Frozen Mothballs Ch. 02

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"Roger that." said Muscone. "We've lost eight already."

I heard the wails of Police car sirens. Police came up and began locking down the Cannon Building, followed by FBI Agents from the Federal Building coming over. But for all of their efforts, the sniper would not be found, nor anyone with equipment that could disable and destroy drones.

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

"The Cannon Building people were very, very slow to respond when we called them to lock down the building." said Jack Muscone. "Their security guards did almost nothing, even though they could've quickly had every door locked and the entire building quarantined. The security cameras show nothing, either."

We were sitting in the Conference Room of the FBI Offices in the City Federal Building. The FBI DepDirector had just arrived in the City from the Airport, and his helicopter ride had been aborted because of the shooting. In addition to the DepDirector and Jack's team, Senators Molinari and Cerone were also in the room with us.

"Very rare for you to be sitting in an FBI office, Senator Cerone." I said, joking with him. He didn't like it much, but nodded in acquiescence.

"Missing my lasagna, too." he said simply.

Now in present time, I said "Yes, the perp was gone quickly, and the Cannon Building people did nothing to help that. But someone in this area, maybe not in that building, but somewhere around here, took out eight FBI drones. They didn't just lose signal and hover and descend to the ground... those things got put out of action and destroyed."

I then turned to Molinari and Cerone. "And I need to say this. I know Senators Molinari and Cerone have not been friends in the past. And their working together on legislation has been an exercise in overcoming mountains of distrust. So I will say to both of you that this was not an action by either of your people, nor by a third-party Organized Crime group against either of you. And I am not sure that either of you were the primary target of the attack."

"Thank you for saying that, Commander." said Jimmy Cerone. "And you're right... we were lucky today our bodyguards didn't go after each other. But who was the target?"

"Probably me or Captain Ross." I said.

"If I may ask," said Sandra Speer, "why DO you think it wasn't the Senators?"

"The drones." I said. "That was serious sophistication to take those drones out. With all due respect to these State Senators, they could be assassinated in the halls of the State Capitol, or driving to Midtown. But whoever knew how to wax those drones? They're trying to protect something... something Captain Ross and I have been looking into."

The meeting broke up, with the DepDirector thanking the Senators for coming in to talk. Afterwards, Cindy and Jack's team talked while Jack and I were brought into the DepDirector's office. I noted that it was really getting a 'lived in' look these days.

"Let me channel my inner Crowbar," said the DepDirector once we were all seated, "and say that you think this has to do with that Federal installation you've been looking into."

"The thought did cross my mind, sir." I said. "Though I'm not totally certain. There's all that with the Burkes being killed, also. None of the Superior Bloodlines issues have gone away."

"So let's just work through this." said the DepDirector. "Here is what you have on your plate, Commander: you have the Jeanine Burke killing, the Michael Burke killing, the Black Velvet killings, the nerve gas attempt, the riots, a dirty lawyer using the System to fuck with you and bugging you, too, and of course your involvement with the SBI legislation, which has now caused shots to be fired at you yet again. Did I miss anything?"

"I don't think so, sir." I said. "So... what can you tell me about the Federal installation, sir? I did get word the radio communications there have shut down completely. No blurps, no nothing."

The DepDirector exhaled. "You're right. Whatever was there, and I have no clue what was, has been taken out and the facility totally abandoned. I did ask if there was anything that could help with these serial killings, and was told 'no'. They're starting to classify the place almost to the level of Area 51, now that the City and the SBI Reserve are aware of it, and the genie cannot be put back into the bottle."

"And then this assassination attempt." said Muscone. "Think they might try again?"

"Maybe." I said, going introspective. "But I'll tell you something interesting, something that is nagging at me. The drone kills. I get the feeling that this sniper attack was somewhat in the works, then someone came along and said 'Let us see how our drone-killing technology works!'. And now they know it works very well."

"You got that right." said Muscone.

"By the way," said the DepDirector, "I've asked Les Craig to work with us on the Federal side of these murders. Lindy has some information on that, as well. Get with her before you leave today."

Part 10 - Frozen Meat

We ended the meeting and went back to the conference room. The DepDirector said "You needed to see me, Captain Ross?"

"Yes sir." Cindy said, getting up and walking past me. She went with the DepDirector back to his office.

I looked around the room, seeing the downcast faces of Jack's FBI team. And I smiled. A smile of immense relief.

"Lindy," I said, "you had some information on the Black Velvet situation?"

"Yes." said Lindy. She handed me a jump drive as well as a sealed folder. I opened it and sat down to begin reading.

"As you can see," Lindy said, "the ownership of the Millwakee facility was with Power Properties, LLC., a shell group, and hoops of other legal steel protecting it. It's a Nevada corporation; I couldn't get the names of any people."

"We then searched for anything related to Dr. Yarborough." said Lindy. "Any staff at the facility was paid for by the School, and the taxes paid through them, but there's nothing specific for the school; they kept it off the record books very effectively by going through the school."

