Seriously Inconvenienced Ch. 01

"I then had Purvis confirm it with a deep undercover C.I., someone who has never failed us before." said Teresa. "The intel is good, and they are indeed planning to move the shit in tonight."

"Good. And I'm glad it's not just Sharples's information." I said. "I get worried when he starts bringing in leads."

"Me, too." said Teresa Croyle. "That's why I had this independently verified. Half of Sharples's leads turn to shit, and the other half usually lead to Dirty Lenny, and are thus invalid." Too many coincidences surrounded Sergeant Sharples and the slug Lenny being mentioned in the same sentence. Internal Affairs was aware of the situation and was investigating, but I digress.

I called Cindy Ross and Lt. Claire Michaels into the office and told Claire to put the full SWAT Team on alert for a night mission. Then I told them to make their tactical plan and brief me on it. As they briefed me, I had a premonition that something wasn't quite right. I didn't know what it was, and the tactical plan was sound, so I gave the 'Go' order... but told them to make sure everyone wore double protective vests.

"Why?" Cindy Ross asked. "You think those bastards with cop-killer bullets are still out there?"

"I don't know." I said, my voice and mind far away. "I just have a feeling..."

"Your feelings are our orders." said Teresa. "I don't want to have to nurse Miss Hardbody back to health again." She was referring to Cindy, who was glaring at her though fully aware of the underlying love in Teresa's comment.

"I could not agree more, Lieutenant Croyle." I said. "Six weeks of Lieutenant Ross on light duty was more than I could take." I said, also teasing Cindy. "Which is why you are not going tonight, Lieutenant Ross."

At Cindy's look of shocked anger on her face, I said: "This is Lieutenant Croyle's mission to lead, Ross; it's her Vice Squad. You're staying here at Headquarters and monitoring on the radios... right next to me. Okay guys, do it, but be careful... be very, very careful..."

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

The 'Radio Room' had been upstairs, between the Duty Desk area and what led to the anteroom to Interrogation Rooms A-C. However, I'd managed to get the Chief to agree to move it downstairs to part of the old I.T. area when they remodeled it. Everything was more secure there, and we could monitor the police activity (as well as other communications over the airwaves) much more efficiently.

I was downstairs in the semi-darkened room with Cindy Ross, Myron Milton, Goth Girl Mary Mahoney, and six Uniformed officers whose job it was to monitor the radios and dispatch patrols. We were listening in to the communications of our Vice Squad and SWAT Team as they moved into position at the Warehouse.

"The trucks are en route, crossing the County line." came the voice of Patrolman Johnson, who was monitoring the Nextdoor County road." The trucks did not know that they were being followed every step of the way by unmarked police cars. The moment they crossed the County line, they were ensnared in my Vice Squad's trap.

"Roger that." said Hugh Hewitt's voice. Senior Sergeant Hewitt was the radio man for the SWAT Team. He was on a radio fit with an encryption device (like Channel 5 Police Radio) so that our communications could not be intercepted in the clear, and for the moment he was the only member of the task force permitted to be on the radio. Hewitt continued "All units are in place. People are waiting at the warehouse for the trucks."

As Cindy and I listened, one of the uniformed dispatchers handed me a green telephone handset. It looked like a telephone, but at the other end was a policeman on a radio.

"Commander, this is Sergeant Rudistan." said the normally-jovial Sergeant. "We've got eight bogeys in unmarked black vans that followed the trucks into the County at a distance."

"Commander, this is Sergeant Irwin at the Coltrane County line. We also have eight bogeys in black vans coming across the County line. They have State Government license plates."

"Oh shit!" I exclaimed. Just then the radios lit up... the trucks had pulled in, Teresa had given the order to make the raid... and all hell was about to break loose.

"C'mon, Cindy!" I shouted, "we've gotta go!"

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

The truck entrance of the warehouse was to the right side of front of the building, which faced west. At the left front side were other doors that the Police teams had moved through to take up positions inside. Teresa situated herself near the door where she entered, having a decent view of the lighted area around the trucks that had just arrived. To her left, the back of the warehouse had a number of pallets, and was dark and apparently empty. She could make out a closed door at the back, and so she had Hugh reconnoiter that area. Some of the SWAT team maneuvered back there to make sure no one was hiding and had given the 'all clear' signal.

