3 comments/ 35768 views/ 21 favorites Case of the Black Badge Ch. 01 By: WifeWatchman The chronological order of my stories is as follows: Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story. The Case of the Black Badge, Ch. 1 Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. ***** Part 1 - The Black Badge "Don, have you ever heard of a 'Black Badge'?" Paulina Patterson asked as I strode into the MCD room. Cindy Ross and Martin Nash were also in the room. It was a beautiful mid-February day, sunny but very cold. Just the way I liked it. "Is this some kind of trick question?" I asked as I sat down. "Our newly-forming SWAT team will have black badges on their combat-ready uniforms so that bright metal won't become a target, but other that that I have no idea what you're talking about." "It's not a trick question." Cindy said. "Martin heard about 'black badges' a couple of weeks ago, said an informant said something about a 'Black Badge' gang when Sergeant Sharples asked the perp about it. But the reason I ask is because we have a perp in Interrogation-1, some real low-life, and when Martin and I began talking to him he said he was one of 'us', that he was part of the 'Black Badge'. We realized something was up, so we tried to play along, but I think he got suspicious and said he wouldn't talk anymore without his lawyer present." "Hmm, who was in the room at the time?" "Me, Martin, and Patrolman Gunn. Gunn insisted on staying in the room and said he was there on Captain Malone's personal orders. And since a uniformed officer has to be present at all interrogations - thanks to Ikea's strong-arm tactics in the past - and we couldn't find Morton, Rudistan or Hicks right away, so we couldn't make Gunn leave." "Oh, shit." I said. Patrolman Tommy Gunn (yes, that's his name) was a mean-spirited cop who looked English with sparse hair and a jaw that angled to a sharp chin. He seemed to just blend into the Force, his facial features almost nothing in a crowd. But he hadn't disappeared from my radar, and I'd had my eye on him as a possible mole or dirty cop for whatever organization that appeared to be infesting the Department. "So Gunn said that Captain Malone personally told him to stay on duty there?" "Yes sir." Martin Nash said. "We took the low-life back to a holding cell, and McGhillie and Johnson are holding the line there for us. Morton and Rudistan are coming back in from their patrol, as well." Martin Nash said. "Good. All right, here's what I want to do." I said. "First, I need my brown trenchcoat and glasses..." -- I entered Interrogation-1 from the "front side", the perp side from where a lawyer would be expected to enter. I did not look like a policeman in any way. I was wearing a fedora hat like the Press wears in the comic books, a heavy trenchcoat over what looked like a suit, and heavy gold rimmed glasses that no one else knew were plain glass and had no prescription. I walked in with what looked like a legal portfolio full of papers, borrowed from Paulina. The perp was already there. He was white, his dirty blonde hair stringy and unkempt. He was young, early twenties, and he looked like he was by no means the sharpest tool in the shed. Something about his face and hair reminded me of "Big Alex", the well-hung young stud that was murdered by Ned ((Author's note: see 'Sperm Wars: Elizabeth Strikes Back!' for more on Big Alex)), but this man was not nearly as physically large as Alex. "Hi buddy." I said as I sat down beside him, knowing that Cindy, Martin and Paulina were watching from the other side of the one-way mirror. "Have they treated you well?" "Uh yeah, sure." the guy said. "Uh, you're not our normal lawyer." "He's busy." I said. "Patrolman, you can wait outside."
 "No sir." Patrolman Gunn said, his voice quiet but menacing, and certainly challenging. "I'll stay right here. You should have no problem with that, should you?" "It's okay." the perp said as I glared through the glasses at Gunn. "He can stay." "All right." I said, wondering if Gunn had recognized me yet. I lowered my voice into a conspiratorial whisper. "The reason I'm here, buddy, is that the word is out that you've broken the honor of the Badge." "I'd never do that!" the perp exclaimed. I cautioned him to keep his voice down by putting my finger over my lips, then glancing pointedly at Patrolman Tommy Gunn. "The Badge was the biggest honor of my life. I'd never break that!" the perp said, whispering but very agitated. "That's the word I'm getting from the punks in the holding cell." I whispered. "That's the word I hear, friend." "I'm not just a Friend, I'm an Associate!" the perp whispered a bit too loudly, still a bit agitated. "Okay, okay. Listen, buddy, I'll tell you what." I said. "I'll spread the word that you're good and didn't break the honor of the Badge. Stay here for a minute, I'll be back." I had given a signal by tapping my pen on the table a certain way. Senior Patrolmen Morton and Rudistan came into the room from the police side as I got up. We were not going to leave Gunn alone with this perp in any universe that was reality-based, so Morton was going to stay in the room with them. Rudistan and I exited back into the perp side and went down the hall towards the front of the Headquarters building. At the desk where arrested suspects had to turn in their personal belongings, I had Rudistan go back inside and retrieve the perp's bag of stuff, not asking the Duty officer to do it. I examined the wallet that had been taken from the perp. Inside were a few dollars, a drivers license and a couple of worn business cards. I took photos with my iPhone of the cards, then felt around the wallet and felt something hard. It was not difficult to find the hidden compartment. From there I extracted a small, black metal disk which looked like a policeman's badge. The Town & County Public Safety badges, worn by Police, Fire, EMTs, Deputies and Court personnel, were a gold five-pointed star with a wreath circle around the outer edge, and the Public Safety Department's Great Seal in the middle. By way of contrast, New York City police badges are a 'sunburst' formation of rays coming out from a center circle, and this badge from the perp's wallet looked more like that, except it was not gold but nearly solid black with gray lettering, and a perfect circle of sunburst rays. I took pictures of the Black Badge, noting that the Seal in the center denoted a closed fist with lightning bolts emitting from it. The inscription "Order of the Black Badge" was printed across the top of the inner circle in gray, barely legible. The word "Associate" was printed on the bottom portion of the circle. I said to Rudistan "If I didn't know better, I'd think this was some sort of silly child's game run by people who had not grown up and had too much time on their hands. But badges like these cost $50-100 or more to make, so this isn't playing around." "Yes sir." replied Rudistan, "I'll be on the lookout for more of those." I placed the Black Badge back in the wallet where I'd found it. I instructed Rudistan to make sure that this particular perp was well-guarded, as his life might be in danger. Then I went around to the front lobby of the Headquarters and made my way back to MCD. "Excellent work!" Paulina said as she and the Detectives entered the room to join me. "But what does it all mean? "I don't know." I said. "But this may be the break I've been waiting for to find the moles inside the Police Force. I left the Badge in the guy's wallet so that hopefully this gang won't be tipped off that we're onto them. Guys, let's not say anything to anyone about this. Especially not to anyone in Vice, and double-especially not to Sharples." Part 2 - Valentine's Day Matings "Hell of a time to go give a speech somewhere." I said, needling my wife as she packed her suitcase. "So much for my Valentine's Day plans for you... especially the hours of steamy sex I was going to throw into you." "Yes, darling," said Laura, "and I'm looking forward to getting my brains absolutely fucked out by you when I get home. But I hope you really didn't have plans for us; this has been on my schedule for weeks." "I know." I said. "So why Denver in the winter?" "Because the National Association of Sex Psychology has members that like to go skiing." Laura replied. "They'll go to Vail and ski during the day, drink in the bars at night. By the way, Michelle Schelle, the woman who was murdered in your 'Swap' case, she attended this event every year until she fell out of shape. She used to love skiing." "I remember something about her being an English professor that studied sexual literature of the past, so why was she in a Sex Psychology association?" I asked. "She was interested in the psychology of sex in olden times, which led to the writing of the literature she studied." Laura said. "I have to admit, I'm curious about it also, though my research doesn't go there." "So what else do you do at this event?" I asked. "Gonna pick up any hot young studs off the slopes while you're there?" I asked suggestively. "That'd be nice, but the Association members will go ski and then come hear my speech that evening after dinner. Then we'll hang around the hotel bar, drink a lot- except for me since I'm pregnant- and shoot the shit. But as to me getting picked up? I seriously doubt it." Laura said. She continued: "Melina is coming with me, she's my right-hand-woman giving presentations these days. And just between us, I'm going to be observing her a lot in a setting away from home. Daniel's concerned that she doesn't seem to give the baby enough attention. He says she even has slept through the baby's crying in the night a couple of times." "Unusual for a mother, if you're any indicator." I said. "Think there's a problem?" "I don't know." Laura said, "But in the meantime, I probably won't be picking up any college studs. Enough of those around here trying to get into my pants. You know Nick Eastwood, the varsity quarterback, he's made a point to run into me twice in the last couple of weeks. Even asked me if he could buy me coffee." "Gonna accept?" I asked. "You have my encouragement to do so. I hear he's hung like a horse. You like those young, tall, light-haired men." Nick was a dirty blonde, and my hair is strawberry blonde, a.k.a. light red, so it wasn't hard to deduce Laura's likes in men. "Well!" Laura said, somewhat playfully but also sarcastically, "since I have your permission, I just might go for it. And speaking of 'going for it', I think your Valentine's Day plans are going to be very, very good. I hear that Cindy's sister Molly has to burn some vacation time or lose it, so she's going to take a couple days and come up to visit... visit her sister, that is. Of course, she may want to spend some time with you, too." "I'll be sure to satisfy her... requests." I said, grinning. Laura didn't know that I already knew, but my wife had set it up for me to get laid by Cindy's lovely sister. -- "Ohhhhhhhhh!" Molly moaned as she undulated her hips as my throbbing, iron-hard cock drove up into her. The lovely platinum blonde and I were totally naked, and she was sitting on top of me on the sofa in The Cabin, her tight, wet cunt impaled on my hard male meat. She had just climaxed after riding me, and I was still moving my hips with hers to keep my cock pumping in and out of her steaming hot twat. While Cindy had nice sized breasts, from what I'd observed from her competition photographs, Molly's were a bit larger as I was observing them with my eyes and mouth. They were totally natural but big melons, with large, light pink nipples. I tremendously enjoyed sucking Molly's teats as I fucked her. I let my mouth slide up to her neck, which I would nuzzle as she moaned while fucking me. Our mouths frequently met in deep, tongue-twining kisses that seared my soul to the core. Molly was one absolutely delicious fuck, and while I would sometimes wonder if Cindy was this good in bed, Molly was becoming something special to me. "Oh God, Don, that's so fucking good..." Molly gasped as I nibbled at her ear, feeling her cunt clamp down hard on my cock as another of her mini-orgasms rippled through her. "Oh, how I've missed you... and that beautiful hard dick of yours! God, I've missed having this thing inside me!" We kissed deeply again. "It's all yours, baby." I said, breaking the kiss and moving down to suck her breasts again, letting my hands clutch her asscheeks then slide over her thighs and down her calves... 
"Ohhh, I like it when you massage my feet like that." said Molly. She was sitting on me in a way that allowed the tops of her sweet feet to rest on top of my thighs, and I immensely enjoyed the feeling of that. I'd been letting my hands hold and rub and massage her feet several times, and she seemed to enjoy it as much as I was. "I love your sexy feet, baby." I whispered into her ear. "I love everything about you." "I love you, Don." Molly said, her eyes boring into mine as she said it before plastering a hard, deep kiss onto my very willing mouth. "I want you to come inside me, Don. I'm fertile, and I want you to come inside me and knock me up... I want to have your baby, Don!" I didn't say anything, but let my eyes lock with hers. We continued our hard, deep fuck, staring into each other's eyes as Molly rocked her sweet ass on top of me, trying to rock my world... and succeeding. I felt my nut rising, and began pushing up harder into her to meet her downward thrusts. I heard her moan as my orgasm overtook me, the painful ecstasy of the release overwhelming me. My eyes clenched shut as I blasted my hot seed deep into the blonde beauty's climaxing cunt. "Mmm, this is one fantastic Valentine's Day." I said, relaxing after my climax. Molly was still on top of my, our loins still coupled, her head lying on my shoulder and her big breasts pressed against my hard chest as we breathed deeply in post-coital bliss. I was remembering the Valentine's Day just one year before, the emotionally disastrous night in the company of Laura, Todd and Melina. What a difference a year makes! I thought. I'm the father of a beautiful baby girl, I have the most wonderful wife a man could ask for, and I'm making love with another incredibly hot woman that I very much respect and feel for... "Yes, it is." Molly said. She had told me that she had her ex-husband had separated some years before, after a Valentine's Day fight that had nearly turned physically violent. "We're making some really good memories." "I hope we're making a lot more than that." I said. Molly knew what I meant. She wanted a baby, and I really wanted to put a bun in her oven. With that thought, I took Molly's face in my hands and brought her mouth to mine in a deep kiss. Our tongues did pleasurable battle as we made out hotly for long minutes. I picked Molly up and carried her upstairs, to my marital bed. We spent almost all of our time there for the rest of the weekend... -- Monday morning, Molly and I went into Headquarters together at 6:00am. As we entered the MCD room, we found only Cindy Ross present. She took one look at us and pretended to scowl. "Young lady, you were out very, very late last night." Cindy said to her sister Molly. "I'm going to have to let our parents know that you've been a very, very bad girl." "Yes indeed, I was as naughty as I could get." Molly replied cooly as she accepted the cup of coffee Cindy was offering her. "Just don't tell anyone that I was fucking a married man." Cindy had to grin at that one. As other Detectives came in, they greeted Molly warmly and soon the discussion was about what was going on in Midtown. The State Legislature was in session, and already some brutal political battles were underway. Of course all conversation ceased at 7:00am... the only person speaking to us then was Bettina! "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" said the lovely redhead reporterette. "State Senator Nathan Allen formally announced his campaign for re-election to the State Senate yesterday. Senator Allen's poll numbers have dropped considerably since his son received a sweetheart legal deal after a vehicular homicide that left a mother and two children dead, but he says he remains confident that he will win in spite of what could be strong primary and general election challenges." "God! I hate that son of a bitch!" exclaimed Molly. "He's the dirtiest motherfucker in the Legislature. Don, why haven't you pinned something on him and busted his ass?" "Patience, my dear." I replied. "The Wheels of Justice turn slowly, but they do turn." The truth was that I'd been looking very hard into Senator Allen, whose name was constantly coming up in my researches of other criminals and issues, such as Ward of Ward Harvester. I really wanted to bust his chops for driving Teresa Croyle out of my Department when all she did was give the bastard's son Dean the ass-whipping Dean so richly deserved. But so far there had not been anything I could pin on Senator Nathan Allen. He was extremely well-connected and powerful, too much so for just a State legislator. It would take some doing to break Nathan Allen, but I intended to do so... Part 3 - Blasts From The Past At 6:15am on a Tuesday morning some days later in February that promised more cold but clear weather, I was drinking a very tasty cup of coffee and chatting with Detective Cindy Ross when I was called into the Chief's office. Chief Griswold and FBI Special Agent in Charge Jack Muscone were waiting for me. "Hi Jack." I said. "How was Colorado?" "Good." Jack said. "Denver is a nice city, but I had no chance to get any skiing in. I was working the whole time." "That's too bad." I said. "Chief, what can I do for you?" "Crowbar," said the Chief, "do you remember Sergeant Carroll?" (Author's note: See The Case of the Murdered Chessplayer Ch. 03 to refresh your memories on Sgt. Carroll.) "Sure." I said. "He became a problem during the Kurchikov case. That was nearly a year ago. What about him?" The Chief nodded to Muscone, who replied "Carroll found a police job in Colorado, but he was fired a few months ago, in early November. He immediately found work with a police department in Arizona, a Phoenix area suburb town. He disappeared from there some days ago; the last time he was seen was on Valentine's Day." "Was he fired?" I asked. "No, he simply disappeared." Muscone said. "The local police there notified the FBI and DEA, along with State authorities in Arizona. They were originally concerned he might have been kidnapped by a drug cartel." "Any reports of Carroll being involved in drugs, in Colorado or Arizona?" I asked... and then noted a slight gleam in Jack Muscone's small, dark eyes. "He got the attention of the Internal Affairs Department of his Police Force in Colorado." Muscone said. "He was making contacts with local drug distributors out there. Rather than watch him, turn him, or sting him, they just fired him. But there was nothing at all in Arizona to do with drugs." I could tell he was holding something back, and I thought I knew what it was. Case of the Black Badge Ch. 01 "But perhaps something else that you haven't told me yet." I said, then straightened up and said formally: "Chief, I would suspect that Carroll became involved in this 'Superior Bloodlines' white supremacy group Agent Muscone has been investigating. Someone was investigating and came across the connection, then tipped off Agent Muscone, who is hoping to surprise me with this information." I then peered knowingly at Muscone. "Am I right, Jack?" Muscone and the Chief just looked at each other with looks that said "Can't get anything by this man." Then the Chief started laughing. "That's going to be one mighty tasty beer you buy me, Muscone." he said, his mustaches quivering with merriment. "Ha!" I said, grinning. "Chief, do you mean to tell me that Jack Muscone actually bet against me?" "Damn," said Jack Muscone, pretending to look at his cellphone, "I don't know what the delay is in the FBI filling my requisition for a stake to burn you at. Here, I have some notes, emails and other information for you to read." Jack passed his notebook computer over to me. "If memory serves me correctly," I said as I began to peruse the material, "Carroll was working with Patrolman Delmar. What about him?" The Chief replied "He found a job with a Sheriff's Department in northern California. Napa Valley area, I think." 
"That's correct." Muscone said. "Our agents out there went to see him. He said he'd had no contact with Carroll since leaving here, and he's had no contact with anyone here. He was eager to put the past behind him and continue his law enforcement career out there." "I'm not surprised to hear that. So Carroll disappeared." I said. "Hmmm, some very strange things here, especially about this Colorado situation. So Jack, how did the Superior Bloodlines connection come up?" "There are some groups in the border States that are militia types. They watch for illegal aliens crossing the border and report the crossings to the Border Patrol. Years ago, the Border Patrol would go out there and interdict the illegals, but in the last few years the Federal Government has made a studious point to ignore these groups and their information. "To make a long story short, one of the groups is believed to be secretly funded by Superior Bloodlines through intermediary groups, and Carroll was seen having breakfast with a couple of their people. So when my team got the tip about that, we started looking into it." "I guess I should be careful about which FBI agents I eat breakfast with." I said, needling Jack. "So do you think Carroll came to harm?" "We don't know." said Muscone. "The DEA has had no reports of kidnappings or ransoms demanded, and no dead bodies found recently that matched Carroll in any way. He's pretty distinctive with that stocky body and dark red hair of his." "Not to mention his butt-ugly face." I said. "So, you think maybe he's doing something for Superior Bloodlines? Or..." I suddenly went into a reverie, my eyes staring upwards. "No..." I said, coming out of it. "He's in trouble, big trouble. Like you said, Jack, the way he left the Colorado job... that doesn't appear to be normal. He makes drug contacts and then POOF!, he just gets fired and practically shipped down to Arizona. And then he comes up with this supremacy group, then POOF!, he vanishes..." "What are you thinking, Crowbar?" the Chief asked, his eyes peering and inquisitive. "I could be wrong..." I said, still introspective, "but it strikes me that maybe Carroll wasn't just fired. Maybe they caught him in Colorado and offered him a deal... to go undercover and penetrate this Superior Bloodlines group... or... oh yeah... yeah... maybe he's already in the group, and the FBI turned him into a double agent, sent him down to Arizona..." I was rambling, my eyes still looking at the ceiling as thoughts flashed through my mind. Then I came to. "Well, it's nearly 7:00am." I said. "Chief, mind if we go watch Bettina? Care to join us?" "You go ahead." the Chief said. "Bless that young lady, but I get ulcers every time I hear her on the news. By the way, Jack... I think that's two beers you owe me." Jack just grimaced, though good-naturedly, of course. -- "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" said the lovely redhead reporterette. "With only one week left in February, there has still not been any formal announcements in the election for Sheriff; however, Channel Two News has learned that this could change shortly, as the staff at County Democrat Headquarters has suddenly spiked in activity. Sources tell Channel Two News that the spike in activity may be related to an upcoming announcement for the Sheriff position. There has not been a Sheriff in the County in over three years. Let's now go to Chuck Pringle at the Sports desk. Chuck!" "This is Chuck Pringle, KXTC Channel Two Sports." said the sportscaster, his full head of hair becoming slightly more gray by the month, if I am any observer of people (and I am). This was clearly a taped commentary, I realized as I listened: "Channel Two Sports has learned that the investigation into the University over PED use by the NCAA is over, and their report is expected within days. Sources tell Channel Two Sports that there may have been individual students using performance-enhancing drugs, but they've found nothing to suggest widespread issues at the institutional level, and that a one-year probation and reduction of two scholarships is likely all the University will receive as punishment. Sources also tell Channel Two Sports that the NCAA will be particularly harsh in their report regarding the total lack of cooperation by the Town & County Police in getting to the truth of this health and safety problem." "And that's an understatement." I said, to no one in particular. In fact, I'd been particularly confrontational with the jerks the NCAA sent to interview me, especially when they 'demanded' that I cooperate and threatened legal action against me if I didn't. I need not tell what my reply might have been, as it may have involved a blue-colored object. After that, a Court Order forbade the NCAA from speaking to the Town & County Police again, upon the grounds the NCAA was interfering with murder investigations, particularly murders committed by my rogue nephew Ned. The NCAA was extremely upset that the Wheels of Justice superseded their arrogant sense of self-importance. "Thank you for that report, Chuck." Bettina said on the television, as if she were talking to Chuck live. "In a related story, on tonight's six o'clock broadcast we'll have Coach Brian Harlan's comments on the Board of Inquiry report that cleared police officers of any wrongdoing in the shooting death of his cousin, Police Detective Angela Harlan. While recent DNA evidence from St. Louis has confirmed that Detective Harlan was the serial killer known to local police and the FBI as the 'Black Widow', Coach Harlan still is calling for the SBI to investigate Town & County Police procedures as they were executed in the raid that killed his cousin. Now let's go to Priya Ajmani at the National Desk. Priya?" "Thank you Bettina!" said the lovely Indian reporterette. I noticed Cindy begin to pay serious attention to the television screen as Priya continued: "Channel Two News has learned that there are no new leads in the assassination of a high-ranking employee of the U.S. Mint in Denver, Colorado. The employee was an accountant for the Federal Reserve, and traveled frequently between Denver and New York, where the New York Federal Reserve Bank is located. "As you know, Bettina, the United States stores its gold in three places: the New York Federal Reserve Bank; Ft. Knox, Kentucky; and the Denver Mint; therefore, this crime is of particular interest to the Federal Government. The FBI says they have no leads, and are still trying to understand how the assassin was able to kill the Federal Reserve employee with one shot to the head, which occurred in front of over one hundred witnesses during a FED seminar in a secure hotel banquet room." "Geez, Jack," I said, "how did you pull off that shot?" I was needling him, as he'd been in Denver at the time. He smiled, but then got serious. "I'd like to know myself." Muscone said. "That's why I was there: I was investigating the shooting. No shot heard, no noise, guy just drops dead and then was found to have a .22LR slug in his head." -- "What the heck is going on?" I asked as I walked around to the back patio of the 'Mountain Nest' after coming home from work. I heard the sound of a miter saw and observed workmen bringing plywood into the basement game room from outside. Laura and my mother were watching the construction. Laura looked exceptionally hot in her dress under her coat, and I especially enjoyed seeing her wearing her black boots with block heels. The soft leather of the boots molded to her shapely calves. "Don, don't you remember our discussing having to move back in here when the baby comes?" asked Laura. I had forgotten about those conversations, and they'd been rather vague. "We're converting the basement to a mother apartment, literally, for your mom Phyllis. She'll have the privacy of the downstairs while the rest of us will live upstairs." "I really don't need the full house space." my mother said. "The basement will be perfect for me. And I won't have to travel too far to see my grandchildren, but I'll have some private space I can retreat to when I need to." "We really need to do this, Don." Laura said, seeing the expression on my face. "You've admitted The Cabin is too small to raise two children, and I need the space here to entertain as part of my duties with the University." "I understand, and I don't disagree." I said. "But what about The Cabin?" "You can still do work out of there, and I'm sure we'll be sneaking up there for some 'alone time'." Laura said. "And besides, as the children get older, you and I will need to go there if we're going to participate in the hot swinging activities that we've discussed." "I see." I said. I knew this day had been coming. I loved The Cabin, and loved the view from up there, but I knew Laura had always loved living here in the Mountain Nest and wanted to return. Oh well... marriages are compromises, I realized... I was given a quick tour of the basement, trying to stay out of the workmen's way. The big game room would be Mom's living room. The unfinished area, which had been a large closet of sorts, was being converted to a small kitchen. The unfinished room to the side, which had been used as a workshop and hobby room, was being converted into a bedroom. The potty happened to be in just the right place that the other wall was opened up and a sink and shower could be installed. It was going to be nice. "They'll be done within a month." Laura said. "They said two weeks, but I'm not foolish enough to believe they're going to be working every minute of every day. Let's go upstairs for a moment." We went up the outside steps to the kitchen, which would be the only way to the patio from the main house. Laura explained that the door to the indoor stairs to the basement would have deadbolts on both sides, mostly to keep the children from invading their grandmother's personal space as the kids got older. Laura took me upstairs to the master bedroom. "Well, welcome back home." I said. "I know you've always loved this bedroom." My wife went and closed the door to the bedroom, then came up to me, wrapped her arms around my neck, and kissed me... deeply. "Yes, and I want you to promise me something." she said. "I want this to be our marital room and our marital bed, and let's promise each other to never bring any other people in here for sex. We can swing at The Cabin or in any of the other rooms here, but let this room be just for us." "Sure thing." I said, "And let's break it in right now." I eased Laura back to the king-sized bed, which had been hers for years. I tackled her onto the bed and mounted her, opening my pants as she hitched the skirt of her dress up. No foreplay was needed; we were aroused and hot for each other. Seconds later we groaned together as she guided my throbbing cock into her sopping wet slit, and I began fucking her with hard, steady thrusts. I felt the block heels of her boots pressing against the back of my thighs and my ass as Laura wrapped her luscious legs around me, keeping me trapped inside her as we rutted lustily on our exclusively marital bed. We shared deep, passionate kisses as we hotly mated with a hard, driving rhythm, the only other sounds being our gasps of "I love you!" between kisses. I felt my nut rising powerfully, ready and eager to shoot my hot load deep into my wife's burning twat... Part 4 - Along Racial Lines "We the Jury find the defendant... Not Guilty." the forewoman said to the Court, reading from the script. It was February 22d. Assistant District Attorney Sanders and his young assistant prosecutor grimaced in anger, their heads bowed as the verdict was read. The nineteen-year-old black man who had just been acquitted of drug possession and distribution charges was hugging his lawyers and his mother as the judge, who looked as peeved and unhappy as the ADA, went through the rituals with the jury in the process of concluding this tribunal of Justice. As he collected his belongings, ADA Sanders looked back over the crowd. Then his eyes locked with mine. I'd been sitting in the back of the Court, watching the proceedings, knowing that the correct verdict had been reached. This young man had been innocent, and while I did not (yet) throw police officers under the bus for possibly planting evidence against the kid, I had helped the defense lawyers with information that helped to acquit the defendant. ADA Sanders glared at me, his face growing redder and more furious with anger with each passing second. Then he grabbed his stuff and rushed out the side door of the Court used by prosecutors. -- "Crowbar, be sure to wear a 'duty dress' uniform today." my cellphone growled at me at 5:00am the next morning. The voice was actually Chief Griswold's. "We're going to be going to D.A. Krasney's office at 8:00am, and we're going to look sharp as hell when we do." A 'duty dress' uniform was just short of a formal dress uniform. 'Duty dress' consisted of a white shirt and black necktie, a dark blue Police jacket with my badge over the left pocket and the metal-framed red and purple squares denoting the Medal of Valor and Purple Order over my right pocket and nametag. The silver bars of a Lieutenant adorned the epaulets of the jacket near the shoulders. Light blue piping circled the sleeves a couple of inches above the wrist. The pants were the same dark blue with light blue piping along the side. The Chief wanted me to look sharp, and I could guess the reason. -- "So Lieutenant, is it true that you helped the defense counsel with this case?" asked District Attorney Gil Krasney, trying hard to make the glare in his eyes meaningful. I was having none of it. "You better believe it, Mr. Krasney." I replied, looking the D.A. square in the eyes. I was standing in front of his desk, the Chief next to me. We had not been invited to sit down, and Krasney was acting pissed at us. So I stood up straight and let my eyes bore into his. "The man was innocent." "Like hell, he was!" shouted Assistant District Attorney Sanders, who was to my left and Krasney's right. He was red-faced with anger over the verdict, and I suspected he'd stayed angry all through the previous night. "Sanders!" Krasney barked, as if to a misbehaving dog. "Lighten up. I'll handle this." He exhaled, then realized Sanders had screwed up the semblance of a dressing-down, so he said "Sit down, all of you, please." We did so. "Okay Don, here's the problem..." said Krasney, which irritated me. Krasney was not my superior, as the D.A.'s office held no real power over the police department, and he was also not my friend; ergo, his use of my first name was inappropriate. If Krasney noted my irritation, he did not show it. "The Police are supposed to help the prosecutors, not the defense lawyers. If you had a problem with the case, you should've brought it to the attention of ADA Sanders, and not gone around his back to help the defense." "I did contact ADA Sanders, Mr. Krasney." I said. "Twice. He ignored me both times, leaving me no choice but to give the Defense some pointers on the blatant inconsistencies of Brody and Gunn's work, not to mention Sanders' own botched up persecution- er, prosecution of a completely innocent man. "Furthermore, Mr. Krasney, I do not agree with you at all that I'm obligated to help the Prosecution only. If a man is innocent and I can prove it, I will do so. I am on the side of Justice, Mr. Krasney, not just the side of the Prosecution." Not only had I helped the defense, I'd practically engineered it. Nathaniel Jones's case had been assigned to Dexter Epstein, the least experienced and least competent public defender in the County legal system. I had talked to Jeanine Olivet Burke, Esq., who took over the case for Jones pro bono after hearing just a few words out of my mouth about the case. Jeanine had proceeded to rip Sanders to shreds, legally that is, including forcing him to reveal information that had been hidden during discovery, and she lodged one ethics complaint against him for that. Then she'd ripped the two officers that made the bust and testified against Jones: Sergeant Brody and Patrolman Tommy Gunn... the same Tommy Gunn who kept showing up on my radar. By the time Jeanine was done, the jury was ready to acquit -AND- recommended an investigation of the Police Department for the shoddy policework exhibited by Brody and Gunn. Internal Affairs had been contacted. "You idiot, I ignored you because we had a good case against Jones!" Sanders shouted, at the edge of losing restraint. "I know a hell of a lot more about prosecuting crimes than you do, asshole-." He rose out of his chair and stepped towards me, as if he were going to physically assault me. Of course I rose up to meet the threat. "Sanders! Sit the fuck down! Now!" Krasney barked again, half-rising from his own chair behind his desk. "Lieutenant, please... have a seat. Come on now, gentlemen, this is ridiculous." "What's ridiculous, Mr. Krasney, is this so-called police officer helping the other side." hissed Sanders. "Jones? He's a low-life from the Streets. Crime is in his blood. If he didn't go to jail for this crime, he will for the next one! What was the point of fucking up my prosecution now?" "Are you out of your tree?" I said, stunned at what I'd just heard from a Town & County Assistant District Attorney. "This kid has never been arrested before, much less had priors. He's worked his ass off just to take care of his mother and sister, and go to Community College. He's a good kid in every way. How can you even sit there and say he's a bad kid?" Sanders lost control. "Because he's just a god-damn, two-bit nigger!! There's not one god-damn bit of good in him at all!" Sanders yelled at me. I did stand up at that, staring at Sanders in total shock, and also righteous anger. Sanders' face bore an ugly countenance, full of furious hatred. Krasney was gaping in utter shock, while the Chief was watching me to make sure I didn't do anything he would regret later. "Well..." I said in a quiet voice, breaking the tension-filled silence, "I guess we now know the real reason you tried to frame that kid." "Now hold on, Lieutenant!" Krasney said. "My ADA didn't try to frame anyone. It may have been a bad case, but it's not a dirty one. Sanders's remarks are inappropriate, but-" The Chief stood up, stopping me from saying- or doing- anything else. "Don, don't let me get to the door before you. Let's go." To the D.A., he said "Gil, this meeting is over. I'd suggest you have an extremely thorough conversation with your employee here." Case of the Black Badge Ch. 01 "I'm sorry, Chief." said Krasney. "I apologize for what just happened here. Sanders?" ADA Sanders did not take the obvious hint. He just looked back at Krasney, refusing to apologize for his statement, similar to the way Steven Ikea would look at me and the Chief in the days of his arrogance while on the Force. Then I realized that the Chief was all but pushing me out the door of the office... -- "Crowbar... Crowbar?" the Chief asked as I drove him back to Headquarters in my SUV. "You okay?" "Yeah..." I said absentmindedly, then came fully back and remembered my manners. "Uh... yes sir, yes sir I'm fine." "All right... tell me." the Chief said. "With your permission, Chief, I'm going to do a little digging with Myron..." I said, then after a pause. "...into the Town & County Court records." "By all means," the Chief said, knowing what I was getting at, "by all means. And direct any flak you get to me personally." In all the excitement, I failed to take full note of the Chief's total lack of surprise at any of what had transpired. Part 5- The First Loose Thread Late that afternoon, Lieutenant Daniel Allgood of the Internal Affairs Department entered the I.T. dungeon. "Myron, what the hell are you doing getting into Court documents- oh, Don, I didn't realize you were doing this." "Come on in, Daniel." I said. "Take a seat. You need to hear this." I was sitting next to Myron, directing his computer researches. The I.T. area was undergoing a renovation, which was partially modeled on the Internal Affairs set-up. Instead of one big room, the door from the outside led to hallways going left or right. The left hallway opened up into an open area with a mid-size conference table. Offices ringed the walls, the biggest in the back right (as one entered the room) belonging to Myron, with Lainie, Sonali and Goth Girl Mary taking three of the other five. One was also assigned to "The Abacus", a.k.a. Vice Detective Julie Newton, though she preferred to work upstairs in the Vice room. The other 2/3ds of I.T., including the big office in the back corner, were going to the real I.T. guys, the ones who installed computers and software, ran lines, maintained the servers, etc. Technically, they were my guys as I was still I.T. Supervisor. But the Chief had fresh ideas about that... The 'offices' were more like metal ceiling-to-floor cubicle walls with frosted glass, so that no one could see what was on the computer screens from outside. Myron and I were seated at the conference table, working from his 17" screen notebook computer. "We got a call that the Police Department was accessing Court records." said Daniel as he sat down. "They tried to block it off, but it was a SuperUser and they couldn't. I thought it was Myron peeking where he doesn't belong..." "And you now see that it's me peeking where I very much do belong." I replied. "And by the way, these are not classified records at all, so I don't know why the Courthouse is upset we're accessing them. "They just thought it was someone hacking into their computers." Daniel said. "So what are you looking for?" "I'm looking at several things." I said, not saying out loud that I didn't quite accept Lt. Allgood's explanation. "First, bail settings for drug crimes. Second, the Nathaniel Jones case that just ended." "What's the deal about the bail settings?" Daniel asked out of simple curiosity. I spoke as if lecturing an Academy class: "Generally, our four Superior Court judges, Folsom, Watts, Stone and Nance, won't give bail for higher-level drug crimes, such as major distribution or if the perp is sufficiently high within a suspected organization. If they do, the perps pay the bail out of pocket then disappear forever. However, there have been little spikes of bails being set for some perps, eight of them so far in the past five years, and yes they do skip bail and run." "Which judge?" Daniel asked. "Looks like Judge J.B. Stone on most of them, but Harry 'Spud' Nance on one." I said. "And the interesting thing is that until a year ago, the bails favored people I happen to know were connected to the chessplayer Kurchikov that got himself killed. After Kurchikov died, the last three times were for some of the couriers for the Beanstalk Gang." "So what's the significance of that?" Daniel asked. "Not sure yet." I said, not quite fully truthfully. "I'm just filing that information away for the time being. Now I'm checking the Jones case, which might come within your realm, Daniel... Sergeant Brody and Patrolman Gunn are involved." "Say no more." Daniel said. "I've opened a file on Brody after the Jones acquittal. Of course you've had me watching Gunn for a while now. But so far we have nothing really bad on either of them." "Yeah, I know." I said, then decided to conclude the discussion with the Internal Affairs supervisor. "Well, we'll be wrapping this up soon, Daniel. Why don't you head on home? After all, you've got the second-most-beautiful woman in the County waiting for you?" "I understand your bias for your own wife." Daniel said, grinning as he got up to leave. "But I think mine is Number One. I'll let the Courthouse know that everything is resolved about accessing the records." - Stepping into the anteroom of the Chief's office, I saw the door open and District Attorney Gil Krasney walk out, obviously having had a conference with Chief Griswold. They shook hands and Krasney stepped up to me. "Lieutenant, I want to apologize again for what happened this morning." Krasney said, shaking my hand, though admittedly my part of the handshake wasn't particularly firm. "It was totally out of line, as I was explaining to the Chief." "I understand, Mr. Krasney." I said. "If I may ask, what are you going to do with Sanders?" The question was not really appropriate to ask, but I suspected I could get away with it, and I did. "For starters, I'm keeping him away from you." Krasney said, cracking a half-smile at his attempt at a joke. "But seriously, he knows he fucked up and that such attitudes are for the past. He's not a bad ADA; he's gotten some good drug convictions. But I'll be keeping my eye on him." With that, Krasney exited the room, eager to get out of that conversation. "Guys, let's go into the conference room." Chief Griswold said, meaning his little conference room next to his office. He and I went inside, followed by my partner Detective Cindy Ross, whom I'd asked to attend, as always. They watched me sweep for bugs, and I found none. As I did that, Chief Griswold said "Krasney was really playing the 'humble pie' game. I don't know if he's serious or if he's just covering his political potato, but he seems to want to make amends with us." "Yet Sanders is still working for him." I noted as I finished my sweep. "True, but Sanders has a few connections of his own." replied the Chief. "Krasney can't risk firing him, even if he wants to... and of course he may not really want to. Have a seat, Crowbar. So what did you find out today?" "Several things, Chief." I said. "Two seemingly unrelated things, but I think we might finally be getting onto something." I told him about the bails, then explained to get Cindy as well as the Chief up to speed. "As you both know, we've long suspected there are some bad cops within the Force." I said, drawing nods from them. "Well, I think that, at long last, we might have a thread to grasp on this group of bad seeds." I began to explain: "ADA Paulina Patterson rarely handles the drug cases in Court; ADA Sanders does. He normally asks for no bails and the judges deny bail, but on every occasion where a bail was set, it was because he asked for it. The bails were very high, sometimes ten million dollars but more often one million. Even so, the bails were paid in full and then the perps skipped. That's money for the County coffers, but it happens only rarely, hardly enough to notice a pattern unless one is looking for it. "Part of that pattern is that Judge J.B. Stone was the judge that set those bails in almost every case. Furthermore, this generosity was extended to only one drug gang at a time; in other words, one gang was getting exclusive help while other gangs' perps were being thrown in jail with no bail." "Nothing even actionable, so far." Cindy said. I often wondered if she did this to needle me or push me along, but I was grateful for having her as a foil to keep me on the right path. "True." I said. "Now part 2, and be patient with me, Partner: I looked at the Nathaniel Jones trial with fresh eyes after Sanders's little racist slip this morning. I never could understand why this kid Jones was in trouble in the first place, as he was a good young man and a good example for others. Well, we knew that the worst public defender, Dexter Epstein, was assigned to him, but what's interesting is this: normally there is a rotation of names, and the judge calls out the name at the top of the list... but for the Jones trial, Epstein was assigned out of his normal turn. "Now that is big." said the Chief. "It's abnormal and against protocols and procedures. The Legal Beagles go ape over that stuff. Judge Nance handles assignments, doesn't he?" "Yes sir." I said, looking meaningfully at the Chief. "Of course Sanders was the prosecutor and the judge was J.B. Stone... the same judge who set bail for those drug perps at Sanders's request... and Stone looked very unhappy himself when Jones was acquitted. And as I thought about it, both Sanders and Stone were pissed when Jeanine Burke became Jones's legal counsel; they knew she was going to shred the prosecution's case and get Nathaniel acquitted." "So, to play connect-the-dots: Last year during the Kurchikov murder case, we found out about Sergeant Carroll and Patrolman Delmar and their connection to Kurchikov and possibly to his drug ring. Well, they were kicked to the kerb, and it looks like Brody and Gunn filled the void. Brody and Gunn work with Vice and Captain Malone the way Morton and Rudistan practically belong to us in MCD." "And Brody and Gunn were the cops that busted Nathaniel Jones and testified against him." Cindy said. "I always wondered if they planted evidence on that kid, and Paulina was furious about the lack of probable cause when they stopped him and searched his vehicle without a warrant. But Sanders told her to mind her own business, and Krasney didn't do anything about it when she complained." "Yes." I said. "I'm not convinced Krasney is part of this, though, especially after Sanders' little comment this morning. Maybe Krasney is starting to realize what's going on around him, and he's feeling some heat. But Sanders is hip-deep in this shit. "As to the Police Department, neither I nor Internal Affairs have found any other patterns on potentially dirty cops... except Gunn and now Brody. And Gunn was also assigned to stay with that punk we arrested and found with that black badge." "Okay, Don, tie it up with a bow for an old man." Chief Griswold said. "This is just a forming theory, so far, but it appears that it's only a couple of cops at a time that come out of the woodwork as bad seeds. I'm beginning to think that we've had problems finding the dirty cops because the ringleader only works with a couple at any given time. It's kind of like Star Wars, when there were only two Sith Lords at any one time." "Star Wars..." Cindy said, "Chief, the next thing he'll be telling us is that he watches old Hitchcock movies." The Chief laughed heartily at that one, and also at my withering look towards Cindy. Damn good thing she was such a good looking woman in my eyes, and that her sister was my lover... "I don't care where his insights come from, Cindy." said the Chief. "As long as the Iron Crowbar gets the results. Okay, even I can figure out from here that we need to watch Brody and Gunn. Have you told Allgood about this, Don?" "I've mentioned the bails to him, and he knows I was looking at the particulars of the Jones trial," I said, "but I haven't told him the full story yet. And Chief, I suggest that we don't, at least not yet. Let's keep this between the three of us for now. Not that I don't trust Daniel, but the fewer leaks, the better." "I'm in full agreement with that." Chief Griswold said, then exhaled and said "I also need to say this, Don: Daniel Allgood is a decent man and a good cop in I.A., but he and Harold Malone have been fairly good friends for quite a while. Be careful what you tell him or let him know. I don't think Daniel is dirty, but he might simply refuse to believe that Malone is bad. I've sometimes wondered about Malone and his methods, but it's hard for me even now to really think he's that dirty. And Cindy, this moratorium applies to Teresa Croyle, also. Don't mention any of this to her." "Yes sir." I said as Cindy nodded. "Just one final thing: I expect to be contacted about that little dustup with Sanders in Krasney's office this morning. Some serious people were and are very pissed off that Jones wasn't convicted. I think they're going to contact me, to gauge where I stand if not to steer me away from sticking my nose in that business." "I have just one question: Why?" Cindy asked. "Why did they go so hard after that kid, when he's actually a good kid?" "That's exactly the point, Cindy." I said. "They went after him because he is good, and sets a good example. They don't want an example or image of a black kid working hard and succeeding and making it out of the political 'plantation' they've kept blacks on for years." "Geez... the bastards." Cindy muttered. I knew that she was not unfamiliar with discrimination issues, having known a few herself. "Anyway," I said, "I expect to be contacted... and if I'm right, it'll be the ringleader himself or herself that makes that contact." Part 6 - First Contact That contact did not take long. In fact it came the next morning. But first came 7:00am, and therefore first came Bettina! "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" blared the lovely redhead. "Channel Two News has learned that Town & County Councilman Reginald B.F. Lewis has asked for appellate reviews of several cases over the last three years in which young black men without previous records may have been illegally detained, searched, and found in possession of drugs. This follows the acquittal of Nathaniel Jones just two days ago after a case that District Attorney Krasney is now admitting should never have been tried. Influential leaders of the black community are following Councilman Lewis's lead in asking for more information from the Police and the District Attorney's Office." "In other news, Phil Kearns, who lost his wife and two children when a legally intoxicated Dean Allen plowed into their car last December, has now filed a lawsuit against Dean Allen, seeking damages believed to be in the millions of dollars. In addition, Kearns and his legal team filed an ethics complaint against State Senator Nathan Allen, father of Dean Allen, alleging that Senator Allen used his political influence to get vastly reduced charges for his son in a plea deal, and Kearns' lawyer did suggest that the ethics complaint is a first step towards a lawsuit against Senator Allen. Now let's go to Chuck Pringle at the Sports Desk. Chuck?" "Thank you, Bettina!" Pringle said. It was obviously another taped delivery of the news, unlike Bettina's live broadcasts. "Chief Griswold strongly defended his Police Department after the NCAA's accusations that the Police withheld information from them in the investigation into P.E.D. use by University football players. Chief Griswold stated that ongoing murder investigations, including that of industrialist Timothy Olivet, was hindered by the NCAA in their, and I quote, 'unholy zeal', close quote, to obtain information related to the crimes. "Chief Griswold went on to say that the NCAA apparently does not care if murderers go free. Additionally, Griswold has publicly called upon the State Legislature to pass a law requiring the NCAA to meet the standard of due process of law before being able to investigate any school in the State or place any school in the State on probation. This ugly war of words will have little effect on the final NCAA report and the University's very mild punishment, but it will leave deep scars and rifts going forward." Okay, I still hate the Press... but today was a rare exception. -- At 8:30am I was working in the unused office next to Paulina's when Captain Harold Malone walked in and closed the door behind him. 
