Teresa's Christmas Ordeal Ch. 01

Once I got back to my office, I considered what had been told to me, trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle in my mind, and where this JACKAL fit in. I also had to make a decision, an important one that could have ramifications.

Finally, I decided. I got up to leave. As I was walking down the hall, Cindy came around the corner.

"There you are." she said. "Where are you off to?"

"I'm on a mission." I said. "I'll talk to you later."

"I'll come with you." she said. "You probably shouldn't be driving around alone these days."

I did what I had to do: I turned on her. "No." I said. "You stay here and mind the store. I'll be back soon. That's an order, Captain." With that, I went out the side entrance, leaving a stunned platinum blonde in the hallway.

I drove straight to the Cabin on the most traveled, open streets of the Town... down College Avenue, up University Avenue, then turning right on the road that led to the Cabin. Getting there, I went inside to my office and opened the wall safe. I pulled out the blue burner phone I kept in the safe, along with the red and green burner phones.

Going outside, I went up the trail that led to the top of the mountain and over it, careful to watch and see if I was being observed. Apparently not, I thought to myself. Finding a rock on the trail that overlooked Reservoir Lake, the golf course, and further east, I sat down to send an email on the burner. Destination: France.

Part 3 - Testing, Testing

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" yelled the lovely redhead from in front of the State Weather Station at 7:00am, Thursday, December 22d. "Channel Two News has learned that the expected snowstorm tomorrow will be even bigger that originally expected. Our Fox Weather affiliate believes we will set a snowfall record for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!"

Bettina went on: "The City is making preparations for the storm, as well. City Airport will remain open for as long as possible, but is expected to shut down on Saturday, Christmas Eve, as temperatures drop, causing black ice and other dangers."

"Grocery stores are being raided and emptied," Bettina went on, "and staples like diapers, powdered milk, toilet paper, and other dry goods are gone from the shelves of Wal-Mart and Target. Meanwhile, Town & County Police Captain Teresa Croyle says that all of the Public Service Departments as well as the Electric Company are ready to help stranded people and battle the damage the storms will cause..."

"What, they don't ask you for comments any more, Commander?" asked Theo Washington in MCD as we drank our coffee.

"Actually, not as much." I replied. "Our new Public Relations Officer, Captain Briscoe, will either comment himself, or go to the divisional source if he can. He only goes to the Chief or me if he can't find them or if it merits my personal acerbic wit."

"If that were the case," Cindy said, "then he'll go to Captain Croyle every time. Her acerbity and her wits are sharper than yours." A red crowbar was waved in her general direction. Teresa merely gave the look that could kill and went on drinking her... water. She was on an overnight fast for her appointment with Laura.

"The good news," I said, "is that people will be staying off the roads, and we should have much fewer drunk driving accidents. I've already contacted every bar in this County and warned them that my Captain of Operations will not take kindly to any overservings leading to drunk driving on these icy roads. So most of the bars will be shutting down."

"Good." Teresa said flatly.

"How did you contact every bar, Commander?" asked a stunned Joanne Warner.

"I'm the Police Commander." I said. "They take my calls."

"Sure it's not because you do business with all of them?" Cindy asked. The red crowbar was again utilized as a warning device.

"How many bars are there in this County?" asked Theo.

"There are two hundred and seventy-six liquor licenses issued and currently valid." I said. "And by the way, I emailed them all, I didn't have to call anyone. Ain't technology wonderful?"

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

Dr. Laura Fredricson closed the flaps on the portable x-ray machine in her office, then Nurse Jones put its lead-lined cloth cover on it and put it away.

"Okay, that will wrap this up." Laura said. She had thoroughly examined Teresa physically, taken bloodwork, taken a urine sample, then the x-ray, all the while asking Teresa questions:

"So are you feeling any pain during intercourse?" Laura had asked.

"Sometimes." Teresa replied. "Todd is pretty... big."

"Yes." Laura said, knowing Todd Burke's endowment very well. "Have you always had pain during intercourse with Todd?"

"Not really, just the last few months." Teresa said. "Sometimes he gets intense when he's about to climax."

Laura said nothing more about that, just asking about Teresa's diet and exercise regimen. Teresa explained how she'd been training in Aikido with Todd, Barry Oliver, and Todd's assistant Mariko, under the tutelage of an Aikido sensei.

