5 comments/ 6381 views/ 3 favorites Pink Lemonade Ch. 01 By: WifeWatchman The chronological order of my stories is now listed in WifeWatchman's biography. 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 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 - Prologue "Okay, Sharples, whaddya got?" It was me, Your Iron Crowbar, asking the question. We were in Classroom 'C', the Vice meeting room. I was at the head of the table, Captain Cindy Ross to my left. Sharples was to my right, and on his other side was Lieutenant Teresa Croyle. It was 8:00am, Monday, August 3d. "I went back to some old investigations in Texas." said Sharples as he slid a file of papers over to me. The file was an inch thick. "The digital files related to this have been entered into the evidence servers. Basically, I haven't found any connections between them and anything going on in the Tenderloin District or the Southwestern Ghetto, but I did find a connection to a group called 'Victory Christian Ministries'." "What can you tell me about them?" I asked as nonchalantly as I could, while perusing the file Sharples had compiled. "They were incorporated a couple of States over," said Sharples, "in a town called Apple Grove. They don't seem to have any public offices or works, just some bank accounts in several States, including at Second National Bank here in Town." "And who is behind them?" I asked. "I'm still trying to get that." said Sharples. "They were filing their tax returns out of an office in the Dallas, Texas area. They claim to be an exempt religious organization with donations and all that, but the records of their donations are sketchy, at best. What is more clear is that they made sizable donations to the Oldeeds Ministries, also based in Texas. It's all in the file, there." "Yes, it is." I said. "This is good work, Sharples. What resources do you need to continue your research on this?" "More access to Texas databases." said Sharples. "And maybe an authorization and expenses to go down there and do some research." "I'll see what I can do, on both counts." I said. "Keep up the good work. If you find more, I can possibly have you liaison with the FBI on this. You'll get plenty of credit if and when we bust these fuckers." Sharples nodded acknowledgement of the praise, but said nothing. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Wow," said Cindy, "he really is coming through on this." Teresa scowled at the words. We were in my office after the meeting with Sharples. We only had a few minutes, as the promotions and medals ceremonies were starting at 9:00am. "Yes, he is." I said. "He found the 'Victory Christian Ministries' connection to Oldeeds, too. I had the VCM from my April trip to Apple Grove, but only firmly connected it to Oldeeds this past weekend." I continued: "And you're right that he's coming through: Myron and Mary have been following his progress. Everything he does on a computer goes to them. Sharples has indeed given us just about everything he's found. He hasn't thrown Thomas Cook under the bus yet, though. I may have to press him on that." "Commander," Captain Cindy Ross said, "my Vice Lieutenant won't say this out loud, but she is worried that this is not helping her get the Fat Boy out of her Vice Squad." Lieutenant Teresa Croyle just looked at me. "I understand, Teresa." I said. "You do understand why I gave Sharples this, don't you?" Teresa replied "I figure you're giving him something to do, and also distracting him from fucking the rest of us up. To a point, that's worked." "True." I said, "but hasn't the real reason occurred to you? And you, Captain Ross?" That got both of my 'Angels' thinking hard. "Ohhhhhhhhh," Cindy said, "I get it." "I'm not a Troy, as someone in here used to say," said Teresa. "So enlighten me." I began laughing at Teresa's little shot at Cindy. "Watch what you say," Cindy said as she glared at Teresa, "or someone just might find a family connection for you, too." Cindy then glared at me, as I was still chuckling. "You're soul sister to this Michaux woman, Teresa," I said, "and that's good enough for me. Cindy, tell your soul sister what I'm doing vis-a-vis the Fat Boy." "He's getting everything he can out of Sharples about the Oldeeds child trafficking ring," Cindy replied, "which he'll never get once he finally moves to get Sharples completely out of our Police Force." "That's Iron Crowbar thinking, there." I said. "And I'm doing even more. I've been hoping Sharples would either double-cross some of his dirty allies by investigating or revealing them, or else do something so we can connect him to them and therefore bust him, and them. We have to use him, and play these dirty bastards at their own game, then we can shred them." Teresa was not mollified. "I still want that fat slug out of my Vice Squad." she said. "He's a drain on morale, and he's becoming a problem to work around. I've already been 'informally' told by Internal Affairs that I'm not keeping enough written or email records on our operations... but if I do make any records, Sharples can access them." "I know." I said. "I.A. is just doing their jobs, but the Police Union is pressuring them and the Chief, so the workarounds I've tried to make for you are being shot down, as well. But fear not, the pain hopefully won't last too much longer..." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The ceremonies went well enough. The Town & County Council likes to give out awards like candy, but only after having downgraded what the Chief and I submitted to them. A ton of Achievement Medals, the lowest actual medal the Police Force awards to Officers, were awarded, as well as a bunch of Certificates of Achievement. I try to dissuade the Council from giving me such awards, preferring my officers receive them, but they didn't listen. So after the three Precinct Captains or I pinned on a bunch of medals on everyone from Patrolman Johnson to Lt. Croyle, the Chief pinned one on me and the Sheriff one on Cindy Ross. I did manage to get Julie Newton another 'black box' for her Detective bars, and the pay increase that went with it. Teresa and Julie's sister pinned the ranks on Julie's slender shoulders. I think Julie was much, much happier with the paycheck than the rank... Deputy Chief Robert Brownlee was not present at the ceremonies, having conveniently arranged to be at a training course at the Police Academy during this time. With Brownlee having once again submitted no promotions or awards, it had fallen upon me and Lt. Wes 'Coldiron' Masters to put in the awards and promotions for the Administration officers, and it fell upon Administration Captain Della Harlow to make those presentations. That was not lost upon Chief Bennett... Part 2 - Murders and Media "This is Priya Ajmani, KSTD Five Alive News This Morning!" said the gorgeous Indian reporterette from behind the KSTD anchor desk at 8:00am, Tuesday, August 4th. "Five Alive News is reporting that the parent company of KSTD filed a motion with the Appellate Court to have the State Bureau of Investigation take possession of the evidence in the Jack Burke-Marie Arruzio murder case... particularly the evidence of the sex tapes made by Jack Burke showing him having sexual relations with several women in the County. KSTD states their concern that since it is possible the wives of elected officials might be on the tapes, the Town & County Police Department will destroy the tapes as well as any part of them digitized into evidence servers." "The Appellate Court is reviewing the filing." the lovely reporterette continued. "The District Attorney's office filed a counter motion, stating that they fear the SBI will leak information on the tapes to the the Press, particularly KSTD; and that they will not release the data to the SBI at any time. KSTD reached out to the Town & County Sheriff, Daniel Allgood, for a comment, but has received no reply. The Town & County Police Department issued a statement reiterating their standing policy that they will not comment further on the tapes nor the lawsuit." Priya wasn't finished: "In other news, KSTD's investigation into the murder of the Reverend Jonas Oldeeds in this County continues. In an interview for my upcoming special report, SBI Special Agent Dick Ferrell stated that his investigation of the case was impeded by the local police as well as the FBI, and that he was physically assaulted by an FBI agent as he attempted to investigate the case. Special Agent Ferrell also claimed that physical force was used to prevent the SBI from collecting physical evidence at the scene of the crime, and that the Town & County Police has refused to cooperate with the SBI. Commander Donald Troy, then a Supervisor in the Police Force, was nearly killed himself when a bullet grazed him. Asked for comment, Commander Troy referred KSTD to Public Relations Officer Lieutenant Scott Peterson, who said the Police Force had no further comment on the matter.." "And speaking of Commander Troy," said Priya, an almost malicious smile forming on her face as she spoke, ""Five Alive News has learned that SBI Director Jack Lewis is going to request that Commander Donald Troy of the Town & County Police Department be brought into the SBI and assigned to the Henry R. Wargrave case. Commander Troy is an SBI Reservist, and the SBI does not believe Mr. Wargrave committed suicide. Asked for comment, Commander Troy stated that he had not yet received any such request, and that he sees no reason why the City Police and Coroner's Inquest evaluations of Mr. Wargrave committing suicide is being questioned at all. Before his untimely death under suspicious circumstances, Mr. Henry Wargrave was a board member of the parent company of KSTD." I turned off the television in my office as Priya moved on to a discussion of the upcoming Coltrane County Homespun Festival. I was sitting behind my desk in my office. In one of the 'hot seat' chairs in front of my desk was my MCD 'Angel', Lt. Tanya Perlman. "I now know why coffee was created." Tanya said. "It's the only thing keeping me calm after watching that bitch and her reports." "I know the feeling." I said. "Have you been contacted by the SBI concerning Mr. Wargrave?" Tanya asked as she sipped her coffee. "No." I said. "Not yet. I've heard rumors that Lewis wants to put me on the case, but nothing official yet." Tanya was looking around. "Where are Teresa and Cindy-- er, Captain Ross?" she asked. "It's way past 8:00am." "I asked them to delay coming in until 8:30." I said, knowing it was time to address the situation. "I need to talk to you privately first." "Sure, whassup?" Tanya asked, her cherubic grin not leaving her pretty face. "Internal Affairs wanted me to ask you why you're looking into the 'Murdered Lovers' case files, particularly about Joe Arruzio." I said. The cherubic smile disappeared from Tanya's face. "What, are y'all spying on me?" she said, her voice not friendly. "Not as a matter of routine." I said, knowing she was going to ask that. "But they, as well as Data Branch Supervisor Myron Milton, have been closely monitoring for any attempts to access the Burke tapes information without authorization. You didn't access any of that, but flags did come up when you accessed other case notes, and then they followed up and noticed you were getting data on Arruzio himself." I added "There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but I am curious. So, what were you looking for, and what did you find out?" Tanya nodded at my explanation, but was clearly, and understandably, not happy that her actions had been monitored. She said "I got a request from an anonymous source to look into Joe Arruzio, and to see if the murders were just a case of domestic violence and a man catching his wife in bed with a young stud, or if there was more." "And this request came from the deceased stud's younger brother, I would guess." I said. "Who by sheer coincidence also happens to be my nephew." Tanya peered at me a moment, then said "You must've overheard us at the party." I nodded then asked her to tell me what she found. Tanya said "The only thing I found of any interest was that Arruzio was doing business deals with Jack King... the same one who came up in the 'Black Badge' case, and who escaped Supermax prison and is believed to be in France now. Their deals may have been underhanded and involved smuggling, but I didn't find any more, and didn't find anything that would connect to Arruzio shooting his wife and Jack Burke." "I see." I said. "I told Internal Affairs that I had authorized your looking into that, and I really do want you to keep looking into it and let me know anything you find. I'd also suggest looking into Marie Arruzio's past. She was the older sister of the prostitute Cherie, who was also murdered in the City more recently. Todd might be onto something, but do not tell him anything without clearing it with me first. Last but not least, get with your friend Jack Muscone of the FBI if you need his help... and I'm sure after any work you do with him, you can... socialize with him afterwards." Tanya's grin returned. I regretted having to wipe it off her face again, but had to ask: "One more thing." I said. "You got Dr. Karpathian's interview request?" Yep, the grin was gone. "Yes sir." Tanya said. "I... I don't think I want to... that I'll be able to do that." "I understand." I said. "Just to let you know, I have agreed to do it, though I don't really want to. My wife asked me to help her fellow psychiatrist with the research. But you don't have to do it if you don't want to, and I'll stand up to my wife on that if I have to." "Thank you, sir." Tanya said solemnly. "It... it's not that I can't talk about Pete's death... I just don't want to talk about what happened when we rescued Hugh. And for more than just emotional reasons." She meant legal reasons, and I again understood. "I'll tell you what." I said. "If you're willing, I'll tell Bonnie-- Dr. Karpathian, to submit questions in writing, and she'll understand that you'll answer only the ones you want to. Good or good?" "Uh, yeah, that'll work." Tanya said. Just then my lovely assistant Helena French buzzed me that Captain Ross and Lieutenant Croyle were reporting for the morning meeting. I bade her to let them in... Part 3 - Suppositions Redirected 2:00am, Wednesday, August 5th. Detective Leonard 'Sergeant' Sharples got into the backseat of the Cadillac Escalade which had pulled up to his apartment. He'd been forewarned of the pickup thirty minutes earlier. "What's this about?" Sharples asked the man to his left in the backseat. It was businessman and Town & County Councilman Thomas P. Cook. "Thank you for coming with me." said Cook in a show of manners that belied the lack of civility this really was about. "We are going to meet some friends of mine. Please say no more until we get there." Sharples noted that the man driving the Escalade had his collars up and hat low over his eyes, to prevent easy examination of his facial features, and the man in the shotgun seat was nervous... he probably was fingering a loaded firearm, the fat detective noted to himself. The drive in silence took them through the Warehouse and Industrial Districts, then they turned along a road leading to a back access road. Driving along that, Sharples saw the buildings of Ward Harvester coming up. Sure enough, the vehicle came to a back entrance, where men wearing dark clothing, hats and bandanas covering their lower faces opened the gate. Once the vehicle was through, the men closed the gates with themselves on the outside. They melted into the brush on the other side of the road. The vehicle stopped near the entrance to the office areas. Going inside, Cook led Sharples through the dark corridors to an office that was lit by only one lamp. It was the office of the man himself, Mr. Thaddeus Ward. "Ah, Mr. Sharples, do come in." said Ward in his aged voice. "I've been looking forward to having this short conversation with you. I can assure you that it will not take long. Sit down." Cook indicated a wooden chair in front of Ward's desk. Ward seated himself in his chair behind that desk. Sharples was instantly aware that the three men were not alone. Someone was watching or listening to them from an adjoining room. A feeling of foreboding began to creep into his fat soul. And was that... a faint whiff of perfume he was catching? "What's this about, Mr. Ward?" Sharples asked, attempting to show bravado and a lack of fear. "We... my partners and myself..." said Ward, "... understand that you have been given an assignment by Commander Troy, and that you are working diligently upon it. Is that not so, Detective Sharples?" "What assignment is that?" Sharples warily asked. Cook frowned and Ward's eyes sparked with a bit of anger. "Detective," Ward said, "my partners and I are not fools, and I would suggest you not continue wasting our immensely valuable time. We are talking about your continued investigation into the child trafficking rings that you stumbled upon in Texas some years before. I would think that the experiences delivered to you there would've dissuaded you from ever attempting to reopen that investigation, but I can see that we were wrong." "What, you're part of that?" asked Sharples accusingly. "Oh, hell no." said Ward. "But I think you know who is part of that, and some of their friends are also our friends." "Sharples," said Thomas P. Cook, "we've brought you here for two purposes. First, you are to cease and desist from further investigation into that trafficking ring. Second, we're going to tell you what you are going to do on our behalf, in order to fuck up the Police and their investigations into several things in this County." "Yes." said Ward. "The Police Union and our friends on the Force will have your back completely, and there is not a thing that God-damned bastard the Iron Crowbar can do about it." Sharples became more intensely aware of that hidden presence watching him, concentrating on him. Something was very wrong, here, he thought to himself... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Sergeant McCombs and Officer Justin Hendricks sat in their police cruiser outside Ward Harvester, waiting to hear from Sharples or possible trouble concerning him. "Can't believe I wasn't promoted." grumbled Hendricks. "Fucking Commander Troy held up your promotion. Lt. Masters gave you bad evaluation scores, too." McCombs replied. "Sharples and Commander Brownlee put me in for a Commendation Medal for getting Ricky Morris. Troy and the Chief both blocked that one, the fuckers." "Oh well," said Hendricks, "they'll be getting what's coming to them, and soon-- whoa, who's that pulling up behind us?" Another TCPD police cruiser had pulled up behind their vehicle. The uniformed officers getting out approached McCombs's car with hands on guns, as if it were a dangerous traffic stop. "Gentlemen," said the officer approaching the driver's side door, "what are you doing here?" "Stakeout." said McCombs. "And you're fucking it up. What are you doing coming up behind us like that, and without getting on the radio first?" "I think you boys better move along." said the officer. "Who in the fuck are you to tell me what to do, boy?" snarled McCombs. He was about to open the car door and get out to confront the officer when another person approached the car. Pink Lemonade Ch. 01 "You heard the man, Sergeant McCombs." said the third person. McCombs's eyes widened as he realized who it was... a Police Officer that outranked him. The person said "Go. Get moving. Go back to Headquarters, and don't let us see you on this street again tonight." "We have no choice, Sergeant." said Hendricks quietly. "Let's go." McCombs realized Hendricks was right. He started up the car and drove off. "Did you text Sharples?" asked McCombs. "Doing that right now." said Hendricks, who was typing on his cellphone... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The musical-quality chime on Sharples's cellphone alerted him to the text. Pulling out the phone, he saw that it was from a familiar burner, and only one letter was transmitted: "X". He realized what it meant. "All right, what the hell is going on around here?" Sharples demanded as he stood up, putting the phone up, realizing he was in danger and strong bluff was needed. "I'm a God-damned Police Detective, and who the hell are you to tell me what I can and can't investigate?" *CRACK!* The sound of the bullwhip cracking startled all of them. Whirling around, Sharples saw Karen Warner Harlan, dressed in all leather, the bullwhip in her gloved hand. "You'll do exactly as Mr. Ward directs you, Sergeant Sharples." Karen ordered. "Or else it will get very ugly for you, very quickly." She flicked the bullwhip again, catching Sharples on the leg. He screamed out in pain. "What the fuck!?" he gasped, going for his gun. "Don't do it, Sharples." warned Cook. "She's faster than you are." Realizing Cook was right, Sharples relented. He also realized he was helpless: the 'X' on the cellphone was a warning that his protectors McCombs and Hendricks had been interdicted by enemy agents. "All right, what the hell do you want?" the fat detective said, his voice a mixture of weariness and sarcasm... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 3:30am, the same Wednesday morning. I'd been a fairly light sleeper for years, and after the night of the fire at the (Old) Cabin I became an even lighter sleeper. So my cellphone going off on my bedside table woke me immediately. "Sir," said the voice of Myron Milton in the phone, "I'm sorry to wake you, but you know that program I have running that alerts me if Sharples sends or receives an 'X' or 'O' on his cellphone? It went off. It was an 'X'." "Uhhh, oh, wow." I said, waking on up, and fast. "At what time?" "About thirty minutes ago." said Myron. "And McCombs and Hendricks pulled into Headquarters and entered the building with their ID cards about 20 minutes ago." "Okay." I said. "Keep monitoring. Thanks for calling." After the call disconnected, I tried to get back to sleep, but it eluded me. Getting up, I began walking around the house, checking up on everything. The door and window alarm was set. The street light illuminating the front porch and yard of the house was on, and nothing was going on outside as I looked out into the darkness. Ditto that for the back patio and yard. It was quiet. I went into the children's room. Carole and Jim were asleep in their cribs. Bowser was in his basket under Carole's crib, but he was awake and I could tell he was agitated. "What's the matter, boy?" I asked, kneeling down. "Everything okay, Bowser?" Bowser looked up at me as I petted him, but his tail was not wagging. I carefully lifted him out of the basket and carried him downstairs to the den. "What's the matter, Bowser?" I said soothingly as I petted him. He was half-lying on my lap, but his eyes were scanning towards the front door all the time, and I could feel the tension and nervousness in his canine body as I petted him. A number of long minutes had passed and Bowser was finally relaxing when Laura came down the stairs. "Everything okay?" she asked sleepily. "Yeah, I think so." I said. "But Bowser is agitated. Did anyone come up to the house today?" "No, not that I know of." Laura said. She came over and petted Bowser. "Did you have a bad dream, Bowser?" Bowser looked up at my wife with appreciation in his eyes for the attention and the pettings. "Okay, Bowser," I said, "why don't we take you back up to bed?" I put him on the floor and he bounded up the stairs to his self-assigned post as guardian of my daughter and son. I petted him again as he settled into his bed while Laura looked in on the kids. "Why don't you come to bed, too, darling?" Laura asked me. "Maybe a nice blowjob will cure your agitation." I was not going to argue with that. Time to take my 'medicine'... Part 3 - State Case Thursday, August 6th. At 10:00am Chief Bennett called me into the small conference room by his office. Upon entering, I saw the Chief at the head of the table. On the far side of the table were two other men. One of the two men was SBI Deputy Director Robert Gaston. He was in his early fifties, neatly combed gray, almost white hair, slender, fit, almost six feet tall. He would look perfect as a company CEO or a politician such as a Governor. He certainly had his own designs for upward political mobility, which for now made him definitely a 'yes-man' for Director Jack Lewis. He'd long been a criminal investigator in the SBI, but mostly in financial and digital crimes. Now he was the Deputy Director for what the SBI called 'Violent Crimes', which included homicides, serial killers and serial rapists, and dealing with perps who were mentally unstable and dangerous to Society. He was out of his depths in those categories, but after all, he was an administrator. With him was SBI Agent Carter Fischer, the youngish man I'd met on previous occasions, and for whom I'd developed a lack of respect. "Have a seat, Commander." said the Chief. I sat down in the chair to the Chief's right, across from Deputy Director Gaston, as Chief Bennett said "Director Gaston has a request of us." I looked at Chief Bennett, making some observations. Since our agreement forged over Scotch at The Cabin, he had given me leeway and let me run my Divisions while he took care of administrative and Police Chief stuff, such as dealing with the Sheriff, the Council, and disciplining Officers when needed. He had also spent a good amount of time working with Precinct Captain Susan Weston to get Precinct 3 into better shape. He also had made himself less and less available to me or anyone else, to the point where it might be a problem. I had been making a point to go to his office at least every other day and fill him in on what the Detectives were working on. He always listened, sometimes asked questions, but on any occasion where I attempted to have more personal or informal discussions, he would generally end the meetings fairly quickly. And now as I observed him, I could see that he looked tired. Normally a healthy hunter, he looked drained of energy. Maybe the upcoming Fall hunting season would restore some of his vitality, I thought to myself. But I did not have time to contemplate as Deputy Director Gaston spoke. "Commander," Gaston said, "I am here to ask your Chief to loan you to us, and to ask you to take the lead in investigating the death of Henry R. Wargrave." "I've told them you have my approval to work on that case," said Chief Bennett, "but only working around your duties here in this Town & County." "Director Gaston," I said, "do you and Director Lewis realize I'm biased and consider the Wargrave case to be a suicide? And do you realize that I am not an independent person in all of this, that I was at the scene not long after it happened?" "Yes, we know." said Gaston. "We also think you've shown yourself to be a Police Officer of high integrity, that you want to know the truth as much as anyone else, and that whatever you find will be accepted by all sides... the 'sides' being those who say it was suicide, and those who say it was murder." "What about Captain Ross?" I asked. "Is she called up, too?" "No." said Chief Bennett. "She'll be handling your duties, particularly over the Detectives, at any times you're away. She also needs to be available as an SBI Reservist in the area if called upon." "You're not being called up as a Reservist, Commander." said Gaston. "This won't count against your Reservist time, nor budgeted to the Reserve. You'll be considered a full and active SBI Agent while on this case, with your SBI Lieutenant rank, of course." "I'll need someone to work in partnership with me." I said. "And if Ross isn't available, and with Molly Evans from Midtown pregnant, who can I get... present company excluded?" Carter Fischer did not like that remark, knowing I was very intentionally excluding him from being assigned to me. However, Gaston did not miss a beat. "Detective Robin Ventura of the City Police is an SBI Reservist," said Gaston, "and she has agreed to work the case, but only with you. The City Police has likewise accepted letting her work the case for the State, but again only if you take the case." Interesting, I thought to myself. "Well," I said, "I think you and Director Lewis are going to be extremely disappointed if and when I find it to be a suicide, but tell him I'll look into it. Also tell him that if anything comes up in my home County here, that it will be my priority over any SBI case." