Falsely Accused Ch. 03

"Watch your mouth, Adams!" Edward Steele thundered, the ugliness of his voice matching Malinda's. "I take your remark personally, and as defamation. Say that again, and I'll haul you into Court." The air was thick with tension as Steele and Adams stared each other down.

"Okay, okay," said the Mayor, wondering how all the Council's meetings dissolved into acrimony so quickly, "a motion is on the table. Is there a second?"

"I second the motion to suspend Commander Troy and begin the termination process." said Kelly Carnes.

"I move to lay it on the table." said Thomas P. Cook.

"By the rules of order, we must vote on that immediately." said the Mayor. "All in favor?" To the stunned consternation of some, the vote was 6-5... Carnes, Adams, Cook, Michaels, and Lewis voted for it, and the Mayor voted for it to break the tie.

"Okay, anyone who voted for the measure to lay it on the table can bring it back up at a later time." said the Mayor...

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

"I can tell you one thing." said Jack Muscone, who was in the meeting with the DepDirector and Martin Nash. "Professor Marvin Milton, his son, and his daughter-in-law were not the ones that leaked that last batch of GOJ documents. He's in the hospital, and they are with him... and Myron has not touched a computer in a couple of days, now."

"I agree." said the DepDirector. "The Miltons are pretty much off the list of suspects, now. And the latest GOJ dump named the other suspects in the area, and then went and named Commander Troy, too... even exposed what Casey B. Walker did to him. That's going to cause the the CIA problems. So... any ideas at all who is doing this? The Grassroots politicians, the TEA Party types, are really making hay of this. I'm not unsympathetic to the truth about some stuff coming out, but at the same time good people are getting mud splashed on them along with the bad apples."

"Last night's batch came out of State Tech as the primary point source." said Muscone. "That suggests to me someone with access to all of this State's various Institutions of Higher Education. Or it could be a professor with sympathies towards Milton. What do you think, Martin?"

Nash said "W-W-I-C-D. What would the Iron Crowbar do? To solve this, I mean. I'm trying to think like he would, and I'm seeing two things: first, I don't think this is just one person. Someone is getting this information. Someone is putting out this information. They may not be the same person, but multiple people working as a group."

"That's a good thought. What is your second observation?" said the DepDirector.

"Sir," said Nash, "I've noticed a pattern in what is being released, which the Press is trying to suppress. At first, it was BigAgraFoods and Government plots to control food. The Iron Crowbar and we in the FBI were looking into that while interdicting Superior Bloodlines. Then came the gun-rights issue, which really gets people riled up, and therefore got people's attention... and maybe a distraction to other things. Then we had continuing releases that hint at the Wheeler murder and its cover-up. And after the Milton assault, another release suggesting the Government was or is targeting specific people. The leaks seem to follow storylines either happening with the Iron Crowbar, or things that will get people's attention and get them riled up."

"Keep that up, and someone is going to try to give you a crowbar... and not the way they gave Fox one." said Muscone.

"That is another issue. Dana Fox." said the DepDirector. "The top brass in D.C. was okay with the way I handled that. But a lot of Agents did not like it at all, and want something done to the Iron Crowbar over it. They also are voicing objections to his continuation as an FBI Consultant, and want us to formally end the relationship."

"I've been telling people it was an Agent-on-Agent issue, and an internecine fight." said Muscone. "That shuts them up a little bit. I ask those that still complain if the Iron Crowbar was right to take up for two of his Police Officers over an attack on their family. That usually shuts the rest of them up."

"You can't tell the whole nation that, though." said the DepDirector. "And we also have the problem of what to do about Team Lazarus. You have no idea how close you are to being broken up and reassigned to the four corners of the Nation."

"Is it that bad?" asked Nash.

"Yes." said the DepDirector. "There's a push for it from the Dana Fox supporters."

"Damn." said Muscone. "I also heard about a vicious yelling match between Captains Ross and Croyle this morning. This rape case is tearing all of them apart... and it's not doing much for the FBI, either. Someone has done a huge number on all of us."

"Who is that 'someone'?" asked the DepDirector.

Muscone replied "A certain redheaded hand grenade with a crowbar thinks there is one common thread running through every bit of this... a certain U.S. Senator that got away with murder in Polk County by the hair of his chinny-chin-chin."

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

"It starts in the morning." said Jay Swenson.

He was in a hotel suite at the Hyatt City Center Hotel in the City. Also in the room were Ken Eidex, State Rep. Justin Madoff (D), State Senator Maxine Watts (D), State Rep. Wilson Hammonds (R), University booster Tom Riordan, trusted reporter John Hardwood... and Establishment Republican Elitist U.S. Senator Samuel Russell.

"Good." said Russell. "These Guardians of Justice bastards are just killing us. A lot of my fellow Congressmen and Senators are starting to ask questions that are best not asked. And the Grassroots people are having a field day with the shit the cyber-terrorists are releasing."

"God, I hate the Grassroots!" muttered Hammonds, but loudly. "They're supposed to be fucking sheep, and then this GOJ shit starts up and gets them riled up."

"That's what they want, of course." said Tom Riordan. "To gin up as much angst as possible. That's why the CIA murdered Jasmine Nix, too." He'd said that to gin up angst with Maxine Watts... and he succeeded.

"You damn right that's why they did it!" exploded Maxine Watts. "Now we got black gangs shooting at each other instead of the white supremacists supporting Val Jared! And speaking of that racist bastard, what are we doing about him?"

"We're getting there, Maxine." said Hammonds. "Tomorrow we begin our move against that filthy bastard Don Troy. Once he's neutralized, then we take out Jared and regain full control of the Houses of Government in this State."

"Why doesn't someone just shoot the bastard Troy, like the CIA shot Jasmine Nix in the head?" asked Maxine Watts.

"People have tried, Maxine." said Tom Riordan. "Feel free to try yourself. But be damn sure not to miss... he won't."

"We have to do to him what he did to Pastor Westboro." said John Hardwood. "Publicly humiliate him. Publicly destroy him and his worthless reputation. Demoralize the Police, and those loyal to him. And then we can regain control of the Governor's Mansion, then the SBI. Kill him, and he becomes a martyr... and our enemies dig in for a fight. Besides..." Hardwood became introspective as he finished: "... I want him to feel pain."

Everyone peered at Hardwood, and the abnormal intensity of his last words, though spoken quietly.

"All right." said Russell. "Apparently Milton was not the one leaking the GOJ material. He's nearly dead in the Hospital. So we've got to find out who is doing that, and put them in the Hospital, or the morgue. My benefactors are very unhappy with this situation."

"Don't worry, Senator." Jay Swenson said. "We're gonna twist the Iron Crowbar's cap around..."

To be continued.