The SWAT team led the way inside, followed by the other officers, who moved in an impressively disciplined way to surround the drug perps. Just as Teresa said over the megaphone "POLICE! FREEZE! DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" the perps quickly dashed for cover and began firing. The SWAT Team returned fire with overwhelming lethality.

Just then, someone began firing from the dark area to Teresa's left. "AMBUSH!" she yelled into her megaphone. She immediately called for fire to be returned to that area, and moved toward it herself, making sure to stay well-covered. The new ambushers had semi-automatic, military-style weapons.

The TCPD fire began to overwhelm the ambushers, though some of the original drug perps were able to run and escape.

Suddenly someone yelled from the back area "THIS IS THE SBI! DROP YOUR WEAPONS! I ORDER YOU TO CEASE FIRE AND DROP YOUR WEAPONS!"

"TO HELL WITH YOU! POLICE, KEEP FIRING! SBI, DROP YOUR WEAPONS!!"

That last order came from one very pissed-off Police Commander. To emphasize my point, I raked the area over the SBI's heads with a squad-automatic-weapon, or SAW... it had been the one captured from the perps on the night Cindy had been shot up. By now I was the only one firing a weapon, but it sounded like World War Three in the warehouse.

Finally, a hand appeared over one of the pallets, with a gold SBI badge. I knew who it was. Some of the SBI's Narcotics Task Force had been issued gold badges instead of the normal silver ones. This one was SBI Agent Richard 'Dick' Ferrell's.

It took every ounce of willpower I had to not shoot that badge right out of Ferrell's hands, but I stopped shooting and said "YOU WITH THE SBI! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS RAISED!" Fortunately for them, they all did. I had my men (and women) surround them, guns at the ready to kill them, similar to what Chief Griswold almost had done to these bastards before.

"What the fuck is this, Troy?" yelled Ferrell, coming up to me as if he were in charge. I had a flashback to the day on the Fairgrounds, investigating Oldeeds' murder, and remembering what Jack Muscone had done to Ferrell. I did the same thing.

As Ferrell came up to me, I swung a right-hand haymaker as hard as I could. My clenched fist connected solidly with Ferrell's jaw and sent him sprawling.

SBI Agents gasped, then acted as if they were going to rush me, only to be stopped cold by the barrel's of my officers' many guns.

"What the fuck, Troy? This is our fucking raid!" Ferrell gasped as he got up.

"Like hell it is!" I roared. "You gave no notice to us you were coming in to the County, as required by law. As far as I'm concerned, you're in league with the perps. And you're all about to be under arrest."

"We don't have to give you notice, dipshit!" Ferrell yelled. "We have jurisdiction. We supersede you. We're the State, you're just fucking County shits. You answer to me, boy."

I knew that legally Ferrell was wrong, but I also knew that his words were a deliberate test of my manhood. I took off my khaki trenchcoat and asked an officer to hold it. Then I handed the red crowbar to Cindy. "Crowbar 2, would you mind holding this a minute?"

"With pleasure, Commander." Cindy said. Then, before Ferrell could react, I lunged at him. My first blow connected with his nose, and I felt the tissue give way. Then a second blow smashed into his ribs with a loud *thud*.

"Okay, Commander," said Sergeant Rudistan, intervening, "this one's fragile. Gotta stop you now before you really fuck him up."

"Shut the fuck up, you fat piece of shit." gasped Ferrell. He tried to rush Rudistan, but then I threw a left-handed haymaker that connected with the side of Ferrell's face, a really hard blow. Ferrell went sprawling and was down for the count. He struggled to get up.

"I'd have thought Jack Muscone's beatdown would've taught you some manners, Ferrell." I said. "By the way, I'm ambidextrous. I hit as hard left-handed as right-handed, as you just found out. Want another demonstration?" Fortunately, Rudistan had Ferrell up and was handcuffing the SBI agent.

"I try to help you out, man." Rudistan said jovially to the solidly beaten Ferrell. "I keep the man from wasting you, and you insult me. That's gratitude for you, eh, Chief?"