Laura said to the lovely Nurse Jones: "Okay, take these samples to the Hospital for the usual tests. Charge it to my Federal grant on pregnancy research."

"That's okay; I've got insurance." Teresa said.

Laura smiled. "We'll save the TCPD's insurance a few dollars and put it on the Federal Government's tab." she said. "After all, you're one of my husband's finest and favorite Officers."

"That's... very nice of you." Teresa said.


"He's very happy you're taking this step." Laura said. "So am I. I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision to make."

Teresa realized this was the psychological portion of the examination. "No, it wasn't easy." she said. "For a long time, I never wanted kids, nor to continue my father's line. But then I realized I had to let some of that go, do this for Alexis and Amy, and for Todd, of course."

Laura said "And for yourself. This is going to be your baby." Teresa nodded.

"Okay," Laura said as Teresa got off the examining table and began dressing, "the tests won't come back until next week because of Christmas and all the short-staffing at the Hospital. What are you doing next week?"

"Oh geez." Teresa said. "We've got Dr. Eckhart's seminar to secure. They're setting up on Tuesday, the seminar is Wednesday through Friday."

Laura nodded. "Well, I'm very influential with the Police Commander there. So if I need you to have more tests, I will have him direct you to come my way."

"Sounds like you won't be taking 'not yet' for an answer." Teresa said.

"Well, it'll depend on how these tests come back, and if we'll need to run more." Laura said. "Meanwhile, stay on the pill, continue eating the diet that the literature I gave you talks about, and we'll go from there."

"Okay." said Teresa. "Thanks, Doctor, and thanks for seeing me."

"My pleasure." Laura said. Nurse Jones escorted Teresa out before taking the samples to the Hospital.

Laura went to her office and picked up the phone. "Yes, this is Dr. Fredricson." she said. "I need to know if there are any openings for the MRI machine next week..."

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

"There she is!" Cindy said as she and her sister Molly watched the crowd of people coming at them at City Airport. "Mom!"

Margaret 'Maggie' Ross saw her daughters and rushed up to greet them. After a big group hug, Maggie said "Oh, you both look great! I am so glad to see you!" More hugs were exchanged.

As they went to baggage claim to get Maggie's luggage, Maggie of course asked first about Ross and Ian.

"Growing like weeds." Molly said. "And they'll be happy to see their grandma."

"Oh, I'm going to have so much fun spoiling them!" Maggie said. "Cindy, how are things with you?"

"She's been kicking butt." Molly said, before Cindy could answer. "Solved some big cases, cracked some perps down hard."

Maggie put her arm around Cindy's waist and hugged her as they walked. "That's my girl!" the proud mom said. Cindy smiled shyly and blushed a bit.

After getting Maggie's luggage, they piled into Cindy's Police SUV. "It's got four-wheel drive." Cindy said by way of explanation. "We've got a big storm coming in."

"And that reminds me." Molly said as she took the shotgun seat, "We need to talk about where you're going to stay, Mom. You can stay with me and the boys at my condo in Nextdoor County, you can stay at Don's Cabin like last year, and Cindy has an extra room in her condo."

"It might be boring there." Cindy said. "The only problem with the Cabin is that it's on that hillside, and after the storm hits you might be trapped up there."

"Molly," Maggie said, "why don't you bring the boys to the Cabin and we'll all stay there. It's not like I haven't dealt with winters and snow before." They all laughed.

"I'll tell Don." Cindy said. "And I'll stay up there with you all. I know this SUV can handle the mountain---"

"Unless you drive at the speeds you normally do!" Molly said, teasing her sister.

"Oh, you will not go fast with my grandbabies in the car!" Maggie admonished...

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

Helena buzzed me and said that the Duty Desk Sergeant had a package for me. I told her to let him bring it in. He did so.

"Sir," said the Sergeant, "this is addressed to your home, but the Postman dropped it off here. It is reeking of perfume. We had the dog sniff it, but he didn't react to anything."

"Put it on my desk, here." I said as I put on latex gloves. I examined the box with my magnifying glass, seeing nothing unusual. It was a reinforced manila envelope, and the postmark showed it had been locally mailed.

Then the scent of the perfume wafted into my nose, and I knew what this was about. The perfume was the same as what was worn by my sister Elizabeth. I had a fleeting flashback to the 'Murdered Chessplayer' case.

