Sting of the Scorpion Ch. 03

"What?!" gasped the husband.

"Honey," said Ivy, trying to placate her increasingly irritated husband, "I told you when we got married that I once did some work that might come back to haunt me and that we might have to just leave like we're in Witness Protection or something..."

"Mr. Sanders," Laura cut in, taking control of the situation, "if you'll come with me to the kitchen, I'll explain everything." To back her words up, she showed the man her I.D. and CIA badge, which she very rarely carried with her. "Don, would you talk with Ivy?"

"Sure." I said. Mr. Sanders was not as happy about it, but Ivy convinced him to go with Laura... who had the toddler in her arms already. Sneaky controlling move, my wife had just made.

Once they were gone, I had Ivy sit down in a chair and I sat on the sofa next to it. "Ivy," I said, "we didn't know what, if anything, your husband knows about that situation with Jack Burke, so we didn't want to say anything in front of him. Laura is telling him that you worked with her in a CIA capacity, which is true of course, and it'll be your decision to tell your husband what I'm about to tell you now."

I continued: "After you accused Jack of rape to force him out of Melina's life, some strange things went on in his life. He became something of a drifter, going from place to place around the country. Two years ago, he ended up in the Town where I now am the Police Commander, and he was caught in bed with a married woman. Her husband killed them both."

"Oh my God." Ivy said. "That's so sad. But that's Jack, he was one hell of a ladies' man. As you know."

"Yes." I said, not really caring to discuss that. "What also happened is that I learned that Jack Burke's parents, Michael and Eleanor Burke, tried to find out what happened to Jack, who only visited them a couple of times in all the years before his death. They found out most of the details of the incident you and Laura created. Eleanor attempted to murder Laura, but her plan was anticipated and the gun she fired was empty."

"Oh... my..." Ivy said, her eyes wide with shock.

"That's not all." I said. "Eleanor is in prison now, but Michael Burke, Jack's father, has been obsessed with finding you. He blames you for what happened to his son, and he has been trying to find you and murder you, and he might have your family murdered, as well. I not only am married to Laura now, I work in cooperation with the FBI on some things, and I've been monitoring Michael Burke for some time. We just learned that he has found you, and someone might be coming to kill you as early as tonight."

"Wha... what can we do?" Ivy said. "And how... how did he find us? Oh, wait.. there were two women here a few weeks ago, they were driving by..."

"No, they're not your problem." I said. "They're actually policewomen that work with me. One of them grew up in the house that was on this very spot before it burned down and this house was built. Her father passed away and she happened to be in town for that, but it's lucky because it helped me find the plot against you in time. Small world, huh?"

"Yeah." Ivy said. "So, what happened with you and Melina? Laura had me do all that with Jack just to keep her away from him so she'd marry you..."

"And Melina did marry me." I said. "Eight years later, we ended up in Laura's University's town, and Melina and I divorced. I'd met Laura and we ended up getting married, and Melina married a... local politician." No point in telling Ivy that Melina was married to the Town & County Sheriff, I decided.

Just then, Laura stuck her head in the door. "Everything set here?"

"Just about." I said. "Ivy, you and your family need to pack what you can. We're going to take you out of here. I have no idea where Laura is taking you."

"Honey, we have to go." Ivy said to her husband as she took her child from Laura's arms.

"I don't know why." the man said. "Why should we run away?" I saw that Laura had not totally succeeded in placating the dumbass.

"Mis-ter Sanders!" I said strongly, almost hovering over the man. "I am desperately trying to save your family's lives here, and yours as well. The people that are going to come after you are not playing around, they are murderers. You can't handle them, you're not a killer. They'll butcher you and your family before you would even know they were there."

"Bullshit." said the airhead Mr. Sanders. "I can handle myself and protect my family, and I sure as hell don't need you. Now get the hell out of my house and don't ever come back again--" Fortunately for him, Ivy intercepted him.

"Honey, he's right." she said pleadingly. "We have to go. We're never coming back here, we're going to start over somewhere else."

"And what then, Ivy?" the husband asked. "What if they find us wherever we go? What then, huh?"

"Then we keep on going." said Ivy.

"Mr. Sanders," I said, "let me handle the guys coming after you."

"What makes you so fucking special?" the man asked. Patience, Don, I thought to myself. The guy has rocks in his head. but time is a'wasting. Time to shut his ass up.

