VENTURES: Standing On Principle

LADY CHATTERLIES LOVER-PANTIES AND BRAS FOR THE DISCRIMINATING WOMAN!

"Frankly Lucy you can take your designs, which you probably stole from someone else and keep them, I want nothing to do with you...Besides..Why would you do me a favor? I'm your competitor...Don't you run that uh little outlet, PANTYS GALORE ? " said Bridget Jones , The owner, who was back from her trip to Paris.

"Look...We used to be friends..We used to work together...And believe it or not..I've got nothing but love for you still Bridget....I'm willing to let bygones be bygones and cut you in on a little of my action..One because Victoria'S Secret is giving independent businesses like ours a run for the money and if you can, you want to at least be in a position to be number two and that means knocking SILKY SMOOTH LINGERIE out of pocket." said Lucy Luckenbill.

"How is this a good deal for you?" asked Bridget..

"I'm coming up...I've got a shop in London and one in Paris..and I was thinking of a merger..How many shops you got now? Two of these and that smaller one, AGENT PROVACATIVE!! ??" she asked.

"That's right and I also am opening up a shop in London , One in Paris and I already have a shop in New York City..So you aren't the only one expanding..Sooooo Lucy thanks for the offer, but uh no thanks!" said Bridget..

"Okay girl, I was hoping you could put aside your bitterness..I have." said Lucy Luckenbill.,

We were once again arguing against new ADA Hayden King..

who argued..

"Your honor, the defendent's fingerprints and DNA were found in the car and her DNA was found on the murder weapon..

This very gun right here...which is registered to her fiance and was reported stolen..." she said.

"I had hoped not to argue the merits of the case in court...but the gun was purchased legally by the defendent's fiance, she has seen it and handled it...and she has ridden in the victims SUV a few times..

He gave her rides from home on several occassions." said Olivia.

Beverly ,Nelson and Josie paraded several employees , some of the same people I had interviewed a few days before in as charactor witnesses...

Bresha presented Kitty's alibi that she was at home alone when the murder occurred...

Hayden argued vigourously that our client should be considered a threat to the Public Saftey.

It would be hard looking at Petite Kitty Wells with no prior criminal record that that was even .

remotely possible.

Judge Julie Wong set bail at $5000.00 dollars..

Dex Lee immediately wrote a check for $500.00 and passed it to Bree..

She passed it to a young Black baillif who had been ogling her all morning..She smiled at him and he smiled at her...practically drooling..

She just laughed..

Kitty Barnes walked out of court a free woman...

"For your own peace of mind Kitty, register into a hotel or a motel..Use your own name and your own car..."said Olivia.

"We will keep contact with you through a Portal and this burner phone." said Beverly..

"Here is the Portal and here is the phone..write this number down..We can be reached by this number..We'll ask you whatever pertinent questions needed and call you with updates."said Nelson.

"Don't tell us where you're staying right away...This protects us legally from Lt. Tragg's harrassment."said Josie.

"He does seem to be the pest...I'll take Kitty to pack and I'll pack too...I'm going to be staying with her."said Dex.

''Dex it's your choice..but you could be followed too...We don't want to have to go to two bail hearings..Don't put it past Lt. Tragg to arrest you or both of you again on some trumped up charge just to make it look like he's doing something."said Olivia.

''Seems to me he should be worried about the maintenance of his car." said Dex.

Beverly howled with laughter..

So did Nelson

and Josie and

Bree, remembering what happened yesterday...

"Don't bring that up...They just stopped laughing about that a few hours ago.." said Olivia.

"I'm all over this baby...I trust you got copies of the Crime Scene Report, The Autopsy Report and The Ballistics Report?" asked Lt. Tragg.

"I did..Thank You...I've asked

Assistant District Attorney Peter Smith to do a further investigation of this.Perhaps you two can compare notes." said Hayden.

"Petey S. ??? Noooooooo, this is my case..I'm the Case Detective...I do not want Petey S. corrupting my crime scene..just because you're balling him that does not give him the right to investigate my case..Share ideas with him...You must be crazy."snarled Lt. Tragg..

"I'm the Assistant District Attorney...I'm prosecuting this case.. I'll run it as I see fit...Goodbye Lieutenant." said Hayden...