 "Whatcha doing in here?" he asked casually... just a touch too casually. The first thought to enter my mind was that he was irritated that I was using the "big" office and that I'd been angling to get it for myself, and he was just going to harass me about it. "Paperwork." I said. "This office is bigger than yours and mine put together, and the desk is not cluttered with crap. I'm just wrapping up some stuff on the Black Widow case, and I'm writing up a posthumous award for Feeley." "Which award?" asked Malone. "Police Cross." I said. Except for the Medal of Valor, the Distinguished Police Cross and the Fire Department's Distinguished Fire Cross were the highest awards in the Town & County Public Safety Department. After that came the Distinguished Service Award, Police Medal/Fire Medal, and then the Star of Gallantry. Malone sat down in the chair facing the desk as he said, "I mean no disrespect for the dead, but isn't the Cross a bit too much in Feeley's circumstance?"
 "Sure, but you know how it works, Captain..." I said, "Ask for the highest award and get what you want after the Council reduces it. I'm hoping for a Police Medal for Feeley." "He'll get a Star, as well as the Purple Order, of course." Malone said, meaning the Star of Gallantry, and I suspected he was right. Then he got down to business. "What I came to talk to you about was what happened with Sanders." Trying hard to keep my face straight and calm, I put the paperwork down and turned in the chair to face Malone, giving him my full attention. "I'll be the first to admit, mind you," said Malone, "that Sanders was over the top in his language. His emotions overcame him." Malone leaned in and lowered his voice in a semi-privacy, semi-conspiratorial manner. "But there are a lot of people who think he was essentially correct, and that the Jones boy was no good. A lot of people were ticked off about his acquittal." "He was innocent." I simply said. "Maybe he was... maybe he was." said Malone, leaning back in his chair, seeming to be searching for words. "But some people were pissed off that the Olivet woman defended the guy, and pro bono at that. And I've heard some choice words from certain circles, political circles, about you helping the defense shatter Sanders's prosecution." "Which wasn't hard to shatter. It was lame." I said. "Surely Sanders had more and better cases to prosecute, instead of wasting his time with that one?" "Not my call." said Malone. "Not really yours, either. I understand you stepping in if the man is truly innocent... but be careful of exactly what you're stepping into. Some people... and some very powerful people beyond the likes of you and me, I daresay... did not like what happened. Just look at what Councilman Lewis is doing now, going to those appeals courts about past convictions, good convictions. It's stirred up a hornet's nest, it's increased the already tremendous tension between the Police and the Black Community, and we don't need any of that... especially with all the elections coming up this year." "So what are you trying to tell me, Captain?" I asked, growing weary of this. I had heard all that I needed to hear. Case of the Black Badge Ch. 01 "Just giving you some friendly advice." Malone said. "Just advice from a man who has been around this County for a long, long time. You're an excellent cop, Lieutenant, but you're still new here; you're still pissing Midtown water." I did not respond to the joke, and I realized Malone was studying me as I was studying him; he was trying to get clues to how to proceed with me. He finally decided to just get to the core of the matter. "You can pretend to be colorblind if you want, Lieutenant... but not everyone sees things that way. Systems have their place, people have their place, and that goes for this County, too. Make sure you understand the ways of things, the waves of the sea, before you start rocking the boat." "I'll keep that in mind." I said as Malone got up. "Good. By the way, I'll go now and write a testimonial for you to put in that file for Feeley's award. It might help get him a Police Medal" Malone said as he turned to go. -- "So it is Captain Malone." Cindy said. She and I were talking with the Chief in his office. I had just reported the conversation with Malone that had occurred just over an hour before. "I'm glad Teresa's not here now. He's like a second father to her... well, first father. Her real dad was a worthless piece of shit." "Looks like it is Malone, though." I said. "He was damned careful in what he said, but he was the contact, and therefore he's the leader." "Damn," said the Chief. "I didn't want to believe it. Hell, I refused to believe it, but it just makes too much sense, now that I look back." After a pause, the Chief asked, "So Crowbar, let me get this straight... are we talking about Malone being the leader of a drug ring? Or a white supremacy ring in the County?" I said, "Chief, if my hunch is right, then it'd be more accurate to say that Captain Malone is not leading a drug ring himself, but is brokering who can sell drugs in the County. Malone takes payment from one gang, then uses police officers, without most of them knowing it, as 'enforcers' to interdict any other gangs that try to set up here. They think they're busting drug crimes and don't realize it's to help one specific gang have exclusive distribution and sales rights, so to speak." I continued: "If you look at all the drug busts that Ikea led, that Teresa led... and I did look at them... not a single one of them was against Kurchikov's outfit nor the Beanstalk Gang. Always other gangs, like Sergei Molotov's group. Before I ever laid a crowbar on him, he was being interdicted by police... he didn't make the right deal with the right guy, then he tried to come to me with a bribe to get around 'the system', as it's been set up." "Makes sense." said the Chief. "As to the white supremacy stuff?" I wondered aloud, "I don't know if it's related, or if it's a ring, or if it's just a small cabal of race-haters using the Justice System to suppress blacks, but I wouldn't be surprised if Malone were involved in that, as well." "Also, Chief," I said, "Remember how I was surprised when Malone volunteered for security for Jonas Oldeeds? I don't think I'm surprised anymore... that gave Malone and Oldeeds many opportunities to talk together and make deals." "What?!?!" asked the Chief, his eyes blinking rapidly. Then he said, "Crowbar, do you think Malone was involved in the shootings? Of you or Oldeeds?" "No sir." I said firmly. "If Malone was striking deals with Oldeeds, maybe to distribute drugs, then killing Oldeeds was the last thing he would try to do. And I'm sure the attempt to assassinate li'l ol' me was not by anyone in the local constabulary." "So what do I do about this guy? He's a Captain in the Police Force, he's been here for years... and he's also extremely well-connected politically. I can't do anything about him without some serious proof to back it up." the Chief asked. "You won't have to do anything, Chief." Cindy piped up. "I remember when we were at your house by the lake last summer... Don said that the ringleader would run for Sheriff. If Don is right, and he always seems to be... " Cindy glanced sideways at me to see if that affected me; I did not bother to react for her as she finished. "... then Captain Malone is going to run for Sheriff." "Nice observation, Cindy." said the Chief, his voice sounding impressed and happy. "She just might become a good Detective yet, Chief." I said, needling her back for her little dig at me, but extremely pleased at her remembering and putting that together. "Stoppit..." Cindy replied, inwardly pleased herself. Part 7 - Affairs of Internal Affairs "Don, can you come down to my office for a minute?" Lieutenant Daniel Allgood asked on the telephone. I concealed my shock and said I'd be down there immediately. I hurried through the security to get to the basement, then went to the door of Internal Affairs, which Allgood himself opened for me. The I.A. rooms were the most secret in the entire Headquarters. Virtually no one except I.A. personnel were allowed inside; it was a considerable exception that I was in here now. As I.A. reported straight to the County Inspector General, even Chief Griswold didn't really have jurisdiction here. The door led to two halls, one going to the left, the other to the right. They hallways ran almost all the way to the walls at the end, then opened. Daniel led me along the right-side wall, then we turned left and down a carpeted walkway. To my left were the long rows of a cubicle farm with 5-ft. high walls. The computer monitors were either red or green bordered, indicating I.A.-classified stuff was on the screen. I knew it'd be a cold day in hell before I saw a red-bordered screen. I did not see anyone; they were either not there or hunched down in their cubicles so I couldn't see them. I had no idea how many people worked in here nor, for the most part, who they were. The carpeted walkway led to Daniel's office in the back corner, the mirror-image of my old I.T. office. Going inside, Daniel asked me to sit down. I was remembering my only other time in this room... -- It was a mid-September Thursday night, before the Black Widow struck her first victim. Daniel had brought me into the I.A. rooms for the first time, showed me a little bit about the security of the monitors and such, then led me to his own office. The monitor was green-framed, meaning there was nothing important on it at the moment. "Don, I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to ask Melina to marry me tomorrow night." Daniel said. "Well, congratulations, that's great!" I said. "But... why tell me?" "Well," Daniel said, "she has no father to ask permission from, though that's an outdated ritual, I guess. And since Melina works with your wife, and with your Detective at the gym, I just thought it'd be best to give you a heads-up." "Well, I appreciate it," I said, trying to understand the nature of Daniel's gesture. "Certainly you don't need my permission, though. I'm remarried, and Melina can do what she likes. We're just friends now." "I know." Daniel said. "I'm not sure why, but I thought it'd be good to tell you." "All I can say is: congratulations to you both." I said. "I know she's very much in love with you, and that you've loved her since the day you saw her... oh yes, of course I noticed, so did my mom... and I hope you'll be happy together. I guess this is where I'm supposed to say 'Make sure you make her happy, or you'll be dealing with the crowbar!'... but I know I won't need to say that." Daniel laughed briefly. It was only later that I learned, or thought I'd learned why he'd talked to me. While Daniel and Melina's wedding in early October was small, it was at the same place Laura and I had exchanged our vows, the little veranda on the lake behind the "president's dacha". And the shocking thing was that they wanted me to give away the bride. "Now let me see if I get this straight." I said to Melina and Laura as they ganged up on me about it. "You want me to give my ex-wife away in her wedding ceremony? That cannot be 'normal'." Melina and I had not had much of a ceremony at all; this was a special occasion for her, and I had no problems not being a part of it. "So what's 'normal' in this County, darling?" Laura asked. "We're all still like family around here." You have no idea, Laura, I thought to myself, and never mind that Melina is now carrying my nephew's child but is going to marry another man, and Todd then went and found someone else but still has that look in his eye when he sees Melina. What is 'normal', indeed?... But I just let all that go and agreed to do it. And so I gave away the bride, though without any words to speak at the ceremony. Daniel and his parents were happy, Melina was beautiful and happy, and Laura was very happy with me... and did me a few sexual favors that I don't think I can mention in this family environment. ;-) -- Coming back to the present, Daniel's words shocked me. "I want to get some information to you and the Chief about this 'Black Badge' business. I happened to overhear some of you talking about it, and I want to touch base with you before taking it upstairs, especially on how we should proceed with this..." When he finished, I asked if he'd be willing to come upstairs and tell us this information in the Chief's conference room... -- "Okay, Daniel, what do you have for us?" Chief Griswold asked. James "Curly" Goodwin, Cindy Ross, Martin Nash, Paulina Patterson and myself were also in the Chief's small conference room, which I need not even say had been swept for bugs. "I know that you guys found that black badge on that low-life guy a few days ago." Daniel said. "Before you start, fill me in on the low-life, Lieutenant." said the Chief. I called upon Martin Nash to do the honors. "Here's what I found out about him." Martin Nash said, having been forewarned by me that he'd be asked to share his findings about the perp at this meeting. "His street name is 'Blondie', though he hates it. He's an auto mechanic; graduated from Town High's vocational school program, then enlisted in the Army and was a mechanic there. He got caught smuggling drugs in cars, and then he punched out the Army officer who caught him." "That's a no-no." I said, the humor being in how blatantly obvious my statement was, not to mention my status as a former Army Reserve officer. "Yes sir." replied Nash, keeping a straight face, knowing I was trying to needle him. "He did two years at Leavenworth then was dishonorably discharged. Vice thought he'd been picked up by the Beanstalk Gang, but it appears now he is not in with them. He hasn't been seen by any of our CIs since we picked him up and found the black badge in his wallet." For those who don't know, a 'CI' is a 'confidential informant, essentially spies in the criminal world that are helping the police. Meanwhile, the Chief turned back to Allgood. "Here's what I've got on this, and please don't tell anyone else in the Department about it, nor that I gave it to you." said Allgood. "In exchange, I'll ask you to please not mention any of this to anyone outside this room" I said. "Especially not to the Detectives in Vice... nor their leadership." "Agreed." said Daniel, showing no emotion. "Okay, there have been four uniformed officers that I.A. knows had discussed a 'Black Badge' gang: Carroll, Delmar, Brody and Jeremy Hatch." 
"Do I even know Hatch?" Cindy asked. "Probably not." I said. "He just made Patrolman. Low end grades at the Police Academy, barely qualified with a gun. His nickname behind his back is 'Fumblebutt'. He does mostly Courthouse duty, serving warrants, courier for papers, and such stuff... and come to think of it, that'd be an ideal place to have a mole..." "So Gunn has never mentioned anything about a Black Badge?" the Chief asked, trying to keep the meeting moving along. "No sir." said Daniel Allgood. "Not a word, but he doesn't say much to anyone, anyway. He is one mean little man, and he's not well liked; most other officers avoid contact with him. The only other person I've come across that has mentioned a Black Badge is Detective Sharples in Vice. He was going around the hallways, asking a few guys about it, and he's also asked a few suspects about it during interrogations." "I was at one of those." said Martin Nash. "That was when we first glommed onto it." "First I'm hearing of this, about Sharples, that is." said the Chief. "In what context did Sharples bring it up?" "Asking about its existence." said Daniel. "He may be pursuing leads on it himself, but I'd think he would've told Captain Malone and you, Chief." "So give us the rest of it." said the Chief, not saying any more about Sharples nor Malone, but obviously making a mental note of it, as I did. "There's not a lot else. I've put together a bit of information on this Black Badge gang, if you can call it that." said Allgood. "It seems that there are members within the Police Force, but also outside of it. And the leaders are likely on the outside, and are not just gang members; there may be some higher level guys in this thing. Now I have no idea who those people might be, and that's why I'm telling you this stuff now: it's you guys who will have to run with the ball from here and dig up more dirt." "Which we can certainly do." I said. "Thanks for telling us this, Daniel." "Yes, thank you, Daniel." said the Chief. "Okay, everyone, Detective Goodwin is taking the lead on the I.A.'s investigation of this. Lt. Allgood is recusing himself due to a family issue, and I can understand that. Unless there is something else, everyone but Crowbar One and Crowbar Two, that being Don and Cindy, head on out." Everyone headed out. "So what do you think?" asked the Chief when it was just the three of us in the room. "I think Cindy is a great Crowbar Two." I replied. Cindy blushed, but smiled at that. "Seriously though, I don't know yet what to make of it, but I do need to make some preparations. I have a feeling that these guys aren't going to let the grass grow under their feet. Here's what I want to do, Chief..." Part 8 - Opening Strategy "So, how was your day?" Melina asked as Daniel came inside the door of their home. "It was okay. It's a lot better now." Daniel said, taking his wife into his arms. They shared a warm kiss. "What's for dinner?" "Baked chicken and mixed veggies." Melina said. "So how is work these days?" "Not bad." Daniel said, sitting down on the sofa in the great room, Melina sitting down by him and curling up to his right side. The smell of her perfume wafted into his nose, and he felt his cock beginning to stir. "There's been a lot of fallout after that Nathaniel Jones acquittal." "Oh that." Melina said, her face a sneer. "Yeah, a lot of people were talking about it in the gym today. We don't have too many niggers come to the gym, usually that Assistant D.A. is the only one, but today we had several... and they were really happy about that verdict, saying that the guy had 'beaten the Man'. Everyone else either didn't know about it or didn't much care about the verdict." Daniel was used to his wife using the 'n-word'; Melina made no attempt to hide her hatred of Blacks in his presence in the privacy of their home. He said "Well, the D.A.'s office is extremely pissed off at Don for helping the defense." "He helped them? Why?" Melina asked. "He knew the guy was innocent," Daniel replied, "and he didn't let them lynch this kid. And on this one Don was right; they never should've brought that kid to trial." "Niggers are all the same." Melina said. "Don may think he helped that cat, but he'll turn right around and bite the hand that helped him." "Don doesn't care about that, he just respects the law." Daniel said, not caring to discuss the Nathaniel Jones case any longer. "Well... no need to worry about the minorities tonight." Daniel said as he eased his arm over Melina's shoulders and gently pulled to into his side... then realized that something was amiss. "So- where's the baby?" "He's visiting his biological father and his step-mommy." Melina said. "So it's just the two of us tonight... and I intend to take advantage of that." She kissed her husband's cheek, then began nuzzling his neck. "Ohhh, that's good baby." Daniel said. "Let's eat first, though. I'm starved... for food. Then we'll satisfy our real hungers, yes?" Daniel did not understand it; Melina was letting Todd and Jeanine keep little Doug more and more often. He knew that Melina loved her child, but couldn't understand why she didn't want him here every minute of the day. He'd have to call Laura Fredricson again... -- "Senator, I'm trying to tell you," said the lawyer, "this thing is nothing. We can put it off for months and months." "Yeah, until just before November." said Nathan Allen. "That's all I need. You want a drink?" They were in the study of Nathan Allen's home, which was the best home in the neighborhood next to River Valley Golf Club. "No thank you, Senator, I have to go." said the lawyer. "But don't worry about Kearns. He and his lawyers are just fishing. It's just politically motivated." It wasn't, but the lawyer wanted to reassure his politically important client. "Yeah? What about his suit against Dean? Dragging that crap up again? Can that son of a bitch hurt my boy?" Allen said as he took a long swig of bourbon. "Don't worry about it. We're going to throw Kearns in a ditch and shovel so much shit on him he'll wish to God he'd never heard your name." the lawyer said, hiding the truth that he knew, that the lawsuit against Dean Allen was going to be absolutely devastating. "Well, you better make damn sure that this Kearns dipshit drops these lawsuits, ya hear? Okay, thank you for coming by, I appreciate it and all the good work you do. Let me show you to the door. I know you need to get back to Mildred and the kids." Allen said, showing his mercurial temperament; one moment spitting fire, the next being your buddy the local politician with your best interests at heart. - Some moments later, Sen. Allen's next guest arrived. "So where the hell is that bitch that assaulted my son?" demanded Allen. "Is she out of the State yet?" "She's no longer with the Town & County Police." said the guest, then added what he knew to be a lie: "I heard that she went back to her old hometown, where she grew up, and got a job with the police there. That's a long ways away." "Well, if that bitch shows her face in this State again, she'll have to deal with the full political might of Senator Nathan Allen." Allen said, referring to himself in the third person. "I will crush her. By the way, that guy at Ward Harvester, Conlan... is he related to the Conlan in the SBI?" "They're brothers." "That's what I was afraid of." Allen said. "The Conlan at Ward Harvester wants me to help him with some regulations so he can get into business for himself. He has a lovely daughter... lovely girl... and he knows the price of my help. But if his brother is the SBI, that could be a set-up." "I wouldn't be surprised if it was. Listen, Nathan, the reason I'm here is because of what happened after the Nathaniel Jones trial." "Yeah, the nigger got off, so what? You want a drink?" Allen poured himself another one, a large one. "No thank you." said the guest. "The problem is that it opened a few cans of worms in the Police Department. The Iron Crowbar is now aware of the existence of the Black Badge gang." "Well shit, so what?" sneered Allen. "A few low-lifers get little toy badges, think they're part of something great, then work like dogs for us. Hell, if it's a problem, shut the fucking program down." "That'll take time." said the guest. "Some of the guys are embedded too deep; we'll have to replace them or work them back out." Case of the Black Badge Ch. 01 "Okay... well, then..." said Allen, shrugging and making hand gestures, sipping his drink at intervals, "let's... send a warning to whoever might give us a problem. Say that someone broke the honor of the badge, make an example of 'em." "Yes, we can do that." "Oh... wait, you mentioned that Nathaniel Jones trial." Allen said. "That's the one that divorce lawyer suddenly barged into, defended the little shit for nothing?" "Yes, Senator, that's the one." "And she's married to the Iron Crowbar's nephew, isn't that right?" Allen said. "Yes sir." the guest said. "All the more reason to stay way away from that." "Oh, are you kidding me?" Allen said. "No, we're going to send that crowbar-slinging bastard a message." "It's his family, sir, and we don't want to go there." "Like hell, we don't!" Allen said. "That bastard tried to put my boy in prison- PRISON!- and then tried to help that Bitch with a Badge who assaulted my son. He fucked with my family, it's time to show him that fucking with Senator Allen is a huge mistake. I want you to send a little message... nothing TOO rough, but something that will get the Iron Crowbar's attention." "You're on your own with that one, Senator. I won't have anything to do with it. But I'm sure that if you go through with it, that you'll get the Iron Crowbar's... full attention." said the guest, knowing that Senator Nathan Allen had just stepped into a minefield... To be continued... Case of the Black Badge Ch. 02 The chronological order of my stories is as follows: Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story. The Case of the Black Badge, Ch. 1-2 Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, extreme language, and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. Part 9 - The Crime Scene February 29th. Leap year. At 9:05am, I pulled up to the address given me, a warehouse that was at the west end of the Warehouse District, near the road that led to the farms and ranches on the west side of the railroad tracks and river. This warehouse was part of a defunct meat packing plant. Police Senior Sergeant Hugh Hewitt was riding with me, and we discussed the new SWAT team. The Council had approved it! Of course Malinda Adams had fought viciously against it, but Kelly Carnes and Pastor Westboro were won over when the Chief went into a closed-door, off-the-record session to tell them the horrors of untrained police forces that had necessitated and led to an awarding of a Medal of Valor... his, not mine. It was overcast but not raining as I noticed the Crime Lab team standing outside the door with uniformed officers. "She said she wanted us to wait until you got here, Lieutenant." said 'Labcoat'. I knew who 'she' was. Entering the large, empty warehouse, I noticed light filtering in from slats and skylights high above me, made visible by the dust particles floating in the air. One such beam of light was bathing Supervisor Tanya Perlman as she looked upwards at the objects before her, framed in their own beam of light. As I approached, I observed what Tanya was looking at. This had been an old meat-packing warehouse, and large tenterhooks hung from crossbeams above. Two dead men were now hanging by two of those huge hooks, which had been driven through their upper backs and out their chests. They were naked and their hands were manacled behind them with what looked like piano wire. Their mouths were taped shut, and I could see that their penises had been cut off. My hunch was right: the first examination by 'CMB' revealed that their cut-off cocks had been stuffed into their mouths and their mouths taped shut. In addition, they had been the recipients of the infamous 'Colombian Necktie'... their throats slit and their tongues pulled down and out through the slits. And they had been disemboweled, cut open from their groins to their sternums. "Wow, and I thought the Black Widow left gruesome crime scenes." I said, barely able to look at the scene. Tanya seemed unaffected; in fact, I was seeing the first gleam in her eye since Pete had died, adding to the rosiness of her cheeks. "Yes sir." she said. "This obviously didn't happen here. There's almost no blood on the floor." "Who called it in?" "The Duty Desk got a tip." replied Tanya. "They said someone called in that there were bodies at this location. When the Desk Sergeant asked who it was, the guy said he 'didn't want to get involved' and hung up. Patrolmen McGhillie and Johnson investigated and found the bodies. They called me, and I talked to the Desk Sergeant as I drove here. By the way... haven't you recognized those faces yet?" At that, I peered harder at the faces. Recognition was difficult, but then it hit me. One of the victims was Sergeant Carroll. The other was 'Blondie', the kid who had been in possession of the black badge. "Oh my, this is big... the party's just getting started now." I said. "Tanya, as part of the lab tests, run a DNA comparison on the blonde low-life to 'Big Alex', the kid who my nephew Ned murdered. I once had a hunch that they might be related. Let's see if they are." "I won't bet against you, Lieutenant." Tanya said. "Shall I call in the Lab Team?" "First, I want to bring Hewitt in." I said. I called on the radio for Hewitt and any combat veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan to come inside. Hugh and one of the uniformed men came up to us within a minute. "Jeez..." said Hugh, who was on light duty, still not fully recovered from his ordeal at the hands (and pussy) of the Black Widow. He grimaced, not really one for grisly crime scenes like Tanya was. The other officer also looked like he didn't want any part of this. "Gentlemen," I said, "I hope this doesn't bring flashbacks to you, but are any of these wounds like what you saw in Iraq?" "I never saw anything like this." said the uniformed officer. "I did." said Hugh. "A couple of guys got captured by the Muslim terrorists. They cut off their cocks and stuffed them into their mouths, then disemboweled them. Didn't do that to the throat, though, or hang them on meathooks." "Thanks, Hugh. You guys can go." I said. "Send the Lab team in." As the team worked and I looked around, I noticed the trashbag-lined, plastic office trash can that was set up, as always. But only one person needed to use it: Tanya Perlman. This was different; Tanya never got sick. She had been known to finish breakfast and coffee at crime scenes, and suck lollipops or ice cream bars while watching autopsies. "Sorry, Lieutenant, it must be something I ate." as she came up to me after getting sick in the trash can. "It's not food poisoning, Tanya, now is it?" I said. "Sure you don't have something you want to tell me?" She looked at me sharply as I got out my cellphone. "I'm calling an excellent doctor to schedule an appointment for you to see her this afternoon. She's good-looking, too." "I'm fine, Don. I appreciate it, but I don't need to see a doctor, especially your wife." Tanya said. I did not bother to reply. When Laura answered the phone, I told her that I wanted to send Tanya over for an appointment in the afternoon. Laura cleared 2:00pm immediately. "Okay," I said, "two o'clock, Dr. Fredricson's office. Be there. That's not a request." I said. "Especially after I pulled strings to get you the appointment. Good thing I have some influence with this excellent doctor." Part 10 - Correlations The 4:00pm meeting in the main Conference room was attended by the Chief, myself, Tanya Perlman, Daniel Allgood, Cindy Ross, Martin Nash, Diana Torres, Theo Washington, and the FBI's Jack Muscone, Sandra Speer, Eduardo Escobar and Lindy Linares. Lindy gave me a very warm smile when she saw me, which I returned as the pleasant memory of what we'd done together came back to my mind. Tanya had just made it in time after going to her doctor's appointment with my wife. She confirmed the identities of the victims as Sergeant Carroll and the young man known on the streets as 'Blondie'. "We're still waiting for toxicology, so nothing on alcohol, drugs or poisoning yet. Their bodies were essentially drained of blood, so we're having to analyze tissue samples to get these results, hence the delay. CMB thinks they were killed sometime the night before, around midnight, give or take two hours." She continued: "An autopsy will have to confirm all this, but CMB and I agreed that they were alive when their penises were cut off and taped into their mouths, and they likely were disemboweled alive. The hara-kiri is what killed them, of course. The Colombian neckties were administered after death, and of course they were dead when they were brought to the warehouse and hung on the meathooks." "Geez." said Martin Nash. "Why the overkill?" Special Agent Eduardo Escobar, an FBI expert on drug trafficking, spoke up. "The Colombian necktie is meant to intimidate and cause fear. It may be a message for... or from... the living drug traffickers that these men were associated with." "The penis thing is meant to psychologically humiliate and insult the victim." said Lindy Linares. "It might suggest that they were punishing these two men for some infraction of their criminal code." "Crowbar, you're looking thoughtful down there." the Chief said. He always sat at the head of the table, near the door, while I sat at the other end. "I'm just absorbing the information right now, Chief." I said. "What we do know is that the victims were brought to that warehouse dead and naked. There were no clothes found, there was not much blood at the scene, not many tracks or footprints. They came, hung up the bodies, and left." I continued: "The call came in to us right at 8:00am, which happens to be during shift change. Myron says the caller used a burner phone to give the anonymous tip." "Why did they do that?" asked Jack Malone. "The call, the timing, or using a burner phone?" I asked, not clear on Jack's question. "Oh sorry, the call." Jack clarified. "Why not call earlier? For that matter, why did they call at all?" "Good questions. Let me think about that." I said, then continued with my report. "Speaking of that warehouse, it's part of a property that was once owned by T&C Councilman John Colby while he ran his beef cattle farms. Stating the obvious, it was a beef processing plant. Colby sold the plant to a concern called King & Ebenezer Food Industries about three years ago, but they went into bankruptcy reorganization and dropped the property as part of the settlement. The J.P. Goldman bank owns it now, and hasn't found a buyer in the two years they've owned it." "Jack?" the Chief said, "FBI hearing anything about this?" "Not a word, so far." Muscone said. "It's early days yet, but no chatter about it that we're picking up." "Okay, Crowbar," said the Chief, "if you don't have the answers already, do you at least have the questions?" He was needling me; I'd once said that the most important thing was to find the right question to ask, and then answer it. "Just a few." I said. "First, assuming he was not killed elsewhere, why did Sergeant Carroll come back to this County? And if he was killed elsewhere, why was he brought back to this County? Second, what was the message the killers were trying to deliver, if any? Third, where did the killing take place? I'm hoping to hear that someone has called in having found a huge pool of blood somewhere, but no such luck so far. And last, as we discussed, why the anonymous tip?" "And by the way, Martin, to answer your question," I added, "the overkill was partially to send a message, but also to confuse us. Too many mixtures of style here. They either want us to think this was done by pure amateurs that just did everything they ever read about and could think of to do, or they want us to be scattered and stretched thin, searching along many different false lines. Either one is a blind, and I'm not concerned about that minutiae. I'm looking at the 'why', not the 'how'. And that tells me that this was done with intent and purpose, and by one group of criminals that these men had been associated with." "Black Badge gang?" asked Diana Torres, which got her some nasty looks from her fellow Detectives, as if she'd said too much in front of the FBI agents. "Mmmmm...mmmmay-be...." I said, looking at the ceiling and thinking as I spoke. "I was thinking along different lines but maybe they're... connected... hmmm..." I went into a reverie. "Yeah... could it be..." When I came out of the thought-trance, I realized that eleven pairs of eyes were watching me intently. "Thanks, Detective Torres." I said. "You gave me an interesting line of thought to consider." Diana looked much less uncomfortable, but no less confused than anyone else. "Which, I'm sure, you'll now share with all of us." said Cindy Ross, no small amount of acid in her voice. 
