Little Red Haired Girl Ch. 05

"With respect, Sheriff," said Commander Cindy Ross, "what would you have us do?"

"Deny the Press access to all of the Public Safety Department." growled the Sheriff, his eyes boring into Cindy's.

"Doesn't that violate our agreement with KXTC?" asked Cindy.

"I'm thinking in terms of getting Bettina's plea deal rescinded, and having her tried and imprisoned." growled the Sheriff. "And then keeping the Press out of our business completely, every goddamn last one of them."

Chief Moynahan looked shocked. Tanya and Teresa looked happy, and Teresa was nodding vigorously in agreement.

"Sheriff," Cindy said, "I agree Bettina was worse than over the top, there. But not all of them are that bad. KFXU has been very fair to us, especially to Don, and Priya helped me out when Katherine Woodburn went after Betsy..."

"They're all the same, Commander." growled Griswold. "For every time Priya helped you, I remember when she was as bad as Bettina currently is about Don. Ajmani has a long way to go to prove herself to me. And now there's no difference between Bettina Wurtzburg and Lester Holder. And there's no difference between them and John Hardwood. "

Cindy said no more. It was bad enough arguing with Don about it. But it was now clear the Sheriff and her friend Teresa were also as deeply hostile to the Press as Don was. The situation was bleak... for her.

"By the way, where is Commander Troy?" asked Tanya Perlman.

"The light in his office was on and his door was shut," said Teresa, "so I'm guessing he's in there. And I'm guessing he's trying hard to avoid further arguments with any of us about the Press..."

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

It was probably a good thing that I had not joined the Chief's coffee klatch nor the MCD one. Upon hearing Bettina's broadcast, I called down to see if Captain Thompson was in. He was...

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

"Hello and welcome!" said Catrina Pierce at 7:30am, from the KFXU studios. "It's another great day, and we thank you for tuning in to the Fox Eight University Sunrise Show. With me as always is Meredith Peller. Hello, Meredith! Tell us about these breaking developments in Midtown regarding the Budget!"

"Hello, Catrina." said Meredith. "Yes, we have a huge story breaking in Midtown, but first we have a local story for you. Yesterday, Commander Donald Troy of the TCPD prevented a would-be killer from murdering a school student while she and her class were on a field trip to the new weather station on the bluffs overlooking Point Hollow. We are not naming the child to protect her identity and her privacy. The alleged criminal fell over the cliff and died in Point Hollow below. To get the full 'fair and balanced' story, we go now to our special guest: Police Commander Donald Troy. Commander, thank you for joining us!"

"Glad to be here, Meredith and Catrina." I said as the televisions showed a split screen of me in the Police Press Interview Room, and Meredith and Catrina in their studios, showing off their smoking hot legs.

"Commander," Catrina said, "our competitor KXTC all but accused you of first degree murder. What really happened?"

"Yes, their reporting was 'fake news' inaccurate at best, and 'fake news' slanderous at worst." I said. "What really happened was that there have been a couple of attempts to murder this child, and thank you for not giving out her name and putting her life in further danger. She was part of the field trip yesterday, and this criminal made an attack upon her. Fortunately, spotters alerted me in time to get there and prevent a tragedy from occurring."

"Commander," said Meredith, "what steps did the Police take to protect this child?"

"We have standard plans, which I won't reveal here, of course," I said, "to watch over and protect persons that are under threat. However, the school principal refused to permit us to have plainclothes officers mingling with the teachers to protect the children on the school trip, and that same principal threatened to cancel the trip if he saw any uniformed Officers. He even called a member of the Town & County Council to complain about us. I've asked the Mayor to form a Board of Inquiry to investigate that principal's actions, to determine if he put the child at unnecessary risk with his unnecessary hostility towards the Police."

"But you were able to protect this child in spite of that principals interference, is that right?" asked Catrina. She should be a professional softball pitcher, I thought to myself... oh wait, she's being one now...

"Yes, we had other observers in the area," I said, "who spotted this wanted criminal and alerted the Police. I happened to be nearby and got there first, followed by Commander Ross and paramedics."

"The FBI has told us that this suspect was skilled with the martial arts and very dangerous in weaponless combat." Catrina said. "Why didn't you just shoot him?"

