Cool For The Summer Ch. 03

Going in, she saw Laura sitting behind her desk, and FBI Special Agent Tim Jenkins sitting in front of the desk, which sent a little thrill of excitement through her at the sight of him. Tim got up and came up to hug Cindy, and she returned it... and pressed her mouth to his in a very warm kiss.

"Wow, I need to visit more often." Tim said. "How are you feeling?"

"Good!" Cindy said as she guided Tim back to Laura's desk. "Hi Laura. Care to have lunch with us?"

"You don't have an appointment with her?" Tim asked Cindy. "A check-up, or anything?"

"No," said Laura, "that was just an excuse for her to come up here while you're here. As to lunch, you two go ahead, and enjoy yourselves, and I'll get some errands run...

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

After Cindy and Tim left, Laura put her things away and left for The Cabin. When she got there, she was greeted by two outstanding dogs.

"Hi, guys." she said, reaching over and petting them. "Where are your owners?"

"Over here, Mommy!" Carole said. She was working hard writing something as Marie made drawings. Tasha was coloring in her coloring book. Paulina was doing legal work at the dining room table.

"Molly took the boys to Day Camp over in Nextdoor County." Paulina said.

"Mommy, did you call Mr. E-A-D for me?" Carole asked.

"Yes, I did." said Laura. "I'll text him again now." She texted EAD Owen Lange. He arrived about ten minutes later.

"Hi, Laura." he said as Laura let him in. "I'm glad you called. I need to talk to you."

"Okay, we can talk on the back deck." Laura said. On the way, they were intercepted by Carole.

"Mr. E-A-D?" Carole asked, holding up a card in an envelope, "will you send this to my sis-ter Greta in New York City? It's my sis-ter's birth-day to-morr-ow. Daddy can't send her a card, but I can!"

"Awww, that's sweet." Laura said.

"Yes, it is." said Owen Lange. "And yes, I will make sure Greta gets this." He took the card, and a very happy Carole went back to writing her Detective novel...

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

"Carole is one smart kid." said Owen Lange as they sat at the table on the back deck under the opened umbrella, and Laura poured them ice-cold lemonades, yellow lemonade for Owen, pink lemonade for herself, as she preferred pink lemonade. (Author's note: 'Pink Lemonade', Ch. 01.)

"Yes, she's already figured out about the custody agreement Don made to not contact Greta until she's eighteen." Laura said. "And I'm glad to see Carole remembered her sister's birthday and is thinking of her. I just hope Greta gets the card."

"I'll make sure she gets it." Owen Lange promised. Then he got to business. "How's Don doing?"

"Not good." said Laura. "Jack was one of Don's best friends, and Don really is taking Jack's move against Brody as a betrayal. But worse is what's happening with Tanya. It's not a personal thing between her and Don, but she's a Captain in the TCPD, while married to Jack. And beyond that, she and Teresa and Cindy are 'Crowbar's Angels'. That's a bigger deal to them, and to him, than almost anything else. Teresa even had things built into her house so that Tanya can stay there and get around despite her paralysis."

"Don really expects their loyalty." said Owen Lange. "And maybe that's part of the problem, here."

"No, you've got that wrong." Laura said. "Don does not expect anyone's loyalty. Not even mine; he knows that in my CIA capacity I've had had to put my loyalty to the Nation ahead of my loyalty to him at times. And he and Cindy don't always see eye-to-eye, which he actually appreciates. Teresa is totally loyal to Don, and that's by her own pledge... and Don fully reciprocates that; he may trust her more than he trusts even me."

Laura: "And Don knows that Tanya is married to Jack, and will be loyal to her husband. The problem with her is that she's also a Captain in the TCPD, and it's a matter of where her loyalties lie. And he really thought Jack had seen enough of him to trust him, and to leave Brody alone because he, Don, had said Brody was okay."

"Yeah." said Owen Lange. "In Jack's defense... everything he's doing is legit. Brody admitted to planting the device, there's security interests involved, and we have to know what Brody knows. If it weren't for Don's insistence that Brody was duped, and is innocent... there would be nothing to this."

"Owen, no one understands that more than I do." said Laura. "But I also watched Curtis Halsey point his gun at my daughter, and he was about to pull the trigger when Teresa Croyle got in the way. I know as well as anyone what Federal Agents can do if they want to, and how much they can get away with. And I also know that when my husband told Jack Muscone that Archie Brody was not a problem, Jack should've trusted my husband's judgement... and he didn't."

