out for revenge. If there is anything I can do, Kelly, please let me know!”

“Thank you, Mario! Here is a copy of a recent picture of Harry Owens that Charlie gave me,” said Kelly as she handed him the color 8x10. “The number of Charlie’s office building and my cell phone number are on the back of it. If you could just keep your eyes open and call me if you see anything, I’d really appreciate it!”

“No problem! I’ll keep an eye out and give copies of this picture to the guys at each of the entrances as well as the valets in the parking lot. I’ll call you the second I think I’ve seen him or if anything strange occurs.” Then Mario wanted to know all about her and her life now.

“I’m very happily married and have two awesome children….who are not children anymore. They’re both attending UCLA. I am now a grief counselor at the hospital where my husband is a heart surgeon. I am truly satisfied and love it! I loved working for Charlie but with this counseling job, I feel like I can really help people deal with their problems. Besides, I never believed that I’d ever be working for Charlie again, especially after Bosley passed away,” Kelly informed him. Mario nodded his head.

“I remember when John died. I read about it in the newspapers and I don’t know if you remember or not but I did attend the funeral. By the way, how is Kris? I’ve never had a disco partner as good as she was! Does she still dance as wonderful as she did when we were all at Freddie’s?” Mario inquired. Kelly laughed, remembering the conversation that she and the other Angels had had earlier about that.

“I don’t know, Mario. I’ll ask her the next time I talk to her. They talked for a little while longer then Kelly decided she better go talk to the music store owner and Barbara Owens. She promised that she’d tell Kris and Sabrina ‘hi’ for Mario, then left The Mirror Ball. The black Mustang GT was waiting for her when she walked out the front door. Mario must have called ahead and told the valets to have her car waiting for her when she came out. The valet, as a polite gesture, reached out for her hand as Kelly walked down the few steps of the main entrance.

“Here you go, Miss. Hot car for a hot lady! Maybe I could…get a ride sometime,” he said with a smile. Kelly turned around in surprise. Even though the blonde, blue-eyed valet was probably around twenty-five or twenty-seven, she realized he was flirting with her….possibly making a proposition for something more serious. She smiled then held up her wedding band finger, causing the sun to make the gold band wrapped around it sparkle.

“Sorry, dude, but I guess you could say I’m spoken for.” The valet smiled, in spite of the disappointment Kelly saw in his eyes.

“Hey, babe, you can’t blame a guy for trying, can you?” She laughed.

“I guess not! Twenty years ago we might have had a chance, but I don’t think my husband would approve now.” The valet smiled again.

“I get you. However, age doesn’t matter to me, beauty is beauty.” Kelly smiled and thanked him. Then she got into the Mustang and headed for the music store where Harry Owens had last worked. Half way there her cell phone rang again. It was Charlie.

“I just got a call from the LAPD. They got an anonymous call telling them where to find a body in a warehouse. They think it’s Owens.”

“What! Harry Owens is dead? Are they sure, Charlie?” Kelly exclaimed in shock!

“They’re pretty sure! They also found something with the body that refers to us. The police want you to come to the warehouse.” Charlie gave her the address and instructions on the fastest route to take. When she got there the old warehouse parking lot was full of police cruisers, as well as the morgue van, an unmarked police Crown Victoria, and what appeared to be an old ‘80’s ‘junker’ LTD. As she pulled in, two homicide detectives came over to her.

“You Miss Garrett?” one of them asked. She nodded her head.

“I’m Kelly Garrett. I work for Charles Townsend. He told me that you think the body in there is Harry Owens and that you found something with the body that pertains to our agency.” Both detectives nodded their heads and introduced themselves as Sgt. Bruce and Sgt. Eckley. Then they all headed into the warehouse. As they got towards the main storage room, Sgt. Eckley stopped her and said that the scene wasn’t very pretty to look at and that maybe she’d be better off not seeing it. But, Kelly wanted to make sure it really was Harry Owens. They continued into the room and she could see the coroner finishing up on the body. There was an immense amount of blood and as they approached, the coroner pulled back the sheet that was covering the corpse. Kelly shuddered and looked away. It was a gruesome sight and it made her stomach turn. She was glad that she hadn’t eaten anything with Mario. But….it was Harry. It felt so strange and very eerie seeing Harry Owens after so many years.  Someone had shot him through the middle of the forehead and the exiting of the bullet had tore off a good portion of the back of the head. Kelly told them that it definitely was Owens.

“We are going to have the sister, a Barbara Owens, identify the body later at the morgue but we are glad to know now for sure,” Sgt. Bruce stated.

“Charlie said that you received an anonymous call telling you where to find the body. Was the caller nervous, scared, or were they just factual and to-the-point?” Kelly asked.

“There was no emotion what so ever. We believe the caller to either be the killer themselves or someone who knows or has been involved with the deceased. We think the killer wanted us to find the body so we’d find this,” Sgt. Bruce said as he handed Kelly some latex gloves and a thick piece of bloody paper. “It’s okay, it’s already been dusted for prints and samples of the dried blood on it taken but wear the gloves just in case,” Eckley stated. Kelly put the gloves on and opened the piece of paper. The note read: “Rather expendable huh, Angels! I must admit, a rather fun expense at that! For, he was about as useful as a used piece of toilet paper! Hee hee! Are you wondering who I could be? I’ll give you a little clue to help you along. Here goes—Beyond the shore, and the route is circular. Good luck and remember I’m waiting….and watching!” Kelly shook her head in disgust.

“Oh boy! Talk about sick! You found this in Harry Owens’ hand?” Kelly asked.

“Yeah. I take it that you and Mr. Townsend had a past with the deceased then?” Sgt. Eckley inquired.

“Yes, but that was a very long time ago, back when Charlie and all of us still ran a detective agency. Harry Owens worked at a local disco club in 1979 and turned out to be a psychotic killer we were trying to catch.”

“Yeah, Eckley, remember? Capt. O’Riley filled us in somewhat before we came down here,” stated Sgt. Bruce. Eckley nodded.

“I know, I just wanted to get all the details possible and to see if Miss Garrett knew of anymore that O’Riley didn’t.”

“I’m sorry, guys, but I can’t think of anything else that you probably wouldn’t have already,” Kelly replied.