Now how did she know to ask that? I wondered to myself, because I had not told her a thing about that. I kept the shock off my face as I answered:

"Because the child was behind him." I said. "I had to consider her safety first. That school principal and certain others don't seem to care about the lives and safety of our children, but I wasn't going to be the one to expose her to any more danger than I had to..."

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

"That was awesome." Teresa Croyle said as she, Tanya Perlman and I began the Angels meeting in my office at 8:00am. "I guess Bettina can't reach you for comment because Catrina and Meredith did reach you for comment."

"I hated to give anyone in the Media a comment." I said. "But Bettina's smears are so bad that I had to respond in some way. I'm hoping that Reed Hudson will air those clips on his radio program."

"Bettina was totally over the top today." said Tanya. "Serves her and KXTC right for you to go to their competitors like that. By the way, the Sheriff brought up getting her plea deal rescinded."

"Fine with me." I said.

"You're not going to ask what Commander Ross thought of that?" Teresa asked, peering hard at me.

"No." I said, looking her right in the eyes. "I don't care. She can conduct her job as she likes. And speaking of conducting our jobs, what's going on in this Police Department?"

"I have insider knowledge," said Tanya, "that the FBI was 'disappointed' they didn't get to talk to Paco, though they fully understood you and your Crew pushing him over the edge, pun fully intended. They were hoping to get something out of him on what's going on with Jerry Barsbane and Tomoko Shimono 2.0."

"Tomoko 2.0?" I asked as I chuckled.

"Your wife hasn't told you?" Tanya said. When I shook my head, Tanya said "They've determined that the woman found buried in Coltrane County is indeed the original and disavowed Tomoko Shimono. This twin Shimono... is a mirror image twin. Her liver is on her left side and stomach on her right side, and her heart's plumbing is backwards from the rest of the world's."

"Wowwww." I said. "And they knew that?"

"I don't have all the details---"

*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*

It was my personal cellphone, and it was my wife calling. "Hi Darling." she said. "I just found out some news about Tomoko Shimono."

"That she has a mirror image twin?" I asked with a grin. Tanya and Teresa failed to suppress giggles.

"How did you...?" Laura asked, stunned. Then she recovered and said "Well! Looks like I need to add my own requisition for firewood and a stake to the FBI's."

"Yes, and because she's a mirror image twin," I said, "her retinal scan would be backward from the original Tomoko Shimono, and that's how they figured out which was which."

"Four hundred years ago, Darling..." Laura said.

Part 29 - Using A Political Crowbar

10:00am, Thursday, February 28th. I was again flying the Town & County Sheriff to Midtown. We were told to park at the helipad on the grounds of the Governor's Mansion, as the one at the State Capitol Office Building was occupied.

"Thank you both for coming." said Governor Valnius Jared as we walked with him to his limousine for the drive to the State Capitol. "I think you might want to see what's going to happen today."

"Har!" barked Chief Griswold. "You're about to bust somebody's balls, aren't you Val?"

The Governor grinned. "It's going to be a memorable day, that's for sure." he said with a smile; no, an outright grin. Yep, he was happy about something, I observed.

"Well, I'm used to it." retorted Griswold. "I've been spending the past few years watching this young whippersnapper bust some big perps's balls, including Mittens Willis's."

"Yes, and I heard that you saved a child from a serial killer." said the Governor. "Congratulations, Commander."

"Thank you, Governor." I said, not bothering to mention that Paco wasn't officially a serial killer, though he'd murdered a few people during his now-ended life.

"Out of curiosity," asked the Governor, "why was that bozo trying to kill that sweet little girl?"

"We think she saw something she wasn't supposed to see." I said. "But neither she nor we have any idea of what it is. We're still keeping an eye on her, just in case someone else tries something."

We arrived at the State Capitol, the limo pulling into the garage level of the Capitol Building itself. The Governor's security forces were stationed at various points, and a team was leading the three of us to the elevators.

As I looked around, I saw a staircase to my right going upstairs, and I got a vibe... a massive vibe. I was remembering a day when I knew that going down a flight of stairs would've led to my death... and I now had the premonition that the staircase I was seeing, down here in the basement, was where that death would have occurred. (Author's note: 'Frozen Mothballs', Ch. 03.)

"Commander?" I heard a voice say. It was the Governor's, from the elevator.

