Scavenger Hunt Ch. 05

"True." Cindy said. "And someone figured it out exactly where to initiate the track damage so that the train would stop right where that tanker car would've been right next to BOW. That second 'track crack', to coin a phrase, stopped the train earlier than the perps intended, and caused no damage more significant that the Farmer's Market Restaurant. Someone set up a 'GoFundMe', and it already has half of what they need to rebuild."

Teresa said "So it was Divine Providence that intervened, and saved BOW?"

Cindy said "I'll accept that as much as any other explanation. Say your Hail Mary's in thanks." Cindy was peering at me as she said it, trying to get into my head. I kept an innocently straight face and mentally pushed back. Yes, it was Providential that the second rail breach had occurred, when it did and where it did. But it was not an Act of God. It was an Act of Your Iron Crowbar.

Yes.

Lieutenant Christopher Purvis was going to get a medal for finding that SECRET report about the earlier rail break. I immediately realized it was a dry run, and that another attempt would be made, with the desire to create devastating consequences. And with the Olympics of Crime gangs targeting the nanotechnology again and again, it was clear that BOW Enterprises was the obvious target.

Oh, how I hated Physical Chemistry, P-Chem, when I was in School. All the partial derivates and stuff in Fluid Dynamics almost crushed my very soul, and it did cause me to re-think my Major. But I survived... and because of my vast knowledge of Calculus (not really, but just enough), I was able to work out where a rail break would stop a scheduled train full of empties on Friday night. And where a second rail break was needed.

And so on Thursday night, a ninja in all black went hunting. The first break was seemingly innocuously marked by someone (not me) with yellow paint but not set up yet, so that ninja set up the second one, which would trigger when the Railroad's signal of the first break went off.

And why did I let the Enemy mix up a tank car of napalm and risk people being hurt or killed? Because I didn't know for sure if they were going to carry it through, or if they were going to have people in the empty boxcars that would come out and attack BOW Enterprises. And I didn't want to be premature, like Jack Muscone had been premature in raiding the auto repair shop...

And while Homeland Security had something new to worry about (and quite frankly, they needed the wake-up call), the Enemy no longer had the element of surprise in what they could do to our railroad systems... I hope.

We were ready for them, and we acted when the time came. The roads were shut off just as soon as the Railroad alarm went off, BOW was shut down and Crown Chemicals stopped operations. The Farmer's Market Restaurant was closed and evacuated long earlier. All we had to do was duck, and then respond.

Bottom line: My plan succeeded. The Enemy's failed. Stupid to fail. Unforgivable.

Teresa moved us along: "So, was the attack on BOW Enterprises their main goal, and killing Amelia Sedgwick coincidental, or the diversion?"

"No." I said. "The train incident and everything leading up to it, including Bettina's propaganda-casts, were the diversion. It was meant to get the TCPD, and me in particular, diverted away from the true crime... just as they did by dumping the White Team's bodies in Donnan County. And I'm sure they thought they were extremely lucky that my 20th high school reunion was the exact weekend it was. So much for that... they found out that the Town & County Police Force is damn good, with or without me."

"You got that right!" growled Our Sheriff happily. "And I am really happy at how well all of the elements of the Public Safety Department did when facing that train incident. Chief Deputy Ross is getting the accolades she deserves from all over the Nation for our professional and efficient response."

"Modesty is a human trait, Sheriff." Cindy replied. "And I will not excuse it. It is you getting those praises, and rightly so."

"Good asskissing skills." said Griswold. "And you too, Crowbar. I heard about what you said last night in that meeting..."

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

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Monday, October 18th, from the rooftop of the building at Riverside and College, with the Public Health Building and Police Headquarters next door to it in her background. "Commander Donald Troy comes under heavy criticism yet again, for not showing up!"

After the hard-charging intro music, Bettina began: "The Town & County faced a potentially deadly situation when a train tanker car full of gasoline exploded Friday night. Fortunately there were no casualties, and the worst damage was to the tracks themselves and the Farmer's Market Restaurant, which was a total loss,"

Bettina: "However, despite the seriousness of the crisis, TCPD Commander Donald Troy did not show up at the scene nor at the Mobile Command Post set up near the location, and he was not at Police Headquarters in the immediate aftermath of the explosion. Let's go to trusted reporter Amber Harris for more. Amber!"

