Only Time Ch. 04

With that, I walked back into the anteroom. The Sheriff and Cindy were the only others in there; others were watching from the Monitor Room we'd recently built in the 1st Precinct Headquarters area.

"Why'd you come out?" growled Griswold.

"I realized Masterson was stalling." I said. "And he was just trying to figure out how much we know about Logan and his 'associates', for lack of a better term."

"Yeah, that's a point." the Sheriff muttered.

"Don," Cindy said, "you mentioned the others in that SEAL team going missing?"

"Yes." I said. "After we arrested Logan, I started checking up on the whereabouts of the rest of that team. Before now, every time I did it I got the same report back: two were in the DEA in California, one in the California Highway Patrol, one in LAPD SWAT. But my most recent checks? The CHP Officer, Mort Springer, turned in his badge and resigned. William Drew, with LAPD SWAT, took vacation time, all of it, then didn't come back. They went looking for him, to make sure he's all right... and they can't find him. They're keeping that hush-hush for now. And the two DEA Agents were assigned undercover missions, which means I have no idea if they really are undercover or if they're missing."

"Logan wasn't part of that actual team, was he?" asked Cindy.

"Not the one that got busted for war crimes, and not part of the group in that photo we have." I said. "But he was in that unit at another time, and while Navy Lieutenant Bayport was with that unit."

"They're making their move, whatever it is." growled Griswold. "As Sherlock Holmes would say: 'the game is afoot!'."

"Somebody give this Sheriff a crowbar." I muttered. The Sheriff said nothing, but his mustaches twitched most merrily.

A few moments later, the Sheriff's cellphone chimed with a text. "The Feds are here." he said. "BATFE Agent Lindsey Black. FBI Agent Dominic Ellis (Author's note: 'Iscariot', Ch. 03.). Homeland Security Agent Winters. And someone with the Defense Intelligence Agency, guy named Homer Simpson... no joke, that's the name listed here."

I chuckled. "I think we can safely deduce that's an alias." I said. "Well, let's get this party started."

The Sheriff sent the text, and a moment later the four Federal Agents were brought in, having given up their weapons and been frisked for more and found to have none.

As they were brought in, the door to the anteroom opened and in walked FBI EAD Dr. Robin Isley. "May I stay and watch with you?" she asked. Cindy gave her a dark look, though not easy to see in the dark anteroom. I just nodded, keeping my face impassive. The Sheriff caught my cue and also nodded.

"Hello, Mr. Masterson." said Lindsey Black, taking charge. "Hello, Mr. Logan. I am Special Agent Lindsey Black of the Federal Government Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. We'd like to ask you a few questions, if we may? I understand you have not invoked yet?"

"No, he has not." said Nathan Masterson agreeably.

"Just to be sure, I'll read you these rights." Lindsey Black said. She did so from the card. "Do you understand the rights?"

"Yes, I understand." said Logan, speaking for the first time, other than when he was threatening me in his cell.

"We know that you are associated with a White Nationalist group, called the 'White Navy Boys'." said Lindsey Black. "We know that one of your colleagues was behind the hostage crisis at BOW Enterprises a few months ago, and two of them were in the truck that blew up the Hospital. So who were they?"

"What's in it for me if I tell you?" asked Logan craftily.

"We'll get you out of this hellhole, and into Federal custody." said Lindsey Black.

"Like hell." I muttered loud enough for Robin Isley to hear. Her eyes drifted over to me, then back to the one-way glass.

Nathan Masterson said to Lindsey Black "That's not enough. If you want my client to to talk, you've got to give him something solid. Like ironclad, written immunity."

"We have to make sure the information is solid, first." said Black. I'd had enough of this.

"Where are you going?" growled Sheriff Griswold as I moved towards the door.

"Just going to give them a friendly reminder, Sheriff." I said. I left the room and went into the Interrogation Room.

"What are you doing in here?" screamed Lindsey Black. Dominic Ellis got up as if he were going to front me.

"You better be sure, Ellis." I said menacingly, standing right up to him and looking down at him. "I'm already looking to whip your ass after the last time you tried to fuck with me." Ellis stood, but was obviously weighing his options, which were few and 'not good'.

"Just a friendly reminder, Jew Hater." I said to Masterson. "Your client is in local custody, on local and State charges. And the Judge has already said the Feds cannot have your client until he's had his fair trial in our Courts. So any deal this Federal Agent is offering you... custody, immunity, whatever... is not worth a cup of warm spit."