"Mr. Sanders," I said, trying to hold on to my temper, "have you ever killed anyone? Have you ever taken another person's life?" The room became utterly silent.

"I hope and pray that you never do have to kill anyone, Mr. Sanders." I said quietly. "But that is what you will have to do, and in cold blood, in order to stop the military-trained mercenaries that are coming here with one mission: to kill you. And if you haven't killed anyone before, now is not the time to begin. You've got to get your wife and son out of here. They are what you need to be thinking about right now. Now go. Laura, would you help them get their things and get them out of here?"

"Okay, let's get your bags packed." Laura said. Mr. Sanders was still not mollified, but he was in shock from my question, and he realized he was helpless to stop the inevitable. Laura helped them pack large suitcases of clothes, jewelry and some photographs.

Four black-clad agents came into the front room from the garage that was on the left side of the house. "Ma'am, the van's in the garage." said one agent. "We are not being observed. No thermals in the windows or cars of any of the houses in the area, nor outside in the field areas."

"Good." said Laura. "Okay, Ivy, here's what we're going to do. These men will carry your luggage, and I will escort you out the back door. We're going through the field behind your house and over the railroad tracks to a van that is waiting for you."

As they gathered to leave, Laura came over and kissed me. "I'll be back soon." she said.

"Good." I said. "Don't forget to knock when you come back in." The words were neither idle nor in jest; if someone knocked without using the proper code sequence, either I or the remaining agents in the house might kill the person entering. The knocking code was a child's game, but effective.

I turned out the lights and the group left through the kitchen and patio to the field out back. As I waited for Laura to return, I thought about what Ivy had done to 'save' Melina from Jack Burke on Laura's behalf, but also on mine. And that event was the start of the chain of events that had led to where I am now, with the wife and children I have, the command of a Police Department... and a red crowbar in my hand.

I felt a certain gratitude to Ivy, and hoped that this night would serve as my paying back the favor and that she and her family would be safe. And I knew with certainty that I would never see Ivy again...

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

What a lot of people don't know is that I am ambidextrous. I'm right handed, but I can bat left-handed or right-handed, can throw decently left-handed, and actually qualified with my police service weapon both right-handed and left-handed (to counter a possible lawsuit if I ever had to shoot a perp left-handed... one never knows what legal beagles will come up with.).

So I was in the coat closet with the door opened, and if perps came through the front door I would have to swing the crowbar left-handed. And I expected the perps to try to come in through the front door. After Laura and her agents got back, we turned the patio lights on and left them on. Agents were covering the back door anyway.

Entry through the garage was not possible with the garage door down, and the front porch was shrouded in darkness. Ergo, we expected the entry to be there. Another agent was on the other side of the front room, ready to turn on the lights. Laura was upstairs: if the perps got past us, she was going to blow them away as they came up the stairs.

The wait was very, very long. I used the time to think about the puzzles I needed to solve. The 'Consultant of Crime', the 'real Moriarty', would know by now of my visit to Apple Grove, and would be wondering how much I had found. I examined my logic of this person's relationship with Henry R. Wargrave, of Wargrave's other relationships with the 'Big Boyz' of the nation and world, and found my logic to be flawless. There were rifts there. Could I exploit them?

Then I thought of something very interesting: who would the Consultant's next "Number 1" be, the next 'Colonel Sebastian Moran', the next Sith Lord to accompany the Emperor Palpatine that was the Great Mind opposing me? And somehow the answer came to me: Wargrave was the University's biggest benefactor. Whenever he was gone, alive or dead, someone would become Dr. Sidney Wellman's biggest benefactor, and new best buddy. I could exploit that.

Always in pairs, I mused. The Batman had Robin. Green Arrow had Speedy. The Green Hornet had Kato. The Lone Ranger had Tonto. Only Superman had no sidekick. Now why was that? (Author's note: that's a trivia question for YOU, dear readers.)

And then I saw it. As I peered into the darkness, I thought I saw a teenage girl in the room. She looked like Teresa... no, she wasn't Teresa... was she really there or were my eyes playing tricks on me.

She just looked right at me and smiled, and then walked out of my line of sight. I peered forward, but did not see anything in the darkness...

