Centuries Ch. 02

"That was a mighty quiet announcement of your Office, Agent Lindsey Black." I growled. "Mighty quiet. What are you doing here?"

As she got up, Lindsey Black said "I told Croyle not to leave her Town & County. I'm here with these Federal Marshals to arrest her..."

Part 7 - Federal Agents, Federals Issues

"You have got to be kidding me." I said. "First, put your weapons on the floor... NOW!"

When the Federal Marshals with Lindsey Black did not comply, I got out my FBI 'dark agent' ID and exhibited it to them. They're eyes widened. I repeated myself: "Drop your weapons, or I will simply shoot you right here and now." The Marshals complied.

"What are you DO-ing?" Lindsey Black gasped, her eyes wide. I showed her my 'dark agent' ID, and she didn't seem to understand. "So you're a Fed now, too? It doesn't matter. We're still taking Croyle into custody."

As Teresa took up the Agents's weapons, I said "I doubt it. First, I think we are very safe in asking you to exhibit the Federal warrant under which you intend to arrest her.... ohhh, I see. You don't have one." Their looks had given them away.

"Second," I said, "you're on the wrong end of Ms. Croyle's powerful handgun to be making threats of arrest right now. So why don't you just tell me why you are here."

"Just following orders." Lindsey Black tried. It was a poor try.

"Ms. Croyle," I said witheringly, "they think we are stoo-pid."

"I pity the fools." Teresa replied.

"I don't." I said. "I don't really care how much this is going to hurt them. Agent Black, I am giving you one last chance... your final answer... to tell me why you're so scared of Ms. Croyle being here, in her childhood home. No, no, don't even try lying to me. You didn't so much want her to stay in her Town & County as you did not want her coming here. Now why is that, Agent Black? Why is that?"

"You won't believe me if I tell you." said Black.

"So maybe you should actually try telling me." I said. "And my own counsel will I keep on what I believe."

Lindsay Black said "We're trying to save her life. If she stays here any longer, she's going to be killed."

"By who?" I asked.

"By the same people that want to frame Jack Muscone for his brother's murder." said Black. "Her being here throws a wrench into their gears."

"How? Why?" I asked. Lindsey Black said nothing, though I could tell she wanted to. I tried a different tack:

"Federal Marshals Dugan, and Powell, if memory serves me correctly..." I said, remembering them from the Colombian Cartel case. (Author's note: 'Only Time', Ch. 01.)

"And it always does." Teresa replied, as if on cue. The Federal Marshals nodded.

"So why are you here?" I asked. "Aiding and abetting this disgraced Federal Agent's unlawful entry of this premises, attempting to essentially kidnap my Operations Commander, and going along with these stupid games. Why are you destroying your careers this way, not to mention that I could've just shot you dead when you came in here. So what's it about, hmmm?"

"Believe it or not," said Dugan, "we really are just following orders. And from a lot higher up than Agent Black. She's just doing what she was told, too."

"By who?" I asked.

"Dr. Robin Isley." said Dugan.

"Would you shut up?!" growled Lindsey Black.

"Ma'am, it's the truth." said Dugan. "You're about to go down for something that's not your wrongdoing."

"And it's my call to do that." Black said.

"Commander," Teresa said, "are we going to listen to these vaunted Federal Agents bicker amongst themselves? Or can I start getting confessions out of them... the Iron Wolf way?"

"That sounds scary, ladies and gentlemen." I said. "Absolutely frightening. So... the truth. You're here to save Ms. Croyle's life? I'm touched. So why does her life need saving?"

"I've already told you. I'm done talking." said Black. "And you two better keep your mouth's shut, too." she said to the Marshals. Looking back at me, she said "Either arrest us, or let us go."

"As you wish." I said. I took out my iPhone and called the Police Department...

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

I was driving the black Escalade, with Teresa riding shotgun. The Police had come, and had agreed to keep the Federal Agents in their jails until the morning after I told them that we'd come get them in the morning and transport them to an FBI facility for further questioning.

"Think they'll be there when we do go get them?" I asked.

"Yes." said Teresa. "Both Chief Bennett and my friend the previous Chief hired good people, most of them from somewhere else. The only thing that might happen is that Robin Isley might be here, or will send someone to come get them out." I nodded.

"So, Don," Teresa said, "why does my life need saving?"

