Schools and the Second Ch. 02

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I had watched that last bit in MCD with Captain Perlman, Lt. Jerome Davis, and the Detectives. After the report, I said "You guys did a great job yesterday, helping the NCPD with witnesses and getting evidence. Things like this are not easy for any of us, and I appreciate you stepping up and doing your usual outstanding jobs in a professional manner."

"How's Commander Ross doing?" asked Julia Rodriguez.

"I'm pissed."

The voice was Commander Cindy Ross's, and she was coming into MCD through the side door. She was wearing her uniform as if this were a normal duty day for her. Everyone was shocked, and began offering sympathies.

"I appreciate all of your sentiments." Cindy said, her ruggedly pretty face looking very ragged. "I share Commander Troy's praise of your professionalism yesterday. And before you ask, my sister is still alive, but in grave condition in the ICU ward at the Hospital. There's nothing else I can do, so I came in to check on things."

In case you don't know, there's 'serious' and 'critical' conditions... and 'grave' is worse than 'critical'.

"Sir, ma'am," said Lt. Davis, "Dr. Fredricson called from the Hospital. She asked for a Detective and our videographer to go up there. They're going to interview the suspect. I'm sending Parker and Geiger again."

"You good with that, Captain Perlman?" I asked. Tanya nodded, then I said "You guys carry on." I said. "Commander Ross, Captains, can I see you in my office, please?"

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

Once in my office, I said to Cindy: "Feel free to go home or to the Hospital."

"I will." said Cindy. "Like I said in there, I just came in to check on what's going on. Who's got Betsy?"

"That would be me." I said. "I've got Ross and Ian, too. They're all at The Cabin, being babysat by Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Bailey from the Community Center."

"I'll ask Callie to go up there--" Cindy started, but I stopped her.

"No." I said. "Callie is part of your family and needs to be with you and your mom." I then bored in on Cindy and said: "We've got this. You just worry about your mom, and Molly." Teresa and Tanya nodded vigorously in agreement.

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

8:35am, Tuesday, May 7th. My phone rang.

"Commander, can you come over here and help us with a Press Conference?" asked Captain Paul Price of the NCPD. "I understand you handle the Press very well, and it's a zoo here."

"Sure." I said. I went and got Teresa, and we headed out in my Police SUV.

As we drove along, Teresa said "Why did Cindy come in? Yeah, I know what she said, and I'm not buying it for a minute. And in uniform?"

"Maybe its her way of coping." I said.

Teresa then peered at me, and I realized the real intent of the Iron Wolf's question as she followed up with: "Molly is the mother of two of your children. How are you holding up?"

I slowly nodded. "Don't get the wrong idea about the way I say this." I paused and then said "If Molly dies, I'm going to have to tell her sons that their mother is never coming home again. And I... I don't want to... have to do that." My voice was breaking like a cheap piece of pottery.

Teresa reached over and patted me on the shoulder. "You won't have to. Let's just believe that. But if you do... those boys are very lucky to have the father they have." I nodded. Fortunately, we were arriving at the Hillside Police Station before some serious emotions hit me like a freight train roaring down the High Sierras...

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

The NCPD had set up a large tent next to the Police Station. A stage had been set up inside, complete with lights, wiring, a backdrop, and a podium for Press Conferences. Only authorized personnel were allowed into the Police Station itself, and Teresa and I were among those few.

"Thanks for coming." said Captain Paul Price, who looked exhausted. "Come on into the Chief's office." When we got into the room, I was a bit surprised to see FBI Special Agent in Charge Jack Muscone seated there.

"Hi Don." said Muscone. "How's Molly?"

"Alive, at last report." I said. "Still too early to tell if she's improving or not." Muscone and Price nodded. "So, whassup around here?"

"We're about to have a Press conference." said Paul Price. "I asked you to come in, Commander, because the Press is putting out a lot of bullshit, and you were there and can tell them definitively that they're full of it. SAC Muscone is here to give the FBI's report."

"Paul," said Muscone, "why don't you get prepped and come get us when you're going to go out there. I need to talk to the Commander for a moment."

"Why don't you help Captain Price, Captain Croyle?" I 'suggested' to Teresa. She left with Price, leaving me alone with Muscone. He made the 'ink pen' sign and I activated the bug killer. We also sat close together, so we could talk quietly.

