2 comments/ 33662 views/ 11 favorites A Case of Revenge Ch. 01 By: WifeWatchman The chronological order of my stories is as follows: Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story, Case of the Black Badge series. A Case of Revenge, Ch. 1 Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, extreme language, and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. ***** Part 1 - Dominance and Submission It was late April, and I was driving my Police SUV towards Midtown on Friday afternoon after solving the Black Badge case. I'd invited Cindy to come with me, ostensibly to see her sister and to give her opinion on the house Molly was planning to buy, but more so that Cindy could spend some time with her good buddy Teresa Croyle. "So, did you ever figure out who'd been investigating you and your college days?" Cindy asked. It was a two hour drive to Midtown, and we had some time to talk 'shop' that we really couldn't talk about elsewhere. "No, but I have my suspicions." I said. "Todd's new family, the Burkes, have long wanted to know what happened to their son Jack, who was also Teresa's lover some years ago. But this time it seemed like a much more well-populated and well-financed investigation. So either someone is doing this for the Burkes, or for himself." "Hmmm, that leaves two trains of thought." said Cindy. "Nathan Allen and Henry Wargrave." "Allen isn't all that rich, though he gets to spend a lot of State tax dollars on parties and bourbon." I replied. "I'd say it's Wargrave, but it's not clear to me why, nor why he'd want to help the Burkes." "Business arrangements?" Cindy offered as a possibility. "None that I know of." I replied. As we passed The Asylum in Coltrane County on our way to Buford and on down to Midtown, my mind was flooded with memories of the last two months, and my increasing involvement with the Burkes... --- "Oh yes! Fuck me, Don! Fuck me!" Eleanor Burke screamed out as I relentlessly pumped my meat in and out of her. "Oh God, it's so fucking good! Fuck me, show my husband how a real man fucks a woman!" "Yeah, give it to her, Uncle Don!" Todd snarled as he watched me fuck his stepmother. "Fuck that bitch's brains out! Are you watching, Dad? Are you watching this man fuck your wife?" Todd was yelling the words at his father Michael, who was sitting naked in the chair at the foot of the bed, watching between my legs as my cock drove in and out of his wife again and again. We were in Eleanor's marital bed in the Burke's home. It was back in January, while I was still working on the Black Widow case. Todd had invited me over to fuck Eleanor and make Michael watch. He'd told me all about Eleanor's dominance of her husband. I began fucking Eleanor even harder as she climaxed hard around my pistoning cock. Eleanor was one incredibly hot fuck! For a while she'd met my thrusts as I pounded her pretty pink pussy, and then she'd wrapped her shapely legs around me, trapping me in their grip. I looked back at her husband as I fucked her. Michael Burke was watching, his jaw sagging as he watched another man's cock pump his wife's pussy. His eyes had a strange look: a mixture of arousal, excitement, but also pain and sadness. He was a cuckold and he knew it, but he also felt helpless. I gripped Eleanor's hips, turning slightly onto my right side and pulling up her leg to give her husband a better look. "Look at it, Michael!" I roared, "Look at that cock fucking your wife!" Michael stared at our joined loins, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight of the adulterous copulation in front of him. "I'm fucking your wife, Michael... your wife!" I snarled at the older man. I was feeling a power, an energy surge through me, a god-like power making me want to dominate the woman I was fucking as well as the wimp cuckold that her husband was. "God, it feels so good to fuck your wife, Michael! Are you watching, Michael? Are you watching me fuck your wife like you can't, you worthless piece of crap?" I heard my nephew Todd taking up the bit as I eased back over, fully mounted onto Eleanor in the good ol' missionary position. Todd was relentlessly and ruthlessly taunting his father, demanding that Michael watch Eleanor being taken as I slid my hands under the lovely trophy wife's succulent ass, gripping her soft asscheeks. I was close to coming, and began that final drive to get my nut and spew my semen deep inside her. I deeply kissed Eleanor's mouth, her tongue twining with mine as she returned the kiss, then I began nuzzling her neck, knowing what she was looking at. Todd was also naked, and his body was a specimen of a 20-year-old Adonis. He was naked, his body hair completely saved even as the black hair on his head had gotten long and thicker. He was watching me copulate with Eleanor with an intense stare, and he was aroused. His ten inch cock stood straight up, rock hard and throbbing, barely curving at all. Pre-cum oozed from his piss-slit as his prick pulsed, and he was eagerly awaiting my finish so that he could sink that huge weapon of lust into his stepmother's filthy sperm-filled cunt and fuck her brains out in front of her husband, his father. "Yeah, Uncle Don, fuck her hard and deep!" Todd practically shouted at me. "Get your nut inside that bitch! Fill her up while her husband watches!" It didn't take long; I was powering my cock into Eleanor vigorously, my knees off the bed as my feet gained leverage to savagely fuck her. The pain began rising, intensifying, and then with a flash of gray light it burst. "UUUNGH! AAAUGH!" I gasped out as I fired my first wad of cock-cream into Eleanor's clutching cunt. Burst after burst of jism followed as I emptied my aching balls into the older woman's steaming twat. Along with the release came a huge drain of energy, wiping me out... -- I sat in another chair at the side of the bed, sipping my single-malt Scotch as I watched. After I'd come inside Eleanor and rolled off her her, I'd staggered to the chair and sat down. Eleanor immediately sat up and extended her hand to grip Todd's huge cock and pull him to the edge. She leaned over and her mouth engulfed his meaty inches. "Mmmm," she moaned, "Michael, your son's cock is so big, soooo much tastier than yours." Eleanor said as she fellated Todd. "My god, what a great young cock! Are you watching me suck your son's cock, Michael?" Eleanor said, her eyes a mixture of playfulness but also a serious dominance. I could see in Eleanor's eyes a potential to administer real sexual pain to her husband, and perhaps others. And she was into it now. Eleanor lay back as Todd eased onto the bed and between his stepmother's legs. He began to dryhump Eleanor, making her moan as he teased her, letting his huge cockhead jab her clit as his long, thick shaft slid between the folds of her cunt, getting wetter and wetter with the mixture of lubricant, her juices and my semen. "Gee Uncle Don, usually you're getting my sloppy seconds." Todd called out like a rude child. "Now I'm gonna get your sloppy seconds. Dad, are you watching? Are you watching me fucking your wife's sloppy wet hole? Don't you wish it was you fucking this hot, slick cunt, Dad?" With that, Todd turned his full attention to Eleanor. They both looked between their legs as Todd undulated his hips, letting his cock dip down and ease into her hole. Then he slowly pushed forward, easing in and out with short strokes before finally sinking the final four inches into his stepmother with long deep thrust. Eleanor moaned as she was filled, her head falling back to the pillows as she pulled her legs up and back, then wrapped them around Todd's muscular torso. I just watched. Todd was fucking Eleanor with what seemed to be an easy, lazy, languorous motion, but in reality was powerful and nearly violent. I had watched the young stud fuck a number of times, including the times he had mated with my then-wife Melina, and it was obvious that this young man was a very experienced, very good lover. His motions and undulations as he thrust his hard ass forward, impaling Eleanor onto his throbbing hard male meat, reminded me of the times in college, watching Eleanor's son Jack fucking a seemingly endless stream of hot women. Todd had told me and Laura of Eleanor's confession that Jack had seduced and mated with his mother for years, a liaison that had added to Jack's brother Jimmy's misery and desire to break totally away from the Burke family. How odd Destiny is! I thought, as the flow of personal history played through my mind even as my eyes enjoyed the sight of the muscular young stud copulating with the beautiful older woman... -- There were other evenings, as well. I remember Eleanor sucking Todd's huge cock as I fucked her sweet pussy from the rear, the sounds of her sweet cheeks slapping my groin filling the air. Eleanor also would try to suck my dick as Todd fucked her, but he was too powerful and she would yield to him every time, unable to do anything but succumb to his male power and vicious fucking. I was surprised at how I totally lost respect for Michael Burke. Taunting him was not just role-play; I'd really wanted to humiliate him even as I fucked his wife's cunt into a creamy lather. I remember speaking words meant to cause vicious humiliation and pain to the man, pain far deeper than just sexual dominance of his wife. He absorbed it all, that mixture of sexual arousal and humiliation in his eyes the entire time. Todd was even more cruel in his words, though there was never any physical abuse of the man. I asked Todd how that made him feel, and he said he knew he was in charge and dominant. When I asked Laura about it, I found myself practically becoming a subject of one of her studies... and speaking of that... --- "Well, everything's fine." Laura had said just the day before as she finished my examination in her little clinic next to her office. "Your penis is still the same size, 7.5 inches, though barely that. No physical side-effects of the drugs Ned gave you, nor the 'gray viagras' that I've given you." When I'd told Laura of the dream-hallucinations I'd had while fucking my mother, she had scheduled physicals for me and for Todd, ostensibly under the same project of the drugs Ned had given us nearly two years before. Todd had come up clean and healthy, as well. Laura also commented that Todd's loads were still huge, and he was pumping nearly half a billion sperm each time he ejaculated into a woman. For most men, 100-150 million sperm was normal. Mine was still on the slightly low side, but as I'd proved twice with Laura and once with Molly, I was perfectly capable of siring children. Laura talked to me extensively about the dreams, but was careful not to say or make note of anything that could potentially cause me a problem with my police career, particularly the part about carrying arms in the line of duty. She told me that Todd had not reported any intense dreams like the one's I'd had, but he wasn't taking the 'gray pills', either. I began to wonder why Laura was even having me take those... --- Cindy and I were staying with her sister Molly. We drove to Molly's Police Precinct building, which was in the nicer suburb areas north of town, where I could park my T&C Police SUV in the protected parking lot. Once that was done, Molly drove us to her house to drop our luggage and freshen up, and then we went to pick up Teresa Croyle and have dinner. I observed Teresa as she and Molly talked about some of the things going on in Midtown, mostly about the criminal exploits of Senator Nathan Allen. Teresa had been careful not to let Allen see her, but she'd exposed three dirty cops that he'd been associating with, and then Molly had begun trying to set up a bribery sting operation. But so far, Senator Allen had been very wily, and while he had been pissed at his three marked cards in the MPD being found out, there was nothing to touch him directly. After we'd eaten and were finishing off our drinks and dessert, I whispered to Cindy to take Molly, and only Molly, to powder their cute noses. When Teresa was about to go with them, I stopped her and asked her to stay. "How are you liking it down here, Teresa?" I asked quietly. "It's okay, but I liked it up there a lot better." Teresa said. I'd observed that while she was putting a game face on it, she was out of her comfort zone here in Midtown. "Teresa, I'm going to quickly ask you a question, and I need your most very honest answer." I said. "Do you want to come back to our Police Force?" Teresa glared into my eyes for a second, then picked up on what I was trying to get at. "Yes, yes I would." "I need to be sure you're sure." I said. "If you want to come back, I will start the groundwork to bring you back in, that bastard Allen's meddling notwithstanding. But don't let me start doing that only to have you back out..." "Oh, I won't back out." Teresa said. "When do you think this'll happen?" "August 1st." I said. "By the way, I understand you and Cindy are running in our County's July 4th Team Triathlon as a team?"
 "Yes, we are." Teresa said. "We haven't said anything to anybody, though. How'd you know?" I just smiled. "You need to win it. And when you do, here's the first step in getting you back..." Part 2 - Company Sex "Come on in, Mike." Laura said as the handsome young man entered her office. As he approached her, she remembered the extremely pleasurable sex she was having with him the day Jonas Oldeeds was exterminated. He was also a CIA mole inside the Oldeeds' organization, having become Vicki Oldeeds' personal assistant, his duties mostly being to fuck Vicki with his huge, nearly ten inch cock. "How are you?" she said as they melted into each other's arms. Mike kissed her hard and deep, shoving his tongue into her mouth, feeling her pussy melt into wetness in anticipation of what she was about to do with the handsome young stud. "Good, but I've missed you." Mike said. "I've thought about you a lot." "Let's go to my little bedroom." Laura said, meaning the bedroom set up next to her office to observe couples making love as part of her research. Once inside the room, the young stud began kissing the beautiful older woman, their tongues and lips moving together as their hands pawed at each other. "Do they know you're up here?" Laura asked as she allowed Mike to pull the straps of her dress down and expose her large, milky breasts. "They're in Midtown. I told them I was visiting college friends from up here, and I just came from seeing them. I snuck over to report to you... and of course to have some fun." "Mmmm, I'm glad you did." Laura said as the young stud began kissing her neck, his hands deftly working to remove her dress until it dropped to the floor, leaving the beautiful professor naked except for her high heel gold lamé sandals. She had removed her underwear in lusty anticipation of young Mike's arrival... --- "Mmmmm, so tasty!" Laura said. She was lying on her side as Mike lay flat on his back. She eased her mouth back onto his cockhead, swirling her tongue then slid her lips down the throbbing hard, thick shaft. She sucked the young's stud mammoth meat with famished lust, enjoying the taste and feel of his cock in her mouth as she fellated him. She also knew that Mike was loving it, barely able to hold back, and that he'd becoming apart at the seams soon if she didn't ease back... --- "Mmmmmm...unnnnh!" Laura gasped. They were lying on their left sides, Mike behind Laura, fucking her in a "spoon" position. Mike held her right leg high up as he pistoned his massive meat into her with smooth, steady thrusts. The positioned helped keep his weight off of her pregnant belly, and also kept his thrusts from being too deep or painful. He also was roughly rubbing her clit, sending shocks of pleasure that added to her bliss in being sensuously fucked by a young man and that incredibly wonderful, big cock of his. Laura reached up over her shoulder and pulled Mike's head down to her for a deep, wet kiss that matched their deep, wet coupling, knowing that this position also allowed for the hidden cameras to get clear views of their coupled loins. Laura knew that her husband would really enjoy the DVD of this mating, and seeing her pussy being impaled by the boy's huge meat. "I'm getting close..." Mike groaned. "Where... unnh... where do you want me to come?" "In my mouth, baby." Laura said. "I want to swallow every drop of that creamy load." After another minute of hard thrusting, Mike suddenly pulled his prick out of Laura's steaming twat, jumped up and straddled her lovely face. He practically jammed his cockhead into her mouth and an instant later began ejaculating wad after large wad of semen onto her tongue and down her throat. --- After a couple of glasses of champagne and some cuddling, Laura and Mike's pillow-talk turned to business as Mike began reporting on the Oldeeds' Empire. "Since Jonas died last year, Vicki has been working on maintaining the Empire." Mike said. "She's also trying to slowly dismantle the human trafficking operation and replace it with straight drugs, especially opium and heroin from the Far East. They don't say much in front of me, but I get snippets here and there." Mike continued: "I don't know what it's all about, but Vicki and some of the hierarchy have come to Midtown, and I suspect it's for meetings with politicians. I did overhear that they're going to come up here to the University, allegedly for a rally for some of the young preachers trying to carry on Jonas's work, but I think Vicki wants to meet some contacts here about the operations." "Hmmm, interesting." Laura said. "I'll start having people work on it right away. You have all their cellphone numbers and emails so we can start tracing them?" "Yep, all that's in the envelope I gave you when I came in, the one you locked in your desk." Mike said. "You be careful, Mike." Laura said. "If you think they're getting wind of you, get out of there, fast! We've got other sources, so you don't have to risk it all." "I hear you." Mike said. He began nuzzling Laura's neck, gently kissing her. His hand moved to the swell of her belly, rubbing it. "So, baby, what do you say to letting me put the next bun in your oven after you have this baby?" "Mmmm, so you want to knock me up, eh?" Laura said, turning to face her young lover, smiling beautifully and lustily at him, then sharing kisses with him as they began heating up for their next round of hot sex. "Yeah, baby, that's all I think about." Mike said. "When I'm fucking that bitch Vicki, I'm thinking of you the whole time. I'd really love for you to have my baby, Laura." "Mmmmm..." Laura moaned into their deep kiss. "Well, stud, I'll think about that. In the meantime, why don't you demonstrate your babymaking... techniques... to me now, hmmm?" Mike complied until they were both exhausted with pleasure. ---- "Oh, there you are, Mike." Vicki Oldeeds said as Mike entered her hotel room, carrying his large Bible as always. Two recording devices were secreted inside it. "How was your trip? Your friends doing well?" "It was good, and yes, they're doing well, they'll be graduating in May." Mike said as he looked down, seeing the plastic sheeting on the floor. He tried to hide the chill of fear that raced down his back. A Case of Revenge Ch. 01 Vicki saw that Mike was looking at the plastic on the floor. "Oh, don't worry about that shit." she said. "They were doing some work on light fixtures in the ceiling." "Oh, okay." said Mike, trying to play it cool. "Er, I need to go to my room for a moment and get something. I'll be back in one second." He turned to the door and opened it, and stopped: two armed security men were at the door, blocking his way. Part 3 - Home Sweet Home, Again It was 7:00am the next morning, Saturday. Molly was in her thick white bathrobe, just about to start making coffee, when I came up behind her and began kissing and nuzzling her neck. My cock was throbbing; Molly had not yet been taught that I'd been given a morning blowjob almost every morning for the last decade. "Don!" Molly said playfully as my hands slid her bathrobe over her shoulders, exposing her large breasts and hard nipples. "What are you doing? Cindy might come out any minute!" "Let her." I said, not stopping. My hands were sliding down to Molly's pussy, exploring her womanhood and getting her hotly aroused. She let the robe fall to the floor, turned around and hopped onto the countertop. Her hands slid my shirt off my chest and arms as I loosed my pants, letting them drop along my legs into a puddle below my knees. I firmly gripped the countertop under her legs, which she stuck into the air, and her hand guided my meat into her sopping cunt. --- Cindy was about to open the door to the guest bedroom when she heard the noise outside. Silently cracking the door barely enough to see out, she peeked out. The kitchen was completely visible, and the sight she saw both deeply shocked and intensely aroused her. She watched as Don was fucking his cock into Molly's pussy on the countertop. Everyone knew Don had big balls; Cindy could now see that was literally true. And his ass was not bad looking... for a man's, Cindy thought. Her shock came from seeing her sister being fucked. Molly looked really hot, her legs looked really good hooked over Don's arms. Cindy could see the look of lust on Molly's face as she pulled Don's face to hers and hungrily kissed him. As she watched the couple fornicating in the kitchen, Cindy slid first one finger then two into her dripping wet cunt. She fingered herself hotly, letting her fingers rub roughly over the top wall of her vagina, seeking her 'g-spot'. Intense sexual arousal flooded her body as she watched Don's cock sinking into and out of Molly's steaming wet cunt again and again, letting her fingers drive in and out of her own pussy in rhythm to the rutting couple's lusty humping in front of her. "Ohhh, I'm gonna come." she head Don gasp. "Where do you want it?" "My cunt. Come inside my cunt." Molly ordered, her breathlessness revealing her near-orgasmic ecstasy. Cindy heard Molly gasp and Don groaned, realizing that Molly's orgasm had triggered Don's. Cindy watched, realizing that Don was ejaculating his sperm deep inside Molly's womanhood, and that Molly already being pregnant was the only reason those sperm flowing inside Molly's pussy would not find an egg to fertilize... --- At 9:00am we were driving through the streets of a decent neighborhood north of Midtown. I recognized those streets, having lived in this town for eight years. As Molly continued driving, I realized that the streets were very familiar; we must be near where Melina and I used to live, I reasoned. It got even more incredible as we turned into the streets of my old neighborhood. And then Molly turned into a driveway of a split-level house, where a car was already parked and a redheaded real estate agent was waiting for us. No... it couldn't be, I thought as I looked at the window above the garage, knowing the bedroom behind the panes of glass. Yes, it was... "This is Patricia Quinlin." Molly said, introducing me to a smoking-hot redhead with magnificent legs. "Are you Leanne Quinlin Gonzalez's sister?" I asked. "Oh yes, I am!" said Patricia. "Do you know her?" "She sold me a house up in my home County." I said. "So, tell me about this one." Patricia showed us through the house, the kitchen on the left side, the stairs to the upstairs to the right. The master bedroom was in front instead of the normal behind, and had a little sitting room on the far side, with the window overlooking the driveway. The memories came flooding back. "I really like this sitting room." said Molly as I observed that there was new carpeting installed everywhere. "So did the next-to-last owner's wife." I said. Cindy peered at me as we continued to look around, with me pointing out little things like where the stairs to the attic were, what the basement was like without us having seen it. I continued "Patricia, who owned this house previously?" "I think they were a lobbying company." Patricia said. "They bought it from the previous owner, who moved out of town. They used it for a while as a temporary place for their executives to stay while they were here, probably while having meetings with the State politicians. But then their CEO and other officials got busted for bribery, and the company went bankrupt. The J.P. Goldman Bank of Midtown acquired it on the Courthouse steps." "J.P. Goldman Bank, eh?" I inquired, my heart surging. "Did they change out the hot water heater? The old one was getting to be a maintenance problem." I wondered if anyone would notice... "Yes, they did... the bank did. All new A.C., heating, hot water tank." Patricia said. "Wait just a frickin' minute..." Cindy said, peering at me, the look of understanding on her face growing. "No, it can't be." "Good job, Cindy." I said, trying not to laugh. "Mom would be proud of you." "What are you two talking about?" asked Molly. "This was Don's house! He and Melina lived here when they lived in Midtown." Cindy replied, then looked at me. "It was, wasn't it?" "Oh my God!" Molly exclaimed. "Yep." I said. "Melina also loved that little sitting room. She's having one put into the house she and Daniel are building." I was looking at that sitting room, remembering the day and the moment Todd and Ned had driven up, watching through the window as they got out of Todd's expensive car... "Oh, you lived here before?" said Patricia. "Yes." I said. "And in this house. I would never have believed it was on sale again, much less that Molly would've found it. Patricia, is this house a short sale?" "No, it's a bankruptcy acquisition." Patricia said. "Molly's last offer is going to be rejected, I can tell already, so if you make one together, I can submit it." "Let me go to the car and then meet you guys in the kitchen." I said. I went outside and got my briefcase, then returned to the kitchen, where the ladies were gathered, all agog that I had once owned the very house that Molly had discovered. "So Molly," I said, "is this the house you want?" "I love it. But if you're not okay with it, we can move on and find another." Molly said. "I'm great with it: I liked this house when I was here before, and it'll be even better with you as the occupant." I said, smiling at Molly. "Okay, Patricia, I'm just filling in the details of the contract. My offer will not be rejected." I said, getting a sheaf of papers out of the briefcase and filling in some numbers. "Well, I have to submit it to the bank." said Patricia. "I know." I said. "Here is a card with J.P. Goldman's personal number on it, as well as the number of his highest vice president and de facto operations officer, Selena Steele. Call them directly with this contract, and they'll not only verify the cash is in my account for this cash-on-the-barrelhead offer, but they'll approve this deal the moment you give them my name... before they even hear the offer. Why don't you call them now and see if I'm right?" Leanne was skeptical, but called the number and got Selena Steele, the woman the Black Widow had failed to destroy because I was just a step ahead of the game... and admittedly due to some sheer luck, as well. A moment later, Leanne handed me the phone. "Is that really you, Don?" I heard Selena's voice ask. "Sure is, my friend." I said. "I want this house." "Consider it yours." Selena said. "Put the real estate agent back on the line." As Patricia talked to Selena on the phone, I said to Molly "It's a done deal. We may can even close by May 15th." Closing would actually be on May 31st, as it took some extra time to do the legal paperwork for Molly and I to own it 50-50... Part 4 - Reserve Actions "Never ceases to amaze me." Cindy said as we were driving to Molly's precinct. Molly had been called in and asked to bring us along. "Molly happens to find and fall in love with the one house that Don and Melina lived in for eight years. "Sure that's not going to be any problem for memories for you?" Molly asked again. I assured her that it would not be a problem, and that she (Molly) and I would be making some great new memories. Cindy smirked at that one. --- "This is Lieutenant Moynahan." Molly said, introducing Cindy and myself to her boss. The Midtown Force was large enough to have groupings of officers instead of the more general designation like we had in the T&C Police. Lieutenant Sean "Cav" Moynahan had been in the 1st Cavalry in the Army and was a grizzled police veteran. His brown hair was cut very short, like a flattop except that there wasn't a lot on top to begin with. "Glad you guys are down here. Call me 'Cav', Don." said Moynahan. "I'm glad you're down here. I'd like to ask you to deputize yourself as SBI Reserve and help us out. A body just washed up on the riverbank. Detective Ross, we'd love to have you help as an observer, professional courtesy and all that." Cindy nodded as I deputized myself with my 'SBI' app on my iPhone (they seem to have an app for everything, don't they? There's even a Literotica app! :o) ). We were then introduced to Molly's team. Detective Frank Soltis was Molly's partner. He was a good detective and a master-level chessplayer. He had black hair and a British-looking face (like Patrolman Tommy Gunn, but more decent looking). Unlike the TCPD, the rank of Detective was not that high, like a very Senior Patrolman, and beneath Sergeants. So Midtown Police Sergeant Wes "Coldiron" Masters outranked the Detectives in his team. He wore a dark blue 'street' police uniform but with a thin black leather belt as a sash over the right shoulder to left hip. He was in his low 30s, but his hair was already grayish, and he had it cut high and tight, similar to Lt. Moynahan's flattop. He was extremely straight-laced, exceptionally dedicated to the law, and probably should be heading the I.A. Department; hence, the nickname "Coldiron" behind his back. "An honor to meet you, Lieutenant. I've heard about some of your successes in your County." Sgt. Masters said to me as he firmly shook my hand, and firmly took charge of the situation. "Let's go to the crime scene now, the Coroner's team is wrapping up. Lieutenant, if you'll ride with me, Detectives Evans and Soltis can bring Detective Ross in their squad car." On the way to the crime scene, which was on the east bank of the River and not far from the more exclusive hotels in the area, Sergeant Masters showed why he was called 'Coldiron' as he spoke in his smooth, almost-quiet voice: "Respectfully but frankly, Lieutenant, we do things by the book down here. I've heard about your crowbar, but please don't beat anybody up while you're here. Doesn't work so well around here, with al the Media and politicians trying to start something just to have an issue to scream about." "Okay, I won't beat anybody up." I said. "So tell me, what kind of detectives are Evans and Soltis?" "Both very good." Masters replied in his clipped and fast way of talking. "I've heard Ross is very good, and her sister is one of my best people. She's pregnant now, so we're going to lose her on some field duty. Soltis is good, but not imaginative. He's reliable, tireless and sometimes shows brilliance, but his chessplaying ability has not evolved into what we'd hoped as a Detective. By the way, where does Ross rank by our system?" "Probably about where you are, Sergeant-level, supervisory." I said. "She's a Senior Detective, almost a Supervisor in Major Crimes. Our Detectives are above Uniformed Sergeants in our County." "Out of curiosity, why'd you do it that way?" Masters asked. "Our Town and County merged their police forces, and that's what came out in the wash." I said. "Two-track system, one towards Detective, one towards higher Uniformed service. We're smaller than you guys are, so it just evolved that way, but it works pretty well." We arrived at the scene. "They've taken the body to the morgue, Sergeant." one man called out. "That's okay, we'll see it there." Sergeant Masters said. "Lieutenant, we found a body of a naked man, young, in very good shape, brown hair. Shot once in the chest with a large-caliber round, maybe .45-Colt; then twice in the head with .22 long rifle, it looked like to me." "Fresh, not in the water a long time?" I asked. I was looking at the river flows. A bridge spanned the river just north of where we were on the marshy, muddy bank. Molly and Cindy came up with Detective Soltis. "Maybe overnight." said Sergeant Masters. I said "Looks like if a body was put in the water up near the hotels there, it'd skirt along the shore, through that 'chute' where the bridge pilings are, then it'd slide on up to the bank. Who found it?" "There's a Riverwalk along the river behind all the luxury hotels, and paths lead from it to the bridge here. Some jogger this morning happened to look down from the bridge and saw it, came down and checked to make sure he was dead, then ran to the nearest hotel and had them call us." "Okay." I said. "Anything you've observed, Sergeant?" I'd heard that 'Coldiron' Masters was something like myself in observation and deduction. "At the time I saw the body, I noticed the execution-style head shots then how young he was. We'll have to see what toxicology comes up with, if he was drinking or at a party. The first shot to the chest probably incapacitated him, then the two shots to the head finished him off or were just to make sure." "I think you're right about the shots." I replied. "First one is a big, slow caliber so it didn't exit the body, then the small caliber shots to the head to make sure, as you said." --- At the morgue, we looked upon the body of the handsome young man whose life had been prematurely snuffed out. Of course, Cindy's first observation was of his male anatomy. "Too bad Tanya's not here." Cindy said. "Guy was well-hung." "Yep." I said, explaining to Masters and Soltis about my Crime Lab Supervisor's various observations on penis length at time-of-death. Sergeant Masters looked offended, as if we were sharing too much information with him as I said "You know, his face looks familiar. Any of you ever see this guy before?" "Oh, wait!" Cindy said, peering at the man. She took out her iPhone and took a picture of his face from just above, then looked at the picture. "Yeah, I think this is the guy who was Vicki Oldeeds' assistant when Teresa and I interviewed her last year. Mike Something-Or-Other. He carried around a big Bible and was her personal assistant, and Teresa and I thought he was banging her." "Is that the Reverend who was assassinated in your County? His wife?" Sgt. Masters asked. "Yes, it is." I said. "Cindy, email that to Teresa and see if she recognizes him. Send me a copy of the pic, also." When Cindy sent me the pic via email, I forwarded it to my wife Laura. A moment later a phone call arrived at my cell. "Oh my God, what's going on down there?" Laura practically wailed into the phone. "I just saw him yesterday!" "He washed up by the river this morning, dear." I said. "Anything you can tell me?" "Not over the phone." Laura said. She said she'd send me a secure email, but she did give me the young man's full name, which I passed on to Sergeant Masters. Teresa had texted Cindy that she thought it was the same young man, as well. "Wow, you guys get fast results." Masters said, a tinge of jealousy in his voice. "But you've saved us a lot of time." Masters got on the phone to get people going on checking out young Mike. I turned to the Medical Examiner, an older man. "Anything you can tell us?" "Not yet." the man said. "I think he was wrapped in plastic and taken to the river and dumped. See how his hair has so much blood? Looks like the blood pool was contained, absorbed by the hair, and he washed up on shore before it all washed out." "Good observation." I said. "Definitely looks like a professional job by people who have killed before." "We've wiped the body for fibers, but with him being in the river, I'm not hopeful." said the M.E. Tanya Perlman and 'CMB' would never have been so negative, I thought. "Any ideas, Lieutenant?" Sergeant Masters said. "I'm sure you've thought of this, but I'd send people out to hit the trash cans up and down the Riverwalk area, as well as the hotels. Maybe you'll find the plastic sheeting they used to transport the body. Also, any cameras you have of people on the Riverwalk last night... not necessarily who did it, but others that might have seen something strange, then go after them to get eyewitness statements. Last, I know this is a political town, as ours is a University town, but see if anybody 'special' is here this weekend, definitely including anyone associated with the late Reverend Jonas Oldeeds." --- When we got back to the Precinct, Lt. Moynahan called me into his office while Sgt. Masters got the others going on data acquisition. Cindy helped by getting onto her computer and hooking up with our systems to get information on Vicki Oldeeds and her assistant Mike from our case the year before. "We have a positive ID on the body, and it's lucky you guys were here to help us get onto that so quickly." Cav said. "Anything else?" "He was up in my County yesterday." I said. "I'm waiting for a report on that from my source up there. And by the way, if it's what I think it is, don't be shocked to see elements of the Federal Government in here soon." "You're kidding." Cav said. I assured him I wasn't. Just then Sgt. Masters knocked on the door and Cav invited him inside. "Lieutenant, you were right." Masters said in that flat, even, clipped, fast voice. "Mrs. Jonas Oldeeds and some of her people are in town, at the Hyatt Hotel, and our deceased victim did work for her and was part of the entourage. Want to come interview them with us?" "No, she knows me and my presence might surprise her and cause her to clam up." I said, avoiding telling the real reason. "Ditto that for Cindy. Molly and Frank can get that done." Masters did not seem to like me using people's first names. "I'll take Detectives Evans and Soltis with me, then." "Meanwhile, Sergeant," I said... if the man wanted formality, I could give it to him, in spades, "I have information that he was up at the University yesterday. I'll follow up and let you know what was going on up there." --- "What?!" Vicki Oldeeds said, a look of shock on her already unhappy face. "Mike is... dead?" "Yes, ma'am." said Sergeant Masters, leading the interrogation, with Molly Evans assisting and watching. "Oh my... oh my God!" Mrs. Oldeeds said, looking at the floor, then looking up and asking "How? What happened? Was he killed in a car wreck?" "No ma'am." said Masters. "He was murdered. He was shot dead and his body dumped in the river. We found it this morning." Masters had a rather brutal style, which often jolted his interviewees. Sometimes it worked. A Case of Revenge Ch. 01 Molly noticed Vicki's eyes going from Masters to hers, back and forth, but more often to her, as if studying her. "I'm sorry, Detective..." "Evans." Molly said. "Yes, Detective Evans." said Vicki. "You look familiar to me, have we met before?" Molly played it cool, shaking her head, realizing the woman was observant enough to see the resemblance to Cindy in Molly's face. She was a smart, tough adversary, Molly surmised. "No ma'am, we have not." Molly said, then to change the subject, "Mrs. Oldeeds, can you tell us the last time you saw Mike?" "Uh... yesterday, yesterday morning." Vicki said. Molly watched her, becoming more convinced every minute that Mrs. Oldeeds was not telling the truth. She wished Don could be here to observe the woman; he'd be seeing right through her. She continued to observe as Vicki continued "He... he asked for the day off so that he could visit some friends at the University, and he left about ten o'clock. That's the last I saw or heard from him." "No texts? No phone calls?" Sgt. Masters asked. "No, none at all." Vicki said. "I... didn't really think anything of it before now, before you got here. I thought he was still up there visiting his friends." "Do you know who those friends are?" Sgt. Masters asked. "No... no, he didn't mention any names." Vicki said. "He said they were graduating in May, but that was all." Interviews with other members of the Oldeeds contingent yielded nothing, everyone's story was the same. --- "Well, one thing she's lying about," said Cindy Ross, "Mike shows up on the Hyatt's front lobby camera about eight o'clock in the evening, and in the elevator, getting off on the floor the Oldeeds group had rooms on. The cameras of the hallway were inoperative, however, and Mike never re-entered his own hotel room by using his key." "How did you get that footage?" asked Lt. Moynahan, very impressed. "Uh, I asked your I.T. data guy to get it from the hotel." Cindy replied. "Don't you normally get the footage as quickly as possible?" "Of course we do." said Sergeant Masters, obviously miffed at Cindy's question. "Actually, Sergeant," said Cav Moynahan, "we could probably do things like that more quickly. Learn from our friends in our fellow departments, that's what the SBI Reserve program is about." "Yes sir." said Masters, his face showing nothing, but I sensed some anger and frustration within him. "The one other thing I have," I said, "is that he was on campus of the University yesterday afternoon. My wife is a professor there, she knows him, and she said she saw him yesterday. She said he left for Midtown late that afternoon, which with a two-hour drive and possible stops would put him in Midtown at seven to eight p.m." I did not divulge that Laura had told me she'd spent several pleasant hours fucking young Mike, nor that he was a young CIA operative on assignment inside the Oldeeds' empire. It was pretty obvious to me that Mike's cover had been blown, and Vicki Oldeeds had had him murdered. "Guys, we need to get a warrant and get Vicki Oldeeds and her entourage in the house immediately." I said. "Before they skip town." "A warrant will take two hours." said Masters. Perhaps my look of utter shock caused his next statement. "It doesn't take that long for you guys?" "Uh, no." I said. "We call an ADA and unless a judge has a problem with the probable cause, we get what we need in minutes." "Call the Courthouse, Wes." Lt. Moynahan said. "Get the warrant based upon the conflicting testimony of Mrs. Oldeeds to what these cameras show." Part 5 - Federal Takeover "I don't know what the delay is." Cindy said as she, Molly and I ate sandwiches Cindy had grabbed at a sandwich shop a few minutes before. "We'd have a warrant and a crowbar stuck up the perp's ass by this amount of time." Molly laughed at that. "Sergeant Masters is absolutely by-the-book." she said. "He hasn't cultivated the relationships you have with Paulina and Vice had with Sanders. He actually types up the warrant request, prints it, has a courier take it to the Courthouse, who then waits and brings it back. You guys just say 'Hey, Paulina!' and magic just seems to happen for you." "Yep, Paulina is great about that." I said. Just then, Lt. Moynahan came and asked us to come into his office, which was even bigger than mine back at my HQ. As I walked into the room, I saw two men. You know how it is when you get an 'epiphany', when you suddenly get a vibe and just know something? Well, I had that vibe about the man sitting down. His face was a bit pudgy, hair only on the sides, something of a mustache and goatee. He was in his 40s at least, but looked overweight and more like he was in his 50s. And my vibe was that this man was a danger and an enemy, an even greater threat than Wargrave, though I'd never seen nor met this man before... that I could remember. "Lieutenant, I'm Joseph Corrigan, a Deputy Director of the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology, same general level as your wife, but with a different group. My friends call me Jody. I do not consider you one of them." the man said, not offering to shake hands and not getting up out of his chair." "Well then, the feeling is mutual." I said. "Why am I not surprised to see you here today?" "Allow me to introduce FBI Special Agent In Charge Lester Craig." said Corrigan. "Call me 'Les'." said the FBI agent, who was younger, tall, slender, his brown hair styled in a military haircut. He did offer his hand, which I shook. "Jack Muscone is a friend of mine, he's told me a lot about you, Don, if I may call you Don." "By all mean, Les." I said. "Good to meet you." "We're federalizing your case." said Director Corrigan. "Special Agent Craig is going to be taking over the investigation into the murder of this young man Mike. I was just telling Lt. Moynahan and his team that the victim was working with the CIA and we're treating this at a very high level." "Our Police Chief has agreed to let them have it, too," said Lt. Moynahan, showing no emotion, "so we're standing down." "Anything you can tell us that might help us?" asked Agent Craig. Molly was looking at the bulge in his pants, which had me wondering if Les Craig was well-hung. "Well, you know about the Oldeeds association." I said. "I think they found out he was a mole and they whacked him last night." "They also skipped town just as soon as we left their hotel rooms." said 'Coldiron' Masters. "We're not sure if they went to the City or to the University." "The City." I said, feeling very sure. "How can you be sure of that?" Corrigan asked, derision in his voice. "Simple." I said, again not revealing everything I knew. "Jonas Oldeeds was murdered up there in my County. I doubt Vicki is going to want to go there right now. If she had business in the City, that's where she went. Alternatively, the City International Airport is also there, if she means to put some distance between herself and you guys here." Something in the way Corrigan was looking at me bothered me. It was almost as if he were smirking at me, as if he knew something I didn't. I knew I'd have to think about that one while I drove home... -- "Okay, guys," I said to the Midtown team after the Federales had left. "Before I de-commission myself, why don't I take you guys to dinner on the SBI's tab?" "I'm going to have dinner with a friend." Cindy said. "You guys go on ahead." "Tell her 'hello' for me." I said, knowing who Cindy's friend was. Teresa Croyle, being in the Midtown Police Internal Affairs Department, would not be able to associate with the rest of Molly's team, per protocol. Teresa really shouldn't even be talking to Molly, but they risked it from time to time. Of course nobody would have a problem with Cindy and Teresa talking... and if they did, it would be most very good for that 'nobody' to choose not to have the guts to say anything... At dinner, I insisted that since I was paying for it, I wanted everyone to drop ranks, at least with me, and talk like normal people. That made Sgt. Masters uncomfortable, but it lightened the conversation. Then Masters lamented that they didn't even get the warrant to bring in Vicki Oldeeds as a material witness. "Don't blame yourself." I said. "The Feds shut that down very quickly. They wanted this case solely in their hands." "Don, I want to say something." Cav Moynahan said. "You, and Detect- er, Molly, too, are exactly what the SBI Reserve is supposed to be about, and I've already sent Deputy Director Conlan and Governor Jared my most glowing report of your helping us. I'm glad you didn't come in here bowling us over. Those bastards on the regular SBI... God! what assholes. We're almost at the point we don't talk to them anymore." "We're already past that." I replied. "As is the City." "True enough. Anyway, I'd like you to give us any advice you can on how we can make our operations better. I'm sure all my guys understand that any such advice is to help, not to criticize." "I do have one question: do you guys go to one ADA for warrants, or do you have to just try to grab any of a number of them?" "We have one guy that is our regular for this precinct." Wes Masters said. "Get to know that guy, personally, and a lot better." I said. "Then when you call him up or email him, he'll want to get the job done for you as quickly as he can. I don't know how good he is, and if he's not good, go shopping for a new ADA to befriend. But make it where a simple email or phone call will get that warrant process started right away. Other than that, you may be different from us in some respects, but you're fine, as far as I'm concerned." --- After dinner, Molly and I went back to her apartment. "Molly," I said, "I've got to get back home, I need to leave now. This dead guy is going to be an issue up there." "I understand." Molly said. I called Cindy. "Cindy, I've got to go home now. Can you come with me, or do you want to stay down here and hitch a ride with someone later?" "I'll stay." said Cindy, her voice a bit blurry already. "Teresa and I are downing shots and shooting the shit." "Alright, see you at home." I said. I hung up then gave Molly a passionate kiss goodbye. "I'll see you soon." I said. "We'll have a new house to move into." "Out with the old, in with the new... which is same as the old." Molly joked. --- It was late when I got home to the Mountain Nest. Laura and my mother were there, and somewhat to my surprise, Jack Muscone was also there. "Honey, are you okay?" I asked as my wife and I hugged each other tightly. I could tell that it was a lot more emotional for her than she was wanting to let on.
