Iscariot Ch. 04

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, 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 19 - Riding the Rails

6:00am, Friday, July 5th. I was surveying the pile of smoking rubble that once was the building that housed Bundy McGinty's office. Pottsville PD Detective (and SBI Reservist) Shane O'Brady was standing next to me.

"I got the call right at 4:00am," said O'Brady, "and came up right away. I called you as soon as I got here and saw how bad it was."

It was bad. The building had burned fiercely and completely, and the outer walls had collapsed inwards as the 'innards' were reduced to ashes.

"Commander Troy," said City PD Detective E.J. Jefferson, "this is City Fire Chief Joseph Stanton and City Fire Inspector Nicholas Crusher."

"Good to meet the Iron Crowbar." said Chief Stanton.

"Good to meet you guys, too." I said. I introduced Shane O'Brady to them.

Chief Stanton said "The City PD tells me that there is an interest in this building because someone of interest had an office here. So I brought in Inspector Crusher to make an arson investigation."

"And I think there's plenty of reason to suspect arson." said Crusher. "The building went up way too fast and way too hot to have just started from one source."

"Commander," said EJ Jefferson, "it was fully engulfed before the first fire alarm went up. It was fast."

I nodded. "Any casualties?"

"No one from the Fire Department or Police Department were hurt." said Chief Stanton. "We don't think anyone was inside, but there might have been some homeless people looking for shelter, so we'll do a search."

"Okay." I said. "I would appreciate you letting me know of anything you find." I gave them both my card, and also gave EJ Jefferson one in case he didn't have one.

"What do you think, Commander?" Jefferson said after the CFD guys went back to their business. "This related to McGinty's Materials?"

"How could it not be?" I said. "The one place we're sure of that McGinty lived or worked goes down in flames, literally. And yeah, someone went in there and rigged it to burn fast and burn completely before the Fire Department could even arrive."

"There could be another reason." said a voice behind us. We all whirled to see FBI Executive Assistant Director Owen Lange and Special Agent Julius Jefferson standing behind us.

"Hey, EJ, you and Julius really don't look all that much alike when you're standing next to each other!" I said, teasing the cousins. They both chuckled. Lange looked at both of them in surprise.

"No, you do look alike." Lange said. "You related?" They nodded, then Lange said: "I came here to get you, Commander. Why don't you drive me to the Federal Building and park your SBI SUV there, then you can show me your helicopter flying skills. Muscone's waiting for us in Hammondsville."

"You've got guts, flying in a chopper with this guy." said Shane O'Brady, needling me. I chuckled, then introduced Shane to the EAD and they shook hands.

"Jefferson, wait here for Martin Nash." said the EAD. "He's on his way. Commander, if you'll come with me..." It was not really a request, and I acquiesced and followed him to my vehicle...

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

"You were already on your way here when we got the call." said the EAD as we were driving to the Federal Building in the City. "There's been an incident at the Hammondsville Rail Yards in the State west of us. There were 20 boxcars chock-full of military weapons, mostly small arms like M-4s, but also boxes of pistols, ammunition, SAWs, and Remington 700s, which are used as sniper rifles."

We parked in the Federal Building's garage, then went up to the roof, where an FBI Bell 206 was waiting. Per the EAD's request, I took the controls and contacted City Airport Tower with our flight plan, then took off, enjoying the sight of The City beneath us in the early morning light...

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

"Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." But they said, "What is that to us? See to that yourself!" And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.

The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, "It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood." And they conferred together and with the money bought the Potter's Field as a burial place for strangers. For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day."

--- The Gospel According to St. Matthew 27: 6-7.

7:15am. We made record time, and the EAD had been holding on in white-knuckled fear as I flew the helicopter as fast as I could, driving it pretty much to its limits. We landed in a field just west of the Hammondsville Railyards parking lot. An FBI vehicle arrived to transport the EAD to the scene, and I hitched a ride. We went towards the west end of the vast yards.

"Hello, guys." said FBI Special Agent In Charge Jack Muscone. "I didn't know you were in the City, Don. Glad you were, though, and could bring the EAD here. Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF, a.k.a. BATFE) is here. Let me introduce you to the top guys."

