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Secrets of Apple Grove 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, The Murdered Football Player Series, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story, The Case of the Black Badge series, A Case of Revenge series, Teresa's Summer Race, The Trilogy series, Dark Side Of The Force series, Caught In The Act series, The Phyllis Files 1-2, Case of the Murdered Bride series, The Credit Card Caper series, The Phyllis Files 3, The Hot Wives Investment Club series, Seriously Inconvenienced series, Case of the Paper Trail series, Christmas Mystery Theater, The Porno Set Mystery series, The Medical Murder Mystery series, The Eightfold Fence series, The Phyllis Files 4, Pale Morning Light series, Silverfish series, Cold As Ice series.
Secrets of Apple Grove, Ch. 01
Secrets of Apple Grove, Ch. 01

Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.



Part 1 - Prologue 

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" blared the lovely redheaded reporterette from outside City Hall at exactly 7:00am on Thursday, April 9th. "Channel Two News has learned that the Town & County Council will meet next Tuesday, April 14th, to make their final decision on who will become the next Town & County Police Chief!"

"Just tell us now, Bettina." said Cindy Ross sarcastically, as we all watched in the MCD room and drank our coffee. I chuckled at her comment, but everyone else remained silent as they listened.

Onscreen, Bettina said "The Council will meet again on April 21st for the second reading of the bill that will name the next Police Chief. Chief Antonio Griswold retired at the end of last year, and Commander Donald Troy has been Acting Chief during the interim, with Sheriff Daniel Allgood keeping a close eye on the Department during this transitional period."

"In other words, The Commander's babysitter." Tanya Perlman said, grinning at me. I wagged a finger at her.

"Despite some efforts to draft him to the post," Bettina continued, "Commander Troy denies having any interest in being promoted to the Chief position, and has repeatedly stated that he should not be offered and would not accept the permanent post at this time. Frontrunners for the position include Precinct 3 Captain Susan Weston, newly brevetted Captain Harold Bennett, and two outsiders, Captain Sean Moynahan of the Midtown Police Force, and Captain Tony Sugo of the Southport Police. In other news..."

"Wow, Molly's boss?" Cindy said. "Does he want to come up here?"

"Possibly." I said. "Some things are going on in the Midtown P.D. that a lot of officers there don't really like. For example, Molly was supposed to be considered for the Lieutenant position in her group, but that got put on hold. Maybe 'Cav' Moynahan sees writing on certain walls."

I then added "But those outsiders are just being interviewed as a courtesy. The Council wants to promote from within."

Chuck Pringle's Sports report was now on the TV, a taped discussion of the University football team's Spring practices that were underway. Most of us were tuned out of the news as Martin Nash asked "So, Commander, how is your new house coming along?"

"Great!" I said. "Ahead of schedule. We're looking at a mid-May housewarming party if all goes well and the weather holds up."

"Which it never does." replied Tanya Perlman. "But it'll be nice having those house lights back on the mountain top where they belong."

I could not have agreed more.

Part 2 - Duty and Honor 

At 9:30 that morning, I received a telephone call in my office. I recognized the name of the editor of the newspaper of the town in which Teresa Croyle had grown up, the man who'd helped me get that photo of Teresa and her sister that had meant so much to making Teresa the best Vice Lieutenant in the State (yes, I'm biased about that).

After exchanging greetings, he got to his point: the Shady Acres Rest Home had been trying to find and contact Teresa. He told me why, and I said I would pass on the information. I then made two phone calls, one to Cindy Ross, before making a third.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Come on in, Lieutenant Croyle." I said when Teresa popped her head in the door of my office. Cindy Ross was already sitting in one chair, and I pointed at the other for Teresa to sit down, which she did.

"Teresa," I said, using her first name to let her know this wasn't a normal police business meeting, "I have some news from your home town. The Shady Acres institution has been looking to contact you, and ended up finding me. The news is that your father is very near death. They wanted you to know while there is still time, but there is not much time at all."

Teresa had a strange look on her face, as I expected, and her words were not unexpected either: "So what? I have no father, and haven't for many years."

"Yes," I said, "I know of your past history, there. But I do want you to think about something. When your father dies, someone needs to take care of those final things. You could just leave it to the rest home and they'll take care of it... with no regard for him as a human being. You may not feel any love for your father, Teresa, but I hope you'll think about going home, at least to bury him with dignity."

"Thank you for telling me, sir." Teresa said. "May I go?"

"Not yet." I said. "I'll just say one more thing. There may come a time in your future when you look back upon this moment. If you go to your father and do the right thing by him, take the high road and take care of things, you won't regret it... because it was the right thing to do. If you don't... you may not regret it now, but then again you just might sometime down the road, and you don't get do-overs on things like this."

My words were not having much effect, so I said "If you need to talk to a Chaplain, let me know. Dismissed." Teresa got up to leave, and Cindy was right behind her upon my nodding to her.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Don't get in a mood with me." Cindy warned as she and Teresa sat down in her office. Cindy had seen the look on her friend's face plenty enough times to know what was behind Teresa's thoughts. "I'm sure some bad memories are coming up, but take a breath before you say anything."

"You're right." Teresa said. "I know the Commander meant well in telling me, but I wish he hadn't. If my father had died without me ever knowing, that would've been just fine."

"No, it wouldn't be." said a voice, a male voice. The visitor had not bothered to knock, and had just strolled into the room. Cindy was about to say something unpleasant, then recognized who it was. It was Don's nephew, Todd Burke.

"I'll let you talk to her, Todd." Cindy said, getting up and leaving the office, wondering how in the hell Todd knew to be here at this moment, when he was most needed. She had no way of knowing that a certain uncle had called a certain nephew, anticipating Teresa's thoughts and (lack of) actions.

Todd sat down next to Teresa on the loveseat sofa and said "How are you feeling, babydoll?"

"Not good." Teresa said, staring forward, looking miserable. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me." Todd said. "I understand a lot. I haven't had the greatest relationship with my mother for some time, either. But I'll do the right thing when she passes on, and so will Uncle Don... because it's the right thing to do."

"You know," Todd said, pretending to reminisce as Teresa looked stonily forward, "I never could understand why Uncle Don went to my brother Ned's funeral. That bastard tried to kill Uncle Don, did kill Jeanine's husband, made a lot of people's lives holy hell. But Uncle Don went anyway, and I finally realized it was because Uncle Don understands 'duty'."

Todd continued: "The Japanese have a word for it: giri. One translation of it is 'the duty hardest to bear'. I felt it when I knew I had to go tell my mom in State Prison that Ned was dead. It was my duty. I know we're not Japanese, Teresa, but you're conflicted inside because you know you have a sense of duty, and it conflicts with your hatred of your father. Let go of that hate, Teresa, and do your duty."

Teresa looked up at Todd, anger in her face. Todd held her look, matching it, wondering in his own mind how he was sensing what she felt. Is this how Uncle Don and my grandmother do what they do? he thought to himself.

Todd finished up, his words a battering ram upon Teresa's very soul: "And there is one more thing: your father is your sister's father, and if you don't want to respect your father in his final time, at least take care of things for your sister's sake. It's what she would want you to do."

Teresa's face changed at the mention of her sister, and as Todd's words were finally absorbed into her brain. "You're right." she said. "I better go tell the Commander and get authorized to take leave."

"Want me to go with you? To your home town?" Todd asked.

"Thanks, but no." Teresa said. "This is my... 'giri'." Todd smiled his brilliant smile and took Teresa into his arms in the warm hug that she most very much needed at that very moment.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"But Don," Cindy said in the privacy of my office, "I shouldn't be away when either of my Lieutenants are on leave."

"It'll be fine." I said. "I'll put Tanya in the hot seat for a while, having her do your job, and I'll keep an eye on things, as well. I already am, what with Sharples's antics and all that shit."

I bore down: "Look, Cindy, you're Teresa's best friend, just about her only true friend. She's going to need someone to lean on, and I've already authorized the leave time for both of you. Now scoot! That is not a request, Lieutenant."

"Yes sir." Cindy said, inwardly elated at Don's decision. She made a mental note to herself that she should always take care of her people as well as the Iron Crowbar took care of his. True leadership, this man has.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Later that afternoon, Cindy and Teresa met back at Headquarters, having gone home to pack bags for their trip. I had a surprise for them.

"Your car is here to take you to the airport." I said at the door of Cindy's office.

"What?" Cindy said. "We're going to drive to the City and take the next flight, which is this evening."

"Would you stop arguing with your boss and get your ass moving?" I said. "You too, Teresa." The women followed me out into the secure employees parking lot, where a big black SUV awaited. Cindy noted the Federal Government tags on the vehicle.

"Y'all have a good trip." I said as I ushered them into the vehicle and firmly closed the door with the tight finality of sealed metal.

Inside the vehicle, the women saw that they were not the only passengers. Dr. Laura Fredricson was in the SUV with them. The SUV pulled out of the parking lot and headed north, to the County Airport.

"What's this about?" Cindy asked Laura.

"I've arranged transportation for you to Teresa's hometown. Faster than the commercial flights and renting a car could get your there." Laura said. "Teresa, your father's condition is extremely grave, he might not live another full day."

"Thank you." Teresa said woodenly. "But you didn't have to do anything."

Laura gave a brief smile. "I had your airline tickets cancelled with no cancellation fee, and your credit card credited back for the fare. There is a local airport near your hometown, and there will be a rental car waiting for you there. Make sure to inspect the car for sabotage before driving it... under the tire wells and such stuff."

Cindy just nodded. Obviously this was being done for her and Teresa's security, she realized. Teresa was too absorbed in other thoughts to be paying any real attention.

They reached the airport, where a sparkling new Learjet was waiting at the terminal. There were no markings on the jet, but Cindy observed the number on the tail and realized that it was not privately owned... it was an Air Force aircraft!

Cindy realized that Laura was doing this in her capacity as a Deputy Director of the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology. But why? she wondered silently, then realized that this was part of the security plan. Something beyond intuition told her that Don was behind all this, again taking care of his people. But were these measures really necessary? she thought to herself.

Laura ushered Cindy and Teresa inside, gave the pilot his destination instructions, and then wished the two policewomen Godspeed in their journey before disembarking. Cindy and Teresa were agog at the luxurious comfort of the aircraft as it taxied onto the runway.

Seconds later, the Learjet roared down the runway and into the air. As they circled around to fly west, Cindy looked out the window, at the Town below them. It was always strange how the Town looked so different from the air than from the ground, she noted.

A young woman in an Air Force uniform came from the back and asked them if she could get them a drink. Cindy ordered single-malt Scotch. "And make hers a double." she said, pointing her thumb at Teresa.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Laura watched the CIA plane as it flew west, becoming a smaller and smaller speck until it vanished into the clouds. I came up beside her.

"Thank you, sweetheart," I said, "for doing this for me."

"Don't mention it, darling." my wife replied. "As you said, they'll be safer this way. Much safer. Besides... what good is it being a Deputy Director in the CIA if I can't order a plane ride every once in a while?" I just smiled, then suggested that we go have a late lunch somewhere, and that we call Todd and ask him to join us.

Part 3 - Sins Of The Father 

"Okay, Tanya, you're 'Crowbar 2' for a few days." I said. It was getting late in the afternoon and we'd be going home soon.

Tanya grinned her cherubic grin, then cackled. "Ah, power, real power!" she said with another evil cackle. "First the Chief's chair, then I'll rule the world!"

"Careful," I said, "or the Council might really make you Chief."

"Moohahaha!" Tanya said, rubbing her hands as she continued the joke. "You will be my personal sex slave when that happens!..." Neither of us could hold back; we broke down laughing hard.

"Speaking of the Chief's position," Tanya said, "who is it going to be?"

"You tell me." I said. "Observe and deduce."

"You know who it will be?"

"I'd bet the mortgage on The Cabin." I answered. "So, think about it and tell me who you conclude it will be."

Tanya thought for a long minute, then the dawn of understanding came into her eyes. "Ohhhh... they just brevetted Harold Bennett to Captain, but didn't really give him a position."

"You're on the ball." I said. "He's been a top candidate for a long time. The Sheriff nominated him before the Council, and do I even need to tell you who suggested his name to the Sheriff?"

Tanya grinned. "No, of course it was you." she said. "So you think he'll be the right guy for the post?"

"Yep." I said. Harold Bennett was tall, though not as tall as me, and fairly slender in build. He was in his mid-fifties, but his hair was already white. That came from 25 years in the military, rising to E-8 (Master Sergeant) and being a First Sergeant in an Armored Division unit. He then joined the TCPD, and in his 12 years had done numerous duties, from Senior Patrolman and quickly to Sergeant, then to Administration in Supply and then Physical Properties, becoming a Lieutenant quickly but remaining there for several years.

He was fairly soft-spoken, thoughtful, sometimes grandfatherly, but he definitely could be a tough man if he needed to be. I had a lot of respect for him, having had several conversations with him since I arrived, and he and Captain Charles had been very good friends, which meant he was a superlative Police Officer. Captain Charles was a tough and accurate judge of such things. Captain Charles deeply hated Robert Brownlee.

"I asked Chief Griswold about it," I told Tanya, "and he said there was probably no better choice right now, especially to watch over me, your friendly neighborhood Iron Crowbar."

"Think he'll let you do your job, or will he interfere like Brownlee tries to?" Tanya asked.

"I think he's going to do the Chief's job very well." I said. "He'll let me do my job, but it will be his Police Force, and no mistaking it. I've already told him that I'm very aware of that and will support him as he has every right to expect if he's named Chief."

"There is one other thing that is worrying me." Tanya said. "It's about Cindy-- er, Lieutenant Ross. She's doing a great job, but Brownlee is really looking for ways to smoke her like a cheap cigar. I'm just concerned that if you're not around, if you're doing something for the SBI or FBI, Brownlee will fuck with all of us, and especially her."

"Miss Perlman." I said, staring hard at her. "Are you suggesting that I am allowing the grass to grow under my feet?"

Tanya got it. She just grinned that beautiful cherubic grin of hers, knowing that I had something in mind. Something really good in mind, I thought to myself with an inward smile.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The sun was low in the sky as the rental car drove up to Shady Acres Rest Home. The car had been waiting for them at the local airport, and Cindy's examination of it found no problems.

They walked into the facility and Teresa asked for her father's room. The receptionist seemed surprised that anyone was asking for him, and she asked who Teresa was. When Teresa said she was his daughter, the receptionist was totally shocked. "He said his daughter died years ago."

"That was my sister." Teresa said. The receptionist then called up the head nurse, who came up.

"Ah yes," the nurse said, "our records showed your existence, but we never knew how to contact you. I must tell you that your father is dying. You got here just in time." With that she led the women down several corridors to the door of a small room. Teresa looked at Cindy, who just nodded. They went inside.

The sunlight of the dying day was streaming into the window on the far side of the room, giving it a seemingly abnormal, yellowish brightness. To the left was the bed, and on it was an emaciated man. He looked much older than his age, and it was clear he was near his final destiny. There was some machinery between the bed and the far wall, which included a heartbeat monitor.

As Teresa looked down upon her father for the first time since the night her sister Alexis had died, the night he had set fire to their home, the old man stirred. Cindy noted that his eyes were the exact color and brightness as his daughter's.

"Sarah.... Sarah, is that you?" he asked as he saw Teresa. Sarah was the name of Teresa's mother, who had died in childbirth when Teresa was born.

"No, Daddy, it's me, Teresa."

"Teresa? She's gone, Sarah." said the old man, and both women realized he did not have possession of his mental faculties. "Teresa is gone. Alexis is gone. They're all gone."

"Daddy, it's me, Teresa. I'm here." Teresa said. "Don't you remember?"

"Sarah... " the old man said, tears forming in his eyes. "Teresa looked just like you... every time... every time I looked at her, I saw you... I... I wanted to love her, but every time... I saw her... I saw you... and you were gone... you were gone when she was born... I wanted... to love her... but I couldn't... oh Sarah, I'm so sorry... I wanted to..."


Secrets of Apple Grove Ch. 01



Teresa was in shock, listening to her father's ranting words. Cindy was watching her friend, making sure she was okay. Then she saw the old man's face turn, towards the window. Cindy realized that the light there was brighter than it should be, and she felt something... a presence.

"Oh Sarah, you've come for me!" the old man gasped, his hand reaching towards the light. Cindy could definitely feel a presence in the room and let herself concentrate on it. She felt the old man's soul, his own light, going to meet the other one.

Teresa did not see that light, but she was seeing another presence at the head of the bed, behind her father's shoulder. She blinked, seeming to see her sister Alexis, as she had during the triathlon race, an almost immaterial outline, ethereal... ghost-like.

"The key." she seemed to hear Alexis say. "The key." Then the apparition was gone.

Cindy also felt and saw the light dim just a bit. When she looked at the heart monitor, it was flatlined. Teresa's father was gone.

"Teresa?" Cindy said gently. "He's gone."

"Yes." Teresa said, the look on her face inscrutable. "We got here just in time." She reached up and closed her father's staring eyes just as a couple of nurses came into the room.

"I'm sorry for your loss, ma'am." said the nurse.

"Thank you." said Teresa politely. "Do you know of any key that my father might have had?"

The nurse looked at Teresa strangely, then went over to the chest of drawers. It was empty except for a small jewelry box. Inside was a metal-bead necklace, with a key on it."

"This is the only possession he had here in the facility." said the nurse, handing the key to Teresa. It was the key to a safe deposit box.

"Thank you." Teresa said, her voice a million miles away. "I'll... I'll make arrangements for him." She and Cindy left the room of death.

As they walked down the hall, an old man was walking up. He stopped the women and asked about Teresa's father. "Are you his daughter?" the man asked. "You look a lot like him."

"Yes sir." Teresa said. "He just passed away."

"I am truly sorry about that, ma'am." the man said. "Are you going to have a military funeral and burial for him?"

"Uh... I didn't know he was in the military." Teresa said.

"Oh really..." said the old man. "Er, let's go sit down in the lobby."

Teresa was shocked as she listened to the old man's story, that her father had been a soldier in Viet Nam. She could barely think as the man said "He was a brave man. He saved lot of us from the Viet Cong when we were ambushed, and that was on two separate occasions. He never flinched in battle, even against overwhelming odds. He was wounded three separate times before they finally shipped him home for good."

"Did he ever say anything... about my mother?" Teresa asked. "I never knew her."

"Oh, did he ever." said the man. "He had a picture of her in his pocket, and he would look at that picture for hours. All he wanted to do was go home to her. I think that's what got him through Viet Nam... thinking of getting home to his wife."

Teresa just nodded. Meanwhile, Cindy was on her cellphone, calling Myron. "Myron, I need you to look up a military record." She gave the name of Teresa's father. After a full minute of listening, she said "Thanks, Myron. Yes, email it to me."

As she ended the call and put up her cellphone, she said "Teresa, you're never going to believe this..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Wow, I can't believe it." Teresa said as she and Cindy prepared for bed in their hotel room. "He was a war hero, and I never knew."

"He never mentioned it?" Cindy said. "Alexis never mentioned it?"

"He almost never even spoke to me at all." Teresa said. "And Alexis never said anything about it. I'll bet she never knew, either."

"Could be." Cindy said. "We'll go to the bank in the morning and look at the safe deposit box's contents... if they're still there. It might be a huge irony that this bank was one of those burgled by The Silverfish ten years ago."

At that moment an email came into Cindy's inbox. She read it and then said "The TCPD contacted the Army, and they're going to send one of their funeral teams to do your father's funeral, if you're good with that."

"That'd be great." said Teresa. "I didn't know what I was going to do otherwise. He'll be buried next to my mother and... Alexis." Teresa's eyes were looking far away.

"How did you know about the key?" Cindy asked, suddenly thinking of it.

"I..." Teresa started, then faltered before gaining harsh command of herself. "You'll think I'm crazy, but let me tell you this: when we were running the triathlon last summer, I kept seeing this image of my sister, like a ghost, and she kept urging me on to keep cycling and keep running. I thought it was just some kind of mind trick from being so exhausted and oxygen-starved during the race. But today, just as Daddy was dying, I saw Alexis again, right by the bed... and she whispered the words 'the key'."

"I don't think you're crazy." said Cindy. "I saw something too... it was like the light got brighter, and your dad's soul went to meet it. It was... weird."

Teresa nodded and they chatted about paranormal things. Cindy even recounted to Teresa about her dream of the fire that caused her to call Don, which was what saved the Troy family's lives on the night of the fire at The Cabin.

Though they finally went to sleep, they did not turn off the lamp the entire night.

Part 4 - Going Home Again 

The next morning, Friday April 10th, Teresa gave Cindy a tour of her home town, a town she had not visited since leaving for college. Her aunt and uncle that had raised her after Alexis died had themselves died in another town, and were buried there. Teresa and Cindy were wearing their dress police uniforms.

"The house was right at the bend in the road." Teresa said as Cindy drove down a street in a residential area. There was a huge field of tall grass behind the back row of houses, and railroad tracks in the distance at the other end of that field. "Oh, there it is."

As the road turned sharply left, there was a house at the corner, it's backyard abutting the field. It was different than the other houses of the neighborhood.

"Looks like someone built a new house on that spot." Cindy said. "Does it look like your old house?"

"No." Teresa said. "It's different, and a little bit bigger, I think. Nicer than I remember, too." Cindy drove on down the road, then turned around, slowing down once more as they approached the house. As Teresa looked at it, painful memories in her mind of what had been there before, Cindy noticed a woman in her early thirties peering at them from behind the house. The woman had raven black hair, a very nice figure and large breasts, but there was something else on her face that got Cindy's attention: concern, maybe even fear. Cindy drove on, asking Teresa where they should go next.

"Well," said Teresa, "I guess that goes to prove that the only constant is change. There's a lot that seems to be the same, but it's changed, ever so subtly."

"I know what you mean." Cindy said, still thinking about the woman that had been peering at them from behind that house.

"I'm meeting the Army representative at ten o'clock." Teresa said. "We could go by the high school. The Police Department is next to it."

They drove to the high school. A new building was there; the one Teresa had attended had been torn down and replaced. It was then that the women noticed a ceremony going on behind the Police Headquarters building. Teresa sucked in her breath.

"Cindy, let's go there." she said. Cindy parked in the high school parking lot, as the police building lot was full. They went into the Headquarters building.

"Oh, are you here for the ceremony?" a young woman asked, seeing the two women in Police uniforms. She was the Duty Desk officer. "It's about to start, you better go on back now." Cindy and Teresa wasted no time in doing so, and soon were seated in the bleachers near other officers. This ceremony was not unlike the TCPD's ceremonies, Cindy thought. Police Departments are so similar, whether a small town like this one, a mid-size town like ours, or the City or New York City itself.

A policewoman was being promoted to Captain. Teresa whispered that she was the policewoman that had helped her, Teresa, on the night Alexis had died. Cindy marveled at the coincidence, at the forces of Nature that had conspired for them, especially Teresa, to be here for this moment.