"Okay," I said, carefully slitting open the edge of the envelope. There was no powder inside. Just a bubble-wrap package that computer components were often sent in, that shielded the contents from radiation. Inside were two jump drives.

"Okay." I said. "Thanks, Sergeant. I don't think this one is a problem. You can go." The Sergeant left.

I turned to my safe and opened it, and pulled out my 'clean' computer. This computer had never been connected to the Internet, and had some shielding to prevent its radio signal from going out. I reinforced that with my bug-killer device, turning it on.

After powering up the computer, I plugged in the jump drive. There was one file on it, and after checking for viruses, I opened the file. This was from my sister Elizabeth, I immediately realized; she'd arranged for its delivery.

"Hello Baby Brother." the file read. "The man you asked about, known as JACKAL by the Americans and 'Le Caméléon' by the French, is one of the best assassins in the world. His accuracy with rifles is on par with your ex-wife."

That did not make me feel any better, I thought, as I continued to read. Elizabeth gave a rundown of his past history, then added this:

"His experiences in Africa are believed to have made him a white supremacist. He allied himself with a neo-Nazi group in France and Germany, and again allied with Serbian groups in the Balkans, before becoming a solo mercenary assassin. He also worked with 'Bugs' Nelson, who was Henry Wargrave's operative in the Middle East and Israel."

Oh, the party never stops! I thought to myself. I read on:

"My sources tell me he went to America, possibly to the City. There is some word that he was hired to kill you, but there is debate on whether that is true or just a smoke screen. By the way, you've become famous in Europe, Baby Brother. Many of my associates were filled with joy to hear of Pastor Westboro's timely death. I'll try to find out more, but in the meantime, be careful, he is a master of disguises. If the target is not you, it might be your FBI Deputy Director or the former Japanese Intelligence master, Takaki Misaki. Say hello to my son and that lovely girlfriend of his."

The other zip drive was identical to the first. There was some data on JACKAL, including several passports, French and American, that he might be using. I made arrangements to cleanly copy that information to another jump drive. I secured my clean computer back in the safe.

Then I went to the janitor closet and got some Clorox and the cleaning mixture that I knew contained Phosphoric Acid. Going outside into the parking lot, I put the pyrex bowl I'd brought on the asphalt, poured in some clorox, pried open the jump drives, and dropped them in. The mixture bubbled merrily. Better living through chemistry! I thought as I watched.

Once the Clorox bath was done, I poured out the Clorox and poured in some of the other cleaning solution. More happy bubbling, and the jump drives were pretty much dissolved. Still wearing latex gloves, I took the pieces of jump drive out and set fire to them.

As I finished, I realized I had company. Captain Croyle and Sergeant Rudistan were both watching. "If you didn't major in Chemistry," I called out, "then you missed out on all the fun! Captain, you can go back inside. Sergeant, I need to talk to you for a moment..."

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

I got back home fairly late that evening. I had gone by the FBI rooms in the Federal Building and dropped off the passport information on JACKAL. I told Jack Muscone I got it from a C.I., and to not ask further. He mentioned something about ordering wood for a bonfire. Then he said that I would be his C.I. when he sent it up, to protect me. I was grateful to hear that.

"Daddy!" I heard as I entered the house. It was my son Jim, who was beginning to learn to talk and to get attention. He ran up to me and I picked him up and we went into the den. Bowser barked at me and Carole came up for a hug. Buddy just sat and watched from in front of the fireplace.

After supper, Laura said "It's getting to be someone's bedtimes."

"Awwww." Carole said. She was a curious one, and was not a fan of bedtime, like her father before her. I told her she could read me a book once she was ready to go to bed, and that got her going. And after baths, hugs, being read the "Santa's Reindeer" book for the fifth time, and tucking Carole and Bowser in their respective beds, I went back downstairs to find a large drink made for me, and my wife drinking her own gin and tonic.

"So," I said as I sat down beside Laura and took a swig of my 'Godfather', composed of Amaretto and Scotch, "how was Teresa's exam?"

"Well, the tests will be back next week." Laura said. I knew then something was not quite right.

"I infinitely prefer to hear those words preceded by something like 'It went great!'." I said. "Why am I not hearing that?"