 "I will be." Laura said. "It's just... just so shocking. Such a young man, full of life." "Son, I'll be going downstairs, and to bed." my mother said. "Carole's asleep, and there's hot water for green tea if any of you want some." We said our goodnights and my mom left. "So, Jack," I said, sitting down by Laura on the sofa as he sat down in the easy chair to the side, "tell me about Les Craig." "Good guy, good agent." Jack said. "He's young, but rising fast. He was on my Missing Person's team for a couple of years, then got a promotion." "He's working with this Director Corrigan of the CIA?" I asked. My peripheral vision caught the looks on Laura's face as well as Jack's; a look of disgust. So they hated the man, too, I thought to myself. "No." said Jack. "Les is assigned to Southport, overlooking the river and rail shipping going on down there. He came up to Midtown simply because Corrigan asked him to, to give some jurisdictional presence." "So where does Mike fit into all this?" I asked. "I'm- I was his handler, though he doesn't- didn't directly work for me." Laura said, near tears. "He was a good kid, but a bit young. Training since he was sixteen, and really promising, but he needed more time, I thought. They sent him into the Oldeeds organization anyway, and he'd been inside for well over a year. He was never supposed to get heavy into anything and to walk out the minute there was any problem..." Laura struggled to regain her emotions. I hugged her and held her in my arms. "He was keeping my team in the loop on Vicki Oldeeds, too." said Jack Muscone. I knew that there was much more to it, and another reason for Jack Muscone's presence here, but I decided to stay silent for now. "Well, guys, I'll head on out now." Jack said. "I'm staying at our FBI apartment here in town. I'll come by and see you tomorrow, Don." "Thanks for coming by, Jack." Laura said, hugging him. He shook hands with me and left. "Any clues to what happened in Midtown?" Laura asked me as we sat down again. "Well, he came up here, and he might have been spotted by someone who told Vicki Oldeeds." I said. "I suspect that he was totally ambushed, shot dead, and dumped before he even realized he was in trouble." "That's what hurts." Laura said. "He came up, visited his friends for real, then came by my office and gave his report. Oh God, if someone saw him coming to see me and put it together..." "Keep your eyes peeled." I said. "They may be watching your office, or there might be a mole in there somewhere." "That's all I fucking need." Laura said. "Now I'm not sure who to trust." "So what did Mike tell you while you were fucking his brains out, if you don't mind my asking." I said. "It was good sex, too. I recorded it so you could watch." Laura said. "Afterwards, he said the Oldeeds' people were on the move, that something was going on, but they were being tight-lipped and he wasn't overhearing nearly as much as he used to." "Sounds like they got suspicious of him." I said. "They may have had someone follow him up here, and when he went into your building, they just assumed he was a mole and murdered him first and asked questions later. That... yeah, that's the likely course of events..." I went into a reverie for a moment, then as I came out, I said "So he said the Oldeeds Gang is on the move? Hmmmm... Well, that'll keep. You must be exhausted, honey. Let's go on up to bed." "Good idea." Laura said. "I'm glad you came on home; I need you to hold me tonight." "That's why I came back..." --- "So you found the mole in your gang." Senator Nathan Allen said to his guest as he poured himself a large bourbon. "You want a drink?" "No thank you." said Vicki Oldeeds. They were in Allen's private study in his home. "Well, give me a little credit." Allen said. "I saw that Mike kid and called your security man immediately." "Pul-eeze, Senator." Vicki said. "First of all: yes, you called my security man... but it wasn't you that actually saw Mike entering the University's Psychology Building, which is infested with CIA operatives. Someone else told us that. Second, your call to my security man has probably been spotted by the CIA and FBI who took the case over from the local Midtown hicks. And if they can trace Mike's killing to me, they won't come trying to arrest me and put me on trial. They'll take revenge, their way. You didn't help yourself or anyone else calling my security man like that." "Aw, it'll blow over." Allen said, taking a large swig of his drink. "They don't have anything to touch you with, at least I hope not. You did avoid all the cameras, didn't you?" "Of course." the beautiful blonde trophy wife said, lying through her teeth. "Though one of the idiots forgot to erase the tape of Mike coming into the front entrance. That's a typical 'Nathan Allen' bonehead move." "Now just a minute, young lady!" Allen said. "There's no need to be making insults like that. I've been around a long time, and in the State Senate a long time. I'm not an idiot, and I have been extremely helpful to Jonas and now to you." "That's why I came by, Senator." Vicki Oldeeds said, knowing her personal bodyguard was just outside the door, and that she was armed herself. "I came to tell you that we will not be moving forward with you in our arrangements. We've made other plans." "What? Aw, c'mon." said Allen. "Sure you don't want a drink?" he asked as he poured himself another large one, trying to hide his growing frustration... and fear. "You've made a lot of mistakes lately, Senator. You're slipping." Vicky said. "First was getting emotionally involved and going after that bitch cop who beat up your son. If you'd let that go, then quietly handled your son's vehicular homicide case, you wouldn't be doing so badly in the polls. Second-" "Look, that was family." said Allen. "That bitch fucked up my boy." "Second, Senator," said Vicki, not bothering to acknowledge the half-drunk Nathan Allen, "your emotional response in attacking the Iron Crowbar's family brought down the Black Badge gang and damn near tore out the heart of everything we were setting up in this County! I was hoping to piggyback on that, get my people in here. Now, because of you, my efforts to re-route Jonas's empire is in danger, the CIA and FBI are all over us like white on rice, and we're having to rebuild from the ruins where before we were starting to make some headway. If Malone doesn't win the Sheriff race, we're done, at least in this State, and if he does win, our negotiations with him are set back... thanks to you, Nathan Allen." "Look," said Allen, trying and barely succeeding in controlling his fury at being cut down by this bitch in his own home, "I've got some serious connections, and I can still get you in this County if you want it. And if you want the Iron Crowbar's head on a platter, like that of John The Baptist, I'll deliver that, too." "It's unreasonable sentences like that last one that caused us to decide to go forward without you, Senator." the lovely blonde said. She was growing weary, both mentally and physically, it had been a traumatic past 30 hours for her. "Guess who was in Midtown today, working with the locals on the murder? The Iron Crowbar. He's already on top of us, and if it wasn't for the CIA and FBI coming in and taking the case for themselves, I might already be under arrest and getting raped in his jail cells. Okay... I've got to meet my plane at the County Airport and get the hell out of here. So long, Senator." "I'm telling you, I can make it all good." said Nathan Allen, trying to hold Vicki Oldeeds, and hold the rapidly-shredding deal in place. "I was a friend to your husband for many years. No matter who wins the Sheriff and D.A. elections, I'll have my networks and my people. But I'm telling you, young lady... don't burn your bridges. It's much better to have Senator Nathan Allen as a friend, than as an antagonist. By the time you learn that, the train will have done run, to coin a phrase." Vicky laughed out loud. "Senator, you weren't a friend to my husband, you were a client. He took your money and gave you girls to fuck. Any connections you had, he was laying others elsewhere, pun not intended. He didn't need you!" "And I have not forgotten, Senator..." Vicki said venomously, beginning to rant, "I have not forgotten that he had to come down to this County last year to try to arrange a deal with Malone... a deal you were to have secured by the time he got here. And because you failed, Senator, my husband had to come here and he was shot dead in front of me. Senator... you want to talk about burning bridges? You've burned a lot of them already... and quite frankly, you're lucky to be alive. Goodbye, Senator." Vicki Oldeeds strode out the door with a great deal of what she considered dignity, leaving Senator Nathan Allen feeling very alone... and very scared. All of his deals, all of his connections were dropping, and he was even facing electoral defeat without a serious rigging of the Election. A Case of Revenge Ch. 01 He poured himself another drink and tried to think. He realized that he was being painted into a corner, and it would take drastic measures and bold action to rebuild the Nathan Allen empire... and to take his revenge upon those who had betrayed him, as well as those who had dared to do anything to his son. He and his son were above the law, and it was way past time the local cops understood that... To be continued. A Case of Revenge Ch. 02 The chronological order of my stories is as follows: Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story, Case of the Black Badge series. A Case of Revenge, Ch. 1-2 Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, extreme language, and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. ***** Part 6 - Revelations Of The Past "Ah Michael, Eleanor, please... come in!" encouraged Henry R. Wargrave as the Burkes entered his private office next to his home. "Can my wife get you anything? Coffee? Tea?" "Just water, thank you." said Eleanor Burke, very much in charge. It was May 10th, a beautiful Spring day outside. "I have some in here already, Lilly." said Wargrave to his slender, pretty wife. "Thank you." Lilly took the hint and left to return to the main house. Wargrave had the Burkes sit in chairs placed in front of his desk, then walked behind the desk and sat down in his chair. "I asked you to come by today," he said, "because my report on your son Jack Burke is finally complete." He held up a bound folder of medium thickness. Seeing the light in their eyes, especially Eleanor's, Wargrave said, "I must tell you, it was extremely difficult to get a lot of this information. Your son went off the grid for long periods, and he hid himself very, very well. But I do think we have most of the answers that you seek." "That girl Ivy?" Michael Burke asked. Wargrave said "She was especially hard to find. She was taken into Witness Protection, which in and of itself says a lot. But I want to encourage you both to look seriously at this report. You may find that this girl Ivy is not the problem nor the reason for your son's life of torment that you think she was." Wargrave was gently trying to steer the Burkes into a certain line of thinking. He was using them, very subtly guiding their actions as he had done to many others over a lifetime of working to get his way on whatever he wanted to have his way upon. He stood up and handed Mrs. Burke the report. "Feel free to call me with any questions." Wargrave said, experimenting with a dismissal. "Henry, I cannot thank you enough for this." said Eleanor Burke, trying to keep her hands from shaking as she held the report. "Believe me, Mrs. Burke, the pleasure is all mine." Wargrave said. "All mine." --- "Honey, is everything okay?" Michael asked his wife. She was at her desk, reading the report word-by-word; it was her second read-through. It was late at night, and Michael was ready to go to bed. He had not liked the look on Eleanor's face as he watched her read the report. Her face had barely changed, but the light in her eyes seemed to turn a strange color. Maybe it was just his imagination. "No, Michael, everything is not all right, and after you read this, you'll see why." Eleanor Burke said. "Read it. Every word. Before you go to bed." The report was brutally straightforward and did not attempt to sugarcoat the truth. It began with Jack Burke's college career. As a Freshman, he seduced several female teachers and professors on the campus, which got one of them fired after other students complained she'd given him an 'A' in her English class though he did no work nor took tests. Those students that complained were then found savagely beaten nearly to death, though none could identify Jack as their attacker. Jack Burke also was part of a secret fraternity composed of well-endowed men. He partied and hung out with the other young men of the fraternity, indulging in orgies and sex parties several times a week. He was getting a tremendous amount of pussy, fucking the University's most beautiful co-eds and having them come back begging him for more of his huge penis. He was arrested a couple of times for disorderly conduct, one of those times being a plea-deal down from a situation where he was groping a man's wife and then savagely beat the husband in front of the wife when the husband confronted him. Witnesses reported that the woman was laughing at and taunting her husband during the incident. Then the report got worse: there had been a series of rapes in a 20-mile area surrounding Burke's University town, nearly always of a wife/girlfriend raped in front of her husband/boyfriend, who was forced to watch and was taunted during the ordeal. There were always two men involved in the rapes, with one man meeting the same general description being described as the leader, while the descriptions of the second man were constantly changing, suggesting to the police that one man was recruiting different helpers for different rape excursions. In addition, the testimony of the raped women and the husbands or boyfriends forced to watch had another peculiarity, which potentially related to Jack Burke: the leader rapist had an exceptionally large penis. During his Senior year, Jack Burke had been seen dating an older woman with glasses, brown hair, a lovely hourglass figure, and really hot legs. This woman may have had drug distribution connections, but she apparently did not attempt to drag Jack into those rackets, and the authorities never determined her name. But after dating this woman for a couple of months, Jack then began living in his dorm room more frequently again. The name of Jack's roommate brought a shock to Eleanor and Michael Burke: it was the same man who was now a young Lieutenant in the Town & County Police Force, whose nickname was the 'Iron Crowbar'. "Oh my god." Michael Burke said to his wife, who was still awake and watching him read. "I don't remember Jack ever mentioning his roommate's name, but it is the same man who is Todd's uncle..." "Yes, Michael." said Eleanor, her eyes burning. "Don knew all along, even when you'd asked him to look into it. He knew, Michael! Keep reading." The report continued that Jack Burke had begun dating a beautiful young woman with black hair, and that he was totally smitten with her. He'd even asked her to marry him, according to the statements of several of Jack's well-hung friends on the campus, and they had sex at least twice a day, every day. Jack's friends wondered if that woman would calm Jack down, or if he'd corrupt her with drugs as he had other women, though he himself never did any drugs beyond marijuana. As it turned out, neither happened: it was right at that time that a woman Jack had partied with and fucked several times, the woman named Ivy, apparently slept with him and then went to the police, claiming Jack had raped her. Because Jack had been a suspect in the rape cases before, the police believed her story and quickly went to work. Forensic evidence was quickly and easily obtained with a rape kit at the University's Infirmary. The Campus Police there obtained a warrant for Jack's arrest, but it was the town's police that arrested Jack at an off-campus apartment. Then the story took a turn. The girl Ivy had been working with a professor in the Psychology Department. The professor, who was also the wife of a high-level Army officer who would become a general officer, went to the Police Station and had a conversation with Burke, threatening him and demanding he leave town, and that he never again attempt to contact the woman he'd asked to marry him. Burke did leave town, not speaking to the young woman, who went on to marry Burke's college roommate. The girl Ivy withdrew the charges, and the case against Burke collapsed and was not pursued further. At this point, following Jack's story got much harder, according to the report. The professor apparently had used contacts of her Army husband to keep tabs on Jack, saying he'd possibly been recruited as a spy for a foreign government. The FBI watched him for a couple of years before considering him to be harmless and dropping him from their 'active' lists of possible spies. According to FBI surveillance, Jack had made appearances at parties thrown by friends and members of the secret fraternity he was a part of, but almost never around the town or campus of his school. There was one incident shortly after he'd been run out of school and town, however, where the older woman he'd been dating showed up at one of the parties and went with Jack to a back room, from which a vicious argument could be heard. According to witnesses, the woman claimed that Jack had not done what he'd promised about something to do with his college roommate, and Jack said he'd done what he could. Then the woman began screaming and threatening to kill Jack. Neighbors had called the police about the noise from the party, and when they arrived, Jack had bolted through the window and into the woods behind the house, with the woman screaming after him that she'd find him. The witnesses interviewed for the report said that they never saw nor heard from Jack Burke again. Again, the FBI had not been able to identify the woman. At this point, the professor that had chased Jack off was at another school, and was spending much of her time on a sabbatical to Europe, causing her to cease keeping tabs on Jack. Jack's story picked up again about two years later. He'd been working for a chemical company, analyzing samples for the research group. Some of the research disappeared from the lab, and Jack had disappeared at the same time. He had not used the name Jack Burke while employed there; fingerprint identification had proved his existence there. The police believed that Jack stole the research data, and the FBI attempted to revive their overwatch of him, but he'd slipped off the grid. Some months later, Jack was believed to be living with a couple named Windham, or at least that was the husband's name. He lived with them for about a year, and people in the apartment complex readily remembered him as "Jack", saying that he was a nice enough guy but always seemed to be looking over his shoulder or scanning the any crowd or group he was a part of. Jack then disappeared completely, and Windham and his wife had no idea where Jack had gone off to. The FBI appeared in the town about two weeks later, asking about Jack, but the trail had gone cold. How the FBI had known to pursue Jack in that town in the first place was not known. As a side note, Windham was a professional photographer, and his wife went into the Police Academy shortly after Jack disappeared, and the couple divorced about eight months after Jack left. Jack Burke was identified two years later, again by fingerprints, after working under an assumed name at another chemical plant. Though no research had disappeared, another company filed for a process patent just days before Jack's company filed a patent for the same process, and Jack was once again believed to have been involved in industrial espionage. The FBI again attempted to pick up his trail, but to no avail. Jack Burke was believed to have been living with couples or women during the intervals where he was unable to be found. He possibly worked on oil rigs in Texas and Oklahoma. There was one police report in Texas where a man whose description matched Jack was shot at in a drive-by shooting while working on a oil drilling site. The man was unharmed. The police caught the shooters, and the report of one Officer Angela Harlan stated that they'd admitted being hired to shoot at the guy to scare him into paying a debt he owed, but would say nothing further about who had hired them... even when offered total immunity! When police went to talk to Jack a second time, he had disappeared from that job, that oil drilling site, and was not seen again in Texas. Burke then showed up again, in the local Town and County. He worked a couple of low-paying jobs, but might have begun working for a drug ring at the time he was killed. He had been having sexual affairs with several women, including his brother's wife, the black-haired woman he'd wanted to marry back in college, as well as a number of other trophy wives in the County. He had filmed many of his sex sessions, and it was surmised by Police that he did so for his own protection rather than blackmail, as he never attempted to extort money from any of the women. Then the story ended with a shocker. The professor that had threatened Jack at his school had since taken a full professorship at the local University. She had contacted the FBI about Jack's presence in the County, and they put him under surveillance. Their report at the time stated that while under surveillance, Jack had had sexual relationships with one Jeanine Olivet and one Marie Arruzio. Only days before Jack was killed, this professor had a private meeting with University Regent Jack Arruzio. The professor's name, the report stated in conclusion, was Dr. Laura W. Fredricson. "I don't believe it." Michael Burke said, feeling his whole body shaking. "How could Wargrave get this much stuff? It reads like a dime novel!" "I believe it." Eleanor said, her eyes unfocused, beginning to rant. "It's mostly from FBI and police reports, which Henry Wargrave could all too easily obtain. But that doesn't matter Michael: it was Laura Fredricson who lied about our son being a rapist and drove him away from school. It was Laura Fredricson who lied to the FBI about our son being a spy and drove him away from several jobs. It was Laura Fredricson who told Joe Arruzio about our son's affair with Marie, and who knows what lies she told Joe to drive him mad enough to kill them. And now Laura Fredricson is married to Jack's college roommate. Do you really wish me to believe that all this is just a set of coincidence after coincidence?" --- "Hi Grandma!" Todd said cheerfully as Phyllis came into his and Jeanine's house. It was May 12th. "Hello, dear." said Phyllis, giving Todd a kiss. It was meant for his cheek, but Todd turned and made it a full open-mouthed kiss. Phyllis returned the kiss and made out with her grandson for several minutes. "So, Todd," Phyllis said, breaking the kiss, then sitting down after picking up Todd's baby son Doug and holding him, "you said you wanted to talk to me." "Yeah." Todd said. "My parents... my dad and stepmom, the Burkes... are acting strange." Todd then recounted how the Burkes were holding whispered conversations, were exhausted from lack of sleep, and would stop talking when he entered the room. In addition, his father Michael had asked him a couple of times about his Uncle Don, and if Todd knew anything about Don's college days. "I told them that I hardly knew Uncle Don in those days because my mom and he were estranged, and that I was only about 8 years old at the time." Todd said. "It's really weird." "Hmmm, very interesting." Phyllis said. "Did any event happen that you know of that would cause them to have such mood changes?" "All I know is that I keep hearing them say 'the report said...' whenever they think I'm not in hearing distance. I don't know what that report is, but they don't talk about it when I come into the room." "And you're getting a strange vibe about it, aren't you dear?" Phyllis asked her grandson. Phyllis was getting a vibe about it herself. "Yeah, Grandma, now that you mention it, it's... strange." "Todd, if the Burkes were going to hide a report, where would they hide it?" "My dad has a safe behind a portrait in the den." Todd said. "And Mom- er, Eleanor has a safe in the wall by her desk, behind what looks like a heating vent." "Do you think you can get into those safes and bring me any reports you find in there?" Phyllis asked. "I can get in the safes, but I wouldn't want to take anything out where they might find something is missing." Todd replied. "I'd rather take you into the house and we can look in the safes while there." --- "Easy, peasy." said Todd as he typed in the digital code to his stepmother's safe, getting it on the second try. He'd brought Phyllis into the house in the morning after learning that his parents were going to take an overnight trip to visit 'a friend.' He did not know that they were going to the City to meet someone and put the wheels in motion to breach the Federal Witness Protection program. "Nice work, Todd." Phyllis said. "Looks like you've done that type of work before." "You're a riot, Grandma." Todd replied. "Hmmm, here's a report bound in a gray cover, says it's about Jack Burke." He handed it to Phyllis who began reading. She was still reading an hour and a half later, as Todd watched to make sure the Burkes didn't come home. When she was done, she went into a long think. Part 7 - All Smiles At The Range Foster's Indoor Gun Range was a surprisingly busy place on May 15th. In the instructional area, a young man was guiding Eleanor Burke. "I've had this gun for years." Eleanor said, displaying her Taurus .38 Special 5-shot revolver. "It's time I learned how to properly shoot it. Do you think I'll be able to control it, though?" "That's a very nice gun for you." the man said. "See these little holes next to the end of the barrel? Those are called 'ports', and will help the gun stay steady when you shoot it. Also, remember that if you're being attacked, you're going to be full of adrenalin and you won't feel a thing shooting the gun... but that's also why practice is important, it'll help you maintain control even when you're frightened." Going to the range, the man went through the basics with Eleanor. "Okay, just aim at that target." said the young man. The target was a silhouette of a man, and it was about seven yards away. "You want your hand pressure on the front and back of the handle, not the sides. Feel the pressure on the front and back. Okay, cock the hammer... okay, pull the trigger smoothly. It should be a surprise when the gun goes off." *POW!* "Not bad." said the trainer. Eleanor had barely hit the paper. "Okay, fire another shot. Smooth trigger pull, let it be a surprise..." Eleanor fired all five shots, the last two double-action (not cocking the hammer). Her aim was getting better and better. She went through a second set of five shots, then a third. After that, the instructor left her to finish out the box. -- Phyllis had watched Eleanor Burke practice, feeling a certain foreboding. Eleanor seemed to have a reason for her shooting practice, and her eyes showed a deep purpose as she intensely worked on her aim. Soon Eleanor was finished, and put the gun back into her black and white purse. Moments later, Melina and Cindy came in, keeping their appointment to shoot with Phyllis. When Melina saw Eleanor, she quickly ducked down as if she was tying her shoe, and fumbled with it until Eleanor had walked by and was gone. If Eleanor had noticed the other women, her eyes did not even flicker over it. "What was that shoe-tying routine about, Melina?" Cindy asked. "That was Eleanor Burke, Todd's stepmother." Melina said. "I'm not sure why, but I didn't want her to see me and recognize me here." "I think you acted very wisely." said Phyllis. "Okay ladies, let's see if this old woman can give you a run for your money on the range. I have to re-qualify, so I need the practice, as well." Phyllis shot very well at her targets at ten and 25 yards, and would've easily qualified if it'd been her actual trials. Cindy also did well, shooting a nice center of mass. A Case of Revenge Ch. 02 "Remember that Mel Gibson movie 'Lethal Weapon', guys?" Melina asked. When the other ladies said they did, Melina began whistling as she moved her target downrange, at least 50 yards away. Other people in the room stopped to watch as Melina picked up her gun and fired eight rounds in quick succession. Whistling as she reeled the target back in, she had perfectly duplicated the feat from the movie: the shots formed a perfect Smiley face in the center of the round target. "Why that's very nice, dear." Phyllis said, impressed. "If you didn't have a gun in your hand, I'd spank you for being a showoff." Cindy said. "Oooh, is that a promise?" Melina said, grinning at Cindy. "Why you naughty girls!" Phyllis said in mock shock. "Why don't we go have some lunch. I need to talk to you ladies about what I think is a serious situation coming." Just then, Cindy's cell phone rang. "Duty calls." she said, hanging up. "Your son wants me to come back to the Station, pronto. I'll have to take a raincheck for lunch." "I'll talk to you soon, Cindy." Phyllis said. "Melina, let's you and I go to lunch. We need to have a nice conversation..." --- "Thank you so much for coming to lunch with me, Melina." Phyllis said. "You're looking very well, very beautiful. How is the campaign trail?" "Thanks, Phyllis." Melina replied. "You're looking great yourself. The campaign trail has been a lot more fun than I would've realized, and Daniel is loving it. How Don knew we'd like it so much, I'll never know... but he was right. How are things with you?" "Oh, quite good." said Phyllis. "Between babysitting stints and Police Auxiliary fun, I go to the Women's Club and the Ladies Auxiliary and listen to all the juicy gossip. Very good information, at times." "Are you sure you're just listening?" Melina said, teasing Phyllis. "Why Melina! As if I'd repeat gossip!" Phyllis said with a grin, then got serious. "I need to get right to the point here, and I'm afraid it might be stressful for you. I would never ask if this was not extremely important right now. Would you please tell me about your relationship with Jack Burke and my son, while in college and then in this town." "Uhhh... oh, wow." Melina said. "I wasn't expecting that one." "Yes, and again I am so sorry to have to ask." Phyllis said. "But you'll have to trust me that I have very good and very important reason for asking, so important that lives might be at stake... and I don't want to have to ask my son." "Okay." Melina said, not questioning her ex-mother's desire to know; she knew Phyllis didn't play around and was asking for a reason. She began telling the story from her unique perspective... Part 8 - The Politics of Control "I'm going to have a drink." said Senator Nathan Allen in his Midtown office. As he poured himself a large gin and tonic, he asked "Anyone else want one?" "Thank you sir, but I'm on duty." said said SBI Agent Richard "Dick" Ferrell. The deeply religious Evangelical Agent Steven Ikea also declined, being a teetotaler and considering the consumption of alcohol sinful and a harbinger of evil. "I'll just have the club soda part." said SBI Director Jack Lewis as he shuffled papers on the table. Soon the four men were sitting around the conference table. It was 1:00pm on May 15th. "Gentlemen, I thank you for coming over today." said Senator Allen in his almost-whiny politician's voice. "We've got several issues to discuss. First, Jack, will you update me on 'Operation Restoration', please?" "Sure, Nathan, and let me explain it in some detail to Dick and Steven here." replied Lewis, who then began speaking as if lecturing. "As you know, we have 96 counties in the State, and then there's the City... which is an 'independent' entity, practically a sovereign state unto themselves. A few years ago, a number of us began a program to make the SBI the premiere law enforcement agency in the State. With our greater resources, training and quality agents, we felt then as we feel today that we could do a much better job of solving crimes than the local county and town police departments. We didn't say that out loud, of course, but that was the gist of it." "And we rightfully take the credit for our superior abilities and efforts." said Dick Ferrell. "Well, of course. And cases that the locals would've fucked up and lost, we'd successfully handle, and of course we should get the credit for that." replied Director Lewis. "Anyway, the Legislature managed to push through a couple of laws concerning jurisdiction and handling of cases, including turning them over to the SBI from local authorities, though getting that legislation through was tough going with a lot of resistance." "The problem was that some of our agents did not do a very good job interacting with local authorities." continued Lewis. "Some of them were alienated, and even though we were much better equipped to solve nearly all of the cases, they refused our offers of our talents. "Southport has a lot of Federal presence due to the boat and rail shipping there; they push us around a lot," continued Lewis, and every man was aware but did not say out loud that the Feds were doing to the SBI what the SBI wanted to do to the rest of the counties in the State- push them around, "and the City was antagonistic to us immediately. "Things got to the point that their Police Commissioner, Whitney 'Buck' Savage, actually told his officers that any SBI agents who came into the City should be immediately arrested... or shot dead. As we were trying to smooth that over, we had that fiasco over the Jefferson Jackson death, where our crime lab made some horrific mistakes. As a result, Town & County Police Chief Griswold has made it his Department's policy to not cooperate with us. "Due to all that, our reputation became so bad, thanks to a rabid and badly misinformed Press, that many other jurisdictions began rejecting our help. The Midtown Police have begun communicating with us that our presence and help is not welcome, and they've begun devoting resources to a crime lab of their own." "Here's an example of the problem." said Senator Allen. "Take my district: I think Griswold's personal jealousy over Agent Ikea's abilities no longer being available to him is the reason for his bad attitude, but he's been fighting us hard all the way. Now Coltrane County has few resources and are almost forced to come to us, and with the State Asylum there we have a strong foothold. But Nextdoor County just contracted with Griswold's police force for his crime lab to run their tests. And while the University Police's program is under the State, they've contracted with the County in a cooperation program which essentially cuts out the State Crime Lab." "Exactly." said Director Lewis. "To continue: Griswold, City Mayor Lucian Phelps, SBI Deputy Director Conlan and others have Governor Jared's ear. I've done all I can to get Conlan fired, but my friend the Governor simply won't let me do the right thing in that regard. Griswold, Phelps and Conlan came up with that SBI Reserve program, and Senator Allen, myself and others went along with it primarily to help the SBI's reputation and to possibly recruit some new Agents away from the local forces when the time was right. "Unfortunately, it all backfired." continued Lewis. "The Reserve program has worked too well, and now nearly half the State wants the SBI to be cut back severely, to be only a supporting entity for the locals to use like prostitutes and then discard when they're done, and the locals take all the credit. The City's legislative delegation has even called for the total dismantling of the SBI. While no one else wanted to totally shut us down, the Legislature fought over the issue. No bills were passed, and everything is status quo for the moment." "We originally had counted on Harold Malone winning the Sheriff race in my County." Senator Allen said, observing the look of hatred and disgust appearing on Ikea's face at the mention of Malone's name. "That was back when you were still with them, Agent Ikea, and we thought that with Malone winning the Sheriff race, he and you would be very cooperative with the SBI and set the example for other jurisdictions." "I have to say, Senator," Ikea said, "I'm much happier here working with the SBI and these excellent agents rather than that scum in that police department." "Oh, don't get me wrong, son, we're delighted to have you here with us in the SBI," Allen replied as he poured himself another large gin and tonic, "but we were also counting on Malone defeating the Iron Crowbar in the race up there. Once Malone won Sheriff, the CIA or FBI would come in and hire away that hotshot Lieutenant, and that would have left you to be in a high place, maybe even police chief after Malone humiliated and fired Griswold." "However," continued Allen, "our plan suffered a setback. That hotshot young Lieutenant didn't run for Sheriff; he comes up with another man, the Internal Affairs Lieutenant, and plays the Republicans up there to accept Allgood. Malone is now telling me that he thinks the Iron Crowbar is going to ambush him, Malone, somehow, and that it might make the race much, much tougher. Thank God we have Katherine Woodburn of KXTC on our side!" "Your re-election is important also, Senator." said Director Lewis. "We're going to need you in the State Senate next year. You've done the Lord's work for us, Nathan, but the future of the SBI is going to be at stake, and we need every soldier at the front lines." "And I'm ready to lead that fight. We'll talk about that in a moment." said Allen. "Anyway, 'Operation Restoration' is a plan by those of us on Director Lewis's side to basically ram SBI leadership down the throats of local jurisdictions. They don't know what's best for them, we know better, and if they act like spoiled children we'll have to spank them and take control whether they like it or not." "The Narcotics Task Force would be excellent for that." said Agent Dick Ferrell enthusiastically. "Exactly, Ferrell." said Director Lewis. "But let me lay out the bigger picture: the City is probably lost to us; they're semi-sovereign in this State, and they have resources that at least match ours. We're willing to lose that battle to win all the others, though. And it has to start in Senator Allen's home district, especially in doing something about that piece of dog shit Griswold and his little pitbull with a crowbar." "So we have a couple of inroads," said Nathan Allen, "and you, Agent Ikea will be our point man on one of them. We know you've been working in your spare time on the death of our great friend, The Reverend Jonas Oldeeds. I know you genuinely want to find his killer and administer Justice, and I feel exactly the same way: Jonas was a good friend to me for years." "Yes sir." said Ikea, listening attentively. "He was an icon, and a hero to me." "But we can kill two birds with one stone, there." Allen said. "We can have you and a small army of our agents, sniffing around -AND- have the Press hammering Griswold and his little pitbull for not solving that case of national and international importance." "Our other inroad is drug interdiction, and that's right up your alley, Dick." said Director Lewis to Ferrell. "I'm getting some reports that with Harold Malone running for Sheriff, the Vice Squad up there is falling behind the power curve; seems the Iron Crowbar is either not interested or can't handle the job. If Malone wins Sheriff, all will be good again up there, but in the meantime we're going to be adding our weight to exposing the Town & County's lack of ability, and they'll be feeling the pain of you shoving red hot pokers- er, crowbars, right up their asses." "I'm loving it." said Ferrell. Ikea looked a bit more skeptical... or maybe he was having memories of Barry Bounel shoving something up his ass. "If I may just say one thing," said Ikea, "I think we need to move fast on any plans we make. Our enemies are powerful and abundant, and they will not be letting the grass grow under their feet in trying to pre-empt anything we try to do." "That's an excellent point, Steven." said Senator Allen. "We're going to be making some things pop within a week. Okay, let's move on to our next issue: that little shit Phil Kearns is making things tough on my boy with his lawsuit. I would like to ask you guys to help me out on that. Not only do we need to find something on that bastard, but I want to make sure that Agent Ikea's buddy, Teresa 'Cunt' Croyle, is totally neutralized as a threat to my boy. Totally neutralized." "She's no buddy of mine." said Ikea. "But she's long gone. I haven't even seen her in the County in months, and I've been keeping an eye out." "Dick, Steven, why don't you two guys take a quick break and let me talk to the Senator here." said Director Lewis. Allen looked surprised as the two agents left the room. "Nathan, what I need to tell you," Lewis said quietly, "is that some of our mutual friends have- 'suggested' to me that we not involve ourselves in the Kearns matter. We stand ready to support you in whatever move you want to make, but we can't do it for you, and we absolutely can't have the name of the SBI involved with the name 'Kearns' in any way. Our friends are concerned that it could hurt us. And I don't mind telling you that it's something you need to take care of, and take care of it completely. The Press is hammering you with it every time the Court issues a new ruling or statement on it. Your election is at stake, and I've already said how vital it is to have you with us next January." "All the more reason I need your help on this matter." said Allen, becoming irritated and frustrated. He poured himself another gin and tonic. "If he ends up dead, that Wurtzburg bitch will be all over it like a fly on a cow patty. My other options are limited, though. I do have one idea, but it crosses county lines, and so I will need your boys Ferrell and Ikea to help me out on one part of it." Allen began telling Lewis his plan... "All right, all right." said Director Lewis. "I'll see if I can swing it to give you that much help..." --- "You wanted to speak to me again, Senator?" Steven Ikea said as he re-entered Allen's office. "Yes, son, and privately." said Allen. He'd texted Ikea to come back to the office after Jack Lewis had left. They sat down at the round table again, Allen pouring himself another drink before beginning. "Steven, I think you and I could find some things to cooperate on that would be helpful to both of us as well as greatly satisfying to you." said Allen. "I know Malone really betrayed you, he really threw you under the bus. I know you want to get him back and I don't blame you one fucking bit." Ikea's eyes were jet and full of righteous anger and hatred. Allen knew he had his fish landed. "What we can do, Steven, is destroy Harold Malone. He wins the Sheriff race, is installed, and then we hit him with a barrage of information I have about his many contacts and friendships with white supremacists. You'll lead that charge, doing it in the Lord's name, bringing righteousness to your County. And by the time it's done, Malone will have to resign the Sheriff position, or he'll be kicked out and maybe even arrested and jailed... and they might not fill the Sheriff position again for years. "But before then, Steven, because Malone will have won the Sheriff slot, Griswold and his little redheaded cocksucker will have left. I'll make sure that you are hired back in... definitely as a Captain, and after some maneuvering you will be Police Chief Steven Ikea! How do you like the sound of that, son?" Ikea chose his words carefully. "It sounds good, Senator, but what's in it for you?" Allen laughed. "What's in it for me is a lot more security than I'm feeling right now. Our mutual cooperation in the County will be good for both of us. And one benefit to me is that I can bring some of my friends in the Oldeeds Ministries to the County, where you and I can keep them safe as they continue the work of the Lord that Jonas was doing before he was so brutally struck down by Satan's forces." "Yeah, I can see that." said Ikea. "And they need help; they had a CIA mole penetrating