Three Dog Knight: A PIT VIPER MYSTERY, #4

PREFACE 

First and foremost , thank you for reading. It is an absolute pleasure to have you reading one of my books. With the fourth part of the series finished, I would like to turn my attention to some of my faithful readers. I get some feedback every once and a while and I appreciate it greatly. I hope that I have improved over the years by taking your advice. My wife is amazing. Without her touches, this would not be possible. Hope and Judy, thank you so much for reading. Chad (aka CD) and Christina, thank you for supporting me. Paul and Jessie, you guys took a chance on a new author and I thank you for that. James (aka the Colonel) and James (aka Kingpin) have offered great support over the years. Lee, I hope you keep writing. Dale, Andrew, Nelda, and many more in Athens have backed me from the start. I thank you very much for that. Ambrose, I want to thank you for spreading my works all over the place.

There are two special people I would like to mention, Benjamin and Noah. These two young men have been supporters since the first book. They stay on me to keep writing. It’s the support I get from people like them that make this possible. Their parents instilled in them the desire to read and I wish more parents would do the same. Not only read, but to write. Express your thoughts and feelings on paper, even if it’s just for family and friends. You two keep reading. Thank you very much.

I’m sure there are some people I left out, so please don’t be upset. I want you all to know that I am very grateful and blessed to have made it this far. None of it would be possible without you guys. I thank my Savior and Lord, Jesus, for making me who I am today. And as always, just because I use a name that is like yours, doesn’t mean that’s what I think about you. I changed the format ....again. I’m still trying to find the one that works best for me. I really like this format. It sets up like a ‘casebook’ that Doyle used for his Holmes novels. Let me know what you think. I’m on twitter @impitviper. I hope you enjoy the fourth installment of A Pit Viper Mystery.

PART I

THE DOPPLEGANGER

ONE MONTH. ONE ROTATION of the moon around the Earth. The word month was actually derived from the word moon. Don’t ask me how I knew that. I seemed to be a wealth of useless knowledge.  Some ‘scientists’ believed that months were first put to use by the Mesopotamians back between 500 BCE and 400BCE. Now, I wasn’t a Bible scholar by any means, but I knew the term ‘month’ was mentioned several times throughout the Bible. And the Bible dates back to the beginning of time, so the use of months was as old as the Earth itself. Scientist today would do or say anything possible to disregard the Bible though. They even started using the whole BCE and CE instead of BC and AD. BCE (before common era) was the new BC, but it didn’t reference Christ. CE (common era) was the new AD, but it didn’t reference God or the Lord. The calendar has been a messed-up science for quite some time. Gregorian, Julian, Egyptian, every country had their own calendar at one time. I heard there was even a better calendar now called the revised Julian, but no one was using it.

One month. It was one month ago that my friend Todd took a bullet and died. Todd was more than a cop to me. He had been instrumental in helping me move from my home to York Town to find my brother Sam. He and Sam were partners until one night Sam disappeared during a drug raid on Kingpin’s warehouse. Todd was called away in another direction, and when he returned, he found out that Sam had vanished. He helped me establish my PI business so I could operate in town without drawing the ire of the police force. When I said he helped me move, I meant he helped me move. He used his own truck and did a lot of heavy lifting. Todd had become my inside connection at the YTPD, and helped me keep tabs on Kingpin. He was more than a cop to me; he was my new brother.

One month. It was one month ago today that I discovered that Todd was the biggest liar on planet Earth. He had been in league with Kingpin this whole time. He knew my brother was alive this whole time, and he had been lying to me this whole time. If he hadn’t been bleeding out in my arms, then I would have killed him on the spot. My whole Pit Viper persona was to keep Kingpin off my back while I investigated Sam’s disappearance. The last thing I wanted to do was to endanger my family and friends. It had all been a lie. Kingpin knew who I was and what I wanted. He had singled out Jimmy, Courtney’s nephew, and kidnapped him to punish me. It was the very reason that Todd helped Kingpin, to protect his family. Now, everything I had hoped to avoid had just come crashing down on me.

One month. It was one month ago that I had to level with Courtney and tell her the whole truth. CD and Court were my closest friends, and I had been lying to her this whole time. She knew I wanted Kingpin, but she didn’t know the whole story. I had to tell her it was because of me that her nephew, Jimmy, had fallen into the clutches of a ruthless, heartless murderer. I had to tell her about Sam and the real reason I wanted Kingpin. She hadn’t been back to work since that day. She was more than my secretary, she was a friend. She held my business together. With her gone, I was so overwhelmed that I could barely breathe. Maybe that was Kingpin’s reasoning behind taking Jimmy in the first place. Maybe he knew that without Courtney, I would never be able to pursue him full force. He was wrong. I would leave my business in a heartbeat if it meant getting to him and finding Sam.

One month. It was the news that Todd gave me on his deathbed that kept me going. Todd told me that Sam was alive and being held by Kingpin. Todd also gave me the key to finding the White file. This was the file my brother had compiled of Kingpin’s operation. Sam had been working on this file for years. The police were just about ready to start coming after Kingpin when Sam disappeared, and with him, the file. Sam had managed to keep the file hidden, but nobody knew where. That was until Todd gave me a key and a clue. I followed the clues and traced down the file. Now it was my turn to play keep-away with the file. I shared just enough with the cops to keep Kingpin on his toes. I would just happen to run across some information during my investigations that the Police would be interested in. They had stopped 4 major drug deals over the last 30 days totaling $2.6 million.

