Angels of Christmas Ch. 02

This story is part of an ongoing series. The chronological order of my stories is listed in WifeWatchman's biography.

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

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

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Part 6 - Shakeup

To say I was stunned by the Governor-elect's question would be the understatement of the rapidly dwindling year.

"Uhhh..." I stammered, then said "You truly would have to ask her, ma'am. I can tell you that she has never mentioned to me any desire to be University President, nor have I observed anything that would lead me to think she's wanted it or considered it."

Sharon Marshall said "It would be a great fit for both her and the School. Her career with the CIA is pretty much done, but she still has those national connections. She's hugely respected as a Psychology professor, and has run that Department like a well-oiled machine. She knows all the Boosters, Donors, and important Alumni. It would be a new challenge for her, if that's something she'd like."

I said "Yes, if that is something she wanted to do, she's well-positioned for it and she'd be great at it. Right now there is only one objection that I can see, and that is that she also loves being a doctor and on Staff at the Hospital. If she had to give that up in order to fully commit to being the University President, I am not sure she would be willing to do it."

"Yes, that is a consideration." Sharon said. "Do me a favor and don't mention this to her just yet. I'll contact her to gauge her interest. Hopefully, we'll have some time to decide..."

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

"You look like you've seen a ghost." Teresa said as we got into my Police SUV and pulled out onto the road. "What did Ms. Marshall say to you?"

"She swore me to secrecy for the time being." I said. "And to change the subject, what would you think of Seth Warner being offered the University President job?"

"Nooooo." Teresa mock wailed. "He's doing such a great job as Hospital Administrator. I would totally hate to lose him."

"Don't worry, at least for now." I said. "But in a couple of decades you might need to start getting worried."

As we drove along, Teresa peered at me Finally I said "No, I'm not going to tell you. At least not right now."

"Oh, for the Power of the Vibe right now." Teresa said, then sulked (not really) the rest of the way to the Station...

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

6:30pm, Monday, December 21st. Cindy and Teresa had accepted Tanya's invitation to stop by Tanya's house for some pizza and Coca-Cola. Tiffany, Jennifer, and Pete were also consuming large quantities of pizza.

"This is great." Cindy said as she ate hungrily. "Callie is working late with Laura tonight, and my mom is keeping Betsy. And I was starving."

"How's the house hunting going?" Tanya asked.

"We're being really picky, so it's going slowly." Cindy replied. "We know we don't want a 'cookie cutter' house that's jammed into a subdivision with three feet of space between the houses. We are also not fans of any place with HOA fees."

"Smart ladies, you are." Teresa said, having had her own horror stories of HOAs and HOA fees. (Author's note: 'Schoolhouse Rock'.)

Cindy continued: "There's some lots that came open just north of the Heritage Cloisters subdivision that aren't under any subdivision covenants. Katherine Woodburn built a house there. The views are interesting, especially at night, with the lights of the airport and Water Works in the distance. But we realized over time that those views would become boring, while the views from your home or the The Cabin never get old."

Teresa nodded vigorously in agreement. "I don't like the low-lying ground there, either. Just a lot of expense and trouble." she said.

Cindy: "So we looked at properties on the Mountain Finger. Seth and Joanne Warner beat me to the property where they built their house, and there are no more that can be built on that overlook the Town. So we drove on the road on over the hill, towards the Observatory. One property sits right on the State Line, and we had concerns about security. And the others had decent views... of the tops of trees, and the Observatory. We were not excited about that."

Cindy: "Sooooo, it may just be the safe room house at the end of Reservoir Road. I did buy an option on the property next to it, so we can build a long, more gently sloping driveway, which will be much less likely to be dangerous in Winter and leave us stranded. And the house does have a safe room, in case we need it."

Teresa said: "That property next to the house... how far up the mountain does it go? The property lines, that is?"

Cindy said "The golf course and the four properties after it go to top of the mountain. It's too steep to build on, though, if that's what you're thinking."

"Not quite." said Teresa. "I'm remembering something from when Todd and I built our house. I'll check on it and get back to you if I'm remembering right. In the meantime, let me tell you what happened to Don after the meeting at the Ladies Auxiliary." She told them how the Iron Crowbar had looked shaken up for the first time in her memory, but wouldn't talk about it.

