0 comments/ 8503 views/ 4 favorites Dark Side of the Force 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, Trilogy Series. Dark Side Of The Force, Ch. 01. Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, extreme language, and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. ***** Part 1 - Prologue: Badges and Promotions (Author's note: a lot of this chapter is laying groundwork, like an interlude, so please bear with it. Thanks in advance. On the afternoon of July 31st, I was called into the Chief's office. As soon as I walked in, he said "Tomorrow, I need to see you in your very best uniform. Formal. Medals instead of ribbons. Medal of Valor shined up and looking good around your neck. Shaved and looking sharp. Just so you know, I'll be dressed the same way myself." "Yes sir." I said. "Sounds like a special occasion." "Sure is." Griswold replied. "And allow me to suggest that you take some time and practice fastening the clasp on the Medal of Valor. Practice a lot more than you think you need to." "Ahhhhh..." I said, realizing why the Chief had told me to do that. "Yes." he replied, smiling under his mustaches. "I'm so excited that I'm beside myself over it. It's going to be a wonderful day. I had two items of business with the Council over the last couple of days, and both came through." "Excellent! So what else?" I asked. "The Council passed the new rank structure last night with nary a peep. I still have to be 36 years old to be a Captain, though." "The good news is that they passed brevetting." replied the Chief. 'Brevetting' was promoting someone to higher rank than their pay grade, ahead of the zone, so to speak. For example, the legendary General Custer was brevetted a general during the Civil War... then had to go back being a Captain after the Civil War. Also, sometimes an Army Major taking a battalion command would be brevetted to Lieutenant Colonel, to have rank and authority equal to other battalion commanders in the same brigade. But he'd be paid like a Major until he was eligible to actually be promoted to the higher rank. Brevetting in our Police Force would allow some authority to be given to outstanding officers that only lacked the right birthdate to be promoted. I had pushed for it, and I had plans... not for myself, but for others. "No, you are not being brevetted to Captain." said the Chief. I could tell by the twinkle in his eyes that something was up. "And it's a damn good thing they passed the new ordinance: it's official, I'm going to be retiring at the end of the year. December 31st." I groaned. I knew this was coming. The Chief's little incident of disarming the SBI agents had not gone over well with half of the State's legislators and other officials, while the other half supported what he did and pushed back on his behalf. But it was a spark to potentially ignite the festering war that was being fought politically. The Governor was the Chief's close personal friend, but his (the Governor's) only solution was to tell everyone that Chief Griswold would be retiring by the end of the year, allowing the furor to die down. I knew that the Chief was contemplating retirement, anyway. But now it was official, and I felt like I was losing my dad... not my biological father, but someone much closer. "I was going to retire anyway." the Chief said. "But now it's official and the papers have gone in. The Council 'reluctantly' accepted my retirement during their executive session meeting last night. But I don't feel bad about it now... I don' t have to worry, anymore." "What do you mean, sir?" I asked, seeing the gleam in the Chief's eyes getting brighter, and his mustaches starting to twitch. "Let me give you a brief bit of history, Don." the Chief said, leaning back in his chair and giving a classroom-style lecture. "When the County and Town governments merged some years ago, there was a lot of angst over how the new Police Department would be merged. As a result, we got a rank structure more suited for the military, with formalized ranks that most police departments don't have." The Chief continued: "In making the ranks, they provided for two equivalent positions that have never been filled: Deputy Chief, and Commander. The Deputy Chief is like the Executive Officer, the XO, all about beans and bullets; while the Commander is like the Operations Officer or S-3, and directs the troops." "Yes sir, I understand." I said. "And since we don't have them, I stole one of their offices." "Yes, yes you did." replied the Chief. "But here's the fun part of the story: Paulina brought something to my attention, so I had her re-examine the original law and codicils passed by the Council. As you know, they put age requirements on senior-level Sergeants and all Lieutenants and Captains. "However, they overlooked something: for some reason they forgot to put any age requirements on the Commander position! Paulina and I had this confirmed by DA Krasney, and the Council asked for and received an opinion from Judge Watts. It's solid: there is no age requirement to be a Commander, and I can nominate anyone I want to that post and rank." It hit me. "So that's why you and Paulina were smiling the other day..." I whispered. The Chief smiled. "Yes." replied the Chief, "I went to them with a request, more like a demand, and after getting Judge Watts' opinion, they approved my request before rewriting the overall law, though Reginald B.F. Lewis brought up precincts again. Don't fret on that, the good news is that now you really are entitled to that office you are in." The Chief stood up and extended his hand. "Congratulations, Commander!" I stood up and shook the Chief's hand, totally surprised. I was now going to be the No. 2 man in the Town & County Police Force. In the event of the loss of the Chief by resignation, retirement or less fortunate ways, it was the Commander, not the Deputy Chief, that took charge. Was I ready for this? I briefly thought to myself. The Chief did not let go of my hand, holding it firmly. "Don, I know I can now retire and let go, knowing that I am leaving my Police Force in the very best possible hands. I know you'll take care of those great people that have chosen to serve our Town & County." "Yes sir, I promise that I will." I said. We both were trying not to have tears in our eyes. ---- The morning of August 1st dawned bright and clear. It was going to be a beautiful day. Rain had passed through the night before, and we were getting somewhat cooler temperatures than normal. Fine by me. The first words out of the Chief's mouth to me when he saw me was "Did you practice?" "Yes sir." I said. "For nearly an hour, with Laura. She feels very decorated now." The Chief chuckled. "Give her my appreciation for her contribution to the cause." he said, his eyes twinkling. I did not have to wear my uniform jacket nor the Medal of Valor while inside and until the ceremonies started, so I left them in my office. However, Tanya Perlman, her pregnancy now showing well, did not miss that I had the yellow 'piping' of the Command Group down the sides of my blue pants instead of light blue, which was worn by Captains, Lieutenants and below. Her eyes sparkled as she grinned at me, but she did not say anything. Somewhat to my dismay, either no one else noticed (for a while) or just didn't say anything. Maybe they were used to me being 'out of the box'. I heard applause in Vice as Teresa Croyle reported for duty, with light blue piping on her jacket sleeves, but nothing on her skirt as no piping was worn on policewomen's skirts. Cindy Ross came in, looking very sharp also, but wearing pants as she always did... and people did notice her light blue piping. Then the new Detectives began trickling in. Let's meet them, shall we: In Vice: Julie "The Abacus" Newton was staying in her grade and position for now. Leonard "Sergeant" Sharples was certainly not getting a promotion at this time, nor any other if I could help it. Lieutenant Teresa Croyle was returning, assuming the leadership of the Vice Squad. E.J. Jefferson was an athletic black man, about 6'0" in height, with broad shoulders. He was politically very Conservative, a seeming rarity for a black man. He was very straight-laced. He was being promoted from the uniformed ranks, and he said that his name came from his family perhaps being slaves of the family for whom the County was named. Christopher Purvis was being promoted to full Detective from Detective J.G. John "Grubby" Paul was being promoted from the uniformed ranks, having done much undercover work with the Force as a Sergeant. He looked really grubby even when cleaned up, hence the nickname. Women flocked to him, though. And then there was Joanne Cummings. She was blonde and very beautiful, having participated in beauty pageants at the highest levels. She liked hunting and had been shown in magazines in camouflage, posing with a Boone & Crockett buck that she'd harvested. She also was very smart, which I hoped would translate to police and street smarts. She was coming in as a Detective (J.G.). In MCD: Diana Torres was being promoted to full Detective from Detective Apprentice. Lorena Rose was coming in as a Detective (J.G.). She was young, very hot, and energetic, with brown hair and a smoking hot, fit body. She would be a firecracker. Claire Michaels was older than me, in her thirties, and was coming in as a Senior Detective from Los Angeles. She was hot, too, with a fine body and wavy brown hair. I'd noticed Hugh Hewitt taking a really good second look at her when he saw her. Detective (J.G.) Ted "Teddy" Parker was youngish, kind of milquetoast, but very bright. Martin Nash was getting a second 'black box', i.e. a promotion to Senior Detective. And of course, Theodore "Theo" Washington, whose brother was an ADA in DA Krasney's office, who was remaining in his current grade and position. Per usual, I went into Vice and handed everyone the plastic sleeves with their new badges and ranks. The badges were to be worn going into the ceremony, and the ranks affixed during the ceremony. Then I headed to MCD. I handed Diana Torres the first plastic sleeve containing her new badge and rank, and she blushed and squealed with happiness. I handed Martin Nash his new rank (his badge remained the same), then handed the new people their badges and ranks. When I was done, there was one plastic bag left in my hand. "Lieutenant," said Cindy Ross, "we're going to have to assign desks to these new guys." "You're right." I said. "And that is now your job, Supervisor Ross!" I extended my hand, holding out the last plastic sleeve. Cindy blushed as everyone clapped as she took the sleeve. I might have forgotten to mention to Cindy that she was being promoted. Maybe just to surprise her. "Okay guys, start looking at desks and deciding which ones to beg Miss Ross to give you." I said. "Cindy, you need to come with me to the Chief's office. My mother was in the Chief's office, wearing her formal Police Auxiliary uniform. When Cindy and I got there, the Chief explained the situation: "Miss Ross, you are not old enough to be promoted directly to Lieutenant." Griswold growled. "However, under the recently passed ordinance, what we are going to do is brevet you to Lieutenant. Congratulations!" Cindy blushed again, and I knew she'd be blushing more before this day was over. The Chief had to swear in Cindy as a Supervisor first. That normally happened during the formal ceremonies, but Cindy would be brevetted then. So the Chief swore her in, and my mom and I pinned the Supervisor ranks on her shoulders. "Now, take 'em off. Bag 'em and hold on to them." I said. "Here's your Lieutenant badge and rank." The badge said 'Lieutenant (B)', but the authority was the same. "Now Teresa won't outrank you." I said. That got one of the biggest smiles from Cindy Ross that I had ever seen. My mother giggled at it. There was a knock on the door, and Tanya Perlman was admitted. "Perlman, congratulations!" the Chief said as I handed her a plastic sleeve containing a Lieutenant's badge and the silver bars of rank. "Crowbar, explain everything." "You're not taking over MCD until your baby is born." I said. "But we're promoting you now. After your baby is born and you return to duty, it will be as MCD leader. Cindy is going to run MCD until then, after which I will have special duties for her, which I'll discuss later." "Well, Tanya, we better start cussin' out Don now, since we're the same rank as him for the time being." Cindy said, teasing me. "Er, no... we're not." Tanya said, her finger pointing at and almost touching the yellow piping on my pants. Cindy gave a look that said 'whaa???' as it struck her. "What to?" "Commander." I said. "Oh my God, congratulations!" Cindy said, giving me a warm hug. As she released me, she said, "Geez, still my boss!" "Yep." I said. "And we're going to be having more fun than ever." ---- Only one other note: in the Patrolman ranks, the Patrolman rank looks like a private-first-class, a connected chevron and rocker, but with military-police pistols in the space between them. Higher ranks lose the pistols, but an interesting tradition happened: When the Town and County merged, the new Senior Patrolman ranks were meant to look like Army Specialist badges: chevrons pointed down, rockers over the top. Senior Patrolman would have one chevron with two rockers, then one chevron with three rockers to denote pay grades. The uniforms were taken to a seamstress to have the ranks sewn on for Merger Day. But she made a mistake: she sewed every rank on upside down, with one chevron pointing up instead of down, and the two and three rockers below. It looked strange, but everyone liked it and insisted on keeping it that way. And six months later, the Council passed the first codicil to the Merger ordinance, formalizing the way the ranks were worn. I was proud to personally pin upon Senior Patrolman Micah Rudistan the chevron-three rockers rank. He'd be a Sergeant soon, if I had anything to do with it. Part 2 - Honor and Valor The ceremonies began at 9:00am, a bit earlier than normal because we had a lot of them; we were catching up from past months and years of having people working in jobs higher than their normal grade. After the uniformed officers received their promotions and medals/ribbons, the Detectives were promoted, and then my three Lieutenants. Someone began calling the three women "Crowbar's Angels", a name that would stick to them. Last was my promotion to Commander, the first in Town & County history. It surprised nearly everyone, but I received hearty applause as Laura and my mom pinned the ranks on my shoulders. They were silver oak leaf clusters, what an Army Lieutenant Colonel (or Navy Commander) would wear. Then the Chief announced that there was going to be another ceremony in the Courthouse Square, on the steps of City Hall at 1:00pm, and that every officer not on a mission needed to be in attendance. That got everyone buzzing. "I think it's the Police Cross for Lieutenant Ross." I heard Micah Rudistan say to some other officers. Other guesses were the Police Medal for Ross, Police Medals for me and Ross, and so on. Whenever I was asked, I just smiled and said "We'll have to see when we get there." Then I would go pose for pictures with Laura or my mom. ---- At 1:00pm there were a large number of people in Courthouse Square. The Media was there, and Bettina Wurtzburg and Diane Williams were all over the place getting spot interviews. I indulged Bettina for one, she congratulated me on my promotion and I said it was a great honor and I was proud to serve the Town & County. Then Bettina interviewed my mom, who said she was very proud of her son. Benches for the Police Force were set up in the middle, facing the microphones at the top of the City Hall steps, and the Fire Department, EMTs and Public Health Departments also had benches to either side. They'd also been asked to attend in as large and formal numbers as possible. It was an impressive array of uniforms and medals. The Town & County Council were sitting in seats behind the podium. So was Congressman Gerald A. Condor and other politicians. Harold Malone and Daniel Allgood and their wives were in the audience below, and I actually saw them shake hands and greet each other at least politely, probably disappointing the Media. The only politician not here... was State Senator Nathan Allen. Lt. Scott Peterson asked me and Cindy to please take seats with Chief Griswold behind the podium. Cindy was very surprised. "What is going on?" she asked me. "This is the only way I can keep you on light duty and out of trouble." I quipped. That got me a bit of a reproving look, but Cindy could get me to say no more. The Mayor began the proceedings by welcoming everyone, greeting the Town & County Council, then he gave the podium to Police Chief Griswold. "It's my great honor to be here today," said the Chief, "to recognize a very special police officer, whose service and sacrifice in the line of duty has far exceeded anything we've had a right to ask." He then read the Council's proclamation, which stated in flowery language that Lieutenant Cindy Ross was the first woman in Town or County history to be awarded... ...the Medal of Valor. Cindy was shocked, and blushing furiously as she was asked to come to the podium, then Chief Griswold said "Commander, would you please do the honors?" I took the Medal of Valor that was in its box, feeling the heaviness of it, seeing the bright red ribbon and the gold-star-and-wreath ornate medal underneath. As I draped it around Cindy's neck, I realized why the Chief had ordered me to practice: my hands were shaking, and I did not want to fuck this up. Fortunately, I got it right and correctly clasped the ribbon as the Courthouse Square erupted in applause, especially from the Police Force sitting in the bleachers in front of us. I patted Cindy on the shoulders and whispered "You deserve this!" then moved myself back as far as I could. This was my partner's day. ----- Cindy was becoming tired, I could tell. She had had to endure dozens of pictures, and then people and the Press wanted pictures of her with me and the Chief, the three people wearing Medals of Valor at the same time. I finally broke the throng by saying that Lieutenant Ross is still on light duty and was being ordered to get some rest, and I led her to a waiting patrol car, which took her back to Headquarters. Back at the Station, Cindy continued to be congratulated, but at least she was able to be sitting down. It was pretty much a party day in the Detective Division. ----- I had ordered Cindy to go home at 4:00pm, seeing that she was worn out physically. Of course, she instead followed me into my office. "Can I ask you a question, Lieut-, er, Commander?" she said. Dark Side of the Force Ch. 01 "Certainly." I said as I unclasped my Medal of Valor and gently put it on the desk. "I... I don't feel I deserve this." Cindy said, holding her Medal in her hand, the ribbon still around her neck. "How did you deal with it?" "I know how you feel." I said. "I've never quite felt I deserved mine. But I just tell myself that I wear it in honor of all those wearing the Shield, putting it all on the line every day for the Citizens, and I tell myself that I need to earn it every day, in everything I do." "I'll try to live up to it, also." Cindy said. "But still... I didn't do anything others haven't done, certainly not what you did or the Chief did..." "Let me stop you right there." I said. "I saw what you did with my own beady little eyeballs. You acted, you went forward, you were prepared to sacrifice yourself to save a fellow officer and the mission. Whatever else you think, don't try to tell me you don't deserve it, because you absolutely do. And I made damn sure the Council understood that, too." I then picked up the phone and called Teresa Croyle into my office. "Lieutenant Croyle, welcome back! Your first assignment is to take Lieutenant Ross home, right now. And when you get home, see to it that she actually goes to bed and gets some rest. Go. Move. Get out of my office." "Yes, Commander. With pleasure." Teresa said gruffly, scowling at Cindy but in a loving way. "Let's go, Miss M-O-V." It was good to have Teresa back, all my chess pieces in place, and Cindy receiving the award she so richly deserved. The only bad part was the Chief retiring. But in the overall, this has been a great day. Oh yes... it was also my daughter Carole's first birthday. I told all of my Detectives to go home unless they were on a mission, and I headed out myself. The evening was going to be great, also. Part 3 - It Begins On the following Monday morning, the Chief called for an 8:00am meeting of all Detectives in Classroom J. He had me attend, as well as Lt. Scott Peterson of Media Relations, Lt. "Curly" Goodwin of I.A., Captain Charles of Uniformed Officers, and now-Captain Harlow of Personnel & Records. I'd encouraged her promotion when I found out she'd been looking at the Campus Police and other jobs. She'd been doing a Captain's job for some time as a Lieutenant, and she was an excellent administrator. She was now happy. Once we all assembled, the Chief made sure the door was closed, then took a chair and placed it on the podium and sat down to address us. "There are two things I need to discuss with you." said the Chief. "The first thing is something I want you to hear from me first, rather than from the rumor mill out there. I am retiring at the end of the year." There was a large groan in the room. "I appreciate it, folks, but it's way past my bedtime in that regard. I do appreciate all the work you have done for me, especially Leslie Charles with his fellow Uniformed officers." The 'fellow' was the Chief's tribute to Charles, who always considered himself one of the 'Boys in Blue' and treated the uniformed officers as if they were his own sons and daughters. Charles did not fail to notice, and was pleased. "The second thing is about our new Commander." said Griswold. For some reason the room got very still and quiet as the Chief began his storytelling style: "When Don first got here, he was a Detective and 'one of the guys', so to speak. When he showed his capabilities and I promoted him to Lieutenant, there was still an informality and friendship between him and you Detectives." "I let that go because he's so baby-faced..." there was general laughter... "and it was his style of leadership. But all that changed yesterday. This is going to be worse for him than it will be for you, and he is going to have to adapt to this also: he is no longer one of you. He is not your equal: he is now your leader, your boss. Now that doesn't mean he's not a friend and that he doesn't love you anymore, because he does. But he is at a different level now. You've given me respect as Chief of Police, which I appreciate but also which the office deserves. You must now respect the Commander for what he is and for the office of tremendous responsibility that he now holds." "For you Captains and Lieutenants, this is not a normal situation, and having someone younger than you and at the same rank or beneath you in rank two days ago now outranking you might be strange, if not difficult. But I know you are professionals and will handle it, and you'll work just as hard for the Commander as you have for me. Okay, that's all I've got. Don, do you want to talk to them?" "Yes sir." I said. The Chief left and I took his seat on the podium. "Captains and Lieutenants Peterson and Goodwin, you can go; I'll talk to you later. I need to address the Detectives right now." The dismissed officers left. "Guys, the Chief is right." I said. "I was informal in my leadership in MCD, and that'll have to change now. You now have some excellent Lieutenants leading your departments, and they're your bosses and you go to them for anything of a professional nature. However, if there is something of a personal nature, or a problem you have that you need to talk to me about, my door is always open to you. And it's not like you can't speak to me in the hallway, either. But I'll tell you something I learned in the Army: I would treat a superior officer as if his first name was 'Sir'. 'Good morning, sir.', et cetera. My first name is now 'Commander'. And the Chief is right: I'm hating this as much as anyone; you've been my friends, and you still are." "One last thing: you now have new leaders in your departments, and I'll leave it to them to decide their styles of leadership. They may be more or less formal than I was, and it's your job to adapt. Okay, any questions?" Julie Newton raised her hand. "Commander, what happens when Captain Malone comes back?" Laughter began slowly, then got stronger, with me included in it. "Well, Detective Newton," I said, "we'll burn that bridge when we come to it. If he wins the Sheriff race, it's a moot point; he's the boss of all of us. If he loses and he does come back, we'll see what happens." ---- After dismissing everyone, I had not even made it down the hallway when Detective Martin Nash came flying out of MCD towards me. "Commander, can you come in here?" Inside the MCD room, sitting on Cindy's old desk and leaning against the wall was a large painting, 4x3 feet, in an ornate frame. It was an oil painting of very high quality, not something cheap. The plate at the bottom said "The Fall of Troy", and the painting depicted that battle, with the Trojan Horse breaching the wall in the upper left, and Greeks ransacking the town and killing people. Disturbing to me was what was painted in the bottom portion of the picture. It very explicitly showed two Trojan women, one black haired and one blonde, being raped by Greek soldiers; and just to the right of that, soldiers were spearing little babies to death. I understood. I understood the meaning, and the threat. You see, my name is Troy. James Donald Troy. And the sender was saying that the 'Fall of Troy' meant the fall of me. "There was a note with it." Tanya Perlman said, having already bagged the note as evidence. I read the note, which said "Congratulations, Commander Troy!", followed by these four words: "crossed path, incommoded, seriously inconvenienced, hampered, positive danger." "What the hell does that mean?" asked Theo Washington as I smiled at the note, almost laughing. "It's for me, and it's a threat." I said. "The name of the painting says it all. The person who sent this is letting me know that he is going to take me down, and harm my family in the process." "Torres, can I borrow your computer?" asked Tanya Perlman, not waiting for an answer and sitting at Diana's desk. She began typing furiously as everyone watched. Finally, she looked up and said "Moriarty." "Yes." I said. The words were from Moriarty's quote to Sherlock Holmes in Conan Doyle's The Final Problem: "You crossed my path on the 4th of January,' said he. 'On the 23d you incommoded me; by the middle of February I was seriously inconvenienced by you; at the end of March I was absolutely hampered in my plans; and now, at the close of April, I find myself placed in such a position through your continual persecution that I am in positive danger of losing my liberty. The situation is becoming an impossible one." "So what does this mean?" asked Claire Michaels. "It means..." I said, picking up the painting, "that I need to take this to my office and make some phone calls. Meanwhile, you guys get settled in. After lunch I'm going to begin hitting you with some serious training." "Do you want the lab to dust that for prints or anything?" Tanya asked, not quite having released her Crime Lab associations and way of thinking yet. "No." I said. "I'll call Christina to bring IR and UV lights to see if there is any secret writing on them, but I expect we won't find any fingerprints on it, except mine now." "How did it get in here?" asked Lorena Rose. "That..." I said, "is something you guys can work on." With that, I took the painting and retreated to my office. After I left, Claire Michaels turned to Cindy Ross. "He knows something. Does he always keep things to himself like that?" "Oh yes." Cindy replied. "Get used to it." She saw Tanya's disapproving look. "But in his defense, he's a lot better about it now than he used to be." ----- Meanwhile, once alone in my office, I called Laura on her cellphone. When she answered, I asked "Are the kids with you?" "Yes." my wife replied. "Why?" "I've got a red alert." I said. "You and the kids might be in danger. Call my mom and ask her to come guard them, bring a couple of campus cops to guard the doors, then come down here to my office and I'll show you." Laura arrived within half an hour. I told her the story of the painting just appearing in the MCD room, and the note that had come with it. When I showed her the painting, particularly the title and the depictions at the bottom, she gasped in shock and anger. "Who sent this?" "I don't know for sure, but if I had only one guess..." I said, "...it would be our good buddy Henry R. Wargrave." Part 4 - Office Management On the main floor of Police Headquarters, the Chief's suite is in the back left corner, southwest as the crow flies. The main conference room stretches along the back hall next to it, then a suite of two offices meant to be for ADAs. To the side hall, left of the Chief's suite, are the Commander's offices, one of which Paulina Patterson had occupied, the other being mine. Moving down the hall, to the left of my offices were two Captain's offices with an anteroom for an administrative assistant. To the left of those were two suites of Lieutenant and Supervisor offices, eight tiny little offices in all, one that had been mine, one that was still Tanya's, with Teresa Croyle taking over the one I'd had. The Captain's offices were not quite as long as mine, and they would be as deep as mine except that someone decided to carve in side doors, requiring a little "L" shape. So the doors were to the left or right, with Levelor-blinded windows facing front. The right side office was Harold Malone's, and would not be cleaned out until he formally resigned from the Police Force. The left side office was empty. It was into the left office that I led Cindy Ross and Tanya Perlman that afternoon after getting back from lunch with Laura. The door coming into the left side office gave way to a desk against the right side wall. A love seat sofa was under the inside window, and there was just enough room between the love seat and the desk for a guest to sit down. The back windows looked to the outside. "Tanya," I said, have a seat on the couch. Cindy, sit behind your new desk." Cindy gaped as I handed her the keys to the office. "Oh my God!" exclaimed Tanya, and I understood the humor beneath her comment. "What's this all about, Don?" "It's 'Commander' now, so sorry." I corrected her, hating doing that but knowing I had to. "At least in public and here at the station. But here's the story." I took the small chair to the side of the desk to address both ladies. "This stays between the three of us right now." I said. "After you have your baby, Perlman, you'll be in charge of MCD, and you'll continue to have your lovely Lieutenant office." "Happy happy, joy joy." Tanya said with something of a groan. "I empathize." I said. "But the question is what to do with Lt. Ross once she comes off light duty." I looked severely at Cindy. "Which won't be for quite a while if you continue to strain yourself." "Noted, sir." said Cindy, and it was not an approving acknowledgement, I could tell. "And again, just between the three of us... the Chief and I do not expect that Malone will be returning. Don't tell Teresa, but even if he loses he won't be back, especially after what's going to happen to him during the campaign." "Oooooh, you do have something up your sleeve!" Tanya said, her eyes sparkling. "We'll talk about that later." I said. "But the bottom line is that I'm going to need a Captain over all the Detectives. There is no way either the Chief or I will incite the Council's wrath by trying to brevet you to Captain, Cindy, but you can be put in the position as a Lieutenant." I continued: "And since it's regulation that every officer except the Chief have a formal partner, you're still my partner, Cindy. Croyle and Perlman are formally partners. And by the way, Perlman, you and Croyle are going to have to decide who is partners with who in your squads." "So Cindy, you'll be my liaison to the MCD and Vice Squads, though I'll have a lot of direct contact with all three of you." I said. "This is the only solution I can figure out for having three Lieutenants in my Detective ranks, and I hope you'll be satisfied with it." "Crowbar's Angels, we are." replied Tanya, ever playful. "Geez, that is going to stick, isn't it?" I said, pretending to groan about it. "It's a done deal, Commander." Cindy Ross replied. "A done deal." "Cindy, your only job is to move into this office. Take your time, no heavy stuff, get help if you need it. Go home by 3:00pm or I will have you carried out. Clear?" "Crystal." replied Cindy. "By the way," I said. "I have to go get the ADA offices on the other side of the Conference Room cleaned up. They wanted my office back, and technically it was theirs, but they've decided it's not worth getting a crowbar shoved up their Ikeas." Both women laughed at my new word for 'asshole'. "So that office is now officially