A Case of Revenge Ch. 06

"As you all know, our opponent is a man named John Cummings." said the woman. "He's thirty-three, married, two children, and he and his wife are also Senator Allen's competition in the insurance sales business in this Town. He was wounded in Iraq years ago and was awarded a Bronze Star. Right now we have nothing on him, not even a traffic ticket. We're looking at creating some stories that he was a racist while in the Army, and that his medals weren't actually earned but given for his unit massacring innocent civilians in Iraqi villages."

"Jesus Christ, are you kidding?" asked the older man in the room, who was Allen's chief campaign finance man. He knew all the tricks of laundering money, and took good care of himself as well as Senator Nathan Allen when it came to money. "Is that true? Did he really massacre people?"

"It doesn't matter." the woman said. "It'll tie up the son of a bitch and his campaign in denying it, and people will think about it no matter what the truth is. The People are smart enough to know that our soldiers committed many acts of rape, torture and massacre against the helpless natives of Iraq, and they don't want killers like that representing them in the State Senate."

An air of disbelief filled the room as the woman continued, her voice squealing with the passion of her hatred: "Besides, Cummings is a Republican, which is worse than being a killer. Republicans are so fucking weak they won't even fight back when we spit in their faces. We put out the stories, and they'll spend more time crying and apologizing for their war crimes than running against Senator Allen's good name and record."

"Heh heh, I love it!" exclaimed Allen as he quaffed his drink and refilled his glass. "But we do have to be careful and not go too far; there's too many people that still respect the military. Just look at the reception that punk cop, what was his name, Feeley?... that Feeley got at his funeral when he was killed in the line of duty. And the goddamned Iron Crowbar has been worshipped in this town ever since he got a Medal of Valor for rescuing those kids. No, we have to be careful about that."

"Damn right we do." said the older man. "If you smear the man's military record and they DO show you're lying, then our campaign is over."

"Well, Horace, we need to do something to attack that prick Cummings." Nathan Allen testily replied. "Maybe we can put out the word that his wife has been having affairs and -- oh, hello son, come on in."

Dean Allen had appeared at the door. He was fortunate that he looked more like his mother than his father. His nose was longer than Nathan's, and his brown hair was not as gently curly as the Senator's graying hair.

"Son, I need you to sit in on this meeting." said Nathan Allen. "Guys, I expect Dean will succeed me as State Senator, and that you all will give him the same effort and devotion you've given me."

No one said anything. Dean Allen was almost as much an asshole as Steven Ikea, and Dean was a smug, arrogant brat on top of that, always name-dropping his father's name and position. He had not lost a minute of sleep in the knowledge that his drunk driving had caused the deaths of three persons, two of them children. The campaign staff knew that Dean would never be elected, at least not in this district.

"Pour yourself a drink, Dean." Nathan Allen said, oblivious to the air of tension in the room. Dean poured himself a stiff bourbon. Like father, like son. "How's business in the City?"

"Good." said Dean. He was running a City office of the Allen & Allen Insurance Companies for his father, barely eaking out a break-even living. He was far more interested in politics. "I did come to tell you that there's a lot of buzz in the City over the hiring of that SBI Inspector Maxwell. They're telling me she's contacting that bitch in Midtown I.A. about you, Dad." None of the campaign staff had the temerity to remind Dean that the 'bitch in Midtown I.A.' had beaten the shit out of Dean Allen.

"We'll talk about that later, Dean." said Nathan Allen, his voice reprimanding. "Okay guys, work up some campaign spots, radio and TV. Run them by Katherine Woodburn and the lawyers. We'll meet again in a couple of days."

When they were gone, Nathan Allen turned to his son. "Boy, don't you ever bring up stuff like that in front of the campaign people again! You've got to keep stuff like that separated if you're going to be the next State Senator from the 1st District of this State."

"Yes sir." Dean said, letting the reprimand roll off him. He refilled both his and his father's glasses with bourbon. "What I did come to tell you was that I was contacted while in the City. They're worried that the FBI and the TCPD are going to be watching the election too closely for them to be able to do what they need to do. They also say that if you go down any further in the polls, there will be nothing they can do to save you."