"What the hell?" Lindsey Black angrily gasped. "You're fucking up our interrogation!"

"Yes. I am." I said. "I am ripping it to shreds. Because you're making promises you cannot hope to keep, and thus anything he says would be useless in Court. Or is that what you want?" Though her eyes were blazing, I could see that Agent Black was realizing I was seeing through her.

My standoff with the by-now furious Federal Agents (except Winters, who was enjoying the spectacle) was ended when FBI EAD Robin Isley came to the door behind me. "Federal Agents, let's go. It's over, here." The Federal Agents filed out the door and followed Dr. Isley out of County Jail...

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

"You know, Crowbar," growled Sheriff Griswold as we headed for the Monitor Room, "he might've started talking. Hell, the Federal Agents were giving us a lot of information in there."

"No sir, they were not." I replied. "And what I said was true: if Logan had talked at all under the false impression that he was getting immunity, Masterson would've shredded our case on him; he might even have gotten the charges against Logan dropped."

Going into the Monitor Room, I said to Captain Tanya Perlman, who'd been monitoring with other Officers: "Rewind the tape to the moment the Feds went in." Tanya did so, then we watched.

"There!" I said. "Did you hear that, Sheriff?"

"I heard it, just as we all did." growled Griswold. "But I'm obviously not understanding what you are seeing in it, Crowbar."

"Sir," I said, "when Agent Black identified herself, she gave that ridiculously long description about 'Federal Government Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives'. Why the redundancy? Everyone with more brains than a Betta fish, and that includes Logan, knows the ATF is a Federal agency."

I explained: "It struck me that those were code words by Black to Logan, and maybe to Masterson. When she started the 'we know you're a 'White Nationalist' yadda yadda yadda, she was actually telling him what he should call himself! She wasn't questioning him, she was giving him his marching orders."

"Ohhhhh..." Tanya said, catching on. "So the Feds are going to come out and blame this attack on a White Nationalist group called 'White Navy Boys'... what a fucking stupid name that is, but I digress... and they thought they might have Logan 'confess' and complete their story."

"Exactly, more or less." I said. "Someone give this Captain of Detectives a blue crowbar." Tanya beamed at that, as did Sheriff Griswold.

"So what now?" Griswold asked.

That actually stopped me in my tracks. After a moment of thought, I said "Sheriff... I'm not sure yet..."

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

We went back to the Interrogation Room, where Masterson and Logan were still sitting. Masterson snarled "You gonna talk to my client? Or is this interrogation over? What am I saying, of course it's over! I'm going to have him invoke the minute you say a word to him."

"Mr. Logan, are you now are have you ever been a member of a Navy SEAL team?" I asked. Logan immediately threw the boilerplate at me, invoking his right to silence.

"Good. Now you've invoked, and you can't speak if the Feds try to talk to you again." I said triumphantly. I doubt many Police Officers in this world would want to make a suspect invoke, but as a weapon against dirty Federal Agents, I was more than happy to do it.

I had Rudistan and Morton come in and take the suspect's arms. "You fight us, and I'll use this TASER stick on you, right in front of your Jew-hating lawyer here." Even so, as soon as I unfastened the handcuffs, Logan tried to wrest his arms out of my Officers's grasps. But Rudistan and Morton had trained well for the Police Boxing Matches, and knew enough to be able to roll with the attacks, and Logan couldn't get out of their grip. I very quickly had Logan's hands cuffed in front of him to the chain around his waist.

They took Logan out. As Masterson followed, he was stopped by a red crowbar across his chest. "Masterson," I said, "I know who and what you are, and I hate your guts. But I'll still give you fair warning. You are playing in a den of rattlesnakes with people who don't give the slightest damn about your continued existence. Keep helping those dirty Feds, and I'll tell them you admitted that Lindsey Black's so-called questions were really giving Logan information. Now you have a nice day, and be sure to scrupulously follow the laws and regulations as you leave my County..."

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

2:00pm, Friday, October 18th. At least they waited until after the incredibly popular soap opera Days of Promise ended with its normal Friday cliffhanger. Or am I the only one that likes cliffhangers, these days?

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" said Bettina. "We have breaking news regarding the terrorist attack on University Hospital. Let's go to trusted reporter Lester Holder at the Hospital site. Lester!"