"Well," I said, "we have a long way to go and a lot of data to obtain for me to prove this, but there are two separate but parallel reasons why your presence here, and mine too, for that matter, is scaring the living daylights out of some people. One is Alexis's death. If I'm right, then it was murder... not just a DUI accident, but premeditated, cold-blooded murder. The other reason is less clear, and I'm asking you to indulge me to not say anything until I get more data."

Teresa said "It's about my mother, isn't it?" My eyes cut over to her. She said "You're not the only Detective around these here parts. You've been trying to find out her full name and her past almost relentlessly, and it was her tombstone that was destroyed to bring me here, not Alexis's nor my father's."

I said "I think knowing more about her will answer some questions about why you were enticed to come back here. And I'll tell you this... Lindsey Black may not have realized just how truthful she was being about keeping you away to save your life, though why she'd want to save your life, I dunno."

Teresa nodded. "Okay, what's next?"

"Kenny, and his father." I said.

Teresa said "That's part of the story, too. Harmon Belton has been gouging people, though legally, for a long time. He would've been a really good businessman if he'd set his mind to doing it legally... and if he'd stayed sober. But Kenny? He's just a loser that's been living off his daddy all his life."

"If you wanted to say Kenny had a job," Teresa went on, "it would be 'enforcement'... like a Mob enforcer. He'd provide the muscle for his daddy, and he was doing it since his high school days. That's one reason that me whipping his ass and breaking his shoulder created such a sensation around here... more that I'd stood up to him than the physical beatdown itself."

I said "Where does old man Belton live? And Kenny?"

Teresa said, "Go north to Belton Hill Road and turn right, which is east. They live in what people here call the 'Big House' at the end of the road."

I took the road and we drove down. The houses were nicer along this road, which gradually sloped downhill, then over a bridge that was a dam for a lake, then back uphill. At the end of the road on the left was a large two-story house, with five windows across the front behind the columned front porch.

"So there are woods on the other side?" I said, seeing the trees and brush.

"Yeah, and a lot of mule deer in there." Teresa said. "You can see the radio tower at the top of the hill there." I could see further southeast the tall, thin spire of the radio tower reaching for the sky, the red light on top winking in warning to aircraft.

"On the other side of the hill, east of the tower," said Teresa, "is Federal Government property. That's pretty common out here; I think the Federal Government owns 50% or more of the land in this State. That's one reason the Railroads stopped running through here, though Todd and the Midwest & Pacific executives are finally cutting through a lot of the crap red tape." I nodded.

"Okay, just one more thing, but we'll wait until morning." I said. "It's a long shot, but if we can find and examine Alexis's car as well as the car that crashed into her, we may still get a bit of forensic evidence that will help us."

"And I may can help with that." Teresa said. "But yes, it will have to wait until morning, and you will have to know how to neutralize a true 'junkyard dog'..."

Part 8 - The Morning After

"Yes, it's a chance that we're taking
And somebody's heart may be breaking
But we can't stop what's inside us
Our love for each other will guide us.

So I'll be your friend and I'll be your lover
'Cause I know in our hearts we agree
We don't have to be one or the other."

------ Loring, Anderson, 'Friends And Lovers'

Cindy woke up, feeling groggy. She looked at the window, seeing the light of early dawn. Then she felt the arm around her waist, and the warmth of Tim's body pressed against her in a 'spoon' position. She smiled and relaxed back into him, and tried to go back to sleep. But sleep wouldn't come.

She stirred, and groaned as the soreness of her well-fucked pussy made its complaints. She remembered that after that first intense coupling, they had made love at a more leisurely pace. Tim had taken his time, and had used every bit of skill he had in order to bring her to a couple of orgasms... not as intense as that first one, but very fulfilling.

She turned to face him, and saw his eyes open, then look over into hers. "Good morning." he whispered. "Sleep well?"

"Mmmm, very well." Cindy said, smiling. She slid her hand over his taut belly as she said "That was an amazing night."

"You're an amazing woman." Tim said. He turned his body to face hers, wrapping his other arm around her, then gently kissed her. Cindy returned the kiss, then let her hand slide down to her new lover's half-hard cock, and gripped it in her hand, feeling it lengthen and harden.

"So..." Tim said, "where do we go from here?"

