Consent of the Governed Ch. 05

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 28 - Crossing the Line (continued)

Laura's hand went to her mouth in shock and I was working damn hard to control myself as we listened.

Carmela continued: "If seeing her daughter's dead body isn't enough, then you will kill her son. And then her sister's children. And then her sister."

The other man said, his voice much less clear: "Do we kidnap her daughter, hold her until Fredricson resigns all her posts, then return her alive? Or dead?"

"Preferably dead." Carmela said. "I want Fredricson to feel pain. And if she tries to resume any of her jobs, you just kill her son. And then her sister's children."

Then Carmela said "And one more thing: if I die, that is your irrevocable trigger to murder Fredricson's children, then her and her husband after they bury their dead little trolls. If the Iron Crowbar figures me out, and he or someone else thinks they can stop me by killing me, they will experience the pain of their failure when their children's bodies are stacked on the ground."

The other man said "I want half up front, then half after I deliver the kid's body to you."

"You'll have it." said Carmela. "I'll wire the money to your account in the Caymans in the morning. Five hundred thousand. The other 500k when Fredricson is gone..."

Muscone stopped the tape. "There's nothing else on it. His visitor left. We tried to get photos or video from cameras in the area, but it was 'no joy' on who it might have been."

"And we can't kill him." Laura said. "That'd be my first option, and I'd do it myself, but Carole's life, and Jim's, would forever be in danger, and we can't just lock them away."

"We have to do something!" Teresa said, her restraint breaking. "Carmela's already given the order."

*KNOCK!* *KNOCK!* *KNOCK!* *KNOCK!*

The door opened, revealing Captain Tanya P. Muscone and Martha the M.E. "Hi guys! Sorry to barge in, but Martha has something important she needs our help on."

Martha greeted us, then said "The four perps you asked me to expedite, Commander. I submitted fingerprints and head shots for facial rec in order to identify them. The data came back flagged, and said to contact the FBI."

"And we are now contacting my favorite FBI Agent." said Tanya with a smile for her loving husband Jack.

"Yeah, let's take a look." Jack said as he hooked up his laptop to the internet connection. He took the jump drive Martha handed him and plugged it in.

"I've got a couple of photos, too." I said. I texted them to Jack, and he submitted them, too. A moment later, the data came back. Jack's face showed shock as he looked at his computer screen.

"Brace yourselves." he said. He hooked up the laptop to the monitor on the wall, and four faces showed up on the screens.

"Ohhh, shiiiiiit!" I gasped. "Oh my God..." I stood up, frantically looking around. I saw and then dove for the trash can by the door, and became sick. Very, very sick. I vomited into the trashcan, half-filling it.

I picked it up and went with it to the bathroom down the hall, and retched some more. Once done, I cleaned out the trash can. As I was coming back down the hall, Laura met me. "Don, are you okay?" asked my favorite doctor.

"Yes and no." I said. "Let's go back in there." We went back into the Main Conference Room.

"I take it you know these guys." Jack Muscone said.

"Yeah." I said. "The two on the top row are Shaun Stevenson and Parker Cassidy... two members of the rogue SEAL Team that Trent Ridge and Quint Starr were a part of. Jeff Bayport's team." (Author's note: 'A Death In The Family' among other places for more on Trent Ridge and Quint Starr.) "Who are the other two?"

"Don't say their names out loud." Laura admonished. "I recognize one of them. He's a 'disavowed' CIA Officer that was accused of massacring several families in Afghanistan, including the children in those families."

Muscone said "The other one is also an ex-Navy SEAL. He was not part of the Trent and Quint team, but had ties to LT Jeff Bayport and LT David Carter." I remembered David Carter, who was involved in Laura's undercover operation with MegaTech Industries. (Author's note: 'Long Cool Woman'.) And that would explain why my wife would be so aware of who the other CIA guy was that she could and just did identify him.

Teresa looked over at me, a bit wide-eyed. I just nodded to her; she was figuring out that the reason I got sick was the realization that I had had her, Todd, Teddy, and Julia facing off against four of the very best trained and experienced combat personnel the United States could produce. Somehow, by the Grace of God and whatever we considered holy, we'd beaten them with no losses on our side.