them. Young guy, but he was a contact of that bitch Laura Fredricson." "Ah," said Allen, asking out of simple curiosity, "how much do you know about that?" Ikea could not hide a smirk. "Quite a lot, Senator. I know that Dr. Fredricson is a CIA operative, and apparently a pretty high-level one, at that. That young guy, the CIA mole in Vicki Oldeeds' personal staff... it was me who exposed him. Yes, Senator, I'm the one who spotted that prick visiting Fredricson and told Vicki Oldeeds about him!." Enjoying the look of shock on Allen's face, Ikea felt the righteous anger whipping through him as he said, almost chanted "I've been working with them ever since Jonas died, working to find the Spawn of Satan that struck down that great man as he did the Lord's work! That bitch Fredricson might have been behind it, and I will find that out. In the meantime, Satan's agent within Vicki's inner circle is now burning in hell fire for all eternity! "That FBI bastard Muscone, he's not hanging around the County just because of the good food at the local restaurants, and I'll see the day that he pays for his iniquities. I've got my eye on them, Senator, and when the time is ready... I'm going to smite them down with the Power of the Lord... I am His instrument, I am his Fist of Jusss-tice! And then... the Iron Crowbar is going to find himself burning in hell fire with the rest of the demons for ALL Eternity as the Lord's Justice catches up to him and his wicked ways!..." Allen listened, realizing that Ikea was not the dumbass everyone thought he was. Religious nutball, yes. But also a vicious and smart attack dog to be used upon their mutual enemies in the County. It was going to be one hell of a hot summer in the County, Allen mused as he listened and drank his gin, one hell of a hot summer... Ikea finally paused to catch his breath, knowing that he did not need the worthless Nathan Allen, and that Allen was desperate because he knew he was becoming totally inconsequential. But I can use him. Best not to waste this resource until he exhausts his usefulness... Part 9 - The Business of Control While Nathan Allen was meeting with the dirty SBI agents on May 15th, at the same time Karla Warner was being escorted by a female guard down the hall of the State Women's Prison. She was wearing her gray prison uniform that was essentially a dress, and some asshole had given her a size too small, making the gray cloth cling to her firm, hot body. She was also wearing gray slip-on sneakers issued by the prison. She had no idea why she was being taken down this hallway, which was an area she'd never been in before. It was in the guarded areas, but locked away from the rest of the prison. "All right, ma'am, I can only give you one hour." the guard said to the woman inside the darkened room as the door was opened. The woman inside the room acknowledged it as Karla entered, and the door closed behind her. The room looked like a library study, with a soft lamp illuminating the room. There was a plush, comfortable sofa on the left side and a table and chair on the right. But Karla didn't notice that; it was the woman lying on the sofa, her legs spread obscenely, that had Karla's full attention. The woman was also wearing a clingy prison gray uniform that showed off the curves of her luscious body. Those spread legs of hers were gorgeous, as well. Her brown hair was cut and styled straight down the sides of her head, her bangs cut straight across her forehead above her glasses. The woman looked familiar to Karla, very familiar, but she couldn't quite place her... A Case of Revenge Ch. 02 "Hello, Karla." said the woman. "It is Karla Warner, isn't it?" As Karla nodded, not being able to speak, the woman said "My name is Elizabeth. And you may have heard of me before. It is my disgusting, hated little brother that is responsible for you being in these jails with me." Elizabeth smiled softly as the light of understanding flooded Karla's face. "Come sit down, I want to talk to you." Karla sat down on the sofa as Elizabeth eased up enough to give the other woman some room. Karla could see up Elizabeth's skirt, and she caught the faint scent of womanhood as she saw Elizabeth's distended pussy lips: Liz had been masturbating before Karla arrived. "Mmm, I see you're looking at my pussy." Elizabeth said. "Would you like a taste?" She spread her legs wider and hitched up her skirt, showing her glowing, beautiful pussy to the other woman. Karla felt a surge of lust in her body. That was an 'eating pussy', and Karla did indeed want to taste it. Wordlessly she knelt over and eased between Elizabeth's knees. She kissed her way down the other woman's trim thighs, then shuddered as her tongue licked Liz's cuntal labes from bottom to top. "Mmm, that tastes soooooo good!" Karla gasped as Elizabeth moaned. Karla had not had a good pussy since she was arrested, and without Katherine Wilson's womanhood to feast upon, Karla had felt deprived. The woman in the jail were skanks; she not only didn't care to eat their pussies, she didn't want them tonguing hers, either. Some of the female guards, and even a couple of the male guards had looked decent enough to her, but so far she'd had no sexual liaisons. She'd become a better fighter though, in denying her cunt to the 'Boss Bitch' of her cellblock. Karla began tonguing Liz's slit steadily, going deeper and deeper. Elizabeth moaned as she enjoyed the pleasure of the other woman's soft, experienced tongue lapping at her labes. "Ohhh, keep on doing that while I tell you why I wanted to talk to you." Liz said, spreading her legs even further, putting one on the back rest of the sofa and the other stretched out over the floor. "I want you to help me do some things, in exchange for getting you out of prison, reuniting with Katherine, if that's what you want, and helping me to avenge yourself upon my asshole little brother." "Mmmm, that might be good." Karla said as she continued to feast on the other woman's delicious cunt meat. She felt Elizabeth responding to her expert cuntlapping, the other woman beginning to undulate her hips and ass as she grinded her twat against Karla's hot sucking mouth. Elizabeth brought her hand behind Karla's head and gently pulled the dark haired woman's face deeper and harder into her sopping quim, gently but firmly encouraging Karla to eat her pussy harder. In spite of the pleasure she was feeling in her loins, however, Elizabeth had to get down to business. "What I wanted to talk to you about, Karla," said Elizabeth as she watched the oral sex happening between her lovely legs, "is your late husband Anthony Warner's company, DynaCorp." She felt Karla tense up a bit as she continued. "I know about the 20% divisions in the company, and what I want you to do is convince your family members to sell out to a certain new company." "Why should I do that? And to what company?" Karla asked. "If you do, I'll make sure you get a piece of the new company, a significant piece of it." Liz said. "And as I said, you'll be walking free of this prison, and you'll be able to enjoy revenge upon my little brother for putting you here. As to the company, I'll let you know the name after it gets enacted by my partners." "What do I have to do?" Karla asked after a moment of hungrily munching on Liz's muff. "First, you have to now change places with me and let me eat your pussy..." Liz said. She had Karla lay down on the sofa and then dove in. Liz much preferred men, and preferred cocks, large cocks, slicing in and out of her snug, wet pussy. But she remembered how, years before, Vicki Oldeeds would eat Jonas's cum out of her pussy, and it ended up being a soixante-neuf until Jonas was hard and ready for more... "All you need to do," Elizabeth said as she tongued Karla's box, making the other woman moan deeply, "is convince your family to sell to my people. I'm sure you hold sway with your daughter and with Katherine, and they'll convince your son... even though you won't need him if the three of you collaborate." "Mmmm... keep eating me like that, and you'll have a deal... oohhhhhhh..." Karla moaned, settling into the pleasure of lesbian sex. What Elizabeth didn't know was that her plans fit right into Karla's... and those of Karla's biological father, Conrad King... -- As Eleanor Burke went shopping at the upscale mall northwest of Town, she had an odd feeling that she was being followed. She took a couple of unnecessary turns along the streets, but didn't see anyone obviously tailing her. At the mall, she was wary but saw no one that stood out. There were a couple of old homeless women sitting on a bench outside, but they were twittering like parakeets, paying no attention to Mrs. Burke. She saw the same old women in the park near the Ladies Auxiliary Clubhouse when she went there to meet Myrtle L. James about an upcoming party at the clubhouse, but shook off her feeling of paranoia. She did remain watchful that she was not followed. Part 10 - Company Business "Honey, you're eight months pregnant." I said. "I'm sure Dr. Wellman will understand if you skip this one." It was May 20th. Laura and I had been invited to yet another reception by University President Wellman. As Department Head of the Psychology Department, Laura received invitations to most of Dr. Wellman's events, and we routinely attended them. But Laura wasn't particularly happy about going to this one, so I was encouraging her to bail out. "I would love to skip this one, especially this one," said Laura, "but I think this one is important for us to attend, especially for you to attend with me. Don't ask; I'll tell you after we get back home." --- "I'm delighted to introduce Dr. Bartholomew Scott as our newest Professor in the Pharmacy School." said Dr. Wellman before the assembled throng of Academia and one police officer (me). "Dr. Scott is a preeminent pharmacist and a longtime master drug compounder... that is legal, Lieutenant, by the way..." There was general laughter at the joke and Dr. Wellman continued, naming a couple of pharmaceutical companies Dr. Scott had worked for, then saying "Dr. Scott holds or has held six pharmaceutical drug patents as well as two chemical process patents. Our University is greatly enhanced by the addition of Dr. Scott to our Faculty, would you please give him a warm reception." As the room applauded, I studied Dr. Bartholomew Scott. He was about 5'9" tall, with black hair, a big bald spot up top. He had a beard and mustache, finely trimmed, some flecks of gray. He looked like a cross between V. I. Lenin and the former NFL players-turned-options-brokers, the Najarian brothers. I estimated him to be about Laura's age, early-to-mid-40s. "I'm delighted to join this Faculty." said Dr. Scott. "After my years of working in the private sector, I'm looking forward to teaching, to sharing knowledge with the next generation of pharmacists and biochemists..." After the speeches, Mrs. Wellman performed her hostess duties by introducing Laura and myself to Dr. Scott. To my surprise (not), my wife and Dr. Scott seemed to already know each other, and their handshake was the barest minimum of necessary politeness. Shaking my hand, Dr. Scott peered at me and said "Ah yes, I've heard a couple of things about you here and there. Everyone is impressed with the job you've done for the Police Force here." As I politely acknowledged his praise, a strange thought occurred to me: many men to whom I was introduced with made a point of saying that my best accomplishment was catching the lovely Dr. Fredricson's eye, and I would wholeheartedly agree with that. But not Dr. Scott... --- Back home, after checking in on Carole and saying goodnight to my mom, I went into the master bedroom with Laura. As we prepared for bed, my wife finally told me what it was all about. "As you know, I'm in charge of the Heinz projects as part of the CIA Directorate of Science and Technology," my wife explained, "and you also understand that I'm in charge of a group, a 'cell', doing some other CIA business in the area when it needs doing. Handling agents like Mike was such a task." "No less than a Deputy Director you are, if memory serves me correctly." I said. "And it does." Laura replied. "Well, Bartholomew Scott is the right-hand-man of my equivalent in another cell. That cell ran that filthy project under the Biology Building, and now Scott is here to essentially take over the Heinz project. Dr. Heinz is not well, he's deteriorating, and Scott is going to have to pick his brain to the extent he can to continue the project once Dr. Heinz is..." Laura didn't finish the sentence; she did not need to. "And what does this mean for you?" I asked. "Simply that I'm being phased out, which is fine with me." Laura said. "However, I was hoping for the projects to be taken over by my protégés in my own group or by another group." I suddenly had an insight. "Does one Joseph 'Jody' Corrigan" lead Scott's cell?" Laura stared at me, then remembered. "Oh yes, he shut down Mike's murder investigation in Midtown. I'm not supposed to say, but to answer your question: yes, he's the one." "Figures." I said. "I had a bad vibe about that man the second I saw him." "And well you should." Laura said. "I can't tell you any more; in fact, you already know much more than you're supposed to." "Well!" I said, taking my wife into my arms. "I guess you will have to find new ways to... purchase my silence." And yowza! did she ever... :-) Part 11 - Company Vengeance Business At the same time on the night of May 20th, Vicki Oldeeds prepared for bed in her suite in the next-to-top floor of the University Hotel. Tomorrow morning she would be holding the press conference to offer one million dollars for information leading to the arrest and conviction of her husband's murderer. This was going to be orchestrated with SBI Agent Steven Ikea's call for the SBI to take over the investigation, as the Town & County Police had utterly failed to produce results. This was the nicest suite of hotel rooms in the County, and this floor was supposed to have extra security, but for some reason Vicki was very uncomfortable as she turned out the lights. She looked out the window, seeing the University spread out before her, the mountainside rising to her right, and the twinkling lights of the Town to the left. Everything seemed unusually still. She tried to shrug off the feeling as she slipped under the covers of the bed... As she awoke, she barely had time to make out the presence of the intruder in the room before feeling a gloved hand clamp over her mouth. There were two of them, wearing black hoods with swimming goggles underneath to protect their eyes, long sleeve black silk shirts, and leather black pants with plastic black zippers that allowed them to completely free their large cocks and balls. As one man held Vicki, keeping his hand clamped over her mouth, the other man quickly tore off the bedsheets , grabbed Vicki's legs, and slid her panties down her legs. Vicki fought hard but was unable to stop her panties from being removed. Then she watched as the man balled up her panties and stuck them to a large strip of duck tape. "HELP! Awk-" she managed to scream out when the first man removed his hand and the second man quickly stuffed her panties into her mouth then taped her mouth shut. Another layer of duck tape was added. "Okay, you bitch." one of the men hissed quietly, intentionally keeping his voice low and husky. "You murdered our of our guys, so now we're going to get some payback. Okay, dude, let's give it to her." The larger man turned Vicki to one side, holding her arms, then positioned himself so that her head was in his lap and his knees were pressing onto her shoulders, holding her down very painfully. The man's hands had grabbed her legs, gripping her ankles and pulling them back to his chest, exposing the blonde's totally defenseless cunt. Vicki's struggles were in vain as she watched the other man unzip his pants and free his cock and balls. He gently stroked his cock to make it harden, and soon it was at it's full length. He was huge, Vicki could see. In fact, he was a full nine inches in length. "Alright, dude, put that big fucking cock in this whore's cunt." the first man, the man holding Vicki down, whispered. Vicki and the man watched as the other man began rolling a magnum condom down the length of his turgid shaft. Then he lubed it up. "Is the bitch wet?" asked the first man. "Dry as dust." the other man said. "Worthless skank pussy." He took a bottle of lubricant and squeezed a large glob into Vicki's cunt, then inserted a gloved finger into the woman's hole and spread the slimy fluid around. Vicki moaned slightly as she was penetrated, renewing her efforts to tear her legs free of the man holding them. But he was simply too strong, and she was helpless against his male power. "Okay, hold the cunt's legs." said the second man as he mounted Vicki. She tried to move her hips to keep him from getting into her, but he was way too experienced fucking women to be deterred. A second later his huge cockhead found her slit and he shoved forward, brutally driving every inch deep into Vicki's womanhood, defiling her. Vicky screamed into her gag as she was penetrated and taken. The man began thrusting into her with short stabbing strokes, fucking her hard and deep. "There you go, dude. Fuck that shit." said the first man, pressing his knees down onto the joints of Vicki's shoulders in an effort to cause her more pain in addition to what his buddy, now Vicki's rapist, was delivering to her. "You feel that, Bitch? You FEEL that big cock in your cunt, you fucking whore?" The man raping Vicki said to her, his mouth just inches from her ear, "This is what you get for murdering our buddy Mike. I'm gonna make you feel every inch of this cock before we kill you. Do you FEEL it, bitch? Do you FEEL what's coming to you? This is all you're good for, you worthless skank whore! You're nothing but a fucking piece of cunt for us to use." "Yeah, make her feel it." the first man said. "Make her feel every bit of it before we slice her up into little pieces." Vicki's pussy had been lubing up some, in sheer, physical self-defense, but it was as if her whole body went dry and cold when she heard their murderous threats. The blonde trophy wife began struggling harder, more fiercely, trying to make as much noise as she could. The bedsprings creaked louder in protest of the violent, brutal fucking the man was pumping into the woman. The man raping her felt her reaction at the words spoken of what they were going to do to finish her. "Yeah, bitch, that's right: we're going to kill you! We're going to slice you up into little ribbons for killing Mike. Yeah, take that cock, you whore!" the man raping Vicki grunted, being careful not to get too loud, lest someone hear them and be warned. "How is that cunt, dude?" the first man asked. "This skank ain't shit." said the rapist. "Goddamn worthless. World won't be any worse off when we kill this bitch. Oh yeah, I'm getting close. You want some of this shit, brother?" "Yeah, dude." the larger man said. They switched, the rapist taking the position of holding Vicki down. He had put his cock back in his pants, and Vicki could feel his meat pressing against the back of her head as she watched the other man open his pants. She screamed into her gag as she saw what came out. If the first man had been large, the second man was even larger! He was an inch longer and what looked like a lot thicker: the first rapist had been as thick as her wrist, but this guy was as thick as a man's wrist. He rolled the condom onto his prick. It was a very tight fit, and even the magnum cock left a couple of inches of cockshaft exposed at the base, just above his mammoth balls. "Oh yeahhhhhh..." the big man moaned as he mounted Vicki and slammed his huge weapon of lust into her sloppy, defiled hole. He began thrusting hard into her. The first rapist had been painful for Vicki, but it was nothing compared to the sheer physical torture of this man's penis invading her. Just the sheer size and thickness was enough to stretch her painfully, and she was unable to accommodate both his size and the brutal intensity of his invasive thrusts. On top of that, his cockhead pounding past her cervix and smashing into the back wall of her vagina was also deeply painful. Vicki began sobbing and moaning in pain. "Oh yeah, you're right, dude, this cunt ain't worth shit." the big man grunted as he raped Vicki as brutally as he could. He had to be careful: penetrating too far into her could be more painful for him than for her if he tried to jam his cock in to the hilt with too much force. As he fucked her, he felt the wet heat of her cunt against his thrusting shaft, and the first tremors of his impending orgasm. Just a couple more thrusts and- *KNOCK!* *KNOCK!* *KNOCK!* "Mrs. Oldeeds, are you all right? Is everything okay in there? Mrs. Oldeeds?" called the voice on the other side of the locked door. --- The Rev. Robert Patterson was walking down the corridor to his room. He was not related to ADA Paulina Patterson, unless her ancestors had been slaves of his ancestors. He was white, with hair that was brown, much lighter than Jonas Oldeeds's black hair had been. He was Jonas Oldeeds's best protégé, aged only 29 but growing in both spirituality, maturity, and that ability to be ice-cold to some instances of immorality. He'd fucked Vicki Oldeeds with his eight inch cock in front of Jonas several times, and he and Jonas and other candidate ministers and male staff had on occasion sampled Jonas's 'merchandise' of kidnapped girls in brutal rape orgies. The Lord had been good to Robert Patterson for putting him in the presence of the great Minister Jonas Oldeeds. As he passed Vicki's room, he heard squeaks of the bed, unusually loud, he thought. He pressed his ear to the door and heard what sounded like two men talking in low tones, and moans from Vicki that sounded unnatural. He knocked on the door to check... The security guard at the elevator saw what Robert was doing and came down the hall to help. --- Hearing the knock on the door, the two masked 'ninjas' quickly taped Vicki's hands and ankles together. As he put his cock back into his pants, the bigger man looked at it and got a shock: his condom was wrapped in a ring at the base of his cock; it had broken while raping Vicki! There was nothing to be done and no time to kill Vicki. The two men hurried to the patio and climbed down to the patio of the room on the floor below, which was empty. They quickly went down the hallway to the east end of the building. --- After unbinding Vicki Oldeeds and taking the duct tape off her mouth, the horrified men of her staff rushed to call Hotel Security and an ambulance, but Vicki stopped them. "Wait!" she ordered, still trying to catch her breath, still in shock from her ordeal. "Not the County Police or EMTs. Call the Campus Police." Part 12 - Police Business Captain Britt Maxwell of the University Campus Police watched her Crime Lab team collect evidence. All of the bedding had been bagged, other fiber samples taken, a rape kit used on Vicki Oldeeds, who was then transported to University Hospital for further medical attention. Her one I.T. guy had, with the help of Hotel Security, secured all video and data evidence. A Case of Revenge Ch. 02 Back at her office at 1:00am, she got the first piece of bad news. "Ma'am, it would appear these ninja-wannabees climbed down to the floor below Mrs. Oldeeds's room." said the pretty blonde Scandinavian woman. She was Detective Inga Gunddottar, having come back to the Campus Police after a stint with the TCPD as a patrolwoman. She'd been Britt's right-hand-woman while a student, and now as a young Detective. "The cameras on that floor were rigged to re-record an empty hallway for several hours beforehand. Our I.T. guy wants to contact the TCPD's Myron Milton, to see how the criminals did that. It was a very sophisticated setup." continued Inga. "Not yet." said Britt. "Mrs. Oldeeds doesn't want them involved if at all possible, and I have to say I agree with her on this one... at least for now. Anything else?" "A housekeeping passkey was used to access the east stairwell, but the cameras in the stairwell show no one going up or down. The equipment is working fine, ma'am, so I cannot understand this." "Oh, shit." Britt said, then after a pause continued: "No, they wouldn't show up, Inga. Don't ask why not. What I do need you to do is ask the people at the Tower Condos next door to the University Hotel for all of their video footage up to the present time. Tell our officers to extend their watch of the area to include the Tower Condos." Inga left to fulfill her orders as Britt allowed her memory to flow: Fifteen years before, the University Hotel and the Tower Condos had originally been built by the University, but they were luxury dorms at the time, and the dorm fees were higher than the other dorms. The experiment was nearly a disaster: students would tear up rooms, costing the School a lot of money in maintenance and repair, and it got where the dorms were not filled as students did not want to pay the premium prices, apartments being available in Town for much cheaper rates. So the University converted the dorm nearest the north-south highway into the University Hotel, and that had been a smash hit and big money-maker since. The University still owned the Hotel and it was on Campus property; therefore, it was on State property and under Britt's jurisdiction, not the County's. The Tower Condos next door had been sold off, the money used to convert the University Hotel to a hotel. The Condos were then renovated by Acme Contractors, a wholly owned subsidiary of Acme Consolidated... which meant Henry R. Wargrave was behind it... and then sold as condos, again successfully. At the time of the construction, a Town Police Lieutenant named Griswold had given the School and builders an idea: in the event criminals attempted to take hostages, or if there were a fire or other problem, a secret second set of stairwells was built in the east stairwells of the University Hotel and west stairs of the Tower Condos. Anyone who on rare occasion used those stairwells would see the gray metal doors on each floor going seemingly to the outside wall of the building, not knowing that those doors led to a twin set of stairs. And the big secret, known only to a few people, was that an underground corridor connected the buildings, and was accessible only from within the secret stairwells. These two rapists had somehow known about the secret stairwells, had used them, and likely had left via the Condos. Britt knew in her soul that now-Chief Griswold would not be involved with this, and she did not know if the Iron Crowbar was even privy to the secret. But someone was, and the sophistication of the camera sabotage showed that these were no ordinary rapists that had attacked the wealthy Mrs. Jonas Oldeeds. Britt decided not to share this case with the TCPD, at least not yet. She proceeded to give instructions to her officers and lab team to keep this one tightly under wraps... --- The two men did indeed use the underground tunnel, which was surprisingly clean and free of dust, to go to the Tower Condos. They went up the secret stairs and to the floor where an apartment had been made available to them. They knew they might have to stay here for as long as 24 hours, until the hubbub died down. As they cleaned up and changed clothes, one of the young men said "Dude, my condom broke while I was fucking the bitch. You might want to stay away from me for a while after we get out of here. If they get a DNA match, I'll take the hit; you just stay away." "Aw, man..." said the other man. "Well, maybe they won't find anything. I'll let the boss know if anything does happen..." The revenge upon Mrs. Oldeeds for Mike's murder had not been fully administered, and now one of them might have been compromised in the process of delivering their brand of Justice... To be continued. A Case of Revenge Ch. 03 A Case Of Revenge, Ch. 3 by The WifeWatchman The chronological order of my stories is as follows: Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story, Case of the Black Badge series. A Case of Revenge, Ch. 1-3 Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, extreme language, and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. Part 13 - Deadly Vengeance Business It was the last weekend in May, and the Ladies Auxiliary Clubhouse was filled with the chatter of women who had come for Dr. Laura Fredricson's baby shower. Laura and a number of other women were at the front table, where Laura would soon be opening gifts. As the crowd milled about, Eleanor Burke went to her black and white purse in the back left corner of the room, her mind closed and focused completely upon her one goal: revenge. Reaching into her purse, she took out her revolver and swiftly put it into a little pocket in her dress. She then walked towards the front, moving steadily but swiftly, the ghost of her son Jack seeming to walk along with her. Coming up the aisle to within three feet of Laura, with an internal exultation of the vengeance soaring in her soul, Eleanor drew the gun out of her pocket, aimed it right at Laura's chest, and fired. -------------------- Some days before, on May 22d, Phyllis had invited Detective Cindy Ross for tea and a chat on the back patio of the Mountain Nest. "Thank you so much for coming, dear." said Phyllis as she poured Cindy some jasmine tea. "Nice view from here." Cindy said. She was also remembering the Christmas Eve party that had taken place here, and the transformation of her life and that of her friend Teresa's that had taken place, thanks to this older woman's son. "Yes, it is." said Phyllis. "Unfortunately, what I must talk to you about will not match the beauty of the view. I need your help. It's about Eleanor Burke, and her son Jack." "Is that the guy who was murdered with Marie Arruzio?" asked Cindy. "And he was Teresa's boyfriend some years ago, and I think he knew Melina, too." "Yes," replied Phyllis, "and 'knew' in the Biblical sense would be the correct word about his relationship with these women. What you may not know however, was that young Jack was set up and framed for rape while in college, which set in motion a decade of events that I'm afraid are about to culminate in an Act of Vengeance." Cindy thought about it, as she realized Phyllis wanted her to, then said, "So you think Eleanor Burke is going after someone... you saw her at the range, practicing shooting." "Yes, very insightful of you there, my dear." said Phyllis. "Yes, I fear that Mrs. Burke might try to do something we all will regret later." "Can't we get some kind of restraining order against her? Get the judge to confiscate her gun?" "What gun?" Phyllis said. "It's not registered, no record of its purchase. That doesn't mean it's illegal for her to have it, as in this State and many others guns are not required to be registered, and private sales require no records. But we can't get any kind of order from a Court without probable cause." "Yeah." said Cindy. "I heard Don once say the worst part about the job is that we can't stop crimes in advance, we can only act after the crime is committed." "Yes." said Phyllis, "But we can be vigilant, and move in to stop the crime as it happens, but before she can do any damage." "How are we going to do that?" Cindy asked, being the foil to the mom as she was often to the son. "We can't follow her around, and if she sees us she'll be on guard. How can we watch her every second of the day?" "My dear," said Phyllis, "you have not yet asked the most pertinent question of all." Cindy thought about it, then realized Phyllis's goal. "Ohhhhh.... who is Eleanor's intended victim?" "Splendid! Exactly." said Phyllis, proud of her student as she subtly trained and guided her. "And I happen to know that the intended victim will be at my daughter's baby shower in a few days. I fully expect Mrs. Burke to attempt something very sinister there. But we will be watching. Here is what I need you to do, though..." ------------------- Upon seeing the purse that Eleanor Burke had come to the baby shower with, Phyllis quickly walked to her car and got an identical one from the trunk. She felt so fortunate that the woman that sold purses at the high-end mall in the northwest of Town had loaned her the four styles of purses that Phyllis had observed Eleanor Burke to carry over the last number of days. Of course Eleanor Burke had not seen Phyllis following her, because Phyllis was not what one would expect to see when being followed by the Auxiliary Policewoman. But more on that later... Walking back into the Ladies Clubhouse, Phyllis noted that Cindy had engaged Mrs. Burke in conversation. Most of the women here, regardless of age, were wearing clingy dresses which showed off some very lovely women's bodies. Cindy, however, looked just a little bulky in her light blue shirt and navy blue pants and jacket. The jacket must be very warm, Phyllis noted, but it was important. With Eleanor distracted, Phyllis quickly swapped her purse for the one Eleanor had left in her chair at the back corner table. Walking a few feet away, Phyllis quickly searched the purse, finding the gun. She emptied it of cartridges, putting the shells in the pocket of her own dress. Making sure there were no more cartridges, Phyllis then switched the purses back, no one the wiser, the bullets going into her own purse. -------------------- *Click! Click! Click!* As Eleanor repeatedly pulled the trigger, only the sound of the hammer falling was made, as the gun was empty. Even so, as Eleanor had pulled the trigger the first time, Cindy Ross's body was already blocking the shot, and Cindy's body armor under her shirt would've absorbed the gunfire that fortunately didn't happen. Melina has seen the flash of the gun just as Eleanor had pulled it out, and she had instinctively placed her body right in front of Laura's, somehow knowing who the target was going to be. Then Melina watched as her former mother tackled a screaming, shrieking Eleanor Burke to the ground, with Cindy falling on both of them and securing the gun. Then chaos erupted for a couple of minutes. It was a party of all women. And all of them decided to start shrieking and crying right at the same moment. ------------------- "I don't care what you say, Lewis." growled Chief Griswold into the phone as I sat in his office listening, less than half an hour after the attempted murder of my wife. "I'm calling up two SBI Reservists, but if you or your filth show up in my County, you're dead. If the Iron Crowbar doesn't get to you, I'll kill you myself!" Then the Chief had made four more phone calls in my presence: one to the Governor, which was immediately taken; one to Deputy Director Tom Conlan, to let him know what Director Lewis was trying to do; one to Molly Evans; and one to Robin Ventura of the City Police, who had been selected for the Reserve commission, and who had surprisingly accepted, the first thawing of relations between the City and State agencies in a long, long time. It did not hurt my feelings that Detective Ventura was also the daughter of University Campus Police Commissioner and Provost Marshal Dexter Robinson. The problem with this case was that the intended victim was the wife of a Town & County Police Lieutenant, that being Laura as my wife. I was deemed to be too close to the victim to be objective, and that was an absolutely correct assessment. But SBI Director Lewis, who somehow got wind of this within minutes of it happening, had demanded that Chief Griswold turn over the entire case to the SBI, as he claimed no one in the TCPD could be objective. To say the Chief had shot that down with the verbal equivalent of a Vulcan anti-aircraft gun would be an understatement. --------------------- It was nearing suppertime. Phyllis and Cindy had given their depositions to Molly and Robin, and Police officers had finished taking statements from every person at the baby shower. Needless to say, the party had been ruined, and Laura would be opening the presents later and sending thank-you notes. After being taken to University Hospital and checked out, Laura came by the Headquarters, gave her statement, then stayed in my office with me. She'd been apprised of Phyllis's knowledge of the situation. Warrants had been procured for the gray-bound report compiled for the Burkes, and Todd had produced it from Eleanor's safe. Michael Burke came to the Station with Todd and was in Interrogation-A, not yet formally under arrest. Needless to say, Eleanor was in Interrogation-1 on the perp side, having been arrested. When the report came in, the Chief ordered it be brought into his office, where he breached protocol by letting me read it (but not take it out of the room). I was now fully aware of the Jack Burke story. And I became aware of one thing that was in the report... and one thing that wasn't. "I always had the idea that you were the professor that chased Jack away." I said to Laura in my office. "I knew Melina was working for you in college to make extra money. Too bad we never met back then." "It wasn't our time yet." Laura said. "I knew of you as Melina's boyfriend, then fiancé. I saw that Jack was leading Melina down a dark path. Thank God she didn't try any drugs while she was... dating Jack. Amazing how things can come so close to going one way, then fate intervenes and things go completely down a different path. "Psychologists will be coming in to evaluate Eleanor Burke." I said. "But they can't be ours nor from the University because of your involvement." "Yes, she's in for a tough time, I'm afraid." Laura said. "I don't really feel any ill-will towards her, and I had no idea she had developed such hatred for me." I said "She's obsessed over what happened to Jack for years, and that report does its best to make her believe that you were behind everything that happened to him. Heck, I'm considering this to be attempted murder, but by someone else using Eleanor Burke as a pawn and a weapon." "If that's true, you'll have to let me handle it at the Federal level." Laura said. "What about Ivy?" I asked. "We're already getting stories from Robin Ventura's police friends that the Burkes were there a few days ago, and trying to get information from the Federal Witness Protection Program-- about Ivy. Michael Burke is not under arrest yet, and neither Todd nor I think he had any knowledge of what Eleanor was going to do. But is he a danger to Ivy?" "I know you won't like hearing this, darling, but I have to say it again: leave that to me and to the Federal level. Ivy is safe, and the Federal Marshals are making a decision on whether or not to tell her about this." ----------------- I did listen and watch the interrogation of Michael Burke from the anteroom of Interrogation-A. The once-healthy, once-vigorous man looked absolutely shattered by the events of the day. Todd was staying in the room with him for support, and Jeanine Burke had come down to represent Michael, though he was cooperative and answered every question. I began to see from his story that the long years of not knowing what happened to their son had taken a huge toll on the Burkes. "I don't think he's involved." I heard the Chief say to Martin Nash and Robin Ventura. They agreed with him. "Did Eleanor say anything that would implicate Michael?" "No sir." said Robin. "But she's pretty much babbling incoherently right now." "All right." said the Chief. "I'll check with Paulina. Unless she objects, we can release Michael Burke into his son and daughter's custody." That only left one thing to do. The ol' Iron Crowbar had not been dulled by these events to the point that he did not see the plan that had occurred... ------------------- "The Lieutenant wants to see you two in his office." Tanya Perlman said to the two women as afternoon gave way to evening. "And he is not a very happy camper right now." The two women were Cindy and Phyllis, who were in the anteroom of Interrogation-1, listening and watching as a psychologist talked to Eleanor Burke, with SBI Reservist Molly Evans and Detective Martin Nash also in the room. Nash was considered independent and objective enough to participate in the investigation, so said Deputy Director Conlan of the SBI over the vociferous objections of Director Lewis. Governor Jared had stepped in and muzzled Lewis; such was the power of Chief Griswold's connections, I noted happily. ----------------- "Ladies, I am more than a little displeased about what I'm hearing about the two of you allowing that woman to go so far as getting shots off. You put my wife in danger." I said, standing at the side of my desk and glaring down at the women sitting on the sofa by the door. "Son, you know that--" my mother started. "First, mother," I said, intentionally interrupting my mother, "this is not a mother-son conversation. It is a Police Lieutenant to Auxiliary Policewoman conversation." My mother's eyes flashed fire; my eyes matched hers, not backing down an inch. Cindy just looked at the floor. "Yes, sir." Phyllis said, a bit of sarcasm in her voice, but she knew not to push me. "What I wanted to say was that you know that the Police can't do anything until the crime is attempted; we were helpless before then." "You should've told me what you were planning. Especially you, Detective Ross." I said. "Yes sir." Cindy said. "I'm sorry I didn't. I should have." She was taking the high road, knowing that she was in 'deep kimchi' with me. She'd been sitting silently, leaning forward nervously. My mother was practically defiant. "Don't blame her, son." said Phyllis. "I told her not to say anything, and we both knew that if you knew about it, you wouldn't let us do our plan." "You're damn right, I wouldn't!" I near-shouted, the dam about to break upon my restraint. I took a breath to calm down. "That was my wife that gun was aimed at, ladies! If Eleanor had had another gun on her person, or one extra bullet to put in the gun.... if you'd been one fraction of a second slower in covering her, Cindy, then Melina would be dead-- yes, I heard that Melina put herself in front of Laura, too-- and Laura might be dead as well. Ladies, I am...." I stopped, again trying to regain control. "But we weren't too slow, son." my mother said. "And we caught her in the act after neutralizing the real threat. We couldn't watch Eleanor every day from now on. We had to do this." "No, no you didn't." I said, knowing that my mother's plan had been brilliantly conceived though exceptionally dangerous, and only the knowledge that it was my own wife that had been in danger causing me to be so angry. "First of all, if you had told me, I might have let Laura make the choice to do it, but she should've been aware of the threat to her person. "And second... Detective Ross, you are wayyyy too valuable to me to be so willing to take a bullet like that, even if you had body armor on... one extra bullet, one shot high that hits you in the head, and..." I just stopped. Cindy was trying to hide a smile that I'd let on that I cared as much as I did. "It is both your good fortunes that I'm off this case completely." I said. "I would imagine that the Chief will have similar words to mine when he talks to you about this. All right, get out of my office until my heart rate gets back down. Scoot!" They scooted, even my mother knowing it was time to high-tail it out of there. As they got up, I said "One more thing, Detective Ross... she may be my mother, but until she becomes Chief of Police and outranks my ass, remind yourself of your chain-of-command in situations like these." "Yes sir." Cindy said, not seeing the twinkle in my mother's eyes, as my mother had understood the underlying forgiveness in those comments. --------------------- I did not get a chance to speak to Eleanor Burke. She was quickly declared unfit to stand trial due to mental incompetence, and she was committed to the State Asylum for further evaluation and treatment. I'm not sure what happened in the Chief's meeting with my mother and Detective Ross, but no formal written reprimands were placed into their files. I suspect the Chief considered his verbal spanking enough after I'd gotten through with them, and that he'd 'let them off with a warning', so to speak. Part 14 - Better Business (State) Bureau On the morning of May 27th, the full DNA report of the samples recovered at the Vicki Oldeeds crime scene, including what was taken from her raped vagina, was handed to Britt Maxwell on a jump drive.