"Don't worry about that, son." Nathan Allen said. "In fact... this election will be a good learning experience for you. Do you really think that the fucking 'People' actually elect their politicians? No son, politics is about control, at every level from a City Council to the U.S. Congress. The 'People' don't matter son... they just don't matter..."

-----------------------

"No, Ms. Woodburn, I'm simply not going to do that." The words came out of Betting Wurtzburg's mouth.

"Why not?" asked Katherine Woodburn venomously.

"None of this is true." Bettina said. "I am not going to tell people that Senator Nathan Allen did not try to have Phil Kearns committed to the Asylum, I am not going to lie and say that Kearns is some kind of psychotic freak, and I'm not going to do a damn thing to try to make people forget or deny that Dean Allen didn't murder two little girls by plowing his car into them!"

Katherine Woodburn sighed. "I should fire you right now."

"If you do," said Bettina, unafraid, "I'll be on KSTD and many other media outlets telling them that you fired me for not aiding and abetting Senator Allen, that you're lying on Allen's behalf, and I'll testify before the FEC that you've deliberately violated the law and ordered others to violate the law on several occasions. And I won't be the only one: the engineers are still pissed at you and ready to walk off or go on strike, and there's no telling how many people will cooperate with the FEC--"

"Okay, okay, I get the fucking point." said Katherine. "What about Harold Malone? What are your plans to cover him?"

"I'll be covering him at the race on July 4th, including an interview." said Bettina.

"Good. Get out of here." said Woodburn. As Bettina turned to go, the KXTC editor called out "Miss Wurtzburg!"

"Yes?" Bettina said, turning around.

"Polish up your resume." threatened Katherine. "After the election, I'm going to fire you. And Ms. Wurtzburg... if Harold Malone loses the Sheriff's race, you're through."

Bettina wordlessly turned and walked out the door, not realizing immediately that when Woodburn had said she' be 'through', she didn't mean just firing the redhead reporterette...

Part 30 - Company Capers

At 6:00am on the morning of June 28th the Duty Desk Sergeant rushed into the MCD room and announced "Sir! They need you in the Crime Lab building, stat! It was broken into last night!"

Cindy and I rushed over, finding Tanya Perlman, Christina Cho, two lab technicians and two uniformed officers at the scene. The Lab was a mess. All of the desks had been ransacked, files and papers taken out of desks and thrown everywhere. Some lab glassware had been broken on the floor as drawers were emptied. To my vast surprises, Tanya reported that all of the computers were still there, and no major or expensive pieces of lab equipment were gone.

"Almost all of our evidence work is backed up." said Tanya, to my enormous relief. "So there should be no cases that have to be dismissed because of this. I've called Paulina Patterson and she'll be here shortly."

"Who was the last person to leave last night, and when?" I asked.

"It was me, sir." said Christina Cho. "I was running some research tests with Vice Detective Julie Newton on marking money in a way that criminals who stole it could be identified by the chemicals. We left about 10:00pm last night when our last tests finished up."

"I can't wait to hear about those test results, Technician Cho," I said, "but it'll have to wait. Did you set the alarms?"

"Yes sir." said Christina.

"Well, then Miss Perlman, that bears the question 'Why didn't the alarms go off?' I don't understand why the Duty Desk didn't get an alarm." I asked.

"I don't know why not, either." said Tanya. "We'll check the logs for entries and exits; maybe someone hid inside here until we left."

"In any case, it looks like either an inside job, or a job at a very scary high level." I said. "Remember that bozo who committed suicide in our evidence rooms, and was wearing a shield with my number on it? I still wonder how the bastard got in..."

A second later, I said "Cindy, contact Internal Affairs. They need to investigate this entire matter very deeply. I cannot understand why there was no alarm. I don't understand how they got into this secure facility undetected, and I don't understand how they had time to ransack the place like this."

"Yes, sir." said Cindy. "Does anyone have any idea what the intruders might have been looking for?"

"No idea." said Tanya. "The evidence areas are secure and weren't bothered, as far as we can tell. It'll take some time after cleaning all this mess up to determine what, if anything, is missing from our desks."

"Where are the rest of the staff?" I asked. "Perlman, I need for everyone who works here to be accounted for. Immediately and completely. Oh shit!---"

"What?" said Tanya, Cindy and Christina simultaneously, as one voice.