Lucky. Lucky Iron Crowbar. Very lucky Iron Crowbar."

"Well," I said, seeing everyone looking at me, "this explains a few things I'd been wondering about before. But we need to get to work now."

My voice assumed its normally confident, authoritative tone of a natural leader as I said "Martha, thank you for bringing this to us. Let us know if any of the other bodies are those of people flagged by our Federal Government." Martha nodded and left.

Your Iron Crowbar: "Tanya, I need you to contact the Sheriff's Department and have them send five Deputies to Eastside Elementary. Laura, I need you to go to Eastside and get Carole, Marie, Jim, Ross, and Pete together, and tell them our pre-prepared message that they could be in danger, to stay with others, be aware of their surroundings, snd don't go anywhere alone. And that they'll have Deputies assigned to them, going where they go, watching over them."

Me: "After you've done that, you both can work with Jack, Melina, and the Feds on all this. Jack, I'll talk to you more later about it. All of y'all can go ahead."

"What about Tracy?" Jack asked.

"I'm going to invite her and Teresa to my office for a cup of coffee." I said enigmatically.

"At least tell us what this is about?" Laura said. She was not used to be told what to do without it being explained why, especially by her husband.

"When I saw these perps," I said, nudging my head towards the four faces still on the monitor, "I realized that all of the crap going on isn't just Lionel Carmela. He's just one of two separate entities at work here."

I continued: "I might add, Jack, that you should tell Clark Webster that he might have been right, and that Carmela might not be behind Tamara's disappearance. These bastards and the Epitome of Evil behind them likely are.. And if so, Tamara is probably dead."

Muscone nodded. He got up, and he and Tanya exited the room. Laura did not.

"There's still Carmela's threat to our children." Laura said. "How do we handle that?"

"Let's take care of one problem at a time." I replied. "Right now, the danger to our children needs to be resolved first, so go ahead to Eastside Elementary and let's get them protected." The mention of the clear and present danger to our children motivated Laura to get up and get moving....

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

In my office, I said "Teresa, there's a couple of things I need you to do." I told her what I needed her to do, then said "And make sure you are at the Council meeting with me tonight. You can go." Teresa moved out smartly to execute her missions.

I had Tracy Stone sit down and poured her some coffee, then filled my own Airborne School mug. As I sat down she said "Sir, I remember meeting your little daughter. She's a terrific little girl, and I'm as outraged at Carmela's threats to her as you must be." (Author's note: 'Jupiter Rising', Ch. 01-02.) I nodded, already knowing that to be the truth.

"And to that point," she said, "I have to ask: how do you do it? How can you stay so calm when there's such a threat to her, and to your whole family? And for that matter, how do we remove the threat to them? Carmela is pure evil, and he's insidious. Even threatening to kill him won't make him back off."

"You're right, it won't." I said. "In fact, I think he's almost hoping I'll try to kill him, which in his own twisted, demented mind will make him a martyr for the Socialist Cause. So we have to find another way to make him back off... if you're willing to help, and get your own revenge on him at the same time."

"I'd love to." Tracy said. "But how?"

"Simple." I said. "We threaten something he values more than his life..."

Part 29 - The 'Eyes' Have It

1:05pm, Tuesday, October 27th. Lt. Mary Milton of Intel Branch came to my office. I had her come in and sit down.

"Sir," she said, "I did what Commander Croyle asked on your behalf. Chris Purvis helped a lot, and we found a transaction for half a million dollars to a bank in the Cayman Islands well known for shielding transactions for 'connected' people, like mobsters and possibly hit men."

Mary: "It was routed and re-routed through a number of hubs, but Purvis found the source hub. It's a bank in San Francisco that Purvis said caters to the Academic Elites that want to siphon off grant money into their own accounts."

"And the Feds don't know about this?" I asked.

"Oh, they do know, sir." said Mary, considerable asperity in her voice. "They just aren't doing anything about it, and haven't for years. I'd even suggest that some very powerful California politicians in Washington, D.C. are making sure that nothing gets done, but that's tangential to what you wanted me to find." I nodded.