"Rosssss..." admonished the Chief. "I know there's stuff about this that hasn't been shared and it's not up to me to decide to share it, Cindy." I said. "It's okay, Don," said Jack Muscone, rescuing me from the wrath of my partner, "I told the Deputy Director that I might be discussing more of this case with you guys, and now is the time to do it, so let me fill you guys in on some of this. "This is your murder case, but what you don't know is that my team has been investigating the disappearance of Sergeant Carroll for several weeks now. We believe he may have been involved with a race-hatred organization. And after that acquittal of that black man in this County recently, some activity began showing up in the organization we're watching. That's all I can tell you for now. I don't know if this organization is behind these killings, but if they are and I find out, I'll let you know immediately." "Thanks, Jack." said the Chief. "And the Black Badge comment refers to the fact that the other man found hanging alongside Carroll was arrested some days ago, and not being the sharpest tool in the shed, he admitted to us about being part of a Black Badge organization... complete with a real black badge in his wallet. And I'm betting that Don just started correlating those things in his head." "That's about the gist of it, sir." I said, my eyes still introspective. "We have two lines going: white supremacy group, drug gang. And they keep finding reasons to intertwine. Keep this under your hats, people, but we can add to it that Ward of Ward Harvester was found to be making extra explosives that might have been shipped to the supremacy group... so I'm starting to wonder if we've just stumbled onto a BFD." "What's a 'BFD'?" asked Sandra Speer. "A 'big frickin' deal'." said Theo Washington. "Looks like I walked into this party just in time." "Exactly." I said. "And we're happy to have you here at the party, Theo. This just might crack a lot of things we've been pursuing wide open." "We're ready to help you with anything you need." said Jack Muscone. "Oh, by the way... what about the SBI?" "Shhh!!!!" I admonished. "Speak not of those hideous fools!" "So far, nothing from them." said the Chief. "And as far as I'm concerned, it can stay that way. As long as I'm Chief, this Police Force's policy is one of non-communication with the SBI, especially its Narcotics Task Force. Certain SBI Reservists excluded, of course. Anything else?" "Just this." I said, having just had an insight. "Jack, to answer your question: they called in the tip because they wanted us to find the bodies. Not much good for their purposes if the bodies are left hanging for a year in a completely abandoned warehouse. And that suggests they're sending a message and needed that message to get out. As to the time of the call, I'm not sure, but I think it's not a coincidence it was called in right at shift change." "Okay, people, start data-mining and number-crunching." the Chief said, wrapping up the meeting. "Please do take advantage of Special Agent Muscone's offer of help." -------------------- It was sunset, the light fading as I reached Cemetery Hill and made my way to the graveside of Corporal Pete Feeley, carrying a small bouquet of flowers. Cemetery Hill is more of a north-south ridge, and Pete was buried on the South end, in a place of honor amongst other police, fire and military personnel who had passed on. I was not surprised to see who was standing at Feeley's grave as I approached. It was Tanya Perlman. "You were right." Tanya said as I stepped up beside her and placed the bouquet against the headstone. "Dr. Fredricson confirmed it: I'm pregnant." "Good." I said, solemnly, but also happy for Tanya. "Congratulations." "I... I was just up here telling Pete." Tanya said. "Telling him that he's going to be a father. I just... I just wish he could've known before he..." She did not finish the sentence. "I'm sure he knows." I said, somehow sure. "And I'm sure he's watching over you and his child right now." "It is his, by the way." Tanya said, as if I'd asked. "I didn't sleep with anyone else after he asked me to marry him." "Well, you be sure to do what's needed to bring that child into the world safely, healthy and happy." I said. "And you're not going on any more bullet-flying missions, either." I wanted to make sure this baby happened almost as much as Tanya herself did. "Thanks, Don." Tanya said, understanding me completely. "Okay, I'm going to go catch some criminals." I said. "You take care, and I'll see you tomorrow." "I'll come with you." Tanya said. "Let's go mete out some Justice. For Pete." We walked down the slope back to our cars as the sun set upon this day. ------------------- "Yes, she's six weeks along." said Laura as we ate supper. "Thanks for sending her to me. After I told her she was pregnant, we had a good long talk. It was... an emotional time. It was good, she needed it." "That's good." I said. "So you think she's doing okay now?" "Oh yes." said Laura. "Losing Pete was tough for her, but she's pulling through just fine. I hate to say this, but I think you taking her on that mission and letting her blow away Angela Harlan was the best thing that could've happened. She got some closure out of that." "I think we all did." I said. "It was worth the Council's formal asschewing." "And you were lucky that was all you got. By the way," Laura said. "I haven't noticed anyone following me, and I've been watching over my shoulder for nearly three decades now." "I called you about being careful as a precaution, though I know you always are." I replied. "I'm very concerned about what's going on with these murders and this Black Badge gang... this is a 'BFD', and I think they're playing for keeps." Part 11 - The Opening Salvo March 1st. I was driving in my SUV through the Downtown district, listening to "Channel 5" on the police radio. I had told my team put their radios on Channel 5, which was automatically encrypted and decrypted on those radios that had the same key. Multiple groups could use the channel with different keys, and only messages with the key one had would come through. Sophisticated technology that many other police departments could only dream about having. I had placed Rudistan and Morton on "mobile stakeout", and had even asked Detectives Diana Torres and Theo Washington do some riding around. That way, I explained to them, Theo could get to know the layout of the town, and both of them would be helping with the case. And the people we were staking out were Sergeant Brody and Patrolman Tommy Gunn. We were following them discreetly in unmarked cars. This was what Internal Affairs should be doing, but I did not trust them to respond to trouble with the speed I would need. I had been getting a very bad vibe about what Brody and Gunn might try to do next, especially after the phone call I'd gotten a couple of days before. Jeanine had called me on the phone and told me she thought she was being followed around by a police car. I called Todd and asked him if he'd noticed a police car following him, with Jeanine or alone, and he said "Now that you mention it, I have seen a cop car behind me several times." That evening I went to visit them. I held the two babies as I discussed with them that it was possible a couple of rogue cops were watching them, especially after Jeanine had defended that black kid and won his acquittal. "Whatever you do," I said, "if the cops stop you, cooperate with them. Even if they get rough or aggressive with you, don't try to fight back. Todd, be sure to drive Jeanine wherever she needs to go; don't let her go anywhere alone. Last, but not least, if you're stopped by the cops, any cops that aren't me personally, then speed-dial me on the phone and tell me where you are... then leave the line open so I can hear what's going on as I come to you. And if you have a camera in the car so you can videotape the stop, by all means use it." Case of the Black Badge Ch. 02 The day before, Feb. 29th, I had asked Morton and Rudistan to shadow Brody and Gunn, using unmarked cars and in plain clothes. As they were now Senior Patrolmen, they could be in plainclothes for missions. And Torres and Washington also took spells following the rogue cops at intervals. "They are definitely following your nephew's wife." Torres reported. "Gunn sat in the parking lot of her law firm for hours, as well. I wonder if they have the room bugged." I texted Jeanine and said her office might be bugged, so be careful what she said. She and her partners had the place swept for devices, but found none... but as soon as they did that, Gunn drove away from the parking lot. Coincidence? You make the call. So this morning we repeated the 'mobile stakeout', and Cindy and I did some driving around as well. This also gave us a chance to talk about the ongoing case and try to collate everything into a more understandable situation-- *BZZZ! BZZZ! BZZZ!* It was my cellphone, and it was Jeanine. "They just turned on their blue lights. They're pulling us over." She gave the address, an east-west street just south of the Courthouse Square and just a block from us. I hit the button to record the sounds that came through. At the same time, 'Channel 5' lit up with traffic as Morton and Rudistan both called it in. "Cameras rolling!" I ordered as we sped to the scene, blue lights flashing. As we pulled up, Cindy was activating the inboard camera, which recorded what we were seeing: Brody had Todd against the side of Todd's car and had just punched him in the stomach. On the other side, Gunn was groping Jeanine, openly mauling her breasts then reaching under her skirt. Three police cars screeched onto the scene and cops swarmed, removing Brody and Gunn from Todd and Jeanine, and quickly subduing the bad cops, handcuffing them. Officers scrambled to stop citizens who were watching, to get their statements. ---------------------- "Okay, let's watch some TV." I said. We had Brody and Gunn in Interrogation-1, with me and Martin Nash sitting on the other side of the table. Morton, Hicks and Rudistan were also inside the room, and I knew the Chief and others were watching through the one-way looking glass. "We've got four police videos, including your own, one open cellphone audio, and several witnesses on the street that used mobile phones and recorded this. In addition, the store where you stopped the Burkes had a camera that caught everything." Seeing their looks of confusion as I showed them the tape from their own car's videocamera, I felt the need to explain: "Yeah, I know, you guys tried to disable your camera. But I've got 'people', gentlemen, and one of them activated your camera by remote access. Tough break, guys, I know." I said mockingly. Myron Milton and Goth Girl Mary Mahoney had done the honors of activating the camera. "And all this video shows you pulling the Burkes out of their car at gunpoint as if they were drug felons, then Brody here hits Todd in the stomach and yells 'That was resisting arrest!', then he punches Todd in the face and yells 'That was assaulting a police officer!'... though Todd never threw a punch. Oh, and here we have Patrolman Gunn sexually assaulting Mrs. Burke." "I was searching her for weapons after she threatened me." said Gunn flatly, looking at me with unappeasable hatred in his eyes. "Bullshit." I said. "Our cameras and her cellphone were picking up the sound, and she said nothing at any time. And if you really think the jury is going to see that as anything but a sexual assault, Gunn, then you truly are even dumber than you look." "That little punk did resist arrest." said Brody, taking up Gunn's bit. "You can hear him shouting." "He was shouting 'leave her alone!' when Gunn began sexually assaulting his wife. But he still didn't throw a punch. You don't have a leg to stand on, Brody. Anything either of you want to say before I smile for the camera and re-read you your considerable rights?" Neither spoke, so I read them their rights from the script on the card. "I'm not talking. I want a lawyer." said Brody. Gunn said nothing, and would not even speak to acknowledge when I asked him if he understood his rights. "So be it. By the way... that was my nephew and his wife you assaulted." I said. Brody went pale, Gunn made no flicker of caring. "So, gentlemen, who hired you?" I asked. "You don't want to take the fall and the ass-whipping for this. Just tell me who had you assault my family and let them take the fall." I was met with only silence. "What? Nothing? O-kayyyy...." Just then, Paulina Patterson came in through the HQ-side door. Her intentions were good; her timing, not so much. "It's official: Jeanine Olivet filed attempted rape charges against Gunn, and they both filed police brutality charges." Paulina said. "You can book 'em for that." She was about to sit down when, to our shock, Gunn spoke up. "Get out of here, nigger!" he ordered. "We don't need this god-damned nigger in the room! Get her out, now!" "Why you--" Paulina was about to say, but Gunn stood up and spit in her face. Morton and Rudistan were about to interdict him but he sat back down. That didn't save him; the senior patrolmen violently threw both men to the floor and handcuffed their hands behind their backs before returning them to their chairs. "Paulina, why don't you go clean up?" I suggested. "And flip the light switch off as you go out." Paulina nodded and left. Nash left with her. My words were code for her to turn off the videocameras to Interrogation-1, which she did. Daniel Allgood stood in the anteroom and watched her do it, not saying a word. Neither he nor the Chief, who was also watching, tried to turn the cameras back on, even though they knew what was coming. "Hicks, Morton," I said, "take Gunn to Punk City Holding. I'm going to ask Sergeant Brody here a couple more questions." I said. That was an area where perps were detained in individual cells, which were very small, where they were protected from the general population of the holding cells. I knew these guys would need life-saving protection while in my jails. It was now just the three of us in the room. "Rudistan, a spider is building a web up in that corner there. What species is that?" "Why I don't know, Lieutenant, let me take a moment to look." Rudistan said, playing along perfectly. He turned his back fully to us, looking at the wall-- ***WHAM!!!*** Using every technique I'd learned and possessed in using my full weight and power to throw a punch, I slammed my fist into Sergeant Brody's mouth as hard as I possibly could. He fell to the floor, and as he tried to lift up I drove my foot into his face with a vicious martial-arts-style kick. As he fell flat, I slammed my foot down again... right into his groin. He screamed in pain. I knelt down and took his collars into my fists, pressing my knuckles into his neck to partially cut off the blood flow. "You god-damned son of a bitch! That was just an eye-for-an-eye for what you did to my nephew. Get this straight, shithead: if you ever... and I mean EVER!!... touch my family again, I'll smash your head into a bloody fucking pulp, do you understand?... I SAID DO YOU UNDERSTAND, YOU FUCKING PUNK?!?! "Yeah, yeah, I hear ya." Brody finally acknowledged. He was near to passing out. I released him and stood up. "Not sure what species that spider is." said Rudistan as he turned back around. Just then the Chief walked into the room, followed by Martin Nash. "You're killing me, Crowbar." he said. "Let's clean this mess up." "Yes sir." I said. "Rudistan, would you and Nash take Brody to Punk City Holding? Make sure he's at the very end of the hallway." As they were about to escort Brody to his cell, he turned around and half-said, half-gurgled "Why didn't you hit Gunn like that?" I smiled... a smile no one wants to see. "An eye for an eye, Brody. You just punched a kid. Gunn attempted to commit rape." Brody's face changed to one of horror, understanding. --------------------- "Okay, we've got their clothes here." said Rudistan, bringing two plastic tupperware tubs to Interrogation-1. I'd had Brody and Gunn be fully processed, which meant them stripping down and having to wear orange jump suits. Tanya Perlman and Martin Nash were also in the room. And during the time it took to process the perps, the Chief gave me his official CYA asschewing for assaulting Brody. "I know it was your family, and I would've done the same thing." Chief Griswold said, "But one day I won't be here to back you up. You need to learn restraint, young man." "Yes sir." I said. "Chief, I need to say this: the assault on my family wasn't a whim, but an intentional attack on me through them. And what I did was my 'reply', so to speak. Like it or not, sir, if I'm right... then this is a war, the war we've talked about that's been on the horizon for some time." "I hear you, and I agree." said the Chief. "But start setting a better example for the other officers. Now I know you have something in mind for Gunn, but you're on your own with that. Make sure I'm nowhere around or I'll have to discipline you." "Yes sir." I said, understanding where he was coming from. The Chief then joined me as I headed back to Interrogation-1 to examine the rogue cops' clothing. "Okay, Gunn was in uniform, so I'd expect to find it in his wallet." I noted that Gunn's wallet had nothing of interest, but then felt the hard round object, which I extracted. It was a badge, saying 'Order Of The Black Badge'. It was just like the other one we'd found on 'Blondie', except this one said 'Inner Circle' instead of 'Associate'. "Okay," I said as the others examined the little black shield. "Brody was in plainclothes, so he may not just hide his in his wallet. Hmmm, no, nothing there... hmmm, his belt was large and thick, let's look at it." I took the black leather belt and began feeling the upper edge. I came upon an opening and thankfully looked before putting my hand inside... there was a stiletto knife, so thin that the high-quality steel actually curved with the belt. "That's another charge we can add, Chief." I said as he whistled as he examined the knife. "It's unlawful for a policeman to carry something like this while on duty." I continued to feel around the belt and found another compartment... and another Black Badge. This one said "Trusted Associate". "Tanya, bag 'em and tag 'em; they're evidence." I said. "Full chain of custody for both badges as well as the knife, and secure the badges in the Crime Lab's vault for now." "You don't want to leave the badges alone so the gang doesn't know we're onto them?" Martin Nash asked. "No need. They know." I said. "I think they found out about Blondie's slip of the tongue, and they butchered him for it. I'm sure they've also noticed that we were watching Brody and Gunn; how else were we able to move so fast and catch them and video them assaulting two good citizens? So go ahead and take the badges into evidence, Tanya." "So what does this all mean?" asked Martin Nash. Tanya said "Don and Micah filed sworn affidavits with Paula about the Badge they found on Blondie, along with the pictures they took of it. So we now have some connection between these two bad apples and the murder of Blondie." "It also means we are holding two members of the Black Badge gang, and it looks like Gunn might be a higher-up in the organization." I said. ------------------ "Chief, it was just a misunderstanding." said Captain Harold Malone. "Yeah, maybe they got too aggressive. But they didn't know the kid was the Iron Crowbar's family. He took a fair shot at Brody in reply, and I don't understand why you can't just let 'em go and suspend them prior to a hearing." "They're in jail for their own protection, Harold." Chief Griswold said, not revealing the real reason. "And they'll stay there for now, definitely until their arraignment. Crowbar's nephew and niece filed formal charges, so there's no way I can treat this as an internal event, even if I wanted to." "I'm just telling ya, Chief," Malone said, getting up though he had not been dismissed from the Chief's office and presence yet, "these are good guys and I want 'em back." "I've noted that, Captain." said Griswold. "Don't count on getting them back, though. They're in 'heap bigger trouble' than just punching a kid and assaulting his wife. I'd suggest you let this one go." "We'll see about that." Malone said. No further words were uttered as he exited the Chief's office. Part 12 - Revenge In The Night Sitting alone in the far-end cell of the protective-custody holding area, known as 'Punk City Holding', Sergeant Brody was sleeping fitfully on the cot. His mouth still hurt from the blow the Iron Crowbar had delivered to him; it was amazing that he'd lost no teeth from the sucker-punch. He half-dreamed, half-remembered this most awful of days... ---------------- His lawyer had arrived that afternoon, an older, slender man with graying hair on both sides and a bald top. The lawyer had reeked of big money, and had told him to answer no questions. That had not stopped the Iron Crowbar from speaking. "Brody, this is your only chance to save yourself." the Lieutenant had warned him. "You know what happens to ex-cops in prison... and if Gunn makes a deal first... oh geez, is it going to get ugly for you. Oh... yeah, I forgot to mention... the Black Badge gang... they might fear you talking, and want to take you out. So talking is your only chance." "Lieutenant, my client has invoked." said the lawyer. "If you say any more, it'll be harassing my client. By the way, Lieutenant, how did my client sustain those injuries to his face?" "Must've tripped and fallen." said the Iron Crowbar with a straight face, and Brody knew there'd be no repercussions. In fact, Brody was scared that if someone else went for the Lieutenant's family, then he, Brody, would face the retaliation. And then there was what the Iron Crowbar had said about an 'eye for an eye' for Gunn... The lawyer had told him in a private conference that the Police must've been following him and Gunn in order to get so much video evidence of the stop they'd made. The lawyer had said that Brody needed to keep very quiet, watch his back, and the lawyer's benefactors would make this all go away. ------------------- Brody was awakened by the door to the protective-custody cellblock being opened. He had no sense of time, but felt like it was about 2:00am. He was almost right, within a few minutes. He tried to look out his cell, but all he could see was a partial view of a uniformed police officer escorting a very large man to a holding cell closer to the door. Being placed at the very end of the cellblock, as instructed by the Iron Crowbar, the officers did not pass by Brody. "Okay," he heard one of the uniformed cops saying quietly, "That cell has a water leak. We'll have to put him in here with Gunn." The big man was known as 'The Rodrigo-san'. He was part-Asian, part-Hispanic, and huge. Despite his large girth, he was nimble and quick and well-versed in the martial arts. Not even the Iron Crowbar or Detective Ross would want to fight this man in personal combat. They opened the cell and put The Rodrigo-san inside with Gunn. As the cop closed the door, he whispered to the big man: "fresh cherry cop ass". Rodrigo-san got the hint. He was a known associate of Barry Bounel, and like Bounel, The Rodrigo-san was a homosexual. --------------------- For the next twenty minutes, Sergeant Brody endured the screams. Tommy Gunn was a mean man and a street-fighter, but he was no match for The Rodrigo-san. He was subdued easily, then had to endure the deep humiliation as well as the intense pain of being anally raped by the huge criminal. He was reduced to a screaming, crying pulp. He heard Brody's screams for someone to come help, matching his own, but those pleas went unanswered. Thirty minutes later, the uniformed officers came and got The Rodrigo-san, who was by now fully satiated and had left Gunn lying on the floor like a rag doll. ----------------------- By the way... did I, the Iron Crowbar, mention that I do have and sometimes wear the standard dark blue uniform of the Uniformed Police? An eye for an eye, Patrolman Gunn, an eye for an eye. And Brody all but shitting in his pants with fear... Part 13 - The Canary That Didn't Sing March 2d. On the 7:00am broadcast, Bettina said nothing at all about the arrest of the two dirty cops, which surprised me. It said nothing more about the Carroll/Blondie murders, having not said much in the reporting of the crime the day before. No news of any racial issues surrounding the trial, nothing from Councilman Reginald B.F. Lewis, nothing about anything the SBI was doing. Bettina actually talked about... a Dog Show that was coming to the City this weekend. Now I love dogs, but could not comprehend how that was the big news of the day: a Dog Show ninety miles away. Have I mentioned that I am not a fan of the Press, my love of dogs notwithstanding? At 8:00am, as I was seriously crunching some data, Paulina Patterson came into my little Lieutenant's office. "Brody wants to talk. He's been all but crying like a baby, and he says he wants to talk and cooperate." "And Gunn?" "Not saying a word. Literally." Paulina said. "By the way, there was some blood on the floor and his jump suit was bloody in the ass. I don't know what happened to him, but he's almost completely shut down." "Oh really..." I said, feigning surprise. "So where's Brody?" "Interrogation-2" Paulina said. "His lawyer also just got here." "Let's go!" I said. Stopping by to get Cindy and Martin from MCD, we hurried down to the Interrogation rooms. "Ohhhh, noooooo" I moaned upon entering the anteroom to Interrogation-2. Sitting inside I-2 with the perp and his lawyer... was Captain Harold Malone. "Cindy, go get the chief, quick!" I said. I waited for a few moments, hoping to listen in on their conversation, but none of them said a word: they were waiting for us. After a spell, I said "Martin, come inside with me." We went inside. "Captain Malone, what brings you in here?" I asked pointedly. "I came to find out why this bastard betrayed my Vice Department and my Police Force." Malone said. "I'm sure you have no problem with me being here during your interrogation... Lieutenant!" Pulling rank around here wasn't going to work unless one could back it up. "Yes I do have a problem with it." I said, giving Malone a withering... and challenging... look. "This is my bust and my perp, you can arrange to talk to him later." "Well, you're going to have to take me down to get me out of here." said Malone, still seated. "That can be arranged." I said. "In fact, I have just the crowbar to pry your ass out of that chair. Let me step in here and get it." I'd left the blue crowbar in the anteroom, per usual. And I did fully intend to use the crowbar on Malone. "Won't be necessary." said Chief Griswold, coming into the room as I turned to the door. "Captain, let's go, get out of here." "Yes sir." Malone said complacently, getting up and walking past me and out of the room. When the door closed, I looked at Brody. "So I hear you wanted to talk to me." "I changed my mind." said Brody. He looked scared still, but his resolve was hardened. "I'm not going to talk to you at all." The lawyer smiled at me, his eyes showing his utter contempt and what he thought was his victory over me. I simply left the room. The Chief's door was closed; he had Malone inside with Captain Charles as a witness, and was cursing Malone out. Reports were that Malone didn't argue and pretty much took it, but held his ground calmly. Something was up about that. Case of the Black Badge Ch. 02 "I'm going to go work out." I told Cindy and Martin. "I've got to let off some steam before I hurt somebody." They understood. I went to the gym. It is possible that a once-in-good-condition punching bag in the facility was badly damaged during my hour-long workout... ------------------- I had Myron work in my little Lieutenant's office, gathering and crunching the data. We were in my office because Julie Newton of Vice had suddenly started working much more often in her cubicle in the dungeon, and I needed a greater degree of privacy on this one. "After we discovered the missing logs in the Carroll/Delmar case while working on the Murdered Chessplayer case," Myron said, "both I.T. and Internal Affairs secretly set up systems where all entries were immediately backed up to a temporary server, which would be checked against the main backup and discrepancies noted before being recycled and the space reused. So now log entries cannot be eradicated without us seeing it immediately. Even so, I've found no instances where Gunn and Brody's logs were altered." "That's not a surprise." I said. "After Carroll and Delmar, they stopped making any police reports or log entries. They stopped using calls to the Station as cover for their visits to places." "Yes sir." said Myron. "Here's the deal, though: we and I.A. also started backing up the GPS logs immediately, so we have those. And Brody and Gunn made a lot of visits to places in various places that have no matching log entries. Most of the stops were in the Tenderloin District, a few in the Warehouse District and... get this, sir... some of those were at the abandoned King & Ebenezer Food Industries plant where Carroll and the other guy were found." "Good work." I said. "Myron, I know you always come to me first with anything you find, and I appreciate it. My question is: do you know if I.A. knows about this? This is at least partially their arena." "The connection to the murder location makes it yours and mine, as well as theirs." said Myron. "But to answer your question: they haven't talked to me, so I don't know what they know." said Myron. "In fact, I've been expecting Lt. Allgood to come in and try to shut me down, but I haven't seen him nor heard from him for days. I figured you'd cleared it with him." "No..." I said, beginning to be lost in thought. Finally, I said "Myron, put together a file with everything you have on Brody and Gunn, and I need it now. I'm going to the Chief; this one is over my head." ----------------------- "Brody and Gunn are up for arraignment in the morning." I told the Chief. "Paulina is going to ask the judge to deny bail. I checked the Court calendar, the judge should be Nance or Folsom, so we might get to keep these guys for another night or two." "Good." said the Chief. "By the way, Crowbar, have you considered what will happen if they do get bail? If they don't get ankle monitored, they'll run... and even with an ankle monitor, we might find them hanging from a meathook like we found Carroll and that other lowlife." "Yes sir, I have made plans for that eventuality." I said, smiling. "And there's not a god-damned thing Captain Malone can do about it." "That's my Iron Crowbar!" the Chief said, beaming from behind his mustaches. "So, what are you going to do?" I told him my plan, then continued: "Chief, I know you stay out of I.A.'s way, and so do I... but we really need to know if they knew what was going on, and for how long." "So what would you do if you were sitting in this chair, Crowbar?" asked the Chief. His question was testing me, but also preparing me for the day he hoped would come: that I would one day be Chief of Police. I knew I was not ready for that. "I don't know, sir." I said. "Maybe bring Allgood in here and grill him, even though he's recused himself... perhaps because he's recused himself? Or maybe speak to the Inspector General, ask him if he'd ask I.A. to 'cooperate' with us on this investigation as our paths may be crossing and we don't want to step on each other's toes, etc." The Inspector General was the Town & County Public Safety Department's position for things like Internal Affairs. The Police, Fire, EMT and Public Health Department's Internal Affairs people reported to the I.G., not the Department heads. Admittedly, the Police I.A. was the only truly organized unit, and often the Police I.A. liaisoned with other Departments to provide manpower for Internal investigations. The I.G. was technically below the Sheriff in rank, as the Sheriff was the Public Safety Officer and in charge of all the Departments, but the I.G. was equivalent rank to the Police and Fire Chiefs, and reported directly to the Council. "I'm going to talk to Allgood myself before going over his head." said Chief Griswold. "And I'm going to ask what you want to know, which is what I want to know: how long have they known about Brody and Gunn, who else do they know about, and why have I not heard more about what they do know? Allgood doesn't answer directly to me, but I'm still Chief of this Police Force, I have the right to know, and I expect him to keep me in the loop." Chief Griswold continued: "As you know, Daniel Allgood has been on leave the last two days, working on that family matter. But I'll call him on his cellphone and tell him to be ready for a meeting at 10:00am tomorrow morning-- er, you do know about that family matter, don't you Don?" he asked, seeing the puzzled look on my face. "No sir." I said. "I wasn't aware of any problem. Not that it's any of my business." "I thought you knew." said Griswold. He then leaned forward and whispered "Talk to your wife. Don't mention my name as your 'source', if you don't mind..." Part 14 - A Secret From The Past Daniel Allgood sat down on the sofa in the late afternoon, sipping a bourbon and Coca-Cola. Melina came into the room and sat down beside him, her legs curled under her, attending him as she liked to do. "Honey, we have to talk." Daniel said. "The Chief called me and said I'm needed at a meeting tomorrow morning. It's about those two dirty cops, and even though I recused myself from that investigation, I'm pretty sure where the Chief is going to go with the meeting." "Where's that?" Melina asked, already knowing the answer. "About the racial issues in the Department." Daniel said. "The ones I've been overlooking." "I see." said Melina, her face scowling slightly. "Well, you gotta do what you gotta do, the niggers be damned." Daniel said, knowing it had to be said, "Melina, you know that I'm not for or against them as individuals. It's just when they start into the 'group politics' and the White People's rights start being trampled in the name of a false 'equality' that I get upset. But there's some stuff going on within the Police Department and the Court system, and it's coming out into the open. I can't hold back on it any longer." "I know, honey." Melina said. "And 'they' can do whatever they want, I just wish they'd do it somewhere I'm not. I just don't want to see another nigger for as long as I live. Maybe impossible, but that's what I'd be happy with." Daniel knew this was the right time to ask. "Honey, why do you hate blacks so much?" Melina sighed as she looked forward, her eyes becoming jet. "I've never discussed this with anyone before, not even Laura or Don when I was married to him." She took a long swig of her drink, then continued. "My real parents died when I was a baby; I never knew them. My adopted parents and I moved around a bit. We were living in Tennessee, near Oak Ridge when I was ten years old." "One day, four niggers broke into our house while my dad was gone. One of them grabbed me while the others grabbed my mother and started ripping her clothes off. They threatened to harm me if she didn't submit to them, but she fought them as hard as she could anyway. It wasn't enough; the overpowered her, and then they... they took turns raping her on the floor while the fourth one made me watch and taunted me. Tears were streaming down Melina's cheeks as she continued: "I can still remember how they smelled... how their filthy, sweaty arms felt as they held me off the floor. I was screaming as loud as I could and trying to fight to get loose, telling them to leave my mother alone. One of them laughed and said I had more fight than my mother... by then, she was half unconscious from being hit and raped six times. Then the fourth nigger handed me to another one and took his turn... raping my mom. He slapped her face as hard as she could; she was bleeding from her nose and not moving. I... I try not to think about it, but sometimes I have nightmares, remembering watching that son of a bitch..." "They didn't harm me physically, but threw me down hard on the floor as they left. I crawled to my mom and she was still alive. I called 9-1-1 and the paramedics got there just in time: I found out later that my mom was bleeding inside, and would've bled out if they'd been just a few minutes later." "Oh honey, I'm so sorry." Daniel said, hugging Melina in his arms. "Ever since then, I've practiced martial arts, I've practiced shooting guns and bow-and-arrows to be the very best I can be, and I swore that neither I nor my loved ones would ever endure pain at the hands of niggers again if I could do anything at all about it." Melina said. "And I've hated niggers, all niggers, ever since that day. I don't see a difference from one to the next: every nigger is a rapist, every nigger beat my mother nearly to death. That may not be right, but that is how I feel. Like I said, put me somewhere where I'll never see another nigger again, and I'll be happy." "You never told Don about any of this?" Daniel asked. Melina then said, "When I was married to Don, I knew he didn't have a racist bone in his body. He'd play chess with some of the black guys, never used racist language. I never said anything, nor did he, during the years of our marriage; we both knew what each other was about and just didn't discuss it. "But then... when he was in the hospital after being shot, one of the nurses, the one Don calls 'Nurse Ratchett', she told me that she suspected that nigger Nurse Jones snuck into Don's room and had sex with him. Don says he doesn't remember anything, but I knew he knew more than he was saying... I could tell. And that was one big, big reason that we divorced. It might have happened anyway; he was in love with Laura from the minute he saw her, and I didn't mind that... but I didn't feel quite the same way about him after that hospital stay." Melina then looked at Daniel and said "Honey, you do what you need to do. I know both you and Don are good men, and doing what's best for the 'good Citizens of the County', as Don would say. And I love you and will keep on loving you, no matter what, unless you sleep with a black woman." "You know I'd never sleep with a black woman when I can come home to you." Daniel said. "But Melina... I love you, and I appreciate you telling me all this. I know it was hard, but I'm glad you trusted me and talked to me about it..." The kiss they shared was long, deep, and full of emotion. "Make love to me, Daniel." Melina whispered. "I need you... I need you right now, baby..." She was already opening her husband's pants, her hand fishing inside for his large cock. It was difficult for Daniel. He loved his wife and would always get hotly aroused, his nine inch cock hard and throbbing, whenever they began having sex. But now his mind was blazing with what Melina had just told him. He was feeling pain, pain on her behalf, at what she'd just told him... my God! that had to be so horrible to watch! he thought. Melina's mouth and hands were hard at work, trying to bring life to Daniel's cock. The physical pleasure of her mouth on him was enough to get him half-hard, but not as fully, throbbing hard that he would need to be to get him meat balls-deep inside her. "Hey baby, let me eat your pussy for a while." Daniel said. Melina lay back on the sofa and Daniel dove in between his wife's luscious legs, licking deeper and deeper into her slit. She was getting wetter and hotter and Daniel used his lips, tongue and fingers to arouse her and bring her pleasure. He settled in for a long session of muff-diving... ------------------ After giving Melina two orgasms, Daniel finally raised up and took her into his arms, cuddling with her. She did not say anything more about having him penetrate her, probably realizing that he needed the time to mentally digest what she'd told him. And it was confirmed when Daniel asked "So how are you feeling... about our talk with Laura today?" ------------------------ I stepped onto the patio of the 'Mountain Nest', bringing with me two drinks: one neat Scotch for myself, and one 'Godfather', a Scotch and Amaretto, for Laura. She had asked for the strong drink. "How was your day today, honey?" I asked. "Rough." she said, staring forward, looking over the view of the Town as the sun was lowering. "Daniel and Melina? Wanna clue me in on the details?" Laura looked sharply at me. "Yes. Today has been probably the hardest day of my life. Not the worst, but the hardest. How much do you know?" I said "Only that we just arrested two dirty cops who may be connected with a double murder, we may have a drug ring within the Force -and- we have a brewing race issue as well, situations that are screaming for Internal Affairs involvement.... and while Daniel recused himself from the investigation of the dirty cops, he's still not there, he's taking a couple of days off. Doesn't take much to figure out something is going on, but I don't know the full story. Care to enlighten me?" Laura took a long swallow of her drink, then said "If I haven't told you this, it's not because I was trying to hide it from you. I know you're very busy and I didn't want you to be worried about this, also. And of course it is also was a professional situation for me, as well as a very personal one." "Well, you know I'll respect your professional privacy if you need to keep it." I said. "I know, and I appreciate it. But no, you need to know." Laura said. "It's about Melina, it's about Todd, it's about the baby. You mentioned right after she delivered the baby that she didn't seem to be acting normal. And you were right. She was having postpartum depression. I was hoping she'd snap out of it; most new mothers do, especially with treatment. But Melina didn't." Laura went on, the words gushing: "I watched her during our Denver trip, and she seemed normal, which for her is being quiet but sometimes being extremely active and single-minded when focused on something she wants done." I nodded as Laura continued: "But it's when she's around the baby that things were getting dicey. I think she loves the baby, but she was all but rejecting it. Her breasts are not making milk, even with medication I gave her. She's not responding when the baby cries, which is why either Todd's stepmother, your mother or Daniel is staying with her at all times when the baby is there. She's been letting the baby stay with Todd and Jeanine more and more. They certainly don't mind, though it essentially means they're dealing with two babies at once, and they're both young and busy." "I see." said the blind man (me). "Daniel came to me some days ago to discuss the situation." Laura said. "I've been watching since, and have had some talks with Melina, first alone, then her and Daniel together. My concerns were confirmed when I actually suggested that Todd and Jeanine take custody of little Doug. Melina didn't make any objection to it; in fact, I think Daniel was more unhappy about it." "So I talked to Jeanine and Todd, who not only were agreeable but actually want to take custody. Jeanine's going to do the paperwork, and it'll be formally filed on Todd's 21st birthday in May. Melina will have virtually unlimited visitation rights. "Now the problem is that, for reasons I cannot discuss with you Don, we cannot have Melina have any paperwork that says she has any kind of psychological problem. Just for openers, Melina could no longer work with me if any Court judged her as mentally deficient in any way." "I understand." I said, fully understanding far more than my wife realized. "But does she have a problem?" I was shocked to be hearing all this. I'd been married to Melina for over eight years; to be hearing of this without a clue beforehand was stunning. "I don't think she is mentally ill or has a real problem." Laura replied. "She was never abusive to the child, she loves the child, but she's also essentially rejected it. It may be that after she met Daniel and fell for him, she was inwardly embarrassed about being pregnant with Todd's child. There have been studies on postpartum depression and the like, and I've called some people I know who specialize in it far more than I do, just so I can try to understand it myself." "The bottom line and the trick is that we're going to have to give Jeanine and Todd custody, and Jeanine may adopt Doug formally, while at the same time not saying anything about any problems Melina has been having. Jeanine has agreed to this. Todd basically is going along with whatever his wife said." "Todd wants that baby a lot more than he's letting on." I said. "He's playing it quiet and careful, but I'm sure he's ecstatic to be getting custody of Doug." "Well, I'm going to have to pull some tremendous strings and call in some heavy favors to get this through without upsetting the applecart." Laura said. "I've already called Judge Watts; he's the only one halfway trustworthy." "Let me know if I can help." I said. "Oderwise, I'll stay in the deep background on it. Now speaking of babies... how is our second one coming along inside there?" I rubbed my wife's tummy as I said it. *BRRRING!!! BRRRING!!! BRRRING!!!