Reunion Fever Ch. 01

"It's a thought." I said, seeing the fleeting look of anger crossing Teresa's face, and Tanya's. "And The Teacher does sell information about our vehicles. But he generally doesn't tend to blow up operations in progress, even if he does know about them."

"So what are your analytics telling you?" Dwight Stevens asked. Jack Muscone thought he was being sneaky by having Dwight ask, hoping I wouldn't go off on Dwight due to our past issues.

"Claire?" I said, looking over at her. She looked shocked that I was allowing the question to be answered.

"Uh... ah..." Claire stammered, then got her wits about her. "We do think they're most likely to hit this weekend, and the same places we had listed before, but that they bypassed last time."

I said "We're going to have some surveillance, but nothing obvious, nothing they'll be able to see. We'll use more drones and street cameras than human assets, so as to not spook them or give ourselves away. If they do hit a location, we'll draw our nets and close in on them. But to be honest and candid, Dwight, and Jack... I don't think they're going to hit us in our County this weekend."

"But..." Dwight Stevens stammered, "but Captain Michaels said it was likely. So did the Russo Team."

"They said the analytics favored it." I said, not letting on that I'd just tricked Dwight into revealing that he knew far more than he'd been letting on. "My own counsel suggests the perps know this, and will strike elsewhere. In fact, I'm so confident of it, that I'm leaving today for my 20th high school class reunion, and won't be back until at least Sunday."

You could've heard a pin drop.

Tracy Stone said "I can tell that no one else knew that, Commander Troy." She'd seen the look of open shock on everyone's face... even Teresa's.

"I knewww." said the Chief. "I approved his vacation request, and it's about damn time he took some time offfff. And as you all knowwww, we do not discuss Commander Troy's whereabouts nor travel plans with anyone... not even his closest associates within the TCPD."

"Aw, mannnn!" Tanya 'pouted'. "Pete's birthday is tomorrow. You're gonna miss his party this weekend!"

"With all due respect, Commander Muscone," Dwight Stevens said, "I'm a lot more worried about his absence while the Toyota Gang is running around holding up people at gunpoint." Both Jack and Tanya Muscone gave Dwight the 'evil eye' for that.

Claire Michaels said "We'll still be doing routine surveillance, and have contingencies in place to keep any perps we do see from escaping via County and State Lines if they do hit within our County."

I said "And I have every confidence that the best Police Force on this earth, the TCPD, can and will handle any problems without me here as efficiently as they would if I were here..."

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

"Remind me not to play poker with you, Iron Wolf." I said as Teresa and I sat down in my office after the meeting adjourned and the Feds left the building. "Your look of shock at my announcement I'd be at my class reunion totally convinced them you didn't know... even though you did."

"Thank you, sir." Teresa said. "And not only were the Federales most very surprised, Dwight Stevens's eyes bugged out of his head like a Roadrunner cartoon character. He sure seemed to really be counting on you to be here."

I said "Only you, Cindy, the Sheriff, and the Chief knew my travel plans. And now Stevens doesn't know what to think, and Jack Muscone is sitting there doubting the veracity of what the Russo BAU Team told him. After all, would I really leave Town if we had big plans to bust the Toyota gang? But if they thought about it, they'd realize that I didn't schedule my 20th year reunion; I go where the Apple Grove Reunion Committees tell me to go, and when to be there."

"So what is it that they're so desperate for you to be here for?" Teresa asked. "I'm not sure I'm understanding any of this."

"From my observations, I deduce that it's Feds against Feds." I said. "You and I know that the Swamp Frogs are in Town, and The Teacher was worried enough about their presence to tell us, the TCPD, through his nephew Captain Thompson. You and I know the Swamp Frogs are doing something related to the Toyota Gang, as their vans are being used to do surveillance on them... or on us while pretending to be watching the gang."

Me: "And then we have Dwight, Lorena, and the DEA showing interest in this gang... so they say. We have Jack Muscone already working with the Russo BAU Team, though he says he wants to bring them in (air quotes) 'to help', as if that hasn't happened yet. Dwight doesn't want to ask me for help, though he knows he needs it, especially on this, which leads me to surmise that pressure is being applied to him by his superiors, though I don't know why. And Jack is consulting with the Russo BAU Team because he feels he needs a buffer against the Swamp Frogs, and he feels that consulting me is not enough to counter the Swamp Frogs."