Cindy said: "I don't know if it's related, but Callie told me that Lieutenant Governor Marshall and our esteemed State Senator Katherine Woodburn came to Laura's office a couple of hours after the Ladies Auxiliary meeting ended. Sharon did the political thing and greeted Callie and Laura's assistant Laurie, then met with Laura for twenty minutes alone, followed by Katherine joining them for ten more minutes."

"Hmmmmm." Tanya hummed, her eyes sparkling.

"Don't get too excited." Cindy said. "I got word that they also visited the office of Dr. Lionel Carmela. No word on what that was about, either."

"Do you know what the meeting was about?" Teresa asked.Cindy said "Callie said Laura wouldn't tell her, but she (Callie) thinks she knows. I'm not sure it jives with the Carmela meeting, though."

"That doesn't change my theory." said Tanya. "In fact, it may have boosted it."

"What's that?" asked Teresa.

Tanya said "You guys know that I was once... close... with Sidney Wellman." Out of politeness, none of Crowbar's Angels said out loud that Tanya and Wellman had been having a full-blown sexual affair.

Tanya went on: "Well, I've talked to him a couple of times since all this crap started up, and this is really taking a toll on his health, and his wife's as well. But he won't resign unless it's (air quotes) 'with honor'."

Tanya: "So there's that. And then Governor-elect Marshall comes to Town, and from everything you're telling me, it was about Sidney." Teresa nodded.

Tanya: "Everyone knows that the last time a Budget did get passed in the Legislature, it was Sharon Marshall that led the way. She's the problem-solver than can, and will, get the Wellman problem fixed if anyone can."

"Even getting Carmela to back off?" Teresa asked.

Tanya: "Maybe she has something on him that not even Don has. But I'm asking myself that if Ms. Marshall met with Laura, what could Ms. Marshall have done or said that would shake up the Iron Crowbar himself?"

After a pause, with her fellow Angels looking at her and silently demanding the answer, she said "What if Ms. Marshall asked Laura to become the next University President?" Her fellow Angels just looked at her in dumbfounded amazement.

"Excellent deduction, Detective." said a male voice. They looked up to see Your Iron Crowbar standing there, with Jack Muscone behind me.

Not waiting for an invitation, we sat down with them, then I said to Tanya: "Someone should promote you to Deputy Chief of the Town & County Police Force."

"Don't you threaten me!" Tanya replied, again saying the oft-repeated joke between us.

"Well... you're right." I said. "Ms. Marshall did talk to Laura about it, if Wellman goes... and goes anytime soon. Laura called me and told me, and we're going to discuss it tonight."

"Yet you're here now." Cindy said astutely. "Putting that conversation off?"

"Touché." I said. "The scary thing to me... is that Laura did not tell Sharon Marshall 'no'..."

Part 7 - Family Feud

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Tuesday, December 22nd, from the Anchor Desk at KXTC studios. "Experts suggest a swift end to the scandal-plagued reign of University President Sidney P. Wellman!"

After the hard-charging intro music, Bettina began: "White Nationalist Governor-elect Sharon Marshall made a secret visit to our Town & County, where she met with a number of Trustees and Faculty of the University regarding the fate of Dr. Wellman. According to sources that spoke on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, Ms. Marshall discussed the possibility and feasibility of saving Dr. Wellman's reputation, and all of the attendees are believed to be Wellman supporters."

Bettina: "Sources tell Channel Two News that Governor-elect Marshall visited separately with Dr. Laura Fredricson of the University Psychology Department, and also met with Dr. Lionel Carmela, who is a leader of the group demanding an Ethics probe into Dr. Wellman's money-raising activities as well as personal conduct issues. Sources tell Channel Two News that Governor-elect Marshall is considering asking Dr. Fredricson to become the next University President, but neither the Governor-elect's Office nor Dr. Fredricson would confirm that."