He led us to a small group of Agents wearing light jackets with 'ATF' on their backs, three men and one woman. "Gentlemen," said Muscone to us, "this is BATFE Special Agent in Charge Jeremy Potter." Muscone then introduced us. SAC Potter introduced the two men... but not the woman.

"So tell us what's going on here." said EAD Lange in his scratchy voice.

"If you look over there at the last track near the fence," said Potter, "there was a line of railcars there yesterday."

"And now they're baretables carrying 'sailboat fuel'." I said, meaning empty air. Muscone chuckled and Lange gave a brief smile at that. Potter looked at me funny, then went on with his narrative.

"Yeah." said Potter. "The railcar boxes were taken off overnight put on truck beds, and driven out of here. The truck drivers had all the correct paperwork, or so it seemed. This morning the railroad people gave orders to hook up the cars to the 4014 engine, and the engineer called in and said he didn't think he was supposed to be hauling empties. That started the investigation. Twenty railcar trailers are missing, all with military weapons from the Redbird Arsenal, meant for Ft. Leonard Wood."

"The cars weren't guarded?" Muscone asked.

"No." said Potter. "Things like this are just shipped, hiding in plain sight. They even ship nuclear warheads like that, though with a bit more security. But it's the same concept, and nobody knows about it."

"Let's go to the operations center." said Lange. He and the others walked towards the large building to the north. I lagged behind, looking around, then noticed the female ATF Agent making some notes as she looked around.

"I'm Don Troy." I said. "And you are?"

"Oh!" the woman said, a bit startled. "I'm Special Agent White. Karina White." She was short, about 5'5", built a little bit like Cindy Ross, and it was clear (to me) that she'd borne children. Her auburn-brown hair was pulled back into a tight bun, framing her not-unattractive but not beautiful face.

"What's your evaluation of this?" I asked.

Karina White sort of shook her head as she said "You want the truth? Or what those guys want to hear?"

I grinned at that. "I want your own unvarnished, unfiltered opinion, based upon what you've seen so far."

"I have seen enough to know that I have seen too much." White replied. I was beginning to like her more and more. She continued: "This shipment never should have stopped here; they should've gone right on through to the City Railyards then onward. But they stopped here for the July 4th Holiday, and this happened."

As we walked along, I asked "How long have you been with the ATF?"

"Twenty-two years." said White. I was mildly surprised at that. "I went to Quantico right out of college... Western State... and after I graduated, the ATF recruited me from the FBI."

I nodded. "Both are good agencies and need good people."

"Yeah." said White. "It didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. But, we're all Feds. None of us get promoted to Commander in less than six years."

"Well," I said, "I don't apologize for that."

Karina stopped and looked up at me. "I'm sorry. I apologize for that. I didn't mean it that way. I know who you are, Mr. Iron Crowbar, and I know you've earned it. I was able to read the unredacted report of the EMPTY QUIVER event earlier this year, and I know your role in it... you basically saved all our asses... literally, as well as our careers."

"And your career has gone more slowly than you'd like." I said. "Especially with guys like SAC Potter over you. Twenty-two years and not much to show for it... except getting Potter all the promotions while you do the grunt work."

"You noticed, huh?" said White. "Yeah. He's a 'career oriented' guy, if you get my drift. Flip side of that coin is that he's going to feel the pressure of this from higher-ups."

"Not sure why that would hurt his career?" I said. "Unless you're hinting to me that he's involved in all this?"

"No." said Karina White. "But I am suggesting that something is going wrong here. This massive theft of arms, stopping here when they didn't need to, and shouldn't have? And just months after the EMPTY QUIVER event? There's got to be a mole here, an insider. Maybe more. It's just... strange."

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

When we got to the office building and found the FBI and ATF Agents, EAD Lange spoke first: "It's worse than we thought, Commander." he said. "The railcars were supposed to continue on to Acropolis City. What's more, transferring them to trucks would mean a major change of plans, and that should've been flagged."

"What he's saying," said Jack Muscone, "is that not only was the paperwork in order, but the transfer to trucks was in the system as an expected event. That means involvement of someone at a pretty high level."