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * After the SBI Agents had left, with Gaston having given me an SBI badge that did not say "Reservist" on it, I went to the Chief's office. "Okay, Chief, spill it. What's up?" I asked. "What do you mean?" he replied, peering at me. "I mean that as Commander I am responsible for every Officer on this Force... including the one guy above me." I said. "I can tell something's bothering you, and for your own good and the Force's good I need to know what that is." Well, I thought, that was technically true, but there was no telling how the Chief would react. "Not much gets by you." said Chief Bennett drily. "I've been avoiding you because I know you see too much." He thought for a moment, then said "Okay, I'll tell you some things, but it stays in this room. Don't tell your 'Angels' or any other subordinates." I agreed. Bennett's voice was almost too quiet for me to hear as he said "I thought I could handle this job, I really did. But I had no idea of the political pressure that would be exerted on me from above. Sheriff Allgood has been a lot more calm than he was a few months ago, but he still is on pins and needles about this KSTD sex tapes thing. I've come to the conclusion that his wife must be on one of the tapes for him to be so agitated about them." He was peering at me, and I used the opportunity to work to keep my face in total passivity and not give anything away. Seeing the Chief's eyes, I think I succeeded. "Anyway, the Council has been under duress." said the Chief. "They're working to settle the claims against the Parole Office, which includes determining which claims are legit and which aren't. They also are getting flak from the Police Union about you keeping Sharples on restricted duty over the Ricky Morris shooting. The Council gives me flak about that, and I stand up to them and the Union. But it's stressful." "I appreciate you standing firm on that." I said. "That's only come up in the last week or so, though." said Bennett. "And that is not the worst of it, though." I said. "What's really eating you up?" Bennett looked at me and said "Okay, okay. The Sheriff did not want me to tell you this." said Bennett. "He is afraid that you will do something a bit too... active." His voice got quieter as he said "Something's come out. Certain Council members have been told some things. I checked out what they told me, and I was told privately by people I know that the State Supreme Court is working out a deal with politicians in the Legislature and the Governor's office. They'll rule in our favor... but only if we give the SBI the tapes." "What?!" I gasped. Struggling to keep my voice down, I said "They're supposed to be impartial jurists. What the hell is this shit about making deals?" "I don't know." said Bennett. "In fairness, it's not the actual Justices, it's never them, it's not the politicos either. Just aides in the background scurrying around like cockroaches in the dark of night." "That makes no sense." I said. And then it hit me. "Chief, someone's bluffing. I don't think the State Supreme Court, not all of them, would do that. This is a trick." Chief Bennett looked stunned. "You... you think so?" "I'd bet my badge on it." I said. "Tell the Sheriff, the D.A., and the Council to hold fast... unless you want me to tell them." "O... okay. But don't you say anything. I'll tell them." said Bennett. Then he peered at me, a skeptical look on his face. "How do you know it's a bluff? And what if it's not? What information do you have that makes you so sure?" I just smiled. "If something like that was going on, Chief, we wouldn't be going through these legal charades right now. So just rest easy, tell the Sheriff and Council to stand firm, and you'll see that I'm right. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go investigate Henry Wargrave's suicide. Oh, is that drawing a conclusion in advance?" I went into my own office, asking Helena as I went by to call Cindy to come to my office. As I sat down behind my desk, I thought about the conversation with the Chief. What information did I have that makes me so sure? The Shadow Man's identity, I thought to myself. Yes, I know who the Shadow Man is, I silently said to the matchstick Trojan Horse and the painting of the Fall of Troy beside me. And that is how I can be so sure. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Hello, Detective Ventura." I said as I met her in the lobby of the Cannon Building in the City. "Do you know FBI Special Agent in Charge Jack Muscone?" "Oh, is the FBI working with us on this?" Robin asked as she shook hands with Muscone. "More in a way of observation." said Muscone. "We're still working the case of his arms smuggling empire." We were escorted by the building's Security to the elevator. One security man rode with us to the top floor. Walking up the man entrance hallway, the security man cut the tape that was across the doors to Wargrave's office. Entering the office, I felt a staleness from lack of use, but also something else... an emptiness of the energy that had once filled this room. With Wargrave gone, the room was like his mortal remains... an empty shell with no purpose. The shattered window had been replaced by a plain glass window that was not bulletproof. It looked brighter, as the light coming through it was less filtered than the thicker panes of bulletproof glass. The furniture remained in the room, but it had been stripped of all papers, computers and anything else that the FBI had determined might be useful to their investigation. "This room has been all but scrubbed." I said. "We're not going to find much here." "Did you get the email with all the forensic findings?" asked Robin. "Yes, yes I did." I replied. "I was thinking that maybe Wargrave replaced the pane of glass himself so that it would shatter if and when he decided to jump..." "But the shattered glass fragments were the same bulletproof glass that is in these other windows." Robin replied. "Well," I said as I examined the replacement window behind the desk, "he found a way to weaken the window. And that is what you two want to know, of course." "What do you mean?" asked Jack Muscone, unable to make his voice sound innocent enough. "Ah, my friend," I said, "the FBI, the City Police, and the SBI all want to know how a bulletproof glass window was so utterly destroyed. You all are hoping I can find out how that was done, and will then tell you. And that's why the City Police had Detective Ventura here agree to work on this, and why your boss, Jack, had you come work with me on this. And of course its why the SBI Leadership wants me on the case, too." "Miss Ventura," Jack said to Robin, "400 years ago, the Salem Witch Trials would have just loved having this man to make an example of. And maybe he was, in a past life." Robin laughed. I smiled inwardly, knowing that Jack Muscone would soon change the subject and begin flirting with the attractive young Detective... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I was staying overnight in the City, so I took the opportunity to ask the lovely SBI Inspector Britt Maxwell to dinner. Of course we talked "shop" as we ate. "How are things in the SBI lately?" I asked. "After the unfortunate suicide of Henry R. Wargrave," Britt said, "things have been surprisingly quiet. Dick Ferrell of the Narcotics Task Force acts like he's leaderless, and Director Jack Lewis lost what he thought would be a financial resource in his run for Governor next year." "Interesting." I said. "So Wargrave dies, and the SBI suddenly has nothing to do?" "Well, I didn't say that." Britt said, her eyes twinkling. "Lewis needs a big, splashy bust for the publicity, so for the most part they're concentrating on Southport and hoping to interdict some illegal shipping down there. They'd just love to come into your County and re-open the Jonas Oldeeds assassination, and that reporter Priya Ajmani has been really trying to get them up there to do that, but they seem to be scared of someone in that County." "Yes, they should be scared of Captain Ross." I replied adroitly. "As good as she is," said Britt, grinning, "I don't think she's the one they're truly scared of. By the way, there's some scuttlebutt that the Republican Party in this State wants you to run against Lewis. Any truth to that?" "They sent feelers." I said. "My first question to them was 'Why did you throw John Cummings to the dogs and not only let but help Katherine Woodburn cheat him out of his rightful win?' They wanted no part of me bringing that up, and the conversation concluded pretty quickly after that. The Republicans are not Conservatives: they want to make Conservatives outcasts from the Party." "That incident still bothers you?" Britt asked. "Like you wouldn't believe." I said. "The corruption in both parties is incredible. They collude to fuck over the American People, lie to our faces, and this is both parties working together, not just one. They make me sick." "Changing the subject," Britt said, seeing my unhappiness at talking politics, "the SBI brass also are wondering about you investigating some crime ring up there, led by someone who stays in the shadows. What's going on with that?" I took the opportunity to take a drink of water. Something had just popped into my head, like a mysterious Voice, and it was saying to not talk to Britt Maxwell about this, even if I did trust her. I heeded that message. "Nothing, really." I said. "You probably heard that we busted a ring of thieves related to dirty parole officers. I've been following up on that to see if there are other smuggling rings connected to it, maybe a Wargrave connection. But there's not a lot there, just a local ring. Maybe I'm seeing things that aren't there." "Doesn't hurt to look." Britt said. "True." I said. "How is the SBI's version of Internal Affairs doing?" "Not bad." said Britt. "I can't, and won't, say too much about it, but I can say this: Lewis keeps trying to steer it into having us investigate local and county LEO units, but of course the mission is to investigate the SBI internally. I'm putting together a few threads of webbing here and there, but nothing actionable so far. I also am finding traces of organization within various State agencies as part of the investigation of the State Prison System after the scandal at The Asylum." "I'd love to look into that and help you with it when I have time." I said. "Right now, my plate's pretty full. You mentioned Priya Ajmani... she's stirring up a much bigger hornet's nest for us than I think she realizes." Pink Lemonade Ch. 01 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "UHHH!" I gasped. I was driving my iron hard cock in and out of Britt Maxwell's tight, luscious cunt as hard as I could, feeling my nut rising quickly. Britt wrapped her shapely legs around me, the stiletto heels of her black pumps pressing into my thrusting asscheeks and thighs as I powered my meat into her depths, feeling my mind fogging as an incredibly intense climax overwhelmed me. "I'M COMING!" I cried out. "I'M GOING TO COME INSIDE YOU! UHHH!! UHHH!!" Thick spurts of hot ropy jism blasted out of my cock and into the depths of the beautiful raven-haired woman's cunt as I clutched her firm, sweet asscheeks and pulled her groin hard into mine. With several more violent thrusts, more of my hot seed spurted into Britt's eagerly receptive womanhood. "Good God," Britt gasped as I collapsed on top of her. "That was one hell of a fuck. If I didn't know better, I would think you're not getting any pussy at home." "It's been way too long since I've fucked your incredible pussy, babe." I gasped as I tried to catch my breath. "God! you are so fucking tight! That was... geez, that was good..." I kissed Britt's mouth, then began nuzzling her neck, enjoying the smell and taste of her... "Mmmmm..." she moaned, her arms wrapping around my shoulders as I pressed my groin into hers and continued to kiss her neck and jaw, "I'm fertile and not on the pill, you know..." "Good." I whispered into her ear. "Get me hard again and we'll keep working on making a baby--" *BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!* It was my cellphone going off, and when I glanced at it, I saw that Jack Muscone was calling. "I'd better take this." I said, reaching over and grabbing the phone, still lying on top of Britt, my cock slowly shrinking but still buried inside her fur-lined snatch. "What's up, Jack?" I asked into the phone. "Where are you?" Muscone asked. "Uh... I'm at a friend's place." I said. We were in Britt's bedroom in her condo. "Oh, good." Jack said, and I detected relief in his voice. "Why?" I asked. "What's going on?" "I'm at your room at the Hyatt City Center Hotel." said Jack. "You better come over. Someone broke into your room..." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Detectives Robin Ventura and 'Sapper' Warren of the City Police saw me first as I came up the hallway. It was nearly 1:00am, Friday August 7th. As I got to the door, I saw Jack Muscone with two uniformed officers inside. "What's going on, guys?" I asked. It was Robin Ventura who gave the report: "About an hour ago, several guests in other rooms called the desk to report loud bangs. Turns out it was three masked men kicking in the door to your room here. Took them several kicks. They went in and fired some shots into the bed, I guess thinking you were in it." Going into the room, I saw a few Crime Lab people working around the bed. The Asian woman that I'd met at the Cherie Ward murder scene smiled brightly at me as I came in. "Hello, Commander." she said, her voice barely hiding flirtatiousness. "The bullets were recovered from the mattress and the floor, and they are small caliber, probably .22s. No shells were left." "The perps didn't stay long." said Sapper Warren. "The hallway video shows them banging the door down, going in the room and coming out about 20 seconds later. They ran down the hall to the stairwell and took off. The outside camera isn't working right, so we're not sure which way they went, and we're trying to get camera footage of the surrounding area." "Okay." I said. "Did any other guests hear gunshots?" "Not the ones we talked to so far." said Ventura. "There are only four other occupied rooms on this wing on this floor. The room on the floor below was unoccupied, thankfully, since a bullet could have gone through the floor." "Not likely, but possible." I said, more to myself. "Apparently they used silencer-equipped weapons, but woke up the whole hotel banging on the doors. Agent Muscone, what do you think?" "I think they came after you, Don." said Jack. "But they're stupid. Very, very stupid." "Yes, yes they are." I said. "Why is that?" asked Robin Ventura. "Well, think about it." I said. "If I had been in this room, I'm hearing several large bangs on the door as the perps try to kick the door in. They made a lot of noise. Now if I was in here, I'm armed to the teeth and I'm getting ready to blow their asses away, not to mention administering some iron and red paint to the sides of their heads." Robin nodded. "Exactly." said Muscone. "So what do you make of that? Desperation?" "You know..." I said, thinking out loud, "being the cynical guy that I am, I might actually think that the perps knew I wasn't here. They bust in, fire some shots, pick up the shells, and run. Warning message. The question is 'why?', of course." "Gotta tell you, I'm not feeling that one." asked Muscone. "What purpose does it serve?" "Maybe someone was watching to see what the response would be." said Robin. "And now they've seen that an FBI agent showed up immediately." "That's a good point, Ventura." I said. "Jack, how did you hear about it and respond so fast?" "I called him." said Robin. "Our Precinct Desk called me when they got the call about a disturbance at your hotel, and I called Agent Muscone immediately." "I see." I said, and I meant more than just Robin's spoken explanation. She had not called him, I realized. Jack Muscone had been fucking the lovely young black woman when the call to her came in... Part 4 - Footprints Under The Window 8:00am, Friday August 7th. I was in a conference room near Detectives Warren and Ventura's desks, getting Sapper's statement of his investigation of Wargrave's death. I'd already downloaded the case notes from the City Police servers through his computer. As I finished, my personal cellphone rang. It was my wife Laura. "Hi, dear." I said. "What's up?" "Hello, darling. When are you coming home?" Laura asked. "Probably in a couple of hours." I said. "I'm just wrapping up the information gathering here. Why?" "Don't rush, but when you get back to Town, come home to the Mountain Nest." Laura said. "Don't ask, I'll show you when you get here." I paid a quick visit to the City's Crime Lab, which had analyzed the evidence of the Wargrave case. It was an unusually silent lab. As the young woman who analyzed the glass showed me what she'd done, I noted her nervousness. As I looked at the glass in the microscope, I said "Maria, where did you go to school?" "The University, sir." she said. "Ah, a Bulldog." "I don't really follow sports, sir." Maria said. "I understand." I said. "What did you major in?" "Chemistry, sir." Maria said. "Ah good. So did I." I said. "You're doing more with your major than I did, that's for sure. So why are you chemists here so nervous about another chemist visiting you today?" Maria's eyes widened as I brought up her fears out loud, but she smiled weakly. "We don't want to mess up in front of the Iron Crowbar, sir." Maria said. "Ah, don't worry." I said, smiling. "I'm just a big ol' teddy bear. A teddy bear that majored in Chemistry like you did. By the way, The Batman and Sherlock Holmes were also Chemistry majors. We're in good company." I was happy to see the atmosphere in the room getting lighter. Still, I had things to do. I wrapped things up within 30 minutes. Jack Muscone rode back to Town with me in my Police SUV. "You were right, they were nervous in that lab." said Jack. "Any idea why?" "No." I said. "Everything was fine. Evidence handled properly and all that. The glass from the window was interesting, though. Even the shards have cracks running through them. It was shattered almost to the molecular level..." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Last night Bowser was very agitated again." Laura said. "He kept going to the front door and sniffing, then sniffing around the front room windows and looking outside. I had the alarm set but didn't go outside until this morning. I let Bowser out back and he ran around the house and began sniffing and growling. So I came out and looked, and found this." I looked at the front yard and saw what Laura was indicating. There were footprints in the soft earth, human bootprints, actually. The prints were most frequent and most visible in the shrubbery under the window of the living room, which faced the front of the house. "Did you note what time Bowser got agitated?" I asked, knowing she would have. "About midnight, maybe just afterwards." Laura replied. "Where is Bowser now?" I asked. "Inside, with Carole. He won't leave her. He didn't even move when you drove up. Normally he comes to the door to greet you." "See Jack?" I said. "My dog loves me, but he loves my daughter more." I went inside, and found Carole playing in the den, and Jim basically watching her and playing with one toy. Bowser looked up and wagged his tail, but did not leave his post three feet from Carole. I got out his harness and leash. "Okay, Bowser," I said, "let's go out and see what is going on." Bowser agreeably let me put the harness on him, but when I tried to lead him by the chain to the front door, he resisted. "Laura, bring Carole." I said. "Jack, would you bring Jim?" "Sure." Jack said. With the babies in tow, Bowser came right on outside with us. I had him sniff around the front window. He growled when he sniffed the footprints. "Come on, Bowser," I said, leading him around the side of the house, "do you smell anymore footprints?" We went around the house but Bowser only got antsy in the front yard near that front window. He followed the trail into the driveway, but it ended quickly enough. I said "I think whoever came up just came to the front door and window and looked in. Bowser didn't seem to catch anything out back; in fact, he was more interested in using his bathroom. Still, I don't like this." "Me neither." said Laura. "I'm having a couple of cameras put in that overlook the front and back yards, and feed into our security system inside. That'll be done today." "Who is doing that?" I asked. "Don't worry," Laura said, "I'm not going to let the CIA into our house to bug us. It's someone I know and trust." She told me the name of who it was. "Oh, he was my competitor in Midtown." I said. "I'm still going to check up behind him." "As will I." said Laura. "By the way, where is Mom?" I asked. "She wasn't here last night." Laura said. "I called her this morning after finding the footprints, and she said she was at the Community Center, serving doughnuts to the old ladies there. She's actually trading doughnuts for gossip, of course." Jack laughed at that one. "Okay, guys," he said, handing Jim back to me, "you both need to be careful. After all that happened in the City and here at the same time, I'm worried for you both." "I don't blame you." I said. "I'm getting as skittish as Bowser..." Part 5 - Homespun Festival Saturday, August 8th. It was a beautiful morning, and the Coltrane County Homespun Festival was in full swing at the County Fairgrounds just north of the town of Buford. Many booths were lined up, selling food, drinks, homemade clothing items and homemade home furnishings. Later there would be games such as the three-legged races, frog races, turtle races, and the like. The Cub Scouts would have a derby race, and the Boy Scouts were running an archery range. The Girl Scouts were selling... you guessed it... Girl Scout cookies(!). They were also selling lemonade, water, and other soft drinks in the more shaded area of the park. This Homespun Festival was a big deal in the area, so people came from our County, Nextdoor County, and the other counties in the region. I noted a lot of older women milling about or sitting in groups; even Old Mrs. Boddiker was there. But I didn't see anyone who might be the mysterious Widow Athena Jones... Laura and I had brought Jim and Carole, who decided she liked Girl Scout cookies. I'd seen Cindy and Jenna already, and also saw Joanne Cummings and Seth Warner walking around. Teresa and Todd were there, apparently as a couple, Todd carrying his son Doug, and they were joined by Tanya Perlman, her son Pete, and Teddy Parker. Daniel and Melina Allgood were talking with Sheriff Sorrells near the Boy Scout archery range. I should note that Melina and Joanne had gone to the archery range and, to the surprise of everyone, shot bullseyes after bullseyes, obviously having a friendly contest with each other. And amazing accuracy despite the low quality of the bows and the arrows. The Scouts kept supplying arrows bought by spectators for them (it was $2 for five arrows) as the ladies poured shot after shot into the bullseyes. Finally they agreed to call it a draw. I already knew about Melina's abilities, and I was very impressed with Joanne's shooting. I had encouraged all of the Detectives to make an appearance at the Homespun Festival, so Martin Nash and Sandra Speer were there. Our County's A.D.A. Franklin Washington, who was black, was with his white wife, which got some very non-approving looks (downright ugly looks, actually) from Coltrane County residents. I saw Geiger and Christopher Purvis on separate occasions, and even Sharples had come, wearing his totally unneeded raincoat/trenchcoat and fedora-like "reporter" hat. Lorena Rose and Diana Torres were excused; they'd been doing night shifts as part of their undercover work for a couple of weeks. I also noticed someone else walking almost furtively among the crowds. SBI Agent Jeff Reubens was here. I'd made eye contact with him earlier, and he'd scurried away from me, which I took to mean he didn't want to be seen talking with me. At times I noticed him loitering around booths, scanning the crowds. He was clearly here for some professional reason, but I had no idea what that was. By happenstance, a group of us came together, having gotten lemonades from the Girl Scout booth. Me, Laura, Tanya, Teddy, Cindy, Jenna, Joanne, Seth, Teresa, Todd, Martin and Sandra were talking in a big circle. Everyone was drinking normal yellow lemonade except Laura. She was drinking pink lemonade, which she preferred. "This pink lemonade is very good." Laura said. "I may have to go buy another cup." "Carole," said Todd mischievously, "do you like yellow or pink lemonade better?" "Cookies!" yelled Carole diplomatically. Everyone laughed. "You know, they ought to put a disc golf course in here." Cindy said, looking around. "Then I can whip Teresa's ass somewhere besides Ronald Reagan Park." "What is in that kool-aid you're drinking?" Teresa replied sardonically. "I will crush you as I always do. You can't hit the side of a barn with a frisbee." "Laura, I'm going to have to show both these amateurs how to play disc golf." I said in open challenge to both of them. "I'll take you up on that, Uncle Don." said Todd with a grin. "Me, Teresa, and little Doug here against you, Cindy, and Carole." "Oh, you're on!" Cindy exclaimed, her ice-blue eyes lighting up. "Carole, are you ready--" "AAAUUUGGHH!!" The scream had come from about 100 feet from us, near the Girl Scout table. We all dashed over to see what was happening. There was a small crowd kneeling around a prostrate man. "Police officers! Let us through!" I shouted. "This woman is a doctor, let us through!" People scattered out of our way. I saw that the man lying on the ground was Jeff Reubens! Geiger and Sharples were already there, kneeling beside Reubens, Geiger over his right shoulder and Sharples at his left side. "Doctor!" I shouted as I knelt down by Reubens' left side, displacing Sharples, who stood up. I saw the foam bubbling from Reubens' mouth, and I could smell the almond odor. Geiger moved over to the top of Reubens's head as Laura knelt down on his right side and checked for a pulse, having given Carole to Cindy, who handed her off to Teresa. "He's dead." Laura said after a moment. "Looks like cyanide poisoning. Not a damn thing to be done." To be continued. Pink Lemonade Ch. 02 The chronological order of my stories is now listed in WifeWatchman's biography. 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 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 6 - A Study In Pink (Lemonade) "Secure this scene!" I ordered my fellow officers, instinctively using military language. "Secure the entire perimeter! No one leaves or enters!" Cindy Ross immediately took charge. Coltrane County police were also coming up, and she took control of them, too. I began looking around, seeing a plastic cup with pink droplets between Reubens's left hand and his left side. It was the only cup on the ground in the area. Taking latex gloves out of my pocket, which I always carried, I put them on, then carefully picked up the cup. "Anyone have an evidence bag?" I asked. Tanya Perlman did (of course), and I put the cup in it, then wrote the necessary information on the bag. She and I further examined the mortal remains of SBI Agent Jeff Reubens, finding little except his wallet, which had only a couple hundred dollars and some credit cards. His SBI badge was not on his person at all. It soon became chaos in the area, but police got the perimeter under control. Sheriff Sorrells came up to me. "Consider your help asked for." he drawled. "What happened here?" "Looks like this man was poisoned by cyanide." I said. I scanned the crowds. I saw TCPD and Coltrane County officers keeping people back as the ambulance and EMTs arrived... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Cindy and I logged in as SBI Reservists, having been asked by Sheriff Sorrells. I told both Coltrane County and TCPD Law Enforcement to begin taking statements, not worrying about jurisdictions. It was then that several crying Girl Scouts came up to me. I called Laura over as I saw them approach, knowing I would need the help of the (to me) world's greatest psychiatrist. "Are you the Iron Crowbar?" the tallest girl asked. "Uh, yeah." I said. "What's the matter, girls?" "It's my fault!" one of the girls said through her sobs. "I killed him!" "How could you have done that?" I asked in the calmest, sweetest voice I could muster. I had the girl sit down next to me and Laura on a nearby bench. "What's your name?" "Margaret." sobbed the girl. "What happened, Margaret?" I asked. "Take a breath, then tell me what happened." "We were selling lemonade, and this man came behind me with a cup of pink lemonade." Margaret said. "He said this other guy liked pink lemonade and asked me to give it to him. So I did, and then the man I gave it to drank it and fell down and died!" Margaret started crying again. "Honey, it's not your fault!" Laura said, hugging the girl. "I drank the pink lemonade too, and I'm fine. You didn't do anything wrong." "That's right." I said. "Margaret, can you tell me what that man looked like?" I noticed Cindy standing near me, listening and taking notes. "He had a hat on, and sunglasses and a big mustache and beard. I think his hair was brown. His beard was brown." Margaret said. "Was his voice deep, or kind of high?" I asked. "It was kind of soft, like he was whispering." Margaret said. "Was he tall or short? Fat or skinny?" "I... I'm not sure how tall he was." Margaret said. "He was kind of big, not like a fat belly, but big all over." "I see." I said. I talked to the other Girl Scouts, who said they had not really seen the man. They also said that there was only one pitcher of pink lemonade, and they only sold it when specifically asked for it. Tanya Perlman and Joanne Cummings were already confiscating all of the contents of the Girl Scout booth, which would become evidence to be tested. I said "Margaret, you've been very helpful to us, and this is not your fault at all. What are your parents' names?" Margaret told us, as well as her phone number. "Okay, we're going to call your parents and tell them what happened. And I'm going to tell them what I'm telling you now: I don't want to hear you blaming yourself ever again, okay?" "Okay." Margaret said, pretending to concede. But I knew this was going to haunt this young girl for a long, long time... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * At 2:30pm I was in the Coltrane County Sheriff's Office. With me was Cindy Ross, Sheriff Sorrells, Tanya Perlman, and SBI Agent Ted Crenshaw, who'd arrived an hour before. I'd also received a text from the Governor of the State, Val Jared, calling me and Cindy up for full-time SBI duty to investigate Agent Reubens' death. Just then the door opened... and in walked SBI Director Jack Lewis. With him were SBI Agents Grigsby and Greenwalt. "Sheriff Sorrells," Lewis announced, not bothering to say hello or introduce himself or anyone else, "the SBI is taking over this case." "No you're not." said Sheriff Sorrells, not rising to the bait and instead keeping calm. "I've asked these SBI Reservists to help, but I haven't called you in, nor am I conceding the case to you. This is my jurisdiction." "This is an SBI internal matter now." said Lewis. "And I'm taking it over because it's an SBI Agent's death. That's the law." "Director Lewis," I said, "why don't you sit down with us and discuss this, rather than use your usual 'bull-in-a-china-shop" approach..." "You're off the case, Mr. Iron Crowbar." said Lewis. "Full-time SBI Agents are taking this over." "C'mon, Lewis." I said loudly. "I know you got cc'd the Governor's text directly calling me up. You know it's my case now... unless you persuade the Governor himself to take me off. Good luck with that." "Ah shit." muttered Lewis, seeing his bullying gambit had failed. "All right. I guess we have to work together again. Is Ms. Ross going to be part of this?" "Of course." I said. "Hey, wait a minute--" started Sorrells. "Sheriff," I said, "we will keep you well within the loop, but Director Lewis is right: since this is an assassination of an SBI Agent, they can come in." "As long as you are leading it, I won't make trouble about it." said Sorrells. "Not your call." said Lewis. "I'm putting Grigsby and Greenwalt in charge--" "No, Lewis, you're not." I said, standing up. "You can put Crenshaw as co-lead with me on this, but that's as far as I'm giving you. Now if you want to know who murdered your agent, back off, stop the theatrics, and let us get to work. Your gubernatorial campaign is not going to direct nor affect our actions, Lewis. Capice?" That one stung, but Lewis did the smart thing: he conceded to the righteous might of the Crowbar(s). Part 7 - The Investigation Sunday, August 9th. At 10:00am, the meeting convened in the main conference room of Town & County Police Headquarters. In the room was myself, Cindy Ross, Ted Crenshaw, Chief Bennett, SBI Director Jack Lewis, Tanya Perlman, and J.R. Barnes of the Crime Lab. I had invited Sheriff Sorrells, but he was unable to come up until later in the day. Myron Milton and Mary Mahoney Milton had gone to Coltrane County the previous afternoon with the 'copy machine'. This device, which we used at the Law Offices of Dewey, Cheatham & Howe to get all the Olivet data into our servers before handing it to Acme Consolidated, showed its worth again as everything was digitized within a few hours, which included hundreds of statements on paper taken by law enforcement officers at the scene, and other reports. Digital copies went into TCPD servers, and were also sent to the SBI and the Coltrane County Sheriff Department. "So what do we have, so far?" asked Ted Crenshaw. "J.R.?" I said. "Yes sir." said Barnes. "There was nothing in that little plastic cup except pink lemonade. No cyanide traces at all. The M.E. says Agent Reubens died of cyanide poisoning, and it was definitely in what he drank, but the cup had nothing. Reubens's fingerprints were the only ones on the cup, too." "How can that be?" asked Jack Lewis. "How can the cup you confiscated not be contaminated? Commander, you bagged that cup into evidence in front of at least ten witnesses." "That is true." I said. "J.R., what did you get from the Girl Scouts' table?" I asked. "Everything was clean." said Barnes. "Nothing in any of the pink or yellow lemonade pitchers, no cyanide in the trash, or in the cups they were using to give out the lemonade." "And since my wife drank pink lemonade just minutes before Reubens died, it's not likely there was any contamination at the source." I said. "And the Girl Scout said that someone gave her a cup of pink lemonade to give to Reubens." "Maybe that cup you bagged was your wife's cup. Maybe she put it down to attend Reubens, and you didn't realize that and bagged it by accident?" asked Lewis. "No, she threw hers in the trash several minutes before Reubens died." I said. "And you just heard J.R. say that only Reubens's fingerprints were on that cup." Lewis didn't want to concede those points, but had no recourse nor other explanation. Tanya Perlman said "Commander, the TCPD and Coltrane County Sheriff's Department confiscated all of the trash containers in the park. Do you want us to run all the cups? At least the ones that have pink traces inside them?" "No, we're not going to burn money doing that." I said. "But you did mark which locations each bag came from?" Tanya nodded and I said "Maybe check the top cups of each bag right around the area. But even if we find a contaminated cup, it's needle-in-a-haystack for fingerprints, and even then it'll be of virtually no evidential use to us." "So where do we go from here?" asked Lewis. "We ask this question." I said. "Director Lewis, why was Jeff Reubens in Coltrane County and at the Homespun Festival?" "Well... I don't know." said Lewis. "Why were you there?" "I'm a local." I said. "I live near there. Locals in my County go to Coltrane County for their Homespun Festival. Coltrane County residents come to our Fourth of July celebrations and the Triathlon. But Agent Reubens... he's not a local to these parts. He lives... er, lived in Midtown, worked out of Midtown. So, and I ask this to any of you SBI guys: why was he up here for the Festival?" "No idea." said Crenshaw. Lewis looked dumbfounded; either he was doing a supreme acting job, or he really didn't know." "Crenshaw, you'll have to look into that." said Lewis. "Here's another question." I said. "Why did Agent Reubens not have his SBI badge on his person? It wasn't on his belt nor in any of his pockets, and it wasn't in the rented car he drove up to Coltrane County. Should he not have had it on his person?" "Crenshaw?" asked Lewis. "I..." Crenshaw started, thinking about it. "I can't think of any reason why he wouldn't. I don't know of any undercover mission he was working on." "So either his badge was stolen from him at the scene, or he never had it on." I said. "And either way, that is what I call a... 'strangeness'." "Uh oh." said Cindy, somewhat under her breath. "That is not a good omen for the perp that did this." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I was in my office, alone with Crenshaw. I was bringing up data on my computer. "I looked into Reubens's SBI computer files last night." I said. "He left no notes on any cases he was working on in the Northwest Tri-County area, and no notes or calendar entries showing that he was coming up here, much less why he would." "How did you get into his files?" Crenshaw asked. "Oh, I have authorization," I said. "as an SBI Reserve Lieutenant." I did not mention that Myron and I had also hacked into the SBI files at much deeper levels, only to still find nothing on why Reubens was in Coltrane County. "Oh." said Crenshaw, somewhat surprised. "Well, its a good question. I looked last night into what he was working on. You know he was somewhat in the doghouse with the SBI brass over a failed drug operation?" "I heard something about that." I said. "What more can you tell me? In fact, just tell me the whole thing." Crenshaw did so, telling me basically what Reubens himself had told me some time before (Author's note: see 'Sting of the Scorpion, Ch. 4' for that), except Crenshaw omitted any details about Sharples being the subject of the investigation. Did Crenshaw know and was hiding that info? I wondered. Or did he really not know? "What you may not have heard, Commander," said Crenshaw, "is that since that failure, Reubens became a lot more eccentric. He was getting on his computer looking for dirty SBI Agents. I heard that Inspector Maxwell offered him a job in the Office of Ethics and Review, but he turned it down." "Oh really?" I asked idly. "Well, I think that's the key to the case... that and the fact his SBI badge is missing. He came up for a reason, and he was waxed because of that reason." "There is one other theory that some of us have been talking about." said Crenshaw. "The killer was after either you or your wife, and hit the wrong target." "Yeah, I thought of that possibility. And in reply, I again direct your attention to the missing SBI badge." I said. "So... if that's true, that the perp was after me or my wife, we need something to back it up. And if it's true, the killer missed his shot. It's bad to miss... my wife won't." And neither will I, I thought to myself. Neither will I. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * About 2:00pm that same Sunday, I got a cellphone call, asking me and Cindy, and just the two of us, to come to Campus Police Headquarters and the office of Campus Police Lt. Bill Hanson. We got into my Police SUV and headed over. Upon our arrival, we were surprised to see two unexpected visitors: SBI Agent Ted Orosco, and SBI Inspector Britt Maxwell. "Hi Britt!" I said, giving the drop-dead gorgeous raven-haired woman a warm hug, remembering our intense sexual coupling just a few days before. I just shook hands with Orosco as Cindy and Britt, once roommates, exchanged a very warm hug with each other. Lt. Hanson excused himself to give us a chance to talk. After we all sat down, Orosco said "Thanks for coming over. We need to talk with you, and we do not want Director Lewis and his lackey Crenshaw knowing we talked to you." "Absolutely." said Britt. "Sure." I said. "What's it about?" Orosco said "I'm sure you remember Reubens and me coming up to talk with you last May, about Sharples." "Yes, and Captain Ross is aware of that." I said. Cindy nodded. "Good." said Orosco. "We know you gave Sharples that assignment to look into the Oldeeds child trafficking, the case he stumbled onto some years before. That was a pretty neat thing you did in doing that, Commander." I said nothing, just nodded shortly. "At any rate," Orosco continued, "what you may not know is that Reubens continued to look into Sharples's past, and to see if he had any connections with dirty SBI agents. The name 'Dick Ferrell' comes quickly to mind." "No doubt about that." I said. "Britt, I heard you offered Reubens a job with the State Office of Ethics and Review. My guess is that you wanted to give him some resources behind looking into dirty officers, n'est pas? "Oui, mon Commandant." Britt replied. "I knew he was looking into stuff, and I knew Jack Lewis was aware of it and was about to move to fuck both him and Orosco up. So I offered Reubens the job. But he didn't take it. I'm not sure why not, especially as Lewis was about to do his classic dirty tricks to throw Reubens under the bus." "Interesting." I said. "But let me ask this: do either of you know why Reubens came up to Coltrane County and the Homespun Festival? And without his badge?" "Yes, at least on why he came up." said Orosco, his face grave. "And that is why I asked you to come here today. Reubens was keeping me informed of what he was doing, and we were both careful to make no SBI records of it. Reubens thought that Sharples was working for someone, someone big, maybe a Crime Syndicate leader, and that dirty SBI agents might be a part of that Syndicate. He also thought that there was a potential assassination plot against you, Commander." "And he may have been right about that." said a voice in the doorway. I turned to see FBI Special Agent In Charge Jack Muscone in the doorway. He came on inside and closed the door. "Sorry to crash your party," said Muscone, "but I suspect you're meeting this way so that Jack Lewis won't know about it, and I don't want him knowing I'm here, either." He sat down next to me and said "The FBI is not going to take any active interest in this case unless you call us in, but we are interested behind the scenes and off the record." "Keeping your favorite FBI Consultant out of trouble, Special Agent Muscone?" said Britt Maxwell with a grin. "You might say that, Inspector." said Muscone. "It's a full time job, too, considering what happened in the City the other night. Aside from that, we're also interested in following up on the Oldeeds Organization and connections to other large organizations that we'd like to break up. National syndicates." "Ted," I asked, "any idea who this Crime Syndicate leader is that Sharples might be working with?" "We thought it might be Thomas P. Cook." said Orosco. "We also think that there might be some ties to the University, too, and Inspector Maxwell would know more about that than I would. But Reubens and I had no luck at all finding any connections to anything we could really act upon." "That's why they call him the 'Shadow Man'." I said. glancing over at Cindy. "Isn't that right, Crowbar 2?" "FBI doesn't believe in the Shadow Man." Cindy said adroitly. "Or they believe he jumped to his death in the City a few weeks ago." "Guys," I said, having an insight, "why don't you give me and Agent Orosco a couple of minutes alone?" Everyone looked surprised, especially Orosco, but they got up to go. I quickly took the bug Jack Muscone had secreted under the arm of his chair, then stepped up to Britt's chair and found the one she'd left. "Come on, guys," I said in joking fashion to them. "Who do you think you're dealing with here? Dick Ferrell?" I handed Cindy the bugs, who gave them back to their owners as she escorted them out the door and closed it behind her. Still not mollified, I turned on my bug-jamming device. "Okay, Orosco," I said, "It's just us, and off the record. What's the real story?" "What do you mean?" Orosco said. "I hope you don't think like those guys do, and believe you're dealing with an Agency of the Weak Minded." I replied. "I know that you and Reubens came to see me because the two of you think Sharples has some connection to the Oldeeds Organization and their smuggling, and you were hoping to co-opt me into solving it for you. You didn't want Sharples so much as you wanted the much bigger fish behind him. Hey, I'm fine with that, though I prefer to do it on my terms. But then Reubens came to that Homespun Festival and he did not leave it alive. And I don't think I was that target; the killer murdered the man he wanted to kill, and very successfully." Orosco winced at that. "How do you know that?" Orosco said. "The SBI badge going missing." I replied. "And by the way, I think Reubens accepted Inspector Maxwell's offer of a job, and with her supposedly secret SBI Internal Affairs unit. His refusing the OER job was just cover, was it not?" Orosco's eyes practically bulged out of his head. "How... what, did she tell you that?" He meant Britt Maxwell. Pink Lemonade Ch. 02 "No." I said. "I realized it just now, when she planted the bug to hear our conversation. So... why don't you tell me the real story here, so I can avenge the man's murder?" Orosco considered for a long moment, then said "Okay, you're right. It's deep, really fucking deep. I wasn't lying about hearing rumors of a plot to kill you, though. That's real enough, and Reubens did think someone might try to kill you at that Festival." "Me or more likely my wife." I said. "But what else?" Orosco continued. "Okay. Reubens realized your ploy in giving Sharples that assignment to investigate the child trafficking, and knew that you were getting Sharples to reveal what he knows and hoping he'd help you take down some bad guys. But the problem is that the bad guys know it, too. He was watching everyone Sharples contacted at the Festival, hoping to get a lead on possible connections. But Sharples must've had a confederate that saw Reubens, and had that Girl Scout give Reubens the poisoned lemonade." "All true." I said. "But come on, Ted, you are holding out on me here." "No, I'm really not." said Orosco, who finally realized he could not defeat me in mental combat this day. "There really is a Syndicate. You know State Senator Jimmy 'Coffin' Cerone out of Southport?" I nodded as Orosco said "He used to be the Boss of Bosses in the Southport Mob. Gave it up for politics. Ever wonder why?" "Sure I've wondered." I said. "But he still controls a lot of that stuff. He's the State's version of a Mob-connected U.S. Senator from a Western State." "Well, you may not have looked into it all that deeply, like we did." said Orosco. "Cerone was basically forced out. He's a smart man, though, and realized that setting himself up in politics made him useful so that they wouldn't kill him." "And it was this Syndicate forced him out?" I asked. "We think so." said Orosco. "And they must be a tremendously powerful bunch to be able to so easily direct the Southport Mob's actions regarding its leadership." I thought about it. "Ted, how have you come to know all this about this Syndicate?" "Years of investigations, undercover operations, confidential informants." said Orosco. "Crenshaw is our best and most experienced guy on Organized Crime in the City and in Southport, but he's too loyal to Lewis for us to trust. I've been working with Crenshaw and his people on some occasions, though, so I've learned a few things from time to time." "And that big drug sting Reubens was the leader of, the one that crashed and burned... was the Syndicate behind that?" "We had hopes of getting some of them, maybe putting a dent in their operations." said Orosco. "But they weren't the main target." "Okay," I said, realizing I'd get no more out of Orosco at this time, "let's get back with the others." We left the office room. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "So what is this Syndicate about?" Cindy asked as we drove back to Headquarters... by way of the bypass loop about three times. "Oh, one would have to be blind to not know the Mob controls Southport and their rail and river shipping." I said. "They tried to come up here when we had more rail shipping than we do now. Chief Griswold ran them out on a rail, and that was with the SBI trying to undermine him all the way." "Oh wow." Cindy said. "I never knew that about the Chief. But those guys weren't this 'Syndicate'. So what is the Syndicate up to?" "They're just one criminal organization I'm aware of." I said. "They sound like a big deal, but they're just one small chapter of national Mob organizations around the country. But it would be a better analogy to say that they're like that 'Black Badge' group... they infiltrate larger organizations on behalf of their leader." "And who would that leader be?" "You get one guess, 'Watson'." I replied. "Don't blow it." Cindy smiled as I continued: "And for all their investigating, the Shadow Man has not really shown up on the SBI's radars. He is truly effective at hiding himself, as Susan Wexler told me. And speaking of that... didn't Molly tell you about a reporter in Midtown that was assaulted after looking into the 'Victory Christian Ministries' angle?" "Yeah, she mentioned it when she came up for the July 4th weekend." Cindy replied. "The guy is still in the hospital, though he's out of the coma he'd been in." "Might be time to pay him a visit... under the guise of the Wargrave investigation." I said. Part 8 - Midtown Blues "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the lovely redheaded reporterette from in front of the State Office Building on the north side of Courthouse Square in Town, at precisely 7:00am on Monday, August 10th. "Channel Two News has learned that Commander Donald Troy of the Town & County Police Force has been asked by the Governor himself to take an active role in the investigation of the murder of an SBI Agent at the Coltrane County Homespun Festival this weekend! Commander Troy made this statement over the weekend..." A tape of Your Iron Crowbar was played, showing me asking citizens to send the Police any video or photo footage they'd taken at the Festival that might help with our investigation. And boy! did we get it! Thousands of emails poured into the official TCPD inbox, which Myron and Mary quickly had preserved in servers for our examination. Most of it wasn't worth much, but a few people had some shots and video of the time of the murder, and we were able to look at some things. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "When does that Girl Scout troop meet?" I asked Crowbar's Angels that morning at our command meeting in my office. "Tomorrow, Tuesday evening." said Cindy. "Why?" "I heard that the girls are not doing well mentally after this weekend, especially poor Margaret." I said. "My wife talked with her and her family yesterday." "And as usual," Tanya said, "you have an idea what to do about that." "Indeed I do." I said. "And it will help our case, too." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * As I drove into Midtown early that same Monday afternoon, I had a sense of foreboding. First, I was driving alone. While I'd called Molly and she and her boss, Captain Sean 'Cav' Moynahan were waiting for me, I still hated to not have anyone having my back. But second... whenever I came to this town I was reminded of my past life, of the years I was married to Melina, selling security equipment while working in the drudgery of a chemistry lab, and the relief of being able to go to Army Reserve weekends. Wow, how the times and my life had changed... Driving in a Police SUV on a highway was often amusing. Even though I was out of jurisdiction, other cars saw the blue lightbar on top of my vehicle and slowed down, often pulling into the right lane and giving me clearance to move past them. Pulling into Midtown, which was caught between being a large town or a small city, I headed for Molly's Police Precinct. There I quickly found my pregnant lover and her police team: Detective Frank Soltis and Captain Moynahan. "Good to see you, Don." said 'Cav' as he ushered me into his office for a conversation. "I guess Sergeant Evans has told you about some of our problems down here?" "Some of it." I said. "Is there more you can tell me?" "Yes." said Moynahan, who then looked around his office as he said "But I think we'll talk more of it while we're on the way to the hospital, or at dinner." I pulled out my little anti-bugging device and silently raised my eyebrows, offering to use it then. Moynahan put his hands up in a 'Stop' sign and shook his head silently. He was clearly worried and desirous of taking the strongest of precautions. "Well, let's go, then." I said. With Molly in tow, we drove in my Police SUV to Midtown's largest hospital, which was okay but nothing like University Hospital. I again felt gratitude for what I had in my home Town. "Don," said Moynahan as we drove, "I need to ask you to make sure I am with you at all times while you're down here looking into this. You may be able to flash that SBI Reserve badge, but our top brass might shoot you anyway. But they won't do that with me here." "That bad, huh?" I said. "Is it safe for Molly to be with us?" "Oh, yeah," said Moynahan, "I'm overstating the case just to make the point. We'll be fine... but things are getting a bit dicey down here. Let me tell you what' going on." He began: "We began re-investigating the murder of that young CIA man, Mike. To be honest, I expected to find nothing, but the FBI in the City was pretty helpful to us. We are pretty sure that Vicki Oldeeds and some of her entourage that night are behind the murder, but we don't have anything concrete." He continued: "Then there was a murder in the 'Red River District', which is similar to your Town's 'Tenderloin District'. The Chief assigned the murder to my team. The guy was a small-time hood from Southport. We learned that he'd been trying to become a 'made man' in the Southport Mob, but then, and rather suddenly, began working independently of them. He had a pipeline going, but we could not get any lead on where he might be getting drugs from. And then we found out that it might not be drugs he was pushing." "What, then?" I asked. "Arms." said Moynahan. "Small shipments, but several of them. One of them might have gone up towards your Town, but never got there. But then we heard a rumor, an ugly one... a C.I., one of the FBI's best assets in Southport, unexpectedly contacted us, unsolicited. He told us to look into a group called 'Victory Christian Ministries'... and he said that underage foreign girls had been shipped to the City for purposes of prostitution and pornography, and that payments were going through this VCM group." "Wow." I said. "And then, lo and behold," continued Captain Moynahan, "this reporter we're going to visit was found nearly dead. Severely beaten, gang raped in the ass. In addition, his home had been broken into and ransacked, totally destroyed. We'll go look there too, if you like." "Sure." I said as we pulled into the hospital parking lot. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "I don't remember anything about the attack on me." said the reporter. He was a young man that reminded me a little bit of the late Tim Dawdle from my County: punkish, a product of schooling and upbringing that caused him to investigate news stories based upon an agenda instead of true journalistic reporting. I'd studied his work history with KCAP, one of Midtown's news networks; he was virulently anti-Christian, and had been relentlessly 'investigating', i.e. attacking, many Christian organizations, including the Oldeeds Group. "What do you remember?" I asked. "Any idea why you were attacked?" I should note that I was in my light trenchcoat and plainclothes underneath. My Tilley hat had an SBI Reserve badge under the requisite Airborne wings, but I was not wearing the hat indoors. "No." he said. "I'd been working on this smuggling pipeline. A Detective Sharples had tipped me off about it, and I'd interviewed Captain Moynahan of the Midtown Police about it. I found out that 'Victory Christian Ministries' had bank accounts here, and also in the City." "Where are your notes?" I asked. "Do you have anything that could give me a clue to who attacked you?" "Most of my stuff was in my desk at KCAP." he said. "I didn't try to hide anything at home, which was a good thing because the Police told me my house was broken into." "Mind if I take a look there and see if they left any clues that might lead me to them?" "Go ahead." the reporter said. "But take Captain Moynahan with you." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * It was getting late in the afternoon as we pulled up to the small house of the reporter. I'd taken the precaution to get a fresh search warrant, citing the Agent Reubens murder as a possible new connection. As usual, I got the warrant but it took a lot longer than it takes to get them from the judges in my County. Another reason to be grateful for what I have. When I got there, I parked a distance away. "Molly," I said, "get behind the wheel. I expect trouble. If anyone comes after you, get the hell out of here. If something happens to me and Captain Moynahan, get up to my Town as fast as this car will take you and get your sister. She will bring down the wrath of God, but you have to stay safe in this SUV. Promise?" "If you say so." Molly said, knowing that my main concern was my baby inside her belly. My fears were well-founded. As 'Cav' and I reached the door of the house, I heard the roar of police sirens. Several cars whizzed in, the tires screeching. Among the uniformed Midtown Police Officers getting out of their cars was an older man, also in uniform. He was Assistant Chief Mark McCluskey. He was a tough, grizzled veteran of the force, and looked as if he'd seen the seamier side of life. "What the hell are you doing here, Moynahan?" he growled. "I told you that you were off this case!" Moynahan made sure to make his voice sound as gravelly and folksy as he could; in that way he reminded me of P. Harvey Eckhart. He said "I'm not on it, Chief. This SBI Agent is investigating it, and I'm just assisting in the interest of good relations with our State Bureau of Investigation." "And who the hell are you?" McCluskey said to me. I noted his officers were tense, ready to draw guns. For myself, I stood in front of the door, my legs spread slightly in a 'ready' stance, tapping my red crowbar in the palm of my left hand. "I'm Lieutenant Don Troy of the SBI Reserve." I thundered back at him. "I have a warrant to search these premises, and I'm investigating the attack on this reporter in connection with two State cases, including that of the assassination of an SBI agent." "Oh yeah?" said McCluskey. "Well not anymore, you're not. This case is local, no matter what happened to your agent. Now you get the hell out of Midtown by dark, if you know what's good for you." "Is that a threat, Chief McCluskey?" I asked loudly. "No." he said, not falling for the trap. "It's just good sound advice, if you know what is good for you. But if you try to go in there, these officers are going to stop you, and with lethal force if necessary." "Going to kill me?" I asked. "If I have to." said McCluskey, getting worn to anger by my attitude. "Better be sure." I said. I raised an eyebrow as if glancing behind him. He and his officers turned around. Twelve uniformed State Patrol Officers stood behind him. All of them had their hands on their guns, some actually drawn. They had appeared quietly and suddenly from out of nowhere, like Japanese ninja. "You go on inside and look around, Lieutenant." said Moynahan. "I'll wait out here with the Assistant Chief, and keep him from getting hurt." "Sounds like a plan." I said. I went inside. "How dare you bring the SBI into this?" McCluskey said to Moynahan. "I didn't. He contacted me." said Moynahan. Indeed, I had made the effort to send an email on my SBI Reserve account, knowing I needed to provide cover for him. "I am going to barbecue your ass for this, Moynahan." growled McCluskey. "Come now, Chief," said Moynahan, "you've said that before, and we both know you' can't do a damn thing to me. And by the way, you're a lucky man to still be alive right now." "What the fuck are you talking about?" McCluskey said, turning a baleful eye onto the Captain. "Didn't you see what that man had in his hands?" Moynahan asked. "Yeah, a fucking red crowbar. So wha--" McCluskey's eyes widened as the realization hit him. "Oh, Jesus..." "No, not Jesus, but it was indeed the Iron Crowbar himself, Chief." said Moynahan, rubbing salt into the wound. "And he has his eyes firmly upon you. After you think about what that means, you should probably go home and change your underwear." McCluskey turned around, seeing the State Patrol Officers still watching his men alertly. There was nothing he could do. At least not right now. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Looking around, I saw that the small, two bedroom house had been devastated. Every piece of furniture had been turned over, and the sofa had been been cut open and its contents spilled all over the place. The television set had been smashed open. The entire kitchen looked like a tornado had passed through. The mattress and box springs in the bedroom had also been ripped apart. There were gaping holes in the walls. The door to the attic in the ceiling had been pulled open, the ladder still extended to the floor. Glancing up there, I saw that the heater and a.c. units had been opened up, and the insulation had been removed from every space laid, and was strewn about. The perps had been extremely thorough in their search, I noted as I went back to the main floor. My examination showed nothing. There could be no hiding place that would not have been found. I realized that the perps had used sonar on the walls, and ripped out the drywall of any suspicious area. The medicine cabinet had been ripped out of the wall in the bathroom, even. When I went back outside, the Assistant Chief and his men got back into their cars and left. I went to the leader of the State Patrol Officers. "Thanks guys." I said. "Keep your receipts for dinner tonight and I'll pay you back." "Thanks, Commander." the Leader said. "If you need us again, you know where to call." They walked down the street out of sight. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Did you find anything?" Molly asked as she drove us back to her Headquarters. I was riding shotgun in my own Police SUV, which I almost never got to do as I was normally driving. "No." I said, noticing that Molly's eyes were sparkling. "The perps were thorough in their search for anything the reporter had. They knew they had time to ransack the place. They used sonar on the walls, tore up literally anything and everything that could've been a hiding place. That bespeaks a level of expertise and equipment at a very, very high level." "Good thing you had those State Patrol guys backing us up." said Captain Moynahan. "I know McCluskey is dirty, but something's really going on for him to show up like that. I really wasn't expecting that..." Molly's eyes were sparkling even more. "You and your entire team need to be very careful." I said. "I don't want any of you ending up in the hospital like that reporter, or worse." "Don't worry." said Moynahan. "The Midtown Police are not nearly as corrupt as the City Police or Southport Police. We've got a lot of good people working for good. That's why I haven't retired yet: I can't let them down." "I hear you." I said. "By the way, if you did retire, who do you think would lead the Good Guys?" "Our Chief is a good man. He has to play the political game, but there are lines he won't cross and has not tolerated being crossed. Soltis is a good man, and I don't even need to tell you about Evans here. And there are a few others salted away in various places. Good combat veterans, all." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Assistant Chief McCluskey was boiling mad as he went into his office. Sitting down he grabbed the phone and called his contact within the State Patrol. "Greg, what the hell were you doing, letting your officers show up at that reporters' house to protect the Iron Crowbar?" McCluskey growled. "Don't you know how fucking dangerous this guy is?" "What are you talking about?" he was asked. He explained what had happened. "Mark," the man on the other end of the line said, his voice furtive, "I can't speak loudly, people are nearby, including the Station Commander. I can tell you this: we didn't send any State Patrol Officers to that house, and we haven't been asked for help by the SBI, at least not here in Midtown, for months..." Pink Lemonade Ch. 02 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * After dinner, Molly and I went back to her house, actually our jointly-owned house. As always, I felt the nostalgia of the years having lived here before. I made sure to make some new memories by spending a lot of time with Ross, playing with him then prepping him for bed and getting him settled in. Sitting in the living room on the sofa, Molly was snuggling into me, her legs curled under her as I stretched my legs in front of me. Molly's hand was feeling my groin through my pants for my cock. "Interesting group of guys, that State Patrol unit." she said. "Indeed." I said. "In fact--" *KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!* I went to answer the door. Sure enough, the grinning visage of my nephew Todd was outside. I let him in. "Hi, Uncle Donny. Hi, Aunt Molly." he said mischievously. "Hello yourself, State Patrol Officer Burke." Molly replied, giving it right back. "Ah, you noticed." Todd said, grinning widely. I said "Let's just say that you and your posse looked good in those uniforms. Good thing they didn't notice you needed a haircut, though the other guys keep their hair 'military' anyway." Indeed, the Leader of the group had been Todd's friend 'The Leader', who had dated my mom in the past. His brother and Hugh Hewitt, combat brothers-in-arms, were also in the group of 'State Patrol Officers'. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 2:00am, Tuesday, August 11th. The rustle of the doorknob to the bedroom awakened me instantly, and I was already sitting up with my gun in my hand as the door opened. Fortunately, it was Todd. He was wearing all black, and even in the dim light of the streetlight through the window, I could see he was wearing an earpiece; ergo, he was in communication with someone. "Uncle Don," he whispered, barely audibly, "are you awake?" "Yeah, what's up?" I whispered back. "Get dressed and come with me." he whispered. I quickly put on my black slacks and a black shirt as Molly began to awaken. "Stay here or in Ross's room." I whispered to her. Then I followed Todd downstairs. "Don't turn on any lights." Todd said as we descended the stairs. He led me to the kitchen, which was to the left of the living room as one looked at the front of the house from the front yard. "Don't get near the window; stand back and look through these." What he handed me looked like a pair of binoculars, but was actually a night vision device. Looking through them, I could see the houses outside in a dim green glow. "Look between those houses." Todd said. Doing so, I saw what he was getting at. Two men were crouched by some bushes, watching my house. Sweeping down the road, I saw two more men in a car parked down the road near the end of the street. They were also watching the house, and were using night vision devices themselves! "We're ready to hit them." said Todd. "What do you want to do, Uncle Don?" "Take them down." I ordered. "Bring them into the garage here." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The four men did not know what had hit them. Masked men in black had sprung up behind the men in the bushes, taking them down, putting hoods over their heads and securing their hands behind them. The men in the car had heard the locks to their doors suddenly unlock, followed by the doors opening and hands violently removing them, then hoods put on their heads and their hands tied behind them. Once in the garage and the door to it closed, I had Molly come down, dressed and with her badge. I signaled for my guys to remove the hoods. "Okay, assholes." I said, tapping the red crowbar in my left palm. "I want to know why you're staking out a Midtown Detective Sergeant's house?" "What?" asked one of them. I recognized them as four of the officers that had accompanied the Assistant Chief to the reporter's house earlier in the day. "You heard the man." said Molly, her voice cutting. "Why are you watching my house? I am going to have your fucking badges for this." She was holding up her own badge for them to see. "We were just following orders, Sergeant!" gasped one of the men. "Whose orders?" Molly asked sharply. "Our Captain's." said the man, giving the name and the precinct. "One of McCluskey's boys." Molly said to me. "Who is this guy?" asked one of the men, who I surmised to be the leader of their little group. "He's the Iron Crowbar." Molly said. "Yes, the Iron Crowbar. And he looks like one very pissed of man right now." Indeed, I was still tapping my crowbar in my hand, and the looks of shock on the four men's faces was priceless. At times like this, I was grateful for the fearsome reputation I'd cultivated over the previous months and years. As the men looked around, they saw several black-clad, masked men surrounding them. "Yes, gentlemen," I said, "you are in a world of shit right now. Are you the guys that fucked up that reporter?" "No," said one captive, "that wasn't us." "Look, we don't know anything about any of this." said the leader of the group. "We're on the Assistant Chief's payroll, and we do things for him when he asks us to. Usually we're just muscle for him when he's dealing with the politicians. Cops don't get paid a lot, you know." "Yeah, I know." I said. "So who did fuck up the reporter?" "I don't know. I think those were some guys from out of town. That wasn't McCluskey's doing, either. I don't know for sure, but I think he just got paid to make sure it wasn't investigated. I don't know why the guy was fucked over." "What about that smuggler that was found murdered?" Molly asked. "Sergeant, I don't know what you're talking about, there." said the leader. I could see in his face and those of his confederates that he was telling the truth. "I did not hear your answer to the Sergeant's question." I said. "Why are you watching her house? And don't tell me you're just following orders. I want the purpose of your mission." "Chief McCluskey told us to watch the house, see who came in and out. We saw you come home with her and we reported it." "Are your guys watching anyone else's house?" I asked. The men did not answer, and I could tell by their looks that someone was. "Leader," I said to a masked man, "send some guys to Captain Moynahan and Detective Soltis's homes. Round up the assholes watching them, and make sure our guys are okay. Feel free to fuck the assholes up like I'm going to fuck up these four guys." The Leader signaled to one of his guys, who quickly left. "Sergeant, what do you want me to do with these four pieces of dog shit?" I asked. "I'm going to have their asses fired when I get to the station this morning." Molly said. "Unless you want to take them somewhere and kill them." The fear in the captured men was palpable. I smelled a foul odor; at least one of them had just shit his pants. "Gentlemen," I said, making my voice soft and level, "hear these words and be damn sure to believe them. If anything..." "ANYTHING!" I shouted, and smelled more foul odors. I returned to near whisper: "... happens to this Sergeant or her family, or to Captain Moynahan or his family, or Detective Soltis or his family..." I tapped the red crowbar on their cheeks as I went from man to man... "... then you will be seeing me again. And I will be the very last thing you see in your worthless lives. And it won't be a painless death. I really do suggest you resign and find work in another State." I signaled to The Leader, who had his guys put the hoods back on the captured officers. They would drive them to some place out of town, along with the idiots watching Moynahan's place, beat the shit out of them, then leave them there. "Think we'll have any more problems with them?" Molly asked after we'd gone back in the house. Todd had stayed with us. "I don't know, but keep your eyes peeled, and watch out for each other." I said. "And do let me or Cindy know if you think there is even a whisper of a problem..." Part 9 - The Tease At 10:05am, Tuesday morning, August 11th, ADA Jenna Stiles's punk assistant Gor-don walked into the spacious office of Deputy Chief Robert Brownlee without knocking and without invitation. Just as Brownlee was going to begin yelling at the 'pajama boy' punk, Gor-don let a sheet of paper slip from his blue-fingernail-painted hand onto Brownlee's desk. "What is this?" Brownlee queried. "The names of the women on the Burke tapes." said Gor-don. "Consider it a little gift." With that, he left the office. Brownlee looked at the names, the grin on his face getting wider. He picked up his phone to make a very important phone call... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "I have something for you." Brownlee said to his lunch companion at the Hyatt Hotel restaurant in the affluent north part of Town. "Consider it some juicy information from a confidential source." "Oh really?" said Priya Ajmani, smiling radiantly. "Let me guess... the names of the women on the Jack Burke sex tapes." Brownlee's face fell. "How did you know?" "Oh, I'm so sorry Robert." Priya said, her black eyes twinkling. "You see, our friend Gor-don from the ADA's office has already given me the list. Robert, did you know that Gor-don has a really big cock? Twice as long as your little pecker, from what I hear." Priya grinned brightly as she twisted the verbal knife. "Well, when Gor-don brought me the list, I gave him a really hot, wet blow job. I sucked that big cock of his for at least an hour..." Priya licked her lips in sheer lust as she went on "... and when he shot his load into my mouth, I swallowed... every... drop... of his hot cum." "Mmmm..." Priya licked her lips again, her eyes closed as she remembered, "... Gor-don's cum tasted soooo good. He really got off, too. I think he really enjoyed that blowjob." She opened her eyes and smiled brightly at Brownlee as she said "So Gor-don got head from me for being first to bring the list, and you just don't get anything for being just a little bit too... late." She giggled at the look of bitter anger on Brownlee's face. "You fucking tease." he snarled. "Do you know what I'm going to do to you?" "Not a damn thing." The voice was of a woman that had come up behind him. Robert Brownlee had again placed himself where he was at disadvantage and had not seen State Senator Katherine Woodburn walk up behind him. With her was her assistant Clark and another man, more broad shouldered and burly. Brownlee knew these were Katherine's bodyguards, and they were ready to fuck him up if he tried anything. It had been Katherine's voice, and she continued by saying "It's really too bad, Robert. Gor-don is a pajama-boy punk, but he is getting a lot more pussy than you are, and well-deserved, too. Gor-don does his job, while you are a hopeless fuck-up that is failing to deliver time and again." "What is the point of all this, then?" snarled Brownlee. Katherine sat down next to Priya, allowing her hand to caress the beautiful Indian woman's thigh under the table. The two young men sat down at the table beside their booth as Katherine said "The point is that the Appellate Court is about to rule that the SBI should get the information on the tapes. You are going to call a press conference and tell the Press that you are giving the names of the women to SBI Deputy Director Robert Gaston, who will be there. You will give him that list of names, and within 24 hours it will have leaked to the Press. You'll deny being the leak, and even the Iron Crowbar knows the SBI leaks like a sieve." "Geez, thanks for nothing." said Brownlee. "The Iron Crowbar is going to rip me a new one. Why don't you just go ahead and kill me..." "That can be arranged, Robert." Katherine Woodburn said severely. "You have your instructions. Let's go, guys." With that, Katherine and her two aides left. Priya gave Robert a malicious grin, her lips glossy and wet, as she followed them out. Part 10 - The Lemonade Plot Redux The Buford Girls Scouts meeting was fully attended by girls and parents. It is possible they'd all been called and told that the Iron Crowbar was going to visit them. SBI Director Jack Lewis was there, at my invitation. He spoke for a few minutes about the SBI, but everyone there knew he was mainly there as a pre-Governor-campaign appearance. Then it was my turn to speak. "Thank you all for coming." I said, after the leader of the Girl Scouts introduced me. "Girls, we had a tough thing happen to us last weekend, but if you're willing to help me, I think we can solve this mystery together. Who's in?" Every girl raised her hand, including the sad-faced Margaret. "Good!" I said. " Let's go outside." Once outside, I said "Okay, so let's set up a couple of tables as if they're your booth. I also happen to have brought some yellow and pink lemonade." I opened the pink lemonade, poured some into a cup, and drank it. "As you can see, it's perfectly good lemonade." "My guests here are going to take their places." I said. I was referring to the group I'd asked to come with me. Cindy, Todd, Teresa, Laura, Tanya, Jack Muscone, Jenna, Martin Nash and Sandra Speer had come in a police van. SBI Director Lewis and SBI Agents Crenshaw and Orosco had also been asked to come and, somewhat to my surprise, all three were present. "If you parents will mill about around my group as if you were at the fair, that would be great." I said. The parents did so. Everyone had been poured some yellow lemonade and were sipping it and talking. I went up to Margaret at the table with a cup of pink lemonade. "Would you give this to the very lovely tall lady there?" Laura came up and Margaret gave her the pink lemonade as I came back around the table and joined my wife and the group. As Laura was about to sip her lemonade, I reached up for the cup and said"Before you drink that-- oh, I'm sorry!" I'd knocked the cup to the ground. Laura and I both bent down to pick it up, and I stumbled and fell forward on my hands and knees. Recovering, I handed Laura a now-empty cup. "Darling," said Laura, "this is not my cup." She sniffed at the cup that had purple drops in it. "This is grape juice." "Yes, it is." I said. "And that is how Jeff Reubens was murdered at the Festival." To be continued. So, what happened? How was Reubens killed? Answers and a lot more in the next exciting chapter... just don't drink the kool-aid! Pink Lemonade Ch. 03 The chronological order of my stories is now listed in WifeWatchman's biography. 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 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 10 - The Lemonade Plot Redux, Cont'd "So," I said to my shocked audience. "Did everyone see what happened?" "I did." said Cindy. "But I'm used to you by now. You switched the cups when you pretended to fall over." I heard small gasps of understanding. "Yes, very good, Crowbar 2." I said, pulling the cup with pink droplets from my pocket. "Reubens drank the poisoned pink lemonade. Then someone came up to him and switched the cups. That's why we didn't find cyanide in the cup next to him." "Well I'll be damned." SBI Director Jack Lewis said quietly. "So, girls," I said, addressing the watching Girl Scouts, "you can see that this was not your fault, and was the work of someone else. And I do thank you very much for helping me recreate the scene." "Does this mean we can get selfies with you?" one Girl Scout asked. "Uh, sure." I said, acquiescing to modern fads. It was not long before 'the Facebook', as Captain Moynahan called it, had pictures of Your Iron Crowbar with a Girl Scout troop posted upon it. As everyone talked about the crime, Director Lewis said to me "This is very interesting, Commander, but it doesn't give us the criminal." "That's true." I said. "But we've gotten a lot of footage from citizens, and we can go back and look at it. If we catch someone pocketing a cup or replacing it, then we've got something on someone." I was thinking of one person in particular as I spoke. "So, what about the Wargrave case?" Lewis asked. "Anything new?" "No, Director." I said. "I'm sifting through my findings and writing my report now. There is simply no evidence of anything but Mr. Wargrave committing suicide." "And how did that shatterproof, bulletproof window break?" asked Lewis with a hint of a sneer in his voice. "All I can tell you is that was totally shattered." I said. "Wargrave may have had some kind of sonic device, like a musical note shattering a wine glass. It may have fallen out the window with Wargrave. His associate Austin Murphy was on tape on the ground floor of the building. Maybe he picked up the device on the ground and left before the City Police realized what had happened. But that's sheer speculation, and I'm not even going to write that down for my report." "Okay." said Lewis. "I'd rather see you bring Reubens's killer to justice, anyway. Good work figuring this much out. I'll make my goodbyes to the crowd and go." And he suited the deed to the word. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Just one thing I don't understand." said Cindy. She was riding in the backseat of my SUV, with me driving and Laura riding 'shotgun'. "I can't figure out why the killer would bother changing the cups like that. Seems like an unnecessary finesse." "I agree with you." I said. "But I had been thinking about that, and a couple of possible reasons came to me. First, the killer thought that someone might see what happened at the Festival, and by taking the contaminated cup he removes the evidence completely." "That's true, though he risked being seen switching the cups." Cindy said. "But what's the other reason?" "Well, let me put it like this." I said. "I think our un-friendly neighborhood Consultant of Crime has a tendency to introduce dramatics into the crimes he is consulted upon, and sometimes unnecessarily so. The whole thing with Jimmy Tolson and the dramatic disappearance from an unescapable room, for example. The Trish Donolan murder case, and hiding the murder weapon the way it was hidden is another example. The painting delivered to me, and the matchstick Trojan Horse, and there are other examples, also." "Leaving a map of your location at Lake Amengi-Nunagen in my office." said Cindy. "Exactly." I said. "By having the killer switch the cups, we're left astounded by there being no cyanide in the cup by Reubens's side. It's just an extra touch to confound us. Needless, over the top, but a signature of the man who thought out the crime." "And if that's a tendency of his, maybe we can use it to find it and take him down?" Cindy asked. "Maybe." I said. "But he's still very good about staying hidden and keeping himself disassociated from it all." Part 11 - Making His List, Checking It Twice "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the beautiful older redheaded reporterette at 7:00am Wednesday, August 12th. "Channel Two News has learned that the State Supreme Court has made a stunning decision in the Jack Burke sex tapes case, formally called KSTD v. Town & County Council!" "The State Supreme Court ruled that the Open Records Act does not apply to evidence acquired in connection with ongoing Court trials and appeals. However, the Supreme Court left open other aspects of the case by returning it to the Appellate Court for further review. While the Jack Burke murder case is considered still open, it is well known that Joe Arruzio admitted to the murder of his wife and her lover Burke before committing suicide. If the case is deemed closed by the Court, it is unclear whether the evidence can be requested or released under the Open Records Act." "Also, while the Supreme Court said that the prurient interest of the Public's Right to Know was not in and of itself a legitimate consideration when considering the public release of evidentiary information, they also said that withholding information from the Public because of potential embarrassment to citizens cannot in itself be considered a legitimate reason for withholding the information from the Public." "The case is now back in the hands of Judge Leahy of the Appellate Court. SBI Director Jack Lewis, who is widely expected to announce his candidacy for Governor over the upcoming Labor Day weekend, said that he believes the information should be released to the Public, and that State Government should be open and transparent. Governor Val Jared has said that he will press the Legislature during the next legislative session to refine the law to specifically exclude evidence in all cases, open or closed." "Here we go again." Cindy Ross said as she sipped her coffee in the MCD room. "Yep." ADA Paulina Patterson said. "And it gets worse: last night I got word that KSTD had filed a motion with the Appellate Judge asking for the names of the women on the tape if he won't release the tapes themselves. We filed a counter, but Krasney is worried that Leahy will be eager to give KSTD the information. He is rabidly anti-Police and hates the Rich. Leahy has politicized his Court and uses his Bench for political purposes rather than jurisprudence. He would love to do something like this." "They don't have that information, do they?" asked Joanne Cummings, the lovely blonde Detective. "I mean... unless they already have the tapes themselves?" "Unfortunately, Miss Cummings," I said with plenty of asperity, "it is more than possible, it is likely that they do have the list of names without having the actual tapes. Otherwise, KSTD would still be fighting to get the tapes themselves. Now all of a sudden, they just want a name list? Connect those dots, Detectives." There was a general groan in the room. Cindy came up next to me and said very quietly "You better get ahold of Sheriff Allgood and stay with him." "Way ahead of you, Crowbar 2." I said. "Wayyyyy ahead of you on that one." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Sheriff Daniel Allgood and his top Deputy, Charles T. Oswald, had come to the Chief's conference room for a meeting with Police top brass at 9:00am, still Wednesday, August 12th. However, Deputy Chief Robert Brownlee was not in attendance, so the administrative portion of the meeting was postponed. I invited Daniel into my office. At 10:00am the news broke on KXTC: "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News! We interrupt this program to bring you the shocking news that Appellate Court Judge Leahy has determined that the names of the women in the Jack Burke sex tapes should be given to the SBI per a motion filed by our competitor KSTD, and he has ordered the Town & County Police Department to provide that information immediately, and without regard to any further appeals of the case. We now go to John Hardwood at the State Office Building on Courthouse square." "Oh my God." Daniel said as we watched. I remained silent as we watched what unfolded. SBI Deputy Director Robert Gaston was at the podium, but the shocker was who was with him: TCPD Deputy Chief Robert Brownlee. Brownlee was speaking: "In accordance with Judge Leahy's legal order, on behalf of the Town & County Police Department, and to keep the Police Department in compliance with the legal order of Judge Leahy, I am now giving SBI Deputy Director Gaston the list of names on the Jack Burke tapes." With that, he handed the list to Gaston and the men shook hands. "I am going to kill that son of a bitch!" Daniel almost screamed. "Easy, Daniel." I said. "First of all, I've got dibs on killing him. Second, it is entirely possible that Brownlee does not have the entire name list." "How the fuck would you know that?!?!" Daniel shouted, then saw the look in my eyes. "Wha... how... you? Did you leak those names?" "No, not directly." I said. "But I happen to know that the list is only about a third of the total, that the women on it are either already dead or were heavy contributors to Katherine Woodburn's campaign, and SBI Director Jack Lewis will be hoping for their contributions to his gubernatorial campaign. I'm sure he'll get those contributions... if and when he bears down and keeps this information from coming out. He'll work on Woodburn to help him squelch the names, taking care of Priya, and then the thing dies down at least through the campaign season next year." Daniel was dumbfounded. "And her name is not on that list?" He meant his wife, Melina. "Of course not." I said. "By the way, she said she'd be glad to stand up and tell the world she fucked Jack Burke's brains out and that it was long before she ever met you, but I told her that it would still affect your political career." "And she was married to you at the time." Daniel replied. "Like I care." I said. "You know my affection for the Duke of Wellington in situations like that." It was Wellington that had once been threatened by the exposure of a sexual scandal. His awesome reply was "Publish, and be damned!". The ol' Iron Crowbar shares those sentiments. Hard to blackmail me. Daniel was still shocked, but then got his wits about him. "What about that bastard Brownlee? What are we going to do about him?" "This is where we find out how bad a mistake I made in supporting Bennett as Chief. Or not." I replied. And then I began my reverie... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Days before, I had visited the offices of the Chief Executive Officer of BOW Enterprises. His assistant, a lovely Asian woman, greeted me as I entered the anteroom office. As she phoned Todd to tell him of my presence, I made some observations of her... and my observations served to confirm some things I'd suspected. "Hi Uncle Don!" Todd said in his mischievous way as I was admitted into the office. "I'm a little surprised to see you here, but I'm glad you came by. We got a new contract and we're ramping up the nanotechnology factory, if you'd like to see it. Barry Oliver is excited about it." "Yes, I'm sure he is." I said. "Sure, I'll take the grand tour, but there's something I need to ask you about first." "Sure, what's that?" asked Todd. In reply, I took out my bug-scrambling device and activated it. "Todd, why did you tell Priya Ajmani about the Jack Burke sex tapes?" I asked, my eyes boring into my nephew. He instantly figured out that this was not a time to play mental games. "Wow." he said, stunned. "Not much gets by you, Uncle Don. How much do you know?" "Not as much as I want to." I said. "I think your mother has been a bad influence upon you, but I don't know why." "I don't know why she wanted me to, either." Todd said. "I went along to keep my dad distracted. Didn't work out as expected, though." "I figured that." I said. "But what I don't think you know is who the women on the tapes are. You do know that one of them is Melina?" "What?!" Todd asked, and I could see he was shocked. "I... I didn't know that..." He did the family thing of going into a reverie, realizing the ramifications. "Yes, Todd." I said, hurling my words at him very brutally. "Melina fucked Jack in college, then she fucked him when he came to this Town before he was murdered. She's on the tapes. I figured my mother wanted you to tell Priya about the tapes to hurt Melina. Am I right?" "I... I don't know." Todd said. "I had no idea Melina was on the tapes. If I did, I'd never have done that. I don't want to hurt her. Hell, I still have feelings for her..." "Yes, I know." I said. "She doesn't care if all the world knows she banged your brother Jack. But there's still going to be unwanted attention for her if it comes out." "You know," Todd said musingly, within his own thoughts, "I don't think my mom hates Melina. Not like she hates you, anyway. And since you're divorced from Melina, why would my mother want to cause her problems like this?" "I don't know." I said, and didn't care... I had the admission from Todd that his mother was behind this. "Wow..." Todd said. "So... what can I do to fix this?" "I was hoping you'd ask that." I said, smiling for the first time... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Back to the present: the press conference at Police Headquarters was short. Chief Bennett went up to the podium and read a statement saying "Deputy Chief Robert Brownlee was not authorized to release those names to the SBI. I have formally suspended him pending an investigation of his actions as possibly criminal. The County has also filed a motion with the Court to enjoin the media from reporting any name on that list publicly. Any media outlet or reporter in this County who reports any name on that list will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for illegally revealing Court evidence. I will be taking no questions." With that, the Chief walked off the podium and out of the room, leaving snarling reporters to whisper "We'll see about that..." Within fifteen minutes, the Police Captain's Union had filed a formal grievance against Chief Bennett, demanding the reinstatement of Deputy Chief Brownlee and the resignation of Chief Bennett. The process was already in the process of being rigged... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Hello, Katherine." said SBI Director Jack Lewis later that day as he entered her Senate office in Midtown. "Thank you for making some time for me today." "My time is yours, Jack." Katherine replied. "Interesting times up in my District, wouldn't you say?" She was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. "Yes, but not in the way you might think." said Lewis. "Now that we have the names, there's no way, of course, that they can be released." "Why not?" asked Katherine, peering at the SBI Director. "Have you seen the names?" he asked. "Yes, of course." Katherine replied. "And I know that some of the women on that list are dead, and others are contributors to our Party and helped finance my campaign." "And I don't need to tell you how important they are to my campaign." said Lewis. "Especially now that Henry Wargrave is dead." "So how is the Iron Crowbar's investigation of that going?" asked Katherine with a sly grin. "Nothing special." Lewis said. "He's not going to say anything that might cause him trouble later. I was hoping he'd make a mistake and then we'd hit his partner Ross and catch him in a contradiction with her testimony." "I guess that won't happen now," said Katherine, "since she can't be compelled to testify against him." "She might plead the Fifth," said Lewis, "but we can still get that on record, if we were to move-- what?" He'd seen her look. "You haven't heard?" Katherine said. "It's been discovered that Cindy Ross is Donald Troy's first cousin. Their fathers were half brothers by the same mother. Ross's biological father is Dr. P. Harvey Eckhart of that 'Vision' cult in Coltrane County." "What? Blood kin? You're kidding." Lewis said. Reassured that she was not kidding, he contemplated that information. "And she was promoted to Captain, so no nepotism laws violations. Damn, that bastard Crowbar is smart." "Yes, and not only that, Priya thinks he's behind this restricted list of women on the Burke tapes." Katherine said. "How do you figure that?" "Look at the list. Our own contributors are the ones named, and the most important name was omitted entirely." Katherine said. "Once she got the list, Priya went back to get some confirmations. One unimpeachable Source told her of the omission." "How are you going to get the rest?" asked Lewis. "We're not." said Katherine. "This was all just a feint. Sure, it helps us keep the Sheriff and the Police Department agitated and distracted, but in the long run, it's not our ultimate goal." "What is?" Lewis asked. "And you need to tell me something about it... we have to work together here, Katherine. If I don't win the Governorship, our plans are severely impacted, even if I remain SBI Director, and this could be important." "I know, Jack, I know." said Katherine. "This one is big... Priya is going to expose the murderer of the Reverend Jonas Oldeeds, and this exposure will devastate the Iron Crowbar." "He didn't do it. He was almost killed himself." said Lewis. "I know, and I curse whatever Act of God saved him." spat Katherine angrily. "Just keep your ears open... you'll hear it soon enough. We just need one more distraction for that bastard with the Crowbar and his little blonde pitbull..." Part 12 - The Threat "This is Priya Ajmani, Five Alive News This Morning!" said the lovely Indian reporterette at 8:00am, Thursday, August 13th. "The Police Captains Union's grievance of the suspension of Deputy Chief Brownlee for giving the SBI the names of the women on the Jack Burke tapes was upheld! Chief Brownlee was proven to be right when he complied with Appellate Judge Leahy's orders to turn the names over. KSTD is working with the SBI to obtain the list of names, but is fully prepared to once again work through the court system to bring you the names that you have a right to know..." "Damn." said Cindy in my office as Priya went on to other stories. Priya then finished: "Don't forget my special tonight!" She went on to talk about her prime-time special that evening, which would be an hour devoted to the life of the Reverend Jonas Oldeeds, followed by an examination of his murder and her claim of a cover up by Police. "Can it get worse? Cindy asked. "Yes." I said. "Yes it can. I just hope it doesn't. Priya is playing with fire, as it is." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Still Thursday, August 13th. I was catching up on paperwork in my office at 5:30pm when Cindy knocked on the door and came on in. "The Chief has left, so you can go." she said, in the form of an order. "Sounds like a good idea." I said. "I think I'm caught up on most of the paperwork." Pink Lemonade Ch. 03 "Anything new on any of your cases?" Cindy asked. "On the Reubens case, I'm still looking at footage that was sent in." I said. "So far, nothing. But since the Girl Scout meeting, Lewis hasn't said much about it. He's leaving me alone." "I think that bothers me more than when he's bugging you." Cindy astutely said. "So, what are you going to be doing tonight?" "Laura and I are going to Daniel and Melina's for dinner, and to watch Priya's special." I said. "Oh." Cindy said. "Yeah. I think I'll spend a few hours at the gym, getting the paperwork done. I have a feeling Melina is going to be... distracted." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Could things get worse? Cindy had asked. Yes. And things got worse. A lot worse. "This is Priya Ajmani, Five Alive News." said the lovely Indian reporterette on the screen as Daniel, Melina, Laura and I watched at Daniel and Melina's house. "Tonight, a special report on the cover-up of the assassination of the Reverend Jonas Oldeeds." The first part of the show recounted Oldeeds's career, his early ministry in Texas, his rise to national prominence. It was cast in the most glowing of terms. Priya came back on. "What you're about to see may be very disturbing to some viewers. We are going to show footage of the assassination of the Reverend Oldeeds... and the near-death of now-Commander Donald Troy." The video showed from a distance Oldeeds being shot, people rushing up to him. Then a closer shot taken by a cellphone video, showing Oldeeds's shirt suddenly becoming blood red and him looking down at it then at his wife. The final head shot was not shown. Then the footage changed. There were only a few distant angles showing me, and they showed me falling as if jerked to one side and what looked like a spray of smoke literally an inch from my head, which was a bullet smashing into the metal wall of the shed behind me. "Glad that bastard couldn't shoot straight." Laura said. "He did shoot straight." I said, very sure. I could still almost feel that tug on my shoulder that pulled me out of harm's way. Laura just peered at me. "I haven't seen much of this." Melina said, her voice ice-cold. "I for one am very glad that Oldeeds saw what was happening to him before he died. That... was for my mother." She meant her adopted mother, who had been brutally violated in front of Melina upon the orders of Oldeeds. Priya's show then began exploring the situation... and I saw where it was leading. First, she had an interview with SBI Agent Richard 'Dick' Ferrell. "So," Priya said, "you were physically assaulted by an FBI agent when you tried to investigate the Reverend's murder?" "That's right." said Ferrell. "They had to resort to physical violence to stop me from doing my duty." "And the local police prevented the SBI from investigating? Why would they do that?" asked Priya, acting very shocked and disturbed. "Yes." said Ferrell. "I don't know why. The SBI is the premiere crime investigation organization in the State. We're better than anyone else at solving crimes of this magnitude. But not only was our help denied, it was actively prevented." "I'll take one Iron Crowbar over a hundred SBI agents, any day." said Daniel Allgood. "Shhhh, don't bust poor Ferrell's bubble." I said, drawing laughter. The TV screen then went to Priya at the Fairgrounds. "What is often overlooked is the second assassination attempt that took place this day, that of Commander Donald Troy, who at the time was the Supervisor of the Major Crimes unit with the TCPD. "It is well known that Commander Troy has solved some of the very toughest cases in this County's history, from the murders of Marie Arruzio and Jack Burke, where the murderer Joe Arruzio used his twin brother to create an alibi, to the murder of Dr. Gloria Searles, the capture of the infamous bank robber 'the Silverfish', and more recently the Tolson/Mason disappearance and murders." "Commander Troy was shot and wounded rescuing three kidnapped little children from criminal clutches at Ward Harvester, for which he was awarded the Medal of Valor. And of course, he took down a powerful serial killer, the Black Widow Angela Harlan, who had confounded law enforcement in several States. It is no wonder that Commander Troy has gained a fearsome reputation throughout the entire State, and has earned the name 'the Iron Crowbar'." "Yet," Priya said, "he has not solved the case of the Reverend Oldeeds murder. This is very interesting, as his own father was one of the original Trustees of the Oldeeds Organization, and the Reverend Oldeeds spoke at Mr. Douglass Troy's funeral." "And nearly died in Apple Grove himself." I said. "You got that right." Melina said. Priya then began giving a new exposé... of me. "When Commander Troy arrived in this Town, he was married to Melina Troy, who is a co-owner of Town Fitness Centers. Donald and Melina divorced, and she married the current Town & County Sheriff, Daniel Allgood, who sources tell us was encouraged to run for Sheriff by Commander Troy himself. In addition, Donald Troy married the University's celebrated and nationally famous Professor of Psychology, Dr. Laura Fredricson." "See, I am a smart person." I said. Laura smiled and cuddled into my side as I put my arm around her. Priya went on: "Dr. Fredricson's research into sexual studies is well-known, but what is not as well-known is that she was once the wife of the late Army General..." Priya named the General's name, "...and was stationed with him in Europe. The General was heavily involved in Military Intelligence, and had ties to CIA operations on behalf of NATO." "She is not supposed to know that, much less be talking about it." Laura said, her voice barely above a whisper. Priya added "Dr. Fredricson has also done highly specialized psychological research in cooperation with the Federal Government, and much of her work is paid for by grants from the Federal Government." Priya landed another blow: "It also has been learned that Melina Allgood and Laura Fredricson are sisters. Their parents died when Laura Fredricson was a teenager and Melina was very young." "So much for that State Secret." Daniel said, meaning it humorously. But it was not a jovial evening... Priya had moved her angle so that the camera was shooting the Town Fitness Centers behind her as she said "So where did the long range shots that killed Rev. Oldeeds come from? The most likely location is this building at the north side of the Fairgrounds, which includes Town Fitness Centers. The police gathered no records of anyone who may have been at the gym at the time; like most businesses that day it was closed. But it is interesting that the other co-owner of Town Fitness Centers is The Iron Crowbar's trusted partner, Captain Cindy Ross." "And your cousin." Laura said to me. "That didn't come out until after this was filmed, or else Priya wisely omitted it if she knew before I made it public, if I don't miss my guess." I said. "And you never do." said Daniel. "That one is still a State Secret, I guess. Oh wait, is that Jack Muscone?" Sure enough, Priya was now interviewing the FBI Special Agent In Charge, Jack Muscone. "Agent Muscone, you did check the roof of that building, did you not?" asked Priya, smiling flirtatiously at Jack. "Yes, Priya, I did investigate that location with Commander Troy." said Muscone. "We found that the roof showed no signs of being disturbed, and the only access to the roof also showed no signs of being used just prior to that day." "What about the fire escape on the side of the building?" asked Priya. "As a weapons expert yourself, could it have been the place from where those shots were fired?" "I very much doubt it, Priya." said Jack. "It was a much lower perch than the roof, and that would make it a much tougher shot from the 750 to 800 yards of those shots. And if memory serves me correctly, that fire escape is visible from the street. It would be a very dangerous thing to set up and shoot at someone when you could be seen." Priya came back on the screen: "Still, from the angle of the shots fired, this building is the likeliest location." Priya then showed more interviews, first with Jack Muscone: "Agent Muscone, as an FBI expert on weapons, just how skilled and well-trained would a person have to be to place two such fast shots into Jonas Oldeeds from that distance?" Jack replied adroitly "I think any good sniper that practiced with a good long-range rifle could do it. After all, Lee Harvey Oswald only had U.S. Marine rifle training, and he assassinated President Kennedy with three fast bolt-action shots from a rifle ill-suited to the task." "So someone with military or other Government training would be able to do this?" Priya pressed. "I would not assume that it was anyone with Government training." said Muscone. Then Dick Ferrell was back on the air as Priya asked "What kind of training would someone need to accomplish those two shots, that quickly?" Ferrell was obviously prepped as he said "This was much more difficult than even the murder of President Kennedy in Dallas, Priya. I believe it would take someone with at least a very high degree of military sniper training and practice, and maybe more: Delta Force, or perhaps CIA training." Priya was wrapping up. "We know that then-Detective Ross was at the Fairgrounds near then-Supervisor Troy. But the other co-owner of Town Fitness Centers, Melina Troy Allgood, declined to be interviewed for this program, and her whereabouts on that day has never been independently verified. Commander Troy, Sheriff Allgood, and former Police Chief Griswold also refused KSTD's requests for interviews." "We can understand, with all these family connections, why Commander Troy might not want to devote his energies to the murder of his father's friend, the Reverend Jonas Oldeeds." Priya said. "But would not the interest of Justice be best served if Commander Troy exerted his tremendous powers and brought the killer of Jonas Oldeeds to trial? This is Priya Ajmani, Five Alive News, and in our next prime time special, I'll be investigating several deaths at the national level, including a Korean magnate, an Islamic professor in Athens, Georgia, and an agent of the Federal Reserve in Colorado. Until then, good night." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Lt. Wes 'Coldiron' Masters had not wasted time. He had sent uniformed Officers to the Mountain Nest, The Cabin, and Sheriff Deputies were staked out at the entrance to Daniel and Melina's home. Sure enough, camera crews arrived at the Mountain Nest, but Laura and I and our kids (and Bowser) stayed with Daniel and Melina and their child overnight. As we went to bed, Laura insisted upon giving me a blowjob. I watched her raven-haired head bobbing up and down as her lips slid up and down my taut, throbbing cockshaft. Her hands were exploring my tight balls and my groin, and the suction of her throat on my meat as she devoured it told me that the intensity was matching the turmoil inside her mind. I began to play with my wife's firm ass and her pussylips. She was getting wetter and wetter as I slid a finger up and down her slit, jarring her clitoris, then finally sinking into her cunthole. She groaned, then finally moved so that she was straddling me, and settled her hair-fringed, delicious pussy right over my face in a soixante-neuf. The air was filled with quiet moans and wet smacks as we orally pleasured each other. I worked my tongue hard on Laura's clit and her slit, then worked it deeper and deeper into her hole. "I want to fuck you, baby." I said. "I want to get nuts deep into you." "Mmmm, that sounds good." Laura said. She let me get out from under her and I quickly got behind her to mount her from the rear. "Ohhhhhhh!" she gasped out as I slid my throbbing, iron-hard cock into her pussy from behind, driving forward until my groin smacked her wonderful asscheeks with a loud *smack!*. I began pumping in and out of my beautiful wife, admiring her shoulders, her back, and the sight and feel of her asscheeks as I fucked her with lusty abandon. There was the added thrill of fucking her in someone else's house, and I suspected Daniel was deeply fucking Melina with his huge tool even as I shoved my thick meat into Laura with ever-harder, deeper strokes. After a minute or two, I realized that Laura was not going to come; she had too much on her mind. As intensely pleasurable as it was to fuck her, my nut was not really rising and I knew that I did need to build up to a hard cum. So I guided Laura's body to the bed and settled on top of her. After stroking her in this top-down 'spoon' position for a few minutes, I rolled us over so that we were on our sides. I buried my meat in her snatch and just grinded it. "You okay, baby?" I asked as I pressed my groin into my wife's buttcheeks, simply enjoying the feeling of being coupled with this woman. "You know me too well." Laura replied. "There's a lot going on, and it's hard to not let it distract me." "So let it." I said. "Tell me what's bothering you." Laura turned her head and pressed her mouth to mine in a warm kiss. Then she said "I know you can take care of the Oldeeds stuff. It's what Priya said she was going to investigate next that bothers me." "Those killings around the country?" I asked, my voice a whisper. "Yes." Laura whispered back. "I don't know how in the hell she found out about those, but that is huge threat to us." "Yeah, I know." I said. "Are you going to get KSTD to stand down on that?" Laura didn't reply, and I knew that something was really wrong. I slid my cock out of her cunt. She turned over, rolling me onto my back, then laid her head down on my chest as I held her. "Ohhhhhhh." I said, knowing. "The Company has already tried to get KSTD to cooperate, and they wouldn't." "That's right, darling." Laura said. "And at this point, I think we should say no more about it." Neither of us went to sleep for a very long time... Part 13 - Fallout "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded reporterette at 7:00am, Friday, August 14th. "The FBI has released a statement condemning the prime time report by our competitor KSTD as 'a totally inaccurate report that disregards the facts and casts libelous aspersions upon decent citizens'. The Town & County Police Department have not yet issued any statement, and neither Commander Donald Troy, Sheriff Daniel Allgood, nor their wives could be reached for comment. However, District Attorney Krasney has issued a statement that his office is preparing to investigate KSTD for potentially criminal libel charges..." The MCD room had been utterly silent, but now Detective Joanne Cummings could no longer contain herself. "How dare that bitch Priya Ajmani make those insinuations about Melina!" the young blonde exclaimed. "She is a good person, and my friend! Why would they attack her like that?" "Because she is my wife's sister." I said. Sure, it was a deflection, as the young and nearly-innocent Joanne would be in shock if she knew the truth about my ex-wife. But I felt sure my words were accurate. "You think they're trying to attack your wife, Commander?" asked Martin Nash. "Or attack you through your wife? Why?" "I don't know. They're the Media, they have to be creating something or other, and the more people they hurt, the happier they are." I said sourly as I finished my cup of coffee and stood up. "Captain Ross, you will have to conduct the 'Angels' meeting this morning. I'm going to be meeting with the Sheriff and Chief..." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In the Chief's conference room were Sheriff Daniel Allgood, Deputy Sheriff and Chief of Staff Charles T. Oswald, District Attorney Gil Krasney, Police Chief Harold Bennett, myself, and Media Relations Officer Lieutenant Scott Peterson. Deputy Chief Brownlee had tried to attend, but had been curtly told by Chief Bennett that he (Brownlee) was not invited. Brownlee was about to make a scene, but the display and near-usage of a red crowbar changed his suppositions, and he left. "The D.A.'s office is going on the offensive against KSTD." said Sheriff Allgood, who took it upon himself to run the meeting. "What I want to make sure is that we have a coordinated response to KSTD's story and allegations. Excuse the phrases, but we have to be in jackbooted lockstep and stay well 'on the Reservation' on this one. It may be bigger than us local LEOs." "No doubt about that." said a voice as the door opened. In walked Chief Emeritus Griswold. As he came on in and closed the door, he said "I hope you'll allow me to participate in this meeting. You young whippersnappers haven't dealt with a rabidly hostile Press for as many years as I have." He patted me hard on the shoulder then sat down next to me. "Always glad to have you here, Chief Griswold." said Chief Bennett diplomatically. "What do you recommend, Chief?" asked Allgood. "I think Gil here is doing the right thing by announcing he'll investigate for libel," said Griswold, "but Gil, you have to follow up and really do it. If KSTD thinks you're bluffing, they'll double down." "They intend to double down anyway." I said, "so yes, a real and full investigation is imperative." "Don't worry, it's for real." said Krasney. "The voters, and especially the ones with money, are absolutely watching me and counting on me keeping my word and going after Ajmani. I had to turn off my phone because I was literally getting a phone call every 30 seconds." "So Peterson," said Allgood, "what is the official Police line?" "I'm hoping we'll develop that in here during this meeting." said Peterson. "It was Commander Troy that Ajmani really went after last night; I'm ready to follow his lead on a response." "How about just no response at all?" suggested Bennett. "Treat it as the contemptible nothingness that it is, not requiring the sanction nor dignity of a response?" "If I may tell a story." I said. "When I was young, if there were older kids bullying me, my mother would say 'Just ignore them, and they'll eventually leave you alone.' Well, they didn't; when I tried to ignore them, they doubled down by beating the shit out of me. They made damn sure I could not ignore them, by physically harming me. After that, my parents had me taking Aikido lessons, and the next time the bullies came for me, I did not ignore them, I defended myself. One of the bullies was a promising baseball pitcher, but after I destroyed his elbow joint, his dreams of pitching in the major leagues was wiped out." I continued: "My point is this: we can't just ignore it, we have to give some response, then we can ignore it by referring anyone back to our original response. So I do think we should have a response, and I think I know what to say." I told them what I wanted to say. Just then there was a knock on the door, and Lt. Wes 'Coldiron' Masters looked in. "Sorry to interrupt, gentlemen, but we're getting reports that Media reporters are on the Sheriff's property and the Commander's 'Mountain Nest' property." "KSTD reporters?" I asked. "Don't know, sir." said Masters. "Maybe reporters from the City, also." "Send patrols." I said. "Trap them on the property and arrest them for trespassing. Usually the editor has to come down and get his reporters out, and he gets yelled at. This time, tell the editor his reporters are going to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Just before 10:00am, I said to Peterson, Allgood, and Cindy Ross in my office "Are you ready?" "As we'll ever be." replied Cindy. I got up and led them down the hall. Only Cindy noticed that I'd left my current red crowbar on my desk; the one I was carrying was the original one that usually stayed mounted on my wall, the one made from very special melted-down metals. She knew why I was carrying that particular crowbar, also. Pink Lemonade Ch. 03 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * At 10:00am, the press conference began. We could walk in the back way to the podium, but I instead walked into the door the press used and walked right through them, red crowbar in hand and very visible. They knew why I was doing that, too; I was just hoping for a physical confrontation. As I mounted the dias, the reporters began shouting questions at me with no sense of control. I raised my hand until it got quiet, which Cindy later said took a full 30 seconds. "First," I said, "while I know this is unnatural for Media reporters, you will act like civilized human beings and show manners and respect during this press conference." I could sense the Media's hatred at my blatant shot at them. "Second, the Town & County Police Department arrested six media reporters from KSTD as well as a station from the City, for trespassing upon private property, particularly the homes of Sheriff Allgood and his wife, and the home of my wife and myself. Both our families have small children, and we consider this breach of our private property a serious threat to our children's lives and safety. "The arrested criminals are now being booked, and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We are asking that they receive no bail while awaiting trial." I again felt the reporters' hatred as I spoke. "And let me be sure to make it clear that any further trespassing upon the private property of citizens by any media reporters will result in your arrest and prosecution. That includes attempting to enter Town Fitness Centers, which has been formally placed off limits by its owner, Captain Cindy Ross of the TCPD." "You may be thinking the First Amendment protections of the Press allow you to go onto my property, agitate my rescue dog, and threaten my children's safety. But there is an old adage that 'your rights end where my nose begins.' Your press rights end at the property line of my home and the Sheriff's home, and our wives' homes and places of work. Violations of our property and our rights will not be tolerated, and I in particular am in a position to do something about your violations of the law." "Third," I continued, quelling the murmurs that were starting up, "in regards to the case of the assassination of the Reverend Jonas Oldeeds at the Fairgrounds, I'll remind you that in order for the TCPD to make arrests, we have to have this thing called 'proof', which the D.A.'s office uses to convict the perpetrators. Without that evidence, we have no case. In the cases that my Teams on the Police Force have solved, we have either had the evidence to get arrest warrants, had the confessions of the perps, or, as in the case of the Black Widow, we caught the perps red-handed committing their crimes. The insinuation that we are not solving the Oldeeds murder simply because we don't want to is a false accusation bordering upon libel." I raised my crowbar as I said "I will gladly accept proof of who the Oldeeds killer is, if someone will bring it to me. The rifle that killed Reverend Oldeeds would probably be the only acceptable proof to the D.A. and any Jury, so if you can bring me that, I'll be most very grateful to you. Otherwise, I would strongly recommend that you in the Media be very circumspect in your insinuations and accusations from this time forward. "The Sheriff has banned any KSTD representation from any Public Service Department buildings, including the Police Department, and we shall obey those orders. I know you Media weasels support each other and will give KSTD footage and such stuff, but I really suggest you be careful about your actions regarding false accusations of me or my police officers. That concludes this press conference, and there will be no further comment from this Police Department on the Oldeeds case nor KSTD's maliciously false reporting. Have a nice day." With that, I walked out of the room brandishing the red crowbar whose metal had once been used to exterminate a child-molesting false prophet of the Lord. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Good show." said Chief Griswold as he and I sat alone in my office after the press conference. "But they're really going to go after you, especially after putting their colleagues in jail." "Let 'em." I said. "I noticed that they got a little scared when I said I was going to throw the book at the arrested perps. They're a bunch of bullies, but when one punches back, they show their true cowardice." "Did you really get beaten up when you were a kid?" said Griswold, his mustaches twitching. "I just can't see that." "Actually, it wasn't me." I replied. "Another kid really did have his parents tell him that, and the bullies hospitalized him. Then his parents told him to tell his teachers if the bullies threatened him again. He did, and he got called a 'narc' and a 'snitch' by everyone, and then the bullies caught up to him again and almost killed him. As it was, they broke bones in his body, and he never went back to that school for fear of his life. And that is why my parents had my sister and I learn martial arts to protect ourselves. I've always had a special hatred of any parent that tells his child to just ignore those picking on him or her. It doesn't work." "So, does that resolve this?" Griswold asked, peering at me. I just looked back at him. "Nope." I said. "Entities at pay grades far higher than mine are very worried about Priya's next special report. Priya has no idea of the danger she is in, and I don't know if I can protect or save her life if she goes forward with it..." Part 14 - Fair Warning Still Friday, August 14th. While I was dealing with the Press, Dr. Laura Fredricson entered the office of University President Dr. Sidney P. Wellman at 8:00am for a breakfast meeting. "Good morning, Doctor." said Wellman. "How are you and your lovely family?" "Very good, Doctor." replied Laura. "The children are growing like weeds. And yours?" "Sally is doing well." Wellman said. "She's been spending some time with Lilly Wargrave after Henry's death, getting Lilly settled into her new home in the Heritage Cloisters subdivision. How are things in the Department of Psychology?" Laura replied with a smile "We've gotten three new grants from the Federal Government for the Psychology Department, including Bonnie Karpathian's grant to study the Black Widow serial killings." "Good, good." said Wellman. Money coming into his University was what he most liked to hear about at any time. "I heard about that incident in Coltrane County with the SBI agent. I'm glad your liking of pink lemonade did not cause you to come to harm." "Not as glad as my husband is." Laura said. "But he says it was just the one cup that was poisoned, so no one else was in any danger." "That's good." Wellman said as he indicated for Laura to sit down and handed her a cup and saucer, the cup full of coffee. As he sat down in the other chair with his cup and saucer, he said "What I really asked to meet you about was that hideous report by that rather over-aggressive reporter last night. That was bad enough for your husband, but it was her suggestion of the next show that has me worried... for you." "Yes." Laura said, crossing her shapely legs, her elegant feet in high heel pumps inescapably drawing Dr. Wellman's attention. "The Company is sending a representative to talk to the KSTD leaders about the situation. They usually can prevail upon the Media's spirit of patriotism and cooperation to keep something like that of the air." Wellman did not know that she was mixing up her tenses on purpose. After a discussion of other things, including Bonnie Karpathian's grant and research, Laura left to go back to her office. The Media was staking out the back entrance where she normally would park, and though the Campus Police were holding the Media at bay and harassing them as much as they could, Laura went around the next-door Pharmacy Building to the front entrance of the Psychology Building, avoiding detection by the Press until it was too late. Normally she went into the side door of her office directly from the hall, but this time it was easier to go through her assistant's office. "Good morning, Gayle." she said to her assistant. "How are you doing this morning?" Gayle looked up at her, and Laura instantly knew something was not right. Gayle's eyes glanced furtively at the door to the office as she said "You have a visitor. A 'Company' visitor." Laura said nothing, but nodded and opened the office door. Inside, sitting in the chair in front of her desk, was Dr. Casey B. Walker. He peered at Laura through his glasses, the dome of his balding head shining. He did not bother to stand up at her entrance. "Why Doctor, what a surprise!" Laura said, her voice showing her dislike of the surprise of finding the CIA Deputy Director for the National Clandestine Service, Counterintelligence, in her office without having warned her beforehand that he was coming to see her. "Yes, Doctor," he said, giving it right back, "I'm sure it is, but unfortunately a problem of the highest degree has befallen us. KSTD has refused to kill the Priya Ajmani story of the various assassinations around the country performed on our behalf by 'the Huntress'. We deeply fear that 'the Huntress' will be exposed by the Ajmani stories." "And you should fear it." Laura said. "If that comes out, and accurately, it's over for 'the Huntress', and for her sister, too." Of course Melina was 'the Huntress', and Laura was Melina's sister... and handler. "So what are you planning to do?" "This one will require special attention, and the action of our very best agent." said Walker. He turned to the door behind Laura's desk, the one to the nursery room. The door opened and Laura gasped in total shock as the woman whose name could not be spoken, but Laura's husband had correctly surmised was 'Diana', emerged. "Hello, my dear." said Diana. "I'm afraid that this one is really, really bad, and has required my personal attention." Laura knew exactly what this meant... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Wearing a civilian suit (with light armor sewn in) and a mock turtleneck, I strode up to the offices of State Senator Katherine Woodburn. I was admitted to a side office, a room furnished as a library/study, and asked to wait. I had tried for hours to get ahold of Priya Ajmani, but she was essentially in hiding, at least from me. Though I didn't really know it, the CIA had been pretty effective with most news outlets in no longer pursuing this story, and along with my actually arresting intrusive reporters and a deep fear of me throughout the cowardly Media, most of them were peeling off and moving on, as the 'Drive By' Media that they really are. Still, it took Chief Griswold, who understood the gravity of the situation, to get in contact with Katherine Woodburn through intermediaries, and finally arrange this meeting. "Well, if it isn't my favorite redheaded police officer!" exclaimed Priya as she strode into the room. "So, you wanted to talk to me?" "Yes. And off the record." I said. "I don't agree to that." Priya said. "You should." I said. "I'm here to help you, Priya. And this can be for the record if you like: you have no idea what you have stepped into. I'm here to try to keep you from harm." "Okay, off the record then." Priya said agreeably. "But reporters face danger all the time. You know what happened to Bettina Wurtzburg. I'm on guard as are all my colleagues. And that story last night got interest, but is already dying down. So why are you feeling so protective of me now?" "Your story last night was nothing, Priya." I replied, looking hard at her. I was sitting down, and was still almost at eye level with her even with her wearing high heel pumps. In spite of the fact that I would not have minded if she were sitting in my lap, I focused on my duty and said "It's that next story you're saying you're going to do that crossed a line you do not want to cross." "Scared of what might come out? And the exposure to your wife?" Priya said, her grin becoming wider. "My wife has been trying to retire from the Agency for a long time." I said. "This actually might help her to do so, so she would actually be grateful. But if you go with this story about certain operations and expose a CIA agent, it won't go well for you. As you may know, President Reagan signed a law forbidding anyone, even the Media, from exposing a CIA agent publicly." "Oh, Commander..." Priya said playfully, "you disappoint me. We're willing to challenge that law, as it violates our First Amendment Free Speech and Press Freedoms. And the Nation does have every right to know what the CIA is doing domestically... when they're not supposed to. I'm willing to risk it." "I was afraid you'd say that." I said. "What you may not know is that I was asked to join the CIA three times, and refused all of those times because of operations of exactly those kinds. So I am no friend of the CIA, Miss Ajmani... but I am truly afraid that if you pursue this, something is going to happen to you. Something very bad, that I won't be able to stop." "Your concern is touching." Priya said with a sarcastic smile. "I'll keep your warning in mind." "Priya..." I said, "why are you doing this? What do you want?" "Ah," said Priya, smiling brightly, her eyes sparkling again. She did have a beautiful smile, and I felt my loins warming even more as I looked at her lovely body. "Now you're finally beginning to talk business! What I want, Commander, is those Jack Burke tapes." "But..." I replied, confused, "... but why? They're not even good porno tapes. You can find better stuff on the Internet, even on erotic literature sites. Why those tapes? Really, what good do they do you?" "You'd be surprised." Priya said, matter-of-factly. "But it's not really your concern why." "Priya, who is behind you on this?" I asked. "I'll be blunt: you are not smart enough to do this all by yourself. Who's behind you?" "Why you son of a bitch!" yelled Priya. "How dare you say I'm not smart enough! You think you're so god-damned smart--" "Priya! That's enough." called out a voice. It belonged to Katherine Woodburn. She entered the room from the back-side door that adjoined her office. I had to admit, she looked good in the tight, clingy blouse and skirt she was wearing. Her legs were shapely, and the high heels she wore accentuated them. Definitely fuckable. "So, Commander," Katherine said, "If you want to protect your wife, the mother of... some of ... your children, then let's do some horse-trading and get something done. You're really a politician at heart, despite your protests to the contrary. I saw how you worked the Governor to get that SBI bill, so-" "What, is it blackmail?" I asked. "Someone wants to blackmail someone on those tapes? What else could it be? And such small stuff, too..." "No, it's not small." Katherine said. Priya was watching, and I could see this was way over her pretty little head. "Senator," I said, "you have absolutely no idea what you are getting into. This is way above the likes of me or even you." "And you have no idea what you are up against." said Katherine. I peered at her as she said "You've solved some great cases, and you're a formidable foe... but you simply have no idea..." "Oh really?" I said. I stood up, then walked towards the door. Pausing, I looked back at Katherine and said "Tell him... the Game is afoot. Ladies..." With a nod of my head, I left. I had tried to save Priya, I had done my duty as the Police Commander. She was now on her own, and may God have mercy on her soul! I thought to myself... "He's a handsome man." said Priya after I was gone. "I'd love to fuck him and see if he's as good as his nephew." "Yes, he must be good if he's keeping the hottest sex professor in the Nation as happy as she is." said Katherine, her own loins wet with desire. "But he is right, Priya... you be careful out there." Katherine's mind was still reeling... he knew. The Iron Crowbar knew not only who the Shadow Man was, but that he was behind all this. And the Commander showed no fear. None. Unbelievable. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * When I got to the Mountain Nest, I was surprised to find Cindy and Jenna there, keeping the kids. Bowser didn't seem too agitated, but he was happy to see me, for sure. "Your mom called us." Cindy said as I petted Bowser. "She got a call and needed to go see a sick friend." Jenna nodded. "I appreciate you guys coming over." I said. "You must be tired. You can go, or stay in the guest bedroom if you like." "We'll stay." said Cindy. "I've got one of those vibes..." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Leaving Katherine's offices at 10:30pm, Priya drove her BMW sedan down the roads towards her townhouse. Word was that the well-hung stud that she loved to fuck, Todd Burke, was looking at buying a townhouse in the same complex. It'd be great to get a lot of cock from him, and keep tabs on the CEO of BOW Enterprises. She began to realize as she drove that she'd seen several old women sitting on benches. Some near the entrance to Katherine's subdivision, some at the small park at the intersection of this neighborhood. Wasn't it very late for them to be out? she thought- "Oh my God!" she gasped as she hit the brakes. She was coming up to a van that looked like it had crashed. It was a KSTD News van! She got out and ran up to the two men attending what looked like someone who was hurt. "What happened? Who's hurt? Can I help?" The men suddenly turned on her, and she saw they were wearing face masks! They grabbed her, and her scream was cut short by a handkerchief soaked in chloroform was pressed onto her nose and mouth. That was so 'old school', but it was followed by an inoculation gun injecting a sedative into her neck. Her struggles ceased as she passed out. A velvet bag was thrown over her head, enshrouding her head in complete darkness. The men quickly threw her into the back of the van. Her cellphone in her pocket was thrown onto the street, and she was checked to make sure she was wearing no RFID nor transmitter devices. Satisfied, the men closed the doors, and the van pulled out. Part 14 - Company Actions 11:16pm, Friday, August 14th. Not exactly my way of spending a Friday night. Someone had found an abandoned BMW with the motor running and called 9-1-1. Within minutes, Sergeant Irwin and Sr. Patrolman Hicks were at the scene, sent by the 3d Precinct Duty Desk. Being very intelligent officers, they'd called Lt. 'Coldiron' Masters, who'd immediately called Cindy and myself. "You and your vibes." I said to Cindy as we sped to the scene in my Police SUV. "There can be no doubt." Cindy replied. At the scene, I got the report from Sergeant Irwin: "Commander, the plates on this vehicle are registered to a 'Priya Ajmani'. We called KSTD, and they said she wasn't there. Their efforts to find her have been as fruitless as ours." "Then try harder!" yelled an enraged woman's voice from behind me. It was State Senator Katherine Woodburn, having been driven by her assistant Clark. "Commander, what the hell is going on here?!?!" "My worst fears, Senator." I said simply. "Irwin, you were saying?" Irwin paused, and I said "You can talk in front of our State Senator." "Yes sir." said Irwin, reassured. "Ms. Ajmani's purse was found in the car, and the contents do not appear to be touched. We bagged it for prints anyway." He handed me the bagged purse. With latex gloves on, I opened the evidence bag and examined the purse and its contents as Irwin continued: "The keys were left in the car, and the car was running. We shut the car off for safety reasons when we arrived. There's no blood anywhere, no signs of a struggle except that her cellphone was found on the ground about 20 feet in front of her car, where we marked with chalk there. We bagged it for prints, too, but the UV light showed none but hers." Pink Lemonade Ch. 03 "What's up here on this pole?" I asked, shining a bright light on the telephone pole about 35 feet in front of the BMW. "Looks like some scuffing, but not too much." "Hardly visible, sir." said Hicks. "We didn't even notice." "Christina?" I called out to my Crime Lab expert. "Check out this pole. I don't think a vehicle ran into it, but I think one was slowly driven up to it to touch it. That would make it look like an accident." "What do you think happened here, sir?" asked Lt. Masters. Everyone, even Katherine and her assistant, were looking at me with undivided attention and pure wonderment. "She stopped here, all of a sudden." I said. "She apparently got out of her car, leaving it running, leaving her purse... which has a gun in it, I might add. Ergo, she did not feel that she was in danger when she stopped the car and got out." "So," I continued, "what made her stop and get out? I am thinking of a simulated car crash of some kind. We've seen those before, have we not, Captain Ross?" "Yes sir." Cindy replied, seeing where I was going with this. "I would even suspect," I said, "that the vehicle was a van. She rushes up, is captured, thrown into that van with her cellphone thrown out so we can't trace her, and they drive off. Sergeant Irwin! Knock on doors! See if anyone saw this, or saw an unusual van in the area. Senator, what time did Ms. Ajmani leave your home?" "Ten thirty." replied Katherine. "That gives you guys a timeframe, Sergeant." I said. "Get going." Irwin and other officers scrambled off to implement the task. "Damn, the Iron Crowbar is good." whispered Katherine. Cindy looked at her and whispered back "Made you wet for him, didn't it?" Katherine's eyes widened as she turned to stare at Cindy. Cindy just looked back with a half-smile and a gleam in her eye... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Priya was very groggy but she realized that she was being carried over someone's shoulder. The mask over her head prevented her from seeing, hearing or even smelling anything. Her hands were secured behind her with a plastic zip-tie. "Uhh!" she gasped as whoever was carrying her dumped her onto what felt like a gurney. Hands pushed her sideways to cut the tie off her hands, but then her hands were quickly secured to the sides of the gurney. The back was elevated somewhat, so she was semi-reclined. The mask was pulled off her head. She saw the ceiling of what looked like a warehouse, but no people. As she raised her head to look up, another mask was placed on her head, this one just a mask for the eyes like a sleeping mask. "Where am I?" she called out. "Who's there?" She heard an old woman's voice reply "We are the ones who ask the questions here, young lady, not you." "Why am I here?" Priya demanded. "Tell us," said the voice, "who gave you the information about Jonas Oldeeds's assassination?" "Fuck you." said Priya. "Young lady," said the voice, quietly but with menace, "you should learn to control the filth of your tongue. I have two men here that want to fuck you. They will rape you to death right now if I let them, and then you will truly find out what 'fuck you' means. Now, tell me what I want to know." "You can go straight to hell!" Priya said defiantly. "Doctor," said the old voice, "I believe we will need to use stronger methods." Priya heard no answer, but a moment later she felt a hand in a latex glove grab her arm, then a hypodermic syringe needle pierce her skin. A small amount of liquid was injected into her arm. "Now, young lady," said the old voice, "tell us what we want to know..." Priya felt herself slipping into a semi-consciousness. She seemed to be having dreams. She was seeing herself at the KSTD studios and in the newsrooms, then she was in bed with Todd on top of her, deeply fucking her with his huge, hard weapon of lust. Bright colors were flashing in her head, then she realized that the mask had been taken off her face, and the multicolored lights were real, as if she were on a disco dance floor... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "She's succumbing." said Diana, standing next to Laura. "Yes." Laura whispered, keeping her voice barely audible. "The drugs are working." They were not alone in the warehouse. CIA Agents Griswold and Gagnon were watching from a distance away. Laura's assistant Gayle Roberts was acting as a nurse and Laura's assistant, with a surgical mask over her face. Dr. Casey B. Walker, the counter-intelligence officer, came up and said "How much longer?" "Not long, Doctor." Laura said, her voice sharp and acidic. "You don't approve of what we are doing, Doctor?" Walker asked, his own voice unfriendly. "Watch yourself, Doctor." Diana hissed at Walker. "This is my operation, not yours." "We'll see about that." hissed Walker. "This bitch is a clear and present threat to two of our agents, though I am beginning to question the loyalty of one of them." "Indeed," Laura said, keeping her voice calm, "you should question my loyalty. I told you to let my husband handle this." "And he failed." said Walker. "As did your idiots in threatening KSTD if they didn't drop it." hissed Laura. "You got their hackles up and made them push back." "I'll hear no more of this." Walker said. "Get me the information I need." "And then what?" Laura asked. "You know what." said Walker. "Yes, and that is exactly what you must not do." interjected Diana. "If you kill this woman, you'll bring holy hell down on my agents and everything we've done to work with Universities everywhere." "I don't give a shit about that." said Walker. "My job is to protect this nation and the Company from external or internal threats. We have a dangerous threat here and now." "Say one more word." Laura said to Walker, "and I will have you shot dead. Either here or in Washington, but you will shut your fucking mouth now. You, sir are the danger to us right now." Walker did not reply; he was staring at Laura, knowing that she could and would make good on the threat she had just made to him, but also knowing that her statement was based upon a failing loyalty to the Company, the Institution to which he held a religious quality of loyalty. That she did not have that same level of loyalty deeply embittered him. "Doctor," Diana said to Laura, "I think your subject is ready." Earphones had been placed in Priya's ears, and Laura spoke into a microphone that would alter her voice then transmit the words into Priya's head. Laura spoke a recitation that was well-known to aid the administered drugs into rendering the subject easily amenable to questioning. "Who told you about the Jonas Oldeeds assassination?" asked Laura. "Henry... Henry... Wargrave." murmured Priya. "When did he tell you?" asked Laura's altered voice. "His... lawyer... gave... me... a... letter..." whispered Priya, "... after his... death..." "Where is that letter?" Laura asked. "At... KSTD... locked... up... lots... of... copies... made..." Priya mumbled. "What did the letter say?" whispered Diana into the microphone. "Said... check... flight... manifests... cities... at time... of... killings... of enemy... agents..." said Priya. "Whose name did the letter say?" whispered Diana. "Three... names... Allgood... Fredricson... Muscone..." mumbled Priya. "And the Oldeeds shooting?" asked Laura. "Town... Fitness... Centers... Henry... told... Ferrell... Ikea..." said Priya. Laura backed off with Diana and whispered "Don knew that when Ikea tried to find the rifle at Ward Harvester. The rifle is destroyed." "Yes, but the story is out." said Diana. "And you're right; killing this woman won't suppress the story. Too many people at KSTD know." Casey B. Walker had been pacing about 60 feet away. He now came up. "Okay, what else do we need to know? Let's get this wrapped up." Laura went over to ask one final question. "Priya, who told you about the Jack Burke tapes?" she asked. "Todd... Todd Burke..." whispered Priya. Laura reeled in shock... To be continued. Pink Lemonade Ch. 04 The chronological order of my stories is now listed in WifeWatchman's biography. 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 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 15 - Rescue When I began working with the Town & County Police Department, it had been the I.T. and Data room, with my office in the corner. Now it was a Command Post for Police Operations, with stations for radio communications, maps to follow police vehicles, and a couple of computer consoles. It was on these consoles that Myron Milton and his wife Mary Mahoney Milton were working furiously to bring up data. A witness in the neighborhood where Priya had been captured had reported seeing a KSTD News van going down the street some minutes before all the Police arrived. It made sense that Priya would stop if she thought she was seeing a KSTD van wrecked against a telephone pole. KSTD said that none of their vans were unaccounted for. Myron and Mary had just confirmed that. "Sir," said Myron, "is there anything you can think of to have us look up?" I thought about it, knowing what I had to say, and knowing what the possible cost might be. I knew that didn't matter, and if Priya died her blood would be on my hands. "My wife's cellphone." I said. "Locate my wife's cellphone." "Whaaa?" Mary said, looking up at me. "I'm sorry, did I stutter?" I said, much more harshly than I should have. "Uh, no sir." Mary said, returning to her typing. A moment later she said "All of your wife's cellphones are pinging off three towers around the University. Triangulation shows it's in the Psychology Building. I don't know the layout, but I'd bet they're in her office." "I won't bet against you." I said. "Okay, so she left them there." I was thinking as hard as I could, and Cindy peering at me was not helping. I glanced over at her, hard. She just shook her head, and I wasn't sure what she was trying to convey by that. "All right." I finally said. "Do we have any way of finding unusual radio transmissions?" "No sir." said Mary. "Well, let me put it this way: there are thousands of transmissions out there, from cell phones to police radios to ham radios to computer-generated radio signals. It would take something on a military level to distinguish anything, and we have nothing anywhere near that capability." Myron sat up straight and blinked. Then he looked up at me and said "Sir, can I speak to you alone a minute?" "Sure." I said. Cindy was not pleased. "Why can't you say it in front of us?" she demanded. "If it's what I think it is, he's correct not to." I said. "And don't ever ask him about it again. That is an order, Captain." Cindy did not say anything further. Maybe she trusted me. Or maybe she realized who she'd be fucking with and this was not the time, especially as I'd just thrown my own wife under the bus. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Sir," said Myron quietly when we went into what had been my office in the Downstairs Dungeon, "you know that my father has no love lost for the CIA. He was tracking the transmissions from the top of the Federal Building off Courthouse Square for a long time. They change them up from time to time, and he can't decode the transmissions, but he knows the frequency ranges." "And he'll tell them to you?" I asked, hope surging through my soul. "No sir." Myron said. "But one of my first hacking jobs was to break into the file he recorded that stuff in. I won't repeat the language he used when he caught me, but I remember those numbers." It took a moment for me to stop laughing. "How will you look for radio transmissions in those ranges?" I asked. "That takes special equipment we don't have." "Commander, did you hear the story about the Stealth Bomber?" asked Myron. As I peered at him, he said "They did all that work to make them invisible to radar... and 400 miles out, they do disappear from radar. But someone in England found out that the microwaves used for the cellphone system could be used to detect the Stealth Bombers... and it worked. All that technology rendered useless by something as simple as that." "Why don't you just give me the Cliff Notes of your plan before they kill Priya?" I said. Myron blanched as he realized the stakes, and said "I have a ham radio in my office that I tweaked to extended ranges. The Police Headquarters radio tower can detect them, and we now have towers at each Precinct Headquarters from which we can triangulate these transmissions, using ham radios at each site and my computer connected with them. We'll see what frequency the Building in Courthouse Square is using, then look for it elsewhere in Town." "Good thing you have no desire to work for a lot of money for the Federal Government." I said. "I couldn't match their salaries, and I really want to keep you here, Myron." "No worries, Commander." said Myron, and I knew he was being genuine when he added "I'll never leave while I'm working with the Iron Crowbar." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura was almost numb. She'd allow Priya to go into unconsciousness, and started a saline IV to keep the Indian woman from dehydrating... and of course the catheter to drain Priya at the other end as her bladder was overwhelmed. "Well, that's that." said Casey B. Walker. "We have to arrest Burke now. Right now. Bring him in for interrogation." "Are you really as stupid as that sounded?" Diana hissed. "We have no idea who Burke is working with or why he told Priya about the tapes... which were made by his brother, by the way." "We have to find out what Burke knows." said Walker. "And what kind of threat he is to us." "He's not a threat." said Laura angrily. "And if you don't know that, it's because you've failed at your job and you are not keeping up." "Says the woman who's husband's nephew is Todd Burke." Walker said, fury etched upon his features. "Maybe your husband is disloyal, too. He refused to join us three times." Laura squared up, her eyes boring onto Walker. Her hand went to her pocket. "If you accuse my husband of disloyalty to his country ever again, I will kill you myself." Diana got between them. "Dr. Walker, your insinuation is unfounded. Commander Troy is a loyal as well as brilliant man. Laura, Walker is right about one thing: we have to investigate Todd Burke." "Investigate away." said Laura. "But not by overreacting and hauling him in, much less applying our interrogation techniques to him. If you did and my husband ever found out about that..." She let the sentence hang. "Or what?" snarled Walker. "What is a local cop going to do to us? And whose side are you on, Fredricson?" "My husband's" Laura said simply. "And you know it, because I've already told you that." "Walker," said Diana, getting angry herself, "you may have forgotten that the Iron Crowbar is an FBI Consultant, and has the support of the exact people in the FBI that are your worst nightmares. May I suggest serious circumspection in this matter? Now go back to Langley and do your job, but do it carefully and slowly." Diana then motioned for Gagnon and Griswold to come up. "Take Dr. Walker back to Langley. Make sure he goes straight there." Walker glared at both women, but left with the young men. Just then another young man, who had been outside, came in and said to Diana "Police are coming, ma'am. We've monitored their radio traffic, and they're coming to this address." "Yes, Doctor, the Iron Crowbar is demonstrating his abilities to me yet again." said Diana, peering at Laura. " Let's go. Leave Ajmani here." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I was about to lead the small group into the warehouse. I had Cindy (there could be no doubt), Martin Nash, Sandra Speer, Sergeant Micah Rudistan and Sr. Patrolman Morton with me. Just as I was about to lead the group in, Rudistan whispered "Commander, you're not going to make me sit on you again, are you?" I knew what he meant: I would not be allowed to go first, no matter what. And Rudistan was just the mouthpiece for one Cindy Ross on this matter. "All right." I said. "You and Morton have your vests on?" "Double vests." Rudistan said. "You don't think I'm really this fat, do you Commander?" "You don't want me to answer that, do you, Rudistan?" I countered, making Rudistan grin. "Okay, go!" Rudistan and Morton led the way into the warehouse. It was empty, well-lit, and surprisingly clean. It could almost be made into a mobile surgical hospital, if need be. The warehouse was in the northern parts of the Warehouse District, almost to the southern part of the Downtown District. Everyone else led the way in, fanning out with guns drawn and pointed outward. I holstered my gun and just walked in with the red crowbar. "It's clear, Commander." I heard Cindy say after everyone had checked the premises. Sandra and I were checking on the woman on the gurney: it was Priya Ajmani. "She's alive." Sandra said. "Seems to be okay." "Why don't you let the doctor make that prognosis?" came a familiar voice behind me. I whirled around. Laura was coming in the door, her hands raised as police officers had whirled to train weapons upon her. "Stand down, guys." I said. My officers lowered their weapons, but were still wary as they looked around the perimeter. "Okay Doctor..." I said to Laura, our eyes boring into each other's, "what do you want to do with this patient? Hospital?" "Let's just keep her here until the IV bag is empty." said Laura. "Then we can take her to her home and leave her in bed." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * At 3:30am, we got home. Cindy took Jenna back to their home. As we sat on the den sofa, Bowser decided to sit down right in front of us and watch us. I hugged Laura and said "Honey, I love you much more than I love our dog, but I have no questions about his loyalties right now, if you get my drift." "Yeah, I know." Laura said wearily. "And if you think you're juggling a lot of shit and competing forces..." "Yeah, I know." I said. "So I would guess that Priya knows about the 'wet jobs', and she got the information from Henry Wargrave, seeing as he told Ferrell and Ikea, who tried to find the rifle at Ward Harvester. He must've told her but then said not to use the info until after his death." "Close." Laura said. "He had a letter to her delivered after his death. Revenge on me, and maybe you, from beyond the grave." "Figures." I said. "How bad is the damage?" "I think Katherine Woodburn is going to put a leash on Priya for us." Laura said. "You're always railing about how politicians are in bed with each other rather than serving their constituents... we have ways of taking advantage of that." "Okay." I said. "So what else is bothering you?" "Not much gets by the legendary Iron Crowbar, Bowser." Laura said to the dog. Bowser wagged his tail and I bent over and gave him a good petting. "I am... betraying my Company for the first time in my life by telling you this." Laura said. "Do you know who gave Priya the information about the Burke tapes?" "Oh that?" I said. "That was Todd." Laura just stared at me. "See, you didn't have to betray anything, after all." I said. "Todd gave Priya that information at the request of his mother. I'm not sure why, but she wanted the distraction. I've been wondering what Elizabeth is up to, but I think she's in France right now." "Damn," said Laura, "I told them to let you handle this, but they said nooooo, it was much bigger than a local LEO. We just overcommitted to a very dangerous thing, and it was for nothing." "And now they're going to investigate Todd and cause even more nuisance." I said. "I did tell Todd that something like this was a possibility. He's on guard, and if they try anything..." I shook my head... "then they'll be wishing they were dealing with 'local LEOs' with crowbars instead." Part 16 - Exposure 1:30am, Saturday night, actually Sunday morning, August 16th. The Cub Club in the heart of the Tenderloin District was the heart of the Punk Scene. This was not the most trendy or rockin' of the various clubs, but it was about two-thirds full of young people in various states of leather dress and strange makeup, drinking and socializing, talking about cosplay and the effects of hallucinogenic drugs, and looking for partners... or groups... for sexual encounters. One young woman with pink streaks in her hair was talking to two other women when a fat man in a trenchcoat approached the table. "Well, hiya, Lorena!" he said loudly. "Who the fuck are you?" the pink-streaked woman said. "My name is Roberta, fat man." "Oh come on, you're my coworker in the Police Force, Lorena Rose." the fat man said. "Police?" said one of the other women, her eyes staring daggers. "And who the fuck are you, mister?" "I'm a Detective with the Police Force, Sergeant Sharples." said the fat man. "I work with this woman." "You fat son of a bitch!" Lorena said, throwing her drink into Sharples's face. "I don't know who the fuck you are, but you stay the hell away from me!" She turned to leave. "Where you going, lady?" said a large black man, blocking Lorena's path to the door. "You police?" "Get the fuck out of my way." said Lorena. She realized that she was being slowly surrounded. "Yeah, she's a cop!" shouted Sharples. "What's the big fucking deal?" "We don't like cops in this place, especially trying to pretend they're something they ain't." said one of the black men, his eyes boring into Lorena. "Let's take this bitch out back." said another man. He made a move towards Lorena, who steeled to defend herself, knowing she was about to be gang-raped and murdered if she didn't fight her way out of here. "Jerome! Stop right there." called out a voice. The men turned to find THE man himself, T-Square, standing behind him, flanked by security men in suits. "Bitch," T-Square said, wearing sunglasses to hide his eyes even in this dark room, "get the fuck out of here and do not ever come back. If you're ever seen in this club again, you will be cut. Is that clear?" "Whatever." Lorena said, but she hastily moved to the door and out of the Cub Club. Glancing back, she saw that the fat son of a bitch Sharples was gone... he'd snuck out the back way as T-Square's arrival had distracted others from his fat presence. "Brothers," T-Square said after Lorena was gone, "Do not ever fuck up a cop in one of my clubs. Kick 'em to the kerb if you catch 'em, but do not fuck them up. The last thing I need is the God-damned Iron Crowbar coming down here wanting to split my head open. Is that clear?" "You scared of that cracker?" asked one of the men. It was a bad mistake. "You damn straight I am." said T-Square, looking at him. "And you better be scared of him too. The Iron Crowbar is the real deal. He does not fuck around. Are you feelin' me, brother?" "Yeah, sure." said the man, but his tone was derisive. T-Square turned to leave. As he got to the club lobby, T-Square whispered. "Take care of that nigger before sunrise." A death sentence had just been pronounced, and it would be fulfilled. As T-Square left and got back in his limo, he typed out a text message on his cellphone and sent it to the Iron Crowbar. It read simply "You owe me one." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I was numb. Simply numb. It was 5:00am Sunday morning, August 16th. In Classroom 'C' was myself, Captain Cindy Ross, Lieutenant Teresa Croyle, Chief Bennett, and at my request, Lieutenant 'Curly' Goodwin of Internal Affairs. The Police Union rep had already been called by Sharples, but I'd told the Duty Desk to prohibit his entry into Headquarters until I was good and ready for him. Lorena Rose was in Cindy's office, very upset, being consoled by Detective Diana Torres and Detective Gayle Tunnin of Internal Affairs. "I didn't do anything wrong." snarled Sharples. "I just went and said hello to her." "That's against protocol!" screamed Teresa Croyle, who was past anger. "You know you're NOT supposed to speak to other police officers that might be undercover!" "How was I supposed to know she was undercover?" snarled Sharples. "There's no record of her being on any mission." I could see that Sharples was trying to take advantage of Teresa not putting things in writing to avoid him. "That doesn't fucking matter!" screamed Teresa. At this point, Curly Goodwin told her to calm down and restrain herself. "He is right, Commander." said Goodwin. "There's no record of the operation." "Not one that Fat Boy here is aware of, Curly." I said. "But I have a typed report of Lorena's undercover mission, complete with Croyle's pen-and-ink signature. She's followed the rules. Sharples did not, and he has put a fellow police officer in literal danger of her life." "Aw c'mon, she wasn't in any trouble. I was right there, and so were backup officers outside." Sharples whined, beginning to realize he was in real trouble, this time. "Bullshit." said Cindy Ross, her voice even, but her blue eyes blazing with ice-cold anger and hatred. "She would've been cut to pieces before they could get there if T-Square hadn't intervened. And you ran out the back door like the fat coward you are, Sharples." "I want my Union rep. Where the fuck is he?" Sharples demanded. "Chief," I said, "would you ask everyone else to your office for some coffee and a calming down session? I want to talk to Sharples alone." "Not without a witness and not without my rep!" shouted Sharples, suddenly showing fear. I stared at Sharples as I said "I'm not going to touch him, Chief, unless he tries to attack me first. Leave a camera on, without sound." "All right." said the Chief affably. "Let's go, guys." "I'll be downstairs." said Curly Goodwin. I knew he was going to try to listen in from the depths of Internal Affairs. I knew that he was going to fail, too. Everyone left. Once alone, I just looked at the fat piece of shit in front of me, whose actions had nearly cost me a police officer's life. "Sharples, I gave you every chance." I said quietly. "I gave you the child trafficking case, I gave you the opportunity to make that happen, and you go and do this?" "I didn't do anything wrong, I just said hello to her." Sharples repeated. "How was I supposed to know she was on--" "Shut the fuck up!" I ordered. "Just stop the god-damn bullshit! Stop the fucking excuses and the procedural crap! The bottom line is that I gave you a chance and you fucking blew it straight to hell! Why?!?!" "I got nothing more to say without a Union rep present." said Sharples. "I want someone else in the room. I am in fear of my safety." "You didn't seem to worry about Rose's safety when you announced to a whole club full of hostiles that she was an undercover cop." I said. "Sharples, I'm not going to touch you now, just like I promised the Chief. But I don't have to. All I have to do is assign you to Precinct Two, send you on a mission into a club having let T-Square know where you are and where you'll be going, and that none of my other officers will be within a mile of that location. You'll be dead in minutes, Fat Boy." "You wouldn't do that." said Sharples. "I'd have KSTD watching, knowing what you'd done. You'd go down if anything happened to me." "I'll take my chances." I said. "But that's not all: in case you don't get it, Fat Boy, once the Force hears about what you did tonight... and I am going to make damn sure that they do... you're going to get a fucking bullet in the back of your head from a police officer's gun. Someone is going to take you out; you are going to get fragged." Pink Lemonade Ch. 04 "Is that a threat?" Sharples asked. "Why, no." I said. "It's a prediction. You crossed the line tonight, Sharples. You're done. Your past history of moving from one position, from Department to Department, from Texas to Missouri to Midtown to here... will not go further. I'm going to end your career here, tonight. Formal criminal charges will be filed against you for putting an officer's life in danger." "None of that will ever stick." Sharples said. "In addition," I said, leaning in and boring down on him, "I believe you had something to do with SBI Agent Reubens's death in Coltrane County. I intend to file murder charges against you. Then the SBI will be looking to put a bullet in your head." "You'll never prove that." Sharples said. "We'll see." I said as I turned off the anti-bugging device. I picked up the phone on the table and called the Chief's office. Within seconds, everyone was back inside except Curly Goodwin. I called the Duty Desk and had them bring the Union rep to the room. He was steaming mad. "Chief Bennett," he thundered, "do you know what I'm going to do to you for this?" "Shut the fuck up, asshole." I said. "I am the one who barred your entry, not the Chief. And I'm telling you that in front of all these witnesses, so do with it what you will." "Then I'll have your fucking badge, Troy." snarled the Union rep, but his face showed he sensed that it was different, this time. "You're going to have a bad headache if you don't shut the fuck up." I said, my voice quiet and even. "Here's the deal: Leonard Sharples violated protocols and put the life of another police officer in exceptional and mortal danger. He left the scene instead of staying to help his fellow officer. He is suspended, completely suspended, and without pay." I continued: "In addition, Sharples's employment with the Town & County Police Force is hereby terminated. His gun and badge will be taken from him before he gets out of his chair. He will be escorted out of these Headquarters and not permitted to return. You can grieve it, you can sue me over it, but he is finished as a Police Officer in the Town & County Police Force." "Chief, are you in agreement with this jerk's assumptions?" sneered the Union rep. "I'll shoot Sharples myself rather than let him return to active duty here, ever." said Bennett, surprising me with his vehemence. Just then Deputy Chief Brownlee entered the room. "Detective Sharples, are these people harassing you?" asked Brownlee. "Commander," said the Union rep to Brownlee, "don't make this worse than it is. Let's go outside for a moment." I have to admit I was in shock at that. Did the Union rep really realize how bad this one was for his client? I gave the long-suffering Lt. Teresa Croyle the gift of disarming Sharples and confiscating his badge. She and Cindy escorted him out of Headquarters. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I called John 'Jack' Colby and secured a large table at the Country Breakfast Diner, then had everyone go there for breakfast, on my tab. The only 'problem' was that Jack Colby would try his damnedest to not give me the bill, and he would succeed. Lorena Rose was recovering well, and I was impressed how Teresa and Cindy knew what buttons to press to get her spirits back up. The only person not eating was me. I was sitting at the end of the table, in and out of reveries. Cindy was sitting next to me, and of course she noticed. "You okay, Don?" she asked. "Yeah." I said. "I am just sitting here wondering why in the hell Sharples did that." "To be honest, I'm glad he did." said Teresa, who was sitting on my other side and across from Cindy. "He's gone now. If the Union says he has to come back, I'll shoot him myself. I'm done with him." "You won't have to do that." I said. "I cut off his computer access, did it myself. If the Union wants a piece of someone, it'll be me they have to go for, and I'll kill him before you do if that is what it takes." "So why did he do it?" Cindy asked, getting my trains back on the right tracks. "Think Lorena was getting too close to something he was involved with?" "No." I said. "I think he was told to do it. To create a distraction. I also am wondering why Brownlee came in so late to the party and injected himself into the whole thing." We had no real answer for that one. I did get to speak to Lorena for a few moments. "I guess I can't do undercover anymore." she said forlornly. "Noooo, at least not like you were doing." I said. "But you're still a good Detective and have a good career ahead of you. Brush this one off, and keep on driving on." Lorena said "I was talking to some of the others. Will it help to make a sexual harassment complaint against Sharples?" "You know," I said, "it damn well might..." Part 17 - The Rose and the Thorn "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the lovely reporterette on Monday morning, August 17th, looking like she wanted to perform fellatio on the big, thick microphone she was holding as she stood in front of Police Headquarters. "Channel Two News has learned that Detective Leonard Sharples was fired for cause over the weekend. The Police Union has filed a grievance, which will be heard on an expedited basis at 10:00am this morning. The grievance filed by the Captain's Union on behalf of Deputy Chief Brownlee was upheld earlier this week, and the Union's record of successes against the Police Department and Town & County Council is extremely impressive, leading experts to agree that this will also be upheld." "Who are these 'experts'?" I wondered out loud, not really paying attention. "She has no fucking clue what she's talking about." Cindy said to me as we drank coffee in my office. My desk was littered with papers compiled over the weekend. Witness statements, Sharples' previous record at other Police Departments, and everything I could think of was being put together. Cindy and I were wearing our Formal uniforms for the hearing, including our Medals of Valor. Teresa was also in Formal attire with her Purple Order around her neck. We were going all out for this one. "She wants to create drama and tension." I said. "That's what Media people do." Have I mentioned that I am not a fan of the Press? At 8:00am, Priya Ajmani delivered KSTD's report. She didn't say a word about Sharples, nor her own misadventures over the weekend. She did mention that Robert Brownlee had been reinstated, and then mentioned a big rally in Midtown where SBI Director Jack Lewis was expected to announce his candidacy for Governor. "Can it get worse?" Cindy asked. "Yes." I said. "Let's deal with one thing at a time." At 10:00am, the hearing was convened in Classroom 'J', which had been converted to look like a trial court, with a table on the dias for the Arbiter, tables for our side and for the Union, and chairs set up behind for the viewing audience. Several Town & County Council members were here: Jack Colby, Dagmar Schoen, Kelly Carnes, Pastor Westboro, Thomas P. Cook, and Malinda Adams... who surprisingly was on our side, supporting the women in the sexual harassment issue of the case. The Chief was here, in his formal uniform. Deputy Chief Brownlee was also in attendance, but in a normal duty uniform which looked less than crisp, and he wore no jacket nor medals. Paulina Patterson and I were at our table. Paula was dressed to the nines in a dark blue suit with light blue blouse and high heel dark blue pumps. By way of contrast, Sharples was dressed in his trenchcoat and rumpled shirt and slacks. The Union rep had on cheap but ordinary suit. When the Union rep saw me fully attired with medals, he looked a bit shocked, and I knew my psychological ploy was working: he knew I was going for the 'kill' on this one. Still, it was me who was somewhat shocked when the Union rep opened the proceedings by saying "Mr. Arbiter, before we begin the proceedings, we wish to make an offer: if the firing is dismissed and all charges dropped, including the false sexual harassment charge, Detective Sharples will resign from the Police Force, effective immediately." The Arbiter looked over at our table. Paulina was gaping, totally blindsided. I was still thinking clearly: "No." I said loudly. "He has to be fired, it has to be part of his record. I am prepared to show his career of repetitive failures at many Police Departments. The cycle has to stop, and it has to stop here. He nearly got my officer killed, and allowing him to resign might end up getting a Police Officer somewhere else killed because of him." "Commander," said the wizened arbiter, grinning slyly "do you realize that I might very well rule in his favor and you'll be forced to keep him on your Police Force?" "If you do, then this case will go to Court, and before a full Jury," I said, "because Sharples is not coming back to this Police Force under any circumstances." "The parties have agreed to this arbitration hearing." said the arbiter, beginning to frown as he realized that, this time, it was different. "Are you saying you will not respect my ruling?" "I did not agree to this hearing; my presence here is compulsory." I said. "And ears are to hear with: I will not abide by any ruling that does not result in the firing of Leonard Sharples. He will not come back to this Force. I will add that this is for his own protection; I cannot protect his life from other officers that intend to kill him if he returns." The arbiter was not the only one in total shock at that one. Even Paulina was gaping at me, and the Union rep and Sharples were astounded that I would say something like that out loud. But I think the arbiter saw Teresa's face, Lorena's face, and Cindy's... and he knew that I was not making an idle, empty threat. "We'll see about that." said the arbiter, his face no longer showing arrogance. "I do agree with you, Commander, that Mr. Sharples cannot return. But I accept the offer of the Union that Mr. Sharples will tender his immediate resignation, and it will be accepted by the Town & County Council and Police Force. In fact, I see the resignation letter here, and I will accept it on the County's behalf. This hearing is concluded." The arbiter struck his gavel, gathered his things, and quickly exited the room. "Captain Ross, get that fat piece of shit out of here." I ordered, not really happy but not very upset, either. "He is no longer a police officer, and will only be allowed in this building if he is being jailed for a crime." Cindy and Teresa moved quickly to escort Sharples out of my sight, the Union rep closely following. As I walked down the hall to my office to take off the jacket and the M.O.V., I heard a loud cheer erupt from Vice as they were given the news. Malinda Adams, walking beside me, heard it also. "Well, Commander," she said, "it looks like you have a happy Police Force again. And by the way, I think you made that speech just to get the arbiter to go along with the resignation." "Yes ma'am, I have a happy Police Force." I said. "But no, I wanted Sharples fired." "You would've won, but it would not have mattered." said Malinda. "You have a good day, Commander. And let's have lunch sometime." "Uh, okay, sure." I said, stunned by that invitation as Councilwoman Adams walked down the hall with the other Council members... Part 18 - Revenge of the Fat Boy I saw what Malinda was talking about when Cindy burst into my office at 3:00pm and rushed to turn on the television. A press conference was underway in Midtown, where a beaming SBI Agent Richard 'Dick' Ferrell of the SBI's Narcotics Task Force was making an announcement, his mustache a little less droopy than normal. "I am very pleased to announce the addition of Sergeant Sharples to the Narcotics Task Force!" Ferrell announced as Sharples stood by his side. "Agent Sharples brings years of drug interdiction experience to the NTF, and will be a tremendous asset to us in the War on Drugs in this State!" "Are you fucking kidding me?" asked a disbelieving Cindy Ross as she turned off the television at the conclusion of the press conference. "Don? Why are you laughing?" "I can't help it!" I said between gasps and fits of laughter. "This is just too rich!" Cindy just stared at me, then began laughing herself, though not as hard. Finally, I was spent. I realized I had fallen into the fit of laughter because my emotions were just spent. "Think we can get the SBI to take Brownlee?" I asked. "Don't I wish." she replied. Because of the hearing, the meeting of "Crowbar's Angels" had been postponed. I called Teresa and Tanya in to have it now. "Where is Theo Washington? And Teddy Parker?" I asked. "I haven't seen them all morning." "They're investigating a body that was found at Crown Chemicals." said Tanya Perlman. "It was soaking in sulfuric acid in a 55-gallon drum. It likely was taken there and dropped off. Head and hands cut off, just a torso and legs. Black male, late 20s to early 30s. Maybe a DNA match will give us something." "I've put out feelers among the C.I.s." said Teresa. "But with all that with Lorena exploding, it may be some time before things calm down enough for info on any missing person trickles out." "Hoo boy..." I said. "So we have our Headless Horseman, we have Reubens, and what else?" "Priya." said Tanya Perlman. "Since she woke up in her bed with no memory of anything from the time she left Senator Woodburn's home, and since she appears to be physically unharmed, KSTD is suggesting that our investigation of her disappearance be put on the back burner. But Senator Woodburn is having none of that, and is demanding that we press forward with it." I noted a funny look on Tanya's face. "And what else?" I asked. "Not much gets by you, Commander." Tanya replied, looking worried. "Senator Woodburn has also demanded that Internal Affairs investigate you over the kidnapping. She claims that you, she and Priya were at her office just prior to Priya's disappearance, and that you might be involved with it." "For crying out loud!" gasped Cindy. "He was at home when it happened! Jenna and I were there, too." "True." I said, understanding Woodburn's motives. "Tanya, do go to I.A., and tell Curly Goodwin to take it to Inspector General Horace Wellman. The best way to defeat Woodburn is by fully complying with her absurdity on this. Oh, be sure to tell Curly to interview Bowser to prove that I was at home." "I dunno, they'll just say Bowser is biased." Cindy replied. The rest of the meeting was filled with even more absurd jokes, with which I will not abuse the readers' sensibilities... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Tuesday morning, August 18th. At 10:00am I got a text, whose author was a shock to me. I was asked to come to Courthouse Square. I asked Cindy if she'd like some brunch at a bistro with me. As we settled down, Cindy and I were both looking around, a habit of wary police officers. I noticed several of the Town's more elderly citizens in the Square, whether sitting on benches feeding birds, or seeming to be chatting. I did not see Old Mrs. Boddiker, though. And then the person who texted me came up: it was Priya Ajmani. She sat down with us, holding a manila envelope that was bulging with papers. Cindy's eyes were glowing as she looked up and down the lovely Indian woman's sexy body. "Hello, Commander, Captain." Priya said. "I'm sure you're surprised to hear from me, and this is entirely off the record." "Entirely off the record." I replied. "So why did you want us to meet you here?" "First, I wanted to thank you for coming to rescue me." said Priya. "I'm not sure what happened, but you did try to warn me, and then you came to get me before I came to harm. I'm not sure what might have happened if you hadn't have found me." "I am sure," I said, "and it would not have been good. Too bad your story on those assassinations has now been squelched by your editors at KSTD. So what's in that envelope that you want to give me?" "How does he do that?" Priya asked Cindy, who just shrugged her shoulders. "Yes, this is for you, and it's the second reason I wanted to meet you here. Your former colleague, Sergeant Sharples, sent me this information." She extended the manila envelope to me. I examined the contents. "Oh, crap." I muttered. "Priya, are you sure it was Sharples that sent it to you?" "Had his name on the envelope." Priya said. "Also, a text telling me where to find it came from his personal cellphone. He'd left it in a locker at the bus station, and told me to get the key from the coffee shop attendant there." I handed the envelope to Cindy. She looked at the contents, her face growing grim as she read it. She handed the envelope back to me as she said "You know better than me what to do with this." "Are you going to run with this, Priya?" I asked. I was not dumb enough to believe Priya didn't make copies of what was on those pages. "No, not directly." said Priya. "But my editors started verifying the information this morning. That is going to set off alarm bells, and who knows if KXTC or someone else might also get onto it. You were right in your press conference that we in the Media are an incestuous bunch that work together behind the scenes more than people realize." "And when it comes to the Government, stories like this are just red meat for the Press." I said. "Okay, Priya, thank you for bringing this to me. Cindy, we need to be going." "Why are there so many old people out today?" Priya asked, looking around. "The Community Center being renovated?" "You're the reporter." I replied. "Maybe that's a story for you to look into." Cindy's face looked uncomfortable as I said that. "By the way, Captain," Priya said to Cindy, "I've never had the chance to congratulate you on your promotion. I'd love to interview you about your rise through the Force. It'd be a great story for Women's Empowerment." "Thank you." Cindy said as Priya extended her card and Cindy took it. We made our goodbyes and left, walking back to the Station, the envelope secured under my arm. I could feel the many eyes of the citizens on us as we strode west along the sidewalk towards City Hall. "Gonna give Priya that interview?" I teased my partner. "That was her personal card, not her professional one. I suspect the interview she wants is not one KSTD will be showing on the air." "Not much gets by you. So I guess I should investigate and find out, like the good police officer that I am." Cindy said, her ice-blue eyes sparkling. "Absolutely." I replied. "By the way, have you looked at the Coltrane County footage that was sent to us?" "No." Cindy said. "I know you were doing it, and I've been putting out fires and helping Tanya with the investigation of that body found at Crown Chemicals." "I sent you an email about specific videos to watch." I said. "Why don't you do that while I go make a quick visit to my favorite University professor?" "Sure." Cindy said. "Tell Laura I said 'hello'." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Daddy!" exclaimed Carole as I came into Laura's office, having called her beforehand. My daughter was sitting on Laura's desk, and her lovely mother in her chair behind the desk. "Hi Carole!" I said, picking Carole up and giving her a big hug. "How are you doing?" "Good!" Carole exclaimed as she hugged me. "You talk to Mommy." "Yes, honey," said Laura, "Daddy and I are going to talk while you play and be a good girl in the nursery, okay?" "Okay!" Carole said. I put her down and she tottered through the door to the nursery. Laura activated the audio monitor so she could hear what was going on in there. "What's up?" she asked me. "Sit down for this one." I said quietly. When Laura re-seated herself behind the desk, I handed her the package from Priya. Pink Lemonade Ch. 04 "Oh shit." Laura said as she read through it. "Jesus fucking Christ..." The papers revealed that Nextdoor County Narcotics Officer Janet Riordan, a.k.a. J.R. Dixon, was in actuality a deep undercover CIA agent, that she was working with porn starlet Callie Carrington, who was an even deeper mole in the industry. The report further said that Janet had worked with 'Nurse Anya', who had been murdered by my nephew Ned, as well as Anya's mother, who Laura had brought out of eastern Europe. While her case handler Laura's name was not mentioned, the information was devastating in its exposure of Company assets. I told Laura how Priya had given me the information, and her story that Sharples had forwarded that information to her. "How in the fuck could that bastard have gotten this?" Laura asked. I just shrugged my shoulders. "Well, I need to call Janet and have her come in--" Laura started, but her phone buzzed even as she was reaching for it. She took the message from her assistant Gayle. "Janet is here now." Laura said. "Did you call her already?" "No." I said as Gayle opened the office door and admitted the beautiful Janet Riordan. The woman's long red hair (darker red than mine) was falling in gentle curls around her shoulders and back, accentuated by her silver blouse. Her skirt was dark grey, almost black, and her sheer black stockings were molded to her magnificent legs. She was wearing high heel pumps, which helped since she was a short woman in height. She came over and hugged me, her face looking somber, then hugged Laura. "Laura, I need to talk to you." "Yes, we do need to talk." Laura said. "Honey, I'll call you later." she said to me in dismissal. I took the hint and left as Laura called Gayle to join the conversation about to happen, then handed Janet the envelope... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Back at Headquarters, I went into Cindy's office at her request. "I looked at those tapes." Cindy said. "This one is pretty grainy, but it does look like Sharples is putting something inside his coat pocket, then his hand comes out and this blob shows up that looks like the cup ." "Yes." I said. "But it's very distant and grainy if you try to zoom in on it. But it is enough to be considered probable cause to dig deeper. I've already put it and a couple more into the evidence servers." "I saw them." Cindy replied. "They're no better than this." "True." I said. "So, tell me what MCD has learned about this body found at Crown Chemicals. "DNA tests are not back yet," Cindy said, "but this morning Booker T. Washington High School on the South side received a donation of a human brain. The donor was the Frank Freeman Funeral Home, who said the deceased man's family had brought it in, just the brain, and asked that it be sent to the school. The family was a middle-aged black man and his wife, who gave the names Donald and Roberta Jefferson." I grinned at that as Cindy continued: "The funeral home did the right thing and called the Police Headquarters Duty Desk, not using 9-1-1 and therefore bypassing the Precinct. Our Crime Lab peeps went out and got the brain, and we've taken a small sample for DNA testing." "Which will come up the same as the headless body at Crown Chemicals." I said. "The Jefferson family will never be found; the names are fake." "So why are you grinning?" Cindy asked. "Let's see, 'Donald' is my name, and 'Roberta' was the name Lorena was using while undercover at the Cub Club. That's really, really cute. Any of T-Square's peeps missing?" Cindy just looked at me a second, then said "As a matter of fact, Grubby Paul got one little sliver of information from a C.I. last night. The C.I. said that one of T-Square's 'Regiment', as he called the entourage always with T-Square, had not been seen for a couple of days. So I got with Myron. He got some street camera data from that night around the Cub Club, but it's just cars coming out the back. He tried to trace the cars, but it came to nothing." "Put everything he did into the evidence servers." I said. "When you get the forensic data on the body and the brain, put it into the evidence servers. But then, find a way to put it on the back burner. It will not hurt my feelings if it's deep-sixed because a C.I. might be exposed. If the Crime Lab is finished with the brain, go ahead and give it to Booker T. Washington High School." "Okay." said Cindy. "you sound like you know what's going on, here." "Not completely." I said. "But we'll never get evidence to convict, the Media doesn't know about it, and it's an indistinguishable person from the Tenderloin District gone missing. We'll keep the evidence in case someone gets flippy with me, but until then let it languish." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura texted me just before noon and told me to be watching the news. Cindy and I watched KXTC in my office. The Fat Boy, Sergeant Sharples, was giving an SBI press conference with Dick Ferrell. "We are investigating the drug flows in and out of Nextdoor County." said Sharples. "Their narcotics officer, J.R. Dixon, known publicly as Janet Riordan, is being investigated by the SBI for possible involvement with the drug pipelines. The SBI has learned that J.R. Dixon has close ties with the Federal Government, and the FBI has refused to assist us to clear up that part of our investigation." Teresa Croyle bounded into my office. "What the fuck?" she asked, having heard the broadcast. "Janet and I keep in touch, and I have not heard anything from anybody about any of this." "Can I tell her?" Cindy said to me. "Be my guest." I replied. "Teresa, it's even worse than what we're hearing." Cindy said. "We got some information from Priya Ajmani, of all people, and the information said that the Government connection is not only very real, but Janet is a CIA agent." "Sharples stopped just short of actually exposing her as such." I said. "That's him... colors just barely within the lines, while doing maximum damage." Just then, my phone rang. "Hello, dear." I said, as it was from my wife. "How is Janet doing?" "She's angry, as am I." Laura said. "I'm expecting half of Langley to appear in our neighborhood soon. Can you have lunch with us to talk about it?" "I'm sorry, dear," I said, "but I think Jack Muscone is about to make an appearance in my office to invite me and my Angels here to lunch." Laura and I made our goodbyes, and just as I put the phone down, I was buzzed by Helena French, my assistant. "Please send Agent Muscone right on in." I said. As Jack came into the office, Cindy and Teresa were looking at each other with that 'How does he do that?' look on their otherwise pretty faces. "Double cheeseburgers on me?" said Jack. An invitation not to be refused... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "My boss has been in touch with your wife about the Priya Ajmani situation, as well as this business about Janet Riordan." said Muscone as he, Cindy and I ate lunch on the outside patio of the Cop Bar. Teresa had had another appointment. "He says that the CIA is about to tear itself apart over you going to Priya's rescue. Some are very upset, some are defending you and your wife." "Finding out who our friends and enemies are, there." I replied. "But that's not what has your boss interested. Janet Riordan's exposure and Callie Carrington's subsequent exposure blows up his investigation into Superior Bloodlines out there." "I'm not even going to ask how you know that." said Jack. "KSTD also contacted us about Sharples giving that information to Priya. Sharples may have broken the law. KSTD is not going to go public with it, either." "Good." I said. "But Callie is still compromised." "Yes." said Muscone. "Your wife told my boss the extent of the damage. And my boss wants to know who gave Sharples that information. That is one serious fucking leak, there." "Yes, yes it is." I said. "And it's from Superior Bloodlines's people embedded in Washington, distributed to Sharples through our favorite Consultant of Crime." "So," said Jack as we finished our lunches, "my boss wants to know what you are going to do about it. He's learned by now that leaving things in this County to you is the wisest course of action." "Glad to see he's learning." I said with a grin. "Tell him that life is about to get very ugly for the Fat Boy." Part 19 - The Power of The Crowbar "Ohhhh, that's good, bitch." T-Square moaned. He was sitting on a bench inside his recording studios in the Tenderloin District. The beautiful black woman on her knees in front of him was sucking his big black snake of a cock. Next to her was a lithe, blonde white woman. They were singers whose careers were being advanced by T-Square's recording industry, but were here today solely to sexually pleasure T-Square. It was 3:00pm, Tuesday, August 18th. The black woman continued to suck T-Square's large cock into her mouth then slowly slide her full lips off of it with deep suction. The white woman was fondling T-Square's big black balls. T-Square moaned, then glanced up. Through the glass of the recording booth, he saw the shadow of someone waiting for him, patiently watching the sexual act being performed. "Get me off, bitch." he grunted. The black woman began to furiously jerk his thick cockshaft, her hand flying back and forth as she sucked the head. It did not take T-Square long to feel his nut rising, followed by the intense pain of his climax. "Oh yeah!" he gasped as thick spurts of semen blasted into the black woman's mouth. She greedily swallowed it, not sharing with the almost-desperate white girl. Finally the big cock popped out of the black woman's mouth, and the white woman quickly sucked it into hers, moaning as another blast of T-Square's jism shot into her throat. She and the black woman began deeply kissing, 'snowballing' T-Square's cum between them. "Okay, girls, go clean up." he said. The women left quickly as T-Square fastened his pants. He came out the side door. "You trying to fuck up my reputation?" he asked. "C'mon, I let you finish and get your nut." I replied. I was in civilian clothes, black mock turtleneck, khaki pants, my khaki Tilley hat, black and brown houndstooth sportscoat, and my gun underneath it. The red crowbar was in my hand, of course. "So what do you want, I.C.?" T-Square asked. "I just came by to express my appreciation of you not making a mess of my Officer the other night." I replied. "Like I texted you: you owe me one, brother." said T-Square. "Yes." I said. "Yes I do. I also came by to ask if you've seen a member of your 'Regiment', one Tyrell T. Underwood, a.k.a. 'Smooth'." "Naw, I haven't seen 'Smooth' in a couple of days." said T-Square, and I could feel his eyes boring into me from behind the sunglasses in the darkened room. "He may be taking a vacation to Mexico or something." "Good time to do that." I said. "Well, when he gets back, let him know I'd like to speak with him about getting a job... at Crown Chemicals. You have a good day." I began to leave, then turned back, held up my cell phone and pressed a button as I said "I think you're about to get a reply text to the one you sent." I left the room, grinning. With a musical tone, the text came through to T-Square's phone. It said 'Paid in full.'. "You are one nasty cracker, I.C." T-Square said to himself under his breath as he read it. "One nasty fucking cracker." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * At 6:58am, Wednesday August 19th, I brought in a pitcher of pink lemonade and a bunch of plastic cups. I began pouring cups of lemonade and giving them out to those in the MCD room. "A little refreshment to go with your morning coffee." I said. Seeing their looks, I then said "Okay, I'll drink mine first to show you it's all good. Salud!" I quaffed down my cup, and poured another one. "What are you up to?" asked Cindy Ross as everyone sipped their pink lemonade. "Up to no good, as usual." I replied. "Why, I believe Bettina is about to make her morning newscast. Let's watch it together, shall we?" "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" yelled the lovely redheaded reporterette from in front of the Federal Building on Courthouse Square. "Channel Two News has learned that the Town & County Council has decided to not challenge the arbiter's ruling that allowed Detective Leonard Sharples to resign. They passed a resolution accepting the resignation of Detective Sharples, who has accepted a position with the SBI's Narcotics Task Force." "Commander Donald Troy and Chief Harold Bennett had formally requested the Council reject the arbiter's ruling and formally terminate Sharples's TCPD employment by firing him, giving him a record of having been fired for cause." Bettina said. "The Council went into executive session over the personnel matter, and after what has been described as a tense and raucous meeting, the acceptance of the arbiter's ruling was passed 6-4, with the second reading to come at the next meeting." "Not worthy of a pink lemonade celebration." Cindy said. "Patience, my friend." I replied. Bettina then said "In further news, Channel Two News has learned that the FBI is opening an investigation into SBI Agent Leonard Sharples in connection with the unauthorized release of information pertaining to the identities of Federal Government agents. Sharples and his lawyers have vehemently denied revealing that information, and said they will cooperate with Federal authorities to clear Sharples's 'good name'." Bettina added: "Also, the Town & County Police Department and District Attorney's office have formally opened an investigation into Leonard Sharples over the death of SBI Agent Jeff Reubens in Coltrane County. This footage, obtained from a source within the Police Department, shows what appears to be Detective Sharples on his knees next to the stricken agent, hiding a drink cup in his coat, then placing another cup down on the ground. Agent Reubens was killed by cyanide ingestion, but sources tell Channel Two News that the cup found next to the body had no cyanide nor other poisons in it." "Asked for comment on whether the TCPD has jurisdiction for the death in Coltrane County, Commander Donald Troy said that the Coltrane County Sheriff had requested the assistance of the TCPD in writing, and that he, Commander Troy, had been assigned to investigate Reubens' death as an SBI Reserve Officer. "Channel Two News reached out to SBI Director Jack Lewis, who referred us to SBI Deputy Director Robert Gaston. Deputy Director Gaston said that Commander Troy was being pulled off the case, which would now be investigated by the SBI's Office of Ethics and Review as an internal matter, as Leonard Sharples is now an Agent of the SBI. As to Sharples, his lawyer has issued a statement that he will not cooperate with the Town & County Police Department in any way." As Bettina continued her narrative, the MCD room was full of a lot of smiles in my direction. "Okay, it is worthy of a pink lemonade celebration." Cindy said. "That is nasty, Commander, just nasty." said Theo Washington, smiling his movie-star-handsome grin. "Obviously I cannot take any credit for that... brilliant piece of work." I said. "Crying shame that I was relieved of investigating the case, too." "So Sharples murdered Reubens?" Joanne Cummings asked. "It's not clear if he is the man who gave Margaret the Girl Scout the poisoned lemonade." I said. "But that tape, while grainy, was pretty clear that he switched the cups while attending Reubens. Pretty odd that he was so close to Reubens at the time Reubens collapsed and was therefore first on the scene. He was wearing a rather warm trenchcoat on a hot summer day; one has to wonder why." "What about Agent Reubens's missing SBI badge?" asked the astute Joanne Cummings. "I think..." I said, "... that that was done as a little message that Reubens himself was the target, and not me nor my wife. That's just a guess, though. At any rate, none of this is enough to take anything to trial... so whoever released this evidence footage did no real harm. Gonna piss off the Chief that the Media has it, though." "You got that right." said a voice. It was Chief Harold Bennett coming in behind me. "But I think I'm not going to lose any sleep on that one." I poured the Chief a cup of pink lemonade. Others got seconds, and the pitcher was soon empty. "I just wish we could get Sharples for murder." Martin Nash said. "That guy is becoming dangerous. Like the Black Widow." I winced upon hearing that, but Nash was right. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * At 8:00am Priya's broadcast came on. She was interviewing Deputy Chief Robert Brownlee, who was saying "Yes, Priya, the tape that was run on KXTC this morning was TCPD evidence. It's release was absolutely illegal, and whoever did it should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I've already sent an email to the Town & County Inspector General, asking for a formal investigation that should include the D.A.'s office, and the Chief and Police Commander of the Force." "What are we going to do about that cocksucker?" asked Chief Bennett as he watched the broadcast with me in my office. I suppressed a laugh at his language; his frustration with Brownlee was becoming more obvious, and I was glad of that as it kept the Chief on my side. "Not much more we can do, Chief." I said. "He's restricted, cut off from sensitive information, and with Sharples gone he has virtually no allies on the Force anymore. Sergeant McCombs has been keeping his head down, as of late, as well." "Oh well." said the Chief. "Don, I do have one more thing I need to say, just between the two of us. I have no idea who gave that footage to Bettina, and I don't care. I know you would never do anything like that, especially in such a way that it could ever come back to you nor anyone else on the Force." He then said "But I learned something a long, long time ago. Yes, we trust each other on the Force, and we have to. But sometimes a person thinks he can trust someone, only to find out later or have something happen later that causes that trust to be breached. Someone you might think is a friend later becomes someone else's friend, and not your friend. If I've seemed to be not as close to you as Chief Griswold was, you'll understand when I tell you that the advice I've just given came from personal experience... twice over." "Yes sir, I understand." I said. "And wherever that leak came from, let's not have too many more of them." said Bennett. "Sharples fucked with us, and for him to get it back in spades is only 'meet and right', as the Bible would say. But don't go to the well too often." "I hear you, Chief." "Okay, you have a good day." said Bennett. "I'm going to go clean up this mess in Procurement. Brownlee cut off a shipment of protective kevlar vests, and I'm getting that order back on track. I can't have your officers out there unprotected." "Absolutely. I appreciate it, Chief. Have a good day." With that, Bennett left my office. I knew he was right about trust. I also knew not to put myself in anyone else's power, nor have someone else compromise him- or herself by doing something like that... Part 20 - Epilogue Laura did not have to fly to Washington, but she did have to go to the City, where some serious meetings were going on with the FBI and CIA leadership in attendance. I did what I could for my wife by cleaning the hell out of the Mountain Nest, until it was spotless. Carole 'helped' by putting away most of her toys. I was very proud of her. I put the kids to bed, and Bowser went to his basket under Carole's crib. I went down to the den and began doing research. It had been a busy time, and I'd been distracted from my investigation of the Consultant of Crime. Yes, I was sure his hand was in everything that had gone on, from the death of Reubens, to Sharples outing Lorena Rose, to Priya and Katherine outing the women on the tapes, and the Oldeeds murder... Pink Lemonade Ch. 04 I closed my eyes a moment, feeling myself back on the Fairgrounds, feeling that tug that had saved me from Keeler's shot, then seeing Oldeeds taking the bullet in the back, the look of horror on his face, and Steven Ikea's... feeling the bullets whizzing by me... I opened my eyes. I had fallen asleep. Bowser had come downstairs, jumped on the sofa next to me and put his head in my lap, which had awakened me. I petted him on the head, letting my hand stroke down his back as my head fell back again... "Well, Commander Troy," said the husky female voice, "you're really looking in the wrong place..." "Wha?" I gasped, opening my eyes. I could only see in black and white, and I was sitting in a chair in a dark room of limitless space, only a cone of light from a fixture above me beaming down on me and illuminating the dust particles... and there she was, right in front of me... Angela Harlan, the Black Widow... "Yes, Commander, my darling Commander Troy..." Angela said, "I tried to help you, I really did..." She was standing in front of me, naked except for black high-heel pumps, her firm, luscious breasts standing out, her nipples hard and standing spikes inviting attention... her black-fringed pussy lips gaping open, desiring to be filled... "I tried to help you, you have to look in the right place..." the Black Widow said. And then the vision faded. I opened my eyes. I was in my den, seeing in color, seeing Bowser's yellow fur as he looked around the room. He got off the sofa and began sniffing around where Angela had seemingly stood. He looked around the room, as if looking for something but not seeing it. I could sympathize. As I sat back, feeling a cold shiver run through my body at the memory of the Black Widow, it hit me what she had been saying... the clue she'd left, trying to 'help' me... Yes... yes, of course... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Would you like some sherry?" he asked his guest. "It's a rare and expensive brand, but a woman of your excellent tastes can appreciate it." "Certainly. You're very kind." said Katherine Woodburn. He handed her the glass, and she swirled the dark liquid and sniffed the pleasant aroma, then tasted it. "Mmm, excellent." she said. "I'm glad you appreciate it." he said. "It's not often I find other people who are able to properly understand a fine drink." "Yes." Woodburn said. "So... it's late, so please excuse me if I come to the point directly and ask why you wanted to see me tonight?" "Yes, I do understand." he said. "Mr. Sharples did significant damage on our behalves, and exposed the Enemy's operations in California. But in doing so, he's no longer in a prime position to help us within the Town & County Police Force. Our resources there are growing thin." "Yes, they are." said Katherine. "And I'm hearing that the Iron Crowbar is clamping down. Computer information is no longer nearly as easily accessible. Even Brownlee has been cut off." He sighed. "Brownlee. My God, that such idiots are allowed to exist on this earth... Katherine, you are a rare exception to the norm of humanity. Do you know how staggeringly mind-numbing it is to have to deal with the idiots that most people are? The total lack of intelligence that I have put up with in these leeches, these scumbags?" "Well, that cannot be said of the Iron Crowbar." said Katherine. "Even he, my dear." he said. "Even he is not a worthy opponent. As you will soon see." "I was surprised," said Katherine, "that he saved Priya Ajmani. Even went against his wife to do that. I know he pretends to be a man of integrity, but that was interesting, don't you think?" "He hates the CIA." he said. "If he didn't, he would've joined them years ago. I'm sure he is eagerly awaiting for his wife's retirement from that filthy institution of secrets and betrayals. I so enjoy turning their agents, and agents of the FBI, to my side, and having them totally betray the Government they claim to love." He continued: "And speaking of those: have you considered, Ms. Woodburn, how Mr. Sharples just clammed up about the investigation into Agent Reubens's death, as a guilty man should... but he so vehemently protested his innocence when accused of giving Ms. Ajmani the information about Janet Riordan and the California undercover operation?" "Uh, Priya said it was Sharples' name on the envelope, and his cell phone that sent the text telling her where to get the information." "And you accept that at face value?" he asked. "I certainly wouldn't, especially when the Iron Crowbar is nearby." "If you say so." Katherine said, finishing her drink. "Well, I must go. Politics are heating up. Jack Lewis is ready to announce over the Labor Day weekend, and the Republicans have no one to challenge him. It should be a shoo-in." "Don't be so sure." he said. "Val Jared may yet be persuaded to run again." "What about Brownlee?" Katherine asked. "What are your instructions for him?" "My dear Katherine," he said, "leave that piece of dog shit to himself. As I said, he is truly an idiot. Let him be washed away with the receding tide of the ocean of stupidity. He is of no value to us; indeed, he is becoming a liability. He is a hopeless fuck-up." As she turned to go, he said "I leave you with this one thought: just how was the Iron Crowbar able to detect the location of Ms. Ajmani, and therefore go to rescue her? How did he know where she was?" "I... I don't know--" Katherine said, but he raised a hand to stop her, the long fingers pressed together. "Don't answer now. Just contemplate." he said. "Just contemplate." And so Katherine would as she went to her car and drove off into the night... He got up and prepared to leave, not to go home but to his next meeting. It was at Ward Harvester. He chuckled to himself, thinking how Katherine, Priya, and their associates had no idea of his involvement with the group that colloquially called themselves 'The Four'... and 'The Four' had no idea of his involvement with Katherine, nor with his marked cards on the Town Council, nor his marked cards within the University. The right hand did not know what the left hand was doing, as the Bible said. It's good to be the King, he thought to himself. Something that filthy Iron Crowbar would never be allowed to understand... Finis.