"Did you look at this?" Britt asked the girl. "No ma'am." the girl said. "There was a match in the database, but the name is encoded, and only you can decode it." "Thank you." Britt said, dismissing the girl. She plugged the jump drive into her computer and ran the program to examine the evidence. The original evidence was still in the University Campus Police system and in the physical evidence room; this was a digital copy of the tests run. She entered the password to decode the names involved. "Oh, shit." she muttered to herself, letting her fall back into the comfort of her chair. "Oh my fucking God." The 'standard' test for the last year was to see if the psychopath Ned was involved, and Ned's DNA profile had garnered an 80% match. That wasn't enough, and it triggered an automatic comparison to the State and Federal databases, and a 99.9% match had been obtained. Britt was remembering the years of legal and police battles with this guy, how she never was able to get him for his sexual improprieties... but she had him now. The victory was not a happy one for her, though; indeed, it was empty and hollow. She now wondered what she should do, as this was going to affect her relationship with people she'd really come to know and love. The 99.9% match to Vicki's rapist was to Don's nephew, Todd. ------------------------ News travels fast. Within one hour of Britt receiving the test, a visitor appeared in her office. It was Dr. Laura Fredricson. The two women were close friends, to the point they'd had MFF threesomes with Laura's husband Don. Little did Britt know that was about to change. "Hi, Laura!" said Britt as the other woman walked in. "Have a seat! How are you and the baby? Recovered from that sneak attack on you?" She was trying to be jovial, but Laura had a strange, serious look on her face. "We're just fine." said Laura, sitting down. "And the baby should be arriving in mid-June. But the reason I am here is not social, Captain Maxwell. It's professional... and it's about my 'other' profession." "How can I help you?" said Britt, becoming wary. "I know that you have just received some data in the case of Mrs. Jonas Oldeeds." said Laura. "I need for you to turn over to me all of your reports and all of your evidence from that case." A Case of Revenge Ch. 03 "What?" Britt said. "Don't tell me Don already knows and sent you to do this--" "I'm not acting on my husband's behalf." Laura said. "He has no idea of any of this, and I want it to stay that way. There are some things that neither you nor he knows, Captain, things that I cannot discuss with you. But I need those samples." Britt Maxwell was a beautiful woman and she was also a very sharp cookie. Laura's formality was unnerving. Britt knew something was up about this, something very dangerous, and she knew she's better be careful. "Why should I give you the evidence?" Britt asked, her brow furrowing. "Especially if you're not going to tell me anything about it!" "It's a national security matter." Laura said, which was half true. It was a CIA matter, though the security of the Nation would not depend on this case. "You know the Oldeeds Empire is being investigated by the FBI." "Hold on, Laura," Britt said, "Vicki Oldeeds was the victim here, not the culprit. And I don't see how a rape case is involved in that." "You'll just have to trust me on that. It involves the murder of a CIA agent, believed to be by Vicki Oldeeds. I'm taking this case to the Federal level." Laura said flatly, her eyes boring into Britt's. Britt suddenly realized what she needed to do. "Sorry, Laura, I can't do that." Britt said. "I can hold off taking this up for a prosecution, I can bury it for a while for the sake of your investigation--" "Are you going to give me the evidence, or not?" asked Laura, cutting off all further conversation. "No." said Britt. "And I'm going to make sure to keep a couple extra copies of it in safe places. To protect myself, of course. I don't know what's going on with you, Laura, but if something happens to me, the shit will hit the fan in the Media -and- the SBI, and that genie can never be re-corked in the bottle once that happens." "I see." Laura said. She stood up with surprising agility, considering she was heavily pregnant. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Captain Maxwell. I certainly will remember this... lack of cooperation." As she walked out the door, Laura said, her eyes jet and near anger, Goodbye, Captain." ---------------------- Cultivating friendships and loyalties is always a good thing. It paid off in spades for me when Tanya Perlman came to the open door of my office and knocked at 10:00am the morning of May 27th. "Can I come in?" she asked. I observed the look on her face and a little well of fear went through me. "Is the baby all right? Is something wrong?" "Oh! Oh, no..." Tanya said, smiling as I waved her in. "No, nothing's wrong. In fact, I found out it's going to be a boy. Maybe Pete's son will follow him into the Police Force one day." "Yes, or maybe even higher things." I said as I watched Tanya close the door. "So what's up? Have a seat." Tanya sat down. "I have a friend in the Campus Police Crime Lab, several of them, but this one and I, er, share information from time to time." "I understand." I said. Tanya was telling me she had a source for whom she was a source at times, and for her to reveal this must mean something big was up. "You know that Vicki Oldeeds rape case they've been working on?" Tanya said. I nodded. "Well, the rapists were reported to be very well-hung, which is why my friend was talking to me about it all this time. Apparently one of the rapists' condom ruptured, and some semen was recovered in Mrs. Oldeeds's vagina. Well, the full DNA report came back, and there was a match." "Ned?" I asked, that always being my first thought. "No." Tanya said, then got up, came around the desk and whispered into my ear. "It was your other nephew, Todd." I stared at Tanya in shock, realizing that this was not a joke on her part. She was watching me for my reaction, as well. After a minute of staring forward, I looked at her. "Can you get me a confirmation, unofficially?" "I'll try," said Tanya, "but Captain Maxwell ordered the evidence to be sealed and the database files encrypted. I don't know if Britt is covering for Todd or what, but she knows." "Wowwww...." I said. "Well, she hasn't said a word to me, at least not yet." "That's not all." Tanya said. "Your wife came to the Campus Police station a couple of hours ago and had a private talk with Captain Maxwell. Dr. Fredricson left with a very angry face, and Captain Maxwell shut her office door and hasn't come out since." "Oh, shit, I hope Laura's not trying to intervene on my behalf-- oh, wait, she's not...." I said, then went into a reverie. Puzzle pieces flew in my brain, and I'm not sure how long it was before I came back to reality, with Tanya still sitting in the chair in front of my desk, carefully studying me. "Friend to friend," Tanya said as she saw me come back, "what are you going to do?" "Not a damn thing." I said. "Todd may be my nephew, but if he did this, he did it. I just don't understand the 'why' of it all. Well, until Britt says something, let's just keep this one between us." "No problem." Tanya said. "I'm sorry." "Me too." I said. "But I appreciate you telling me, friend to friend." "So can you owe me one? Like getting me back into MCD?" Tanya asked, her eyes giving away her humorous intent at the question.
 "Not while you're pregnant." I said. "When I see and hear Baby Feeley in this world screaming his little lungs out, we'll work on it then..." ----------------- At 1:00pm I was called in for my appointment with the Chief, to discuss the Vice Squad situation. "I freely admit, Chief," I said, "that I've learned a lot about leadership and grown up a lot in dealing with the Vice situation. And I don't think I've done the best job in handling it all." "That's why I threw all that weight on you." said Chief Griswold. "I wanted to see how you handled things when you were really overloaded. So what did you learn and how are you handling it?" "First, that I need to assign leaders to MCD and to Vice, then let them run their shows and I just lead the leaders and delegate through them." I said. "Excellent." said the Chief. "So what's your plan for implementing that?" "There lies the rub." I said. "I have a plan, but one part of it is going to take some time, the Vice part. There are some okay people in there, but Malone has left me a group of individuals, not a cohesive team. We need new hires after losing Ikea and Croyle, and so I can make inroads there. But there's no person there now who can really take over the Vice leadership role." I told the Chief my idea, and who I wanted to bring into the fold. He wholeheartedly agreed, and also agreed that the time lapse until that could happen was a bit of a problem. "So I'll have to keep having a direct influence there." I said. "Now MCD is overflowing with leaders. I could put Cindy or Martin in the role right now, or even bring Tanya Perlman back and put her in charge. I thought of having Martin go work in Vice and keep it from falling apart, but I don't know if he wants to do that." "Another thing you don't want to do, kid," said the Chief as he went into fatherly teaching mode, "is to give someone something and then have to take it back. Martin's a good kid, but if you put him in the leadership role in Vice, you'll have to leave him there. If you take him back out of that, it'll plant a seed of resentment, even if he swears up and down it's not the case." "Yes sir, I agree." I said. "So the plans are laid out, but we'll have to plod along." "I think you're doing fine." the Chief said.
 "Chief, may I speak freely?" I asked. "By all means." "I need a favor." "Oh really?" the Chief said, surprised, his face lighting up a bit. "How can I help?" I told the Chief of the situation with Todd, Britt and my wife, and my solution for all of it. "So, what if Captain Maxwell brings charges against Todd?" the Chief asked, studying me carefully. This was a test of my integrity, I well knew, just as Tanya had knowingly tested it earlier today. "Then it's a good thing that his wife is a lawyer." I said. "He's responsible for his actions, and I won't be the one who can or will help him on that. However, no matter what Britt does, I need to help her get out of the pickle she's inadvertently put herself in with my wife. I know what I want to do, and I've been wanting to do this for some time, but I'll need your help to do it." "You've got it." said the Chief. "Get out of here and go solve crimes while I make four phone calls." I got out. The Chief made four phone calls. ----------------------- At 3:30pm on the same May 27th, an exhausted Britt Maxwell heard her phone buzz. It was the Campus Police switchboard. "I can't take any calls right now." Britt said. "But ma'am, it's the Governor." the switchboard operator said. "The Governor of what?" asked Britt, not comprehending. "Uh, the State, ma'am. It's Governor Jared." "Oh!" Britt said, and wondered if this was Laura's opening salvo to crush her, Britt, after this morning's disastrous conversation. Well, only one way to find out. She picked up the phone. "Governor? Yes sir, how are you..." ------------------- "You alright, babe?" Cindy asked her roommate after observing the look on Britt's face when she came in the door. "Oh God, what a day this has been." Britt said. Cindy put aside her light reading and sat up on the sofa to give Britt room to sit down. The 'light reading' was sheafs of papers that included police reports and materials from the Eleanor Burke case. Don seemed to already know every bit of it, while Cindy worked hard to catch up. "So tell me about it." said Cindy. "Cindy..." Britt said. "There's something I need to ask you first, and I'll understand if you refuse." "What?" "You know the Vicki Oldeeds rape case?" Britt asked. "Yeah." replied Cindy. "Nobody knew she was in town, and the rape has been kept completely out of the Media. How that happened, I'll never know." "Me neither," said Britt, "but here's the problem. One of the rapists was identified as Don's nephew Todd. Positive match on the DNA test." "Geez!" Cindy gasped, shocked. "Does Don know yet?" "I don't know." Britt said. "I haven't talked to him, but you know how he seems to know everything before anyone else does. But I do know this: Laura Fredricson came to me this morning and demanded I turn over all the evidence to her. Do you know that she's a high level officer in the CIA?" "Yes." Cindy said. "Don told me, and told me to keep it a secret, even though it's not that well-kept a secret." "Well, I didn't give Laura the evidence, and she walked away pissed." Britt said. "And I'm scared of what might happen to me. This is the fucking CIA we're talking about; they make people disappear! "If something does happen to me, I want to give you this jump drive with all the information on the case. I don't want you to use it or look at it unless something does happen to me, though. If you don't want to take this, I'll understand." "Of course I will." said Cindy, knowing full well the dangers of doing so. "Oh, thank you, you're the best." Britt said. The women hugged each other tightly. Cindy could tell Britt needed a friend... and a drink. She promptly made a couple, taking the jump drive and hiding it first. "I've also hidden a couple of other jump drives in a couple of places, including a safe deposit box, and instructions sealed with my lawyer." said Britt. "I have no idea what's going on with all this; it's too big for me. What do you think I should do now?" "You want the truth?" Cindy asked. "Of course." Britt said. Cindy replied "My advice is to go to Don, tell him everything, and totally trust what he says and does." "Really?" Britt said. "I mean... I trust him, but we're talking his nephew and his wife, here." "Yep." Cindy said. "He has ways of making things right. I watched him play with Ferrell and Ikea like toys when they tried to set up Coach Marshall, and he saved Selena Steele from Angela Harlan when nobody else on the planet could have. By the way, are you going to prosecute Todd?" "I don't know." Britt said. "I didn't see how I couldn't go forward with it. Then again, while I don't know why Todd did what he did, I do know Vicki Oldeeds is one evil bitch. A lot of people want to know what happened with that Mike kid, some say Vicki had him murdered. And Todd isn't that asshole kid anymore; he has a wife and effectively has two children now." "Yeah, something's up with all of that Oldeeds business. And it's way above my pay grade." said Cindy. "All the more reason to go talk to Don, pronto." "In the morning." Britt said, snuggling into Cindy. "Right now I feel a lot more protected while in your arms... by the way, there's something else I need to tell you, and it's another reason I'm holding back on the rape case: Governor Jared called me this afternoon..." ------------- Britt and I sat in the main room of The Cabin, side-by-side on the sofa. It was May 28th and I had taken an early lunch to meet her there after she called me first thing in the morning. I was reading the report of the DNA results. "Yep, pretty conclusive." I said. "So, let's get down to brass tacks: I heard my wife visited you about these results." I said. "You know?" Britt asked. "Did she tell you last night?" "No." I said. "And she made a point to not say much, then she went to bed early, claiming late pregnancy stresses. She's not the forgiving type when she feels betrayed, though. I'm sorry to hear of this, and I want you to know that you're still my friend no matter what." "Aw, that's sweet." Britt said. "And I appreciate it. So, what do you advise me to do?" "First, how did your conversation with the Governor go yesterday?" I asked. Britt stared at me, then caught on. "So it was you that set all that up?" "Of course." I said. "And we'd discussed variations of the theme several times, you and I. Listen, the war drums are beating at the State level. We need good guys in place. You're the 'bestest' good guy we've got, and I need you in the right place. So what did you tell the Governor?" "That I needed a day to think about it." said Britt. "Then I suggest you call the Governor and accept his most very generous offer." I said, smiling. "Do it today girl, do it today." "Yeah, okay, I will." Britt said. Then I saw the beginnings of tears in her eyes. I asked her if she was okay. "Yeah..." she said, "it's just that... well, I'll have to move to the City. I'm going to miss you, and Cindy, and Tanya and all the guys with the Campus Police, and all the fun we've had solving cases." "Don't worry." I said, putting my arm around her. "We'll still be seeing you. And you're going to be doing some much, much greater things...." -------------------- The sun was lowering as I sat and enjoyed the view from the back deck of The Cabin. I heard Laura's car arrive, then her high heels clicking on the walkway as she came around back. "Hello, honey." I said. "I've got you some fruit drinks in the ice chest here." Laura was not drinking alcohol as the baby's delivery time was nearing, and I respected that by not drinking any alcohol, either. "Hello, dear." Laura said. "Why did you ask me to come up here before going home? "I just wanted to sit and enjoy this view with the most beautiful, wonderful woman in the world." I said. "That being you, of course." Laura sat down in the love seat next to me. "I know you miss being here all the time." Laura said. "Naah, it's not that." I said. "Did you hear the news about our friend Britt Maxwell?" "We need to talk." Laura said. "I'm afraid that Britt Maxwell is not as trustworthy as you'd like to believe. So... what do you know?" "Me? Not much." I said. "I'm just the local constable trying to keep things smooth and easy in my County. I will say this, though. You're my wife and I love you and my two babies more than anything else in the world. And Todd is my nephew and I love him, too. And Britt, she's a friend of mine and a good cop." "Your friend, not mine." Laura said. I saw the signs of irritation in her eyes, and decided to pre-empt a marital argument. "Oh, but didn't you hear?" I said. "Britt accepted a new job with the SBI. She's moved to the City. She's a full Inspector; that's a higher rank than Captain, and only the Directors are any higher than that. It's part to help the strained relations between the City and the SBI, but what they didn't tell us is that Britt is secretly in charge of Internal Affairs of the SBI, she's really running that whole I.A. show. She's going after slugs like Ferrell and Ikea, and she left behind cases with the Campus Police... totally left them behind. "Oh really?" Laura said, totally surprised. "When did this happen?" "Tomorrow morning." I said. "Oh, I'm sorry dear, did I mix up my tenses?" Laura gave me a smile that was half appreciation, half irritation. "And you put all that together?" "Who me? I'm just a local cop on the beat." I said. "I believe Chief Griswold might've had a word with the Governor. Those two are like brothers, apparently." "Yes, they are." Laura said. "And who put that whole idea and plan together for the Chief and the Governor? A brilliant plan, I might add." "Local cop on the beat has time to think about how to make things better. And better they shall be." I said, then rubbed Laura's tummy. "So... how's Carole's little sibling doing in there?" "The sooner he's out of there, the better-- oh, damn, I just gave it away." Laura said. My eyes lit up. It was going to be a boy... Part 15 - Completed Business "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" blared the reporter at 7:00am. It was May 29th, and Bettina was looking gorgeous. She always looked just a bit hotter when she had a juicy story. And she had a big one today. "Governor Jared is holding a press conference in the City today at 10:00am, which his press office has said is to make a major announcement about the State Bureau of Investigation. While the Governor's office did not not give details, Channel Two News has learned and confirmed from multiple sources that University Campus Police Captain Brittany M. Maxwell has resigned her post in order to take a very senior position with the SBI in the City, which includes the rank of Inspector. Sources tell Channel Two News that Inspector Maxwell will be a bridge in the relations between the City and the SBI, which had become severely strained over the last few years." "Aw man, she's leaving?" Tanya asked. There was a general air of sadness that we were losing a buddy. "Yep." Cindy said. "Now I gotta find a new roommate." "I hope you guys are happy for her." I said. "This is a huge promotion, a great opportunity for her, and I for one am glad she's doing it even though we'll miss her." "Yes sir." said Martin Nash. "I'm sure we all feel like that. So who's replacing her with the Campus Police?" "Hmmm, I better think about that one..." I said. That drew stares from a lot of Detectives, especially the ones in Vice that had been watching the news with us. They were beginning to realize that chess pieces do no move in and of their own accord... ------------------ I watched the news conference. Britt looked great in her navy suit and skirt with gray pinstripes and a light gray blouse. The Governor was there, as was the Mayor of the City, the Police Chief (or was it Commissioner?) of the City, and SBI Deputy Director Tom Conlan. Surprisingly, also there was University Campus Police Commissioner Dexter Robinson, in full uniform regalia. A Case of Revenge Ch. 03 The Media asked about the absence of Director Jack Lewis. The Governor replied that Director Lewis was detained by previous appointments, but that he fully supported the action appointing Inspector Maxwell to her new duties. The Governor's words fooled no one who heard them. When Dexter Robinson was asked to speak, he told of how wonderful it had been to watch 'Miss Maxwell' grow with the Campus Police, and that he was going to miss her greatly. But he was 'tickled pink' that she was getting this opportunity, that she deserved it, and that he wished her nothing but the very best. Britt couldn't hold back a tear as she hugged him... ------------------- The piece d'resistance of my plan was fulfilled at 3:00pm that day. "Crowbar One and Crowbar Two!" the Chief practically shouted into the MCD room. "Main Conference room. Yesterday." Cindy and I hustled into the room. Inside was SBI Deputy Director Conlan. He had papers on the table in front of him, and an SBI Reserve badge. Also in the room was Molly Evans, who was beaming. "Guys, to make a long story short:" said DD Conlan, "With her promotion to Inspector in the SBI, Britt Maxwell can no longer be a Reservist in the same SBI, so her slot becomes vacant. This leaves a gap to fill in this region. I am going to fill that gap right now, if Detective Ross would be so kind as to accept the appointment." Cindy looked totally surprised. "We're not taking 'no' for an answer." I said. "That's why Molly is here; she's going to beat you up if you don't accept... Partner." Molly grinned as she let her eyes bore into her sister's. "In that case, I guess I'd better accept." Cindy said. smiling shyly. Deputy Conlan had her sign the appropriate paperwork, administered to her the oath of office, and handed her the Reserve badge. I could see that Cindy was inwardly very pleased with all this, though she tried not to show it. "Oh, by the way, Lieutenant," Conlan said, drawing out more paperwork. "You need to sign this paperwork." I did so, was administered the oath of office, and given my new SBI Reserve Badge, which gave me full Lieutenant rank during those times I was deputized into State service. Only SBI Captains, Inspectors and Directors would outrank me. "Still my boss, no matter where I go." mused Cindy. "I hope that's not a complaint; you have the best boss anyone could possibly have." Molly chastised. "NO doubt about that." Cindy said agreeably. "Thanks, guys." said the Chief. "You guys can head back to MCD now." After walking the short distance down the hall to MCD, I intentionally held back to let Cindy walk into the room first. She was met with a full room of Detectives and Uniformed officers, applauding and cheering her for her SBI appointment, making her blush furiously. Those Reserve appointments were becoming badges of honor around the State, I realized as the others made Cindy cut the cake that had been brought in for her. For a half hour we partied and forgot about the toils and drudgery of police work. We had no idea of the bombshells that were about to hit us... Part 16 - Business Transfers "I'm going home." The words were spoken by Michael Burke as he sat on the sofa at Todd and Jeanine's home, holding his baby grandson Jack after dinner. Earlier in the day, Michael had called Todd and Jeanine into his office. As Todd was now 21 years old, Michael was signing over the bulk of his company to his only remaining son. Todd was receiving 60% of the company, with Jeanine getting 20% and Michael retaining 20%, which would be split between his grandsons Jack and Doug upon his passing. After signing the paperwork, Jeanine invited Michael to dinner at their home. "Oh, that's so sad." Jeanine said. "You're going to miss the babies growing up." Michael smiled briefly. "I'll be visiting fairly often, I'm sure, and you can come visit me at the lake house I've bought on Lake Amengi-Nunagan. I'm sure you and Todd will have questions as you learn the ropes of the business, even though I have full confidence in your abilities to run it. Your mind for business is years ahead of your age, Todd." "Thanks, Dad." Todd said. He could see that the ordeal of his father's wife's attempt to murder Todd's uncle's wife, as well as all the truths that had come out about Jack, had worn the man down. He definitely needed rest. "I... I should never have come to this town." Michael Burke said. "It's been nothing but a disaster." "That's not quite true, Mr. Burke." said Jeanine. "You found a son you didn't know you had, you have two grandchildren now." "Yes, that's true." said Michael. "But I just wonder if we'd stayed where we came from, if things would've been different. Poor Eleanor... I had no idea she'd go off like that and..." "Dad," asked Todd, "can I ask you something? You've wanted to know the truth about Jack for years. Now you know. Mom acted on what she learned.. how do you really feel about it all?" "That's a good question." said Michael. "I've long wondered what I'd do if and when I learned the truth about Jack. Now that I know... well, what Eleanor did wouldn't have brought Jack back. Your uncle is a good man, Todd, and for my wife to try to kill his wife like that... that is not what I wanted, Todd, it's not what I wanted... it doesn't bring Jack back..." ------------------ "I just don't know what to do, Lieutenant." Seth said. "I feel totally boxed out." It was now dark on the night of May 29th as I spoke with young Seth Warner in the greatroom of The Cabin. Cindy was in the TV room in the front part of the house, pretending to watch TV but listening to our conversation as we sat on the sofa. Seth had approached Laura's administrative assistant, the lovely Gayle Roberts, who had been his father's secretary and also Seth's lover. Seth needed advice, badly. Gayle had talked to Laura, who had immediately suggested that Seth talk to me. I was totally fascinated by what Seth had told me. He recounted how his sister had confronted him and his Aunt Katherine Wilson, saying that she intended to sell their late father's company DynaCorp to another company. To Seth's utter shock, Katherine was going along with Karen Warner, who had her mother's proxy for voting shares. It also was Karla who had convinced both Karen and Katherine to sell to this company. "I have no idea who they are." said Seth. "They're a totally new start-up. Their name is 'Boxall Holdings, LLC', and they're incorporated in Nevada, which means I can't get any of their shareholder names; Nevada laws are the worst about that. They have no other holdings that I can see; in fact, they're a brand new startup." "Curious." I said. "And your sister just sprang the whole thing on you, with the votes from your mother and aunt?" Gayle Roberts had told me that Seth and his Aunt Katherine were having a sexual relationship; it surprised me that Katherine was betraying him for her sister and lover Karla Warner, who was now in State Women's Prison. "So what can I do, Don?" asked Seth. "I don't want to sell Dad's company. I mean, money's not an issue since we got that big settlement from Jonas Oldeeds's wife, but I wanted to run that company. Some exciting things were going on there." "Seth," I asked, trying to choose my words carefully, "was there anything in DynaCorp that was really big? Anything new coming out?" "No, sir." said Seth. "We were just fulfilling our Government contracts, and I was trying to generate new clients for our existing products. The travel was the fun part of it all." I don't know why, but those words resonated with me. Now who else wanted to be a part of a business because of the travel part of the job? I left that for the moment. "Well, Seth," I said, "I don't see if there is much you can do. You can probably put up a legal fight for a while, but if you don't get your aunt to turn back to your side, there's not much to be done. You can take the money and start a new company, of course..." "Yeah." said Seth. "I could do that." As Seth spoke, my 'spidey-sense' started to tingle. I picked up a device from the table. It looked like a TV remote, but actually controlled the dimmer switch to the lights in the room, which I had installed some time before. I could use the remote to dim the lights or turn them off. Without warning, I hit the 'off button', plunging the house into darkness, and I peered at the lattice of windows to the back deck. A shadowy figure was pressed against the windows, peering in at us! "Ross! Watch Seth!" I yelled as I rushed to the door and tore it open. The figure had fled instantly after realizing the lights had been cut. As I rushed onto the deck, I heard the crashing of a person rushing down the side of the mountain... a treacherous thing to do, especially at night. That did not stop me from jumping the walkway rail and sliding down the mountain after the culprit. Even though I controlled the slide to some point, it was steep. Loose rocks further made it a perilous journey. I slid most of the way on my fourth point of contact (a little Airborne lingo for one's derriere). As I got to the road below the house, I listened intently. I could hear no one, nothing at all. The perp must be running down the road, and my chances of catching him or her was minimal. A minute later the headlights of my Police SUV came down the road to my right side, the blindingly bright flashing blue lights giving an eerie hue to the road and landscape. Cindy was driving with Seth in the passenger seat. I got in the backseat and had Cindy drive down the road until it curled around the mountain, then had her go back. There was no sign of the spy. Back at The Cabin, I told Seth to be very careful and watch his back. He left for home in his car, agreeing to come by the Police Headquarters the next morning. "Any ideas on who that was?" Cindy asked. "The person was slender, not too large." I said. "Maybe a woman or a small man." "Oooh... motorcyclist." Cindy offered. "Could be." I said. "But what would a potential assassin want with Seth Warner?" It was a question I would ponder through a sleepless night. To be continued. A Case of Revenge Ch. 04 The chronological order of my stories is as follows: Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story, Case of the Black Badge series. A Case of Revenge, Ch. 1-4 Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, extreme language, and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. Part? - The Embodiment of Evil "Well, you did say you were willing to sacrifice the City." said State Senator Nathan Allen to SBI Director Jack Lewis at 8:30pm on May 29th, as the light outside began to grow dim. They were in Allen's Midtown office. "You want a drink, Jack?" "Yeah, don't mind if I do." said Lewis. Allen poured two large bourbons, added some water to Lewis's and handed it to him. "Thanks." said Lewis, taking a swig. "Mmmm, that's good. Yeah, I did say we'd sacrifice control of the City, but I wasn't expecting Maxwell from the University to be made an Inspector and sent there." "Sounds like someone pried that position open with a 'crowbar', if you get my drift." said Senator Allen. "She's one of his right-hand men- well, women. But you can keep her under control, right Jack?" "Oh, it's much more than that, Nathan." said Lewis. "She doesn't answer to me, she answers straight to the Governor himself. You know what that means... the State Board of Conduct & Review is no longer the watchdog over us... they've created an Internal Affairs within the SBI, and she's running it." "Ah, so what?" Allen said, finishing off his bourbon and pouring himself another. "We just be a little more careful, act right, keep up appearances." He was making hand gestures again as he drank. "Maxwell may find covering an entire State of agents to be a tough job." "Well, it'll be much easier if Conlan, Griswold and Phelps have their way." said Director Lewis. "They want to gut the SBI. Griswold played it pretty well bringing in a couple of Reservists in order to keep me from going in there and taking over that Eleanor Burke investigation. That would've been the perfect example case for us, but the bastard turned it around." "So we work around that County." said Allen, still making arm gestures as he paced and sipped (more like gulped) his drink. "We're basing in Coltrane County pretty nicely right now, and in Madison County where the State Women's prison is. We just control the rural counties, then work into the higher population zones." "I do have some good news." Lewis said. "Did you hear that Vicki Oldeeds was raped up in Griswold's county a few days ago?" "No, you're kidding." said Senator Allen, feigning total surprise. "When was she even up there?" "Right after that kid was murdered here in Midtown." said Lewis. "Seems they had a DNA match on one of the rapists, but then the evidence was locked down. I heard the Federal Government moved in on the case, and with Maxwell moving out of there, it's probably going to languish." "So why is that good news?" asked Allen. "Because Agent Ikea is going to go look into that for us, and if he can find a cover-up, or if he can expose something they don't want known, it'll be a big coup for us." replied Lewis. "Good enough." Allen said. "In fact, having Ikea and maybe Ferrell up there can kill two birds with one stone. That piece of shit Kearns is making progress in his lawsuit against my son. We can't stop it from being heard in the August-September timeframe, and that's going to be deadly for Dean as well as my campaign. But I do understand that if Kearns becomes... unable... to stand in capacity as a plaintiff, the judge will have no choice but to continue the case into next year, maybe even drop it altogether." "Nathan, you know as well as I do if anything happens to Kearns, the Iron Crowbar is going to be bashing heads first and asking questions later. He's getting tired of your antics." "Oh, there's nothing he can do about this one." Allen said, beginning to laugh. "Haw haw haw haw! this one is going to be priceless, PRICELESS!" He noticed Lewis staring up at him. "And it happens tomorrow night. So Jack, want another drink?" --- At 9:00pm on May 30th, SBI Agents Richard "Dick" Ferrell and Steven "Asshole" Ikea approached the modest house of widower Phil Kearns. They were followed by several heavily armed and protected SBI agents and two men in green hospital scrubs that looked like hospital orderlies more than EMTs. When Ferrell knocked on the door, Kearns answered. "Phil Kearns?" asked Ferrell, formally. "Who wants to know?" Kearns answered. "We have a warrant to take you into custody and commit you to the State Asylum." said Ferrell. The warrant was issued without probable cause by a deeply corrupt State Court judge in Coltrane County... not even the current jurisdiction. "Take him, boys." The heavily armed men moved in on Kearns, violently pulling him out of the house and into the yard, where they handcuffed him. He was roughly pulled up, and as the orderlies escorted him to the waiting ambulance, Senator Nathan Allen appeared out of the shadows. "This is what you get for fucking with my boy, Kearns." Allen said. "You're going to the funny farm, boy, and you'll never get out of there." "Your son killed my family, you son of a bitch!" Kearns snarled, trying to lunge at Allen. "Listen you little shit, you're about to disappear forever." Allen said. "You don't seem to get it that I'm a State Senator and you are an absolutely worthless piece of dog shit. You think you can come up against my boy and win? Guys, soften the prick up before you take him in, let him know the error of his ways." One agent moved in and punched the defenseless Kearns hard in the stomach. Another came up and belted Kearns hard in the face. Then the orderlies moved in and dragged Kearns to the waiting ambulance. Climbing in with the abused man, the orderlies shut the door and the ambulance took off for the State Asylum in Coltrane County. Senator Allen was laughing heartily. "Ha ha ha ha, aw ha ha ha ha... good work, boys, great work." As the men put away their gear, got in their cars and left, Steven Ikea was still staring introspectively at the ambulance that had left. "What is it?" Ferrell asked as Ikea finally joined him in the car. "One of those orderlies..." Ikea said. "I'm sure I've seen the guy somewhere before..." ---- It was 9:00am on May 31st. Molly and I were in the office of a real estate attorney. Selena Steele arrived a couple of moments later. As she hugged me, she whispered "The things I do for you, getting out of bed at 6:00am to get here for this." "I do appreciate it." I said, introducing Selena to Molly, to the real estate agent Patricia Quinlin, and to the lawyer handling the paperwork. It did not take long for Molly and I to go through and sign the paperwork as 50-50 partners in the house. Selena issued a big check to the lawyer, a cashiers check from my account. The lawyer in turn issued checks to Patricia and a check back to Selena's bank for the purchase. Patricia handed Molly the keys to our new house, and we were done. If my police career didn't work out, I could always start one in real estate, I thought to myself. --- Half an hour later, Molly unlocked the door of the house and I swept her up and carried her into it. I didn't stumble, which was a very good sign. There was already furniture in the house: a table and chairs in the kitchen/breakfast room space, a sofa and chair in front of the fireplace in the main room, and a bed in the master bedroom. 