"Anyone talking to the Railroad people on duty at the time?" I asked.

"Yes, of course." said ATF SAC Potter. "But every single one of them asked for a Union Rep, and when he came in he had a lawyer with him. And they all clammed up and wouldn't talk to us, then took the Fifth when we pressed."

"I'd like to interview them." I said. "Separately, and so that they have no way to communicate to each other before I've talked to them all."

"What good would it do?" asked ATF Special Agent Karina White. "They've taken the Fifth."

"I think I know how to frame the question I want to ask." I said with an enigmatic smile.

"Sir," said Potter, to Lange, "I don't think that's a good idea. This guy's not in jurisdiction, even if he's an FBI Consultant as SAC Muscone claims. He really shouldn't be here at all. And I definitely don't want him creating legal loopholes by questioning them after they've invoked."

"I think I know what he's up to." said EAD Lange. To me he said "All right, Commander. But it'll be the same Union Rep and lawyer for all of them, and we can't stop that."

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

"Uh oh." I said as we came to the door of the breakroom being used for interrogations by the Federal agents. "Look who came to dinner... I mean breakfast."

"Oh no..." groaned Muscone. Looking inside, we saw that the lawyer was the wily Nathan Masterson of Gresham & Mason, P.C.

"Swamp Frog alert." I said. "Okay, who is this guy with the Railroad?"

"Chief Dispatcher for the Yards." said Potter. "He was the head guy on duty last night."

"All right." I said, getting out my Police iPhone and bringing up a photo. "Here goes nothing." I went inside, looking at my phone and whistling the Rolling Stones tune 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' as if I didn't have a care in the world.

"Well, look what the cat drug in." snarled Nathan Masterson upon sight of me. "They've invoked, Troy. All of them."

I continued looking at my iPhone until I got to the edge of the table. Then I swiftly turned it around and put it in front of the Chief Dispatcher's face. "Recognize this guy?" I asked.

"Don't answer that!" shouted Masterson. "He's invoked, Troy!"

"Have a nice day." I said, turning and going back to the door, then out into the hallway, leaving an absolutely stunned and furious Nathan Masterson behind. I showed the picture to Muscone.

"Barsbane?" he gasped.

"Barsbane." I replied, showing the photo to Special Agent Karina White, but not to SAC Potter.

"What's going on?" asked Potter. "The guy didn't say a word."

"And thank God for small favors." I replied. "Since he didn't speak, I didn't violate his right to remain silent. But the eyes, they didn't lie... they didn't lie. He recognized this man." I then showed everyone else the photo of Jerry Barsbane. "Recognize him?"

"He looks familiar." said one of the BAFTE Agents. "But I don't remember where I saw him last."

"He's an expert in transportation of stolen materials." I said. "He was with the Southport Mob, then struck out on his own. And you were right, Assistant Director Lange: it's worse than we thought... far worse than you could've possibly imagined early this morning."

"I dunno, I can imagine a lot of 'worse'." said Lange. "So what's our plan?"

"Can't speak for you Federalés," I said, "but my plan is to go into Hammondsville and visit the McDonalds there for breakfast. Would you like to join me? Bring you something back? And perhaps Special Agent White would be kind enough to drive me there?"

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

Karina White, Jack Muscone, and I sat down at a table in the far corner of the McDonalds, and began eating our Egg McMuffins and drinking our coffee. Either the coffee was good, or I just really needed some, I mused to myself.

I said quietly to Karina "You know who Jerry Barsbane is, n'est pas?"

"He was involved in the EMPTY QUIVER event." said Karina.

"Yes. Big time." I said. "And that dispatcher's eyes just about bugged out when I showed him this pic. And Karina, that lawyer Nathan Masterson... whenever he shows up, I know I'm dealing with what we call the 'Big Boys', or the 'Swamp Frogs'. BigRoadAndRailCorp owns the Hammondsville Rail Yards. If we ever do get to the bottom of this, it's going to be very messy."

"I'll say this." said Muscone. "I doubt we'll ever get to the very bottom of this. The EAD will be happy with getting those weapons back and busting Barsbane's operation, and of course putting Barsbane himself behind bars."

