Iscariot Ch. 05

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 22 - Damned For All Time

As Geiger and Barsbane fell to the ground, I spun to my left to see that it was BAFTE Special Agent In Charge Potter that was firing at them!

"Die, you bastard!" he yelled.

*BLAM!* *BLAM!* *BLAM!* *BLAM!*

Special Agent Karina White was firing her weapon at Potter. Her bullets found their marks, hitting him in the shoulder, ribs, neck and jaw. Potter went down like a stone.

In the next few seconds, time sped back up to normal, and that eerie silence that had enveloped me was extinguished by a seeming explosion of noise.

"MEDIC!" yelled Jerry Barsbane. Timothy Geiger was holding his right bicep, and the crimson of blood was staining his shirt underneath his fingers. I also noted bullet holes in the back of his shirt. I ran over.

"I'm all right." said Geiger. "It's nothing."

"Somebody get him a doctor!" said Barsbane, trying to help Geiger stanch the flow of blood coming from his arm.

"We have an excellent doctor, if I do say so myself." I said as my favorite doctor, Laura Fredricson, arrived on the scene. She was wearing armor, too, and my wife was making armor look pretty damn sexy.

I pulled Barsbane back as Laura came up to tend to Geiger. "He'll be fine, Mr. Barsbane." I said. "In the meantime... the last time I saw you, you were handcuffing me to a powerful weapon..."

"No hard feelings, huh?" said Barsbane. "I was kind of hoping you'd forgotten about that."

"I'm happy to return the favor." I said as I handcuffed Barsbane's wrists behind him. "Jerry Barsbane, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent..." I recited Barsbane's considerable legal rights to him."

"He'll be all right." said Laura as LEOs helped Geiger to his feet.

"Now I know how your back feels, Commander." said Geiger. "Damn, those bullets hurt!"

"I know." I said. "Oh... here you go." I extended my arm and handed Detective Geiger his TCPD badge!

"Whaa?" gasped Barsbane. "You were..."

"Yeah." said Geiger. "I was undercover, all along."

"You betrayed us all." said Barsbane, "But why did you have me put on this armor?"

"To keep you alive." said Geiger. "I had a bad feeling that was coming."

"Yeah, something real bad came your way." asked EAD Owen Lange as he came up to us. "Potter could've killed you, both of you. Glad you had that armor on."

"Yeah, thanks for that." said Barsbane. "And you sure had me fooled. You... you put that gun to Parker's head and pulled the trigger..."

"I did what I had to do." said Geiger. "To survive."

"And Potter?" asked Jack Muscone.

"As the television show says: Potter is the mole." I said. "It was his job to make sure the investigation went as poorly as possible. And then he was told to kill Jerry Barsbane here. You were to be eliminated, Mr. Barsbane. Like the old Black Badge gang we busted years ago, when your usefulness is ended there is only one method of terminating your employment. But Geiger here thinks a lot more highly of you than Mr. Blassingame ever did, and so he had you put on some armor. It's Blassingame that has truly betrayed you."

"Yeah, I can see that now." said Barsbane. "And really, Commander, no hard feelings for that other time? Just business, ya know."

"Good thing it didn't go off." I sad, lightly tapping Barsbane on the shoulder with my crowbar. "If it had, I'd be giving you a real beatdown right now. Mr. Geiger, escort this suspect to Agent Muscone's vehicle..."

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

"You did well." I said to Special Agent Karina White as Potter's shrouded body was removed from the warehouse.

"Twenty two years." said Karina, seemingly in shock. "This is the first time I've shot someone in 22 years on the job."

"And good timing." I said. "You saved my Officer's life, as well as a very important criminal who, if I don't miss my guess, is going to give us a lot of information about a lot of worse criminals."

"I agree." said EAD Lange as he came up to us. "You did an outstanding job, Agent White. There will be opportunities for you, somewhere, I can promise you."

"Everyone!" I called out. "All you BATFE Agents, come over here, please!" The Agents came running, probably thinking the EAD wanted to say something to them.

"While I have the EAD here," I said, "I want to tell you that all of you did an outstanding job tonight. I also want to tell you that I've looked at the records of every one of you here. You've been sent to this unit because someone thought you messed up, or weren't trustworthy in their eyes. But I've observed and deduced that you guys have the opportunity here to be a truly great unit, and a great credit to the BATFE and our Nation. All you need... is the right leadership."