After the ceremony, as the woman accepted congratulations from others, Teresa and Cindy came up to her.

"Teresa?" the woman asked, stunned. "Teresa Croyle? Is this really you?"

"Yes ma'am." Teresa said. "Congratulations on your promotion. This is my colleague, Lieutenant Cindy Ross."

"Oh, I've heard your name." the woman asked, shaking Cindy's hand. "You received a Medal of Honor in your Police Department, didn't you? And you did those fitness competitions or something like that?"

"Yes ma'am." said Cindy. "Something like that."

"Well, look at you, Teresa." the woman said, examining Teresa. "A Lieutenant yourself. You've come a long way from that girl all those years ago. How did you know about my promotion? You didn't come here just for that, did you?"

"No ma'am." said Teresa. "My father died yesterday. I'm here to make final arrangements."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that." said the woman. "But I'm glad you made it here."

"Cindy," Teresa said, "this is the policewoman that helped me on the night my sister died. She's the reason I considered becoming a police officer myself."

"Then I must thank you." Cindy said to the new Police Captain. "Our Police Force wouldn't be the same without Lieutenant Croyle. Teresa, I'm afraid we're going to have to go to meet the Army officer for your father's funeral arrangements."

Teresa turned to the other woman and made her apologies. The woman said that they were having a luncheon at noon, and for both women to come back and join them. Teresa agreed.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"I'm Colonel Rudy Gloriman." said the Army officer, wearing his dress blue uniform. "On behalf of the United States Army, I'd like to offer my condolences to you and your family."

"Thank you." said Teresa.

"Ma'am, your father was a highly decorated hero in the Viet Nam War." said the Colonel. "We can provide a military funeral with full honors, or take a lesser role, or have no real role at all. It's up to you."

"Thank you, sir." said Teresa. "I'd like to leave everything in your hands. Military all the way. I didn't know my father all that well, and from what I'm told, he deserves a hero's burial." Only Cindy realized what it must have taken for Teresa to say that about her estranged father.

"Yes ma'am, we'll take care of it." the Colonel said. They exchanged phone numbers, and Teresa and Cindy left to go to the bank.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Oh yes," said the bank president as the women came into his office at his invitation. "I understand you work with that Commander that solved the Silverfish crimes. Did you know that our bank was one of those that fell victim to the Silverfish?"

"I do remember hearing that." said Cindy. "But we're here to examine the contents of a safe deposit box. My friend's father passed away, and it's his box. I know we can't take the contents until his will is probated, but we should be able to examine it."

"Well," said the bank officer, "I'm probably not supposed to do this without a warrant, but I've already gotten a call from the Mayor at the request of our local police department, asking us to assist you. I'll let you look in the box, but as you said, you can't take anything yet."

The safe deposit box contained some Morgan silver dollars, some jewelry, and some pictures: one of Teresa's mother and father, one of Teresa's mother alone, and one of Alexis holding her toddler sister Teresa, Alexis smiling proudly, Teresa looking almost sad. But it was the other contents that had Cindy and Teresa's interest.

"Wow, Bronze Star with Valor device." said Teresa as she opened a small blue box. "Purple Heart, two oak leaf clusters... oh my God... the Silver Star. My father earned a Silver Star and a Bronze Star, and I never knew he was in the military, much less a war hero."

"Yes." Cindy said. "Oh, look at this. Ever seen these before?" She held up a metallic object fastened to a small piece of stiff paper. Teresa grinned; it was a Parachutist Badge, a.k.a Airborne wings, which Commander Troy wore on his Tilley hats.

"Oh, look at this patch: he was in the 173d Airborne Brigade." Cindy said. "They saw a lot of bad stuff in Viet Nam. They did the hard jobs there. Teresa, your dad was a war hero and then some."

"Yes, he was." Teresa said. "Okay, let's go to the lunch at the Police Station." They thanked the bank president and left. They were introduced at the luncheon, and there was much discussion about their Police Force in comparison to the local one. As they were about to leave, the Duty Desk woman came up to Teresa.

"Ma'am," she said, "there is a lawyer at the front desk. He says he's here about your father's will.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"I was so sorry to hear of your father's passing." the lawyer said as they sat in an interrogation room of the Police Station, courtesy of their new friends of the local Police Force. He was youngish, seemingly friendly enough. "My firm handled your father's affairs while he was committed to Shady Acres. Here's the problem: he left a will that left everything to his daughter Alexis. He was never of sound mind while at Shady Acres, to which he was committed right after her death. There is no mention of you in the will, Ms. Croyle, and Alexis preceded her father in death. Therefore, by our State's laws he has died intestate."

"He must not have very much at all." Teresa said.

"No, he doesn't." the lawyer said. "But if you make a formal claim to his estate, which is your right as his only known living relative, then what little there is, including the contents of his safe deposit box, will be bequeathed to you. I can probate the will and your claim on Monday morning."

"Okay, let's do it." Teresa said. She turned to Cindy and said "I want those pictures and those medals." Cindy just nodded.

The lawyer left, and Teresa and Cindy made goodbyes with everyone. As they went into the lobby to go out the front door, Cindy stopped Teresa.

"You see that car out there?" Cindy said, pointing to a black sedan. "I think I've seen it a couple of times. They might be following us."

"Now that you mention it, I remember them being behind us when we turned around in my old subdivision." Teresa replied as she looked out at the car.

"Would you like my officers to pull them over?" said the Captain, Teresa's friend. "Expired tag, or something like that?"

"If you wouldn't mind." Cindy said. "Yes, if you wouldn't mind."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Trouble." said the driver.

He and the man riding shotgun were following the rental car, as they had been since the day before when the two women had arrived. Now there was a police car coming up behind them.

"Ah, shit." said the driver as the officers in the police cruiser came right on his tail and turned on the blue lights.

"Lose 'em." said the passenger. The driver pushed the pedal to the metal and the car tore off with surprising speed. It passed the rental car, the platinum blonde driver looking hard at them, followed by the police cruiser.

"Get to the plane." said the passenger. The driver reached down and pressed a button, injecting nitrous oxide into the engine. The car tore off in a burst of speed, leaving the police cruiser in its dust.

Three miles later, they pulled into a farm field, where a small propeller-driven airplane was waiting for them, it's engine running and ready to go. The men screeched up, jumped out of the car and into the plane. As the police car came to the field, they saw the plane leave the ground and gain altitude.

"Let's go check out the car." said one of the officers after they radioed in their report. Just then the car exploded with a force that the officers physically felt impact them.

"Jesus Christ!" said one of the officers. Just then, the rental car drove up and Cindy and Teresa got out.

"Geez, ladies!" the driver said. He reminded Cindy of Deputy Strait of Coltrane County as he added "What is going on here?"

"I don't know, Officer." Cindy said. "But I think it has to do with us, and it's big."

"Explosive, I daresay." said Teresa, flat deadpan.

Part 5 - Called Home To Apple Grove 

"Okay, you guys be careful." I said into the phone. Cindy Ross was on the line, and had just told me about the brief chase, the airplane escape, and the exploding car. It was now nearly 5:00pm my time.

"Wow." I said to Tanya Perlman after disconnecting. "Cindy and Teresa had a tail on them. They spotted it and the local police went to pull the car over. The car was jacked up and was able to run away from them and get to an airplane. What has everyone buzzing is that the car exploded; it was loaded with explosives as well as a million-dollar motor. This, my friend, is what we call a strangeness."

"And that is an understatement." said Tanya. "What are Cindy and Teresa going to do?"

"Keep their eyes peeled, and the local police are helping them. Seems one of their Captains is a friend of Teresa's from when Teresa grew up there." I said. "Teresa's father's funeral is tomorrow. But they can't come home until Monday at the earliest, because her father's will is invalid and she's making a legal claim. Should work out fine, but she has to be there for that."

Just then there was a knock on my door, and Sheriff Daniel Allgood peeked in. "Don, can I see you in the Chief's office real quick?"


"Yes sir." I said.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

To my surprise, my mother Phyllis was in the office. She was wearing a navy skirt and jacket and white blouse, and sheer navy stockings and navy blue high heel pumps. She looked hot for a woman of any age, and I had to work to keep from getting an erection at the thought of fucking this hottie Cougar that happened to be my own mother.

Daniel sat down behind the desk, a considerable bulge in his pants, as I sat down in a chair next to my mom. Her perfume smelled good as she told me what was going on.

"Son, do you remember Sheriff Greenwood from Apple Grove?" my mother asked.

"Vaguely." I said. "He's not Sheriff any more, is he?"

"No, he's not." said my mom. "But he and I keep in touch, and he said something is going on up there. He said that someone was trying to get at your father's legal files. A burglary was detected and the perp ran off, and then Mr. Muscone of the FBI told me to tell you that there has been some cyber-snooping activity involving your father's legal data that was on his law firm's servers. The county computers were also hacked, and the cyber-criminals were looking for information concerning your father and his legal papers filed there. An attempt to break into the Courthouse was foiled, as well."

"Okay." I said. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Go and investigate it." said Sheriff Allgood. "Leave today, take a few days and check it out."

"Sheriff, I can't do that!" I exclaimed. "Ross and Croyle are away at Croyle's father's funeral, and won't be back until Monday or Tuesday; the Council meeting is Tuesday night and you know I have to be there----"

"Stop, stop, stop, stop." Daniel said. "It's Friday afternoon now. The weekend is coming up, and I don't expect anything beyond partying college kids to be a problem for us. It's relatively quiet since you broke down that diamond smuggling operation. The criminal community is quiet right now, maybe they're all doing their taxes before the April 15th deadline."




Secrets of Apple Grove Ch. 01



"But Sheriff..." I started, but Daniel was having none of it.

"Don, Lt. Perlman and I can hold down the fort here for a few days. I'm also going to use this occasion to help who I think will be our next Chief to get acclimated to the Detectives, and them with him. Last but not least, Mr. Brownlee is being very quiet right now and I'll keep him leashed."

"All right then, Mom." I said, my biggest worry (Brownlee) having been addressed by our friendly neighborhood Sheriff. "You'll come with me, of course?"

"Of course." said my mom, her pretty eyes twinkling.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"I still don't know how you convinced the Sheriff to let me out of there." I said to my mother as I drove her car to my boyhood town, Apple Grove. The town was over three hours away, north-by-northwest of my Town and County, and well to the west of the mountains that contained Lake Amengi-Nunagen and its hamlets.

"I told him it was important." said Phyllis. "Of course, I first told his wife about it, and she worked him over for me." I had to grin at that one, knowing full well of Melina Allgood's powers of 'persuasion'.

"I still shouldn't be away, with all the crap that's going on these days, as well as Cindy and Teresa being away." I said, my mood darkening again.

"Son," my mother said, in the tone and form of a rebuke, "your Police Force will survive without you for a few days. And 'all the crap' is exactly why we're making this trip to Apple Grove."

That got my attention, and I turned to peer at my mother for as long as I could take my eyes off the road while driving. I could see that my mother once again knew something that I did not know. But she would not elaborate, and instead adroitly cajoled me into talking about the 'New' Cabin construction, and of course about her grandchildren and their dog Bowser.

It was dark by the time we got to the town of Rome, which was about 15 miles from Apple Grove and was on the main highway and so had some decent hotels. We found the hotel that my mother had booked online. We got two rooms for appearances sake, but made sure they were adjoining and had connecting doors.

Once inside, I took out my little bug-sweeping device and checked the room. There were no bugs (of the listening variety, anyway).

I stripped off my clothes down to my underwear and lay down on one of the double beds, having pulled the bedspreads off, then used an ultraviolet light on the sheets. It's fairly well known that the sheets generally get washed, but the bedspreads of a hotel can be filthy.

There was nothing on TV worth watching, and I realized just how little television I watched at home as I turned off the set with the remote. Just then my mom came out of the bathroom. She was wearing a sheer blue teddy and her acrylic-clear high heel slides, her 'hooker heels' as I called them. She looked sexy, and I felt my cock stirring.

"Here, take this." my mother said. It was a 'gray viagra', like the ones Laura was frequently giving me, though I had no need at all for any help. Still, I took the pill as my mother settled down beside me on the bed, pressing her breasts, abs and legs into my right side.

"Okay, Mom," I said, knowing that something needed to be discussed before we engaged in a hotly incestuous mating, "why are we up here?"

"Well, son," Phyllis said, "your father had a pretty extensive legal practice for many years. Even when he brought on partners, he still had a lot of work coming in. Most of it was absolutely routine: real estate transactions, business contracts, some official stuff for the county as well as being hired by other towns or people in other towns, since her was right near the Courthouse." Apple Grove was in the dead center of this county, and was the County Seat.

I turned out the lights, the darkness enveloping us as I felt my mother's hand slip into my underwear and grasp my hardening cock. She continued her story: "He did a lot of work for charities and churches pro bono, as well. His first partner handled trial work at the Courthouse, usually for the Defense in criminal trials, of which there were few; but also private lawsuits and divorces and such."

"Did he ever do any work for Jonas Oldeeds or the Oldeeds Organization?" I asked.

"No, virtually nothing in a legal way." my mother replied. "He was one of Jonas Oldeeds's original trustees, but if he did any legal work for them, I don't know about it."

"So what has us up here?" I asked. I felt my mother squeeze my cock hard, as a signal to be patient.

"Sheriff Greenwood contacted me about the attempted breaches of your father's files," Phyllis said, "but he also wanted me to bring you up to casually glance into some other situations, not the least of which involves the current Sheriff, Sheriff Spaulding. Do you remember the Spauldings, Don?"

"Vaguely." I said. "He was closer to Elizabeth's age than mine, wasn't he?"

"Yes, he was two years behind her in school." said Phyllis. "My friend Sheriff Greenwood believes Mr. Spaulding is not the most honest and God-fearing of men, and he hopes you might can unearth something that will go towards proving that."

"I see." I said, immediately disinterested. "By the way, Mom," I said, reaching over and gently pinching my mother's right nipple, "didn't you help Sheriff Greenwood with various crimes back in the day, while I was still there, and after I left?"

"Oh, I did very little." Phyllis said. "I kept my eyes and ears open, facilitated a bit of gossip here and there, and I might have made a few suggestions to Sheriff Greenwood about some interesting occurrences that were going on..." I began laughing, thinking of Chief Griswold's comment on 'modesty'.

"So was there very much going on back in those days?" I asked. "Apple Grove is a really small town."

"You'd be surprised, stunned even, at the perfidy that occurs in small towns like Apple Grove." my mother said as she adjusted her position to lean over my abs. "Of course, I was fully occupied trying to keep up with your sister's various wicked actions."

"What were those?" I asked, "Besides the ones I observed, of course."

"Never you mind, for now." Phyllis said. "Now get your underwear off so I can suck your big hard cock." I quickly obeyed, and an instant later lay naked on my back. My mother leaned over and sank her mouth over my hard cock.

"Ohhhhhh..." I quietly gasped. As my mother began sucking my turgid meat in earnest, I let the pleasure course through my body but continued to think of what was going on. The Oldeeds Organization was about to resolve its internecine war, I'd been told, and was ready to move forward... both publicly and behind-the-scenes. Could they be behind the attempt to access my father's files? I wondered.

My mother was slurping away at my cock, using her lips and tongue along the throbbing shaft and over my cockhead, before swallowing most of it and sucking hard on it. I groaned in pleasure, deciding that whatever it truly was that my mother wanted me here for... would just have to wait for its time.

In time, my mother mounted me, straddling me, her feet pressing into my hips and upper thighs as she impaled her sopping wet cunt on my hard male meat. As she rode me, I slid my hands down her luscious legs, massaging the tops of her feet, then eventually holding her hips and reaching up to roughly squeeze her breasts.

I felt my mother come several times, her cunt clenching tightly down on me. The gray viagra had my cock hard, but my mind was in another zone, thinking over a myriad of clues that was leading to something big brewing in the criminal underworld in my home Town & County. As a result, it was a long time before I managed to come, much to my mother's sexual delight as she rode me hard...

Part 6 - Taps 

"Day is done,

gone the sun,

From the hills,

from the lake,

From the skies.

All is well,

safely rest,

God is nigh."

Cindy had no idea how she knew and remembered the words to 'Taps' as the final notes of the bugle call for Teresa's father echoed over the field beyond the cemetery. It was Saturday, April 11th. Teresa's father was being buried next to his beloved wife Sarah... and Teresa's sister Alexis. The military funeral was one of full honors for an American hero in a war whose heroes had not been properly recognized for far too long. After too many years of mental pain and insanity, the old man was finally at rest, reunited with his beloved wife in some place far beyond this field and this town, and far beyond the jungles of Viet Nam.

Cindy and Teresa were wearing their formal police uniforms, as were some members of the local Police Department that had come as a courtesy to a fellow officer who'd lost a family member. One of the nurses at Shady Acres had come, as well as a few people that had known Teresa when she was growing up... including the teacher Mildred. Cindy knew that Mildred was the woman that had given Don and Jack Muscone the full story about Teresa's childhood and the disaster that had befallen Cindy's friend.

The honor guard had folded the American Flag, and Colonel Gloriman had presented it to Teresa with words that began "On behalf of a grateful nation..." Teresa accepted the flag politely.

After the ceremony, the local police officers, including the Captain that was Teresa's friend, made their goodbyes. Teresa talked a few moments with the few people she knew as Cindy looked around, ever on the alert for anyone trying to watch them. There had been no incidents since the two perps had left. The nearest office of the FBI had contacted Cindy on behalf of one Special Agent Jack Muscone, offering assistance if needed.

"I was looking for that old man that talked to us at the rest home." Teresa said. "I wanted to thank him for alerting me to the fact my father was a war hero. But he didn't come to the funeral."

"We can look around for him." Cindy said. "We've got a lot of time to kill."

"That's true." Teresa said. "I appreciate you staying with me, too. I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to go back home now. I can handle the legal stuff Monday and get back after it's done."

"No way... the Iron Crowbar would barbecue my ass up one side and down the other if I left you here by yourself." Cindy replied. "Besides, I want to be here Monday, also. I want to check on the property records of the house that was built where yours had been."

"Why do you want to do that?" Teresa said. "And besides, we could just ask some people, like Miss Mildred, if you want to find out anything about it."

"No, I don't want to stir up gossip." Cindy replied.

"So what's got your interest piqued?" Teresa asked.

Cindy considered what to say, then decided upon "I was just curious about what happened after the fire and all. I want to make sure your dad's estate wasn't gypped out of anything."

"Oh, no, it wasn't." Teresa said. "His legal representation sold the lot, and at a pretty reasonable price. The money went into the trust that was paying Shady Acres. But c'mon, you're acting like the Iron Crowbar when he's hot on the trail of something. What are you really looking for?"

"Well, I'm not a Troy," Cindy said, "but I felt like something happened that was important. When we drove by your house---- er, I mean the house that was built on that lot, I saw a woman in the backyard looking at us, and she looked really concerned. I can't shake the feeling that there's something to it. And then with those bozos following us and all...

"I hear you." Teresa said. "So you can check that out while the lawyer and I work out the legal crap with the estate. And then we can go home. I'll be really happy to be back home. If I ever bitch about our Town and County again, just remind me of this place, okay?"

"You'll regret saying that, because I sure will remind you." Cindy quickly agreed. "Okay, so what can we do to kill time around here? Is there any place with secure internet lines? I'd love to do some research while we have time."

"Heck," Teresa said, "I was thinking about getting some sleep while we have the time. Vice keeps a girl up at night. Maybe the public library has internet access."

"No, we'll go back to the room and change." Cindy said. "And I'll use my mobile phone as a local hot spot while you sleep. That'll be more secure."

They drove around and even went back to Shady Acres to ask about the old man that had told Teresa about her father's military service. The staff had no recollection of that old gentlemen at all; none of them had seen the man with Teresa and Cindy, even though one of them had been on duty at the front desk in sight of the lobby where they'd talked. They went to the Police Station and asked around, but no one remembered any such old man. It was as if he'd been a ghost, both women thought...

To be continued.



Secrets of Apple Grove 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, The Murdered Football Player Series, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story, The Case of the Black Badge series, A Case of Revenge series, Teresa's Summer Race, The Trilogy series, Dark Side Of The Force series, Caught In The Act series, The Phyllis Files 1-2, Case of the Murdered Bride series, The Credit Card Caper series, The Phyllis Files 3, The Hot Wives Investment Club series, Seriously Inconvenienced series, Case of the Paper Trail series, Christmas Mystery Theater, The Porno Set Mystery series, The Medical Murder Mystery series, The Eightfold Fence series, The Phyllis Files 4, Pale Morning Light series, Silverfish series, Cold As Ice series.

Secrets of Apple Grove, Ch. 01-02

Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

*****

Part 7 - Mom, Apple Pie, and Crime 

Saturday morning, April 11th. I drove into the small town where I grew up. The streets didn't seem to be as wide, the playgrounds were smaller, the town itself seeming to have shrunk in size from what I remembered.

But most of all was what was in the air, the feeling... as a child, there were carefree days and limitless possibilities, even in a small town like this. But now, there was a sense of tension, of suppression... and the distinct air that this town was slowly dying.

Apple Grove had been a railroad junction as well as the center of the County, so it had become the County Seat. Back in the days of the late 19th Century that Laura Ingalls Wilder had written about, Apple Grove was a place where farmers brought their goods to be transported by rail to the State and the Nation. Now, BigAgraFoods, which was headquartered in my current Town, ran most of the farms using machinery instead of people. There were few jobs, almost no industry, and the young people did as I had done: they left for other places.

"Let's go have breakfast at the diner." Phyllis said. "Sheriff Greenwood is meeting us there." Indeed, when we parked and went inside, the former sheriff already had the back table commandeered for us. But it took a while getting there.

I was wearing my police uniform of light blue short-sleeve shirt, dark blue pants with black piping down the side, dark blue soft shoulderboards with my rank. But I was recognized as a prodigal son.

"Donny? Is that you?" a redheaded man gasped as he stood up. His name was Marty Robbins, and he was wearing a local EMT uniform like the two other men at his table. His hair was darker red than mine, more like orange. He had been in my high school class. When he was in the 5th grade, he had said he was going to become a paramedic... and he had.

"Hi Marty." I said, shaking his hand. "It's been a long, long time... Paramedic." Marty got it, that I had remembered his childhood prediction. He introduced me to his fellow EMTs, one of whom I recognized as having worked with the Town & County EMS before.

"Charlie Strauss!" I said. "You're up here now?"

"Yes sir, Commander." said Strauss. "I was able to find this job. Had to get out of there with all that going on with your Fire Department."

"I hear ya." I said. "We need to talk about that before I leave."

"So, Donny, you did become a cop." Marty said. "We'd heard you'd gone into the military."