“Look, I’ve only been on the LAPD for five years. But the Charles Townsend Agency and you….Angels, as well as the cases you solved, are sort of legend around here. A lot of law enforcement agencies, both police and private ones, still talk or mention you guys from time-to-time. You all probably headed up one of the best detective agencies not only in L.A. but probably in the state of California! So, we don’t exactly understand the meaning behind this….bizarre clue in the note. We were hoping you could explain it since it’s intended for you and your agency,” said Sgt. Bruce. Kelly smiled and thanked him for the compliments but she shook her head when it came to the psycho note.

“Sgt. Bruce, I’m not exactly sure what it means. The weird part about it is that it does seem familiar, like I’ve heard it….or something very similar before. I just can’t think of where or by whom!” Kelly replied in frustration.

“Maybe it has something to do with your old case dealing with Harry Owens,” Sgt. Eckley suggested.

“It’s a very good possibility! However, we think that someone else has been hiring people that we helped send to prison, after they get out, and having them stalk or try to terrify us. Obviously Harry got to be too much of a liability or he was just no longer useful to the killer….or both. So, the bizarre clue could have something to do with that person and not necessarily with Harry,” said Kelly.

“Capt. O’Riley was telling us about that when he gave us the information on Owens. Is that the reason that the Townsend Agency is back in business?” Eckley asked with a smile. Kelly laughed.

“Well, so-to-speak, I guess. After we get all of this wrapped up and we find out whose set this all up, we’ll all be heading back to our present lives, I expect.” she stated as they all headed back out to the parking lot. Once there the two detectives showed Kelly the old LTD and told her that that had been Owens’ car. It had been reported stolen several weeks prior but the plates didn’t match. Obviously they’d been switched. They told her that the car had been gone through very thoroughly and the only things of importance found were a few pictures of Kelly, her address, a picture of her Lincoln SUV, and a picture of her house. It made her skin crawl to think that Harry Owens had probably been staking out her house and following her for days….maybe even weeks before trying anything. The detectives and Kelly finished up and after promising to keep Sgts. Bruce and Eckley informed of any new developments, she decided to go back to the office to see if any of the others had returned with new information on their angles of the case. There was really no longer any reason to see Barbara Owens or the music store owner. Kelly got into the Mustang and headed back towards Beverly Hills.

After running down Ted Burton, Master overheard on a police scanner that Harry Owens’ body had been discovered and that a Kelly Garrett was on her way over there. What a perfect opportunity! Then Master noticed a costume shop and pulled over. Master rented one that was ‘appropriate’ and then headed for the warehouse to wait for Kelly to come out and leave.

A few blocks from the warehouse, Kelly happened to notice a wrecked white Chrysler sitting near the mouth of an alley. It looked like there was some blood on the crimpled hood. She shuddered as she hoped it was some sort of an animal that had been hit and not a person. Suddenly, a late ‘90’s Monte Carlo roared up behind her and seemed to follow her every move. It screeched out from behind and up along side of her and then it started edging over, like it was trying to ram her! Her heart pounding, her pulse racing, Kelly looked over at the driver. The bizarre sight made her look twice—for ‘Mr. Ghost Face’ from the “Scream” movies seemed to be trying to run her off the road!

As ‘Ghostie’ came up along side of her again, he or she suddenly had a gun with a silencer in hand! The barely audible ‘pop’ of the deadened shot sounded as Kelly hit the brakes. The Monte Carlo flew by her as the shot barely missed and slammed into a parked Toyota. She tried to read a license plate number but she realized (probably intentionally done) mud seemed to be covering the tags and they weren’t readable. With one hand still trying to steer the Mustang, she reached over with her other one and got the Glock out of her purse. However, Kelly knew that it could be dangerous to start shooting her gun with just one hand. Her aim would definitely be off and could fire a bullet into an innocent bystander. Plus, her wrist would probably get jerked around pretty good as well. If she was going to give ‘Scream Man’ a bullet-to-bite, then she couldn’t be driving at the same time, she needed both hands if possible. She pulled into the next alley and drove down part way. She parked the Mustang up as close to one of the buildings as she could and decided to hide behind a dumpster a few feet away. If the Monte Carlo turned around and followed her down the alley, then she could have a clearer shot. There also wouldn’t be as many pedestrians or traffic either.

“Hey, lady, what the hell are you doin’?” came the strange voice from behind her. Kelly gave a short screech of surprise as she whirled around. It was a homeless guy under a whole bunch of gunky newspapers and cardboard box pieces. He was staring at the shiny Glock in her hand.

“Dude, beat it! You may not want to be around here in the next few minutes. Here’s a twenty, go buy some food, NOT ALCOHOL, and get lost!” Kelly yelled, throwing a twenty dollar bill at him. The bum got a scared look on his face when he saw the frightened look Kelly was giving him. Even though she was dressed nice, drove a nice car, and didn’t really look they type to be involved in gun battles, he had no intention of arguing with the end of a silver colored Glock!

“No problem, thanks lady!” he replied, snatching the twenty up and bolting back up the alley. Almost as soon as the bum turned out of the alley, the Monte Carlo and its psycho driver appeared at the mouth. The car stopped for a few seconds, as if it was checking out the situation before proceeding. Suddenly the screaming and smoke of the peeling tires filled the alley as the Monte Carlo shot forward. Her Glock aimed straight out, Kelly stepped out from behind the dumpster in time to see it barreling straight for her! She aimed her gun with steady precision and fired twice before jumping onto the Mustang’s hood, removing herself from the death-path of the oncoming car!

Both shots penetrated the windshield, continuing straight through and shattering out the back one. Whoever was inside would have to be covered in glass! Only heavy clothing….or a ‘Ghost Face’ costume could have protected the driver from serious cuts. The Monte Carlo continued without slowing, however it side-swiped the brick side of the building when her bullets flew through the windshield. It reached the other end of the alley and squealed a right turn, disappearing off into the city.

For the first few minutes after the attacker had gone, Kelly sat on the hood of the Mustang, waiting for her heart to stop pounding and her legs to stop shaking. “It’s been awhile since I’ve done something like this!” she exclaimed out loud to herself, trying to get her breath. After she got herself calmed down, she picked up her cell phone and called Charlie. Kelly told him what happened and that she was on her way back to the office.

CHAPTER 18: SABRINA AND ANDY DUNCAN - “HIT-N-RUN ON ANGEL-N-SON!”

After leaving Charlie’s office, Sabrina and Andy headed for Lisa Glover’s last known address.

“This T-Bird’s pretty awesome! I’d prefer red or black ones but I guess dark green is okay too,” Andy commented, surveying the car.