I looked right at Karina White as I said "And I believe you have found that leadership tonight. Mr. EAD, I can hardly think of anyone better to lead this team as a Special Agent In Charge than Ms. White, here."

"Not much gets past you, Iron Crowbar." said EAD Lange. "After we get this scene settled down and the weapons secured, Agent White, you and I will sit down and have a little chat."

"All right, then." I said. "Let's get this done so we can get out of here." Everyone dispersed back to their duties... with the first real hope for their careers that they'd had in a long, long time.

"Don, Team Lazarus is debriefing Geiger." said Jack Muscone. "You really pulled off a big one this time. So what's next?" I gave him one of 'those' grins, which usually did not bode well for someone.

Part 23 - Music Box Dancer

10:00am, Sunday, July 7th. The most satisfying moment of my Police career, to this point, anyway, had been reinstating Tanya Perlman into the TCPD and swearing her in as my Captain of Detectives. The second most satisfying moment, until the last few seconds of it, had been remembering Larry Wheeler's computer, then arresting and perp-walking Mitt Willis. (Author's note: 'Swamp Frogs', Ch. 02.) The Bronze Medal moment was about to happen.

Edward Blassingame was behind the curtain at the Palladium Hotel in the City, the same stage upon which Mitt Willis had been arrested. Blassingame had the curtains pulled to give him a close-behind backdrop. Security was tight, and guards were at either end of the stage.

The auditorium filled with BigAgraFoods employees, eager to hear their CEO's message. The saw the portrait of Mitt Willis on an easel to the right side of the podium, their left as they looked upon it.

"Have you seen Granger?" asked Blassingame to his security man. "I haven't heard from him in over 24 hours."

"No sir, not a word." said the security man. "He may be helping Barsbane move that merchandise for us."

"He still should've called in by now." said Blassingame, feeling nervous. But there was no time to contemplate it or to take action: a moment later he was being introduced by a fawning staffer, and the standing ovation was tremendous as he took to the stage and walked up to the podium.

"Thank you." said Blassingame. "Thanks to you, it's been another great year for BigAgraFoods. Through the hard work of our employees, and the support of our stockholders, BigAgraFoods continues to feed the world and achieve the goals set forth by our late great leader, Mitt Willis!" The audience thundered its applause.

"This has been a great year for the company." said Blassingame. "And our hardworking employees will have even better opportunities to achieve and excel in the coming year. Mitt Willis's vision for our company, which he called 'The Way Forward', is on track to reach our goals to bring food to everyone not just in this nation but on this earth!" Thunderous applause.

"As you know, Mitt Willis's dream was to----" He was interrupted by the speakers being taken over, and the piano notes of 'Music Box Dancer' blasting through the auditorium.

"What the..." Blassingame said. He looked to his right, and saw Geiger standing at the end of the stage. He looked left, and saw FBI Agents. So where was...

"Whaa!" he gasped as he realized that someone was right behind him. And that someone was Your Iron Crowbar.

I took the microphone on the podium and said "Edward Blassingame, I have here a warrant for your arrest, on charges of arms theft and illegal distribution, drug distribution, and racketeering violations of the RICO Act."

I recited Blassingame his rights as I cuffed his hands behind him. Blassingame was at first too stunned to move or say anything, but as I began leading him to the steps, he regained control of himself.

"You will pay for this, Troy." he snarled. "You will pay."

"Yeah, that's what your boy Mitt Willis said, too." I said as I marched him right up the aisle, through the rows of totally shocked employees, many of whom were seeing this for the second time. I said "Willis played this music for me, taunting me, and I played it when I perp-walked him out of here. You worship him, so you're getting the same perp walk he did."

"You let that great man be shot dead, too!" Blassingame said angrily. "May you be damned for all time for that."

"Just don't say I'm... damned for all time." I sang, remembering the line in 'Jesus Christ Superstar', which was as much about Iscariot as it was Jesus.

We went outside, where I demonstrated that I had learned. The bulletproof Escalades were right at the door, and Edward Blassingame was safely secured in the backseat of one with SAC Jack Muscone.

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

Meanwhile...

At SBI Headquarters in Westphalia, Lt. Norm Chow and several Westphalia Police Officers came into the room of SBI Public Relations Officer Michael Horner.

"Hi Norm." said Horner. "What can I do for you today?"

"You can stand up." said Chow. "This is a warrant for your arrest."