* It was my cellphone... and it spelled trouble. Part 15 - Vices of Vice Captain's offices are larger than the tiny Lieutenant offices, but not as large as Paulina's nor the empty one beside hers. In Captain Malone's office, the blinds were shut tight so that no one could see the lewd and lascivious actions taking place as the Police Force underwent the afternoon shift change. "Ohhh, that's so fucking good." Captain Malone groaned. "You have one hell of a hot mouth, babe!" He was sitting in his desk chair. Julie Newton was kneeling to his left side, her mouth sliding hotly up and down his thick shaft. The slender young woman looked almost waifish next to the larger man. She was wearing a shimmering purple blouse that was open to reveal her firm breasts, a white skirt, white pantyhose and black high heel pumps. She was going to town on Malone's meat, really getting into the act she was performing upon her boss. "Mmmmm!" Julie moaned as she fellated the older man's cock, sliding her lips down his shaft, stretching them to accommodate his girth as she deep throated him and took every one of his six inches into her face. It did not take too much of this intense oral action for Malone to feel the first rumbling in his loins. "Easy, baby, you're going to make me shoot off early if you keep doing that." he gasped. Julie stood up, eased her skirt down her legs, letting it fall to the floor. Then she went to the edge of the desk in front of him and sat down on it. She pulled her legs up so that her high-heeled feet were on the desk next to her soaking wet pussy, her cuntlips gaping in desperate anticipation to receive his fuck-tool. "Come and get it, Captain." Julie offered. Malone felt his cock throb a little extra at the sight of his wanton Detective's lewd pose. She wanted to mate! and he intended to fulfill her desires. Case of the Black Badge Ch. 02 Malone stood and stepped up to the plate. He grasped the desk and bent his knees slightly. His cock found Julie's cunt unerringly and he drove forward, sheathing his meat to the hilt into the hot wet depths of her. "Oh baby!" Julie exclaimed, trying to keep her voice down. "Oh yeah, fuck me, Captain, fuck me with that big dick!" Harold Malone responded as he began pistoning his prick in and out of her slick hole with increasing speed and power, enjoying the pleasure of fucking his subordinate's sweet pussy. As he pressed forward, Julie pressed her chest into him, knowing that Malone enjoyed this position and these sensations as they rutted hotly on the desk. She looked up at him, her face a mask of wanton lust and anticipation as he smashed his mouth onto hers. He always loved how she sucked hard on his tongue, and he enjoyed her eagerness to sexually service and please him. She had been putty in his hands from the first time he'd seduced her just after she began working for Vice. Malone picked the slender girl up as if her weight were negligible, still keeping their loins locked together, and walked her to the couch. He eased her down and put his weight on her, continuing to fuck her. She spread her legs to give him total access to her womanhood and he took advantage, shoving his throbbing meat deep inside her, his thrusts becoming shorter and deeper as they both watched between their legs at their merged organs of lust. After a couple of minutes of furious fucking, Malone couldn't handle it anymore... and feeling Julie's cunt clench hard on his rod drove him over the edge. He climbed her all the way, reaching the crest in an explosion of intense pleasure. "UHH!!!" was all he said as he fired long streams of thick, ropy jism into Julie's sodden cunt, filling her with his male seed. He still had it, he could still shoot a big load and fill a beautiful woman up, he thought proudly to himself. After another deep kiss, Malone slid his juice-soaked cock out of Julie's spermy cunt and dismounted her. "Mmmm, that was great." Julie Newton said. "I love it when you fuck me like that, Captain." "You're a great piece of ass, too, Julie." the Captain said, knowing she liked his words and his way of treating her like a piece of meat, to be used for his sexual pleasure. "But it's getting time for you to go. You've got a mission, an important one." "Yes sir." Julie said as she quickly dressed, enjoying the feeling of Malone's semen in her vagina, and her excitement growing in eager anticipation of her next assignment. Part 16 - The Bailout It was 6:30pm and I was at the Courthouse. ADA Paulina Patterson and DA Gil Krasney were with me in the hallway, outside the courtroom. "I don't know who ordered it." said Paulina. "Sr. Patrolman Rudistan saw a couple of other Uniforms taking Brody and Gunn to the transfer truck." The transfer truck was the armored truck we used to transport perps to the Courthouse for arraignment, then to the County Jail near the main highway north of town. The Police Headquarters was equipped only with holding cells, meant to be used only for short periods. "Rudistan asked what was going on, and the two guys said they were ordered to put the guys in the truck." continued Paulina. "He called me immediately, and I called you, Don." "Yes, I'd told Rudistan to call you first if something like this happened. Who were the officers?" "Smith and Wesson" Paulina said with a straight face. "Har!" I said, enjoying the humor of it: "Smith and Wesson taking Tommy Gunn to the Courthouse." Neither Krasney nor Paulina smiled at the joke, so I asked "Er, which 'Smith'? We have four." "Patrolman Billy Smith, the rookie." Paulina said. "And Senior Patrolman Ben Wesson." "Ah, the alcoholic. That guy has been on the precipice of getting fired for months, but Captain Malone insists on keeping him around." I said, wondering if we were hearing the names of the next two dirty cops to come to the fore as the next 'Sith Lords'. Just then, ADA Sanders approached the Courtroom. Krasney stopped him. "What's going on in there, Sanders?" the District Attorney demanded. "I have to go in now, Mr. Krasney. Judge Stone wants to get the bail hearing going now." said Sanders, trying to evade Krasney and pass through the door. "Hold it, Sanders." Krasney said, physically stopping Sanders from entering the Courtroom. "Did you order Brody and Gunn be brought here?" "Why, yes sir." said Sanders. "Their lawyer is demanding an immediate hearing and Judge Stone agreed. He told me to bring them over immediately." "Excuse us, Lieutenant." said Krasney. "Patterson, you and I will personally handle this. Sanders, stay the hell out of the room. Lieutenant, if he tries to go in, do whatever you need to do to stop him." "With great pleasure, Mr. District Attorney." I said, my eyes boring into Sanders. Sanders glared at me but did not win the staredown; he got the hint and walked off. I made a quick phone call, and then slipped into the back of the Courtroom. I nodded in greeting to the Deputies who were at the door, and watched the proceedings... ---------------------- "Mr. Krasney, I did not expect to see you at a bail hearing." said Judge Stone, obviously displeased. He had just called the Brody/Gunn case, and I saw the two officers in regular clothing standing beside their balding lawyer at the defense table. "Where is Mr. Sanders? I thought he was handling this." "I'm taking this one myself, Your Honor." replied Krasney. "This is an important one." "How so?" said Judge Stone. I observed that the jurist was trying hard to keep his anger off his face, and was not fully succeeding. "Your Honor, it's imperative that bail be denied for these two defendants. Miss Patterson?" Krasney said, turning to Paulina to continue. "Your Honor, these defendants pose an extreme flight risk and a danger to the community--" began Paula, but the Judge made a point to interrupt her. "These are police officers." said Judge Stone. "They've been serving the community." "Your honor," said Paulina, "they're now suspended police officers pending their trial. They have been charged with serious crimes, including abuse of their police authority, assaulting two citizens in police custody, and attempted rape." Technically, Todd and Jeanine were considered 'in custody' when they were stopped by Brody and Gunn, and the assault on them was while in the custody of the police officers. The charge was more serious than simply one of assault. The rape charge was the one filed by Jeanine. "In addition, Your Honor," Paulina continued, "as police officers charged with crimes, there is a considerable danger to their lives if they are not kept in protective custody." Judge Stone was not even listening to her; he was looking down and reading something on his desk. Judge Stone was an older man with graying hair; he was not handsome and his face had what looked like a permanent sneer on it. "Defense counsel?" was all he said when Paulina finished, as he made a point to diminish her words by not even acknowledging them. "Your Honor," said the lawyer, seeming to relish his words and this proceeding, "my clients are not a flight risk. They have substantial ties to the Community as well as good police records. We respectfully do not agree with the risk assessment to them, and would ask Your Honor to consider that they may be in greater danger while in police custody. They deserve to be released upon their own recognizance." "Your Honor," Paulina quickly said at the slightest pause, "Mr. Gunn has no ties to the community whatsoever, having only been with the local Police Force for a year. Mr. Brody has no family in the area, as well. Both should be considered extreme flight risks, and we ask that bail be denied." "No, no, I'm going to set bail for these officers." said Judge Stone, seeming to make an intentional message by calling them 'officers', I noted. "Bail will be set at ten thousand dollars for each. This hearing is--" "Your Honor!" broke in D.A. Krasney. Stone looked up at him, clearly unhappy with being interrupted. "Can we at least get an order to require them to wear ankle monitors?" asked Krasney. "I don't think that's necessary, Mr. Krasney. Both you and your amateur assistant there have totally failed to show me why these officers shouldn't get bail, much less be subjected to monitoring." said Judge Stone, really rubbing it into the prosecutors' faces. "It is my opinion from this bench, Mr. Krasney, that monitoring is not required. Bail at ten thousand each, and I expect not to hear of any police department harassment of these men. This hearing is adjourned!" Stone banged the gavel and got up and left the Courtroom. To my surprise, Judge Nance then walked in, sat down behind the bench, and had the bailiff call the next case. -------------------------- "So Judge Stone wasn't even the normal judge tonight," I said in the hallway to Krasney and Paulina, "he just stepped in for that one hearing." "Looks like it." said Krasney. "And he obviously was hell-bent on giving them bail--" Just then, Brody and Krasney came down the hallway. I'd find out later that persons claiming to be family and friends of Brody and Gunn already had $10,000 in cash, and had paid their bail immediately. "Well, Lieutenant," Brody said to me sneeringly, "I guess I'll be seeing you again soon." He and the lawyer grinned as they headed for the front door of the Courthouse. Gunn said nothing, just glared hatefully at me and then Paulina before following the others outside. The two prosecutors looked angry and defeated. Not the ol' Iron Crowbar, though. "Guys, why don't we step outside." I said. "I suspect the view of the Courthouse Square is going to get mighty interesting in a few seconds." Their looks of defeated anger changed to wonder as they followed me out the door. ------------------- The motorcycle sped through the streets, weaving between cars and occasionally drawing car horn blasts from angered motorists. The cyclist was dressed in all black leather, with a black motorcycle helmet and dark face shielding. The semi-automatic .22LR pistol was lodged in a holster inside the rider's leather jacked, ready to be pulled out instantly and used instantly. Bursting onto the streets of the Courthouse square, the motorcycle was speeding along, towards the three men at the bottom of the Courthouse steps. The rider readied, mentally preparing to stop and reach for the pistol-- Suddenly, a big black SUV shot in front of the motorcycle! The rider had to swerve hard to avoid being hit! Two big black vans joined the black SUV in pulling up to the three men, blue and red lights flashing in the grilles and windows and bumpers. Jack Muscone, Eduardo Escobar and several other FBI agents burst out of the cars, semi-automatic guns brandished, shouting "FBI!". They quickly slammed Brody and Gunn against the side of one of the vans, then cuffed their hands behind them! "What the hell is going on here?" demanded the lawyer, who had not been touched. Jack Muscone approached him and handed him a piece of paper. "FBI." Muscone said. "This is a federal warrant for the arrest of Brody and Gunn. We're taking them into Federal custody, right now." "Where are you going?" yelled the lawyer as the FBI men shoved the arrested rogue cops into the vans, separating them from each other. "We're taking them to the Federal Building in the City." Muscone said. "You can ride with me if you like." The lawyer and Escobar got into the backseat of Jack's SUV as Muscone took the wheel. The three black vehicles sped off, and it was suddenly as if they'd never been there. "Well, I'll be damned..." D.A. Krasney said, still staring at the spot in shock and wonder. Paulina Patterson was looking at me, her eyes and smile sparkling and beautiful: she'd figured it out, and knew exactly who had been behind this most timely of Federal arrests. I was not watching the arrests; my attention had for some reason been diverted to a motorcycle that had been approaching at speed from our right. I saw it get cut off by the FBI vans, then stop. The motorcyclist had watched the arrest, then turned around and sped off. I was sure that I needed to know more about who that motorcyclist was... To be continued... Case of the Black Badge Ch. 03 The chronological order of my stories is as follows: Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story. The Case of the Black Badge, Ch. 1-3 Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, extreme language, and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. Part 17 - At The Federal Level Cindy and I had been watching Muscone and Sandra Speer interrogate the suspects. When we arrived in the City, Lindy Linares had escorted us to the anteroom of the FBI's interrogation room, where Jack Muscone was just beginning to work on Sergeant Brody. When the lawyer had objected to the FBI's jurisdiction of the case, I heard Jack say as I listened in, "Here's the deal: the man Carroll who was found dead in your County was reported missing in Arizona. That means crossing State lines, it means Federal jurisdiction. Your Town & County Police shared with the FBI information from your patrol car's GPS that you'd visited that meat plant the night before the bodies were found-" "Purely coincidental and circumstantial, Agent Muscone." said the lawyer. "Do you really think this is going to hold up in a hearing, much less a trial?" "In addition," Muscone continued, unfazed, "Black Badges were found on your clothing at the time of your arrests; matching a Black Badge once found on the other man found dead on Carroll. Circumstantial? Maybe, but there are just too many coincidences. Juries aren't stupid, Sergeant Brody." Muscone noticed, as I did, that Brody's face was showing turmoil. "Brody," said Muscone, "I would suggest you cut a deal and talk." "Agent Muscone, this is harassment." the lawyer said. "My client has invoked, and this continued inquisition is a violation of his rights." "Brody, it's not your legal beagle's call, it's yours." Muscone said. "Think hard about this; you know what's waiting for you on the outside if and when you're bailed out of our custody." "Look..." said Brody, "can I get... I want immunity." "I can't authorize that, but I'll get the U.S. Attorney in here right now to talk to you about that." Muscone said, rising from his chair. "Say nothing more, Sergeant Brody!" the lawyer practically screamed. "Agent Muscone, I want to speak to my client, alone. Now!" "Okay." Muscone said, "but Brody, once I walk out of this room, you have no prayer of a deal." Muscone turned to the door. "Wait!" said Brody. The lawyer tried to hush him up, but Brody turned on the lawyer and shouted "Shut the fuck up!" "Well, I can hardly continue to represent you if you don't do what I say." said the lawyer, his words sounding much more like a threat than any attempt to help his client. "You need my representation to have any chance against these Government agents." "Then you don't represent me anymore. Go." said Brody. When the lawyer didn't move, Brody said, "You heard me, get out!" "Do you realize what you're saying here?" the lawyer said, his voice menacing. "Do you fully understand what you are doing, Mr. Brody?" "Get. Out. Go talk to Gunn." Brody said. The lawyer finally got out, a viciously angry look on his face. Muscone called for the U.S. Attorney, and soon a youngish, handsome black man entered the room. However, the negotiations soon broke down: Brody wanted immunity in exchange for full disclosure, the U.S. Attorney and Muscone said Brody was looking at a plea deal at best if he cooperated. Even with that, the U.S. Attorney said, they had to have something first from Brody, but he said he had to have immunity and wouldn't say anything without it... -- "We can hold them for 72 hours before we have to arraign them." Jack Muscone said as he entered the anteroom of the interrogation room at the Federal Building in the City. It was 1:30am, the early morning of March 3d. "Our judge might be more amenable to no bail, but it's iffy; he just might turn around and defer to your local court's jurisdiction." I'd just watched the black U.S. Attorney enter Gunn's interrogation room, where Brody's wily attorney had gone after Brody kicked him out, and then watched Gunn say "I'm not talking to this nigger." and literally turn his back to the U.S. Attorney and FBI Agent. The U.S. Attorney simply said "No deal for him at any time." and walked out. I said "Gunn is a hopeless case; we couldn't waterboard the truth out of that prick. Keep working on Brody. That lawyer belongs to the organization these guys were working for; I suspect his organization will abandon Brody to his fate once the lawyer reports on what happened today. When Brody realizes that, he might come to his senses and work with you." Part 18 - Internal Affairs of Internal Affairs March 3d. A bright, sunny Wednesday. The weather picked me up despite having had less than two hours sleep after returning from the City the night before. I'd sent Cindy into the unused Commander's office next to Paulina's to get some extra sleep. For once, she had not argued with me, and she went to take her nap. Once again, there had been absolutely nothing from Bettina Wurtzburg; in fact she was not on this morning, and her fill-in said she was taking a well-deserved vacation day. Yeah right, I thought to myself. At 8:00am, there was a knock on the door to my little Lieutenant's office, and upon my "Come in!" the door opened to reveal a very large man with long gray hair and a full beard and mustache of dark and light gray. I suspected he was in much better shape than his girth would seem to indicate. "Lieutenant, may I have a few moments of your time in the main Conference room?" the man asked. "Do I know you?" I asked. "Oh, no sir, we've never met. My name is Sergeant Bill Hanson. I'm with Internal Affairs." "Oh, okay, sure, let's go to the conference room." I said. It was not unusual that I had not met this Internal Affairs officer; one could go a decade and not ever meet some of the I.A. people. I also knew this wasn't about me: a Sergeant cannot investigate a Lieutenant. Once inside the conference room, Sgt. Hanson sat down at the end of the table, with me to his right at the first chair to the side. "First," said Sgt. Hanson, "I'm glad to finally meet you, so I can congratulate you on the Medal of Valor. That was a mighty brave thing you did." "Thank you." I said. "How long have you been in I.A.?" "I've been here three years." said Hanson, his voice deep and resonant. "I did Vice and Stakeouts for years with the City Police. Busted a dirty cop drug ring, and so got migrated over here, but I'm not complaining; I love it in this Police Department. And speaking of dirty cop rings, that's what I wanted to discuss with you." "How can I help you, Sergeant?" I asked. "It's about this Brody/Gunn business." said Sgt. Hanson. "We were not aware until recently of their possible involvement with this Badge gang, but we've known all along that they're racists, and that there are racists all over the Department. The thing is, it's not illegal to be a racist as long as one doesn't violate someone else's civil rights by discriminating against them. And some of the racism goes very high in the Force, so we have to be careful about what we do." "I see." I said, starting to get the pattern, but waiting for Hanson to finish. "Lt. Allgood is going to be meeting the Chief at 10:00am." Sgt. Hanson said. "They're going to be discussing it, and plotting a course of action. So what I wanted to ask beforehand is what you know about any race-related issues and how you might proceed going forward." "Before I answer," I said, "let me ask a question: How aware of Brody and Gunn's dirty dealings as Internal Affairs been? And don't tell me you can't answer; you're here to gauge my reaction to Lt. Allgood and Internal Affairs holding back information for some considerable time, and you want to see where I stand. I'll tell you, but first you tell me what I need to know." Sgt. Hanson laughed. "No wonder you made Lieutenant so fast. I've heard you were really good. Okay, you're right: Allgood wanted me to feel you out. He's concerned his reputation will take a hit, though it shouldn't; he hasn't withheld anything except some racial feelings of some people." "Fair enough." I said. So Brody/Gunn?" "We had inklings about Gunn. Lt. Allgood said you gave him the leads on the guy. But we never could find anything serious. We'd do spot-check tails, follow them both around on occasion, but we couldn't do that full-time. They may have been onto us as it was. Until they attacked your nephew and his wife, which was a damned stupid thing to do, there was little we could do." "Any idea who was protecting them, giving them info to keep them safe from you?" "That's the higher-up guy we're aware of, but that'll have to be between Lt. Allgood and the Chief, if not the Inspector General." "Well," I said, "my answer to you is that at ten o'clock I'm expecting to be called into that meeting with the Chief and Allgood. I like Allgood, I think he's an honest man, but he needs to come correct on what he knows." ---- The Chief had been talking to Daniel Allgood already when the door to his conference room opened and he told me and Cindy Ross to come inside. The Chief was sitting at the head of the table, and to his right was Allgood. To Allgood's right was Detective James "Curly" Goodwin, 2nd-in-command of I.A. But it was the man to the Chief's left whose presence shocked me. It was Inspector General Horace S. Wellman. Yes, Wellman. Horace was the younger brother of University President Sidney P. Wellman, and where the elder man had frosted his gray hair even more silver-white, Horace's hair was dyed solid black. He had that same almost-sinister grin as his elder brother, and their faces might be mistaken for identical twins if one didn't know better. But I also knew that while the brothers were cordial, there was a distance between them. Horace Wellman was a man of unimpeachable integrity, while Dr. Sidney Wellman was... well, let's just say he does what he has to do to serve his University. IG Wellman was wearing a Sheriff's Department uniform with a 'bird colonel' insignia on the shoulders, though it was gold while Chief Griswold's was silver. They were technically of identical rank in the Public Safety Department, but everyone knew that this was the Chief's Police Force but IG Wellman was the independent overseer of Internal Affairs. IG Wellman was surprised to see Cindy, who had taken a seat beside him, while I sat beside Goodwin. "I mean no offense, Chief, but did you want Detective Ross here, also?" "Lieutenant?" the Chief replied simply. "Yes, Inspector." I said, calling him by his spoken title per protocol. "Detective Ross is my partner, and she has impeccable integrity, certainly more than me." "Well, with that endorsement, welcome, Detective Ross." said IG Wellman. Cindy nodded but said nothing as IG Wellman continued "By the way, Lieutenant, that was a brilliant move on your part to have the FBI arrest those twerps just as soon as Judge Stone gave them bail. The Chief has not stopped laughing all morning long." I looked at the Chief; his mustaches were still quivering with barely restrained merriment. "That was you?" Curly Goodwin asked, his face a mirror of shock. I gave him a sarcastic look. "Of course." I said. "The Black Badge gang is going to have to work harder than that to get by me. It was obvious they'd try a trick like that to get these guys out of our hands... and I daresay the FBI saved their lives, but that's for another time." "Okay, Don, Cindy, to get you two up to speed." Chief Griswold said, "I have told Daniel that while he and I have a good relationship and have worked well together, and while I've given him plenty of leeway to run I.A. as he sees fit, the time has now come that he needs to share some information that he otherwise might have been sitting on. Mind you, his sitting on the info is not a problem, he has not been withholding anything he shouldn't have, but since I need to know now, we're now here. Inspector Wellman is also here because some of this information involves someone of a higher rank than Lt. Allgood. You get one guess who that is, Crowbar, don't blow it." "If it's not Captain Malone, I'll turn in my crowbar." I said. "As usual, you're on the ball." said the Chief. "Daniel?" Lt. Allgood began his staggering report: "We've known for some time that Captain Malone is racist. This has shown up on a few occasions, such as refusing to hire or promote black candidates to Vice; and also some remarks made to and about ADA Paulina Patterson, for which she filed formal complaints with us. Fortunately for him, Captain Malone made no explicit use of racial words, just made his disdain of ADA Patterson clear. I will admit that my way of handling Patterson's complaints were to tell Captain Malone to be more circumspect in his dealings with her, and let it go at that. "However, more recently we have learned from the FBI that Captain Malone and his wife Madelyn are members of several nationally-known white supremacy groups, and his wife is especially active and much more extremely racist than he is. The Malones go on vacation to Alabama or Tennessee once every year, and that vacation coincides with meetings and rallies of some of these white supremacist groups. "None of this is illegal, as far as we in I.A. can tell. However, we've been researching some leads along parallel lines to the MCD Department about this so-called 'Black Badge' gang. While there was no overt connection between Captain Malone and Sergeants Carroll and Brody and Patrolmen Delmar and Gunn, we are about to begin an operation to investigate Captain Malone, and see if we can't find some links. We've heard some reports and complaints from time to time about Captain Malone ordering drug stings and raids based on some information, but then ignoring completely other developed drug intelligence and simply not acting on it-" "Allow me to interrupt you here one second, Daniel" said Inspector General Wellman. "Don, I believe you have some information on this?" "Sir," I said, "a good analogy would be that I have a few pieces of the puzzle, and while I can see the picture on the box, that doesn't count: we have to put the actual puzzle together. What I have is basically a theory based upon some thin and very circumstantial evidence." "Noted, but let's hear it." Wellman said. "I think Malone is careful to the extreme, so careful that he has yet to even be thought about in terms of criminal activity. I think he doesn't deal in drugs himself, never gets near nor touches the stuff, never talks directly to the gangs. But I think he's the spider in the center of the web that controls the flow of drugs into this County. One gang pays him, and pays him well, to have exclusive distribution rights, so to speak. Other gangs that move in without his blessing find themselves on the business end of police raids and interdictions. The Vice Department is being used as a tool by Harold Malone to enforce his will upon the drug gangs." "I am also not sure that this Black Badge business is Malone, or if it's drug or racial things." I said. "But I have noted that Carroll and Delmar wouldn't speak when we caught them- while Malone was present during questioning. And Brody was about to talk, we had him about to spill it all... but he clammed up when Malone simply went into the room and stared at him. I think this shows Malone works with just a few people at a time, his intermediaries, and it may be that one set of his intermediaries doesn't even know about the other set or sets. Getting proof of this is going to require some serious, serious data analysis as well as developing leads, and on top of that we're going to have to get someone to talk." "Last, but not least," I said, "as soon as he finds out the Inspector General is investigating him... and that will happen pretty quickly, gentlemen, no offense intended... then Malone will announce his candidacy for Sheriff and take a leave of absence from the Force. Anything that comes out about him after that will draw accusations of being politically motivated, and of using the Police for political purposes." "We'll burn that bridge when we come to it." said Chief Griswold. "Meanwhile, Daniel, Curly, I want you I.A. guys to work more closely with Don and Cindy than you normally would, keep them in the loop. They can help you tremendously. "Don, have any leads for us? Any place to start looking?" Daniel Allgood asked. "Sure do." I said. "Officer Billy Smith and Senior Patrolman Wesson. They brought Brody and Gunn to the Courthouse. May be nothing, or they may be the next two 'Sith Lords' for Malone." Part 19 - Pursuing Leads The Country Breakfast Diner, run by Jack Colby, also served a delicious buffet lunch. As the six of us returned from lunch there, I was met in MCD by Myron Milton and Goth Girl Mary. I had Cindy come with me as we headed to Classroom 'E', which was much smaller than Classroom J. The main conference room was being used, and there was a secure ethernet hookup for Myron's laptop in Classroom E. "I got footage from all the cameras in the area, the traffic cameras, the Courthouse security cameras, and the restaurants on the South side of the Square." said Myron. "Special Agent Muscone also had his people send me the footage from the Federal Building. Here's what I have of that motorcyclist." I watched several minutes of footage as Myron spoke: "It's not a very big motorcycle, maybe a Honda. We got some views of the license plate, but it's been coated with something that causes glare and the cameras can't read the number. Any actual person could read the plate if standing behind it, but the cameras don't do well with it. That's a pretty sophisticated trick. I sent a couple of the best frames to the FBI and asked them to see if they could make something of it." "Good." I said. "So, this person on the bike... not a big person. Slender man or maybe a woman." "Possibly." said Myron. "Here's something interesting, though. This shot was taken by the camera on the traffic light at the northeast corner of the square. It was activated when the FBI ran the red light to get to the perps. Look at that bulge under the jacket, center of the chest." "Oooh, yes..." I said. "Cindy, check this out: if I don't miss my guess, that's a concealed gun. Proves nothing, but it's good enough for my mind that this very likely was an assassin who was going to shoot Brody and Gunn right there on the Courthouse steps. Okay, great work, guys!" I said, beginning to get up. "Oh, we have more, Lieutenant." said Mary. "Patrolman Tommy Gunn? 'Tommy Gunn' is not his real name!" "What? Really?" I asked, sitting back down. "We ran the fingerprints through the FBI database. Two other names came up with these prints, in addition to 'Tommy Gunn' when his prints were taken at the Police Academy. These prints match arrest records." I looked at the information, the pictures from the arrests were indeed our race-hater Tommy Gunn. "They didn't catch it at the Academy?" I asked, befuddled. "Don, it's an open secret that they don't run the prints." said Cindy. "They take 'em and file 'em, and send a copy to the FBI database, but that's all." Case of the Black Badge Ch. 03 "Okay, I see." I said, making a note in my notebook. "And that's something else to be fixed around here. What about Brody?" "Seems to be the real deal." Myron said. "No priors on those fingerprints, either. Came up with a Dishonorable from the Navy, though, under the name Brody." "Hmmm," I said, "so Gunn is- hey, Mary, get Officer Billy Smith and Senior Patrolman Ben Wesson's prints, then run them through the FBI database." It took a few minutes, but Wesson came back under another name, with an arrest for burglary of a pharmacy. The only prints the FBI had at all for Billy Smith had been submitted by our Police Academy... but Mary soon found that no records for Smith existed at all prior to just before his application to the Police Academy. "Check his records, they're likely forged." I said. "I don't even need to tell you to keep this quiet. I'll have you send this to Internal Affairs, but not until I've talked to the Chief first, so be on standby. And guys... that was fantastic work. You two are the very best. C'mon, Cindy!" We hustled to the Chief's office, leaving behind two people happy to have been recognized for their efforts. -- "Good grief, Crowbar... and this is what you accomplish without getting any sleep?" growled Chief Griswold. I was in the Chief's office with Cindy Ross, and we had just gotten the Chief up to date on the motorcycle assassin possibility as well as the records of Brody, Gunn, Smith and Wesson. "By no means alone, Chief. I have an excellent team." I said. "You sure as hell do, and speaking of that team: Ross! if you were police chief," asked the Chief, "what would you do now?" "Looks like I've been passed over for promotion, Cindy." I quipped. "You're going to be Sheriff." the Chief fired back. Old man still got game, I thought to myself as the Chief said "Cindy?" "Chief, I'd consider giving these guys some line to run with, then reel them in when they snarl it up." said Detective Ross. "See, Crowbar?" said the Chief, "this Detective knows how to talk to me in my language: fishing! That's a good idea, Cindy. Let's get this to I.A. so they can start tailing these guys and see what contacts they make that they shouldn't be making." --- "Just got a preliminary report." Tanya Perlman reported over the telephone. "You were right about 'Big Alex' and 'Blondie' being related. They're not blood-brothers, but they have a lot of what are called DNA 'markers' in common. They're likely cousins. Don't know if this will help you in your case in any way, though." No, I thought as I thanked Tanya and hung up the phone, there's probably no further connection. But I was pleased that my hunch was right... --- The sun was just setting as we looked over the scene of the future construction. Laura and I were taking Daniel and Melina out to dinner, and Daniel had first wanted to show us his lot on the mountainside that he and Melina were in the planning stages of building. "Very nice view." I said. I could see the town below, a different angle than The Cabin or the Mountain Nest, more to the north-by-northeast of Town. I could see the highway and train tracks coming in from the west, then both curving South to bypass the town as the road into town broke off and headed east. I could see the dark, twisting ribbon that was the River, and I let my eyes follow it upriver, to the north. "So that's the police outdoor gun range." I said, pointing to a few lights at the base of the mountain at an angle to our right as we looked at it." "Yes." said Daniel. "And over there, to its west, by the river over there is the North Water Works complex." He was pointing at a cluster of lights that illuminated a gray building and two circular tanks. "And just to the south of the Water Works is the Fire Academy." I said. "They must be doing a drill, it's lit up." "Yes." said Daniel. "It's usually dark there. What they do is have the high schools' vocational programs come out and build a framework of a house or building on the Fire Academy site. Sometimes even the bricklayers build a wall or two. They'll build two houses, sell one for charity and ship it off, then the other one gets set on fire for training for the Fire Department. Sometimes they have to go into the burning structure and retrieve test dummies, and then they practice techniques of putting out the fires. Since it's near the river, they can practice taking water straight out of the river as well as from the hydrants." "Cool beans." I said. "I'm going to talk to the Fire Department about letting our SWAT team use the buildings for urban warfare training before they set them on fire. I think they'll be agreeable to it, though they likely won't let us bring any ammo, even blanks, onto the site. Well, it's a great view from here, Daniel, but let's head on to dinner." I was on fumes, having gotten little sleep the night before, hence my suggestion to carry on to dinner. Some would think dinner with one's ex-wife would not be a good thing, but it was a very pleasant evening, and I was happy to see Melina so happy when she was with her new husband... Part 20 - Political Persuasions "Thank you, thank you for calling." Senator Nathan Allen said before hanging up the phone. He was in his office in Town, which was in the State Building on the north side of the Courthouse Square, right next to the Federal Building. The sun had set; it was now the night of March 3d. "Who was that?" asked Congressman Condor, who had seen the expression on his fellow politician's face upon receiving what looked like disturbing news. "Doesn't matter who it was." said Senator Allen dismissively, his brow furrowed as he tried to think. "What matters is what he said: the County Inspector General is about to open a secret investigation into Captain Malone. You want a drink?" Condor declined as Allen poured himself a large bourbon out of his 'cheap' decanter on the side table. United States Representative Gerald A. Condor (Democrat),was the Member of Congress from the 1st District of the State, which covered Town & County as well as Coltrane County and Nextdoor County, i.e. the northwest sector of the State. He had a head full of medium to light brown hair, was clean shaven, in his early fifties but very fit and vigorous with handsome good looks. He had a forced, set smile that made him seem like he was your best buddy, and serving you specially in Congress, but he definitely was more interested in his personal enrichment than in his constituents. The 'dirt' on him was that his interns were almost exclusively females, and he was alleged to have sampled some of their sexual talents and sated his considerable sexual appetite with them. "Is that bad?" Condor asked. "Not really, but it'll force us to speed up our timetable." replied Allen. "My God, the mess this fucking Police Lieutenant is making!" "The Iron Crowbar has certainly made a meteoric rise in the Force." Condor said. "I think I'm going to ask him to come around the office, meet him and get to know him." "Be my guest." Allen said, understanding. "But be careful. This guy always seems to be a step ahead of us. I've even heard that some people think he's psychic, like that bastard Eckhart that runs that 'Vision' cult in Coltrane County. Whatever it is, I'm beginning to see that Mr. Iron Crowbar is as dangerous as a rattlesnake." "No wonder the FBI has been encouraging me to talk to him about coming on board at the Federal level." "That'd be wonderful." said Allen. "As long as he gets the hell out of this County and this State. Well, Gerald, I better head home before the missus gets antsy. I'm looking forward to our mutual cooperation in each other's campaigns." "As am I, Nathan, as am I." said Condor as they shook hands, not meaning it. Polls were showing that Nathan Allen's name was increasingly toxic, and Condor didn't want anything to disturb what should be an easy re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives... --- "You have a guest in your study." Mrs. Allen informed her husband as he entered their home. She was blonde, lithe, and seemingly the perfect politicians wife: silent, supporting. Only her eyes showed the years of strain having to live this life with this man. Going into his study, Senator Allen saw his guest sitting and waiting in one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Ah, why didn't you come by my office?" Allen asked, trying to sound jovial. "Want a drink?" Allen poured himself a large one. "No thank you, and I thought it best not to be seen at your office." said the guest. "I'll get right to the point: you were warned about attacking the Iron Crowbar's family. Now he's a mad hornet, ready to sting the shit out of anything that moves. We've lost Brody and Gunn; the FBI arrested them yesterday, and after all that effort we went through to get those slugs bailed out and back in our hands! And now the Inspector General is going to look into our man on the Police Force, Captain Malone. This is becoming a disaster of unmitigated proportions, Senator." "Well hell, I thought you guys had planned for that contingency for a long time." snorted Allen. "So now Malone takes the next step in the overall plan and we start ratcheting down the other stuff." "That's the point, Senator: we didn't want to have to dismantle what was a really excellent operation here in the County. It was all going really smoothly, that imbecile Griswold didn't have a fucking clue what's been going on under his nose. But now the Iron Crowbar is here, and he's already taking retaliation over the attack on his family. Whoever suggested to you to do that was very, very stupid." the guest said, knowing full well that it was Allen's rash decision that had put them in this predicament. "Okay, okay," Allen said, feigning resignation, "We were wrong about going after his family. We failed. I failed. I'm not sure why, but our plan failed. Tell you what, I'll step back and let you and your people handle it, okay?" "Senator... it's not that easy." said the guest. "Don't get me wrong; you definitely should step back, concentrate on your election, and let us handle these issues as they crop up. But now we have to save Malone. He's the linchpin of our plans; we cannot afford any more problems. Yes, we're going to step up the timetable... and we don't want you to be active in helping him, no matter how much you think it's for the good. Your poll numbers suck, Senator, and we're having to work harder than we want to make sure you get re-elected." "Okay, I hear you." said Allen. "Speaking of that, what are we doing about Kearns?" he asked as the guest turned to go, naming the man who was suing Nathan's son. The guest turned back to face Allen and said "Kearns is your problem, Senator. We are not going to get involved in that. He's all yours, resolve that problem as you see fit." Senator Allen smiled, thinking of the ways he could use his political power to crush Phil Kearns, as the guest turned and left the room... --- "Yes sir, I understand." said Captain Harold Malone into the cell phone. "Thank you for calling." He was in the den of his comfortably furnished home, and had been reading a book before turning in for the night, when the phone had interrupted him. He went up to the bedroom. "Madelyn, I just received a phone call. Things are going to have to move faster than we anticipated. Be ready for an announcement, probably the day after tomorrow." "Okay, dear." the hot mature wife said. She was wearing a loose gown and high heels. She cupped one of her large breasts in offering. "Come to bed dear, wouldn't you like to suck on these for a while?" "I would love to, dear," Captain Malone said, smiling, "but it's going to have to wait for a few minutes. I need to go for a quick ride. I'll be back in 30 minutes to an hour." "Mmmm, you better hurry." said Madelyn, not questioning why her husband had to leave so late in the evening. She knew he'd be back soon, and that he'd plow her hot furrow into a creamy lather to make up for having to leave. Malone went into his garage and mounted his favored motorcycle, then sped out into the streets at a fast pace. It was a powerful Harley-Davidson, and Harold Malone enjoyed long rides on it. Unfortunately, this ride was for business. He had left his personal and police cellphones at home, and was carrying only a burner phone that was shut off and sealed in a lined box to prevent any signals from entering or exiting. He knew that he could not risk having the burner phone ping a cell tower anywhere near his home. As he rode through the streets, he remembered how the Iron Crowbar had solved those twin, seemingly unconnected murders by tricking the perps into using burner phones near their locations... He approached a parking lot that was near the Ladies Auxiliary Clubhouse, just north of the Courthouse Square. Riding along the edge of the parking lot, he eased the bike into a copse of trees. An old railroad siding went east-west along the back end of the parking lot and Malone stopped near it. This was one of the few areas in Town known to be "dead/live": there were no cameras observing the area, but there was cellphone reception. Malone took the burner phone out of it's container, powered it up, and made a phone call. "Yes, it's me. Tell Smith and Wesson to go dormant... yes, totally dormant... no, no more call-ups for now. Wait for my instructions, and wait for the big announcement... probably the day after tomorrow... okay, let them know." As Malone got back onto the road, he began feeling horny in anticipation of the fuck he was going to throw into his wife when he got home... Part 21 - Invasions of Privacy "Okay, ladies and gentlemen, great workout this morning!" said Coach Erskine 'Iron Man' Marshall. "Captain, they're yours." As the Cadet Captain had the ROTC Juniors fall in for the morning run after going through the Iron Man's workout routine, an older man in an Army uniform came up to Coach Marshall. "Ah, good morning, Colonel." said the Coach, shaking the ROTC Commandant's hand as he joked "I didn't know you were here, or I'd have put you through the workout, also." "I would've enjoyed it, too." said the Colonel. He had been in the 82d Airborne Division until his 24 consecutive years of being on active jump status was ended by damage from a hip injury. The injury also had ended his dream of being the Commander of the 82d Airborne Division, a 2-star-general post. At that point he took this 3-year ROTC command as a last stop before retirement. "Erk, I'm glad you're back with us. You're doing a fabulous job getting our guys ready for camp." "It's always a pleasure to work with them." said Coach Marshall. "Do you have a moment, Coach?" asked the Colonel, "I need to talk with you for a minute." "Sure, let's go into the locker room." said Marshall. He led the way inside and the men seated themselves on benches between the rows of lockers. "What I wanted to tell you is that we received a phone call asking about one of our former cadets, one Donald-" the colonel said. "He's a police officer up where you were last Fall, isn't he?"
 "Yes he is." Marshall said. "And he's doing a hell of a job up there. Already promoted to Police Lieutenant and he's barely 30 years old." "That's the strange thing." said the colonel. "The people calling said they were a recruiting service, and were verifying his resume for a new job he'd applied for. When the ladies in the office told me about it, I thought it was very strange." "It does sound strange, I don't know why Don would be looking for another job." said Marshall. "What did you tell them?" "That's where it gets even more interesting." the colonel replied. "As per policy, my secretary told them we'd have to verify the information and call them back, and asked for their number. At that point, they said they would call back later and hung up. The caller-ID said they were a company called Adler Staffing Solutions. Anyway, I know you're still in touch with the guy up there; you may want to give him a call and let him know something strange is going on." "Thanks, Colonel, I'll sure do that." said Marshall. --- "Hi Coach!" I said, answering my cellphone as I sat in the MCD room, discussing the Carroll/Blondie murders with my Detectives. After preliminary niceties, Coach Marshall recounted his conversation with the ROTC commandant. "Thanks for letting me know, Coach." I said. After a few more pleasantries, we hung up. "Everything okay?" asked Tanya Perlman. She was getting her sharp eye and quick wits back, and had observed my face during my phone conversation. "I'm not sure." I said. "Excuse me for a moment." I headed to my tiny Lieutenant's office and dialed my wife Laura on my personal cellphone. "Hello, Darling." I heard her say. "It's funny you called, I was literally picking up the phone to call you. I had an interesting phone call from-" "Laura," I said, intentionally interrupting her, "let me come to your office. Let's not talk on the phone. I'll be right over." -- Fifteen minutes later I entered my wife's office. To my surprise, Captain Britt Maxwell of the Campus Police was there, looking as beautiful as ever. "Britt was just telling me something that is very much along the same lines as what I called you about." said Laura. "I suspect it's the same thing or similar to what I was going to talk to you about." I said. "So who wants to go first." "I will." said Laura. "As you know, I used to work at the University from which you and Melina graduated, Don. I came here a year after you graduated and left. One of my fellow professors of Psychology down there gave me a call this morning. She said that both the Psychology Department and the school's Records Department had received phone calls trying to verify my employment there. The callers said they were a recruiting company called 'Adler Staffing Solutions' calling to verify my resume as I was applying for a new position... which is crap." "I got a call from Coach Marshall," I said, "who got a tip that the ROTC Department down there got a similar call about me... same recruiting company saying I was applying for a new job. Britt?" "Guy who works in your school's Campus Police went through the Academy with me." said Britt. "He called and said that the Campus Police had been contacted by someone alleging to be the City District Attorney's Office, asking about you, Don. They asked for your address at the college." "Did the Campus Police there give out my info?" I asked. "No, they said they had no way to verify addresses of students who had already graduated." Britt replied. "But it gets better: the caller then they asked about Jack Burke and the rape case, saying he'd been busted and was awaiting trial in the City, and they were checking on the previous charges." "Jack Burke is awaiting trial, eh?" I said. "I don't think an earthly Jury is going to be hearing that case... and I doubt Todd and Jeanine's baby son is going to be found guilty of anything like that for years, at least." "There's more." said Britt, eager to move past any discussion of my nephew Todd. "In spite of what was said about your address, the caller still asked if your school's Campus Police had an address or any information for an Ivy-" I could not help my eyes shooting up to stare at Britt as she said the name, but I made sure not to look over at Laura. "They said they wanted to contact her about the Burke rape charge." "Britt..." I said, my voice slow and introspective as the little gears in my mind started turning, "When you get back to your office, will you call and ask your friend in their Campus PD to call the Housing Department there and see if there has been any inquiries about me, Jack Burke or this Ivy person?" Case of the Black Badge Ch. 03 "I can do that right now." said Britt, getting out her cellphone, not getting my hint. "Britt," I said, "Why don't you do it from the privacy of your office... while I talk with my wife, here. You can call me or text me what you find out." "I... oh." Britt said, finally getting it. "Okay, I'll see you guys later." I think she was miffed, but it couldn't be helped. After she left, Laura was about to speak, but I silently cautioned her and then swept the room for bugs. There were none, as Laura frequently checked. "What do you think, darling?" Laura asked as I pulled one of the chairs in front of Laura's desk around behind it, and sat down next to her where we could talk quietly. "Think the Burkes are trying to find out about Jack and Ivy again?"