"Bob Rovers is here." said Jack. "His brother David Rovers and Peter Page are with him. I told him to get the hell out of here, but he told me he wasn't standing down and he wasn't going away. I've tried to take control of the case from the Federal standpoint, but the Brass in Washington are all over the place, and the bottom line is that nobody will back me up and tell Rovers to go home."

"Where are they now, as in right this second?" I asked.

"They're supposed to be at the Press Conference." said Jack. "I've called for some reinforcements from the City and from Southport, and they should be here within the hour."

"And where is Melina, by the way?" I asked. "I'm surprised she's not here."

"Melina... is on a mission." said Jack. "All I know is she got a message over the weekend to fly to Pennsylvania, and she left early Monday morning."

"Interesting." I said.

"What's that?"

"Just that the FBI's darkest 'Dark Agent' is pulled away just as this school shooting hits." I said. "And while the Rovers BAU team was in the City or snuck back in. What do I think of coincidences, Jack?"

"You don't seem to know what the word means." said Jack. "And I don't either, when you start explaining things like that. What does it all mean?"

"I dunno." I said. "But it's getting uglier by the minute."

Just then there was a knock on the door. Teresa poked her head in and said "It's time for the Press Conference."

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

We went to the big tent. Inside was FBI Supervisory Agent Martin Nash, SBI Inspector Britt Maxwell and SBI Lieutenant Norm Chow, and a lot of local LEOs. I saw Bob Rovers and his brother David a distance away from us. When they saw me, hatred appeared on their faces. It is possible they saw the same thing in mine.

"The Governor called and asked me to come, and I brought Norm along as a bodyguard." said Britt as we exchanged greetings. "We're here primarily to investigate the actions of the Sheriff and his Deputies."

"Or lack of action." I said. "I suppose you'll be wanting a deposition from me."

"Not much gets by you." Britt said, her eyes twinkling as she showed her beautiful smile.

"Noooo problem." I said. "Those cowards almost cost Molly her life."

"Yeah." Britt said. Just then, Captain Price came up to me and asked me to follow him. Nash fell in with us, and we went through the curtain and onto the stage. The lights were very bright, which I did not like; it was hard to see the animals of the Press Corps, and any one of them with a gun would have the drop on us. Yes, I think of things like that. I'm paid to.

"Thank you for coming." said Captain Price. The Press immediately began yelling questions in a frenzy. I whispered to Price to raise his hand and shake his head until they shut up, and he did. It took a full minute, but they finally quieted down.

"My name is Captain Paul Price," said Captain Paul Price, "and if you'll be respectful enough to let me make a statement, I'll take questions at the end." After a brief pause, he said "Yesterday, at approximately 2:00pm, suspect Adam Nikolas Eagan entered Nextdoor County High School through the teacher's parking lot entrance, which requires a passkey to access."

Price: "He fired several shots at students in the hallway, but missed. He then turned down hallway 6, where he encountered Thomas Usagi, an NCHS Senior and JROTC Officer. Usagi had ushered other students through the double fire doors in the middle of the hallway, and he pulled the fire alarm to cause those doors to lock from his side. Usagi was struck three times by the suspect's gunfire, and expired at the scene."

Price: "NCPD Chief Molly Evans and Detective German arrived at the scene and entered the building immediately. They encountered the suspect attempting to access the double fire doors which Usagi had caused to be locked. The suspect was attempting to get through to kill the students on the other side of the doors. Chief Evans and Detective German engaged the suspect and were struck by gunfire. The suspect was using illegal armor-penetrating cartridges, known as 'cop-killer' bullets. One round stuck Chief Evans near the top of her armor, severely wounding her. She and Detective German also suffered wounds to their extremities. The suspect was struck by gunfire from Chief Evans in the leg, wounding and incapacitating him."

Price: "Upon being called in to assist, TCPD Commander Donald Troy and Captain Teresa Croyle entered the school and secured the scene. Lifesaving first aid was applied to Chief Evans, and she was life-flighted to University Hospital, where she underwent over four hours of surgery to save her life and stabilize her condition. Detective German was taken into surgery, and is expected to make a full recovery. The suspect was also taken into surgery, and is currently under arrest in the secure ward of the Hospital."

Price: "I wish to emphasize that there were no 'assault rifles' of any kind found on the suspect's person nor in his car. He was armed only with the two pistols recovered from his person at the location where he was taken down. The reporting of the presence of assault rifles is inaccurate. We'll now hear from the FBI Supervisory Agent for this investigation, Martin Nash."