"I did, in the Reserve." I said. "Did some private business, then this job came up, and it's worked out great."

By then, several other people had come around, some who I remembered, some who had known my parents when I was pretty young. I endured a lot of introductions, then made my way to the back table to join my mother and Sheriff Greenwood.

"Good to see you, Donny." said Greenwood. He was getting some weight on, and looked like the quintessential small town Sheriff. He reminded me a little bit of that Sheriff in Coltrane County that had been murdered (Author's note: see The Case of the Murdered Football Player), but was a damn sight more honest and trustworthy.

"I'm glad your mom was able to get you up here." said Greenwood. "We've heard of some of the things you've accomplished in that University town down there, and I know from your mom that you like interesting, even strange cases. We might have something for you."

"Oh, what's that?" I asked.

"The first thing is about your father's legal papers." said Greenwood. "I still have some friends in the Courthouse, and they were the first to alert me to the situation. I contacted your father's old law firm, and they said they were looking into a data breach as well. I suggested they call the Apple Grove Police about it, and they did. At that point, Sheriff Spaulding gave me a call and made a point to tell me to mind my own business, that I was not Sheriff anymore and that he was, and he'd handle things his way and in his own good time."

"I take it you and Spaulding don't get along." I said.

"He ran against me for Sheriff two years ago, and he won." said Greenwood. "You know that Court case in your State about that guy who lost a rigged race?"

"John Cummings?" I said. "Right in my own County. His own Party threw him to the dogs."

"My case was something like that." said Greenwood. "Voting looked irregular. I asked the State to come in to do a recount, but Spaulding went to court and the judge blocked it. Judge's name is Guilford, and he's backed by several wealthy people in the county, including the Jacksons."

"Doug and Roberta Jackson?" I asked.

"They're the ones." said Greenwood. "Do you know them?"

"I've met them." I said. "Their son was murdered in my County."

"Oh, that's right." said Greenwood, and I glanced at my mom. I could tell Greenwood knew more than he was letting on, and indeed was playing a bit dumb. My mom's eyes were twinkling as she looked back at me. Greenwood said: "Well, the Republican Party sat by with their thumb up their ass while Spaulding's people were actively subverting us. They totally shut it down, wouldn't do a recount. Some citizens started up a recall effort, seeing what was going on, but that was squelched too... and in some cases by intimidation with threats of physical violence."

"Good grief." I said. "Not the town I grew up in, for sure."

"Absolutely. So yes," continued Greenwood, "there's bad blood between me and Spaulding. But until this thing happened about your father's law firm files, there hadn't been any real issues crop up between us. The town is not his jurisdiction, either, so I don't know why he called me except for pure intimidation."

"Okay, then." I said. "So I need to talk to the law firm guy or guys. Mom, what are you going to do today?"

"Why, I'm going to check up on some old friends." said Phyllis. "Just old ladies gossiping, nothing you'd be interested in, I'm sure." I just looked at Sheriff Greenwood, who looked back at me, and we both started chuckling.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Hi, Donald." said the youngish lawyer, who was about my age, as he let me into the otherwise locked doors of Grove & Partners law firm. They had bought out Troy & Partners, my dad's firm, some years before. "Thank you for coming. I understand you have some experience in cyber-security."

"Yes, Mike, I do." I said. Mike G. Todd was the junior partner of the firm, and as such was the most tech-savvy.

"Here, let me show you what happened." He brought up some information from the firm's servers. "This breach here. You can see that this access looks like it's internal, but it's none of our guys."

"How did you find this?" I asked as I began connecting my laptop to the law firm's computer and running diagnostic tests.

"I was asked to look for it, by Sheriff... er, former Sheriff Greenwood." said Mike. "The files affected all had to do with your father's work with a charity, Victory Christian Ministries."

"Hmm, never heard of 'em." I said. "Were the files corrupted?"

"Yes, they were." Mike said. "And before you ask, the backups were destroyed, as well."

"So no way to get to whatever is on them." I said. "Unless there's another backup somewhere."

"That's correct." said Mike. "I tried to see if your father had left any paper files, which we have in secure storage at the Courthouse. And when I went to see, that's when it started coming out that they'd been hacked too, but couldn't find any real damage or losses. And the night after I went over there, someone tried to break into the storage areas. Police evidence is secured there, so the perp didn't succeed."

My diagnostic was finished. What the lawyer didn't know is that the program also copied all the information I could get from the law firm's computers. Certainly not all of their files, but the corrupted ones as well as some others. I also left a couple of backdoor access places, disguised as anti-virus software that really would stop the perps from accessing the computers again.

"Okay," I said, "it looks like some standard but very sophisticated data-mining viruses were introduced into your computer. I'm placing some anti-virus protocols on your servers, and you'll be alerted if these bad boys try to access your stuff again."

"What the hell is going on?"

The voice was that of an older man, dressed in an expensive suit. He was tall, lean, with a full head of now-gray hair. I recognized him as Hamilton Phillips, whose law firm had bought out my father's. Phillips was the Senior Partner of Grove & Partners, P.C.

"Mr. Phillips!" said the younger lawyer, fear creeping into his voice. "I was just asking Don Troy to look into our computer breach. He's a specialist in that area."

"Oh really?" snarled Phillips as he observed me in my police uniform. "He looks like a cop to me. Do you have a warrant to be accessing our computers, Mr. Troy?"

"No, and I don't need one." I said as I put my laptop away in its bag. "I'm Douglass Troy's son, by the way."

"I know who you are, boy." said Phillips. "And I don't care. You're not welcome here, ever. Mr. Todd, we will speak of this later, but for now, get that man out of here. Immediately."

"Yes sir--" Mike started, but I interrupted as I stood up.

"Mr. Phillips," I said, my voice commanding but with attempts to keep it gentle, "why don't you tell me what you're afraid of, and maybe I can help you. Not only with this security breach, but with whoever is obviously pressuring you."

I had already seen the fear in Phillips' eyes, and now I could clearly see it as his agitated features contorted into a mask of fear and hideous hatred.

"Get out!" he gasped. "Get the fuck out, you son of a bitch!"

"Don't talk about my mother like that," I said, "or whoever's threatening you won't be the only one whipping your ass. Now I'm offering to help you, Mr. Phillips. I think you know who and what I am, and you were a friend of my father's. But once I leave, you're on your own."

Phillips seemed to consider the words, but for only a moment. "Why are you still here? Get out. Get out of this county. Don't come back. And leave that laptop here."

I put the laptop bag's strap over my left shoulder, giving me easy access to my gun. I began walking out when Phillips stood in front of me.

"I said leave the laptop." he said menacingly. "You're not leaving without it."

I put my hand on my gun, having flicked open the strap holding it in place. "Try and stop me." I said quietly, my eyes boring into his. His eyes saw that I wasn't bluffing. He relented, his face red with anger. I quickly walked out of there.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Phyllis sat on the porch in one of the rocking chairs as the other woman talked. She was Old Mrs. Starnes, and she had lived in this house since the day she was born. It was a two-story house with tall ceilings and a big porch, built in the late 1800s when the town was first started. Mrs. Starnes was the grandmother of Kip Starnes, whose name had come up in the Murdered Football Player case.

"Yes, Phyllis, this town is dying." Mrs. Starnes said. "And you're right that something else is going on around here. There is a sense of depression here, and that's because of the oppression that is happening."

"Aftermath of the Sheriff election?" Phyllis asked.

"Oh, no, that was actually only a small part of it." said Mrs. Starnes. "After your husband Douglass died and Phillips took over the firm, subtle changes started happening. The bank hired a new president, an outside guy from North Carolina. He and Phillips are friends. I heard rumors that the Blacks in Providence Springs can't get loans from this bank anymore."

Providence Springs was a farm town west of Apple Grove, about halfway to the western county line, and it was where nearly all of the Blacks in the county lived until Rome got the highway and grew enough to provide jobs.

"Oh my." said Phyllis. "And the rest of the county? Rome?"

"Rome has all the processing plants now, the ones that in the time we were children were here in Apple Grove. They have access to transportation and shipping there." said Mrs. Starnes. "A lot of illegal immigrants there, working the packing plants and the hotels as janitors and the like. Almost no one ever comes over from Rome to Apple Grove; if they do, the Sheriff's deputies stop them for any sort of reason. I'm shocked you and your son weren't pulled over when you came in."

"What does the Police Chief have to say about all of this?" Phyllis asked. "What was his name again?..."

"Sims. Larry Sims." said Mrs. Starnes. "He's a year away from his pension. Several of us believe that he was quietly told that if he knew where his bread was buttered, he'd keep his mouth shut and he'd be allowed to retire with his pension. If he makes waves, he'll be out on the street with nothing."

Mrs. Starnes continued: "As an example: Sims and Greenwood were very good friends, not to mention colleagues that cooperated very well. When that Sheriff election was contested, Chief Sims stood by and did nothing. Greenwood begged Sims to help, but Sims just wouldn't take a public stand. They're no longer friends, and I hear that Sims just stays in his office and goes through the motions. He started drinking, too, but not all that heavily. Not enough to hamper doing his job, but enough for some people to notice."

"Oh my." Phyllis said again. "Any idea what... or who... is behind it all?"

"No, not at all." said Mrs. Starnes. "Oh my, look at that." She was pointing to the Sheriff Department car that was coming down the street. The deputy slowed as he passed the house, peering hard at the two women. Phyllis felt the tension, both in the deputy and in Mrs. Starnes.

"Phyllis, it's been nice seeing you again." said Mrs. Starnes, concluding their chat. "But I think you probably should go find your son now. And may I suggest you have him or someone you trust with you at all times."

Meanwhile, former Sheriff Greenwood was sitting in his personal vehicle, waiting for Phyllis to end her chat with Mrs. Starnes. He was parked off the road, hidden by some bushes, and he'd seen the Sheriff car driving down the street and knew what it meant. He was about to exit the car and go to Phyllis when someone walked up to his car.

"Hello, Sheriff." said the someone.

"Well, my goodness, it's you." said Greenwood. "What in the world brings you here?"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I entered the Apple Grove Police Department building, which was next to the Fire Department and its two engines, on the west side of Courthouse Square. The offices were small and old, and the entire Apple Grove P.D.'s compliment of twelve officers barely matched the number of Detectives in my two divisions.

One reason for that was the way this State allowed counties to compose themselves, which was different than my current State's structure. In my State, there were town police and county police and/or Sheriff Departments, and of course my own County was merged with my Town into one unified force. In Apple Grove's county, the town had police jurisdiction in a radius of several miles outside the town limits, and outside of that was the Sheriff Department's responsibility. The Rome Police Force had a significant radius while Apple Grove, Providence Springs to the west, and the town of Springer to the northwest had smaller radii.

"Is Lieutenant Wisocky here?" I asked the receptionist/clerk at the front desk. She buzzed the office of the Media Relations Officer, not knowing that Media Relations was not the reason I'd asked for Lieutenant Wisocky.

"Donny? Donny Troy?" exclaimed the dark haired woman that appeared in the hallway. "I can't believe it!" She came up and gave me a warm hug, which I returned as warmly as I could. Leanne Wisocky's hair was cut just above her shoulders and was straight with no styling. She was wearing her uniform of a royal blue shirt and navy blue pants, with an "A.G.P.D." insignia on the left collar and a silver Lieutenant bar on the right collar. 

Her large breasts strained against the fabric of the shirt, which caused a first stirring of my loins. She had put on weight in the years since I'd seen her. In her youth she'd been a real tomboy, and her body was shapely and very hot, especially her legs. But one could tell even then that she was somewhat 'big boned' and would one day be a 'big girl'. She wasn't fat, but beginning to put on weight here and there, and she no longer had that hourglass shape of her youth... an hourglass shape that Teresa Croyle now had that made her look so hot. 

But there was another reason the sight of Leanne was stirring my loins. She was the woman that had taken my virginity.

She was a little bit older than me, and she'd graduated high school and gone to a small college. She had always wanted to be a policewoman, and her schooling was towards that end. She came home one summer, and she and I began hanging out a good bit. On one hot summer afternoon we were alone at her house... and good things started happening.

I wasn't a jock in my youth, though I was on the football team because every boy in the school was on the team, though I rarely played. I also was on the Golf team, making the sixth and final varsity position my Senior year and lettering in that sport. I was always curious of the world around me, going off to explore creeks and trying to catch snakes, and Leanne did those explorations with me and other boys when we were younger.

She had been sexually active for a while, and on that hot summer day I went for it. I was fairly bold even then, and when her bikini top had a malfunction, a nip-slip, before I realized it I was leaning over and kissing her teat! That led to me kissing her mouth and things going from there. I got my first blowjob that day, followed by my first intercourse in the missionary position, totally bareback sex. Leanne was on the pill, which was fortunate because I shot what felt like a huge load into her.

My father never knew, but I think my mother observed and deduced it that very night. A few days later I heard her saying something about me having a swagger that I hadn't had before. And she tried to dissuade me from seeing Leanne, but it would've been easier to stop sap from running in the trees than it would be for me to give up that summer of hot sex with a hot girl.




Secrets of Apple Grove Ch. 02



Leanne went back to school, and didn't return the next summer: she had an internship with a police department somewhere. Meanwhile, I was already beginning to date other girls. Most of them didn't put out, but I got some smoking hot blow jobs and occasional condom-sheathed intercourse. Then I went to college, and sex was plentiful... especially with the legendary stud Jack Burke as my roommate... but more on that at another time...

"It's great to see you!" Leanne said. "What brings you home to Apple Grove?"

"I just escorted my mother up here." I said. "I'm having to take care of some things related to my father's old law firm while she visits with her old friends."

"Oh, I see." said Leanne. Was that a bit of a shadow on her still-attractive face? I thought to myself as she said "Let's go say hello to the Chief." She led me to the office of the Chief of Police and knocked on the open door.

"Oh my gosh, Donny Troy!" exclaimed Chief Sims when he saw me. I knew that I had not been to Apple Grove for some time, and rarely since I'd left for college, but I could see that Chief Sims had aged beyond his years. Small lines etched into his face, his hair just a bit more gray than I thought it should be.

"Good to see you, Chief." I said. "It's been a long time since I've been here."

"It surely has, it surely has." Sims said. "So what brings you here?" I repeated the story I told Leanne, somehow knowing that telling the full story was something that I should not do. I did say that I'd already been to the law offices to complete my task.

"Ah, so your mother is here with you?" asked the Chief. "How is she doing?" I said she was doing very well, and was an Auxiliary Policewoman in my Town.

"Well, I'll be." the Chief said.

"Chief," Leanne said, "why don't I take Donny to lunch."

"That'd be a great idea." said Sims. "Before you go, can I have a private word with you, for just one moment?"

"I'll wait outside for you." I said. "Good to see you again, Chief."

I began talking with the receptionist as I waited for Leanne. I noticed her necklace. "Is that a rune?" I asked, as if simply curious.

"Oh! Why yes, it is." the woman said, a bright happy smile appearing on her attractive face. "I went to a seminar camp a few years ago." She then moved to change the subject by asking "Your rank... is that 'Colonel'? We don't have anything higher than Captain here, except the Chief, of course."

"It's 'Commander'." I said. "My name is Don Troy. I grew up here in Apple Grove."

"Oh, I see." said the woman. To my total shock, she looked warily around the room, then said quietly "You're that Iron Crowbar guy, aren't you?"

"Er, yes... yes I am." I said, also quietly, as if sharing a state secret.

"Just between us..." the woman said, again looking around furtively, "keep your eyes open... and don't you or your mother be alone anywhere at any time."

I was too shocked to say anything and Leanne came out of the Chief's office just then. The receptionist turned to her paperwork and giggled as if I'd just said something flirtatious.

"Still the ladies man, I see." said Leanne, seeing the receptionist flushing and smiling, totally fooled by the woman's act. "I hope my husband doesn't catch us having lunch."

"Yes." I said. "If you don't mind, why don't you drive so I can call my mom on the cellphone..."

Part 8 - Diamonds Are Forever 

Sheriff Daniel Allgood descended the stairs into the secure "dungeon" areas of Town & County Police Headquarters. He was in a most very foul mood already, and this news had not made it any better.

In the Evidence rooms were Lt. Tanya Perlman, Detective Martin Nash, Lt. 'Curly' Goodwin of Internal Affairs, Detective Gayle Tunnin of Internal Affairs, the Evidence Supervisor in his gray baseball cap, and Sergeant Rudistan and Senior Patrolman Morton.. 

"What's going on, Perlman" the Sheriff asked, the tone of his voice instantly warning Tanya to be on guard. "By the way, do any of you smell smoke?"

"Yes, Sheriff," said Lt. Tanya Perlman, "I smelled it when I came down here, but nothing is smoking or burning. But that's not the important thing. The diamonds we recovered earlier this week...are gone."

"Gone?" asked Allgood. "How?"

"Not sure yet. They were right here..." she pointed to a box inside the safe that the most valuable objects were stored in as a double-precaution, "...and they are now gone. The Evidence Supervisor found the safe open when he got here half an hour ago. The safe was opened with the combination."

"Curly, who knows the combination?" asked Allgood.

"The Evidence Room officers, the Armorer, and the D.A. and all the ADAs know it." said Lt. Goodwin. "The Commander, Deputy Chief, and Captain Aarons also know it, and the Chief will when he's installed. You're also entitled to know it, being Sheriff, but I don't think anyone's told you."

"No, I don't know it." said Daniel. Just then, Myron Milton walked up. "What the hell do you want, Milton?" Daniel snarled. He and Myron were still antagonistic to each other from the past times of sparring while Allgood was the I.A. leader.

"Sheriff!" said Tanya, both defensively of Myron and a rebuke to Daniel Allgood. "Myron, what do you have for me?"

"Ma'am," said Myron, intentionally not noticing Daniel's presence, "two things of great importance. The card used to gain access to the Evidence Rooms was used last night at 2:30am, and that card was used to gain access to the Evidence Rooms is the base keycode of Detective Sharples. However--"

"Okay, someone go get Sharples!" ordered Allgood.

"Hold on, Sheriff." said Tanya, wondering why Allgood was in such a foul mood and being so unlike himself. "What's the full story on that, Myron?"

Myron replied "As Commander Troy taught us after that morphine loss at the Hospital last November/December timeframe, when a key card is duplicated, it generates a code with "5555" at the end instead of the real numbers. It'll let the person in, since there may be a hostage situation going on, but the point is that the card was duplicated and the forgery used to gain entrance."

"Goodwin," said Allgood, his voice a bit quieter, "go get Sharples anyway, bring him in and question him about his I.D., make sure he has his card and that it's real, and ask if anyone had access to it at any time."

"Yes sir." said Goodwin, also a bit shocked at how his old boss was acting. He tasked Detective Tunnin with that assignment and she left.

"Okay, Myron, what else?" Tanya asked.

"Ma'am, I've checked the key codes to get downstairs." said Myron. "Sharples has not been down here at all since the diamonds were put in the safe. Also, the forged card was not used. I have the list of everyone who has come up and down the stairs since the diamonds were put in here, from using their cards. But after the Evidence Supervisor checked on the diamonds yesterday before locking the safe at close-of-business, no one except this forged card's holder came into the Evidence Rooms, and no one came down from upstairs at all."

"So someone was hiding down here, waited until 2:30am, then used a forged card to get in." said Allgood. "Curly, don't you guys have cameras with motion-sensor detectors covering these downstairs hallways, the Armory and the I.T. areas?"

"And inside the Evidence Rooms." said Goodwin. "I'm having my people go through last night's tapes now, but so far they've found nothing."

"How can that be..." Daniel said, then turned to Myron. "Milton, are those cameras computer controlled? Could someone have programmed them to shut off?"

"No, Sheriff." said Myron. "That was one of Commander Troy's precautions. The cameras feed data to the Internal Affairs servers, but are hard-coded and cannot be accessed from outside nor instructions given from outside. It's old-school technology. They can be turned off, but the switches are inside Internal Affairs, not connected to any digital system, just plain electrical wires."

"And the fuses to them?" asked Daniel.

"Anything electrical that involves I.A. has the fuse boxes within I.A." said Curly Goodwin. "Daniel, you know that."

"Yeah, I just wanted to make sure of it." said Allgood. "Well, Lt. Perlman, you're the Iron Crowbar this weekend... what happened here?"


"Not enough data yet, Sheriff." said Tanya, most very astutely mimicking the Iron Crowbar's oft-quoted words. "Let's see if anything shows up on the motion-sensor tapes.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"So that's why we smelled smoke." said Sheriff Allgood as he watched the television screen in the Main Conference room. The tape showed smoke filling the corridor just before 2:30am. Nothing else could be seen for several long minutes.

"The smoke activated the motion-sensor cameras, but there are no smoke detectors in the hallway nor the Armory, where guns are fired." said Curly Goodwin. Also in the room was Tanya Perlman and Martin Nash. "Only inside the Evidence Rooms, the I.T. server rooms, the Data Mining cubicles, and Internal Affairs's server room and cubicles."

"And we really can't see if someone is walking through that smoke." said Allgood. "What happened with Sharples and the Evidence supervisor?"

"The Evidence Supervisor has fully cooperated, and his statement coincides completely with the facts as we know them." said Lt. Goodwin, giving details more for the MCD officers than for Sheriff Allgood as he continued: "He checked off on the contents of the safe, which was videotaped. Commander Troy had 'suggested' that when the diamonds were brought in, and his suggestions are considered to be instructions."

"Man, that's some serious security." said Martin Nash. "Is this literally every-day commonplace?"

"If we get a really big stash of drugs, cash, or something like these diamonds," said Curly Goodwin, "then yes, it's typical. Especially when Commander Troy feels the need to do it, and these diamonds were something we don't normally have.

"Finish up about Sharples." Daniel Allgood said. 

"Yes sir." said Goodwin. "At first he was cooperative. He showed our guys his Police I.D. card, it's the genuine article. He said he did not know of any time where it was out of his possession. Then--"

"If I may..." said Nash, interrupting, "... how was Sharples during this questioning? Nervous, calm?"

"We have it on tape so you can watch, but he appeared calm," said Goodwin, "up to a point. As our guys began questioning him harder, he got suspicious and asked what it was about. Per protocols, our guys didn't say, and at that time Sharples said 'This is the Commander fucking with me again, isn't it? I want a Union rep before I say anything else.'." Our guys tried to cajole him into talking, but he again insisted upon a Union rep, and complained that they were harassing him by asking him questions after he'd asked for the rep's presence. We haven't called in the Union yet, so we have nothing."

Tanya sighed. "Once again, that fat son of a bitch skates by. He may be totally innocent, but he can use this paranoia about the Commander to not answer questions, and the Union rep will make an issue out of any more questions."

"If he's innocent, he should have no problems answering our questions." Allgood said.

"That's what we told him, and he got more belligerent and started complaining about being questioned after asking for the Union rep." said Goodwin. "It's like someone taking the Fifth, we can't just assume guilt."