Mary: "What I was able to find was some transactions from that Cayman Islands bank back to the U.S. The guy who apparently owns the account is a bit sloppy, and only runs the transactions through a couple of hubs. The bank at the terminal receiving end is in Southport, and officially belongs to the sister of this man." She handed me a folder.

"Hmmm," I said as I opened the folder and perused the information. "Guido Andolini. Nephew of the 'Andolini' in Andolini & Tommasino, P.C., the Southport firm known as the Mafia's attorneys. Ambrusco Tessaforte, who represented Vince Viscotti of Viscotti Cabs, was with that firm until he came over all dead." (Author's note: 'Fire in the Embers', Ch. 01.)

Mary said "I didn't find that about Tessaforte, sir. Is that an old case of yours?"

"It was Teresa's bust when she was the Vice Lieutenant." I replied. "One of all the TCPD's best busts ever. Okay, so our man Guido here... not much of a sheet."

Mary said "No sir. Due to his family connections, he's always been in the upper echelons. But he's suspected in six murders, the victims being high level politicians or their family members. And if I may tell tales out of school, sir, I know the Mob in this State has a moratorium on accepting contract hits on friends and family of the Iron Crowbar, especially in this County. But if someone were to breach that and take money to harm your family, Guido is one of the few men with the temerity and the ability to try it. And it would take a million dollars to get him to take that on."

I nodded. "This is really good work, Mary. And extend my compliments to Purvis and anyone else that might've helped you get to this."

After Mary left the office, I took out a burner phone and dialed a number. "Ah, hello Senator. Cerone." I said. "I need a small favor..."

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

Two hours later, that burner phone rang. "Hello, Commander." said State Senator Jimmy 'Coffin' Cerone, the now-retired once-Boss-of-Bosses in Southport, and still one of the two most powerful men in this State's underworld.

"Hello, sir." I said.

"I checked out that information you gave me, Commander." said Cerone. "It turns out that Mr. Guido Andolini had recently taken on a contract that he knew was one he should not be taking. He agreed to let that contract expire unfulfilled, and Orrin B. Taggart agreed to let him live."

"I'm very pleased to hear that, Mr. Cerone." I said. "Mr. Andolini might be of future use to us, one day."

Cerone said: "I'm also pleased to tell you that the Town & County Dog Shelter and University Vet School will be getting a generous donation of a half million dollars, as Mr. Andolini shares your love of dogs. He hopes this will assuage any anger you might have for his poor decision-making. And I've put out word that dog owners like your daughter are completely off-limits."

"I am grateful to hear that, sir." I said. "Please thank him for his generosity. And I'll be sure not to disturb him and his businesses, as long as they're not in my County nor involve my family."

"I'll be sure to pass that along, Commander." Cerone said, understanding that I was telling him I wouldn't go on the warpath as long as Carole and my family were left alone and unharmed. After general pleasantries, we disconnected the call.

That's one problem mitigated, at least for the moment, I thought to myself as I called Laura on my normal personal iPhone. "Good news, Dear." I said. "I found out who that foul-smelling bastard was talking to and had made those poorly-thought-out contracts with, and the danger to our family is mitigated, at least for now."

I could feel as well as hear the relief in Laura's voice as she said "That's wonderful." Then she added: "But that bastard is still out for blood, and he still has his agenda, whatever it is."

"Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." I said. "Good things are in the works..."

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

7:15pm, Tuesday, October 27th. I came up to Teresa Croyle on the floor of the public Council chamber. Both of us were wearing light blue shirts, dark blue pants, and armor.

"What kind of crowd do we have tonight?" I asked as I observed the persons in the audience.

Teresa replied "I was expecting a lot of red shirts with Defund the Police on them. But almost none of them showed up. We have a dozen or so people wearing black 'Black Lives Matter' t-shirts, and a few green-shirted Environmentalist Wackos that likely will be escorted out when someone complains about their bad body odor. I didn't think it was possible, but they make Lionel Carmela smell clean by comparison."