I was surprised by that; I'd expected Muscone to speak. Nash came up to the podium.

"First of all," said Nash, "the so called Social Media page that has been purported by the Media to be the suspect's, is not his page. That page was created just two days ago, and not by the suspect. It is either a prank, a co-conspirator, or someone wishing to give a false impression that the suspect was a political Conservative. Our own findings, including a forensic examination of his computer and cell phone, show the suspect to have been an admirer of Socialists Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, and Joseph Stalin. The suspect was also keenly interested in the criminal career of serial killer George Aurus, a.k.a. the Black Velvet Killer."

"Second," said Nash, "the suspect appears to be a loner, and we have to this point found no other persons with whom the suspect might've been conspiring to attack the school or any other targets, either yesterday or for the future. The only concern we have is that the suspect had a keypass to the building, which he used at the teachers parking lot entrance. This keypass had to have been created either by the suspect or for him, and we have not determined who may have done so. It was not any keypass issued to any teacher or school official, as we have accounted for every one of those, nor was it a copy of any of them."

"Okay, let's take questions." said Paul Price, but he was interrupted.

"Hold on one minute!" said Bob Rovers, coming up. "I need to make one statement about what you've heard to this point. I am FBI Special Agent in Charge Bob Rovers, and I head the Behavioral Analysis Unit in charge of evaluating this suspect psychologically. While I agree with the assessment that the suspect was a student of the crimes of the Black Velvet Killer, George Aurus, I do not agree with the analysis that the suspect is not a White Nationalist or a Conservative. That has not been ruled out, and the suspects actions and behavior do correspond with what we would expect of a White Nationalist serial killer, copycat, or wannabee. Okay, Captain Price, back to you."

"Thank you, Agent Rovers." said Paul Price, his voice connoting his displeasure with Rovers as he re-took the podium. "I'm sure you in the Media will verify anything you hear about the suspect before reporting it." I smiled; the only thing I didn't like about that zinger was that I hadn't used it on the Media myself.

"Captain, we need to clarify this." said Bill Hacosta of SNN, rudely interrupting instead of being recognized to ask a question. "Two FBI Agents just gave contradictory statements about the political inclinations of Mr. Eagan. So which one is accurate?"

At that point I strode up to the microphone, which Captain Price gladly conceded. I said "The TCPD's analysis confirms what Supervisory Agent Nash said. The BAU Unit of Bob Rovers has repeatedly been inaccurate in investigations this year, and anything they say is to be taken with huge grains of salt at best, and better yet just regarded as wrong. The suspect's Social Media page is a fake, and there have been no ties between him and the political philosophy you ascribe as 'White Nationalism'."

I looked around to see where Rovers and his cohorts were, but didn't see them anywhere. And I'd hardly moved away from the podium to let Captain Price take back over when the next piece of Media stupidity happened:

"Captain Price, I'm Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News." said Bettina Wurtzburg. "Has DFACS taken custody of Chief Evans's two sons yet?"

Price looked at me as if Jupiter had changed its orbit, then he said into the microphone "Of course not. The boys's father has them and is taking care of them."

"Who is the boys's father?" asked Bettina. Yep, Your Iron Crowbar went back to the podium. And if I looked pissed off, it's because I was pissed off.

"Ms. Wurtzburg," I said loudly, "stop showing us your ass and how stupid you are. What are those boys's last names?"

"That's what I just asked Captain Price." Bettina said smartly.

"You damn well already know," I said, "but for those here that might not, their last name is 'Troy'. Same as mine. I am their father, and I am taking care of them while their mother recovers... if she recovers. They're in good hands. My question to you Ms. Wurtzburg, is why you're asking such stupid questions? What is your agenda, Bettina? Are you trying to start some trouble with DFACS, who has no part of this? Are you trying to get back at me through my boys? Maybe for my helping the FBI investigate you for treason against the United States?"

The room was dead silent as I continued: "Yes, everyone, the FBI is continuing to investigate Bettina Wurtzburg here for treason. So her agenda is obvious. I ask the rest of you... what is your agenda here? Reporting that so-called 'assault rifles' were used in this incident, when I told you yesterday and other law enforcement units have told you several times that no 'assault rifles' were used by the perp. Reporting that the suspect is a Conservative based upon a fake Social Media page that is so obviously a fake that even idiots like Bettina Wurtzburg can figure it out? When are you assholes of the Media going to start reporting verified facts instead of your biased, agenda-driven propaganda? And now one of you is trying to get DFACS to take my children away?..."