"True. True enough. Okay, Miss Acting Iron Crowbar," said Daniel Allgood, his tone humorous but with just a touch of derision, "what do you think of all this?"

"First, Sheriff," said Tanya, "it's obvious that someone knows completely about our security in the basement areas, and this elaborate and quite effective scheme was created to defeat that security. This is also a one-time plan, as we'll be adapting to it. Obviously someone wanted those diamonds very badly, enough to go through this to get to them. The amount they are worth would make it worth someone's while to do it, though."

"Second," Tanya continued, "whoever thought of this scheme is of a brilliant mind, and I'm speaking of the level of Commander Troy, who has worked religiously on making security foolproof in this and all other areas. I am saying that someone has actually mentally defeated the Iron Crowbar, and there is no way that Detective Sharples could've thought of this."

"Third," Tanya said, "it shows that there is at least one mole and likely more in this Police Department. Someone knew the combination to the safe, someone knew how to get in, someone--"

"But how did they get down there?" asked Sheriff Allgood. "There's always someone on duty upstairs that can see anyone entering the room leading to the downstairs. There are two separate keycodes needed to open those doors, and no keycodes were used at all last night. And the sheer number of people that would have to conspire to make a cover-up of this happen is just too large for me to even consider as a possibility."

"I agree with you, Sheriff." said Tanya. "And I have no clue how the perp or perps got into the Evidence Room."

"Well," said the Sheriff, getting up, "you guys keep investigating. I think I'm going to have to give the Iron Crowbar a call." He did not observe Tanya's eyes flash fire at the blatant insult, intended or not, as he left the room.

Part 9 - Apples and Oranges 

As Phyllis walked back to where former Sheriff Greenwood's car was parked, she was totally shocked to see the car behind his, and the person who was sitting in the car with Greenwood.

"Melina!" Phyllis gasped. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"We'll talk about that." Melina said. "Sheriff, I'll drive Phyllis around. Thanks for your help."

"No problem." said Greenwood. "It was good seeing you again. You too, Phyllis." Melina got out of the car and Greenwood drove off, back towards town. Melina and Phyllis got into Melina's car.

"He remembered me from Don's father's funeral." Melina said.

"I see." said Phyllis. "And you are up here because..."

"Because you need to be watched over." said Melina. "My sister is concerned about her mother as well as her husband, but the one who was absolutely beside himself when he heard that you and Don came up here was Special Agent Jack Muscone of the FBI. He asked Laura to have someone watch over you and Don, and Laura asked me to come. Didn't bother me, as Daniel is in something of a mood right now, and I needed to get out of Town myself for a few days."

"I see." said Phyllis. She did not mean that she accepted her ex-daughter's explanation. She was seeing much further. Melina's presence was a cluuuue, she thought to herself.

"Since you're here," Phyllis said, "let's go to lunch... oh, Don is calling." She answered the cellphone. After she disconnected, she said "Let's go towards Rome. Don and a police friend are having lunch over there."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Leanne had me drive almost all the way back to Rome to find a decent restaurant. There was a Chinese buffet that she said was very good, so we stopped there. Indeed, there was a large selection, and it was reasonably tasty.

As we ate lunch, I said "Okay, Leanne, you've gotten me out of town, out of the way. So what's going on around Apple Grove? Your Chief was more nervous than happy to see me, and I felt some tension at breakfast at the diner."

"First," said Leanne, "someone found a dead body in a farm field south of town this morning. It's out of our jurisdiction, and therefore is the responsibility of Sheriff Spaulding. He doesn't like us helping in cases that are his county jurisdiction."

"Okay." I said. "Did you think I was going to interfere with that?"

"I don't know." Leanne replied, then said "I'll just tell you this, Don." She repeated much of the story that Mrs. Starnes had told Phyllis, though of course I didn't know that at the time. Leanne concluded by saying "I try to help Sheriff Greenwood where I can, and so does the Chief. But we don't know who might be helping Sheriff Spaulding, and Spaulding's friends now control the law firm, the bank, the judge, and most of the Town Council. Our mayor quit and moved away; we heard he and his wife were threatened.

Leanne finished up: "I've heard of some of the things you've done with your own Police Force, not to mention the legend of the 'Iron Crowbar' and your meteoric rise to the top. And that's why people around here are scared of your presence. Your mother was up here a short while ago, and I think she got wind of some of the things going on. Is that why you're here?"

"No," I said, putting the clue I'd just received into its compartment, "I came up to investigate some things in connection with my father's old law firm. Not really any big deal, as far as I can tell, just some hacked files. But there is one thing I'd like you to help me with, if you don't mind. Can you get me into the vaults that have the old physical legal papers that my dad filed away for and with the county? They're in the Courthouse and where the evidence rooms are."

"No, I can't get you in there." said Leanne. "It's always two-man control in there. However, we still have some friends in the Courthouse. But how you're going to get in there without being seen is another matter entirely."

"Oh, that shouldn't be a problem." I said. "The Courthouse is closed for the weekend, is it not?"

"Yes, but the DMV and tag office are open until noon, and there are people milling about." Leanne replied.

"Oh well," I said, "probably nothing anyway." Just then, two ladies approached our table. One was my mother. I was having a bit of trouble believing who the other was.

"Melina?" I said. "Pardon my surprise. Nice to see you." I introduced Leanne.

"Ah yes, I remember Leanne." said my mother with, shall we say, a bit less than her usual charm and enthusiasm.

"You're looking very well, Mrs. Troy." Leanne said, unperturbed by Phyllis's attitude towards her. "And Melina, you're Don's wife, aren't you?"

"Ex-wife." said Melina. "Long story, but he's married to my sister now, and I'm married to his boss."

"Of course," I said, "her sister, being my wife, is my real boss. Melina, I don't know if you met Leanne, she was a bit older than me in school. She's with the Apple Grove Police now. Would you ladies care to join us for lunch?"

I think my mother would've declined, but Melina said "Sure." and sat down, all but forcing Phyllis to do so. Melina and Leanne did most of the talking, at least Melina had Leanne do a lot of talking about Apple Grove. In addition, Melina ate a staggering amount of food, and I didn't keep up. Is she pregnant again? I wondered. She didn't appear to be, but who knows.

Our check was brought to the table, along with orange slices. The woman that brought them, a lovely older Asian woman, presented me with an extra fortune cookie.

"Special fortune for the gentleman." she said, bowing. She then quickly went away. I took out the fortune cooking from its wrapper and broke it open, then read the fortune. It read:

"Iron Crowbar should consider taking helicopter flying lessons."

"Er, ma'am..." I said, looking up, but the woman was gone. As I got up, a young girl came up. "Do you know who that lady was, the hostess, the older lady?"

"Ah, so sorry, sir, I do not know of any lady. Our hostess is at front desk, sir." she said. I looked over. The woman at the front counter was not the woman who'd given me the fortune cookie.

"Is there another hostess, another older woman?" I asked the girl, as well as a second girl that had come over.

"So sorry, sir, no such lady here." said the second girl. I realized I was going to get nowhere fast trying to find the mysterious woman.

We paid our bill and left. I had shown my mother the piece of paper, and she had gasped and shaken her head in surprise. As we went into the parking lot, I noticed something... the trunk of my mother's car, that I had been driving, was open... and a young, slender Latino man was going through the trunk!




Secrets of Apple Grove Ch. 02



"Hey! Stop right there!" I shouted. I began running at him. "Police! Stop! ¡Alto!" The young man dropped the (plain black) tire iron he was carrying and ran away. He was tremendously fast, and I had no hope of catching him, and he fled between some buildings and was gone.

I came back to the car, where the women were waiting. "Okay, let me get a plastic bag and put this tire iron in it. I'll have someone at our Crime Lab look for fingerprints." I suited the word to the deed, getting a large plastic bag that my mother had brought, meant for dirty clothes but now serving a greater need.

"Any idea who that was, son?" Phyllis asked.

"What do you think he was looking for?" Leanne asked.

"My laptop." I said. "I put it in the trunk when I left the law office, but before getting to the police station I pulled over and got it and put it under the back seat." Opening the left rear door, I pulled the seatback up slightly. There was a space there, where I'd secreted my laptop. "Okay, I'll take Leanne back. Melina, Mom, do you want to follow us into town?"

"Why don't we go back to the hotel room first?" my mother said to Melina.

"Good idea." Melina said. "Don, do you want me to keep that laptop for you?"

"No, I've got it." I said. "By the way, Leanne... is there a Wal-Mart near here?"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Back at Apple Grove Police Headquarters, I went inside with Leanne, hoping to find a secure internet connection, so I could transmit the contents of the laptop to my own Headquarters' servers. Leanne led me to her office, which contained such a connection.

"You can sit here, at my desk." Leanne said. I came up to her and slid my arms around her.

"You know," I said, "we haven't had a chance to renew our old acquaintance." I leaned over and kissed her right on the mouth. She didn't resist, but she didn't really respond, either.

"I can see that you're still as aggressive as you were when we were younger." Leanne said with a smile. I just kissed her mouth again, letting my tongue slip past her lips and over her tongue. We deeply kissed for a long minute as I tried to maneuver Leanne around to sit or lie down on the edge of her desk. But there, she stopped me.

"Okay, stud," she said, "you've got to get that information into your computers, pronto. Besides, what would happen if your mother came in?"

"That never bothered you before." I said with a grin, but the moment was over as Leanne slipped out of my arms. I went to work as she left the office, saying she was going to use the restroom.

Though the line was theoretically secure, I still used PGP-style security layers on top to transmit all the data I'd obtained from the law office onto TCPD servers under my personal seal. Then I got out my purchase from Wal-Mart: a burner phone. I set it up using the activation card, giving the name 'Jean-Paul Michaux'. I then used the burner phone to call a number, leaving the message that I was in Apple Grove, I needed help, and describing what I needed. 

Once all that was done, I went into the main area, where Leanne, the Chief, and a couple of uniformed officers were talking. The Chief introduced me to the other officers. They were talking about the murder found that morning.

"Guy from Providence Springs." one officer was saying. "Black, 56 years old, did mechanical work on BigAgraFoods hay-bailers. No idea why he was found so far away from home, no motive yet for his murder."

"How did he die?" I asked.

"Beaten over the head with what looks like a tire iron or a crowbar, something heavy and metal." the officer said. "Head was smashed to a pulp. He was identified through fingerprints."

Just then, there was a hush over the Station. I turned to see a man in a brown uniform of the Sheriff's Department enter the room. He was a bit older than me, maybe his late thirties, lean and toned. His hair was a dark red, and his face was angular and had a natural mean look to it.

"Who are you?" he snarled at me.

"Sheriff, this is--" the Chief started.


"I asked him." the Sheriff said, deliberately interrupting the older Chief of Police as he pointed at me.

"My name is Commander Donald Troy, and you must be Sheriff Spaulding." I said.

"I know who you are, Troy." said Spaulding. "And I don't give a damn if you grew up here or not. In the here and now, you're out of jurisdiction. You're not a 'Commander' here, Troy, you're just a piece of dog shit. And you're unlawfully carrying a gun in my jurisdiction. Give me your gun, slowly. Now." His hand went to his own gun.

I slowly reached into my pocket and withdrew my credentials, which included my Federal Firearms Carry Permit. I extended my arm, displaying the card.

"Federal Firearms Carry Permit, Sheriff." I said. "I'm entitled to carry my gun in this jurisdiction or any jurisdiction within the United States of America... and I will not relinquish my arms to you nor to anyone else."

"Like hell, you won't." the Sheriff said. Chief Sims stepped up between us.

"Sheriff, the man has a Federal carry license." the Chief said placatingly. "Now I'm sure you don't want any problems about that, like having the FBI come in over something as trivial as trying to disarm him over that."

"You telling me this guy is a Fed?" Spaulding asked, his eyes looking at me with even more open hostility.

"No, Sheriff," said the Chief, "but he's got a Federal permit to carry, and he's a law enforcement officer that grew up around here. Just let it go, Sheriff."

Spaulding considered the Chief's words, then glared at me and relented. The tension in the room subsided somewhat. "All right. But I'll have people keeping an eye on him." With that, the Sheriff turned and was about to leave. Despite my better judgement, I couldn't resist:

"Sheriff," I called out, "I heard you had a murder in your county last night. If you'd like any assistance in solving it, I'll be glad to help out while I'm here."

The Sheriff turned, a very ugly look on his face. "You stay the fuck out of my business, asshole." he said venomously. "I'll investigate my cases as I see fit, and I don't need your fucking help. If I see you poking your fucking nose where it doesn't belong, Troy, I'll blow your god-damned head off." With that, Sheriff Spaulding turned and stalked out of the building, furious with anger, his face beet red.

"Good grief, Donny." the Chief said, sheer amazement in his voice. "You just about made his head explode when you offered your help, there."

"Funny, that." I said. "This county has some real problems, don't it... some real problems..." I noticed the look on Leanne's face. She was totally shocked, and I could tell it was at the way I'd stood up to the Sheriff.

Part 10 - Rhymes With Apple 

"Okay, thanks Sandra." Cindy Ross said into her cellphone. She and Teresa were at the public park, watching kids on the playground and young adults on the disc golf course.

"That was Sandra Speer of the FBI." Cindy said. "They had the nearest FBI office to here check out that plane that took off with our perps. Seems that a plane matching the description landed at a small airport about 75 miles north of here. That airport has a museum of old planes, and it's run by a retired Delta Airlines pilot."

Cindy continued: "The two guys in the plane from here got off and then got into another one, a larger one, and took off... which made the museum guy take notice, as that was what the Commander would call a 'strangeness'. As he went to check out the plane that was left, he saw smoke coming out of it, and it was soon engulfed in flames. He called the FBI himself; apparently he knows someone in the nearest office. They were already on the alert, and called Jack Muscone."

Teresa nodded. "And I did notice that Don's wife provided us with transportation to get here, keeping us relatively safe. So something's up. You talked to Don. Did he say anything?"

"No." Cindy said. "He's up in his boyhood town of Apple Grove, investigating something. I suspect that has his full attention."

"Wow, he left Town while we were already on leave?" Teresa asked, understanding the implications of that. "Whatever it is in his hometown, it must be huge."

"Yep." Cindy said, then added with some disparagement, "Something else he won't tell us about, I'm sure."

"He tells you a lot more than he tells me." Teresa said. "Of course, he's working with me to try and get rid of that fat ass Sharples."

Cindy didn't reply, but tried to train her mind to think as the Iron Crowbar would. But nothing came to her, so she said "Is there a Wal-Mart or a sporting goods store anywhere near here? Let's go buy a couple of frisbees and play this disc golf course."

"It's something to do." Teresa said, acknowledging that there simply wasn't much to do in this little town. Not much had changed in the years since she'd left this place...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

EMT Charlie Strauss was sitting with me and EMT Marty Robbins at the Fire Station next to Police Headquarters. We were in a small back office that served as a conference room.

"Charlie," I said, "now that you're out of my Town & County, I'd like for you to tell me what was going on with the Fire Department and EMTs in my County. I know there are problems, but can't get anyone to elaborate. I'll keep your name secret, but maybe I can help do something if I know what I'm dealing with."

"You should've run for Sheriff, then." said Strauss, then caught himself. "Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that like that."

"I know what you mean," I said, "and Sheriff Allgood wants to do something about it, also. He's been getting a lot of runaround."

"You should give him a crowbar, then, and let him beat the shit out of the Fire Chief and the other highfalutin officers there." said Strauss, obviously still emotional about his time with the Town & County EMS. He took a breath, sighed as he exhaled, then said "Okay, here's the deal:

"EMTs are supposed to be an integral part of a County's emergency services." said Strauss. "Most places have EMS as part of the Fire Department, and that should and does work out in most places. But for some reason, not in your County, Commander."

Strauss continued: "Just take a look at the written requirements for EMS ranks versus those for the Fire Department. EMS gets all the shit duties, having to clean the stations, then some Fire Department puke comes along, throws coffee on the floor and the Station Superintendent is there not just yelling at us, but writing us up. If a Firefighter can't make the grade, he can still hold a County job elsewhere; but if an EMT is let go, he's forbidden by County law from holding any public service job, at all, ever."

I realized that Strauss had a point as he continued: "Firefighters come up through the ranks at a reasonable pace, though not as fast as the Police. That's not a knock on you guys, it's just sayin'. But EMTs? We can't get promoted for years, and what a guy has to go through to become a Paramedic, which is like Sergeant in the Police Department, is crazy. Robbins here is the only person here who would qualify to be a Paramedic in your County, and that's not saying anything about him or the Apple Grove EMS; they just make advancement impossible in your County."

Strauss continued: "And you know about the medals, don't you Commander? We used to be separate, and had our own medals with green-edged ribbons. The Fire Department insisted we only have red-edged ribbons, given by them. The Fire Department there has more medals than any other branch of public service, but they made sure we had the fewest... and they work hard as hell to deny medals to EMTs. We can't even get an Achievement Medal out of them."

"I see." I said. "And most EMTs quit and find other jobs before getting the time-in-grade to advance."

"Yes sir." said Strauss. "But it's more: look at the leadership positions. The very highest EMS position is Chief Medical Officer, the equivalent of a Watch Captain." That was equivalent to a Police Captain, I noted as Strauss said "The CMO has to be a full medical doctor and is 'encouraged', which means required, to be on Staff at a local hospital, and do you know how hard it is to get a Staff position?"

I certainly did know, as my wife was on Staff at University Hospital, but Strauss was not finished: "And if there is no medical doctor and the CMO position is unfilled, the next grade, Deputy CMO, also has to be a medical doctor, and cannot be an Acting CMO or fill in the CMO position and represent us with the County leadership."

"What about your Union?" I asked. "Aren't they separate from the Fire Department's Union?"

"Theoretically," said Strauss, "but the Council wouldn't listen to a word they said, and the FD Union was always opposing us and the Council would take their side, every single time. Commander, I was a damn good EMT with you guys, but I didn't have a chance to do shit while I was there, and I was always being threatened with demotion or being fired... by Fire Department officers. Up here, I've got a chance to advance and we work well with the Fire Department and Police. It's night and day with what's down there."

"I see." I said. "I appreciate you telling me this, Strauss. We've lost you and other good EMTs already, but maybe I can stop the hemorrhaging and get some stuff fixed..."

I left the EMTs and went back to the Police Station. It was 3:15pm. As I went inside, the receptionist bored her eyes into me, tugging at her rune around her neck at the same time. My nod was almost imperceptible. I set my new burner phone down on the edge of the counter behind which she was sitting and made my way to the Chief's office. The Chief and Leanne were inside.

"Chief," I said, "I appreciate your help today. I'm going to go catch up to my mom, and we might head on home. If we do, it was good seeing you, and even better seeing your lovely Lieutenant here." Leanne blushed and smiled wryly as the Chief and I shook hands. Leanne was escorting me to the door and just as I was about to leave, the receptionist stood up.

"Oh, Commander, you left your cellphone here." she said.

"Oh my goodness." I said as she came around and handed me the phone... and I felt the two keys being passed with them.

"Thank you." I said as I took the phone. "Thank you very much." The receptionist smiled as I pocketed the phone and the keys and headed out, neither Leanne nor anyone else watching the wiser at the transaction that had taken place.

And ooh-wee, was the price for this one going to be high...

Part 11 - Diamond Flush 

It was the University's Spring football game, Blue vs. Silver, which marked the traditional end of Spring football practices. There were probably 20,000 fans that had come up for the afternoon football game, which was more than expected but not enough for the TCPD to make any special arrangements. Lt. Wes 'Coldiron' Masters had effected an efficient traffic plan, and all was going well.

In the President's private box were two people. They had been given the credentials by University President Sidney P. Wellman. One was Town & County Councilman Thomas P. Cook, and the other was University Regent Henry R. Wargrave.

"Tom, what I'm telling you is that I need help." said Wargrave. "The local police intercepted the raid, and this time the Iron Crowbar got it right. And my plan to get those diamonds out of the Evidence storerooms was also for nothing; someone beat my guys to the punch, and the diamonds were stolen last night."

"Yes, it was unfortunate." said Cook. "I was going to have Sharples get those diamonds back for you, but we were also too late." Wargrave could not tell if Cook was lying to him.

"Look, sir," Wargrave said, "I am up against it. The FBI is all over me, and they're becoming relentless. I might have to step out of the country for a while, just to get them off my back. We've worked together before, there's a lot of goodwill built up, and I need your connections now."

"What would you like for me to do, Henry?" Cook asked.

"Either get the FBI off me, or help me get some working capital to continue my operations while I dodge them." said Wargrave.

"Okay, I'll put something together for you." said Cook. "Money is tight for all of us. The Iron Crowbar has done more damage than even he realizes. His capture of The Silverfish and exposure of Harkins really put a crimp on us. By the way, do you know where Harkins is? He has eluded us, amazingly enough."

"No sir, I have no idea." said Wargrave. "Once I get some cash flow going, I'll flush him out for you."

"Good, we have a deal." said Cook. "Sit tight, and let me get some things going... oh look, one of our running backs just injured his knee. How do you think the team is going to do this fall?"

"I'd be ecstatic with a winning season." said Wargrave.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The first text on my police cellphone came from Tanya Perlman at 3:30pm that afternoon. It read: "Diamonds stolen from Evidence safe last night. Sheriff thinks we're not up to the task and will call you soon."

I called her and got the gist of what was going on. I told Tanya that she was doing fine, then called Myron Milton. "Myron, I need you to look up some data in two places. Keep this under wraps, but if you find anything, put it on the evidence servers and let Internal Affairs know about it." Myron said he would, and that he would call me back with his findings.

Minutes later, Sheriff Daniel Allgood called. "Don, we've got a problem down here." he said. "The diamonds you recovered the other day have been taken out of our Evidence Rooms." He went on to explain things, which was almost verbatim what Tanya had told me, but with a few extra comments about Sharples added that he knew but she didn't.

"Sheriff, Lieutenant Perlman is very sharp concerning crime scenes." I said, definitely boosting my officer to the Sheriff. "I'd put her on the scent until I get back, and she'll probably have it solved by the time I get out of this county up here."

"I'm sure she'd give it her best try," said Allgood, "but let's be brutally honest here, Don. Whoever did this defeated your safeguards. There is a great criminal mind behind this, and I mean no disrespect to your Detectives when I say it may be out of their league."

"Daniel," I said, deliberately using his first name, "we'll talk about the quality of my officers, which is top-notch, when I get back. Also, there's two things you need to do until I get back. First, you need two officers guarding the doors to the Evidence Room, stationed in the hallway, 24-7. Not upstairs, but downstairs, in the hallway. I'll call Lt. Masters and let him know what I need of him, as well. We'll fix the weakness when I get back."

"Okay," said Daniel. "But what about the diamonds?"