mine forever. Meanwhile, we're going to have a new ADA replacing Sanders, she'll be working with Vice, and she'll have an office here like Paulina does. I don't know her, but I hear she's damn good with drug cases in Court." "And the second ADA office?" Tanya asked, and I saw the underlying motive. "Don't get ideas, Tanya." I said. "It's going to be generic use for other ADAs that come by here. In his infinite wisdom, Krasney wants his people to work more closely with us, and that'll include them making more visits here than us going to the Courthouse complex. I can see the good in it, but I'm not sure I want a bunch of legal beagles lapping around my Headquarters..." ---- Okay, do you want old people paired with new?" Cindy asked me, "or are you okay with past teams sticking together?" Cindy, Tanya and Teresa were meeting with me in my office. I had requisitioned three very comfortable office chairs, knowing that 'Crowbar's Angels' would be using them a lot over the next few months and years. "Depends." I said. "Let's hear what you've got. Teresa?" Croyle responded. "Okay, I'm thinking Geiger and Cummings, even though he gets an uncontrollable hard-on whenever he's around her." The room erupted in laughter, then Croyle continued. "I was thinking Jefferson and Purvis. They're both straight-laced types. That'd leave Julie Newton and 'Grubby' Paul." "And Sharples?" I asked. Teresa looked straight at me. "Leave that fat ass dangling. In fact, I'm going to request you remove him from the Vice Squad." "As much as I'd like to do that," I said, "the Union would give us holy hell if we did. And unfortunately, you have to give Sharples a partner. Julie Newton never goes into the field, she's an accounting and computer geek." "Then Sharples with Paul? Naaah." said Teresa, thinking to herself. "Okay, Geiger and Sharples, Cummings and Purvis, Jefferson and Paul. The new people are together, but they're my new core, anyway." "I'll go with that, but monitor them to see if any of the new people start flagging." I said. "But I like your thinking: new people together, being molded by you into a great new squad. Okay Cindy, Tanya." "Martin Nash has worked very well with Diana Torres." Cindy said, "but Nash has also worked well with Theo Washington. I was thinking Nash and Torres, and Washington with Teddy Parker, at least until we find out how good Parker is." I nodded in agreement. "That leaves Claire Michaels and Lorena Rose." said Tanya. "Rose is a very energetic, go-get-'em type of girl, but she's going to need to be harnessed, if I don't miss my guess. We're thinking that Claire's experience might be helpful there, and I'll be watching her a lot myself." "That just leaves Newton." said Teresa. "Lainie and Sonali are technically partners, Myron and Mary are partners... as well as one hell of a hot item in the bedroom, if I don't miss my guess." "Your powers of observation improved remarkably while you were in Midtown." I complimented. "Knowing that bastard Nathan Allen was trying to have me assassinated is what did that." Teresa said, and I knew she wasn't kidding. "Okay, Newton..." she said, trying to change the subject back to the original. "List her with Sonali and Lainie as a group of three." I said. "That's a temporary fix, but it's a fix for now." ----- 'Just between the three of us' didn't last long. The next morning, Tuesday, the Chief told me that the Detectives were buzzing about Lt. Ross's new office and what it might mean. And considering that despite her advance pregnancy, Tanya Perlman had joined me in putting the Detectives through some grueling training about crime scenes, it made sense to tell the Detectives what was going on. So I had everyone come to Classroom J. As they all came in, Cindy brought along a long, huge wad of newspaper. Wassup wit dat? I wondered. "... and that's the plan, people." I said, wrapping up the explanation of the rank structure as well as assigning the partnerships. "I'll still monitor your training and I might show up at a crime scene or two, but I'm also now in charge of the Uniformed Police and Internal Affairs personnel, so I'm delegating the Detectives to Lieutenant Ross. And that brings me to the next thing. Lieutenant Ross, would you please come up here?" Cindy came forward, that look of 'what the hell are you up to?' on her ruggedly attractive face. I brought out my blue crowbar. "I hope this will become a new tradition, that the person in charge of the Detectives will hold and use this with distinction. I relinquish it and the honored titles it brings to you. Lieutenant Ross, you are now the Iron Crowbar!" I had decided to do this because I did not need my previous reputation any more, Cindy deserved it, and also to start a new tradition. "Aww, I can't take this!" Cindy protested as everyone clapped, but I insisted. She surprised me by giving me a warm hug, and I realized that this meant a lot to her, more than the other honors she'd received. Then she pretended to swing the crowbar at my rear end, making everyone laugh. Dark Side of the Force Ch. 01 "Just one thing, guys." Cindy said. "Teresa, will you bring me that package?" Teresa brought up the long wad of newspaper. Cindy reached into the cavity at the end of it. "This was my arts and crafts from the other night at the high school." Cindy said. "It seems that one Mycroft Holmes figured out what you might do, and she had me make this." Cindy pulled out a crowbar, just slightly longer and thicker than the blue one. It was painted solid red, one of the colors of my School. On one end was etched 'I C 2'. "There will always be only one true Iron Crowbar, and that is the original." Cindy said, handing me the red crowbar. "Can't get past my mom, eh?" I whispered to Cindy. She just nodded as as we crossed crowbars like swords. Then I heard an "Ahem!' from the back. It was the Chief, who had snuck in to watch the proceedings. "Okay, everyone, there is breakfast in the main conference room for all of you." said the Chief. "After you eat, Crowbar 1 and Crowbar 2 report to my office." As we went down the hall, I examined my new crowbar. It felt 'just right' in my hands. And I really liked that it had been made from the metal that had been used to smite down the evil Reverend Jonas Oldeeds. I wondered who the first person to be on the receiving end of my wrath with this crowbar would be. Turns out, I did not have long to find out. Part 5 - Dog Abuse Would you like to know how to really infuriate the Iron Crowbar? Just abuse a dog or cat in my presence. On the night of August 8th, I was called to a home in a lower-middle-income neighborhood just south of the Downtown district. I noted some trash on the lawn as I went up the walkway. It was just two steps up to the front porch, then into the home. There was a rancid smell inside, and the home was filthy. I saw Cindy Ross, Claire Michaels and Lorena Rose. They all looked disgusted and sick. "Backyard." I heard Ross say. I went out there, where two Animal Control officers from the Public Health Department were. They were wearing black shirts with "ANIMAL CONTROL" on the back, khaki tan pants, and they had badges just like ours, except they had the Public Health seal in the center of their badges, while Police, Fire and EMT had a common Public Safety seal in ours. "Twenty dogs in very bad shape." said the woman I was talking to. I saw the dogs, who were sitting in baskets with towels on the bottoms, being examined by the A.C. officers. One little creature, wobbling and barely able to walk, sniffed at me and then licked my hand. I tried to fight back tears, but did not fight the anger that was welling inside of me. "I think we can save some of them, but we'll see." "Do what you can." I said. "And you know how evidence works." The woman nodded. I headed back to the house. "Where is the son of a bitch?" I asked. "Bedroom." said Claire Michaels. "By the way, Commander, his name is Bryan Thatcher. Low life, has sold drugs in the past." "Dunno what the kennel is about, but we have him on animal cruelty charges at the least." said Cindy Ross, peering at my face, noting my mood. "And before you ask, neighbors have called in the past about crying dogs, but when we got four complaints at the same time, Rudistan and Morton came to check it out, then called us in." "I'm going to go spot-interview this suspect." I said, the look on my face leaving no doubt as to my intentions. "Leave us alone unless and until I call for you." I went into the bedroom, where the perp was handcuffed and sitting on the bed, with Rudistan guarding him. I closed the door behind me. Bryan Thatcher had brown hair, mustache and beard, was ruggedly handsome, slender, muscular. He was wearing a wife-beater t-shirt, short jeans pants, and flip flop shoes. "Do you want to take a walk, Rudistan, get some fresh air?" "Hell no, sir." Rudistan said. "I'm here to help. This guy already resisted arrest once. I get the feeling he'll do it again." "Man, I didn't resist arrest." the man said. "You fucking cops ain't got no warrant to be here. This is bullshit." "No doubt about that." I said. Holding the red crowbar with both hands, I jabbed my right hand forward, the crowbar levering and smashing the left side of Thatcher's face... --- "What was that?" Detective Lorena Rose said, hearing Thatcher scream out. "Do they need help?" Cindy Ross grabbed Rose by the collar. "Don't you dare go in there unless told to." she ordered. Lorena looked shocked, then looked at Claire Michaels, who also had a stern look on her face. --- "Aauuuugh!" cried out Thatcher as my red crowbar crashed onto the bottoms of his feet. Even through the flip flops, that one hurt. *THWACK!* The red crowbar came down onto the backs of his thighs. *THWACK!* A powerful blow to his asscheeks, right on the glutes. *THWACK!* My most savage blow, right on the back beneath the shoulder blades, where the push-up muscles were. I was remembering that poor little dog that licked me as I hit Thatcher as hard as I could, even harder than I hit Sergei Molotov all those months ago. "Okay, boss, that's plenty." said Rudistan, knowing just when enough was enough. He practically picked Thatcher up off the floor. "Stand still, fucker!" he said, then rammed his knee into Thatcher's crotch. As Thatcher doubled over in pain, I stood him up and Rudistan delivered a staggering closed-fist punch to the midsection. Thatcher doubled over, then vomited. I pushed Thatcher down again, shoving his face into his own puke. "You fucking dog abuser." I said. "I'm going to be damn sure the general prison populace knows what you did to those dogs when you get to prison. Okay, Sarge, let's go." Rudistan and I had made sure not to use each other's real ranks and names around Thatcher. The bastard continued to resist arrest by lying prone and motionless, until I asked him if walking was preferable to more crowbar treatment. He got up. We opened the door and pushed Thatcher forward. "He resisted arrest." I said, seeing the look on Lorena Rose's face. I began to wonder if she was going to work out as a TCPD Detective. "I'll help you with this perp, Patrolman." said Cindy. As they took Thatcher out to the front porch, Cindy was right behind him. Just as he got to the steps to the walkway, she gave him an imperceptible push. It wasn't steep, but it was enough to send Thatcher sprawling. He landed hard on his right cheek, almost knocked unconscious by the blow. "Damn, the shit can't even walk. Tripped on his own feet!" said Rudistan loudly. Thatcher was then taken to Headquarters for processing. The red crowbar was broken in, 'blooded'. But not even that could assuage the pain in those dogs' eyes... nor my own. Part 6- Police Abuse? "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" blared the lovely redhead at 7:00am the next morning. "Channel Two News is following up on the arrest of Bryan Thatcher for animal abuse last Friday night. Thatcher's lawyer is complaining that the police severely beat up Thatcher, which differs from the police reports that he resisted arrest and tripped on his own feet. Thatcher's lawyer, provided pro bono by the law firm of Chase, Berry & Lynch, is demanding an investigation of Commander Donald Troy by the State Bureau of Investigation." "Meanwhile, the Public Health Department has stated that while 12 of the abused dogs found in Thatcher's kennel can be saved, eight of them had to be put down, so severely were they injured and malnourished." The screen showed pictures of Animal Control officers holding abused dogs. That would go over 'well' with the People; no repercussions to my Police Department, I knew. "Police Chief Griswold has stated that he has never seen such a case of abuse of animals, and DA Krasney says he will be pushing for the maximum punishment under the law. Judge Rodney K. Watts has denied Thatcher bail, which is being appealed to higher courts by Thatcher's furious attorneys..." ----- "My fucking God, people." said Katherine Woodburn at the morning meeting of KXTC. "This was a... a huge chance to show the police abuse of Thatcher... did you see how fucked up his face was, and the bruises on his back?... and instead you show the fucking dogs. Nice going, Bettina." It was not a compliment and Bettina knew it, but she did not care. Woodburn looked around, seeing that the faces around the table had anger etched upon them... not at Bettina, but at her. She had completely lost her employees' loyalty and support over the last few months. "All right, what are you people doing on the campaigns?" Woodburn asked. "Once August is over, it's going to really get hot in these races, so get ready. So, who wants to start?" "Daniel Allgood has cut Harold Malone's lead down to 4-5 points." said Diane Williams. "Malone is going to be running some new ads and doing a whirlwind appearance blitz." "Can we get him to comment on the police abuse of Thatcher?" Katherine Woodburn asked. "He did." said Williams. "He said the Police showed remarkable restraint in arresting Thatcher after they'd seen those dogs. Malone loves dogs himself." "Oh Jesus Christ..." said Woodburn. "All right, what about Nathan Allen's campaign?" "They've gone into bunker mentality mode." said Bettina. "Nathan Allen was the only major politician in the area to not attend Lieutenant Ross's Medal of Valor presentation, and KSTD reported on that. KSTD is also showing Daniel Allgood footage, and their ratings are increasing." "I don't give a shit." said Woodburn, burning with hatred for Bettina Wurtzburg for bringing that up. "None of you are to report on Daniel Allgood nor his race for Sheriff at all. The only way I'd better hear his name is if he is arrested for abusing dogs. Does everyone understand?" Apparently they did. Everyone got up and left the room, though they had not been dismissed. ---- The sun was low in the sky on August 13th, nearly touching the northwest horizon. Bettina Wurtzburg and I were sitting on the patio of the Mountain Nest, watching the sunset and our Town as we sipped our drinks. Bettina's aunt, the gossip columnist and Society reporter Elsie Gringer, was inside with Laura and my mother. I had noticed that my mother and Elsie were getting along very well, fluttering like parakeets about gossip that I could not understand how they had come to learn. "Your mom is great." Bettina said. "My aunt loves her. Don't tell anyone I told you this, but your mom has been a source for my aunt more than a few times. I don't know how your mom finds out that stuff, but I can't get her to give me anything juicy on you." I knew the lovely redhead was teasing me, at least about my mom dishing out dirt on me. And tonight's dinner was agreed to be totally off the record. "My mom lived in the small town of Apple Grove for years." I said. "Women there develop skills that city women can only dream about when it comes to knowing what there is to know and juicy gossip." Bettina laughed. I suspected this was her first pleasant evening in some time. "So, what do you want to talk with me about?" "First, congratulations again on the promotion." Bettina said. "Katherine Woodburn about had a heart attack when she heard that." "Nathan Allen about had a worse one when he found out we'd re-hired Teresa Croyle." I said. Allen had been vociferous in his comments and threats to the Council, and I knew he was trying to get the SBI and lawyers to investigate Croyle for her attack on Dean Allen. But that was a ship that had done sailed, and Allen was told 'no joy' on it. It did not help Allen that Judge Rodney K. Watts was the judge who reviewed the case. He was no friend of the Allens. "Yes." said Bettina. "But that is not why I'm here. Don, it's getting ugly at KXTC, and I'm not sure what to do. I used to love my job, I used to love going in and reporting stories and working with those really good people. I know you're not a fan of the Press..." (Bettina was spot-on about that, I thought to myself) "... but I love my job like you love yours. But now... Katherine has turned it into a war zone. She's gone all-in for Harold Malone, and she would be trying to save Nathan Allen except that no reporter will speak favorably of him on camera." "So, are you telling me this just to vent?" I asked. "Or do you want me to do something about it?" "Can you do anything?" Bettina asked, hopeful. "There's a couple of things I might try." I said. "Let me ask this: if Katherine Woodburn were away, who would run the place?" "Probably her vice editor, Burt West." Bettina said. "He's an efficient manager, but we'd run rings around him. I'd be the one to keep things in line for him, should I choose to do so." "Get ready to choose to do so." I said. ---- "I'm just not sure what to do." said Lorena Rose at the Cop Bar on the same evening while Phyllis, Laura and I entertained Bettina and her aunt. "They kept telling us at the Academy, if we spotted any police abuse, to go to I.A. about it." "Did you actually see any abuse... of the perp?" Claire Michaels asked. "No." said Rose. "But I'm not stupid." "Good." said Claire. "Then don't be stupid about this. You saw those poor dogs, I saw you crying about them. I had a good cry when I got home, too. Even the Commander was affected. He had a couple of shots of Scotch in his office when he got back. If the Commander and Rudistan hadn't have done something to that perp, I would have. Don merely pulled rank, as I see it." Claire continued: "Here's the bottom line, Lorena. There is no business, no corporate business or government job, where you don't run into some line-crossing. And with the Police, you know we circle the wagons, protect and care for our own, watch each other's backs. Sometimes some rather, shall we say 'rough', arrests happen. We don't destroy the careers of brilliant police officers that have been awarded the highest decorations for something like that." "I guess you're right." Lorena Rose said, finishing her beer. "I'll tell you something else, something I saw on the streets of L.A." Claire said. "We're bound to a certain extent by our own agreement and desire to follow the law and do the right thing. The criminals know this, and take advantage of it... and us. Some day, you're going to find yourself in a situation where you're going to have to something they don't discuss at the Academy, or someone will have to do something for you. In time, you'll learn what's truly right and wrong, and you have to hope you don't get murdered finding out. Just keep that in mind. You have a brilliant career ahead of you. You have two of the best teachers you could have in Troy and Perlman; they are why I came here. You're still in 'learn' mode, kid." "Don't rock the boat, huh?" Lorena said, half sarcastically. "No, I'm not telling you that." Claire said, trying to hide her irritation. "But there's a lot you can learn from others that will make you better. Learn from those that have been there, and those that have the experience." Claire finished her beer, wondering if her attempts to teach the fiery young Detective would work out... Part 7- First Trespass of the Dark Side August 14th. It was 10:00pm and Katherine Woodburn was finishing up editing a story for the newspaper. Her red grease pencil was warm with use as she made furious slashes, then wrote something on the side. "Jesus, what else do I have to do to help Harold Malone?" she said out loud. "You might try going to work for the Democrat Party." the voice called out. A tall man wearing a light raincoat over his suit, a full-brim hat, and holding a long red crowbar came into the office from the shadows of the door. "Who the fuck- oh. Shit, what the fuck are you doing here?" Katherine exclaimed angrily. Her hand reached under the desk to press a button, then returned to where I could see it. I came up to the desk, grabbed a small chair and sat it down right next to Katherine behind her desk. I sat down, uncomfortably and inappropriately close to her. "I'm here to help you, Katherine." I said. "I'm here to help you make a choice." "You're full of shit. If you don't have a fucking warrant, get the fuck out!" Woodburn nearly screamed. "I can certainly get a warrant." I said. "See that gentleman at the door?" I pointed to the shadowy figure in the doorway. "That is Agent Fred Dixon of the Federal Elections Commission. He's here to arrest you. But that's my last resort; I'd sure rather play it another way, and I'm sure you would, too." "I have no interest in dealing with you and your little red crowbar." said Katherine. "Get out, now." "I was sorry to hear about what happened to you." I said, ignoring her. "That you were stopped by the police on your way home... that a drug dog alerted when brought to sniff your car... that a bag of cocaine large enough to have you charged for distribution of cocaine was found hidden in your car, then secreted bags of ecstasy were found-" "I've heard all these threats before, by much better and more powerful men than you, Mr. Iron Crowbar." hissed Katherine. 'You're really clutching at straws, here." "Yes, but once you're arrested, then others will take over operation of your station. They'll begin doing fair and balanced coverage of the election, which is all that I want to see. Fair coverage for both sides, and you can keep running your station to your heart's content. Keep up the shit, and off to jail you go." "Bryan Thatcher." Katherine said. "Name ring a bell? You're going to get your bell rung by his lawyers and the SBI when they're done, and I'll be helping them all the way. You're not a good cop. You're a dirty bastard." "Nice try." I said. "The public has seen those pictures of those poor dogs. The DA is mad at me, but only because he is worried about finding an impartial jury that didn't see those pictures on your newscasts. "Now like I said, Katherine... go work with the DNC, become a political activist, whatever you want to do. But resign and sell KXTC, or on the third day it will be sold from under you after you're arrested. It's your choice. Oh, and yes... I am the dirtiest... and I have not even begun yet." I got up and left. After I did, Katherine rushed to check the audio recording equipment she'd turned on when I'd come in. Unfortunately for her, it was all white noise. "Damn!" Katherine swore under her breath. "Oh, by the way," I said, returning to the room, standing in front of her desk, exhibiting a little electronic device in my hand. "This is a fun little device. Your microphones can't record shit while this is on. Time's a'wastin', Katherine. Make your choices." I left again, this time for good. To be continued... Dark Side of the Force 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, Trilogy Series. Dark Side Of The Force, Ch 1-2. Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, extreme language, and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. Part 6 - Shot Across The Bow August 22d. Laura and I arrived at Dr. Wellman's home for the reception and dinner. The honored guests tonight were two of my Lieutenants, Teresa Croyle and Cindy Ross. Of course, Cindy would be getting further recognition for being awarded the Medal of Valor. I was wearing plainclothes, a dark gray suit and red tie (Go Wildcats!), and Laura looked mighty fine in an off-white sleeveless dress, blue belt and matching blue high-heel pumps. She wasn't too enamored of the my tie, but was complimentary of the rest of me. Tanya Perlman was there, and I noticed her and Dr. Wellman exchanging glances while Sally Wellman was busy hostessing. Dr. Wellman also showed a bit of acid wit when he told me he'd invited Senator Nathan Allen to come and celebrate the return of the County's prodigal daughter, Teresa Croyle. I could not help having a hearty laugh at that one. Round tables had been set up in the backyard for dinner. It was not as large an event as the last promotion party for Tanya, Britt Maxwell and myself, and in that respect it was actually a bit more relaxed, intimate, and fun. Laura and I were sitting with Chief Griswold and his wife, John "Jack" Colby and his wife, and Campus Police Commissioner Dexter Robinson and his daughter Robin Ventura, who was visiting from the City. I noticed that Harold Malone and his wife were sitting with Congressman Gerald A. Condor and his guest (wife?), as well as a couple of professors and their spouses. Daniel and Melina Allgood were seated with Councilman and Regent J.P. Goldman and his wife, Selena Steele and her date, and Councilwoman Dagmar Schoen and her husband. Todd and Jeanine Burke were in attendance, and somehow were sitting at the University President's table with the Wellmans. I was surprised to see Todd and Dr. Wellman talking so amiably. Teresa was at President's table, along with her official escort Seth Warner. Tanya Perlman was Cindy's invited guest, and so was sitting at the University President's table, which Sally Wellman seemed to be only tolerating. Oooh, trouble in paradise! I wickedly thought to myself. Cindy was wearing a peach-orange sleeveless dress and high heel slides, and she looked delicious. I was wondering just how long it would be before the right person swept her off her feet. And... oh yes... Mr. Henry R. Wargrave and his wife Lilly were there. They was sitting at a table with Tom and Janet Riordan (with Janet giving me some meaningfully lusty looks when she could get away with it), University Regent Austin R. Murphy and his wife, Regent Myrtle L. James (who was fluttering like a parakeet with Mrs. Wargrave), and a very elderly man that I had never met before, who Wargrave was talking with a lot. Other tables had some of our fellow Detectives (not all were able to attend) as well as some professors and their spouses. After a delicious dinner, Dr. Wellman got going with the ceremonials. I had told him that I did not want to be recognized this evening, as it was for Cindy and Teresa. But the good University President got around that one: "Ladies and gentlemen, this outstanding police officer threatened me with arrest if I tried to include him for recognition tonight, and then his boss, the Police Chief, threatened me with arrest if I didn't. So since I'm going to jail tonight, one way or the other..." there was some laughter at that... "then let it be having recognized Commander Donald Troy upon his well-earned promotion." I acknowledged the standing ovation, with a humorously evil look Dr. Wellman's way. He just 'replied' with that sinister looking grin of his. Dr. Wellman then introduced Teresa, welcoming her back to the Town and County and its Police Force, and recognizing her promotion. There was good applause for her, but perhaps not quite as much as it should have been: some of the Democrats and the professors were choosing to remember how she beat up Dean Allen. Then Cindy was recognized, and I am very happy to say that the applause for her was loud, strong and prolonged. She blushed furiously as the applause continued in waves as the crowd would just not stop. Finally, she just sat down and the crowd got the hint. She was still not fully recovered, still tiring fairly easily. ------------------------- After dinner there was still mingling and socializing. I was a bit surprised when Henry Wargrave shepherded his table's people towards me right during the moment Laura had gone to 'powder her nose'. "You remember my wife Lilly?" Wargrave said, and I started my game: I took Lilly's hand more as if to kiss it than shake it, and made a point to say "You look very lovely tonight, Mrs. Wargrave." as I pulled her slightly towards me. She was indeed looking good in a green-blue dress and high heels that really showed off her reddish hair and her smoking-hot legs. And she definitely enjoyed my flirtation. Henry, not so much, I could tell. Good. "And you know the Riordans?" Wargrave said. Tom Riordan shook my hand with what could only be described as 'minimum politeness', but Janet was enthusiastic as I said "It's a pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Riordan.", to which she replied "It certainly is, Commander." Tom Riordan was nearly red faced as he watched. "And saving the very best for last, this is Mr. Conrad King." Wargrave said as the others receded into the background. "Why Mr. King," I said, shaking his hand. "I'm honored that a man of your stature would come to such a humble occasion as this one." "Hardly humble, and it's my pleasure, Commander." said King in his old but smooth voice. "I happened to be in town visiting the Wargraves, and Dr. Wellman was kind enough to invite me. You have some excellent officers on your Force, and you're pretty good too, from what I hear." As I thanked him, he hit me with the bombshell: "I saw that firsthand when you broke up the Black Badge gang. You are the man who arrested my son." "Er... uh..." I stammered. I certainly wasn't going to apologize, but what to say? He had me off guard, for sure. "Oh, it's quite all right, son," said King, "you were only doing your job, and quite well, I might add. My son did some very bad things, as your nephew did some very bad things, but you did the right thing on both occasions and did your job. Yes, it's bad when family members go bad, Commander, and I know as you do that it hurts, but I was glad to see that baby recovered unharmed and you along with him." "Thank you, Mr. King." I said, having no idea what to say next, nor how to change the subject. And Wargrave seemed to be enjoying my discomfiture. At that moment, Sally Wellman rescued me by bringing up some Regents to meet Wargrave and Mr. King. I excused myself. Some minutes later, as darkness settled in, I told Cindy that as she was guest of honor, people were waiting for her to leave as their cue to do so, and that she needed to go home and rest, as well. So she and Tanya made their goodbyes to the Wellmans. I was still waiting for Laura, who was talking with Sally Wellman and some other women, when Henry Wargrave appeared near me. "Mr. King is impressed by you." said Wargrave. "He really hit you with a shot, there, and you rolled quite well with it." "Yes." I said, then took my own shot. "I was so sorry, Mr. Wargrave, to hear that Acme Media Group lost out in its bid to purchase KXTC. I know wealthy persons like yourselves are building media assets, and losing KXTC must be quite a blow." "Yes, that was disappointing." said Wargrave, looking just a bit skeptical, wondering where I was going in bringing this up. "But you win some, lose some..." "I heard that your bid was beaten, then when you upped it, it was beaten again." I said. "Someone clipped you on that one, sir." Wargrave looked uncomfortable, and then I turned to almost 'front' him and looked him dead in they eye as I said "Does that put us at seriously inconvenienced yet, Mr. Wargrave?" Wargrave's face went from polite social chatter to a frown. He knew what I was saying, and he knew that not only was I telling him that I had rigged the bidding against him, I was also replying to the threat in that painting and note that I was sure he was behind. His eyes tonight confirmed it for me. "By no means, Mr. Holmes." said Wargrave, his reply a direct confirmation and renewal of the painting's threats. "Not even close. If you'll excuse me..." Wargrave walked away from me without shaking hands or further conversation. I worked hard to keep a grin and chuckle off my face. I saw Laura looking over at me: it was time to go rescue her from those ladies. "Mrs. Wellman, ladies," I said, coming to the group, "I'm sorry, but I am going to have to take this lovely woman away from you, and we're going to have to make our goodbyes. Thank you for a lovely evening and for the recognition for my officers, Mrs. Wellman..." Laura looked relieved and grateful to me for that. ------------------------- "I avoided them tonight." Laura said as we drove home to the Mountain Nest. "I thought of Dr. Heinz when I saw Henry Wargrave. I don't know how you were able to keep calm around him." "Well, first I flirted with his wife right in front of him." I said. "Did he notice?" Laura asked, smiling. "Oh yes." I said. "She was loving it, and I don't think he liked it. And you know he can't keep her satisfied at home..." "I can almost physically see and hear the ideas forming in your head, darling." Laura said. "I saw you and Henry talking alone, also. What was that about?" After I informed her, she frowned. "Dear, don't forget that Henry Wargrave is a billionaire, and he didn't get to where