"Patricia gave me the keys yesterday, even though we hadn't signed." Molly said. "So I moved a couple of things over... soooo... let's go upstairs and break in this house properly..." --- We were lying naked together on the bed after making hot, passionate, sweaty love in the same bedroom where I'd spent eight years fucking my then-wife Melina. This time, with Molly, I'd pumped her bareback, driving my unprotected cock into her sopping wet slot and spewing my hot load of cum deep into Molly's sweet hole. *BRINNGG! BRINNGG! BRINNGG!* It was my cellphone. I'd taken the day off from work at Police Headquarters, so I wondered what possible emergency would have them call me. I was surprised to see that it was from Jack Muscone. And my shock increased when he told me what had happened. "They did what?!?!" I asked, stunned. After Jack told me, I said "I'll be back up there in a couple of hours." Hanging up the phone, I looked at Molly. "Trouble?" she asked. "And then some." I said. "You know how Phil Kearns has been suing Nathan Allen's son over the DUI vehicular homicide that killed Kearns' family?" "The one on Christmas Eve that got Teresa in trouble?" "Yeah." I said. "The SBI raided Kearns' home last night and dragged him off. Muscone got a tip about it from an FBI informant. Kearns was incarcerated in the State Asylum. Supposedly the SBI got a warrant from a State judge, but we can't get details right now." "Want me to go up there with you?" Molly asked. "Tell you what." I said. "Contact Teresa, tell her what happened. Then you guys start working contacts in the State Court system to find out who issued the warrant. I'm sorry, babe, but we're not going to be able to celebrate the house like I wanted to." "Duty calls, as my sister would say." Molly said, then grinned as she said "And at least we got the best parts of the celebration in before they called you." --- Nathan Allen was truly the Embodiment of Evil, I thought as I burned the blue lights and reached speeds on the highway that generally should be reserved for the German Autobahn. I made two phone calls as I came back, one to Jeanine Olivet Burke, Esq., and one to my wife. When I got back to Headquarters, I found that Jack Muscone, Paulina Patterson and the Chief waiting for me in the Chief's small conference room. "So, where do we stand?" I asked Paulina after Jack Muscone confirmed the details of what had happened, adding that Nathan Allen was at the scene and had ordered agents to physically abuse Kearns before putting him into the ambulance. "We're struggling to find the warrant that this was done under." Paulina replied. "Ferrell and Ikea served the warrant and made the arrest, but after filing their electronic reports, we can't seem to find them. Director Jack Lewis's office is also not answering any calls, and Deputy Director Conlan has no knowledge of it at all." "Why did Ferrell and Ikea bother to post reports?" I asked. "To get the overtime pay." replied Paulina. "I've also talked to Judge Watts, with DA Krasney in the room. Watts is furious. He and Judge Folsom are meeting right now." Jack Muscone said "The Federal judge for this district has also been contacted. He's ready to back us up just as soon as we can find out what happened and lay it all out." Part 17 - Hurry Up and Wait At 8:00pm, Detective Leonard R. "Sergeant" Sharples came to my office, seeking permission to interdict a drug shipment he'd stumbled upon. He showed me notes and intel from CIs that led to knowledge of the place and time of the shipment. That wasn't the problem: I thoroughly scolded him for not coming to me sooner, and his reply was that he didn't want any leaks... to which I replied that a private conversation between him and me in a room swept for bugs wouldn't be a candidate for leaks. So now I was in a dilemma; do I say 'no go' and let a possible drug shipment go? Or say 'go' and possibly someone gets hurt due to lack of preparation? I called in Hugh Hewitt, who said his SWAT team was familiar with that building in the Tenderloin District and could take down the operation. I told Hewitt to ready four members of his team, and get four uniformed officers that worked with Vice armored and equipped for a takedown, and then I told Sharples to coordinate with Hewitt. With something resembling acid in my mouth, I gave the 'go' to the operation. So this was what 'Command' felt like, I briefly thought to myself... --- At 10:30pm, the Chief, Jack Muscone and I were invited to the Courthouse and the chambers of Judge Folsom. Going in, we found ADA Patterson, DA Krasney, Judge Rodney K. Watts and Judge Patrick R. Folsom. Paulina started things off with her report. "A warrant to commit Phil Kearns for psychiatric evaluation at the State Asylum was issued by a State judge in Coltrane County." Paulina said. "The only shred of 'probable cause' for it was one of the psychologists at the State Asylum signing off on 'observations' of Kearns, not saying who made those observations or where, and not giving any real details. When we contacted that judge, he got belligerent, telling us to mind our own business and stick to our County. When I told him that the warrant had been executed in our County, he simply said that Kearns was 'down here now and he'll stay here', and he hung up the phone on me, and wouldn't pick up on any more calls made." Judge Folsom spoke up. "Ladies and gentlemen, Rodney or I can issue a warrant overturning that warrant and ordering the release of Mr. Kearns on the grounds that the original warrant is not based upon sufficient evidence. We're all State Superior Court judges, so our warrants can and do reach across County lines. And I've been talking to Agent Muscone and the Federal Judge; they're ready to back our warrant with a matching warrant. That'll bring in the Feds if you need them. "The problem is actually finding and retrieving Mr. Kearns. You can go down there to the Asylum and serve the warrant, but it might be hell trying to actually get him out if they deny he's there... which has happened before, I might add." "Get us the legal cover," I said, "and I have just the tools to pry him out of their hands." I said. --- 4:00am, the morning of June 1st. I was still working in my office when I saw Hugh and his SWAT team buddies pass by in the hall. I brought a pot of coffee to the room where the SWAT team gear was kept, and poured them cups as they put their stuff away. "So guys, tell me what happened." I said.
 "It was a bolo." Hugh said. "Nobody was there. After securing the building, we had Sergeant Stonewall come in." Sergeant Stonewall was the K-9 Corps best drug dog. "He got real excited in places, and his handler said drugs very likely were there before, but we missed 'em this time." "What was Sharples like?" I asked. "He kinda sat back and let all of us make the raid." Hugh said. "He was disappointed we didn't find anything." "Okay, thanks." I said. "Listen, guys, intensify your training. We might have a tough one coming up in the next few days. An extraction from the State Mental Asylum. Be ready." "You gotta be insane wanting to go in there!" said one of the SWAT team members. We all broke down laughing at that. I realized just how exhausted I was. I returned to my office and took out a burner phone from my desk drawer. Dialing the number, I stated that I needed to know something. After stating what that was, I hung up, hoping to get an answer soon. --- The hurry-up-and-wait mentality can happen in Police Departments as well as the Army. I was hamstrung as I waited for the judges and lawyers to work through the hurdles to get a warrant to release Kearns. Bettina's newscast had made no mention of the Kearns incident, only talking about some appearance that Harold Malone had made on the campaign trail for Sheriff. I was pleased when I head Bettina say that Daniel Allgood was making up ground on Malone, especially after it'd been reported that Allgood's wife had bravely stepped in front of the intended target of Eleanor Burke's murderous assault. Melina was definitely an asset to her husband in the race. At 9:45am on June 1st, I was called by Jeanine Burke and asked to be at the Courthouse by 10:00am. Stepping into Folsom's courtroom, I was just in time to hear Jeanine's petition of the court to be appointed Phil Kearns' legal representation in the matter of the warrants, and that she would be taking this case pro bono. "I object, Your Honor, I must strenuously object." said the lawyer on the other side. I recognized him as being Senator Nathan Allen's personal and family lawyer. "Kearns already has legal representation in his lawsuit, but where are they? This woman has not even consulted with Kearns, what gives her any right to represent his interests?" "Mr. Garner, I am really, really tired of your antics." said Judge Folsom. "I'm granting Ms. Burke's petition to represent Mr. Kearns' interests pro bono in this, his time of need. Furthermore, the warrant will go forward."
 "Your Honor, I really must object, and I move that this be stayed until the Appellate Court can rule on my motions that you've denied to this point." "Objection overruled, and your motion is denied." said Judge Folsom. "And Mr. Garner, you keep this up and I'll rescind your status as an Officer of the Court and have you up for disbarment." As Jeanine walked down the aisle to meet me in the hallway, Garner caught up to her. "I don't know what game you're playing, bitch, but you just stepped in it." Jeanine turned around. "Is that a threat, Mr. Garner?" "It damn well is. Senator Allen put Kearns away, and if you come up against him he'll crush you like a- wha?" Garner's sentence was cut off when I placed myself in his path and he ran headlong into me. "So you're threatening my niece, Mr. Garner?" I asked, my voice low and unnervingly calm and even, my crowbar out and ready for use. "You and Nathan Allen coming up against my family again?" "Er, no." said Garner, his face having gone pale at seeing what confronted him. "No such thing at all. I haven't said a word. I'm leaving. Goodbye." Garner practically ran out of the Courthouse. --- "I'm done, Senator." said the lawyer. "You told me to threaten that bitch lawyer, and there was the Iron Crowbar, claiming her as family and making it clear he was going to totally fuck me up with that crowbar of his, maybe even kill me. I'm done. I'm dropping you as my client. I'll send you the remaining paperwork and my bill." "You fucking coward!" shouted Nathan Allen. "You're scared of that police punk?" "You bet I am!" replied the lawyer. "And I suggest you develop a healthy fear of him also. You've stepped deep into this one, Allen. You're on your own." The lawyer quickly exited the room. There was nothing Senator Allen could do that would be worse than what the Iron Crowbar would do to him, the lawyer thought to himself. And Allen is about to find that out for himself... Part 18 - Pry Him Out On June 1st at 1:00pm, Judge Folsom's warrant to release Phil Kearns was matched with a Federal warrant. Jack Muscone escorted me to the Asylum to get Kearns released. We also had eight Federal officers in heavy SWAT gear in case we ran into trouble. And it was good that we had them. "No." said the man at the front desk. "We will not release Kearns unless the Court and judge that actually issued his detention warrant rescinds it. Your warrant is worthless paper, as far as I'm concerned." "Dipshit, that's a Federal warrant." Jack Muscone snarled at the orderly. "Is Kearns here?" "I refuse to verify if he's here or not." the sniveling bastard replied. "And you can stuff your Federal Government piece of paper up your fat ass." A Case of Revenge Ch. 04 "All right, you're under arrest." Muscone said. But as he moved towards the orderly, four uniformed State Asylum security guards moved forward, brandishing semi-automatic assault rifles. The eight Federal agents then moved in to protect Muscone. It was a standoff, and getting more tense by the minute. "Hold on, Jack." I said, then turned to the orderly. "Would you please ask the Warden to come speak with us." "I will do no such thing." the orderly replied. "The Warden is busy and has neither the time nor need to speak with trash like you. Now get off Asylum property or our guards will remove you, and if you resist, they'll kill you." "Yeah, right. Let's go, Jack." I said. As we left, Jack was boiling mad, and I asked him to take a breath. "We can't let them push us around like that!" Jack said as we walked to our cars outside. "And we won't, but we can't do anything right now." I said. "We have to know where Kearns is when we raid the place, or they might kill him." "Yeah you have a point." Muscone said. "I'm going to head straight back to the City from here and consult with my people in Washington... and pick up a few more friends along the way. I'll be back tonight." As I got into my Police SUV and turned onto the road, a flash of white hair popped up in the back seat. It was Dr. P. Harvey Eckhart, founder and leader of 'The Vision', hitching a ride. "How are you, my young friend Donald?" Eckhart said jovially, as if his presence in the car was the most natural thing. "I was wondering if you could drop me off at my Headquarters just up ahead." "Sure thing, Harvey." I said. "I take it you got my call." "Yes." said Eckhart, throwing an envelope onto the passenger front seat. "So what's it going to cost me?" I asked. "Oh, this ride back to my offices will do." said Eckhart. "Oh, and I must congratulate you on handling that situation between your wife and the adorable Inspector Maxwell so efficiently. That was quite a possible problem for you." "And thank you for the warning about the threat to my family. Mrs. Burke did turn out to be a danger." I replied. "As part payment for the information in that envelope, would you mind terribly telling me how you stopped Mrs. Burke?" asked Eckhart. "You really don't know?" I said, then recovered. "To tell you the truth, Harvey, I didn't figure it out. My mother did. It was all her plan." "Ah, so that's where your tremendous abilities sprouted from!" said Eckhart. "Wonderful! Ah, here's the turn to my place. Oh, just one other... small thing. When you make your raid into the Asylum, there will be a couple of bottles of a certain experimental drug in the same room in which you'll find Mr. Kearns. I'd be ever so grateful if, in payment for that information, you'd bring those bottles and give them to me." "What are they?" I asked. Eckhart told me. Okay, nothing too bad. I agreed. I drove Eckhart to the front door of the World Headquarters of The Vision. His security people looked totally shocked when their great leader sprang out from my vehicle. I politely declined his invitation to come inside for tea and headed home. Once back in my office I looked at the contents of the envelope. As I'd asked, Harvey Eckhart had given me the exact location of Phil Kearns inside the Asylum, complete with schedules and possible scenarios. I texted Jack Muscone. --- At 4:00am on June 2nd, we made the raid. I deputized myself into the SBI, and Jack Muscone essentially deputized my SWAT team into 'Federal assistance', as he called it. I did not really care about the legal niceties at this moment. We were going into combat. The Asylum is composed of the front building and offices, then behind it to the north, stretching east and west, was the main dormitory. The left (west) side was the prison side, while the east side was where people 'voluntarily' were receiving 'treatment'. Jack Muscone had his team as well as 60 Federal Marshals and FBI agents in heavy armor, and I had my eight SWAT team members... mostly for my own personal protection. "Okay, here's the plan." I told everyone. Twenty FBI agents would storm the front building, grabbing every file they could find per a freshly printed Federal warrant. Twenty others would assault the dorm from the front building. The last twenty and the rest of us were going to breach the back fence near the entrance to the east wing of the dorm, hit the dorm more quickly and get Kearns out. All-in-all, we would extract six men: Mr. Kearns and five others that Eckhart had alerted me had been kidnapped and imprisoned illegally in the Asylum. --- "MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!!" I yelled as my team ascended the stairs to the third floor. We'd breached the fence just as Muscone led the raid on the front building. Sporadic gunfire was heard, but most of the guards conceded in the face of the overwhelming Federal and State force. The room I was headed for was locked, but Hugh and another man battered it down. The orderly inside was quickly forced to give up and was thrown to the ground. "Nobody's here." one man said. "It's empty." I looked around. The room had what looked like a dentist chair in the middle, but the purposes for which it was used were far more sinister and caused far more pain than any dentist could dish out. "Wait... do you hear something?" I asked. A cabinet on the left side of the room was locked, and I thought i heard scraping. The blue crowbar came out and I pried open the locked door. Stuffed into the bottom section of the cabinet, his mouth duct-taped, his ankles duct-taped and his hands manacled with one of those plastic ties, was Phil Kearns. As the men helped Mr. Kearns out and freed him, I went to a cabinet and removed two large bottles of a bluish liquid. I told two SWAT agents to duct-tape the tops to seal them. Mr. Kearns could not walk without help. Grabbing a wheelchair, I sat Mr. Kearns in it and put the two bottles beside him, one on each side. "We have Kearns. Extracting him now." I said into my police radio. "Okay guys, let's go." I said to the team. But just as I was about to wheel Kearns out the door, the tingling sensation of danger that I sometimes got hit me full force and I stopped. SWAT team members actually banged into each other and my backside. "Hold on." I said. I peered out the door. Suddenly an orderly peered from around the corner, wearing green scrubs and a black silk cowl that masked his face. He fired a volley with a submachine gun at me. The bullets whizzed past as I felt myself being pulled back into the room just in time. "Get back, Lieutenant!" Sergeant Hugh Hewitt ordered. He and four of his team sprang out into the hall, firing at the corner of the hallway from which the orderly had fired. They pursued the orderly, but he was gone. I was still feeling that aura of sensation, my mind knowing that something about that orderly was important. But I couldn't worry about it at this moment; I had a citizen to extract and protect. "Group up, guys, let's get Kearns out of here!" I ordered. We rushed Kearns down to our cars, got him into an ambulance which drove away quickly. I put the bottles of liquid into my SUV as I heard the call on the radio that the other men we were looking for had been extracted. Jack Muscone called for the general retreat, and we all drove away, back to my County. We were not pursued. Part 19 - Aftermath of Torture "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News! Channel Two News has learned that the FBI and elements of the SBI conducted a heavily armed raid upon the State Asylum, rescuing Mr. Phil Kearns and five other men from illegal imprisonment there! Details are rapidly pouring in, but the case of the Bryant Brothers, two contractors who disappeared two years ago after reporting for a job at the Asylum, is now solved as the brothers were found illegally imprisoned at the Asylum. Three other men who also had been kidnapped and incarcerated there were freed. "Four Asylum orderlies resisted the raiders and were wounded, as were three Asylum security guards. None of the nearly seventy law enforcement agents that participated in the raid were injured. The FBI was acting under several Federal and State Court-issued warrants for the release of these men. Special Agent In Charge Jack Muscone of the FBI has confirmed that the raid became necessary when the Asylum refused to release Mr. Kearns into his custody earlier that afternoon. "The FBI is not giving details of how they came to know where the men were, but sources tell KXTC news that the raid was conducted with surgical precision, which suggests the raiders knew where the victims were. Channel Two News has also been told that the County's own Lieutenant Donald-" I winced as she said my name; I was hoping my part in this would go unnoticed, "- was the actual leader in the raid to free Mr. Kearns. Channel Two News will break in with details as we get them, including the Governor's statement, which will be issued in one hour, at 8:00am. This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" -- It was pandemonium in the County, with local, State, and even National Media pouring into Town for more information. Lt. Scott Peterson, the Police Force's Media Relations man, had to implement what he called 'Plan Bravo' for handling large press attention to big-deal cases. This was more than that; it was a 'BFD' case. Midtown was similarly assaulted by the media, and Coltrane County was swarming with reporters. In opening a can of whoop-ass on the Asylum and Nathan Allen, we had just opened a can of worms on one of the biggest stories to hit the State in years. I was at University Hospital, where Mr. Kearns and the other man had been taken. All of the other men were reporting how they'd been doing work at the Asylum when they were grabbed and imprisoned as patients in the room, and of the torture and psychological experiments done on them while they were there. Kearns had been worked over very brutally during his three days of imprisonment, and injected with myriad drugs. He was struggling to remember what had happened when I went in to visit. Laura Fredricson was there as well as two other psychiatrists, one being Dr. Bonnie Karpathian. The other was named Dr. Tom Yates. He had dark brown hair in a style resembling Scooby Doo's friend Shaggy, though Yates sported a mustache and beard that made him look a bit more scholarly. Laura said with some disparagement that Dr. Yates had graduated from my School and was a psychology professor with her when she was there. "Wildcats rule!" Yates said in reply to the introduction. "I think I like this guy already." I told Laura as I shook hands with Dr. Yates. Dr. Yates was a preeminent psychiatrist in retrieving memories of patients that had lost them or had been drugged, and he was doing yeoman's work in getting Kearns to remember. "He still doesn't remember much about being arrested." Laura said. "He got hit on the head at that time, which might've killed his short-term memory on that. He does remember a lot of being in the hospital and what they did to him. As to what you want, a connection to Nathan Allen... we don't have that yet. And Don... there's one more thing, something all of these men have told us. Their stories were the same: among the atrocities at the Asylum was that, after dark, every woman imprisoned in the facility was being raped, every night. Literally every woman was used for the sexual pleasure of the male guards, orderlies and some male patients during the hours of darkness when the powers of Evil were exalted. Any women that became pregnant were given forced abortions. When Kearns talked of it, he began sobbing uncontrollably, saying how the screams of some of the women could be heard for hours... --- "What can we do about these women in the Asylum?" I said, my mind still reeling over what I'd learned . I was in the Chief's office with him, SBI Deputy Director Tom Conlan, and FBI Special Agent In Charge Jack Muscone. "Kid, this is a very important lesson for you." Chief Griswold said, trying to teach me something. "I know you want to charge in there and stop it; we all do. But unfortunately, we can only do so much, and unfortunately there are some things that are beyond your and my capacities to accomplish in our positions. You are not 'Superman' from the comic books; you are a human being doing all you can." "Don, the Chief is right." said Muscone. "He's talked to the Governor and I've talked to my superiors at the Bureau. They're working on it. But on the flip side of the coin, the Asylum beefed up security and brought in nearly 100 State Troopers with SWAT training, ostensibly to help the guards keep prisoners from escaping, but actually to oppose any future raids by us. So we won't be going in there again any time soon." "I understand." I said. "But it sucks. It sucks like hell. By the way, why in the world did the Asylum kidnap those contractors on their site and keep them?" "Money." said DD Conlan. "My people have been investigating, and some serious ugly stuff is going to come out about the Asylum in this election year. But to answer your question: the Asylum gets money from the Legislature based solely upon the number of people that it has incarcerated, with some extra money for any new people brought in there. A couple of State Board of Accounting people go through, count the people there, and send their report. By kidnapping and holding these extra people, the Asylum gets extra money for them. And there is not one shred of accountability of the patients, either. Before your raid, we had no idea that anyone other than Mr. Kearns had been put there illegally. By the way, Don, how did you find out about that?" "Confidential source." I said. "I can't tell you even if I wanted to. But it looks like a couple of the guys we rescued were hidden away there by other State Senators, in the same manner that Nathan Allen put Kearns away. Don't know if anything can be proved, but I'm sure they're worried." "Speaking of Allen, no one can find him right now." said DD Conlan. "His office in Midtown says he's in this County doing campaign work. His office here says he's in Midtown, 'taking care of important State business'. He's not at his home, and his wife says she doesn't know where he is." "Just one other question." I said. "Is anyone at all pursuing Nathan Allen, Steven Ikea, Dick Ferrell, and the judge who issued the warrant to arrest Kearns?" "The Governor and some very high-level Legislators and State Supreme Court members are looking into the Coltrane County judge." said the Chief. "That's another one that's above our pay grade, Crowbar." I nodded in acquiescence. "As to Ferrell and Ikea," DD Conlan said, "those slippery little eels are swimming away scot-free. We questioned them at length, and we made sure to read them their rights and offer them legal representation. They waived and answered all our questions. The problem is that they technically did nothing wrong and they know it. Their stories match. They say they served a warrant that they had no reason to believe was not legitimate." "And nobody will admit Nathan Allen's presence at Kearns' arrest, despite my evidence to the contrary." said Jack Muscone. "Our only chance to truly connect him is through the Coltrane County judge... and I don't need to tell you what I think of our chances there." --- "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" blared the lovely redheaded reporterette at 6:00pm from in front of the State Building on the Courthouse Square. "Channel Two News has learned that Governor Jared has already moved to appoint an Independent Select Commission to investigate the State Asylum. The Commission will investigate the finances and procedures of the Asylum, as well as allegations of systematic torture and even rape of the inmates there. The Governor has appointed newly hired SBI Inspector Britt Maxwell to lead the Commission's investigation of the Asylum." "Channel Two News has also learned that the Warden of the State Asylum and several other officials and psychologists working there have disappeared. The SBI and FBI have issued warrants for their arrests, and they ask for the Public's help in locating these people. Meanwhile, the Governor says that an interim Warden will be appointed, who will answer to the Independent Select Commission as well as to the Governor himself. "Polls show that voters are responding positively to Governor Jared's quick actions in appointing the Select Panel, as well as his recent appointment of Inspector Maxwell to the SBI. The same cannot be said of Senator Nathan Allen's polls, which have fallen to his baseline of 41%. In the Sheriff's race, longtime Police Captain Harold Malone continues to enjoy an eight point lead over the little-known upstart Daniel Allgood. "Last, but certainly not least, Vicki Oldeeds, wife of the late Rev. Jonas Oldeeds who was brutally murdered in this County a year ago, will be making a public appearance here over the weekend. She will be offering a one million dollar reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the murderer of her husband. Mrs. Oldeeds has also issued a statement stating that the Town & County Police Department have utterly failed to find her husband's killer due to total incompetence. This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" --- In Room 201 of the Sunrise Hotel, one of the hotel establishments on the road south out of Town, Senator Nathan Allen poured the remainder of the bourbon from the bottle into his drink up, then used the remote to click off the television after listening to Bettina's broadcast. The SBI had gotten a pass: Ikea and Ferrell's assistance in incarcerating Kearns had been exonerated, but Director Lewis had told Allen that the agents were 'off limits' until the furor over the Asylum died down. In addition, no one seemed to be bringing up Nathan Allen's name in association with any of this, which was fortunate. "Ah shit, I'm out of bourbon." Allen said. "Could it get any worse?" Just then there was a knock on the door. Allen opened it to find Rev. Robert Patterson, Jonas Oldeeds' disciple, at the door. "Mind if I chat with you for a moment, Senator?" Patterson said in his friendly, easygoing manner. "By the way, I brought you a new bottle of bourbon." He extended the brown paper bag. "Ah, the 101-proof stuff." Nathan said, admitting the younger man into the room. "Just what I need. Can I pour you some?" "No thanks, I'm driving." said Patterson, sitting himself into the chair between the door and the little round table. Allen sat in the far side chair, sipping his fresh, and very strong, drink. "What can I do for you, Robert?" asked Allen. "I just wanted to have a moment to chat with you privately, and this might be my only chance." said Reverend Patterson. "Vicki came back to town for her reward speech, and we're going to be speaking at First Baptist, to remember Jonas and to support Harold Malone for Sheriff." "Well, I'm sorry I can't be there." said Allen. "I'm afraid I'm going to be busy." he continued, not fooling Patterson a bit. "I quite understand, Senator, you're a busy man." Patterson replied drily. "But I need to tell you some things. First, Jonas Oldeeds was a dear friend of mine, my mentor, like a father to me. He was grooming me not only to assist with and ultimately help run his Ministries, but with... the back side of the business, if you get my drift, Senator." "I do." said Allen. "Jonas must've trusted you very much." "Yes, we were very close." said Patterson. "Then poor Jonas was shot dead in this accursed Town, and things started unraveling. Vicki is trying to take us in other directions, directions that neither I nor my colleague Pastor Fred Bundy want to go. We liked what Jonas was doing, and we want to continue it, but Vicki is shutting us down. Senator, how long has it been since you've had some of our fresh young merchandise?" A Case of Revenge Ch. 04 "Too long, my friend, way too long." said Nathan Allen. "I've heard you had some setbacks, Nathan." the younger man said. "You need to get laid, and then we can work together continuing Jonas's great work. We're going to need you going forward, Nathan, and as soon as we cut Vicki out of the loop, you'll be riding with us on the Glory Train to great new heights." "Sounds good. Sounds wonderful, in fact." Nathan Allen said. This was the best news he'd had in ages. "But let me ask this. I have a problem, a very bad problem. His name is Kearns, and he's suing my boy, won't let my boy alone. My latest effort to stop him failed badly. What can you do to help me?" "Don't worry." said Reverend Patterson. "Our attorneys are good, unlike that piece of shit you had before. We'll take care of it from a legal end. Now you're going to have to be patient, just as Job was, and let the work of the Lord come through for you, but we'll get it done, okay?" "I do believe you were sent to me today as a blessing." said Nathan Allen. --- At 8:00pm I was on fumes, but trying to press forward, trying to get everything processed in my mind, everything from Eleanor Burke to Phil Kearns to Nathan Allen. That's when Chief Griswold came into my office, Cindy Ross in tow. The Chief extended his arm, pointed at me and spake his commands: "You. Go home. Go to bed. Sleep. Now. Detective Ross, escort the Lieutenant to the door." I did not resist those orders, especially with my partner standing there all too eager to use my own crowbar on me if I did try to resist. I went home, whereupon Laura helped enforce the Chief's orders and firmly guided me into the bedroom. I barely remember getting undressed, and as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asl- --- Part 20 - Descent into Nightfall It was 11:00pm and an uneasy stillness enveloped the State Hospital for Mental Diseases, much better known as the State Asylum. On the prisoner side of the facility, Eleanor Burke was groggily helped into her bed. She could not know that every patient's food was impregnated with sedative drugs. The days and nights had been a nightmare for Eleanor. During the day there were 'evaluations' of her mental acuity, and once a week it seemed that a real psychologist was talking to her about her attempt to murder the professor that had tormented her son Jack. But more often than not, she found the orderlies forcing her to take pills, sometimes injections, and she was in a drugged state more often than not. Since the raid by the FBI, not a night had gone by that she had not been sedated in some way. Now lying in the present time, whatever that was, she was barely aware of the young man that came into her locked room some minutes later. Eleanor was one of the 'lucky' women at the facility; this young man had 'claimed' her as his property. As such, he was the only man that fucked her at night. He was muscular, young with a full head of longish brown hair. His cock was large and thick, and even if she was not drugged, Eleanor would've enjoyed being fucked by it. Tonight was a bit different, Eleanor realized. She was not as sleepy and unresponsive as she often was, and her hips were moving to meet each of her stud's thrusts as he pumped into her. She felt the pleasures of being fucked racing through her loins, causing her to