 "Maybe," I said, "but they did this stuff years ago, then had P.I.s investigating it... who got kicked to the kerb if my memory serves me correctly. So why would they be trying again?" "You're not convinced it's the Burkes, are you?" Laura said, her powers of observation of her husband not being too shabby. "I don't know... I don't know..." I said. Then I came back to life. "I think I'll head back to the Station. I'm sure you have a few phone calls to make." "You betcha." Laura said as we stood up. We said goodbye with a warm, deep kiss, then I most very reluctantly left my wife's office and went back to work. --- "I don't want to complain, but it's strange." I heard Vice Detective (J.G.) Christopher Purvis say as I entered the MCD room at 2:00pm after several instructive hours on the phone and computer in my tiny Lieutenant's office. "Hey, Lieutenant, you're just in time to hear this." said Martin Nash. Cindy Ross was also in the room. Martin said "Chris, tell the Lieutenant what you told us." as I pulled up a chair and joined them. "I was telling them that Captain Malone has the blinds drawn in his office, and we can't see in, which is rare." Purvis said, and I observed his hair, which was dyed black. "Every time one of us goes to talk to him, he says through the door that he'll come see us in the Vice room in a few minutes... and he does, which is not normal for him; normally he calls us into his office. He's been on the phone all day in his office, as well." "He's a busy man." I said. "It gets better, Don." said Cindy, her use of my first name being an admonition that more 'facts' were coming my way. Purvis stated "At 11:30 Captain Malone had Julie Newton round up all the Vice Detectives and Uniforms that work with Vice, and he took us all to lunch at The Steakhouse. He paid for the whole thing and only said that he appreciated all the good work we were doing and had been doing for such a long time for him. Hell, I got the feeling it was a farewell lunch, but he didn't say anything about leaving." "Hmmm, interesting." I said. "Well, like you said, if you're getting a free lunch, don't complain. Of course, Purvis, now I'm mad at you." "Uh, why sir?" said Purvis, a look of shock and fear crossing his face. Grinning, I said "Now Detective Ross and the MCD team here will be wondering why I'm not taking them to The Steakhouse for lunch. You're killing my wallet, Purvis." "I told you he's a mind-reader, guys." said Cindy, needling me back. "He just read mine." I joined the laughter at that. "So where is Captain Malone now?" I asked. "Said he's going to be doing some paperwork all afternoon." said Purvis. "He went to Lt. Harlow's office and hasn't been seen since." At 5:00pm the Chief left and suggested that I also head on out for the day. As I was about to leave, my curiosity got the better of me. I went by Captain Malone's office. I knocked lightly on the door, but received no response. The door was locked, but the Chief had given me a master key that opened all the offices in case of emergency. Captain Malone also had one. I invaded Captain Malone's privacy and opened the door to his office and peeked in. While the furniture was there, and paperwork was still on the desk, all of Captain Malone's personal effects, the plaques, the pictures, etc... were gone. The room looked sterile and barren. --- "Katherine, I simply don't understand." Bettina Wurtzburg said as she stood in front of her boss's desk at KXTC Headquarters. "These are good, solid, well-resourced stories of the Police Department investigating two of their own potentially dirty cops, including those cops' possible involvement in the murders of those two men found at the meat packing plant and their being arrested by the FBI. Why are you killing my stories, Katherine?" Katherine Woodburn look at her employee with burning eyes and said angrily "I've already told you, Ms. Wurtzburg, those stories are not in the public interest at this time. Publishing stories about an Internal Affairs investigation might be detrimental to the Police Department and its officers at this time." "What? Are you kidding?" Bettina slammed back, unafraid. "Come on, Ms. Woodburn, this is hot stuff. You've never had any problem taking shots at the Police Department before, and the only officers it's detrimental to are the dirty ones! What gives now?" "Ms. Wurtzburg," Woodburn said, her voice ice-cold, "if you are unhappy with my decisions as owner and Editor-In-Chief, you may feel free to resign and find employment elsewhere." Katherine sat back, looking at the ceiling, and said in a musing voice "I was about to give you a really juicy one: Harold Malone is going to announce his candidacy for Sheriff tomorrow at noon. But I'm beginning to wonder if I should..." "I'll be happy to hand you my resignation any time you like, you only have to ask for it." said Bettina, calling Katherine's bluff. Bettina knew that she, Bettina, was the trusted news source of the People of this Town and County; that she, Bettina, was the name and face of KXTC Channel Two News; and that she, Bettina, had all the best sources. She could easily take all that to the competition, KSTD... who called themselves 'The Standard' but everyone else called them 'Sexually Transmitted Diseases'. No, Bettina didn't want to work for KSTD, they were beneath KXTC in news quality. They ran their morning reports at 8:00am so that they could listen to Bettina's breaking news at 7:00am and then get in the game and air the news themselves. But Bettina was furious that her stories were being squashed; she had no desire to give her best efforts only to have her stories kicked to the kerb. KXTC was not that special... "Okay, Bettina." said Katherine, yielding. "You're running with the Malone announcement. It's embargoed until he actually makes the announcement at noon, but you can begin getting 'deep background' now. And Bettina... you may be my best reporter, but don't push too hard. No one is inexpendable. When I tell you a story line is dead, it is dead, is that clear?" "Yes, Ms. Woodburn." Bettina said, remaining formal in the name use, beginning to wonder what Katherine Woodburn's true motivations were in killing those really good stories... --- "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" blared the lovely redheaded reporterette at 7:00am on March 5th. "A press conference has been called for 12:00 noon in the Courthouse Square by officials of the County Democrat Party. Channel Two News has learned that we could very well have our first announcement in the race for Sheriff, which will be an important and closely watched contest with huge implications for all of the branches of the Public Safety Department. The newly-elected Sheriff will be overseeing the Police, Fire, EMT and Public Health Departments..." All during the morning, the entire Police Department was buzzing. Vice Detectives had been spreading the word all over the place that Captain Harold Malone had not come into the Station this morning. The Chief had not said a word about it, and when I had told him that Malone had cleaned out his office of his personal effects, he simply said "We'll see when the time comes." --- It was high noon... and every member of the entire Town & County Police Force was glued to the nearest television set. And the rumors were confirmed: we watched as Police Captain Harold Malone formally announced his candidacy for Town & County Sheriff. He promised a law and order campaign and to make the Town & County safer for "good citizens and children". Maybe I was trying too hard to read between the lines and hear 'code words'. To my surprise, Malone was running as a Democrat, and we now saw the reason for the County Democrat Party's activity that Bettina had reported upon a while back. Not so surprising was seeing Pastor Raymond Westboro on the stage with Malone, giving Malone his heartiest endorsement. My only surprise was that Senator Nathan Allen wasn't there, hogging the microphone. I did not know that Allen had been asked to stay away. U.S. Congressman Condor was there, though he did not speak. I knew he was in town: he'd called and asked me to come by his local office at 2:00pm. "Well, there you go." I said to Cindy as we watched the announcement together in the MCD room. "You were right, he jumped right into the race as soon as things got a little warm for him." "I think you predicted it first." Cindy said. "But you can buy me lunch, anyway." I agreed to that deal and we left to go eat. The first call I got after the announcement was from Bettina Wurtzburg, asking for my personal reaction to the news of Malone's announcement. I did not go there; I replied that she should call the Police Press Relations Office for their official statement, if there was one. Then I began getting other calls... begging me to run for Sheriff against Malone. Let the record show that the first call came from Councilman John "Jack" Colby. --- "Come in, come in!" said Congressman Gerald A. Condor. I entered his office in the Federal building on the Courthouse Square. Cindy had come with me, and was visiting the FBI offices in the same building. "Can I offer you some coffee or some water?" Condor asked. I politely declined, trying to be patient but hoping I could get out of here and back to my duties soon as I looked around the room. Condor's office was not as large as I thought it would be, but was nicely and professionally appointed, with the flags of the USA, the State, and the U.S. House of Representatives behind the desk. After having me sit at a small table, Condor sat down next to me and said "I appreciate you coming today, Lieutenant. I've been wanting to meet you; I've been hearing over and over again about the tremendous job you're doing with the Police. The way you solved the Warner case was amazing! And the Arruzio murder... unbelievable. Joe Arruzio was a friend of mine... terrible about that, but you honed in unerringly upon the truth." "You're too kind, Congressman. So what can I do for you?" I asked. "I know you're busy, but I have to be getting back to Washington and I simply wanted to meet you before I go. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other at social functions as your career progresses. Oh, and I do want to mention that some of my friends in the FBI in Washington have taken notice of your work and expressed a strong interest in having you come to work with them. I'm not a 'cattle prod' kind of guy like Jack Colby, but if there's anything I can do to gently persuade you to consider working for the FBI, I'll certainly try it." "I'm sure I'll be working with the FBI on many occasions, Congressman, just not for them." I replied. "I'm quite happy right where I am, doing what I'm doing." "Of course." said Condor, getting up. I stood up also as he said "Well, I should let you get back to those things you are doing, and doing so well." Then he added, pretending it was an afterthought, "By the way, Captain Malone was legendary in the State for his contributions to the War on Drugs. We've been fortunate that he has been able to staunch the flow of drugs so effectively. Now that he has declared his candidacy for Sheriff, what do you think Chief Griswold will do with the Vice Division?" He was probing, I realized, but my answer was easy enough: "Congressman, it's only been a couple of hours since the announcement. I have no idea yet what the Chief will do." With that, I excused myself and headed back to Headquarters, still wondering what Condor's real reason for calling me to his office was. The ways of politicians were still a mystery to me, and one I didn't really care to learn to understand... Part 23 - The New Office On Saturday, Laura was pissed. She'd been called to a Monday meeting in Washington, D.C., and she was less than pleased at the extremely short notice she'd been given. She said she'd be back Tuesday, and that my mom was taking care of Carole while I was at work. --- Every Detective and a number of Uniformed police officers were instructed to attend the Chief's meeting in Classroom J the next Monday morning at 8:00am, and we all made sure to be in attendance. I had no clue what this meeting was about; the Chief had said we'd find out what it was about when we got there. The tables had been removed and adult-sized individual school desks brought in for a series of classes, and we were milling about to find out which ones suited and fit us best as we chirped like parakeets about the Malone announcement the previous Friday. "So what's this about?" asked Cpt. Britt Maxwell as she came into the room. "Chief said to come over for an important meeting." "Don's the Detective around here." said Martin Nash, needling me. "Lieutenant?" "I'm clueless." I said, as I took a seat in the middle of the room. "No data yet." "I'm betting it's about what's happening in Vice after Captain Malone announced for Sheriff." said Theo Washington, our newest MCD Detective, whom I had hired from the Southport Police... and over their strenuous attempts to keep him. He'd agreed to give up his SBI Reserve commission, as there were already two SBI Reservists in this County (myself and Britt). "Could be." said Tanya Perlman. She was still not totally her perky self after the loss of her fiancé Pete Feeley, but with work and her pregnancy, she was getting better day by day. "He had to take a leave of absence from the Force to run for Sheriff, from which he likely won't return... win or lose." "Why do you say that?" asked Martin Nash. Tanya replied "If he wins, he's Sheriff. If he loses... I don't think he'll take it well." "Who is he going to lose to?" Tim Geiger of Vice asked. Suddenly, as if on cue, everyone looked hard at me right at the same time. "Noooooo." I said emphatically. "Folks, you're not getting rid of me that easily." I said. "We'll see about that." quipped the Chief as he entered the room. He went to the podium and wasted no time getting started. "Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, Captain Malone has declared his candidacy for Sheriff. By law, he is required to take a leave of absence from the Police Force, and he has done just that. Therefore, I have a void to fill in the Detective leadership, and I intend to fill it right now... with the man we've come to know and love as the 'Iron Crowbar'. He is now officially in charge of both the MCD and Vice Departments!" Loud applause filled my ears, causing me to blush. I appreciated my colleagues respect for me in their cheering, but it was also humbling. As the applause abated, the Chief continued, "Now there is no way in hell the Council is going to promote him to Captain for the next six years-" "Then he'd better run for Sheriff now!" called out a voice, which I later found out was the ever-mischievous Micah Rudistan. Everyone laughed and a few cheered, even as I shook my head and mouthed the word 'noooo'. "Good grief, I might not have a Police Department left after this election cycle." the Chief said jokingly. "Okay, folks, let's get serious. Don, you are now in charge of the Detectives, all of them, MCD and Vice and any others that pop up around here. You're going to be overworked, underpaid and get no sleep. I guess having a baby was training for you there." More laughter. "You guys in Vice, I expect you to work with the Lieutenant and make it a smooth transition all the way around. Oh, one more thing. Don! catch!" Chief Griswold tossed something towards me, silvery metal slivers of light flashing through the air. I caught it and saw in my hand two keys on a small ring. I realized what they were: the keys to the office next to Paulina's! "Congratulations, Crowbar." the Chief said. "Okay, everyone, get back to work. Don, come to my office, we have a LOT to talk about..." --- After lunch with the Chief and Captain Charles, I moved my things into my new office. The desk was simple and not ornate, but very solid; I loved it. The window behind the desk ran the length of the wall and had Levelor blinds as well as simple drapes and a flimsy curtain across it. The view faced South and was mostly of the secure parking lot. I loved it. The door entered from the front right side (my left as I looked at it from behind the desk), and the top half of the front wall was windows with blinds on them. Under the front window, facing the desk was a sofa, which I discovered had a hide-away bed. There were also two chairs in front of the desk, which would get a lot of use over time. I loved it. The first objects to be put on the desk were two pictures: one of me and Laura, identical to the one I'd shown Karen Warner in Laura's office; and one of my daughter Carole smiling happily. Finally! this office was mine! I thought exultantly. It felt absolutely right, even though I had no idea why. But it was mine now, and I was not giving it up. And I had no way of knowing at the time that it would be my office home and I wouldn't be giving it up for the next seventeen years... --- The sun had set and it was now dark outside. I closed the blinds to the window as a precaution; I'd been bringing up some pretty sensitive data on my computer screen on the desk. With Laura out of town, I was delaying going home, enjoying the feeling of the new officer for a little bit longer. I heard a soft knock at the door and it opened before I could invite the person inside. The 'intruder' was Paulina Patterson. She was looking drop-dead gorgeous in a tan high-necked blouse, a purplish-multicolor-patterned skirt, and nude/tan very-high-heel Louboutin pumps that matched the tan of her blouse. The colors went well with her light brown skin, and I allowed my eyes to drink in her shapely legs leading up to her mouthwatering, almost-plump ass. Her legs were long for her body and made her look even taller than her medium height at 5'8" tall. And the thought of how that luscious ass was going to feel made my cock begin to throb with anticipation as Paulina wordlessly closed the blinds of the window next to the door that looked into the anteroom. I could feel the sexual tension coming out of her and filling the room. "How's the new office?" she asked, her eyes burning and her voice husky as she came around behind the desk. I backed my chair up slightly, to give her room to lean her succulent ass against the edge of the desk right in front of me. "It's good." I said, keeping my voice low as our eyes locked, letting the sexual tension between us build. "But it needs to be... broken in." "Mmm, and that's why I'm here." said Paulina, her smile radiant. "I'm going to help you break it in." I stood up, sliding my hands over her hips, feeling them curve into her much smaller waist. Paulina's hands slid over my shoulders and around my neck as she tilted her head to me, inviting me to kiss her glossy, lipsticked lips. I did. "Mmmmm," we both moaned into each other's mouths as our lips pressed together. It was our first kiss, but I knew it would not be our last. I slid my tongue into Paulina's mouth, tasting her tongue as it entwined with mine. I let my tongue slide around in a big circle, exploring her mouth, enjoying the feeling and the taste of her as our kiss deepened. Case of the Black Badge Ch. 03 "Mmmm, baby, I've wanted you for so long..." I whispered moments later as I let my mouth separate from hers just long enough to begin kissing an nibbling at Paulina's cheek and along her neck and jaw to just under her ear. 
"Ohhhh, me too, Don, oh my god how I've wanted you too..." Paulina said, her voice betraying her desperation to make love with me and be deeply fucked by me. After more making out, with our hands exploring each other, I guided Paulina back to the edge of the desk and sat down in the chair in front of her. "Well, let me see what you have to offer." I said. Still sitting in the chair, I eased between her legs. Paulina got the hint and raised her legs, then let herself lie back onto the desk as she draped those long, sexy legs over my back. My head was nearly imprisoned between her firm thighs, but I turned and kissed along each thigh as I her fingers slowly hitched her skirt up until it was bunched over her quivering abdomen, revealing her silk tan panties. I did not remove Paulina's panties, but kissed her pussy right through the soft cloth of them. I kissed her thighs again as I rubbed the fabric of the panties into her cuntlips, up and down along her slit, making her moan as I wetted down those panties with Paulina's musky, womanly scent. After more kissing through them, getting them really wet with her juices, I finally eased them up her thighs. She gripped the sides of them and slid them up her legs and off. I pushed on her thighs to keep her legs up and back as I eased forward, admiring the beauty of her pink cunt outlined by the dark brown of her swollen labes. "Oh God!" Paulina gasped as I slid my tongue over her slit. I began tonguing her harder, deeper along her slit. Her taste was surprisingly sweet and not pissy; I realized she'd prepped herself for this before coming into the office. I began licking more deeply until my mouth was pressed into her labes and my tongue exploring her cunthole, preparing her to take every inch of my throbbing hard cock. "Oh sweet Jesus!" Paulina gasped again as my tongue slid up and lashed at her erect clit. Two fingers explored her cunt, stretching the tight hole as I feasted on her clit, driving her crazy with pleasure. I felt her cunt contract on my fingers and juices gushing over them: Paulina was coming, experiencing her first orgasm already! I resolved to give her plenty more. "Oh Don, that's so good... let's... let's swap places." Paulina said, her breath coming in gasps. I stood up and helped her up, and we began slowly undressing each other. Paulina's breasts were lovely, big dark nipples surrounded by lighter brown skin. I tasted them as I guided her to the chair, sitting my hard ass onto the edge of the desk. Now both naked, except for Paulina wearing her high heels, she was sitting in front of me kissing and licking my hard member, throbbing with desire. "Mmmm!" I gasped as Paulina slid her hot mouth over my meat. She began fellating me, sliding her hungry mouth up and down my thick shaft, taking almost all of my inches into her throat. I humped my ass lightly as she sucked me, not really fucking her face but letting her take the lead and take my inches as she wanted to. Paulina was an excellent cocksucker, but I could see by the look of famished desire in her eyes that she was enjoying giving me head as much as I was receiving it. I felt the rumblings of pleasure stirring up in my balls and knew I had to stop her oral assault on my meat if I was to retain control of myself. "Mmmm, baby, that was great!" I said. "I've gotta stop you, you're going to make me come too fast. Sit on the edge of the desk, baby." "Oh yes, baby," Paulina said as she sat on the edge of the desk and let me hook her legs over my strong arms, "put that big hard cock inside me! Make love to me, Don... OHHHH!!" My cockhead quickly found her hole and sank into her, followed by the rest of my throbbing hard shaft until my white cock was buried to the hilt inside Paulina's back cunt. I began pumping in and out of her with short strokes, keeping most of my meat buried in the sopping wet heat of her womanhood. Our chests were pressed together, and I could feel her hard nipples poking at my chest as we began hungrily making love, our bodies rutting together in deep pleasure. "Oh Don, oh Don... it's so good..." Paulina moaned. She turned her face up to me and I kissed her again, the intense pleasure rocking both of us. I fucked Paulina on the desk for a few minutes, wordlessly driving my meat into her as we got used to each other, our grinding loins soon becoming one in rhythm, as if we were longtime lovers. "Oh God, you are so fucking hard, Don." Paulina said. "I've never had a cock this hard inside me... oh God, now I see why they really call you the Iron Crowbar... oh God, it's so good... oh god oh god OH MY GOD, UNNNHHH!!" I felt Paulina's cunt clench down on my cock as she came, the wet liquids of her honey hole gushing onto my invading meat and down the crack of her sweet ass to the desk. "I'm gonna carry you to the sofa, baby." I said. "And then I'm going to fuck your beautiful brains out!" I lifted Paulina up, my hands gripping that sweet, luscious black ass of hers and carried her to the sofa, easing her down onto it and mounting her again, then sliding my cock back into her pussy. Paulina draped one leg over the back of the sofa, the other onto the floor as I began fucking her harder and deeper, intending to really give her one hell of a hard rogering... -- "I'm keeping those." I said, taking Paulina's panties from her and putting them into the desk drawer. "I want those as a souvenir of what we just did." "Mmmm, did we ever." Paulina said as we melted into another warm kiss. I had fucked her relentlessly on the sofa, driving her to another hard orgasm before feeling my own nut rise. I worked that nut out and rammed my cock balls-deep into her as I came, spewing my boiling load of cock-cream into her spasming pussy. The intense pleasure of my release took my breath away, which took several minutes to regain as Paulina and I kissed and shared sweet nothings. "Why don't we go back to my house?" I invited Paulina. She readily agreed as we quickly dressed. I told her that I thought we could make it to the parking lot before anyone saw my cum running down her legs, which made her giggle. But we did make it, and I drove her in my Police SUV to The Cabin. --- "Mmmm, that's so gooooood..." Paulina moaned as I stroked my meat in and out of her. I was on top of her in the missionary position, and she had her long legs wrapped around me. Most of the time, our mouths were locked in deep, tongue-twining kisses as we made love, enjoying the feel and heat of each other as we passionately mated. My cock had rejuvenated quickly as I admired the sight of Paulina's naked black body as we undressed in the bedroom, her ass and legs made even more shapely by the high heel pumps she was wearing. We wasted little time pulling the sheets back and getting into bed. "Oh, Don... oh god, Don..." Paulina moaned as I nuzzled her neck while continuing to steadily plow her cunt into a steamy lather. "Don... does it make you hotter knowing that I'm black?" "It makes me hot knowing you're one of the most beautiful women I've ever known." I said, which was true; this woman was gorgeous, no matter what her skin color was. I looked into Paulina's eyes and admitted "But it does give me a little extra jolt seeing the contrast of your beautiful brown skin against my white skin as we fuck..." "Me, too." said Paulina, her eyes misty and full of lust. "I love having your big hard white cock inside my black cunt. I want you to be my master, Don, I want to be your nigger... I want to be your house nigger and have you fuck me like you own me... ohhhhh... Say it Don, call me your house nigger..." "You're too good for that, baby," I said, completely unwilling to say that, "you're nobody's slave... I'm your lover, Paulina, not your master..." "I love you, Don." Paulina gasped. "I love feeling your cracker cock plunging into my nigger cunt... oh God, Don, I love fucking a hot white man like you... it really makes me hot... you know I'm married to a white man, don't you?" "Of course." I said, having met Paulina's husband on several occasions. Paulina had told me that she'd called him before coming into my office, that she'd told him she was going to fuck me and might spend the night with me, and she and he had been talking about her having an encounter with me for quite a while. She and her husband had an open marriage, just as Laura and I did. "I love fucking white men because they're white." Paulina said. "I love seeing that big white cock sliding into my black body... and I've wanted your white cock ever since I met you, Don... oh God, Don, I love you... take me right here in your marital bed, Don... do whatever you want with me, but just keep fucking me forever... She was into it, I realized, and then I thought of something to make both of us even hotter. First, I whispered for her to take off her shoes, which she did. I reached down, contorting my body in order to reach the sheets. Once I grasped them, I pulled them up over our bodies. We were now rutting beneath the sheets. "Mmmm, now we really are making love in my marital bed." I said, kissing her as I slowly pumped her. Again, most of my cock was buried in her, and I was moving my hips just enough to let a little bit come out then sink back in. We both moaned as we shared a deep, long kiss... "Mmmm, what's your wife going to say when she finds out you fucked me in her bed?" Paulina asked dreamily as we humped under the sheets. "She'll get off on it, as she always does." I said. "She'll probably be pissed that she didn't get to watch." "Mmm, so you two really do have that kind of marriage." Paulina said. "My husband would love to watch you fuck me, too... we'll have to, shall we say, socialize together one night..." "Mmmm, can't wait for that." I said as we continued to make love under the sheets, reveling in the violation of the marital bed as we mated in adulterously sinful interracial passion... To be continued... Case of the Black Badge Ch. 04 The chronological order of my stories is as follows: Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story. The Case of the Black Badge, Ch. 1-4 Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, extreme language, and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. ***** Part 24 - Who Let The Dogs Out Paulina Patterson and I walked into Police Headquarters together shortly before 6:00am. After sleeping together with her in my arms all night, she gave me an excellent blowjob and swallowed my entire load before we showered together. I had to give her a pair of Laura's panties in exchange for her pair in my desk... which would soon be transferred to a ziplock bag and kept as a very precious souvenir of our first interracial coupling. We walked into MCD together to get coffee. Only Tanya Perlman was in the room, and her eyes lit up with sparkling pleasure as she saw us and grinned. I saw her mouth "Oh wow!" at me as Paulina poured her coffee, and I couldn't help smiling back. When Paulina headed across the hall to her office, I sat down next to Tanya. "You nailed her, didn't you?" Tanya whispered excitedly. "You finally tapped that hot piece of black ass! C'mon, you did, didn't you?" "Now Tanya, you know I don't kiss and tell." I said. "Bullshit." Tanya said, as happy as I'd seen her since Pete died. "Nice going! Captain Malone would have a heart attack if he knew." "He doesn't. And she helped me break in the new office last night." I said, which was kissing and telling, and it made Tanya's eyes sparkle and her cheeks get even rosier. "Aw, I was gonna do that." Tanya said, pretending to pout, but unable to hide her cute grin. "So how are you doing? How's the pregnancy coming along?" "Not bad." Tanya said. "Not too much morning sickness." "Good." I said, just as Cindy Ross walked into the room. As she poured herself a cup of coffee, she studied us. "Okay, what's up?" Cindy said. "It's great seeing you look this way again, Tanya, but what's up?" Tanya circled the fingers of her left hand and began sliding her right index finger in and out of the space, the gesture of fucking. "This guy and Paulina." Tanya said. "Last night." I blushed and took another sip of my coffee, knowing that word of my sexual conquest of the lovely black ADA would be all over the Station within hours. "I'm delighted to see our Lieutenant is committed to racial diversity." Cindy said in a totally deadpan voice as she sat down at her desk to begin perusing the online police news services, trying to hide a grin. --- Of course 7:00am meant another day with Bettina! "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" said the lovely reporterette on TV, looking a bit happier and more vigorous than in the previous couple of weeks. "Channel Two News has learned that the two suspended Town & County Police Officers were denied bail by a Federal judge after being arrested on Federal charges. For more on this, let's go to Priya Ajmani at the National desk. Priya!" "Thank you, Bettina!" said the lovely Indian woman, drawing Cindy's total attention. "Channel Two News has learned that a Federal judge denied a request by the Town & County Court to return suspended officers Brody and Gunn to this County, stating that they can be transported for any hearings and trials, but must remain in Federal custody at all times." "I need to call Muscone." I said to Cindy as we listened. "There's something not right about this being reported like this." "In another developing national news story," Priya continued, "the Director of the CIA is expected to testify in a closed-door hearing before Congress today on CIA research projects, including the alleged use of dogs in experiments. Channel Two News has been following the story of huge student protests at Northwestern University after a report was leaked that the CIA was going to move a project that used brutal experiments on helpless dogs to the Northwestern campus. The CIA has denied the reports of the move to Northwestern, but will neither confirm nor deny that they do not use innocent puppies in their research projects. This is Priya Ajmani for Channel Two News at the National desk." Now I understood why Laura had been summoned to Washington, and I felt bad for her. She would never allow such treatment of dogs in any projects she oversaw, and now someone had leaked that other elements of the CIA might be conducting those brutal experiments. I felt like there was some hidden purpose and intention in letting that story leak, also... Part 25 - Who Let The Dogs In Laura returned to the "Mountain Nest" Tuesday night, and mother and baby daughter were very happy to see each other. "It was rough." said Laura of her trip to Washington. "There was the dog experiment issue. I used more curse words in one day than I have in the last ten years in chewing their asses over that, and I pissed some of them off. Also, I spoke to the DDI himself; they won't let me retire for at least another year, and they won't let me quit because I know too much. But they're scaling back my responsibilities, and hopefully I'll be out of the loop before too long." "Good." I said. "I don't know if Carole or I will be happier to have you at home full time, but happy we will be." "As will I. By the way," Laura said, "this thing about Sergeant Carroll and the Black Badge gang has the attention of people in Washington. I had several FBI people trying to talk to me about it. I don't know why they're so interested, but it is starting to look like the 'BFD' you claimed it to be..." --- That Tuesday evening, I got a call from Jack Muscone in the City. "Your County made a second attempt to get these guys back." Jack said. "They tried to go to an appellate judge to overturn our Federal judge's ruling. It was turned back and our judge is angry about it. I remember you saying that when they start trying stuff to really watch out for these guys, so I've heightened security here. In addition, my boss has authorized me to expense lodging for you and Ross for a couple of days if you want to come over." "We'll be right there." I said, knowing something was up. I called the Chief and then called Cindy, and within an hour she and I were driving to the City. Once there, we went into Jack Muscone's office. "Gunn hasn't said a word, and he likely won't. We brought him into the interrogation room and the only words out of his mouth was 'Where's my lawyer?' then he starts saying we're violating his rights by denying him his lawyer." "Yeah, cry me a river." I said. "What about Brody?" "Oh, he's an interesting one." Muscone said. "He has not had a lawyer visit him, nor has he asked for once since Gunn's beagle dropped Brody the other day. He still won't say anything, but I think he's thinking about it." --- Early the next morning, Wednesday, an FBI Agent brought a tray of food towards Brody's cell. She was young, slender, lithe, with curly black hair. Her suit was gray with an open, big-collared electric blue blouse. The suit hid the fact that her body was well-toned and that she was practiced in the martial arts. "Breakfast, Brody!" the woman said, putting the tray in the slot of the door. There was a plate of eggs and bacon and a bottled vegetable juice drink. "Enjoy- uff! she gasped as she was slammed into the wall next to the cell. Sandra Speer and Eduardo Escobar were trying to put cuffs on her as Jack Muscone grabbed the tray of food. "Not yet, Brody." said Muscone. "This might be poisoned." He turned away and two technicians immediately bagged the food for testing. Suddenly, the woman broke free from the two FBI Agents. Her martial arts skilled came into display as she chopped Speer hard over the kidney, knocking the redheaded agent down. The woman then slammed a punch into Escobar's chest, stunning him and knocking him to the ground. She made a move to attack the technicians and get to the food, but was too late: Cindy Ross jumped in her way. It was not even a contest: I just watched as Cindy parried three blows, then delivered a smashing blow to the woman's face. Cindy then exercised a maneuver that had the woman face-down on the ground in the blink of an eye, her arm twisted behind her back. A second blink of the eye had the woman's hands cuffed behind her back. "Damn, Ross!" said Muscone as his Agents picked themselves up, groaning in pain. "I've never seen anything like that! I should hire you instead of the Iron Crowbar, here." "You could do worse, but I'm not giving her up." I said. "Good work, Ross." The woman was glaring at Cindy as Jack ordered several other agents who had come in to take the woman into the Interrogation room. The technicians left to test the food. ---
 "Here you go, Brody." I said, bringing some McDonald's breakfast to him. "That stuff that woman brought would likely have killed you." "Oh it's you." said Brody. "How do I know this stuff won't kill me just as dead?" "You want me to sample it before you eat it?" I said. "Sure, taste the coffee." Brody said. I did so, and he then took a drink himself. "Brody," I said, "you need to wise up. That was an attempt to kill you. If you don't cooperate soon, the next attempt might succeed. I can't stay over here in the City forever." "Yeah... well how do I know that whole fucking thing wasn't staged, huh? I wouldn't put it past you and these Feds to try to trick me like that." "That's a point, Brody, a genuine point." I said. "Of course, if it was a trick, then nothing you say would be admissible, and we don't want that. The FBI isn't into these local hick tricks, either. But if you want to believe it's a trick, then go ahead. But think about it, Brody... I'm not going to be here more than 24 hours longer... that's all the time you have left." --- "I want my lawyer." the woman said as Speer and Muscone sat opposite her in the interrogation room. Her hands were still handcuffed behind her, and she had been relieved of her badge, gun and cellphone. She had been thoroughly searched with detectors; she did not have a black badge on her person. "I will say nothing without my lawyer present, and I refuse to answer any of your questions at any time." Cindy and I were watching through the one-way mirror. "I don't think you understand." said Muscone. "This one may not reach the court system; I'm thinking of calling Homeland Security and giving you to them. You'll just disappear, and they will get the truth out of you." "Go ahead, 'disappear' me, then." the woman said, using the word as a verb. "But you better do it fast... oh, too late already." The woman smirked, her face showing utter contempt for Jack Muscone. Lindy Linares had knocked on the door, and made the hand signal for the agents to come out to talk to her. Two FBI agents went inside to stay with the woman. "Gunn's lawyer showed up at the front desk." Lindy told Jack and Sandra in the hallway. "He said he is representing her-" Lindy pointed to the woman in the interrogation room- "and demands to be brought up to her immediately." Jack nodded and came into the one-way-mirror room where Cindy and I (and Eduardo) were. "What do you think? Gunn's lawyer is claiming to be her lawyer." "No surprise at all." I said. "He's working for the organization that owns Brody and Gunn, and when Brody told him to shove off, the organization took action against him with her. What's the story on her, by the way?" "She's an FBI agent, and we have no idea how or why she turned. After Quantico she was in Birmingham for a year, then came here to the City. Works mostly on drug cases. She grew up in the Plains States after her father retired from the Army." "Hmmm, Birmingham, then drug cases." I said. "Check and see what she did in college, if she was some kind of activist. I'm wondering if she entered Quantico with the intention of being a mole for someone. Well, unless you really do want to 'disappear' her, you better get the legal beagle up here before he starts calling the Press to come over..." --- Late that afternoon, Jack got the report from the technicians. "The drink had been replaced with water, and there was a shitload of cyanide in it. One swallow would've killed Brody instantly. Also, the food had both a poison-" Jack named the poison, which had a long, unpronounceable name- "and it also had finely ground glass." "Ouch!" I said, then explained to the group. "Hugh Hewitt told me that while he was in Iraq, sometimes Iraqi children would offer soldiers cups of tea to drink. The tea had ground glass in it that would rip the soldiers' stomachs and intestines up, and they had some deaths from internal bleeding. Looks like that's what they wanted here: if Brody had eaten any of that food, the glass would make cuts in his stomach, and the poison would go into the cuts and into the bloodstream... killing Brody quickly. Damn, these guys are playing for keeps!" "And this is the second time that Iraqi terrorist techniques are showing up." said Cindy. "Carroll and Blondie's bodies were ripped apart by methods Hugh said were used in Iraq." "True." I said. "Sounds like military combat veterans are involved. Good observation, Cindy." "Shall I go tell Mr. Brody what he narrowly missed?" Muscone asked. "Thanks to you, by the way, Don... you told us to watch for someone trying to bring in food that wasn't the normal routine here." "Sure, let him know." I replied. "Tell him in as gory detail as you possibly can what would've happened to him." --- That evening, Jack's team took Cindy and me to The City Tavern. It was a bit nicer than the Cop Bar in our County, but was comfortable and relaxing, and it had decent food. "This is our version of your Cop Bar." said Jack. He'd brought his girlfriend Elizabeth, a woman about his age with black curly hair. Her legs weren't as hot as Laura's or Cindy's, though. Martin Nash had also come over from the County at our request, and was sitting with his girlfriend Sandra. Lindy Linares sat next to me, and I'd squeezed her thigh under the table a couple of times. I noticed Cindy Ross and our young waitress making a lot of eye contact, as well. "So, Don, we heard that Malone is running for Sheriff over there." said Sandra Speer. "Are you going to run against him?" "Oh hell no." I said. "Why in the world would I want to take the paper-pusher job when I'm having more fun actually working on cases?" "So who's going to run against him?" Jack asked. "I think I can say in present company that if he becomes Sheriff, it's going to get ugly in that County." "You guys worry too much." I said simply. "That means that Don has a plan," said Cindy, who then let her eyes bore into me as she said in a very emphatic voice "which of course he is not sharing with us." "Well, I've gotta lay the groundwork first, Cindy." I said. "Well, I hope Malone wins." said Jack. As we stared at him, he said "If he does, I'm going to hire all three of you into the FBI here." "It's State Senator Nathan Allen I'd really like to see defeated." said Cindy, and I knew why: he'd run her soul-sister Teresa Croyle out of the County. "If half of what my sister Molly says about him is true, then he is the worst criminal since the Nazis. But nobody will run against him, and I have no idea why." "Yeah, his name keeps coming up in our investigations, too." said Jack. "Look guys, I'm going to tell you some stuff, here, but you need to keep it under your hats. Nathan Allen is extremely well connected, far more than a State Senator should be. We would've thought he'd run for a higher office, or for US Congress, but he seems to be content where he is, and we think we know why. Any guesses, Crowbar?" "Yes, but the world is not ready for that." I said, meaning that I did not want to speak in front of everyone about it. "Well, let me tell you, Cindy and Martin what is going to happen in your County." said Jack. "On Election Day, several precincts will be ordered by some Court to stay open late. Whatever amount Nathan Allen is behind will be erased as the polls stay open for as long as they need them to. As soon as they have enough for Allen to win, the polls will be closed. That is the kind of clout that is behind State Senator Nathan Allen." "What can we do about that?" Cindy asked. "Not a damn thing, unless we can get the Media to investigate and report on it." I said. "And I suspect they're part of the subterfuge. However... the parties involved may have exposed themselves with that Nathaniel Jones case. Now I know who to watch, and they probably know I'm watching." "Well, I for one think we should talk about much more pleasant things." said Jack's girlfriend Liz. There was a general chorus of agreement. -- As we talked, I very quietly told Cindy to secretly dial my number. When the phone rang, I took it as if I was talking to someone, then told everyone I needed to check in with my Headquarters for a moment. I asked Cindy to come with me. "I wanted to tell you what I'm guessing about Allen without the others, particularly Martin, hearing it." I said when we were alone at the other end of the restaurant. "Okay." said Cindy. "Shoot." "Nathan Allen is where he is because of Jonas Oldeeds. It's all about the Reverend Jonas Oldeeds." I said, naming the late tele-evangelist who had died in front of me. "Allen was on his payroll. Oldeeds was into human trafficking, and Allen was paying Oldeeds some considerable money to have underage girls delivered to him, Allen, for sex. Allen would use a girl then have the black rapper 'T-Square' deliver the girl to one of his pimps for prostitution, and Allen would get kickbacks." Cindy looked at me in shock, and a great amount of disgust, as I continued: "Also, Allen was supposed to pave the way for Oldeeds to bring drugs into the County and northwest part of the State... but there they both failed. Oldeeds came to the County to seal the deal, but Allen hadn't laid the groundwork with Malone, who we now understand controls access to the County. Malone and Oldeeds did meet, but then Oldeeds got shot dead so everything fell apart. Allen still has drug connections, though, and of course he's still raping underage girls as payment for doing political favors." "Jesus Christ, Don," said Cindy, "you know all this and haven't said a word?" She was staring icily at me. "I don't know any of this, and I sure as hell can't prove a word of it, at least not yet." I said. "And everything I just said comes from stuff you also know. We know Oldeeds trafficked in underage girls, and we know from what Molly said that Nathan Allen likes underage girls. I just worked it backwards from there. Then we gets tidbits from punks we interrogate, and so on and so forth. Don't be upset, Cindy. I'm telling you now." "Okay, okay." Cindy said. "it just shocks me when you come out with this shit like this." At that point I noticed her observing our waitress. Cindy excused herself and went to the bathroom and I returned to our table. I noticed later that Cindy didn't immediately rejoin us, but took the opportunity to talk to the waitress alone. "So," said Martin Nash a bit later as the FBI agents talked about the rogue agent in their office, "what's next for us?" Case of the Black Badge Ch. 04 "Well, I'm hoping Brody breaks before we have to go home tomorrow." I said. "If he doesn't, then we will likely never solve the Carroll/Blondie murders." --- The rest of my evening was very pleasant. Lindy Linares accompanied me to my hotel room and little time was wasted in making out, getting naked, and having some really hot, sweaty sex. Then we got in the bathtub, where I put on a condom and then deeply fucked Lindy's tight, sweet ass, to her great enjoyment. It was hot and intense anal sex, and it required some cleanup, which is why we did it in the bathtub in the first place. After that we got into bed, where I lustily pumped Lindy's pussy and came deep inside her before falling peacefully asleep as we spooned. The next morning, I heard Cindy Ross letting someone out of her room. It was our waitress from the night before; she and Cindy had hooked up and had a hot night together. As a result, Cindy was much refreshed and happier. "You must've slept well." I said to Cindy as we met for breakfast. "I definitely had a good night, as you did." she replied. "Good. And congratulations, that girl was hot." I said. "She's a college student at City College." Cindy replied. "She's studying physical therapy. I might hire her after she graduates." --- "Nothing new on our rogue agent." Jack Muscone said when we got to his office. "We're going to charge her with attempted murder and a host of other charges, maybe even treason if we can get the U.S. Attorney to go for it. But there's nothing in her records, no unusual money flow, nothing." "There is one line you can look for." said Cindy. "Her knowledge of the martial arts was far greater than one would expect of an FBI agent, no offense intended. She was obviously exceptionally well trained, and that either came from years of study at martial arts schools, or she was trained as an agent by someone, foreign or domestic, who includes such training in their routine." "That's a good point." said Muscone. "Don, I think she got one on you there." "Yep. She's a damn good Detective." I said. "And to reclaim my honor, here's something else to look for: her father had been in the Army, you said? Check up on him, thoroughly. He might've been an agent and she was following in his footsteps. That would explain her being able to have years of martial arts training." "Damn, you two are good." Jack said. "I really am going to break the law and force you into working for the FBI." "And here's yet more." I said. "Cindy, where else have you seen a slender, lithe person that had ideas of being an assassin?" "Oh! the motorcyclist!" Cindy said, remembering. "Oh yeah..." said Jack. "Myron sent some photos to try to get the plate numbers, but we had no luck. Think it's this same woman?" "You can see if she was accounted for at that same time." I said. "But it's certainly a possibility." Part 26 - The First Break "He wants to talk." Lindy Linares said. It was nearly noon, and I was about to tell Cindy to get ready to leave for home. Martin Nash wanted to stay in the City with Sandra over the weekend, and I'd approved that request. I hurried to the Interrogation rooms, to find that Muscone and the U.S. Attorney were already there and talking to Brody. "Okay, guys," Brody said. "I'm ready to talk. But you've got to give me something. Without immunity, I'm dead no matter what jail you send me to." "We understand that." said the U.S. Attorney. "What I'm prepared to offer you is immunity -and- witness protection, in exchange for your statements here on both the County and the Federal situations, and your testimony in Court when we ask for it." "Let me get Don in here." said Jack. He waved for me to come in the room, which I did. --- "Where do you want me to begin?" Brody asked. "The Black Badges." I replied. "You're a 'Trusted Associate', Gunn is 'Inner Circle'. What's that all about? Tell us what you know about the Black Badge gang." "Basically, there's a group of us. I don't know who the others are, except for Gunn of course." said Brody. "We're told to meet at some location, which always changes, and we wear black clothing and black masks. I have no idea who the others are. The leaders of the group are called 'Masters' and 'Grandmasters', and the very top guy is called the 'Bodymaster'. I'm not even supposed to know about him; I just overheard that once, and kept my damn mouth shut about it." He continued: "I've heard the 'Inner Circle' are guys who have gone the extra mile and done things, and are really trusted. Sort of like 'made men' in the Mafia. They may know who each other is in their Circle, and who the leaders are. Gunn might know, but I'm betting he hasn't said two words to you since you arrested him." 

"Don't worry about him." I said. "So is this a drug-related group, or a white-supremacy group?" Brody looked very uncomfortable, even scared, but finally got it together. "I'll say this: it's all white people. Now I've never been a racist, never really cared about it, I'm good with the black officers as much as the white ones. We're all 'blue', eh? Now Gunn... he's a piece of work, a real nutjob about race; he may be in the Klan or something. He would talk to me about militia groups and race wars while we were on patrols. I just told him I was too old to get into that kind of stuff." "And drugs?" I asked, prodding him along. "I don't have anything to do with drugs, nor distribution." Brody said. "But the organization makes money in drugs." "Tell us exactly what you do, what you were doing with or for this Black Badge gang." I said. "Extortion? Using the police to help move drugs along?" "Not quite, but you're close to the mark, Lieutenant." Brody said. "We would go on visits to certain places at certain times. We'd been told we'd be receiving some packages. We'd be given wrapped-up boxes, not too big but fairly heavy for their size. I figured they might be packed with money, but it wasn't my job to ask. We'd then take the packages to different locations, usually in the Warehouse District, and leave them where we were told to. It was all on our routine patrol, and we were told to never make a log entry or inform the Duty Desk." "Tell us the whole story, Brody." I said. "I'm believing that you gave some instructions when you picked up the packages, that you talked to the people you were doing business with. Who were those people, and what were you saying to them?" "Yeah, you do know." said Brody, as much to himself as to me. "Gunn would do the talking if we were talking to white guys, and I talked to them if they were black. We'd ask about shipments of drugs, how much had passed through, when the next shipment was. Most often, I'd be told the answers were written in notes inside the packages, but sometimes they'd tell me something like 'Next Tuesday at the normal location'." "And they were the Beanstalk Gang?" "That, I don't know. Never saw any identifying marks. They were gangbangers, but covered up any tats or insignia." "How did you get paid?" I asked. "Usually once a month, we'd pick up boxes and either a box or an envelope would have our first names on it. We kept the one with our name; the money was inside. Usually a couple thousand a month, sometimes more if things had gone well the last month." "Who was your contact within the Police Department?" I asked. "Gunn was mine." Brody said. "He gave me instructions. I don't know who he was talking to, but my guess was that he didn't know. He'd get instructions on a burner phone, probably from a burner phone." "Okay, Carroll and the guy we call 'Blondie'." I said. "You were at the scene of the crime sometime the night before. Did you kill them?