“Well, the dark green Thunderbird has a special significance for us since it’s the same car that Bosley drove. Besides, be glad we’re not driving an orange Pinto,” Sabrina replied, laughing and rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, what was all that about back at the garages? You mean that’s the car you used to drive when working for Uncle Charlie? Oh man, that’d suck! You’ve always said that you’d hated the car you drove for Uncle Charlie but I had no idea it was that ugly!” Andy stated, shaking his head and smiling. Sabrina chuckled.

“Yeah, that was the car I got to drive….orange plaid interior and all! Hey, I helped catch many a bad guy with that car!” she exclaimed in joking defense of the Pinto. Andy laughed.

“Uh huh, sure! While you were….catching your bad guys, your car was probably scaring the….‘good guys’ away!” he shot back. Sabrina groaned and laughed.

“Oh sure, the smart mouth finally reveals itself! You can thank your father for that nice little trait.”

“Nice try, Mom! You and I both know the smart-ass comes from your side of the family,” Andy teased back. This threw both of them into hearty laughter and Sabrina reached over and jokingly ‘popped’ him on the back of his head with her hand. They spent the rest of the time with Sabrina telling Andy about one of the old cases with Charlie - where he had the Angels investigating some sabotage incidents and attempted murder at a famous circus passing through town.

Lisa Glover’s house was small but neat. Compared to Ted Burton’s apartment it was a palace. No one was home and Andy began walking around the outside.

“Well, there’s nothing out here to suggest a psycho ever lived here,” he jokingly remarked, walking back onto the small porch. Sabrina took a couple more looks up and down the street to make sure there weren’t any neighbors out-and-about. She then proceeded to the back of the small cottage style home. “Mom, I’ve already been back here, there’s nothing,” Andy declared, following her.

“There’s nothing outside….we haven’t checked inside yet, have we?” she replied, taking out a tiny case full of different lock picks. She then began working on the back door.

“Uh….correct me if I’m wrong but we aren’t cops and we don’t have a warrant for this. Isn’t this called breaking an entering?” Andy stated, eyeing his mother with surprise.

“We aren’t here to steal or vandalize anything. We’re only here to search for clues that would help us find Lisa Glover. Besides, I told you before, ‘Andyrew,’ that working for Charlie is a little different than Malcovitch and Blane Insurance Firm. Sometimes you take bigger risks to get to the truth. You’re the one who was bound and determined to come along for the ride! If it bothers you too much you can wait out here and be a….look-out or something,” Sabrina taunted.

“Are you kidding! This is way too much fun and exciting to pass up! I’m with you all the way, remember?” Andy replied. They began searching the house. It was very plain with hardly any furnishings but it was clean. However, in a small, unused back bedroom, Andy discovered a bizarre shrine of some kind. “Mom, come look at this!” he exclaimed.

Sabrina came in and stared in shock. In one corner a sick little shrine of revenge had been set up. A dozen, or so, pictures of Sabrina had been put up on the wall. Some of the pictures were years old while others were fairly recent. Most of them had red X’s across them, darts poked into them, slashes
cut through them, or the word Bitch crudely written across them. In a couple of the pictures Sabrina’s eyes had been poked out, and with a red marker fake blood had been oozed from the eye holes down into her face. There were other old photographs of Capt. Bill Glover and a little girl, some were even black-n-white and were probably taken in the early to mid-1960’s. There were also, old yellowed and frayed newspaper articles talking about a 1977 attempted hijacking of a Global Airways passenger jet airplane and its new automated pilot system. In the article there were photographs of Capt. Bill Glover, Cliff Culver-airline executive, head stewardess Angela Harris, murdered stewardess Marilyn Bassett, Sabrina, Kelly, Kris, and Bosley. The small photos of Sabrina had large red slashes through them, probably with the same red marker.

“I’d say this Lisa woman definitely has it in for you, Mom! Look at all this crazy crap, what a nut!”

“Yeah, I’d say she is definitely crazy, crazy with hate,” Sabrina replied, still staring in horrific amazement. “Andy, let’s get out of here and back to the office. We’ll tell Charlie what we found out on the way back and have him tell the cops to check it out. Right now let’s leave; this whole….whacked-out photo display thing is giving me the creeps!” They left the house and walked towards the T-Bird.

As they got to the middle of the yard, Andy happened to look to his left, luckily he did too! Unlike Kris and Jill, this run-away car had made no squealing of the tires so there had been no warning. Andy yelled for his mother to look out and shoved her out of the way as a late model Ford Crown Victoria bore down on both of them! Andy threw himself to the other side as the car roared through the yard, tearing up grass and leaving ruts.

“Mom, are you okay?” he screamed as he popped back up!

“I’m alright, Andy, here they come again! Look out!” Sabrina screamed back as the Crown Vic shot straight at them again! She was able to see into the car as she ran off to one side. It was a blonde woman with a goofy hat and sunglasses on—probably the same blonde woman from the Phoenix airport and even more likely Lisa Glover. The Ford followed her move and aimed straight at her! Sabrina was sure that the bumper would take her leg out at any second when she suddenly heard gun fire! Three shots were fired and she heard glass shatter and one of the tires blow. She immediately threw herself to the left and rolled.

As the Crown Vic shot past her and rolled to a stop, Sabrina took her Glock out from the back of her jeans and immediately stood. She looked over to Andy and saw that he still had his gun aimed at the Ford. She then looked over at the car and saw the blonde woman starting to get out.

“Freeze, Get out of the car and get your hands up now!” Sabrina screamed at the blonde, her gun pointed straight at her. The woman proceeded to get out but refused to put her hands in the air. She just stared at Sabrina and started screaming curse words and threats at her. By now she’d taken the big hat and sunglasses off, it definitely was Lisa Glover! Andy got his cell phone out and called the police, all the while Lisa was still screaming at the top of her lungs at his mother.

“Lisa, shut up! The police are on the way, it’s over! Why don’t you try telling me who hired you to do the black rose thing to me!” Sabrina demanded. The moment she’d said her name, Lisa grew quiet and looked somewhat shocked.

“You know who I am? Then you know why I want to kill you! You killed my father! Now I want to kill you!” Lisa screamed back.

“Lisa, Capt. Glover was accidentally killed aboard the plane he tried to hijack! It was an accident and not even one I committed! He was shot by the stewardess he was trying to terrify! I didn’t shoot him!”