"That's right, Bettina!" said the athletic, height-challenged reporterette, at the incident scene with the Mobile Command Post in her background. "Both local and Federal authorities have told Channel Two News that Commander Troy was nowhere to be found while the potential disaster was unfolding, despite being called and asked to come to the site.

"I'm here with Gary Weller of the National Transportation Safety Board." Amber said as the camera panned out to show the NTSB Agent. "Agent Weller, can you update us on the current situation?"

Weller said "Thank you for having me on today, Amber. The immediate danger is over, and there should be no significant threat to the Public. The Town & County water supply comes from well north of here, and was unaffected, and downstream testing of the River is showing no potential health hazards so far. The winds were blowing west last night, away from the Town, and what we are measuring in the air is the same as car exhaust during rush hour traffic."

Amber: "Agent Weller, are you disappointed that Commander Donald Troy ignored requests to come to the scene last night?"

"I am disappointed, Amber." said Weller. "With his Chemistry degree as well as Police expertise handling emergencies, we could have used his input in the evaluation of the situation. And his presence here would have reassured the Public that the situation was under control."

"Thank you, Agent Weller." Amber said. As the camera zoomed in on her again, she said "Local officials were also very angry that Commander Troy was a no-show at the scene of this serious incident. Roll tape."

Tape rolled. First was Councilwoman Susan Weston, who said "This was an 'all-hands-on-deck' type of emergency for the Police. Commander Troy not showing up is an outright dereliction of duty."

Next was Eldrick X. Weaver, who said "This County's People of Color were in danger as a result of this railroad accident, but the racist, White Nationalist Donald Troy couldn't care less about them. He stayed away, like the gutless coward he is!"

Dr. Lionel Carmela said "That railroad explosion was a danger to the Public, and it was also a potential danger to the Environment. In the name of Climate Justice, Commander Troy should have been at that scene."

And no Media-fueled attack on Your Iron Crowbar would be complete without the ubiquitous and obligatory contribution of Councilwoman Kelly Carnes, who said "When... when!... are the People of this County going to rise up and demand that Commander Troy be fired? He has shown his utter lack of caring and compassion for the People of this County yet again..."

"Back to you, Bettina!" Amber said enthusiastically as the feed returned to the live broadcast.

"Thank you, Amber!" Bettina replied happily. "That was trusted reporter Amber Harris with that very important story. And in other news, former DEA Agent Amelia Sedgwick, who Authorities say was involved in the ransomware virus attack on University Hospital earlier this year, was killed along with two others when the Sheriff Department's van transporting her from the Hospital back to her detention center was attacked."

The feed showed footage of the burned out van being investigated by Firefighters and the Police as Bettina said "DNA marker evidence and other evidence shows that one of the charred bodies was indeed Ms. Sedgwick, who is survived by her younger brother, and the Coroner's Office has competed the autopsy and released its final report."

Bettina: "However, the other two bodies have not been positively identified, and the possibility that the Deputies were actually imposters is being investigated! The TCPD has no clue if this was an attempt to kidnap Ms. Sedgwick, or if it was an escape attempt by her and others."

Bettina: "Sheriff Antonio Griswold released a statement to the Press saying, quote, 'All Sheriff Department employees, especially our Deputies, are alive and well and fully accounted for. The TCPD will be investigating who those dead men might be, after I put my pitbull, Commander Troy, on the case"... er, I apologize for reading that last part on the air..."

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

"Shut the front door!" exclaimed Deputy Chief Tanya P. Muscone as she, Chief Deputy Cindy Ross, Lieutenant Commander Teresa Croyle, Sheriff Antonio Griswold, Commander Donald Troy (yes, me), and Chief Sean Moynahan watched and drank coffee in the Chief's Conference Room. "Was that Fake News? Or were they really Fake Deputies?"

"Genuine fake Deputies, so Martha the M.E. told me yesterday." growled Sheriff Griswold. "Thank God, as it would've been devastating to lose two of my people."

"Amen." Cindy said quietly. "But any idea who they were?"