he is by falling for little Jedi mind tricks like you're playing, trying to rile him up into something rash." "Your only mistake is that I'm trying to play tricks." I said. "It's 'game on' now, though." "You do like to play it the direct and confrontational way, don't you, darling?" Laura said. "May I suggest you worry about the November Elections instead?" "Oh, I've already started working on that, too." I said, remembering... ------------------------- My little shot at Wargrave had stemmed from events the week before. Two days (on the 'third day') after I visited Katherine Woodburn, she was arrested by Federal Elections Commission Agent Fred Dixon (no relation to Janet Dixon Riordan, by the way), and made to take a very public and humiliating 'perp walk' before a gaggle of Media. They were a cannibalistic bunch: they were loving the spectacle of the fall from grace of one of their own. For some, Justice travels at a glacial pace, but not when this kind of money and political power is involved. Faced with some serious charges, Katherine cut a very quick deal with the U.S. Attorneys: she would immediately sell Woodburn Media Group, which included KXTC and the Town & County Examiner newspaper at auction, and the Feds would drop their charges against her and the station. She would not admit guilt, but she would never be permitted to own a media company of any kind again. The auction was interesting. Acme Media Group, which was controlled by Wargrave, put in a strong bid, but it was then matched and just beaten by a bid from BOW Communications Group, which was owned by a newly formed conglomerate named BOW Companies Group. Acme improved its bid, but was just outbid a second time, followed by a third round of the same. Acme backed off, as the price was getting a bit rich vs. the actual value of the properties. A man in his early thirties was brought in to be publisher. He had been a media relations man at DynaCorp, the firm owned by the late Anthony Warner, and whose sale had been stayed by a judge pending a hearing on the lawsuit filed by Seth Warner against his sister Karen, and before that he'd been in the Media and Marketing Department of... Burke Enterprises, now run by my nephew Todd. It is not hard to connect the dots here, people. Burt West was named Editor-In-Chief of the Town & County Examiner, while Bettina Wurtzburg was named Senior Managing Editor at KXTC. For the first time, KXTC viewers began seeing coverage of Sheriff candidate Daniel Allgood and his very pretty wife Melina. Polling showed her ratings to be extremely favorable. I could certainly understand why. Diane Williams found herself being offered a job by one of the National networks, which she quickly accepted. Part 7 - Partnerships August 23d. Despite my promotion, there is one tradition that I had refused to give up: drinking coffee with the MCD Detectives and our 7:00am standing date with Bettina! "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" said the visibly happier redheaded reporterette. "Channel Two News Polling has discovered that Harold Malone holds a slim 3 point lead over Daniel Allgood in the race for Sheriff, coming within the margin of error. The race is tightening as both candidates plan to make a blitz of appearances over the Labor Day weekend. And speaking of that weekend, we go to Chuck Pringle for a Sports update. Chuck!" "Thank you Bettina!" said Pringle, this segment not live but taped, "The University's football squad is wrapping up summer camp work as the players look forward to the upcoming first game of the season! Coach Brian Harlan's squad is hopeful for a good year, but experts have them in the middle of the pack at best in Conference standings predictions..." Hey, Chuck! I thought to myself humorously. Mention who's on top of those lists: my Wildcats, Chuck! Hmmm, have I mentioned that I still have a dislike for the Press? How dare they support the local team instead of my Wildcats? Wassup wit dat, huh? ---------------------------- At 8:00am a tornado swept through Police Headquarters. No, not a weather event, but the new Assistant District Attorney. Her name was Jenna Stiles. She had red hair, a bit darker than mine or Bettina's, and Jenna's was possibly dyed a bit darker than natural. She was medium height with a fairly slender, in-shape body, decent breasts, decent ass. I couldn't see her legs, she was wearing a brownish-gray suit pants that matched her jacket, and a true blue blouse with a big collar. She was wearing what looked like medium-heel leather boots, except they only went up to her ankles. It would be politically incorrect for me to make an observation of her sexual orientation depending solely on how she was dressed. As she came down the hall, she was firing orders at her assistant, a youngish man with curly hair and glasses. He wasn't quite as bad as the late Tim Dawdle, but he looked like he was mushy enough to have been squeezed out of a tube of toothpaste. She went into her office, the one on the left of two that composed the suite next to and to the right of the main conference room. Yeah, say that three times fast. :-) I let her sit down at her desk before I came up to the door, hearing her firing off orders, "Okay, tell Mr. Krasney that the motions have been filed on the 'Dirty Lenny' drug case, I've filed all of our motions in the Taitz appeal, and don't you knock before coming in? Oh.... sorry Commander, I didn't realize it was you." I was standing at the door, my hand raised and just about to knock. I knocked on the door with three sharp raps, anyway. "Yes I do, given a chance. You must be A.D.A. Stiles." I said. She raised herself out of her chair to shake hands with me, then I continued "When you're ready to take a breath and get some coffee, I'll take you over to meet the Detectives." I meant right now and she knew it, so she told her assistant Gordon, who insisted it be pronounced "Gor-DON" to get her legal papers unpacked, and she came with me. I introduced her to Martin Nash, Diana Torres, and Tanya Perlman, whose eyes were twinkling as she made observations of the new ADA. Teddy Parker poured Jenna some coffee, and everyone chatted for a couple of minutes about Jenna's assignment of working with Vice, to which I was about to take her. And then Cindy Ross walked in. "ADA Jenna Stiles, this is Lieutenant Cindy Ross." I said in introduction... and then observed that fireworks were happening. Upon seeing Jenna, Cindy had openly just stared at her, speechless. I then noticed that Jenna's reaction was the same. Finally, Cindy extended her hand and said in an almost dreamlike state, "It's very nice to meet you." "Likewise." said Jenna, shaking her hand just a bit slowly and prolonged in timing. "I've heard so much about you, Lieutenant Ross." "Please, call me Cindy," said Ross, "and I hope you didn't believe a word you've heard so far." Jenna smiled at that. "I was just taking ADA Stiles to meet the Vice Detectives." I said to Cindy, cueing it up nicely for her. She took the opportunity. "Commander, I'm sure you're very busy." Cindy offered, not taking her eyes off of Jenna's. "Why don't I take Ms. Stiles to meet the Vice Detectives, then show her around the place?" "By all means. I'll talk to you both later." I said. Cindy led Jenna out the door towards Vice. "Ooooo-WEE!" exclaimed Tanya Perlman as she did fist pumps. "Did you see that?" "I sure did." I said, a wry grin on my features. "Oh, that's so fantastic!" Tanya said, her own face beaming. "I saw that, too, but what's going on with it?" asked Martin Nash, showing a hint of naivety. I replied "If any of you are ever asked if people really do fall in love at first sight... well, you can say they do because you just saw proof of it. Y'all carry on; I'll go let the Chief know about the redheaded tornado that just blew through here and swept my Lieutenant off her feet." Tanya giggled at that, her cheeks rosy. It would no longer be politically incorrect to deduce Jenna Stiles's sexual orientation, I thought to myself as I went to the Chief's office. ------------------------------ "Commander, I'm surprised how well-trained they are on evidence collection." said Jenna Stiles as she met with me, Cindy, Teresa, and Paulina Patterson in Classroom 'E'. "That would be Ms. Patterson's doing." I said. "She's raked me over the coals on it, too." Paulina smiled as I said that. "I'm sure you'll train them even more than I have." said Paulina, with a modesty that fooled no one present. "And you'll have to keep after them, especially when I'm not here." "What do you mean, 'not here'?" queried Cindy. Paulina looked over at me, and I nodded as if giving permission, then Paulina spoke: "DA Krasney wants me to start trying more cases in the Courts. He's assigned me an office at the Courthouse and wants me spending more time over there." "That's great!" said Cindy, then seeing the strange look on Paulina's face, continued "That's... what you ADAs want, right? It's like a promotion, isn't it?" "Yes." said Paulina. "But I've come to love it here, working with you guys." Dark Side of the Force Ch. 02 "You'll still be around." I said. "The Chief and I talked to Krasney. You're keeping your office here, Paulina, which is one reason Jenna got the other one instead of yours. Jenna also is going to have Sanders' old office at the Courthouse." "Total waste of Police Headquarters resources, if you ask me, though I'm happy I get to hang around here some of the time." said Paulina. "By the way, are they going to have a Deputy Chief anytime soon?" "No." I said, "not while Chief Griswold is still here." "I guess you're the Deputy Chief, aren't you Don?" asked Jenna. "No, not at all." I said. "First of all, as Commander I'm already second-in-command after the Chief. A Deputy Chief would be equal to me in rank, but not in command of people, and the Chief has told the Council that there is no need for a Deputy Chief while he's here doing the admin stuff himself. "After Griswold leaves, we'll have to see what happens in the Chief position. The Sheriff election will go a long way to determining what happens there. And let's just say Allgood wins and I'm still here. There will be a new Chief, and it won't be me, as I've already told the Council myself. And the new Chief will determine if he wants a Deputy Chief, and who that might be." "Why don't you want the Chief's job?" asked Paulina. "There's no doubt in my mind the Council will give it to you if you wanted it." "Because if I'm Chief, I can't do what I like doing: solving crimes. It's bad enough where I am now, but at least I can still help out here and there." I said, my words fooling no one: they all knew I fully intended to make sure crimes didn't go unsolved for lack of observation, deduction and knowledge. "But the Chief's job is administrative and political. Not my cup of tea at all. I'm very happy where I am now." ----------------------------- Later that afternoon, Lt. Teresa Croyle came to my office. "Commander, can I take a couple hours off? I think I need to find a new place to live, pronto." "And why would that be, Lieutenant?" I asked, knowing already. "I'm observing that Cindy is going to want a new roommate, and very soon." replied Teresa. "Observant indeed, you are." I said. "Any ideas for a roommate for you?" "No sir." Teresa said. "I think I want to live by myself for a while, if I can find a place cheap enough." "There is a subdivision of duplexes and quads not far from the Post Office, just north of Courthouse Square." I suggested. "They're in pretty good shape and cheap, two-bedrooms for $700 or less a month. Check there." Teresa did, and would have a place by September 1st. ------------------------------------ I was now having to deal with a new crisis. Barry Oliver had come into my office just as Teresa was leaving. Barry made sure to observe Teresa's fine ass as she walked out before sitting down at my invitation. "I'm sorry, Commander, but I have to leave." said Barry. "I'm here to submit my resignation." He put a signed letter on my desk, which I examined. "I am sorry to hear that, Barry, though I'm happy for you and your future." I said. "So you're getting your patents processed?" "Thank you, sir." Barry said. "Yes, Todd Burke's wife Jeanine has filed the applications already." "That divorce firm is sure branching out. Now it's patent law." I said, talking more to myself than to Barry. "So what are you doing about getting or starting a company to manufacture your new processes?" "Oh, you don't know?" Barry asked, looking astonished. My blank look was his answer, so he said "Your nephew Todd, Seth Warner and I formed a company. We called it 'BOW Companies Group'. The 'BOW' is for 'Burke-Oliver-Warner'. If Seth can get control of DynaCorp, he's going to roll it into BOW. Todd is going to roll Burke Industries into it as a wholly-owned subsidiary, as well." "And BOW Communications Group, that bought KXTC?" I asked. "That's ours, too." said Oliver. "Well, I'll be damned!" I said, smiling. "You young whippersnappers are really on the ball, arentcha?" Barry just smiled, then I continued. "Barry, what about the CIA and your problems with them? Once you file for the patents, they'll know what's up." "Yes sir, I've talked to Seth about that." said Oliver. "His father's company had CIA contracts, and he said they were no problem for him. And after you took down that rogue cell, Commander, I got a phone call from the CIA Director himself, apologizing for what that rogue group did to me and my apartment. They're paying to fix the apartment, and he's promised I'll be left alone. He said to tell you or your wife if I was ever bothered again. On top of that, Seth says he thinks he can get the CIA to award us contracts, and lucrative ones, if they want to use our processes. At least we'll be getting paid." "Okay, sounds good to me." I said. "So you won't be able to work with us in the Crime Lab at all? I'm going to miss your expertise." "I'll miss it too, sir." said Barry, "But it's not fair to you guys for me to try to do it part-time. I'm going to be way too busy with the new company. Once I get started, maybe my new company can collaborate with your Crime Lab on forensic research." "I look forward to that." I said. "And in this letter of resignation, you've suggested bringing on Dr. Lawrence? I happen to agree with that, too." After that I stood up, as did Barry, and we made our goodbyes. I told him Tanya and I would take him to lunch soon, trying to hide my chagrin at losing a really top-notch police scientist... I began thinking about things as I sat alone in my office. Of course I already knew what Barry had told me, though I'd feigned surprise: how else could I have known how to rig it so that the right company beat out Wargrave for KXTC? But I also could see the shape of what was developing with BOW Enterprises and BOW Companies Group. I knew that even with Todd as my nephew, maybe because he was my nephew, I needed to keep my eye on that developing situation. --------------------------- "Not a bad place." said Jenna Stiles as she looked around Cindy's apartment after they'd gone to dinner at the Cop Bar, where Jenna had expressed pleasant and much surprise at how good the food was. "Ever thought about getting a condo?" "Sure, but this has been cheap and convenient." Cindy said. "Until Britt moved out and went to the City, that is." Cindy told Jenna the story of Britt's SBI appointment; well, most of it. "I see." said Jenna. "And Teresa is staying with you now?" "Temporarily." Cindy replied. "She told me today that she's looking for a new place. She's the kind that prefers to live by herself than have a roommate." "You two are close, aren't you? I can tell..." Jenna said, and Cindy knew what was really being asked. "Teresa and I have become like sisters." Cindy replied. "In some ways Teresa is more my sister than my blood sister Molly is. But she dates only men... nobody's perfect, I guess." Jenna smiled at that one. "So..." Jenna said, "you don't have anyone special in your life right now?" "Yes... I do now." said Cindy, taking Jenna's hand. They both knew where this was going, and neither wanted to waste time. Their lips met in a warm kiss... followed by a much deeper, more passionate one, a kiss that expressed the building tension between them all day long. Soon, they were stripping off each other's clothes as they made their way to Cindy's bedroom. It was the fiery redhead who was the aggressor, and Cindy willingly submitted to Jenna's oral assault. The platinum blonde hardbody babe lay back on her bed, on her back, and spread her legs as she felt Jenna ease onto the bed next to her. Jenna's hand slid down Cindy's taut, hard abs to the wispy fringes of her very light-colored pubic hairs, then down to Cindy's swollen labes. "Mmmmmfff..." Cindy moaned into the deep kiss Jenna as giving her, sucking the hot redhead prosecutor's tongue and Jenna probed Cindy's mouth, their lips sliding hotly against each other's. Both women were sopping wet with desire, and the both knew that this was more than just a physical coupling that was about to happen. ------------------------- Cindy's firm, shapely legs were pulled back almost to her abs. Jenna was lying between her legs, her mouth planted firmly on Cindy's labes, Jenna's tongue sliding deeply in and out of Cindy's wet pussy, scraping along the top and sides of her cuntwalls as Jenna ate her new lover's pussy like a starving woman. For herself, Cindy was in a dream state. She had never felt such pleasure; there was something about the way Jenna was making love to her that was different, better than any other woman she'd ever had sex with. And then it hit Cindy... she realized what the difference was... she and Jenna were making love, not just fucking. Even as she ate Cindy's delicious, sweet pussy, Jenna was running her hands over Cindy's abs, her large breasts, along her hard thighs. At one point, she cupped the glutes of Cindy's hardbody ass in her hands, pulling the younger woman's pussy up into her face. "Oh.... ohhhhh... OH GOD!" Cindy gasped as her first hard climax hit her. Her hand came down on the back of Jenna's red head and shoved it harder into her quim as the muscular platinum blonde grinded her pudenda against the older woman's face. Jenna lapped up Cindy's gushing cuntal juices as Cindy shivered violently through her intense orgasm. Once that was over, Jenna straddled Cindy and lowered her pussy onto Cindy's face in a hot soixante-neuf. The room filled with moans and smacks of lesbian pleasure as the lovers consummated their new relationship... Part 8 - Politics and Payback "There is no way in hell I'm doing that." said State Senator Nathan Allen. He was in his Midtown office with two other State Senators and U.S. Congressman Gerald A. Condor. It was the morning of August 24th. State Senator Jimmy 'Coffin' Cerone represented the Southport area. He'd been a feared Union Boss of the Southport Longshoremen's Labor Union, also having strong Organized Crime ties. For reasons no one could figure out, he'd dropped everything two years before and had himself appointed State Senator. He had a chiseled face that showed the toughness he'd acquired as a Union man. He'd acquired the name 'Coffin' because his father owned a Funeral Home, and in his earlier years he would 'persuade' criminals to his way of thinking by showing them a coffin and mentioning that if the one they were seeing didn't fit, he'd find one that did. Also in the room was State Sen. Richard Langdon, from Madison County, the home of State Women's prison to the east of Midtown. He was tall, lanky, and looked like a professor or teacher of very high mind. He was indeed smart, but brutal underneath: among his several crime rings was one that forced inmates of State's Women Prison into prostitution; they were forced to turn tricks, to perform sexual favors for Langdon's clients and friends, and of course for his personal enrichment. More chillingly, if one could guess which of the three Senators in the room was responsible for the most deaths of other people, it would not be Nathan Allen nor 'Coffin' Cerone... Langdon had them both beat by a considerable margin. "Nathan, your numbers are in the tank." said Jimmy 'Coffin' Cerone, sounding much more smooth and pleasant than his face would suggest. "If the primary season weren't already over, the State Democrat Party would be finding someone to run against you. As it is, we don't think you can win, and we don't need that Republican extremist, that makes the TEA Party look like the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, defeating you and taking your place in the State Senate." "Senator Cerone is right, Allen." said Langdon. He looked like he'd be the smooth negotiator, yet his voice was harsh and demanding. "We're asking you to take one for the Party, step down, and let's get someone else in there before it's too late. After Labor Day, it might just not matter." "Gentlemen, you worry too much. Does anyone want a drink?" Allen said as he poured himself a large Canadian whiskey. Everyone else declined, though Condor and Cerone looked longingly at the bottle. "Things are being put into place that will assure my victory in November. My opponent is a radical Conservative whom the People will reject. We'll soon be playing the 'race card' against John Cummings as well as Daniel Allgood in the Sheriff's race in my County. That'll get the black vote out in large numbers, crushing the TEA Party's candidate and putting both me and Harold Malone where we rightly need to be to continue the work that we will be doing with you gentlemen." "Nathan," said Gerald Condor, "that's why I'm here. If you won't take good advice from me, from the guy in your District that knows what is going on there, then I don't know what else to do. You're losing, Nathan. You're losing, you may take Harold Malone down with you, and you may hurt the Party in other ways, as well. The race card won't work against Daniel Allgood; if anything, it might hurt Harold Malone more. And blacks see your son getting off for that car accident as a negative... it reminds them that they don't get special treatment in Courts like your son did." "Gentlemen, I appreciate you coming here today, but I again suggest you relax. It's all under control. Things are in place." said Allen. "Now I'm sorry gentlemen, but in the course of this pleasant conversation, I'm neglecting duties elsewhere that I must tend to. Thanks so much for coming by." It was a dismissal, and Nathan Allen stood up. The other three men remained seated for a long moment, staring at him. "Well, gentlemen, I must go, so you can let yourselves out. Please help yourselves to a drink before you go, if you like." Allen made motions as if to leave himself. The other men got up, but none would shake Allen's outstretched hand. "Allen, I strongly suggest you reconsider." Langdon said chillingly. "The State Party has made their decision. They're going to cut off funds to your campaign. You'll receive no help. We might even run someone as an independent to save the seat. Take 24 hours and reconsider, Allen. Let me hear from you tomorrow, or else we might have go in... other directions." It was a threat, and Langdon did not just mean replacing Nathan Allen on the ballot. "My answer will be the same tomorrow that it is today." said Allen. "And after I win, tell your State Party people that Nathan Allen remembers his friends and those who stood by him... and those who didn't." Cerone and Langdon didn't even look back as they left, but Gerald Condor did, giving Allen a look as if he, Condor, was watching a favored dog pass away in front of him. He turned and left. ------------------------------------ The morning of August 24th saw me driving Chief Griswold to Midtown. We were wearing suits and ties, something the Chief rarely did; he usually wore a light blue police shirt and police pants, sometimes open-collared, sometimes with a tie and Police "duty dress" jacket. We discussed the meeting earlier that morning. At 8:00am we'd had a meeting at Police Headquarters with SBI Deputy Director Tom Conlan and SBI Agent Ted Crenshaw. Upon coming in, Crenshaw immediately apologized for being part of the Ikea/Ferrell raid on the Chief's SUV at Ward Harvester. "I had no idea what was going on there." said Crenshaw. "Neither did almost all of the agents. A lot of them made formal complaints to Inspector Maxwell's office about it. Others are looking into getting legal representation and suing, saying they were misled by Lewis, Ikea and Ferrell." "I saw that you're the one who signaled your agents to drop their weapons." I said, choosing to be diplomatic. "You saved a lot of lives." "Yes, you did." said Griswold. "If they hadn't, I would've had my officers shoot every one of you dead." "That's why we're here." said Conlan. "That got too close to the edge, gentlemen. Now you guys should know by now that I'm on your side, that I'm fighting hard to keep the SBI out of corruption and possibly being dissolved by the Legislature. It can be a good organization and I want it to be, but I need your help. The Reserve Program is going extremely well. But I'll be blunt, Chief, what you did didn't help our situation." "Yes, I know." said Griswold, obviously still pissed off about the whole thing. "And I'm paying for it by being asked to retire, which I did. All I can say is that you guys won't have me to worry about anymore, but this guy upgraded his crowbar from blue to red, and you'll be dealing with him from now on." "For my part, guys," I said, "I want to work with you and help, but with Lewis as Director, I just don't see us winning without having to destroy the SBI underneath him. Let me ask you all a question, including you, Chief: Does Lewis have something on the Governor? By that I mean does Lewis have something that is keeping him from being fired like he long since should have been?" Crenshaw looked blank, but Conlan and Griswold's faces were open books to me. "He probably does, Crowbar." said the Chief, and I could tell he was couching his words and being very careful in what he said. "There is almost no politician alive that doesn't have some dirt or a skeleton in a closet somewhere. The Governor knows how to play the game: he has dirt on Lewis, Lewis has dirt on him, it's one big dirty circle down there in Midtown." "True enough." said Conlan. "Lewis has been trying to get dirt on me for years, and I have a few things on him, but they're not big enough things to get him taken down. We both have strong allies in the Legislature and the SBI, not to mention other agencies and groups. Of course, none of us have an ally as good looking as your wife, Commander." I smiled at the compliment to Laura, and Conlan was spot-on that I had powerful allies myself. "I'll just add this one thing, gentlemen." added Conlan. "If you ask me, the whole crux of the SBI's existence and the direction it'll take depends on one State Senate seat, from right here in the 1st State Senate District. If Nathan Allen is defeated, we are golden. But if he survives, we're toast, literally. It's that close. And we have word that he is going to have some tremendous help from National groups as well as others, and he intends to go dirty and make it a race war in your County." "Leave that to me." I said. "When the time comes, I'll handle it." That got me looks of astonishment from Conlan, Crenshaw... and Chief Griswold.
 ------------------------------ "Governor, this is my ace in the hole, Commander Donald Troy. Donald, Governor Val Jared." "Great to finally meet you, Commander." said the Governor. We'd just been shown into the Governor's office in the State Capitol building, where the Governor was receiving us. Governor Valnius Jared, Republican, Governor of the State, was tall, almost my height, handsome, with a full head of now silver-gray hair. He looked distinguished, the perfect politician or businessman for the television cameras. He could be smooth and friendly, but he could also be a tough leader. "Have a seat at the table, gentlemen." the Governor offered, extending his hand to where a light lunch had been set out for us. This was politics all the way, and I decided to have some fun playing the game. "Commander, I don't think it's too much to say that you are the reason our SBI Reserve Program is such a huge success." said the Governor after some small talk. "More and more counties are warming up to it. And that brings me to a subject that I want some input from you about. It's going to be a big fight in the Legislature, and even I can't tell what will happen... but if it were solely up to you, what would you do about the SBI? I'd like your frank, open and serious opinion." Dark Side of the Force Ch. 02 This was a rare opportunity to give some real input that might do some good, I realized, and I'd be a fool to fuck it up. But I also had to be circumspect and careful with my language. "Governor, I appreciate you asking me. My idea of an ideal SBI is one where a core of good agents is augmented by the Reserve program, and that the focus and emphasis be on support services, such as laboratory services for counties that can't afford their own, for confirmation analysis and such stuff. For liaisons in cross-county investigations and operations, but not coming in like bulls in china shops and running roughshod over the local LEOs." "And I apologize in advance if I go too far in saying this," I continued, "but there are bad apples that need to be weeded out in order to make the SBI a healthy crime-fighting unit. Knowing Inspector Maxwell as I do," (that was namedropping) "she'll be doing a great job cleaning up the trash. I also believe that if Tom Conlan were the Director of the SBI, that would go a long way to making the SBI a premiere law enforcement organization that would be envied across the Nation, much less the State." "I appreciate your views," said Governor Jared, "and I agree with your general ideas of the direction for the SBI. And I couldn't agree more about the outstanding job Inspector Maxwell is doing; we narrowly avoided political disaster by having her take over the investigation of the State Asylum." "As to personnel, Commander, I know you're not one of those that like to play the political horse-trading game. In that, you're a lot like your Chief, here, for whom I have the utmost respect." Griswold 'harrumph!'ed at that, as only a close personal friend could, as the Governor continued "I can only tell you that personnel are part of the horse-trading game here in the Capitol. Give some, take some..." "Yes sir, I understand," I said, playing that game just a bit myself, "and you are correct that such games are beyond my pay grade." "I am happy to say," said the Governor, smiling in a sneaky 'gotcha' way, "that both of you are about to be on the receiving end of some politics in a few minutes. There's no way I'm going to let either of you get away without getting a photo-op to make myself look good. Commander, you'll be receiving the Governor's Citation of Honor for your rescue of that baby from that disgusting kidnapper and murderer; and Chief, you'll be getting the Governor's Proclamation of Thanks for your years of Law Enforcement service." "I knew it!" growled the Chief. "I knew you'd pull a stunt like that on me! Okay, you got me, but only because I want to be in the picture with the Iron Crowbar, too!" Both men laughed at that, while I shook my head in mock helplessness. Some minutes later, we were ushered into a hallway of the State Capitol, where a crush of media took what seemed like a million pictures of us, and KXTC and other Media cameras rolled as the Governor honored both myself and the Chief with very nicely framed proclamations. The Citation of Honor was no laughing matter, and even carried with it a ribbon that could be worn on my uniform with the TCPD ones or an SBI uniform, if I had one. Waiting for us was Midtown Police Detective Molly Evans and Detective Sergeant Wes "Coldiron" Masters, who had come to witness the awards. ---------------------------------- "Chief, if you'll drive my SUV home," I said, after we both had lunch with Molly and Sgt. Masters, "I'm going to get Detective Evans to drive me home." Chief Griswold knew what was happening: payback against Ikea and Ferrell, our first retaliatory response in the SBI wars, as well as some other things needing doing in the near future. He knew we were not driving directly to the County. Molly was driving me to the City. Molly and I chatted about many things, including Molly's pregnancy during the over-90-minute drive from Midtown to the City on the major Interstate highway. When we got to the City, Molly drove towards the State Office Building, which was next to, and a twin building with, the Federal Office Building where Jack Muscone's and his team were based. Going in, we presented our badges (required) and said we had an appointment with the SBI Inspector. "Hi guys, it's great to see you two again!" said Inspector Britt M. Maxwell of the State Bureau of Investigation. She had us sit down on the sofa in her nice office as she sat in a chair. "It's great to see friendly faces again." said Britt as I examined her. She looked great: fit, trim, full head of radiantly luxurious black hair, looking hot in a sleeveless black dress and black high-heel pumps. "What, not making any friends here?" I teased. 

