Only Time Ch. 03

"Is there a problem, Officers?" I said, seemingly jovially, but with an undercurrent of menace to my voice.

"Yes there is!" yelled Lindsey Black. "I've ordered the TCPD to assist us with our interviews of all the Hospital staff, but he's not moving to make that happen."

"I don't blame him." I said, towering over Black with my height. "First of all, Special Agent Black, you are not in a position to order the Town & County Police to do anything. Second of all, after the total lack of cooperation you Feds have given us, followed up by your Special Agent In Charge about to shoot at my helicopter and my Officer in it, I am very much inclined to not help you at all."

"You are here to help and support us in our investigation!" Black snarled. "Now get your Officers in the Hospital!"

"And how are you going to make me do that?" I said quietly. "How are you going to force me to do that?"

"I'll arrest you for Obstructing a Federal investigation, if you don't." yelled Black.

"Ohhhh, the ol' 'obstruction' threat." I said. "Why don't you try arresting me, Agent Black. Not only will I fight back, I'll use this crowbar and beat your fucking head in. And if you pull a gun, you'll be a patient in that Hospital... or a permanent guest in our cemetery."

"Why you son of a----" Black gasped.

"Spare me the platitudes about my mother." I interrupted. "The bottom line is that we answer to the County Sheriff, not the FBI and especially not the BATFE. Now get out of my tent and go back to yours."

"Yeah, I'll be back." Black threatened. "And we'll whip your local cop ass!"

"Bring. It. On." I replied. When Black gasped for air, I continued "There is not a Federal Agent on this property that can whip my ass, with the possible exception of my wife. But I can and will whip every Federal Agent here. Bottom line, the TCPD is not here to take your orders. Have a nice day."

"You think we can't bust your ass down----" Black started, but stopped when a hand gripped her shoulder from behind. She whirled to see FBI Assistant Director Owen Lange looking at her.

"He's right, you know." Lange said in his scratchy voice. "He can whip any Federal Agent here... and it hasn't been for lack of trying on my part. Get out of here." With a glare back at me, Lindsey Black stalked out of the tent.

"What's new, Mr. Assistant Director?" I asked.

"Not much." said Owen Lange. "You're still as hardcore as ever. But you're right to not cooperate with the Feds. Let's go talk somewhere."

I told Lt. DeLong that he'd done a good job standing up to the Feds, and to keep on doing so. Then I followed AD Lange towards the Hospital. We went in via the southside entrance, and up towards Laura's room.

"This is good enough." Lange said as we stood at the end of the hall past Laura's room, looking out the southeast window and the view of the mountain finger upon which The Cabin sat. "I guess you know what all this excitement is about."

"The autopsy came out." I replied. "Nurse 'Ratchett', as we called her, had some anomalies about her death."

"That's right." said Lange. "Any idea what it is?"

"No." I said. "We had some reason to believe she was associated with White Supremacists back in the day, but not enough to really do anything to her. And I had evidence that she stole some morphine that was used to finish off a terminally ill cancer patient." (Author's note: 'Case of the Paper Trail', Ch. 01; 'Hampered In His Plans', Ch. 01.)

"Think she might have been involved in this?" Owen Lange asked. When I just gave him a 'look', he said "Look, I freely admit that something's going on with this, that something's not right. This is not an ordinary terrorist attack, foreign or domestic. And if it's not the Cartel, then we need to find a motive."

"No disrespect intended, Mr. Assistant Director," I said, "but is that the real issue here?"

"What do you mean?" Lange asked, his voice unfriendly.

"I mean," I replied, "that I think you're seeing what I'm seeing, and you're trying not to say it but I will: the Feds are not here to find the truth, but to cover it up."

As Lange blinked in disbelief, I said "Well, to be more accurate, someone within the Feds, high up, wants this covered up. Which means someone is in league with the perps."

"What do you base that on?" asked Owen Lange.

"The lack of cooperation with the local and State LEOs." I said. "It's virtually unheard of. Why the effort to keep us out?... to the point that SAC Halsey was willing to shoot at a TCPD helicopter and possibly hit the Hospital itself? And threats against Agents I know are good guys, like Jack Muscone and Karina White? Who nearly got shot by the same bastard that tried to shoot at my helicopter?"

"And furthermore to this point, sir," I said, "there's money in this. A lot of money. The explosives used? Very expensive. The truck bomb? Custom made. Very expensive. Electronic guidance system? Very expensive. The someone sent to kill my wife, who is now sitting in my jails? An associate of Trent Ridge and Quint Starr, who were part of the EMPTY QUIVER event as well as other things."

"My God." Lange muttered as the enormity of what I was saying was hitting him. "Whole Government theory? Or just a few bad apples?"