"Oh, don't sweat those." I said nonchalantly, trying not to laugh outwardly as I was inwardly.

"What?!?!" Daniel roared into the phone. "Don, you do know what those diamonds are worth, don't you?"

"Yes sir." I said. "They're not worth a damn thing. I've got to run. We'll get it resolved when I get back."

With that, I disconnected the call.

To be continued.



Secrets of Apple Grove Ch. 03



The chronological order of my stories is as follows:

Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, The Murdered Football Player Series, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story, The Case of the Black Badge series, A Case of Revenge series, Teresa's Summer Race, The Trilogy series, Dark Side Of The Force series, Caught In The Act series, The Phyllis Files 1-2, Case of the Murdered Bride series, The Credit Card Caper series, The Phyllis Files 3, The Hot Wives Investment Club series, Seriously Inconvenienced series, Case of the Paper Trail series, Christmas Mystery Theater, The Porno Set Mystery series, The Medical Murder Mystery series, The Eightfold Fence series, The Phyllis Files 4, Pale Morning Light series, Silverfish series, Cold As Ice series.

Secrets of Apple Grove, Ch. 01-03

Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

*****

Part 12 - Apple of Her Eye 

When I got back to the hotel in Rome in the late afternoon of Saturday, April 11th, my mother Phyllis was asleep and Melina was reading a book on, of all things, metaphysics. She watched as I got out the tire iron the perp had dropped when breaking into the trunk of the car, as well as a kit bag of police crime scene items. I applied a light dusting of powder to the tire iron and applied a UV light.

Fingerprints glowed brightly. I snapped photos of the fingerprints with an app on my police cellphone and transmitted the data to the TCPD. Moments later I had a response from the program that had connected to our local database as well as the FBI's national database.

"Wow." Melina said. "Not like the old days, eh?"

"Not at all. And the answer is already back." I said as I looked at the information that had just arrived. "Okay, this perp is Juan Gomez, an illegal alien that has been arrested four times for DUI, deported twice and come back. His last known address is in Texas, nowhere near here."

"Gonna put out an APB for him?" Melina asked.

"I..." I started, then paused. "You know, I don't think I want to do that, not just yet."

"That's probably a good idea, son." said a sleepy voice from behind us. My mother was waking up.

"Mom, glad you're awake." I said. "I need to talk to both of you." I first got out my bug-finding device and swept the room. There were no bugs detected, but I still turned on the TV very loud and spoke quietly to the two women.

"I've obtained keys that will let me break into the file room at the Courthouse." I said. "I intend to go in tonight and find any files that might be of interest to us."

"But Don," my mother said, "they just had an attempted break-in, and foiled it. They'll be on the lookout for you doing just that, also."

"I'm sure they will be," I said, "but this isn't our Town & County. It'll be easy getting in and back out, even if they're waiting, and even if I trip an alarm that I didn't catch when I cased the building."

"You cased it?" Phyllis said. "That's even worse. I'm sure they're watching you son, and they'll have seen you doing that."

"I know, Mom." I said. "In fact, I'm counting on it. But getting out will be okay. I think they've forgotten something: that I grew up here. One thing my dear sister Elizabeth told me was about the secret passage under the Courthouse, which had been an old storm drain. As of my Junior year of High School, it was still there." My mother just smiled in understanding.

"What if it's been filled in?" Melina asked. "Or what if they do realize you might know, and set a trap to catch you?"

"Ah," I said, "that is where you come in, Melina. I should tell you now, and you too, Mom, that I believe there are connections to Jonas Oldeeds and his organization in this. My father did more legal work for them than you may have realized, Mom. If what I find tonight is what I'm hoping and expecting to find... we may have a thread we can pull that will ultimately unravel the whole corrupt organization."

"Then count me in." said Melina, her eyes becoming jet. "I'd love to do them damage." No one in the room had to say out loud the enormous damage that my ex-wife had already done to that organization... by shooting dead its leader, the Reverend Jonas Oldeeds himself.

"Can you get a tranquilizer gun?" I asked Melina.

"Yes." she said. "And some radios of a frequency local police forces should not know anything about, much less have access to. If you do get caught, Don, destroying that communications device will be your first priority."

"And probably my last one." I said. "Sheriff Spaulding and his posse will be shooting to kill."

"Oh my." said Phyllis. "Son, if it's this dangerous, is it really necessary?"

"Yes, Mom." I said, then added to distract her, "By the way, did you find out anything else today?"

"No, dear." my mom said. "The police are very actively monitoring Apple Grove, and many of my old friends are seeing police drive slowly by their homes. I cannot believe this town has become something from a Soviet gulag, right here in America!"

"I hear you." I said. Melina excused herself to go make her arrangements.

"Mom," I said quietly, "what did you hear about that murder, the one discovered this morning?"

"Junior Biggs was his name." Phyllis said. "His son Tyrone was a Freshman football player when you were a Senior." I remembered Tyrone, he was a four year starter at running back. He'd gone to a Division-II college, but had fucked up and failed a drug test.

"Junior Biggs was the NAACP guy in Providence Springs." Phyllis said. "My friends think a group of men went and got him, murdered him and dumped him in that field, though no one is sure why. Intimidation, maybe. But definitely racial in nature and intent."

"That's why I didn't want Melina hearing about it." I said quietly. My mother nodded in understanding. "Okay, Mom, what do you suggest as a diversion that will allow me to get into the Courthouse?"

"I very strongly suspect," my mother said astutely, "that if you were able to get keys to the building and evidence rooms, then whoever your benefactor is will also provide a diversion at the right time. It's up to you to see it and take advantage..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"We have some time to kill." said Melina as we returned to our hotel room after eating supper. We'd all observed the Rome Police Department cruisers watching the hotel from a distance, and knew we were under observation.

"Any ideas what we can do to pass the time?" I asked, seeing that special gleam in my ex-wife's eyes.

"I have a very good idea." said Melina. "Last time we were up here in Apple Grove, I watched you fuck your mother, Don. And I want to see it again. I want you to fuck your mother, right now."

"Mmmm, sounds like a good idea." I said, approaching Melina. "But you're going to have to participate." I slid her black shirt off of her luscious body, exposing her firm abs and her delectable breasts.

Then I went over and began undressing my mother as Melina came behind me. She reached around and undid my belt, opening my pants, as my mom undid the buttons of my shirt. Soon, we were all naked and moving to the bed.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I was lying on my back, my legs spread, and my mother Phyllis between my legs. My mother was sucking my iron-hard, throbbing cock. Melina was on my left side, and her mouth and mine were locked in a deep kiss, our tongues twining in delicious battle.

I felt an extra excitement, a tingling feeling alive inside me as my mother's mouth slid up and down my cock. Perhaps it was the danger of the mission; perhaps it was the excitement of fucking my own mother with my ex-wife watching and kissing me. In addition, one of my hottest fantasies and realities was having one woman suck or fuck me while another woman and I made out with deep hungry kisses. And this threesome was getting very hot.

"Why don't you come in my mouth and take the edge off." my mother said, realizing how hot I was and so close to climaxing. She went to work on my cock and balls, sucking deep and hard, jacking my shaft with her small fist, her other hand cupping my tightening nuts. I moaned into Melina's mouth as I felt the intense pain and ecstasy of release overcome me, and seconds later I was firing my jism into my mother's throat.

"Mmmffff!" Phyllis moaned around my cock as she greedily swallowed the thick spurts of salty semen that were shooting from my cockhead. She voraciously sucked all of the come out of me until the pulses of my meat finally subsided.

"God damn! that was good!" I gasped. Phyllis just smiled happily, her lips coated with her son's cum.

"Lie back, son." my mother said. She then straddled my face and planted her sopping wet pussy right over my mouth. I began licking her labes as I felt another warm, wet mouth envelop my cock... Melina was cleaning me up, sucking out the remnants of my heavy load.

"Did you take that gray viagra, son?" Phyllis asked as I ate her pussy. I gave a thumbs up, as I couldn't really say anything.

Moments later, I was ready for action again. "Okay, Don, I want you to lie on top of your mother in the missionary position, and I want you to fuck the living shit out of her." I had no problem obeying those orders.

Phyllis rolled over onto her back, her shapely legs spread obscenely wide, her pussy wet, her labes engorged. I mounted my mother and felt a hand reach down to insert my cock into her. It took a second to realize that it was Melina's hand helping us.

"Ohhhhh!" my mother gasped as my cockhead found the mark and penetrated past her labes. I pushed in hard, my meat slicing deep into her pussy until I bottomed out, the loud smack of my balls against my mother's ass matching the groan from all three of us.

I began to pump in and out of my mother, fucking her with raw, lusty power. I had hooked her legs under my arms, and she was almost bent double, helpless to resist my powerful 'assault' as I plowed her furrow with deep intensity. It felt absolutely fantastic, and as I looked down, the sight of my own mother's face contorted in ecstasy as our loins merged again and again excited me to new levels of desire.

*CHOCK!* *CHOCK!* *CHOCK!* *CHOCK!*

The sounds of raunchy, physically powerful sex filled the room as I shoved my meat into my mother as hard as I could, violently copulating with her as I tried to reach the crest. It took a few moments, as I had already come hard once, but then I felt Melina on the bed beside us, her hand stroking my body, feeling up my ass.

"Mmm, Don," Melina said, her voice a husky whisper. "You're in even better shape than when we were married. I like this hard ass of yours." I leaned over to my right and shoved my mouth onto Melina's, and we kissed hard as I relentlessly fucked my mother.

Phyllis had come twice as I fucked her, and I finally felt the first pangs of pressure building up. "Are you getting close?" Melina asked, a wicked sparkle in her eye. I just nodded and she said "Here, let me help." I felt her hand probing my ass, then her lubed-up finger sliding into my rectum! She quickly found the spot she wanted, my prostate, and began rubbing. I came apart at the seams.

"OH GOD, I'M COMING!" I gasped out as I felt my cock pulsing hard, shooting what seemed like a gallon of cum into my mother's clenching cunt. Gray mist swirled behind my eyes, flashes of color on the edges. When I could finally see again, I was collapsed on top of my mother, both of us gasping to catch our breaths. I turned my mother's face to mine and gave her a deep, long kiss.

"Now that was beautiful to see." Melina said. "Okay, let's get showered and plan out this crazy raid..."

Part 13 - Rhymes with Diamonds 

"Lieutenant Perlman, can you come to Classroom 'E' so I can show you something?" asked Myron Milton. Tanya was at her desk in the MCD room. Her office, and Teresa's also, looked like a tornado had hit them as they were being reconstructed and made larger.

"Sure, Myron." she said. She followed him around the hall into the Classroom. Myron set up his computer.

"I wanted you to see this before I give it to I.A." Myron said. He showed Tanya the digitally recorded video that the Iron Crowbar had asked him to obtain. Tanya groaned.

"Oh, this is going to suck." Tanya said. "We have to formally inventory everything in that building to make sure nothing was disturbed, or else the evidence will be no good at their various trials."

"They're having to do that for the Evidence Rooms, also." said Myron. "This perp ha killed us with the man-hours we're having to expend. Should I give it to I.A.?"

"W.W.I.C.D... what would the Iron Crowbar do?" Tanya asked, more to herself than to Myron.

"With respect, ma'am," Myron replied, "the Commander is in a position to make command decisions on things like this. We're not."

"Play that tape for me again." Tanya said. Myron did so, and Tanya watched. The footage was taken from a streetlight camera that overlooked the entrance to the Crime Lab building, just south of Police Headquarters and on the other side of the secure parking lot. The front of the Building was not enclosed by the parking lot fence, but faced the street. 

At about 1:30am on the morning of the diamond heist, a motorcycle drove up the street, with two slender, leather-wearing, helmeted persons aboard. It parked across the street from the building, in a copse of trees that was just out of sight of the camera. A moment later, the two figures crossed the street on foot, still helmeted. Tanya immediately noticed the slender frames of the persons and the jutting out of their upper chests: these were very likely two women.


"They drive away about 2:45am." said Myron, showing the tape of the motorcycle coming out and racing down the street, passing under the camera and giving Tanya a good view of the two persons aboard. Yep, women... and one of them very large-breasted.

"Is that motorcycle familiar to us?" Tanya asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes ma'am." said Myron. "I am sure that this is the same motorcycle that drove through Courthouse Square and whose driver wanted to kill Brody and Gunn. But unlike last time..." He let the sentence hang.

"Unlike the last time, there are two of them." Tanya said.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Karen Warner Harlan entered the small apartment on the west side of Town, which was in the same complex where Jack Burke had taped his matings with some of the hottest Trophy Wives in the County. With her was the Iron Crowbar's sister Elizabeth. Waiting inside the apartment were Thaddeus Ward of Ward Harvester, and the fourth member of their group... Number 4.

"We've got 'em!" Karen said excitedly as the four partners in crime (literally so) sat down at the dining room table. She opened a small cylinder and pulled out a dark purple velvet cloth. It opened as she lay it down on the table, and the brilliant diamonds sparkled in the light.

"Did you recognize my associate?" Number 4 asked as he put a jewelers' eyepiece magnifying glass to his eye and began examining the small, clear crystals.

"No sir." Karen said. "She kept her helmet on the entire time."

"And you both checked to make sure no transmitters or homing devices were added to these gems?" asked Number 4.

"Yes." said Elizabeth. "I checked and found nothing, and one of my young henchmen has some sophisticated tools. He checked also, and found nothing."

"Good." said Number 4, continuing to examine the purloined stones.

"Ah, this is a brilliant moment." said Ward as he looked at the sparkling objects, his own eyes sparkling at the thought of their worth.

"Pun not intended, I'm sure." Elizabeth said with her sarcastic wit. Ward gave a short bark of laughter... which was cut short as the other man groaned.


When he examined the stones under the eyepiece, the letters "CZ" could clearly be seen inside the diamonds. They were cubic zirconia... fakes. The letters "CZ" are sometimes embedded in fake stones so that they do not fool jewelers, and these stones were an example.

"Always two-man control on these?" Number 4 asked, looking up at the women.

"At least two persons." said Karen Warner Harlan. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"I'm afraid so." said Number 4. "These are cubic zirconia. Fakes." A large number of unprintable curse words were used by the group in reply.

"How?" Karen asked as she recovered from the shock, having looked herself and seen what her associate had seen.

"Ohhhhh, shit." Elizabeth said, understanding. "My dear baby brother."

"Yes, I believe you are correct." said Number 4. "Your brother must've switched these with the real diamonds. He has indeed anticipated and defeated us in mental combat today."

"God! I hate that son of a bitch!" Karen Harlan spat. Then she remembered and turned to Elizabeth and said "No offense to your mother, of course."

"Oh, please feel free to offend her. My mother is one nasty bitch, and a bitch in heat all the time." Elizabeth said with a sneer on her face.

"What do you think he did with the real diamonds, Number 4?" asked Ward. Number 4 had been checking again for any bugs, transmitters or homing devices, but found none.

"My guess would be that he had the FBI take possession of them." said Number 4. "Our people in the TCPD said nothing about any other diamonds or other valuables secreted in the safe. The Iron Crowbar probably substituted the cubic zirconia right when he uncovered the real diamonds, and left these as a trap. Fortunately, it doesn't set us back... though we could've used the money."

"Yes." said Elizabeth. "Well, folks, I have to go and save our operation in my hometown of Apple Grove. My dear baby brother has gone up there, and I don't think the locals are smart enough to handle him. I'd let them get hung out to dry, but they're helping the organization of my beloved Jonas Oldeeds, so I'll be off."

"While you're up there..." Number 4 said. Elizabeth nodded as he finished his request.

Part 14 - Worms In The Apple 

I had not forgotten the terrain of the county, and the farm road I took to Apple Grove was not being monitored by Police. I made it into town, parking behind the First (and Only) Methodist Church, the church of my parents back in the day. I scanned the area with my night-vision binoculars, which I'd had the foresight to bring with me. There was no one hiding anywhere that I could see.

I exited the car and stealthily made my way to the Courthouse square, playing the shadows, strangely wondering just how did The Batman expect to play the shadows while he was always being followed by Robin in his yellow, red and green tights?!?!

Observing the Courthouse building, I noticed that three of the four entrances from outside were well lighted, with only the north entrance shrouded in darkness. I again used the night-vision device and easily saw the four Sheriff deputies hiding between two buildings across the street from that darkened entrance.

So, how to get in? I wondered. One key would open any of the four outer doors, the other would open the secured door to the file rooms. And then I saw it: on the south side, there were steps to the main door, and under the portico were stairs leading down to a basement door!




Secrets of Apple Grove Ch. 03



Just then, the sounds of fire truck sirens could be heard, followed by the two engines rolling out towards the south, towards where the railroad junctions were. I would find out later that someone had set an empty warehouse on fire. At the time, all I knew was that this was my diversion. I ran at top speed to the steps and under the portico as police radios were alerting the Apple Grove authorities of the fire. Shrouded in darkness, I tried the key in the door. It worked!

Once inside, I used the night vision binoculars to make my way down the halls to the County Clerk's office. That door was unlocked, to my surprise, and I went in. I knew that I could have tripped a burglar alarm by now, so I hurried into what looked like a back storeroom. Stairs led down to a basement door, which was metal and secured.

I'd received a most interesting text on my burner phone earlier, just a set of numbers. They happened to be the combination of the spin-dial in the door. I was inside the door within a few seconds, closing it behind me.

My mother and I had long since discussed the time frame of my father's possible filings, and some of the law firm files had also gleaned the information. So it did not take long to get to the right files in the labyrinth of the basement storeroom.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Okay, he went in." said a Deputy to Sheriff Spaulding, who was staked out to the west of the Courthouse, and two blocks over. Spaulding could hear through the earphones attached to his police radio. "Didn't use the unlit north door, though." the Deputy added. "He went into the South basement door."

"Roger that." said Spaulding. "Put out the word that police are to discontinue using all frequencies to talk about that fire. We almost missed Troy because of all the chatter." A second later the Deputy put out the word, and all police radio chatter ceased.

"Won't be long." said Spaulding quietly to the Deputy with him. "When he comes out of that manhole over there, we're going to shoot him dead, see what we can find on his body, then take him and dump him over in Providence Springs and later claim the niggers murdered him."

"Excellent plan, Sheriff." said the Deputy. "But can I ask one question? How in the hell is he going to get into the Courthouse? That piece of shit we caught the other day couldn't pry the doors open with a crowbar."

"He must have keys." said Spaulding. "Which means we have a mole... an enemy among us."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I found the files for the Victory Christian Ministries charity. I used my personal cellphone to photograph the pages of the legal filings. A couple of title deeds of properties bought and sold, some charity event permits, some filings... ah, the incorporation of the charity. I began reading the names of the officers of the incorporated charity...

"Oh my God! Yes!" I gasped out loud, then silently exulted. Yes! Yes! Yes! I thought to myself as I took a couple of photos of the filed papers. I then took the entire file, turned to the cabinets on the other side, noted the cabinet number of the one I was opening, and stuck this file folder in the very back of the cabinet. If anyone found it, they'd think it was a misfiling... and I doubted any perps would find it at all if they were looking in what should be the correct place.

Time to go, I thought to myself, still exulting at my findings. I went to the far end of the filing room. Sure enough, the old drain was still there, covered by a manhole cover. Using my crowbar (oh yes, of course I brought it with me!), I was about to open the manhole when a glint of bright metal caught my eye. Examining it closely, I saw it was a freshly cut scratch in the manhole cover. I knew what it meant.

"They know." I whispered into my radio. "They know." I then opened the manhole and descended into the passage below, reaching up to ease the manhole cover back into place.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Melina heard the warning on her radio. She had been hiding in the backseat of Don's car when he drove in, and after he'd exited she had eased herself out the passenger side. Her own night vision goggles, far more sophisticated than Don's binoculars, immediately showed the hidden people in several places around the Courthouse. Don very likely had been observed entering the building.

But they did not see her as she went the other way in the shadows of the church, then circled around to the west side, well past the police and fire stations. Sure enough, there was Sheriff Spaulding and another man watching the manhole cover.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Won't be long now." Spaulding said. "Our listening device caught something garbled like 'Oh my God', then I heard the manhole cover clang into place. Get ready..."

Spaulding suddenly peered into the darkness, straining to hear. "Did you hear something?" he asked.

"No--" said the Deputy just as a tranquilizer dart shot from an air-gun struck Spaulding in the neck, injecting its powerful sleeping agent. The Deputy did not have time to consider what he had seen; a dart slammed into his neck an instant later.

Only one of the very best crack shots in CIA history could've so accurately placed those darts in their victims' necks from the distance they were fired. And indeed, one of the very best crack shots in CIA history had just made those shots.

Just in time, too. A moment later the manhole cover opened, and a man in black emerged, his clothes filthy with mud and grime. He observed the two unconscious LEOs.

"Thanks for helping with that." I said.

"My pleasure." Melina said. "Let's get the fuck out of here."

Part 15 - The Apple of Eve 

"Someone has been in here." my mother said as we all got back to the hotel. She'd been hiding in the car, too, with my gun, as the last-gasp backup if everything went to hell in a handbasket.

"Yep." I said. "They got the computer, too." My laptop's bag was lying empty on the desk.

"Oh shit." Melina said. "Well, I'm glad you insisted on bringing your mother along. If she'd been here when they came..."

"Yes," Phyllis said, "it would not have been good for me. What about your computer, son?"

I grinned. "They took the fake computer, the one that has the tracking device." I went into the bathroom and took the top off the toilet's water container. Inside was my computer, wrapped up in waterproof plastic.

"They didn't search hard." Melina said. "We'd have found that in ten seconds flat." She did not need to elaborate on who 'we' was.

"They're amateurs." I said. "They saw the computer on the table and just took it and beat feet out of here."

Unwrapping the laptop, I took the time to download all the data I'd acquired into it and transmit that data via my cellphone hot spot to the TCPD's most classified servers, again under my personal seal and encrypted. I also filled three jump drives with identical data, well, nearly identical data...

As I worked, I asked my mom very quietly "Mom, did Dad have a safe deposit box?"

"Yes, he did." my mother said. "And I cleaned it out and brought the contents with me when I moved to your Town. I later put everything in a safe deposit box in the Federal Credit Union." I knew of that Credit Union; Laura had an account there, also.

"Did Dad have anything like computer drives or discs in there?" I asked.

"I don't know, son." Mom said. "I'll have to check. I didn't really look at what was in all the envelopes. I just put it all in a box and left."

"I'd appreciate it if we can check when we get home." I said. "Okay, that's done, and I'm filthy. Time to take a shower."

"I'll take one with you." Melina offered, which I immediately accepted. We took a hot shower... together. We soaped each other up, making extra efforts around each other's genitals, Melina washing my cock and balls while I hand-scrubbed her breasts, ass and pussy, noting that her pubic bush was just a thin strip "runway". We made out as we frolicked, tongues twining as our hands roamed each other... but no fucking, unfortunately.