" "No." said Brody. "I did not kill anyone, ever. We were called on the burner phone and told to go there, that some people would show up and we were there to divert any other police that came. It was really dark that night, and no one else showed up. A couple of cars came along, black Buick sedans, and some of our guys were there, wearing black masks. They showed their black badges, as we did. I think Gunn knew who they were, they might have all been Inner Circle. "Anyway, they had two bodies all wrapped up, one in the trunk of each car. They took the bodies inside. I never even went inside, just stayed on guard outside. The bodies were left inside, and the next thing I heard was the official radio calls the next morning when the bodies were found." "You have no idea where, how or why they were killed?" "Where, no. How... well, I read the police report and autopsy of what they did to them. Why, not really sure, but I'm betting they betrayed the group in some way... and I'll get the same treatment if they ever get ahold of me." "Did you know Sergeant Carroll when he was here?" I asked. "Yeah, I knew him." said Brody. "I had no idea he was doing things like what we were doing until the night he was killed. At the time he was on the Force, I had been recruited but was told to lie low and be dormant. 'Dormant' was the word they used. Once every three months or so, Gunn and I'd find envelopes in our car as we were about to go on patrol. It was usually two or three hundred dollars. We began to be more involved about five months ago, about the time the Black Widow butchered that Dawdle punk." "When and how were you recruited?" I asked. For brevity, I will condense Brody's statement: Three years before, and before I arrived in the County, Brody and Gunn were approached by a man in a business suit, who told them he knew they'd had some trouble within the police department. He said he'd pay them, and well, for doing certain small things, nothing that would get them in any trouble even if they got found out. Gunn was all for it, and Brody went along. They wore masks as instructed to the meeting, and were told the details and that they could stay or go without harm, but if they stayed, they were bound to the Black Badge. They went through an initiation, which was taking a blood oath and some incantations, but nothing really weird. They also had a couple of training sessions, again with everyone wearing masks. Brody thought Gunn was already in the group, as he was very comfortable and enthusiastic about it already, and was made Brody's contact and leader within the group. Of course, Gunn being in the 'Inner Circle' well ahead of Brody was another sign. No, they'd never seen that man in the business suit before or since. "Who gave the orders to go after my nephew and his wife?" I asked, unable to hold back any longer. "I swear to God, I didn't know he was your family or I'd never have touched him." Brody said. "You got me back fair and square on that, and no hard feelings from me on it. The truth is that I don't know, but it was kind of weird. Gunn actually said he'd never gotten an instruction like that before. He didn't like it, either- not because it was your family, and I don't think he knew it was, either- but because it was really overt. And sure enough, we got cold-busted on it." "What about Captain Malone?" I asked. "You clammed up after he came into Interrogation-2 back at HQ. Obviously you know something about him to have done that. Is he your boss? What's his hold on you?" "I never had any contact with him except normal stuff, seeing him in the hall, getting assignments to help the Vice Squad. He never once said a thing to me that was out of the norm. But when he came in that room and just sat down with us, I knew in my soul what the deal was, that he was there to make sure I stayed silent. There's nothing I can give you that would hold up in Court about him, but it was pretty much the unspoken word that Malone was the bad ass man." Brody had nothing else of consequence to tell us, and the rest of the interview consisted of Jack Muscone asking questions about the national level case. Brody had no knowledge of anything outside the County, had not been out of the County on Badge business, had not known anything about Carroll outside the County, and didn't even know the Black Badge extended outside the County... if it did at all. Part 27 - Assessment "Thoughts?" Jack Muscone asked. We were seated at a conference table in a glass-enclosed room near Muscone's office. "Everyone else gets their shot before the Iron Crowbar tells us what's really going on." "You're starting to sound like my Chief." I warned Muscone. He didn't bat an eyelash as he gestured towards Sandra Speer. "My only thought was that we didn't seem to get a lot from Brody, considering we're giving him immunity and witness protection." Sandra said. "Oh, we got a treasure trove out of him." I said, unable to hold back. "And I suspect Jack can use this to work on Gunn, right Jack?" "That's how it works." Muscone said. "We use the lower-level guys to try to get to the upper-level guys. We'll try to use what we have to pry something more out of Gunn. Okay, anyone else?" "Just that we're still not really sure if this is drug-related or race-related." said Martin Nash. "And Brody couldn't tell us if the organization was local or part of a bigger outfit." No one else spoke, so Muscone handed the floor to me. "A couple of questions first." I said. "Jack, they're using metal scanners for anyone coming in the building. Can we make sure Gunn's lawyer goes through the most sensitive setting of that? Check everywhere, including his belt, to make sure HE doesn't have a Black Badge." "Will do." said Jack. "So, your thoughts on Brody?" "I think he gave us everything he knows." I said. "But it's clear that this Black Badge gang is extremely careful so that they can't be betrayed by one man. And that went double for Malone; he's virtually untouchable. Also, Brody may not realize it, or maybe he does, but it's pretty clear that he and Gunn were made expendable. They didn't have masks but the perps did when they brought the bodies to the warehouse. So they were known. And then they were sent on the mission to assault Todd and Jeanine, and whoever sent them on that did so knowing Brody and Gunn were being thrown to the lions." "Now that you mention that," said Cindy, "I thought it was interesting that Brody and Gunn knew the assault assignment was 'weird', to use his term. Makes me wonder if the assignment was not given by their normal leaders, but someone else." "Very good thought." I said. "And Brody and Gunn were burned in the process of that assignment. Either someone thought it was really important to piss me off by attacking my family, or..." I went into a reverie. "Here we go again." said Cindy. "No, nothing like that." I said, sensitive to Cindy's sensitivity. "It just struck me that someone lashed out at me and burned these guys because they didn't think it through. In other words, they did something stupid out of desperation. So now I'm asking who might've gotten desperate. Certainly not Malone, he's still cool as a cucumber, right on plan with his run for Sheriff..." After a moment, I continued. "Anyway, a few more points: this recruiter is obviously not from the local area, but brought in to recruit. They don't see him again after that first contact. That suggests that the overall organization is larger than just the local County group. The initiation is an oath and simple incantations, nothing elaborate, so Brody said. Sounds like something put together hastily, apparently by guys with too much time on their hands, giving them toy badges, giving them titles like 'Trusted Associate' and 'Inner Circle' to gain their loyalty... and it works! But all-in-all, it's just one faction of a drug ring, I suspect." "That sounds good." said Jack Muscone. "Well, I know you and Cindy need to get back home, Don. Martin is staying with us and we'll take care of him for you. So say your goodbyes now, and then Don and Cindy come into my office for just one more thing before you go." After handshakes and hugs and goodbyes, Cindy and I went into Jack's office, where Jack said "I didn't know if Martin knew anything, and I haven't told anyone but Lindy this. I know you know about Henry Wargrave, Cindy." "Yes." said Cindy. "Well, I just wanted to report on what I've found. Unless Don already knows and wants to tell you." Jack said, trying to be humorous. "You're getting me in trouble with my partner here." I said flatly. "I don't know anything, but I can guess." "And that guess is?" Jack said. "That you found what I found: that Wargrave and Oldeeds did some gun-running, but Wargrave soon backed away from that." I said. "Wargrave probably found out about the human trafficking Oldeeds did, and Wargrave wanted absolutely no part of that. So he broke off further deals with Oldeeds, including not participating when Oldeeds started to add drug-running to his repertoire." "That's strange." Cindy said. "I'd have figured a man like Wargrave would have no problems at all smuggling humans." "From what I've gathered," I said, "Wargrave is still connected with at least one CIA cell, maybe more. He'll run guns for them to arm some little rebel faction in a South American jungle, maybe some money laundering, maybe even a few drug shipments here and there... but neither he nor the Agency, at least most of the Company, wants any part of human trafficking, especially the sex slave trade." "That's about the size of it." Jack said. "I've also found that Wargrave and Oldeeds might have been competitors instead of allies over the Warner DynaCorp situation. We're trying to find other areas where they butted heads, but it's slow going. Wargrave is well insulated, and as you said he still works with the CIA on stuff overseas. Hell, I don't really want to even know about that stuff." "I hear you." I said. "I don't think he has any involvement with this present business, though. I hope it stays that way..." -- We were driving silently on the highway towards home when Cindy asked "You still don't trust Martin with all this stuff?" "I trust him, but it's good policy to just keep things to a minimum." I said. "I tell you everything so that if they take me out, you and the Team will be able to continue going after them. Besides... I'm surprised you haven't figured Martin out, yet." Cindy peered at me for a moment, then looked out the window and mused, "That was a lot of fun, working with Jack and the FBI guys. I never thought about doing anything but working with the local Police, but I could see myself working with them a lot more... don't get me wrong, I'd still rather be working with you and the MCD guys..." "I know what you mean." I said. "I like working with them, too. Of course, not all FBI agents are as competent, nor as agreeable to work with locals like us. And of course," I added, grinning, "you don't always get to take down a perp like you did that bitch in there." "Yeah, that was fun... I wish we could get Teresa back." Cindy said. "Well, you might get your wish, and fairly soon." I said. "Uh oh, something else you know that I don't?" she said. I think she was teasing me, at least I hoped so. "Only that Teresa was sent away for career protection... she did beat that punk up... and also for her physical safety. Until the threat is neutralized..." "Senator Allen? I'll go kill him right now if you'll bring Teresa back." Cindy promised. "Now now," I said. "just have patience about that." Then Cindy peered at me, and whether or not she meant to, she hit me with the bombshell clear out of the blue: "What you said about Oldeeds has me thinking: you know who killed him, don't you?" I made sure to meet Cindy's eyes as I said "Yes, I do. Or I'm pretty sure I do. And no, I'm not going to tell you nor anyone else until it's the right time to do so... and that time may never come." I turned my eyes back to the road. Case of the Black Badge Ch. 04 "Why not?" Cindy said. "Whoever did it, he broke the law, right?" "Cindy, I have a theory." I said. "I don't ask you to accept it or share it, but I believe that there is sometimes a difference between the Law and true Justice. The Reverend Jonas Oldeeds was an evil man, a truly and deeply evil man. What happened to him was Justice, and I may just choose that over the Law." "Besides..." I said. "I don't have proof yet. Gotta have some proof before I act further on that." Nothing else was said on the journey home, as Cindy fully contemplated my words... all of them. Part 28 - The Ides of March March 15th. The Ides of March. The day upon which Julius Caesar was so famously assassinated. And the day that I, the Iron Crowbar, would be marked for death... The Friday before, the Chief had called me into his office. "I just got word from the FBI, not Muscone's group but someone else I know, that a hit was put out on you. You need to be exceptionally careful, Don." "Agent Fred Dixon?" I asked, thinking it was the DEA agent that posed as an FDA agent. "No." said the Chief. "And Dixon wouldn't confirm anything. That's not like him at all, either, so my hackles are up about it. But there's no doubt that you're in danger." "I hear you." I said. "But I can't let something like that stop me from my work." "No, you can't." said the Chief. "And this is by no means the first time we've had something like this happen. Just be careful, take a partner with you on all police business, look over your shoulder and see what's gaining on you. In the meantime, there are some things we can do to help protect you. The Force received a donation of $10,000 to make you some bulletproof clothing. You'll go to Gill & Taylor's Tailor Shop just south of the Square and have three suits made. One medium gray like you like, one black, and one a Police uniform jacket and pants." These suits would have light woven-fabric armor in their lining, I knew. President Reagan had been wearing such a suit when he was shot in 1981, but was unlucky in that he was waving to people and the bullet struck him just above the armor, in the armpit area of the suit. Moral of the story: I won't be waving to people too much, and definitely not as a candidate for Sheriff... --- I took lunch on March 15th and went to the tailor shop, where I was carefully measured for the new suits. I didn't know who had made the donation, but I wasn't going to be ungrateful. As I stepped out of the tailor shop and began walking down the street, I had a sensation... it was like the sensation I'd had at the Fairgrounds when a bullet should've struck me in the head but barely missed... a electrical aura surrounding me, and then my eyes being directed unstoppably to a reflection in a car window next to me. It showed what was happening, and I realized I was seeing someone behind me pulling a gun out from under his jacket and cocking it! Time slowed down, and everything seemed to be in slow motion. In one smooth motion, I turned as I drew out my Beretta .40 caliber handgun from it's holster, and in one motion clicked off the safety and fired two shots right into the perp's chest. He was slow, way too slow: his gun fired harmlessly well over my head. The perp was dead where he landed as I called in on my police radio. This kid looked young, maybe eighteen or nineteen, and he looked unkempt and scruffy. I was still not hearing anything as I felt around his belt and in his wallet for a Black Badge; there was none. The Crime Lab made their investigation, video from the surrounding stores and streets was obtained, I was interviewed by Sgt. Hanson of Internal Affairs right there on the scene. It would be considered a 'good shoot', I knew, but that is not what I was concerned about. Then Bettina Wurtzburg showed up, somehow got past the Uniformed policemen creating a cordon around the area, shoved a camera in my face and yelled "Lieutenant, you just shot a teenager, how does that make you feel? Lieutenant, how do you feel about that? How can you shoot a teenage boy?" How do I feel? How can I do it? I thought to myself in my own little world. I'll tell you the secret of what I feel and how I do it, of how every cop on the Thin Blue Line does it: we have someone behind us, in our minds. Maybe it's family, maybe it's our spouse, maybe it's our best friend, but it doesn't matter, we always have someone we love 'behind us' in our minds, something personal worth fighting for, worth dying for if need be. So when you ask me how can I do it? It's simple. I think of Laura, and Carole. The rest is easy. Part 29 - St. Patrick's Day It was a big evening at the Irish Pub, a.k.a. the Cop Bar on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day. I'd made a point to wear a green shirt with an orange t-shirt beneath it. In the Irish flag, the Green was for St. Patrick and the Catholics, the Orange was for the Protestants, so I paid respects to my Protestant heritage. A lot of people had wanted to buy me a drink after the assassination attempt, and of course I had to begin declining or I would be seeing double if I drank all the free green beer. However, when the lovely redhead Bettina Wurtzburg showed up at my table wearing green, and offered to buy me a drink... that one I accepted. We went outside on the patio. It was cold outside, but I knew that Bettina wanted to talk to me, and it was very noisy inside. So we took chairs to the patio and sat down in the front part behind the big bushes that blocked any wind. "Completely off the record, yes?" I said. "Absolutely." said Bettina. "I actually wanted to tell you something, rather than ask about anything." "Okay, shoot." I said. Okay, maybe not the best choice of words, there... "Katherine Woodburn has been killing a lot of my stories, especially those about the Police Department and the I.A. investigation of those two suspended officers. She's even killing my story of the FBI arresting them, as well as the assassination attempt by that agent on Sergeant Brody." I made sure not to let my face show anything, even though I was shocked that she knew so much on the Brody situation. I also sat stone-faced in spite of wondering why Bettina was choosing to tell me all this. "I finally stumbled across a source who told me what was going on." Bettina continued. "Katherine has been working hand-in-glove with the County Democrat Party on behalf of Harold Malone. Behind the scenes, of course, but it's a completely coordinated effort. I don't know why, but Katherine is fully behind Malone, not a shred of objectivity in her actions about it, either." "No surprise there." I said. "You guys in the Press work with the Democrats at every level: local and national." "You won't believe it, but I do try to be an objective reporter." said Bettina, and while I surmised that she believed that in her own mind, I knew that the Press was deeply biased and anything but objective. "But beyond that, what Katherine is doing is not normal. I've never seen anyone so openly helping one candidate. It borders on violation of FEC laws." Bettina continued: "Look, the reason I'm telling you all this, is because if you're going to run for Sheriff, and I hope you will, then you'd better announce fast. Katherine and the pols are working hard right now to cement Malone's candidacy, and they're doing opposition research on you and anyone else they think is going to run. They intend to cut you off at the knees right out of the gate, if they can." "Well, this is off the record, but I am not planning to run." I said. "Even if you don't... surely the Iron Crowbar has a plan?" Bettina prodded. "Don't I always, my friend?" I said, smiling, but would say no more... and I was observing Bettina's eyes and a little light that had just turned on inside them. "Okay, at least let this question be on deep background." Bettina said. "Who tried to kill you two days ago, and why?" "Deep background: it was someone who was desperate to keep me from finding out something. I suspect it's related to these dirty cops whose stories your editor is killing. Of course, they're being killed because Woodburn doesn't want them to be a potential problem for Malone. You might try looking hard into any connection between those two and Malone, and if you get a thread leading to him, pull it with everything you have. If Woodburn kills it, get it to me and I'll find a way to get it out there." I didn't tell Bettina that the kid who tried to kill me was nineteen, a drug addict deeply in debt to the Beanstalk Gang, and was apparently hired to kill me either by the Beanstalk Gang, who had had Malone's exclusivity to operate in the County -or- by someone else who knew I was getting close to something... maybe messing with their plans to install Malone as Sheriff. I wasn't sure, though. "Thanks." said Bettina. "If you do run, I want the first exclusive interview." "If I run, you will be the first to know and the first to get the interview." I promised. Bettina's look at me was something between humor and daggers; she knew I meant it when I said I wasn't running. Part 30 - Politics (Not) As Usual I knew that Bettina was right: I needed to go ahead and get the wheels in motion. The next day I visited the person who I thought would be the ideal candidate for Sheriff. My observations and hunches were right: he was completely agreeable to doing it. (Dear readers, you may wish to pause and guess who the candidate for Sheriff will be...) Before I could call Jack Colby to arrange a meeting with the Powers-That-Be, he called me and asked me to stand ready to be at a meeting on March 22d at the University President's home to discuss the issue of Sheriff. I knew that they were going to prod me into running, and I intended to show my cards then as well as introduce some drama into their lives. --- On March 22d, President Wellman hosted the following persons at a 6:00pm reception: Town Councilpersons John "Jack" Colby, Dagmar Schoen, J.P. Goldman, Ian McGhillie (father of Patrolman McGhillie), Edward R. Steele (father of Selena Steele), University Regents Henry R. Wargrave, Michael Burke, Harold S. Truelove, and Austin R. Murphy. Regent Beatrice S. York was also present, but as representation for the County Republican Party. Truelove was a businessman and I knew Murphy was a military veteran and friend of Wargrave. Ian McGhillie owned and ran the golf course on the east side of the ridge that I lived on, not too far from the Chief's residence. Also present were Inspector General Horace S. Wellman, Police Chief Griswold, Fire Chief Eugene Gillem (who planned to retire when Griswold retired), University Campus Police Commissioner and Provost Marshal Dexter Robinson, Dr. Bonnie Karpathian, representing the University Faculty Council, ... ... and of course, Mayor Lawrence "Larry" P. Vaughan, the People's Choice. Mayor Vaughan had a head full of salt and pepper hair, was a consummate politician, very smooth talker, and a good consensus-builder. And if he had any dirtiness or skeletons in the closet, he'd easily evaded my efforts to find them. Oh yes, I'd checked out every single one of these people. I made a point to call in and say I'd be late, and asked Chief Griswold to go ahead and get everyone assembled. So when I arrived with my candidate at 6:30pm, they'd already gone through their pleasantries and small talk. When I came into the room, I was forced to go around the circle and shake everyone's hand. Murmurs of congratulation... and relief... for avoiding the assassination attempt to praises for solving the Black Widow case were spoken. Finally, we sat back down. "I'll get right to it." said Jack Colby in his deep voice, taking over the agenda. "We're here to begin planning your candidacy for Sheriff against Malone. As you can see by the form of my sentence, we are not taking 'no' for an answer." I smiled as I said "As Coach Corso says on the Saturday morning college football show: 'Not so fast, my friend!'. While I appreciate your desire for me to run, I must say that I am anything but an ideal candidate. I've only been in this Town a little under two years. There are some rumors about me beating up a drug lord with a crowbar, and while that rumor serves me well within the Police Force and amongst the criminal elements, it's not something one can exactly run a political campaign upon." There was general laughter, but it was of a nervous variety. "In addition," I said, "while I love my wife and am very proud of her accomplishments with the University, the fact that she studies sexual matters can and will be used against me by elements of the County, particularly the very religious elements." I saw Beatrice York frowning; she was one of those religious types, though she'd been persuaded by others to accept my candidacy. "Also," I added, "while my wife would look lovely before the cameras and on stages, I have a face made for radio and a voice made for newspaper." "Oh I totally disagree with that." said Dagmar Schoen. "And regardless of all that you've said, your record of success within the Police Department shines brightly and will be what stands out in this campaign." "I appreciate that, ma'am," I said, "but political campaigns can be funny animals, and won't turn on things you might think they would. In addition, I have a Press Corps that is rabidly against me, and precisely because of my success. Last, but not least, I must address the fact that I'd be running against Captain Harold Malone. He's a longtimer here, he's had a strong record of drug interdiction in this County. That will at least equalize my successes." I continued: "And while I know there are a great many things we could put out there about Malone, for me to do so would invite attacks by the Press and the Democrats of dirty campaigning, using Police knowledge for political purposes, and, once again, hypocrisy, as my own... hypothetical... use of crowbars to pry out criminals would come out." "I think you overestimate the bad and underestimate the good." said Henry R. Wargrave. Why he was so stridently supporting me, I didn't know, but there he was... and a powerful political ally he would be. "You have a good military reserve record, which Malone can't match. Believe me, any dirt thrown on you will come back onto Malone ten times over. While Malone may have powerful people on his side... so do we, Lieutenant... so do we." "Yes sir." I said. "But the military reserve record won't matter, especially to certain segments of the County population." Everyone nodded, knowing what I was talking about. "But your comments fit perfectly into my own ideas, Mr. Wargrave. What if you had a candidate for Sheriff who had an impeccable, unimpeachable reputation, who looks good in front of the camera, who I believe would enjoy the campaigning for the office as well as running the Sheriff Department and the Public Service Department, and who has the second-best-looking wife in the County... after my own, of course?" "Ahhhh..." said Henry Wargrave, the only person to catch on. The rest sat dumbfounded, wondering what I had in mind. I stood up and went to the door and opened it. "Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to present the next Town & County Sheriff!" I enjoyed the gasps as Lt. Daniel Allgood stepped into the room. "Lieutenant Daniel Allgood!" "Ah yes, well thought out, Don... well thought out." said Henry Wargrave. The billionaire actually did look impressed. "If you'll excuse me," I said, "I'll step outside and let you talk with Lt. Allgood here. I've already talked to him, and he is willing to take on this burden, if you're willing to support his candidacy." With that, I left the room. Chief Griswold also excused himself, saying he knew Daniel's measure and would support him. As we waited outside, I noted the Chief trying to keep a straight face, but his twitching mustaches gave him away. "Whaddya think, Chief?" I said. "I never would've thought of Allgood." said the Chief, as much to himself as to me. "I knew you had something in mind, but I had no idea... and Wargrave was right... this was one well-thought-out chess move. Excellent, Crowbar!" That was extremely high praise from a man not easily given to offer it. And certainly, it was a good move. While Daniel did not have the name recognition I had in the County, he had grown up here (and he and Melina were living in his deceased parents' house while building a new home on the mountainside), he was of impeccable reputation and integrity, and he had a lovely wife who was a business owner in the community with no negatives for enemies to attack. And it would leave me free to do what was needed to make sure Harold Malone's less-than-upright reputation became public, which I could not risk doing if I were running myself. As the Chief and I re-entered the room to help begin planning a new political career, I silently thought to myself that there was no way I was going to allow Harold Malone to gain ascendancy over my Police Force. ---- On March 29th on the Courthouse steps, with his lovely wife Melina at his side, and also flanked by Jack Colby, Dagmar Schoen, J.P. Goldman(!), and Edward R. Steele, Daniel Allgood announced that he was taking a leave of absence from the Town & County Police Force to throw his hat into the ring for the office of Sheriff. He promised a candidacy and tenure of integrity and equal application of the Law for all Citizens, as well to maintain the already-high standard of professionalism and service of the Public Safety Department. -- "Oh my God, are you kidding me?" gasped Harold Malone as he watched Allgood's speech on TV in his campaign headquarters. "Allgood?!?! It's not going to be the Iron Crowbar?!?!?" "This is great!" said one junior campaign staff member. "There's no way you can lose now, Mr. Malone!" "Are fucking kidding me?" said Malone, staring malevolently at the young staffer. "This wasn't in the script at all! Oh, shit..." The staffer simply could not understand Malone's reaction. Malone understood all too well. The Iron Crowbar had just outsmarted every one of these so-called geniuses who had assured him, Malone, that everything was in the bag... -- "I don't understand why you are so upset." said Senator Nathan Allen to his guest as he poured himself a stiff drink. "You want a drink?" "No, Senator." said the guest, who was growing impatient. "And let me explain why this is very bad for Malone. We were counting on the Iron Crowbar to run against him. We spent over a million dollars on opposition research on him and others, we had a line of attack, counterattack, and defense all ready to go against anything he could throw at us. But no one even thought about this guy Allgood. We can't attack him... for Christ's sake, he was running Internal Affairs at the Police Department! We don't know a damn thing about him, except all the good things that made him I.A. material. He's incorruptible, he has a beautiful family with no baggage like the Iron Crowbar's wife... Jesus... maybe I will take a drink, Senator." Senator Allen poured his guest a drink and redoubled his own. "Name recognition, my friend. Name recognition. Nobody knows who Allgood is. Coverage at KXTC is all but bottled up, and nobody watches KSTD." "Don't you understand, Senator?- oh, never mind." the guest said. -- Daniel's early speeches were well-received by the political and Press punditry, as well as the Citizens to whom he spoke... but KXTC did not even show them on their broadcasts; Katherine Woodburn had disallowed coverage, only allowing Bettina Wurtzburg to mention the candidacy with no 'elaboration'. KSTD ran full coverage, and despite my attempts to get Bettina the first interview with Daniel, that went instead to KSTD. Case of the Black Badge Ch. 04 The morning after Allgood's announcement, the Town & County Examiner, owned by Katherine Woodburn, formally endorsed Harold Malone for Sheriff with a glowing testimonial, as well as something just short of libel in attacking Daniel Allgood. Coverage of Malone's campaign would be constant and complimentary, while what little coverage of Allgood would be spun as negatively as Woodburn's capacity for deceit could muster. In fact, over time County Republicans would file two lawsuits and an FEC complaint against KXTC for violations of the law in unbalanced coverage, but it would take a Crowbar to pry her out of her biased coverage... an Iron Crowbar... Part 31 - Sex Scandal on the Campaign Trail "Mmmmm, Cowboy... I wanna be your Cowgirl." Melina whispered to her husband as she knelt before him and began opening his blue jeans to reveal his huge, hardening, nine inch cock. Jack Colby had arranged a speech for Daniel at the Farmer's Market, in which Colby had given his endorsement to Allgood's candidacy for Sheriff. Colby also gave Daniel and Melina perfectly-fitting cowboy hats. They were not the cheap kind but very real and high-quality Stetson hats, white in color. Daniel and Melina were dressed in western shirts and jeans, and Daniel looked so good in his hat that the cowboy hat would become his staple during the campaign. I had taken a picture of Daniel and Melina in their hats, and I had it blown up to bigger sized and framed, and sent it to them. Now they'd arrived home after a long day of campaigning. Melina had been horny as hell all day after admiring how her husband looked in his hat and jeans, and she could not wait to get to his cock now that they were alone. She did not even give him a chance to sit down as she knelt in front of him and opened the zipper to his jeans. "Mmm, honey," she said huskily, "you looked so hot up there giving your speech... all those women looking at you and wanting this big package of yours... but it's mine..." Melina fished her husband's cock out of his pants, feeling it throb in her hand as she jacked it to its full nine-inch length. "Oh yeah, baby, I'm gonna suck your balls right out of your nutsack! Let me show you what a good cowgirl does for her cowboy!" Melina said. She then slid her mouth over Daniel's huge cockhead, sliding her lips wetly down the shaft until she had all but two inches buried into her throat. "Oh God! that is so fucking good!" Daniel gasped as he gently grabbed the back of his wife's head and began pulling her face into his groin as he shoved his hips forward. "Yeah, suck that cock, baby! Suck it hard!" He began pistoning his hips as he fucked his wife's mouth, sinking his fat cockhead into her throat with each thrust. The both unbuttoned their shirts, Daniel admiring Melina's big breasts, her taut nipples and her firm abdomen as she admired his hard body, his well-developed pecs and his 'six-pack' abs that they'd worked together to produce. Melina really enjoyed being used by her husband, letting Daniel fuck her face with his huge meat. When he was rock-hard and throbbing with desire, she finally broke free and lay down on the floor. Together they worked her jeans off her long, shapely legs. Daniel was almost like a starved animal as he mounted Melina, dryfucking her sopping wet slit with long strokes. "Put it in me, baby, don't make me wait!" Melina begged, her eyes betraying her desperation to have her husband's cock nuts-deep inside her, wanting to feel every inch of him sheathed in her as he took her, wanting him to take her as a real man takes his woman. And he did not disappoint; he raised up slightly, letting his cockhead sink into her labes, and with her hand guiding and steadying his weapon of lust, he drove his hips forward and sank every last inch into her tight, soaking wet, scalding hot cunt! They began a hard fast rhythm of fucking. Daniel's jeans were lowered down his thighs to just above his knees, and he was literally on his toes as he powered his meat in and out of his beautiful wife's eagerly receptive hole. Her legs were pulled back and spread wide in accommodation, and she dug her heels into his ass and the backs of his thighs to urge him on and fuck her even more furiously. "Oh God, it's so good!" Melina mewled. "I love you baby, I love you so much! Fuck me baby, fuck me hard and deep!" "Oh baby, I love you!" Daniel gasped. "I just hope the Press doesn't catch us! What would they say if they caught me, a married man, fucking a hot, beautiful woman like you?! What kind of scandal would they make of that?" "They'd say only a real man like you could fuck a woman like me!" Melina said. "And they'd say you're the only real man that can be Sheriff! Now show me how a real cowboy fucks his cowgirl, you fucking stud!" They shared deep hot kisses as Daniel settled his weight onto Melina, continuing to fuck her with deep, hard, stabbing thrusts. He was nuzzling her neck and hearing her moans as her climax crashed through her loins, feeling her cunt clutch at him. He could not hold back and didn't try. "Oh God, baby, I'm gonna come, I'm gonna shoot my load deep into your hot cunt, baby!" he gasped as long streams of thick, ropy jism splashed against the back walls of her cunt, ready to be soaked up by her cervix. "Oh my goodness, what will the Press say when they find out about this?" Daniel whispered as he nuzzled his wife's neck. "It'll be a scandal." Melina said, giggling. "Man having an affair with his wife during the campaign, sneaking away and fucking her on the floor between campaign events. The Public will talk about it non-stop." As they relaxed, sharing kisses and loving pillow talk, Daniel's potent, virile sperm began its search to conquer Melina's fertile, waiting egg... To be continued. Case of the Black Badge Ch. 05 The chronological order of my stories is as follows: Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story. The Case of the Black Badge, Ch. 1-5 Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, extreme language, and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. ***** Part 32 - Meanwhile, Back To The Investigation The memo came out at 8:00am three days after Daniel Allgood's announcement, stating that Steven Ikea was returning to the Town & County Police Force, would be promoted to Lieutenant, and would be taking over the Vice Squad.