Chow handcuffed Horner as he recited the Miranda rights to him. Horner was led outside and put into a WPD vehicle.

As the vehicle drove away, SBI Inspector Britt Maxwell came up. "Good job, Norm." she said. "We finally got that bastard."

"Thanks to the Iron Crowbar and the TCPD." said Norm, giving credit where due...

Part 24 - Operation ISCARIOT (The Solution)

7:00am, Monday, July 8th. The MCD Detectives and Lt. Jerome Davis got coffee and prepared for the Bettina broadcast. Since the disappearances of Parker and Geiger, the mood had grown increasingly somber, and gone were the days of banter as they listened to, and mocked, Bettina's broadcasts.

And then they looked up to see the Police Commander come into the room, my face somber, followed by the Sheriff, Chief, Deputy Chief, and the Captain of Detectives, who looked like she wanted to burst out crying.

"Ladies and gentlemen," I said sadly as I stopped by Parker's desk, "there's no putting it off any longer. We have to clean out Mr. Parker's desk." There were audible groans as everyone realized what that meant.

"Uh, Commander," said a voice from the side hall door, "shouldn't you ask me first?"

Everyone looked up... to see Detective Teddy Parker standing in the doorway. The room exploded as he came on in, followed by Janice Holloway.

"Oh my God!" Julia Rodriguez shouted as she got up and rushed to hug Parker. She was followed by hugs from Joanne Warner, and genuine hugs from Theo Washington and Roy McGhillie. As Vice Detectives poured into the room to see what was going on, someone said "But what's going on? What happened?"

And then all eyes went over to Your Iron Crowbar, still standing by Parker's desk... and grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"This was all your doing, Commander!" said Julia Rodriguez.

"Excellent deduction, Detective." I said, still grinning.

"What is all this noise?" said Captain Teresa Croyle as she bounded in. "Teddy!" she exclaimed. She hugged Parker warmly, then said "What the hell is going on?" Then she saw me. "Oh, never mind. The Iron Crowbar is what's going on."

"What about Geiger?" asked someone. It was then they noticed that someone had slipped in the door to the back hallway, and was getting coffee. They noticed his arm was bandaged. And they noticed that he was Timothy Geiger.

"Never thought I'd hear myself say this," said Teresa Croyle, "but I'm glad to see you again, Geiger." That started some cheering and banter as Teresa went up and hugged Geiger, followed by Julia doing the same, and Theo and Roy and Christopher Purvis shaking his hand.

After the banter died down, everyone wanted to know what was going on. I said "Chief, with your permission, we'll all meet in Classroom 'J' at 7:30 for the explanation. I need to put out an email. And Captain Croyle is buying you guys the doughnuts. Get crackin', Captain."

"With pleasure, Commander." Teresa replied, not batting an eyelash. She'd already bought the doughnuts.

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

My email said: "It is with great pleasure that I announce that Detectives Teddy Parker and Timothy Geiger have returned to duty after executing an undercover mission on behalf of the TCPD and the FBI. Detective Geiger's role was especially important, and he executed his mission with great professionalism and distinction. This mission led to the recovery of stolen arms as well as the arrests of high-profile, wanted criminals and the destruction of a major smuggling operation. Detective Geiger's mission was exceptionally dangerous, and he endured both mental and physical hardships, including being wounded in the line of duty. Please join me in congratulating Detective Geiger, and also Detective Parker in the successful conclusion of their mission. (signed) D. Troy, Police Commander."

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

It was a full Classroom 'J' that listened to my story as I sat on the slightly raised floor at the far end of the room. Geiger and Parker were also sitting up front, to my right side. Everyone else sat in chairs facing me. Jack Muscone had joined us, as had Lt. Rudistan (you know he wasn't going to miss this). And Janice Holloway was sitting in, as well.

I began: "This operation, which I named 'Operation ISCARIOT', began months ago. The goal was to infiltrate the smuggling operations of Edward Blassingame. I first got wind of the extent of his operation in the Marcie Harper drug bust; it was Blassingame that had financed her desperate last operation that netted us the four hundred million dollar bust. I also had other glimpses into his operations from the time of the super-drone we found." (Author's note: 'Schoolhouse Rock', 'Delivery In The Rear'.)