"Well, I get invited to after-work happy hours with some of the City Police, now that Robin Ventura has introduced me, and I'm getting to know them better. But I can't really associate with my SBI counterparts around here; it's like Internal Affairs with the police departments. So how are you guys doing? I heard about that kidnapping, Don. I know he was your nephew, but I'm glad Ned is dead." "Yes, I am too, to be honest." I said. "And I'm glad we busted up that rogue CIA cell, too." "Yes." Britt said, her face becoming a little sharp. She and Laura had not made up; in fact, the rift between them had grown wider. "Well, Britt, I need to get down to business so that Molly can take me home." I said. I handed her the materials I'd brought in: a jump drive as well as a DVD. "Here is all the evidence of Ikea and Ferrell finding planted evidence, and it's obvious they knew where to look. Coach Gonzales was given immunity from prosecution for his role in planting the evidence, and that'll hamper you. And you may can't criminally charge Ikea and Ferrell, but you can sure as hell internally investigate them for this." "Excellent." Britt said. "I knew of this, of course, but now that you're formally turning it over to me and asking for an investigation of those two bastards, I can move forward against them. Sure you're not worried about it coming out in public?" "No." I said. "I kept it quiet at the time to protect Coach Marshall and the University didn't want to bring the hammer down on Coach Harlan. But I owe that bastard nothing, and there's nothing the Press can really do to us with it. Coach Griswold is retiring at the end of the year, as well, so trying to go after him would be a moot point." -------------------------------- It was now early evening of the 24th as Molly drove me along the highway through Nextdoor County towards home. Many memories sprang to my mind as we drove along, from the Joe Arruzio chase to the attempted ambush of us while transporting the slug Bounel to our County. And of course the very pleasant memory of making love with Janet Riordan came to mind... which led to pleasant memories of making love with the lovely woman in the car with me. "So, you're visiting Cindy?" I asked, having observed that Molly had put a large suitcase in the trunk of her car. "Er, well, I'll be seeing her, but I'm coming to visit for another reason." "Oh, what's that?" I asked. Molly's face became one of worry. "I'm sworn to secrecy." she said. "You'll find out when we get to your place." Molly would say no more, and was immune to my tricks to get her to divulge the information. So I told her that Cindy might have a girlfriend now, which caused Molly to roll her eyes. She still didn't think much of her sister's sexual orientation, as much as she tried to overlook it for the sake of their kinship. And yes, I'd find out what was coming, and the news would rock my world... and not in a good way. Part 9 - Mortal Danger "Hello, Molly, thank you so much for coming." Laura said, giving Molly a warm hug, which was returned. "The guest room is all ready for you." "Thanks." said Molly. "Why don't you two talk while I go make friends with Carole and Jim again." With that, the ruggedly beautiful blonde tomboy left the room. "Okay, I'd have to be a pretty bad Detective like Ikea to not notice something is going on." I said, apprehension unexpectedly welling up inside me. "What's up?" "Let's go out on the patio." Laura said. Going outside, Laura sat on one of the table benches of the mesh patio set, an umbrella open over the table to shade us though it was nearly dark by now. She had with her a medical folder with some papers. This was not about a paternity test, I suddenly realized with a chill. "Honey, I went to see Dr. Muncey yesterday for a routine checkup." Laura said. Dr. Caroline Dupree Muncey was Laura's gynecologist, a private-practice doctor that worked with Dr. Gloria Searles's group. "She found a spot on my uterus. She's run more tests, but we can't be sure if it's benign or malignant, and she is recommending that I have a hysterectomy." "Aw, honey," I said, taking my wife into my arms and hugging her. "So what are you going to do?" "That what I want to talk to you about." Laura said. "Caroline has scheduled the surgery for 6:00am the day after tomorrow, and I asked Molly to come up to help your mother with the kids. But Don... if I do this, I won't be able to give you any more children..." She was near tears. "Oh, honey," I said, "you've already given me the two best children in the world. Of course, I'm a bit biased in saying that." Laura tried to laugh, then I continued: "Honey, I'd much rather have you hugging our two children on their wedding days than not being around to see a third one grow up. I'll tell the Chief and my Lieutenants that I won't be in for a few days myself." I hugged Laura again, feeling her body tremble slightly, realizing that she was worried, even scared. And as hard as I tried to hide it, the thought of losing Laura was scaring me very badly at the moment, also. I'd felt no untoward fear in confronting Ned, though my life was on the spot in those moments. But I was feeling real, mortal fear now that I might be raising my two children without my wife... ----------------------------- "Okay ladies," I said to my Lieutenants Three (Cindy, Teresa, and Tanya) on the afternoon of August 25th, "we're about to find out just how good you are in your new leadership roles. I will not be here for several days. I've told the Chief, and this news is not to leave this room until I say it can, but my wife is going to have surgery tomorrow morning... a hysterectomy." There was a groan, as well as Cindy saying under her breath "Oh, man...". They knew without being told how serious it was, especially when it was being done on this short notice. "I'm sure things will go well." I said. "But you three are in charge of your departments, and Tanya, you will be peeking in on the Crime Lab. Ladies, I am fully confident that you can handle anything that comes up; therefore, I had better not get any police phone calls unless an officer dies in the line of duty or a nuclear bomb is found at the High School Science Fair. Am I clear?" "Yes sir." came a chorus, then Cindy said, "Go be with your wife, Don. We're all thinking of her, and we'll handle everything." "Thanks." I said. "You can go. I'm about to go home now." "Just one word with you before I leave?" Tanya asked. I nodded. Cindy and Teresa left together. Tanya glanced at the closed door to make sure we were alone and then said "Don, you're great at reading other people, but you're not so great at hiding your own emotions. Something's not right, what is it?" I realized that Tanya was trying hard to be my friend for this time I needed someone to lean on. I love my friends, I love my friends, I thought to myself as I tried not to get emotional. "Laura's doctor found a spot on her uterus. They're going to do tests on it after the surgery, but it may be cancerous." I said. "Laura's a doctor herself, and I can tell she's worried; therefore, I'm worried." Tanya stood up and came around the desk. I stood up and let her give me a strong hug, which I returned and which lasted a long moment. This was a woman who'd lost her fiancee and knew the pain of such loss. She was now there for me as I'd been there for her when Officer Feeley had been lost. ------------------------- "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" blared Bettina as I watched on the hospital waiting room television. Laura had gone into surgery an hour before. My mother and I were waiting, listening as Bettina gave her newscast: "Channel Two News has learned that Senator Nathan Allen will be making a major announcement tonight at the rally with the Reverend Robert Patterson at the University Basketball Arena tonight. Reverend Patterson was the late Reverend Jonas Oldeeds' protégé and is continuing the Oldeeds Ministries with Rev. Oldeeds' wife, Vicki Oldeeds. Anti-religious groups have protested the evangelical rally, but police are not expecting any major trouble. Now let's go to Priya Ajmani with a breaking story from the City. Priya!" "Thank you, Bettina!" shouted the beautiful Indian woman as she stood in front of the State Office Building in the City, her presence there obviously making the story somehow better, I thought sarcastically to myself as she continued: "Sources tell Channel Two News that SBI Inspector Britt Maxwell has opened an investigation of SBI Narcotics Task Force Agents Richard Ferrell and Steven Ikea! "The investigation stems from performance-enhancing drugs that were planted in the office of Coach Erskine Marshall here at the University last autumn. As you'll remember, Bettina, Coach Marshall was accused of providing PEDs to players, but was exonerated by the policework of then-Lieutenant Donald Troy, who has since been promoted to Commander by the Town & County Police. Priya went on: "Inspector Maxwell is investigating the role of Agents Ferrell and Ikea in that frame-up of Coach Marshall, who is now with another School's football program, and she is also investigating their role in an alleged stand-off with Town & County Police, which allegedly occurred just after Commander Troy rescued little Jack Burke from the three-time murderer, Ned--". I was glad to see that Priya was giving me some good press through all of this. "Neither the TCPD nor the SBI will confirm any information about the alleged confrontation. Channel Two News will keep you updated of any developments in this fast-breaking case. Back to you, Bettina!" Priya signed off with a bright smile. "Thank you, Priya!" said Bettina. "Finally, the Police Force confirmed today that Police Scientist Barry Oliver has resigned from Force to take a position with Arrowpoint Solutions, Inc., a computer hardware and software development company. Arrowpoint Solutions is owned by BOW Companies Group, which is also the parent company of KXTC. This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News." "Did you know that Todd is part of this BOW group and Oliver's new company?" I asked my mother. "Oh yes, he and his friends Seth Warner and Teddy Franklin mentioned it." my mother said. "They're such a group of confident young men..." My mother lowered her voice to a whisper as she finished "... and they're all very good in bed, too." "I'll trust your analysis on that one, as I won't be finding out myself." I said, noticing that my mother was trying to steer me off course by mentioning the sexual aspect. Just then Chief Griswold and his wife came in to the waiting room, followed by Daniel and Melina Allgood. ----------------------- Laura came out of the surgery later that morning. The doctors said the operation had gone well, but had no information on finding anything cancerous. We continued to wait. Later that afternoon Melina and I got to visit Laura in the ICU for some minutes. She was awake but groggy, and I told her things had gone well, so far. I left after a few minutes to let her sleep. It was nearly dark and the waiting room had more people. Todd and Jeanine had joined us, as well as Cindy Ross, who directly disobeyed the Chief's orders that Detectives not visit and get in the way. "I'm on light duty, Chief." she said when Chief Griswold just pointed at her as she came in, "And I'm here for Don like he was here for me when I was in this God-forsaken place." "Cindy," I said, mostly to keep the Chief from saying anything, "I can understand how you get tired of this place, and I'm tired of seeing these waiting rooms myself. But I thank God every day for this Hospital and the doctors and staff in it, especially after they made sure your lovely self is alive and well now." "Hear hear." said Melina, hugging her business partner. "Yeah, you're right, I know what you mean." said Cindy. Just then Dr. Caroline Dupree Muncey came into the waiting room. "I have the biopsy results for you, Don." she said. My mother was already smiling, having observed Dr. Muncey as she walked into the room. "It's benign, there's no cancer, and it looks like Laura will be in good health once she recovers." Melina gasped in relief as Daniel hugged her. The Chief was sitting next to me on the sofa, and he just patted my shoulders as I broke down hard, slumping in my seat, tears in my eyes as relief overwhelmed me. Part 10 - Act of Contrition? "As my dear friend Harold Malone, who has been such a staunch apostle of law and order in this County, once said: 'You may stray, but eventually the law catches up to you.'." said Nathan Allen. "And so I say to you, ladies and gentlemen..." he continued, speaking from the podium of the religious rally led by Rev. Robert Patterson, "... that I have made mistakes in the eyes of the Lord and the eyes of my fellow man. I can only ask that the Lord forgive me my mistakes before Him, and that you forgive me for my mistakes before you. Thank you." The Reverend Robert Patterson then stood by the now-seated Allen and prayed "Lord please bring your wisdom and your light to this man as he leads us in the State Senate, and please bring a spirit of forgiveness to your people, that they may support Senator Allen as he serves them in the name of the Lord God..." "I cannot believe I just watched that. I cannot un-watch that." I said as I sat in the waiting room of the hospital. -------------------------- "I cannot believe I just watched that." said Harold Malone. He was sitting with Henry R. Wargrave and Katherine Woodburn in Wargrave's office in the City. "Allen brought up your name six times, Harold. Six times! He's trying to bring your name in to help boost his," said Katherine Woodburn, "but what he may end up doing is dragging your name down with his." "And that's the point." said Wargrave, understanding much more fully. "It's political blackmail against you, Harold, and the County Democrat Party. They've been giving him no funds, so this is his retaliatory response. If you and they don't stand by him, he'll be damned sure to take you down with him." "That's a great point, Mr. Wargrave." Katherine Woodburn said. "So what do we do about it?" Wargrave chuckled sardonically. "That's for you and the Democrats to decide, Ms. Woodburn. I'm not in politics... nor into politics, for that matter." "Something is going to have to be done about Nathan Allen." said Harold Malone. "The Sheriff's race is tightening up since the Iron Crowbar got Katherine ousted at KXTC. Mr. Wargrave, do you think the Iron Crowbar was behind that competitor that came in and stole KXTC from you?" "No." said Wargrave. "Though he wants me to believe he was responsible for it, in truth I smell other forces behind that move. But don't let that concern you, Harold. What you need to be worrying about is what the Iron Crowbar is going to do to make sure you lose the Sheriff's race." "Think he'll try something?" Malone said, his voice sarcastic. He'd been the one to warn them about that. "After all, isn't he Mr. Goody Two-Shoes around there?" That got a good laugh out of everyone. Dark Side of the Force Ch. 02 "That man is two steps from going over to the Dark Side." said Katherine Woodburn. "In fact...." she paused, then continued: "that may be our weapon against him: set something up so that he does something out of bounds, then swoop down on him and smash him!" "I was stunned when I heard about that attempt by Ikea to find Oldeeds's killer's gun in the Chief's SUV." said Malone, changing the subject. "How in the world did that idiot get that hair-brained idea?" Wargrave said nothing, knowing that Malone didn't know the story at all, and never would. "I don't know, but he got himself a trip to surgery for it." said Katherine Woodburn. "And the Governor has intervened to prevent Jack Lewis from investigating either Griswold or Troy." "But Griswold has to retire." said Malone. "And that is very, very important for us." "Okay guys," said Wargrave, to wrap up the meeting. "I'm going to start checking around with my sources. I agree with you that Nathan Allen has become a thorn in everyone's side. He's beginning to irritate me as much as the Iron Crowbar does." Oops, he thought to himself, that was a slip-up. But if the others noticed, they didn't show it, Wargrave observed silently to himself. Part 11 - The Race Card "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News! Channel Two News has learned that Senator Nathan Allen has made a remarkable comeback! Channel Two News Polls show that he is back to 44%, and the State Democrat Party has released funds to his campaign that had previously been withheld..." "I'll never understand the voting public." I said out loud as I cooked breakfast for Laura. It was the morning of August 29th, almost football season. Laura had been discharged from the hospital after only three days there, including the day of the surgery, and I wondered if that was due to the abilities of the surgeons and staff, or the hardheartedness of the insurance company. At any rate, Laura was laid up in bed and would be for at least another week as she recovered. Her two classes that she taught were being started by Dr. Bonnie Karpathian. My cellphone rang. After listening to the information, I said "Thanks, and thank you for calling." The phone call I had received was from a 'source', and the 'source' had told me that Harold Malone's campaign intended to unleash the 'race card' against Daniel Allgood over the Labor Day weekend. It was time to set my own plans in motion: two could play the race card game. ------------------------------- "Okay, are you guys good with this?" I asked. It was 10:00am. In Classroom 'E' with me were Lt. Cindy Ross, activated SBI Reservist Molly Evans, Detective Theo Washington and one other officer. His name was Eugene Graham of the Southport Police Department. He had replaced Theo Washington as one of Southport's SBI Reservists, and was activated as such now. He was black, slightly lighter-skinned but larger than Theo, and had been a very, very good undercover narcotics cop for years. He'd volunteered to work with us. The Chief (and therefore the Governor), SBI Deputy Director Tom Conlan, and SBI Inspector Maxwell all knew about the sting we were about to do. We had a secret warrant under seal from Judge Rodney K. Watts, authorizing it. Myron Milton was making sure that Internal Affairs listening devices were rendered inoperable. "I'm ready to go!" said Eugene Graham enthusiastically. Everyone else nodded. "Okay, it's 'Go' time." I said. "Theo, help Eugene get wired up." ------------------------------ The black man wearing an A/C repair uniform and carrying a box of tools entered the Hyatt Hotel on the northwest corner of Town at 2:00pm that afternoon. He rode the elevator up to Room 429, the room assigned by the County Democrat Party to Harold and Madelyn Malone. Malone was speaking to a crowd at the Hotel later that evening. They'd just been seen leaving the hotel. Once in the room, Eugene Graham set about planting listening devices in the lamps and a a flower pot, and was trying to set up a tiny camera in the window right above the A/C unit. Suddenly, the door opened. Eugene had the presence of mind to quickly kneel, as if he were working on the A/C as Harold and Madelyn Malone entered the room. They had come back inside and gone up the back way after Malone had noticed just a couple too many A/C repair vans in the Hotel parking lot. Madelyn was wearing a summer dress and high heel pumps that accented her big breasts and nice figure and legs. "Who the fuck are you?" Malone thundered as Eugene turned his head to look around. "Repairman." he said. "I was sent up to look at your air conditioner." He was about to get up when Malone stepped up to him quickly. Malone had drawn a concealed .357 Magnum revolver from his pants pocket, which had been his backup service weapon. He put it in Eugene's earhole. "Put your hands on your head, nigger." Malone ordered. Eugene complied, still on his knees, his face showing fear. "My dear, it looks like we got us a nigger, here." said Malone. "Yes, dear." Madelyn said, standing next to her husband, hovering over Graham, speaking her words with clarity and emphasis. "Why... he tried to rape me." "Did he now?" snarled Malone. He cocked the revolver. "Trying to have sex with my white wife, nigger? Well, I think I'll just shoot your coon ass right now..." To be continued. Dark Side of the Force 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, Trilogy Series. Dark Side Of The Force, Ch 1-3. Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, extreme language, and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. Part 11 - The Race Card (Continued) The tension in the air was thick as Harold Malone held the black 'A/C repairman' at gunpoint. "Please, sir," Eugene pleaded, "I was just here to repair your air conditioner. I... I've got kids, sir! I'm just trying to do my job!" "Shut up, nigger!" Harold Malone exclaimed, his voice ragged. He grabbed Eugene by the back of the collar. "Pick up your fucking toolbox and stand up, slowly." Eugene complied as Malone said "Dear, get the door." Madelyn Malone moved to the door and opened it as Harold Malone pushed Eugene Graham towards the door, the gun still pointed right at Eugene's head. "Now get the fuck out!" Malone said, raising his leg and shoving Eugene in the ass with his leg, pushing the black man hard out the door. Eugene went sprawling, slamming into the hotel room door across the narrow hall. "If I see you again, nigger, I'll kill you." Malone growled before slamming the door shut. ---- "Whew!" I exhaled. "I hope that wasn't as close as it sounded." "Me too." said Molly Evans, appalled at what we'd heard over the wire Eugene had been wearing. Eugene Graham came out of the hotel and to the van. He got in the driver's seat and, per my instruction, drove away quickly without looking back at us. Back at Headquarters, Graham was furious. "I wanted to kill that son of a bitch, Commander" he exclaimed, unable to hold back any longer. "I almost didn't hold back!" "You did a great job, Eugene." I said. "I know it was tough for you to endure that, but you kept your cool, and we've got the beginnings to kick Harold Malone to the kerb." ================= At 6:00pm, still on August 29th, FBI Special Agent In Charge Jack Muscone, SBI Inspector Britt Maxwell, ADA Paulina Patterson, SBI DD Tom Conlan and I were meeting in the Chief Griswold's small conference room. I had ordered Cindy Ross to go home; she didn't seem to want to understand that 'light duty' meant sleeping at home more than being in the Headquarters, so I reinforced the notion at the cost of pissing her off. So be it. "Okay, we've got this from the wiretap, and it's pretty good." the Chief said. "Malone found the bugs Graham had planted, by the way. Thank God he didn't detect the wire on Graham at the time! Maxwell, what did you get?" Britt told her story. ---- She had arranged a meeting at the State Office Building in the City earlier this morning with SBI Agents Richard Ferrell and Steven Ikea, who wisely brought their lawyers. Britt had had the pleasure of making Ferrell and his lawyer sit and wait by asking only Ikea and his lawyer to come into the conference room where they were meeting. Ikea was still recovering from his injuries and the surgery to repair them, so he wasn't moving too good. "I'm willing to completely drop the investigation into planting the PEDs," said Inspector Maxwell, "but only under one condition: I want sworn affidavits and recorded testimony from you before you leave this room about Harold Malone's racist activities while on the Town & County Police Force, his discrimination in hiring and promoting, and anything else you know that will pin Harold Malone to the wall like a beetle for actionable racist activities. I also want everything you know about Malone's drug brokering and controlling who sells drugs in your County." The lawyer tried to bluster, speaking in his deep, sonorous voice, words seeming to flow like liquid from him: "Inspector, we don't think you even have a case against these agents. Why should my client even speak with you now?" Britt leaned back in her chair, playing it cool as she spoke. "Your client needs to understand that if he does not accept my deal, it's going to be very painful and ugly for him and his partner out there. Within one hour of him leaving this room without giving me what I want, the Governor himself will place Ikea and Ferrell on suspension without pay for the duration of my investigation, which will proceed with all deliberate speed... Oh, you're right, you may get your client off and he might beat the rap, but why go through the hassle... and you, Mr. Ikea, get a little piece of payback for Malone throwing you under the Iron Crowbar's bus. We both get what we want. Or not. It's your call." Ikea silenced his lawyer and took the deal, not wanting to help Inspector Maxwell nor his County's Police Commander, but seeing this particular opportunity, which would not happen again, to figuratively shove it up Harold Malone's ass. He delivered pages of affidavits as well as testimony that he spoke into the audio recorders... ---- "He didn't have hardly anything on the drug brokering." said Britt as she wrapped up her story. "Apparently Malone neither used him for those activities nor trusted him with that info." "I suspect that's true." I said. "But you got a lot on the race angle." "I'm not sure what the discussion is even about." said Paulina. "We're very thin on any drug evidence at all. That could backfire into looking like false accusations for the political purpose of altering the race for Sheriff." "The drug side is what I came here to talk about." said Jack Muscone. "We're starting to get bits and pieces here and there about Malone being the drug trafficking broker in Town. We've developed some leads associating him with the Oldeeds Organization, and we've been following his connections with the White Supremacy groups and their own drug connections." Muscone continued: "If you think drugs are the way to go here, I'm prepared to support you by publicly announcing Malone's drug ties and an investigation into them. At the least, it'll cause these guys to cut ties with Malone and leave him stranded." "What will it do to your building cases against the Oldeeds group and the other groups?" asked the Chief. "After what happened with Carroll and the Black Badge gang, if they don't know by now that we're after them, then they're really stupid." replied Muscone. "I'm not worried about the consequences of naming Malone as a suspect publicly." "Jack, I do appreciate your offer, giving us this option at the risk of your Federal investigation." I said, not fooled by Muscone's assurances of no damage to his case. He was showing willingness to take one for the local team, and that was something I was grateful for and would not forget. "Okay Commander," said the Chief, "welcome to being in charge. It's your call what to do. Do we hit Malone with the race card, and possibly start a race war in the County? Or do we go for the drug conspiracy charges, however thin?" "We're thin on evidence, but the publicity of the drug investigation alone will shut Malone down in the race." I said. By now the others had figured out the ol' Iron Crowbar's plans to make this Sheriff election go my way. Yes, it was dirty, I was crossing the line to the Dark Side, but it was for the Good of the People of the County, so I reasoned to myself. "But Paulina is ultimately right, and that means... we have to go 'race'." I said. "But first, I'm going to have to do some things tonight to make sure we don't have start that race war- no, don't ask, this one is 'off the books'. Mr. Muscone, Mr. Conlan, I will call you either late tonight or very early in the morning tomorrow so that you can release your announcements to the press for the 7:00am broadcast. Give me a copy of them before you leave, if you don't mind, so I can give them to Bettina under embargo until tomorrow morning." "How are you going to get Bettina to go along with this?" asked Paulina Patterson. I just looked at her, my eyes locking with hers. She understood. Part 12 - The Meetings And The Mating Captain Harold Malone, on leave from the Town & County Police Department, found himself in Interrogation-A... on the 'perp' side. He was with his Campaign's top lawyer. Confronting him on the other side were FBI Agent Jack Muscone and SBI Deputy Director Tom Conlan. They had just played the audio tape of Malone's assault upon Eugene Graham, who had sworn out a complaint against Malone for the assault with a deadly weapon. "This is bullshit, and you know it." said Malone. "So where's the Iron Crowbar, this is obviously his doing. Does he not have the guts to face me? He was too much of a coward to run for Sheriff against me. SHOW YOURSELF, YOU COWARD!" Malone yelled. "He's not here, he's not at the Station." said Muscone. "And he's not your problem, the State and Federal Governments are your problem. "You're full of shit." said Malone. "My client is right." said the lawyer. "That audio tape was illegally obtained, there was no probable cause, it's all manufactured, the assault charge is hearsay and that black man's word against my client's, and my client has his wife backing him on on the correct version of events. You really are playing poker with an empty hand here, gentlemen." "We'll see about that." said Jack Muscone. "And we have the sworn statements of one of your own former officers, and we'll be getting more of those-" "Ikea? Har har!" laughed Malone. "You mean the disgruntled piece of crap that was suspended and fired? You mean the bozo that got a warrant for a rifle in the Chief's car, a rifle that allegedly killed a man with an 800-yard shot but which turned out to be a shotgun? Har har! Yeah, his word against mine... yeah, the guy who beat up perps in the interrogation rooms, including a woman lawyer, a guy who hit a woman auxiliary police officer in front of the entire TCPD and half the SBI... yeah, please build your case on that dingleberry Steven Ikea's word!" Deputy Director Conlan looked worried as he looked over at Jack Muscone, but the FBI agent was totally unperturbed. What does he know that we don't? Conlan wondered. "And before you start the bullshit that I should drop out of the Sheriff's race," said Malone, "don't bother! In fact, if you want to tell me that, have the Iron Crowbar come in and say it himself. Tell him to come in and say it to my face, the God. Damned. Coward!" "We weren't kidding, he's not here." said Muscone. "And I suspect he'll get around to getting in your face for what you've said about him... in his own good time." "Harold, we're through here." said the lawyer, standing up. "Unless you're going to arrest my client on this flimsiest of what you pretend is 'evidence' that I've ever seen." Malone also stood up. "We'll be in touch." said Muscone. "Don't leave Town. Seriously, don't leave the County unless you notify the Police Department of your travel plans and destination." Malone peered at the FBI agent, then stalked out of the room. ---- The little strip mall where Town Fitness Centers is located is shaped like a boomerang. The gym occupies most of the left side and there are some shops and a Subway sandwich shop occupying the rest of the place. Right at the angle of the building, the space was very small and odd, so I rented that for literally $1.00/month, and I sell security and monitoring equipment, the real-deal no-kidding stuff, by appointment only. In the nearly two years of operating, I might have made six sales, but those were pretty lucrative ones. As a result, I have no actual inventory in the building; the stuff on the shelves is empty plastic shells that just look like what I sell. It was to this location that I had secretly invited two men for a meeting. One of them was the rapper 'T-Square', who was known to lead most of the Black Organized Crime in the Town and County. He was short but powerfully built, having used the Town Fitness Centers frequently. He had a full set of dreadlocks and often wore all white. Tonight he wore all black, so as to better blend in with the night and not be seen talking to a Cracker in a Cracker's place of business. The other was an older man, who had a quiet way of speaking and pretended to be not very smart... which didn't fool me a bit. He was called 'The Teacher', and he would train people to shoplift stores, especially at the high-end malls, as well as how to steal from homes and businesses. He was smallish in size, but not in stature. His hair was graying but he otherwise looked healthy. He had pictures of all the plainclothes security agents in the malls, so that his perps could identify them and not be caught by them. He would show his acolytes pictures of every Town & County Police Officer, which nearly got him in trouble when the assassination attempt on me in front of the tailor shop was made. He never actually processed stolen goods, but was like the spider in the center of the web of all things related to black crime in the Town. He had never been arrested. I was alone in the darkened facility, except for Cindy Ross. I'd gotten back in her good graces by offering her this 'off the record' assignment. She was wearing a 'black' uniform without any sewn-in badge, a baseball cap, and of course she wore light armor under the shirt. She was not yet re-qualified with a gun for police duty, but she had a concealed carry permit and I'd given her written permission to carry in my business facility. She was in a dark room to the side, not easily seen but the visitors would know she was there. They came in by the back door, as I had invited them to, having driven up in T-Square's armored limo, which would sufficiently protect the President of the USA if he so chose to ride in it. There were several bodyguards, all who remained outside at the front and back doors, and I'm sure there were others around the strip mall. "Well if it ain't that cracker the Iron Crowbar." said T-Square as he came in. I'd met him and talked to him before, on official police business, though I'd never arrested him. The other man just looked at me with piercing eyes, and I knew that I was meeting a man that through years of experience was at least my equal in observation and deduction. "Gentlemen, thank you for coming." I said, extending my hand to the two chairs I'd placed to face mine. "Please, have a seat." "I see you were expecting both of us." said The Teacher in his quiet voice. I'd asked T-Square to bring The Teacher, but did not know if he'd come. "I was hoping you'd come." I said. "Mmmm, nice equipment in here." said T-Square, looking around. "I might have to come by here again sometime." He did not mean during legitimate business hours. "Help yourself, they're plastic shells." I said. "I'm a direct order firm; I just order it and have it shipped to my customers' addresses." "Smart way to do business." said The Teacher. I noticed that he'd observed the shadow that was Cindy Ross in the doorway to the darkened side room. "Gentlemen, I won't take any more of your time than I have to." I said. "I asked you here to persuade you to help me stop a race war that Harold Malone and the Media are going to try to gin up. What you may not know is that the State and Feds have formally opened investigations on Harold Malone for racial bias and other race-related issues." "When did that happen?" The Teacher asked, looking astonished. "Tomorrow morning." I replied. "Well... the investigations are underway, they're just going to be publicly announced tomorrow." "That's going to be some heavy shit, Cracker." said T-Square, perhaps involuntarily. "That is not just some cracker, boy!" chided The Teacher. "That's the Iron Crowbar; he is the real deal in this Town! You pay him respect, boy." "Yes sir." said T-Square, knowing who was the boss of him. "Sorry about that, I.C." "No problem, I've been called much worse." I said. "Now Councilman Reginald Lewis will try to start some trouble when the announcements are made- what?" I was stopped as both men began laughing uncontrollably. 
