Casting Aspersions Ch. 04

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, 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 18 - Divine And Federal Intervention

The eerie euphoria vanished and I once again began hearing the staccato impacts of bullets slamming into the windows and sides of my Police SUV. I realize I was seeing a black car with embedded red and blue LED lights come racing up. The passenger began firing out the window, and with each shot a perp was falling to the ground.

"FEDERAL AGENTS! DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" I heard a woman's voice shout as that car halted. The perps chose to not drop their weapons... and they died. I saw FBI Agents Jack Muscone and Melina Allgood firing at the perps. Jack's shooting was good. Melina's was better. As in 'stop the fight completely' better.

None of the Enemy were left alive to face my derision as Melina and Jack came up to my car. "Don! Are you all right?" Muscone asked, his voice quaking with shock and fear.

"I've had better roller coaster rides at the County Fair." I said. "But it looks like Melina wins the toy bear with her shooting."

"Damn straight." Melina said. Just then a number of TCPD vehicles were converging on the scene. Melina and Jack exhibited FBI badges.

"Commander? You okay?" I heard Lieutenant Rudistan call out as he came up, his voice a bit shaky.

"Yeah. I'm good." I said. "Turn this damn car back upright."

"Sir, you may be hurt." said Rudistan.

"Just my pride and my ride, Rudistan." I said. "Turn it back over." Rudistan and several (actually, a lot of) TCPD Officers rolled my SUV back over. When it went upright, it came down hard on the right side tires, jostling me hard and irritating my back. My driver side window finally shattered and fell out.

"Good grief, Don." said Commander Cindy Ross as she came up to us as I tried to open the door. It was stuck.

"Here, pry this door open." I said, sticking my red crowbar out the window.

"I've got this." said Cindy as Rudistan took the red crowbar. Cindy applied her green crowbar to the door jamb as I pulled the handle to release the latch, but the door wouldn't move.

"Oh my God! Don! Are you all right?" called out a voice. I saw Teresa Croyle in civilian clothes running up. She had just come down from her home on the mountain.

"Yeah, I'm okay." I said as Cindy continued to work at the door. Fire trucks were now coming onto the scene, and I noticed that the TCPD had traffic control very well in hand. Well trained, outstanding Officers, I thought to myself with pride. And they were holding the Press well back, also, which made me even happier.

"Gimme that!" Teresa said impatiently, taking the red crowbar from Rudistan. "Get out of the way, girl!" she ordered (yes, ordered) Cindy. She jammed the red crowbar into the crack of the door and yanked.

*SNAP!*

The door loosened, and Cindy, Rudistan, and Patrolman Johnson pulled it open. "Don't move, Commander, you may be hurt." said Rudistan.

"Thanks for the concern," I said, "but I think I'm okay." I turned to get out and was helped out by Teresa, who then practically hugged me as she held me up. And then I saw Jack and Melina to one side.

"Thanks, Jack." I said, wobbling over and shaking his hand. "And thanks for being the best crack shot in the FBI, Melina." I said as I hugged her.

I surveyed the scene. Eight dead perps. One dead Police SUV. Officers were collecting the weapons. One Patrolman bent over and picked up the rocket launcher.

"Careful with that!" I called out. "It may be---"

*BLOOM!*

The rocket fired over our heads and over the SUV and across the night sky in a glittering arc. A moment later we heard the explosion as the rocket hit the road well to the north of us. We all turned to look at the rookie Officer, who was white as a sheet.

"Rudistan," I said both angrily and wearily, "send someone up there to make sure nobody's hurt." Rudistan went over and gave instructions, and a Patrol cruiser took off up the road.

"I... I swear to God, I didn't touch the trigger!" the Rookie gasped.

"No, you didn't." I said as I came over to him, with Teresa making sure I didn't fall over. "But the perp did. It failed to fire, until you picked it up. I was wondering why I didn't get blasted with it."

"Oh my God." Teresa said. "If it had gone off..."

"I'd be Kentucky Fried Crowbar right now." I said, finishing the sentence with a great deal more joviality that the situation warranted. The rookie Officer went to a knee, and then got sick. Very sick.

Teresa was looking at me with tears in her eyes. And then she closed her eyes and began saying Latin things that I didn't understand, most very correctly giving thanks to Whom those thanks belonged.