 Rarely have I seen the level of gloom such as that which overcame both MCD and Vice. I heard everything from promises to resign, to threats to go on strike to threats of doing Ikea bodily harm if he showed up. Such was the poisonous effect of the name 'Steven Ikea'. It was only when Tanya Perlman popped into MCD a half hour later and was handed the memo for her evaluation, did the truth come out. "It's April Fool's Day, guys." Tanya said. "This has gotta be a hoax." I was disappointed that no one else figured it out... and I realized I really needed to get Tanya back into MCD and utilize her talents more... her police talents, of course... The atmosphere in the Headquarters improved immediately. I was accosted as the perpetrator of that hoax, but pled innocence. It was only when Cindy and I went to the Chief's office and saw his mustaches twitching as he failed to hide his merriment that we discovered the prankster. And they say Chief Griswold has no sense of humor... ---- It was the next day and no April Fool's joke when Jack Muscone of the FBI called me from the City and reported that the young female agent we had captured had committed suicide. "She was brought into Court for her arraignment without handcuffs, per procedure. As soon as she was free, she attacked her guards then went for a deputy's gun. She fired at four people, including the judge, then put the gun to her own head and killed herself." Jack reported. "Fortunately for us, no one else was seriously wounded, though the deputy was shot in the hand." "Did you find out anything else about her?" I asked. "Only that you might have been right about her entering the FBI as a mole from the start." Jack said, then stated: "We found several extra sets of IDs in her apartment, and one of those was the owner of a bank account at her college where a pretty good bit of money had been deposited. We haven't yet traced where the money came from, but it's a pretty clear bet she was working for someone even before coming into the FBI. Any ideas, Don?" "Birmingham." I replied. "Either she's an agent of a foreign government, or a domestic group you've been watching..." I was not specific, as we were not on secure phones. "Why would she kill herself?" Muscone asked. "That's pretty extreme." It was a good question, and one that would require some serious thought... --- The next Monday morning I entered Classroom 'E', which was fast becoming the home of MCD meetings as it was behind the MCD room via a side hallway. Vice was using Classroom 'C', which was just down the hallway. Inside Classroom 'E' sat Detectives Martin Nash, Theo Washington and Diana Torres. Martin opened the meeting with his progress report. "We've been looking for any reports of large blood spots where Carroll and that other guy might have been killed. It's well over a month since the killings now, but we started two weeks ago. Patrolmen Morton, Rudistan, McGhillie and Johnson have been really working it on their patrols, asking people about it. We also have been able to get a look inside a lot of businesses by going with the Public Health Department officials on so-called 'routine' health inspections. They've been very cooperative lately, and I'm not sure why." I answered: "That's because the newly-elected Sheriff will be overseeing the Public Health Department, which the Council in their infinite wisdom placed under Public Safety. So I'm thinking they want to get some puppy points with the Sheriff by working with the Police. But I digress... you were saying, Martin?" "Yes, sir," Martin said, continuing his report, "we've gone in many places asking about blood from animal slaughters. That's the narrative we created. But no one has seen anything unusual at all. The only operating animal processing plants are south of here, in or near Junction Station. No one there reported anything out of the ordinary, nor any trespassers." Junction Station was once a town but was now barely more than a small collection of buildings on one street which now housed one restaurant, an antique shop and a pottery-making business. It was near the main road that led South to Coltrane County. You'd miss it if you blinked. "You've done very good work canvassing the area." I said. "Anything else any of you might have learned from all this?" "Just this." said Theo Washington. "I went with the officers to the predominately black areas in the southwest part of town. They don't fully know me or trust me, but they're happy to see a black Detective on the Force. They know Captain Malone was a racist and that he was keeping blacks from rising in the Force. The jury's still out on you, Lieutenant, but you got some points helping acquit Nathaniel Jones." "What's the vibe in those areas?" I asked. "A lot of tension." Theo replied. "It's more than just the County, of course, and it's not yet what I'd call a boiling point, but there's a lot of tension with this Sheriff election, and with the overall Court system after the Jones case. Reginald B.F. Lewis and Malinda Adams are trying hard to stir up a hornet's nest for their election purposes. Part of their problem is that Malone's running as a Democrat, and a lot of blacks may sit out the election, as they won't vote for a Republican either, no matter who it is. Lewis and Adams are both running unopposed, but other Democrats might get hurt if blacks sit out of this Election." "Thanks for that info." I said. "Now guys, I want to show you one of what Detective Ross would call 'my little tricks'. I want all of you to put yourself in the minds of the murderers of Carroll and Blondie. Think to yourselves where you would go to kill them and hide a large amount of blood that was released when they were killed. We know they were transported to the King & Ebenezer Food Industries site, so where would you do the killings?" After a few minutes of such 'meditation', they gave their ideas. Diana Torres started. "I'm thinking somewhere out on the farms, where they wouldn't be seen and the blood would be soaked into the ground. "The only thing that comes to my mind," said Martin Nash, "is that it's some place where water can be used to clean up the mess, especially blood in the cars that transported the bodies to King & Ebenezer. Maybe a car wash." "Hey, what about the County Maintenance Facility?" Theo said as the thought hit him. "They have washing facilities there. Captain Malone could get access to it, as well." "Not bad, all of you." I said. "As to the farms, isolated areas would be good, but the farmers are always on the lookout for strange cars passing on their lands. Remember how quickly a farmer spotted activity that led us to Jefferson Jackson's body? They also look for animal signs, and likely would've noticed a disturbance in their crops or any large amount of blood. But it's an idea, and a good one, Diana, and I'm not discounting it." "As to the car wash idea, it's good too." I said. "Yes, someplace where water could be used to wash away evidence of the really gruesome crimes committed. But let's go further: the County Maintenance Facility runs 24 hours and people are all over the place. The Water Works facility is in constant operation and is also constantly guarded at all times. If the crimes were committed in this County, it'd have to be in a place where the victims' screams weren't heard. So I'm looking for a place that is not in a population center, not routinely used or guarded all night, has water that can be used to wash down the crime scene..." I then told them my idea. They agreed with me that it was a very likely place... ---- "Well, this office is a damn sight better than your last one." Sgt. Bill Hanson said as he entered my office. Sitting down at my invitation, he said "I had to pry myself in and out of that little one with a shoehorn." "Yes, it's definitely more roomy." I said, not saying that those offices were not built for men as large as Sgt. Hanson. "What can I do for you?" "I just came up to let you know what we're doing in I.A." Sgt. Hanson said. "With Lt. Allgood running for Sheriff, Detective Curly Goodwin is taking over. Allgood was pretty good, but Goodwin is the real deal. He's already making things better 'down there'." "Good." I said. "And I think Allgood is going to be an ideal Sheriff. So tell me what you came up to talk about - Smith and Wesson." Sgt. Hanson showed no shock that I'd guessed the reason for his contact with me. "Yes, and getting right to it: we've been watching them very closely, as well as Officer Jeremy Hatch, but so far we're not getting anything. We've followed them via their GPS recorders, we've examined all of their logs, and we've had people following them on their patrols almost daily. They're as clean as anybody else right now. In fact, we're suspicious that they may be onto us." "I'm not surprised to hear that they may have gone dormant again." I said. "With Malone running for Sheriff, they may have been told to lay low. By the way, how are things in Vice without Malone, so far?" "The team is doing okay. You're not inserting yourself there too fast, so they're not too agitated. We in I.A. have about come to the determination that Sharples is a nutjob, but other than that they're doing okay. What I am worried about is that they may not be developing leads like they used to, what with Malone's influence missing, and drug pushers might start trying to come back into the County." I thought about that one. Whether or not Sergeant Hanson's comment were a reproach to me or not, I knew that I needed to really get going with Vice. Malone might still be controlling drug access to the County, but without actually being in charge of Vice, his grip might soften... Part 33 - Deal With The Devil Henry R. Wargrave looked out the windows of his penthouse office in the City, enjoying the spectacular views as he waited for his next guest. Normally, he did not wait for guests, but this one was important and special. He had been going over the data that his small army of private investigators had uncovered about Michael and Eleanor Burke's son Jack. He read with great interest about Jack Burke's exploits in college, the incident with the girl Ivy, and his subsequent years of living off the grid in a desperate attempt to hide from certain people. The only disappointment: it had been impossible to trace the girl Ivy; it was if she had vanished off the face of the earth. Wargrave knew he had more work to do, work that would take a different level of investigation. But he was by now very curious to uncover the whole story, especially as it involved his young nemesis, the Iron Crowbar. "Mr. Wargrave," said his secretary, an extremely elegant, attractive brunette in her thirties, "Mr. King is here." "Send him right in." said Wargrave. As the man came in, Wargrave shook his hand, "Jack King, it's been way too long! How are you, my friend?" "Good, good." Jack King said. "And yes, it's been way too long. It's good to see you again, Henry. You're looking very well, very fit." "Can I offer you some coffee, or water?" Henry Wargrave asked, guiding his guest to the comfortable sofa and chairs. "Just some water, thank you." said King. After they were seated, Wargrave asked "How is your father doing? I haven't seen Conrad in way too long." "He's fine, just turned 80, but still in good shape and good spirits." said King. "But of course he's not getting any younger. He's been staying in warmer states like Florida and Texas the last few years. He was visiting with President Bush, the elder one, in Houston a couple of months ago. By the way, he spoke of you the other day. He's really proud of you, as always." Jack King's father Conrad had been Henry Wargrave's mentor for years, helping Wargrave make the CIA and national and international contacts Wargrave needed and used to build his businesses. As powerful and connected as Wargrave was, Conrad had been so in the era before him. Conrad King was indeed one of the most powerful men in the world, though he had begun to unwind and seek simple retirement and rest as he aged. "He's like a second father to me." Henry said. "I really should go visit him, if you think he wouldn't mind." "He'd love to see you." Jack King said. King was in his early 50s with a head full of iron-gray hair and a strong, chiseled face. He'd built up a big distribution and trucking business, was a strong friend of the Unions even though he was an owner of businesses. No law enforcement agency had ever gotten so much as a whiff of the drug and stolen goods distribution rackets that his businesses were merely fronts for, which had made him very wealthy. "It was a shame about Arruzio." Wargrave said, very subtly putting himself at an advantage to King with the comment. "Yes," King said, becoming a bit introspective. "I had an appointment with him the night he went over and killed his wife and that stud she was banging. I always wonder if I'd insisted on keeping the appointment, would he have not done what he did, and would he be alive now..." (Author's note: see 'The Case of the Murdered Lovers, Ch. 03' to refresh your memories of Jack King and Joe Arruzio.) "I've always believed he would've killed them anyway, or at least her." said Wargrave. "I've only recently found out who tipped him off that his wife was having an affair, and why." "Yeah, he and I only did a few deals together when he needed money, but they were good deals for both of us." said King. "And that's why I came to see you today, Henry. I may need your help, or at least your advice. I know you didn't move drugs around very much unless it was in association with the other things you were moving, but one of my operations is being pinched." "Let me guess." said Wargrave. "Over around the University and its County." "Exactly." said King. "Looks like the police caught on to the Black Badge scheme there. Such a nice little program, made some real lowballs feel important, and they're motivated a lot more than that black rapper's trash. As you know, we've got similar programs in other places, though by different names." King continued: "But this is the first time we've ever had the police catch on. Who in the hell do they have working there that is so damn good? And our police contact there is running for Sheriff now, of all things. I sure hope he wins or we're going to have to rebuild... and the University, those kids are such a great market for my product. I don't want to lose anything there." "I understand totally." Wargrave said. "And the guy who is catching on is the guy who put that crowbar to Sergei Molotov's back. He has become quite the concern for the criminal elements in my University's county." "Him? Really?" said King. "And he's the guy that caught up to Joe Arruzio, as well? I'm surprised he's still allowed to operate there." "He's survived two assassination attempts- no, nothing to do with me," Wargrave said seeing King peer at him. "He hasn't really crossed me yet, though he rather brazenly confronted me once over a small issue. So, Jack, what can I do to help you?" "A couple of cops that got busted." said King. "I still am not sure what was going on with that... they made some traffic stop of a couple of kids, things got out of hand, and the next thing I know, Internal Affairs is looking at our police contact. But what I really need is for these two cops to be sprung from Federal custody. What would it cost me for your help doing that?" "Oh, not much." said Wargrave. "Seeing as you're my friend and the son of my mentor, I think that if I heard that you gave the University a generous donation, I might be able to talk to a couple of people here in the City... in the Federal judicial branch." "How generous are we talking?" asked King. "Somewhere in the low-to-mid seven figures." replied Wargrave. "And of course, I might ask you for a favor in return one day." "How about a nice endowment for the University's... Chemistry department, perhaps?" King said, thinking of the chemicals he distributed and sold, which ensnared so many people into addiction. "Sounds great. President Wellman will be ecstatic. I'll let him know. And you will get a lot of very positive publicity and feedback." said Wargrave. Part 34 - The Mother-In-Law Apartment "Another trip?" I asked Laura, watching my now-obviously-pregnant wife packing her suitcase on Friday night as I held an attentive Carole. "Yes." Laura said. "But it's the last one. I'm going into 'baby mode' after this one. And it's just to the City. We're only 90 miles away, but my schedule is packed so I'm going to stay at the hotel tomorrow night and return late Sunday night." "You said 'we'? Melina is going?" "Yep." Laura replied. "It'll give her a small break from the campaign trail with Daniel, though she's enjoyed doing all that so far. I'm really amazed how much both of them are loving it. How'd you know they'd take to it so well?" "Oh, just a few simple observations. I only had eight years of observing Melina, though, so I wasn't too sure." I said with a wee bit of humorous sarcasm. "So, what are you going to do this weekend, besides work?" Laura asked. "Spend it with Mom." I said. "She wants to show off her new M-I-L apartment." "She wants more than that." Laura replied. "Her young studs have been finding other girlfriends lately, so she hasn't been laid in a while. And she wants you, anyway. I'd better find you drained and exhausted when I get back Sunday night." -- "Mmm, Mom, you look great." I said as I admired my mother's figure in the late afternoon sun on the back deck of the 'Mountain Nest', quickly popping one of Laura's 'gray viagra' pills into my mouth and swallowing it, as my wife had instructed. For a sixty-year-old woman, my mother Phyllis looked much more like she was in her 40s. Her hair was frosted and fashioned simply, hanging straight down to just above her shoulders. She had been working out and doing yoga at Cindy and Melina's gym, and with Cindy as her personal trainer my mother was looking firm and fit. Her tight, clingy blue dress hugged her curves, showing off her luscious hourglass shape and her large breasts. Her legs were very shapely, as she had made sure not to over-tone them. Her thighs were just beginning to show some weight, but her calves were as shapely and sexy as almost any woman's. They curved smoothly down to almost-too-thin ankles and her elegant, shapely feet. Mom was wearing very high heel clear-acrylic slides with clear plastic straps. I later found out Cindy had gotten them for her, as those "hooker heels" were what the Miss Physical America competition women wore. I thought that my mother could easily compete in the "Senior" division, if they had one, but Mom was not interested in bulking up or becoming too much of a hardbody. Case of the Black Badge Ch. 05 "Why thank you, Son." Mom said as she walked up to me. "I've really worked on my body all Spring, so that you can use it for your sexual pleasure." She almost didn't stop as she came up to me, and I felt her hands sliding up my chest as our blue eyes locked together. "I want you to use this body all night long until you can't take anymore pleasure from it. It's my motherly duty to my son." She was really pouring it on thick, and I was loving it: my cock was beginning to lengthen and throb in my pants. Mom pulled me down and our mouths met in a hot, hungry kiss. It was a kiss of lovers, not of a mother and son, and my mother was already well 'into it' as she slammed her lips against mine and slid her tongue over mine and halfway to my throat. "Let's go inside." I said, thinking that this overt sexual display outside might not be as private as we'd like. "Yes, let's get supper started." Mom said. "You can cook steaks on the outdoor grill and I'll make the pasta and salad." I followed her into her kitchen, which was small but efficient. "Okay, let me get a bowl and- oooh, son, what are you doing?" Mom said. I'd come up behind her and pressed my bulge into the crack of her asscheeks from behind as my hands slid onto her hips and up the curve of her waist. "Mmmm, Mom, I don't think I can wait to get a little piece of your ass right now." I breathed into her ear. My hands moved up to cup her breasts under her dress, making her moan. "Let's get these panties off." I said, reaching under her dress and sliding my hands slowly up her thighs to the flimsy material of her blue lace panties. Throwing her dress up over her ass, I knelt behind my mother and as the panties slid down, I kissed the backs of Mom's thighs, working my way up to her labes. She was already becoming hotly aroused and very wet, and I heard her moan and grip the countertop as I licked up and down her swollen, parted cuntlips. "Oh geez, that's good!" my mother gasped as I flicked my tongue over her labes, occasionally kissing along them, then kissing her firm, sweet asscheeks. Finally, my throbbing cock could take no more. I stood up behind my mother, keeping her trapped against the counter, and opened my pants, letting them fall. I pushed my underwear halfway down my thighs then gripped my aching, hard cock and fit the head to my mother's cunt from the rear. "Oh Jesus Fucking Christ!" my mother exclaimed as I sank my cock into her, pulling out then thrusting again, burying my full length into her sopping wet depths. I gripped her hips as I began to pump her hard. The angle wasn't bad, I only had to bend my knees a little bit as Mom was wearing those 'hooker heels'. But after a few minutes I let my cock slide all the way out of her. "Turn around, Mom." I said. She did so, and knowing what I wanted, hopped onto the countertop. I slid my hands under her sweet thighs and she moved forward, letting some of her weight rest on my arms as she positioned her pussy right on the edge of the counter. Her hand grabbed my hard male meat and guided me into her, and we deeply kissed as I began fucking my mother with a deep, hard rhythm. "Oh yeah, Mom, that's good!" I gasped between kisses. I began nuzzling her neck, smelling her and her perfume... and I noticed it was different. Instead of what she normally wore, she was wearing the same sweet-smelling brand that my sister Elizabeth always wore. "Mmm, Mom, you changed perfumes?" I asked, still nuzzling at her neck as I drove my meat into her. "Ohhhhh... yes, Son... I know you like how sweet this brand smells... ohhh... do you like... do you like it, baby?... oh, that's so good!" Mom said as she gasped in pleasure at being fucked by her son's throbbing hard cock. "Mmmm, yeah, it's nice." I said, not saying that it made me think of Elizabeth, of my sister's hot body and shapely legs... After a minute, I was close to coming, and my mother sensed it. "Take it out, son, don't come in my pussy; I want you to eat me later." I slid my cock out and backed off a pace, letting Mom slide off the counter. She immediately slid down in front of me, her knees bent, and I wondered how she and Laura were able to have such flexibility. I didn't complain: my mother sucked my cock into her hungry mouth, devouring it, and began furiously sucking and jacking my cock. It did not take any time at all to come. "Ohhhh! OH GOD! UHK!" I cried out as I released a huge load into my mother's mouth, jet after jet of salty hot cum spraying into her throat. Mom greedily sucked it all out, swallowed everything I shot into her throat and tried to suck even more out of my balls. --- The movie we were watching was a softcore 'B-grade' flick, in which a beautiful 'good girl' married woman was being seduced by a younger, handsome bad man. The woman was blonde and lovely, a cross between the BDSM woman Rita and Katherine Warner Wilson. The flick was 'romantic', but it was also very erotic and nearly hardcore, so my mother and I were seeing a lot of flesh as the young man seduced the beautiful housewife. They only showed from the waist up, but it was obvious that the woman had succumbed and was being deeply and adulterously fucked by her handsome young lover. "Do you like my feet, Son?" my mother asked, stretching out her left leg and arching her foot in the high heel slide. She was openly flirting with me. We'd been kissing and feeling each other up while the movie was going on, like teenagers on a hot date. "Mmmm, gorgeous." I said. "I'm going to enjoy sucking on those feet while I fuck your brains out, Mom." I bent down and kissed my mother's upturned mouth as her hand slid over my cock and gently pumped it. We were halfway undressed, and I was feeling my mother's breasts, which I'd caused to pop out of her dress by pulling the material down to her waist. It wouldn't be long before we went into the bedroom... --- "Mmmmmm" I moaned as I clamped my mouth to my mother's pussy, letting my tongue sink into her cunthole as deeply as I could get it, the vibration of my moan adding to her pleasure. Mom's legs were pulled up and back, giving me plenty of access to her tangy, hot pussy. I wetted her down, knowing that her own lube was going to dry up before too long; Mom could cheat her age in the gym, but there were just some things she couldn't get around. "Here, son, add this." my mom said, giving me a bottle of lubricant. It was cherry-flavored, and as I squirted some into her slit, I coated my tongue with it and then administered the lube by sticking my tongue into my mother's hole again. The cherry flavor mixed well with the taste of pussy, and I began eating my mother with gusto until she came hard. "Ohhh, son, that's so nice..." my mom said. I then squirted some more lube into my mom's hole and then slid two fingers deep inside her, really working the lubricant deep into her twat, gently 'scratching' the sides of her cunt with my fingertips to enhance her pleasure. It worked: my mother came again, very hard. "I'm going to fuck you now, Mom." I said. "I'm going to fuck my own mother's pussy and come inside it!" I was mounting her, guiding my cock to her labes. I easily found her gaping hole and thrust my cock inside it, entering my mother with one smooth, deep stroke. The lube and my mother's juices worked well together, and my cock was sliding easily along her tight cuntwalls as I pistoned my hips to work my meat in and out of her. "Ohhhhhh..." my mother moaned, gripping my asscheeks in her hands, taking my full length and pushing her hips to meet mine every time I drove down into her. I fucked my mother relentlessly, fueled by the medication as well as the simple nastiness of it: I was fucking my own mother! I drove into her like a man was supposed to drive into a woman while fucking her, taking her and using her, but knowing that I was giving her pleasure as she accommodated my size and my powerful male thrusts. After Mom came, her body shaking in orgasm, I slowed it down a bit. I sat back on my legs, still pumping into her, and grabbed my mother's ankles, pulling her feet to my shoulders. I licked and kissed the tops of her feet and her heels, but did not let her shoes come off, then kissed along her ankles and calves. As I expected, it did not take long for my nut to ruse. My mother felt it, also. "Don't come in my cunt, son." Mom said. "Don't waste that sweet sperm, that precious load of you. Come in my mouth and let me swallow your essence, son..." I was close, almost too far, but just at the last second I pulled out, knee-walked up until I was straddling my mother's big breasts, then grabbed her head and shoved my cock into her mouth. "OH MY FUCKING GOD!" I screamed as the intensely painful pleasure of my orgasm rocked my loins and up my back. I felt the fires of release even as the power seemed to drain from my body, all shooting into my mother's mouth with my semen. Jolt after jolt fired through me as I drained my balls into my mother's mouth. Finally I climbed off of her. "Why don't you get us some champagne from the kitchen?" Mom said. "No need, Mom." I said, still trying to catch my breath. "I brought this bottle on ice here." I quickly poured a couple of glasses, and my mother and I drank to the deeply sinful act of pleasure we had just done with each other, reveling in the wickedness of it... --- I woke up. It was 4:30 in the morning. I often woke about this time, but this time it was different. I felt my mother's lips on my dick, sucking me, trying to bring life and hardness into my used and abused cockmeat. I felt the pleasure of my loins stirring, but I also felt my sleepiness overtake me again. As I felt my mother suck me, I began having... dreams... no... more like... memories...no... hallucinations?... for a moment I was in a meadow that I'd never seen before, my cock being sucked by a beautiful blonde woman in her thirties, a woman I'd never known before. Then it became an older woman sucking me, and I realized it was Marie Arruzio sucking my cock, looking into my eyes as she fellated my length. I'd never know Marie when she was alive, so how was it I was feeling her sucking my meat as if it had happened? Then the woman sucking me changed several more times, to a young woman I'd dated in college, then Melina, and then it was Laura fellating me in her incredibly talented way...
 Soon I realized that it was my mother sucking my cock again, in her bed in the early morning hours. I rolled her off of me, still in a semiconscious state, then I mounted her and slid my cock into her. I took my mother into my arms, letting my hands slide under her shoulder blades and pulling her to me, feeling her kiss my neck and shoulder as I began fucking her with deep, short, hard strokes. Suddenly, I felt like I was in a dark cave, with fire swirling around me. I didn't feel the flames, but I was fucking a woman underneath me as those flames swirled around, bathing the room in an eerie red light. I looked down and saw that the woman I was fucking was Dr. Gloria Searles, the gorgeous doctor I'd met recently. (Author's Note: Interlude 10). I was making love to Gloria, the pleasure in my loins increasing to levels I'd rarely experienced before. I looked down into her beautiful face, seeing her look of pleasure. I felt myself kissing her, the taste and feel of her soft mouth the best I'd ever known. I was making love to Gloria, building and building... and then the woman changed again... I smelled the perfume and as I looked down I saw that I was fucking my sister Elizabeth!... her beautiful body was grinding into me as I fucked her, her lovely breasts bouncing, her luscious legs wrapped tightly around me. I felt my nut rising as I dream-fucked my sister, giving it to her as hard as I could, then a flash of light blinding me as I came hard, my semen pumping into her, flooding her womb again and again and again... When I finally came to, gasping, totally drained, I realized I was in my mother's room, in her bed, in her arms and collapsed on top of her. I rolled off of her, still trying to catch my breath. She rolled with me, sliding one sexy leg over my torso and caressing my chest before lying her head on it. "That was intense fuck, son." Mom said. "You really had one hell of a fantasy going." "It was... strange... like a dream..." I said. I resolved to myself to ask about these drugs Laura was giving me... was this a side-effect of the powerful prescription? Part 35 - Affairs of Church and State No one can fault Daniel Allgood for lack of courage. On Sunday, he went to the Town A.M.E. Church, which was all-black. Councilman Reginald B.F. Lewis had made the invitation, but only after Daniel passed muster with the Reverend Joseph E. Williams, the wizened and aging pastor who was revered by his community and had seen the civil rights wars from the front lines. And things did not go well at first, as Daniel had to explain that his wife was not with him because she was on a business trip which couldn't be helped. That didn't go over all that well, but Daniel made no excuses for the tensions between police and the black community, and took the issues head-on, and that got him their attention. Daniel did not pretend that the issues weren't large, but he said he would do what he could and all he could to make a difference. He also told the congregation how things were getting better, as the Nathaniel Jones case had shown, and promised to work even more with Councilman Lewis and black leaders like Reverend Williams to ensure equal application of the law. By the end of the day, the crowd had warmed to him, but there was no guarantee they'd vote for him. The deck was still stacked against him, Reverend Williams told him privately, but he had not hurt himself at all by visiting them. When Daniel asked what kind of reception Harold Malone was going to get when he visited, the Reverend Williams and Councilman Lewis stared at him, then told him that Malone had declined to commit to speak at the church... or any other black church in the Town or County. Both KSTD and KXTC reporters and cameras were at the church, and the KSTD reporter interviewed many people and recorded the surprisingly enthusiastic comments for candidate Allgood. The KXTC reporter was not enthusiastic at all; she knew, as her mentor Bettina Wurtzburg knew, that Katherine Woodburn would kill the story, as it would be too positive for Harold Malone's opponent. --- While Daniel Allgood made his foray into the black community, Pastor Westboro was introducing Harold Malone at the Town First Baptist Church, the largest church in the County and all-white. Malone introduced his wife Madelyn, then gave the crowd the red meat they wanted to hear: Malone would keep the citizens of the County safe from 'undesirable elements', and he'd make sure the 'good order' of the Town and County was maintained. --- "How in the hell did that happen?" a furious Katherine Woodburn screamed. KXTC's six o'clock news had just run a piece showing black churchgoers enthusiastic about Daniel Allgood, and some positive comments from Reverend Williams and Councilman Lewis about Allgood's integrity and outreach to the black community. "Sorry, ma'am." said one of the engineers. "There was a mix-up in the order the tapes were played." It had not been a mix-up, but an intentional effort to avoid an FEC investigation of KXTC, an attempt to save Katherine Woodburn from herself. "Why in the fucking hell was that tape even with the others? Why was it even loaded at all? Did you idiots not understand my fucking orders that only Harold Malone is to receive positive coverage?!?!" Woodburn yelled, her face nearly purple with fury. Everyone stared at her: she had essentially just broken election coverage laws with that public statement. So much for trying to save her ass... "You." she said, pointing at the engineer who had answered her. "You're fired. Get the hell out of here, you fucking idiot." There was silence in the room. The engineer got up, waved to his former co-workers and brushed past Woodburn. Then, to her horror, every engineer in the room got up and followed the man out, and no other engineer would come in to work. They essentially were going on strike, and they would not return until Woodburn apologized and reinstated the fired engineer. Part 36 - Crisis In The City On Sunday morning I got the call from Jack Muscone, half-begging and half-demanding I come to the City immediately. Chief Griswold's call came seconds later, asking me to assist Muscone and his team for the next couple of days. I knew it was desperately important: an FBI helicopter was already landing at the local County airfield, which is along the highway that goes west out of Town. Cindy came along with me, of course, and we were flown to FBI Headquarters in the City. We were quickly ushered to Jack Malone's office. The look on his face was grave. Jack began, his voice almost surreal, "Last night, Federal Judge Tomlinson was shot dead in his chambers in the Federal Courthouse. That building is very secure, camera-covered, but someone knew enough to deactivate the cameras leading to the Judge's chambers. He was shot twice in the head with a .22 magnum caliber pistol. We found the expended shells; there were no fingerprints at all." "Sorry to hear this, Jack," I said, but why call us local guys in from across the State?" "Because Tomlinson was very likely on the take." Muscone replied. "We'd been watching him for some time, but it was hard to get anything solid on him. And before you ask, yes we can handle judges on the take. The reason I asked you guys to come over is because Tomlinson was about to override Judge Francis, who was handling the hearings by your County ADA Sanders to get Brody and Gunn back into your County's custody. We believe Tomlinson was going to order them returned to your County for a myriad of hearings set up by one of your local judges." "I see." I said. "Well, if you'll let me borrow a computer, I need to deputize myself into the SBI. I need some jurisdiction." --- Although I questioned the other Federal judges alongside Jack Muscone, especially talking to Judge Francis, we got nowhere. I un-deputized myself from the SBI as we were flown home. Once there, Cindy offered to buy me dinner at the all-night diner near the University campus. The food was on the greasy side... but greasy food and coffee really hit the spot to satisfy my ravenous appetite. "I want to run something by you, Don." Cindy said, keeping her voice low and nearly drowned-out by the buzz of other conversations. "Jack Muscone was in the City and involved in the Brody/Gunn case when this dirty Federal judge was shot. He was in Denver at or very near the time of the shooting of that Federal Reserve accountant. He was in Miami when all that shit went down about that diplomat being killed. I checked... he was there at the time, not afterwards." "Yes." I said. "Did you also check Dr. Benjamin Mays in California, the Red Chinese diplomat in San Francisco, and the Korean magnate in Las Vegas?" Cindy just stared at me. "I guess I better start looking at those. But that begs the question even harder: do you think this is a coincidence? or are we trusting Jack Muscone far more than we should?" "So what do you want to do?" I asked Cindy, not answering her question. "You didn't answer my question... but what I want to do is 'nothing'." Cindy said. "I want you to reassure me everything is okay here. I feel like I'm in way over my head and I'm drowning." "Well, I certainly would never do anything to let you drown or get hurt, my friend." I said. "Right now, there is indeed nothing we could really do. You might want to try your hand at sneaky data-mining. Make damn sure you don't get my Department in trouble by getting caught, though." Case of the Black Badge Ch. 05 --- "The symposium went very well." Laura said. "The speaker was really good, and everyone fussed over me since I'm pregnant. I didn't have to do a thing but sit there, eat the food, and enjoy the presentation." "How was Melina?" I asked. "She's doing better." Laura said. "She actually wants to visit her baby, though she says she knows she's not ready to take over motherly duties. She's loving the campaign trail, though she says she doesn't like having to visit the black community." "Speaking of that, Daniel made some good inroads there." I said. "Got good media coverage, impressed the black community leaders. But he still way behind the power curve in the polls. He needs to make gains." "So, my darling husband," said Laura, coming up to me and sliding her arms around my neck. "Are you regretting your decision to have him run instead of yourself?" "Not a bit." I said, kissing my wife. "I much prefer to be solving cases. In fact, I was in the City just today, courtesy of the FBI, helping investigate the murder of a Federal judge over there." "I heard that on the news this morning." Laura said. "Why did the FBI want you to help them, other than your obvious abilities to solve what they can't?" She was taking a dig at the FBI with that, typical of a CIA high-level agent. "Because it's related to the Brody/Gunn case." I said. "In fact..." I went into a reverie. "In fact... this might just help us solve this frickin' Black Badge case... if they'll let me- ohhhhhh!" Laura had slid her body down, bending her legs as her hands opened my pants, and I groaned as the pleasure of my cock sliding into her hungry mouth enveloped me. I was suddenly lost to all attempts at rational thought... ---- "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" yelled the redhead reporterette to wake us up on the following Tuesday morning. "There are no new leads in the murder of a Federal judge in the City Saturday night. The FBI is investigating and is taking a strong interest in the case, as they suspect the murdered judge was being threatened by organized criminal elements." "In other news, we are obligated to report that the Federal Elections Commission has received complaints of biased coverage of the County Sheriff Election by KXTC Channel Two News. Channel Two News has responded to the complaints, and we can assure you that you are getting the best coverage of all sides from all sides here at KXTC Channel Two News. Now let's go to Chuck Pringle for the baseball report..." Part 37 - Increased Duties Since taking over Vice from Captain Malone, I'd attempted to get a handle on the Department. However, I found it rough going. First, I'd been given some files of Vice cases by Lainie, Sonali and Julie Newton, but I had to secretly ask Myron and Goth Girl Mary to make sure they weren't holding out on me... and it turns out they were. Several drug cases had been 'accidentally' left out, and each Detective claimed that they thought someone else was handling that. Second, Vice did not come in as early as MCD; they were often out later at night, and so often did not straggle in until 8:00am or even later. They also had the habit of watching KSTD instead of KXTC, and they did not even have a common coffeemaker in the room. So when I would go into Vice and try to just chat with them, as I did every morning with MCD, I felt something of a wall between me and the Detectives of the unit. They would stay at their desks, acting as if I wasn't even there. All I got out of it was the knowledge that the KSTD reporters were nowhere near the quality of Bettina Wurtzburg. But I had to do something, even if it meant shaking some things up and knocking some heads together. I called Detective (J.G.) Christopher Purvis into the office. Purvis dyed his hair black, would one day need (and use) a toupee, and was extremely straightlaced to the point of strange; other Detectives called him 'Christopher Pervert' behind his back. "Captain Malone handled his Detectives separately." said Purvis. "If he needed to talk to one of us, he'd call us into his office. He almost never came into the Vice room like you go into MCD." "Don't you guys collaborate on cases?" I asked. "Not the way you guys in MCD do." Purvis answered. "We talk to each other when we need information, stuff like that. But we're dealing with confidential informants and other contacts, and Captain Malone wanted us to keep to our own cases to keep stuff like that from getting out." "I can understand that aspect of it." I said. "But I get a real sense that there is no esprit-de-corps among you guys, no sense of cohesion at all." "You can add to it that Steven Ikea was a total asshole," Purvis added, "Geiger was his lapdog but is now a lost lapdog, Teresa 'Cunt' was a damn good cop but a real bitch to work with, Sharples is a nutjob and we have no idea what's going on in his head, Julie Newton is a nice girl but she's an accountant. We call her 'The Abacus', and she not much for chit-chat. And I'm just a J.G., I've barely begun learning the ropes around there." "Okay, Chris, work more with Geiger: you and he are the core of the Vice Squad. Thanks for talking with me. You can go." I said as a dismissal, then stopped him as he got up. "By the way, do not ever again let me hear you say you are 'just' a J.G. You're a Detective with the Town & County Police Vice Squad, and I expect you to be one with pride and reflective of the trust placed in you. Am I clear?" "Uh, yes sir." Purvis said. It'd take him a few minutes to figure out that I'd just given him the kick in the pants to boost his self-esteem... --- "I dunno, it's going to be tough." I said to Cindy Ross as we shared a pitcher of beer and chips and salsa at the Cop Bar that afternoon. "I understand Captain Malone's style of leadership, but it's not mine. And I'd really like to develop better cohesion in there. They've got a bunch of cases going, and if they worked together they'd find that many of them are correlated and they could work together and make busts a lot more efficiently." "That's true." said Cindy. "Teresa used to do a lot of that, though she didn't let on because Ikea worked so hard to take all the glory. Malone also seemed to set up little fiefdoms in there, probably to mask the crap he was doing." "Yeah, that was my thought too." I said. "I think Tanya was right that Malone will never return, so I'm thinking of bringing in some new people and using them as a core to make a more cohesive unit. And also working more with the MCD people. Cross-training might help develop better relationships." "Yeah, that might be okay." Cindy replied. "And you're going to bring in a few more people into MCD, too, aren't you?" "Possibly." I said. "I'm also thinking of bringing Tanya back just as soon as she gets Barry Oliver up to speed in the Crime Lab." "Lieutenant... may I speak frankly?" Cindy asked. It was not common of her to ask that. "By all means." I replied. "Don, we're not nearly as big as the City Police or even Midtown's Force, but the MCD and Vice Departments are pretty big operations; they were never meant to be directly run by one person. I know you're a great cop, a great leader and a great organizer, but even you have only so many hours in a day. You're trying too hard to run two departments directly, and it's not meant to be that way. There is supposed to be one Captain who has Lieutenants or Supervisors actually running each department, like it was when you just ran MCD and Malone ran Vice for the Chief. I'm not sure why the Chief gave you both departments, but you need to either run them from more of a distance -or- you need to go through subordinate leadership." "Yes, you're right." I said, knowing Cindy's words were absolutely correct, and I appreciated her frankness in letting me know my own limits. "I can't run Vice and MCD the way I lead MCD. I also understand the Chief's decision, as there is no one truly ready or able to take Vice and run with it. I do have some ideas how I'm going to solve this issue, but that will take time, and I can't let Vice falter until those bricks are cemented into place." --- "Well, Lieutenant, it's like this," said Superintendent Davies of the Town & County Fire Department, "we'll be glad to give you guys a couple of days to practice in the frame houses before we set them on fire, but we can't let you have any ammunition out here, not even blanks. If a round was dropped and went off during the fire while we were training, one of our guys could get hurt." We were at the Fire Academy Range. SWAT Sergeant Hugh Hewitt was with me, surveying the grounds. Superintendent Davies was in charge of the Fire Academy grounds as well as Fire Station No. 3, which served the wealthy northwestern areas of Town and the nearby County land. 'Superintendent' was a rank, higher than Captain, like an Army Major, and Superintendents were in command of fire stations and their equipment, including their fire engines and EMS vehicles. "Sir," asked Hewitt, "I understand that position, but of course these guys are in danger anyway when they go into the burning structure, aren't they?" "Not as much as you think." said Davies, "We minimize the risk. We set the building on fire and then immediately send the people in. The idea is to create the fear factor and have the real-fire experience... but the fire really hasn't gotten going yet and the structure isn't too compromised. We've never had one collapse on anyone. Once they get the test dummies out and the fire gets going, we work on putting it out." "I can understand that, sir." I said. "We would not have any ammo out here; we'd just want to practice maneuver and close-quarters battle, not actual shooting." I'd been looking around the place, and the other men did not realize that my interest was not in SWAT training... Part 38 - Taxed To The Limit For most people, April 15th means Tax Day. For me, it additionally meant a meeting, also attended by Jack Muscone, DA Gil Krasney, and the Chief. And I don't think I've ever seen Chief Griswold so ticked off. To say we were being mentally taxed to our limits would be an understatement. "Come on, Gil." Griswold said to DA Krasney as we sat in the Chief's small conference room. "Your ADA Sanders has been working like hell to get Brody and Gunn out of Federal custody and back here, and for what? So he can get them released on a joke bail? And then get them killed? Haven't you even investigated this guy, or gone to the Inspector General about him?" "You know how it is, Chief." Krasney shot back. "You had to keep Malone on the Force all this time, I have to keep Sanders. Neither of us are involved, and neither of us can do a damn thing about." "What I know," said Chief Griswold, "is that Judge Stone is helping the process. He's going to schedule hearings for these two every day. They'll be for five fucking minutes each, and for procedures that you usually get through in ten minutes total, but Stone has said that he'll have those two back here no matter what it takes. I've already called the Governor and two members of the State Supreme Court about him, but in the meantime, you're the only one who can stop this shit." "There's not a damn thing I can do." said Krasney, beginning to become defiant. "You're not up for election, Griswold; I am. Malone and his people are playing for keeps, and if I'm not re-elected, then I'm absolutely no good in stopping them." "You can intervene and stop this charade right now." said Jack Muscone, who was sitting on the other side of the table. "Judge Francis won't say a word, but we're sure he's being threatened. Their marked card, Judge Tomlinson, was shot dead, though we have no idea how or why, and now they're leaning on Francis. They want those two guys back, and you're telling me you can do nothing?" Muscone squared up and played his ace. "Do we need a full and formal FBI investigation into this County's government and judicial system, Mr. Krasney?" "You can do that if you like, Agent Muscone." said Krasney, unafraid. "But if you do, you'll rip up everything your friend here has been working to do. Isn't that right, Lieutenant?" I said nothing, so Krasney turned to the Chief. "After all, Griswold... isn't this why you brought the Iron Crowbar into the Force?" "Don," said Chief Griswold, "exchange that crowbar for a shovel and dig us out of this." "No problem." I said. "Mr. Krasney, I would recommend you go straight from here to the Inspector General's office about Sanders. Do not pass 'Go', do not collect two hundred dollars. If you don't, then someone in the future will say you're in league with him, and you know what that will mean to your career in this County. I'd suggest you go right now to the IG, so thank you for coming down to chat with us, and I would not want to waste another minute of your immensely valuable time." It was a dismissal, and Krasney took the hint and left. I could only pray that he would go to the IG about Sanders. "Okay, Crowbar," said the Chief, "what next? Krasney is the only one who can legally intervene to stop Stone and Sanders." "He's helpless and he knows it. We all know it. Hell, it's unanimous." I said, my voice introspective. I was in this surreal zone, knowing every step of the way, but somehow unable to just say it. "Yes, they're going to get Brody and Gunn, and they're going to kill them and leave their bodies hanging for us to find." "Aw, c'mon... besides, we can keep Brody." Muscone said. "The U.S. Attorney already has a deal with him." "Sanders is going to appeal that, and Stone will support him." I replied, my voice still distant as I struggled to put the puzzle pieces together in my mind. "They'll say Brody has no deal with the County. They can lock that up for the next ten years in Court appeals, and it only takes one Federal judge to agree with them and Brody is toast. And in the meantime, the longer Brody is in anyone's prison, be it Federal or local, and not in Witness Protection, he likelier he'll be murdered. That's why they're leaning on Judge Francis, threatening his life and his family. No, we have to do something else, something far more drastic." "So what do you have in mind?" the Chief asked, seeing and understanding the look on my face. "I suggest... that we let 'em win. That we let them bail out Brody and Gunn." I said. To my own surprise, neither man was very shocked at my statement. "I think I see where you're going with this." said Muscone. "But once they're out of our hands, they could be killed within minutes." "Yes." I said. "It is an extreme risk and I cannot guarantee we can keep Brody and Gunn alive. But it may be our only chance to catch these bastards out in the open, actually committing crimes. The key is exposing them, making them known, hopefully arresting them and shutting them down. It does involve extreme danger for Brody and Gunn." I told them my plan. I gave them all the details and possible issues. I answered their questions. And at the conclusion, I said: "I'll take a potty break and let you guys decide. It's y'all's call." To be continued. Case of the Black Badge Ch. 06 The chronological order of my stories is as follows: Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story. The Case of the Black Badge, Ch. 1-6 Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, extreme language, and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. Part 39 - Aunt Crowbar 2 On the morning of April 19th, I was embroiled in ritual combat, deflecting ever-harsher blows from one stalwart opponent. Cindy and I were working out in the police gymnasium's boxing ring, and we were not playing around. We were using crowbars... certainly not my blue one, but plain and simple black crowbars bought from the hardware store. We fenced with them while wearing football helmets and pads, face guards, eye protection and some body padding, but landing a blow could still hurt. Needless to say, my martial arts and personal combat skills had been greatly improved by the workouts with Cindy. The workouts also had earned her the name 'Crowbar 2' around Headquarters, as sometimes officers would watch us in battle. Today, however, I was ever on the defensive. Cindy was apparently mad at something, and she was really letting me have it. Finally I broke down, deflecting one move but unable to deflect the next blow that whacked hard into my right hip! "Aaauuugh!" I gasped out, going down to my knees. "You all right?" Cindy asked, backing off and breaking off the engagement. 
 "Good Godamighty, that hurt!" I said, slowly getting back to my feet and throwing my black crowbar down in surrender. "Damn, girl, what's got you fired up today?" "Well, that's what you get for knocking up my sister!" Cindy replied, her face a mixture of pretend anger, concern and amusement. "Whaaa..." I said. I saw Cindy's face react to what must've been the shock on mine. "Oops." Cindy said. "I thought she'd told you by now. Ah geez, I've fucked it up now." "My hip, yes." I said, limping a bit as the pain continued. "As to Molly, she's coming up tomorrow and visiting, and now I know why. I'll pretend to be surprised... if I can walk, that is." "I would say I'm sorry, but since you impregnated my sister and corrupted her morals, I think I'm happy I did that." Cindy said, her wickedly sarcastic sense of humor returning. "That makes one of us." I replied, my sense of humor yielding to the pain. Part 40 - The King's Gambit In chess, a 'gambit' is a seeming sacrifice of material in the opening to gain back an even greater advantage over time. That is what I was thinking of as I watched Jack Muscone prepare Sergeant Brody to be released. On April 20th, the Court proceedings had gone exactly as we expected. The U.S. Attorney had put up only token resistance to Gunn's expensive lawyer's demands that Brody and Gunn be returned to the custody of the County courts. One wrinkle developed when Brody called out that the attorney representing Gunn was not representing him, and that he, Brody, wanted different representation. The judge brought in a public defender, which only delayed the proceedings for one hour and did not alter the course of those proceedings one iota. During that interval hour, Brody said that he'd done that just to piss off that attorney, and I daresay it worked. The judge also discounted Brody's immunity deal, saying the County court system would have to approve it and release Brody into Federal custody via a new hearing. Until then, Brody and Gunn were to be transported back to our County for further legal actions. "This would never hold up under appeal." said Cindy Ross to me as we left the Courtroom. She was fully aware of what was going on. "Probably not." I said. "But it's the only way to keep Judge Francis alive and maybe keep Brody and Gunn alive. Back at the FBI building, Brody and Gunn were given their clothes back so that they could be dressed before being transported to the County. What they did not know was that Jack Muscone's friends at Homeland Security had secretly embedded no less than six tracking devices in their shirts, pants, belts, jackets and shoes. Gunn did not know of the tracking devices, and he'd been given no clue to what was going on. He and his wily lawyer had been chirping about the ease of their 'victory', not knowing it was a calculated retreat on our part. But Brody had been told some of it, and Muscone explained to him that he (Brody) needed to do one more thing: take what looked like a medicine capsule when it became obvious that the Black Badge people were coming for him. Inside the capsule was a tracking device, and Brody had only the time that it took the capsule to work through his system, probably 12-18 hours, for us to be able to track him with it. Brody had agreed to do it for (his words) the 'Thin Blue Line', the same Line which he'd betrayed by his actions. But I wasn't worried about that; he was helping us now at great risk to his own life. I prepped him on as many scenarios as I could in the limited time we had. The defendants were brought straight to the Courthouse, the vehicles driving into the basement garages to protect them from possible snipers. We awaited them upstairs... -------------------- "All rise! Court is now in session, the Honorable J.B. Stone presiding!" intoned the Bailiff. Judge Stone entered the chamber and took his seat at the Bench, bidding everyone to be seated. The case of Brody and Gunn was called up for a re-hearing of their bond. To the surprise of no one present, Stone stated that the previous bond was still valid "in spite of the interference of corrupt agencies", and that Brody and Gunn were to be released with Federal-court-mandated ankle bracelet monitoring devices worn at all times. "Well, that's that." D.A. Krasney stated to me, Paulina and Cindy in his office after the hearing. "They're pretty much on their own now." "When do you think the gang will make their move?" Paulina asked me. "Tonight, after dark." I said. "You're taking a real gamble here, Lieutenant." said Krasney. "This could really blow up in your face." "If you have a better idea, Mr. Krasney," I replied, "I'll be delighted to hear it. But they're absolutely dead and the gang gets away scot-free if we don't try this or something like it." "Ladies, would you give the Lieutenant and me a moment alone, please?" Krasney asked. The women looked surprised but responded to my reassuring nod and left the office. "Lieutenant," Krasney said, "I just wanted to tell you that I did as you suggested and went to the Inspector General about Sanders. They're going to open an investigation on him. "I'm glad to hear that, sir." I said. "But get ready for a challenge to your office; I'd expect Sanders will follow Malone's example." "I'm already hearing rumblings of that." said Krasney. "You'll kick his ass, Mr. Krasney." I said. "That is, if I don't physically kick it first..." -------------------- As Cindy and I left the D.A.'s offices area, she said "I think you're doing the right thing. This is the only way we can keep any measure of control of the situation." "Yep." I said. "You're catching on fast. It's all about attempting to control the events that happen. But it's still extremely risky for Brody and Gunn." "Let's just hope the gang does what you think they're going to do-- oh, hello Molly!" Cindy said. We had just observed the lovely platinum blonde woman walking down the hall to meet us. As Molly approached, I observed the gleam in her eye and her rosy cheeks. "Hi guys!" Molly said, hugging Cindy and then giving me a very warm hug. "The guys at Headquarters said you were down here. What's up?" "What's up is that you two can go to lunch, and I'll head back to make sure everything is set up with Hugh and the SWAT team." Cindy said, quickly dismissing herself from our presence. "Check in with Myron and let me know what our little test subjects are doing." I said as Cindy walked away. She gave a thumbs-up in reply. -------------------- As Molly and I walked along the Courthouse Square, she said "You've got a limp, what happened?" "Your sister happened." I said. "We were exercising, fencing with crowbars, and she got one over on me. Those crowbars hurt like hell, you know." "I hope I never find out." Molly said. "And I would imagine that Sergei Molotov and that traitor Sommes are feeling no sympathy for you right now. We arrived at our intended destination. Sitting down at an outdoor table of one of the bistros near the Courthouse Square, Molly peered at me then said, "Yes, you know, don't you?... she told you, didn't she?" "Not on purpose." I said, realizing that Molly knew that I knew. "But I would have to be getting mighty dull not to have figured it out." "So, is she happy about it?" Molly asked. "Why do you think I'm limping right now?" I replied. Molly burst out laughing at that one. "Well, are you happy?" Molly asked. "Very happy and very excited." I said. "So what are your plans? Have you bought a house yet? You know I want to help with that, and everything else."