“I know who technically pulled the trigger but that woman was out of her mind, she didn’t know what she was doing! You were the one who screwed everything up! I’ve read all the reports and done all the research on the case. If you hadn’t gotten involved and would have let everything alone, then none of that would ever have happened! My father would still be alive! He wasn’t a killer, he just needed some money to pay off some gambling debts! Stealing and selling off the autopilot system seemed the best way, no one was supposed to get hurt or die!”

“Lisa, Marilyn Bassett, one of the other stewardesses, was purposely murdered with a black rose left on her body! That was not an accident!” Sabrina cried.

“That was all Cliff Culver’s idea! My father did not intend to kill anybody!” screamed Lisa in reply.

“Both of them planned the hijacking and people got hurt! He might not have planned on people getting hurt or killed but they did! You live by the sword, you run a good chance of dying by the sword. Unfortunately, your father decided to use a sword so-to-speak, and he suffered the consequences. A lot of other people had to suffer those consequences as well! Lisa, nobody killed your father, he caused his own death!” Sabrina tried to explain.

“You lie, bitch! If you hadn’t gotten involved everything would have gone fine. The cops could’ve gone after Culver for the murder of Marilyn Bassett and my father would’ve gotten the money, paid his gambling debts, and would still be alive! Instead, you had to screw up everything! You caused my father to be taken from me! From foster homes to orphanages, you put me through hell! So, when I came back here I was only too ready to put you through hell!”

“You mean after you got released from prison, you were hired by someone to stalk and try to terrify me with the black roses, sort of a ghost from the past come back to haunt me. I need to know who hired you, Lisa. It’s over for you but if you were just an accomplice in this then you possibly might be able to get a reduced sentence. Who hired you?” Sabrina demanded! Lisa looked at her in surprise and eyed her cautiously, almost as if she felt like Sabrina was a psychic and was reading her mind.

“I don’t know where you got your information but I’m not telling you nothin’!” Lisa hissed at her. By this time police sirens could be heard off in the distance. Sabrina tried once more.

“The police are coming, Lisa! This is your last chance to come clean. Who hired you to stalk me?”

“Nice try….Angel!” Lisa spat sarcastically. “But you’ll never know!” Without warning, Lisa Glover suddenly kicked the gun out of Sabrina’s hand and made a run for it.

“Hey, stop! Don’t move!” Andy yelled. He fired a round at her as she ran between the houses and disappeared. The shot missed but barely as Andy turned back to his mother. “Mom, are you okay?” he inquired while Sabrina held her kicked hand and looked off towards the direction that Lisa had ran.

“I’m fine, just got my hand knocked around pretty good. Damn it! Why didn’t I see that coming!”

"Mom, neither of us could’ve known she was going to bolt like that, I mean she had two Glocks pointed at her for God’s sake! I just want to make sure your hand isn’t broken and that you’re alright,” Andy stated, a shade whiter and legs starting to shake as the realization of what had just gone down started to sink in. Sabrina looked at her son and chuckled.

“You okay too, Andy?” He nodded his head. “Then what’s the matter, ‘Andyrew?’ Not exactly like interrogating a fraudulent claim suspect or pretending to be someone else to get people to talk is it? You just got a little taste of what the other part of working for Charlie is like, Babe. It can be fun and exciting but it can also scare the crap out of you too!” Andy nodded his head again.

“No kidding! But, I’m still with you all the way! Now that I’ve seen what happens in this business, I definitely need to stay with you, there’s no way I can let any of you deal with this on your own! I have to help and make sure all of you are okay!” he replied. Sabrina smiled and shook her head.

“Of course, I should’ve known! You know, I think you’re right, you are just like me! Instead of turning away from dangerous situations you stay to try and figure them out! I’m proud of you, Andy.” By now the cops had arrived. Andy and Sabrina answered their questions and filled them in on what’d happened. Then they took the Thunderbird back to the office.

CHAPTER 19: KELLY, SABRINA, & ANDY - “THE ‘PSYCHO’ MOTEL!”

Back at the office everyone discussed the events of the afternoon with each other to try and figure out the next step.

“Well, I think we can now all safely assume Charlie was right. Someone definitely hired these people to come after us and now that he….or she has no further use for them, they’re killing them off,” stated Sabrina.

“That’s putting it mildly! After seeing what the psycho did to Ted Burton, I’d call it butchering!” Jill exclaimed.

“The….master, as Burton put it, is also obviously taunting us to try and find him or her. I don’t know about everyone else here but those crazy so-called clues mean something to me. I swear I’ve heard them before, or something like them! I think this killer is, in some sick twisted way, telling us where to go to find them,” said Kris as she got herself a Skky Blue out of the mini fridge, behind the bar and poured it into a cobalt colored glass. Kelly nodded her head.

“Definitely, Kris is right! I’ve heard them before too! Except, something isn’t quite right….I don’t know what it is but even though we’ve heard these sayings before somewhere, they still don’t sound right.” Kelly then asked Kris for a Skky Blue and Kris poured one into a cobalt glass and handed it to her.

“Well, we need to find Lisa Glover and fast! If what we suspect is happening is, then she should be the next victim on the assassin’s list! Lisa is now a definite liability and I would presume that the killer is now madly looking for her. If the ‘master’ gets to her before we do, then I suspect we’ll find another body with another bizarre phrase left for us,” added Sabrina. The phone rang and Jill hit the speaker box button.

“Hello, Angels, how are you all doing after today’s events?”

“We’re all a little shaken, Charlie. We haven’t done this kind of work for a long time and it takes a little getting used to again,” Kelly replied.

“I’m just glad to know all of you are safe. I’m sorry all of you had to experience what you did today! This was not my intention, to purposely put you back in danger, when I brought all of you back here. I was hoping to avoid it as much as possible.”

“It’s okay, Charlie. After all, we were already being terrorized anyway, so once we started investigating the who and the why, it would only seem logical that it might get dangerous along the way,” responded Sabrina as Kris handed her a cobalt glass of Skky Blue.

“Well, I have a small lead in possibly finding Lisa Glover. In the late ‘70’s a small run-down motel closed. It was called the Baze Motel and it was originally started by Lisa Glover’s aunt - a woman named Marion Baze. She died of acute alcoholism in 1978 and the motel shut down. The property then went to a Carl Baze, a cousin of Lisa. However, the motel was never re-opened. Baze just used it for storage until he was killed in a car accident in 1984. The motel then went to Lisa, but, as far as anybody can tell, she never did a thing with it. It has sat totally unused for the past nineteen years, and slowly falling apart. In fact the city of Santa Monica has taken possession of it and scheduled it for demolition in two months. It seems the taxes haven’t been paid in several years and parents in the area its located are complaining. Teens are using it as a….well shall we say a copulating spot and younger children like to sneak in and explore it. The parents see it as an unsafe eyesore and want it gone,” Charlie explained.

