Black and Blue Ch. 03

I asked Mary to give Terry a tour of Headquarters, including the Intel Center. After she did so, then escorted Terry to the front lobby, she came back to my office, where we'd congregated.

"Whaddya think?" I asked. "Mary?"

"I think he knows his stuff." said Mary. "The only questions are how well he gets along with the others, and if he'll have PTSD episodes. And we can't have him become an Auxiliary Detective and carry a gun."

"Not right now, anyway." I said. "Tanya?"

"He checks all the boxes." said Tanya. "And I know you're not hiring based on this, sir, but he's been 'certified' by doctors as having PSTD, which makes him officially handicapped. So hiring him would help our EEO in that regard."

"I think we're covered on that, seeing as our Captain of Detectives qualifies for that, also." I replied. "It's a point, though."

Cindy said "Flip side of that is that he's a white male, and Ava Hinds will foam at the mouth over it."

"Okay, guys," I said, "points noted. But I'm not hiring based on Identity Politics, and I'm definitely not hiring to make Ava Hinds less rabidly radical than she already is. Cindy, what did you think about Halston as a potential employee."

Cindy said "I was feeling the vibe that the guy really wants to find work, and he'd be very grateful to work in a place like this."

I nodded. "And that's important." Then I added with a wicked grin: "And I'm sure you agree, Green Crowbar, that we need more Airborne-qualified personnel here."

"As long as they don't try to make parachute jumps with broken backs, like some dumbasses around here do." Cindy said levelly, giving it right back, and not jovially. Tanya and Mary looked at her in total shock.

"Ladies," I said, "I guess that's why you should aspire to Command Group level. She gets to say that to me. Okay, Mary, you make the call."

Mary said "Let's give him a 90-day trial hire. If he works out, we'll bring him in and go from there. If not, we'll try to find something else for him."

"Okay." I said. "Call him and tell him we want another interview with him tomorrow. Don't tell him that that interview will be with me, the Chief, and the Sheriff. And if they like him, you have a new hire..."

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

At 10:30am I got a call from Councilwoman Malinda Adams, (politely) asking me to come to her office. I said I would be there by 11:00am.

The Council Members have offices next to the Mayor's office, which is in the back right (northwest) corner on the second floor of City Hall. Unlike the Mayor's spacious office, one enters a door from the main hallway, and the Council offices are down the row, five on each side of the narrow hallway. The offices themselves are not large, and indeed I thought to myself that Tanya Muscone would never run for Council office with the expectation of being squeezed into one of these offices.

Malinda Adams was in her early 50s, but could look to be in her 40s if she tried. She was very slender, 'willowy', but she had ample breasts and shapely legs. She wore glasses that made her looks 'schoolmarm'-ish, and her hair was combed straight down to her shoulders on either side. She wasn't drop-dead gorgeous, but I definitely would not mind getting balls-deep into her.

"Thank you for coming, Commander." Malinda said after Adele Peabody (who was drop-dead gorgeous, and who'd I'd enjoyed getting balls-deep into many times) escorted me to her office. Malinda had me sit down, and offered me coffee or water, which I politely refused.

"I wanted to thank you for intervening in the election Tuesday night." Malinda said. "I also wanted to ask you about the recent primary election, as well as what happened at the Election Center with the water main break."

I told her about what the Fire Department had found, and added "The pipe rupture does not look natural to me, but I don't see how anyone outside of Spider-Man could've gotten into that space above the drop ceiling and sabotage the pipe in the last few days There were just too many people around, and at all hours of the day and night."

Malinda said "So you do think it was sabotage?"

I replied "Officially, that's for the Fire Department to determine. Between you, me, and this red crowbar, it's pretty obviously sabotage, and those bins of ballots were in the very worst place to be when the pipe burst. But we'll never be able to prove anything."

Malinda said "What I really want to know... and off-the-record, unofficially, just between us... do you believe Stacey Jacobs was trying to steal the election from me?"

I said "Let me ask this first. What did your internal polling leading into the election say?"

Malinda said "As you probably know, various Media outlets had me up 59-41% in some polls to 53-47% in others. My own polling showed me up 56-44% the weekend before the vote, and our polling of those that voted early, and admitted it, showed me up 55-45%."