 "Now that cat," said T-Square, "he does what he's told. He knows what his place is." "Good." I said. "I hope he'll be told to keep the racial rhetoric down to nothing and not start any shit. I don't need any disturbances or riots or any other crap that I'd have to deal with. Make my job and life easy, and I'll make sure the racist Harold Malone doesn't become Sheriff... if he does, you'll find out what real racial issues are." "Yes, I.C., we know about that cat Malone. We call him 'Sheets', and I'm sure you can figure out why." said The Teacher. "Now, so that I'm not wasting your time, my only question is: what's in it for us?" "First of all, T-Square's man T-Mac was arrested for some pretty flimsy shit." I said. Sergeant Sharples had made the arrest of T-Mac on some small charges. "I'm sure that I can get the DA's office to take the view that the taxpayers could be saved the money of a trial for such small stuff." "Sounds good, man." said T-Square. He was hooked. The Teacher was waiting for more. I gave it to him. "And I think some of your boys-" I saw the looks on their faces and hastily added "-and by that I mean underage teenagers, so stop looking offended..." They relaxed as I continued: "I think some of their shoplifting charges might be re-examined and let go after I have a talk with the DA's office." "That's not a lot for what you're asking us." said The Teacher. "Okay, the only other thing I can offer is that Harold Malone's drug brokering days will be over. No, I'm not going to do what he was doing: I intend to bust every drug user from one punk having one joint of pot to warehouse loads of heroin coming into my County. But there won't be favorites, anymore. Malone was giving the Beanstalk Gang exclusive access; he was giving your guys a real hard time. Now I'll bust your guys' asses if I catch 'em, but now the Beanstalk Gang is going to be getting their smack smacked, too. You'll have open competition from now on. I don't play favorites, and that's all I can promise you." The Teacher replied "Heh heh, you pretending to be the 'good cop' in all this, but the real 'good cop' in this Town is that medal-winning lady that's watching your back in the other room right now. You're a bad cat, too, I.C., you play as dirty as any of 'em... but at least you're not some jacked-up Klansman like that cat Malone." We had a deal. The Black Power Brokers left by the back door. After I'd secured the facility and was about to walk Cindy back to the gym, she came out of the dark space and teased me without mercy: "Good cop." she said as she pointed at herself; "Bad cop." she said, pointing at me. "You really don't want to get off 'light duty' anytime soon, do you?" I retorted. "Very bad cop." Cindy said, pointing at me again. Man, I can't wait to get her back full-time, I thought to myself... ---- "It really is a lovely view, Don." Bettina said as she stood on the back deck of The Cabin, admiring the view as she sipped the champagne I'd opened. It was nearly midnight. The lovely redheaded reporter was wearing a clingy flower-print dress and red high-heel sandals with thin straps. She was looking really hot in my eyes. And adding to it was that I had not had sex in several days, what with Laura recovering from surgery and Molly taking care of kids and being pregnant herself... Dark Side of the Force Ch. 03 "Yes, and the view of the Town from here is not so bad, either." I said, openly flirting with her. She smiled. "So why did you invite me up here... besides seeing the view." she asked. "And champagne, too... but it's not just sex you brought me here for." "I have a scoop for you." I said. "It's big. Huge. It's the biggest thing for years. You can make the announcement at 7:00am tomorrow morning, and you'll be the hot-shit reporter of all time." "Ooooh, we'll see about that." she said. "So, tell me the scoop." "Let's go inside." I said. I put my arm around her and drew her to me and bent down to kiss her. She met me full on, and our lips locked in a deep, warm kiss. Our tongues twined hotly for a long moment, then I broke the kiss and guided her inside. Once inside, we wrapped our arms around each other and shared another deep kiss. Our passions were rising fast. I began opening and lowering Bettina's dress, slowly, deliberately, making sure to tease her. Her body was magnificent, even more than what I'd thought about during fantasies of her. Like most TV personalities, Bettina was not very tall. Even in her high heels she was straining upwards so that her lips could meet mine. This had the effect of shaping her legs and ass, and her upraised arms lifted her luscious breasts. I slid my hands up her body and cupped her breasts, bringing my head down to suck her big, rock-hard nipples. Bettina moaned as I feasted on her teats. Then I worked my way back up to her mouth. Her hands were active as they began unfastening my clothes, taking them off, and we were soon naked except for her high heels. I spread a sheet on the floor in front of the two sofas and eased Bettina onto her back. I took her ankles in my hands and began kissing the tops of her shapely feet, then up to her heels and then along her ankles, working back and forth from leg to leg, slowly working my way up to her red-fringed cunt. Bettina was playing with her clit and moaning as she watched me enjoyably make slow progress up her legs. "Mmmmmm!" she moaned as I kissed my way up her inner thighs. I could smell her sweet cunt; she was very wet and extremely ready... "OHHHH!" Bettina cried out as my tongue licked up her slit from the bottom to the top. I made another long lick, then worked my tongue into her hole, sliding around the walls of her pussy as my hands roughly gripped her sweet asscheeks, pulling her pudenda into my mouth. "Ohhhhhh... ohhhhhh... ohhhhh..." the beautiful redhead moaned as I ate her pussy. I really worked it over with my tongue, slicing along her labes up to her clit. Finally, I began lashing at her engorged clit, kissing it and sucking it as I slid one, then two fingers deep inside her vagina. By now her hips were rocking, pushing up at me. "Ohhhh, ohhhh sweet God, that is so good, Don! Don't stop! Ohhhh, don't ever stop... UNNH!" I tried to get a third finger into her cunt, but it was a tight fit. I knew that getting my cock in there was going to be one tight but pleasurable experience. Finally, I felt Bettina's hands urging me upwards. She wanted me to mount her and take her, and my cock was throbbing and ready to invade her sweet, red-fringed womanhood. I moved up and kissed her mouth, letting her taste her own cuntjuices, and she returned the kiss deep and hard. Then I eased on up to mount her. "Ohhh, let me do it." she said. I felt her hand grasp my throbbing cock. "Oh Don, I've dreamed about guiding your big, iron-hard cock into me... just let me guide it..." She suited the deed to the words as she pulled my cockhead to her labes. I felt my prickhead being enveloped by the warm wetness of her inner labes. I pushed forward. "UNNH! OH JESUS!" Bettina cried out. Her cunt was very tight, and I worked my cock deeper into her, withdrawing and pushing in hard again. The second push got me halfway in. Then I withdrew and drove forward a third time, burying my dick to the balls inside Bettina's juicy wet cunt! "Oh yeahhh!" I gasped as I felt my balls against her taint and asscheeks. "You buried it, babe!" Indeed, it was a perfect fit; I felt the back wall of Bettina's cunt touching my cockhead, her tight pussy-walls clutching at my hard shaft. I ground my hips in a tight circle, making Bettina gasp. "Oh God, it's so good... oh, you're going so deep..." Bettina gasped. She opened her eyes and looked up at me. "Jesus, Don, you are as iron hard as they say you are... I've never felt a cock this thick and iron hard inside me... oh baby, fuck me with this thing..." "So how are you hearing about how hard my cock is, baby?" I asked as I slowly withdrew until just the head was inside my lips, only to firmly push my shaft all the way back in. "Oh Don, you have no idea how many women in this Town know about your cock, and how many of them want your dick inside them..." Bettina gasped as I began to fuck her in a deep, steady rhythm. I felt her press her legs against my sides, her feet in the high heels just inside my knees. I spread my legs just a bit wider, gaining leverage as I plowed her redheaded furrow with increasing power and intensity. The room filled with the staccato slaps of flesh on flesh as I fucked Bettina Wurtzburg in a deliciously deep rhythm, feeling her match each of my thrusts as we rutted in perfect rhythm like longtime lovers. "Oh yes, fuck me, fuck me... oh sweet Jesus it's never been this good!" Bettina mewled, half gasping, half crying as I pumped her cunt into a hot creamy lather. "Oh God, I'm going to come, I'm going to fucking COME! OH GOD, OH DON!! I'M COMING! OHHH GODDDDDDDDDDDD..." Bettina's cunt clutched at my cock with amazing power as she climaxed. It felt like she was trying to expel my cock from her womanhood, prompting me to push inward as hard as I could. I rode her through her intense climax until her spasms finally subsided. "Oh God... oh my God... " Bettina moaned. "Oh Don, it's never been like that, it's never been that good for me, darling... oh Jesus... ohhhh..." I was about to ask if Bettina wanted more, but I felt my own nut rising. I began to pump her again, hard and steady, working my way to my climax. "Baby, are you on the pill?" I gasping as I began to pump furiously in and out of Bettina's magnificent pussy. "No, baby." she said, quickly wrapping her legs tightly around me to keep me inside her, the feeling of her legs on my sides and the heels of her feet pressing into my ass driving me even faster to the crest. "Come inside me, Don! Drop your big load into me! Give me every fucking bit of it! Oh yes, oh YES!!" Bettina's cunt spasmed again and this time I simply could not hold back. I gasped out as the gray mist clouded my closed eyes as the first painfully ecstatic burst of semen fired from my cock and into her vagina. Jolt after jolt of my hot seed bathed the back wall of her womanhood as I pushed in hard, planting my baby batter as deeply as I could. Finally... it was over, and I heard and felt myself gasping as my mind-blowing orgasm subsided. ---- "You were fucking me like a demon, and you came really hard." I said. We were sitting up, still on the floor, our backs against the sofa, sipping champagne. We'd been making out, kissing and feeling each other up for long minutes. "Yes, I did." said Bettina. "I haven't had a good fuck like that in years, maybe ever." Then she leaned back, and I realized that she wanted to talk. "My husband and I had been having problems already, but after my rape it got a lot worse." Bettina said. "It was like he didn't want to touch me, like he thought he'd hurt me or something. I was over the rape, it was bad, but it was worse physically than mentally. I didn't let it get to me. But he never got over it." "If you talk to my wife," I said, "she'll tell you that many couples are like that after a wife is raped, especially if it was in front of her husband." "I'm sure that's true." said Bettina. "But with my husband, I think it's just his lack of manhood. You fucked me right, Don, you took me; you fucked me like a man is supposed to fuck a woman. My husband... he can't do that anymore. We've separated, and I started divorce proceedings, but he keeps trying to block and delay it. He wants 'marriage counseling' first. He needs 'manhood counseling', if you ask me. He doesn't hold a candle to a real man... like you." "Well, it's his loss. And his loss is my gain: if your husband is not man enough to meet your needs," I said, feeling nothing but contempt and derision for Bettina's stupid husband, "you can come to me and I'll make sure you are treated properly and satisfied completely, like the special lady that you are." "Mmmm," Bettina said, nestling into me. The feeling of her body pressing against mine and the smell of her perfume and body were beginning to arouse me. "I think we have time to do it again. Let me get you ready..." With that, Bettina leaned over and engulfed my cock in her mouth. She began fellating me until I was throbbing hard again. "Here, let me lie between your legs." the lovely redheaded reporterette said as she maneuvered her body around. I eased up, sitting on the sofa as Bettina knelt between my legs and began fellating me, her hands caressing my balls as she looked up into my eyes. "Don, the next time you see me on TV with that microphone in front of my face, just remember what I'm doing to this big, hard microphone." I almost lost it as Bettina deeply sucked on my shaft as she slid her mouth down until I was buried balls-deep in her throat. I managed to not come, but the image of Bettina sucking my 'microphone' would forever stay with me. I groaned as Bettina sucked me to hardness, knowing that a deep, long fuck awaited us in just moments... Part 13 - Political Maneuvers "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" blared Bettina at 7:00am on the morning of August 30th. She was looking magnificent: relaxed, smiling, and confident. And yes, I could only think of one thing when I saw her talking into that microphone. I just listened with everyone as Bettina delivered a staggering blow to the heart of Harold Malone's campaign for Sheriff: "Channel Two News had confirmed that both the State Bureau of Investigation and the FBI are opening investigations of Harold Malone, who is running for Sheriff! The SBI is investigating several reports of racial discrimination by then-Captain Malone when he was serving with the Town & County Police Force, and the FBI is investigating Malone and his wife for ties to the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama as well as other racist groups in Tennessee that are believed to have domestic terrorist ties!" I was watching in MCD amongst a standing-room-only crowd. Other TV sets in the Headquarters were the object of attention, and the entire Force had stopped to listen and watch. Bettina continued: "When asked for a statement, the Malone Campaign said that they believed the charges were untrue and fabricated by Daniel Allgood and others for political purposes. Mr. Malone himself issued a statement saying that the attacks upon his wife were beneath contempt, and the charges against him were politically motivated by his enemies. Malone called upon the SBI to investigate if Daniel Allgood leaked or fabricated police information to the FBI and SBI." "For it's part, the Allgood Campaign has stated that they were completely unaware of any investigation of Harold Malone, that they had no part in these investigations, and that Mr. Allgood has had no contact with the Police since taking a leave of absence to run for Sheriff..." Tanya said "Bettina looks so happy. I think she got laid last night!" Everyone laughed, and Paulina Patterson looked straight at me. I just winked at Paulina and she smiled radiantly... and Cindy caught that. I was in for more of Cindy's acid wit, I knew. "Consorting with the Press, I see?" Cindy whispered to me. "I hope the Chief doesn't find out who Bettina's 'source' is... but she does look very happy..." I just arched my eyebrows, and said not a word. ---- Later that morning, Town Councilman Reginald B.F. Lewis issued a statement that Blacks in the County should 'remain calm' in the face of the explosive charges against Harold Malone. He did not agree to the pleas of the County Democrat Party to attack Republicans as racists, nor would he accuse anyone of race-bating in leveling the charges against Malone, preferring to wait for more information on the veracity of the charges. He did request a meeting with the SBI and FBI to discuss the situation and their basis of the charges against Malone. That request would be refused, and Lewis would not publicly pursue it any further. The Reverend Joseph E. Williams exhorted his congregations to remain calm, and to consider that Daniel Allgood had visited their churches and promised to be fair and respect all citizens of all races. If there was a death blow to Harold Malone's campaign, the Rev. Williams might have delivered it. ---- "It's bad." said Katherine Woodburn, meeting with Harold Malone and some of his campaign staff in his campaign headquarters in Town. "Spot-polling has you down ten points to Allgood, 40-30, with 30% undecided at the moment. Some are waiting for more information, but with the FBI opening a formal criminal investigation, it's bad for you, Harold." "Jesus Christ Almighty." breathed Malone. "Is there any way to tie Allgood to it, to say he leaked Internal Affairs information?" "No sir." said one campaign staffer, who had confidential sources within the Police Force and Fire Department. "Allgood really has had no contact with the Police, except for attending Lieutenant Ross's Medal of Valor ceremony. And sir, not only can't we tie it in... we may not want to. Telling the Public that there is Internal Affairs information on you to be leaked... is in itself practically an admission of wrongdoing on your part." There was a general chorus of agreement on that. "Well, one thing is for damned sure, I'm not a quitter and I'm not quitting." said Harold Malone. "Okay, I need to arrange a meeting with Black leaders; I'm going to need them with me when I began attacking the Republicans over this. I'm also going to need someone to contact our big donors and supporters and let them know the charges are false, that I'm not backing down, and that they can count on me to stand up to the lies and smears of the Conservatives! "Last, but not least, I'm going to need someone to feel out the Press on this. We're Democrats, that should count for something, and they might help bury the story. Okay guys, move out, we have damage control to do. Katherine, can you stay a moment?" Once alone, Malone said "Katherine, what do you think? Can we get the Media to bury this?" "No, Harold, I'm afraid not." said Katherine. "They already smell blood in the water. If this had come out after you were elected, they'd help bury it. But right now, during the campaign? They're going to be like sharks in a feeding frenzy, killing each other to get scoops on this." "That sucks." said Malone, who then surprised Katherine by shaking his head and almost laughing. "This is obviously the work of the Iron Crowbar, Katherine. I knew that bastard would have something up his sleeve from the moment he put Allgood up for Sheriff instead of running against me himself. Forget that god-damned crowbar... he just used a fucking sledgehammer on me with this..." "If this is his work, then I'd say he's done one hell of a job kicking you in the balls, Harold." Katherine replied, almost enjoying her words. "Even if you can weather this storm and show the charges to be bullshit, it's going to linger and hurt you." "Yeah, but..." Malone paused, then continued, "you know, I really can't hate the man for this. It's all part of the game, and he's played his part well, I must say." Katherine was shocked at Malone's attitude; her own hatred for the Iron Crowbar had intensified even more than she thought possible. Malone then frowned. "It's that ungrateful shit-eater Steven Ikea that's the idiot. After all those times I protected him from getting his ass fired for physically assaulting perps... he should've been waxed when he attacked Jeanine Olivet... and for all my help, what does that fucking traitor do? Gives affidavits to the SBI and FBI. "Let this be a lesson to you, Katherine." Malone said. "No good deed goes unpunished. You help a guy, expect to get punched in the teeth for it. And Ikea is going to find out the hard way what happens when he betrays an upstanding white man like Harold Malone..." ---- "Well, I'll be damned. Malone's sure in a pickle." said Senator Nathan Allen to members of his campaign staff at his campaign's offices. "I could sure use a drink. Anyone want one?" No one did. Allen poured himself a stiff gin and tonic. "Guys, can this hurt us?" he asked. "Are we going to get caught in the backwash?" "We've already put out press releases reaffirming your commitment to racial diversity as well as discussing your long record of helping poor minorities." said the campaign manager. "We haven't mentioned Malone, and we're not going to. Our comments to Press inquiries on that has been to reiterate our racial diversity commitments but that we're waiting to hear more facts before jumping to any conclusions." "Listen, I want some of you to very quietly contact Malone's people behind-the-scenes." said Allen. "They weren't so nice to us when we were down, but now they can understand how it feels. But we're going to take the high road. Talk to his people, see if there's anything we can do to help, as long as no mud splashes on us." At that moment, the Queen of Opposition Research hurtled into the room. "Senator, there's something I just found out that I think you need to know!" "Okay, then, spill it out! Don't keep us in suspense!" replied Allen jovially as he took a large swig of his gin and tonic. "I've been busy for hours talking with sources all over the place. The charges against Malone are true! The Media has found some pictures of Malone at a Klan rally when he was much younger. And our sources within the FBI confirm that he really is a part of some White Supremacy groups that have some really high-level players. We need to keep our distance from Malone, Senator!" "Well, there's a silver lining to this, everyone. Sure nobody wants a drink?" Allen said as he poured himself another gin and tonic. Everyone declined again. "All the Media attention on Malone will keep it off of us. I smell like a rose right now, compared to him. Let's just keep on message, but don't get in the way of the big stories as long as they're about Malone, y'hear? Okay- "ALLEN! YOU MURDERED MY DAUGHTER!!" A man in his early 40s, white and unkempt and unshaved, charged into the room after Allen. Out of nowhere appeared two large black men in black shirts and khaki pants. They quickly subdued the man, delivering hard punches to his face and body even after getting the man under control. "You piece of dog shit." Allen said, coming up to the subdued man. He reared his arm back and punched the man in the face as hard as he could. "Okay guys, take him out of here by the back door. Have Clete take him to Police Headquarters, and I'll come by and file charges later..." The men dragged the attacker out of the room as the shocked campaign operatives silently watched. Part 14 - Hirings And Firings "Dr. Woodrow, I only have one question for you." said Chief Griswold after I'd brought Dr. Woodrow in. It was August 31st, and this was a job interview to be supervisor of the Crime Lab and Crime Scene Investigation units. "This is... far and away... the most impressive resume that has ever crossed my desk for any job in this Police Department. What I want to know is why you want a job for which you are vastly overqualified?" Dark Side of the Force Ch. 03 "Chief," said Dr. Woodrow, "I'm a widower, I've been a teacher and researcher for many years now. I could tell you that I want to apply my knowledge in a practical way while continuing to supervise and teach. I can also say, and it's very true, that it's a way of serving the community, as you all do. But the real reason is that I have really enjoyed all of the times I've consulted with police and testified and worked with officers and crime lab teams, and I want to do it on a permanent basis." "So what happens when you get bored? Will you leave, walk out on us?" asked the Chief brusquely. "I can assure you I won't be bored." said Dr. Woodrow. "And if you like, I'll sign a three year contract, with penalties for leaving early. Whatever will assuage your concerns." "Okay." said the Chief. "Now I have one question for you, Commander: what's procedure for hiring a civilian as a supervisor of the Crime Lab? Despite your mother's abilities, Crowbar, and with all due respect to you, Doctor, I just don't see you going through the Police Academy." "Sir, I've already talked with Paulina, Captain Harlow of Personnel & Records, and some people in the Public Safety Department offices. The regulations allow for hiring civilians into administrative positions. Your secretary is an example. We can and do hire civilians for accounting and payroll and in the IT department. And while normally officers are supervisors, as long as you as Chief certifies that Dr. Woodrow is qualified to supervise the Crime Lab, he can be hired and put in the Supervisor position. He won't carry formal rank, but by position he would be considered the same as our Supervisor or Lieutenant rank. He can also be a 'silver badge' Auxiliary member." Auxiliary members who had not completed the Police Academy's regular or auxiliary courses had a badge that looked like ours, but it was silver instead of gold. "All right, then." said the Chief. "Welcome aboard, Dr. Woodrow! Hit the ground running: you start tomorrow morning." Part of me was elated: my Crime Lab was about to take a HUGE step up in efficiency and ability. Dr. Woodrow would supervise efficiently, he knew the law, he would teach his team well, and we would simply be matchless in the State as a Crime Lab/CSI squad. Damn, I love it when my job gets easier like that! But part of me was less than elated, as there was another duty to perform. ----- On the next day, September 1st, Lt. Tanya Perlman was called into Chief Griswold's office, where I was already sitting. "How's Dr. Woodrow getting along in there?" asked the Chief after having Tanya be seated. She was showing her pregnancy very much now. "Really well, sir!" Tanya replied enthusiastically. "He can hardly hide his excitement. He's like a kid with a new toy, but he's already looking into improving the work schedule for the technicians. I think he's going to be great!" "Excellent!" said the Chief. "I'm glad I listened to all of you on your hiring recommendation. Now... there's something you're going to have to listen to me about, Lieutenant Perlman: as of right now, you are on Restricted Duty and will remain so until your baby is born. You can work here at the Station, but you cannot go on field assignments. If you try to do that, I'll de-certify you to carry a gun and send you home until you have the baby. Do I make myself clear on that, Miss Perlman?" "Yes sir." Tanya replied. She knew this day had been coming and tried hard to put a good face on it, but she still looked disappointed. "You're also to stay out of the Lab, the evidence rooms and the armory." said the Chief. "You can give lectures to our new Detectives and Uniformed officers, and you can pretend to do desk work. But that's about it. No lifting, no physical labor. Take off early any time you like, after telling the Commander, of course." "Yes sir." Tanya said, then smiled, her eyes gleaming as she said "Chief, it's hard physical labor just to get behind my desk in that Lieutenant's office. What can I do to get a bigger one?" That one got me to laughing, and ultimately the Chief could not resist chuckling himself. "Ah... that's the nice thing about having the Commander here. That's your issue to work out with your Lieutenant, Don. Now both of you head to the main auditorium. We're about to make an overdue award." Some minutes later, at the awards ceremony in the main auditorium, Chief Griswold pinned upon my shirt the Police Medal for my actions in saving baby Jack Burke from my very bad nephew Ned. The Police Medal came after only the Medal of Valor, Distinguished Police Cross, and Police Distinguished Service Awards in precedence. I had been approved for it before August 1st, but made damn sure to let the Council know that I did not want anything to distract from Cindy's Medal of Valor day, so the Council agreed to delay the actual awarding for one month. Part 15 - Politics of Personal Destruction "Our Labor Day appearances were a disaster." said Harold Malone on the phone as he drove to his Campaign Headquarters the Tuesday morning after Labor Day. "We had twenty people show up at the barbecue cookout, and five of those were staff. And we had only ten people at the rally speech Saturday night." When he entered the Headquarters, he said into the phone "I'll have to call you back." and hung up. Inside his once-busy headquarters, there was only one person in the room, a woman who helped with mail distribution and making copies. "Where is everyone?" he asked. "Mr. Malone," said the woman, "I've been asked to tell you that everyone on your campaign staff has resigned. I'll be leaving myself in just a few minutes; I just came by to give you the latest poll numbers: Daniel Allgood has a 15 point lead on you, 55-40 percent, with 5 percent undecided." "Oh my God..." said Malone, speaking more of the abandonment of his staff than of the poll numbers. He went into his office and sat down as the last staffer exited the building. It had been a bad weekend, as on the Friday before the Labor Day weekend the Town & County Examiner had run pictures of a young Harold Malone in the white robes and conical hat of the Ku Klux Klan. His attempts to say that it was a costume at a party had fooled no one. "Well, Harold." said the voice from the door. "What are you going to do now?" Malone looked up as Henry R. Wargrave strode slowly into the room, took a small chair, and sat down at the side of the desk. "I have a feeling you're about to tell me." said Malone, perceptively. Wargrave gave a small, brief smile. "Well, perhaps I can take the liberty of offering a suggestion, anyway." said Wargrave. He sat down, leaned back and said "The job of Police Chief just opened up in a small town in south Alabama, not far from where your wife's family lives." Wargrave said, mentioning the town's name. "I might have mentioned your name to their hiring committee, and they're looking forward to bringing you on..." ----- "It's unbelievable." said Detective Molly Evans of the Midtown Police. Sitting with her in the main Conference Room of Town & County Police Headquarters was Detective Sergeant Wes 'Coldiron' Masters. Also in the room were myself, Lt. Cindy Ross and Lt. Teresa 'Cunt' Croyle. The Chief was not present, as he was in meetings with D.A. Krasney. We listened in shock and amazement as Molly told her story: "As you guys know," Molly said, "Senator Allen likes to trade political favors for sexual favors. If someone wants or needs Allen's help, the payment is that Allen gets to bang that person's underage daughter. Usually the people asking for help are desperate, and of course Allen arranges things in such a way that if they ever speak out, he can destroy them, often without getting involved himself." "Before Teresa left us, she developed a couple of leads on Nathan Allen." Molly continued. "She managed to get a girl and her father to talk to us in late July. The girl is now 18 years old, but the incident happened two and a half years ago, when she was not yet 16 years old. The Statute-of-Limitations on most of this runs out in three years, so we had to move quickly. "After Teresa left, our squad took over the case, and I took real interest in it as it pertained to Allen." Molly said. "I really thought we had a shot at him on this one. The father and daughter both gave written sworn affidavits, and they were talking to one of our ADAs while I investigated and began to lay out the groundwork for the ADA to prosecute." "There is a 'but' coming in here, isn't there?" Cindy asked as Molly paused. Molly just gave her sister a 'look', then exhaled and continued. "Yes." she said. "First, the State Internal Revenue Division slapped liens on the man's business as well as his personal holdings. Froze his bank accounts. Then he was notified that SBI Narcotics Task Force agents were investigating him for drugs and money laundering through his business, and froze his assets under RICO statutes." "What's his business?" I asked. 