Owen Lange said "I'll probably catch hell for this... but is your husband always right?"

"Just about all the time." Laura said. "And someone inherited the trait from him--- oh, hello Carole."

Carole was holding her mother's cell phone in her hand. "You're about to get a phone call, Mommy."

"Oh." Laura said, taking the phone. "Well, thank you for bringing it to----"

*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*

"You should take that." said EAD Owen Lange. Laura answered the call as EAD Owen Lange looked back in sheer disbelief at Carole, who was already walking back into the house...

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

"Oh, that was great!" Cindy said as she finished off her steak. She and Tim were at the Cattleman's Club. They'd kept the conversation lighthearted, making sure to talk about innocuous things unrelated to the tense situations at their places of work. They definitely talked about the prenatal progress of their baby.

"How's Callie doing?" Tim had asked.

"She's doing well." Cindy said. "She said to tell you she hopes you're doing well. I asked her to come to lunch with us, but she had other things to do."

"She's not trying to avoid me, is she?" Tim asked.

"No, I really didn't get that from her." Cindy said. "I do think she didn't want to get in the way of me talking to you today, be it about friendly things or... work things."

Tim nodded. After they'd finished eating their large portions of delicious food, he said: "Yeah. I might as well bring up the 800 pound gorilla in the room. This thing between Jack Muscone and the Iron Crowbar has sent shockwaves through the Region. Julius Jefferson feels caught in the middle. ASAC (Karina) White owes a good bit of her career to Don, as do I. Crenshaw is more solidly on Jack's side, but he's worried that Jack may be crossing the line overreacting to his wife's wheelchair being bugged."

Cindy nodded. "It's bad for Tanya, as well. It's not so much a Don vs. Jack thing... even Don expects Tanya to be loyal to her husband... but Tanya is close to crossing the line and taking the FBI's side over the TCPD's."

"What, you wouldn't take my side over the TCPD's?" Tim said. Cindy whimpered a laugh, along with a bit of a 'look' at him, making him hastily add "Just kidding."

"I know." Cindy said. "Seriously, I'm Don's first cousin, and we are closer than that in many ways... but I'm not loyal to him over the TCPD. And maybe not over Sheriff Griswold, either, who did a lot for me before Don got to the TCPD, and afterwards also. Teresa, by way of contrast, told her husband Todd that she loved him and would honor him as his wife, but if it came right down to it, her total loyalty is not to him nor the TCPD, but to the Iron Crowbar."

"I hear you." said Tim. "Tell me... if Don found out where Archie Brody was, what would he do?"

"He'd send his lawyer to help Brody, and represent Brody." Cindy said. "He intends to use the legal process to do that, but if your fellow Federal Agents start up any shit, then Don will blow them up in very embarrassing ways... both publicly and privately."

"So Don won't go 'scorched earth' publicly, if he finds Brody?" Tim asked.

"If he finds him in time." Cindy said.

"Let's go back to your office." Tim said...

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

Laura drove up to the guardhouse at the employees's entrance of Police Headquarters in her Mercedes. As the guard, a rookie Patrol Officer, was asking for her ID, Lieutenant Micah Rudistan walked up.

"I've got this, Officer." Rudistan said. "Hello, Dr. Fredricson. Hello, Carole."

"Hi Mis-ter Roood-i-stan." said Carole. "Congrat-u-lations on your big drug bust!"

"What drug bust is that?" Rudistan asked jovially.

"Oh, that's not until Wednesday night." Carole said. "Sorry." Laura just looked at Rudistan with her eyebrows up in a 'hoo boy' expression.

"Well I hope you're right, Carole." Rudistan said. "I love busting bad guys."

"Meeeeeee, too!" Carole said enthusiastically.

"Go on through, ma'am." said Rudistan. "I'll see you inside."

"Thanks." said Laura. She drove on through and around to the back, where the gym entrance to the building was. Just a couple of moments later, that door opened, and Rudistan's jovial face came into view. Laura and Carole went inside, followed by the person that had gotten out of the back seat, wearing a shawl to cover her head and face.

Carole was looking up at the back wall of the gym, over the locker room entrance. "You guys need some paintings there, Mr. Rood-istan." she said.

"That's a good idea, Carole." Rudistan said jovially, unaware that a seed had just been planted in Carole's mind that would one day be acted upon.

Going down the back hallway, Carole looked reverently at the photos of previous Police Chiefs, then at the Medal of Valor recipients photos, seeing her father's photo up there twice.