And then I saw the Town & County Sheriff come up, his face also ashen. When he saw that I was okay, considerable relief flooded his face.

"It was not my day to die in the Klingon Empire, Sheriff." I said in a deep voice. Rudistan chuckled. The Sheriff was not as amused. He just shook his head as I clapped his shoulder...

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

12:45am, Friday, July 19th. I was in the infirmary room of Police Headquarters, being examined by my favorite doctor. Laura had come to the crime scene, and her face became ghostly, drained of color when she saw the extensively damaged hulk of metal that was once my Police SUV. She had insisted I go to the Hospital, and I had insisted that I not. I won, mostly because of the presence of an Iron Wolf still in possession of a red crowbar, who was protecting me as doggedly as Bowser (pun fully intended). So Laura conceded to check me out here at Headquarters.

"Cuts and bruises." Laura said. "And a broken back... oh yeah, you already had that. My God, Don, by all rights you should be..." She didn't finish. I stood up and took my wife into my arms, and she began crying. I let her for a moment as I held her, then she composed herself.

After the exam, we went out into the hall and to the Main Conference Room. The Chief was in his seat at the near end of the table, and Cindy was sitting to his left. Jack and Melina had given their statements, and Jack was sitting next to Tanya. I came up behind them and patted them on their shoulders.

"Thanks, Jack." I said. "You really did keep me from being burned at the stake." Jack stood up and we hugged. Not just a man-hug, but an all-out full hug.

"But how did you and Melina get there so fast?" I asked as he sat back down, his beady black eyes glistening just a bit, as were Tanya's.

"We were watching for you." said Melina as she came in the door behind me. I hugged her, and then Laura hugged her. "Have a seat, you must be exhausted." Melina said. I sat down at the far end of the table, and Laura sat to my left.

Tanya said "You were right, Don, about Bettina broadcasting that stuff about you and McGinty's Materials putting your life in danger."

Melina said "Yes, that's likely what this was about. Don, you're usually very good about taking different routes at different times, but there's always been the one flaw in that there is only one road to the Mountain Nest. And that's where they waited for you." I nodded vigorously in agreement.

"We were parked up the road, at the Bus Station on North and University." said Muscone. "I thought we got there pretty fast, but they did a lot of damage to you by the time we got there."

"I tried to drive out of it, and almost made it." I said. "But they had some souped-up cars, didn't they?"

"Yes." said Melina. "Concrete-reinforced quarterpanels and reinforced steel in the front grilles. And all four cars had V-8 engines and powertrains meant for heavy-duty trucks."

"We have already placed the order for your new vee-hic-ulllllll." drawled the Chief. "Needless to sayyyy, the one you were driving tonight was totaled."

"Amazingly," said Cindy, "no one but the perps were killed... several of them by single shots to the head or right in the heart." Yes, my ex-wife is just that good a shooter.

"So you were positioned near the funnel spot." I said, getting the train of questioning back on the tracks. "How did you know to be there."

"Mostly because I asked them to."

The voice was that of EAD Owen Lange. He came on into the Conference Room. "Ever since those slugs Wurtzburg and Sioban began blabbing to Kingdom Come about you and McGinty's Materials, I've been expecting something like this to happen. And we were starting to pick up some chatter about a possible attack on you. But I thought it'd be an attempted kidnapping, like what happened to you before. And I didn't tell you because I didn't have anything solid yet... and I knew you were irritated at us Feds, as it was."

"I think I found out who my friends are, tonight." I said with a nod towards Muscone. "So... who were those unsavory characters that were favoring me with copper-and-lead gifts?"

Cindy said "Ex-cons, mostly for serious drug distribution charges. All of them out of Southport. Toxicology will determine if they were amped up on drugs, but it looked very similar to what the Consultant liked to do." I saw Tanya's face fall a bit; similar perps had paralyzed her in a murderous attack. (Author's note: 'Six Degrees', Ch. 01-02.)

"I don't disagree." I said. "But at least one of them had strong familiarity with the weapons. I heard him calling out for the rocket launcher and grenades."

