Dark Side of the Force Ch. 05

"You're right." said Eugene. "That's why I'm going to go back to Southport and fight the bastards even harder. After I got over being angry about that shit in the hotel room, I realized that my only way to truly beat those bastards down is to do what I'm doing... be the best cop I can be and kick the bad boyz's asses clean to the kerb."

"There you go." said Sandra, picking up her beer glass. "And we're all in this fight together." Beer glasses clinked all the way around.

Theo said "By the way, Dean's lawyer got the tapes of the bar where Dean was drinking that night. Seems couple of people talked to Dean, but nothing showed his drink being drugged. Woman was a redhead, very good looking, but nobody could make out her face-"

"That could be anyone." said Martin, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Why, it could almost be a description of Sandra."

"Oh, stop that!" Sandra said playfully, slapping her boyfriend on the arm.

"Yeah." said Theo. "It almost could... and the bartender said some guy name 'Kyle Irons' was the name of the guy who talked to Dean. I've heard that name before..."

"It was the name Commander Troy's nephew used when he was working at The Asylum." said Martin Nash. "But I somehow doubt the man was Ned."

"No doubt about it." said Theo, smiling handsomely. "And I wouldn't be surprised if the Iron Crowbar himself suggested that name to whoever that good man is. That man, the Iron Crowbar... he has no fear. And I'll tell you what, guys... it was a thing of beauty watching Lt. Croyle personally lead Dean through the arrest and booking procedures. I think that's the first time I've ever seen her really smile...

---

"Thanks for the beer." said Jack Muscone as he and Teresa sat at a table in the otherwise empty back room. "What's the occasion?"

Teresa looked around to make sure they weren't being heard, then said "Just a small token of my thanks... for killing the God-cursed piece of shit that killed my sister Alexis."

Muscone's small eyes widened, such as they could, then he relaxed and said "Yeah, I know. He was my brother, my half-brother, anyway. He was a real puke. Why the FBI took him in, I have no fucking clue, but after he wiped out your sister and her friend, they got him off. That really pissed me off."

"So why did you kill him? I know it wasn't just because of my sister, and you certainly didn't know me then." Teresa said.

"Well..." said Jack, looking around, "just between you and me and the lamppost, they assigned him to work with a team that was working with my team. My idiot brother fucked it up and got another agent killed. A good man, with a wife and two kids himself, wiped out by my brother's incompetence and sheer stupidity. The FBI had to cover for him, though, due to political considerations. But I'd had enough."

Jack lowered his voice to just barely above a whisper. "When he came into my apartment, half drunk and actually celebrating getting off for the agent's death, I just entered that state of being where I was outside of myself. I remember watching someone tell him he'd drive him to a bar to celebrate... that someone was me, outside myself. I then drove him 30 miles outside the City, dragged him out of the car, took out a pistol with the serial number scrubbed off... and I shot the bastard. I shot the bastard in the back of the head, then wiped down the gun and left it there with him."

Jack continued: "They found him about a month later, did a routine investigation, then closed it up. They didn't even ask me a single question about it, just told me I could claim the body and bury him. So I did. Maybe they knew, maybe they didn't. But Teresa... to this day I do not regret, not for one moment, killing that bastard. I felt even better when I heard your story, though I couldn't tell you before now. How did you find out, by the way? A little crowbar whisper in your ear?"

Teresa smiled...well, what was a smile for Teresa 'Cunt'. She said "No, Don never said anything, but I knew that you'd helped him find that photograph of Alexis and me, and I always wondered why you went out of your way to do that. So I investigated, looking up the bastard for the first time since I became a cop, having to think about him for the first time since... Well, Myron Milton is very good about finding out anything he wants to know... and he wanted me to know. So here's to us, and successfully stopping evil people." They clinked beer mugs and drank.

"I will say this." Jack Muscone said. "What I did to my brother... it put things into some perspective for me. And I think Don felt it when he confronted his nephew for the last time. I knew that what I did was wrong, illegal... and I knew I had to control myself to never let that demon out again for any reason less than the utmost good and right. I let go once, but I have to be careful not to let go again. I hope that makes sense."

"It does." Teresa replied, knowing she'd just been given the words to get her friend Cindy through the rough patches.

Jack continued. "And so... I'm glad I was able to help get Dean Allen." said Jack Muscone. "Watching you arrest that son of a bitch was a wonderful moment for me."

"Nowhere near as wonderful as it was for me." Teresa said. "I might not have been able to take out the bastard that killed my sister... but putting the bastard that killed Phil Kearns' family was the next best thing..."

----

It was very late when we went home. Teresa and Cindy had talked together for awhile after Teresa and Jack had come onto the deck with us. I don't know what they shared, but I definitely liked what I saw from Cindy's face afterwards.