"That's a very special wall, Carole." said Rudistan, seeing her reverent look, his voice as solemn as he could make it.

"Yes sir, it is." Carole said. "And my picture is going to be there, one day."

"Let's get you to your dad's office." Laura said. They walked on down the hall, to my office.

"Hi Daddy!" Carole said as she came in, followed by her mother. Rudistan continued down the hall towards his own office.

"Hi Fussbudget." I said. "Hi Laura." I pretended not to notice that someone went into Cindy's office behind them..."

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

Cindy and Tim arrived at her office and went inside. To Cindy's surprise, a woman with a shawl covering her head and obscuring her face was sitting on the sofa, which was against the near wall, facing her desk.

"It's all good." Tim Jenkins said as he closed the door behind them. The woman slid the shawl back and Cindy almost gasped... it was FBI Assistant Special Agent In Charge Karina White!

"Uhhh, hello." Cindy said uncertainly.

"I'm here to give you the information you and the Iron Crowbar need." Karina said as she put on latex gloves. She got up and went to Cindy's desk, picked up a Post-it notepad and pen, and printed an address on it."

Tim said "Commit it to memory, then burn it."

Cindy said "I have to show it to someone. I'll let him memorize it." She put on latex gloves and took the top sheet off. Exiting the office, she pirouetted into mine, opening the door without knocking.

"This is the big one, Daddy." Carole said. "You gotta act on it, for Pete's sake. I peered at my daughter, getting a vibe that she wasn't just saying the phrase... she meant that this had to do with young Pete Feeley. Now why does that matter to Carole now, I wondered to myself.

I had no time to ponder it. Cindy was holding the post-it note up. "Don't touch it, just read it and memorize it. I did so. Cindy then took the ashtray on my desk, not used for smoking but just these moments. She lit the piece of paper on fire, and crushed the remnants of the paper to small flakes of ashes.

"I'll take Carole home now." Laura said.

"Bye, Daddy!" Carole said. "See you at dinner tonight!"

"See you there, Fussbudget." I said. The instant my door was closed with me alone in the office, I fished out a burner phone from my desk. I dialed a number, told the recipient of my call the address I'd just memorized, and disconnected. Then I began taking the steps to utterly destroy that burner...

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

"It's a warehouse on City Airport property, Your Honor." Mike G. Todd was saying to Judge K.M. Landis is the judge's Chambers. "We know the Federal Government owns the property."

FBI Supervisory Special Agent (and Dark Agent) Melina Allgood said "I con confirm that, Your Honor. That warehouse has been used for covert meeting at the Airport for several years. There is a basement facility not on any public maps or floor plans, which has prison cells that can be used to interrogate suspects with enhanced psychological methods."

"And you think they took Brody there?" asked K.M. Landis, a Federal Judge renowned for his love of the Constitution, and also a friend of the Police, which some said could not possibly co-exist. He was elderly and had white hair, and just looked like what a renowned Judge should look like.

They were in Lexington, in Hamilton County. (Author's note: 'Unresolved', Ch. 02 for more on Lexington.) In its infinite wisdom, the United States had decided to build a United States Courthouse and Post Office for the Western District of the State in this town of 2000 people, rather than the more populous Town & County up in the corner of the State.

"Yes, Your Honor." said Melina. "My sister has vouched for its reliability. When Judge Landis asked who Melina's sister was, his eyes widened in shock when he heard the name 'Laura Fredricson'.

"That's good enough for me." said Judge Landis, knowing very well who Laura was. He issued a warrant for City Police, the SBI, and 'reliable' Federal Agents to enter the property to search for Archie Brody. It also instructed the FBI to bring Brody to City Police Headquarters.

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

*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*

"Yeah?" said Jack Muscone, answering his cellphone. "Shit! All right, thanks for calling." As he disconnected, he said "They found us. Federal Judge Landis has issued a warrant to search this place."

"What do you want to do?" said Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Russo, head of the BAU team.

"Let's get him back to the Federal Building." said Jack Muscone.

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

4:00pm, Saturday, August 15th. An 'anonymous tip' had come to Melina, saying that Archie Brody had suddenly appeared at the Federal Building in the City. She arrived with Mike G. Todd and Rudy 'Bulldog' Louis at the Federal Building. City Sheriff Deputies also arrived.

Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Russo met them in the entrance to the FBI offices. "We'll take you to him." said Russo.