"Speaking of thaaaat," said the Chief, "you were right that the rocket apparently failed to fire when the trigger was first pulled, then went off when rookie Patrolman McElwane picked up the launcher. He'll be getting remedial in-struck-shunnnn on handling evidence and handling weapunnnnnns. Fortunately, there was little damage to the road, and no one was hurt."

"I think he got an unforgettable lesson tonight." I said. "Anyhoo, this attack had elements of good planning but not-so-good execution, thank goodness. What was the weaponry like?"

"The rocket launcher was not American-made." said the EAD. "Old and very cheap, possibly Iraqi or Iranian manufacture... from their 1980-88 war. No wonder it misfired. The M-4s were illegally modified for full automatic fire, and were also pretty old and some were just about worn out. The bullets were cop-killer high-power rounds, and it's a testament to your SUV's manufacturer that it held out so well against the sustained fire for as long as it did." I nodded.

"Hastily slapped-together unit," I muttered, "armed with secondhand weapons but top-class ammo and a lot of it. Brilliantly planned ambush, but they could not finish it off..." I went into a reverie.

"I guess this would not be a good time to challenge you to a rematch in the boxing ring." said the EAD, his eyes glinting just a bit. Whaddya know! The EAD has a sense of humor, I thought to myself.

"Er, no." I replied.

Part 19 - Media Malfeasance

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" said the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Friday, July 19th, from the KXTC anchor desk. "Deeply unpopular Governor Val Jared is once again under fire for failing to protect our Citizens against a criminal!"

Bettina began: "After our colleague Tim Sioban gave a sworn affidavit to the SBI that murdered journalist Louella Hopper had told him that she feared being harmed by Commander Donald Troy, the SBI began an investigation of Commander Troy as a suspect in our fellow journalist's murder. However, Governor Val Jared refused to suspend Commander Troy, who has been the Governor's political ally and tool to suppress the voices of the Governor's critics!"

Bettina: "Jared's failure to act drew strong complaints from Legislators of both political Parties. State Rep. Tasheeka Harris of inner Midtown denounced Jared and called for the State Legislature to be called into session to impeach and remove the Governor. And State Senator Katherine Woodburn called for the FBI to take over the Hopper murder investigation, saying that SBI Inspector Britt Maxwell could not conduct a fair and impartial investigation."

Bettina: "We have with us Dr. Adam S. Keller of the City University Rodham Foundation for Social and Political Change." A split-screen with Adam 'Pencil Neck' Keller was shown. "Dr. Keller, isn't the Governor shirking his duty by not suspending Commander Troy?"

"Absolutely, Bettina." said Keller. "This is a serious charge, that Commander Troy might be involved in the murder of Louella Hopper. He needs to be investigated for this potential criminal act, and he should be suspended without pay while this case is thoroughly and meticulously investigated, for as long as it takes to get to the truth."

"Dr. Keller," said Bettina, "Sources tell Channel Two News that Commander Donald Troy, who is Chairman of the Charter Commission, has suggested disbanding Boards of Inquiry, which is the Town & County Council's only means of oversight of the Police Force, and one of the few checks on the Power of Police to abuse People of Color. Isn't it an absolute 'Abuse of Power' for one of the TCPD's highest-ranking Police Officers to so blatantly try to destroy this oversight of his Police Force?"

"Bettina," replied Keller, "this is one of the most arrogant abuses of power that I've ever seen, even worse than what Commander Troy did to Donna Rodman and Hillary Braselton on Governor Jared's behalf. Commander Donald Troy is becoming a real threat to the Citizens of your County and our State."

"Thank you, Dr. Keller!" Bettina said. As the split-screen ended, Bettina said "Channel Two News will continue to keep you informed of the Charter Commission's actions. They are scheduled to have their hearings next Wednesday night on one of the most important issues to our County's citizens, your children, as they take up the proposals for a separate School Board and school taxation authority. And now let's go to Sports with Jeff Hull. Jeff!..."

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

"I don't believe this..." Teresa Croyle muttered, unable to believe what she had heard, or more precisely, what she had not heard. "There was an ambush on a TCPD Officer, a gun battle, a rocket launcher misfiring and damaging a street... and not one word at all?"

We were in the Chief's Conference Room, drinking coffee. After a few hours of sleep, I woke up very sore in places I didn't know I could be sore, so I was popping aspirins with my coffee.