Bettina: "Sources also tell Channel Two News that Commander Donald Troy also attended the function at the Ladies Auxiliary Clubhouse at the invitation of the Governor-elect, though he has no association with the Ethics Board nor any official capacity with the University. Sources tell Channel Two News that Governor-elect Marshall offered Commander Troy the SBI Director position, which will come open on January 1st after current SBI Director James 'Curly' Goodwin is sworn in as the Town & County Inspector General. Commander Troy has not responded to repeated requests for comment by KXTC on the matter..."

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

"Wow." said Lieutenant Commander Teresa Croyle as she, Sheriff Griswold, Chief Moynahan, Deputy Chief Tanya Muscone, Deputy Chief (Ret.) Cindy Ross, and Your Iron Crowbar watched and drank coffee in the Chief's Conference Room. "Who leaked all that?"

All eyes went to me for some reason. I said "It could've been anyone. Mr. Truelove, J.P. Goldman, Myrtle L. James. And Katherine Woodburn about the meetings with Laura and Carmela. The Press could've contacted them, and gotten bits from them and pieced it together... or Teresa called Bettina and told her everything."

"Yeah, right." said Teresa, not rising to the bait. We could see that she was million miles away.

"Your aunt arriving today?" I asked.

"Yes." Teresa said, mentally coming back to us. "The BOW Enterprises plane left County Airport an hour ago, and should have them up here by noon."

"My mother should be arriving by noon, as well." I said. "She's driving down from Apple Grove."

"Don," said Cindy, "did you talk to Laura last night?" My inquisitive cousin wanted to know about Laura possibly taking the University President job. Curiosity killed the cat...

"No, we didn't get the chance." I said. That did not go over at all with my Angels, and they let me know it. Especially Cindy.

"Don," she said, "this is a huge deal, and if you can't talk to us about it, who can to talk to?"

I said "All of you ladies have children. And one day you're going to have family issues to take care of, and you're not going to want to talk about those issues to anyone, not even those closest to you."

That did nothing to stop the stares ate me, so I made it a lot more clear: "So let it go."

Teresa got up and got more coffee, and refilled our cups as well. Cindy just kept staring at me, and I could feel her trying to reach into my mind. I pushed back mentally, then stared hard into her ice blue eyes until she got the message...

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

After the Sports report, where KXTC's Jeff Hull talked about the Bulldogs in the Fiesta Bowl and the Wildcats in the Orange Bowl, I went back to my office. I began reading the duty logs as I always did, when I heard a knock on the door followed by Our Sheriff walking in and closing the door behind him. He made a gesture for me to remain seated as I was about to stand up.

"Sir?" I said as Sheriff Griswold seated himself in the hot chair nearest the door.

"I get it, Crowbar." he growled. "You didn't want to air family laundry in front of everyone. And if you don't want to talk about it now, that's fine. But I'm here if you want to get it out."

I chuckled and said "Not much gets past you, Sheriff." He barked a laugh, then I said "Okay, I guess I do need to say something."

I began: "I was going to talk to Laura about the Presidency job, but when I got home and we sat down at the dinner table, Carole promptly asked her mother if she, her mother, was going to be (air quotes) 'the next President'. Laura just about went off on her, demanding to know how Carole knew that. And I mean she went went off. She really browbeat Carole over it."

I continued: "Seeing how furious her mother was with her, Carole said she heard it from Marie, who'd heard it from her mother. Laura went off on her again, accusing Carole of lying, and rightly so. Stephanie would not have said anything, and Carole had no chance to talk to Marie about that nor anything else."

Me: "So Carole started crying and asking why her mother was yelling at her so much. Laura yelled because Carole was lying, and she still wanted to know how Carole knew about the job offer. Carole just broke down crying like I haven't seen her cry in years, and Laura just did not let up at all."

"So I had to intervene." I said. "Just to get Carole away from Laura, I had Carole come with me to take the dogs out, even though they didn't need to and just sat with us on the patio. When I asked Carole why she fibbed, Carole said because her mother was so mad at her, and always gets mad if Carole truthfully says she just knows, and she was just trying to get her mother to stop yelling at her."

Me: "I took the opportunity to teach Carole that sometimes it's better to keep things to oneself and not speak out about them, but that fibbing only makes things worse, so she should tell us the truth when we ask her something. Carole promised not to fib like that anymore, and we petted the dogs until she felt better."