"A few bad Swamp Frogs." I said. "But the hostility to local LEOs has been pretty consistent across the Agencies, so I'm thinking handpicked Agents were brought in. The only one's that aren't... Muscone, Karina White, Julius Jefferson, and you... are being excluded and threatened themselves."

Lange nodded. "I have no reason to expect you to believe me. But I agree with you, and yes, I'm seeing the pattern, here. What I will ask is that you let me handle it. You take care of your wife and your family, and your Police Force. I've got Federal friends."

"You're about to have one less." I said. "Tanya Perlman is one of my family, and what Robin Isley is doing to her and her fiancé... is inexcusable."

"Have faith, Commander." said Owen Lange. He turned and walked back down the hallway, and so did I. I went to Laura's room as he went around the corner and down the main hallway...

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

5:30pm. Jack Muscone came up to Laura's room, where I already was. After a few minutes of preliminary talk, asking her how she was doing, etc., Muscone said "A couple of things. First of all, Laura, you'll have to give a statement to someone in the FBI, and they're not allowing it to be me." Laura nodded, as did I.

"Also," said Muscone, "the Staff and employees of this fine Hospital are getting angry at the way the Feds are going about questioning them. In many cases it's been harsh, and several nurses demanded lawyers, claiming that Agents were accusing them of committing crimes and threatening them with jail for the ubiquitous 'obstructing a Federal investigation' charge. Dr. Cordell is getting his hackles up, and is about to bring in lawyers to deal with the Feds."

"He might should've done that from the beginning." I said. "And I'll tell you this right now... whoever comes in to interview Laura will have to relinquish all weapons and submit to a search for hidden weapons. If they don't, they won't get past me. And if they accuse me of obstruction and try to arrest me... I will be shooting to kill."

"I hear you." said Muscone. "Also, what they're bothering your doctors and nurses about... is Nurse 'Ratchett'. They are now speculating that she was involved in the terrorist attack, and think that others may have been in league with her."

"Sheesh." I said.

"They're idiots." Laura said.

"No, dear," I said, "they're chasing red herrings. They're looking for someone to pin the whole thing on, and with her past issues, Nurse 'Ratchett' is the perfect patsy."

"I gotta go." said Jack Muscone. He made a hasty exit.

"I don't think he like what you said." Laura astutely observed.

"He's caught between a rock and a hard place." I said. "He loves the FBI and hates the corruption growing within it. He loves Tanya, but she's anchored down here, and knows the TCPD is the only job she really can get."

"And the TCPD is the only job where she can work for you." Laura again astutely observed.

"Exactly." I said. "And Isley is using that, threatening to transfer Jack to Alaska or Europe."

"That goddamn bitch." Laura muttered. "I had the chance to kill her, years ago. I didn't do it. I should have."

Part 18 - Remembering

I went to Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers to get Laura and myself some supper, seeing as the Hospital food was even worse than normal because the gas was still off in the kitchen areas. When I got back, I checked the room for bugs, finding none, but always wondering if the equipment in the room was interfering with my device's ability to find bugs.

As we ate, with me helping Laura get used to eating one-handed, we watched the news. Bettina Wurtzburg was saying: "And sources tell Channel Two News that the focus of the Federal investigation is turning to the doctors, nurses, and employees of University Hospital, after one nurse killed in the explosion had anomalies in her autopsy. Neither the Coroner's Office nor the Town & County Police would respond to Channel Two News's repeated requests for comment, and the Federal investigators have also declined to comment, stating the ongoing nature of the investigation..."

"If it weren't for this story on the nurse," Laura said, "the Media would've gone into 'drive-by' mode already. There's just no new news for them to report."

"I agree." I said. "The national news outlets are already packing up to go. And that in itself... is a cluuuuuue in itself."

"How so?" Laura asked.

"No one is leaking anything to to the Press." I said. "That in itself is suggestive of an attempt to cover up what really happened..."

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

At 8:30pm, Laura kicked me out of her room, ordering me to go home and be with the kids, and to get some sleep. Knowing what was best for me, I followed this particular doctor's orders. But before leaving, I took something out of my pocket and handed it to her. It was a holstered Taurus snub-nose revolver, .38 Special caliber. She put it under her sheet where her right hand could get to it.

I went to The Cabin, where the kids were staying with Molly and Paulina. Cindy and Betsy were also there, since Callie was in California. Cindy and Paulina had me sit down in the front room to watch a video taken from the website of the Town & County Examiner Online.

It was a video montage from the first day of the terrorist attack, set the the music of Enya's 'Only Time'. It would be picked up by television stations across the Nation. As the haunting music played, photos began phasing in and out.

