Power of Love Ch. 01

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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Dedicated to Laura Branigan. Beautiful lady. Amazing voice. Gone too soon.

Part 1 - Prologue

Tuesday, February 25th. My daughter Tasha was four (FOUR!) years old today, and the kids were having a party at The Cabin. Carole, Marie, Jim, Ross, Ian, Betsy, Doug, Mike, and Jack Burke were in attendance. With Edward Steele at a Council meeting, Stephanie had brought Marie, Teresa had brought her boys, and Cindy had brought Betsy. Molly, who lived at The Cabin, was there as well.

And the evening was spent... watching DVR'd episodes of 'Supergirl' and 'The Flash' on television. That was followed by cake and ice cream. Your Iron Crowbar heated up some fudge and caramel so that the grownups (and I'm not sure who those were) could make ice cream sundaes. The kids (and I do know who those were) consumed the entire cake.

"Mmm, these Bessemer Butter Cookies are wonderful." said Stephanie Steele. "Please take them away before I eat too many and get fat!"

"I'm the choir. You are preaching to it." said Molly. "I love the Bessemer Sugar Cookies, too."

"Me three." I said agreeably.

Then came gifts. Carole gave Tasha two smaller-than-normal basketballs... because Tasha had asked for them. Jim gave Tasha an illustrated book written for children about how Courts of Law work... good stuff, seeing as Tasha's mother was an ADA and her father was a Police Officer.

Ian gave Tasha a book about cats, as Tasha was fascinated by Tiger Mom and her kittens. Mike, Doug, and (theoretically) little Jack Burke combined to give Tasha a doll house, complete with a couple of dolls... a white man and a black woman. Betsy may not have realized that she gave Tasha an 'advanced' coloring book.

And then came Marie's present. Yep, a booklet. Drawings of Tasha petting Tiger Mom; Tasha as a judge in Court, with her mother as an attorney before the Bench; Tasha playing with Carole and Marie; and Tasha with her dad, a red crowbar in her hands.

"Ahhh," I asked Tasha as I saw it, "are you going to earn a crowbar one day?"

"Yes, she will." Carole said. "Her whole team will, when she wins the Nash-u-null Champ-ion-ship in basketball."

"Write that one down, too." Cindy said, suiting the deed to her words with the 'Notes' app on her iPhone.

"So let it be written, so let it be done." I replied. "With what team will Tasha win a National Championship?"

"Daddy!" Carole chided me. "With the Wildcats, of course!"

Ross went last, and we were stunned when he gave Tasha a small box. Inside was a necklace, with the symbol of two fish... Pisces, Tasha's Zodiac sign.

"Oh wow, that's neat!" Tasha said, her happiness surprising us a bit... but what woman doesn't like to get jewelry on her birthday? Ross put it on Tasha, getting the clasp right the first time, and Tasha showed it off like it was one of the Crown Jewels.

"He saw it in the store, and said he wanted to get it for Tasha." Molly told me quietly a few minutes later.

"Maybe he had his own vibe." I said.

"Maybe." Molly said. "Ross is very good about organizing things, and his clothes in his drawers and the closet could pass a military boot camp inspection. I can see the wheels turning in his head when he's working on something, too."

I smiled, then said: "Jim is like that, too. Carole... not so much on the neatness, to her mother's dismay. But Carole has the powers of observation and deduction, and the Power of the Vibe on top of it."

Molly said "I wish Ian would develop those powers, too." Little did she know...

Part 2 - Midtown March Madness

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Monday, March 2nd, from the KXTC studios. "The Legislative session for the year is becoming a disaster!"

Bettina began: "After failing to remove deeply unpopular Governor Val Jared by just one vote, cast by Republican Ross G. Edmunds, State House and Senate Democrats are showing no willingness to work with Republicans on the State Budget nor any other issues!"

Bettina: "Democrats, who control the State House, have passed several bills on purely partisan Party line votes. The 'Common Sense Gun Control' Bill would raise the legal age to own a firearm to 25 years of age, limit private ownership to one firearm of any type per household, outlaw all 'assault style' rifles, limit pistol magazines to five rounds, and would impose a $1-per-round tax on ammunition."