"Software development." Molly replied. "Exactly the right choice to launder drugs and money." "Not." said Teresa, getting it. "Anyway, the man and his family were suddenly made destitute." said Molly. "He and his daughter also were followed by police and pulled over several times, until our Chief got wind of it and stopped that crap cold. The father and daughter were not intimidated, they were pissed off, and they both really wanted to keep pushing their case against Allen. "Unfortunately... on August 27th, the girl and some friends were coming out of the Mall of Midtown when a speeding car came careening into them. The perps hit the girl, then tried to back up and run over her again. Fortunately, her friends grabbed her while other's actually tried to attack the car and pull the driver and passenger out. Some of them were on one of the high school football teams down there. Despite their bravery, the car drove away, and none of the several different car tag numbers we were given came up with anything." "The girl was still badly injured and was in ICU at the hospital." Molly said. "The father was really angry about it, and didn't want to back down; he still really wanted to go after Nathan Allen for it. He felt Allen was behind it, and so did I." "Well, on August 29th the girl died. She had an embolism." said Molly. "We very much suspect that someone sneaked into her room and injected an air bubble into her IV line. When it got to her heart it expanded and killed her. Midtown Police is considering her death to be suspicious and a homicide." "Was the girl guarded?" Teresa asked. "Yes." said Molly. "But there are doctors and nurses in and out of the ICU ward all the time. It was simply too easy for someone to fake being a medical person and come in and inject the air bubble with no one really noticing." "So what happened next?" I asked, very sure. Molly gave me a 'look', then continued. "The girl's father became deeply upset, pretty much unhinged." Molly said. "He was ranting that he would get Nathan Allen no matter what. He disappeared. He was last seen on the morning of August 30th, getting into his car and driving away. When he did not return by the next morning, the family contacted the Police." "We contacted the FBI's Missing Person's bureau in the City." said Sgt. Masters. "They were able to determine from the father's cell phone pings that he came up to this County, and we know Nathan Allen was in this County at the same time. The FBI found his truck, with the cell phone inside it, parked at Lake Ocheekobee Golf Club in Coltrane County later that afternoon." "That's September 2nd?" I asked. "Yes sir." said Masters. "Detective Evans?" "Yesterday the man's body was found floating in the River in southern Coltrane County." said Molly. "Out where the farms are. I'm not sure who found it or how. Deputy Strait called me about it. The clothing matched what the missing father was last seen wearing. Death was by drowning. The body had been in the water for some time, but FBI confirmed his identity through dental records, and more recently by DNA. Once that happened, FBI Missing Persons dropped the case, leaving it to Coltrane County authorities. The new Sheriff down there is amenable to having me deputize myself into the SBI and 'assist' with the investigation..." Her voice trailed off. "We're not sure we want to do that, though." said Masters. "If we do, then the SBI as an institution becomes formally involved, and even if Detective Evans breaks off the investigation, Director Lewis can still claim ownership of it. But more importantly, we're not sure we want the SBI to even know about this, at least not formally." "I see." I said, the pieces finally fitting. "Lewis will make sure it gets back to Allen that you're investigating." "For sure." said Molly. "Since we do know the man came up here, we came up to look around. Consider this your formal notification that we're invading your turf, too." "You want our help?" I asked. "It might help if the locals can ask around, see if the man was seen, see if he approached Allen or anything." "Cindy," I said, "Why don't you assign Teddy Parker and Theo Washington to this, have them nose around." "Wilco." Cindy replied. As we were leaving the Conference Room, Molly said quietly to me "Don, there has got to be something we can do about this son of a bitch Nathan Allen!" "There is." I said. "We'll talk about that later." ----- "And while I will be fighting these baseless charges against me and clearing my good name," announced Harold Malone, "I realize that I would not have the confidence of the People of this good County to serve as your Sheriff. Therefore, I am withdrawing from the race. I will not be endorsing any other candidate in the election going forward. I want to thank those who have worked tirelessly for me to this point..." Malone droned on. He was flanked by his wife and campaign staff at the press conference... not his campaign staff, but some of Nathan Allen's people, who had stood there at the request of the County Democrat Party. ----- "Who can we get at this late date?" asked Katherine Woodburn at an emergency meeting of the County Democrat Party later that day. "There's not much time." "We don't have another candidate." said one of the Party operatives. "Most of the Police Force support Allgood, and by the time we get candidate with anything resembling credentials, it'll be too close to Election Day." "No!" exclaimed Katherine. "We can't let Daniel Allgood win!" "I'm sorry, Katherine... we're done with this one." said another operative. In reaction, Woodburn got up and left the meeting. Part 16 - Roll Tide/War Eagle I drove up to The Cabin. My iPhone app had alerted me that someone had tripped a sensor up there. I halfway expected to find P. Harvey Eckhart, but I was wrong. It was Harold Malone on my back deck. Coming up behind him as I eased along the walkway, I said "Is there something I can help you with here, Captain Malone?" "Ah, hello Commander." said Malone. "I came by here to drop off these two letters... and take one last look at the Town." He then turned to face me. Seeing that I was tense and ready to go for my gun, he slowly pulled open his jacket. "I'm not armed. Nothing for you to worry about." he said, then held up an envelope. "I brought these letters. One is for the Chief, it's my formal resignation from the Police Force here. The other is to notify the Department, through you, that I am leaving for Alabama tomorrow morning." He named the town as he put the envelope on the metal mesh table. "I've taken the Chief of Police job there, and some of my wife's family lives near there." "I see." I said, still wary. "I was up here, at this house, once before." Malone said, pointing to the view. "Back when Old Man Bonniker lived here. He loved this view; I'm sure you do, too. I'd just been promoted to Lieutenant then..." Malone then turned to me and said "This might not mean too much to you, Commander, but I've been playing this game for a long time... the Police game, the politics game, the behind-the-scenes game. It's rough-and-tumble, and every man or woman for himself. When you first came here, I thought you might be a player in the Game, and to an extent I was right: you do play the game, but your own way, on your terms. I don't expect you to admit you were behind exposing my racial issues, but would it surprise you if I told you that I don't hold it against you?" He paused, as if expecting me to answer. All I could say was "I think one difference between us, among many, is that I never did see it as a game. Too many lives at stake. We lost Feeley. I just don't see the game in it." Malone nodded, understanding if not agreeing. "Well, Commander, I'll go, and best of luck to you. I think you're going to need it." said Malone. "You really have done a spectacular job, but you've got some enemies lined up against you now that make your bad nephew look like an amateur. And you won't get far playing it straight against them." "I'll keep that in mind." I said. "I do have one question, though: you can't be in the middle when you're living in the State of Alabama, you have to choose sides. So what will you be yelling: 'Roll Tide!' or 'War Eagle!'?" Malone laughed. "Har! 'War Eagle!'. My wife went to Auburn for two years. She cried when that bastard killed the trees at Toomer's Corner. See you around, Iron Crowbar. Hopefully not any time soon, though." With that, Harold Malone went around the walkway and left. I stayed a while, sitting on the deck in the warm sun. I was thinking about what Molly had told me about Senator Nathan Allen. He was now resorting to murdering people, he had the dirty half of the SBI broken to his fist, to use 'War Eagle' lingo about birds of prey. I knew what I wanted to do, what I needed to do, but it would mean irreversibly crossing a line, like Julius Caesar crossing the River Rubicon. This wasn't just fucking up punks with a crowbar... It would mean crossing over to the Dark Side. To be continued. Dark Side of the Force 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, Trilogy Series. Dark Side Of The Force, Ch 1-4. Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, extreme language, and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. ***** Part 17 - Leads The University's Bulldogs had lost its first football game, to a better opponent. Then they went 0-2 as they lost a game they likely should've won. My Wildcats, by way of contrast, were 2-0. Therefore on September 10th I was a happy Commander and Dr. Woodrow was also happy, while most of my Police Force was an unhappy bunch. On that morning of September 10th, I was asked to come to Lt. Scott Peterson's office. When one enters Headquarters from the front, one hallway next to the Duty Desk in direct front goes to the left to Interrogation Rooms A-C. A hallway against the outer wall to the left goes to the Press room, which has a podium and rows of chairs and (most very unsecure) wi-fi connections for the reporters. A door to the left of the podium, in the right rear of the room as one faces the podium, was a short hallway that went to Lt. Peterson's office, which was about the size of Cindy's. There was no way to get from the Media section into the rest of the Headquarters. When I got there, Lt. Peterson was behind his desk talking with KXTC reporter John "Johnny" Hardwood. Most reporters are very short, especially the ones on TV, and Hardwood was noticeable in that he was tall, though not nearly as tall as me. He was sitting in the chair in front of Peterson's desk. "Commander, Mr. Hardwood here has been asking me some questions that might be interesting to you. Johnny?" said Lt. Peterson as I sat down in the small chair to the side of the desk. "Commander, I was just asking Scott here about a tip I got." said Hardwood. "The source is anonymous, of course, but the information I got was that there was an altercation at Senator Nathan Allen's campaign headquarters a few days ago. Some guy burst in, screaming at the Senator. My source said that the man was subdued by the Senator's security people, and that he was roughed up pretty good. Allen then told his security people to bring the man to Police Headquarters, and that Allen said he'd follow up and press charges. I was following up with Peterson here, and he says there's no record of such an arrest." "Commander," said Lt. Peterson, "I just checked the arrest logs from the day before Johnny says the incident happened until yesterday. No one was brought in by any security people; all arrests have been made by police officers." "Any description of the man that burst into Allen's offices?" I asked. "You mean Senator Allen..." Hardwood corrected, pissing me off instantly. I'd left off the title deliberately. "What I got was the man was early 40s, wearing a collared, button-down shirt with criss-cross green and red lines, khaki pants that looked worn, and brown, really beat-up shoes." Hardwood gave a further description of the man. "Well, Allen, and I left the title off on purpose, Hardwood," I said, taking a hard shot at him for his rudeness in daring to correct me in my own Police Station, "did not make any such complaints to my Department that I am aware of. But let me ask you this, have you heard of the man who was found dead in the River in South Coltrane County the other day?" Hardwood was red faced after my verbal lashing, and now I was asking him about news of which he was unaware. "Er, no, I haven't. Why should I?" he asked, his voice beginning to take a hostile edge. "If you'll do some checking, Hardwood," I said a bit witheringly, "I think you'll find the description you just gave us matches very well with the dead man fished out of the River in Coltrane County. Peterson, see if you can pull up a couple of articles or a police report on it for Mr. Hardwood." I got up to go. "By the way, Mr. Hardwood, since you're so in love with Senator Allen, I won't expect you to connect the obvious dots and begin a good journalistic investigation. But the path to a Pulitzer is wide open to you if you take it." I left the room. "Geez, what a prick." Hardwood said quietly. "No wonder Ms. Woodburn hates his guts so much." "Guts is something the Iron Crowbar has in tremendous quantity, Hardwood." Peterson replied. "And you can quote me on this for the record: this Police Force loves that man and will follow him to the Gates of Hell and back." ---- "Cindy, did Parker and Washington get anything on that father that was found in the River in Coltrane County?" I asked during my meeting with my Lieutenants. "Uhhh, not that I remember." Cindy said. She began shuffling through notes. "Sorry, sir, I'm not prepared; you ambushed me with that one." "Don't stress on it." I said. "Stay after this meeting and I'll call in Teddy and Theo." Some minutes later, after working through the agenda items, I excused Tanya and Teresa, asking Tanya to send Theo and Teddy in. Mere seconds passed before they were reporting in at the door. I had them come in and sit down. "No sir, we didn't get anything." said Theo Washington. "We looked at where the FBI said his cell phone had pinged. The only area that he apparently stopped was in the north central strip mall where Nathan Allen's campaign headquarters is located. We asked some of the businesspeople there if they'd seen the man or his vehicle, showing them pictures, but no one remembered anything." "Did you ask people at Nathan Allen's campaign headquarters?" I asked. "We went in." Teddy Parker said. "Senator Allen wasn't there, and most of his staff was out. There were only three people in there at the time, and they all said they had not seen that man nor his vehicle." "Sir, I told them not to waste too much time on that." said Cindy, partly to cover for her Detectives. "They looked at it for one day, then I put them on other assignments." "And I don't blame you a bit for doing that." I said. "But I have a new lead that there was an incident at Allen's campaign HQ the other day." I gave them the details. "Now we don't want to mention yet that the man who allegedly invaded their offices is the same man who came over all dead in Coltrane County, but I want to find out if the event happened. So here is what we're going to do: "Cindy, I'm taking this one myself, just because I personally want to be the one to front Allen and his people when the political shit hits the fan. Theo, you'll be with me. We'll stop by the Duty Desk and find out where Rudistan and Morton are, and maybe another couple of Uniforms... Johnson and McGhillie, if they're available." --- Theo Washington and I pulled up to the front of Allen Campaign Headquarters. An astonishing thing happened as we got out of my SUV: the blinds were being drawn, the sign was turned from 'Open' to 'Closed', and the lights were being turned out. "Let's go, scatter!" the campaign manager ordered as he and his fellow staff members rushed out the back door into the service alley... only to be stopped as two Police cars and four uniformed officers were waiting right there. "Going somewhere, folks?" said Senior Patrolman Micah Rudistan, with a joviality that belied the seriousness of the issue. "You people wouldn't be trying tooooooo... evade police, now would you?" The staff were shepherded back inside. As Rudistan followed, the campaign manager snarled "Where's your warrant, pig? You can't come in here without a warrant." "Oh, I got probable cause now, little man." Rudistan said in a happy mood, not letting the punk frustrate him. "You boys and girls tried to evade police." He and the other officers came inside. McGhillie opened the door to admit Theo and myself. There was an audible gasp when I walked in, red crowbar in hand. "Okay folks, this won't take long." I said. "Guys, send them in one at a time." "No one say a word. Refuse to answer, demand a lawyer." the campaign manager shouted before we could stop him. "You police, I order you to leave if you don't have a warrant." "You can file a complaint with the Town & County Council and/or the Inspector General's office." I said. "Guys, send them in, anyway." I said, then added with a menacing look at the campaign manager. "One at a time... one at a time. And if any of them refuse, even one of them, I'm going to arrest every last one of them and they can sit in jail for a while." Part 18 - Visits I was sitting in the Chief's office an hour after finishing at Allen Campaign Headquarters, reporting to him what had happened. Jack Muscone of the FBI was also present. "They all refused to talk and demanded lawyers." I said. "But I learned what I wanted to learn. I asked them one question as I showed them the picture of the dead man: 'Did this man come into this office and attack Senator Allen?'. Their eyes gave themselves away; I believe it definitely happened." "Looking dreamily into their eyes will not fly in getting a warrant or proving murder, Crowbar." the Chief growled. "True, sir," I said, smiling, "but now that we essentially know the man went there, we can look into the case with fresh eyes." "Fill me in." said Muscone. "I read the reports filed by the Missing Persons Branch, but I don't know the rest yet." I first told Muscone about the accusation that Nathan Allen raped the daughter that was later run over by a car and then died at the hospital, then about the father. "The reporter Hardwood said that he got a tip that this man went to Allen's campaign headquarters to attack Allen, that security people beat the guy up, then were told by Allen to bring him to our Headquarters here... but they never did. Then the man shows up dead in Coltrane County. It's pretty easy to connect the dots mentally-" A commotion was occurring outside the Chief's door, as his secretary was screaming "Stop! You can't go in there!" as the door was flung open. Senator Nathan Allen invaded the room, followed by Katherine Woodburn, a campaign staffer, and two well-armed SBI Agents: Richard 'Dick' Ferrell and the youngish Carter Fischer. "There's a concept called 'knocking', Senator. Like on my door. Now get out and learn that concept." said Chief Griswold, his face reddening with anger. "Go fuck yourself, Griswold." replied Nathan Allen, which caused me to bring out the red crowbar and 'front' Allen. "Oh, I see your little cocksucker wants to use his fucking little stick. Go ahead, shithead, take a swing at me. You'll be dead before you blink twice." The SBI Agents were poised to go for their guns." "And like you'll get out of this Police Station alive, eh, Senator. If your poodles kill us, you'll be blown away before you can get ten feet down the hall." I said, not backing down. "And you will show the Chief respect, or you'll get an ass-whipping from me such that you'll never walk normally again. Now what the fuck do you want?" "I want to know what the fuck you and your cops were doing in my Campaign Headquarters today, coming in without invitation and without warrants, and interrogating my innocent campaign staff with Gestapo tactics." "Innocent people don't shut the blinds, lock the doors, then try to run, Allen." I said. "They evaded police but they got caught trying to sneak out the back door." "By the time I'm done, you're going to be demoted to fucking janitor around here, boy." Allen said to me, then turned to the Chief. "And you won't get to retire, you old fart; you're going to be brought up on charges, fired, and stripped of your pension-" I got right into Allen's face as he spoke, cutting him off. "Allen, if you have an issue with any police officer," I said, "then you may file a complaint with the Town & County Council or the Inspector General. The first thing they'll do is contact the media, KXTC... under new ownership, I might add..." I said, looking right at Katherine Woodburn, twisting the verbal knife, "and that little recovery in your polls that you managed to engineer will start slipping again." "Go sit and spin on that crowbar, you little prick." hissed Katherine Woodburn, her eyes glaring with hatred at me.
 By now there were fifteen police officers with shotguns in the anteroom of the Chief's office. "Gentlemen," I said to them, looking past the despicable little group in front of me, "please escort Senator Allen and his lapdogs to the front door. As you can see, Senator, they are not taking 'no' for an answer. One false move from any of you, and every one of you are dead. Not arrested, but dead. Now you have a nice day, and I'm going to be seeing you again... reeeeeal soon." "You bet your ass you will." said Allen. "You're on notice, all of you. My campaign headquarters and my people are off limits to you. Get warrants before you enter my property or my facilities, and get warrants before you try to talk to any of my people." He turned and left. Part 19 - Observation and Deduction "It's good to see you recovering so well, Cindy." said Jack Muscone as we ate lunch at the Irish Pub, a.k.a. the Cop Bar. He was enjoying a delicious double-cheeseburger, while I ate more sensibly by consuming a Caesar steak salad. Cindy had come with us, and was also eating a salad. Per a new tradition between me and Cindy and Jack, all ranks were off and we were all equals while we ate. "When are you coming back on full duty?" Jack asked. "I re-qualify with my gun on September 15th." Cindy said. "And thank you for noticing that I've recovered so well... seems some people have been trying to delay my full return." She looked at me. I just ate a bite of salad as if I'd heard nothing. "Well, your fellow officers care about you." said Jack, trying to help me out. "They want you completely healed before you return. I once had an Agent who tried to return too fast... he ended up getting shot again, fortunately only in the leg. By the way... I did notice one thing in that office... I saw who took charge of Allen while your Police Chief stood by and let you. You really are in charge there now, aren't you Don?" "The Chief is generously allowing me to fill my new role," I said, then looked at Cindy, "which includes making sure my very best officers don't hurt themselves by coming back to full duty too quickly." Cindy stared back at me as she fearlessly replied "Jack, the man has forgotten that he gave me his blue crowbar. And I gave him the red one just to make it a bit more fair... to him." Jack was just about doubled over with laughter. "I'm glad you two get along." the FBI agent said. "God have mercy on you, Don, if she liked you as much as Katherine Woodburn does." "This is nothing, you should see Cindy and Teresa having a 'pleasant' conversation." I rejoined. "And Teresa doesn't even need a crowbar..." Cindy gave me another wilting look. I changed the conversation. "So guys, why do you think the Senator's staff is so afraid to talk to us?" I asked. "And what do you think of his little visit to our humble Headquarters?" "His visit bespeaks desperation." Cindy said. "I think he fucked up, and now he's scared because we're sniffing around." "Yeah, and I think he was shocked and very unhappy that I was in the office when he got there." said Muscone. "He had those SBI agents ready to shoot-to-kill, but killing a Federal agent is a whole different ballgame." "You might well be right, Jack, and I agree with you, Cindy." I said. "He's acting like a cornered rat." "Don," said Cindy, "there's something I want to ask you: when Jack here and DD Conlan confronted Captain Malone about the racial stuff, you weren't at the Station... but Malone was really calling out for you, calling you names and stuff." "I wasn't there, but I heard about it." I said. "I was there." Jack said. "And yeah, he really made a point to take your name in vain." Cindy continued: "Well, from what I heard today, Senator Allen and that Woodburn bitch were really taking verbal shots at you. They were really trying to get you to use that crowbar on them." I sat bolt upright. "Yes... ye-esss..." I then recovered. "Cindy, you are getting good, very good, at observation and deduction." I could see my partner was very pleased with that comment, though she tried to hide it. "So what do you make of that?" Cindy said "It occurred to me that they were trying to provoke you into doing something physical, and that Captain Malone was doing the same thing." "Ohhhh, I see what you're getting at." said Muscone. "Think they're doing it on purpose?" "Youuuu betcha." I said. "And Katherine Woodburn is the common element with Malone and Allen. I wouldn't be surprised if she was the one that concocted having them all do that... as a deliberate plan to trap me! Okay, Cindy, your lunch is on me." Jack had been silent for a few moments, thinking about something. Finally he spoke. "You know, I really wish there was some way we could bust that bastard Allen. People have been after him for years... Feds, State... but he always weasels out of trouble." "Hell, he just committed the murder of a father and daughter," said Cindy, "and I don't think we're going to be able to do a damn thing about it. And I still want to bust the bastard's chops after what he tried to do to Teresa..." I just sat there, listening to the words, my mind at work... and in turmoil... Part 20 - Assault In The Night "Oh, what a long day!" said Daniel Allgood as he lay back on the bed. It was now 1:00am on the morning of September 11th, the anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. "Did you have a good time tonight, honey?" "It was okay." said Melina from the bathroom as she got ready for bed. "The Ladies Auxiliary, I can do without. But I was glad to see Laura up and about and looking healthy again." "Come on out of that bathroom and come to bed." Daniel ordered his wife. Melina stuck just her head around the door and said "Are you sure you want me to come out?" "You bet your sweet ass I do, baby." Daniel replied- then gasped as Melina walked through the door into the bedroom. She was wearing a see-thru orange-peach teddy, the hem of which did not cover her fur-lined pussy. She was also wearing high-heel slides with criss-cross pastel-colored straps. "Like what you see, cowboy?" Melina said, her voice sultry and seductive. She lifted one leg and rested it on the edge of the bed, letting her hand slide down to her labes and play with them as her husband's eyes reveled in the sight, knowing what was coming. "Jesus, baby!" Daniel said, feeling his cock throbbing as it quickly hardened, "you look magnificent! Good enough to eat..." "Mmmm," Melina mewled as she climbed onto the bed, very slowly crawling a couple of steps up towards her husband. "I think I might let you do that... but I get my candy first." With that, Melina grasped the base of Daniel's nine inch cock and began gently stroking it. She leaned over and kissed the tip of his bulging cockhead, licking out the drop of pre-cum forming at his piss-slit. "Mmmmff!!" Dark Side of the Force Ch. 04 "Oooohhhh..." Daniel moaned at the same time as Melina engulfed his long, thick shaft, her lips sliding tightly but slickly along his throbbing meat until she'd swallowed nearly all of that. Her head raised up then sank down again, then began bobbing up and down in a smooth steady rhythm as the black-haired beauty expertly fellated her husband's cock. Daniel lay back, enjoying the sensations of his beloved wife giving him head, feeling both the intense physical pleasure and the deeply emotional love for Melina as she serviced him. His hand was roaming over her back, feeling the firm, sweet globes of her asscheeks under the hem of the nightgown, letting his fingers slide down the crack of her ass to her pussy, where he teased her labes. "Mmmmmmmmm," moaned the beautiful wife, a moan of pleasure and joy. For her part, Melina loved nothing more than pleasing her husband, especially using her lips, tongue and vagina to bring him maximum pleasure. Knowing that Daniel was enjoying her mouth and her sexual efforts made her incredibly happy. She settled down onto Daniel as she sucked him voraciously. Clink! Melina's mouth came flying off Daniel's cock as she listened intently. "What was that?" she whispered. "I don't know." whispered Daniel, turning serious. "Sounded like someone trying to break in." He quickly got up and reached for the 12-gauge shotgun he kept beside the bed. As he went to the doorway, Melina opened the dresser on her side of the bed and pulled out her bedside revolver. The house was bathed in moonlight through the windows as Daniel opened the bedroom door and looked out. And then he saw it: three men in black body armor and motorcycle helmets were coming up the stairs! "There he is!" snarled the first man coming up the stairs. He aimed his pistol and fired just as Daniel fired his shotgun. "AAUGH!" Daniel screamed, falling onto his back on the landing in front of the bedroom door. His shotgun has been 'no effective' against the perp. Then Melina peeked out the door, crouched down. Her arm extended into the hallway and the Ruger Redhawk .44 magnum spoke. The first man fell back as the bullet ripped through his throat, killing him. The second man received a bullet in the front of the throat, just under the helmet. The third man's helmet face shield shattered as the third bullet fired from Melina's gun went into his left eye and then into his brain, what little he had, liquifying it. "Daniel!" Melina gasped, going to her husband. He'd been shot in the shoulder. "I... I think I'm all right." said Daniel. "Call 9-1-1... go, call for help!" he ordered, finally getting Melina to stop attending him and make the needed call. ---- I arrived at the Allgood home just as Daniel was being loaded onto the ambulance. "Flesh wound." said the EMT. "He'll be all right, but we're taking him to University Hospital for treatment." "Don't let me stop you." I said. "I'll talk to you later, Daniel." Allgood just nodded. Melina climbed aboard with her husband, wearing a housecoat. "Guys," I said to the EMT's, "get the man's wife some scrubs to wear at the hospital." "Wilco." said the EMT. Seconds later, the ambulance was on the move. I looked around, seeing Chief Griswold berating Cindy. "Lieutenant, you are on light duty and you are not re-certified, what the hell are you doing here?" Griswold was demanding as I came up. "I'm not here as a cop, sir, I'm here to see if my business partner is okay." Cindy fired back. She was not taking shit from anyone, not even her Police Chief, I thought, inwardly happy. The Chief was not amused, and I had to step in before he blew a gasket, however well-intentioned, and busted my Lieutenant down for insubordination. "It's okay, Chief." I said. "Ross, head on over to the hospital and stay with Melina while they check out Daniel." Cindy scooted. The Chief gave me a glance that was meant to convey daggers, but underneath he was thankful I'd intervened. "Commander, you're off this case, too." Griswold growled. "Your ex-wife and her husband are the victims." "Who's on it?" I asked. "I've got Nash and Torres leading it." said the Chief, then he lowered his voice to convey conspiratorial secrecy. "Go in and take a very quick look around, but stay out of their way." I did so. There were three dead men on the stairs, one at the top of the landing, one just behind him, a third at the bottom of the stairs... he'd tumbled backwards, breaking his neck though he was already dead from the .44 magnum bullet that had destroyed him. I carefully made my way to the top of the stairs. Nash was at the bedroom door and Diana Torres was in the bedroom. "Sir," said Nash, "the perps were using nine millimeter pistols. Allgood had a shotgun and a .44 magnum. Three bullets fired, three empty cartridges in the revolver." He handed me the .44 magnum, which was in an evidence bag. I put on blue EMT gloves and took out the revolver. Three expended cartridges, no other bullets in the gun. "So we're playing it that Daniel shot the guys, not Melina... who obviously is the one who did shoot them?" "That's what the Media is going to hear." said Nash. "That's right, sir." said Torres. "Mr. Allgood defended his wife from the home invaders." "I see." I said. "Did you find the box of .44 magnum shells?" I asked. "The Crime Lab team found a box of shells." said Torres. "Not the same brand as those that were fired, but the only other .44 magnum shells found in the home." "Interesting." I said, mostly to myself as I looked up, catching the A/C vent in the corner of my eye. I noticed it was not perfectly re-aligned with the wall. I quickly looked away and said nothing. Nash might have been following my look, but he then made a point to look around on the floor. I could tell what was up, and that my Detectives knew it also... and that they were doing what I would be doing about it. "Okay guys," I said. "I'm not even officially here, the Chief has told me I can't be on the case. So you guys wrap it up and let the Chief know what you find. If I happen to see a copy of your reports in my own email by accident, I won't complain." "Roger that, sir." said Nash as I left. ---- "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" blared the lovely redhead reporter at 7:00am the morning of September 11th. "On this day that we remember those lost in the Twin Towers attacks, we also have breaking news of an attack upon the home of Sheriff candidate Daniel Allgood and his wife earlier this morning! Mr. Allgood was wounded in the left shoulder during attack, but managed to kill all three of his attackers, protecting his wife from the home invaders! "Mr. Allgood was rushed to University Hospital, where doctors performed minor surgery to repair his shoulder. The hospital issued a statement declaring that Mr. Allgood should make a full recovery and will be released in one to two days. Meanwhile, the Police say they have not yet discovered why the attack on Mr. Allgood was made, refusing to speculate if this was a burglary gone bad... or if this was a deliberate attempt to assassinate Mr. Allgood." ---- "Absolutely nothing." said Dr. Woodrow. "Of course the perps had no IDs on them, but we've gotten no identification from the fingerprints, either. We took DNA samples, and the University Hospital's lab are running them as well as us, but we're not hopeful for anything." We were meeting in Classroom 'E', and it was 2:00pm the same day of September 11th. It was carpeted, with tables and chairs arranged like a conference table, but I hated the lack of sunlight that the main conference room had. Present with me and Dr. Woodrow were Tanya Perlman, Cindy Ross, Martin Nash, Diana Torres... and Jack Muscone, who I had invited to sit in. I was at the head of the table, leading the meeting; the Chief had told me that he would be delegating such meetings to me as he wound down towards retirement. "I don't doubt you won't find anything." I said. "These guys were professional killers, part of a hit team. We won't identify them, even with Agent Muscone and the FBI's help, if I don't miss my guess." "Sir, these perps were wearing motorcycle helmets." said Nash. "Do you think they were part of the group that rescued us at the Olivet Gym when Lt. Ross was wounded?" "Oh noooo," I said, "those guys were friends. These guys are enemies. And while we're on that subject, let me fill you guys in on this: the reason I asked FBI Agent Muscone to sit in on this meeting is because he and I have been working on a case at the Federal level. You'll all remember those rogue CIA agents who were unfortunately killed at the County Airport. You may also remember that an eight-man hit team broke Sarah Collins out of the Campus jail. Agent Muscone and I are thinking these guys are remnants of that hit team." "Yes, that's right." said Muscone. "I know we can trust you guys to keep this in this room. We, meaning the FBI, think that two of those eight men from the Collins-breakout hit team were killed at the airport. We're