Meanwhile, my mother had packed everything. We were not staying around any longer. "Melina, drive my mom home." I said. "As in her Town & County home, not here in Apple Grove."

"I can ride with you, son." Phyllis said, knowing what I was about to say, and trying to stop it.

"No, Mom." I said. "I've got to stay up here just a little bit longer."

"Not alone." Melina said. "It's too dangerous to stay, even for me."

"Don't worry." I said. "All that military S.E.E.R. training I had to go through will finally come in handy.

We left. I saw no police cars watching the hotel nor anywhere along the road as we drove down the highway. I followed Melina's car until we were well out of the Apple Grove area. I then pulled off onto the side of the road and watched as a few cars went by. We were not being followed.

I took a road that led west, taking a long time to circle back up to the west of Apple Grove and its county. In one small town, I found a place to park where I was well hidden from the road, and I made a call from my Police cellphone, asking the recipient for some assistance the next morning. I then turned all my cellphones off and put them in a box that would block any signals to or from them.

Having done that, I drove the car to an even better hiding place, and watched. Sure enough, a half hour later I saw a car come by, and stop right next to where I'd been before. I gasped in shock when I saw who the two men in the car were.

Fortunately I had a regular digital camera with me, not one contained in a traceable cellphone. I used the long-range lens to take snapshots of them. Having not found me, they got into their car and left. For another hour I watched, but saw no sign of them nor anyone else. I settled in for a few hours sleep...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"We have his computer." said the man. He was white and scruffy, wearing a soiled t-shirt and blue jeans. With him was a slender Hispanic man, also dirty and poorly attired.

"Good job." said Sheriff Spaulding. "Deputy, pay these guys." The Deputy gave each man a small roll of bills and escorted them out of the room.

They were in one of the shops on the main square, early on Sunday morning. There had not been a business here in some time, and it was dusty and barren. They were in a back room. Sheriff Spaulding and his Deputy still had headaches from the drugs administered to them via tranquilizer dart the night before. They'd been found by other officers and taken to the clinic that was the closest thing to a hospital, where they slept it off. Needless to say, when Spaulding woke up, he was one very pissed off man.

"Okay," said Spaulding, "let's see what the motherfucker has."

"He is that." said a woman's voice, cutting through the air. Spaulding gaped at the woman who was approaching his group. She had two young men with her, very well-developed physically, and very well armed. Spaulding knew who she represented, as well.

"He is... what?" Spaulding asked, caution filling his soul.

"A mother fucker." said the woman. "But don't worry about that. Gino, check that computer out."

"What's up with the computer?" Spaulding inquired as one of the young men attached a device to the laptop, then powered up the laptop.

"Two hundred... three hundred..." Gino said in an Italian accent, reading numbers off his diagnostic device..

"That could be the hard drive warming up." said the woman.

"Four hundred... six hundred..." said Gino.

"Shit." the woman said. "Okay, Sheriff, there's a homing device inside this computer. We have to get the fuck out of here. Leave the laptop here and let's go. Right now."

Spaulding was shocked, but as the woman and her two young acolytes bolted out the back door, he and his deputies followed quickly.

They watched from a safe distance as three cars pulled up within minutes. Twelve men, four in each car, poured out of the vehicles. All were wearing suits and sunglasses, and they were heavily armed. They came up to the shop with powerful handguns drawn, then entered the building in a manner of clearing it room by room.

"Who are they?" Spaulding asked.

"FBI." said the woman. "One of their Special branches. If they'd caught you with that laptop, you'd be going to jail on Federal charges."

"Jesus..." breathed Spaulding. "Are they onto us?"

"They're not," said the woman, then added with as much clarity as she could muster, "but my baby brother is."

"Oh yes." she said as Spaulding looked at her, his eyes wide with shock. "I grew up in this God-cursed town, too. Keep your eyes and ears open, Sheriff. If you see anyone else that even looks like an FBI agent, let your contact know. They may have to shut down Apple Grove as a base of operations."

With that, Elizabeth and her two young men left, ultimately getting out of the Apple Grove and the county. Elizabeth hoped that she would never, ever have to see this God-forsaken place again.

And she never would.

Part 16 - Providence

At Andersonville, Georgia is the Confederate P.O.W. Camp that was turned into the National P.O.W. Monument and Museum. The stockade that held 5000 Union prisoners stands reconstructed there.

At one end of the enclosure, there is a small structure, housing a spring from which water still bubbles up today. During the Civil War, the prisoners did not have enough water, and at some time during one night their prayers were answered as a bolt of lighting hit that spot on the ground. Water came forth from the spring that still flows to this day.

Something similar happened here in the town of Providence Springs at the beginning of the 20th Century. The black sharecroppers had no water, and a bolt of lightning struck the ground, bringing forth water from a spring that still streams today.

Most towns have "the other side of the tracks". Apple Grove's county went even further decades ago: "the other side of the tracks" was the west side of the county, and the town of Providence Springs. No white persons lived there, only blacks.

So when a tall, redheaded white man in gray slacks and jacket and a black pullover shirt came into the town on a Sunday morning, it was a sensation. I knew that I was taking my life in my hands, and I had absolutely no backup, no help. But it was a risk I had to take.

I ignored the stares of the people, though I observed the fear etched upon their faces. Word was that Sheriff Spaulding and his deputies were bird-dogging the Blacks of the County to the point they feared going anywhere outside the jurisdiction of the Providence Springs Police... where Spaulding would have jurisdiction over them.

I parked in front of the barber shop and got out of the car. I saw people on the edges of the streets and the windows of the shops, watching like cats too afraid to come closer, but enormously curious. I heard people talking, but as soon as I stepped in the door, silence was instantaneous.

The barber was a man in his sixties, his hair graying. He was wearing spectacles, and he was cutting the hair of a man in his late 30s or early 40s. Several black men of various ages sat in the chairs along the left side wall. To the right side, near the door, was a man near my age, getting fatter with age.

"Hello, Tyrone," I said in the silence. "Remember me?"

He looked at me for a second then said "Donny Troy?" I nodded. "Well I'll be damned. Guys, this cracker played high school football with me. He wasn't worth a shit, though."

"No, I wasn't." I said, grinning.

"So who is this white boy, Tyrone?" asked one of the men seated in the chairs.

"He's cool, brother." said Tyrone. "You remember that kid Nathaniel Jones they tried to frame down in that University Town? This man got him found not guilty." (Author's note: see The Case of the Black Badge, Ch. 01) I heard a murmur in the room, a good one.

I went over and sat down in one of the chairs, between two men, right in front of the barber. All eyes were on me, and I could sense the shock they were feeling.

Every county has a "Teacher", and I had quickly observed that the barber himself was that man in these parts. I think he knew I'd observed that as we exchanged glances.

"My condolences, Tyrone." I said. "I heard about your father being murdered. That's why I'm here. I want to help find his killers, bring them to Justice." That brought more murmurs, but they were of disquiet, unrest.

"Son," said the barber, "We appreciate your sentiment, and I know you grew up in this county. But you're out of jurisdiction now."

I smiled as I took out one of my I.D.s. "Not if I'm a consultant with the FBI." I said.

At that, the barber took the towel off of his client, the haircut already finished. "Gentlemen, clear the room." he said quietly. His voice had been soft and even, but the response was instantaneous: everyone else got up and left. I was alone with the barber.

He came around and sat down in the chair next to me. "Commander Troy... yes, I know who you are... do you realize what you're up against?"

"Absolutely." I said. "The question is if you realize what I and the FBI are truly up against."

"I've got some idea of it." said the barber quietly. "So why are you here?"

"Like I said," I replied, "I want to know what happened to Junior Biggs, and see what I can do about bringing the Crowbar of Justice against some very dirty cops around the old home town."

"You got that right, brother." said the barber. "Dirty don't begin to describe those cats."

"So why did they kill Junior?" I asked.

"We don't know." said the barber. "Junior was the NAACP guy, former County Commissioner from Providence Springs, all that. When Spaulding and his Deputies came and got him, we thought they were just going to give him a warning or rough him up; we didn't think they'd beat his head in with a tire iron."

"Did he talk about anything he saw or heard?" I asked, pressing, hoping this man would tell me what he knew.

"Some days ago," said the barber, as if reminiscing, "someone tried to break into the Courthouse. Biggs was over there; like I said, he's one of the few of our people that could go over there and they'd leave him alone. He filed some town paperwork at the Courthouse that afternoon, then came back. He said the Apple Grove Police were all over the place, patrolling, watching cars and stuff. Something was going on."

I began to see the picture. I said "The Police stopped that break-in at the Courthouse... local police, not the Sheriff nor his Deputies. That had Spaulding agitated."

"Not much gets by you, Mr. Iron Crowbar." said the barber. "Yeah, my friend in your County, the one you call 'The Teacher', he thinks very highly of you. If he didn't, you'd have been dead the minute you walked in here. You're right, the Sheriff was mighty pissed that the Apple Grove Police stopped that break-in at the Courthouse. We think Biggs might have heard or seen something while he was over there, so Spaulding and his enforcers came over and took Biggs away."

Just then, a large black man came into the barbershop. He was bald, had a tremendous physique, and was wearing sunglasses and an immaculate suit and tie, just as Martin Nash always did. It did not take me very long to deduce that this man was an FBI Agent.

"Commander Troy," he said, "I'm Special Agent Julius Jefferson of the FBI, and I'm here to escort you out of here."

"Don't mind if you do." I said, getting up. I turned to the barber and said "Thank you.", meaning more than just the information.

"Good luck to you, son." said the barber. "I don't envy you your task, and I hope I live long enough to see you succeed." I nodded and left with Special Agent Jefferson.

Once outside, I saw three other men in suits, one black and two white. Jefferson said "If you'll ride with me, I'll have one of my agents drive your mother's car. We'll get you back to Rome and get you on your way home."




Secrets of Apple Grove Ch. 03



"Thank you." I said. "Did Special Agent Muscone send you?"

"No sir." said Jefferson. He did not elaborate, and I did not need for him to. Jack's boss, the Deputy Director, was the man who was pulling these strings and extracting me from this very dangerous situation.

Things got even stranger. My luggage was transferred to Jefferson's car, and my cellphones inside their shielded box were also given to me. I went ahead and reactivated them and spent a moment responding to texts as Jefferson talked to his men.

The ride to Rome was uneventful, though I did see two Sheriff Department vehicles watching us as we drove. Once we got to Rome, the agents driving my mother's car turned south towards home, but Jefferson turned north.

"Must be an airport north of here." I asked. Jefferson looked surprised at my acuity, and just nodded.

"By the way," I said, "there was an E.J. Jefferson on my Police Force before he went to the City. Relative of yours?"

"Boss man told me not much gets by you." said Jefferson, grinning. "Yes sir, he's my cousin. Our father's are brothers. He spoke highly of you."

"Wish he'd stayed on with us." I said. "He's a good officer, and I hear he's doing well in the City." We chatted about Julius's cousin Earl for a few minutes.

Sure enough, we arrived at a small airport. I saw a gleaming Learjet with an Air Force ID number on the tail. It was not the same one that Laura had procured for Cindy and Teresa.

"The Deputy Director wanted you to fly in style." said Special Agent Jefferson. His agents had already given my luggage to the plane attendant, though I was personally carrying my laptop.

"Thanks." I said, shaking the agent's hand. "Say hello to E.J. when you next see him."

"I will, sir. Good luck."

As I boarded the plane, I said loudly "I'll bet Jack Muscone is hiding on this aircraft somewhere."

"You'd win that bet." said a voice in one of the seats in front of me. Jack Muscone stood up. "Sit down and buckle up, we're behind schedule." I sat down in the seat across the aisle from Jack and put on the seatbelt. Almost immediately we were taxiing out to the runway. We took off.

"Not a bad way to ride, eh?" asked Jack as we settled in for the trip.

"Sho'nuff." I said. "So, I take it we're going to go pick up Cindy and Teresa before heading home to wife, kids and dog."

Jack's beady eyes just looked at me, then he shook his head. "400 years ago..." he said. "Yes, that's where we're going. How in the world did you know? I know my boss said to keep this trip absolutely confidential."

"Oh, that one was too easy." I said, then changed the subject by saying "Did your guys find the fake computer with the homing device?"

"Yep, sure did." Muscone said, "but nobody was in the building when our guys got there. No fingerprints, either. Some guys in Sheriff uniforms were watching from a distance, too."

"Damn, Spaulding must've realized that the computer was bugged." I said. "Or else someone called in to him that your guys were coming."

"I think it's the former." said Jack. "We were monitoring the police and sheriff frequencies... as well as the cellphone towers in the area. Not a damn thing before the guys got there. We were already in Apple Grove, and moved in as soon as the computer was powered up. They might have had a device that alerted them to the signal."

I nodded. "That bespeaks some serious intelligence and sophistication behind them." I said. "Perhaps a Consultant of Crime was guiding Spaulding."

"There's that bee in your bonnet." Jack said, giving what was for him a grin. "And here I was, hoping you'd find some leads to Superior Bloodlines."

"Oh, I may have." I said. "And a whole lot more. All crossroads seem to lead to Apple Grove, USA. By the way, what did Sheriff Allgood say when you told him about the diamonds?"

"I haven't told him yet." Muscone said guiltily. I groaned.

"Oh, he is going to barbecue my ass, then." I said.

"Yes he is." said Jack. "He's called in a special crew from Salem, USA to do the barbecuing, too." I laughed at that one; Jack had made a funny.

Part 17 - Breach of Security

"Oh, it's so good to see friendly faces." Cindy stated as the four of us, herself, myself, Teresa and Jack Muscone, sat down to dinner at a restaurant in a town several miles away from Teresa's home town. We'd arrived in the very late afternoon, the sun beginning to sink towards the horizon. We met up with Cindy and Teresa, checked into the hotel, and then drove up to find this restaurant. Our eyes were peeled; we were not followed.

"Any new incidents?" I asked Cindy. She shook her head.

"No." she replied. "After we scared off those two, we've been keeping watch, as have the local police. Nothing unusual, no strange vehicles."

"And those would be easy to spot." Teresa said. "This town is just about dead. We two, and now you two, are the only outsiders for miles."

"Almost as bad as Apple Grove." I said.

"Worse." said Cindy. "So, how was your trip there? Find what you were looking for?"

"I think so." I said. "Did y'all hear about the diamonds disappearing from our Evidence Rooms?" The women had not heard, and so I told them what I knew.


"Nothing against Tanya," said Teresa, "but I'm surprised the Sheriff let you leave Town after Cindy and I came here."

"Yes," I said, "and it was the perfect time for the perps to strike and take the diamonds, such as they were." Jack grinned at that one, and Cindy caught it.

"Ahhhh..." she said, getting it. "Why do I suspect the perps didn't get the real diamonds, but fake ones? And that the real ones are in the possession of the FBI?"

"Not much gets by you, Crowbar 2." I said, in the form of a quotation I'd heard an awful lot.

"I'm not a Troy," Cindy said, "but Jack doesn't grin like that too often." We all laughed at that one, then began discussing the diamonds..

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Monday morning, April 13th. Teresa met up with her lawyer and they went to the Courthouse. Jack Muscone went to the airport, to use the sophisticated communications equipment on the aircraft. That left Cindy to guide me.

First we went to the property records area of the Courthouse, where Cindy looked up and noted the name of the person that had bought the lot from Teresa's father, through the lawyers, and then who had bought the property and currently owned it. The man's name was not familiar to me.

We then went to the Police Station, where Cindy introduced me to Teresa's Captain friend and to the rest of the Police Force that was there. Some of them had heard of the Iron Crowbar, and were somewhat agog that I was right there in their midst. Some good discussions about the now-resolved Silverfish cases as well as the two perps following Cindy and Teresa ensued.

About 9:30 we went by the Courthouse. Teresa and her lawyer were waiting in the gallery for their case to be called. She stepped out into the hall to speak with us.

"The lawyer says that the judge normally handles these little things pretty quickly. But he took an arraignment case of a couple of Illegal Aliens that were caught drinking and driving. But they have some high-priced lawyer representing them, and he's fighting every procedural step of the way."

"Tell you what." Cindy said. "There's something I want to show Don, and I can take him now while you wait. Call me on the cellphone when you're done."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

We'd driven around to a road that led to a field. Railroad tracks ran north-south along the edge of it, and on the other side was another stretch of grassy field. On the other side of that field were the backs of houses of a subdivision. Our car was semi-hidden from those houses because the ground fell away from the railroad tracks to a farm drainage ditch that ran alongside the tracks. Cindy pointed out the house that was a bit larger, of newer construction.

"That's the house that was built on the spot where Teresa's burned out house was." Cindy explained. "And it's where I saw that woman that gave me that vibe. Maybe she'll show up in the backyard and you can see her."

I took out my binoculars and examined the house, seeing no movement. "Well, it's not like we don't have time to sit and wait, at least for a while."

"You got that right." Cindy said. "Once Teresa's father's funeral was over, this has been one of the most boring weekends I have ever experienced. This town really is dead. So, what can you tell me about Apple Grove."

"Not much, at least not yet." I said. "I'll be sure to include you in my meetings with the FBI guys when we get back. But my mother was right in asking me to go up and investigate."

"Oh, look, there's that woman." Cindy said.

A very pretty black-haired woman had come out onto the back porch/deck of her house. She was about my age, early 30s. As she cleaned up some children's toys on the deck, I took a closer look through my binoculars.

"Ohhhh, shiiii-iiiit." I moaned.

"What?" Cindy asked.

"Come on." I said. "I'll tell you in the car. We have to get out of here, now."

"Don, what the hell?"

"Just come on!" I almost roared. "Stop arguing or asking questions and get a fucking move on!" Cindy was shocked by my attitude, and I quite frankly was tired of her questioning things instead of obeying orders. I hustled her to the car. We moved out smartly and swiftly.

"What the hell, Don?" Cindy said. "Are you going to keep this from me, too?"

"Cindy..." I said, then breathed hard, calming myself. "Sometimes, Cindy, you need to just shut up and ask questions later, and this is one of them. What I'll tell you now is that you may have stumbled onto a Witness Protection situation. I'm not at liberty to say more, even if I wanted to, so don't ask... I'll tell you if and when I'm allowed to."

Cindy was not mollified, but some sixth sense must've told her that now was not the time and here was not the place. We drove in silence back to the Courthouse.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It was 10:30am, and Teresa and her lawyer's case had still not been called. Teresa stepped out into the hall with us again.

"Sorry about this, guys." she said. "This is the same arraignment that has been going on all morning. The judge is being patient, but the lawyer for these guys refuses to waive the preliminary hearing, and has objected to turning these guys over to I.C.E. for deportation. So now the prosecutor has to lay out her case just to get to go to a Grand Jury."

"Let's go inside and watch." I said. We stepped back inside, where I nodded to the deputies in back and showed them my badge so that I could keep my gun while in the Courtroom. We listened for a few minutes as I made some observations. About ten minutes later, Cindy and I came back outside with Teresa.

"That lawyer," I said, "what firm is he with?"

"The local office of Gresham & Mason, P.C." Teresa said. "They've got a number of offices around the country, including our County and this one."

"Well I'll be damned..." I said. "Ask your lawyer if there is any way possible to squeeze your hearing in. I really need to get back home."

Teresa went in and asked the lawyer. He passed a note to the Bailiff, but the hearing continued.

Meanwhile, I found a seat in the hallway and used my personal iPhone's internet app to look up Gresham & Mason, the well-connected, politically powerful lawyers that had shown up very often in my cases. And I saw what I wanted to see... where their offices were.

"Apple Grove..." I murmured, seeing my hometown listed on their webpage.

"You must be the Iron Crowbar." said an old man that had walked up to me. My head flung up to see who it was.

"I... yes, and you are?" I asked.

"I was an Army buddy of your colleague's father." the man said. "I told her at the rest home about her father being in the military. I was surprised she didn't know, but she contacted the Army and they had a very nice funeral for him. Well deserved, too. Very well deserved."

"I appreciate you telling her." I said. "So what can I do for you, Misterrrr..."

"Oh, my name is not important to a man of your stature." the old man said, then looked at the door next to us. "Ah, I need to use the restroom here. One moment, if you please." He deftly stepped into the men's room that was just a few feet from my seat.

I felt something strange within my being. I got up and went into the restroom after the man... and felt even more perplexed. There were no other exits from the bathroom, no windows, no crawl spaces or doors in the walls or plaster roof. But the man was gone. There was no one besides me in that room...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I hardly had time to contemplate the disappearance of the old man, or even if he'd just been a 'dream within a dream', when my Police cellphone rang. To my surprise, it was Lt. Leanne Wisocky of the Apple Grove Police.

"Hey, are you still in the area?" she asked.

"No." I said. "We had to come home. Why?"

"Our receptionist at the front desk, the woman that gave you your cellphone when you left it on the desk... she didn't come in to work today. We went by her apartment, and it's empty. Her clothes are all gone, as is her car."

"Think something happened to her?" I asked.

"We don't know." Leanne said. "No dead bodies have turned up. She was always such a happy, bright person, seemed to love life. It's strange she'd just disappear without so much as calling in and letting us know if she was going somewhere. We just wondered if you had any ideas about it."

"No, nothing at all." I said. "If you know of any good friends or relatives, you might contact them to see if she's visiting them. Listen, I need to go. If she doesn't turn up in a couple of days, let me know and I'll make some contacts with the FBI and see if they can find something."

"Yes, you do seem to know the FBI guys really well." Leanne said. "Okay, so long. It was good seeing you again."

"You too... but it's too bad we didn't get to hook up again." I said, and I could feel her grin through the phone.

"We'll always have good memories of the past, Don," she said, "but I'm married and up here, and you have your life down there. The memories will have to do ya."

"Yep." I said. "Take care of yourself." With that, I hung up. I'd ascertain the status of that receptionist for my own curiosity, then let it go. I suspected she would never be seen alive in Apple Grove again.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Okay, let's have an hour recess for lunch." said the judge. He perused the notes the Bailiff handed him. "Oh, yes, that will probation. I'll go ahead and squeeze that in now." The bailiff called Teresa's father's case up. The lawyer presented the forms, explained the intestate situation, and presented Teresa's claim.

"Yes, the petition is granted." the judge said. "Bailiff, have the Clerk give Ms. Croyle the documents needed to go ahead and take the contents of the safe deposit box, so she can get home while all this is processed."

"Thank you, Your Honor." said the lawyer. He scooted out of there, followed by Teresa. It took another 45 minutes, but she got the paperwork to go to the bank. Cindy and I took her there, where the bank president cornered me for the story of The Silverfish while Teresa took possession of her father's last remaining possessions on the face of the earth.

To be continued.

So, dear readers, what is going on? And who is the woman that gave Cindy the vibe? And who is the receptionist, and what happened to her? Clues have been given, in this and other past stories! And all answers... well, some of them... will be given in the next chapter!