moan. It wasn't long before the young man moaned into her ear that he was coming. He ejaculated a huge load of hot sperm deep into Eleanor's well-fucked vagina. As the young man got off of her, she became aware that another man was in the room. This guy was young, fairly tall and very slender. She realized that he was stripping naked. A moment later she felt his weight on top of her, then the pleasurable pressure of his long, thick cock spreading her vaginal walls as he entered her and sank his eight inch meat balls-deep inside her. This new man began fucking her with a hard, deep, steady rhythm. Pleasure spread like fire through her loins and her lower body. It was as if this man were the Devil himself, and that the act of fucking him was bringing unholy, sinful pleasure to her body. She reached up and grabbed his hard asscheeks, massaging them in her hands as the young stud fucked her steadily, relentlessly, unceasingly. A hard orgasm crashed through her body, followed moments later by a second one. "Eleanor," she heard the young man whisper, "do you want to get out of here?" She was not sure she had heard him correctly, through the haze of the drugs and her own sexual pleasure. "Wha?!?" she moaned. "I said, 'Do you want to get out of here'?" the young man repeated. "Do you want to help me avenge your son? Do you want me to help you destroy our enemies as they destroyed your son?" "Ohhhh, yessss..." Eleanor hissed. The young man didn't know if that was a response to his offer or her orgasm, as he felt her quaking cunt clamp down hard on his pistoning prick as he drove deep inside her again and again and again... "How... how are you going to get me out of here?" Eleanor whispered. "Leave that to me." the young man said. "It'll be in a couple of days. If someone comes for you and says 'Jack sent me', you'll know to go with him or her. Unnh... I'm getting close, baby... oh God your pussy is so hot and fine... oh, uh... UHHH!!" The young stud drove hard into Eleanor, his cock throbbing as jolt after jolt of his seed fired into her vagina, mixing with the other man's to create a sloppy mess between Eleanor's legs. Eleanor lay on the bed, gasping for breath from what had to have been her fourth orgasm. As she looked at the young man dressing, unable to see his face clearly, a moonbeam suddenly flashed into the room through a clear spot in the painted-over glass of the window high overhead. It was eerie in that it lighted the man's lower back, and Eleanor saw a dark spot in the shape of what looked like an "X"... Part 21 - The Meetings The next morning, June 3d, I felt refreshed by my hours of sleep despite the overcast weather conditions. The Chief had ordered me to take the morning off and to not be seen anywhere near Headquarters until noon. That made my task easier; I had a delivery to make. I knew I could not go back to Coltrane County while the Media was rabidly scouring for any story. And then the problem was solved for me when I got a text saying 'Promontory Point', and named a time. Promontory Point is the highest point of the mountain ridge upon which my home was built. It was north of my home and northeast of town, but not as far north as Daniel and Melina's new house site. There was a small park and picnic tables there, but it was mostly known as where high school kids went to 'park', i.e. to have sex in their cars. Steven Ikea routinely went up there to make arrests when he was with the Force. When I arrived, I noted the limousine, with the driver still in his seat, and likely a security man in the back seat. Looking over to a bench situated to see the wonderful view of the Town from high above, I saw the shock of white hair and the man's back as he sat and admired that view. I was carrying one of those small collapsible ice chests, which contained two bottles of bluish liquid. I sat down next to Eckhart without invitation, putting the container on the ground between us. "Lovely view, though I like the one from your home better." growled Eckhart in his unique voice. "Excellent job on that raid, young man. Better than I expected. I suspect you planned and led it; Jack Muscone is a battering ram, while you are a surgeon." "Thank you, sir." I said. "I'm grateful for the information that led to the release of six imprisoned men." "As am I, my friend, as am I." said Eckhart. "It's fortunate, though, that you weren't shot. From what I heard, if you'd rushed out of that room after securing Mr. Kearns, that orderly would've mowed you down." I had to work hard not to let my face show my surprise that Harvey knew so much about that. "Yes, fortunate I was." I said, using Jedi Master Yoda grammar. "Know all about it, you do." "Yes, my young friend, I know a great many things." Eckhart said, allowing himself to smile at my grammar humor. "It's my business to know things, I need to know things. Yes, I just told you one of my weaknesses, but it's true. Information is true power, Donald, and that is something I beg of you to remember." "Thank you, I will." I said. "Well, Harvey, I need to go. Thank you for all your help." "And you for yours. By the way, I'll just congratulate you in advance." Harvey said. I knew that he was talking about the birth of my baby, due in a couple of weeks. I got up and walked back to my car, knowing that in a few minutes Harvey would return to his luxury, bulletproof limousine, carrying a flexible ice chest containing two bottles of a bluish liquid... --- At 10:00am on the morning of June 4th, I was talking with Cindy in my office when the Duty Desk Sergeant actually came to the door. I waved him in. "Sir, Senator Nathan Allen's assistant called from his office here in Town. She said that you are 'instructed' to come to his office at 11:00am. Those were her exact words." "That asshole-" Cindy said, but I stopped her. "Thanks, Sergeant." I said, dismissing him. I was about to dismiss it; I had no desire to meet Nathan Allen at this time. But then something hit me... "Don... Don?..." Cindy was saying as I awakened from my reverie. "Surely you're not going." "No." I said. "We are going." "You're kidding!" Cindy exclaimed. "Easy, my friend." I said, smiling mysteriously. "This might be the best opportunity I've had in a long, long time." -- "Come on, Don, why are you walking so slow?" Cindy said impatiently as we walked up towards the entrance of the State Building. I was noticing the finer details, like where all the cameras were, the security system to gain entrance, the Security forces present. I noticed two old women sitting on a bench in the grassy area that was the Square. One of them was Old Mrs. Boddiker, who'd seen Joe Arruzio on the night he murdered his wife and Jack Burke. I didn't recognize the other old woman, who seemed to be a friend of Old Mrs. Boddiker. The entrance to the State building had metal detectors, like an airport. Normally we police just flash our badges and walk around it, but not today. "Lieutenant, Senator Allen has ordered you to appear in his office without weapons, and, so sorry, that is the way you will appear." the head security man said. "To hell with that." I said quietly, turning around and about to leave. No way on God's green earth was I relinquishing my arms. Just then a man in an ill-fitting suit called out from the other side of the security. "It's okay, let them in." the man said. He was a bit burly and looked as if he wished he had a crowbar so that he could do some damage. Cindy and I walked inside, both fully armed with guns, and were escorted to the outer office of Senator Allen. He became impatient with my slow pace of walking as I observed everything in my path. "The Senator will see the Lieutenant alone." said the security man to Cindy, his voice condescending. I handed Cindy my crowbar and told her to not hesitate to use it if she needed to, then walked into the office alone. "Well, there you are." said Nathan Allen, sitting behind his desk, sipping a drink, pretending to look out the window. He did not get up to greet me, nor did he offer me a drink. As he played out his little charade, I observed everything about his office... as did the tiny camera in the button of my jacket. "You've caused quite a lot of excitement around here, boy." said Nathan Allen. "Quite a lot." He slowly turned in his chair to face me, leaning back, not inviting me to sit down. "So you think you did something cute getting that shit Kearns out of the Asylum, eh? "What do want, Senator?" "I'll tell you what I want when I'm good and ready, boy." said Senator Allen, gulping his drink. "And just so we're clear, I don't give a shit if you're wearing a wire or trying to entrap me. You'll never touch me, cop." "I'll be on my way, then." I said, turning to the door. "I ordered you in here," said Senator Allen, knowing he'd taxed my patience to its limit and needed to get on with it, "to ask you a question: do you consider family important, Lieutenant?" "And your point is?" I asked. "My point is that I consider my family important, and I consider the legacy I leave to my boy important." Allen said. "I doubt you'd let anything harm your family... hell, what am I talking about, two dirty cops nearly got murdered after fucking with your family... and I won't let anything... or anyone... harm my boy, you hear?" "And why tell me this, Senator?" I asked. "Just to let you know." said Senator Allen. "Kearns? He'd better learn manners, and if that last example didn't teach him manners, the next one certainly will. Detective Croyle? She thinks she's some kind of hotshot in Midtown with their Internal Affairs, but she can't hide from Senator Nathan Allen. She damn well better never been seen in this County again, and she'll be leaving the State soon, if she knows what's good for her. Seeing that my look was one of boredom instead of the anger he was trying to elicit, the Senator tried harder to get to me: "And I'd suggest you remember to do your duties well within the lines of propriety, Lieutenant. The State Legislature controls the budgets of all the county police departments, what with the way they divvy up money and all that. It'd be a shame if your Police Force were lacking in funds." I'd long since lost any interest in why Allen was playing this game, so I simply said "Then you need to get back to that work, Senator, and I'll get back to mine: law enforcement, putting criminals in jail... including dirty politicians." I again turned to go. "You watch yourself, boy!" Nathan Allen hissed at me. "You think this is your County, you fucking slug? No, little man, it's my County. I am above your law, you little punk cop. You'd best remember that." I turned and walked up to Allen's desk, getting closer to him. He was leaning over his desk, his hands supporting him. I made several observations as I leaned over slightly and whispered with unnerving, flat calmness. "What I do remember, Senator, is a man who spent days in an Asylum while his wife and two children lie dead in their graves... because of you and your son, Senator. May I suggest that you consider retirement, before the voters of your district decide it for you. May I suggest you retire for your son's sake, Senator. "But if you want to keep on thinking it's your County, Senator, you go right ahead and do so. If you think you or your son is above the law, keep on trodding down that path. You will trip up, Senator... and then the inside of one jail cell can be your county domain, Senator... or your son's. Just keep on thinking about that. Have a nice day, Senator." Allen's face was red, nearly purple, leading me to more observations as he huffed "You come up against Senator Nathan Allen, you're going to lose! You'll never put me in jaiI, you bastard! You hear me, boy? Never!" I didn't bother to reply as I walked out of the office. But I knew in my soul that Senator Allen was right: I would never see him in a jail cell. --- "So why did you go to Senator Allen's office, Crowbar?" asked the Chief. "Reconnaissance, Chief," I replied, smiling. "Reconnaissance. I now know his office's layout, and to think he himself invited me in to see it." The Chief just nodded and smiled himself. Part 22 - Continuity of the Line D-Day, the Sixth of June. While my thoughts on this day were always of those who had sacrificed so much so long ago on the beaches of Normandy, June 6th was about to become a day far more important for me personally to remember. At 2:00am Laura woke me up. "Would you get me a towel?" she asked. "Sure." I said sleepily. I went to the bathroom and got a towel and brought it to her. "Honey," Laura said, "are you awake? Did you just understand what I asked for?" Then it hit me, and I was fully awake. Laura had asked for a towel because her water had broken. The baby was coming! I don't know why it is, but this former Army officer and now Police Lieutenant, able to lead in danger and under fire, turned into a jelly-kneed incompetent when faced with the impending birth of his baby. "Uh, okay, uh, I gotta get dressed, we gotta get dressed..." I was walking back and forth, trying to find clothes, nearly hyperventilating... "Take a breath, darling." Laura admonished. Easy for her to say, she was already getting her clothes on as I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off... --- At 4:30 in the morning, I watched as Laura delivered a smallish but healthy baby boy. He had come two weeks early, but was still six pounds, four ounces. His lungs certainly worked well as his cries filled the room. I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks: I was the proud father of a baby boy! After the ritual cleaning and initial checks, the nurse handed my son to me. I couldn't believe how light he was, how tiny. But he was mine, my little boy! I handed the baby to Laura with the nurses help, letting mother and son get to know each other for the first time. "What's his name?" the nurse asked. Laura just looked at me. "James David." I said. James, after myself. And David... well, that's a story for another time... --- At 6:00am, as Laura and little 'Jim' were taken to her hospital room, I headed to the waiting room to find Todd and Jeanine, Cindy, my mother, and the Chief waiting for me. "It... it's a boy, Mom." I said. "It's a boy." My mother hugged me and we cried together, both knowing that this meant her husband and my father's name and line would continue for another generation. Even the Chief was emotional as everyone gave me hugs. "There is nothing, nothing, like having a son, Don." he said. I knew he and his wife had had a male child, but knew nothing about his son. "Welcome to the club." Todd said as he hugged me. After hugging Jeanine and Cindy, I began passing out the cigars. Real cigars. No candy cigars for the birth of my first son. Later that day I would visit Headquarters and pass out over 250 real cigars with little blue ribbons tied to them. Later that evening, as Laura slept, I got to hold little Jim for a few minutes. As I looked at his tiny face, scrunched up in peaceful sleep, I knew I had a lot of work to do to make the world better when I left it to him. No, I might not be Superman and I couldn't do it all, but I knew that I was put in place to do a lot of good, and I silently promised my sleeping son that I would do so... To be continued. A Case of Revenge Ch. 05 The chronological order of my stories is as follows: Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story, Case of the Black Badge series. A Case of Revenge, Ch. 1-5 Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, extreme language, and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. ***** Part 23 - The Crime Scene At 6:00am on June 15th, I received a call on my cellphone just as I entered the Headquarters. "Lieutenant, this is Deputy Strait in Coltrane County." said the voice on the other line. "My Sheriff is asking if you'd deputize yourself into the SBI and come down and help us. Two EMTs have been murdered on the Nextdoor County Highway near the Asylum." "EMTs?" I asked, shocked. "Who'd want to kill EMTs?" "That's what we're hoping you can help us with." Deputy Strait said. I replied that I and another SBI Reservist would be there as fast as we could. I went and got Cindy, who was just making coffee, and asked her to deputize herself and come with me. We changed clothes for an outdoor crime scene, and headed out to Coltrane County. --- The Nextdoor County Highway, State Route 142, traveled southwest-to-northeast from Buford, the seat of Coltrane County; to Hillside, seat of Nextdoor County. I cut over on some farm roads and we came up upon the flashing lights of vehicles. The sun was now up, so we could see fairly well. We were permitted through a roadblock cutting off the section of the highway where the crime scene was, and I thought that I just might have to be impressed by Coltrane County Law's efficiency. It was 6:30 am when we arrived, and Cindy and I were wearing identical black mock-turtleneck pullover shirts with sewn-in SBI Reserve badges on the front-left and "SBI" in big letters on the back, black 'parachute pants', and black military-style boots. We looked good. Damn good. "Thanks for coming, guys!" said Deputy Strait. "Congratulations, Detective Ross, on the SBI appointment. Sheriff, Detective Ross is a 'boner-fied' celebrity from those Miss Physical America competitions. She was really great in those." Deputy Strait was young and a bit too talkative and overeager. I could also tell that he was attracted to Cindy, but he didn't realize she didn't play on his team. By way of contrast, the new Sheriff of Coltrane County, Sheriff Sorrells, was a somewhat overweight man with an easygoing demeanor. Stereotypical rural sheriff. "Pleased to meet y'all." drawled Sheriff Sorrells. "If you can shed some light on this one, I'll be grateful. Just what the hell this is about, I don't understand." An ambulance was parked by the side of the road. Two EMTs were lying on the road, one near the front of the ambulance, the other near the open back doors. The one near the front was a young black man, lean, clean shaven and possibly ex-military, and the one in back was also youngish, white, a bit overweight, with black hair and a thin beard and connecting sideburns. No, not Skinny Beard, this guy was younger. Both had been shot in the head, execution-style, with a small caliber firearm. Professional-looking, all the way, I thought to myself. "So how were you alerted to this crime?" I asked as I examined the bodies. The men had been shot in the back of their heads, execution-style. I also noted some burns on the neck of the white guy, likely cigarette burns.
 "Guy who works at the Asylum left for home and came up on this scene. He called the Asylum for help, and they called us." said Sheriff Sorrells. "Let me give you a little background: ambulances or police cars bring patients into the Asylum at night, so the patients can't see the lay of the land and try to escape-" "Kinda like Parris Island; the Marine Corps brings their recruits in at night." interrupted Deputy Strait, a bit too eagerly. "Sounds like a good plan." I said, trying to cover for Deputy Strait's impetuousness. "Yeah, you may have heard of that raid on the Asylum by the FBI a couple of weeks ago." said the Sheriff. "One reason that worked so well was because the Asylum guards thought the cars were patients being brought in. "Anyway, this ambulance brought in a patient about 2:00am. At 5:15, just as dawn was breaking, they left the Asylum, headed towards Nextdoor County. They radioed in to the Asylum that there was a car crash inside the 'no-stop' zone and that they were going to stop to help, and asked for backup. We have a County Police car at the Asylum strictly to enforce that 'no-stop' zone, and they were dispatched. They found the ambulance here, just as it is now. We've verified that these EMTs were the ones that brought that ambulance in and took it out, and they've been working for Nextdoor County for a little while now." I was noticing the tire marks in the road as well as on the curbside near where the ambulance had stopped. Deputy Strait said that they'd already taken photos and tire impressions. "Okay, it does look like they stopped to help an accident scene." I said, pointing things out to Cindy and the others in a manner of teaching. "Cars off to the side, ambulance parks in a way to protect the scene from other cars coming up. That's standard, and it confirms in my mind that these are real EMT drivers. So who was in the ambulance? Just these two dead guys?" "As far as we know." said the Sheriff. "The Asylum said that no patient was being taken out of the place, and they didn't say anyone else was aboard." I looked around the back of the ambulance. "Anything missing from back here that you can tell?" I asked. "No, not that we know of." said Deputy Strait. "No obvious empty shelves, everything seems to be in its place, though I'm no expert." I looked up the road, towards the southwest. The road gently but steadily moved uphill for quite a distance. "Deputy, how far would you guys say it is to the top of the hill? Cindy, your guess too." I asked. "I'd say about half a mile." Strait said. Cindy agreed. I handed Cindy the keys to my T&C Police SUV. "Cindy, I want you to drive slowly up this hill, taking note of the mileage. I'm going to stand on the running board and look at the road, so drive very slowly, okay?" "Roger that." Cindy said. "Deputy Straight, would you like to ride with us?" I offered. "Yes sir!" exclaimed Strait. He climbed onto the running board behind me and we held on for dear life as Cindy drove slowly up the road. The light was getting better and better as we completed the trip. I noticed tire tracks, hoping they weren't all police cars overran other tracks. "Wow, 0.7 miles." said Cindy as she parked at the top of the hill. "More than we thought." A Coltrane County Police car was stationed here, diverting motorists onto a dirt farm road going east, where they could pick up a farm road going north and get back to the highway past the point of the accident. I began looking around, explaining to Cindy and Deputy Strait what I was looking at. "Okay, ambulance came up this road. Let's say they got right here to the top. Yeah, it's a ways, but you can see the cars in the distance, see their lights. Dawn was breaking, so there was probably just enough light to see the cars of the accident as they topped this hill." "Let's just use our imaginations." I continued. "Let's say the ambulance saw the accident down below, stopped for a minute, then continued on down. They got to the scene, got out to help, and they were murdered. Now why would someone want them dead? Meanwhile, staying up here, let's look to see if they let someone out... ah yes, here you go, Strait!" I pointed out to Strait and the other County Policeman the set of footprints. The men were impressed. "How'd you know to find those?" Strait asked. I said I'd tell him everything in a few minutes. Cindy looked at the tracks and said "They're fresh. Looks like sneakers, and just the type of sneakers orderlies might wear at the Asylum." "Yes." I said. "I'd say someone got out of the ambulance here and fled into the farmed field here. Probably ran to this dirt road everyone's detouring on, likely was picked up a distance down the way. Cindy, why don't you and this officer follow those tracks. I'll sit here and compare notes with Deputy Strait. When we were alone, I asked Strait "Tell me about this new Sheriff, Sorrells is his name?." "Yes, sir. He's great, he's like night-and-day compared to our old Sheriff. We're doing things better in every respect." said Deputy Strait, his fresh young face striving to be helpful. "Yes, I noticed the efficiency of securing this crime scene. Is Sorrells honest? A good man?" "As far as I know." said Strait. "This whole county is corrupt to the core, from our State Senator Allen to the County Commission to the Buford Town Council, so I don't think Sorrells is clean or he wouldn't have gotten the job. But I think he's okay, and he did let me call you, so that's a good thing." "Yes it is. Thanks, Strait. Now let me stand here and think for a moment." I went into a reverie. I was thinking about an orderly that took shots at me during the Asylum raid, sensing the link between that incident and this crime here. I thought about what was going on at the Asylum, the total lack of accountability and control there. And then I remembered something, another road ambush that had failed, whereas this one had succeeded... Some minutes later, Cindy and the officer returned. "Tracks led to the dirt road, there's spots of them here and there, but where that bridge crosses that irrigation canal, the farm road starts and there's no more prints." Cindy reported. "Great job, guys." I said. "Let's rejoin the sheriff at the scene." When we got back, the Crime Lab team, such as it was, were loading the bodies into vehicles to transport back to the morgue, and another EMT was going to drive the impounded ambulance back to the Coltrane County Police Department. I filled in the Sheriff on the found tracks. As the others left, the Sheriff asked "Anything you can tell us, Lieutenant?" "First, I'd like to ask what you guys think. Anyone?" "All I can think of is highway robbers." said the Sheriff. "But they didn't take anything when they could've taken the ambulance itself. And then again, you found tracks up there, so I'm still forming an opinion." "Very good. Strait?" I asked. "I don't know, sir, but the way they were shot suggests whoever stopped them meant to shoot them." said Strait. "Excellent, Strait!" I said. "That's a great observation. Ross?" "I'd have to say they were helping someone escape from the Asylum." Cindy said. "They let that person off at the top of the hill. Maybe the cars then chased and flagged down the ambulance, and shot the men to cover their trail. Now your turn, Don." "Sheriff, how are your relations with the people at the Asylum?" I asked. "Okay, though they're wary after that FBI raid." Sorrells said. "Strait, you're in pretty good with them, aren't you?" "Yes sir." Strait said. "Some of them graduated high school with me." I said "Strait, I'm going to email you a photograph of a known criminal. I'd like you to ask your friends at the Asylum if that man was an employee there. He might have been an orderly; I doubt he was patient, but if he wasn't an employee he might've posed as a patient." As I talked, I emailed Strait the photograph. He brought it up on his iPhone. Cindy saw it and gasped, then looked up at me. "Yep." I said to Cindy, just nodding. "Strait, I also need for you to ask if anyone else was on the ambulance when it left, if the EMTs were giving an orderly a ride, for example. But check and make very sure it was either just these two dead men or if there were more persons aboard. Next: Detective Ross, do you remember the Bounel transfer?" I asked. "Yeah... oh, yeah!" she said as she caught on. The Sheriff look mystified. I said "Sheriff, a few months ago Ross and I transferred a prisoner from the City to our County. Along the way, there was a two-car accident on the road, and they tried hard to flag us down. We did not stop, as we were transferring the prisoner, but I radioed in for an ambulance to go there. When they got there just a few minutes later, they found nothing, nothing at all." "Okay." said the Sheriff, trying to connect the dots in his head. "So what does that have to do with this crime?" "I think the same thing happened here, and maybe by the same perps." I said. "To start from the beginning: I think the ambulance came out of the Asylum with a passenger in the back, an orderly who works there, whom the drivers knew and were helping. When they got to the top of that hill, they saw the accident scene here. They stopped, let their passenger out, then called in on the radio as they slowly approached the accident with lights flashing. The flashing lights would also help hide any view of the passenger escaping in the dim light. "But once they got here, they were ambushed, and the people in the cars held them at gunpoint. I believe the perps were looking for the passenger. Not finding him, they tortured at least one of the EMTs with cigarette burns to get the info on the passenger, and I don't know how successful they were. "Then they shot both EMTs dead and left their bodies here on the road as they drove away. One car came back up the hill and looked for the passenger. I have no idea if they found him, but I suspect not. The other car headed north, maybe to try to cut off the passenger by circling around." "Well, Strait, you were right about this guy." said the Sheriff. "He's every bit as good as you said he'd be. Good job, Lieutenant. What you say certainly ties in with everything we've observed. Strait, take two deputies with you and go talk to the Asylum people. Lieutenant, I've just got one question: Do you know who the passenger was?" "Sheriff, do you remember three murders in my County over the last two years by a young psychopath who also was a drug maker?" "Vaguely." the Sheriff said. "I haven't been here that long, of course." "I'll email you some reports." I said. "And I emailed you the picture I emailed Strait. This guy is armed, exceptionally dangerous, and if you catch up to him, please let me know immediately." ---- "Wow, I don't believe it." said the Chief two hours later as he, Cindy and I sat in his office. Deputy Strait had emailed that the Asylum confirmed that the man in the picture was an orderly there, and that he'd hitched a ride on the ambulance to get back into town. "Yep." I said. "It makes sense. I was wondering how my nephew Ned was able to hide so well and yet have access to food. He was in the Asylum, as an employee. He apparently practically lived there, staying overnight every night, eating in the mess hall with the other staff and patients. Damn, that was a good hiding place!" I said, more than a little impressed with Ned's ingenuity. "Yes, and he could get in and out with the ambulances, and no one the wiser." said Cindy. Just then Martin Nash peeked into the door and the Chief invited him in. He handed me a folder with some papers. "You were right, Lieutenant." Nash said. "FBI facial recognition program came up with the Asylum ID." I could see it was my nephew's picture as I looked at it, hearing Nash continue: "He went by the name of 'Donald Kyle Irons' while there. Most of the other employees called him Kyle." "Heh!" Cindy said. "The 'Donald' and 'Irons' are clearly shots at you, Don." "Yep." I said. "Cute, verrry cute. Wonder where the 'Kyle' comes from? Hmm, says here in the file that he's been with the Asylum a little under two years. Probably forged paperwork, but we've recently found out how lax the Asylum is about their paperwork. If memory serves me correctly, after we brought Ned here to be arrested, Elizabeth got him out of the country to France. Looks like he came back about three months later, and took a job there." I continued: "Says here he was hourly, paid just for the time he worked. He also took chunks of time off, saying he had to take care of his mother and uncle, who were in poor health. No doubt about that, though his bedside manner sucks." There may have been some sarcasm in my voice about that. "Strait said the other people there said he was there most of the time but occasionally took stretches of time off." "Well, Crowbar," said the Chief, "it looks like you've stumbled upon Ned. Maybe we can get on his scent soon. But what about the two dead EMTs? How do they tie in?" "If I may, Chief," Martin Nash spoke up, "It looks like those guys were dirty. Lot of money in their bank accounts, much more than normal EMTs. The black guy was a military man, honorably discharged. Got the EMT job straight out of the military, but the City Police had been watching him as a possible gangbanger. He fell off their radar though. The white guy had been an EMT in the past, but was fired from three jobs, twice for stealing drugs from ambulances, and once for general reasons of lateness, untidiness in appearance, and such. He's currently unemployed, so we think he was in with Ned." "Who's 'we'?" Cindy asked. I love Cindy Ross, but sometimes she just asks that one question she shouldn't. "Oh... myself and Sandra Speer." said Nash, blushing slightly. "She helped me compile this data." "Good job, Martin." said the Chief, diverting the line the conversation was taking. "Alright, so they were dirty, helping Ned get in and out of the Funny Farm. So what was this ambush about, Crowbar?" "I'm not sure." I said, my eyes boring into the Chief. He got the hint. "Okay," said the Chief, "Don, Cindy, did you get any breakfast?" Cindy and I shook our heads 'no'. "Okay, I'll take you two to the Country Breakfast Diner now. Martin, keep up the good work with that data." -- "Okay, sorry about asking that question in 'mixed company'." said the Chief as we ate our late breakfast. "So what is the ambush about?" "As the two of you know," I said, "Ned worked under that CIA project that my wife and Dr. Heinz are overseeing. Once he went bad, he was not part of that project anymore. However, I believe that there is another group of CIA peeps with projects that want to bring Ned in... even by force. They want him to make drugs for them and their CIA applications." "Were they the same group that tried to ambush us over Bounel?" Cindy asked. "I think so." I said. "Same type of motif. They set it up to take Ned when he left the Asylum. After the FBI's raid there, these guys knew their chance to take Ned was diminished. So they lay in wait for him. When the ambulance came over the hill, I think they realized what was going down, just as I'd anticipated it in our Bounel transfer. They let Ned out, then went down to the accident scene. I'm sure the bastards in the cars were furious Ned wasn't there, and they tortured the two men before killing them." "Do they want to kill Ned?" the Chief asked. "No, they want to use him. If they catch him, though, he'll be a 'meth lab slave' to them. He knows it, too, so he's not playing their game. He knew what went down this morning, and I'm sure he's having to hide again." "Think he'll go back to the Asylum?" Cindy asked. "No, that's blown for him now." I said. "I think he's in our County now, and he may be poised to strike. We've gotta keep our eyes peeled, hard. And..." I paused, in a reverie. The Chief recharged his coffee mug, and Cindy was kind enough to feed her face and wait on me. A Case of Revenge Ch. 05 When I came back, I said "It just hit me that this group just made their move, too. It's about to hit the fan, and I'm going to have to make some moves of my own now. The time has come..." --- "Can we take a walk?" Tanya Perlman asked me in the early afternoon of June 15th. "Sure." I said. "But let me drive you to The Cabin." I drove Tanya up to The Cabin, and we sat on the back deck.