Bettina: "Also, as part of common sense Police reform measures, all ammunition purchased by Police Forces in the State would be taxed at a rate of $2-per-round. And Police would be limited in the quantity and type of firearms they can purchase, including a ban on 'assault style' or military-style firearms."

Bettina: "Other passed bills include common-sense measures to combat climate change, and an additional tax on the State's wealthiest citizens and businesses. The State Senate, controlled by Republicans, is blocking votes on these reasonable and important measures. Governor Val Jared has said he would veto those bills anyway, especially the common-sense gun control and climate change measures."

Bettina: "And while failure to pass a Budget will not harm the State this year, as it would operate on this past year's Budget levels, Val Jared would be leaving his successor of either Party with a potential disaster for next year. Legislators of both Parties blame Jared for the gridlock in the Legislature..."

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

"Holy Mother of God." Teresa gasped, her voice barely a whisper, as we drank coffee in the Chief's Conference Room. "Two dollars per round?"

"For the Police, yes." I said. "That's what Tasheeka Harris proposed as part of her 'Police Hatred' bill, as I call it."

"And one dollar per round on ammunition for everyone is prohibitive." muttered Chief Moynahan. "They sell 'bricks' of .22LR ammo in lots of 1000 each. The Democrats want that brick to be over one thousand dollars to buy? That has to be an infringement of our Second Amendment rights!"

"Raising the legal age to own a firearm to 25 is definitely an infringement." I said. "As is limiting household ownership to one firearm."

"It has no chance of passing." Cindy said. "So why are y'all whining about it?"

I stared hard at her, then said "That they are even proposing those things show their utter disregard, if not outright hatred, for the Constitution. But worse, what you are hearing is their Party platform being announced. If the Democrats win power, be it in the State Legislature or the Federal Congress, what you are hearing is what they fully intend to DO to us. And it's what they intend to run on."

"He's right, you know." growled Sheriff Griswold. Cindy 'shrugged' her eyebrows in acquiescence, and said no more.

"If they run on that," said Tanya Perlman, "then Republicans will control both Houses of the State Legislature -and- the Governorship come November."

"Don't be so sure." Teresa said. "The Democrats are gaining in the suburbs, and they're going to be having huge voter registration drives."

"And the Establishment Republicans are just cowardly enough to not push back." I said.

"Do we have anything more positive to talk about?" Cindy queried, frustration creeping into her voice.

"Sure." I said with a grin. "I get to put my 'better living through chemistry' skills to good use, and make my own bullet cartridges rather than pay $2-per-round." Everyone else chuckled, but the Green Crowbar was 'not amused'...

Part 3 - It Begins

At 9:00am, a visitor arrived at my office. I had FBI Special Agent In Charge Jack Muscone sit down after pouring himself some coffee.

"Less than a month away." I said, referring to Jack's upcoming wedding to Tanya Perlman.

"Yep." said Muscone. "And I'm very excited... that we'll finally be getting it behind us. No, I shouldn't say that. Tanya is very excited about it, the girls are excited about it, and I'm looking forward to making that wonderful woman my wife. But these wedding ceremonies are definitely for the Bride."

"I understand entirely." I replied. "But until that great day, we have work to do and perps to bust. So whassup?"

Muscone said "First of all, we interviewed Tracy Stone at your recommendation. Julius Jefferson and Lindy Linares liked her. I was on the fence about her, but Karina White and Stone really hit it off. It's really Karina's team to assemble, so I went along when Karina didn't let Tracy leave the office without accepting a job offer. So Stone is going to Quantico, and if she does well there, we'll have a new Team member this summer."

"Good." I said.

Muscone said "I also came by to ask you if you've found anything else on the Stoddard murder, or Lionel Carmela."

I said "Nothing new on Carmela. He's very well connected with Leftwing politicians and academicians across the country and even around the world, and he seems to be playing a long game... recruiting and developing far-leftwing disciples and putting them in positions in politics and the Media... not that the Media needs any special help with that."

"Heh." said Muscone agreeably. "You got that right."

I continued: "The biggest 'strangeness' about Carmela that I could find is that he had his security clearance revoked years ago, probably at Laura's direction, but it kept being restored. Revoked and restored three times, before the recently deceased FBI Deputy Director slammed the hammer down on it by exposing it to Congressional Republicans."