"That takes work, like when Buddy rolls around in excrement and I have to get the washtub out for him." I replied. "But I see what you mean about this crowd... lots of diverse groups. I see some teachers that I know are strong supporters of the NEA, the powerful Teacher's Union, and a few School Board members sitting next to them. And then there are some observers from the 'Martin Van Buren Project', which has been formed and is devoted to separating the Town and County again. I've never heard them speak at a Council session, though."

"Do you really think that can happen?" Teresa asked. "Separating them, going back to what we were before the Merger? I wonder how the Press will gin that up. They'll probably say it's racist, and done to hurt Blacks."

I replied "If they do, they're hypocrites. No one, not even Sheriff Griswold, will say it out loud, but the rumors are that the Town and County were merged because Minorities were about to dominate the Town Council. The merged Council was set up with unequal representation to stop it."

Me: "The US DOJ forced us to have the equal-districting Assembly, which has exclusive rights to set taxes and the Budget, while the Council is semi-executive, one big 11-person Mayor, if you will. And that's one reason the US DOJ hates this County and constantly threatens us to this day."

Teresa said "Todd's people in Washington are saying that the US DOJ may force the Council to become equal-districting like the Assembly. What are the chances of that?"

I shrugged and said "I dunno. I'm not really worried about the Feds. It's Myrtle L. James and her crew of 'separatists', for lack of a better term, that worry me more. And one more thing: I'm hearing that the State Legislature may re-draw the lines of a number of counties. They may force us to merge with Nextdoor County and Coltrane County. Now if that happens, then the Town becoming a separate entity is a lot more likely."

"By the way," Teresa said, "There are almost no reporters here. Martha Faulkner for KXTC, a 'cub' for the SNN Networks, and no one at all for KFXU or the Fox State Networks. I would have thought Pat Stellum would be here."

"Good observation." I replied. "That means they don't expect------"

I stopped as the Council Members began filing in and taking their seats. Mayor Daniel Allgood gaveled us into session and asked for the paperwork to be submitted, which included reports and lawsuits against the County. Then he asked for Old Business, and there was none.

The Mayor asked for New Business. J.P. Goldman introduced the resolution to ratify the Budget submitted by the Town & County Assembly, and it was seconded by Susan Weston. And that's when the fight started.

Kelly Carnes asked that Assemblywoman Coretta K. Scott address the Council on Carnes's behalf. "Point of order." said J.P. Goldman. "The Assembly briefed the Council on their Budget earlier this afternoon in an informal session, and Assemblywoman Scott should have addressed us then."

Carnes said "And that's one of the points she will address, Mr. Mayor."

"I'll allow it." said Daniel Allgood. "But only for three minutes, which is coming out of your time, Mrs. Carnes."

Assemblywoman Coretta K. Scott came up and said "First of all, I was denied entry to that briefing, denied a chance to address the Council at that time, which is why I'm here now. And I'm here to object to the Budget being ratified, and ask that you reject it, because it contains funding for the Police, and our attempts to defund the Police were stopped because of malicious, racist, and illegal tactics employed against some of the Assembly members. We were harassed and intimidated by Police and Sheriff Deputies------"

"That's not true!" yelled J.P. Goldman, rising to his feet, his face red with fury. "The truth is that you and your fellow Democrats attempted to flee the County and the State to prevent the Assembly from having a quorum! You were arrested and returned, as is permitted by the State Constitution!"

"The State Constitution does not apply outside State lines." replied Scott. "We were arrested and physically beaten by Federal Marshals and brought back... illegally."

Points of order were being raised all over the place by both sides. The Mayor gaveled the Council into silence, then said "I have the floor at the moment. Commander Troy, did you arrest those Assemblypersons in another State?"

"No, Mr. Mayor." I said after Teresa handed me a microphone to speak into. "We arrested them... and by 'we' I mean me personally as one of the Officers at the scene... we arrested them at the front entrance to the TCPD Impound Yard, well within our own jurisdiction."

"And how did they get there, to the Impound Yard?" asked, more like hissed, Sheila Sorrells.

"It doesn't matter, at least not to me." I said. "I found them in my County, and returned them to the session of the Assembly, as allowed by State Law. They were under arrest and confined to the Assembly Chamber for the duration of that session of the Assembly."