No Way Out 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, racism, 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 15 - The Better Mousetrap

It seemed like an eternity as everyone waited to hear Cindy Ross's answer.

"Well, Commander Ross?" goaded Lindsey Black. "Did Donald Troy have sex with Betty Morelli?"

"I don't know." Cindy replied.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" thundered Lindsey Black. "How could you not know?"

"Just what I said." Cindy replied. "I don't know if they had sex or not."

"You said you were with them, or at least her, the whole time." Lindsey Black said.

"And I was." Cindy replied. "But I also told you that Commander Troy and I slept in shifts during the night. If they had sex while I was asleep, I obviously was not aware of it."

"You think you're being cute?" Lindsey Black snarled. "You've lied to a Federal Agent, one way or another----"

"No she didn't!" Agnes T. Spires yelled. "She answered each of your questions truthfully. Stop your lies and intimidation tactics!"

"So why didn't you just answer the question before?" asked Dalton Kendell, trying to keep his voice calm. "Why did you take the Fifth, which is meant to be protection against self-incrimination?"

"Because *I* am the one who had sex with Betty Morelli!" Cindy fired back.

In the stunned silence of the room, she continued: "You've gone after Donald Troy alleging he had sex with her. You destroyed his home unnecessarily. One of your colleagues pointed a gun at his daughter and took the safety off, intending to murder her! And you think I was going to confess to having sex with her without immunity, and subject my daughter and my family to your brutality? Really?"

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

"No, no, no, NO!" yelled Richard Baldwin in the anteroom, realizing fully the implications of Commander Ross's statement. As he turned and began beating the back wall in bitter frustration, Robin Isley was immobilized, staring through the one-way glass. Bob Rovers could not take advantage; he was equally stunned.

"We just gave the bitch immunity!" gasped Baldwin. "We just gave away the whole game!"

"Maybe not." said Special Agent Peter Page. Everyone turned to look at him...

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

Richard Baldwin re-entered the Interrogation Room. Lindsey Black stood up to let him sit in her chair, and she took the one to the side that had been occupied by Glenn Alberts.

"Okay, Ms. Ross." said Baldwin. "I want to be clear on this. You say you don't know if Commander Troy had sex with Betty Morelli, is that right?"

"I refer you to the reply I gave some moments ago." Cindy said.

"You did not see them have sex, you did not hear them have sex, is that right?"

"That is correct." said Cindy.

"After you and Commander Troy delivered Betty Morelli to the Federal Building," said Baldwin, "she took the Fifth and was released. She went to where her husband was, south of the City, is that correct?"

"All I can say to that," said Cindy, "is that Commander Troy and I found her with her husband later on."

"Of course." said Baldwin. "Ms. Ross, did you tell Betty Morelli's husband that Donald Troy had sex with Betty Morelli?" (Author's note: 'Film Noir', Ch. 02.)

"I don't remember my exact words." said Cindy. "But I was goading Jerry Morelli, and I might have suggested something to him along those lines."

"Ms. Ross," said Baldwin, "Federal Agents interviewed Jerry Morelli in Federal Prison, as well as some of his gang that were arrested and incarcerated with him. They said you definitively said that Donald Troy had sex with Betty Morelli. So I'll give you one more chance to tell the truth, before I bring the hammer down on you for lying to Federal Agents and a U.S. Attorney."

"Hmmphf!" Cindy grunted. "What did you offer them to get them to say what you wanted to hear?"

"You forget yourself, Commander." Baldwin said coldly.

"She's right." said Agnes T. Spires. "Do you really think any sane jury is going to accept the word of criminals who would grasp at straws to reduce their sentences or just get favors, over the word of a decorated Police Officer? And furthermore to this point, when I put them on the stand and ask what you offered them in exchange for whatever you wanted to hear?"

"I'm willing to give it a shot." said Lindsey Black.

"You gave my client immunity, then tried to entrap her." said Agnes T. Spires.

"You really should read up on that entire case." Cindy said. "We were goading Jerry Morelli into following us into a trap, a sting. It worked; we recovered Morelli's military-grade weaponry, and got to charge him with attempted murder, too. So of course I told any old lie to goad Morelli and enrage him."