I nodded. "So for Jacobs to suddenly pull within 2% of you like that? Yeah, that's more than suspicious."

Malinda said "Exactly. And Jacobs wants another election. I'm in touch with Katherine Woodburn as well as the State Democrat Party. Opinions are all over the place; some say I should oppose another election, while some say I should allow it. I know you're on the other side, but what would you do if you were me?"

I said "First of all, I'm not a Republican either, so in that respect I'm not on the other side of you. Also, I'd much rather have you on the Council than Jacobs. She's a rabid proponent of defunding the Police. So my two cents worth is for you to oppose another election. It won't be well-attended, the chances for fraud are rife, and Jacobs will be marshaling her people to get out the vote for her."

Malinda nodded. "I agree." she said as she stood up, which caused me to stand up. "I appreciate you coming by, Don, if I may call you Don and you call me Malinda. And if you're not on the other side, maybe we can get together for a drink sometime."

"That sounds like a good idea." I said...

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

I went down the hall to the Sheriff's office, and found the Sheriff there, behind his desk. "Come on in, Crowbar." he said when I looked into the door. I came on in, and he said "I just got off the phone with Fire Marshal Easley. They're calling the water pipe break as well as the stuck valve to be the result of sabotage."

"Consider me 'not surprised', Sheriff." I said. "I just got out of a meeting with Malinda Adams. There's debate about having another primary."

"Think that'll happen?" asked the Sheriff.

"No sir." I replied.

"Neither do I." growled Griswold. "Word I'm getting is that they flipped the Lewis seat to Silas over Williams, and will be happy with that, even though they didn't get Stacey Jacobs. I also heard, well under the radar, that Jacobs and Lionel Carmela are going to start a campaign of 'suppression of the black vote' led to Adams stealing the election, and they'll use that to start a voter registration drive."

I nodded, and said "That sounds like a better course of action... provided the registrations are legitimate."

"Yeah, and that's the issue, there." said Griswold. "Crowbar, do you realize that you have to have an ID to drive a car on the road, and you have to have an ID to board a commercial aircraft... but you cannot ask someone for their ID to vote in an Election because judges like Harry Nance say you can't?"

"Yes sir." I said.

"Let's change the subject." said the Chief. "I'm hearing war drums over the horizon... being beaten by the Police Union. They're pissed that you kicked them out of your office, and at the point of Lady Ironside's gun, and they're really pissed that you're looking into the McElwane incident, even though there's no 'there' there, and then you confronted McCombs. What the hell is wrong with them?"

"I'm not sure, sir." I said. "Me thinks they doth protesteth too much, though, and it's gotten my hackles up."

"Well," said the Sheriff, standing up, "let's do what we normally do when solving the world's problems... go to lunch." I had nooooo problem agreeing with that..

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

7:00pm, Thursday, May 7th. We were celebrating Marie's 7th birthday at The Cabin, mostly so that the Steele's home wasn't inundated with kids and dogs. Marie scored a good haul of gifts, mostly crayons, paints, and sculpting clay. And then there was a gift from Teresa and Todd that stunned everyone: a small but fully functional electric piano.

"Carole suggested it." Teresa told me and Laura. "She says Marie is going to be a great musician as well as a great artist. So I asked Stephanie if she could endure it, and Stephanie said that Marie was already asking them if they'd buy a piano for their house."

After cake and ice cream, the kids began doing kids things, so Edward Steele and I went to the deck. Tiger Mom came out on deck and watched us from a distance, and I observed that she might be pregnant again. (Her whiskers were rosy.)

After discussing the sabotage of the Election Center, I asked him what his 'feel' for the situation was.

Edward said "I can tell you that the Republicans are not going to pay for another primary race, and they're going to accept the original numbers of Tuesday's vote, which doesn't change anything in the Statewide primaries. The State Democrats are huddling today to decide what they want to do. Joseph Williams may sue to get another run in his District, and Stephanie said that word is going around the Campus that Lionel Carmela is really pushing for a re-do in Malinda Adams's district."

"Sounds like it may be a done deal, then." I replied.