"Barry. Oh my God..." I said, then recovered from my shock. "Barry Oliver. Where is he?"

"He's due in at 8:00am." said Tanya. "I'll call him now." She dialed his number, but it was clear she wasn't getting a reply. "It went to voicemail." Tanya said, then began leaving a message. I did not waste further time. I grabbed my police radio.

"Break break break! Alert alert alert!" I called in, my words being the radio code to receive a message of extreme importance. After identifying myself, I said "I need a heavily armed and armored unit at the home of Police Scientist Barry Oliver immediately. Top priority! Repeat: heavily armed and armored response team to the home of Barry Oliver. Dispatch, look up the address and relay it to responding officers immediately. How copy?" The Duty Desk replied they'd received and understood, and were acting on the orders.

"Cindy, let's get over there-- where'd she go? Tanya, let me know anything you find." I said, then rushed out. Cindy had already run out, and my own Police SUV met me in the parking lot before I could get halfway back to the HQ building. Damn, Cindy not only was strong, she was fast!

"That was fast!" I said as I climbed into the passenger seat.

"I've been training for the July 4th triathlon." Cindy replied as she tore out of the parking lot, blue lights and sirens blazing.

We got to Barry Oliver's condo within minutes. Two uniformed police officers were already there, but they only had light armor vests under their uniform shirts, so they had waited, which was the correct thing to do.

"It's the 2nd floor door on the left, and it's cracked open." said Patrolman McGhillie. "We waited, as you called for heavier armor, and it's obvious something is going on."

"You did right." I replied. "Where is that armored team?-- oh, here they come." I met the four officers as they screeched up. They weren't full SWAT, but had better protection that the vests most officers wore, and were helmeted.

"Okay guys, the door to Oliver's apartment is cracked open." I said. "I don't need a Rambo-style military operation here, just lead the way in, okay?" They complied, moving as a fairly well-trained team in approach to the door, then to each side of it, before quickly entering and clearing the apartment. I was thinking of how the Town & County Council had no idea that I'd been arranging for extra training of our guys, since it didn't cost any extra to assign them to 'patrol' the Police Academy range for a couple of hours every so often. It was paying off now.

"Lieutenant, it's clear!" called out one of the men as other residents began peeping out. I hustled up to the door as the officer said "Place has been ransacked. No one is here."

I felt sick to my stomach as I entered. Barry Oliver's apartment had been all but destroyed. Books and papers littered the floor. Every piece of furniture was overturned. Gaping holes were in the walls where the perps thought a hiding place might be. The bedroom, kitchen and 2nd bedroom, which Oliver used as a computer room and storage area, were all totally ransacked. His computer was missing.

"Oh Jesus." I whispered, mostly to myself. "Oh my fucking God." I had rarely felt this badly. I realized that someone had found out Oliver's secret, and they'd come after him and his papers... and we'd had warning...

------------------------

The Monday after my son had been born I was meeting with Tanya Perlman and Barry Oliver at the Crime Lab building in the late afternoon. I was understandably eager to wrap up the meeting and get home, as Laura and little Jim had come home the day before.

"Okay, guys," I said, "Tanya, you'll be coming back to MCD after your baby is born. Is Barry ready to take leadership of the Crime Lab?"

"Sir," said Barry, "We've been talking about it. I don't think I'm fully ready for this opportunity, and besides... well, to speak frankly, sir, I'd rather run tests in the lab and work on the research than be the Supervisor of it all. I can lead, sir, but doing so would take me away from what I'm best at and love doing."

"And I know exactly how he feels about that." Tanya said, her eyes boring into me.

"Okay, okay, I get the message." I said, mostly to Tanya. "I'm in the same boat: it's harder and harder to just go places and solve the crimes when I have to manage MCD and Vice. So I'm not unaware nor uncaring of how both of you feel. But I do need some leadership in this Crime Lab. Who do you two suggest? Cho?"

Tanya's face looked a little sad as she said "Don, I don't think Christina has leadership inside her. She's a great technician, knows what's going on with the tests, knows when something's not right, and she's the hot shit on the witness stand for us. But she does what she's told, when she's told, how she's told. Rarely takes the initiative without asking, she always comes to me for permission for even obvious follow-up testing. She also has little imagination outside of her immediate world." Barry concurred.