"So," said Jack as we talked alone for a minute. "someone took that vial of poison from that prostitute. Any other attempts to kill that puke Allen?"

"Maybe." I said. "The guy was marked for death, that's for sure. I didn't know that so many people wanted him dead."

"We were getting some leads from CIs about it." said Jack. "Not enough to act, but the Southport Mob wanted him gone, some in the Democrat Party wanted him gone, and of course people like you that felt very bad for the girls he'd raped and the families destroyed by him."

"True, but I guess we'll never know." I said. "He died of natural causes, and I for one feel no real desire to look any further into any of it." Jack agreed and we clinked beer glasses. Lots of toasts on this occasion tonight...

And speaking of toasts... I had one last thing to do, one more visit to make. I stopped off at the bar, where 'Pops', the owner and bartender, handed me something I had asked for...

-----

Henry R. Wargrave sat in his study in the dark, all lights off, only the strong moonlight coming in, making everything eerily blue. He was trying to think, trying hard to understand what had just happened. Nathan Allen was dead, and the toxicology report came back clean, and the Coroner's Office were closing the case as a heart attack... no poison had been found. How could that be? Did Allen really die of a heart attack? just a stroke of sheer luck?

"You've never believed in luck, Mr. Wargrave." said the voice in the dark. To Wargrave's shock, the Iron Crowbar was approaching him. I had been watching him, gathering his thoughts.

"Away put your weapons, I mean you no harm." I said as Wargrave's hand had crept underneath his desk. He withdrew it, being much more wise than Sarah Collins had been.

"In fact," I said, approaching the desk as Wargrave turned on his desk lamp. "I came to help you celebrate, Mr. Wargrave... to celebrate your purchase of KSTD. Now maybe KXTC will get some competition, for a most very welcome change. And I brought this to celebrate."

I placed on Wargrave's desk a bottle of expensive single-malt Scotch, unopened. Wargrave tried to hide his shock as he saw the bottle "Do you mind if I get a couple of glasses?" I asked, helping myself to two of them from the liquor set behind the desk. Wargrave very rarely drank; these were for guests.

I opened the bottle and poured two glasses of the Scotch, trying not to grin as I observed how Wargrave was all but cowering away from the glasses as if they were rattlesnakes. I picked one up.

"Salud!" I said, raising one glass to my lips, but just before I drank I said "Please, won't you just have one sip, to celebrate?" Wargrave was watching me apprehensively as I returned my glass to my lips, took a sip, then a larger one, before finally downing my glass."

"Ahhh, that's really good." I said. "I hope you like this brand. I see you're concerned... ohhhhhh, I understand. Well, Mr. Wargrave, no worries. It just so happens that another bottle of this brand, an exact duplicate, was not found amongst Senator Allen's selections at his makeshift hotel office. And that bottle, the one that was not found, was accidentally dropped, and the cleaning staff quickly cleaned up the mess and poured Clorox all over the floor. Not a trace of that bottle nor its contents remain, I'm afraid. And no chance to test it for any poisons that certainly would've killed Senator Allen if he had not died of natural causes."

Wargrave finally spoke. "Why... why are you here, and telling me this?"

I picked up the other glass and handed it to him, then refilled my own. "Come now, Mr. Wargrave, do celebrate with me." I watched as he put the glass to his lips and pretended to drink. "It's a very good Scotch, I must commend you on the choice." I said, then quaffed down mine. Finally, Wargrave took a larger swig of his drink.

"Congratulations again, Mr. Wargrave. I must be going now. Thank you for the drink, and enjoy the rest of the bottle as my gift." I turned to leave.

"Again, Commander," said Wargrave to my back, "what's the point of this show?"

"Oh, that." I said, turning back to face him. "Just to let you know that everything is fine. Nothing to worry about, nothing harmful found. Senator Allen is simply dead of a heart attack, natural causes, and the world is a better place for it. And just to let you know that you have friends... friends watching over you. Allen is dead, and so you have not been seriously inconvenienced... at least not yet. But do be careful... there is a 'Reichenbach Falls' lurking around a corner for you somewhere." My last words were an outright threat, and Wargrave knew it.

"Three little Indians left, Commander." the billionaire said cryptically, and I knew what he was talking about. "Reminds me of the poem. I particularly liked that verse: 'Two Little Indian boys playing with a gun; One shot the other and then there was one.'. Take care now, Mr. Holmes. Take care."

"I'll be sure to." I said. "Good night, 'Professor'... and do give my regards to your lovely wife." With that, I turned to leave, having really worn out my welcome with that last comment, and getting out while the getting was most very good for my health.

"Dear me, Mr. Holmes, dear me." Wargrave quietly said to himself as he looked at the closed door through which I had just left, his mind still trying to think but the embers of his hatred beginning to spark.