“And you think Lisa maybe remembered the motel and has gone there to hide?” Andy asked.

“It’s the only shot we’ve got in finding her. Otherwise we’ve got nothing,” Charlie replied.

“Who’s going to go with Bri to this motel?” Jill asked. Immediately, Andy was demanding he was going. Sabrina then immediately objected but Kelly said that she’d come along too and that the three of them could go check the old motel out.

“We’ll stay here and see what we can make out of these clue-phrases. When you all get back, we’ll go out and get something to eat,” said Kris as Sabrina, Andy, and Kelly headed for the door. They decided to take Kelly’s Mustang since the new Thunderbirds no longer had back seats and were only  two-person cars. On the way to the Baze Motel, Andy wanted to know about more cases they’d solved while working for Charlie. Kelly ended up telling him about one that actually happened after Sabrina had left Townsend Investigations and Tiffany had come to work with them.

“Did you ever read the novel “The Terrible Game?” Kelly asked him as she once again drove towards a run-down part of Santa Monica.

“Oh yeah, I love that book!”

“Well, I’m not so fond of that story anymore, especially after what happened to Kris, Tiffany, and myself on a deserted island in Mexico.” She then proceeded in telling Andy about a man named Malcom Case, who tricked the Angels into coming to a deserted island so he could, one-by-one, hunt them down and kill them. All of this was to get revenge on Charlie.

By the time they pulled into the Baze Motel, Andy had Kelly and his mother almost chocking with laughter with a Phoenix Police story of his own. One night when Andy was doing a ride-along with a couple black-n-whites, they got a call that there’d been an attempted break-in at a house in the suburbs—which was being rented by two sisters attending Phoenix University. It seems that while they were out a fifteen year old boy decided to try and pull a quick B&E. He tried to pull himself through the dog hole in the back door. Even though he was a skinny kid, the hole still wasn’t big enough for him to fit through and he got stuck about half way.

No matter how hard he tried, or which way he moved, it only dug deeper into his skin. The moron suddenly realized he was caught! A few minutes later, the girls came home to a ‘bust’ of a boy sticking out of the back door in the kitchen and screaming his head off. At first the girls were frightened but after sizing up the situation they began to laugh hysterically. One of them called the police while the other one decided to do something further to ensure that their little thief would stay put till the cops came. She walked around to the back and came up behind the half-teen sticking out. The girl proceeded to pull the kid’s jeans and tighty-whities down to his ankles, so when the police and Andy arrived, there appeared to be a screaming bare butt sticking out of this back door.

“Oh my gosh, that is hilarious!! I wish I could’ve been there!” Sabrina exclaimed in laughter as they pulled into the cracked, pothole filled parking lot of the Baze Motel.

“Well….I think they should have called this the….Bates Motel instead!” Andy stated as they stared at the motel-in-shambles.

“No kidding! As the movie said, shall we check out cabin number one?” Kelly snidely remarked. Everyone laughed.

“Come on you guys, let’s check it out. Be careful, some of the unit’s roofs don’t look very safe. Nineteen years of un-use can turn wood into a soggy sponge,” Sabrina cautioned as they walked towards the motel’s first wing of rooms. They searched as many rooms as they felt safe enough to do so. In several of the old rooms they found old drug paraphernalia, left behind condoms (some still in their packets while others were already used), some empty beer cans and/or bottles, tons of cigarette butts, and several burnt ends of old marijuana joints. Junk left behind by teens thinking with their hormones instead of their heads. However, there was no sign of Lisa Glover.

“The only place left to check is the old office,” Kelly said. They walked towards the office and got out flashlights. By now the sun was setting and inside the old rooms was getting dark and very hard to see. The electricity had also not been hooked up for quite some time. Inside the office was full of old junk, probably left over from when Carl Baze had used it for storage. It was also full of dust, cobwebs, and rats.

“I hate rats! Why did it have to be rats!” Sabrina cried as the three of them started rifling through some old boxes.

“I think somebody’s been here recently! You can tell that the dust has been disturbed,” Andy commented as Sabrina started into a back room from the office.

“Maybe some of the sex-crazed teens came in here too,” Kelly suggested as she pulled off the top of a dust coated box—which was full of moldy, twenty year old porno magazines.

“Find anything interesting?” Andy asked while starting to sort through a pile of old papers.

“Oh….very interesting items!” she sarcastically stated as she held up one of the old magazines, which had a woman with breasts the size of honey dew melons and a guy with an erect penis practically the size of a baton on the cover. Obviously, certain ‘private’ parts had purposely been enlarged in the picture to give optimum effect. Andy laughed and then pretended to be shocked.

“Aunt Kelly, I’m….appalled! We really need to talk about what is proper reading material,” he remarked in a false tone of disapproval. Kelly flashed him a false smile.

“Cute, Mr. ‘Rew,’ real cute!” she threw back at him as she tossed the ‘naughty’ magazine aside.

Sabrina, meanwhile, was searching the back room. By now the sun had set and it was almost pitch black inside the old motel office. While opening an old closet her flashlight suddenly flickered out as she stepped into the small room. “Must be old batteries,” she thought to herself as she bumped into something hanging from the probable coat rack that ran from one side to the other. She shook the flashlight and smacked the side of it with her hand. It suddenly flickered back on as quickly as it had gone out, and Sabrina turned back around to see what she’d bumped into. A surge of shock and adrenaline exploded throughout her body as the bulging eyes and bloated face of a hanging, dead Lisa Glover was only inches from her own! Sabrina let out a scream of shock and dropped the flashlight, which of course immediately went out again.

“Bri, what is it, what’s wrong?” Kelly yelled as she and Andy rushed into the back room. As their flashlights picked out the slowly swaying body of Lisa Glover, they too stared in horror. Andy especially had only seen the legs of a deceased person from a distance once, on another police ride-along. It wasn’t exactly an everyday or night experience for him. Kelly went straight to Sabrina, who was still shaking. She looked Kelly in the eye and gave a shaky laugh.