Secrets of Apple Grove 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, The Murdered Football Player Series, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story, The Case of the Black Badge series, A Case of Revenge series, Teresa's Summer Race, The Trilogy series, Dark Side Of The Force series, Caught In The Act series, The Phyllis Files 1-2, Case of the Murdered Bride series, The Credit Card Caper series, The Phyllis Files 3, The Hot Wives Investment Club series, Seriously Inconvenienced series, Case of the Paper Trail series, Christmas Mystery Theater, The Porno Set Mystery series, The Medical Murder Mystery series, The Eightfold Fence series, The Phyllis Files 4, Pale Morning Light series, Silverfish series, Cold As Ice series.

Secrets of Apple Grove, Ch. 01-04

Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

*****

Part 18 - Tunnel Rats

Tuesday morning, April 14th. At 8:00am I knocked on the door of the Police Chief's office and poked in my head.

"Sheriff, can we come in?" I asked.

"Oh!" said Daniel Allgood sarcastically. "By all means, Commander Troy, please do come in! Please, have a seat, make yourself at home! You too, Special Agent Muscone." I sat down quickly. Jack followed a bit more slowly.

Daniel was wearing his "western" outfit, a white western shirt, bolo tie, brown Sheriff uniform pants with darker brown piping down the side, his badge affixed to his belt. On the desk was the Stetson cowboy hat he was accustomed to wearing, with a smaller version of his Sheriff badge affixed to it. Made my Tilley hat look plain, but Daniel was still a dirty nasty Leg that had no Airborne wings to attach to his hat.

"Soooo glad you could join us again, Commander!" Daniel said, standing behind the Chief's desk. "If' you would be so kind as to condescend to tell me what's going on with this diamond heist from our Evidence Room, I'd be delighted to hear the solution to the case."

"Gladly, Sheriff," I answered, my mocking voice answering his witheringly sarcastic tone with me. "While I totally agree that the breach of the Evidence Room is a problem that we will soon solve, I can assure you that no diamonds were stolen from the Evidence Room."

"How in the--" Daniel started, then realized I was playing him, and hard. He was angry, his face red, but the gears in his mind started turning. He finally sat down, looking skeptically at me, then sighed and said "Okay, let's hear it."

"As Agent Muscone will tell you," I said, "when we recovered the diamonds at the warehouse, the SWAT team took possession of them. What no one knew was that FBI Agents Muscone and Eduardo Escobar were waiting by the SWAT paddywagon. Senior Sergeants Hewitt and Charles handed the FBI agents the diamonds, signed off on the transfer paperwork, the diamonds always under two-man control as evidence, and my guys took possession of some very nice cubic zirconia."

"You're... you're kidding." gawked Sheriff Allgood.

"No, Sheriff." I said. "I fully expected this assault to get those diamonds back. The person for whom they were intended was going to be very desperate to get them, I realized, and I'm sure he's even more desperate now. But the diamonds are safely secured in the FBI's vaults in the City, and it would take a nuclear bomb to get at them."

"That's right." said Jack Muscone. "They're part of our overall case against someone we're starting to put together some good stuff against."

"And you didn't see fit to tell me." Allgood said. It was an accusation.

"That is correct, Sheriff." I said, looking Daniel hard in the eye. "First, it was to keep the secret: only Hewitt, Charles and myself knew on the TCPD side. I didn't tell Perlman nor Ross, either."

"You didn't clear this with me, just did this on your own." Allgood said. It was an accusation and then some.

"With respect, Sheriff," I said, "I would've told Chief Griswold, I would tell the next person to become Police Chief... and I did tell the current Acting Chief of Police." (That was myself, of course.)

I added, my voice severe: "Daniel, we're not going to run to you as Sheriff with every little thing. We don't do that now. We keep you in the loop to a certain extent, but you're the political guy way above us, and you won't hear about every little raid we do or decision we make ahead of time. It was my decision to make, and I acted upon it."

"I..." Daniel said, then thought about it. "Okay, I see where you're coming from. Lesson learned: I'm not the Police Chief. But why didn't you tell me this when I called you on the phone? I might've gotten a little bit of sleep if you had."

"Because of the Evidence Room breach, Sheriff." I said. "I didn't want that getting out that we have a problem there. And before I get to that, can we call Chief Griswold to come in? He might want to see this."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Chief Emeritus Griswold's large handlebar mustaches were twitching with merriment as he listened to the story. I had gathered Cindy, Tanya, Captain Marc Aaron of Physical Properties, and Curly Goodwin of I.A., as well. I had not invited Deputy Chief Brownlee, who to my surprise remained in his office.

"Now you know how we feel, Sheriff." Cindy had said to Daniel upon hearing the full story. The Chief laughed.

"I don't blame the Commander for not telling you, Sheriff." he said. "So, Crowbar, why am I here?"

"Chief, you remember our past conversation about the possibility of a secret passage to our basement areas?" I said. "Remember that guy we caught in the Evidence Rooms, that took cyanide and had a copy of my Lieutenant badge on him? I think I now know how he got in, and how these diamond hunters got in. We didn't find it before, but I think we can now."

"Ah, yes," said Griswold, "I remember all that."

"You guys knew there was some secret passage to our secure areas?" Daniel said, "And you didn't do anything about it?"

"Oh, we looked for it." I said. "But we thought it must be in Internal Affairs, and we can't go in there. I also didn't expect a successful breach of the Evidence Room; after all, we caught the bozo in there last time. But now, I think we can find the passageway, with clues left by the perp himself. Let's go."

Everyone went downstairs. I said hello to the two officers sitting on guard duty in front of the Evidence Room door. I took out a device with a light that was like a fluoroscope and turned it on. Eerie blue sparkles appeared on the floor.

"Not a good testament to the quality of the cleaning around here, Captain Aaron," I said, "but the silver lining is that we can see where people walked. The blue specks in this light are the chemicals used in those smoke grenades they used."

The trail led to the Armory. As we went in I saw specks around the padded wall. to our right, the wall that was between the Armory and the I.T. areas.

"Okay, if the door here that leads onto the range itself is opened, it sets off an alarm." I said. I opened the door and a loud alarm sounded. The Armorer quickly came over with a key and shut it off.

"And as you can see, to our Armorer's annoyance, the alarm works very well." I said. "So, the secret door must be in this wall right here in front of the door, as the mussed up specks in this light suggest." I pulled at the padding, and to my surprise it opened on a hinge when I tugged hard at it."

"Wow, I missed this last time I checked." I said. I then started feeling around what looked like the wall and felt a knot just behind the padding next to the opened one. Pushing on it, the wall opened!

"Oooh," said Cindy, "secret passage to the Conservatory."

"Or to the Crime Lab, if I don't miss my guess." I replied. "Perlman, you're with me."

I peered into the darkness as I drew my gun, then felt inside along the wall. There was a light switch, and I snapped it up. A set of lights came on, like lights in a subway passage. A very narrow corridor led down between the walls of the Armory and the I.T. areas.

"Where does this go?" I heard the Sheriff call out behind us.

"Like I said, probably the Crime Lab building." I said. I walked forward, Tanya right behind me.

"Oh my goodness." said Tanya as she followed me into the passage. "I'm surprised how clean it is." Indeed, the concrete blocks of the walls were painted gray and the concrete floor was smooth and surprisingly clean. There weren't even any useful footprints.

"Yes." I said as we began walking down the corridor. "I think it was built to be used, but for some reason it was closed off."

Just past where I surmised the end of the Armory Range would be, the corridor angled off somewhat to the right. Tanya and I continued down, picking up the pace, hearing the footsteps of the others echoing behind us.

A turn to the left gave way to a set of stairs. We climbed them to the landing, seeing the door on the right that was obviously a wall. Pulling it open, we saw a shelf right in front of us with lab glassware on it. It was a wall to the storeroom of the Crime Lab.

I carefully moved the glassware to the sides, then crawled out, Tanya following. We then created a sensation by walking into the main Crime Lab hallway. The Crime Lab's director, Dr. Woodrow sprang out of his office.

"What the heck?" he asked. "How did you get here without coming in the door?"

"Come," I said, "let me show you."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Should we seal it up?" asked Sheriff Allgood as we met in the main conference room. Present were the Sheriff, myself, Deputy Chief Brownlee (who the fuck called him in? I wondered), Captain Aaron, Chief Griswold (at my insistence), Dr. Woodrow, and Lieutenants Ross and Perlman.

"I wouldn't." I said. "If there ever was a need to evacuate, or some kind of hostage situation or an assault on the Police Headquarters or the Crime Lab, we could use it."

"Oh come on, like that would ever happen." said Brownlee disdainfully.

"It almost happened once before." growled Chief Griswold. "When the Commander saved that baby and eliminated his nephew Ned at Ward Harvester." Brownlee and Aaron looked shocked as Griswold continued "I agree with the Commander, don't seal it up."

"We can install regular steel doors with heavy locks at the entrances." I said. "And some alarms on the doors that would notify the Duty Desk and perhaps all the Precincts's Duty Desks if those doors were opened on either end."

"I like that idea." said Sheriff Allgood. "I'll bring it up with the Council tonight. In the meantime, we'll have to rig some sort of temporary alarm system, and for crying out loud, everyone: don't go talking about this to every officer on the Force." 

The Sheriff wrapped up. "Okay, Brownlee, Aaron, Dr. Woodrow, thank you for your time. Right now, I need to talk privately with the Commander and his Lieutenants. Chief Griswold, if you would stay, I'd appreciate it."

Once everyone else was gone, Allgood had Tanya bring me and Cindy up to speed. We were shown the video of the motorcyclist and her rider for the first time.

"Ho-lee cow." I said under my breath. "Well... we now know they used that passage to get to our Evidence Rooms, so I'm not surprised at that aspect of it."

"Who are they?" asked Daniel Allgood.

I replied "Sheriff, you might remember during the Black Badge case when Brody and Gunn were arrested, then released on bail. We believe there was a plan to kill them, which was thwarted by the FBI taking them into Federal custody. This motorcycle was caught on tape riding towards the scene, with a slender rider who matches the driver of the motorcycle in this tape. This time, there are two perps."

"How did they know the passageway was there?" growled Griswold.

"I think Captain Malone knew it was there, Chief." I said. "I think he told a confederate, who then told our Enemies."

"Any idea who that might be? The confederates of Malone?" asked the Sheriff.

"No, Sheriff." I said, outright lying to him. The less people that knew this secret, the less people that might be murdered.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"By the way, Daniel," I said just before lunch, when he, Griswold, and I were alone in the Chief's office, "have you and Melina been hanging drapes?"

"What?" Daniel said, utter confusion on his face.

"Right when she and I first got married," I said, "my mother told me that our first fight would be when we tried to hang drapes."

Daniel's face reddened. He looked over at Griswold.

"Not much gets by the man, Daniel." the old Chief said, his mustaches twitching again.

"No damn kidding." Allgood said. "No, not drapes. Buying furniture. Then your wife asked her to go up to Apple Grove and keep your mom safe, so things never really got resolved."

"Send her some roses." said Chief Griswold. "And when it comes to nesting, let her win."

"Hmmm, nesting." I said, reminiscing. "And she's moody, and eating a lot... anything you'd like to tell us, Daniel?"

"No, I'm pretty sure she's not..." Daniel started, then started thinking about it.

Part 19 - The Knave of Diamonds

Lunch was at the Cop Bar, where Laura, Cindy and I watched Jack consume his double cheeseburger with gusto. That reminded me to ask my wife something.

"Laura, is Melina pregnant?" I asked. My wife looked at me funny.

"Not that I know of." Laura said.

"Even so, I foresee her making an appointment with her gynecologist soon." I said. "That being you, of course."

"Actually, she made an appointment with me yesterday, for tomorrow." my wife said. Cindy just shook her head, grinning.

"Okay, guys, we meet with my boss at 2:00pm." Jack said as he finished his cheeseburger and we polished off our dishes.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"So, do you have something for me?" asked the Deputy Director in the office normally used by Jack Muscone here in the Town's FBI office. We were meeting alone, and I could feel not only his air of power and authority, but something else: excitement.

"Yes sir." I said. I gave him one of the jump drives I'd created while in Apple Grove. This one did not contain the "extra" information, but did have everything else. "Links to the Oldeeds Group, Superior Bloodlines, and Henry Wargrave... all rolled into one."

"Excellent. Wonderful!" exclaimed the Deputy Director. It was the most emotion I'd ever seen out of him. "So, explain to me what's going on here."

"With respect, sir," I said, "perhaps I can do that at the meeting we're about to attend... so that everyone hears the same story, and I only have to tell it once."

"Sure." said the Director. "Let's go in there now." We went down the hall to a small conference room. These offices were limited in space... in fact, few people even realized the FBI had this presence in Town, because they were squeezed into other back offices.

Inside the conference room were FBI Agents Jack Muscone, Sandra Speer, Lindy Linares, and Eduardo Escobar, CIA Deputy Director (and my wife) Dr. Laura Fredricson, and recently appointed FBI Consultant Cindy Ross.

"Thank you all for coming." the Director said as he and I sat down. "Okay, Don, tell us what you found."

"Yes sir." I said. "I initially went up to my boyhood hometown of Apple Grove to investigate a cyber-attack upon law firm files that involved my father. I found that there was indeed a hack attack on files related to a charity called 'Victory Christian Ministries', a.k.a. 'VCM'. This entity was created by the Reverend Jonas Oldeeds and his organization. It was nothing more than a front for international smuggling, as well as laundering money and paying out kickbacks to corrupt politicians."

I continued: "Just so you know, I don't think my father knew of the criminal side of all this. He was a deeply religious man, and fell under the spell of Oldeeds, who was totally unworthy of anyone's trust. My father was used by Oldeeds, as were many others. My father did not do very much with Oldeeds on this VCM thing; he basically filed organizational paperwork and other legal papers. He also did that for other small entities created for Oldeeds, but so far I have not found them to be fronts for illegal activities.

"But there is more." I said. "Maybe before he died, but definitely afterwards, the existing VCM began being used by another group to funnel money into certain places. And I am becoming increasingly aware that these places are being set up as local bases for the Superior Bloodlines group."

"As you guys know," I continued, "Superior Bloodlines is dedicated to white supremacy, but unlike the Klan or redneck groups that talk a lot and use violence, these guys are working very quietly behind the scenes. My thinking is that they believe there are race wars coming, and they're gearing up to take up that battle against the militant Blacks."

"To that end," I went on, "they need arms. And the world's most well-connected and efficient arms dealer is one Colonel Sebastian Moran... well, you guys know him as Henry R. Wargrave."

"Don't you mean 'Moriarty'?" asked the Director with what was for him a grin.

"No sir." I said with as much alacrity as I could muster. "Wargrave is, or I should say was, our Moriarty's right hand man. Wargrave has been playing a double game, burning both ends of the candle at once: he was playing with the so-called 'Big Boyz', the national and international power players that go to the Bilderberg conferences and all that, while on the other hand he was working with the Shadow Man in illegal activities. I believe Mr. Wargrave was behind the recent diamond smuggling operation that my excellent Vice Detectives recently foiled."

"Yes, they did excellent work, as did you, Commander, in recovering those smuggled diamonds." said the Director, "And we agree with your belief that Wargrave was behind that. Please, continue."

"Yes sir." I said. "So while I was up in Apple Grove and its surrounding hell hole of a county, I stumbled across some things that seemed very familiar to me: a rigged election, that one for Sheriff while ours here was for a State Senator; dirty law enforcement just like once was here and was seen in Lower Alabama recently; and some attempts to lay groundwork for racial strife and even violence over time. And I think there may be the beginnings of this in another small town and county... that of my Vice Lieutenant Teresa Croyle's girlhood town."

"Oh my gosh." said Cindy. "I can see that, now that you mention it... but how did you know?"

"I'll get to that in just a minute." I said. "And Teresa's town is not yet fully infected. This little Town of mine is being cleaned up, in no small measure due to the exit from the scene of Captain Malone. But Apple Grove is imprisoned in the iron fist of this group, and it will be hard to eradicate them."

"So Apple Grove showed you where Oldeeds, Superior Bloodlines, and Wargrave all intersected?" Muscone asked.

"To a point." I said. "I'm not saying that these entities are all working hand-in-glove with each other, though Oldeeds was something of a racist himself and his organization doesn't seem to include blacks in its Flock. Wargrave was only briefly connected to Oldeeds, and through this Victory Christian Ministries charity. Then Wargrave found out about the human trafficking and disassociated himself from Oldeeds... which angered Oldeeds very much, by the way."




Secrets of Apple Grove Ch. 04



"That won't matter." said my wife Laura. "If we can tie in Wargrave to the VCM illegal activities, even if it was for a short time, it'll be enough to go after him for more things... kind of like getting 'probable cause' that allows getting a warrant for other, more serious stuff."

"True." I said. "That's what I call 'dirty pool', but you could play it that way. I think going after Wargrave on the diamonds and other things is the better play... and I think he's getting desperate and will make a play soon that will allow you to bring him down."

"That's our goal, anyway." said Jack Muscone, and the other FBI agents nodded agreement.

"Drill down further." said the Director. "How can we find these groups, particularly the Superior Bloodlines group?"

"I've been fortunate to have observed several examples of their presence," I said, "and therefore I'm able to see some patterns. They find small towns and counties, introduce agents into the police departments, and also bring in people when they can to be part of banks, on the local government councils, part of law enforcement. We still have a missing bankster from this area, one Mr. Harkins of Second National, if you'll recall." Everyone nodded.

"And we had Sergeant Carroll going to Colorado, then Arizona." I said. "I think he was trying to find a place to penetrate on behalf of this group. Anyway, once they're wired in, they begin exerting their influences. In some ways, they are like viruses infecting a cell. But there is one thing I happened to notice while in Teresa's town, and I realized it's a common thread to all of the places so far: Apple Grove, Malone's town in Alabama, Teresa's home town, and here in our Town."

I used a computer to pull up a web page and put it on the big screen on the wall for everyone to see. "This is the web page for the very powerful, politically connected law firm of Gresham and Mason, P.C. They've been defending some of the trash I have cleaned up, and they show up at the oddest times... including being the actual behind-the-scenes owners of the law firm that took over my dad's firm in Apple Grove, owning a group of lawyers in south Alabama called 'Tide and Tigers Partners At Law, P.C.', and going by their own name in Teresa's hometown and here in our Town."

"As you can see on the web page," I continued, "they have or own over 100 offices nationwide, most of them in small towns and counties, calling themselves the 'Common Man's Attorneys'... common my ass, what with the prices they charge. But I'd start looking in these towns first for signs of your white supremacy buddies."

"That's good." said the Director. "Sharp observations, too... but then again you put together the Silverfish connections to Oldeeds when the FBI couldn't do it in ten years. So... what's next? I can tell that there is a 'next' you haven't told us about yet."

I smiled. "I might as well mention it now, though I haven't really fleshed it out. I know you believe our Moriarty and Mr. Wargrave are one and the same, Director, but I believe differently. Our Moriarty is good at disguising himself. He might even be pretending to be just a businessman, or maybe someone like Wargrave's helper or assistant, and someone that lets others push him around... when in truth he is the real deal power behind the curtain."

I went on: "I think our Shadow Man is more involved with the industrial espionage cases we've seen around here the past year or two. He was heavily involved, through Wargrave, with the Corrigan Cell. I think he was using my current crop of dirty officers to intercept that diamond shipment for his own purposes... those were high grade diamonds, not meant to be put on women's fingers, but for industrial uses."

"And as my friend Lieutenant Ross will tell you," I said, "I have a list of eight suspects of who this Consultant of Crime is... the 'Eightfold Fence' for the bride, as the old poem goes. Todd Burke and Seth Warner are on that list... and Dynacorp is about to be consumed into BOW Enterprises when the Judge passes off on it in a week or two. That's a done deal, by the way: the Court has already ruled in Seth's favor, and against his sister Karen."

"Aren't Todd Burke and Seth Warner much too young to be your Moriarty?" asked Sandra Speer. "They haven't had the time to set up all the connections you claim this guy has."

"Well," I said, "I do talk of him as a man, but 'he' could be a woman. And Todd may be young, but he has been doing some very grown-up things from a young age. As a side example, some people become CIA agents at the age of fifteen. No names will be mentioned." No names needed to be mentioned; everyone except Cindy was aware Laura had become a CIA agent at the ripe old age of fifteen, and now my partner knew it also.

"Todd was also under the influence of his mother while in his teen years, and he seemed to keep his eyes open and learn a lot. Through her, he could've been making a lot of connections while very young. Certainly he was making connections with trophy wives and prostitutes during those years, using his sexual prowess. Mata Hari had nothing on Jack Burke... nor his brother Todd. I also firmly bear in mind who Todd's father is: Michael Burke, who is someone we might should be watching more than we have been."

I felt the amazement of everyone in the room as I continued: "As another example, Todd's brother Ned was a teenager and a prodigy in his teens. As to Seth Warner, he was working with his adoptive father Anthony Warner. Dynacorp is a 'big-boy' technology company and Seth was involved with it, and he now inherits it and all its connections, clients and industrial secrets. He inherits all that; he doesn't need to build it. No, everyone, I cannot exclude Todd nor Seth on account of their youth and supposed inexperience."

"Must be tough, if you think your nephew is your greatest antagonist." said Lindy Linares.

"True enough, but you know the famous quote: 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer'. I've got my eyes firmly upon Todd and his young friends. But in this discussion, we are digressing from my main point, which is that there is another group on the periphery of all this. I only have the sketchiest of details, but Karen Warner Harlan and Thaddeus Ward are a part of it, I believe. Her late husband Coach Harlan was using his athletic contacts to steer business contacts to this little cabal, and the late Angela Harlan...and you have no idea how happy I am to call her 'the late' Angela Harlan... was also part of that group and their mole within our Police Force for a time."

"Oh, I have every idea how happy you are she's dead, and I'm just as happy as you are about it." said Cindy Ross. "So how does this little Ward/Harlan group tie in to all the others?"

"I'm not sure." I said. "They may not, at least not directly. I only mention them because their names have come up in cross-links with the others. We also have State Senator Katherine Woodburn consolidating the old Nathan Allen group of thugs. Lots of work for us local cops on the beat, Lieutenant Ross."

"Thank you for that report." said the Director. "At this time, I'll let all of you know what we're doing. The decision has been made in Washington to go after and take down Henry R. Wargrave. I don't know who intercepted that diamond shipment from Wargrave before you interdicted it, Commander, but they ultimately may have done us a huge favor."

The Director continued: "And it is as you said, Commander: Wargrave is getting desperate, and he is getting sloppy. We're constantly tapping into his contacts and new money transfer accounts as soon as he creates them. This is an inter-agency operation, with both domestic, foreign and legal assets working together." By that, I knew he meant the FBI, CIA, and U.S. Attorneys of the Department of Justice.