"Not so fast, my friend." Edward said, making me chuckle. "A lot of people would be happy if Silas was just declared the winner over Williams. And Lionel Carmela does not run the Democrat Party; in fact, he is absolutely despised by the Party moderates, which is one reason he works behind the scenes rather than openly. Carmela is not a Democrat; he is an outright Communist, though young people don't even know what that term means anymore."

"Will it make that much of a difference on the Council?" I asked. "After all, the political balance won't change."

"Au contraire, mon frère.." Edward said. "They're both Democrats, but you saw that we were able to work with Dr. Williams on the Charter Commission, and I think he'd have been a calming influence on the Council, someone we could craft compromises with. Silas is really dedicated to getting you fired from the TCPD, and he's really anti-Police in general."

Edward: "And Malinda Adams plays the gender card, but for the most part she's reasonable. But if you want to see a rabid Leftist dedicated to defunding the Police and ginning up race-based hatreds? Just install Stacey Jacobs. She makes Reginald B.F. Lewis look like Rush Limbaugh. She'll be paving the way for Jocelyn Moran and Ava Hinds to come in and absolutely destroy the Town & County Police Force. Silas, we can deal with. Jacobs... is an outright threat..."

Part 20 - Incidental Contact

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Friday, May 8th, from the rooftop of the building at Riverside and College, with City Hall in the background. "There will be no re-do of the primary Elections!"

Bettina began: "Channel Two News has learned that after hours of intense debate that went late into last night, the State Democrat Party has informed the State Secretary of State that they will accept the original results of the primary Election in our County. As a result, Edgar Silas will be the Democrat nominee to replace Reginald B.F. Lewis, and with very weak Republican opposition in that District, it is likely that Mr. Silas will be Mr. Lewis's successor on the Council. Also resulting from the decision, Malinda Adams will be the Democrat nominee to defend her Council seat in the November Elections."

Bettina: "The decision was not accepted by the losers of the two races. The Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Williams, head pastor of the A.M.E. Church, has promised to file a lawsuit to force the County to hold another primary, and for the State Democrat Party to accept those results. Additionally, spokespersons for Stacey Jacobs, who lost to Malinda Adams by only two percentage points, have said they will consider what action to take in response to the decision. Dr. Lionel Carmela, head Professor of the School of Political Science at the University, issued a statement accusing the State Democrat Party of racism in not demanding a new election for Ms. Jacobs."

Bettina: "And now let's go to Sports reporter Jeff Hull with breaking Sports news. Jeff!"

"That's right, Bettina!" said Jeff Hull, with University Memorial Stadium in the background. "Channel Two Sports has learned that Wildcats Head Coach Richmond suffered a mild heart attack Wednesday! He has already been released from the hospital, and is at home recuperating, but sources tell Channel Two News that he will announce his retirement over the weekend! There has been no response from the Wildcats Athletic Department so far..."

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

"Is that true?" a stunned Cindy Ross asked as we drank coffee in the Chief's Conference Room.

"Yep." I said solemnly. "Jamaal Washington told Theo, who told me yesterday. They're keeping it quiet until Coach Richmond decides what he wants to do, but the word is that he'd been thinking of retirement anyway, and this might just be the catalyst to make it happen. If it does, Coach Marshall will be the interim head coach."

"I hate the Wildcats," Cindy said, "but I don't wish anyone ill. I hope he recovers and will be okay." I nodded vigorously in agreement.

"What do you guys think of the decision not to have another primary?" asked Tanya Muscone, trying to start trouble, and succeeding. "And will Dr. Williams's lawsuit be successful?" Though I'd been declared to not know anything about politics, everyone looked at me.

I said "I'm not surprised they're not going to spend the money on another primary. As to Dr. Williams's lawsuit, which he will file, it will depend on which Judge gets it. Nance will order another election, to give Stacey Jacobs another chance to steal the nomination from Malinda Adams, while Watts or Folsom will dismiss the suit."

"Okayyyyy," said Chief Moynahan, "what are you guys doing to my Police Force today?"

"Making it better, Chief." I replied. "Seriously, FBI Agent Tim Jenkins is coming up. He wants to meet me about something, and didn't want to discuss it on the phone." Then I wickedly added "I'm not sure what he's going to be doing the rest of the weekend."

Cindy stepped right up to the plate and hit it out of the park as she said "I do. He and I are going to have dinner tonight, and play disc golf at Ronald Reagan Park tomorrow. Since we played in Teresa's hometown, he's become a big disc golf fan."