“Ya’ know, Kel, I loved the three years I worked for Charlie, but….this is one part of the job I do NOT miss!” Kelly laughed and agreed, thinking about her own experience earlier that day in the alley with Mr. Scream. Andy got out his cell phone and called the police, then called Charlie and the other Angels and told them what had happened. While waiting for the police and the coroner to arrive, the three began to investigate the scene further while trying not to destroy any evidence.

“Here we go,” Andy stated as he held up a piece of paper. He handed it to Sabrina.

“Such a slut piece of trailer park trash huh, Angels! The only ones I’ll enjoy killing more than her, and the other two screw-ups, is all of you! Are you dumb ditzes still trying to figure out who I am? I’ll give you one more clue before I start taking you all out, one at a time! Here goes: In need of a boat no more, but the mood is festive! Happy hunting sluts! I’m waiting….and watching!” she read out loud. Andy gave his mother a bizarre look.

“What the hell is that talking about? I don’t understand it!” he exclaimed. Sabrina returned his look with a confused one of her own.

“Andy, I’ve heard those sayings before! For the life of me I can’t remember where!”

“Just like the other ones,” said Kelly from behind. “Bri, all these weird phrases left for us are telling us something. We all know we’ve heard something like them before. It has to do with an old case, I’m sure of it! We need Charlie to give us access to our old case files. I know the answer must be in those files somewhere, since all the rest of this seems to derive from them.”

“I agree, Kel, but first we have to answer the cop’s questions,” answered Sabrina as two police cruisers and a morgue van pulled in. They answered the officer’s questions then headed back to the office. Once there, they all decided to order sandwiches from a local deli and Andy and Jill went to pick them up. After eating everyone was so exhausted that they all went to their bedrooms, showered and/or bathed, and went to bed. The next day they planned to go through all the old case files and see if there was any connection between one of the old cases and the bizarre, but familiar, clues left by the assassin.

CHAPTER 20: DEATH BED CONFESSION - “GOTTA’ MAKE PEACE WITH CHARLIE!”>

Darrion Laymon was a thirty-seven year old, life-long, criminal—who had probably started his ‘colorful’ lifestyle around age five. He had been involved with gangs, drugs, assaults, robberies, and even a few murders. Darrion himself was never the actual trigger puller, but he’d been the one that supplied the weapon or put the person wanting someone out-of-the-way in contact with a hired gunman. For the most part Darrion didn’t like to commit, or even be present when, acts of violence were carried out. However, he had no problem helping set them up.

Ten years before, in the spring of ’93, Darrion Laymon was arrested and sent to prison for his involvement in several drug deals. Although the Charles Townsend Agency had been retired for twelve years, Charlie himself became involved. One of the unfortunate addicts who bought heroine from Laymon and another thug happened to be an 18 year old daughter of a police Capt. in Sacramento. Capt Reynolds and Charlie had been close personal friends for years, so when his daughter Tana OD’d on heroine purchased from Laymon, he personally asked Charlie to help.

Charlie was able to talk the D.A. into giving Darrion a reduced sentence if he secretly revealed the main supplier. He personally talked with Darrion and got him to tell who this supplier was and where he was located. Because of this the police were able to bust a big-shot business man that they’d been after for several years. Darrion only served five years and he swore to Charlie that he’d always be in debt to him. Even though Charlie tried to get Darrion help and out of the criminal lifestyle, Laymon chose to continue with it. Another five years of taking risks finally caught up with him. During a prostitution/drug bust gone bad, there was a police shoot-out and the ‘sword’ finally caught up with Darrion as he was critically wounded. He was rushed to L.A. General Hospital and was not expected to live. Darrion knew he probably wasn’t going to live through the night. There was something he had to do….he had to talk to Charles Townsend!

Charlie, with wig and false beard attached, walked down the hospital hallways towards the ICU wing. It had been several years since he’d last spoken to Darrion and he had to remember which disguise he’d used when dealing with him. For many years now Charlie had had a personal make-up and/or disguise artist go with him wherever he went—a female one of course. Only a small few knew what Charles Townsend really looked like. When dealing with most people Charlie would wear different disguises and this way no one person would really be able to recognize or identify him. Even though he’d been retired for twenty-two years, he still once in awhile was involved in certain law enforcement cases. The many disguises had actually come in very handy several times.

“You may speak to Mr. Laymon but only for a few moments! He’s been asking for you all afternoon,” the nurse informed Charlie as she opened the door to Darrion’s room.

“Hello, Darrion. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it.”

“Yeah, maybe too long. I should have listened to you, I know. I’m sorry, Charlie,” Darrion croaked out in a barely audible whisper.

“I’m sorry too. I hoped maybe some day you’d change. But I’m not here to discuss our lifestyles, you have something you wanted to tell me?” Darrion’s face wrinkled up into a horrible grimace and he looked as if he was fighting to stay conscious.

“Charlie, listen. The doctors don’t think I’ll live, so I can only say this once.” He stopped for a few moments to try and get his breath, then continued. “You were the only person who ever cared about me or tried to help. I told you before that I would always be in debt to you for your help in my court case back in ’93. There’s something that I’ve wanted to tell you for several years but I wasn’t able to.” He went into a small coughing fit before continuing in his hoarse whisper of explanation.

“In March of ’97 I met and had some business dealings with a professional hit-man named Frank Averyt. Averyt was nuts! He was a special kind of killer, specializing in exotic, virtually undetectable, poisons. This dude was crazy and very good at his job! Any person Averyt felt was against him or got in the way, he’d kill ‘em….no problem! I helped connect him up with this rich lady whose husband was beating her. Averyt slipped some bizarre poison into this lady’s husband’s drink at this bar they’d gone out to. Ten minutes later, ‘Mr. Rich Jerk’ was dead of an apparent heart attack.” Darrion began to cough non-stop again for a few moments, but he finally was able to continue on.

“During the time when I was meeting with him to tell him about this lady he, for some crazy reason, decided to tell me about this other ‘job’ he’d pulled the month before. He’d been hired by someone to poison some guy that used to work for you, Charlie. I never knew the name. Averyt bragged how no one ever suspected murder, they just assumed it was a heart attack by natural causes.” Charlie’s blood ran ice-cold and his heart was slamming in his chest as he listened to Darrion’s story.

“Charlie, I’m sorry for not telling you before now but this guy was crazy! Not long after he bragged this story to me, he must have thought twice about trusting me with it. One night when I got into my car this guy popped up in the back and before I could do anything about it, the son-of-a-bitch stuck a syringe in my neck and injected me with something! I turned around and there sat Averyt with a sick little smile on his face. I asked him what the hell he’d put in me and he just exploded into laughter. He said that’d only been a small amount of water and not to worry—but that it’d be something just as clear as water but a lot more deadly next time if I ever told anyone about the ‘jobs’ he’d pulled, especially the Townsend guy!” Darrion paused to try and get his breath.