One month. It was one month ago that Kate had taken over Todd’s position as head of the Homicide Department. Kate was a good friend and a good cop. She was my new connection to the YTPD. She kept me informed about Tommy Benson and his crusade to find Todd’s killers. He had been appointed by IA to investigate Todd’s death. Benson was a jerk with a bad attitude to go with it. He had threatened me repeatedly with jail time anytime our paths would happen to cross. I tried to stay out of his way, but sometimes it was unavoidable. I just needed to buy some more time so I could sort through all of Sam’s papers. Then I would take care of Kingpin myself.

One month. One month of papers stacked up on my desk. I had been trying to file things away at first, but I quickly gave up. I was really busy with other cases, trying to find Jimmy, and making headway in Sam’s paperwork. I didn’t know how Courtney stayed on top of all this. I couldn’t wait until she came back. She just needed time. She didn’t hate me or blame me. She had gone up state to be with Jimmy’s parents. They had been organizing a local group who would help look for Jimmy, or at least clues as to where Jimmy might be. They were following all the leads that the police couldn’t. They had offered a reward for information leading to Jimmy’s whereabouts. Of course, my mom, Nina, had chipped in and made the reward a substantial amount. Needless to say, the phone lines where busy.

It was the phone ringing that snapped me out of my daze. I searched through layers of paper before I located the receiver and was able to answer it.

Pit Viper Investigations, Pit speaking.

Mr. Viper, this is Megan Sellitti. I was just calling to make sure you were in. I need to talk to you. I need your help.

Well Mrs. Sellitti, I am in, and can see you today. When were you wanting to come by?

Well, I just parked out front of your building so, how is right now for you?

Right now? I said as I glanced around at the mess in the room, Now is fine. Come on up. I quickly hung up the phone, and started moving papers. I picked up big piles and moved them to my office, and dropped them on my desk. I had been working out front since Courtney left. Just as the last bundle of papers hit my desk, I heard the door open.

Mr. Viper, are you here? I walked out of my office and into the main lobby. Wow! This chic was gorgeous. She was about 5’ 11 and slender. She looked like she just hopped out of the pages of Vogue, or Marie Claire, or Playb ....nevermind. The point being, she was DDG (Drop Dead Gorgeous). Her long, black, straight hair hung perfectly around her shoulders. Her dress was red and it fit her like a second skin. It stopped just above the knee. I just stared for a second or two. Her appearance caught me off guard. She didn’t sound like that on the phone. Oh, hello Mr. Viper. I hope I’m not interrupting anything."

No, no, ....not at all. I was just cleaning up a little. Would you please have a seat? I slid a chair over to the front of the desk and motioned for her to sit. She elegantly walked over and took her place. She smelled like cotton candy. I love cotton candy. Now Mrs. Sellitti, what can I do for you?

It’s Ms. Sellitti, and I need you desperately. I couldn’t place the accent but she had a little bit of one. She had been in the States for a while but not her whole life. English was a second language. She still hadn’t mastered the use of phrases and verbs. She paused just briefly in between sentences as if she was searching for the right thing to say.

You ....you need ....me? For what?

For to help me. To find my son. He has gone missing.

Do you think he ran away, or do you suspect foul play? She just sat, trying to process what I said. Do you think someone took your son?

Yes, he has been taken away from me. I need him back Mr. Viper.

Please, call me Pit. Do you know who took him?

Yes, it was his grandpapa, Roberto Bruno. My guess was Italian.

Do you know why he would want to take you son?

He hates the city. He wants Albert to leave with him. To go back to the country. But I do not want this.

What does Albert want?

He is two years old. He needs to be with his mama. Will you help me Pit? She had started crying and pulled a tissue out of her purse to dab her eyes with. Something told me that this was going to be trouble, but what else was I going to do?

Do you have a picture of your son? I said as I exhaled deeply.

She perked up and leaned over the desk and took my hand. Did I mention that her dress was low cut? She smiled and said, Not with me, but back at my apartment. Meet me at this address in an hour. I will make it worth your while. She slid a piece of paper across to me and slowly turned to walk out of the room. Right before she exited, she turned back to me and winked. What in the world had I gotten myself into? If I didn’t know better, I would have thought she was flirting with me. Why would she be flirting with me? Don’t get me wrong, I liked the fact that she may be flirting with me. I didn’t get the chance to date much, not that I wanted to. My life was complicated enough without throwing a relationship in the midst. I wondered what she meant by ‘making it worth my while’? I had ideas about what she meant, but she was struggling with the English language a bit. Maybe what she meant and what I thought she meant was totally different ....but maybe it wasn’t.

I hurriedly finished up a few things and rushed to my car. If the traffic was light, I would make it with a couple of minutes to spare. It wasn’t light. I was about 10 minutes late for the appointment. When I finally found a place to park, I noticed the reason for the excess traffic. YTPD had one lane closed. They were set up right in front of the building I needed to go in. I jogged up the steps and ran into Chad, an officer with YTPD.

Hey Chad, what gives?

Homicide in one of the apartments.

Which room?

Don’t know exactly. 5th floor, I believe. Oh man. I slowly pulled the address from my pocket and looked at it again just to be sure. Apartment 508 ....crap!