"Oh." I said, coming out of it. I got on the elevator, saying "Sorry, sir. Just... remembering something."

"Everything okay, Crowbar?" asked Griswold, looking up at me.

"Yes sir." I said. "Just fine." But I still felt very unsettled about what had just hit me...

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

We came into the Governor's Office. The Senior Leadership of the State Legislature was already in the room, ready to sit down at the large conference table in front of the Governor's 'public', ceremonial desk. A smaller, private office nearby is where he did most of his work.

"Have a seat everyone." said the Governor, taking his place at the end of the table, just in front of the desk. The Sheriff and I sat in chairs against the wall, off to one side, and observed as the Governor said "So! What's the news?"

"Governor," said Moe Molinari, "I believe we are going to be able to present to you a Budget bill by this afternoon." Everyone applauded... except Wilson Hammonds.

"Is it one I will be able to sign?" asked the Governor, looking straight at Hammonds.

"Yes, Governor." said Katherine Woodburn. "As part of the bill, businesses in this State will be required to use the State eVerify system when hiring employees, and there are no exceptions for businesses like BigAgraFoods and State Parcel Service. Additionally, the SBI's new Immigration and Drug Enforcement division will be created, which will have the twin missions of drug enforcement and assisting the Federal Government's ICE units in apprehending undocumented immigrants and deporting them."

The Governor nodded, then slowly fixed his eyes upon Wilson Hammonds again. "That sounds acceptable." the Governor said. "Has the House voted yet?"

"They'll do so in fifteen minutes." said House Ways & Means Chairman Elijah McKinney. "I'll just ask your pardon now if we hustle out of here to make that vote."

"It sounds good." said the Governor. "I appreciate the work that all of you have done." Everyone applauded themselves. Then the Governor said "And give some of that applause to Commander Troy, who saved a young girl's life yesterday. That is a much bigger case than some of you may realize."

Everyone applauded me, including the Sheriff... well, almost everyone. Hammonds did not join in the applause. I nodded in acceptance of the praise.

"If I may, Governor," said Katherine Woodburn. When the Governor nodded, Katherine said "This bill does contain one little gift for Commander Troy."

She turned to me and said "The City has full sovereignty over its territory, except for City University. Likewise, our Town & County has the same sovereignty over its jurisdiction where the SBI and especially the SBI-IDE is concerned. The SBI has jurisdictional control over State property, including the University, of course, but they are totally subservient to the Town & County local jurisdiction's sovereignty in the rest of it."

"I appreciate that." I said. While I'd asked for it, I'd not expected to get it. I wondered why they'd given me that concession. And I wondered what trick Katherine had up her sleeve about it.

"Okay, folks, I won't keep you." said the Governor. "Mr. Hammonds, if you'll stay just one moment." Everyone took their cues and left, most of them coming over and shaking my hand, and Sheriff Griswolds.

Jimmy 'Coffin' Cerone shook my hand a bit vigorously, whispering "Very well done, Commander. Taking Paco out is what my former organization would call a 'BFD'.

"Thank you, sir." I replied. His words had me wondering what he and the Governor knew that I didn't...

With only four of us left in the room, the Governor took his victory lap. "Well, Hammonds." he said. "I guess I got something on immigration, after all."

"Very little." snarled Hammonds, who looked very ragged and exhausted to my very experienced eyes. "And if you think that SBI-ICE is going to do a damn thing about undocumented workers----"

"We'll burn those bridges when we come to them." said the Governor. "What I want you to understand, Hammonds, is that I won, and you lost. You are beaten. And I am really, really going to enjoy pointing it out to the Press that I crushed you. I am going to tell them that I rammed an Immigration crowbar right up your fucking ass!"

I was shocked, though pleasantly so, at the Governor's viciousness. Especially his rubbing Wilson Hammonds's face in his own (political) dung.

"Enjoy your little cock-a-doodle-doo, Jared." snarled Hammonds, his face a mask of utter fury. "But you know what's next. Pack your bags." With that, Hammonds turned and strode to the door, then left.

"They think they're going to spend the rest of the Legislative session impeaching me." Jared said. "But it won't matter, once this Budget is passed."

"Hell, Val." said the Sheriff. "There's no way that can kick you out of office. You've got too much support in the State Senate."