thinking that the three killed at the Allgood home last night were part of that group. That leaves three more out there somewhere. They may or may not be hanging around here in this County, but you guys need to keep your eyes peeled." "Any idea at all why they'd want to kill the Allgoods?" Detective Diana Torres asked. "And by that," said Nash, "I think she means who hired these guys, who's behind them, and why the behind-the-scenes people wanted to kill the Allgoods." All eyes were on me, even Jack Muscone's. "At the risk of a beatdown from Lt. Ross's crowbar," I said, half jokingly, "I don't have my theories properly formed yet. Not enough data." Sure enough, that got an accusatory look from Cindy, who was thinking I was not sharing everything. "I know, Cindy, you think I'm holding back, but in reality I'm not. I'll tell every one of you what comes to mind... when it does." Cindy was less than mollified. "Okay guys, if there's nothing else..." I said. "If I may have a moment with you privately, Commander?" said Tanya. "Sure. The rest of you can go." I said. "Cindy, why don't you take Agent Muscone to meet our new ADA, Ms. Stiles, and I'll catch up with y'all in a minute." Everyone except Tanya left. "Don," said Tanya, her informality making a specific point, I knew, "Dr. Woodrow asked me to handle this while he looks the other way. Although the bullets we recovered from the perps were damaged, they were very likely 'cop-killer' bullets. Illegal to own. Now Daniel might have had them when he was a cop, but he's on leave of absence, and he also can't have them in his home. Of course I've made sure this won't see the light of day, but I wanted to make sure you knew." "Thank you, and thank Dr. Woodrow." I said. "And yes, I had a suspicion of it. Who in the world only loads three bullets into a revolver, even if she only needed three to wipe out three perps? No, she took the unfired bullets out and hid them... and of course my guys didn't exactly expend a lot of effort looking for them." "She?" asked Tanya, her eyes showing that her suspicions were confirmed. I could not help but grin. "Daniel was already hit." I said. "And he used a shotgun to defend his home and wife. But there's no way he fired a .44 magnum revolver, and certainly not with such deadly accuracy, while injured like that. Last but not least, there's only one marksman in this County who is that good... and she showed it when those guys invaded her gym and wounded Cindy that time." "Ah yesssss, I remember that." said Tanya. ----- "Why don't the four of us go to lunch?" I asked, having gone to Jenna Stiles' office, where she, Cindy and Jack Muscone were chatting. "Sorry, Commander, I've got a lunch meeting with Krasney at the Courthouse." said Jenna. "We're going to go over that big bust Croyle and Sharples made last week." So the three of us, Cindy, Jack and myself, went to the Cop Bar, where Jack was one very happy FBI agent as his favorite double-cheeseburger was served. "Now Don," said Cindy, "I didn't say a word, I was keeping my mouth shut." She was referring to what I'd said in Classroom 'E' about holding back on stuff. "You're right." I said. "That was all on me, but everyone knew you were thinking it. Now, since it's just the three of us, I'll wax eloquent just a little bit: "I have three ideas as to who would want to kill Daniel Allgood." I said. "One is the person who sent me that lovely painting depicting the Fall of Troy. Another one is Harold Malone or someone associated with him, perhaps the White Supremacists... that's one reason I had Jack sitting in with us. The third possibility is Senator Nathan Allen, as Allgood suggested in his most recent campaign speeches that he will be cleaning up local political corruption if he's elected Sheriff." "My people didn't pick up any chatter from the supremacy groups." said Muscone. "And I also don't really see the motive for them to do so. Allgood wasn't exactly an enemy of Malone's racial associations; in fact, Allgood knew about a lot of it and let it go." "True enough." I said. "They're not my foremost suspects. But Harold Malone himself? That can't be discounted." "Nathan Allen." said Cindy. "I'm not seeing his motive, though I think he's definitely down and dirty enough to have something like that done." "This is very thin, Cindy, and it's why I don't like talking theories without something behind them... this is really out there in left field." I said. "But here's my line of thinking: despite the religious nutjobs from the Oldeeds cabal helping Nathan Allen get back into his race, he was still hoping to piggyback on Harold Malone in order to win himself. I continued: "Malone leaving the race actually hurt Allen very very badly, and Allen knows it. So Allen's best, if not only chance to win... and by that I mean make it close enough so they can steal the election for him... is to have Allgood out of the race so that both sides have to start over." "Ahhhhh, I get it." said Cindy. "Damn..." "There is no limit to what Nathan Allen will permit himself to do." I said. "No limit. None." "Yet we're limited by our ethics and constrained by the law." said Cindy. "Not that I'm complaining about that, but the deck's stacked against us because of it." I peered at Cindy. Her words struck me, resonated with me. Yes, we're limited, self-limited, while Nathan Allen rapes underage girls and has people assassinated. Again I pondered to myself the question of relationship between the Law and Justice... ----- On the morning of September 12th, I spoke to Melina as Daniel was being processed to leave the hospital. "I'm sure those cop-killer bullets hidden behind that bedroom a/c vent cover will disappear very quickly." I said quietly. "What bullets would those be?" Melina asked, her voice lilting and a bit sarcastic. "Certainly there are no such bullets hidden anywhere in that house." By that, I knew Melina was telling me she'd already removed them from where she'd hidden them just before the EMTs and Police arrived. "I have no idea what bullets those would be." I said. "Figments of my all-too-active imagination, I'm sure. My Crime Lab assures me that no such bullets were used to exterminate any perps during any home invasions, either." "Mighty white of 'em." Melina replied as 'Nurse Ratchett' ordered Daniel to sit in the wheelchair for the traditional ride out of the hospital. A gaggle of media was there to cover Daniel, and his lovely wife at his side, as he stepped out of the wheelchair that had carried him to the door. His left arm was in a sling, but he spoke confidently to the cameras and the crowd: "It will take more than assassins' bullets to stop this campaign." he said loudly. "It will take more than Evil can muster to stop Good and Justice from winning in this County, and as your next Sheriff I will be committed to the side of Good and Justice in the never-ending battle against Evil!..." The crowd roared in applause. It was at that moment that I knew that no matter what the Democrats did, Daniel Allgood was going to be elected the next Sheriff of the Town & County. Chalk up one more little victory in the ultimate plan of the ol' Iron Crowbar... Part 21 - Plans In Formation On September 15th at 9:00am, Police Lieutenant Cindy Ross took careful aim at the target with her service weapon, a Sig Sauer P229 in caliber .40 S&W, and squeezed off ten shots in rapid succession. As the target was wheeled back, it was clear Cindy and done a 'Melina'... it was a perfect 3x3 square matrix within the innermost ring. "You more than passed." said the Armorer, "but where did the tenth shot go?" "Look closely at the middle hole." I said. "It's a hair bigger. Two shots went through that one hole." The Armorer looked at it closely, then whistled. "You're right, Commander. Okay, that's a perfect 10 of 10... and then some." He signed Cindy's re-qualification form as I took the target off it's mount; it would be framed and presented to Cindy by me in the near future. When we got back to MCD, she was surprised by the applause as all of the MCD and Vice Detectives were gathered to welcome her back to full duty. There were cupcakes for everyone, to my chagrin: the last thing I needed was a sugar-bombed group of Detectives. I did notice Jenna and Cindy talking during the chatter, and their eyes spoke volumes as they looked at each other... ---- Not everyone was in a partying mood. In Room 1822 of the Marriott Grande Hotel in the City, several high-powered men were meeting. State Senators Cerone and Langdon, Congressman Condor, SBI Director Lewis, Judge J.B. Stone and University Regent Austin R. Murphy, a close personal friend of the meeting's host, billionaire Henry R. Wargrave, were all in attendance, ready to decide their next course of action. "I don't know, at least not yet, who was behind that attack on Daniel Allgood," said Wargrave. "But he did us and you no favors at all." "My contacts are suggesting that it came from out of State." said Rep. Condor. "My boys are telling me it's very likely Nathan Allen was behind it." said Senator 'Coffin' Cerone. "Gentlemen," said Wargrave, "let me whet your appetites with one tidbit... are you sure that Daniel Allgood was the target?" "Why the hell would someone want to kill his wife?" asked J.B. Stone. "That makes less than zero sense, no disrespect intended, Mr. Wargrave." "None taken," said Wargrave, "but it's just a little something to consider. I don't insist upon it. Meanwhile... let's get back to the reason for this meeting: Senator Nathan Allen." "The man would not step down." Cerone said, the frustration in his voice barely showing. "We told him what he needed to do, now it may be too late." "It is too late." said Condor. "Less than two months to the election. While Allen has recovered remarkably well after the help from the Reverend Robert Patterson and the Oldeeds Group, he is still in bad enough shape that we can't rig the election for him." "And let me add to that." said Murphy. "Our Police Commander is already talking to the Federal Elections Commission. He got one of their agents to arrest Katherine Woodburn and got KXTC out of her hands. By the way, Henry, just who the hell is this FEC Agent Fred Dixon? I couldn't get any information on him, not even from my best Government contacts." "And you won't." said Wargrave. "Don't worry about him, Austin. But that gambit didn't work: I was outbid for KXTC. But you're point is valid... the Iron Crowbar is all over the place about potential election fraud. We can't help Senator Allen unless the election gets much, much closer than it is." Dark Side of the Force Ch. 04 "And that's my point, Mr. Wargrave." said Sen. Cerone. "My associates, especially those in the Legislature, want to cut Allen loose. We don't want him elected. We wanted him to step aside so we could put in someone else, maybe run Mr. Murphy here just for name recognition for future offices if he didn't win this one. But Allen stayed put, then sprang that shit from the Oldeeds people on us." "I agree with Senator Cerone, Mr. Wargrave," said Sen. Langdon, "we consider Allen to be a liability more than an asset. I can already tell you that even if he wins, he will be a totally ineffective Legislator, that his Committee assignments will be stripped from him and he'll be stuck. He's become too much of a hassle. "Let me give you an example:" Langdon continued. "Last January he attempted to strip funds for the Town & County Police from the budget after an officer beat the living shit out of Allen's son. That funding issue was the single discrepancy when we reconciled the House and Senate bills. We put the funding back in... none of us want a spanking from the Iron Crowbar nor his Junior Associate up there..." By that he meant Lt. Cindy Ross, holder of the blue crowbar and considered as dangerous or even more so than Commander Troy. He finished: "...but that's the kind of crap he's been pulling. We've already decided: his days in power in the Legislature are through." "Ah, so you're already forcing this one." said Wargrave. "Yes sir." said Langdon, deeply aware of who he was dealing with. "We consider it to be that bad to have Allen back in the State Senate." "What about the SBI fight?" asked Austin R. Murphy. "Director Lewis?" Director Jack Lewis had sat silently until this moment, but he spoke up. "It's on a knife-edge as it is. We needed Allen, but if Senator Langdon is correct that Allen is going to be diminished in the Legislature and therefore unable to help us, it becomes a moot point." "Austin, do you want to run for State Senator?" Henry Wargrave asked his friend half-humorously. "You've got the good military record, and while you may not win, it's good exposure for you." "If you want me to, Henry, I'll do it." said Murphy, the perfect lieutenant for his benefactor Wargrave. "But I've never had any real desire to get into politics." "I understand" said Wargrave, speaking as if the rest of the people in the room weren't even there. "So what's your advice?" "I believe Mr. Allen needs to be... made to understand that his continuation in the State Senate race is not in our best interests, and therefore not in his best interests." "We've asked him to step down once." said Langdon. "We're not going to ask him again." The threat behind his words was obvious. "But if you want to give it one last try, we'll hold off until you've done so." "Okay, gentlemen, thank you for coming." Wargrave said, closing the meeting. "I'll get word to you of my decision on what to do within the next 24 hours or so, certainly by the end of tomorrow." He pressed a buzzer on his desk. "By the way, here's some company for you to enjoy lunch with. Room keys are on the table in front of you. Have a good day." Wargrave left just as several lovely women walked into the room. They were prostitutes of the highest class and quality. They engaged the politically powerful men in conversation, and soon were pairing off with the men and going to the proffered rooms. ---- "What do you think, Conrad?" Wargrave said as they watched the various video screens, showing the men in flagrante delicto with the prostitutes in the various bedrooms, all being recorded for Wargrave's future use should he need it. "Ah, son," said Conrad King, "I don't like getting involved in such small stuff as this, but I know you need to consolidate your base here in the State. That Commander Troy is definitely making a difference, isn't he?" "Don't remind me." Wargrave said. "So when Nathan Allen meets an unfortunate end, it won't cause a ripple at your level?" "No son," said Conrad King, "no, not even a ripple. Now if we could get the Iron Crowbar to join us, show him that he and we could have mutual interests, now that would create a ripple for us." ----- "Are you okay, Brian?" asked my sister Elizabeth as The Four met in Thaddeus Ward's small conference room off his main office at Ward Harvester. She had observed the man's expression of pain as he sat down, despite his efforts to hide it. "I'm just fine." said Coach Brian Harlan. "It's football season, and it's exhausting." Karen Warner patted his thigh. She was sitting right next to him, and Elizabeth had observed that their relationship had grown. "I appreciate you all coming at this hour." said Ward. It was 1:00am, the morning of September 16th, and Elizabeth would have to be leaving soon to get back to State Women's Prison by first light. "What we urgently need to decide is what is going on with Senator Nathan Allen. I need all of your evaluation of our interests if he loses, and what we need to do going forward." "I've been told that he was asked to drop out of the race." said Brian Harlan. "Mob-connected Senators, at that. He refused, then got a boost in his polls after that religious rally. That royally pissed them off." "He hasn't done a god-damned thing to help our case in the Courts." said Karen Warner. "My fucking brother and his lawyers have bottled everything up. Allen said he'd help, but he hasn't lifted a finger. Maybe he thinks I was just fucking around and that my 'request' was anything but." "And you, my dear?" said Ward, his eyes falling upon Elizabeth, enjoying the sight of her lovely body and legs. "He hasn't helped me get out of prison yet, either." said Elizabeth, "which is forcing me to use other methods to get my sentence commuted." "Don't worry, my dear," said Ward, "I've got that on the front burner. With patience, you'll be out in a month or less, certainly by the time of the Election." "Thank you, sir." Elizabeth said, pretending gratitude. "As to Allen's usefulness to our group, I refer to what Coach Harlan said: other politicians in his own Party have asked him to step aside. They've evaluated that he's of no further use to them. That means he's of no value to us in helping us achieve our goals. He seems oblivious to what BOW Enterprises is doing, and they're becoming serious competition for us." "So, everyone," said Ward, "are we all on the same page of what must be done?" ------ "Okay, is everyone good with this?" I asked. It was midnight, turning into September 16th as we talked, having no idea of what was transpiring at my least-favorite place, Ward Harvester. We were at the Cabin, having enjoyed the view and the cooler air that was coming in at night before coming inside to talk business. With me were Teresa Croyle, Jack Muscone, Sandra Speer, Cindy Ross, and Molly Evans. "I'm loving it." said Teresa Croyle. "I'm in." said Jack Muscone. Sandra Speer agreed. "I am definitely in." said Molly. "Cindy?" We all looked at Cindy. She was having doubts. "I dunno..." she said. "It's... crossing the line." "If you don't want to do it, I won't blame you a bit, and I won't hold it against you." I said. Teresa was peering at Cindy, and Cindy looked back at Teresa before finally saying "Okay, I'll do it." "Are you sure?" I asked. Cindy looked me in the eye and affirmed it. "Okay, here's the plan..." I said. ----- Hours later, it was nearly dawn as I sat on the deck of The Cabin, alone. Everyone else had left. I heard the soft shuffle as someone walked up from around front via the walkway. "Ah, young Donald," said P. Harvey Eckhart as he sat down in a chair by the iron mesh table, wearing what could've been a martial arts uniform or just plain pajamas. "It's lovely here at night, especially just before dawn. Thank you for asking me here to see it." "My pleasure." I said. "It's been a long night for me, though." "Indeed, it has." said Eckhart. "But I've brought the things you'll need." He opened what looked like wooden jewelry box. "This wooden chess set is a gift for you, my young friend, to celebrate your wife's return to health after her surgery. I was so happy to hear of her full recovery." "Thank you, Harvey." I said, very impressed. It was a Jaques wooden chess set, worth at least $600. "I'm sure I'll enjoy it." "You'll enjoy what's hidden in this secret panel in the bottom even more." said Eckhart. He pressed a concealed button in the box and a little drawer at the bottom popped a half inch out. Inside the drawer, secured by a layer of foam with cutouts, were three vials; two of them fairly large, and one smaller. "Yes, whatever you do, don't mix the two large ones directly together." said Eckhart. "They must be delivered separately, and the second one preferably in an alcoholic beverage. I'm sure you know the routine, as you discovered in your brilliant deduction of the Jefferson Jackson case." I nodded as Eckhart continued: "The third one, the small one here, is to be administered in a drink by itself; the person drinking it won't realize it, but his blood alcohol will not survive a test by your excellent police officers after a legal traffic stop." "Thank you, sir." I said. "Sooo..." "What do you have to do?" Eckhart asked. "Why, nothing, my dear Donald... except I want you to absolutely promise that you will go through with it. No cold feet, no re-evaluations." "Absolutely." I said. "It's committed." "Thank you, my friend." said Eckhart. "That foul Senator Allen has become just a little 'too big for his britches', as I'm sure your lovely mother said to you many times while you were growing up." I laughed. "More to my sister than myself." I said. Eckhart smiled, then turned serious as he said "I also have here some bonus information. You're not the only ones with the idea of eliminating Senator Allen; the problem is that their methods are crude and clumsy, and will be detected by your excellent Crime Lab." I read the sheet of paper. "Burn it." Eckhart said, producing a cigarette lighter. I did so in the small, empty flower pot nearby, stubbing the ash into tiny cinders after it had burned. "So, nothing else?" I asked, amazed that Eckhart was doing so much for me and asking so little in return. "No, my friend, not this time." said Eckhart. "If you follow through, it'll be plenty enough for me. Good morning to you, my young friend, and I'll be chatting with you again shortly." With that, Eckhart got up and left and disappeared into the night. I didn't hear a car nor his motorcycle... was he walking? I thought to myself. I dismissed the thought as I took the chess set and those precious contents inside. Part 22 - Plans Executed It was the weekend after September 15th, and the bar in the City was not crowded as Dean Allen watched the conclusion of the college football game. The Wildcats had destroyed their conference opponent; Dean feared that the University's Bulldogs would suffer a similar fate in November. He then saw the final score of the University's game, which only confirmed his concerns. "Hi. Buy a girl a drink?" the woman said as she came to the bar. She was very attractive, older than Dean, with blonde-red hair. "Why not?" Dean said. "What's your name?" "Sandra." said the woman. "What's yours?" "Dean." said Dean. "You look too good to be one of those working girls that come around here. What do you do?" "Oh, I'm an administrative assistant- a secretary- for the FDA over in the Federal Building." Sandra Speer was hardly a secretary, but a savvy FBI agent... but Dean didn't know that. "And you?" she asked. "I run Allen & Allen Insurance." said Dean. "My father is State Senator Nathan Allen." "Oh, how impressive." Sandra said, her eyes flirtatious. "That sounds very important. Are you going to run for office yourself?" "Eventually." said Dean. He began chatting with the starry-eyed woman, thinking he had her undivided attention and would soon be fucking her delicious body. "Hey, are you Dean Allen?" asked the rather large man who had walked up to them. Dean turned to see who it was. The guy had short-cropped black hair and small, beady eyes... eyes which seemed to penetrate to his soul. Dean immediately felt uncomfortable. He would have been a lot more uncomfortable if he had seen the redhead sitting next to him empty a small vial of clear liquid into his drink. "Who wants to know?" Dean asked. "My name is Kyle Irons. I'm with the SBI." said Muscone. He then sat down next to Dean and said quietly, "I'm sorry, Mr. Allen, but your father asked me to watch and make sure you're not drinking too much. After the one in front of you now, you might want to cool it, especially if you're driving to meet your father tonight." Dean scowled. "I'm not going anywhere, I'm talking with this lovely lady-" He turned around to find the seat empty: the lovely redhead had disappeared. "Sorry about that, Mr. Allen." said Muscone. "I think maybe you should go see your dad tonight. I don't know what's up, but if he sent me to watch over you, there must be something big going on, and he'll be calling you in." "All right, man, thanks." said Dean. He finished his drink in one gulp and left the bar without paying, thinking that he could get some pussy from a University girl or perhaps his father's party would have a couple of extra working girls that he could fuck. Muscone paid the bartender for the drink, passing Dean's subtle little test, then left himself. ---- "Oh, what an awful loss." said Senator Nathan Allen as he swallowed a gulp of his drink. "The University football team just isn't making it happen like they did last year, are they? Just 1-3 now." It was the same night, but a bit later in the evening as Nathan Allen was hosting a dinner of contributors, benefactors and Congressman Condor at the Hyatt Hotel in the affluent northwest part of Town. All of these men were 'connected' in some way, and dependent upon Nathan Allen's re-election for their own protection.

"I guess you'll just have to take some solace in your new toy." said one of the men as he puffed at his cigar. "Har har, you got that right." said Nathan Allen, thinking of the things he'd done to that teen girl whose father was in desperate need of the Senator's help. "She knew how to move her ass; I don't think her daddy realizes how... experienced she already is." The men laughed. "Gerald, you've got a new intern, too, don't you?" "Oh yes." said Condor. "She's fantastic in bed! Her breasts are like ripe melons, just perfect for squeezing and sucking." The men bantered about Condor's sweet young intern for a few minutes, none of them noticing the waitress as she refilled the water glasses. She was pregnant, though not too obviously so, and she was wearing a white shirt and black pants of the Hotel staff. Her hair was black and straight to her shoulders all the way around, with horizontal bangs cut across her forehead. "Aw, thanks, sweetie." Nathan Allen said as she filled his glass of water. He reached over and fondled her ass. "Why Senator!" the woman exclaimed, "you'll be accused of putting me in this condition if you keep that up!" The men all laughed loudly as she said that, bantering even more as she finished filling the water glasses. Just then, two more servants came out, placing desserts in front of the men. "Who was that filling the water glasses?" asked the young man when they got back out of the room. "She must be with the Hotel staff." said the girl. They were employed by the caterers of the dinner, though wearing Hotel staff uniforms to blend in. "Did you add the stuff to Allen's dessert?" she asked. The boy looked at her. "I didn't have the vial, I thought you had it." "No, I thought you had it." the girl said. They looked at each other, not realizing that their vials of deadly poison had been washed down the drain... The woman walked back into the kitchen area, poured the water out of the pitcher, then thoroughly rinsed it out before putting it in the dishwasher with other dishes and starting the machine. "Who was that?" asked one woman, who had observed the server's actions as the woman left. "I don't know, she must be with the caterers." These women were employed by the Hotel dining facility. They went back to their duties. ----- The women were approaching the suite on the next-to-top floor of the Hyatt Hotel. They were prostitutes, hired to service the men in their hotel rooms on the same floor after a few minutes of commingling in Senator Allen's suite. They were fairly high-class hookers, but not nearly what Henry Wargrave could and would have provided. One woman, her hair black, combed straight down all the way around and with sharply cut horizontal bangs, approached one of the woman, a beautiful, shapely woman in her thirties with honey-blonde hair. Before she realized it, the black-haired woman had said "Come, this way." and practically pushed the blonde into empty women's bathroom.
 "What the hell?" asked the prostitute. "That poison you're going to try to put into the Senator's bourbon bottle, forget it. It's called off." said the black haired woman. "Don't do it. The Crime Lab people would detect it." "What the hell are you talking about?" the blonde woman asked, as if she had no idea what was going on. "This." the black-haired woman said, holding up the vial. "I just took it out of your purse. It's called off, but you'll still get paid." The prostitute watched in shock as the other woman poured the vial out, rinsed it out thoroughly, and let the water run. "You better get back to the other women before they miss you." said the black haired woman. "I'll finish this up." The blonde left, her face a mask of confusion. The black haired woman went into the far stall and unrolled the plastic-lined container. She quickly changed from her dress to the Security uniform inside the plastic, stuffing the dress and high heels into the bag that was also in the plastic. She looked out the restroom door, seeing no one in the hallway, then raced to the stairs and handed the bag to her confederate. She then headed to Allen's suite, entering with the master pass key from the side... ---- As Dean Allen crossed the line from Nextdoor County, he was glad to be near home. He felt sick to his stomach, and was just a little bit dizzy. He couldn't wait to get home and use the bathroom. He turned north onto the main road from the East Highway from Nextdoor County, the University on his right as he drove up the street, the beginnings of Town on his left. As he neared where he'd turn left to go home, he noticed the police car swing behind him. After a second the blue lights came on, flashing brightly. He pulled over and the patrol car pulled in after him. "Good evening, sir," said the near-portly Senior Patrolman, his face a mask of joviality. "May I see your license and registration, please?" "Sure officer," Dean said. As he handed the officer his license, he said "You'll recognize the name. I'm Senator Nathan Allen's son." "Is that right?" said the Patrolman enthusiastically. "Sir, do you know why I stopped you tonight?" "No, officer." said Dean. "I'm just heading to see my father, Senator Allen." "I see. I stopped you because your car was weaving a bit, touching the dotted line, close to crossing over but not actually attempting to change lanes. Would you step out of the car, please?" "As I said, I'm Senator Allen's son..." Dean said. "Yes, sir, but this will just take a moment. Please step out of the car." In his rear-view mirror Dean noticed the second policeman near the back of his car, also a husky man with a determined look on his face. Dean got out of the car, his stomach feeling more queasy. He realized that the light dizziness was increasing. Dark Side of the Force Ch. 04 "Now sir," said the Patrolman, if you'll just lean your head back and touch the tip of your nose." "No, Officer Rudistan" said Dean, seeing the nameplate on the Patrolman's dark blue shirt, the chevron and three rockers on the sleeves, "I decline to do this. Please give me a sobriety blood test." "Oh really? You decline? Okay, Officer Morton, call in for a blood test team." said Rudistan. As Morton moved to the squad car, Dean noticed that a second police car, an SUV, had pulled in behind them. "It'll be a few minutes, Mr. Allen." said Senior Patrolman Rudistan in his friendly, folksy voice. "Officer, I think you might not have heard me a moment ago." said Dean. "I am Senator Nathan Allen's son. You might take that into consideration. He can really help your career, or..." "Ah, an important man." said Rudistan, enjoying the play-acting of joviality. "What do you think, sir? Is the Senator an important man?" Dean's face turned to shock as the tall, large man with a full brim cap, light trenchcoat and a large red crowbar suddenly appeared from behind his car and stood next to Rudistan." "His name means nothing to me." I said, in a voice cold enough to freeze water. "Absolutely nothing. Patrolman, administer a breathalyzer test to this suspect. Mr. Allen, if you refuse, you're automatically under arrest and your driver's license will be automatically suspended pending trial." "I want the blood test." said Allen, who had been well coached in the past when it came to dealing with police about DUIs." "Fine, but you are now under arrest-" I started. "Okay, okay, I'll take the breath test." said Dean. "And you'll be sorry about this, Colonel." He was referring to the ranks on the shoulders of my trenchcoat. I said nothing as the test was administered. "Wow, 0.14!" reported Rudistan. "Well over the legal limit, Commander." "That's bullshit!" said Dean. "I insist on the blood test." Just then the 'BATmobile' came up with an EMT team to take blood samples. "By all means." I said. I watched as they took the blood samples. "You're still under arrest, Mr. Allen." I said. "What?" said Dean Allen. "That's crap! I'm Senator Nathan Allen's son, and I demand-" He stopped when I stepped towards him, tapping my crowbar in my hand. "You'll demand nothing of me, nor my Police Force, you murdering little asshole." I said in a low, menacing voice, interrupting him. I then called out loudly "Lieutenant, will you please effect the arrest of Dean Allen?" "With pleasure, Commander." said Lieutenant Teresa Croyle, stepping out of the shadows. "Hey! Keep that bitch away from me! Keep her away!" said Dean. His attempt to escape was blocked by Senior Patrolman Rudistan. "Not afraid of a girl, are you Dean?" Rudistan taunted cheerfully. Teresa approached Allen and very quickly had him turned around and pressed against the side of his car. As she affixed handcuffs to Dean's wrists, she said "Dean Allen, I am placing you under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. If you waive that right, then anything you say can and will be used against you in a Court of Law. You have the right to an attorney, and may have an attorney present during any and all questioning..." ---- The laughing men walked down the hall to the main entrance of Senator Allen's suite. "Okay boys, it's time for your entertainment." He threw open the door and the women enthusiastically greeted the men as they walked in. Soon the room was abuzz in chatter. Dean motioned for Condor to come with him to the back room, which was serving as Dean's office. As he opened the door, he saw the security officer standing to the side. "What are you doing in here?" Allen demanded of the security guard, his face and voice showing surprise. She was a muscular platinum blonde in an all black security uniform, her baseball cap with the word "SECURITY" on it low over her eyes." "Sir, I was told to stay in here while your group was in the front room." the woman said in a low, husky voice. "Who told you that?- oh, never mind." said Allen. "No, that's not what I wanted. Why don't you go out into the hallway and keep watch out there for me." "Yes sir." the security officer said. She walked out of the office, through the suite and out the front door to the hallway as Allen typed in a note on his iPhone. "I'm going to call these security people about that. They shouldn't be telling their people to actually be inside here." said Allen. "I'm sure they meant well." said Condor. "Doesn't look like anything was bothered." "That's true, but still... anyway, I need to talk to you about getting someone to fill in and run for Sheriff in Harold Malone's place. You want a drink?" "No thanks." said Condor, carefully watching Allen pour a drink from the large, clear, rectangular bottle filled with bourbon. "And there's no chance in hell in trying: Allgood is at 80% after that failed assassination attempt." "Well...someone to get some name recognition for the future." said Allen, making hand motions as he gulped his drink. "How about that University Regent, er... ah... Murphy. Austin Murphy. He's a combat veteran, he might be a good fit." "Maybe." said Condor, watching as Allen filled his glass again and downed a second large glass of bourbon. "How's the bourbon, Senator?" he asked. "Good. Pretty darn good for this hotel." Allen said. "Sure you don't want some?" He poured a third helping. "No thanks, Senator." said Condor. "But I don't know if Murphy will be willing to- what the-" He heard the commotion outside. The door burst open and a large man with a full brim hat and red crowbar appeared at the threshold, accompanied by Detective Martin Nash. "What the hell do you want, Troy?" exclaimed Nathan Allen. "I want you to listen to some news, Senator!" I said loudly, trying to keep my face serious despite the surge of joy I was feeling. "I want you to know that your son Dean has just been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol!" "What?" yelled Allen. "You fucking with my boy, Commander? I'll string your ass up and shove your crowbar down your throat!