I went on: "But nothing on Carmela we didn't already know. As to Robert Stoddard, I found out that he'd been working hand-in-glove with the U.S. Military on a number of projects, but those were being wound down... and I can't quite get a handle on whether it was him or them opting out."

"Do me a favor," said Muscone, "and theorize with what data you have."

I nodded. "My guess is that the Swamp Frogs infiltrating our Federal Government, and subtly working to weaken us, had been shutting down his projects. And the data I have to back that up is the way his murder went about... it was professional, but not like a Mob hit kind of 'professional'. It was more like a rogue Agent, or a team of them, planned and executed Stoddard's, well, execution."

"Consultant-ish?" asked Muscone.

"In some ways." I said. "Westboro loved complex schemes, and having someone dress up to look like Stephanie Steele from a distance, which I increasingly believe happened, would be something he'd advise someone to do. But he's not alive anymore."

"But Carmela is." said Muscone.

"And if you're trying to hint to me that Carmela aspires to be the next Consultant of Crime," I replied, "I'd disagree with you on a few points. This feels more like a Rogue Hit Team, like a 'Mission: Impossible' IMF team gone bad. Like... Trent and Quint's rogue SEAL team."

Muscone nodded. "Well, what a BAU team I talk to... not the Rovers BAU fools, but a real BAU team... what they're suggesting is that Carmela may have had some connection to the team that bombed University Hospital as well as the Stoddard murder." (Author's note: 'Only Time' for the Hospital bombing.) Maybe he asked them to murder your wife and murder Stoddard, or maybe they wanted to do it and asked for his advice. What do you think?"

I thought about it for a minute, or pretended to for Jack's sake, then said "It just... doesn't fit what I know about Carmela. He's running a long game, a subtle game, to gain long-term political power. He'll advise resorting to violence only when the time is right for it. Murdering Stoddard fits well within his plans, but the Hospital bombing?..." I shook my head. "No, that's not Carmela, at least I don't think so."

Muscone nodded. "I'll pass those thoughts along, with your permission." I nodded and Muscone continued: "What about the serial killer using Stephanie Steele's formula as his guide?"

I shook my head. "The Atlanta Police and LAPD have been extremely courteous and helpful to me, but they have a lot of work to do and not enough manpower to do it. But Detective Beale of the Atlanta PD has not given up on it, and devotes what time she can to it. She's been looking into the employees of the Centers for Disease Control, the CDC, in Druid Hills, that were there at the time of the serial killings. But the CDC has been much less than helpful on the matter, so she's not able to make much headway."

Muscone: "The CDC is a Federal Government institution. Is that why you and Beale suspect them?"

"To say we 'suspect' them is a bit strong." I said. "But some low- or mid-level employee with a Federal ID or badge could be inserted into there without much problem, then be extracted later. Anyhoo, Detective Beale and I have also worked on the victims to try to find a motive for the serial killer. Imagine if Stoddard had been killed as part of a string of serial murders. We'd have looked at his case in a whole different way that we did."

"So you're saying that one of the victims was the target," said Muscone, "but others were killed to make it look like it was for a different reason?"

"I'm saying it's a possibility, that's all." I said. "Anyway, how are they treating you, these days?"

"Not bad." said Muscone. "They're not giving me anything to do, so it's giving me a chance to clean up some old stuff, like Trent and Quint and their old SEAL Team, and issues related to Barsbane and Shimono and their connections to Edward Blassingame." I peered at him as he spoke.

"Okay... what else is on your mind?" I finally said.

"Four hundred years ago..." muttered Muscone. Then he made the click-the-ink-pen sign for me to turn on the bug-killer. I did so, then nodded.

Muscone said "Did Teresa ever tell you about the guy who killed her sister in that drunk driving collision?" (Author's note: 'Dark Side of the Force', Ch. 05; 'Teresa's Christmas Story'.)

I instantly understood. "No, but she didn't have to." I said quietly.

Muscone nodded. "Well... my brother disappeared, and was later found murdered. The case was never solved, nor pursued very hard. But I just got word from a friend of a friend that the case is being reopened... by the Rovers BAU team, at the request of someone in the FBI's OPR Department."

I again instantly understood. "Martin Nash?" I asked.

"Not much gets by you." said Muscone. "After all I did for that guy, and he repays me by tearing this one back open."

