Simon Says: Case of Vengeance by the Letter (standard:mystery, 4059 words)
Author: pjlawton	Added: Jan 20 2004	Views/Reads: 3257/2331	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A hard-boild private detective's past comes back to haunt him.

Simon Says: Case of Vengeance by the Letter 

By 

P.J. Lawton 

Simon Says – - Be careful what you wish for - - You may just get it - -
or something like that. 

It was around four A.M. when my eyelids started to droop along with the
batteries in my night vision goggles.  A sudden movement in the 
backyard of the house below caught my attention and brought me back 
fully awake. It was a figure dressed in dark clothing moving silently 
through the shadows. I quickly snapped on my laser sight and lined the 
dot up on figures chest. I took a breath, let half out and held the 
rest. I gently applied finger pressure. The figure turned slightly and 
looked in my direction. My breath gushed out as I jerked my finger off 
the trigger. It was TJ. I had almost killed my best friend!  Suddenly 
the radio in my shooting vest squawked. 

“Hey Sherlock, you there? 

“TJ you dummy, you almost got your butt shot off. What the hell do you
think you're doing? 

“Easy Bro, no big thing. Alease thought she heard something and I
thought I had better check it out. The sound came from the side of the 
house away from you. I wasn't sure if you could see anything from where 
you are.” 

Somewhat placated I didn't want to sound as relieved as I felt. “Okay
TJ, no problem, just give me a little advanced warning the next time, 
you know, like use the radio before you go exploring.” 

With a laugh TJ replied. “Roger Sherlock, wouldn't want you to shoot any
holes in this beautiful body. Alease would be awfully pissed. How long 
you planning to stay around?” 

“I've got a pretty good position here. It should be daylight in about 2
hours or so. I don't think you'll have any problems after that. I'll 
hang around till then. Tell Alease to get some sleep and quit worrying 
about every little bump in the night. Her hero, Super Simon is on the 
job.” 

Another laugh from TJ. “Roger Super Simon.” Then a little bit more
seriously. “Yo Sherlock, you watch your butt now. You don't know how 
much I appreciate this... “ 

I cut him off. No time to get mushy. “Hey Big Guy, go get some rest.
I'll talk to you later.” 

I watched TJ return to his house and his beautiful wife Alease. TJ was
Tommy James a Detective Sergeant with the metro police, my ex-partner 
and best friend. 

My name is Winston Simon and I'm a private detective.  I was once a
police sergeant myself till a little thing called the Gulf War came 
along. As a US Army Reserve officer I was sent to Saudi Arabia where an 
errant Scud Missile ended my police career. The metal that I took 
caused me three painful surgeries and left me with a plastic knee and a 
small Veterans Administration pension. After finishing my recovery I 
took my savings and bought a failing detective agency. That was a 
little over eight years ago. 

A little after six o'clock I packed up and headed back to my office cum
apartment. After stowing my equipment and throwing my woodland 
patterned camouflage clothes in a corner I fell on my cot. As tired as 
I was I couldn't seem to drop off. I simply lay they letting my mind 
slowing go over the events that had brought us to today. It all started 
a little less than two weeks before. 

*** 

It was about 10:00 AM on a dreary Monday morning. Rain and freezing rain
mixed fell intermittently. I had slogged and sloshed my way through the 


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