 "You know that Dr. Wellman and I are lovers?" asked Tanya. I nodded. "Well, he and I started up our relationship again in mid-March, and I see him once a week. Yesterday he told me some stuff, and he actually asked me to tell you about it." She began telling me the story... --- "You have got to be kidding." Dr. Wellman said. He and Henry Wargrave were meeting with Dr. Bartholomew Scott. "Mr. President, I truly believe Dr. Fredricson needs to go." said Scott. "She's in the works to retire from the Company, she just had her second child. She's out of our projects-" "Let me see if I can get this across to you." said Dr. Wellman, with some emphasis, not letting Scott finish. "First of all, Dr. Fredricson has tenure. Second of all, she brings more grant money into this University than almost anyone, with the possible exception of Mr. Wargrave here, and that's even without your Government projects. She is respected and celebrated as a professor here, and-
 "That's part of the issue." said Scott. "The nature of her research is deviant sexual behaviors. It's controversial at best, and a big negative at worst. The money she brings in can be made up, especially by my people. We're looking to bring in more projects." "Okay, Bartholomew, let me try to be clear one last time." said Wellman, who was getting irritated. "The culture today is far more accepting of her research than a few decades ago. Her research is groundbreaking, she gets published practically every week, certainly once a month. Controversial? Sure, but that's a good thing publicity-wise, and don't even try to tell me otherwise. "Furthermore, I've told her she can stay here as the Department Head of the Psychology Department until the very day she dies, and that had better be decades from now. Last but not least, her husband is the best police officer in the State, and the parents like that; it makes them feel a lot safer about their daughters on our Campus while in the Iron Crowbar's county. No, Dr. Scott, and this is my final word, Dr. Fredricson is going nowhere." "I respectfully think you're making a mistake." said Scott. "With Vicki Oldeeds in town, stirring up trouble, who knows what kind of scandal could happen." "Bartholomew," said Wargrave, "I have to agree with Dr. Wellman about Dr. Fredricson's value to this University, the projects notwithstanding. Let's just table this discussion for now." "I'm afraid that's not possible to do, Mr. Wargrave." Bartholomew Scott said, standing up to the billionaire. "My associates are very concerned about the situation. If the issue of Jonas Oldeeds' murder came out, it would be devastating for this University, as well as your precious Iron Crowbar. I don't know why you think he's so great when he is nothing but a puny ant. Now my people are ready to begin making moves, Mr. Wargrave, and you know that. It's time to weed out the trash and take care of the problems in this County. We're long overdue moving in and setting up here." "I'm done here." said Wellman. He got up and walked out of the room. "Bartholomew," said Wargrave, "You're becoming rash. You need to play the game much more quietly and patiently. This is not the way to do this." "Look, we are making our move. Our window to get 'Mad Scientist' back into the fold is closing." said Scott, using his CIA cell's code name for Ned. "If we don't do it soon, we might miss our chance. I might also add that the mad scramble for some of the companies and technologies here is heating up. I don't know where the competition is coming from, but someone is moving on DynaCorp and we're still trying to find Olivet's secret. You know as well as I do what the stakes are for us, Henry." "My name is 'Mr. Wargrave' to you, punk." Henry R. Wargrave stated, his face showing his displeasure at this little bastard's arrogance in using his own first name to him. "I suggest you learn your place. I call the shots here at the University, not you, and not Jody Corrigan." "Well then, Mr. Wargrave, let me make things clearer for you." said Scott with an incredible show of bravado. "We love having you as a partner. But Corrigan calls the shots and you know it. Are you with us or not?" Wargrave didn't answer. He simply got up and walked out, also. Scott just smiled, unafraid. -- "What do you make of it?" Tanya asked. "Thanks for telling me, Tanya." I said. "It means it's time for me to start making some moves and get this shit squared away. As soon as Pete's baby is born, you're back to solving crimes in my MCD unit. At your discretion, tell Wellman I'm on this shit about Dr. Scott." Part 24 - Ultimate Revenge: The Rev. Jonas Oldeeds Solution (Author's note: Please review 'The Case of the Murdered Lovers' Ch. 06 for a refresher of the three paternity tests. You may also wish to review all chapters of 'The Case of the Executed Evangelist' before continuing.) June 22d. It was going to be one heck of a day in my life. The time had come, the time I had foreseen a year before, just not knowing when... and now I knew that today was that ultimate moment. I heard the click of Laura's heels as she came onto the back deck of The Cabin in the early afternoon. I felt the briefcase between my ankles, all too aware of its presence. "Back up here again?" Laura asked. "It's a good place to talk where no one can hear us." I said. "And it's a good place to think... especially about all the unsolved problems we have around here." "My goodness, what have you left unsolved, darling?" Laura said as she sat down by me in the love seat. "You've kicked Sergei Molotov to the kerb, you interdicted the Black Badge drug gang and rooted out the moles in your Police Department, you took care of the Kurchikov murder and drug ring, and I might add that your sister is now in State Prison where she most certainly belongs. You've almost completely cleaned up the PED problem in the University's athletic department, and you managed to catch Angela Harlan in the most brilliant manner that I've ever seen, if I do say so myself as your wife. What's left to solve?" "Jonas Oldeeds." I replied, looking forward out over the town and letting my peripheral vision notice the slight changes in Laura's eyes and face. "The murder of Jonas Oldeeds is still open. And with all the crap going on with Vicki Oldeeds and Bartholomew Scott, I think it's finally getting time to finally clear the air about that one." Laura paled just a little bit as I said that, and she replied "You essentially took care of the Vicki Oldeeds problem... twice... and I can handle Bartholomew Scott, who has already pissed off the University's president and our wealthiest, biggest donor. Besides, do you really have any idea who shot Jonas Oldeeds? You keep saying it wasn't the same team of 'wet boys' that tried to kill you." "No, it's not the same person. Those losers that tried to kill me, who were associated with Bartholomew Scott, by the way, were dog crap compared to the tremendous abilities of Oldeeds' executioner." Laura tried one last tactic: "Well, we did agree to agree that it was an Act of God, right? Certainly it was God's Justice, n'est pas?" "No doubt about that." I said, watching the horizon, seeing a train just coming into view on the tracks from the West. "Whoever did it, did us a huge favor, so let's just leave it at that... it was an Act of God." Laura insisted. "Mmm hmm." I said. Yeah, Laura, I thought to myself, I'm sure I could press you, my darling wife, and you'd tell me the truth about what is going on in the CIA, of Dr. Scott's rogue group, the internecine battle going on. And if I pressed you, beloved mother of my children, you'd admit that the Oldeeds Empire is on the move and poised to help the rogue group gain ascendency in the Agency. But it's time to get real, Laura. If I could defeat the Black Widow, don't you think I could tell who it was that murdered Oldeeds, and how? If you want to tell me that the execution of the Reverend Jonas Oldeeds was an Act of God, by all means, tell me so. I'll love you and our children until the End of Time, my darling. But I know. I know the truth. It was not an Act of God. It was an Act of Melina. Yes. She was the best crack shot since the days of college. She could and did shoot a smiley-face at 50 yards at the range. She blew away four of Sergei Molotov's creeps in her gym without the blink of an eyelash. She's a 'wet boy' for the CIA, and I know about all that, also: she blew away the traitor Dr. Mays, she blew away the Chinese spy, she killed the Islamist terror-sympathizer, she waxed the Venezuelan drug distributor, she blew away the South Korean magnate and the traitor who was a mole within the Federal Reserve... all who were in league with this rogue CIA group you're fighting. She took out the dirty judge in the City. Why Oldeeds? I don't know. But it could only have been Melina from the emergency stairwell of her gym, which overlooked the Fairgrounds. She would've shot Elizabeth if I had let her. Eight hundred yards is nothing for her. "Let it go, darling." Laura said, reading my mind. "Not possible, my love." I said. Melina herself was walking up to us. She took a seat in one of the chairs next to us. She was wearing an off-white dress identical to Laura's, but was wearing high-heel black slides. "Laura, it's obvious Don knows." Melina said. "And we need his help." "Melina..." Laura said, trying to hold it together. "There's so much you don't know, either." "Well, then, sweetheart," I said to Laura. "it's time to get all of our secrets out, n'est pas? I reached for the briefcase, and opened it. "What are you talking about?" Laura asked, her face changing to shock as I handed the paperwork to Melina. I looked back at my wife, knowing that this was right, no matter how pissed Laura would be at me. "The third paternity test." I said, my eyes locking with Laura's. After a second of recognition, my wife reached across me and tried to grab the report, but it was too late; Melina wasn't about to give those pieces of paper up as she read them, the look of understanding and shock growing on her face. I stood up and walked back inside the house, leaving the two women to come to grips with the knowledge that they were full-blood sisters... Part 25 - Truth and Love At the same time, Cindy Ross approached the door to the basement of the "Mountain Nest". Phyllis answered her knock and said "I've been expecting you, my dear. Please, come in." "Why have you been expecting me?" asked Cindy. "I've observed over the last few weeks that you've become more stressed." said Phyllis. "And I suspect it's over the same things bothering my son and his wife, though neither will say anything about it." "I doubt Don knows about this." Cindy said as she sat down at Phyllis's invitation. "Why don't you tell me all about it," Phyllis said, "and we'll find a solution together." Cindy did not know why she had come to trust Don's mother about these things, but she was very aware that Phyllis's insights were at least equal to Don's, if not better, and that Phyllis could help where Don might not be able to. And Phyllis's solution in capturing Eleanor Burke was still a 'thing of beauty' in Cindy's mind, despite the asschewing she'd gotten from Don about it. "Well, I did mention this to Don once." Cindy said. "He told me to explore it on my own time, and I got the feeling he was two steps ahead of me. It's about Jack Muscone." Cindy then explained how Jack was at every location of various murders, such as the Red Chinese spy in San Francisco, the South Korean magnate in Las Vegas, a Federal Reserve accountant in Denver, and so on. "But as I checked airline records," Cindy said, "two more names popped out as being at all those locations and in Athens, Georgia when an Islamic professor was poisoned. "Ah, let me guess:" said Phyllis. "A certain Professor of Psychology and Sexual Studies and her lovely assistant... who was once my daughter." "How'd you know?" Cindy asked, astonished. "I didn't." said Phyllis. "But you're here talking to me because you feel like you can't talk to my son. And who is the only person you feel you cannot talk to Don about? His wife, of course, and that's very understandable. And of course Melina goes on these trips when Laura does, so it's not too great a feat of logic to guess their names." "Yes, you are indeed 'Mycroft' to Don's 'Sherlock'." said Cindy. "The problem is that Melina is my partner in the gym and she's the wife of the guy we want to win the Sheriff's race. Vicki Oldeeds made an appearance in Town, and the Vice Squad's confidential informants lit up like Christmas trees with information about the contacts the Oldeeds Organization were quietly making. And one thing they're working hard on... is who killed Jonas Oldeeds." "Say no more." said Phyllis. "I think we both know where this is heading. So allow me to suggest some potential solutions to you..." --- I sat alone on one of the sofas in the greatroom of The Cabin for a very long time as Melina and Laura talked. Finally, I saw them stand up, hug each other, and come inside. "How you knew, I'll never understand." said Melina as the two women stood before me, side-by-side. "But now we're going to find out if you can handle two sisters at one time." At that, I watched as both women began stripping, removing their dresses. Once naked except for their high-heels, the two gorgeous beauties approached me. "You, sir, are badly overdressed." Laura said as the women eased down beside me, Laura on my left, Melina on my right. I was a bit shocked at their reaction; I was half-expecting them to gang up and whip my ass. "We have some celebrating to do," said Melina, "and we know just the way to do that." With that, my ex-wife placed her hand on my cheek, turned me to face her, and pressed her lips against mine in a warm kiss. Fire flew through my soul as the familiar taste and feel of Melina's mouth on mine coursed through me, the memories flooding me as well as the warmth and pleasure of the kiss. I'd not really forgotten just how good Melina's kisses were, but this was one hot reminder. At the same time, Laura was unbuckling my pants, and I eased my ass up to let her slide my pants and underwear down my legs as my tongue twined hotly with Melina's. Some part of my mind was shrieking 'This is crazy!!' but I chose not to listen to it and submitted to the sexual charms of these incredibly hot women. "Mmmm!" I moaned into Melina's mouth as the warm, wet sensation of Laura's mouth engulfing my throbbing cock flowed through my loins. This was one of my favorite sensations of all time: kissing one woman while being fucked or sucked by another beautiful babe. Laura got Melina's attention to come share my throbbing meat. "Mmm, come taste this, darling." I heard my wife say. Looking down, I saw as I felt Melina kiss my balls while Laura sucked just the swollen head of my cock, then Melina began licking and kissing up my shaft as Laura relinquished my Weapon of Lust to her sister's hot, hungry mouth. Laura then sat up and held her face up within inches of mine. I got the hint and kissed my wife's mouth, driving my tongue over hers. I felt Laura's tongue wrap around mine as our mouths pressed in a hot, hard kiss. I slid my left hand behind Laura's back and pulled her to me, feeling her large breasts and steel-hard nipples pressing into my left side. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Laura's left hand caressing the top of Melina's head as my ex-wife deep-throated my cock, taking all of it into her face and sucking as hard as she could as her lips slid up my taut, throbbing shaft. After long minutes of making out with Laura while Melina sucked my cock, my wife kissed her way down my body back to my prick. I felt Melina suck one of my aching balls into her warm mouth, sucking gently but firmly as Laura's mouth slid down my throbbing cockshaft, devouring my male meat as if she were a starved prostitute on payday. The beautiful women were giving me one hell of a double-decker blowjob, and soon their lips were sliding up and down my shaft simultaneously. This was pure heaven. I noticed that they were increasingly sucking or kissing my cock right where each other's mouths were. And soon my surprised eyes witnessed their lips lock in a wet lesbian kiss. It was the first time I'd ever seen Melina do anything like this with another woman, and the initial shock gave way to a sensation that I should've known for years, known all along that my ex-wife was a hotly bisexual woman... --- On the sheet covering the floor of the main room in front of the sofas, I was lying on top of Melina. My bare cock was slicing in and out of her tight wet cunt as I fucked my ex-wife with all the power I could muster. Melina was resting on Laura's thighs, and all I had to do was raise my head in order to suck my wife's luscious, heavy, milk-filled breasts, which I eagerly did on several occasions. "Unnnh, uhhh, I'm getting close..." I gasped as I pumped Melina ferociously. I felt her wrap her lovely legs tightly around me, her heels pressing into my ass to urge me on. "OH GOD!! UHHH!!" I exclaimed as the intensely wonderful pain built up and then exploded, my cock firing long, thick ribbons of hot, ropy jism deep into her clutching cunt. "You must be pregnant." I whispered to Melina as we cuddled. "Yes, I am. How did you know?" she asked as her hands caressed me. "You let me fuck you bareback and then let me come in you." I said as I nuzzled her neck. "Get off, I want to eat her pussy." Laura commanded as Melina and I struggled to catch our breaths. I managed to roll off, and just watched as Laura practically dove into Melina's spermy snatch and began licking deeply into her sopping wet hole. "Mmmmf!" I heard Laura moan. She withdrew her head for just a second, and I saw that her lips were glossy with my semen and her sister's juices. "This is so fucking delicious." Laura mewled, then dove face-deep into Melina's cunt again. I managed to get up and sit on my knees over Melina's head. I grabbed her lovely legs and pulled them back, giving Laura better, deeper access to Melina's quim. I let the tip of my half-hard cock rub Melina's mouth and chin. She got the hint and began licking and sucking my cockhead as I brought first one sexy foot and then the other to my mouth. It'd been some time since I'd had the pleasure of kissing, licking and tonguing Melina's elegantly shapely feet, and I indulged, letting my tongue lick along the veins on the tops of her feet, sucking her toes and especially enjoying the heels of her feet, which I orally worshipped with intense passion. I felt my cock stirring, getting harder, longer and thicker. "Oh that looks good!" Laura said. She'd looked up over Melina's body and saw me teabagging my ex-wife, dipping my nuts onto her mouth and feeling her tongue lash them and suck one at a time into her mouth... --- The sun was getting redder and lower in the sky as Laura turned and mounted Melina in a soixante-neuf, their tongues finding and pleasuring each other's pussies. I watched until my aching nuts and throbbing cock could take no more, then eased up behind my wife's gorgeous, upturned ass. The mouthwatering heart shape of Laura's derriere filled my eyes as I dipped and let my cockhead catch her swollen cuntlips. Melina helped fit it in and I drove forward, hearing as well as feeling the intense heat of Laura's sopping cunt. A Case of Revenge Ch. 05 I began fucking my wife with long, deep strokes. And as I fucked her, I realized that as good as Melina was, fucking Laura was the absolute most intense, most special and most wonderful feeling in the whole world; nothing could compare to making love to and fucking the woman I truly most deeply loved. I began sliding my meat out of Laura's cunt and into Melina's mouth, letting my ex-wife taste her sister's juices coating my meat mixed with the flavors of my own throbbing member. When Melina was orgasming, I'd fuck Laura, and when Laura was coming I'd shove it into her as hard as I could until she screamed. I could feel Melina's tongue licking my balls and the connection where my cockshaft was sliding along Laura's stretched, penetrated cuntlips. I felt my climax welling up inside me, the tightness then the pain followed by the mind-blowing release... --- It was some time later, the sun nearly set. The three of us were sitting on the floor, our backs resting against the couch that was back against the wall. I was between the women, their bodies pressed up to mine. We were still naked, except for Laura still wearing her high heels, sipping wine. "Okay, Don," said Melina, "how did you know Laura and I were sisters?" "I first realized it when we first came here, delivering Ned to the police." I replied. "I remember seeing Laura for the first time and thinking how great it would be if you looked like that when you reached her age. And then it hit my subconscious that you would look like that. Over time, as I watched you both, I idly wondered if you weren't somehow related, and when the opportunity to test my theory came up, I took it." "Three tests, three home runs." Laura said. "But now I have to ask... why did you reveal this to us now? Especially the part about Jonas Oldeeds... couldn't you have let that sleeping dog lie?" "No... I had to act now." I said. "I'm very afraid of what this Bartholomew Scott is doing. He tried to get you fired, Laura- oh yes..." I had noted my wife's eyes flash fire as I'd said that; she was surprised- and angry. "And with Ned somewhere in the area, and Scott and his rogue CIA cell trying to find him, I suspect some serious shit is going to go down." I said. "So I wanted everything out in the open for the time it all goes down. No secrets... well, until Melina tells me exactly why she blew Oldeeds away. I understand the others, but why him?" "First, how did you know it was me?" Melina inquired. "Oh, that was too easy." I said. "I knew for sure when we came to your gym the day after the shooting. You and Todd were painting those boards from gray to black, and you were a bit hasty in explaining what you were doing with them. I realized that you'd been on the fire escape balcony, and those boards were shielding you; anyone in the road would hopefully have the optical illusion at that far angle that they were seeing the gray wall of the building. Not too shabby an idea, and it worked, but that had to be the only place the shots could've come from, and you were the only person I knew of in the State, much less the County, that could pull off that shot... and twice at such speed." "And you didn't say anything?" Melina asked. "Why should I?" I said. "Oldeeds had that coming, and I certainly lost no sleep over his death... not to mention you're my ex-wife and I still love you, though in a different way than when we were married. Of course... I didn't let you shoot my sister; she's a reprehensible woman, but she's still my blood kin." "Oh, you knew I was there?" Melina said, this time really surprised. "And watching us through the sights of your rifle. Why do you think I was wearing armor?" I asked. "Imagine how many ex-wives would've loved to have had their ex-husbands in their sights like that..." Both women laughed at that. "Okay, so why did you shoot the bastard?" Melina shifted slightly and I noticed her eyes getting a faraway look as she stared forward, toward the fireplace and the kitchen door. It was Laura that began. "Our parents, our birth parents," Laura said, "were CIA agents themselves, in the days the Iron Curtain was still up and the Cold War was going on. They were in East Germany and were betrayed to the East German Stasi. Dr. Heinz tried to hide them and help them get out, but they were found... and they were executed." "I was 13 at the time, and Melina was just a few months old." Laura continued. "She never really knew her birth parents. I was taken care of by a woman, now an older woman, who trains agents at Langley and other secret locations. Her name is so highly classified that I cannot speak it out loud, and won't, of course. "Anyway, a couple of years later I found out that a very young Jonas Oldeeds, who at the time was working with his uncle's relatively small ministry, was beginning his underage-girl-trafficking business. I joined the CIA to attempt to infiltrate his ring. I was already interested in sexual studies, and wasn't exactly a virginal innocent girl even then. And the CIA put me through some, shall we say, rigorous training that every agent that goes out of country must go through. But I never could get the goods on him, and then other agents took over... agents that were murdered by Oldeeds." Melina then joined in. "I was adopted by another couple. They'd been friends of my birth parents and promised to take care of me if something happened to them, to my parents. They adopted me formally and I lived with them." "They were the agents Laura just mentioned." Melina continued. "Someone, and I think it was Jonas Oldeeds or his thugs, sent four niggers to rape my mother in front of me, and they nearly killed her. And then, when I was sixteen, Oldeeds had my parents assassinated. In cold blood. When I heard that story of young Mike being killed, possibly by Vicki Oldeeds, it sounded a lot like the way my parents were ambushed and murdered. And it was obvious that it was Oldeeds behind it." Melina said "I swore revenge on the bastard, but he kept out of the way, often going overseas on missionary tours and such. He also had bodyguards and kept himself well protected; he was no fool in knowing that he was being hunted." Laura said "It was at that time I contacted her and recruited her, telling her we could help her find and kill Oldeeds in exchange for her doing 'wet jobs' for us. At first she didn't want to do it, but then she came to college where I was, and began working with me in my sexual studies. I knew what a great shot she was, and in doing psychological work with her I saw that she was very capable of being a 'wet boy' for the Company. But then she met you, Don, and that made my recruiting of her much more difficult." Melina chimed in "After we got married and you were doing your stints of military training, Laura convinced me to at least train for the job. I didn't have to go through all the shit she did, I was not really meant to be a full-time agent or such, just a deeply buried mole, so to speak, that would do wet jobs from time to time." "Did you know Melina was your sister?" I asked Laura. "Yes, but not right away." Laura said. "I found out a few years later, after Melina had settled down with you and was pretty much out of my life. What happened was that after a couple of missions while you were on Reserve training, I discontinued being Melina's handler. We drifted apart and talked less and less, and of course I took my professorial 'sabbatical' to Europe with my first husband while he was assigned to NATO. I did several missions in Europe, and also brought Dr. Heinz and Nurse Anya's mother out of Europe and back to the States." Laura added "I did consider telling Melina about our birth parents, and probably would have at some point in time. But I was in a real dilemma about it: she considered her adoptive parents as her 'real' parents, she never knew her birth parents nor me as her sister. So I just let things go for the time being..." Melina said "And then all this stuff with Todd and Ned began happening, and I called Laura when we needed advice on handling that situation... and here is what it has come to." "So that's why you looked at Oldeeds the way you did at my father's funeral." I said, remembering. "Yes," Melina said, "that's what got me back on Oldeeds's trail. The Company had decided not to have the energy to pursue him; I think there are some bad people in the Agency trying to work with Oldeeds, but I was having none of that shit. I wanted to find a way to kill him in Apple Grove, but I had no real chance." "I have to admit stopping her, too." said Laura. "And neither I nor the Company authorized the hit on Jonas. That was her own doing, not that I'm complaining." "No, there was no way in hell that Jonas Oldeeds was going to survive me, especially when he came to this Town." Melina said, her eyes jet with the intensity of her purpose. "I wasn't going to let him leave alive, even if I had to die... as long as he died first, and by my hand. I swear to God I felt my adopted parents on the balcony with me when I fired the shots." In the lull that followed, as it grew dark in the unlighted room, I said "Well, let's go take a shower together and then we'll all go and tell Daniel that he has a new sister..." To be continued. A Case of Revenge Ch. 06 The chronological order of my stories is as follows: Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, The Murdered Football Player Series, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story, Case of the Black Badge series. A Case of Revenge, Ch. 1-6 Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, extreme language, and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. Part 26 - Escape "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" came the familiar voice of the beautiful redhead at 7:00am. It was the morning of June 23d. "Channel Two News has learned that there has been an escape from the State Asylum overnight. Three women are reported to be missing, and have not been found anywhere on the grounds of the facility. The names of the women are Gloria Cagle, Tammi Edmonds, and Eleanor Burke!" Everyone in the room bolted upright as Eleanor's name was mentioned. Bettina continued with her report: "Eleanor Burke was incarcerated in the Asylum just a few weeks ago, after her attempt to assassinate noted University professor Dr. Laura Fredricson. Gloria Cagle was committed to the Asylum six months ago, and Tammi Edmonds has been inside the facility for over three years. Authorities are trying to determine how the women escaped, and also if Cagle and Edmonds were women who were 'disappeared' into the Asylum and their records conveniently lost..." -------------------------- At 10:00am the Chief called me into his office. "I just got off the phone with Tom Conlan." he said. "The three women got out the same way your nephew did. This time it was a minivan that left just after midnight, supposedly taking several employees back to Buford after the evening shift. The three women were in the back of the van, as if they were employees. They weren't in the prison garb they normally have to wear, but regular clothes." "Damn, you'd think the Asylum would figure it out after the Ned escape." I said. "Yeah, Conlan is pissed, and so is the Governor." said the Chief. "Apparently the employees on the inside have no desire to change their ways, and it's going to be a while before the mess can truly be cleaned up. They've got some new people that they're working into the place, but it's like Hercules and the Augean Stables and it's moving slowly. But Conlan says the Governor has authorized him to post agents just outside the facility on the roads, and to check every single car going in or out." "Not that anyone wants to hear it, but I've got a better idea." I said. "Send all of the women to State Women's Prison, put them in the isolation ward until a hospital can be built for them. Then the Asylum can become a men's prison and mental hospital." "I'll tell the Governor your suggestion when he calls me back. But all that's not why I called you in here, Crowbar." said the Chief. "First, I wanted to tell you that the description of the driver of the minivan was that of a slender young man with wispy brown hair and glasses. Since there are new people there, they only recognized him after they were shown a picture of Ned. Secondly, I want to hear your views on these three women that just escaped and what's going on with this thing." "Someone broke them out." I said. "The question is, who broke them out and why these three? Here's what I have on them so far: "Gloria Cagle is 33 years old, white with brown-black hair. She's been a prostitute and stripper in the Tenderloin District since she was eighteen, if not longer. She's managed to hang around in that industry because she had a smoking hot body and is still popular at the strip club she works at, or worked at until she was committed to the Asylum. She does some drugs, and is known as the mistress of a black man named 'T-Mac', who is one of the lieutenants of the rapper and gang leader 'T-Square'. The unofficial word is that 'T-Mac' likes Gloria because she gives great head, so he's been keeping her, and she appears with him at the clubs he frequents." "I'm not even going to ask how you find out little tidbits like that," said the Chief. "but I wonder about their relevance. So why is she in the Asylum?" "There is relevance, and I will show it shortly, sir." I said. "It's not as unimportant as you might think. Anyway, she was in the Asylum because late last year Sergeant Sharples and Tim Geiger of Vice noticed she was attending a lot of high school and even junior high school basketball games, and she was meeting with the players. They thought she might be trying to sell drugs at the events or to the players for 'T-Mac', but then it was discovered that she was meeting the all-too-young players to entice them into bed, and apparently very successfully. That got her arrested and charged with several crimes, including contributing to the delinquency of minors, and it got her a psychological examination and a ticket to the Asylum." "Tammi Edmonds is white with dirty blonde hair that she dyes lighter, and she is in her late 30s to early 40s, we're not exactly sure. She's very short and slight. She was also a prostitute and was considered low-end and low-class, really really skank stuff. She finally got to where she'd hang out at fraternity parties and pull a train almost every night, just to get food, a shower and a little bit of money from the fraternity members. "The interesting thing is that she was not known to use drugs, which is why her entry into the Asylum was strange: apparently three years ago she went on a bender, was picked up by police, and was mistakenly diagnosed to have psychological problems. She was sent to the Asylum, and she is one of those that might have been swallowed up by the broken system. Her family reported her missing about three months after she was committed to the Asylum, but the police never made the connection." "Or she was sent there by someone like Nathan Allen did Kearns." said the Chief, astutely making the connection. "Yes sir, that's very possible." I said. "It's also possible some fraternity punk drugged her and left her to be found by the police, maybe even helped the police find her and take her away." I continued: "The relevance about Gloria, Chief, is that I'm trying to determine the reason that those three, and only those three, were broken out of the Asylum, and your information about Ned being the driver gave me an important clue. I think Gloria might have been sprung by 'T-Mac'. He could have wanted her rescued, and saw the opportunity to pay someone to get her out. Again, she must have one hell of a mouth if that's true." "Stop that." said the Chief. "So you think Eleanor Burke's husband paid to get her released? What about Tammi Edmonds?" "No data at all yet on Tammi." I said. "I was speculating that her family heard of the Asylum problems in the news, investigated and found her there, and paid to have her brought out. But that's sheer speculation, I have no data to support it. "As to Eleanor, what you might not know is that after bequeathing his company to Todd and Jeanine Burke, Michael Burke retired and went out of state to a home on Lake Avengi-Nunagan. Nice area up in the mountains, but what Todd told me was that Michael's personal secretary resigned from the company and apparently is now living with Mr. Burke up there, and Mr. Burke asked Jeanine to start up divorce papers from Eleanor. So I don't think he's the one that wanted Eleanor out." "Your wife knows Eleanor has escaped?" the Chief asked. "Yep. I called her when I heard Bettina's news report." I said. "The Campus Police are watching the Psychology Building and escorting her around on campus, which is irritating the shit out of her. She's keeping the kids in the nursery room behind her office, and God have mercy on anyone that tries to get to them by going through their mother. By the way, Cindy called my mother, so she's aware also." "So," I finished, "I think Ned took money from 'T-Mac' and maybe from the Edmonds family... I suspect he needs some operating cash pretty badly right now." "Make sense." said the Chief. "but why Eleanor, if Michael is not paying him? Surely your nephew Todd is not paying Ned to spring Eleanor?" "Noooooooo, I think we can safely rule that out." I said, wondering if the Chief was needling me or not. "As to why? I'm not really sure, though I think it's for Ned's purposes rather than Eleanor's. I'm not convinced Eleanor broke out to take another shot at my wife, though it's possible. As you said, she's Todd's stepmother, and Ned is the one who broke her out. Not too hard to connect some dots here. I think Ned is going to try some trick using Eleanor." "That's all we fucking need." the Chief said. "You're not the only one that's worried about what your bastard nephew might do, especially after he kidnapped three children just to get a shot at you, which fortunately failed. The Council is on pins and needles about Ned, especially with this being an Election year." "Yes sir," I said, "and they have every right and reason to be scared." Part 26 -New Campus Police "Well, Don, you can either resign or I'll have to fire you." Those words were spoken to me by Campus Police Commissioner and Provost Marshal Dexter Robinson on the morning of June 25th. It wasn't nearly as badly as it sounded. "The official line is that our I.T. services are being brought into the overall University campus computers system, and that system is served by a private firm contracted to handle the job. So your position is being phased out." said Commissioner Robinson. "How's the security on the new system?" I asked. "Not as bad as I originally thought." said Robinson. "These guys have had military contracts and done FBI work; they have security clearances as opposed to just background checks. Furthermore, the professors around here are more secretive about their work than the Government; if that system weren't secure, they wouldn't accept it." "Well, sounds like my usefulness is at an end." I said, not really sorry about it. I'd done my job as I.T. chief of the Campus Police to the best of my (considerable) abilities, but it was getting tougher to find the time to do it. The Campus Police now had good equipment and good servers, they'd be in good hands, and I could concentrate on Town & County Police matters. The Council was also 'allowing' me to push for more County jurisdiction on campus, and while I legally could not be an SBI Reservist inside my own County, that didn't stop me from playing one on TV, so to speak. "So," I said, "what's the unofficial story?" I asked, knowing there was one. "Political move by the SBI and by Professor Bartholomew Scott." said Robinson. "Scott brought it up to some of the Regents, behind Dr. Wellman's back, I might add. They agreed your position was superfluous. And SBI Director Jack Lewis was pushing hard with legislators in the State, saying that was an area we could save lots and lots of money by eliminating your position. I know you know there's about to be a full-blown war in Midtown over the SBI; they gave Lewis this piece of candy to keep him in line until the next session of the Legislature." "So what helps you?" I asked. "Resignation?" "That would keep it tidy for both of us." Robinson said. I quickly wrote a note on my iPad and sent it though the 'cloud' to his printer, then signed the written copy. "It is with the greatest reluctance that I accept this, but not until July 1st." said Robinson. "Chief Griswold has agreed to make a couple of hours available to you every afternoon until then to transition with the new IT guys. Just between you, me and the lamppost, they know you're an ex-military man that can be trusted, and you'll be given a stipend by the University as a consultant to them. They will teach you what they're doing so that you can... fill in and help out... on an 'as needed' basis, of course." Commissioner Robinson had just told me that he'd arranged for me to have 'backdoor' access to the University's computers. For that, I was grateful. "By the way, our new Lieutenant wants you to drop in before you leave." said Robinson. That brought up a flashback of a memory... ----------------------- "Thanks for coming, Don." said University President Wellman as I entered his office on the morning of June 3d, just after I'd met Dr. P. Harvey Eckhart on Promontory Point. Also in the room was Commissioner Robinson, who robustly shook hands with me. He was wearing his 'duty dress' uniform, looking very sharp as always. I was actually in plainclothes on this day, though I'd gotten into the habit of wearing uniforms that showed off my Lieutenant rank... which saved time on questions when people saw the silver bars on such a young man's shoulders. "We'd like you to look over these candidates to fill Cpt. Maxwell's spot. The candidate will be brought in as a Lieutenant." said Commissioner Robinson. He handed me six folders and I began looking through them. "Hmmm, no, that one's an SBI mole." I said, handing one folder back to Robinson, who looked as if it were a rattlesnake about to bite him. The person inside was just as insidious; in fact, I'd rather deal with a real rattlesnake than that person. "Oh wow... Harlow? Lt. Harlow from Town & County PD?" I asked as I examined another file. "Yes, she applied for the job." said Wellman. "Of course you're keeping it in confidence that she applied and is being considered, but she's one of the choices we wanted your opinion on." Wellman was saying he didn't want any retaliation against Harlow for applying. I didn't play those games, so they had nothing to worry about on that score. "She's in Personnel and Records." I said. "Does a good job there, but not the slightest bit of field experience. Why does she want this job?" "Maybe money, or a shot at Captain." said Robinson. "We thought she was impressive in the interview, but as you said, no field experience. We're concerned about that aspect of it, especially when it comes to teaching cadet officers." "What about these others?" asked Dr. Wellman. "Hmm, I don't know this guy, but his record doesn't look impressive.... oh... now this one... oh yeah...." I realized that the men were staring at me; I'd been thinking internally for a moment. "Yes. Yes, I think this one is your choice, gentlemen." I said, handing the Commissioner the folder. "Why do you think he wants to give up his current slot?" asked Robinson, peering just a little too hard at me. "Looks like he wants to teach, from what I'm reading here." I said. "And he'd have to get a position like this one to do that. There's also been some changes in the department he is in now; he may just feel it's time to move on to new pastures. If it were my call, he'd be your man. I have a good feeling about it..." ---------------- Back to the present, I knocked on the door of the office that was once Britt Maxwell's. "Come in!" I heard, and entered the room. Campus Police Lieutenant Bill Hanson, formerly of the Town & County Police Internal Affairs Department, eased his bulky frame out of the chair behind the desk with surprising spryness to greet me. "Hi, Bill." I said. "How's the new job?" "Wonderful!" said Hanson. "I always wanted to teach, and it's really fun watching these cadet police officers learn. I have to teach at the Police Academy also, but its a cross worth bearing." He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial near-whisper. "Actually, I love teaching there, too, but don't tell anybody." "I won't." I said, laughing as I sat down. "I'm hearing you're doing well here in Captain Maxwell's old job, also." "She ran a tight ship, really great, and it's not hard at all to keep things going." Lt. Hanson said, returning to his seat. I said "I never did ask, but I was curious: why did you leave I.A. with us? You seemed happy there." "Oh, I was. That was a good job, but I always wanted to teach." said Hanson. "I couldn't come out of I.A. and take a Technical Sergeant teaching job; I.A. rules forbade me from taking another job in the TCPD unless it was the Chief or Deputy Chief job, so when this slot came open, I went for it." A Technical Sergeant rank in the TCPD was a three-chevron-two-rockers rank, like that of a Sergeant First Class in the Army. Such ranks were only given to Senior Sergeants nearing retirement or Police Academy teachers, and was pretty much ceremonial and a rank given in exchange for teaching younger officers from one's vast amount of experience. We had no Technical Sergeants on the Force at this time. "A little bird told me that you gave me a positive review; I appreciate that." Hanson said. "Oh, I think it's a great fit for you." I said. "Though Curly Goodwin is pissed off that he's lost you." "Curly is a good man, but his sphincter is as tight as a Navy Petty Officer's." said Hanson. For some reason, I was reminded of Detective Sergeant Wes "Coldiron" Masters of the Midtown Police Department. "So the Commissioner said you wanted me to drop in." I said. "What can I help you with?" "It seems that one SBI Agent Steven Ikea is trying to make trouble for us." Hanson began. "Let me start at the beginning: The SBI sent a letter 'requesting' copies of the case files of the recent Vicki Oldeeds rape case. I brought it to Commissioner Robinson, who took it and me to see Dr. Wellman. They wrote a letter and jointly signed it, stating that the SBI's intrusion into that case was unneeded, unwarranted, and unwelcome, and that they, the SBI were to stay out of it." "Well, that didn't go over well at all, and the next thing I know, Agent Ikea is standing in front of my desk with a Court warrant, demanding all of our evidence, including the forensic data and semen samples found at the scene. Well, the warrant was legitimate, not that Asylum bullshit stuff, so we provided the materials for him." I felt a small knot in my stomach as