"To the bathroom, to breakfast..." Cindy quipped. Tim chuckled and kissed her on the nose. Then she said seriously "I don't know. Things just got... complicated."

"How so?" Tim asked. "Things seem simple for me right now... as we're lying here together with your hand stroking my cock."

Cindy whimpered a laugh. "Well, unless you have seriously deceived me, you're not engaged to be married, and you don't have a baby at home."

"True." said Tim. Then his voice got serious as he asked "And what about that? Listen, I don't want to scare you off, but you're all I've thought about since the day I met you. I'm definitely not sorry about last night, and I would like to see more of you... a lot more of you."

Cindy nodded. "And right now... I want that, too. But my head's not on straight right now." She bent over, sliding her body down his. "Soooo, for right now, this is all I want to think about."

And with that, she kissed the head of Tim's hard cock, then slid her lips down the taut shaft until she had buried every inch in her throat. She sucked hard as she slid her lips back up, enjoying the sounds of his groans and the quivering of his body. She began to fellate him in earnest, eager to swallow every drop of the semen she intended to orally force out of him...

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

7:00am local time, Saturday, April 11th. Teresa and I drove up to the military installation, where my FBI credentials got us on post. This ID was really coming in handy, I thought to myself.

Per Sheriff Griswold's text, we went to the lobby of the BOQ/guest hotel to meet the others. As we sat and waited, reading newspapers, I saw Cindy and Tim come down the hallway to meet us.

I've seen it for years, from my days in the Lab at Midtown, to being on the Town & County Police Force. When a couple comes in together in the morning, then tries to walk down the hall keeping that little bit of distance between them, as if to say "oh, nothing to see here, we're just friends'... then I know they hooked up. And as Cindy and Tim came up to us, I couldn't help but grin as I attempted to bury my nose in the newspaper.

And yes, Cindy noticed that I'd noticed, or she'd felt the vibe. She chose to go sit by Teresa and ask how our evening was as I said hello to Tim.

"We have a story to tell," Teresa said, "but why don't we wait until everyone gets here." That did not take long, as Sheriff Griswold came down the hallway, followed by Muscone and Escobar.

"You young whippersnappers must be starving." Griswold said to us, having made the astute observation. "Let's go to the dining hall."

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

Your Iron Crowbar loves military dining halls, mess halls, and even field chow lines. The United States Military has taken Napoleon Bonaparte's adage that 'an army travels on its stomach' most very seriously. I have to admit that Air Force bases have the very best chow halls, but the Army and Navy are not far behind, at all. This cafeteria-style dining facility had great food, including made-to-order omelettes and scrambles, pancakes and waffles, hash browns, S.O.S., bacon (always a good thing), sausage, fruits, biscuits, coffee, and cold milk, plain and chocolate.

We sat down at a table at the far end of the facility. I recounted to everyone what had happened, beginning with how four perps had been scared off by three perps in the guise of Federal Agents, led by Lindsey Black, and then what she'd lied to us about.

"It's never been good when she's shown up." said Muscone. "Were they really going to arrest Teresa?"

"If we hadn't been waiting for real perps and ensnared her in our web," I said, "they may well have."

"Whaddya wanna do with 'em?" Sheriff Griswold growled. "Press charges? Let Jack here handle it?"

Muscone asked "You think we'll get anything out of them?"

"Depends on what you want to know." I replied. "They're not going to tell you the real reasons why they're here, for sure."

"Let me call the Police Department there, and tell them I'll be there in a little while to get them." said Muscone. He suited the deed to his words.

Cindy said "Tim and I melted the ethernet last night looking for any data that might could help us. First, there's no 'Sarah Lenora' that we could find in the electronic databases, nor anyone with the first and middle names 'Sarah Lenora' that fit the timeframe of Teresa's mother."

Tim Jenkins said "We see fake identities a lot in Southport. I know that Teresa's mother lived in a time where electronic data wasn't the norm, but a lot of data has been copied into electronic media. So to find nothing suggests that Teresa's mother didn't want to be found, and was successful in that."

"That makes sense." I said. Remembering my 'dream' talk, I said "Let's hypothesize something... that Teresa's mother and father eloped, that her family didn't want her to marry him and she ran away to do so. Then he goes to Viet Nam, from where a lot of junior Officers did not return alive. But he did return. And Teresa's mother died young, when Teresa was born, so anyone that might've been looking for her later on could easily have never found her. Only now has interest been generated in finding her, which means something recently happened to generate that interest."