The Director finished up, and the meeting concluded. I had wanted to talk with Laura, as we'd not really had a chance to talk the night before, but she was asked to stay and meet privately with the Director and Jack Muscone. So I left with Cindy, who I could tell wanted to talk with me.

Cindy and I had been driven to lunch and to the Federal Building by Jack, so we decided to walk back to Headquarters. As we strolled through Courthouse Square, I felt grateful that our center of Town was so much nicer than the aging facades of Apple Grove's seat of political power.

"Surely you don't think Todd or Seth is our Shadow Man." Cindy said, unleashing what had been bottled up. "Sure, they could become very powerful men in several arenas of their choosing, but the Shadow Man?"

"You tell me." I said. "You've been doing that research with my mom on my wife's CIA-secure lines." Cindy just gaped at me.

"You know about that?" she whispered. "Shit."

I smiled. "I understand, and you'll be saving me a ton of time by doing that as we work together to bust these fuckers. But I sincerely hope that my mother and wife don't think they're dealing with a mental dullard, here."

"I'm sure they don't." said Cindy. "And I was only doing that so I can help protect you when you stick your ass out too far. I really could keep you alive more easily if I knew who you think your-- I mean 'our' Moriarty is."

"If I'm not telling you something, mon ami, it is because of one thing: once you know, you'll give away that you know about Moriarty, and he will then do whatever it takes to kill you. You won't even realize the mistake you've made, and then one day I'll have to bury you, and I don't want to do that."

"Likewise, mon ami." Cindy said.

"Thank you." I said.

"You don't think he knows you know who he is, and he'll try to kill you?" Cindy said.

"He already has tried to kill me." I said. "And thanks to your dream and fortuitous phone call, he failed. And that may just have been a precaution on his part, but I'm not waiting to find out: I took some precautions to make him and everyone else think I believe it's someone else. Again, I use 'he' as if he's a man, but who knows..."

"So if he succeeds in murdering you," Cindy said, "you need to tell me who he is before then, so I can extract some serious revenge on his ass."

"I have left his name in three places." I said. "A smart-thinking person will quickly find at least one of those sources and obtain the name. Now, you are not answering my question: is Todd Burke the Shadow Man?"

"No." Cindy said simply.

"Why not?"

"Because you've left your children with him and his wife many times. You'd never, ever do that if you suspected for a moment he was the Enemy."

"That is Iron Crowbar 2 thinking, there," I said with a smile, "and brilliant thinking at that. You're right. If you're not careful, someone's going to start thinking you're related to me."

Cindy smiled at the compliment, and said "No, I'm not a Troy... as great as that would be. I'm most concerned about Todd for Teresa's sake... I think she has more feelings for Todd than she's letting on. He was the only one that convinced her to go bury her father; not even you nor I could move her, but he did..."

Part 20 - Fathers, Sons and Daughters

The two sofas facing each other in the office of Dr. Laura Fredricson had actually acquired names. Some called them the 'torture chambers', some called them the 'lie detectors', some called them the 'confessionals', while others simply feared them. It was said that to sit on these sofas caused a person to admit things they never would otherwise, and to tell the truth where they'd otherwise lie. The Iron Crowbar had even remarked how lives had irrevocably changed while people sat on those sofas.

And now in the early afternoon of Tuesday, April 14th, it was Lt. Teresa Croyle of the Town & County Police Force sitting on one sofa while Laura sat on the other one. Teresa had already framed the pictures of Alexis posing with her as a toddler and a faded one of her mother. 

She was also having the guy at the hardware store frame her father's medals and insignia, and she noted the American flag in a triangle wood-and-glass case on the bookshelf behind Laura's desk; it had been the flag draped upon Dr. Heinz's coffin. Teresa had obtained a similar case for the flag that had covered her father's coffin and been presented to her at the funeral.

"I always thought my father just hated me." Teresa said. "I thought he blamed me for my mother's death. And when he said those words wishing it had been me instead of Alexis dying that Christmas Eve, that pretty much cemented it."

"But you don't believe that now?" Laura gently asked.

"I don't know." Teresa asked. "His... his dying words at the hospital... I've begun to realize that maybe it was just the pain he was in. I look just like my mother, as you can see from those pictures. I can just imagine that every time he looked at me, he was seeing and thinking of my mother, and he could never get past the pain."

"Did your father drink?" Laura asked.

"Not that I can remember." Teresa said. "At least he never got ripped or anything that I remember."

"Did he ever talk to you, at all?" Laura asked.

"He was perfectly normal towards Alexis, but he just didn't speak to me much." Teresa said. "He didn't really act as if I didn't exist. If I began doing something wrong, he'd say something like 'What are you doing?' and sometimes he included both of us in a sentence, like saying 'It's your bedtimes, young ladies.' and such. But... if I got in trouble, Alexis would hurry over and bail me out and lead me away from him. I think she knew how he felt, and she was my protector."

"Yes." said Laura. "It sounds to me like your father did not go insane the night your sister died... but on the night your mother died. It tore him up, and he never could handle it. I've read a bit of one of my colleagues's work on soldiers returning from overseas tours of combat duty. They fixate on something, like a wife or kids, then they come home and the situation changes on them, in most cases divorce, and they fall apart. Your mother died in childbirth with you, and your father never got over that."

Laura added, "Also, from what I've heard, I think your father didn't hate you... he just couldn't find a way to relate to you. I think you're right that you reminded him every day of your mother, and he just could overcome it. He did his duty of raising you, whether that was for your mother's sake or because you were his daughter and his responsibility, and he never kicked you out or tried to harm you in any physical way, either."

"It was his giri." Teresa said, remembering the Japanese word, not noticing Laura's attentiveness, nor that she did not ask Teresa what she meant by that. Teresa then said "I... I think I understand it all better. But it doesn't really make me feel any love towards him... a lot of respect for being the military hero that he was, but that's not the same..."

"Give it time." Laura said. "You did the right thing, you learned a lot of things you didn't know, good things. Your father was an honorable man who endured more pain at home than on the battlefield. It shouldn't be that way, but sometimes good people are dealt bad hands in the Great Game of Life."

Teresa nodded as she contemplated those words...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

While Teresa was with Laura, Lieutenant Cindy Ross was in her office at Headquarters. She had caught up on paperwork, realizing that the Iron Crowbar had her in this position primarily so that he would not have to do this paperwork himself, when a visitor came to her door. It was Auxiliary Detective Phyllis Troy, in her uniform.

"Hi Phyllis, come on in." Cindy said.

"Hello, Lieutenant." Phyllis said. "What can I help you with?"

"I called you in because I can't really leave after missing a few days already," Cindy said, "and I wanted to ask you some things... off the record things."

"Certainly." said Phyllis. "What would you like to know?"

"After spending the weekend with Teresa, and hearing Don's story about his father and Apple Grove, I started wondering what Don's relationship with his father was when he was growing up."

"Ah, yes." Phyllis said, happy to have this chance to talk. "Come sit with me on this sofa and I'll tell you." Cindy came over and sat on the loveseat next to Phyllis.

"Don's father was a tall man, rather imposing, certainly a lawyer with a strong air of authority." Phyllis said. "He was... very formal, I think is a good way to say it. He was kind in his own way, and I never doubted he deeply loved me and our children, but he struggled to show that love, especially to the children. I think that was part of his problem with Elizabeth."

Phyllis continued: "He was very, very religious, and while I hear all the jokes about dishonest lawyers, Douglass was one of the most honest and upstanding men I ever met. Every legal case or contract he worked on, it was with utter integrity and the desire to do his best for his client within the bounds of the law and integrity. It was that religious fervor and strict adherence to integrity that caused so much friction with Elizabeth."

"And that was also why Elizabeth hated Don so much?" Cindy asked.

Phyllis smiled. "I... am not sure. Certainly Douglass was very happy, in his own way, to have a son. But I think Elizabeth was just full of herself and didn't like having a little brother. It's really too bad... I think Don really loved her until she started pushing him around. Douglass and I had to begin watching very carefully to make sure she didn't hurt him."

"And then," Phyllis added, "when he was ten years old and she was eighteen, she took a boy into the basement and he went down and saw them. At dinner, he asked very loudly why she let that boy take her panties off. Oh how she hated him after that! But the real tragedy there was that Douglass and I tried to pour religion into Elizabeth, and she fully rejected it. She left home soon after, and it always hurt Douglass that Elizabeth so totally rejected the religious values that he held so dear."

"Did Don and his dad spend a lot of time together?" Cindy asked.

"Not so much." Phyllis said. "Douglass was always busy with work, even at home. Don played ball with other kids, went hunting with Old Man Spruance and his boys. Douglass did spend time with Don, doing homework, helping him with Boy Scout merit badges, stuff like that. But his work and the Bible came first. Douglass did learn from his failures with Elizabeth, didn't push religion hard on Don... and Don wasn't very religious, I could tell, and that was another reason they never were any closer than they were."

"Still..." Cindy said... "it was normal compared to what Teresa endured."

"Yes." Phyllis said. "Now... what else is it that is bothering you, that you are trying to decide whether or not you should tell me?"

Cindy smiled. "Like mother, like son." she said. "Not much gets by either of you." She sighed, then said "First, Don knows I've been doing that research on our enemies."

"I'm not surprised." said Phyllis. "What else?''

"How do you know there is a 'what else'?" Cindy asked.

"You started your sentence with 'First', for one thing," Phyllis said, "which implies a 'Second'..."

Cindy laughed. "I did do that, didn't I? The second thing is that Don won't tell me who our Shadow Man, our Moriarty is. He says he's doing that to protect me and so that I won't give the knowledge of the Shadow Man away. He also said that... if something happens to him, to Don, that he, Don, left Moriarty's real name in three places, and that 'thinking persons' would find it."

"Ahhhh." said Phyllis. "Well, I hope we'll never have to look for those three places. Don is doing something incredibly brave, and he is scared to death that this Moriarty will retaliate against his family... and his closest friends." Cindy peered at Phyllis, locking eyes with her, and she saw the older woman's meaning. They both nodded together...




Secrets of Apple Grove Ch. 04



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

One nice thing about being Commander is that I don't have to ask anyone if I want to go somewhere. I just told the Duty Desk that I would be out in my Police SUV, and to contact me on police radio should I be needed. I drove said Police SUV up to the new Cabin.

The foundations were in, piles driven into the side of the mountain to support the structure, and steel beams rising from the poured concrete of the base floor and deck. It was beginning to come together.

"Mr. Troy!" said the foreman of the group, coming over to me as I surveyed the work.

"Great job here, George." I said.

"Yes sir." George replied. "The hardest parts are done. I had two guys do the steps down to that little wine cellar dug into the mountain, and nobody else really knows about it. Now it's just a matter of putting up the walls and flooring onto the steel crossbeams. Unless we get deluged with a typhoon, we'll be done with the structure in three weeks, and the rest is just a matter of what you want to do with the insides of the house."

"That's great!" I said. "So why did you call me up here?"

"There's a man up there on top of the hill. Older man." said George. "He was watching us and I told him he needed to leave because of the dangers of the construction. He just said in this gravelly, formal voice to call you, and that he'd be up there on top of the hill."

"Shock of white hair?" I asked. George grinned and nodded. "Thanks." I said.

I ascended a little path that went up from my driveway. The very top of the ridgeline was just high enough that one would be able to see over the roof of the new Cabin once it was built. At the top I saw the man sitting, admiring the view to the west over my house as well as to the east. One could see Reservoir Lake and the golf course that Councilman McGhillie ran from here.

"Ah, if it isn't Monsieur Michaux." barked Dr. P. Harvey Eckhart, founder and leader of 'The Vision' self-help empire.

"I hope and trust your associate in the Apple Grove Police Department is safe and sound." I said.

"Oh yes," said Eckhart. "She's at 'The Vision' World Headquarters now. It's probably best that she did not remain in your old home town, n'est pas?"

"I do agree." I replied. "And I very much appreciate you burning that source to help me out. If it's any consolation, it was well worth it."

"Ah yes, but don't worry. She's only burned there, and she can go to other places. Also, I have many friends, happy friends in many places. Such as yourself." Eckhart said, and I realized he'd fully understood my use of 'Michaux'.

"So, my friend," said Eckhart, "have you considered what the payment is going to be for this favor?"

"Oh yes." I said, coming over and sitting next to Eckhart. "I suspect that you will ask for everything that I obtained while up there."

"As your colleagues are so fond of saying behind your back and to your face," said Eckhart, "not much gets by the Iron Crowbar."

I extended my hand and dropped a jump drive into Eckhart's palm. I said "I didn't give the FBI Deputy Director everything, but on this jump drive is everything I have. Your jump drive there has everything, I've left nothing out... and there is one document that I think you'll find of singular importance. "

"Care to give me the Cliff Notes now?" Eckhart said.

I dropped my voice to nearly a whisper as I said "A man's name was listed in connection with the 'Victory Christian Ministries' charity, which was and is being used by both the Oldeeds Group and the Superior Bloodlines group. I now have the first documentation of the existence of the Shadow Man in connection with what is going on around here and around the Nation. Oh, it wouldn't be crap for any trial or conviction, but it shows me I'm on the right track... and that particular document was what he wanted to destroy to keep me from seeing it."

"Ah, yes. Good work." said Eckhart. "And now your FBI friends are about to go after Henry Wargrave. Do watch out, my friend, Mr. Wargrave is not going to go down without a fight. And as I've said before... he hates your wife immeasurably."

"True." I said. "And I'll be watching. Fortunately, she is capable of taking care of herself, as well."

"Very much so." said Eckhart. "But all the same, may I recommend that you get and keep Mr. Wargrave's full, undivided attention upon yourself, to distract him from... 'annoying' your lovely wife."

"Yes, I was thinking the same thing." I said. "And if he is going to go after my wife, I need to let him know I'm capable of reciprocating in kind."

Eckhart grinned. "All the Troy men are the same... you, your nephew Todd, your nephew Ned when he was alive... only thinking about getting your root wet."

"What else is there to think about?" I asked with a grin. "And I wonder who else that family trait extends to..." Eckhart just grinned.

"Okay, I've got to go." I said. "I'm sure I'll be seeing you soon, Harvey."

"Likewise, young Donald. Likewise. Au revoir..." 

Part 21 - Councils and Chiefs

The public auditorium where the Town & County Council met was packed to overflowing on the evening of Tuesday, April 14th, mostly with Media. Tonight was the night the Council would decide upon the next Chief of Police of the Town & County Police Force, and the curiosity was overwhelming. Hopes were somewhat dashed, however at the Mayor's words:

"There being no more public business for this evening," quoth Mayor Vaughan, the People's Choice, "the Council will now go into executive session for the discussion of personnel matters."

The Council members retired into the small meeting room, where Sheriff Allgood, Chief Griswold, and myself waited for them. Here we go, I thought as they filed into the room and took their seats at the table.

The Mayor called the meeting to order, and reminded everyone that they were bound to secrecy in this meeting. "Okay, nominations for the Police Chief position."

Malinda Adams started off: "I believe the only candidate we should even consider is Precinct Captain Susan Weston."

"Not only should we consider other candidates," said John 'Jack' Colby, "I believe there is a candidate much more qualified that Precinct Captain Weston... actually there are two, one of them being Commander Troy, but he won't budge out of that Commander chair. So I nominate Harold Bennett."

"Any others?" asked the Mayor. "Anyone want to seriously consider the two candidates from outside?"

There being no response, J.P. Goldman said "I move we close these nominations and make our choice." That was quickly seconded and passed by voice vote.

And the vote was an easy 9-1 for Harold Bennett. "Are you good with that, Chief Griswold?" asked the Mayor.

"Yes I am." said Griswold.

"Sheriff?" asked the Mayor.

"Absolutely." said Allgood. "He was my suggestion all along."

"True." said the Mayor. "Commander Troy, are you good with this nomination?"

"Yes, Mr. Mayor." I said.

"Will you be working for him?" asked Malinda Adams with a sneer, "Or will he be working for you?" The affront to my professionalism caused gasps at the table... but I was prepared.

"I will be working for him, Councilwoman Adams.," I said, then bore in on her: "just as all of the women on the Police Force are working for me."

That made Dagmar Schoen and Jack Colby burst out laughing, joined by Edward Steele, Thomas P. Cook, then others. Malinda Adams turned beet red with deep anger, but even Kelly Carnes couldn't keep from laughing. I was grinning myself as I made full eye contact with Malinda Adams. That was Iron Crowbar 1, Uber-Feminist Councilwoman 0.

"Okay, okay," said the laughing Mayor, trying to restore order. "Order, order please. Okay, it's settled. We'll have the second reading of the bill next Tuesday evening. Is there anything else we need to discuss? Sheriff?"

"Yes, Mr. Mayor." said Sheriff Allgood, standing up. "In addition to the budgetary items I've submitted, I believe we have a possible solution to the Brownlee problem. When Commander Troy first came to this Police Force as I.T. Supervisor and Detective, it was with a tacit understanding that he would report directly to Chief Griswold, bypassing Captain Malone. I believe that while Deputy Chief Brownlee is responsible overall for administrative matters, Physical Properties Captain Marc Aaron should have some autonomy, especially in the I.T. areas, and report directly to the Chief."

"Sheriff Allgood," asked Pastor Westboro, "if I may ask: has there been any recent problems with Commander Brownlee since our last meeting over that altercation with Commander Troy and Lieutenant Ross?"

"Not really, sir." said Daniel. "Deputy Chief Brownlee has been quiet the last few weeks. He mostly administrates from his office. He only came out of there three times during the few days Commander Troy was away this past weekend, and that was on visits to Personnel & Records. However, Captain Aaron has commented on a certain, shall we say 'deliberative process' on Brownlee's part in signing off on purchases and moving forward on things like server purchases and security upgrades. Giving Aaron some room to run, as well as letting him bypass Brownlee and go to the Chief would speed things up."

"I have to agree with the point behind Pastor Westboro's question." said Thomas P. Cook. "I can understand giving Commander Troy the autonomy; he was brought in to clean up some things, which happened to involve Captain Malone himself. But bypassing Brownlee, who as far as I can tell is doing a good job, may be unnecessary."

"Commander Troy, what's your advice?" asked the Mayor invitingly.

"Mr. Mayor, I must object." said Kelly Carnes. "This is not Commander Troy's business. He won't be Acting Chief after May 1st. His opinion is irrelevant with regard to what this Council does. He's an employee of the Police Force and is expected to follow his orders and the regulations as set by this Council."

"Mrs. Carnes," said Jack Colby, his voice cold with indignation, "in case you didn't notice, the Iron Crowbar went from Detective to Acting Chief in less than three years, and that was because he earned it every step of the way. His opinion would not only be one of experience and expertise, but of unbelievable ability. And I want to hear that opinion, also."

"There is no harm in hearing the Commander's opinion." said Edward R. Steele. "We can accept it or reject it, but I'd like to hear it also."

"Commander?" asked the Mayor, stopping further debate, meaning to hear my words.

"Thank you, Mr. Mayor." I said. "All I can say is that your duly elected Sheriff is seeking to resolve that situation in a good way, but I would also advise asking your new Chief of Police how he'd like to handle it. Chief Griswold didn't mind babysitting his Detective; I'm not sure what Chief Bennett would want to do, and it ultimately should be his call."

"Why don't we table that discussion until next month's meeting, Sheriff?" said the Mayor. The Sheriff agreed.

"Okay, if there is nothing else..." said the Mayor.

"Mr. Mayor," I said, standing up, "I do have one request of this Council, that will solve a large number of potential issues in the future." I looked at Malinda Adams and said "And I believe it is something Councilwoman Adams will heartily approve..."

Part 22 - Epilogue

"Ah, there you are." I said as Laura came into our home at 10:50pm. "Surely you were not meeting all day?"

"Mommy!" exclaimed Carole, who I was holding. Hearing Carole, Bowser barked happily also.

"Hi, baby!" Laura said to Carole first. "How's my girl?" She took Carole from me for a hug and kiss as Bowser looked on.

"C'mere, Bowser." I said. Bowser bounded over and received some 'skritchins'.

"Yes, we met all day, until ten minutes ago.." Laura said, finally answering my question. "And I'm absolutely starving."

"If you'll put Carole to bed, I'll fix you something in the kitchen." I said. I kissed Carole goodnight, and her mother took her upstairs... attended by her bodyguard, the redoubtable Bowser.

A few moments later, Laura came into the kitchen. I took my lovely wife in my arms and gave her a warm kiss. "I haven't seen you in way too many days." I said.

"I know." she said, wrapping her arms around me. After another kiss, she said "What's for dinner?"

"Some reheated chicken casserole." I said. The microwave beeped and I took out Laura's portion, and put a second one in for me.

As she ate, I said quietly "Laura, something came up when Jack and I went to Teresa's home town."

"Oh?" she said.

"Yes." I said, my voice quiet and severe. "Something big, and serious. Really serious..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Police Headquarters was almost empty at 11:00pm when Phyllis Troy, wearing her Auxiliary Policewoman uniform, came to the Duty Desk.

"Hello, Sergeant," she said cheerfully. "I am afraid I left my cell phone in my son's office today. Would you mind if I go back and retrieve it?"

"Certainly, Mrs. Troy." said the Duty Desk Sergeant. "Patrolman, this is Commander Troy's mother, would you escort her down the hall to his office to get her phone?"

"Yes, Sergeant." said the youngish Patrolman, who reminded Phyllis of Officer Pete Feeley in his early days with the Force. "Ma'am, this way please."

As they got to the door of the Commander's office, Phyllis said, "You know, I'm going to have to use the facilities down the hall, and at my age one should not wait. Would you excuse me? Or you can go back up to the desk, and I'll come back down."

"Yes ma'am." the young man said, eager to please. Phyllis went into the restroom. A moment later, seeing the young man had gone back down the corridor, she bolted for Don's office.

Once in the darkened room, she retrieved her phone, which she really had left intentionally, then went behind the desk. Using the phone's flashlight app, she went to the matchstick and wood Trojan Horse on the little bookshelf by Don's desk. She opened the little trap door in the horse's belly, then stuck her fingers inside and felt around.

She felt the capsule which was taped into the neck, and brought it out. It looked like a medicine capsule but was metal. She paused for a second, knowing that if she opened the capsule, things would irrevocably change. Then she steeled her resolve.

Opening the capsule, she unrolled the little scroll of paper. Upon reading it, many trains of thought in her mind boarded and left the station. Everything began falling into place. She understood all, and understood why Don knew what he was up against and had to be so careful about.

The words on the little scroll were a name... the real name of the arch-nemesis, the Shadow Man, the 'Moriarty' that was plaguing Don.

Phyllis hurriedly replaced the capsule in the neck of the matchstick Trojan Horse and quickly left the room. 

Finis.... well, you know...