“I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time, Charlie, but I just couldn’t risk this Averyt finding out! I decided that I needed to tell you, make peace with you, since I don’t think I’ll make it. I’m sorry, Charlie!” Darrion began coughing again. Charlie could hardly control his emotions and his voice came out in a hoarse whisper of his own.

“Did this Frank Averyt say who had hired him to murder the man who had worked for me?”

“No, but he said it was a woman. The new word out on the street, Charlie, is that this bitch is back and is now out to get the others that worked for you. Other than that, I don’t know anything else.”

“Where is Frank Averyt, Darrion?” Charlie demanded!

“The last I heard he’d left California and went to Massachusetts. He had a sister and I think a cousin that lived in a city called Brockton, about twenty-four miles from Boston. Everyone was thrilled when that psycho left town, we all could breath a little easier…especially me!” Darrion began coughing again and his face scrunched up in pain. Charlie felt as if he were in great pain as well, as if his heart was shattering! He told Darrion that he was glad he’d told him of Frank Averyt and made his peace. He then walked out of the hospital room and towards his Jaguar in the parking garage. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion, the nurses, doctors, patients, and the commotion of a hospital. All of it was as if it were a bizarre dream and not really happening at all!

Charlie knew that anger would come soon enough, but for the present moment only sadness, heartache, and sorrow filled his body. He never saw Darrion Laymon again. Three hours after Charlie spoke with him, Darrion died of complications from gun shot wounds. In the psychotic world of drugs, prostitution, robberies, and even murder - Darrion Laymon died at the ripe old age of….thirty-seven.

The Jaguar’s alarm beeped off as Charlie walked up to it and got in. Once inside, he rested his head in his hands as tears flowed down his face and he slammed his fists against the steering wheel. He screamed only one word as anger started to hit……“Bosley!!!”

CHAPTER 21: JOHN BOSLEY - “THE TRUTH SOMETIMES HURTS!”

At 5:00a.m. the phones in Andy’s and all the Angel’s rooms rang. Jill was the first to pick up the cordless on the nightstand beside her bed with a groggy “Hello?” The other Angels answered seconds later. Charlie immediately instructed all of them to go straight to the office room. All of them knew that something was horribly wrong.

Once in the office, Kelly hit the speaker box button.  “We’re all here, Charlie, what’s wrong?” For a few seconds he didn’t answer and when he finally did his voice seemed strained and it cracked several times.

“Angels, Andy,….a couple of hours ago I think I was told some of the worst information I could have ever thought possible!” He paused for a few seconds again.

“Charlie, you’re scaring me! What in the world is going on? What horrible news did you hear?” Kris demanded!

“I believe that I now have a huge lead in finding the person who hired our past criminals to terrorize you. I think it’s a woman, however, I don’t have a name yet. But, a certain professional hit-man, named Frank Averyt, was hired by this woman to….murder someone. If we can find this Averyt, then I think we’ll find out who this woman is.” Charlie paused again and when he finally spoke his voice broke several times.
“Angels, I don’t know how to tell you this! I still can’t believe it myself! A few hours ago a professional criminal named Darrion Laymon that I tried to help change once, died at the hospital from gun shots. However, he talked to me, wanted to make peace with me as he put it, before he died. He told me that in March of 1997, he helped Averyt get in contact with a lady who wanted to get rid of her husband. Frank Averyt is a hit-man that specializes in exotic poisons.” Charlie then sent a picture of Averyt to the computer at the office and in turn Andy sent it to the big screen for all to see.

“During the time Darrion spent with Averyt, he told him about another murder he’d pulled the month before. He told Darrion that another woman had hired him to secretly poison a man that used to work for me. It was made to look like a heart attack.” Charlie continued. Kris’ hand immediately went to her mouth as tears welled and spilled down her cheeks, high-pitched sobs began tp try and escape from beneath her hand. Jill and Kelly both began crying in shock! Andy sat with his head in his hands.

“Oh, Bos!” Sabrina exclaimed as her tears spilled as well. Jill went to Kris and they both hugged. Kris was crying hysterically and Kelly wasn’t far behind.

“Angels, I’m so sorry! I now believe that Bosley was poisoned and it was made to look like natural causes. We all remember that he loved rich spicy foods, especially Italian food. A year before he died, the doctor had told him to loose weight, get more exercise, and eat a healthier diet because his cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and heart rate were at dangerous levels. None of us thought twice about the ME’s call—heart attack by natural causes! I’m so sorry!!”

“How could we not see it, Charlie?” Kris demanded, through her sobs! “How could we have not suspected something?”

“We hadn’t been doing this kind of business for sixteen years by the time Bos died, Kris! We weren’t looking for foul play!” Kelly exclaimed as she tried to control her own sobs. Kris walked over to her and hugged her as they both continued crying.

“I’m sorry, Kel, you’re right! It’s just that Bosley was like a father to me! He helped me SO much after David was killed! Without him Ryan and I might not have been able to get through it! He was just so special!”

“He was special to all of us! There were many times he helped keep everything and everyone together!” Sabrina declared through tears and sobs. Kris and Kelly held their hands out to her and Jill and Andy walked over too. Together they all held hands and cried. Then anger began to enter in along with the emotion.

“Okay, Charlie, I’m sure I speak for everyone here! I don’t care what it takes or where we have to go to do it, I WANT the person or persons responsible for Bos’ death!! I also don’t mind saying that I don’t care if it’s dead or alive….I want em’!” Kris screamed as her tears still flowed. The rest of them agreed.

“I totally understand, Angels! I too want them to pay dearly for what they did! But, despite the fact that I would love to kill them for murdering Bosley, killing them in cold blood would only make things worse! Our emotions are on overload right now and we need to try and calm down, no matter how hard that is to do! If we are going after Bosley’s killers, we need to be thinking and acting clearly! We are not bounty hunters from the old west. Unless it is absolutely necessary, we are to find them and have them arrested only….NOT go on an avenging killing spree!” Charlie stated, as he sensed their immediate urge to take an eye-for-an-eye style of revenge. “I think it’s safe to assume that this….woman, whoever she is, hired these people we sent to prison to terrify all of you, probably with the promise that they would eventually get to kill you. However, that was probably never going to happen, after they’d served their full purpose this woman killed each of them off and is saving you all for herself.”