"It may not be you Nash is going after." I said.

"Then who?..." Muscone gasped, then it hit him. "Oh."

"Yep." I said. "Teresa."

"Well," said Muscone. "I was sent this by my friend of a friend. It's what Nash sent Bob Rovers." He brought up a video on his FBI iPhone, and handed it to me to watch. I worked hard to keep from gasping when I saw it.

"Okay," I said when the video was over and I'd handed it back. "We have work to do. First, let's go see Cindy in her office..."

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

We went next door to Cindy's office. "Hi Jack," she said. "I'd say you're in the wrong office, except that Don led you in here himself. What's up?"

"Something big." I said, closing her office door. "And important." Jack wordlessly handed her his FBI iPhone, and she watched the video as we found chairs to sit in at her bidding.

"Wow." Cindy said. "Why did someone send that to you?"

"As you know," Jack said, "Teresa's sister Alexis and a friend were killed when a drunk driver crashed headlong into them. The man in the other car, that you saw in the video, was my half brother."

Cindy's ice blue eyes could not have widened any further in shock. "I... I had no idea." she said.

"It wasn't exactly something anyone advertised." I said. "But we have two issues now... first, who obtained that video, and how; and second, do we need to show this to Teresa?"

"Uh, yeah." said Cindy. "First, we have to eliminate a suspect." She pulled out her Police iPhone, and called FBI Special Agent Tim Jenkins in Southport. "Hi, Tim, this is Cindy Ross. I'm going to put you on speaker." She pushed the button, set the phone on her desk, and said "I'm here with Commander Troy."

"Hi Commander." said Tim Jenkins.

"Howdy." I said.

"Tim," Cindy said, "the Christmas before last, you helped me record some videotapes in Teresa's hometown." (Author's note: 'Home for the Holidays', Ch. 01-02.) "Did you keep a copy of the recordings?"

"No, I never did." said Tim. "If I recall correctly, we made two copies. You took one, and the Library there kept the other."

"Okay, I appreciate it." Cindy said. After disconnecting, she said "I believe him, though he could've made a third copy and I wouldn't know about it."

"I don't think he did." I said. "And I'll show you why in a minute. But first... should we show Teresa?"

"It's your decision, Assistant Chief Troy." Cindy replied. Passing the buck, she was. Shirk my duty, I did not...

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

Teresa came into Classroom 'E'. In addition to myself, Cindy, and Jack Muscone, Sr. Patrol Officer Sidney Plant of the Intel Division was in the room, working a couple of devices. Father Romano was also present.

"You wanted to see me, Commander?" Teresa asked.

"Yes." I said. "Have a seat." I indicated the chair next to the Chaplain.

"Is everything okay?" Teresa asked, incorrectly assuming that Father Romano's presence meant really bad news was imminent. "Is Todd okay? The boys?"

"They're fine. They're fine." I said. "Cindy?"

"Teresa, do you remember that video I made for you Christmas before last?" Cindy asked. "The one showing your races here and in your hometown?"

"Yes, of course." Teresa said.

I took it up. "What we didn't tell you at the time, was that there was more video. And some of it is disturbing. We've debated showing it to you, and now something has come up that is making the decision for us."

"Okay." Teresa said. Sidney Plant dimmed the lights, then began showing the video from Cindy's CD. It showed someone filming on a downtown street. Two cars had collided head-on, and a man wearing a hoodie over his head could be seen getting out of the far car, walking to the car he'd smashed into and looking inside, then walking away behind his own car.

Just a moment later, Police vehicles arrived, bathing the scene in the blue shades of their lightbars. A female Police Officer walked up to the passenger-side window. The camera operator came up closer, and was moving around the Officer, but just before the persons inside the car were shown, the camera shook violently then stopped filming.

I glanced at Teresa. She was fighting desperately to control her emotions, and not shame herself before me by bursting out crying.

"It's okay." I said quietly to her.

"That was..." Teresa said, tears streaming down her face, "that was Alexis in that car! That Policewoman is the one that told me at the hospital... that Alexis's last words were telling her to tell me she loved me... that... must've been when she said that, then closed her eyes... forever..."

Teresa lost the battle; she began sobbing. Father Romano put his arm on her shoulders in a hug of support.