Griswold then turned to me and said "Right, Crowbar?" His face dropped a bit as he saw the look on my face

"Sheriff," I said quietly, "do you want the truth, or do you want me to tell you what you want to hear?..."

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

The balcony above the State House Chamber was chock-full of reporters. Just below that balcony was a very small audio/visual room above the last row of seats on the House floor. From this small area where we could not be seen, we watched as the vote on the Budget took place.

Wilson Hammonds's last desperate attempts to send the bill back to Committee, then to 'lay it on the table', were resoundingly defeated. After some other procedural issues were taken care of, the State House began voting, a fifteen-minute process.

"So when it passes here," asked Griswold, "it'll go to the State Senate. Will they vote tomorrow?"

"They may vote this afternoon." said the Governor. "Our State Constitution requires the Budget bill to originate in the House, similar to the U.S. Constitution requiring revenue bills to originate in the U.S. House of Representatives. By tradition, State House Bill 1 is the Budget bill. But rather than wait for the House, the State Senate introduces Senate Bill 1, which is their version of the Budget bill, making sure to file it after the House's bill is filed. So they've been working on it from their end. In this case, though, they're going to just move to 'deem' House Bill 1 as the Senate Bill 1 and pass it, since the House Bill is already the collaborative effort."

"Always the first bill of the session?" I idly asked.

"Well, there was one exception, about ten years ago." said the Governor. "The State Attorney General at the time said that State Patrol Officers were not authorized to escort the University's head football coach and State Tech's coach on the field, and definitely not out of State. That year, HB 1 and SB 1 were bills authorizing the State Patrol to escort the head football coaches, and it was quickly passed and signed into law by the Governor." Sheriff Griswold and I chuckled at that.

The voting results flashed up on the big voting board. There were smatterings of red lights amongst a huge number of green lights. The Budget had passed the State House! We heard the applause of the Legislators, and I saw Wilson Hammonds hastily exiting the House Chamber, his face redder than my hair...

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

Sheriff Griswold and I were invited to lunch with State Senators Moe Molinari and Jimmy Cerone at the Midtown Luigi's restaurant. You better believe we accepted.

Cerone and I tried the new recipe for Shrimp Alfredo. "Mmmm." I said after the first bite. "Good Lord, this is delicious!"

"Yes, it is." said Cerone. "Sure you won't try some, Mr. Molinari?"

"I regret that I have problems with seafood, especially shellfish." said Molinari. "But this spaghetti and meatballs is extremely good."

"Yes, it is." said Griswold, who was sharing that dish with Molinari.

"Well, we've dodged the proverbial bullet." said Cerone. "We had concerns that Hammonds might get his coalition back at the last moment. But the agreement held. And it's a lock to sail through the State Senate, and then Jared will sign it."

"What happens after that?" asked Sheriff Griswold. "You've got a whole month left to twiddle your legislative thumbs." The Senators laughed heartily at that.

"Everyone will try to get their pet projects through." said Molinari. "Some will try to merge their bills to get them through in one package, others will go it alone. But I won't be surprised if nothing else gets done, since everything of importance was shoved into the Budget bill."

"I have one question." I said. "I hear rumors that there will be attempts to impeach the Governor. Any truth to those figments of my imagination?" I did not fail to observe that Molinari and Cerone exchanged a quick glance at each other. Then Cerone turned to me.

"In the privacy of this room, and between us gentlemen that know how to keep our mouths shut," said Cerone, generating nods of agreement from me and Griswold, "there will be lots of talk, especially on the House side. But whether anything gets done? That, I don't know."

"Ohhhhhh." I said as it hit me. "That's how you busted Hammonds's coalition... you promised them Impeachment inquiries and hearings."

"Good Lord." muttered Sheriff Griswold.

"This young man is very smart." said Molinari to Cerone, in an intentionally vast understatement.

"Yes, he is." agreed Cerone. "Mr. Crowbar, you are partly right. It wasn't Senator Molinari nor myself, but Katherine Woodburn and Elijah McKinney that promised the House Democrats a shot at Governor Jared if they passed the Budget, which they now have. And Wilson Hammonds still tried to stop the Immigration portions of the Budget from going through, and failed... but he'll board the Impeachment train as fast as he can get to the station."

"You think Jared will actually lose in the State Senate?" asked a stunned Chief Griswold.