"That's right, Bettina." said Lester Holder, whispering into his microphone as if he needed to be quiet. "Channel Two News has learned that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is going to make a statement to the Press..." He looked back, as if surprised to be seeing people coming to the Press pool, and said "Oh! Here they come now!"

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen." said BATFE Special Agent Lindsey Black. "On behalf of the field commander, BATFE Special Agent in Charge Curtis Halsey, I am here to give you a briefing on newly discovered information."

Agent Black: "The BATFE has identified the two suspects that drove the truck into the Hospital façade as Timothy McCray and Brad Terry. They, along with Jack Logan, who is in custody now, are members of a White Nationalist militia group known as the 'White Navy Boys'. The motive of their crimes were to advance a White Nationalist agenda in accordance with a manifesto that has been recovered by the FBI----"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!!"

Everyone gasped at the authoritative voice behind the Press gaggle that had said that. Yes, it was Your Iron Crowbar.

"I am accusing ATF Agent Lindsay Black, ATF SAC Curtis Halsey, and other Federal Agents of lying to you!" I called out. "There is no such thing as the 'White Navy Boys', just like the 'American Jihadi Front' is a figment of your imagination!"

The Press began gathering around as I said "Jack Logan is in TCPD custody for attempting to murder my wife, Dr. Laura Fredricson, in her hospital room early Thursday morning. Jack Logan was a member of the same paramilitary mercenary group that Quint Starr was a member of. Quint Starr was the leader of the group that attacked BOW Enterprises last June, tortured its CEO Todd Burke, and murdered Police Lieutenant Ivar Irwin! This was also the same paramilitary unit that Trent Ridge was in. Ridge attempted to kidnap my daughter, then attempted to murder her!"

Your Iron Crowbar: "This is not about White Nationalism! That is a red herring. This is about a rogue mercenary unit, acting on behalf of corrupt---"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" screamed Lindsey Black, running with other Federal Agents towards me. TCPD Officers closed in protectively.

"I'm exposing YOUR lies and YOUR coverup!" I shouted. "Curtis Halsey was arrested for trying to murder a TCPD Officer by shooting down the helicopter she was flying! And then he tried to murder an FBI Agent, who swore out a criminal murder complaint with the TCPD! But Judge Nance gave him to Federal custody, and you've taken him out of the jurisdiction----"

"SHUT HIM UP!" yelled Lindsey Black.

"With pleasure!" shouted FBI Agent Dominic Ellis. He drew his service weapon, chambered a round, and fired at me!

"ARRRGH!" I gasped as I fell back from the force of the impact of the bullet against the center of my chest. Ellis's second shot went wild, high in the air, as TCPD Officers rushed him and tackled him. Some Federal Agents drew weapons, but found TCPD M-4s in their faces, and they wisely gave up.

"Don!" Cindy gasped, rushing over to me.

"Help me up!" I grunted. She and other Officers did so. Though the pain in my chest was overwhelming, I knew I had to stand like a samurai warrior in front of my Officers, the Federal Agents, and the members of the corrupt, rabidly hostile Press.

I came up to Dominic Ellis, whose hands were cuffed behind him, his eyes full of deep hatred for me. I said quietly (and hoarsely) "You had your shot, and you failed. I won't."

Then I said loudly "Take this bastard to Police Headquarters and book him for attempted murder. Arrest Agent Black and book her for the same charges." It took Teresa Croyle no time at all to subdue Lindsey Black... who did try to resist and found that resistance was futile... and arrest her...

Part 21 - The Building Storm

7:00pm, Friday, October 18th. As I came into the Cop Bar with Teresa and Sheriff Griswold, the entire room, Police Officers and Firefighters alike, rose and gave me a huge standing ovation. I shook a lot of hands and declined a lot of offers to buy me a beer.

I came out onto the patio deck, to the left side of the main room and in front of the Command Room. I received another ovation from the Detectives and Police leadership there. We sat down at the 'back' table, nearest the window that looked inside the Command Room. I sat down, feeling as well as seeing all the eyes on me.

"I'm okay, guys, really." I said. "I had on double armor plus the windbreaker lining."

It still hurt, though. Dr. Cordell looked me over, made sure the bruising was not internal bleeding, taped my ribs up tightly to keep my sternum from moving around too much, and then proceeded to give me an Admiral-to-Police-Commander one-way conversation about putting myself on the line like that. Teresa saved me by coming in and getting me, and telling the Admiral as only she could that I was just being the Iron Crowbar doing Iron Crowbar things.