Lindy said "But I did have some luck in researching Dr. Yarborough's grad students and undergrad students that worked with him a lot. And we've got two names. One is John Meadows, now Headmaster of Walnut Prep. The other is a man named George Aurus. I checked, it's not a fake name." I smiled at that.

"I know I'm being politically incorrect to say this, but George Aurus is a midget. He stands at 4 feet, 2 inches tall, and that might be stretching it. I'm trying to find a record of it, but Aurus might've been a patient, or inmate or what have you, at Millwakee. He was definitely a runaway and a street urchin, as they called him at Child Protective Services. Their records of him were spotty, but nothing very positive there."

"So George ended up traveling with Gypsies for a while; he may have known your uncle, Dr. Eckhart, when Dr. Eckhart was a youngster and was with them. George was a show act, then for two years was with a big national Circus organization. Then he ended up at City University, working with Dr. Yarborough again. After Yarborough died, George essentially fell off the grid."

"Anything more on Headmaster Meadows?" I asked. "He doesn't seem old enough."

"Not much." said Lindy. "He was very young when he was doing a doctoral thesis on teaching the underprivileged. And Dr. Yarborough was his professor, but died before Meadows finished his thesis. Meadows never was reassigned to another professor, and he never got a Ph.D. from anywhere."

"Hmmm, interesting." I said. Just then, Cindy came back, followed by the DepDirector.

"Commander, are you staying here while the investigation is going on, or going home?" asked the DepDirector.

"I need to get Captain Ross back home." I said. We made our goodbyes and left.

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

As we drove back, I noticed that Cindy's face was one of inner peace, of a weight that had been on her shoulders now gone.

"So," I said as I drove, "you turned down the FBI job." A platinum blonde head turned sharply in my direction. The look on Cindy's face was now priceless.

"How in the hell?!?!..." she started, then said "They told you, didn't they? They said they weren't going to, but---" I was shaking my head vigorously.

"No one told me anything." I said. "At least not today. Several months ago, back last year, the Deputy Director and Jack Muscone talked with me about coming to the FBI full time. Of course I said I was happy where I am now. Then they said they wanted to offer you a place on their team, with or without me. I gave them my heartiest recommendation and praise for you, and told them they could ask you, and I'd say nothing."

"Wha... you didn't try to stop them?" Cindy said. "Do you want me to join them?"

"Hell no!" I exclaimed. "But I've heard from Molly how it was your childhood dream to be in the FBI, and they were offering you the chance. No way I was going to interfere with that! What is that adage? 'If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it's yours; if it doesn't, it never was.' Of course I want you with me in the TCPD, but I'll never stand in the way of your happiness."

"I appreciate that. Very much." Cindy said. "And I did want to say 'yes', and I really thought about it. But I'm a Consultant with them as it is. And you want to know the real reason I turned them down?"

"Sure." I said.

"You." Cindy said. "I realized how great it is to be working with the best Detective I'll ever meet. But more than that... when you went and got Mikey Towson and brought him home... it just reconfirmed what I already knew: that you were not only a great man, but a good man. And I knew then that I wanted nothing more than to be working at your side, wherever we are."

I was very touched by Cindy's comments, which I knew came from her heart. "Well, you are now stuck with the Town & County Police Commander, until they kick both of us to the kerb. And there's no one I'd rather be stuck with than you... Green Crowbar."

Not much more was said as we drove into the sunset towards home. No more was needed to be said out loud.

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

At 6:30am, Saturday, February 18th, my Police cellphone rang. Bowser barked his head off, until my daughter Carole said "Hush, Bowser!", whereupon the barking stopped.

"Troy." I said as I answered the phone as Laura went to attend Carole.

"Duty Desk, Commander." said the voice on the line. "Some suspicious activity near King & Ebenezer Food Industries was reported, and a patrol checked it out. They want you to come down and look. They found some bodies."

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

(Author's Note: see Case of the Black Badge, Ch. 02 at the beginning, for more on the below comments.)

I had a flashback to three years before, when the bodies of Carroll and Blondie were found hanging at King & Ebenezer, and Tanya Perlman just standing and looking at them when I entered. Today was almost exactly the same: two bodies were hanging on tenterhooks, and Tanya was observing them... but sitting in a wheelchair, a painful reminder of all we'd been through since the Case of the Black Badge.

"Ever get a sense of déjà vu, Commander?" asked Tanya as I came up.

"Only when someone is obviously trying to copycat previous crimes," I said, "which is sheer stupidity on their part. But I should be grateful for their stupidity. Makes our jobs much, much easier."

"True, sir." said Tanya. "These bodies are not exactly the same, though. No Colombian neckties. Their eyes were gouged out, and I think that was done very early in their torture process. They were tied up, their cocks cut off and stuffed in their mouths, and then they were summarily disemboweled."