Teresa said "I've got a meeting with the Precinct leadership. The Union has been spreading a lot of lies about Commander Troy's confrontations with them and with McCombs, and trying to gin up unrest. Most of the Force is telling them to pound sand, but it may be starting to have an effect with some people."

"Let me know how that mee-ting gooooes." replied the Chief. "If things are getting bad, I'll have to step in myself, especially to tell the Union to pound sannnd."

Tanya said "Intel branch is starting to develop some stuff. We're getting word that some of the 'professional' (air quotes) agitators with Antifa and the PCGW are trickling into our County, and FBI metadata obtained under a warrant is showing a LOT of cellphone activity from cell towers that triangulate to Lionel Carmela's office and home."

"That could just be about the Primary Election." said the Green Crowbar. The Red Crowbar shook his head in vigorous disagreement.

"No." I said. "The Election is a front, maybe even an unintentional distraction. It's a piece of the puzzle, but a small one I don't think all this Union crap, McCombs crap, Antifa and PCGW thugs sneaking into Town, and Carmela's activity are coincidental nor unrelated. And for Carmela to give Bettina a statement playing the race card?" I began grumbling to myself...

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

9:30am, Friday, May 8th. FBI Special Agent Tim Jenkins came down the hall with Commander Cindy Ross and into the anteroom of my office. She went into her office as Tim knocked on my open door and I bade him come in and sit down. He did so, closing the door first, and getting some coffee at my hand-gesture invitation.

"How are things in Southport?" I asked.

"Don't ever tell anyone I said this," Tim replied, "but there are times I'm glad for the Mob's existence. There is a ton of shit boiling under the surface in the City, Midtown, and here, but it's not nearly as hot in Southport... because the Mob controls most of that town with an iron fist."

"Is that why you came up?" I asked. "To tell me about what's going on all over the State?"

"Yes and no." said Tim. "I was planning to brief you on things, unless you'd rather wait until my meeting tomorrow in Westphalia with elements of the SBI and the City PD. But I also came up to show you something else." He handed me a file folder with papers inside.

"Oh wow." I said as I perused the material. "So someone is really outing J.J. Perry?"

"We're getting word all over the Nation." said Jenkins. "The underworld is really putting out the word on who he is, with pictures of him and everything. And we, meaning me and Muscone and Cardigan, have found out that elements of the Swamp Frogs in Washington have been leaking his identity, complete with photos, to the various drug rings and cartels. We've rarely seen anything like this. Cardigan says the last time he saw something like this, it was about you after you destroyed Westboro and his Organization."

I said "And this definitely will kill Dwight Stevens and the DEA's attempts to hire him away from us."

Tim replied "Yes. Yes it will. And we're worried that someone might try to put out a hit on him. Having said that, we know that Cerone and Molinari put out protection orders in Southport and the City, essentially saying to leave Perry alone as long as he stays in your Town & County."

I nodded, and said "I put out word around here that nothing had better happen to him. And if I read this right, I think the word is out on him to nullify his effectiveness as an undercover agent, not to go after him. Put out the word on him like this, totally expose him, and there's no need to do anything else."

"I certainly hope so." said Tim. "And I'm sure you'll let him know about this."

I nodded and said "Yes, I will. So what are you going to tell the SBI and the City tomorrow?"

Tim replied; "If they accept the invitation, I'll be telling Southport, Midtown, the Twin Cities, and your Police, too." He sat back in his chair and said "We're finding some strange things going on. In the City, they've been pushing a lot of white Police Officers into the Badlands, the Railyards District, and other majority-black areas, and implementing aggressive stop-and-frisk practices, traffic stops, drug interventions of the dime-bag sellers, and high-visibility patrols. Then they began doing the same in Midtown."

I said "I know Chief Soltis in Midtown would never go for that, so it's not the MPD itself. And maybe the City PD is not doing that as policy, but groups within are acting... independently. I know we've had an incident or two up here, but it's easier to keep tabs on our Police Force than their bigger ones."

Tim said "Well, we're going to share some of our info and let everyone know. We know something's going on, and if God-forbid we have some kind of racial incident... things could get ugly."