Lt. Tragg was as red as a beet...He was still pissed about what had happened yesterday , three times with the same car ,as well as us circumventing his subpeona and now this..Kitty out on bail and Petey S. investigating. No way..He thought!

II-

PANTY'S GALORE!

While Liv, Shortcake, Nelson, Josie and Bree were in court with Kitty..I was doing a little digging as I called it.. I was in Lucy Luckenbill's store, Panty's Galore..It was actually a few blocks from where we lived.. It had just opened up about a month ago..To my knowledge, neither Liv or Bev or josie for that matter had shopped there..They were loyal to Bridget...

I wasn't in the store long before I smelled a great fragrance..

"Ummm you smell incredible and that suit is finely tailored...You dress too well to be one of my regular customers.. oh and those shoes...Those are Italian made..ouuuuuu...You're turning me on already...I'm Lucy Luckenbill..I own this establishment.." she said.

"I know...You used to be a business partner of Bridget Jones, who owns Lady Chatterlies Lover-Panties and Bras for the Discriminating woman.. You and two other young ladies attempted an inside coup...You were discovered and fired..You started your own chain, Fannies Panties. You were using your ex-husband, the now deceased Rod Tazzie, a graphic designer to sp for you and get the one up on Bridget...She discovered his duplicity and fired him...and you were taken to the cleaners in court..Had to file Bankruptcy...Your second.. You went to Paris...Had a whirlwind romance with a wealthy Frenchman and he fronted you the money to get back in business.. You've got shops in London, Paris and here in Philly.." I said and smiled.

"You dress too well, too expensive to be a cop or a fed...Who are you? Bridget send you here?" asked Lucy..

"No ..I'm a private investigator...I used to be cop though...A Homicide Detective in New Orleans..That was years ago...I work for an Attorney...You may have heard of her.. Olivia Bennett-Alexander.

She's my wife." I said.
..

"Her, I remember..

She and her niece and another attorney a male, represented Bridget....They took me to court for copyright infringement and illegal industrial spying..They effectively put me out of business..

But...that was business...I don't take it personal...In fact ,I met with Bridget today about a possible merger. believe it or not!" said Lucy.. She was a cunning sociopath.

"I don't believe that...but giving you the benefit of the doubt...How did that turn out?" I asked.

"She turned me down...She's still bitter ,I am not... So uh why are you here?"asked Lucy..

"Your ex-husband...The recently departed Rod Tazzie..Were you blackmailing him?" I asked.

"You really expect me to admit that I was?" she laughed... "My husband had a huge penis..Biggest one I ever saw...He was amazing in bed...Apparently other woman thought so too..In fact, he never met one he didn't personally feel shouldn't be liberated from their bra and panties by him... That's why we broke up , that's when I woke up... I found out later that he had one weakness and that was me.. He really, really loved me..and he enjoyed me more in bed than all of his other conquests.. That couldn't make me stay or come back to him, but I did use him to my advantage...He still held a torch for me..but I said Nah!! I was over him... I'm bettin your penis is as large as his...You might enjoy me too! I can be discreet..I wouldn't tell Olivia....How about it?" she said..

"Nah...It's a tempting offer and I am flattered...You're a beautiful woman, but I'm compensated quite well...Very well in every area.." I said.

''A smooth brotha like you that doesn't cheat..Wowww..Olivia hit the jackpot..She's got that huge ding dong allllllllllllll to herself...Ummmmph!If you ever change your mind..The offer stands...Ouuuuuuuu...You're going to have to leave now...You've gotten me really excited..." she said, smiling.

"Good Day!" I said..and smiled..

Olivia and the gang met me at Sam Mother's Diner, where he had a special of Honey Barbecue Wings..

We ordered a table full of Barbecue wings and Onion Rings..

and three pitchers of Ice Tea.

"Even the liklihood of Lt. Tragg coming in here..He couldn't keep me from this."said Nelson..

"I'm just going to ignore him." said Beverly..

"Yeah let's just ignore him." said Josie.

"I'm gonna take my time and enjoy this." said Paris , who joined us there..

''It's a shame Tony works in Jersey...He'd be loving this." said Bree.