*Clack!*

I heard the footstep on the patio outside. I steeled myself.

A key was introduced into the deadbolt lock, turning it back. The door was quietly opened. Used to the dark, I could barely see the shadowy figure coming in. I saw something too rectangular on his face... he was wearing night vision goggles.

Yep, left-handed. I swung my red crowbar with all of my might as Babe Ruth would've at a big juicy curveball... right at the rectangle on the perp's face.

***WHAM!!***

I felt the contact, the violent energy that traveled up my arms and down my spine even as the man crumpled to the ground. Hearing the noise, the other CIA agent in the room clicked on the lights. The second man, just coming in the door, was blinded by the bright light overwhelming his night vision goggles. Before he could react, I had pulled him into the house and was closing the door as the other agent used his excellent martial arts skills to subdue the second man to the floor.

Laura and the other agents poured into the room, and Dr. Fredricson immediately injected both of them with a sedative that would keep them out. The man I hit was bleeding in the crown of his nose, the night vision goggles shattered.

"Get them into the van." Laura ordered. Agents swiftly wrapped the men in what looked like very thin carpet and carried the bundles into the garage. All of the lights were turned off. The garage door opened and the van drove out and away up the street, no one the wiser.

My wife and I remained behind, along with two agents. They went around, locking the doors and turning off the gas. We went out the back door, which Laura locked with the key Ivy had given her. We took off through the field to the railroad tracks. A black van was waiting for us and we climbed in for the trip back to the airport.

At the airport, there was another plane, a C-130 military transport plane. It had landed just five minutes before. The van with the two captured men drove right up the back and into the plane, though it was a tight fit.

"Honey," Laura said, "I'm going with this plane. I'll help Ivy and her family get settled into their new location in Washington State, and 'help' with the interrogation of these bastards." I knew what that meant; the good Doctor would be administering drugs to enhance the interrogations. I was glad to not be a captured perp...

I got on the sleek aircraft that had brought us here. Moments after the C-130 rumbled off, our plane also took off. As it did, I began singing and paraphrasing that old Army jody "C-one-thirty rolling down the strip, bad-boy perps on a one-way trip..."

"You were Airborne, sir?" asked one of the agents, hearing me.

I nodded. "Long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away." I said. "You?"

"82d Airborne in Afghanistan, before I was recruited into the Company." he said. We reminisced about military things, and then I fell asleep.

Qapla'! as the Klingons say. 'Operation Eleanor', as Laura had named it in vengeance for the woman that had tried to kill her, had been a complete success.

Part 13 - Following Up

"Good morning, Captain Ross." I said to Cindy as she came into my office after watching the Bettina broadcast at 7:00am, Monday, May 11th. KXTC had been taking shots at KSTD's sloppy coverage of the Jack Burke tapes, replete with Bettina's interviews of the Chief and myself.

"Good morning, Commander Troy." Cindy said. She was wearing her uniform of light blue shirt with dark blue soft shoulderboards and two sewn-in bars denoting her Captain rank, and dark blue pants with black piping down the sides. "What's on the agenda today?"

"You and I are going to a breakfast with Selena Steele, Chief Operating Officer of the J.P. Goldman Bank here in Town." I said. I was wearing a uniform identical to Cindy's, except my rank was silver oak leaf clusters. "We're meeting her at 8:00am at the Lilibet House." The Lilibet House was an 'upscale' place for breakfast and lunch, similar to the soup and sandwich place Laura likes. No 'Country Breakfast Diner' for Selena Steele...

"Plainclothes or uniforms?" Cindy asked.

"Oh, what we have on now." I said. "Selena has a back room reserved for us, though, so that we can talk privately."

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

"This is so much nicer than having to meet at the bank." said Selena Steele as we sat down in a back room. Selena was facing the doorway that led to the room out front, I was seated to her left and Cindy to her right. I noticed that a fourth place was set at the table. "And congratulations on your promotion, Cindy."

The Lilibet House had things like spinach omelettes and crêpes and fruit at their breakfast bar. I'd have to get something to snack on later, I promised myself.

"Thank you." Cindy said politely. I noticed Cindy observing Selena Steele, who was a beautiful woman with lustrous, long black hair, full lips, a luscious figure and sparkling dark eyes. I myself wondered how Selena could remain single for so long, and wondered who was tapping this... no way a hot woman like Selena went without sex.