Part 25 - Epilogue

Sitting in her cell in State Women's Prison, Elizabeth heard the clanking of doors of other cells. She really had no idea what it was about, and she didn't care. She was returning to the book she was reading when her own cell door opened.

"Let's go, pussycat." the guard said. She was a mean bitch, overweight, with brown hair and a pug face. "Langdon needs girls for his celebration party, and he specifically said that you were to come along."

"Fuck that." said Elizabeth. "I'm not one of that bastard's whores."

"You are tonight, bitch. Now move." said the guard.

"Fuck you."

"Oh yeah?" said the bitch guard. "I'll show you who is going to fuck who!" The bitch rushed Elizabeth but found herself grasping empty air. Then Elizabeth found a shoulder joint as the bitch passed, and roughly shoved the bitch to the floor on her face.

It is possible that our parents had Elizabeth and me take Aikido lessons when we were in our respective teens. I had used my skills to put Steven Ikea into surgery after he hit my mother. Elizabeth was using her skills now, and she quickly had a bitch guard shoved against the wall, with the bitch's arm pulled hard behind her back and her shoulder separated.

"That's enough." said the redheaded guard who had just come up. "Let her go. Let's get you out of here." They left the pug-faced bitch guard lying in a heap on the floor, and the redheaded guard led Elizabeth to another section of the prison, more heavily guarded. "You'll be safe in this ward tonight, but we'll have to get you out of here by tomorrow." the guard said. "The bitch and her bunch will be gunning for you, and so will Senator Langdon."

----

"Okay, okay, you're right; we've got to get her out of there or Langdon will do something stupid and try to kill her. I'll sign the commutation." said the Governor to his aide, irritated that he'd been awakened at 3:00am for this, but knowing it was necessary. "Just make sure it's part of a number of them, and let's do it quietly. No press announcements, for God's sake."

"Yes sir." said the aide. "Should we notify her brother?"

"The Iron Crowbar?" said the Governor. He paused, then said "No... I think she'll be telling him herself, and soon. And make damn sure our friend knows he owes me a big one for this."

"He knows, Governor. He knows..."

----

Why do I pull these all-nighters? I thought to myself on the morning of September 24th as I was driving home. The merest hint of light was coloring the sky; it was the first instance of dawn.

And then my iPhone alarm went off... someone was at The Cabin. Thinking it might be P. Harvey Eckhart, I headed on up there, wondering what in the hell he wanted at this hour.

When I got there, I did not see a motorcycle, but a rented car. I went around the walkway to the back deck. It was not P. Harvey Eckhart. It was the last person in the world I'd expected to see.

Sitting in my favorite metal mesh chair was my sister Elizabeth.

"Why, there's my dear little brother." she said. "Great view of the Town. And I really should congratulate you on your promotion."

"Glad you like the view. I'm sure it beats the other wall of your cell in State Women's Prison." I said. "So let's dispense with the pleasantries, and you can tell me why you're sitting on my back deck enjoying that view... instead of the view of the wall in State Women's Prison."

"Oh, but haven't you heard?" Elizabeth said, extending her arm to hand me a piece of paper. It was a copy of her commutation by the Governor. "The Governor has agreed to the request of State agencies to commute my sentence to time served... in light of my cooperation in helping them shut down several large drug operations, complete with the arrest of some notorious and nefarious people. And I did it without using a crowbar, at that."

"My congratulations." I said, giving my sister back the piece of paper. "I'm sure you've heard about Ned by now. Going to go visit your son's grave site?"

"Yes, Todd visited me and told me what happened with Ned. I'll be getting up there on my way out of the country and back to France." Elizabeth said. "I am sorry he put you into the situation where you had no choice but to kill him. Kidnapping babies and using them as human shields is disgusting; I did not raise Ned to be that kind of shit. Your method of defeating him was brilliant, I might add. I really didn't think you had what it took to stop him."

"I'm glad you approve." I said. "But in the course of this fun conversation, I'm neglecting my duties elsewhere. So if you'll excuse me and make your way out of town..."

Elizabeth stood up, a sardonic smile on her face. "I'll have to stop by and say hello to Todd on the way out." she said. "Are you going to watch me the whole time?"

"Of course." I said. "I told you once before that it's best to keep my eyes firmly upon you whenever you're in my presence."

"Aw... but that's only because you want to fuck me with what I know to be that iron-hard cock of yours." said Elizabeth. "But we'll have to save that for another time. Au revoir."

"Let's hope it's 'Good bye'." I said. Elizabeth sniffed in disdain and walked around the walkway, got into her car, and drove away.

It would take me an hour to check the house and grounds for bombs and bugs. Once done, I sat on the deck in the growing light and watched the new day come to the Town... wondering what my sister had in mind, besides my cock...

Finis. ... for now.