"Get him some to go and just warm em up when you get home Bree." said Olivia.

''My interview with Lucy Luckenbill gleaned me nothing..She told me in so many words that she was blackmailing him, but that's all..She told me nothing else..We just played cat and mouse verbally..She's a sociopath...I'm convinced of it..She has a nice little shop...I uh actually purchased a couple of things for you..They're in the car." I said.

"Oh My God!"laughed Olivia...

Naturally Lt. Tragg walked in..And naturally, he stopped at our table...We were devouring the wings and Onion rings..

"That was a cute little stunt you pulled Olivia..Pretty damn low..You go to a Judge and get him to circumvent my lawful subpeona.." he snarled.

''Everything I did was within the law." was all Olivia would say softly as I passed her a wing and we all continued to chow down...She had no intention of arguing with Lt. Tragg...He probably wouldn't have understood anyway...He wasn't an attorney and obviously had no interest in law.

''And I suppose you have no idea where your client is right now do ya?" he asked.

He got no answer...We continued eating...

"Ohhhhhhhh the old silent treatment eh???...Even your blabbermouth niece is quiet today..." he said, itching for a fight..

Beverly didn't bite! She continued to chow down ,like the rest of us...

She wiped barbecue sauce off of Nelson's lips with a napkin...

and gave him a wet sloppy kiss.....

"You know, I could technically run you all in for Obstruction of Justice..Hiding a suspect from law enforcement..and-" he said, still standing at our table.

"Don't you get tired of hearing yourself talk?" asked Petey S. "You should be interviewing everybody involved with this guy...Like I did today. I was at his shop and at his warehouse...Apparently Donnie Ray had beat me to it...but the fact remains..both of us BEAT YOU TO IT!! And you being the case detective, that should have never happened." said Petey S.

"I'll knock you the hell out!!" snarled Lt. Tragg, "Just like I did last week." he added..

''You can try...Sit down and leave these people alone..Let them eat their lunch in peace."said Peter Smith.

"Come on Petey, let's sit down.." said Hayden..

"Come on Petey , go sit down.." he said mocking her.."Do what your girlfriend says...You Whipped cream boy you." he snarled.

He was still standing at our table...We were all ignoring him...and continuing to eat....

''Heyyyy Family..."said Ray as he walked in with Kayla, Jazzy, Dabnis, Jessica and Chip..

''We decided to come downtown today...We heard about Sam's wing special."said Kayla.

''Ummmm that looks good.. Let's pull up a couple of tables...Excuse me Lt. Tragg." said Jazzy.

"Those Onion Rings look good." said Dabnis, who had taken to ignoring Lt. Tragg when he could.

Jessica said something in Spanish that those of us, who could understand Spanish understood, which led to guffaws of laughter.

Her husband, Chip, who knew a little Spanish, cracked up./...

Barbecue Wings, shrimp m Onion rings and Ice teas were ordered...

There was indeed safety and strength in numbers.. Ms. Yvette's crew came in and pulled up a table and ordered the same thing...

"I take it everybody got the text about the special huh?" said Keith Jones..

"Ummm those Barbecue Shrimp have my name on them." said Bee Bee..

"Yesssssss." said Sofia.

"Ummmm Hmmmmmm!" said Kahlil

"Those Shrimp are to die for."said Jade.

"Hey Liv, Hey Beverly." said Yvette.

"Heyyyy Ms. Yvette." said Beverly...

"Heyyy Vettie!" said Olivia..

All three tables around him were filled with folks , eating and talking back and forth..It was like lunch in high school.. We were all ignoring him...tuning his presence out!

Frustrated, Lt. Tragg left...which was met by clapping and cheering and laughing...He kicked a metal trash can until it dented outside.

III-

We were all back at home within a few hours.

''What we do know...Is that shortly after you saw Rod Tazzie drive out of that factory...He was shot to death.." said Olivia.

"But the blood is all on the passenger side." said Beverly...

"Which means..Maybe he was on the passenger side and the killer was driving."said Nelson.

''Or he was dead already when you guys saw the car and the killer drove him out.."

"That's what I'm thinking..but the question is why? Why kill him?" I asked.