"That's for the Sheriff's pitbull to find out." said Teresa with a wicked gleam in her eye.

"Who wrote that Press release for the Sheriff?" I asked jovially. "They don't have a full-time Press Relations Officer. Why do I suspect a certain Iron Wolf wrote that?"

"Not much gets past you." Teresa (proudly) admitted.

"Why in the worrrrrrllld..." drawled the Chief, who then said "Why would someone try to kidnap her or help her escape, only to be lit up in that murderous attack?"

I said "Two different teams. Either completely separate, -orrrr- the right hand did not know what the left hand was doing. My bet would be on the first choice: completely separate."

Teresa said "What pisses me off is that Bettina declined to mention that Commander Troy was not at the train scene because he was at the murder scene."

I said "And if I'd gone to the train scene instead, Bettina would be whining and crying that I wasn't investigating the deaths of two Deputy Sheriffs."

Tanya said "I'm not sure that's what it is, Don. That Weller guy from the NTSB had a real bee in his bonnet that you weren't at the Mobile Command Post set up for the train incident. I mean, why was it so damned important that you be there? Especially when the same 'woke' politicians whine and cry about you when you are there?"

I said "I would not be surprised if Weller or other Federal Agents went to Bettina and asked her to gin up that narrative about me not being there. So she goes and gets her reliable Haters to take their cheap shots at me. But Weller? That's different. He really is the NTSB guy for this region, so him being here is not abnormal. But why he wanted me at the scene?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"Is he a Swamp Frog?" asked Teresa.

"I dunno." I said. "The way the Federal Government, especially the IRS and the FBI are being weaponized against the American People, I wouldn't be surprised. Orrrrr, he might just be an unthinking automaton, innocently doing what he was asked or told to do. Orrrrr, he might just be genuinely upset I wasn't there to make him and his Agency look good."

The Sheriff said "Maybe they wanted you at the scene so someone could take a shot at you, Crowbar."

"They can do that at any time, Sheriff." I replied. "Which is why I wear armor, keep my head on a swivel, and keep abreast of the tactical situation at all times."

Cindy asked "How is Bobby Sedgwick taking his sister's death? He must be devastated."

"He is." I replied. "But he hasn't relapsed yet. We told him his sister would want him to keep going and fight to live. They're releasing him from the Hospital today, and Teresa and I will be following in the Black Beauty to make sure he gets to the Recovery House in Nextdoor County without incident..."

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

At 8:30am, FBI Special Agent In Charge Jack Muscone all but stormed into Police Headquarters. With him were Supervisory Special Agents: Julius Jefferson of the FBI, Dwight Stevens of the DEA, and Miles Winters of Homeland Security. The Chief personally came to my office to 'invite' me to join the meeting about to take place in the Main Conference Room. I accepted my boss's invitation, of course.

The Chief sat in his usual place at the near end of the table, with Tanya parked to his right, near the door; and me to his left, with the window at my back. Teresa was sitting to my left, and Cindy to her left. Muscone sat to his wife's right, Winters to his right, Julius Jefferson to his right, and Dwight Stevens to his right at the other end.

And Muscone appeared to be peeved: "I'll just get right to it." he said. "What the hell is going on about these fake Deputies that were helping Amelia Sedgwick escape?"

I said "Why do you assume... and you are assuming... that it was an escape attempt?"

"What else could it have been?" Muscone thundered.

"A kidnapping attempt." I replied cooly, as if I was one-upping him (and I was).

"But why?" Muscone said. "Especially if they were---"

"Jack!" Tanya 'whispered', "you're antagonizing him." She must've seen the flush on the back of my neck. Or maybe it was my ears turning red. Either is a telltale sign that I was nearing the end of my tolerance limits.

Cindy said "Jack, all we know is that all of our Deputies are okay, which prompted the inquiry into who those two that died really were. Martha the M.E. identified Amelia Sedgwick, but the two males haven't any hits from the DNA she recovered from them, no hits off dental records yet, and their fingerprints were burned clean off."

Cindy: "We're checking to see if they were guards hired by the halfway-house prison, or if they were private security being used for reasons not yet known to us. From there, it goes to sinister purposes, such as an escape attempt or a kidnapping."