"I think you admitted the truth then, and Morelli's men are telling the truth, too." said Lindsey Black.

"Which just proves what I've been observing all along." said Cindy. "You're not too good at thinking. Probably from lack of practice." Lindsey Black glared hatefully at her...

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

"Dr. Isley, you have a phone call." said an NCPD Officer. Isley followed him out of the anteroom and to the Conference Room. "Line 2." the Officer said.

"Thank you." said Isley. She went to the landline phone on the table, pressed the button for Line 2. "Dr. Isley... that is correct, sir... no sir... no sir... yes sir." She hung up and went back to the anteroom.

"It's not working." said Robin Isley in the anteroom. "We don't have a case."

"We can't stop trying now---" Bob Rovers started.

"We don't have a case!" Isley repeated. "She has immunity. And you want to pin our hopes on Jerry Morelli's mobsters? Good luck with that. We've been told to drop it. Let's go."

As they began filing out of the anteroom, Isley said "Donald Troy is the State's problem now, Alberts. The Feds won't be taking part in prosecuting him."

"Like it should be." said Glenn Alberts, spiking the football. Isley did not respond as she collected her Agents and Attorneys, and left NCPD Headquarters.

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

News travels fast. When Commander Cindy Ross entered TCPD Headquarters, she found the hallway lined with Officers. Upon seeing her, they broke out into a sustained round of applause, and would not stop until she walked through the gauntlet to the anteroom of her office.

"Thanks, guys." she said at the entrance to her office suite. She went on in as the crowd dispersed. Her assistant Lauren Wilcox got up and hugged her, followed by Don's assistant Helena French hugging her.

"Oh, the Chief asked you to come to his office when you got here." Lauren said. Cindy reversed her direction and went to the Chief's office, and was ushered right in.

"Congratulations, Commander!" Chief Moynahan said. "Have a seat." As they sat down, the Chief said "I have a spyyyy in Nextdoor County Police Headquarters. She worked for me for many years, but you've known her farrrr longer."

"All my life, in fact, sir." said Cindy with a grin. They were referring to her sister Molly Evans, once part of Moynahan's team in Midtown, and now NCPD Chief.

"That was a well-conceived plan, to force the Feds to interrogate you there. Crowbar-worthy." said the Chief. "We have learrrrrned that the Feds intended to arrest you and take you over the State Line. Obviously that would not doooooo. And I know it was your plan all the way. Commander Troy said he had nothing to do with it."

"That's true, sir." said Cindy. "I haven't talked to him in days, since he had one of The Vision's people drive the Black Beauty to his compound in Coltrane County, with my mom and my daughter in it. I figured they'd give me Immunity when I took the Fifth, and it was greatly amusing to see their faces when I told them why I took the Fifth."

"And now you are protected forever from being prosecuted for anything to do with the Morelli trip." said the Chief. "So it's over, for you. Don... not so much."

Cindy replied "It's not quite over for me yet, sir. And yes, the State is going to come after Don. And even if he gets out of it, it's going to be a long, hard slog for him. And they may force you to suspend him..."

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

5:30pm, Thursday, January 23d.

"This is Priya Ajmani, KFXU Fox Eight News!" said the lovely Indian reporterette. "FBI Deputy Director Lawrence Lance is about to give a Press Conference in Washington about the Federal investigation of Town & County Police Commander Donald Troy, and the FBI raid that destroyed Commander Troy's home and nearly resulted in the death of his six-year-old daughter. We now join our national Fox Cable broadcast in progress."

"And we welcome our local affiliates to this breaking news report." said the Fox Cable anchor, his toupee perfectly in place. "And here comes FBI Deputy Director Lance now."

Lawrence Lance looked like the dictionary definition of a grizzled Police Captain, with a square-'ish' face, with what looked like unshaven jowls no matter how often or closely he shaved, and a 'decidedly' bald head, meaning he'd shaved his head of what little hair was there. He was of medium height and good build, and exercised to prevent the advancement of age from adding weight to his features.

"Thank you for coming." said DepDirector Lance. "A Joint Task Force consisting of FBI and ATF Agents, including from the FBI's Office of Professional Review, or OPR, and an FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit, or BAU, assembled to investigate allegations that Town & County Police Commander Donald Troy, who is also an FBI Consultant, violated the law by having sexual relations with a woman in his custody."