"Kitty said your friend, Kevin and his operatives found the P.I. and they cleaned all of the incriminating sex stuff off of their devices...With that the Blackmailer/killer had no more leverage...The payments stopped." said Bresha.

"But not the design thefts...Look..here is the catalogs for three smaller outfits...Same Panties, Same Bras, just minor changes in the design and out and cheaper than Silky Smooth...Whoever is behind this was obviously trying to undercut them out of business.and it was working..Look at their sales for the month...Down 25 percent.. This keeps up and they'll be priced out of the game." said Olivia.

"This is telling , none of the hijacked designs show up in PANTYS GALORE's catalogs..Nice way to keep themselves out of the game. Above suspicion." said Beverly.

''She told me today that she met with Bridget about a possible merger. Bridget turned her down. She's got shops in London and Paris and one in New York. She's got a big operation. Bigger than I thought." I said.

"Bridget has shops in London and Paris , three stores here in Philly and she's opening one in New York..She doesn't need Lucy." said Olivia.

''And don't forget her other two stores..."Simply Underwear" and "Agent Provacative".Bridget actually has a bigger outfit than Lucy and I'm sure Lucy knows that." said Beverly...

''Lucy has someone on the inside..Someone in Dex Lee's employ....She has to have..Whoever that is could be the key to Rod Tazzie's murder." said Nelson..

''Remember..Our job isn't to solve the murder...That's Lt. Tragg's job." said Olivia.

"Then it'll never get done..He's further behind than we are..." said Beverly..

"Our client was home alone...That's no alibi.....Unless we can find somebody, anybody who saw her." said Josie.

''Whoever killed him had to have gotten out of that car and a Street cam or Business cam had to have caught them and they had to have had a car parked somewhere near by so they could make their get away..." I said.

''Every case we have isn't like this..Nine times out of ten..We have boring run of the mill cases."said Nelson to Bresha..

''You can't prove that by me...You've all had some doozies since I've been on this internship." said Bresha.

''It's just our season...We've had months with boring contract negotiations, settlements..Civil suits..and then bingo...a sensational criminal case." said Beverly smiling..

And across town at ADA Hayden King's apartment..

"I interviewed 21 lingerie models, they knew next to nothing..I interviewed the staff in the shop and at the warehouse.. Goose eggs..Donnie Ray had already been there.. But here is what I do know..Something is going on there.. Somebody is stealing designs and selling the information to some of Silky Soft's competitors..The prime suspect was Rod Tazzie.. he had done this five years before...Olivia and Beverly , acting as attorneys for Bridget Jones..discovered him..He was fired and they sued his ex-wife, who he was working for , for copyright infringement..They won a big settlement and his ex-wife, Lucy Luckenbill , a real class A sociopath was forced out of business..

She goes to France, bangs some rich French dude...Her fronts her the dough and she's back in business

again..got shops in London,Paris, New York and here.." said Petey S.

"This is all fine and good ....I am now an authority on the region and the world for that matter, Panty and Bra business..How does this tie Kitty Barnes in with Tazzie? "asked Hayden..

"I don't know yet...I've got to do some more digging into this..Donnie Ray has had two days head start.." said Petey S.

"Good Job...You've earned yourself a kiss." said Hayden...

They kissed passionately....As he slipped his boxers off..

"And more!" he said.

"Ummmmmmmm yesss.. more...." she cooed..

"My goodness Petey...you're hung like a damn horse....Ouuuuuuuuu!" she mused as she eased down on him..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"he moaned loudly!!!

Lt. Tragg rang the doorbell, then knocked on the door..

"HAYDEN!! I'VE GOT TO TALK TO YOU!!" he yelled.

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." she moaned.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Moaned Petey S.

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU, OHHHHH MY GODDD!! GO AWAY LIEUTENANT I'M BUSY !!OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned..

"YEAH GO AWAY...SHE'S BUSY!" said Petey S.. "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" he moaned.

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUU, YOU ARE HITTING MY SPOTS!! UMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!"she cooed.

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" she cooed...

The bed began to squeak ,louder and louder...the headboard began to slam against the wall..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...AWWWWWWWWWWWW LAWWWD!" Petey S. can be heard saying..