I continued: "Edward Blassingame had a program where he hired ex-cons into State Parcel Service. That in itself was a good program, but it had a double purpose. The Consultant of Crime had used armies of ex-soldiers and convicts, and Blassingame had a more modest but very effective program." (Author's note: 'Case of the Fake Badges', 'Eyes Only', etc.) "Blassingame used some of the ex-cons to run a smuggling operation, using SPS, and later State Moving Services, SMS." (Author's note: 'Shipping And Handling'.)

"Blassingame also recruited ex-military and ex-Police, including Bundy McGinty and Jeff Farley." I said. "I thought that with the right planning and preparation, we could possibly get Blassingame to recruit Geiger or Parker. So I talked to them, and they agreed to do it."

I said: "Some of you may remember that my thesis has always been that Jesus asked Iscariot to betray him, that it was a ruse so that Jesus could endure His crucifixion and be raised from the dead." (Author's note: 'A Tiny Slip', Ch. 04 for the full thesis.) "I am in no may making any comparisons of myself with Jesus Christ, but the concept of asking Geiger to 'betray' us was similar." Everyone nodded, including Joanne Warner, with whom I'd discussed the Jesus-Iscariot story.

I continued: "The only people that knew at first were me, Geiger and Parker, of course, and Captain Perlman and FBI Agent Jack Muscone. We told Jerome Davis when he was promoted to MCD Lieutenant, and I told the Chief and Sheriff after Blassingame's man Jerry Barsbane made first contact with Geiger."

"Wow, you waited that long?" Cindy said incredulously. "And you didn't kill him, Chief?"

"Oh, I wanted tooooo." muttered the Chief.

"Yes, I learned a few new Airborne Cavalry words, for sure." I said, generating some laughter.

"Yezzzz." said the Chief. "But I understood, once it was eks-plainnnnned to me. And it was a brilliant concept."

"So what we did," I said, "was put Geiger in MCD, and as Parker's partner. And Parker complained bitterly about it, even put out résumés, which was the biggest danger to this operation if someone hired him away from us..." There was more laughter, then I went on: "There were arguments in the hallways, and with Captain Perlman, and done in such a way that a lot of the Police Force heard them... and invariably, it got back to Blassingame that there was a problem here."

"So that was all acting?" asked Joanne Warner.

"Not on some of your parts." I said. "It served me well that you Detectives talked about the situation at the Cop Bar, and did not hold back some of your feelings on it. We'll talk about that later." I could feel some tension in the room; some Detectives knew that they were not on the Police Commander's 'nice' list; my ruse had had the side effect of causing them to show some less than desirable character traits.

"Anyhoo," I said, "it worked. Jerry Barsbane, who was a former Mob smuggler, and who then worked with Blassingame's operations, made contact with Geiger to recruit him. Geiger pretended to be persuaded. And to our surprise, Blassingame himself showed up. Then they had Geiger bring Parker, with the story of meeting a C.I., but it was really a meeting to test Geiger, and get information out of Parker, through torture. Blassingame had Geiger put a gun to Parker's head and pull the trigger, which I'm sure was tough for both of them."

"You have no idea, sir." said Parker, to some murmurs.

"Well, I did train Geiger as well as I could on feeling if a gun was loaded or not. Loaded guns balance differently and weigh more than unloaded ones, and there's usually an indictor that shows if a round is in the chamber, but that's not infallible."

"It was still good training, sir." said Geiger. "The gun felt light, and there was no red indictor on the pin. Still, that was the... toughest... thing I ever had to do..." There were nods of sympathy, and Parker clapped Geiger on the shoulder in support.

"So after passing the test," I said, "the two security men took Parker to the back areas... and that's when we came out of the basement passage there and took the two men down. The sounds Blassingame heard were us taking down his men, not them beating Parker."

"And that was a very tough problem for us." I said. "Geiger was in, but Blassingame would get very suspicious if his men did not return. And so I turned to the Consultant of Crime for the solution."

I continued: "Some of you will remember the first time FBI Team Lazarus 'died', when they were in an airplane crash at County Airport." (Author's note: 'Seriously Inconvenienced', Ch. 03-04.) "The ruse was to put already-dead bodies on the plane that crashed. So we took cheek swabs and some blood from the two security guys we nabbed, then put a couple of already-dead bodies into the limo. You may remember that the tanker truck driver woke up in a ditch, not remembering anything. He'd been pulled over by a TCPD vehicle, then drugged. The crash was easy enough to stage, and voila!... Detectives are visiting Blassingame and telling him how sorry they were that his men died in that unfortunate crash."