Lance: "This Task Force presented as evidence a document purportedly signed by Commander Troy taking custody of the woman, who was the wife of Mobster Jerry Morelli. She was being transported to The City to give Grand Jury testimony against her husband. This document was the basis for several warrants to be issued, including warrants to arrest Donald Troy and to search his homes."

Lance: "However, the FBI's Cyber-crimes Unit, working with the FBI's Information and Technology Branch, found strong indications that the document was a fake, with a forgery of Commander Troy's signature. The warrants were rescinded once this new information was provided to the Courts, but the search warrants already had been executed."

Lance: "Unfortunately, in the course of exercising the search warrants, this Task Force committed several egregious errors, including an unnecessarily overzealous search that resulted in severe property damage to Commander Troy's home, and one ATF Agent attempting to shoot a local Police dog, who was clearly identified by wearing his Police badge. The Agent did not stand down when Commander Troy's six-year-old daughter protected the dog with her own body."

Lance: "Charges against the ATF Agent will be filed, and the FBI will work with the Town & County Police to resolve their charges against the Agent. Furthermore, on behalf of the FBI, I apologize to Commander Troy and his family for the damage to his property as well as the endangerment of their physical safety. Last, I am ordering that the Federal investigation of Donald Troy be ended and the Task Force disbanded, as there is simply no way to prove the Federal charges against Commander Troy..."

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

I had DVR'd the DepDirector Lance's remarks, and showed them to the kids. Jim and Ross said nothing, nor did Carole. Nor Bowser, for that matter.

However, Ian said "I don't care. I still hate the FBI."

"Even Pete's dad?" Carole asked him, meaning Jack Muscone.

"If he doesn't quit the FBI? Yeah." said Ian with alacrity. He then turned to me and said "Dad, have you stopped being an FBI Consultant yet?"

"I'm working on that." I said. "I have to make them rebuild The Cabin and buy us new furniture, first."

"Then you'll stop?" persisted Ian.

"We'll see." I said. Ian did not seem pleased by that. And it was at that moment I realized that while they did not have the Power of the Vibe to the extent Carole did, my boys had more going on in the attics of their heads than just Lego Cities. A lot more...

Part 16 - The New Deal

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Friday, January 24th, from the anchor desk of the KXTC studios. "The State Legislature is demanding that SBI-OER Inspector Britt Maxwell open a criminal case against Town & County Police Officer Donald Troy!"

Bettina began: "Members of both Parties of the State Legislature are working together in a spirit of bipartisan cooperation to force Inspector Maxwell to begin investigating Donald Troy for having sex with a woman in his custody. If she does not, the Legislators say, then she should be impeached and removed from her Office. Roll tape."

Tape rolled. First was shown State Rep. Tasheeka Harris (D - Inner Midtown), who said "If Inspector Maxwell will not do her job and investigate the racist cop Donald Troy, she should be removed from office herself and replaced by someone who will go after Troy."

Then Republican State House Minority Leader Wilson Hammonds was shown, saying "Inspector Maxwell has a job to do, and it is not protecting Donald Troy. She must open an investigation, or she should resign. And if she doesn't resign, she must be impeached and removed, just as the racist Val Jared must be impeached and removed!"

After several more such examples, it was back to Bettina live: "SBI Director James 'Curly' Goodwin was asked for comment, and said that the SBI-OER, and especially State Inspector Maxwell is independent of him as Director of the SBI, and that he stood by whatever decisions Inspector Maxwell make. Director Goodwin is running for Town & County Inspector General against Bruce Finneran, and KXTC has endorsed Mr. Finneran for the I.G. position."

Bettina: "And in national news, Director of National Intelligence Brendan Chapel appeared on CNN and issued a scathing rebuke of FBI Deputy Director Lawrence Lance, chastising Lance for dropping the FBI's case against Donald Troy, but more for throwing the FBI under the bus by blaming FBI Agents for the light damage that occurred while searching Commander Troy's home."