Lt. Tragg stood there listening to the sounds coming from the apartment..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" she cooed...

The bed began to squeak ,louder and louder...the headboard began to slam against the wall..

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...AWWWWWWWWWWWW LAWWWD!" Petey S. can be heard saying..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU PETEY!!! OUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!" she screamed..

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW SWEET BABY!" he moaned...

IV-

Rod Tazzie had a big funeral...

One of the people at his funeral was Brenda Montgomery...She looked a lot different from five years ago... Gone was her afro...She had shed a few pounds and was wearing a short haircut..She looked beautiful..

"Beverly...Ms. Olivia.. Josie... Is that you?" she said.

"BRENDA???? Oh my god!!! Look at youuuu!" said Beverly, who hugged her...

"BRENDA!!! YOU ARE GORGEOUS...I ALMOST DIDN'T RECOGNIZE YOU!!!! HOW ARE YOU??" said Olivia, who also hugged her...

"BRENDA!!! YOU'RE LOOKING GOOD GIRRRRL" said Josie..

"How are you? How are you?? I'm sooo glad to see you! Things done changed.. I'm a buyer now...I travel a lot..go to a lot of meetings..I'm not in the store on the day to day like when you knew me..I had a baby with my husband..A girl..She's three now..And Bev, you got married...Congratulations.!" said Brenda, spying the wedding band...

''To him! You remember Nelson don't you?" said Beverly..

"Hi Brenda." said Nelson.

"I sure do...He was one of the other attorneys working with you...So you guys are married now..huh?" said Brenda.

"And Josie here went to law school, graduated and now she is an associate attorney

with us ." said Olivia.

"That is awesome...You go girrrrlll..." said Erika..

"You remember my husband, and investigator Donnie Ray???

and this is Bresha Williams..a young attorney, newly minted that is interning with us..." said Olivia.

"WOW!!! I always wondered if I'd ever run into you guys again...I owe you so much..You brought me out of my shell....I had to come to his funeral.. This shows me how far I've come...I was a fool over that man..He had me sooo gone I couldn't think straight...I can't believe he's dead..."said Brenda.

"Think of it as a chapter of your life closed." said Beverly.

"Yes indeed! It was so nice seeing you guys again!" said Brenda..

Lucy Luckenbill was also at the funeral..

As was Dex, Kitty and Bridget.

She walked up behind me in the crowd..

"Ummmmmmmmmm Donnie Ray....Your wife is very pretty...I see why you don't step out or are reluctant to...I imagine she does anything to keep you in her bed..like I would." she whispered.

watching Olivia talk to Bridget in the crowd as the funeral let out.

''Speaking of my wife...She'd like to talk to you...I can give you directions to where we live and work."I said.

"I already know where your Duplex/Office is.. I have no interest in talking to your wife...I however do want to talk to you...In private...In my bedroom.....Ummmmmmmmm!" she cooed seductively.

"That's not going to happen , but we will talk to you in court." I said and handed her a subpeona..

I smiled.

The seductive smile and soft talk left her face... I saw bristling anger for the first time...I felt as if I was seeing her true face..

''At a funeral? You serve me at a funeral? You whipped son of a bitch!" she snarled and stormed out...

Lt. Tragg heard the exchange... He smiled..

I stared in Olivia's eyes...

"I am whipped." I said.

"Huh?" she said , astounded..

I kissed her passionately in the corner.....

"Ouuuuuuuu, let's go home Donnie Ray." she whispered quietly....

We left the church and went home...We bypassed the office and went straight upstairs to our room..

Where we began kissing and making sweet love..

the rest of the day....

Beverly and Nelson went to Sam Mother's Diner...They ordered a larger Pitcher of Ice Tea and two glasses..

But they didn't do much drinking..

They smothered each other with kisses...slow soft kisses and then hot smouldering kisses..

They didn't notice Lt. Tragg had waltzed in and was standing over them..

"Break it up! Where is your Aunt?" he demanded to know.

''She's not here!" was all Beverly would say...She stared at Nelson..

Nelson smiled at her..

They continued kissing...Hot and heavy...

He continued to stand by their table and they continued to be blissfully unaware of his presence..Finally after ten minutes , he walked away...Frustrated as usual....