Miles Winters said "Commander... and all of you... I'm here to investigate that train attack as a possible domestic terror attack--- well, I should just say 'terrorist attack' because it could have been by a foreign organization. And it comes on the heels of the Hospital bombing and that little... ah... 'situation' involving the BOW Enterprises Mutanix." (Author's note: 'Only Time', 'The Nuclear Option')

"You can call it the EMPTY QUIVER event." I said. "We all know about it."

"Forgive me, I'm often overly cautious about things like that." said Winters. "But the point is that Homeland Security has tasked me to investigate this train incident as a possible terror attack. I'm not in any way saying you should have been at the scene last night; obviously, you were investigating the murder. But I could use your help, because part of my investigation is going to be if the two incidents are related."

"In a word: yes." I replied. "They're absolutely related."

"How?" Jack Muscone asked, his voice nearly belligerent. I'd had enough.

I turned and stared right through him and said "You told me you did not need me to make that raid, and shut the gang down. Well, so be it. Y'all don't need my help."

"C'mon, Don, this is serious." Jack said.

"No doubt about that." I replied without a shred of humor in my voice.

"For God's sake, Don," Muscone said, "I was trolling you, just like you trolled me in front of everyone. Now we're even---"

"Even? Even?!" I half-gasped, half-yelled. "It wasn't just trolling. When I told you I didn't need you... and that wasn't (air quotes) 'trolling', it was a straight-out message for you to stop fucking with me... that was over cellphone data. But when you went and did that raid over my objections like you did... maybe thinking you were one-upping me or getting one over on me... you cost Bobby Sedgwick his sister's life!"

"Oh come on," Jack said witheringly, "you don't know that---"

"The hell I don't!" I yelled. "They were going to come back for the wheelchairs and the Toyotas that were there! We could've nabbed them, on the scene, and they'd have been in my jails instead of firing rockets into that van Amelia was in! But no! You had to go try to show me up, and now Amelia Sedgwick is dead, and Bobby has no family, none at all!"

"That's a load of crap---" Jack started.

"JACK! STOP!" his wife Tanya begged him, at the top of her lungs. When he whirled to face her, she said "Just... stop. Jack, I love you, but you are not going to win this one. Just stop arguing with him."

The tension in the silence of the room could be cut with a katana. Finally, Muscone said "I'll go get some air." He got up and went for the door.

"I'll go with you." Tanya said, not bothering to ask the Chief to be excused. She drove out of the room, followed by her husband, who shut the door behind them.

Miles Winters spoke up: "You were saying the two incidents are related, Commander? "

"Yes." I said. "It would not be totally accurate to say the railroad attack was a diversion for the murder attack, because the railroad attack was its own operation with its own goals. Having said that, I believe that you, Agent Winters, and Homeland Security would be wise to concentrate on the train attack, attempt to learn how it was done and the vulnerabilities it exploited, and work to prevent a repeat offense by other perps."

Winters: "So in your opinion, was this a domestic terrorist attack? And I know you like to play it straight, Commander, so I'll come out and just say it: was this attack conducted by White Nationalists who want to overthrow the Government?"

I said "You can tell Derrick B. Harland that the people he wants to blame for these attacks, by whatever name he calls them, are not the ones conducting them. As to foreign or domestic, we have people connected to Red China, to South America, to Central America, and to people trying to weaponize agencies of the American Government to enrich themselves personally as well as gain Totalitarian power over the American People. So it's (air quotes) 'all of the above'."

Winters said "I am sorry to say your words about what is happening to our own Government are all too true. Is there anything else you can tell me that will help us?"

I said "I'm not trolling when I say this, but your best bet is to work with SSA Stevens here on some of the people involved with these gangs who have ties to outside... and higher... interests. Speaking of that... how is your Federal investigation going since Muscone's raid? The lawyer I had breakfast with Saturday morning, that being our ADA, says it's not going to be easy getting convictions beyond the straight busts for getting caught in the act."

Dwight Stevens said "And she's not wrong, but we're still pursuing leads. We look down one rabbit hole, and three more open up. What I'd like to do, Don, is to take the busted perps into Federal custody. Maybe one or more of them will flip and give us the bigger fish in exchange for a deal."