“Charlie, if this woman is the one who set this whole thing up to trap us, and she’s the one who….murdered Bosley six years ago, then that means that Bosley most likely had some major part in this woman’s past as well!” Jill stated as she took another kleenex and continued to wipe her tears away.

“Oh my God, she’s right! But why in the world did she wait six years before coming after the rest of us?” Kris exclaimed as she too wiped more tears from her eyes.

“I don’t know, that’s the million dollar question! If she poisoned John in 1997, then there’s a definite reason she’s waited this long to come after us,” Sabrina added as she poured coffee for everyone.

“Bri’s right, maybe she left the country or was in prison herself until recently,” Kelly suggested.

“I think those are very good possibilities, Kelly. Otherwise, I would assume she’d have come after you years before this. It all checks out, Bosley died on February 26, 1997. March of ’97 was when Darrion was dealing with Averyt and was told that the month before, Averyt poisoned a man that worked for me,” Charlie replied as they all sipped the hot coffee. He then told them where Averyt had gone after leaving L.A. He also said that he’d only been able to book two tickets to Logan International Airport in Boston.

“So, I guess we have to decide who goes to Massachusetts and who stays here,” Andy stated as he set his coffee cup down.

“There’s something else that I haven’t mentioned yet. Before I called all of you, I checked up on this Frank Averyt. It seems he had a favorite supplier of exotic poisons, a thirty-one year old man named David Alston.” Charlie then sent Alston’s picture to the Angels and Andy. “Mr. Alston traveled all over the world supposedly conducting business for his father. Just what that so-called business was, no one really knows for sure. But the family was under serious investigation from several federal agencies. The father must have suspected the feds and police were getting too close, so he sent Alston away. He set him up on an estate in Hawaii, on the island of Kauai. He’s been living there since ’98. David Alston is well known for his very expensive but very wild parties, drugs, high-class prostitutes, and many other legally questionable past-times. However, as far as anyone knows, he’s no longer supplying exotic poisons to anyone. He’s just living it up on an island in paradise.”

“Oh great, Charlie, Bosley ends up dead and this psycho goes on to lead the good life on a tropical island! He’s going down no matter what! Both Averyt and Alston need to pay big time!” Kris angrily spat as she finished her coffee.

“That’s the plan, Angel! We’re going to do everything we can to bring these two down and hopefully find out who this mysterious woman is. She’s  the one I truly want brought to justice!” Charlie responded. “But remember, no revenge killings! Only in self defense do you shoot at either of these two nut-jobs!”

“So, I guess the question now is….which two of us go to Massachusetts and which two go to Hawaii?” Sabrina interjected.

“I think there are two other people we have to contact first,” Charlie added.

“Tiffany and Julie,” Kris stated out loud.

“Exactly, Kris. Both of them need to know about Bosley and both will probably now become more involved in this ordeal, especially considering the locations we’re going to track down Averyt and Alston. I’m sure Tiffany will have police contacts in or around Brockton, it’s only a little over twenty miles from Boston. Julie knows just about everyone who’s anyone of the ‘who’s who’ crowd in Hawaii. I’ll make the calls to them and inform them of what’s going on. However, I’ll need to tell each of them who’s going where. You all need to decide and quickly.”

 “I don’t care which state I go to but I’m going to one of them! Anyone who had a hand in killing Bosley and I’m all for going after them!” Kris stated as a few more tears escaped down her face.

“I’ll go to Boston….or Hawaii, I don’t care either!” Kelly offered as she finished her coffee with red puffy eyes, a nasally voice, and wet tears still glistening on her cheeks.

“All of us can’t go to the same place if we want to figure all of this out quickly! How about Kelly and I go to New England and Kris, you and Jill go to Kauai,” Sabrina suggested in a hoarse whisper of grief. Everyone agreed—except Andy.

“I’m going to Brockton with you, Mom! I can’t let you go alone, remember our deal?” he demanded in frustration after Sabrina told him that she wanted him to stay there and that this time it was way too dangerous! She explained that someone had to stay there to help with correspondence between them and Charlie.

“Andy, your mom’s right. Someone does have to stay here. Plus, someone has to still go through the old case files to try and search for those crazy clue-phrases that the woman assassin has left us. We know they tie in somehow, we just have to figure out from what and when. I’m sure Kelly will be with your mom every second and all of us will constantly keep in contact, I promise,” Jill replied to his outburst. Andy finally agreed.

“I do NOT like this at all! But….okay. As long as all of you promise to keep in touch frequently! I’m not kidding, one day without contact and I’m on the first plane to Boston!” Everyone smiled and hugged him as they promised they’d call several times a day.

“Well, Jill, I guess we go to Hawaii. Why is it that every time we go to some tropical paradise, it’s always on some wild case, or story I’m doing, or someone’s kidnapped, or it’s a murder, or even someone’s kidnapped and planned to murder yours truly? Why can’t we just go to enjoy the beach, scenery, and the weather? We always seem to be on-the-run from somebody or something,” Kris snidely remarked but trying to interject some humor in as well. Jill chuckled slightly.

“I know what you mean! When this is all over we all need to take a real vacation to Hawaii. I’m sure Julie would be happy to ‘house’ us and tour us around,” she replied.

“Well, I’m going back to my room to get ready.” Then Kris’ eyes welled with fresh tears and her voice cracked as she spoke again. “We’ll be in contact I’m sure, Charlie. When we find this David Alston, Jill,….you can cover me but he’s MINE! Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m going to call my son while I repack,” she stated with emotion as she walked out of the office, the tears streaming. The other Angels exchanged glances, for they too didn’t exactly know how they’d react when coming face-to-face with Bosley’s killers. The important thing now was to find them! They had killed one of the family and for six years, had gotten away with it! No more! Jill and Kelly then left the office to pack as well and Sabrina and Andy were the only ones left.

“Before I go, Sabrina, there’s something else I need to let you know. In order to definitely prove that Bosley was poisoned, we’ll need to have his body exhumed and his remains tested for all known exotic poisons. I’ve already made the necessary calls and called in a few favors. It’s being done as we speak.”

Sabrina and Andy both felt emotion and tears coming again but they forced it back. “I uh….I understand, Charlie. Whatever needs to be done. Just keep us informed and let us know what you find out,” Sabrina replied in a choked voice. They said their goodbyes and then she went to pack for Massachusetts.
 

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