Me: "So Laura and I did have a small 'come-to-Jesus' meeting, but it was about Carole, not the University Presidency. I told her that Carole lied because Laura was yelling at her in front of everyone... and Jim was loving every bit of this, by the way... and I told Laura I was worried that Carole felt the need to lie in the first place."

Me: "Well, that got Laura going off on me, saying that Carole needed to learn to speak when spoken to, and that children are to be seen and not heard. She wanted to punish Carole, but I invoked the agreement that Carole's punishments were in my hands. And after that, we just stopped talking about anything, so we definitely didn't talk about the University President situation."

The Sheriff nodded, knowing about my past agreement with Laura on the punishments. (Author's note: 'Vox Populi Vox Dei', Ch. 03.) "That sounds very unlike the Laura we know and love. Do you think Laura's feeling the pressure of all that, and just had a bad moment and took it out on Carole?"

"No sir." I said. "And I'll tell you the analogy that comes to mind on all this: my mother and my sister Elizabeth. My mother tried to mold Elizabeth into what my mother wanted Elizabeth to be. Elizabeth chafed under it for years... took it out on me until I got big enough to hit back... and then rebelled against our parents when she was a teenager. Laura wants Carole to be certain things, but Carole is already on her chosen path. And their wills are colliding."

Sheriff Griswold said "Just Carole and Laura's wills colliding? Or yours and Laura's?"

"Some of both, sir." I said. "I want to support all my kids making their own decisions and creating their own paths. And I'm not sure why Laura is so fiercely opposing what Carole wants to do, which is what she is meant to do: be a better Detective than you and me put together."

"Then that is what you need to talk to your wife about." said Griswold. "You need to get her to talk about it, and listen to why she is so opposed to Carole being Carole. I have a suspicion... that there's more to it than just that."

The Sheriff's words jolted me to my core...

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

Meanwhile, Tanya drove into Teresa's office, where Teresa and Cindy already were. "The Sheriff just went into Don's office and closed the door behind him. Looks like a father-son discussion is taking place."

"Good." Cindy said. "Maybe Don will talk to the Sheriff. He sure as hell wasn't going to talk to us, and I don't understand why not. Everyone in that room was family or his closest friends. And I could feel it in him... there's a problem there, and a big one. And it's really bothering him."

"Laura being offered the University President's job is bothering him that much?" Teresa said. "Then again, he was shaken up after talking to Sharon Marshall."

"It's more than that." Tanya said. "Don gave us the clue... he said we all had children. I think something happened at home, something that pre-empted any talk about the job offer. Something he doesn't want to talk about, even to us; and something that apparently is bothering him more than the job offer. So you couldn't get a vibe on what the actual problem was?"

"No, just that he was very uncomfortable when I asked about it." Cindy said. "My only vibe was... wait... the vibe was about a vibe..."

Part 8 - New Friends, Old Memories

10:00am, Tuesday, December 22nd. The Bow Enterprises plane taxied to the terminal after a smooth landing at County Airport. Waiting for it was Police Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle.

"Ah, there you are, my dear." said Clarissa Belvedere Esterson as she made her way down the stairs of the plane to the tarmac. Teresa observed that her aunt Clarissa was holding on to the handrail. Following her were her teen great-nieces and Teresa's (second) cousins Beatrice and Eugenia.

Teresa hugged Clarissa and her cousins, then led them towards the black, unmarked Police cruiser she'd borrowed, as a BOW Enterprises employee acquired their luggage and brought it over. "How was your flight?" Teresa asked.

"It was very nice." said Clarissa. "But I fear that my days of flying will soon be curtailed by my doctors."

"Something you need to tell me?" Teresa asked, concerned.

"No, Child, nothing like that." said Clarissa, who mistook Teresa's slight reaction to being called 'Child' as concern for her health. "I'm just getting old."

They got into the vehicle, and Beatrice and Genia looked around with interest, especially at the computer on the dash between the front seats. "Wow, a real Police car!" Beatrice said. "First time I've ever been in one."

"I would hope so, young lady." Clarissa replied, making Teresa chuckle.