Bettina: "DNI Chapel praised the FBI-ATF Joint Task Force for their professionalism and thoroughness in their investigation of Donald Troy, but conceded that the document purportedly signed by Troy being shown to be a fake was a devastating blow to the Federal case against Troy, and that he reluctantly supported shutting down the Federal case against Troy. And now let's go to respected reporter Amber Harris for more on the State case against Donald Troy. Amber!"

"That's right, Bettina!" shouted Amber Harris from the parking lot of the State Office Building. "State Attorney Glenn Alberts has issued a statement saying that he is continuing to investigate Troy for crimes that could include sexual battery of a woman in his custody. State A.G. Karl Handel has also said his Office will continue to investigate Troy, and he joined the chorus of Legislators that have condemned SBI Inspector Britt Maxwell for her inaction on the case."

Amber was smiling most happily as she continued: "Channel Two News has learned that Betty Morelli delivered a baby while in prison, nine months after her alleged sexual encounter with Donald Troy. The baby was taken into the home of Mrs. Morelli's parents, but they both died, and the baby was allegedly put up for adoption. State Attorney Alberts believes that if the baby can be located, then a Court can order DNA testing to show who the father of Betty Morelli's child is."

Bettina: "Amber, State laws about adoptions are very strict, and the records are sealed. How can that be broken? And what would it prove?"

Amber: "The State A.G. believes that because of the seriousness of the charge against Police Officer Troy, a Judge can order either a release of the adoption records, or at least provide the child's identity to the investigators, so that a DNA test can be administered. And if those tests show that Betty Morelli is the mother and Donald Troy is the father of that child, it goes a long way towards proving that Donald Troy committed those sexual crimes..."

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

8:00am, Friday, January 24th. I drove up to The Cabin, with the Sheriff riding shotgun. The Sheriff had told me to wear a civilian suit and tie, which didn't make much sense to me, but I followed my orders.

When we got there, three men and one woman were waiting for us: FBI EAD Owen Lange, SAC Jack Muscone, ASAC Karina White, and Special Agent Julius Jefferson.

I led the way inside, and the Federal Agents were in utter shock at what they were seeing. "And this is the cleaned-up version." I said. I'd cleaned up my office and closed the trap door; it seemed almost normal. The kitchen floor had been swept clean of the shards of dishes that had littered it. The broken glass of the fireplace was cleaned up, and a lot of the stuffing of the furniture had been taken up off the floors, though the damaged furniture remained.

Still, it was bad. "Let's go upstairs and talk." Owen Lange said to me. We left the Sheriff and the other Agents in the greatroom, and Muscone, Lange and I went up to the attic room.

With the exception of the one railcar that was now preserved in a plexiglass box, the destroyed Lego City and the toy railroad remained in that destroyed condition. Lange looked around in shock. I was still feeling anger.

"I came here to see the damage," said Lange, "and to let you know that the FBI will be making financial restitution for the damages."

"Both literally and figuratively, Mr. EAD," I said, "this cannot be swept under the rug by paying off the damages. No amount of money can reimburse my sons for the time they put into this, and no amount of money can undo the invasion and violation of my home---"

"I get that." said the EAD. "But all we can do---"

"MY HOME!" I yelled at the EAD. "Where my wife sleeps! Where my children play... with their toys." My hand swept over the ravaged scene before us as I said it.

"My four-year-old son... FOUR years old... was in tears as he picked up a smashed toy train car he spent hours building with me." I said angrily. "That little railcar represented more than just the work or the fun of playing with it. It represented the time we spent working on it together. You can't replace that!"

I was just getting started: "And my son has declared his hatred for the FBI... all of it... for what has been done here. I know you had nothing to do with this, Jack, but my son hates you for it, and little Pete Feeley, too, because he's your stepson-to-be."

Me: "And what's more... my son asked me when I was going to stop being an FBI Consultant. Now what am I supposed to tell him, except that I handed you my FBI ID and said I'm not your Consultant anymore, eh?"

Indeed, I had my FBI Consultant ID in my hand. Lange and Muscone knew exactly what was being said.

"All right, what do you want?" asked the EAD. "And what will it take to keep you as an FBI Consultant? It serves all of us better if you remain one, and we need you to fight the Swamp Frogs. Lawrence Lance is a good man, and is trying to do the right things, and the DNI is already gunning for him."