There were photos of the smoking building, then firefighters coming up. Then one of Father Romano appearing at the damaged doorway with two infant babies in his arms. Then one of Roy Easley with his hand on my shoulder; you really couldn't tell that he was stopping me from going in.

The pictures got more heartbreaking, showing people being taken on stretchers into the hospital tent. One photo showed Father Romano sitting and in tears, with Teresa next to him, her arm around his shoulders, trying to comfort him. Another one showed Teresa pointing at something as she was giving Lt. Rudistan and a Firefighter instructions. Then a photo of a tarp on the ground, which I knew was covering the little bodies of the infants that had died.

There were more photos of the Firefighters at work, then Police Officers providing security. Then some photos from inside the Hospital, showing people on gurneys being taken down the hallways, and worked on by doctors and nurses. There was one of a nurse holding what I found out was Rhonda Hooper's newborn child, then one of Cindy and Beatrice outside, with Beatrice crying as she held her new niece.

And then, much to my surprise, was a photo of Laura lying in her hospital bed and me standing next to it, us looking at each other. Alison McFarland must've taken that when she visited. I was just glad there were no photos of Carole or Jim; I did not need perps seeing their little faces on television.

More photos as the day went on. Investigators crawling around the damaged wing, the National Guardsmen working at their tent, many photos of the TCFD and TCPD at their jobs. Photos of shocked civilians looking at the damage from the street. One of the Press crowding around Captain Damien Thompson, his uniform looking as sharp as ever despite the crisis. There were some of Chief Moynahan at the TCPD tent, one of him seemingly instructing an attentive Commander Teresa Croyle. And one of Tanya Perlman at the monitoring station, a close up that did not reveal that she was in a wheelchair.

Finally some night photos, with klieg lights illuminating the damage. The final photo was one of me standing next to Sheriff Griswold, side by side, me in my trenchcoat and Tilley hat, the Sheriff in his uniform with a brown windbreaker. We were looking at the damage, the klieg lights strangely illuminating us with the last of the sunset and deep blue twilight behind us. Sheriff Griswold looked profoundly sad, and my face looked grim.

"Wow." I said, feeling the emotions the piece was designed to produce. Tears were streaming down Cindy's face as she nodded.

I felt a strange need to be alone. "I'm going to go out on deck until supper gets ready." I said. Maggie Ross was cooking supper in the kitchen, helped by my mother. I poured myself a Scotch, neat, and went onto the back deck.

I could see the bright lights at the Hospital as I sat down on the metal mesh loveseat. I looked up, out over my Town, seeing the sparkling headlight of a train coming out of the western horizon, a point of continuity amidst the jarring changes we'd experienced in our lives.

I was remembering what Martha the M.E. had said about the infants in the neonatal unit, and my heart and soul hurt again at the fate of those tiny fighters having their little lives cut short so brutally. Life isn't fair, I thought to myself, but why did it have to be that unfair for those poor little things...

*PLOP*

I looked down to see that Tiger Mom had come up and jumped into my lap. But instead of laying down on my legs, she sat on my lap and pressed her side into my belly and chest, and began purring.

I remembered what Carole had said about cats purring to heal themselves and other cats. Maybe Tiger Mom was trying to help heal my breaking heart at that moment. I gently petted her as the vibrations of her purring reached into my soul...

Part 19 - Danger In The Night

2:00am, Friday, October 18th. I woke up to the sounds of dogs growling in the greatroom. For Bowser to occasionally do so was normal; it was not normal for Buddy to also be growling.

I got up and quickly dressed, and looked outside the bedroom window overlooking the deck. It was dark, and the motion sensor light had not activated, but I thought I saw a flitting shadow at the far edge of the deck, where the dogs went around to take the mountainside trail to do their business.

As I went downstairs, with my service weapon in my hand pointed at the floor, the dogs began barking vociferously, joined by growls emitting from their throats. The Levelor blinds obscured the view to the outside, but I had two angry dogs sounding an alarm.

Molly came up from her downstairs bedroom. I whispered for her to watch with the dogs, and that I'd go through the garage to check outside. I went through kitchen to the door to the near-side garage, where Laura usually parked her Mercedes. It was still sitting at the Hospital, so I crossed the empty garage, removed the bolts over the door to the outside, then quietly opened the door and stepped onto the walkway.

Going towards the deck, the motion sensor light had come on. Peering around the edge, I saw someone trying to peer inside the windows in the doors!

*CLICK!*

She turned her head to see the business end of my Beretta 96 an inch from her head, the safety having just been taken off.

"It's me, Robin Isley." she said. "Don't shoot."

"What the hell are you doing sneaking around my home?" I asked menacingly.

"I came to talk to you." Isley said. "Don, I need your help..."

To be continued.

Dear readers, you have the clues. What was the true motive of the attack?