"Ferrell is too stupid to understand the meaning of the word 'gratitude', Sergeant." said Chief Griswold, who had just walked in and up behind us. "Just like his piece-of-shit boss Lewis." I had called the Chief while Cindy and I rushed to the scene, after I'd surmised that the vans coming in to the County were carrying SBI agents conducting an illegal surprise raid. I was unable to get the word to Teresa in time, however, and people had been injured, but fortunately no one killed.

"Okay, Croyle," ordered the Chief, "get the drug perps into the Station, impound the trucks. Rudistan, take some men and arrest the SBI assholes. Their Director will have to come here and bail them out himself..."

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

"You just are not going to let me retire in peace, are you Crowbar?" the Chief said in his office. It was 1:00am, and SBI Director Jack Lewis was on his way to our County. The Chief had already called the Governor.

"I don't want you to retire at all, Chief." I said. "But the SBI is in the wrong on all counts on this one. They have seriously inconvenienced us tonight."

"I agree." said the Chief. "And I am going to spend the month I have left on this Force rubbing Jack Lewis's nose in his own dung over it." The Chief then peered at me.

"Take some deep breaths, Crowbar." Griswold ordered. "I haven't seen you this pissed off since you arrested that dog-abusing fuckwad... what's his name... oh, Thatcher. You okay?"

"I will be." I said. "But two Patrolmen were struck by SBI gunfire. They were double-vested, thank God, so they're unhurt. No Purple Orders tonight, but I'll write them up commendations, anyway."

"Two SBI Agents were wounded." Griswold said. "Not including the ass-whipping you gave Ferrell. By the way, where was Ikea? I thought he'd jump at the chance to be in on this."

"He's still recovering from the surgery he needed after that beatdown I gave him for hitting my mother." I said. "He's scheduled to return to SBI field duty on January 1st."

"I see." said the Chief. "By the way, is it just me, or did some of those SBI Agents actually seem to enjoy seeing Ferrell take that beating?"

"The Narcotics Task Force agents want to kill me right now." I said. "But the others with them, who are members of their idea of a SWAT Team, didn't seem to mind as much. But Chief, what's pissing me off... is that if I didn't know better, I'd think the SBI came in to shoot at us, the TCPD, on purpose."

"That's a serious charge, kid." said Griswold. "What's backing it up?"

"We went in, Teresa did the right thing and yelled 'POLICE!' into the megaphone. But there was not one single word from the SBI, they just started shooting... and at our guys. I checked and re-checked the stories, and they're consistent."

"Croyle told me the same thing." Griswold growled. "Anything else?"

"I'm still checking, but the SBI never informed anyone in this Police Department of their intent to come in and do a drug raid." I said.

"Technically, they only have to inform the State Highway Patrol in the County and the Sheriff's office... and we don't have a Sheriff until January 1st, so they're claiming they didn't have anyone to notify." said the Chief. "The Governor said that would be an item for the legislative battle next year, so that's a silver lining to the cloud. But one thing the SBI did fuck up: their warrants weren't properly issued, so their raid is technically as well as practically illegal. That alone is what is saving you from being in trouble for firing over their heads with that military semi-automatic rifle."

"Ah, so we can keep them in jail?" I asked, my face lighting up.

"Heh." said the Chief, grinning. "Good try, but no. Lewis will be taking them home with him. The Governor told me to let him have them and let this thing die down, and in return, the Governor will have our backs publicly."

"Is that it?" I asked.

"No. Here's what's going down." the Chief continued. "The Governor has called Inspector Maxwell, but she'll recuse herself as she came from this County, or the University anyway. She's going to appoint someone in her Division to do the investigation, which doesn't worry me. But this is going to have the aforementioned serious repercussions politically, with the SBI battle in the Legislature next year, and our County being represented by your best buddy Katherine Woodburn." The Chief's sarcasm failed to humor me.

"If the need arises, you take the Fifth and answer no questions." the Chief further said. "I'll handle the fallout, and with them unable to force my retirement for a second time, I'm going to unload on them. But again, I won't be around next year."

"You're having fun with this, aren't you Chief?" I asked, grinning for the first time.

"You betcha-" the Chief said, but was interrupted by the phone ringing. The Duty Desk was calling to say that a very angry SBI Director Jack Lewis had arrived...

To be continued.