"Thank you for meeting with us." I said. "We're following up on the Ricky Morris case."

"Ohhhhh... yes, that." Selena said with asperity, which seemed a bit rehearsed to me. "I cannot tell you how shocked I am about that. Mr. Goldman was devastated by the news, as well. I know you'll want to talk to our employees about him..."

"Not necessarily." I said. "I want to ascertain some things from you, though, if I may. First, Ricky Morris was an employee at your Bank. What did he do, and how was he at his job?"

"He was... a loyal employee who came to work on time, did his job, did what was asked of him." Selena said, as if citing a memorized lesson. "His position was with our Accounting Department, making sure books balanced and such stuff."

"How long had he been there?"

"Several years." Selena said. "He was a college friend of Bradley... Bradley Hazleton. Bradley recommended Ricky's hiring, and Bradley was beginning to be a star with the Bank, so we hired Ricky."

"I see." I said, meaning a lot more than what Selena was saying... but what she was not saying. "Did Ricky get along with his co-workers?"

"Yes." Selena said. "He kept to himself for the most party Quiet, dependable accountant, poster boy for the stereotype. Didn't have any problems with anyone, that I know of."

"Did he hang out with Bradley, his college buddy?" I asked.

Selena said, choosing her words carefully, "Bradley was being given more and more good assignments, and Ricky was at his desk balancing books all day. So I don't think they were especially close socially."

"I recall Bradley had a fiancée." I said. "Were they social with Ricky and his wife Jennifer?"

"I don't know." Selena said. "Bradley broke up with his fiancée, as you recall from investigating his murder. I am not sure if Ricky and Jennifer were together until after Bradley's breakup."

"So Ricky was married to his wife Jennifer for... almost two years?"

"That's about right." Selena said. "She was... let's just say she was a 'unique' person."

"Did she and Ricky get along? Good marriage?" I asked.

"As far as I know." Selena said.

"So were there any indications at all that this tragedy was brewing?" I asked.

"Absolutely none." Selena said. I think she felt the two pairs of eyes boring into her, maybe even right through her.

"Let me ask this." I said. "Did you know Mr. Harkins of the Second National Bank?"

"The one who disappeared?" Selena said. "I'd met him, but didn't know him at all. J.P.-- er, Mr. Goldman, might have known him better."

Selena now looked disquieted, and she finally spoke up after I'd poured myself some more coffee. "Guys," she said, dropping her voice, "is there some way I can talk to you... off the record, so to speak?"

"Captain Ross," I said, having already anticipated this and knowing what I wanted to do, "why don't we treat Ms. Steele as a Confidential Informant. Selena, as a C.I., what you say will be kept secret. We might have to use it, but we'll keep you and your name out of it to any extent possible."

"That will work." Selena said. "And it's not anything earth-shattering, but I don't want what could be considered 'gossip' to come out in a public Police report."

"That won't happen." I said. "Go ahead."

"First, about Ricky." Selena said. "He was not a bad employee, but he was not a very bright nor promising one. He did his job, but not with any urgency. Most people here act like they want to go somewhere, to higher posts. Ricky was seemingly content right where he was. His performance evaluations were average at best. Mr. Goldman was hoping for more when he took Bradley's recommendation to hire Ricky. And that was really the only blemish on Bradley's career."

"But Ricky wasn't a bad employee." I said.

"No, not at all. Just very... mundane." Selena replied. "But worse... much worse... was Jennifer. She was one of the most conniving harpies that I've ever had the displeasure to meet. Angela Harlan on her worst day was not as bad as Jennifer... until Angela started killing people, of course."

"We get the idea." I said. "Tell us more about Jennifer."

"Ricky didn't really have friends at the Bank, so he had no social support system." Selena said. "When Jennifer started getting her hooks into him, no one really realized it until it was too late to see and stop what was going on. I sincerely believe she had ulterior motives for conning him into marrying her."

"In addition," Selena continued, "Jennifer was just a... selfish, mean-spirited person. She only attended social functions when us C-Level persons attended; I once surprised everyone by showing up at a more informal event, and only Ricky was there. And she made it clear she didn't think much of any of us, except Mr. Goldman and the Board members and executives, with whom she flirted relentlessly. I wasn't the COO at that time, of course."