"Why are we even watching that bullshit?" Cindy Ross asked. "Seriously? Why don't we just watch KFXU?"

Chief Moynahan said "KFXU shows their Fox national newscast at 7:00am, and I for one would rather see the local news."

"And it's the Chief's TV." I said humorously.

"And it's my remote controllllll, too." replied the Chief.

I said "Seriously, I get more out of Bettina's broadcasts under the 'Know thine enemy' concept. For example, I am beginning to understand just how scared somebody is that I'm using the Charter Commission as a means to get rid of Finneran by getting rid of Boards of Inquiry."

"And why not report one of the biggest news events in the State in that attack on you, Commander?" Teresa asked.

"I don't know for sure," I replied, "but I think Bettina does not want people to realize that it was her reporting about me having McGinty's Materials that led to that attack. I'm also noticing that they're getting really close to libel in accusing me of committing a crime."

"Yezzz." sad the Chief. "I've already instructed Captain Thompson to notify KXTC that we consider those remarks to be libelous."

"And Mike G. Todd will be sending them a 'cease and desist' notice," I said, "with the assurance that I'll be filing yet another lawsuit against Bettina and KXTC if they continue."

"I don't see as much as you do, Commander," said Teresa Croyle, "but what I'm seeing in that newscast this morning, and other recent newscasts, is that they are really going after you, trying to get you suspended if not outright killed. Maybe as a prelude to going after Governor Jared?"

"Or maybe because the Feds are very close to formally filing treason and other charges against Bettina." Tanya Perlman said.

"Along similar lines," I said, "Amber Harris's trial is coming up next month. What I've heard is that she may take a plea deal that will carry a year in jail, but there would be no parole afterwards. But if I'm taken out of the picture, she and her beagles may fight the charges all the way."

"One thing, for damn sure," growled Sheriff Griswold, "is that someone is trying to take out Commander Troy."

"Whether you have McGinty's Materials or not, Commander," said Tanya, "whatever is in them must be seriously dangerous to some serious people."

"Yes." I said. "And whoever was behind last night's attack was hoping that if I had them, killing me would make them disappear forever. In other words, they don't want the Materials found. But there are others who think I have them and would like to get them for themselves. And they're the ones I'm scared of, because they might go after my family or one or more of you guys or your families..."

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

"Hello and welcome!" said Catrina Pierce at 8:00am, from the Fox Eight studios. "I'm Catrina Pierce, and with me as always is Meredith Peller. Good morning, Meredith."

"Good morning, Catrina." said Meredith. "Good morning, everyone. Here's what's going on today: Police Commander Donald Troy narrowly escaped death last night after he was ambushed by four vehicles as he was driving home from a dinner engagement."

Photos of a damaged Police SUV were shown as Meredith continued: "Commander Troy's vehicle was badly damaged, but its security features allowed him to survive the attack until FBI Agents and other TCPD Officers could arrive at the scene. After what was described as a fierce gun battle, the perpetrators were all killed. Fortunately there were no other casualties, and Commander Troy only suffered minor injuries."

Catrina took it up: "Town & County Police Chief Sean Moynahan issued a statement to Fox Eight News, saying that our competitor KXTC's Bettina Wurtzburg's 'irresponsible' reporting that Commander Troy was in possession of papers known as McGinty's Materials is what led to the attack on Commander Troy. Chief Moynahan said that if Commander Troy had found the materials, he would've turned them over to the TCPD or other authorities as required by law, and that Wurtzburg's 'fake news' reporting has put his Police Officer's life and the life of his family and other Officers in mortal danger."

Catrina: "We have with us Town & County Sheriff Antonio Griswold." A split screen showed Our Sheriff at City Hall, wearing a brown Sheriff's jacket with full ribbons and his badge. "Sheriff, thank you for joining us today. Our competitor Bettina Wurtzburg made some strong accusations against Commander Troy with respect to his alleged involvement in Louella Hopper's murder. What can you tell us about that?"

"Thank you for having me on today, Catrina and Meredith." said Sheriff Griswold. "First of all, Commander Troy was investigated early on by the SBI for possible connections to Louella Hopper, and all the evidence pointing to him being at home with his family is pretty strong. That was corroborated by Assistant District Attorney Patterson, who had joined the Troy family for dinner."