Laura replied "Not much gets by you." Then she said "Teresa said she had been feeling pain during intercourse the last few weeks. Now we both know Todd is hung like a horse, but she's been dating him for what, a couple of years now, at least? and no complaints before. I asked for some extra tests on the bloodwork, but like I said, they won't be back until next week. It may be nothing, but I want to make sure."

"Uh huh." I said. "But you're worried." I thought about it, then said "You know, now I remember Cindy saying something about Teresa admitting to being in pain. And there was one day Teresa came in in the morning and she hadn't slept..."

"When the tests come back," Laura said, "I might schedule an MRI for Teresa. It's hard as hell to get the machine, so whenever I can get it, I need her ass at the Hospital pronto! And that's where you come in."

"Just call me and I'll get her ass up there." I said. "Even if I have to get Cindy to carry her..."

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

The storm came in overnight. In the early morning hours of Friday, December 23d, the snow began, heavy wet flakes that quickly began to pile up. As citizens awakened that morning, they were finding that accumulation had already started.

It went on relentlessly all day, and soon all the County was bathed in white under gray skies. Snowplows went to work, and the main roads remained in drivable condition. But we all knew that after nightfall, the temperatures would drop, and more snow would be on the way.

Part 4 - Remembering

Dawn, Saturday, December 24th. Christmas Eve.

As I slowly approached the grave site where Amy had been laid to rest, I saw Teresa at the foot of Amy's grave, sitting on her knees in Japanese style, seeming to be in deep contemplation. The gravestones were poking out of the white snow piled on the ground, the snowdrifts almost three feet high in some places.

Teresa finally became aware that someone else was there. She looked over her shoulder and saw me, waiting patiently. She half bowed as she said "Hello, Commander."

"Hello, Teresa." I said quietly, bowing back and then coming up to her. I put the bouquet of flowers I'd brought at the base of Amy's gravestone, then sat down on my knees next to Teresa. "My apologies for disturbing you."

"You're not." Teresa said, her voice eerie in the snowbound quiet of the morning, during a respite from the storm. "I'm glad you're here."

We sat silently for a few moments, then Teresa finally spoke. "Coming here... I know Amy didn't die on Christmas Eve... but it's like visiting Alexis's grave, too."

"I understand." I said. "What was... Alexis like?"

"She was..." Teresa started, then faltered, then sucked in her breath and said "She was always sweet to me, protecting me, helping me."

"What was she like as a person?" I asked. "Around town, among friends and all that?"

"She was always popular in school, had friends, in all the social clubs." Teresa said, searching for words, then finding them: "In some ways... well, she was like Todd, and I guess that makes me Ned..."

"You're no Ned." I said. "You are a much, much better person than that. But I understand what you're saying. But you had a good relationship with her in the time you had her with you. My relationship with my sister... not so much. Not so much."

"But you had a chance to make it better." Teresa said. "I never... got to say goodbye to her."

The tears began flowing from Teresa's eyes, and she finally spilled it: "Why? Why are all the people I love being taken away from me? Alexis... Amy..."

"Not all of them are gone." I said. "Cindy's still here for you. And you have me and your Police family."

"But... what if Cindy goes somewhere else?" Teresa blurted out. "What if something happens to you?..." She realized she'd said more than she should, but I let her off the hook.

"No one's going anywhere." I said. "And Todd is there for you, and he wants to be there for you even more. You just have to embrace the love for you, like Bowser and Buddy do. They don't question anything. They just live for the moment, and embrace the love given them."

Teresa nodded. "I guess I'm being selfish. I should count my blessings."

I said "You're not being selfish to mourn the family you've lost. But yes, you definitely should count your blessings. And I need to practice what I am preaching, and count my blessings. Right now, I feel like I need to go pet some dogs while I'm counting my blessings."

We got up, and then suddenly I felt Teresa wrap her arms around me. "Thank you, Don. Thank you for being there for me... more than anyone else has been, except Alexis." She held me tightly in her hug. I hugged her back.

"You're welcome." I said. "It's what we do in our family... and you are my family, too. Now let's get the hell out here before the storm starts up again, eh?" Teresa gasped a laugh and we headed back to Town...

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

The Fire Department made sure to sweep the road leading up to The Cabin, ostensibly to make sure the Police Commander and a couple of his Captains could get to Town in an emergency. It's possible I just asked them to think of us while on the job, and of course they did.