"No." said Mike G. Todd. "This warrant requires you to give him over to the City Deputies to transport him to City Jail. We'll interview him there."

Russo didn't bat an eyelash, but turned to one of his team, Special Agent Luke Morgan, who was black and very muscular, and said "Bring him here."

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

I arrived at City Police Headquarters and was met by City Detective Sapper Warren. I had brought Laura with me in the Black Beauty, and while she did not complain about the speeds I drove, her knuckles had turned white as she held on for dear life.

"He's in the interrogation room." said Sapper Warren. "He was really out of it for a while. We gave him some water and some energy bars, and he drank almost half a gallon of water at one sitting."

When we got to the Interrogation Room, I saw Melina and the two lawyers, as well as Todd Burke and Teresa Croyle. Todd was there to represent his employee's interests. Teresa was there to protect me.

There were also several FBI Agents there... but not Jack Muscone. One of the FBI Agents came up to me.

"I'm Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Russo. I'm in charge of the New York Behavioral Analysis Unit." said the tall white man with a full head of black hair. "This is Special Agent Luke Morgan, and Special Agent Emily Lewis." Emily Lewis was a white woman in at least her upper 30s, slender and fit, with raven black hair, as well. Must be a requirement for this BAU team, to have raven black hair, I thought to myself.

"I'm Donald Troy, here in my capacity as SBI Inspector and FBI consultant." I said. "This is Dr. Laura Fredricson, on Staff at University Hospital and head of the Psychology Department with the University."

"We've heard of Dr. Fredricson, of course." said SSA Russo. "It's an honor to meet you, ma'am."

"I wish I could say likewise," Laura said severely, "but this is a very serious situation."

"Yes, it is." I said. "Doctor, would you please give Mr. Brody a physical and psychological examination at this time? His lawyer will video it, as well as the City Police cameras." Russo didn't bad an eyelash; either he's that good, I thought to myself, or he doesn't think anything wrong has happened here.

Laura went into the Interrogation Room. A City Police Officer freed Archie Brody from the handcuffs that were holding him to the ring on the table. Rudy Louis was filming with a handheld camera, and Laura had a video camera secreted in her medical bag, which she deftly positioned on the table.

As Laura examined Brody, she asked him questions, and I was impressed how well she asked the questions in a doctor-like way, but was gleaning a lot of information. I'll give a synopsis of what Archie Brody told her here:

"They put a cloth bag over my head after they arrested me." Brody said. "I have no idea where I was. When they took the mask off, I was in a jail cell. There was no window. There was a toilet, but it didn't work, so after I dumped in it, it didn't flush."

Brody: "They gave me a little bit of water, but no food. They told me I'd get food when they told me what I wanted to know. I asked for a lawyer over and over, and they said I'd get a lawyer after I told them what I wanted to know. I told them that a cop had asked me to install that tracking device, and they said I was lying, and that I was going to jail for ten years for lying to Federal Agents. But I wasn't lying! I told them nothing but the truth!"

He was getting agitated, and started shaking. Laura soothed him down until he was calm. Some minutes later, she came back out.

"He's badly disoriented." Laura said. "He was held in that confined, windowless space with no concept of time. He's badly dehydrated, and was probably much worse before the City Police gave him food. He's starving, and needs a full meal immediately; in fact, I'd give him an IV if I had one here with me."

I just looked over at the FBI BAU Agents. Special Agent Emily Lewis dared to speak up. "We gave him water at regular intervals. He was increasingly resistant to us, requiring us to increase the pressure on him----"

"For what purpose?" I asked, interrupting her but trying to keep my voice calm.

"He was not telling us who he was working with." said SSA Russo.

"He did tell you that." I said. "He told you that a Police Officer had him install that device in a Police Captain's wheelchair."

"Police Captain?" asked Russo, very startled. "We were told she's the wife of an FBI Special Agent In Charge."

"And that is also true." I said. "But Archie Brody here told the Town & County Police that he was asked by the TCPD to install the tracking device. The cop was rogue, and forged my signature on the document. As Mr. Todd Burke here will tell you, Archie is one of the techs that worked on that Police Captain's wheelchair regularly. Archie acted in good faith, but he was duped."

The BAU Agents were looking at each other with 'WTF?' looks on their faces. I continued: "And I'll bet that's exactly what he told you under your more-than-harsh interrogation techniques. The reason they didn't work, giving you the excuse of working him over even harder, is because he was telling the truth all along. Did that not occur to you, at all?"