"What about CMB?" I asked, naming the medical examiner.

"Nooooooo." said Tanya. "That guy is too full of himself as it is. He's good at what he does now, but if you put him in charge, you won't have a team for him to lead; they'd likely all quit." Barry concurred.

"Damn, I'd hate to have to have an outside search." I said.

"I have an idea." said Barry Oliver. "There's a professor at the University, his name is Dr. Lawrence Woodrow. He got B.S. degrees from your school, Don, in Chemistry and Physics, then went to Medical School and graduated. Then the First Gulf War started and he volunteered for the Army Reserve and was an Army doctor in the 2697th M.A.S.H., which is a big unit, not like the TV field version. When he came home, he got bored with his medical practice, and also was involved in some legal issues, not against him but a colleague, so he went to Law School."

Barry continued: "I know he is interested in working with us because I met him on campus about three months ago, and when I told him I worked with the Crime Lab he asked if there was a way he could volunteer to help there."

"I'll contact him." I said. "All right, I want to go home and see my new baby, so if there's nothing else--"

"Uh sir," said Tanya, "Barry has something he needs to tell you."

"No, no, it's nothing, it's so small..." protested Barry.

"There is no such thing as 'so small', Barry." I said. "What is it?"

"Well," said Barry, "this morning I noticed a car following me. Silver Honda Accord, nothing out of the ordinary, but he made two turns along with me. So I did what you said and made a couple of turns against the grain of coming here to the Lab. He went straight instead of turning with me the second time I turned left, so it might have been a coincidence."

"Like hell it is." I said. "Barry, keep watch. And keep that alert button I gave you on your person at all times. Do not hesitate to use it for the slightest issue." The button was like a 'Life Alert' button, but transmitted to the Duty Desk and to my cell phone. It also had a GPS in it.

"Yes sir."

-------------------------

The next morning, Barry Oliver came to my office just after I arrived at 6:45am. I invited him in and bade him to sit down.

"How's your new baby, sir?" Barry asked politely.

"Words cannot express how I feel when I sit there and hold my son and he looks up at me." I said. "But that's not why you're here. What's up?"

"I think I was followed again." said Barry. Upon my request, he explained: "I saw another car following me, this time a Jeep Liberty. I turned against the grain again and he didn't turn with me, just kept going. What's weird is that a brown car, older car, was then following me, but kept going when I turned. I thought I had shaken all followers... when there was that Jeep Liberty again. It turned onto the road behind me and followed me almost all the way to Headquarters."

"Shit." I said. "They're definitely following you, and in multiple cars. They know what they're doing, too, though you were sharp to catch the Liberty following you the second time. Probably a three car rotation..."

"Do you think someone has found out about... well, you know..." Barry asked.

"I don't know, Barry, but keep extra alert. Don't go anywhere alone if you can help it. Call for help if you even feel a tingle in your spine. Call me personally if you need to, and don't worry, I won't hold it against you if it's a false alarm. Hmmm..."

----------------------

My mind came back to the Present as I was watching the Crime Lab scene look for clues in Barry's apartment. I heard voices outside. "You can't go past the tape, this is a police crime scene." I heard Patrolman McGhillie say.

"I am the Police. And that's my apartment up there." I heard a voice say, and immense relief flooded through my whole body. The voice was Barry Oliver's.

I went onto the walkway outside the apartment door and saw McGillie and Oliver. Barry was carrying his computer, which added to my relief. "It's okay, Roy," I said to McGhillie, "he's one of us."

When Barry came up and saw the devastation, he turned to me and said "Lieutenant, we need to talk."

We went to my SUV, which was running to keep the battery, which ran the computer and police radios going, charged up. It had the added benefit that the air conditioner was going, keeping the inside cool.

I told Barry that I wanted Cindy to listen in, and that he could trust her. She sat in the back seat as Barry sat in the 'shotgun' seat and told his story. It was amazing.

"Last night I received a visitor at my door. He said he was a professor at the University. His name was Bartholomew Scott." Barry said. "He said that he knew I'd been working with Tim Olivet, and that he intended for me to tell him what Olivet's secret was."

"Why didn't you use the button I gave you?" I asked.

"I did." Barry replied. "But I think he was jamming the signal. My cellphone also had no signal, and the TV reception went out."