"Could it possibly have anything to do with the Railroad planning to come back here?" asked Eduardo Escobar. "That has really generated interest, but in a 'quiet' way. This military installation's people are very interested in that railroad line being built, so they can get a spur line built to here." I just shrugged.

"No." Teresa said, musing as if she were halfway in a reverie. "It... it has to go back to Alexis's death. I don't remember everything from that timeframe all that well, but I remember enough to know that Alexis didn't let me go with her the night she was killed, and in hindsight I have to wonder if she knew something. And Kenny and his father were bullies back then, like they are now. And my dad... well, I remember he didn't brook much shit from bullies like them, kind of like... the Iron Crowbar."

"Awww." I said, sensing some of the emotion that Teresa was feeling in saying that. Cindy's eyes also were a little too wide for her ruggedly pretty face and her rosy cheeks... wait, whaa?

Teresa said "I'm just thinking that they must've hated my dad. Maybe all this had something to do with him and the Belton bullies."

"Could be." growled Griswold. "And the way the Iron Crowbar handled Belton last night was... spooky. I'm glad I'm on your side, Crowbar."

"So am I, Sheriff." I said.

After we finished eating (and Teresa and I ate a LOT), Sheriff Griswold said "Okay, folks, what's next?"

I said "Jack, you want to go visit Lindsey Black? Maybe take Tim and Eduardo with you? And we Town & County LEOs can check into a couple of things. Did you secure rooms for two nights?"

"No, and you can't." said Muscone. "We'll have to 're-apply', so to speak, and we may not get the same rooms we had last night. But after 12:00 noon, I'll try to book another set."

"Okay." I said. "I just want to find a place to get on the computer and do some research, and send a few emails."

"You can do that at the hospital, if you take me to see Bennett." said Chief Griswold.

"That'll work." said Teresa. "I need to see about getting a new headstone for my mother's grave."

"I'll go with you to do that." said Cindy...

Part 9 - Junkyard Dawgs

Chief Harold Bennett was doing much better when Sheriff Griswold and I went in to talk to him, and he was in good spirits. But the bruising was beginning to work its way to the surface, and that was uncomfortable for him.

"Chief," I asked, "what's the situation like in town? Does Harmon Belton run everything? Have you had problems with him?"

"Yes and no." said Chief Bennett. "Sometimes Harmon can be a really nice guy, like that benevolent uncle that wants to help you out when you're down. But when he's been drinking, he can be mean. And if he thinks someone is double-crossing him, or not giving him his cut of their profits, it can be ugly."

Bennett: "I've had a couple of run-ins with him, both times over his son Kenny. The first thing my predecessor Police Chief told me, and the first thing that the Police Officers and some townspeople told me, was that Kenny was a mean-spirited bully, and that he would test me and the Police. My Officers broke Kenny down hard a couple of times, and his daddy did a lot of yelling at me. But I just let him rant, realizing he was just venting. I think Harmon has a certain level of respect for us. Kenny... not one bit."

Bennett: "Because I was in the Town & County Police, and knew Teresa, when I first got here I asked around about her. And I got a lot of cold shoulders and pinched-mouth silence. Teresa, Alexis, and their parents are the one forbidden subject around here, especially Alexis's death. People have been beaten up, like I was. And I guess you've heard of Mildred, and how she died."

"What do you think of that?" I asked, peering at Chief Bennett.

"I think that not much gets past the Iron Crowbar." said Bennett, seeing my look, and lowering his voice as he spoke. "As you demonstrated to me all too many times." Sheriff Griswold chuckled.

"Ricin?" I asked quietly.

"Like I said, not much gets past you." said Bennett quietly. "The Coroner and I were talking at the Kiwanis meeting. He told me that the family had not wanted an autopsy, then he found out that her body was claimed by a Councilman, a crony of Belton, and they wasted no time getting her cremated and buried. He mentioned that after he heard that, he realized her symptoms were very similar to ricin poisoning, but there was not much to be done about it, and I agreed with him."

I nodded. "Okay, I'll let you and the Sheriff catch up on old times while I look up some data..."

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

Thirty minutes later, Sheriff Griswold came up to me in the 'wired' waiting room that had WiFi, as I was typing on my laptop.