 "I've got my eye on a house that I want you to come down and look at this weekend, if you can." Molly said. "I actually put in an initial offer for it, just so the agent will hold it. I think it's perfect, it's got a sitting room off the master bedroom... ----------------- "UNNNH!!!!" I gasped as my cock erupted, shooting what seemed like a gallon of hot cum from my balls deep into Molly's cunt. The sperm would find their quest fruitless, as Molly was already pregnant with my child, but the pleasure of the release into the lovely woman's hot, tight pussy was deeply intense. "Mmmm, baby, that was good!" Molly mewled as her legs slowly unwound and slid down my sides. She had wrapped them tightly around me as I reached my climax and ejaculated my load into her. We had come to The Cabin after lunch, and of course we'd headed straight to the bedroom for two hours of passionate, sweaty lovemaking... our way of celebrating having made a baby together. Now our pillow-talk consisted of talking about our police case and what was going to happen tonight. "I'll deputize myself into the SBI and help you guys, if you like." Molly said. "Double pay, too." "No way, you're pregnant!" I said. "But you can deputize yourself and help us monitor the two guys-- speaking of which, I'd better call in and check on them." "I'll take a shower while you do that." Molly said. I called Headquarters. "They're still in their houses." Myron said. "Their ankle monitors haven't moved, but that means nothing; they could fake those signals and get out. But we've got a Homeland Security guy and the FBI's Lindy Linares here, and we're watching the other devices... they're still at home." "Cool beans." I said. "I'll be in shortly." As Molly came out of the shower, wrapped only in a towel, I took her into my arms and kissed her. "Mmmm, you look good enough to eat." I said. I began guiding her towards the bed, intending to do just that. "Easy, tiger." Molly said. "I'm all cleaned up now." "Tell you what, lie back on the bed." I said. Molly did so. I then took her sexy feet in my hands, put them together, and began sliding my still-hard cock between them. "Oooh, that's nice." Molly said as I used her feet to masturbate my cock, which began throbbing with hardness. "Yeah, it feels great." I said. "You're feet and legs are sexy as hell, and the rest of you is damn hot, too!" I was letting my eyes take in the sight of Molly lying on the bed, her big breasts gently heaving and jiggling. I began to pump my meat harder between her sweet feet. "Mmmm, I'd bet you'd love to do this to Cindy." Molly said, sexually teasing me. "Damn straight I would." I said. Cindy's legs and feet were gorgeous, accented by her workouts for her Miss Physical America competitions. I'd often dreamed of kissing, licking and sucking Cindy's feet, but I knew I wasn't playing on her team, so to speak. I'd have to be satisfied with her sister Molly's hot feet, I realized, and that was no problem at all... But I could fantasize about Cindy and I did, but that soon gave way of fantasizing about Molly and Laura and Melina's hot feet. Mmmm, so many beautiful women.... it was not long before I felt the burning in my loins intensifying as Molly worked her feet over my cock and balls... Part 41 - The Gambit Accepted "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" the lovely redhead reporterette blared into the microphone as the 6:00pm newscast started. "The County political scene was taken by surprise as Assistant District Attorney Sanders confirmed that he will be challenging his boss, Gil Krasney, for the District Attorney's office. Sanders has been endorsed by Harold Malone, who was quick to say that he and Sanders would form a formidable law-and-order team in the County. Sanders was also endorsed by Pastor Raymond Westboro and Councilwoman Malinda Adams, but neither Councilman Reginald B.F. Lewis nor Councilwoman Kelly Carnes have decided upon an endorsement in the D.A. race..." ---------------------- As darkness approached, so did my nervousness. I had several unmarked police vehicles along the route I expected the perps to take, as well as the SWAT team ready to go near where I thought their destination would be... a place they likely used in the murders of Carroll and Blondie. The wait was not as long as I thought it'd be in coming. At 10:30pm my cellphone rang. It was Senior Patrolman Rudistan, reporting that a car was coming up to Brody's home. I immediately texted Brody the words "Swallow it now.", meaning to swallow the transmitter capsule we'd given him. He texted back "Done", and I hoped he'd destroyed the cellphone immediately as I'd advised him to do... I then got a call from Martin Nash, who was watching Gunn. A vehicle was pulling into his apartment complex and headed to Gunn's residence. Using "Channel 5" encrypted radio in our vehicles, we were able to communicate as units followed the two vehicles. They were headed to the north part of town, and not to my surprise headed to a strip mall, parking behind it. I realized they were going to use one of the empty stores. "All units, stand by." I ordered. "This is not, repeat NOT their final destination." I was already figuring out what they intended to do. --------------------- "Okay, guys, strip down naked." ordered the black-clothed, hooded leader of the group. Only Gunn and Brody were not masked. "They may have planted bugs on your clothes. Put these on. Leave your wristwatches, any cell phones, and any jewelry you had on in the City, too." There were two sets of black shirts, black pants and black slip-on shoes for the two men. Once the change of clothes was complete, they did not return to their original cars, but got into two black vans and pulled out onto the highway." -------------------- "What the hell?" the Homeland Security man said at Headquarters as only Brody's swallowed transmitter began moving. "Why are the rest of the transmitters staying put?" "They must've had them change clothes." said SBI Reserve Agent Molly Evans. She and Lindy Linares were completely unimpressed with the Homeland Security agent, and their admiration for the Iron Crowbar had increased: he'd predicted that the perps might try something like this. "I just hope they don't have devices that can detect Brody's tummy transmitter." Lindy Linares said." ------------------- The two vans rumbled through the opened gate in the fence, which was then closed but not locked behind them. They pulled up onto the concrete tarmac in front of a concrete mini-tower and a half-built wooden structure. They were at the Fire Academy Range, where plenty of water sprayed through fire hoses would wash away evidence of any crimes. Carroll and Blondie had met their destiny here, and most brutally, and not a speck of blood remained to be found afterwards. It was very dark, only the lights of the vehicles bringing any illumination to the area. The vans emptied, and Brody and Gunn were ushered into the lights. Just then they saw a limousine pull up, and a very well-dressed man exit the rear of the long vehicle. They recognized him as a man they'd only seen one time: he had been their recruiter into the Black Badge. "Good evening, gentlemen." the man said, his voice smooth and even. "I'm glad we were able to get you out of Federal custody." Brody and Gunn were aware that the other black-clad men were behind them with guns as the man spoke, and they both knew there was nothing that they could do at this point. "I'm sorry that things have reached this point." the man said. "You've both been good soldiers for us, but you've been compromised and your identities known." "C'mon man," Gunn said, knowing it was unlikely he'd be spared but trying anyway, and being sure to sound confident and not scared, "I've been loyal to you all the way. I took one in the ass for the team. You can still use me." "We're aware of your loyalty, Mr. Gunn, and we indeed are appreciative of it." the man said, a sad smile on his face. "And we took that into consideration when discussing your value to us. Unfortunately, and I am very sad to have to say this, just the fact that you are compromised makes your further ability to serve our organization impossible." "However," the man continued, "I can assure you that you will not be treated in the same way that the traitor Brody here will be treated. You will get to watch what happens to him, which will be what happened to the traitors Carroll and Blondie. But I again assure you, Mr. Gunn, that your death will be completely painless, and your body will not be desecrated." The man stepped up to Brody, within just a few feet. "I cannot make the same promise to you, Brody. I intend for you to feel every little bit of what's coming to you for your treason in cooperating with the Feds and with the Town & County Police. You will be seriously regretting that the Iron Crowbar didn't kill you by the time we finish with you, you son. of. a. bitch. Okay guys, grab him--" "POLICE! FREEZE!!! DROP YOUR WEAPONS!!!" A blaze of light struck the men as the big lights ringing the range suddenly came on. The heavily armed, helmeted, and armor-protected Town & County Police SWAT team was rushing up to them, their assault rifles pointed and ready to fire. The black clad men did not even have time to raise their weapons in the chaotic explosion of light and sound. The limo driver tried to drive off, but was quickly cut off by two police SUVs. Within seconds, every perp was on the ground, handcuffed, surrounded by SWAT team and other combat-ready police officers. An FBI vehicle roared up to them, and FBI agents scooped up Brody and whisked him off: he would be taken back to the City and, after testifying against the others, would be taken into Witness Protection. Then everyone watched as the tall figure approached from the shadows, limping slightly on a sore hip, a full-brim Tilley hat, adorned with Airborne wings and a Town & County Police Badge, on his head, his right hand tapping a blue crowbar into the palm of his left hand. He'd been the one to hit the big lights, and this was his victory lap. He came up to the handcuffed group, looking them over as they stared at him. "Ho-lee shit!" I heard one of them gasp. Case of the Black Badge Ch. 06 "Well, gentlemen, it looks like we just caught you red-handed, and about to commit murder in my County." I said to them. "It really pisses me off when you think you can get away with murder in my County." The fear I saw in the perps' eyes pleased me. Then I looked at my own group, consisting of the best of the Town & County Police. "Good work, everyone!" I said. "Excellent job by all of you. Take these bastards to County Lockup. We'll process and interview them there." The perps were taken to the County Jail, which was just on the other side of the River from the Fire Academy. No need to pollute my Headquarters' jails with this trash. Part 42 - Identification and Interrogation "Fingerprints: nothing." Tanya Perlman was saying at midnight. "We took a cheek swab for DNA, but I'm betting if he doesn't even have a set of prints on record with the FBI, the DNA won't be much, either." We'd commandeered the front part of the County Jail, where processing and interrogations were set up to take place. Before the merger, it had been the County Police Headquarters in addition to the Jail, and so we were able to get the perps right into custody there, which meant not having to transfer them at risk to their lives, and we still had facilities for interviewing them. Officer Billy Smith and Sr. Patrolman Ben Wesson were among the twelve black-clad perps, all of whom had Black Badges on their persons. Smith's said 'Friend', Wesson's said 'Trusted Friend'. Some said 'Associate', one (besides Brody) said 'Trusted Associate'. Officer Billy Hatcher was NOT one of them; was it possible he was innocent of all this? One of the other perps was a Fireman in the Fire Department. The other perps were familiar to our Vice Squad as low-life drug runners for the Beanstalk Gang, the rapper 'T-Square's underground drug ring, and small-time theft rings. That left one limo driver, who did not have a Black Badge and seemed to be dazed by all that was happening, and one middle-aged man wearing a very expensive suit and high-quality Rolex watch, a Black Badge that said 'Master', but with no ID on his person at all. The limo was rented, and I suspected we'd have to work through three or more false front companies to get to the real owner of the vehicle. When asked, the man said only that his name was 'John Doe', and he would simply ask for a lawyer in response to any other question. Tanya had just reported 'no joy' on fingerprints as ID for the guy. "You know, he looks a bit familiar to me." I said to Cindy and Molly, who were observing him with me behind the one-way glass of the interrogation room. "I wonder if his name has come up before... oh, that's it. Okay, Tanya, come in with me." Going inside, I sat down opposite the man, who smiled benignly and pleasantly. "So, sir, you don't wish to give us your name?" I asked. "As I said," the man said smoothly and slowly, giving emphasis to each word, "my name is John Doe. I would like legal representation, please, and I'd like a phone to call my lawyer." "Well," I said, trying to hide a smile, "we can hardly furnish representation or a phone to someone whose name we don't know." "Come now, Lieutenant." the man said. He knew who I was, I surmised from his uttering my rank. "You can and should provide me with legal representation or the means to contact my lawyer right now." "Detective," I said, looking at Tanya Perlman, "I'd like for you to bring in a cell phone for our friend here to call his attorney. While you're doing so, look up the records of the DMV and other sources, including the newspaper Lexus-Nexus search, for one 'Jack King'. I'll be surprised if we don't find a photograph that does justice for Mr. King here." The man's face was no longer smiling as he stared at me. "I cannot recall us ever having met." the man said, his voice much less pleasant than before. "No, we haven't." I said. "But I remember doing some research during the Joe Arruzio murder case. You were supposed to have an appointment with him the night he went and did something wet to his wife and her lover. I remember seeing your picture then. Hard to believe you've never been fingerprinted in your life, Mr. King." "I see." the man said, nodding at his own thoughts. "I was warned about you... the man who whipped Sergei Molotov with a crowbar. I was wondering if Vladimir Putin would send you a medal or send assassins after you for that. Indeed, you are as formidable as I was told." "You're too kind." I said. "So how did you get mixed up in these 'Black Badge' childhood games, here?" King smiled, not falling for my attempt to get him to talk. "I do believe I've asked for legal representation. I'll decline to say anything further until that representation arrives." Just then Jack Muscone entered the room. "Agent Muscone, meet Mr. Jack King." I said. "Mr. King has invoked and wants legal counsel, which I daresay is his absolute wisest course of action at this point." "Ah, that's too bad." said Muscone. "I was hoping to enjoy a pleasant conversation with him about some of the Federal charges we'll be bringing against him." "And with what am I being charged?" asked King, his smile firm and set, as if he were not in any trouble at all. "For openers, murder and attempted murder, as well as conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder." I said. "We had the Fire Academy wired for sound; we could hear what the crickets were talking about. We've got you bragging about what you did to Carroll and Blondie and what you were about to do to Brody and Gunn." "So you knew we were using the Fire Academy." King said. "Impressive. I do believe what one of my colleagues said about you: that you are psychic like that Eckhart cult fellow." "Again, you're too kind." I said. "I can also predict something else for you: a death penalty trial, but then they'll take death off the table in exchange for your cooperation." "And once the FBI starts digging into your businesses, King," said Jack Muscone, "I'm sure a host of drug charges and other Federal charges will be added to your one-way ticket to a Federal Supermax prison... ------------------ The biggest problem about hiring low-lifes is that once caught, they talked freely and openly about everything Black-Badge-Gang related. They were essentially moles within their various crime rings or the Police Force, and delivered information to their leaders. They tried to finger each other for the Carroll/Blondie murders, but there was enough evidence that all of them were there for a nice murder conspiracy charge that would stick pretty well. We would not be seeing these perps on our streets for many, many years. Even Tommy Gunn had a change of heart: after seeing that he was going to be murdered by the gang, however humanely, he turned State's evidence and revealed all he knew, including the names of the other members of the 'Inner Circle', which included several mid-level lieutenants of the Beanstalk Gang, a shift manager at Ward Harvester, and a couple of truck drivers that would smuggle their goods from time to time. The FBI cleaned up a large haul based upon the information. However, Tommy Gunn would not admit to any connection with Harold Malone, saying only that he never received any order from Malone that was in any way outside the bounds of the law. He said he got orders through emails from an intermediary. Myron Milton's research was unable to lead us to any solid human beings that had sent those emails. The higher-ups were only partially wiped out... so far. ------------------- "King, let me add one more thing." I said to King some days later as his lawyer... the same wily lawyer with hair on both sides but not the top of his head... sat next to him, harassing and haranguing me constantly. "What you did to Carroll and Blondie and was going to happen to Brody and Gunn... is going to happen to you. I'd suggest you talk if you want to live. You know I'm not kidding, here." "Lieutenant, I know that you do not fear Death. You've shown it, you've proved it." King said, smiling that same, calm smile, and after telling his lawyer to stop badgering him about not talking, he continued "I've always known that the consequences of failure would be full, and final. Joe Arruzio knew it, and he did what he had to do when you caught up to him. I'm at peace with my fate and my future." "Joe Arruzio didn't have to do what he did." I said. "And you don't have to die to protect other, evil men, letting them live and enjoy life while you rot in the grave. Think about it, King." "I already have." said King. "Lieutenant, you think you've done something big here, but you've barely scratched the surface. This is something much bigger than you, run by people much, much bigger than you." "Like your father?" I shot back. King smiled a short, brief, unpleasant smile. "My father is a great man, but what I am talking about is much more than any one man, no matter how great those men and women are. You are but a puny ant to them, a mere speck of dust." "And they go on living the high life while you rot in Supermax... or a grave." I said, getting up to go. "So long, Mr. King. I don't envy you." "If I were to say something, it would only be: 'Dear me, Mr. Holmes, dear me'." King said. I turned to face him, totally shocked and frozen in place. He just nodded at me. "That's all I'll say. Farewell, Lieutenant, and may the living God have mercy upon your soul." I didn't really hear the lawyer yelling at me to get out, that the interview was over. I simply walked out, knowing that Jack King had just given me the one huge clue I needed to continue my pursuit of the Evil that was corrupting my County. -------------------- Approaching The Cabin at lunchtime on April 21st, I noticed the small red and black motorcycle parked next to the garage. It was not the same one that had careened through Town streets to kill two perps, and I knew who it belonged to. I headed around to the back. Yep, there was Dr. P. Harvey Eckhart, founder and leader of 'The Vision', hair dyed almost bright white, sitting in one of the table chairs, enjoying the view. "Splendid job you did on that case, young man." said Eckhart as I approached. "Absolutely amazing work. I must say, that SWAT team you created is already working like a cohesive, seasoned unit." "I think their mutual combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan is not hurting their teamwork." I said. "What brings you to my humble abode, Harvey?" "Thank you for not making me browbeat you about proper name use." Harvey said. "I came to enjoy the view for a moment, and to mention some information that might, unofficially anyway, wrap up a few threads on this Badge case of yours." "I appreciate it." I said, then noticed Eckhart glancing back at the windows of the house. "Ah, Harvey, still wondering about those windows?" As Eckhart nodded, amusement in his eyes, I said "It seems that Old Mr. Bonniker, who lived here before me, had some trouble with environmentalist terrorists at his chemical plant. He had the glass put in as a precaution following the trouble at the plant." "Ah, I remember that." said Eckhart. "And that does make sense, now that you mention it. Another case solved by the Iron Crowbar." "You were saying about loose threads?" I asked. "Yes... first of all, the attack on your young nephew and his lovely wife was ordered by a diseased, deranged man with limited connections to this gang. He pulled strings to get that done, Brody and Gunn were sacrificed to make it happen, and now it's led to the destruction of their gang. They are not happy with this man, and he may find himself a man without friend or favors before long." "Senator Nathan Allen." I said, seeing the light that P. Harvey Eckhart was shining onto the path. "Yes." said the white-haired man. "They're going to have to totally rig the election to get him back in office, and unfortunately for some of the powers-that-be in the County and State, it is going to be necessary to have him in the Legislature. What's going on there is beyond your imagination, my boy." "I dunno, I can imagine a lot." I said. "So, what else can I do for you, Harvey? You didn't come here just play connect-the-dots on a wrapped-up case, did you?" P. Harvey Eckhart laughed, his dog-bark-growl of a laugh. "Excellent. I came here to let you know that something else is going on, something of which you need to be aware, which could bring danger to you and your family. Someone has been inquiring about your college days, especially about a young friend of yours, the one who was caught in bed with that woman and murdered with her by her husband." "Jack Burke? Yes, I'd heard about some P.I.s snooping around my past and about him." "Yes, that is the young man." Eckhart said. "One of your enemies has been inquiring very hard about Burke and some of his associates, and what he was doing when he left your School. That's been some time ago, but I am seeing that it's something that could be potentially harmful to you... and your family. Do be careful, son, do be careful." "I will. Thank you for telling me." I said. "My pleasure." said Eckhart, who began getting up to go. "I must be off, but let me reiterate that anytime you need my help, feel free to give me a call; I am at your service any time. And I do think you might want to avail yourself of that offer of help, and fairly soon." "As long as the price is not too high." I said. "That will be for you to judge." said Eckhart. "For now, au revoir, and congratulations again on solving that very difficult case." A moment later, I heard the motorcycle screaming as it sped down the road at unbelievable speed. Part 43 - Solution and Wrap Up "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" blared the lovely reporter precisely at 7:00am on April 22d. "The Town and County are still buzzing over the daring raid that led to the arrest of an entire gang of criminals known as the 'Black Badge' gang. International businessman Jack King, son of the retired tycoon Conrad King, was at the scene of the raid and was arrested along with several rogue Police Force officers and a number of high-level drug pushers in the County. While the FBI has made several arrests on Federal charges in connection with this case, the Deputy Director of the FBI issued a statement giving full credit for this case to the Town & County Police's own Lieutenant Donald--" A cheer went through the MCD room as both MCD and Vice Detectives gathered to watch and applaud me, which caused me to blush as Bettina continued, "--who has added yet another difficult case to his already large number of successes. District Attorney Krasney and Daniel Allgood, candidate for Sheriff, issued statements praising the Lieutenant and the Police Force, followed by a similar statement of praise from the campaign office of Harold Malone." -------------------- "You did it, son." Chief Griswold said, patting me on the back. "You actually did it, and nobody got killed in the process. Damn fine work!" We were in the back room of The Steakhouse on the night of April 22d, where the owner John "Jack" Colby had insisted up us coming to celebrate the successful case. We had already eaten, and The Chief was already working on sampling some select bourbons, while I tried a couple of single malt Scotch varieties. "I have a really great team around me." I said. "They made it happen." "I have a great team around me, too," said the Chief, "and mine includes you right where you belong: right at the top." Suddenly the ring of a spoon against a glass filled the air, quieting everyone. Jack Muscone stood up and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I just want to be the first to raise a toast to the man who brought this case to such a successful conclusion, the Iron Crowbar." Everyone stood up and clapped for me, and I was finally made to stand up and accept the toast. As they sat down, I remained standing. "Folks, despite the public accolades for me," I said, "I know full well that I did not do this alone. You all had a hand in it, you all did great work, and you all are part of the success, so I'm here to raise a toast for all of you and your hard work." "Hear hear." said the Chief, as we all drank and applauded. "Okay," Cindy Ross called out, "it wouldn't be a victory party without me asking Don how he solved the case. C'mon Don, quit holding out on us!" A chorus of agreement rose up. "I'm not kidding when I say this case was a group effort with a group solution." I said. "But to wrap it up, let me go through what happened, and then how we got here." "First, we've been hunting around for dirty dogs in the Police Force for some time. Little clues came up here and there, but we got a real break when that low-life Blondie was arrested and began talking about the Black Badge without any prompting. Blondie was as sharp as a marble, and he paid for his mistake with his life. "Second, and I believe Jack Muscone has authorized me to talk about this," I said, seeing Jack nod, knowing where I was going, "our old friend Sergeant Carroll's name popped up again. He had been caught trying to set up a ring similar to what was going on here... a couple of cops at a time acting as brokers of the drug trade in his county. He was found out rather quickly, and it also came up that he was an associate in a white-supremacy group. "The FBI and local police in Colorado gave Carroll a choice: become a double-agent and work with the Feds, or go to prison. Carroll pretended to go along, but he thought he was a lot smarter than he really was. He went to Arizona at the Feds direction, but as soon as he hooked up with the white-supremacy group in question, he told them that he'd been forced to be a double agent, and was hoping they'd get him out of the mess or that he could pass along false information to the Government on their behalf. "Unfortunately for Carroll, when someone becomes exposed and therefore useless to this group, they simply get rid of the person. Carroll didn't realize that he'd signed his own death warrant by trying to be loyal to this group that doesn't seem to take loyalty into account, and telling them that he'd been exposed. "So what they did was tell Carroll to come here, back to this County, and hook up with a couple of his old Black Badge gang buddies, who happened to be Brody and Gunn. He did, and then the whole gang went out and picked up Blondie on the way, who Gunn had told them had betrayed the Black Badge to 'a reporter disguised as a lawyer', but was really me disguised as a lawyer. Gunn was totally shocked when I told him during his interrogation that that had been me." "You missed your calling." Martin Nash said, evoking laughter. "You should've been in theater." "I think I'm happier where I am now." I said. "Anyway, Carroll and Blondie were taken to the Fire Academy Range, where they were tortured and murdered. It seemed that a couple of the gang members as well as Jack King had had experience in Iraq, and had heard of the methods of torture used there. They had the means at the Fire Academy Range to wash away all the blood and gore, and even took the cars back there to be washed out after delivering the bodies to the meat packing plant. "Speaking of which, they took the bodies to the meat packing plant... by the way, the 'King' in 'King & Ebenezer' is not Jack King... and they hung them up there and left, sending our Duty Desk a message in the morning at a time where it was unlikely Brody and Gunn would be called upon to be the first investigators. In all that, they showed attention to detail, and to that point our chances of solving this case were slim and none. "What also was going on was a drug and stolen goods trade by one Jack King, under the guise of legitimate businesses. He was behind the drug deals that Joe Arruzio did from time to time before Marie Arruzio and Jack Burke were murdered. King was well connected, and used his connections in this County to help implement his gang. He'd been using variations of the Black Badge in other places, not getting too large anywhere at any one time, keeping the police presence to only two at any one time while recruiting dormant officers for the future -- I'll get back to that in a minute-- and working with contacts already in the County to get around some obstacles and flourish. Case of the Black Badge Ch. 06 "Let me also say that I was badly distracted by the white-supremacy angle. First, we had Carroll's possible involvement with them, and then we had the Jones acquittal. But in truth, the Black Badge gang was never really about racial issues; in fact, some of their members were black. It was just a group of low-lifes that were penetrating the underpinnings of various crime gangs as well as the police. Because of the knowledge they'd gain, the leaders could coordinate a cohesive plan of action to either move their own drugs or stolen merchandise, interdict others when they felt like it, and at times broker and control the flow of illegal goods." "So who was behind all this?" Jack Colby asked in his deep voice. "Anyone higher up in the Police Department that might be running for higher office now?" "Mr. Colby," I said, "it would be utter slander for me to suggest without proof that any such person committed any such crimes. Rest assured I am still on the lookout for connections, though. I will also say this: it is apparent that other persons of influence might have been involved... and that is what led to the cracking of this case, to wit: "As I was saying, I was distracted by the race angle, but it led me to predicting and interdicting the attack on my nephew and his wife. That gave us Brody and Gunn, and from there everything flowed rather smoothly. But it was actually a stroke of bad luck for King and the whole gang. One of the contacts, who I believe but cannot prove is a State-level politician that we all know and hate very much, apparently wanted to teach me a lesson by attacking my family. I think he's going to seriously regret that action, but let's leave that for now. "Once I had Brody and Gunn in my sights, just about everything fell into place of its own accord. I knew the gang would try to silence them, so as soon as I saw the bail process being rigged to spring them, I arranged with our friends of the FBI to quickly make an arrest on Federal charges. "In the City, Brody began to figure out that his usefulness was ended and that he'd be terminated like Carroll and Blondie were. It took some time, but he figured out that talking would be best, and he did talk to us in exchange for immunity and witness protection, which has been provided." "Question:" said Martin Nash, "was that woman, the rogue FBI agent, part of the gang?" "No." I said. "I'm guessing she was associated with the White Supremacy group that Carroll was in and then ran afoul of. They had their local person here try to wipe out Brody and Gunn with a drive-by shooting from a motorcycle. When that failed they had their mole in the City's FBI office sacrifice herself for the cause. Some cause that must be, especially to burn a deep mole like that..." Jack Muscone intervened, "I can't tell you guys everything about that, but it's only fair to tell you that it's something huge, a national-level thing that you might just be hearing talked about on TV in the near future." "They'll just make it part of Daniel Allgood's campaign, and then KXTC won't cover it." the Chief quipped, drawing laughter. "So what else, Crowbar. Tell us what led to that spectacular raid." "Yes..." I said, "First, I have to say that Martin, Diana and Theo did a lot of work to find the site, and their work was not in vain. As we talked about their investigations, it came to me that the Fire Academy Range had everything they could want: isolation, darkness at night, ability to wash away blood and other stuff, and easy access. One thing I learned well and did not forget from the Black Widow case was the possibility of an inside job. One of the gang was indeed a Fireman in the Fire Department, who had managed to get a second set of keys to the Academy's gates. The place was very useful to the criminals. "Second, I knew that Brody and Gunn did not have long to live if we let them wallow in our custody or Federal custody. It was a huge gambit, but letting the corrupted bail process work itself out and letting Brody and Gunn go free seemed to be the only chance to get at the gang. "The Feds helped to put trackers on the clothing of the two men, but I anticipated the gang might make them change clothes, especially since there was a military presence that we knew about from the torture and murder methods. Again they paid attention to detail on some things but not others: they never checked to see if Brody or Gunn had swallowed a transmitter. Brody did do that, and that worked very well... saved his life, too. "I had unmarked police and FBI vehicles along the route to the Fire Academy, and also some cars ringed around Gunn and Brody's homes. If they'd gone in another direction, we could've swung vehicles around to pursue." "Why didn't they drive around zig-zag to elude followers?" Diana Torres asked. "I think that if they'd known enough to do that, they'd have known not to take Brody and Gunn anywhere to kill them in the first place. They thought they were safe, they thought we had no idea of what was going on, and they especially did not know that we were all but waiting for them at the Fire Academy Range. So they essentially drove straight there, stopping off at an unused mall store to change their clothes, which was really their only precaution." "I'm surprised they didn't wait another day or two." said FBI Agent Escobar. "Why did you think they'd act so fast?" "Put yourself in their shoes." I said. "You've got two guys who might bolt and run, or the Feds might pick them up again on a new warrant, or anything else that might happen. No, they simply wanted them dead and then the gang could go dormant for a while. I guessed that they'd move quickly... in fact, they were about three hours ahead of what I figured they'd do. "And of course, that was the big risk of this whole plan: they might have just walked in, shot those men in the head, and then been gone, though we had plans to move in and arrest them if they came out of the house without Brody or Gunn. They also could've shot them dead in the cars once they picked them up, but I was counting on them repeating a plan that had worked once before, and sure enough, they repeated themselves." "So you got the Courts to go along and release the guys?" Britt Maxwell asked. She'd been relatively silent as she sat next to Cindy during the evening. "No." said Jack Muscone. "We considered that, but instead just asked the U.S. Attorney to not put up a fight and let what was going to happen, happen. It also had the side effect of getting Judge Francis out of being blackmailed. He's going to work with us if he's ever contacted again by them, so maybe we can flush them out. He's also putting in for retirement, which will end his involvement in any issues in the future." "What about Judge Tomlinson?" Cindy asked. "Who shot him dead?" "I'm also looking forward to the Iron Crowbar's explanation of that." Jack Muscone said, very pointedly. "Thanks, put it all on me." I mock-complained, to laughter. "But seriously, it's almost like the case of Jonas Oldeeds, where that killer may not have been in league with the ones who tried to kill me--" I trailed off as the reverie hit, and I let it. I was deep in thought, realizing a serious clue there... "Well, he's gone... we can go back to drinking." Cindy said, meaning it as a joke, but everyone still watched me until I came out and saw them staring at me. "It's nothing guys." I said, outright lying. "I was just realizing that Judge Tomlinson's killing might really be a huge coincidence. Can't get enough of those for ol' Dame Agatha Christie, can we Cindy?" "Yeah, right." Cindy said. "By the way, you said you'd come back to using two cops at a time..." "Ah yes." I said. "That's another reason we had a problem finding the deep moles. Only two were active at a time and sometimes none of them were active. And there may be more of them, though I'm believing that they were nearing the end of the line on their recruiting, and we didn't give them new recruiting opportunities." "All right, no more questions now." said the Chief. "I'm going home and hitting the sack; I'd suggest you all get some sleep, too. Everyone get your final reports in by noon. Meanwhile, I'll be writing up about fifteen Police Commendation Medals for you guys, and a Star for the Lieutenant. Have a good night..." ------------------ Laura sat down next to Molly, who had been afraid to talk to my wife during the evening. "Honey I know that my husband is the father of your baby, and I've long known you and he have been trying to make one. I want you to know how happy I am for you having this baby. If there's anything I can do to help you, please do give me a call." "I was afraid you might be mad." said Molly. "I can't think of many wives who'd be happy their husbands knocked up another woman." "Well, he's gone and knocked me up too..." Laura said, trying to be humorous, her own pregnancy very obvious. "Seriously, our relationship is just that strong, and maybe there's some Mormon in our family histories about multiple wives, but I'm excited for you." After Laura left to find me, Cindy said to Molly "I'm excited and happy for you, too, but if any husband of mine impregnated another woman, I'd be pissed." "Don't take this the wrong way, Sis," Molly said, "but I'm not foreseeing you having a husband to get pissed at, as much as I'm hoping for that to happen." "Fair point, fair point." Cindy said, knowing that Molly's comment was as close to 'acceptance' as she was going to get from her sister. "By the way, I haven't had the chance to ask: How's Teresa doing in Midtown?" "Good." Molly said. "She's already uncovered three officers on the take, all getting money from... guess who?" "Nathan Allen." Cindy said. "Yep." Molly said. "Teresa thinks Allen has some links to the Director of the SBI, the guy who hired Ikea away from you and keeps Dick Ferrell out of hot water. It'd be nice if we can get something and put that bastard Allen away..." "Yeah, it sure as hell would..." -------------------- "Just one small question." Jack Muscone said to me as Laura talked to Molly, "I heard you say that their 'local person' was the motorcycle assassin. I had forgotten to tell you that our rogue agent was here in the City at that time, no way she could've been the motorcyclist. So how did you know, and who do you think it is?" "I knew because I'd asked Martin Nash to follow up on that while he stayed with you guys in the City, and he did and he told me." I said. "And I'm not sure who the motorcyclist is. Technically, no crime was committed, except reckless driving of a motorcycle. We'll just have to keep our eyes and ears peeled for that one..." Part 44 - Epilogue "Ah, Conrad, it's so good to see you again." said Henry Wargrave, as the old man greeted him at his (Conrad King's) mansion in West Palm Beach, Florida. "Likewise, my young friend. Come in, come in." King escorted Wargrave to the back porch of the mansion, with its beautiful views of the beach and the ocean. After they were seated and drinks served, Wargrave said "I am so sorry to hear about what happened to your son Jack, Conrad. I had no earthly idea he'd personally go to that scene and end up being caught by the police raid." "Thank you, Henry." said Conrad. "It was indeed a blow, and I have no idea why my son was stupid enough to do that himself, either. But he was caught fair and square by good police work. They did what they were supposed to do and arrested him." "Any chance he'll get out of this?" "No." said the old man. "He's headed for a Federal Supermax prison. He's been told to cooperate with authorities, and he knows what he can talk about and what he's to keep his mouth shut about. But being in Supermax is actually a good thing. I think we can get him out of the country within a year. Of course he can never come back to the United States. But don't you worry, my young friend, we'll take care of that, and nobody blames you for any of it." "Thank you, sir." said Wargrave, sipping on his single-malt Scotch. It was a rare and excellent brand. "However, I can tell you this." said Conrad King. "We had that County marked for our operations, but it's pretty clear that their Police are just a little too good up there. That young man, the Iron Crowbar, he's as good as we thought he'd be when we tried to get him into the CIA while he was in college." "He kicked Sergei Molotov to the kerb, and now he's busted your son's gang." said Wargrave. "Are you going to do anything to him?" "Oh, nooooo..." said King. "No no no. He's just a good cop doing a good job. And I'm hoping that one day yet we can bring him into the fold, have him working with us. You once told me you told him he needs to get into the bigger Game, and you were right... by the way, we tried again to recruit him while he was in the Army Reserve, but he resisted." King continued "But now... he's married to one of the highest CIA officers in the Company... she's a really great lady, too... and maybe we can get him in, even if he won't be doing anything like you're doing. But just having that brain of his would be immensely valuable to us, and he could rise to great, great heights." "Sounds good." Wargrave said. "So you want me to stay out of his way?" "Certainly." said Conrad King. "But you do have a few things that need taking care of, Henry. Dr. Fredricson has shown loyalty to her husband over the Company... that's laudable, and we understand... but we're going to have to shift our operations up there and begin diminishing her role. She wants to retire anyway, so that should work out, but we have to shut down that project in their Biology hole-- the truth about the dogs has come out, and the Public is aware-- and we need to transfer leadership of the Heinz projects. "And then there's that real problem brewing up there... that Senator Allen. He's always been trying to play the big Game, thinking he's something... but in truth he is a little piece of shit that has caused us great harm in that County, and now he's fucked up and really created some issues for us up there." "I'll handle him." said Wargrave, trying to soothe the agitated old man. "By the way, what about the Oldeeds Empire, that situation?" "I think it'll handle itself, of course..." said Conrad King, who then peered at Wargrave. "Don't you?" ------------------ "I can assure you, Senator, that the Kearns case going forward is nothing. You have years ahead of you on that." "And his case against my son? By the way, do you want a drink?" Nathan Allen asked as he poured himself a stiff bourbon. He and his lawyer were in his office at his home, and the day's news had not been good: the Iron Crowbar had defeated the Black Badge gang. "No thank you." said Allen's lawyer. "And we're working to get that extended, and we'll ultimately sabotage it." "Well, you're not doing a very good job there." Allen replied as he gulped his bourbon. "Judge Watts got assigned to Kearns' lawsuit against Dean, and he is making a point to push it. He had publicly objected when Stone gave Dean the plea deal, and now that nigger judge is trying to make trouble for my boy." "Senator, just let us handle it, it will all be all right." the lawyer said. "It's actually good that Watts has the case; we're going to force him to recuse himself based upon those previous public statements, and that'll drag the case out even longer." "Buddy, you better be right. Okay, thanks for all your work on it. Give me a call tomorrow." Allen said. He escorted the lawyer out, then went to pour himself another one. It had been an absolutely hideous past few days. The Black Badge gang was now gone, utterly decimated by the Iron Crowbar. He had gone up and arrested them all in one place, almost as if he knew ahead of time where they'd be. The praise for that man by people, by the other candidates, had been sickening; in fact, he was the only County candidate that had not put out a statement praising the Iron Crowbar, and he'd left instructions with his campaign to not put out any such statement. But worse, while he knew he was personally insulated from being connected to the gang, he knew that his use of them in the attack on the man's nephew and niece had ultimately led to the gang's defeat. He knew there were some powerful people upset with him, and he expected to hear from them. The fact that he had not heard from them at all yet was even more worrisome. "Well, Senator," he heard the woman say, her voice cold and cutting, "Don't you think you'd better set a better example for your constituents and not drink so much?" "Why... it is you. Elizabeth, isn't it?" Allen said. "Yes, I enjoy a drink now and then, it's good for the soul. Would you like one?" He poured himself a double; this woman's presence in his home was more than just bad news. "No thank you, Senator." Elizabeth said as she walked towards the desk. Allen admired her body in the tight dress, the large breasts, hourglass shape, nice ass and those luscious, luscious legs. The Iron Crowbar's sister was one smoking hot bitch, he thought. He understood why Jonas Oldeeds had been totally infatuated with her. "How'd you get here?" Allen said. "Aren't you supposed to still be in jail?" "State Women's Prison is an even bigger joke than your poll numbers right now, Senator." Elizabeth said. "And that is why I'm here. You need my help, and very, very seriously." "And why would you help me?" Senator Allen said. "Because you have the power to give me something I want, in exchange for me helping you get some of what you want." Elizabeth said. "I want you to exert your influences on your connections that have influence on the Governor, and I want him to commute my sentence to time served in exchange for helping the SBI's Narcotics Task Force with their many unsolved cases. What I really want is a pardon, but I'm not going to try for too much at once." "That's sound." said Allen, drinking a large swallow of bourbon. "So what am I going to get in exchange for this?" "I know that you were a good friend of my beloved Jonas Oldeeds." Elizabeth said. "So I'm here to give you some information that you can pass on to his wife and his organization, especially about the CIA mole that has penetrated deep within them. And I do mean 'penetrated' very exactly." "Why don't you pass that information along yourself?" Allen asked, partly out of curiosity, and partly out of fear of being ensnared by this woman, whose reputation was as powerful as her younger brother's, at least in the Criminal Underworld. "Senator, you are beginning to irritate me." Elizabeth said. "If I go to them, they'll be grateful to me, and nothing will come of it. If you go to them, they'll be grateful to you and will be willing to help you out when you need it. And brother, you are soon about to need it." Allen said nothing as Elizabeth poured him another stiff drink and handed it to him. "And furthermore, you get my help against my baby brother. When he comes against you... and Senator, he is indeed intending to come up against you... then you are going to want my help to soundly defeat him."
 "Aw hell," Allen said, "I can have that bastard killed anytime I want, and they'll never trace it to me. They can bury him next to that little shit... Feeley, I think his name was... and give him a fancy funeral and he'll still be dead." "Are you the one that tried having that low-life shoot him?" Elizabeth said. "How'd that work out for ya?" "That wasn't me, I swear to God!" Allen cried out. "My baby brother has survived three, count them three attempts on his life." Elizabeth said. "One by my son at Ward Harvester; one on the day Jonas died, and at the same Fairgrounds; and third, that joke attempt in Town in front of the tailor shop. And you think you're going to get the drop on him? I'll put my money on my brother on that one." Case of the Black Badge Ch. 06 "Tell you what." Allen said. "I'll see about getting your sentence commuted. And then if I need your help, I'll ask for it." "It'll be on my terms, Senator, never forget that." Elizabeth said, turning for the door. "You better get back into the jail before they miss you." Allen said. "Oh, I've got time." Elizabeth said. "And I have a meeting to go to, with my associates. They'll be watching you too, Senator, and they know how tenuous your position is right now. Best you start making friends like them and me, while you still can." With that, Elizabeth left the room and Nathan Allen scurried to pour himself another drink... Finis.