Case of the Black Badge Ch. 01

"Just giving you some friendly advice." Malone said. "Just advice from a man who has been around this County for a long, long time. You're an excellent cop, Lieutenant, but you're still new here; you're still pissing Midtown water."

I did not respond to the joke, and I realized Malone was studying me as I was studying him; he was trying to get clues to how to proceed with me. He finally decided to just get to the core of the matter. "You can pretend to be colorblind if you want, Lieutenant... but not everyone sees things that way. Systems have their place, people have their place, and that goes for this County, too. Make sure you understand the ways of things, the waves of the sea, before you start rocking the boat."

"I'll keep that in mind." I said as Malone got up.

"Good. By the way, I'll go now and write a testimonial for you to put in that file for Feeley's award. It might help get him a Police Medal" Malone said as he turned to go.

--

"So it is Captain Malone." Cindy said. She and I were talking with the Chief in his office. I had just reported the conversation with Malone that had occurred just over an hour before. "I'm glad Teresa's not here now. He's like a second father to her... well, first father. Her real dad was a worthless piece of shit."

"Looks like it is Malone, though." I said. "He was damned careful in what he said, but he was the contact, and therefore he's the leader."

"Damn," said the Chief. "I didn't want to believe it. Hell, I refused to believe it, but it just makes too much sense, now that I look back." After a pause, the Chief asked, "So Crowbar, let me get this straight... are we talking about Malone being the leader of a drug ring? Or a white supremacy ring in the County?"

I said, "Chief, if my hunch is right, then it'd be more accurate to say that Captain Malone is not leading a drug ring himself, but is brokering who can sell drugs in the County. Malone takes payment from one gang, then uses police officers, without most of them knowing it, as 'enforcers' to interdict any other gangs that try to set up here. They think they're busting drug crimes and don't realize it's to help one specific gang have exclusive distribution and sales rights, so to speak."

I continued: "If you look at all the drug busts that Ikea led, that Teresa led... and I did look at them... not a single one of them was against Kurchikov's outfit nor the Beanstalk Gang. Always other gangs, like Sergei Molotov's group. Before I ever laid a crowbar on him, he was being interdicted by police... he didn't make the right deal with the right guy, then he tried to come to me with a bribe to get around 'the system', as it's been set up."

"Makes sense." said the Chief.

"As to the white supremacy stuff?" I wondered aloud, "I don't know if it's related, or if it's a ring, or if it's just a small cabal of race-haters using the Justice System to suppress blacks, but I wouldn't be surprised if Malone were involved in that, as well."

"Also, Chief," I said, "Remember how I was surprised when Malone volunteered for security for Jonas Oldeeds? I don't think I'm surprised anymore... that gave Malone and Oldeeds many opportunities to talk together and make deals."

"What?!?!" asked the Chief, his eyes blinking rapidly. Then he said, "Crowbar, do you think Malone was involved in the shootings? Of you or Oldeeds?"

"No sir." I said firmly. "If Malone was striking deals with Oldeeds, maybe to distribute drugs, then killing Oldeeds was the last thing he would try to do. And I'm sure the attempt to assassinate li'l ol' me was not by anyone in the local constabulary."

"So what do I do about this guy? He's a Captain in the Police Force, he's been here for years... and he's also extremely well-connected politically. I can't do anything about him without some serious proof to back it up." the Chief asked.

"You won't have to do anything, Chief." Cindy piped up. "I remember when we were at your house by the lake last summer... Don said that the ringleader would run for Sheriff. If Don is right, and he always seems to be... " Cindy glanced sideways at me to see if that affected me; I did not bother to react for her as she finished. "... then Captain Malone is going to run for Sheriff."

"Nice observation, Cindy." said the Chief, his voice sounding impressed and happy.

"She just might become a good Detective yet, Chief." I said, needling her back for her little dig at me, but extremely pleased at her remembering and putting that together.

"Stoppit..." Cindy replied, inwardly pleased herself.

Part 7 - Affairs of Internal Affairs

"Don, can you come down to my office for a minute?" Lieutenant Daniel Allgood asked on the telephone. I concealed my shock and said I'd be down there immediately. I hurried through the security to get to the basement, then went to the door of Internal Affairs, which Allgood himself opened for me.