Teresa said "Is he right to trust them, the Russo Team? Are they good guys?"

I replied "I'm sure you remember how the Russo Team helped Jack torture Archie Brody, and what I thought of all that. Considering that that almost got his wife Tanya fired from the TCPD, I'm stunned Jack even brought them up... and that shows his desperation, and that he is being pressured just as Dwight is."

Teresa said "And the Toyota Gang?"

I said "They need us to catch the perps. They know they have jurisdictional issues, and they also know they simply cannot get it done. They are hoping we can, and by that I mean they think that I personally am the only one who can get it done. That's disrespect for the TCPD, and we will just have to redirect their suppositions on that."

Teresa said, more as a statement than a question, "And if and when we do bust them, the Feds will come in and take over?"

"Probably." I replied. "Unless this Toyota Gang really is just a group of highway robbers, and they're not what the Feds are thinking... or hoping... that they are."

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

11:00am, Thursday, September 30th. I convened a meeting in Classroom 'J'. Sheriff Griswold and Chief Deputy Cindy Ross attended, as did Chief Moynahan. Also present were Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle, Captain Claire Michaels, Precinct Captains Abram and Hewitt, Precinct Lieutenants DeLong and Davis, and Lieutenants Rudistan, Purvis, Warner, Washington, and Parker.

"Okay," I said after everyone settled into their chairs, "I'm leaving for my high school reunion after lunch, and I will not be returning until Monday morning at the earliest. I have every confidence that you guys can handle anything, anything at all. So the only reason I should be contacted is if someone dies or something goes horribly wrong, like a disaster on the order of a tornado or a nuclear bomb going off."

Lt. Rudistan said "Excuse me, sir, but does that nuke going off include Chief Deputy Ross challenging me to a Police Boxing Matches round?" Laughter broke out... especially when Cindy turned and stared daggers at Rudistan.

"Oh, absolutely!" I said enthusiastically. "And when I get back, I will personally accept that challenge and engage Chief Deputy Ross in crowbar combat." A green crowbar was waved in my general direction. A red crowbar was waved back in hers.

I continued: "Lieutenant Commander Croyle will be (air quotes) 'Acting Commander', and she will not be acting when she fulfills those duties, so follow her instructions as you would follow mine." Polite laughter ensued, but I wondered why there seemed to be so much tension in the air. The Wrath of the Iron Wolf was no worse than the Wrath of the Iron Crowbar... and then I realized it wasn't wrath that that was worrying them, but my impending absence...

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

*Whirrrrrrrrrrr*

Commander Tanya P. Muscone drove her wheelchair into my office at an unreasonably high rate of speed, but as always she managed to stop right on the dime on the floor in front of my desk.

"Don," Tanya said, "Captain Thompson just told two reporters that you were going to be out of Town this weekend. He also may have told someone that we know has a connection to his uncle, The Teacher. When I asked him what the hell he was doing, he said you told him to tell them!"

"I did." I said. "I'm glad he fulfilled that mission."

Tanya said "I won't even get into the 'stay in your lane' part of it, even though Damien is my subordinate, since you do have him do things like that from time to time. But why are you publicizing your absence? Trying to start a crime wave or something?"

I just gave her one of 'those' smiles, and received a less-than-Angelic (and less-than-perky) look in return. I said "Don't worry about the crime wave; it won't happen. And I needed that information poured into the wrong ears. By the way, and in a possibly related issue, what does Jack and his fellow Feds think of my little vacation?"

"They haven't said." said Tanya. "But Jack's phone keeps going to voicemail, which means he's talking on it. And when that happens, this hellcat-Detective-on-wheels knows that something big is going on. Any idea what that is?"

I just gave her another one of 'those' smiles...

Part 4 - New Apple Grove

"I hear her voice in the morning hour, she calls me,
the radio reminds me of my home far away,
And driving down the road I get a feeling
that I should have been home
yesterday, yesterday..."
--- John Denver, 'Country Roads'

Thursday, September 30th. I finally managed to get out of Police Headquarters at 1:45pm. I drove my Police SUV to The Cabin and parked it in the garage that normally housed Laura's Mercedes. We were taking the Mercedes to Apple Grove. We drove to the (empty) Mountain Nest so that Laura could 'finish' packing, and that cost another 45 minutes.