"He's too modest in his ambitions." I said. "By the way, are there any tracking devices on the weapons?"

"Yes," said Karina, "and our people have already started looking for the signatures. So far, nothing at all. The trucks may be shielding them, and if they took everything underground somewhere, it'll be tough getting a signal."

"It's likely that Barsbane would know about the tracking devices, too." said Muscone. "One day you'll get a huge reading, go to the location, and find all the tracking devices sitting there, by themselves, maybe with a note wishing us good luck capturing him."

Just then two men came up to us. They were Hammondsville Police Chief Pascal Floyd and Detective Josh Segers, who we'd worked with before. (Author's note: 'Case of the Lost Drone', Ch. 02.)

"Hi guys." I said, then made introductions all around.

"So, what are the Feds doing at the Railyards?" asked Floyd. "Sheriff Gleason said to stay away from there and leave you to your business, but we are curious."

"Some weapons have disappeared." I said. "Small arms stuff, but we're looking to get them back." Floyd and Segers nodded.

"That's all we need." said Segers. "Drug smuggling is on the rise all over the eastern half of our State. One of our U.S. Senators, Eliza Warner, is one of the more 'progressive' Democrats, and she's railing for drug legalization. She makes it hard on our Police Forces to coordinate and interdict the drug distributors. Our other U.S. Senator, Roy Lester, is an Establishment Republican, and he's beating us over the head about not doing enough to stop the drug trade. And now the perps have more weapons?"

"Why are they concentrating on the eastern half of your State?" I asked instinctively. "Nothing but farms, for the most part. IR signatures abound. Hard to hide."

"And hard to cover." said Chief Floyd. "Senator Warner has been blocking funding for drones, more vehicles, and more people. She claims it's the DEA's job to handle it, then we can't get any DEA help because she's blocking that..."

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

Back at the Hammondsville Railyards, I took the opportunity to read the Fed's literature on the case while they all feasted on the sacks of Egg McMuffins we brought them.

"So nothing on any cams within a 100 mile radius of here?" I asked.

"No sir." said a BAFTE Agent. "We know they didn't go east, into your Town & County, or west towards Redbird Arsenal. We think they went south."

Jack Muscone said "I've contacted my team, and they're going to do a more comprehensive and expanded search."

"If you ask me," said SAC Potter through a mouthful of food, "we ought to arrest the guys that had involvement in letting those trucks take those railcar trailers, go through their finances and their lives with a big rectal probe, then start working them over."

"Their lawyer Masterson will be fighting you every step of the way." I said. "He'll be whining his head off to any judge he can find that's willing to listen, then maybe to US Senator Warner, and she'll come in whining about you abusing the rights of those poor workers."

"So what would the Iron Crowbar do?" asked EAD Lange.

"Oh... I'd arrest them." I said, nodding vigorously. "And then I'd put Masterson in his place by having a conversation with the right people."

"And what people would those be?" Muscone asked...

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

I went back into the breakroom, where the Chief Dispatcher had been brought back to. I read him his rights from the card, and he nodded when I asked if he understood them.

"He's invoked, Barcode." Nathan Masterson hissed at me. I turned to the Union Rep.

"Sir," I said, "I know you're just here doing your job, and you're representing your employees. What you don't know, and what I'm not allowed to tell your client here, is that this lawyer is not serving your people's interests, but those of the BigRoadAndRailCorp elites---"

"Stop that!" yelled Masterson. "You're violating my client's rights!"

I went on, talking to the Union Rep: "I can't tell your client that this Jew-hating lawyer answers to Curtis Meigs and Clarence Weatherby, and will throw your men under the bus if it serves the top corporate bigwigs's interests---"

"STOP RIGHT NOW!" yelled Masterson, coming around the table. I rose out of my chair.

"Or what, Jew Hater?" I snarled back. "I'm just telling the Union Rep that you're a dirty dog protecting the corporate interests of the guys in the corner offices in the two-thousand-dollar suits---"

"GET OUT!" yelled Masterson, red faced with fury. "Get out NOW!"