The I.A. rooms were the most secret in the entire Headquarters. Virtually no one except I.A. personnel were allowed inside; it was a considerable exception that I was in here now. As I.A. reported straight to the County Inspector General, even Chief Griswold didn't really have jurisdiction here.

The door led to two halls, one going to the left, the other to the right. They hallways ran almost all the way to the walls at the end, then opened. Daniel led me along the right-side wall, then we turned left and down a carpeted walkway. To my left were the long rows of a cubicle farm with 5-ft. high walls. The computer monitors were either red or green bordered, indicating I.A.-classified stuff was on the screen. I knew it'd be a cold day in hell before I saw a red-bordered screen. I did not see anyone; they were either not there or hunched down in their cubicles so I couldn't see them. I had no idea how many people worked in here nor, for the most part, who they were.

The carpeted walkway led to Daniel's office in the back corner, the mirror-image of my old I.T. office. Going inside, Daniel asked me to sit down. I was remembering my only other time in this room...

--

It was a mid-September Thursday night, before the Black Widow struck her first victim. Daniel had brought me into the I.A. rooms for the first time, showed me a little bit about the security of the monitors and such, then led me to his own office. The monitor was green-framed, meaning there was nothing important on it at the moment.

"Don, I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to ask Melina to marry me tomorrow night." Daniel said.

"Well, congratulations, that's great!" I said. "But... why tell me?"

"Well," Daniel said, "she has no father to ask permission from, though that's an outdated ritual, I guess. And since Melina works with your wife, and with your Detective at the gym, I just thought it'd be best to give you a heads-up."

"Well, I appreciate it," I said, trying to understand the nature of Daniel's gesture. "Certainly you don't need my permission, though. I'm remarried, and Melina can do what she likes. We're just friends now."

"I know." Daniel said. "I'm not sure why, but I thought it'd be good to tell you."

"All I can say is: congratulations to you both." I said. "I know she's very much in love with you, and that you've loved her since the day you saw her... oh yes, of course I noticed, so did my mom... and I hope you'll be happy together. I guess this is where I'm supposed to say 'Make sure you make her happy, or you'll be dealing with the crowbar!'... but I know I won't need to say that."

Daniel laughed briefly. It was only later that I learned, or thought I'd learned why he'd talked to me. While Daniel and Melina's wedding in early October was small, it was at the same place Laura and I had exchanged our vows, the little veranda on the lake behind the "president's dacha". And the shocking thing was that they wanted me to give away the bride.

"Now let me see if I get this straight." I said to Melina and Laura as they ganged up on me about it. "You want me to give my ex-wife away in her wedding ceremony? That cannot be 'normal'." Melina and I had not had much of a ceremony at all; this was a special occasion for her, and I had no problems not being a part of it.

"So what's 'normal' in this County, darling?" Laura asked. "We're all still like family around here." You have no idea, Laura, I thought to myself, and never mind that Melina is now carrying my nephew's child but is going to marry another man, and Todd then went and found someone else but still has that look in his eye when he sees Melina. What is 'normal', indeed?...

But I just let all that go and agreed to do it. And so I gave away the bride, though without any words to speak at the ceremony. Daniel and his parents were happy, Melina was beautiful and happy, and Laura was very happy with me... and did me a few sexual favors that I don't think I can mention in this family environment. ;-)

--

Coming back to the present, Daniel's words shocked me.

"I want to get some information to you and the Chief about this 'Black Badge' business. I happened to overhear some of you talking about it, and I want to touch base with you before taking it upstairs, especially on how we should proceed with this..."

When he finished, I asked if he'd be willing to come upstairs and tell us this information in the Chief's conference room...

--

"Okay, Daniel, what do you have for us?" Chief Griswold asked. James "Curly" Goodwin, Cindy Ross, Martin Nash, Paulina Patterson and myself were also in the Chief's small conference room, which I need not even say had been swept for bugs.

"I know that you guys found that black badge on that low-life guy a few days ago." Daniel said.

"Before you start, fill me in on the low-life, Lieutenant." said the Chief. I called upon Martin Nash to do the honors.

"Here's what I found out about him." Martin Nash said, having been forewarned by me that he'd be asked to share his findings about the perp at this meeting. "His street name is 'Blondie', though he hates it. He's an auto mechanic; graduated from Town High's vocational school program, then enlisted in the Army and was a mechanic there. He got caught smuggling drugs in cars, and then he punched out the Army officer who caught him."