"Who are they?" I asked. "Oh, shit... the fat one is LaCroix!" I was recognizing the out-of-shape LaCroix, mostly by the gray hair around the abused face.

The other man was taller, apparently pretty fit and muscular, and had a full head of black hair. But his face was in horrible condition, and I did not recognize him at all.

"And they didn't bleed out here, so they were imported." I said, seeing the floor, and the lack of bodily fluids on it. Tanya agreed.

"Okay, let's get your Crime Lab team in here." I said.

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

"It was Johnson and Goodwright that answered the call, sir." said Sergeant Rudistan, who'd just arrived. "The Duty Desk put out a radio call of activity reported at King & Ebenezer Food Industries. The phone that called in was a burner, and the tower it pinged was the one closest to here."

"Johnson, Goodwright," I said to the two officers. "Did you see anything?"

"Sir," said Johnson, "we came up Riverside Drive from the south. We didn't see any vans or large vehicles. The gate was open when we pulled in. There were no other cars here. We stopped in front of those tracks, and the Crime Lab is photographing them and getting impressions."

"Good." I said. "Anything else?"

"Faint footprints up to the warehouse door, sir." said Goodwright. "We came to clear the warehouse first, though. When we came in, there was no one, but when my light hit those bodies... well, sir, I might have screamed."

"Both of us were shocked, sir." said Johnson. "We called it in right away."

"Good work." I said. "Okay, secure the perimeter, take the bodies straight to the morgue, and have some Patrolmen search the property and around the perimeter---"

A Police SUV barreled through the outer perimeter and stopped with a screech of tires. The notoriously fast driver was the daughter of Dr. P. Harvey Eckhart, notoriously fast in his own driving habits.

"You better have a good reason for mowing down half my Police Force." I told Cindy. Then I saw who was getting out of the passenger side: Captain Teresa Croyle.

"Sir!" Teresa said loudly as she got out of the SUV. "You are exposing yourself to possible sniper fire. I must ask you to add more protection and come to a place of better safety."

"Like a State Senator's office?" I asked. Seeing Teresa's face get more worried, I said "I appreciate your concern, Captain, and you're doing your job. But I've got a crime scene to look at." Neither of my Angels were mollified until I went and got into my Police SUV. Cindy got in the shotgun seat and Teresa in the backseat.

"I think one of the bodies is Wayne LaCroix." I said. "Croyle, send units to check out his location. Also, it's a longshot, but have someone go up to the Fire Department range and see if there's any sign that this was done there." Teresa got on the radio and put out the calls.

"Someone cleaning up a mess?" Cindy asked as we watched the Crime Lab people at work.

"Making one, actually." I said. "But to your point: yes, someone is cleaning up. LaCroix made a huge mess of things, and they took him out before he could talk. Ohhhhhh... wait a minute..."

I got out of the SUV as the bodies were being brought out. A moment later, Tanya was loading herself into her State Crime Lab van. As she locked her wheelchair in place, I stuck my head in the door.

"Tanya!" I said. "You still have the DNA profiles from Terry Schultz's killer, and the DNA under Jeanine Burke's fingernails?"

"Sure do." she said. "Ohhhh... you think..."

"Yes I do." I said. "I will not come over all shocked if the other dead body here is that of Jeff Fuqua..."

To be continued.

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chytownchytown8 months ago

*****This is some great storytelling. Thanks for sharing.

WifeWatchmanWifeWatchmanalmost 7 years agoAuthor
Comments on the comments

First, to vincent and iceman666, y'all have made some very good points, and we'll have to see how things unfold. :o)

To anonymous: First, "Why so anonymous?" Log in and post a comment with a name! Second, "non-erotic" is what it says it is. If you are here for sexual stories, why would you be in non-erotic?!?! Third, the ongoing debate on how much sex to put in, how to weave it in so that it's good and part of the story while at the same time not distracting... that is probably the hardest part of writing these stories. If and when I go "pro" and start writing these for money, the sex will be diminished, answering that question. But while I'm here and putting sex into the mix, it's a dilemma that I have not yet found the perfect answer to...

AnonymousAnonymousalmost 7 years ago
dear mr. writer

i am a sucker for "erotic couplings"; specially for Don and/or his male colleagues getting fucked by lusty wild evil seductresses! so after desparately waiting for the next story in the series (specially when you have introduce a bad girl like Jasmine in the 1st part), whenever i see the term "non-erotic" attached to the chapter, you can imagine the kind of disappointment that occurs! hence i wrote a few comments about my expectations specially on this non-erotic story to elaborate my opinion!

AnonymousAnonymousalmost 7 years ago
dear rightbank

i know that non-erotic doesnt "cum"; but it doesn't have to be so 'asexual' either in the first place; and secondly, my point is people come here to 'cum', so why frustate them with a category that doesn't allow any relief? and to make my point orgasmically loud n clear, i posted my comments on a non-erotic story!

hope that satiates ur curiosities!

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