I stopped talking. I had just been hit, hard, by an 'insight'. I realized why Rovers and his minions had left. I suddenly took off for the back of the stage. The Media would believe I was done with my diatribe against them, but the truth is that I knew what I had to do. I motioned to Teresa to come with me. She barely kept up as I hustled out the back of the tent and towards my Police SUV.

Once in the car, I turned on the blue lightbar. Once we got on the road, I began driving down the road at speeds greater than 100 miles per hour. As we sped along, Teresa said "I'm sure you're going to tell me what's going on at some point in time, hopefully before we crash into someone. Is it Molly?"

"No, it's something else." I said. "Rovers should still be at that Press Conference, but he and his people left. I think I know where they're going, and what they're doing... and Bettina's real reason for asking that stupid question about DFACS and my boys..."

Part 13 - Federal Machinations

As the Press Conference was going on in Nextdoor County, Dr. Laura Fredricson, Dr. Yates, Detectives Teddy Parker and Timothy Geiger, TCPD videographer Connie, District Attorney Miriam Walters and defense attorney H.J. Lynch, Esq. went into the security wing of University Hospital. After passing through security, they were admitted into the room of Adam Nikolas Eagan. The white makeup he'd had on his face had been removed, but his hair was still solidly artificially bright red. He was handcuffed to the rails on the sides of the bed.

H.J. Lynch had wanted his client to not say anything, but Eagan said he'd answer questions. What neither realized was that Dr. Yates was very good at 'near-hypnosis' in his talks with people.

"Adam," he said, "my name is Dr. Yates, and this is Dr. Fredricson. We just want to talk to you about what happened yesterday."

"Not much to tell." said Eagan dully. "I went in and shot those people."

"Okay," said Dr. Yates, "I want you to take a breath, that's right, just relax. Now tell me what happened. When did you first plan on shooting people at the school?"

"I..." Eagan said, then stopped. "Uh... I... I don't remember." He acted like he was trying to remember, but couldn't.

"Okay, just relax." said Dr. Yates. "Just relax, close your eyes... take yourself back... maybe you're at home on your computer. What do you see?"

"I... they were sending me emails." said Eagan. "They wanted to meet?"

"Who?" asked Dr. Yates.

"They were..." said Eagan, who then stopped. "I... I don't remember... emails..."

"Adam," said Laura, "who gave you the pistols, and the passkey?"

"They... I don't remember." said Eagan, who looked confused.

"Adam, how did you figure out to go into that hallway? Into the door from the parking lot?" asked Dr. Yates.

"They trained me... we went through drills..." said Eagan. "They... told me what to do..."

"Who?" asked Laura.

"They... I don't know... I can't remember... but..." Eagan said. Then his eyes seemed to clear and he said "I don't know--"

"Stop! You can't go in there!"

The noise was coming from the hallway outside. Then the door suddenly swung open.

"Get out of here, all of you!" snarled FBI Special Agent In Charge Bob Rovers. "We're taking custody of this prisoner! Stop talking to him and get out!"

"Like hell we will!" shouted Laura Fredricson as she stood to face Rovers. "You have no jurisdiction here. You get out!"

David Rovers and Peter Page came into the room behind their leader, their guns drawn. Page put his gun into Dr. Yates's ear, literally. David Rovers's gun was inches from Laura's head.

"Get your hands off your guns!" yelled David Rovers at Parker and Geiger, seeing the Detectives going for their firearms.

"When I'm done with you--" started Laura, but she was interrupted.

"One more time, cunt." said Bob Rovers. "I'm in charge here, not you, and not the worthless TCPD. We're taking custody of this prisoner, and you will never speak to him again. Let's go. Move!"

Page grabbed the back of Dr. Yates' white labcoat and jerked him up and towards the door. David Rovers motioned for Parker and Geiger to walk out, then motioned for H.J. Lynch to leave.

"I'm his lawyer." said Lynch. "I'm staying with my client."

David Rovers whirled and pointed his gun at Lynch's head. "You get out of here, right now, or you are either under arrest or dead." He then rushed over to where Lynch was, grabbed him by the forearm and violently pushed the legal beagle towards the door.