"That's a no-no." I said, the humor being in how blatantly obvious my statement was, not to mention my status as a former Army Reserve officer.

"Yes sir." replied Nash, keeping a straight face, knowing I was trying to needle him. "He did two years at Leavenworth then was dishonorably discharged. Vice thought he'd been picked up by the Beanstalk Gang, but it appears now he is not in with them. He hasn't been seen by any of our CIs since we picked him up and found the black badge in his wallet."

For those who don't know, a 'CI' is a 'confidential informant, essentially spies in the criminal world that are helping the police. Meanwhile, the Chief turned back to Allgood.

"Here's what I've got on this, and please don't tell anyone else in the Department about it, nor that I gave it to you." said Allgood.

"In exchange, I'll ask you to please not mention any of this to anyone outside this room" I said. "Especially not to the Detectives in Vice... nor their leadership."

"Agreed." said Daniel, showing no emotion. "Okay, there have been four uniformed officers that I.A. knows had discussed a 'Black Badge' gang: Carroll, Delmar, Brody and Jeremy Hatch."


"Do I even know Hatch?" Cindy asked.

"Probably not." I said. "He just made Patrolman. Low end grades at the Police Academy, barely qualified with a gun. His nickname behind his back is 'Fumblebutt'. He does mostly Courthouse duty, serving warrants, courier for papers, and such stuff... and come to think of it, that'd be an ideal place to have a mole..."

"So Gunn has never mentioned anything about a Black Badge?" the Chief asked, trying to keep the meeting moving along.

"No sir." said Daniel Allgood. "Not a word, but he doesn't say much to anyone, anyway. He is one mean little man, and he's not well liked; most other officers avoid contact with him. The only other person I've come across that has mentioned a Black Badge is Detective Sharples in Vice. He was going around the hallways, asking a few guys about it, and he's also asked a few suspects about it during interrogations."

"I was at one of those." said Martin Nash. "That was when we first glommed onto it."

"First I'm hearing of this, about Sharples, that is." said the Chief. "In what context did Sharples bring it up?"

"Asking about its existence." said Daniel. "He may be pursuing leads on it himself, but I'd think he would've told Captain Malone and you, Chief."

"So give us the rest of it." said the Chief, not saying any more about Sharples nor Malone, but obviously making a mental note of it, as I did.

"There's not a lot else. I've put together a bit of information on this Black Badge gang, if you can call it that." said Allgood. "It seems that there are members within the Police Force, but also outside of it. And the leaders are likely on the outside, and are not just gang members; there may be some higher level guys in this thing. Now I have no idea who those people might be, and that's why I'm telling you this stuff now: it's you guys who will have to run with the ball from here and dig up more dirt."

"Which we can certainly do." I said. "Thanks for telling us this, Daniel."

"Yes, thank you, Daniel." said the Chief. "Okay, everyone, Detective Goodwin is taking the lead on the I.A.'s investigation of this. Lt. Allgood is recusing himself due to a family issue, and I can understand that. Unless there is something else, everyone but Crowbar One and Crowbar Two, that being Don and Cindy, head on out." Everyone headed out.

"So what do you think?" asked the Chief when it was just the three of us in the room.

"I think Cindy is a great Crowbar Two." I replied. Cindy blushed, but smiled at that. "Seriously though, I don't know yet what to make of it, but I do need to make some preparations. I have a feeling that these guys aren't going to let the grass grow under their feet. Here's what I want to do, Chief..."

Part 8 - Opening Strategy

"So, how was your day?" Melina asked as Daniel came inside the door of their home.

"It was okay. It's a lot better now." Daniel said, taking his wife into his arms. They shared a warm kiss. "What's for dinner?"

"Baked chicken and mixed veggies." Melina said. "So how is work these days?"

"Not bad." Daniel said, sitting down on the sofa in the great room, Melina sitting down by him and curling up to his right side. The smell of her perfume wafted into his nose, and he felt his cock beginning to stir. "There's been a lot of fallout after that Nathaniel Jones acquittal."