Laura 'let' me drive, which I didn't mind doing. I felt my body relaxing as we sped along the highway, which let me know that I needed this little mini-vacation to relax after the tension of the last few months of hard Police work.

Not long after we cleared the State Line then turned onto the road going north, Laura said "You heard about Dr. Moore and Carmela trying to fire the Biology professors?"

"Just the propaganda spewing out of Bettina Wurtzburg's potty mouth." I replied.

Laura said "Well, here's what you will not hear much of from Channel Two News. Not only is Dr. Clarence P. Chase representing the professors in their lawsuit pro bono, he's taking it further. We've reconstituted a Faculty group, called the 'Faculty Study Group'."

Laura: "The 'Faculty Study Group' was authorized by the State Legislature several years ago. The Governor names the members of the group, and the group reports directly to the Governor. It was meant to give Faculty oversight of President Wellman and the Athletic Department when there were some allegations of boosters paying players under the table. You came in on the tail end of all that, when you solved the Jefferson Davis Jackson case." (Author's note: 'The Murdered Football Player'.)

"One of my earlier cases." I replied.

"Yes." Laura said. "Anyway, the Faculty Study Group of the time came under harsh scrutiny during the time of the Jan Camp trial." (Author's note: 'The Saga Continues', Ch. 01; 'The French Connection', Ch. 02) "They had told the Governor that the University would win the case, not seeing how poorly Glenn Alberts would defend the suit. So the Governor essentially disbanded it."

"But it can be revived." I said.

"And it will be... on Monday morning." Laura said. "Governor Marshall was very angry that that Climate Center was created without mentioning it to her, and she's totally pissed off about the fascist 'loyalty documents' that Carmela is trying to force on all of us. She called me and asked if I would be on the Faculty Study Group she was reconstituting, and that Dr. Chase had already agreed to be on it. I said I would be on it, and we discussed some names to add to ours."

"And whose names will we be hearing during the Governor's announcement?" I asked casually... a wee tad too casually.

"Dr. Chase is the Chairman." Laura said. "I'm the Vice Chair. We have several Department Heads with us: Stephanie Steele of the Astronomy Department, Marvin Milton of Mathematics, Lawrence Woodrow of Criminal Justice, who was very excited about it and eager to be on it, Wolfgang Strauss of the Music School. And we also have Dr. Carla 'Bones' Keenan, who was my orthopedist after the terrorist attack on the Hospital and saved my medical career. She's also on the Faculty of the Medical School. And Dr. Nicole Haven of the Art School."

Laura: "Last but not least, Campus Police Commissioner and Provost Marshal Briscoe is on it. He's technically Faculty, just as the Army ROTC commander is the Professor of Military Science and is considered to be Faculty. Briscoe can't be touched by Moore or Carmela, and he has Police power to investigate things, look up records... and make arrests."

I nodded. "Sounds good. But what you said about Briscoe brings up a point. Are y'all worried that Moore and especially Carmela will go after all of you? Especially Dr. Chase as Chairman?"

Laura replied: "As you know, Carmela has been going after me time and again for years now, and he keeps failing. Stephanie Steele was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics, and it would look really bad if they tried to get rid of her at this time. Ditto that for Marvin Milton; he may be nominated for a Nobel in Mathematics in the near future. And they don't call Wolfgang Strauss 'The Maestro' for nothing. He is literally world-renowned."

Laura: "As to Woodrow, Haven, and Keenan, they don't need their Faculty seats as much as you might think. Woodrow would be hired by SBI Director Masters in a heartbeat to lead the State Crime Labs Division, all of it. Nicole Haven has standing offers from the MOMA in New York, the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and several English and French museums to go to work for them. And Carla Keenan is On Staff at University Hospital, and Seth Warner and Teresa Croyle will make Moore's life holy hell if he tries to fuck with her or them."

Laura: "And I'm sure you're aware of just how respected Dr. Clarence P. Chase is. He is often consulted by local-level and Federal judges, and both conservatives like Federal Judge K.M. Landis and liberals like Federal Judge Ruth B. Taney. He may be offered the next SCOTUS seat that comes up. And he's a full Dean... Dean of the Law School. He's the most formidable opposition to both Carmela and Dr. Moore."