I asked as nonchalantly as I could "So what happened?" "A couple of days ago the SBI lab informed us that the forensic samples were spiked with clorox and were therefore destroyed." said Lt. Hanson. "Ikea accused us of damaging the samples, which our lab and of course this Campus Police Department strongly denied. The Court got involved and demanded a full investigation and explanation, and the SBI was about to go public to the Media with their accusation. "However, the University's legal counsel, one of the lawyers at the University Law School, a Dr. John D. Clifford, wrote and filed a legal opinion with the Court that the evidence chain-of-custody was good... until the point in time that Ikea took it without signing for it or keeping controls over it. So it technically is all on him. The SBI backed off on the war of words, and of course they held back from going to the Press. But Ikea is still upset and is calling for an investigation of us." "To be led by the SBI's new Inspector, one Britt Maxwell." I said, mostly to myself, seeing the pattern. "Oh... that's right, she was sitting at this desk just weeks ago, could hardly be fair and impartial, so Ikea can try to worm in here with someone else, and thus undermine Inspector Maxwell within the SBI, as well as gain ascendancy over you guys here on campus. Yes, I'm beginning to see the pattern, here..." "You think Ikea spiked the samples, just to do that?" Hanson asked, astonished. A Case of Revenge Ch. 06 "Maybe, but maybe not." I said. "Ikea was a big fan and supporter of Jonas Oldeeds; I suspect he really wanted to find out who raped Mrs. Oldeeds. He's not really one for political intrigue, either. Talk about straightlaced with a tight sphincter!" "Except when he was beating the shit out of handcuffed drug perps in your interrogation rooms. But I have to say this: I never was that good at the politics of it all, myself." said Lt. Hanson, "Word is that you are the bee's knees on stuff like that, not to mention what Allgood thought you did to Ikea at Headquarters that night. So what do we do with the bozo?" "Ahhhh...." I said. "Bill, let me show you some footage... of planted evidence in the Athletic Department offices..." As Bill Hanson watched the evidence tape of Ikea and Ferrell 'finding' the planted evidence, I took the time to think about it. So Ikea wants some vengeance, eh? I thought. With the upcoming showdown with Ned looming, the last thing I needed was to have to deal with 'the SBI's (least) finest'... Part 27 - Judgement Day The next day, June 26th, I was sitting on the back deck of The Cabin as the sun was lowering over the Town and the western farms across the River and the train tracks. Somewhat to my surprise, Chief Griswold had said he wanted to come up to see me and talk in a place of privacy after work, so I had invited him up. After pouring him a glass of his favorite bourbon, and a single-malt Scotch for myself, we began our discussion. "The Governor wants to meet you." said Griswold. "We'll go down there soon, probably in August. He's a good friend of mine, and actually believes all the good things I've told him about you. You need to meet him and get on his good side... for the time after I'm retired or gone." "Hopefully that won't be for a long time." I said, meaning it. The Chief replied "We may both be somewhere else if Allgood doesn't start making some inroads, which is another thing I wanted to tell you about." said the Chief. "His campaign is doing well, he does well in his speeches and people like him, he's getting money pretty decently... but Katherine Woodburn at KXTC is still actively working against him, despite the Federal Elections Commission opening an investigation of her. She won't allow pro-Allgood ads, either, and said she'll do jail time before she does anything to help Allgood." "I don't suppose shutting down KXTC is possible?" I asked, hopeful but not really hopeful. "Not at our level." the Chief replied. "But if you were to... find a way to help Ms. Woodburn see the light to a level playing field, I'm sure many good people would be... grateful." The Chief had just given me his green light to do things police officers aren't supposed to do, and Myron, Mary and I were pretty good with computers. But I held off thinking of that as the Chief continued. "ADA Sanders is not getting any traction in his campaign against Krasney." he said. "Word I'm hearing is that he's got a bead on the Deputy D.A. of Coltrane County. That's basically second-in-command down there. On top of that, the dirty Superior Court judge in Coltrane County was offered retirement in lieu of impeachment over the warrant that put Kearns in the Asylum. I tried to get the Governor to pursue the judge, but he's hoping this can go away quietly." "Please reassure me about the Governor, Chief." I said pointedly. "He's a good man, Don." the Chief said. "But he is a politician. He's not up for re-election this year, and I don't think he's going to run again, but he has his Party to think about, and every State Representative is up for re-election, and half the State Senators, including our own beloved Allen, though Allen is on the other Party's payroll. So don't judge the Governor too harshly." "So what's going on with the judge?" I asked, to steer the conversation back to the subject. "Well, that judge is retiring, and State Law allows his position to be filled by a Select Commission appointed by the Governor for the remainder of the judge's term. So guess who is going to be appointed to fill out the term?" "Paulina Patterson?" I said, joking. The Chief almost choked on his swallow of bourbon, so hard was he laughing. "Don't do that to me." Griswold said when he finally got his breath. "No, the Governor will tell the Commission to transfer J.B. Stone from our judicial circuit to Coltrane County's, which is legal to do for the short term. Then we'll get the true interim... probably one of our County Court judges. The bottom line on all this, Don, is that if Daniel wins the Sheriff race, Krasney wins the DA race and Sanders leaves, we're halfway home to getting the white supremacists out before a race riot happens." "Maybe, but there's still work to do there." I said. "But this isn't why you wanted to talk to me away from the office and someplace private." "True enough." said the Chief. "What I wanted to tell you, and get your reaction on, is that I've been talked to, and it really has been mostly one-way conversations, about your nephew Ned. The Council has authorized the full SWAT team to be on full stand-by if Ned is seen or found. The Council is not very interested in his capture, if you get my drift." "The Council shares my sentiments." I said. "Yes, and obviously none of this can be said out loud." said the Chief, his voice so low I had to strain to hear it. "I know he's your blood kin, but I suspect you won't hesitate to protect the good citizens of this County by whatever means necessary... and I'm quietly getting that out to the entire Force. The Council wants me to make sure that you are good with this, Crowbar. If not, I'll ground you and put Ross or Nash on it until Ned is found and put down." "No need for that, Chief." I said. "I think you know that if I find him first, I intend to save the taxpayers the expense of a trial." "Good." said the Chief. "You know, we haven't had something like this happen since that serial rapist and murderer about 30 years ago..." I just listened and absorbed the information that flowed from the Chief as he gave his invaluable lessons in the form of County police history... Part 28 - Orgy of Business "Are you good with this, Seth? Is this what you want to do?" asked Jeanine Olivet Burke, Esq. "It sure is." replied Seth Warner. It was the night of June 26th, and they were in the den of Todd and Jeanine's new home, which was in a gated community near the River Valley Country Club. It had a basement apartment that Michael Burke would stay in when he visited, and the den had a pool table, which Todd and his friends liked a lot. Jeanine liked it too... when she was lying on it while Todd fucked her. "Okay, then." said Tina Felton as she organized the papers on the table she was sitting at. These were legal documents to begin Seth's process of suing his sister Karen and mother Karla to prevent the sale of Dynacorp to Boxall Holdings, LLC. Just then Todd's grandmother Phyllis came into the room, holding Todd's little son Doug. Phyllis looked very hot in her tight blouse, tight jeans skirt that only went a third way down her sleek thighs, and very high heel wooden mules with a single brown leather strap. She looked good enough to eat, and all of the young men in the room were thinking of how they wanted to do just that. "Little Jack fell right asleep, but Doug here is a bit cranky. I think his tummy is upset." the hot mature woman said as she sat down and began burping Doug, being sure to put a towel on her shoulder. Also in the room was Teddy Franklin, who had become better friends with Todd in the last few months. They'd performed their 'duties' in the SEX Fraternity, that of fucking beautiful women in hot orgies, and Todd was bringing Teddy into Burke Enterprises to learn as well as help out. "I'm so grateful to you for helping us." said Jeanine to Phyllis. "You're a wonder with the babies, they just love you and never cry when you're around." "They're very precious, and I love helping with them." said Phyllis. "But please don't let me stop your work. It's very important, isn't it?" The question was not idle, and everyone was remembering the past couple of weeks... --------------------------- "I just don't know." Katherine Warner Wilson had said in Jeanine's law office back then. "I want to help Seth, but we're just 40%. Karen has Karla's proxy, and Karen will, excuse my language, but she will fuck those minority board holders until they either die or vote her way." "Katherine, it's like I told you," said Seth, his voice near pleading, "if we sue to break Karen's proxy of Mom's shares, then you and I stand to get two-thirds of them. That's all we need." It had been an ugly time. Karen Warner, Seth's beautiful sister, had laid down terms to Seth and Katherine. Seth could hardly believe it, but was even more shocked as Katherine had wavered and not committed to siding with him. Even hours of deep, passionate sex had not swerved Katherine his way. Then Jeanine had asked them both to come in for a second round of discussions. Katherine had remained uncommitted, not wavering, seemingly emotional and near tears in her inability to decide. What Katherine did not know was that Jeanine had set up secret videocameras to tape Katherine. And the next day, Jeanine brought Seth back in... alone. When he got there, he was surprised to find a very attractive older woman with gorgeous legs in the office. "Seth, this is Phyllis. She's my husband's grandmother, and the Iron Crowbar's mother, which means she's the only person who can keep the Iron Crowbar under control." said Jeanine in introduction. Seth smiled as the woman sat down next to him; he felt an attraction to her. She was a hot older woman, and Seth felt his loins stirring as he smelled her perfume. He barely heard Jeanine say "Phyllis has made some observations of Katherine on the videotape we made during our last conference." "Yes, indeed I have." said Phyllis. "Let's bring that out and look at it, shall we dear?" As they watched the video, Phyllis began pointing out many things about Katherine's posture, facial expressions and eye movements. "You can see here, the way she shifts her eyes, I think she's lying when she says she wants to support your case... her posture here gets very defensive, very withdrawn, I'd have to say she's feeling that she's on the spot... oh my, look at that... when Karla Warner's name is mentioned... oh my..." At the end of the video session, Phyllis turned to Seth. "I'm sorry to say, my young friend, that Katherine Wilson is not worthy of your trust. I believe she's lying to you and that she has no intention to support your case. I think she is supporting Karla Warner, who has given her proxy to your sister..." ------------------------ Back in the present, Seth said "Where do I sign?" Tina Felton led him through the paperwork. "I'll file this tomorrow morning. Just to re-iterate, what we are doing is suing to stop the sale of DynaCorp to Boxall Holdings. As part of it, we're going to try to break the proxy Karen Warner has that controls her mother's shares." "What are our chances of success?" Todd asked. "To be totally truthful, I'm not optimistic." said Tina. "This is a long shot at best, and it's basically a delaying tactic. Depending on the judge and his or her acceptance of various motions, this could give us anywhere from six months to a year. Just thank whatever God you believe in that Judge Stone is on the Coltrane County bench now, and won't be hearing the case." "I can't believe your sister is acting like such a bitch, Seth." said Teddy. "I would say she just wants the money," said Seth, "but I worked with the Board to offer to buy her out completely. She wouldn't budge an inch; she says she wants it sold completely. I can't imagine why, I had no idea she hated the company that much." "Any idea who 'Boxall Holdings' is, Ms. Felton?" Phyllis asked politely. "Please, call me Tina," said Tina, "and it looks like they're held by another LLC, which would take even more time and effort to penetrate. They're wrapped in hoops of legal steel, and quite frankly it's overkill, if you ask me." "Well, my dear, is it not obvious what is happening?" said Phyllis. Everyone suddenly focused completely upon her, as if knowing they were about to hear something very important. "Obviously Miss Karen is being led to sell her father's company, and with Katherine Wilson so strongly on their side, it would suggest that the real power behind this is Karla Warner, who is in State Women's Prison if memory serves me correctly..." said Phyllis. "And then this Boxall company is trying just a bit too hard to keep itself a secret. I asked my son to do a little bit of police research on them, and they're really holding nothing of importance, except a lot of cash to buy DynaCorp. Very interesting, that." "It's amazing where the police can go that we can't." said Tina Felton, with the merest hint of asperity. "Oh, I didn't ask Don to investigate in any official sort of way, of course." said Phyllis conspiratorially. "He was wondering out loud how the CIA felt about the potential sale, as the CIA has contracts with DynaCorp. Ms. Felton-- er, Tina, you should perhaps explore that angle while attempting to stop the sale." "I already have." said Tina. "I contacted the Directorate of Science and Technology, and their spokesperson got back to me in 24 hours. They say they are reviewing the sale, but have no objections at this time." "Hmm, wonder which branch that is?" Todd asked, more to himself than anyone else, then caught himself. "Well, er, uh, I guess it doesn't matter, does it?" Phyllis was peering at Todd, then her eyes relaxed. "Oh, but I think it matters quite a bit, Todd.... in fact, I think I will have to mention that to your uncle-- oh, there he goes..." Little Doug had spit up, but once done, he became much less uncomfortable and cranky. "Ah yes, little Doug, you feel so much better, don't you? Let me just put him to bed now." Phyllis exited the room, carrying the baby. "I think it's about time for me to go home and hit the hay." said Tina Felton. "I've got six cases to docket tomorrow morning, including this one." Jeanine escorted Tina to the door, leaving the guys to talk quietly for several moments. Then Jeanine and Phyllis came back into the basement den. "Okay, gentlemen," said Jeanine, carrying a bottle of wine. "Let's drop the cares of the world and relax and have a good time, yes?" As the wine was consumed, the conversation became much racier and more sexual. Jeanine was openly flirting with Seth as Teddy sat close to Phyllis and began whispering to her, causing the mature beauty to giggle. "Mmm, Seth, I've heard that you have a really big cock." said Jeanine. "Let's see if that's true." She reached for Seth's pants and began to open them. "It's cool, dude." Todd said as he noted Seth's look of shock. "You need to get busy and fuck my wife, right now." "Uh, sure, no problem." Seth said. "You've got a beautiful wife, Todd--- ohhhhh...." Seth's comment was cut off as he felt Jeanine pull his huge, hardening meat out of his pants and engulf it in her warm, wet mouth. She began sucking his meat voraciously as Seth's organ grew to its full, throbbing nine inches in length. Meanwhile, Todd was fooling around with Jeanine's privates, sliding his hands up her dress and feeling her cunt through her panties. Jeanine just moaned as she felt her husband play with her, but she continued sucking Seth's big tubesteak. "Let's get naked, guys." Jeanine suggested, then almost gasped as she looked over at the other sofa. "Geez, guys, look at that!" she whispered. Teddy was deeply kissing Phyllis, his tongue buried in her throat, but the even more obscene sight was Teddy's muscular hands manipulating Phyllis's cunt. He had two fingers buried in her hole and his thumb was roughly massaging her engorged clit as they made out like sex-starved teenagers. After a moment of watching Teddy seduce Phyllis, Jeanine turned her attention back to Seth and began fellating him in earnest, sucking his huge meat deep and hard. Meanwhile, Todd was easing Jeanine's clothes off until she was naked except for her high heel pumps... --------------------- The room was filled with the sounds of slapping flesh and the moans of young, well-hung men and the older, beautiful women they were fucking. Teddy was on top of Phyllis, either deeply kissing her or nuzzling her neck as he relentlessly pumped his huge cock in and out of her sopping wet cunt, aided by plenty of lubricant. Jeanine was on her hands and knees on the sofa, with Seth behind her, fucking her as hard and deep as he could, his groin hotly smacking the luscious cheeks of her mouthwatering ass, and Todd gently pumping his own massive meat in and out of her hungry mouth. The maid Dolores walked into the room. "Madam, the babies are sleeping and I-- oh Dios! I am so sorry..." she tried to retreat, but Todd called out for her to wait. He took the lovely Latina maid's hand and brought her back into the room and began undressing her. Jeanine just watched as Dolores got comfortable on the floor and Todd dove face-deep into the maid's quim, eating out her juicy cunt-taco. Moments later, Todd raised up and mounted Dolores, and her moans filled the air as the young stud began fucking her with long, smooth, steady strokes, matching what Seth was doing to Jeanine and Teddy was doing to Phyllis... Part 29 - Campaign Reform On the morning of June 27th, State Senator Nathan Allen met with his campaign team in his office in Town. The news was not good for Allen. "Your polls are at 39%, Senator." said his campaign manager, a man in his late 30s that looked much younger, with curly black hair and wearing an ill-fitting suit. "You're at your absolute base. The Kearns incident is killing you; people are believing that you tried to have him committed to the Asylum for personal reasons. People still believe your son committed murder in that DUI car crash last December and that you used your influence to get him out of jail time." "Son, you're supposed to tell me something positive here." said Allen in a manner of half-joke, half-chastisement. "What do we have going for us?" "Katherine Woodburn of KXTC has been talking to us about a plan to rehabilitate your image." said another youngish man, who would be nearly indistinguishable from the first man except his curly hair was much lighter brown. "She can run pieces on the money you've brought into your district, on your programs for the poor, especially Blacks, and you can piggyback Harold Malone's law-and-order record, though his campaign has basically said he won't be appearing with you while your poll numbers are so bad." "She also is planing to run some pieces to refute the allegations that you were behind the Kearns incident." said the first man, the campaign manager. "I'm dicey on that, though... people still sympathize with him after his family was killed by your son, and Ms. Woodburn has absolutely no sense of public sentiment about things like that." "That's hard to believe, considering she's such a successful media mogul." said the brown-haired man." "She used to be." said the campaign manager. "Now she's just a jaded, bitter hack. At least she's one of us, a Democrat. If she weren't on our side, the DUI incident would be fatal to the Senator--" "Alright guys, don't mention to me or in my presence again about my son's incident last year. Now... what about my opponent?" asked Allen. "What are we doing to smear the shit out of that son of a bitch? Anyone want a drink?" Allen poured himself a large bourbon, though everyone else politely declined. A youngish woman with glasses spoke up. Her hair was dirty blonde and short, and simply hung from her head straight down all around. Her hair looked dirty and lifeless, and her face looked plain and devoid of passion for anything but hatred of anything Republican. She was the 'Queen of Opposition Research' at Allen Campaign Headquarters. A Case of Revenge Ch. 06 "As you all know, our opponent is a man named John Cummings." said the woman. "He's thirty-three, married, two children, and he and his wife are also Senator Allen's competition in the insurance sales business in this Town. He was wounded in Iraq years ago and was awarded a Bronze Star. Right now we have nothing on him, not even a traffic ticket. We're looking at creating some stories that he was a racist while in the Army, and that his medals weren't actually earned but given for his unit massacring innocent civilians in Iraqi villages." "Jesus Christ, are you kidding?" asked the older man in the room, who was Allen's chief campaign finance man. He knew all the tricks of laundering money, and took good care of himself as well as Senator Nathan Allen when it came to money. "Is that true? Did he really massacre people?" "It doesn't matter." the woman said. "It'll tie up the son of a bitch and his campaign in denying it, and people will think about it no matter what the truth is. The People are smart enough to know that our soldiers committed many acts of rape, torture and massacre against the helpless natives of Iraq, and they don't want killers like that representing them in the State Senate." An air of disbelief filled the room as the woman continued, her voice squealing with the passion of her hatred: "Besides, Cummings is a Republican, which is worse than being a killer. Republicans are so fucking weak they won't even fight back when we spit in their faces. We put out the stories, and they'll spend more time crying and apologizing for their war crimes than running against Senator Allen's good name and record." "Heh heh, I love it!" exclaimed Allen as he quaffed his drink and refilled his glass. "But we do have to be careful and not go too far; there's too many people that still respect the military. Just look at the reception that punk cop, what was his name, Feeley?... that Feeley got at his funeral when he was killed in the line of duty. And the goddamned Iron Crowbar has been worshipped in this town ever since he got a Medal of Valor for rescuing those kids. No, we have to be careful about that." "Damn right we do." said the older man. "If you smear the man's military record and they DO show you're lying, then our campaign is over." "Well, Horace, we need to do something to attack that prick Cummings." Nathan Allen testily replied. "Maybe we can put out the word that his wife has been having affairs and -- oh, hello son, come on in." Dean Allen had appeared at the door. He was fortunate that he looked more like his mother than his father. His nose was longer than Nathan's, and his brown hair was not as gently curly as the Senator's graying hair. "Son, I need you to sit in on this meeting." said Nathan Allen. "Guys, I expect Dean will succeed me as State Senator, and that you all will give him the same effort and devotion you've given me." No one said anything. Dean Allen was almost as much an asshole as Steven Ikea, and Dean was a smug, arrogant brat on top of that, always name-dropping his father's name and position. He had not lost a minute of sleep in the knowledge that his drunk driving had caused the deaths of three persons, two of them children. The campaign staff knew that Dean would never be elected, at least not in this district. "Pour yourself a drink, Dean." Nathan Allen said, oblivious to the air of tension in the room. Dean poured himself a stiff bourbon. Like father, like son. "How's business in the City?" "Good." said Dean. He was running a City office of the Allen & Allen Insurance Companies for his father, barely eaking out a break-even living. He was far more interested in politics. "I did come to tell you that there's a lot of buzz in the City over the hiring of that SBI Inspector Maxwell. They're telling me she's contacting that bitch in Midtown I.A. about you, Dad." None of the campaign staff had the temerity to remind Dean that the 'bitch in Midtown I.A.' had beaten the shit out of Dean Allen. "We'll talk about that later, Dean." said Nathan Allen, his voice reprimanding. "Okay guys, work up some campaign spots, radio and TV. Run them by Katherine Woodburn and the lawyers. We'll meet again in a couple of days." When they were gone, Nathan Allen turned to his son. "Boy, don't you ever bring up stuff like that in front of the campaign people again! You've got to keep stuff like that separated if you're going to be the next State Senator from the 1st District of this State." "Yes sir." Dean said, letting the reprimand roll off him. He refilled both his and his father's glasses with bourbon. "What I did come to tell you was that I was contacted while in the City. They're worried that the FBI and the TCPD are going to be watching the election too closely for them to be able to do what they need to do. They also say that if you go down any further in the polls, there will be nothing they can do to save you." "Don't worry about that, son." Nathan Allen said. "In fact... this election will be a good learning experience for you. Do you really think that the fucking 'People' actually elect their politicians? No son, politics is about control, at every level from a City Council to the U.S. Congress. The 'People' don't matter son... they just don't matter..." ----------------------- "No, Ms. Woodburn, I'm simply not going to do that." The words came out of Betting Wurtzburg's mouth. "Why not?" asked Katherine Woodburn venomously. "None of this is true." Bettina said. "I am not going to tell people that Senator Nathan Allen did not try to have Phil Kearns committed to the Asylum, I am not going to lie and say that Kearns is some kind of psychotic freak, and I'm not going to do a damn thing to try to make people forget or deny that Dean Allen didn't murder two little girls by plowing his car into them!" Katherine Woodburn sighed. "I should fire you right now." "If you do," said Bettina, unafraid, "I'll be on KSTD and many other media outlets telling them that you fired me for not aiding and abetting Senator Allen, that you're lying on Allen's behalf, and I'll testify before the FEC that you've deliberately violated the law and ordered others to violate the law on several occasions. And I won't be the only one: the engineers are still pissed at you and ready to walk off or go on strike, and there's no telling how many people will cooperate with the FEC--" "Okay, okay, I get the fucking point." said Katherine. "What about Harold Malone? What are your plans to cover him?" "I'll be covering him at the race on July 4th, including an interview." said Bettina. "Good. Get out of here." said Woodburn. As Bettina turned to go, the KXTC editor called out "Miss Wurtzburg!" "Yes?" Bettina said, turning around. "Polish up your resume." threatened Katherine. "After the election, I'm going to fire you. And Ms. Wurtzburg... if Harold Malone loses the Sheriff's race, you're through." Bettina wordlessly turned and walked out the door, not realizing immediately that when Woodburn had said she' be 'through', she didn't mean just firing the redhead reporterette... Part 30 - Company Capers At 6:00am on the morning of June 28th the Duty Desk Sergeant rushed into the MCD room and announced "Sir! They need you in the Crime Lab building, stat! It was broken into last night!" Cindy and I rushed over, finding Tanya Perlman, Christina Cho, two lab technicians and two uniformed officers at the scene. The Lab was a mess. All of the desks had been ransacked, files and papers taken out of desks and thrown everywhere. Some lab glassware had been broken on the floor as drawers were emptied. To my vast surprises, Tanya reported that all of the computers were still there, and no major or expensive pieces of lab equipment were gone. "Almost all of our evidence work is backed up." said Tanya, to my enormous relief. "So there should be no cases that have to be dismissed because of this. I've called Paulina Patterson and she'll be here shortly." "Who was the last person to leave last night, and when?" I asked. "It was me, sir." said Christina Cho. "I was running some research tests with Vice Detective Julie Newton on marking money in a way that criminals who stole it could be identified by the chemicals. We left about 10:00pm last night when our last tests finished up." "I can't wait to hear about those test results, Technician Cho," I said, "but it'll have to wait. Did you set the alarms?" "Yes sir." said Christina. "Well, then Miss Perlman, that bears the question 'Why didn't the alarms go off?' I don't understand why the Duty Desk didn't get an alarm." I asked. "I don't know why not, either." said Tanya. "We'll check the logs for entries and exits; maybe someone hid inside here until we left." "In any case, it looks like either an inside job, or a job at a very scary high level." I said. "Remember that bozo who committed suicide in our evidence rooms, and was wearing a shield with my number on it? I still wonder how the bastard got in..." A second later, I said "Cindy, contact Internal Affairs. They need to investigate this entire matter very deeply. I cannot understand why there was no alarm. I don't understand how they got into this secure facility undetected, and I don't understand how they had time to ransack the place like this." "Yes, sir." said Cindy. "Does anyone have any idea what the intruders might have been looking for?" "No idea." said Tanya. "The evidence areas are secure and weren't bothered, as far as we can tell. It'll take some time after cleaning all this mess up to determine what, if anything, is missing from our desks." "Where are the rest of the staff?" I asked. "Perlman, I need for everyone who works here to be accounted for. Immediately and completely. Oh shit!---" "What?" said Tanya, Cindy and Christina simultaneously, as one voice. "Barry. Oh my God..." I said, then recovered from my shock. "Barry Oliver. Where is he?" "He's due in at 8:00am." said Tanya. "I'll call him now." She dialed his number, but it was clear she wasn't getting a reply. "It went to voicemail." Tanya said, then began leaving a message. I did not waste further time. I grabbed my police radio. "Break break break! Alert alert alert!" I called in, my words being the radio code to receive a message of extreme importance. After identifying myself, I said "I need a heavily armed and armored unit at the home of Police Scientist Barry Oliver immediately. Top priority! Repeat: heavily armed and armored response team to the home of Barry Oliver. Dispatch, look up the address and relay it to responding officers immediately. How copy?" The Duty Desk replied they'd received and understood, and were acting on the orders. "Cindy, let's get over there-- where'd she go? Tanya, let me know anything you find." I said, then rushed out. Cindy had already run out, and my own Police SUV met me in the parking lot before I could get halfway back to the HQ building. Damn, Cindy not only was strong, she was fast! "That was fast!" I said as I climbed into the passenger seat. "I've been training for the July 4th triathlon." Cindy replied as she tore out of the parking lot, blue lights and sirens blazing. We got to Barry Oliver's condo within minutes. Two uniformed police officers were already there, but they only had light armor vests under their uniform shirts, so they had waited, which was the correct thing to do. "It's the 2nd floor door on the left, and it's cracked open." said Patrolman McGhillie. "We waited, as you called for heavier armor, and it's obvious something is going on." "You did right." I replied. "Where is that armored team?-- oh, here they come." I met the four officers as they screeched up. They weren't full SWAT, but had better protection that the vests most officers wore, and were helmeted. "Okay guys, the door to Oliver's apartment is cracked open." I said. "I don't need a Rambo-style military operation here, just lead the way in, okay?" They complied, moving as a fairly well-trained team in approach to the door, then to each side of it, before quickly entering and clearing the apartment. I was thinking of how the Town & County Council had no idea that I'd been arranging for extra training of our guys, since it didn't cost any extra to assign them to 'patrol' the Police Academy range for a couple of hours every so often. It was paying off now. "Lieutenant, it's clear!" called out one of the men as other residents began peeping out. I hustled up to the door as the officer said "Place has been ransacked. No one is here." I felt sick to my stomach as I entered. Barry Oliver's apartment had been all but destroyed. Books and papers littered the floor. Every piece of furniture was overturned. Gaping holes were in the walls where the perps thought a hiding place might be. The bedroom, kitchen and 2nd bedroom, which Oliver used as a computer room and storage area, were all totally ransacked. His computer was missing. "Oh Jesus." I whispered, mostly to myself. "Oh my fucking God." I had rarely felt this badly. I realized that someone had found out Oliver's secret, and they'd come after him and his papers... and we'd had warning... ------------------------ The Monday after my son had been born I was meeting with Tanya Perlman and Barry Oliver at the Crime Lab building in the late afternoon. I was understandably eager to wrap up the meeting and get home, as Laura and little Jim had come home the day before. "Okay, guys," I said, "Tanya, you'll be coming back to MCD after your baby is born. Is Barry ready to take leadership of the Crime Lab?" "Sir," said Barry, "We've been talking about it. I don't think I'm fully ready for this opportunity, and besides... well, to speak frankly, sir, I'd rather run tests in the lab and work on the research than be the Supervisor of it all. I can lead, sir, but doing so would take me away from what I'm best at and love doing." "And I know exactly how he feels about that." Tanya said, her eyes boring into me. "Okay, okay, I get the message." I said, mostly to Tanya. "I'm in the same boat: it's harder and harder to just go places and solve the crimes when I have to manage MCD and Vice. So I'm not unaware nor uncaring of how both of you feel. But I do need some leadership in this Crime Lab. Who do you two suggest? Cho?" Tanya's face looked a little sad as she said "Don, I don't think Christina has leadership inside her. She's a great technician, knows what's going on with the tests, knows when something's not right, and she's the hot shit on the witness stand for us. But she does what she's told, when she's told, how she's told. Rarely takes the initiative without asking, she always comes to me for permission for even obvious follow-up testing. She also has little imagination outside of her immediate world." Barry concurred. "What about CMB?" I asked, naming the medical examiner. "Nooooooo." said Tanya. "That guy is too full of himself as it is. He's good at what he does now, but if you put him in charge, you won't have a team for him to lead; they'd likely all quit." Barry concurred. "Damn, I'd hate to have to have an outside search." I said. "I have an idea." said Barry Oliver. "There's a professor at the University, his name is Dr. Lawrence Woodrow. He got B.S. degrees from your school, Don, in Chemistry and Physics, then went to Medical School and graduated. Then the First Gulf War started and he volunteered for the Army Reserve and was an Army doctor in the 2697th M.A.S.H., which is a big unit, not like the TV field version. When he came home, he got bored with his medical practice, and also was involved in some legal issues, not against him but a colleague, so he went to Law School." Barry continued: "I know he is interested in working with us because I met him on campus about three months ago, and when I told him I worked with the Crime Lab he asked if there was a way he could volunteer to help there." "I'll contact him." I said. "All right, I want to go home and see my new baby, so if there's nothing else--" "Uh sir," said Tanya, "Barry has something he needs to tell you." "No, no, it's nothing, it's so small..." protested Barry. "There is no such thing as 'so small', Barry." I said. "What is it?" "Well," said Barry, "this morning I noticed a car following me. Silver Honda Accord, nothing out of the ordinary, but he made two turns along with me. So I did what you said and made a couple of turns against the grain of coming here to the Lab. He went straight instead of turning with me the second time I turned left, so it might have been a coincidence." "Like hell it is." I said. "Barry, keep watch. And keep that alert button I gave you on your person at all times. Do not hesitate to use it for the slightest issue." The button was like a 'Life Alert' button, but transmitted to the Duty Desk and to my cell phone. It also had a GPS in it. "Yes sir." ------------------------- The next morning, Barry Oliver came to my office just after I arrived at 6:45am. I invited him in and bade him to sit down. "How's your new baby, sir?" Barry asked politely. "Words cannot express how I feel when I sit there and hold my son and he looks up at me." I said. "But that's not why you're here. What's up?" "I think I was followed again." said Barry. Upon my request, he explained: "I saw another car following me, this time a Jeep Liberty. I turned against the grain again and he didn't turn with me, just kept going. What's weird is that a brown car, older car, was then following me, but kept going when I turned. I thought I had shaken all followers... when there was that Jeep Liberty again. It turned onto the road behind me and followed me almost all the way to Headquarters." "Shit." I said. "They're definitely following you, and in multiple cars. They know what they're doing, too, though you were sharp to catch the Liberty following you the second time. Probably a three car rotation..." "Do you think someone has found out about... well, you know..." Barry asked. "I don't know, Barry, but keep extra alert. Don't go anywhere alone if you can help it. Call for help if you even feel a tingle in your spine. Call me personally if you need to, and don't worry, I won't hold it against you if it's a false alarm. Hmmm..." ---------------------- My mind came back to the Present as I was watching the Crime Lab scene look for clues in Barry's apartment. I heard voices outside. "You can't go past the tape, this is a police crime scene." I heard Patrolman McGhillie say. "I am the Police. And that's my apartment up there." I heard a voice say, and immense relief flooded through my whole body. The voice was Barry Oliver's. I went onto the walkway outside the apartment door and saw McGillie and Oliver. Barry was carrying his computer, which added to my relief. "It's okay, Roy," I said to McGhillie, "he's one of us." When Barry came up and saw the devastation, he turned to me and said "Lieutenant, we need to talk." We went to my SUV, which was running to keep the battery, which ran the computer and police radios going, charged up. It had the added benefit that the air conditioner was going, keeping the inside cool. I told Barry that I wanted Cindy to listen in, and that he could trust her. She sat in the back seat as Barry sat in the 'shotgun' seat and told his story. It was amazing. "Last night I received a visitor at my door. He said he was a professor at the University. His name was Bartholomew Scott." Barry said. "He said that he knew I'd been working with Tim Olivet, and that he intended for me to tell him what Olivet's secret was." "Why didn't you use the button I gave you?" I asked. "I did." Barry replied. "But I think he was jamming the signal. My cellphone also had no signal, and the TV reception went out." A Case of Revenge Ch. 06 "Damn, that's some serious fucking jamming." I said. "Ward-Harvester-level jamming." Cindy said, reminding me of that fateful night in which I'd almost died. "Good point, Cindy." I said. "So what happened, Barry?" "I told him to get out." Barry said. "I drew my gun from my pocket, which I always keep, and told him to get out immediately or I'd shoot him. He said four men were waiting outside and that I was going to go with him, but if I shot him they'd just kill me. I replied that I was willing to die and would shoot him first. I pointed the gun at him and I really was about to pull the trigger when he said "Okay, I'll go, but this is not the last time you'll see me." "So he saw in your face that you really were about to shoot him, and he left." I said. "He really takes things up to the edge, doesn't he? But don't let me stop you, Barry: so then what?" "I'd been prepared for something like this." Barry said. "I called a friend of mine. He was a student here, graduated in May. He came and got me and drove me to his house, making damn sure we weren't followed. I stayed with him; he lives in a gated community in the better part of town. I tried your button again, but it still didn't work." "Want to tell me who your Samaritan buddy is?" I asked. "I will if you order me to, but I'd rather you not." Barry said. "Good enough." I said, not needing to know that badly. "But you were lucky Barry. Cindy, this guy Scott is moving rapidly and aggressively. We're going to have to watch out for him." "Roger that." Cindy replied, fully aware of the dangers presented by one Bartholomew Scott. "Barry, not only was your apartment destroyed, but our Crime Lab was broken into. I'll clear the building so you can check and see if your hidden papers are okay, but until then, there is some serious danger to you at present. You won't like this, but you will be getting police protection 24/7. Someone will be with you at all times. You can stay with me if you like, but until your place is fixed back up, you have to stay with at least one police officer. You will be watched even if you're having sex." "He can stay with me." Cindy said. "I haven't found a roommate yet." "That'll work, too." I said, not mentioning that I did not expect any sex between Barry and Cindy. "Barry, you are to be armed and stay armed at all times during the light of day and dark of night. Bartholomew Scott is with the CIA, and with a group within the CIA that is potentially very dangerous to you and others. They will not hesitate to make you disappear if they can." "Fuck that." Barry said. "They'll never get me alive." "But I want you alive and working in my Crime Lab and then whatever else you want to do." I said. "I have a feeling things are coming to a head with Bartholomew Scott and his group, and very soon.... "Very soon." I said as my mind slipped into a thought-trance... Part 31 - Epilogue In the dim light, Eleanor Burke watched as Ned fucked his girlfriend, the woman known as 'Goth Girl Kathy'. They were in the storage room above the garage of Kathy's mother's home. Neither Kathy's mother nor Kathy's younger sister Becca had any idea that their home was harboring a three-time killer and a woman who had attempted murder. Kathy had been bringing them food, and she stayed with Eleanor during the times Ned was away. He was very good at disguises, and she knew he would not be discovered by the local Police as he made visits to the library to contact associates by email. She was surprised that the young man had created such a net of criminals ready to go to work for him at his beck and call. Ned had fucked Eleanor several times while Kathy was away. Eleanor felt filthy every time Ned blasted his seed into her cunt or mouth, but she had no choice; until she could get away safely as he'd promised her, and preferably with some of the stash of money Ned had hidden around here somewhere, she was dependent upon him. She had listened to Ned and Kathy discussing his plans for his family. "It seems my mother has aligned herself with a group of people. I'm not sure what they're doing, but I'll find out... and when I do, I'll intercept my mother on one of her little escape visits and she will submit to my control." Eleanor heard Ned say. "What about your uncle?" Kathy said. "If he catches you, I don't think he's just going to arrest you. He's going to take his crowbar and literally beat you to death." "Don't worry about my shit-eating uncle." said Ned venomously. "My plans for him will be happening soon... but not until I have my-- er, our escape plans in place." "And your brother Todd?" Kathy asked. Eleanor realized Kathy was asking just to rile up Ned and get him talking and ranting. "Oh, it'll be my life's greatest moment to watch his face as I kill his family in front of him... his uncle, his wife, our grandmother, our bitch mother... and best of all, his child. I'm going to kill Todd's baby in front of him before I kill him. Oh, don't worry, Eleanor, your grandson will be fine, and reunited with you soon..." Ned said, peering at Eleanor out of the side of his eyes as he spoke the last part. "It'll be A Case of Revenge... the perfect Revenge..." Ned said, more to himself than the women, his face seeming to glow, his eyes burning with pure Evil... Finis. ... for now.