"Oh that." Melina said, her face a sneer. "Yeah, a lot of people were talking about it in the gym today. We don't have too many niggers come to the gym, usually that Assistant D.A. is the only one, but today we had several... and they were really happy about that verdict, saying that the guy had 'beaten the Man'. Everyone else either didn't know about it or didn't much care about the verdict."

Daniel was used to his wife using the 'n-word'; Melina made no attempt to hide her hatred of Blacks in his presence in the privacy of their home. He said "Well, the D.A.'s office is extremely pissed off at Don for helping the defense."

"He helped them? Why?" Melina asked.

"He knew the guy was innocent," Daniel replied, "and he didn't let them lynch this kid. And on this one Don was right; they never should've brought that kid to trial."

"Niggers are all the same." Melina said. "Don may think he helped that cat, but he'll turn right around and bite the hand that helped him."

"Don doesn't care about that, he just respects the law." Daniel said, not caring to discuss the Nathaniel Jones case any longer. "Well... no need to worry about the minorities tonight." Daniel said as he eased his arm over Melina's shoulders and gently pulled to into his side... then realized that something was amiss. "So- where's the baby?"

"He's visiting his biological father and his step-mommy." Melina said. "So it's just the two of us tonight... and I intend to take advantage of that." She kissed her husband's cheek, then began nuzzling his neck.

"Ohhh, that's good baby." Daniel said. "Let's eat first, though. I'm starved... for food. Then we'll satisfy our real hungers, yes?"

Daniel did not understand it; Melina was letting Todd and Jeanine keep little Doug more and more often. He knew that Melina loved her child, but couldn't understand why she didn't want him here every minute of the day. He'd have to call Laura Fredricson again...

--

"Senator, I'm trying to tell you," said the lawyer, "this thing is nothing. We can put it off for months and months."

"Yeah, until just before November." said Nathan Allen. "That's all I need. You want a drink?" They were in the study of Nathan Allen's home, which was the best home in the neighborhood next to River Valley Golf Club.

"No thank you, Senator, I have to go." said the lawyer. "But don't worry about Kearns. He and his lawyers are just fishing. It's just politically motivated." It wasn't, but the lawyer wanted to reassure his politically important client.

"Yeah? What about his suit against Dean? Dragging that crap up again? Can that son of a bitch hurt my boy?" Allen said as he took a long swig of bourbon.

"Don't worry about it. We're going to throw Kearns in a ditch and shovel so much shit on him he'll wish to God he'd never heard your name." the lawyer said, hiding the truth that he knew, that the lawsuit against Dean Allen was going to be absolutely devastating.

"Well, you better make damn sure that this Kearns dipshit drops these lawsuits, ya hear? Okay, thank you for coming by, I appreciate it and all the good work you do. Let me show you to the door. I know you need to get back to Mildred and the kids." Allen said, showing his mercurial temperament; one moment spitting fire, the next being your buddy the local politician with your best interests at heart.

-

Some moments later, Sen. Allen's next guest arrived.

"So where the hell is that bitch that assaulted my son?" demanded Allen. "Is she out of the State yet?"

"She's no longer with the Town & County Police." said the guest, then added what he knew to be a lie: "I heard that she went back to her old hometown, where she grew up, and got a job with the police there. That's a long ways away."

"Well, if that bitch shows her face in this State again, she'll have to deal with the full political might of Senator Nathan Allen." Allen said, referring to himself in the third person. "I will crush her. By the way, that guy at Ward Harvester, Conlan... is he related to the Conlan in the SBI?"

"They're brothers."

"That's what I was afraid of." Allen said. "The Conlan at Ward Harvester wants me to help him with some regulations so he can get into business for himself. He has a lovely daughter... lovely girl... and he knows the price of my help. But if his brother is the SBI, that could be a set-up."

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was. Listen, Nathan, the reason I'm here is because of what happened after the Nathaniel Jones trial."

"Yeah, the nigger got off, so what? You want a drink?" Allen poured himself another one, a large one.

"No thank you." said the guest. "The problem is that it opened a few cans of worms in the Police Department. The Iron Crowbar is now aware of the existence of the Black Badge gang."

"Well shit, so what?" sneered Allen. "A few low-lifers get little toy badges, think they're part of something great, then work like dogs for us. Hell, if it's a problem, shut the fucking program down."

"That'll take time." said the guest. "Some of the guys are embedded too deep; we'll have to replace them or work them back out."