"Cool beans." I said. "Soooo... Dr. Chase suggested the 'Faculty Study Group' idea to the Governor?"

"Uhh..." Laura said, thinking about it. "You know, the Governor said he'd accepted her request to be on it, and chair it. So maybe he wasn't the one that suggested it to the Governor. Maybe she remembered, or someone else suggested it... to... her..."

As the understanding dawned on her, Laura slowly turned her head and affixed her eyes on my red head. "You?" she asked. I didn't answer out loud, and made sure to keep my eyes on the road as I smiled one of 'those' smiles...

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

Further down the road, Laura said "Your mother made our reservation at the Hilton as soon as it opened. She said that Apple Grove High's Reunion Committee hosts several classes at once. How does that work?"

I said "It's the same weekend as the high school's Homecoming game, which is why my 20th anniversary was last May but we're having our reunion now. The Committee hosts official activities for the 10th, 20th, 30th, and 40th-plus year reunions. If you want one at 5 years and 25 years, you're on your own. From the 40th on, anyone can attend any year, 41st, 45th, 50th, and onward. And they often do attend every year, to see who is still with us."

Me: "This years 10th year anniversary class was one of the last to graduate from Apple Grove High School before it, Providence Springs, and the unincorporated county merged to form Fillmore County High School. Rome still has it's own high school, and it's been growing, so they'll stay separate. And Springer? They're pretty fucked up in the northwest corner of the county, and have their own consolidated school for all the grades, like some kind of old 1950s style setup."

Me: "Sooo, we'll have four groups. There will be an informal reception on Friday in the gym before the game, then everyone who wants to will go to the game. The football players and lettermen and letterwomen in all sports will go onto the football field before the game begins, then we'll form a gauntlet for the current players to run through. I was contacted and asked specifically to be there for that, so I'll be there."

"You lettered in golf or something, didn't you?" Laura asked.

"Yes, I did that. And in Chess, too, though I didn't put that on my letter jacket." I said. "And I didn't know it, but when Tyrone Biggs's class ahead of me won the Region and went to the State Final Four, everyone on the team lettered in football. But I never got the actual patch for my jacket. It is what it is. And Tyrone was right... I was a lousy football player."

"What position did you play?" Laura said.

"Before I hit puberty, I was a small, skinny guy, so I backed up the safeties. When puberty hit, I was a tall, skinny guy, so I backed up the wide receivers. I developed some physique when I went through ROTC in college and really worked out. Anyhoo, I can count on both hands how many plays I actually got on the field in mop-up time."

Laura asked: "Just out of curiosity, and not that you shouldn't have, but why did you stay on the football team? Was it just what all the boys did?"

"To an extent." I said. "And the coaches often told runts like me to not bother, that they didn't have the uniforms for us, or some such. But the reason I stuck it out, and wouldn't take no from the coaches..."

I dropped my voice to a conspiratorial level and said "... is because my mother wanted me to be in the Band. I did not want to be in the Band, and it was worth every day of summer camp and every hour of blood, sweat, and pain in practice with no hope of playing, in order to avoid being in the God-cursed Band. I might as well have worn my Chess letter---"

Laura began laughing uproariously at that. When she stopped, she said "I understand, I completely understand."

I said "And besides... it led to me being sent to that basement and needing that blue crowbar to fight my way out of that trap. So I'd say things worked out." (Author's note: 'Cat's In The Cradle', Ch. 01)

Laura said "So there's a reception on Friday, the players go onto the field before the game, then we sit and cheer Fillmore High on to victory. What happens Saturday?"

I said "Saturday night they have the formal dinner and dance, and we get all dressed up like it's the Prom again. We used to have that in the gym, but the brand-spanking-new Hilton has facilities for us to have the big dinner there. And since we are staying at the Hilton for three nights, we don't have to worry about drinking and driving, or drinking and anything else but drinking."

Laura said "So all the classes will be at one dinner?"

"Yes." I said. "From what I understand, we'll be seated in groups by class, but it's all one event. Apple Grove and its graduating classes were small for years. The town grew to 10,000, dropped to 2,000, and is now making a comeback. But the class sizes were small enough, and the joint dinner saves money. Having said that, Fillmore County High's classes are larger and will just keep on growing as the town and the county grow, so they'll probably ending up splitting into individual classes."