That was nothing. Getting shot in the chest was much less painful than the asschewing I took from Our Sheriff.

"My God, Crowbar." he had growled (among other things). "Do you realize the can of worms you just opened? Three Federal Agents arrested in two days? And calling them out in front of the Press like that? You definitely had better be available for comment now! What in the hell were you thinking, son?"

"Sheriff, if I don't speak up against the corruption, who will?" I asked in reply. "These bastards have tried to kill my wife, kidnap and kill my daughter, kidnap and torture my nephew, murdered Lieutenant Irwin, beat Myron Milton's father nearly to death---"

"I get it, Crowbar, I get it." growled the Sheriff. He took a breath, then said "Okay, what would a day in the TCPD be if we didn't have fires to put out..."

Now at the Cop Bar, just moments after I arrived Tanya drove on deck, followed by Jack Muscone. They came over to my table, and I had Jack sit beside me while Tanya and Teresa began a conversation with each other.

"Wow, Dog." Muscone said. "You could not have done more damage if you had pulled the pin on a grenade and thrown it into the Swamp Frogs's circle-jerk."

"So what's happened?" I asked.

"It's in the national news now." Muscone said. "Fox Cable is going to town with it, how the BATFE lied about the American Jihadi Front and this so-called White Supremacy group. CNN and MSNBC are trying to cover for the Swamp by saying they made honest mistakes, but they really can't bury this one. It's like the 'blue dress' story."

I smiled at that reference. People know that The Drudge Report revealed the relationship between Bill Clinton and his sweet young intern Monica Lewinsky, but what they don't know is that the actual Drudge story was that Newsweek had the story and had chosen to bury it. But once Drudge let the cat out of the bag, it could not be put back in. What I'd done today, I hoped would have the same devastating effects.

Muscone continued: "You may not believe this, but Dr. Isley was trying to get Halsey back into this jurisdiction, and was negotiating a plea deal with D.A. Walters. But that got held up somewhere higher up the org chart, and now it's a dead issue entirely. Lindsey Black has been pulled out, as well."

Muscone: "They were setting up Winters to take the fall for all of this, but Homeland Security threw up their shields around him. He's a pretty good counterintelligence guy, and I was told that General McFarland may be nominated to be Secretary of the Homeland Security Department, and McFarland wants Winters on his team."

I asked "So who's taking the fall? And it ain't gonna be me."

Muscone barked a brief laugh, and said "No, they're so scared shitless of you right now that they're walking around in circles like dogs in their beds, not knowing what to do. They had no idea you knew that much about what was going on with Trent and Quint's group of mercenaries. And for that matter, why did you reveal so much of what you know?"

"To stay alive." I said. "To try to kill me or harm my family now means some huge things might become public..." I let that sentence hang, and Muscone understood.

"I get that." said Muscone. "But to answer your question: if they can get the 'honest mistakes' mantra going as the accepted version, then nobody takes the fall. If not, then whoever loses the battle between the Swamp Frogs and the Guardians of Justice at the highest levels of the Federal Government."

I asked "So what about you? And Karina White?"

Muscone nodded, looking a bit more grim than I wanted to see. "To be honest, Don, I don't know. On the good side, Karina and I were having trouble recruiting a new team, but now we've got so many people asking to join us that we'll have no problem there. But on the flip side... one or the other of us is probably not going to survive. Halsey's faction within ATF is really gunning for Karina; they mean to destroy her in the same way the Consultant of Crime wanted to destroy you. And EAD Isley is dead set on getting me out. Soooo... maybe I should pull that string and ask you to see if the SBI Director position is available."

"It will be, if you're committed to it." I said. "So you're changing your mind?"

Muscone said "I love the FBI, but I want to spend the rest of my life with your Captain of Detectives. So SBI Director would be an okay slot, even if I get replaced after the next election. Right now, the point is to find a landing spot."

I said "It's actually very likely that you'd stay in the SBI Director slot, even if a Democrat wins the Governorship. It's only if an Establishment Republican like Karl Handel wins that you'd be summarily dismissed. But Karl Handel will not win... I can guarantee that."

"How----" Muscone started, then caught himself. "Never mind. I shouldn't ask a question I don't want the answer to."