-" "Give it your best shot, Allen." I said, noticing all the men and prostitutes observing the exchange, as well as a couple of security officers. "But that won't change the fact that your boy is going to prison- PRISON! Allen- and they're going to tear him a new hole and gang rape his ass every night!" I hurtled on, enjoying every word. "And best of all, Senator, do you know who made the arrest? It was Lieutenant Teresa Croyle, Senator! Teresa Croyle personally made the arrest that is going to send your son to prison. That's right, Senator, Croyle is back with my Police Force and her first arrest is putting your son in jail where he belongs, Senator! In jail getting his ass raped! Your boy is finished, and God only knows if he'll survive the first week of prison-" "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" yelled Allen, coming around from his desk, his hand pointing up in the air at me, "YOU FUCK WITH MY BOY AND I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU! YOU HEAR ME?! I'LL KILL- UHK! AWK!" Allen's hands went to his chest as he sank to his knees. "Uhhhh!!" he gasped. He then fell to the floor. "Oh my God!" said Congressman Condor, kneeling beside Allen's prostrate form. "Get an ambulance. Someone call for help!" I did not approach Allen, nor did Nash, but I got out my police radio and called for an ambulance 'stat'. They got there literally within two minutes as Condor felt for a pulse and tried to resuscitate Allen. But none of it would matter, I knew, as I watched the EMTs come in and work on him, then hustle him out; the man was receiving his Just reward now. State Senator Nathan Allen was dead. To be continued... What happened? Who killed Nathan Allen? And how? Tune in to Chapter 5 for the solution! Dark Side of the Force Ch. 05 The chronological order of my stories is as follows: Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, 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, Trilogy Series. Dark Side Of The Force, Ch 1-5. Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas. This story contains graphic scenes, extreme language, and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above. ***** Part 23 - Investigations "This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" yelled the lovely redheaded reporter at 7:00am. It was Sunday morning, and we were watching in the MCD room, drinking some badly needed coffee. "Channel Two News is bringing you continuing coverage of the sudden death of State Senator Nathan Allen last night at the Hyatt Hotel here in Town!" yelled Bettina from outside the Hotel. "Senator Allen collapsed last night after a dinner party, and efforts to revive him failed. EMTs arrived very quickly, but neither they nor the doctors at University Hospital were able to save Senator Allen's life, and he was pronounced 'dead on arrival'. Early tests suggest the Senator was killed by a heart attack, but the Town & County Police Force Crime Lab has not confirmed that as it continues its investigation!" Bettina continued: "Senator Allen's death came just as word reached Channel Two News that Allen's son Dean was arrested on DUI charges after registering a 0.14 on a breathalyzer test, well above the legal limit. We do not know if Dean Allen has been informed of his father's death. We now go to Priya Ajmani for an update. Priya!" "Thank you, Bettina!" said the lovely Indian woman. "The wars between the SBI and local authorities continue, as Channel Two News has learned that SBI Director Jack Lewis has demanded that the SBI take over the investigation of Nathan Allen's death, citing the fact that Mr. Allen was a State Senator, but also stating that the Town & County Police are unfit either professionally or ethically to do the job. Chief Griswold of the Town & County Police issued a statement declaring that the TCPD will handle the case, that it is their jurisdiction, and that the SBI's assistance in any way is, and I quote, 'not needed, is not wanted, and will not be allowed nor tolerated'. "Meanwhile," continued Priya, "reactions at this early hour to Senator Allen's passing have been muted and mixed. U.S. Congressman Condor, who was at the scene and attempted to revive Senator Allen, issued a statement of condolence, while the Governor's office issued a statement only acknowledging that the Governor has been informed of the Senator's passing. Back to you, Bettina!" "Thank you, Priya!" said Bettina. "We're getting breaking news... that the Coroner has already conducted an autopsy of Senator Allen, and will be giving a preliminary finding at 2:00pm this afternoon. This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" ----- "I'll tell you this." said Chief Griswold in his office. "It is fortunate that you did not approach nor touch Senator Allen in any way. We've got ten witness statements that you went nowhere near him, and thank God for that!" "However, they also said that you were telling him his son had been arrested, and some people are going to try to make an issue of why you thought it was necessary to go and tell him so brutally like that." Griswold growled. "They may even say that my telling Allen and pouring it on is what caused his heart attack." I said agreeably, unperturbed. "Yes." said Griswold, peering at me. "Fortunately, it's not considered murder to tell a man something, even if that causes the man to drop dead in front of you. But I'm keeping you in the background on this one, and definitely away from the Press." "Fine with me." I said. "So, Don, what really happened?" asked the Chief. I leaned back in my chair and looked him straight in the eye. "Senator Allen died of a heart attack." I said. "Natural causes. Fortuitous, but natural." ---- The Medical Examiner appeared before the podium in the Media Room of Police Headquarters, wearing a labcoat and a baseball hat with the Combat Medical Badge affixed to it. The room was full of reporters from all over the State. They were taking notes and straining to hear as the M.E. spoke. "It appears at this point that Senator Allen died of a heart attack." said CMB, as most of us watched from the MCD room. "Senator Allen had been taking medications for a heart condition, and my autopsy also showed signs of chronic alcoholism. The toxicology results are not back yet, but preliminary screening shows no poisons nor any reason other than natural causes for Senator Allen's death." "Are you going to send samples to the SBI Crime Lab to verify your results?" a reporter asked loudly. Obviously the Press wanted to start something, but the Chief was having none of it. "I'll take that question, CMB." said Chief Griswold, taking over the podium as questions were shouted at him. He held up his hand for silence, partially got it, and answered: "To answer the last question: our lab has sent samples to the University's lab for confirmation of results. However, we have not, and we never will, send anything to the SBI's Crime Lab. I am sure you remember the SBI Lab's total failure last year in the death of Jefferson Jackson, when they didn't even run tests for which they claimed results." The Chief then raised his voice, giving special clarity to every syllable: "Please take this down: There is no way that I will ever respect nor trust any part of SBI Director Jack Lewis's organization. I do trust that you will quote me exactly and verbatim on that last sentence." "Chief," cried out a reporter, "there are reports that Commander Troy was at the scene at the time of the Senator's death. Will you make Commander Troy available to us for questions?" "Commander Troy and other officers were indeed at the scene." said Griswold. "They will be filing their police reports, which will be made available to you in an appropriate and timely manner, as always." Reporters yelled questions at Griswold as he left the podium, which Lt. Scott Peterson assumed. "Wow, the Chief really let himself go on that one." said Cindy as we watched. "He didn't pull any punches when he took that personal shot at Director Lewis." "Yep." I said. "Since he's retiring, he feels no restraint at all." "Damn straight." said the Chief, walking into the MCD room. "And the best part of retirement is that I don't have to deal with those fucking troublemakers of the Press anymore." "You're making me look forward to retirement, Chief." I quipped. "Don't you dare even think about it." replied the Chief, grinning as he left the room. Have I mentioned that I might not be the only one with a deep hatred of the Press? ---- "Well, it looked like our plan worked." said State Senator Cerone to Senator Langdon as they dined at an expensive restaurant in Midtown. "Allen is dead. And Condor said he watched Allen drink out of that bourbon decanter, the one we told your prostitute to put the stuff in." "Yes, but that's the thing..." Langdon said. "... my woman said that some other woman took her vial away and washed it down the sink. The other woman had black hair, severe bangs haircut. My woman said that woman disappeared and she never saw her again. In other words, that bourbon wasn't spiked. And their County's Crime Lab found nothing, as well. "Hmm, interesting." Cerone said. "Allen died... but it might have been a sheer coincidence. I won't question it, though; I'm happy for the results." "Yes, as am I." said Langdon. "But if a woman knew to take that vial from my woman, maybe someone else killed Allen? Wargrave?" "Shhhh, don't even speak that man's name out loud." Cerone said calmly but superstitiously as he ate a piece of steak. "But he's the best. He works efficiently and not clumsily. I'll bet they don't even find traces of his work..." ---- "Nope." said Myron Milton. "Not one bit of video camera evidence of the Senator's food or drink being fucked with during the dinner. And everyone else ate from the same foods and drank from the same water pitchers, bottles of wine, and bottles of liquor." The food and drinks at the event had been confiscated, though many of the plates and glasses themselves had been run through the dishwasher. None were showing any signs of contamination or poison. The other men at the dinner, including Congressman Condor, were checked by doctors, who took blood samples under an evidence warrant. In addition to showing nothing was wrong, I now had DNA samples in the databases on several men with possible criminal ties... as well as Congressman Condor. We could not locate all the prostitutes, but the ones we did were tested and found to be free of poisons... and free of sexually transmitted diseases, also. That got Teresa Croyle's curiosity going. She was wondering if the women really were prostitutes, or if they weren't the women at the party... Part 24 - Solution And speaking of Teresa Croyle... her arrest of Dean Allen was in the books. Three days later, the blood tests confirming Dean Allen's DUI came back from the lab, and were confirmed by the University's labs. We had an airtight, rock-solid case. And because of that, Judge Rodney K. Watts showed a great deal of enjoyment as he declared Dean Allen in violation of his previous plea deal. Phil Kearns sat next to Teresa Croyle in the audience as Dean Allen was brought into the Courtroom. Judge Watts declared that the previous plea deal was null and void, but he did offer Allen the chance to re-submit a plea in the vehicular homicide that wiped out Kearns' family. Dean pleaded not guilty and was bound over for trial. ADA Paulina Patterson showed that Dean was a considerable flight risk, and Judge Watts agreed... he denied Dean Allen bail. Allen was taken to County Lockup to await his trial. The trial would be the next Spring. Despite Paulina Patterson's sterling prosecution and some very emotional testimony from Phil Kearns, the defense team fought hard and with the passion of their deep hatred of the Police, and the Jury found Dean Allen guilty only of manslaughter. He would be serving a little over three years. I was disappointed, but at least there was some Justice for the family of Phil Kearns... ----- On September 22d, the toxicology results came back, and the University's labs matched the findings: There were no poisons in Senator Allen's body, other than the alcohol he had drunk. The medications he had been taking were present in elevated levels, and there was also Viagra found, which the M.E. made sure to speculate was taken by Allen himself in anticipation of a night of carousing with one or more of the prostitutes at the party in Allen's suite that night. Senator Allen's death was declared to be by natural causes, and the Coroner's officer closed the case. Hopefully, it would be forever over. Some of us went to the Cop Bar that evening. I had to sit for a while in the Command Group's table with the Chief and Fire Chief Eugene Gillem, who told me he was retiring at the same time Chief Griswold was, at the end of the year. Chief Gillem was a longtime leader of the Fire Department, and he'd be missed by his Force just as much as Chief Griswold would be by his. I made a note to pass along a request to the Council... ---- "I hope someone doesn't get a bright idea to compare Allen's toxicology report with Jefferson Jackson's." said Cindy as she, Teresa and Molly shared a pitcher of beer on the outside patio of the Cop Bar. "They won't." said Molly. "Even if they do, how are they going to prove anything?" "Cindy, are you all right?" asked Teresa, observing her friend. "I don't know..." said Cindy. "I know the man was pure evil, but I just feel like... we crossed a line, you know? We're supposed to be protecting life, not taking it." "For myself," said Molly, "I think we saved many young girls and maybe many lives from that maniac... not to mention avenging those lost and ruined by him." "Totally agree." said Teresa. "And there won't be any more families being wiped out by Dean Allen any time soon, either." "Yes." said Cindy. "I'm with you both on that. I just feel like Yoda is telling me I've gone to the Dark Side, and forever will it rule my destiny." Just then Martin Nash, Sandra Speer came onto the patio and sat at another table near Teresa's. "Did Jack come with you?" asked Teresa. "He's inside, trying to drag Don out here." Sandra said as she sat down. Teresa got up. "I'll be back in a minute." ----- Jack Muscone and I waved goodbye as the Police and Fire Chiefs called it a night and made their way to the door to go home. Just then, Teresa came up with two beers. She sat one down in front of Jack Muscone. "Commander, mind if I have a word with the Federalé?" "I don't mind at all. I'll see you two outside when you're done." I said, not really surprised. This talk was long overdue. I headed outside to the patio and took a seat with my teammates. After a few moments, Theo Washington and Eugene Graham came out and joined Sandra and Martin. "You both looked good in those black wigs." I said quietly. "But I like you better as you are now." "They never had any idea." said Molly. She had been the waitress serving the pitcher of water... which was loaded with the contents of the first large vial I'd received from Dr. Eckhart. "I wanted to slap the shit out of Allen when he grabbed my ass, though." "They almost caught me." said Cindy. She'd gone into the office, poured the contents of the second large vial into the bourbon in Allen's office room. "I'm glad they didn't recognize me, and that they accepted my story about being sent in there." "Me, too." I said. "But I suspect you rather enjoyed it, once you got on out of there." "It was kind of fun, being undercover." said Cindy. "I had a blast, to be honest with you." said Molly. "Me too." I said. "I loved the look on his face when I started talking about his son being arrested." "Unfortunately," Molly said, "Cindy has regrets." she said, snitching on her sister. Wasn't the first time, I was sure. Cindy gave Molly a withering look, then said "I know that it was just like the Jefferson Jackson case... can't blame any one person for doing anything that killed the man. But I still feel like I... and we... crossed the line." I had to choose my words carefully, here, so I let my mind go 'into the zone' to find what I needed to say, and I let the words flow as I began: "Ladies, we are fortunate that as police officers we the ability to stop crimes or at least avenge them by arresting criminals, and even if the legal system isn't perfect, we do our part and we normally don't have to kill to administer Justice. But sometimes... sometimes we're dealing with people who are out of the norm. "There's always been the question of why The Batman didn't just kill The Joker, and if he had killed him, how many lives might have been saved. That's the comic books, of course, but I made a different choice than The Batman. Let me just tell you this, and maybe it'll help: "When I confronted Ned... the first time, not the second... and I was in the hospital while he was escaping from there for a second time, I knew that the structure of the Law was not enough to stop him. I knew that he had people helping him, people using the Constitution and the Law against itself. I knew then that my next confrontation with Ned would be as soldiers, not as police officer and criminal, and that one of us would not leave the battlefield alive. "I've had people ask me why I didn't let them kill Ned. Even Ned's brother wanted to kill him himself. I chose Eleanor for two reasons: one, she could get near him; and two, because the bastard had gunned down her son by shooting him in the back. "Last, but not least, I thought of Dr. Heinz. He lived in a nation that, at the time, actually made it their law to annihilate Jews. He did not follow that law; instead, he saved people. A few in actual number, but with untold ripple effects... including me sitting here in front of you." "What I guess I'm trying to get at, Cindy, is that I believe there's a difference between just 'the Law' and what we call 'Justice'. I don't ask you to agree with me on it, but it was a choice I had to make. I knew Allen would never stand before a judge, that the Law would never touch him, especially as he himself was using the Law against itself. What we did was to save lives in the future, and bring Justice to those that Allen harmed and destroyed. Perhaps one day someone will sit at this table, having a beer, that would not have been alive if Senator Allen had lived another minute. And over time, I think we'll not regret making the choices we did regarding the late Senator Allen, just as I cannot bring myself to regret what happened to my nephew, even if he was my blood kin." "So, Don, let me ask this." Cindy said. "Now that you've crossed the line, gone to the Dark Side... how do you come back?" "By keeping you around me, my friend." I said. "No, I'm not joking here. Why do you think I not only allow but welcome you challenging me? You're the rock, Cindy. You're having pangs of consciousness now precisely because of the Good inside you. You keep me in line, you keep me from going to the Dark Side when I shouldn't. Even when you're not around, I know you and that blue crowbar will eventually catch up to me, and I'll be getting an ass-whoopin'... my hip still hurts after what you did when I knocked up your sister here." Molly began laughing, unable to hold back, and Cindy had this look on her face halfway between disdain and humor herself. "I just hope we never have to do something like this again." Cindy said. "I know it was the right thing to do, but I guess deep down I'm still one of those that believe we can't use the methods of the Enemy. To me, I guess it's what you said, Don... I'm still a cop, not a soldier, at least not yet." "And may that never change." said Molly. "But I'll make a deal with you, Sis: I won't mention it ever again, if you won't. What's done is done, let's bury it." "Agreed." said Cindy as they clinked beer mugs. ---- At the same time, another conversation was going on at the next table. "Funny how Dean Allen came up intoxicated like that." said Theo Washington. "And that he was singled out for a traffic stop." replied Eugene Graham. Sandra and Martin just smiled. "Excellent police work in this County, I'd say." said Sandra. "You know, guys," Eugene said, "I've been working with the Southport Police for some years now. We've got the Mob down there like this County has no idea of. And when that man, who was once a Police Captain, put a gun to my head and was threatening to shoot me just because I'm a black man... sometimes it makes me wonder if our system really does work. I know a lot of my people... a lot of them... don't believe that it does. For me, seeing that asshole get busted like that... well, it's what dirty cops have been doing to my people for a long time." "I'm with ya, bro." said Theo. "But it's guys like you and me that have to set the example for the rest of them, show them what's good and what we can do. And we're not alone... the Iron Crowbar, he's the real deal. He broke Captain Malone down, made him his bitch." Dark Side of the Force Ch. 05 "You're right." said Eugene. "That's why I'm going to go back to Southport and fight the bastards even harder. After I got over being angry about that shit in the hotel room, I realized that my only way to truly beat those bastards down is to do what I'm doing... be the best cop I can be and kick the bad boyz's asses clean to the kerb." "There you go." said Sandra, picking up her beer glass. "And we're all in this fight together." Beer glasses clinked all the way around. Theo said "By the way, Dean's lawyer got the tapes of the bar where Dean was drinking that night. Seems couple of people talked to Dean, but nothing showed his drink being drugged. Woman was a redhead, very good looking, but nobody could make out her face-" "That could be anyone." said Martin, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Why, it could almost be a description of Sandra." "Oh, stop that!" Sandra said playfully, slapping her boyfriend on the arm. "Yeah." said Theo. "It almost could... and the bartender said some guy name 'Kyle Irons' was the name of the guy who talked to Dean. I've heard that name before..." "It was the name Commander Troy's nephew used when he was working at The Asylum." said Martin Nash. "But I somehow doubt the man was Ned." "No doubt about it." said Theo, smiling handsomely. "And I wouldn't be surprised if the Iron Crowbar himself suggested that name to whoever that good man is. That man, the Iron Crowbar... he has no fear. And I'll tell you what, guys... it was a thing of beauty watching Lt. Croyle personally lead Dean through the arrest and booking procedures. I think that's the first time I've ever seen her really smile... --- "Thanks for the beer." said Jack Muscone as he and Teresa sat at a table in the otherwise empty back room. "What's the occasion?" Teresa looked around to make sure they weren't being heard, then said "Just a small token of my thanks... for killing the God-cursed piece of shit that killed my sister Alexis." Muscone's small eyes widened, such as they could, then he relaxed and said "Yeah, I know. He was my brother, my half-brother, anyway. He was a real puke. Why the FBI took him in, I have no fucking clue, but after he wiped out your sister and her friend, they got him off. That really pissed me off." "So why did you kill him? I know it wasn't just because of my sister, and you certainly didn't know me then." Teresa said. "Well..." said Jack, looking around, "just between you and me and the lamppost, they assigned him to work with a team that was working with my team. My idiot brother fucked it up and got another agent killed. A good man, with a wife and two kids himself, wiped out by my brother's incompetence and sheer stupidity. The FBI had to cover for him, though, due to political considerations. But I'd had enough." Jack lowered his voice to just barely above a whisper. "When he came into my apartment, half drunk and actually celebrating getting off for the agent's death, I just entered that state of being where I was outside of myself. I remember watching someone tell him he'd drive him to a bar to celebrate... that someone was me, outside myself. I then drove him 30 miles outside the City, dragged him out of the car, took out a pistol with the serial number scrubbed off... and I shot the bastard. I shot the bastard in the back of the head, then wiped down the gun and left it there with him." Jack continued: "They found him about a month later, did a routine investigation, then closed it up. They didn't even ask me a single question about it, just told me I could claim the body and bury him. So I did. Maybe they knew, maybe they didn't. But Teresa... to this day I do not regret, not for one moment, killing that bastard. I felt even better when I heard your story, though I couldn't tell you before now. How did you find out, by the way? A little crowbar whisper in your ear?" Teresa smiled...well, what was a smile for Teresa 'Cunt'. She said "No, Don never said anything, but I knew that you'd helped him find that photograph of Alexis and me, and I always wondered why you went out of your way to do that. So I investigated, looking up the bastard for the first time since I became a cop, having to think about him for the first time since... Well, Myron Milton is very good about finding out anything he wants to know... and he wanted me to know. So here's to us, and successfully stopping evil people." They clinked beer mugs and drank. "I will say this." Jack Muscone said. "What I did to my brother... it put things into some perspective for me. And I think Don felt it when he confronted his nephew for the last time. I knew that what I did was wrong, illegal... and I knew I had to control myself to never let that demon out again for any reason less than the utmost good and right. I let go once, but I have to be careful not to let go again. I hope that makes sense." "It does." Teresa replied, knowing she'd just been given the words to get her friend Cindy through the rough patches. Jack continued. "And so... I'm glad I was able to help get Dean Allen." said Jack Muscone. "Watching you arrest that son of a bitch was a wonderful moment for me." "Nowhere near as wonderful as it was for me." Teresa said. "I might not have been able to take out the bastard that killed my sister... but putting the bastard that killed Phil Kearns' family was the next best thing..." ---- It was very late when we went home. Teresa and Cindy had talked together for awhile after Teresa and Jack had come onto the deck with us. I don't know what they shared, but I definitely liked what I saw from Cindy's face afterwards. "So," said Jack as we talked alone for a minute. "someone took that vial of poison from that prostitute. Any other attempts to kill that puke Allen?" "Maybe." I said. "The guy was marked for death, that's for sure. I didn't know that so many people wanted him dead." "We were getting some leads from CIs about it." said Jack. "Not enough to act, but the Southport Mob wanted him gone, some in the Democrat Party wanted him gone, and of course people like you that felt very bad for the girls he'd raped and the families destroyed by him." "True, but I guess we'll never know." I said. "He died of natural causes, and I for one feel no real desire to look any further into any of it." Jack agreed and we clinked beer glasses. Lots of toasts on this occasion tonight... And speaking of toasts... I had one last thing to do, one more visit to make. I stopped off at the bar, where 'Pops', the owner and bartender, handed me something I had asked for... ----- Henry R. Wargrave sat in his study in the dark, all lights off, only the strong moonlight coming in, making everything eerily blue. He was trying to think, trying hard to understand what had just happened. Nathan Allen was dead, and the toxicology report came back clean, and the Coroner's Office were closing the case as a heart attack... no poison had been found. How could that be? Did Allen really die of a heart attack? just a stroke of sheer luck? "You've never believed in luck, Mr. Wargrave." said the voice in the dark. To Wargrave's shock, the Iron Crowbar was approaching him. I had been watching him, gathering his thoughts. "Away put your weapons, I mean you no harm." I said as Wargrave's hand had crept underneath his desk. He withdrew it, being much more wise than Sarah Collins had been. "In fact," I said, approaching the desk as Wargrave turned on his desk lamp. "I came to help you celebrate, Mr. Wargrave... to celebrate your purchase of KSTD. Now maybe KXTC will get some competition, for a most very welcome change. And I brought this to celebrate." I placed on Wargrave's desk a bottle of expensive single-malt Scotch, unopened. Wargrave tried to hide his shock as he saw the bottle "Do you mind if I get a couple of glasses?" I asked, helping myself to two of them from the liquor set behind the desk. Wargrave very rarely drank; these were for guests. I opened the bottle and poured two glasses of the Scotch, trying not to grin as I observed how Wargrave was all but cowering away from the glasses as if they were rattlesnakes. I picked one up. "Salud!" I said, raising one glass to my lips, but just before I drank I said "Please, won't you just have one sip, to celebrate?" Wargrave was watching me apprehensively as I returned my glass to my lips, took a sip, then a larger one, before finally downing my glass." "Ahhh, that's really good." I said. "I hope you like this brand. I see you're concerned... ohhhhhh, I understand. Well, Mr. Wargrave, no worries. It just so happens that another bottle of this brand, an exact duplicate, was not found amongst Senator Allen's selections at his makeshift hotel office. And that bottle, the one that was not found, was accidentally dropped, and the cleaning staff quickly cleaned up the mess and poured Clorox all over the floor. Not a trace of that bottle nor its contents remain, I'm afraid. And no chance to test it for any poisons that certainly would've killed Senator Allen if he had not died of natural causes." Wargrave finally spoke. "Why... why are you here, and telling me this?" I picked up the other glass and handed it to him, then refilled my own. "Come now, Mr. Wargrave, do celebrate with me." I watched as he put the glass to his lips and pretended to drink. "It's a very good Scotch, I must commend you on the choice." I said, then quaffed down mine. Finally, Wargrave took a larger swig of his drink. "Congratulations again, Mr. Wargrave. I must be going now. Thank you for the drink, and enjoy the rest of the bottle as my gift." I turned to leave. "Again, Commander," said Wargrave to my back, "what's the point of this show?" "Oh, that." I said, turning back to face him. "Just to let you know that everything is fine. Nothing to worry about, nothing harmful found. Senator Allen is simply dead of a heart attack, natural causes, and the world is a better place for it. And just to let you know that you have friends... friends watching over you. Allen is dead, and so you have not been seriously inconvenienced... at least not yet. But do be careful... there is a 'Reichenbach Falls' lurking around a corner for you somewhere." My last words were an outright threat, and Wargrave knew it. "Three little Indians left, Commander." the billionaire said cryptically, and I knew what he was talking about. "Reminds me of the poem. I particularly liked that verse: 'Two Little Indian boys playing with a gun; One shot the other and then there was one.'. Take care now, Mr. Holmes. Take care." "I'll be sure to." I said. "Good night, 'Professor'... and do give my regards to your lovely wife." With that, I turned to leave, having really worn out my welcome with that last comment, and getting out while the getting was most very good for my health. "Dear me, Mr. Holmes, dear me." Wargrave quietly said to himself as he looked at the closed door through which I had just left, his mind still trying to think but the embers of his hatred beginning to spark. Part 25 - Epilogue Sitting in her cell in State Women's Prison, Elizabeth heard the clanking of doors of other cells. She really had no idea what it was about, and she didn't care. She was returning to the book she was reading when her own cell door opened. "Let's go, pussycat." the guard said. She was a mean bitch, overweight, with brown hair and a pug face. "Langdon needs girls for his celebration party, and he specifically said that you were to come along." "Fuck that." said Elizabeth. "I'm not one of that bastard's whores." "You are tonight, bitch. Now move." said the guard. "Fuck you." "Oh yeah?" said the bitch guard. "I'll show you who is going to fuck who!" The bitch rushed Elizabeth but found herself grasping empty air. Then Elizabeth found a shoulder joint as the bitch passed, and roughly shoved the bitch to the floor on her face. It is possible that our parents had Elizabeth and me take Aikido lessons when we were in our respective teens. I had used my skills to put Steven Ikea into surgery after he hit my mother. Elizabeth was using her skills now, and she quickly had a bitch guard shoved against the wall, with the bitch's arm pulled hard behind her back and her shoulder separated. "That's enough." said the redheaded guard who had just come up. "Let her go. Let's get you out of here." They left the pug-faced bitch guard lying in a heap on the floor, and the redheaded guard led Elizabeth to another section of the prison, more heavily guarded. "You'll be safe in this ward tonight, but we'll have to get you out of here by tomorrow." the guard said. "The bitch and her bunch will be gunning for you, and so will Senator Langdon." ---- "Okay, okay, you're right; we've got to get her out of there or Langdon will do something stupid and try to kill her. I'll sign the commutation." said the Governor to his aide, irritated that he'd been awakened at 3:00am for this, but knowing it was necessary. "Just make sure it's part of a number of them, and let's do it quietly. No press announcements, for God's sake." "Yes sir." said the aide. "Should we notify her brother?" "The Iron Crowbar?" said the Governor. He paused, then said "No... I think she'll be telling him herself, and soon. And make damn sure our friend knows he owes me a big one for this." "He knows, Governor. He knows..." ---- Why do I pull these all-nighters? I thought to myself on the morning of September 24th as I was driving home. The merest hint of light was coloring the sky; it was the first instance of dawn. And then my iPhone alarm went off... someone was at The Cabin. Thinking it might be P. Harvey Eckhart, I headed on up there, wondering what in the hell he wanted at this hour. When I got there, I did not see a motorcycle, but a rented car. I went around the walkway to the back deck. It was not P. Harvey Eckhart. It was the last person in the world I'd expected to see. Sitting in my favorite metal mesh chair was my sister Elizabeth. "Why, there's my dear little brother." she said. "Great view of the Town. And I really should congratulate you on your promotion." "Glad you like the view. I'm sure it beats the other wall of your cell in State Women's Prison." I said. "So let's dispense with the pleasantries, and you can tell me why you're sitting on my back deck enjoying that view... instead of the view of the wall in State Women's Prison." "Oh, but haven't you heard?" Elizabeth said, extending her arm to hand me a piece of paper. It was a copy of her commutation by the Governor. "The Governor has agreed to the request of State agencies to commute my sentence to time served... in light of my cooperation in helping them shut down several large drug operations, complete with the arrest of some notorious and nefarious people. And I did it without using a crowbar, at that." "My congratulations." I said, giving my sister back the piece of paper. "I'm sure you've heard about Ned by now. Going to go visit your son's grave site?" "Yes, Todd visited me and told me what happened with Ned. I'll be getting up there on my way out of the country and back to France." Elizabeth said. "I am sorry he put you into the situation where you had no choice but to kill him. Kidnapping babies and using them as human shields is disgusting; I did not raise Ned to be that kind of shit. Your method of defeating him was brilliant, I might add. I really didn't think you had what it took to stop him." "I'm glad you approve." I said. "But in the course of this fun conversation, I'm neglecting my duties elsewhere. So if you'll excuse me and make your way out of town..." Elizabeth stood up, a sardonic smile on her face. "I'll have to stop by and say hello to Todd on the way out." she said. "Are you going to watch me the whole time?" "Of course." I said. "I told you once before that it's best to keep my eyes firmly upon you whenever you're in my presence." "Aw... but that's only because you want to fuck me with what I know to be that iron-hard cock of yours." said Elizabeth. "But we'll have to save that for another time. Au revoir." "Let's hope it's 'Good bye'." I said. Elizabeth sniffed in disdain and walked around the walkway, got into her car, and drove away. It would take me an hour to check the house and grounds for bombs and bugs. Once done, I sat on the deck in the growing light and watched the new day come to the Town... wondering what my sister had in mind, besides my cock... Finis. ... for now.