The Four Boxes of Liberty Ch. 04

"Come in my mouth." she gasped as she recovered. "I want your cum in my mouth." It took a few minutes, but I 'fucked to pop', then pulled out and straddled her, hanging onto the headboard as Laura engulfed my cock in her warm, wet mouth. I fired several thick spurts of my jism into her throat, painting her tonsils with my essence, which my wife greedily swallowed.

"Okay," she said when she was down milking my cock and cleaning it all up, "you can get up now."

"No... I can't." I said. "My back seized up." I was locked in place. It wasn't hurting, but it would, and badly if I moved backwards, I knew.

"Hold still." Laura said. She climbed out from under me. I was now able to move to the side and collapse onto the bed. Then I turned over and Laura helped me sit up.

"Let's go take a shower together." my wife suggested. The hot water helped, and Laura expertly massaged the area. I felt better, but it was not until I put the 'girdle' on that I was able to move around comfortably...

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

Carole and Jim both were up early, and excited to give their mom birthday presents. Jim gave Laura a handmade birthday card and a toy Mercedes car that looked like Laura's real Mercedes.

"That's the only Mercedes you're getting for this birthday." I whispered to her. Of course we knew I'd given Laura her current Mercedes for her birthday two years before. (Author's note: 'Just A Story', Ch. 02.)

"Aw, this is a neat present from my little man." Laura said, giving Jim a hug and kiss on the cheek. Then it was Carole's turn. As she'd given me a few days before, Carole and Marie had conspired to make Laura a booklet of drawings. One showed Laura at her desk in her office, another showed her with her white doctor's coat on, listening to Marie's heartbeat. Then there was one of Laura walking and holding hands with a redhead of the same height as her, both of us smiling.

"That's you and Daddy being in love with each other." said Carole. That sure melted her mother's heart... and her dad's.

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

"Hello and welcome!" said Catrina Pierce as she and Meredith Peller sat on the sofa on the new stage at 7:30am, showing off their lovely legs, as usually happens on Fox Cable shows. "It's the beginning of Fox Town & County! It's great to be on Channel 8! I'm Catrina Pierce, and with me is Meredith Peller. Hi Meredith!"

"Hello Catrina!" said Meredith. "I'm excited to come here from Midtown as we start up our new 'fair and balanced' Fox coverage of the University and the surrounding area."

"And let's get started with the news." said Catrina. "Robert Mullen has announced that he may issue his Independent State Counsel report as early as tomorrow. Mr. Mullen denied that the report was being timed to affect next Tuesday's elections. He said that the report would be 'truthful and frank' about Governor Val Jared's alleged abuse of power, but he declined to say if his report would accuse Commander Donald Troy of any crimes."

The camera then focused in on Meredith, who was blonde and attractive in a 'hot housewife' kind of way, as she said "Let's get analysis of this announcement. First we have Mike G. Todd, attorney for Commander Don Troy. Hi Mike!"

"Hi Meredith and Catrina, and congratulations on your new network!" said a smiling Mike G. Todd.

"Thank you." said Catrina. "Mike, do you expect your client, Commander Donald Troy to be accused of any crimes?"

"No I don't, Catrina." said Mike. "The Grand Jury declined to bring charges against Commander Troy, so I don't expect anything to change."

"What if Mr. Mullen does accuse Commander Troy, or implicate him in any unlawful activity?" asked Meredith.

"The paperwork is ready to go, Meredith." said Todd. "My client has me on speed dial, and the slander and defamation lawsuit will be filed within minutes if Commander Troy believes Mullen has falsely accused him of anything at all. As you know, Commander Troy will not brook any slander by Mullen, just as Commander Troy will not allow any violations of voting laws to take place during or after next week's elections!"

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

As always on Promotions and Medals Day, there was a buzz about Police Headquarters. Officers were dressed in their semi-formal uniforms with ribbons. Since November and May were 'supplemental' awards days, Chief Moynahan had 'suggested' we wear ribbons, and only wear full medals on the August and February awards days. That worked for me.

Chief Griswold came in, attired in his semi-formal uniform with his 'Retired' badge. When he came to my office, I said "Next time we have one of these, you'll be wearing an active duty Sheriff's uniform, sir."

"Don't count your chickens before they're all in one basket, Crowbar." growled Griswold, intentionally mixing his metaphors. I laughed.

There was a knock on the door, and Jerome Davis's father Jonathan appeared, wearing his Navy uniform. "Come on in, Chief." I said to the retired Senior Chief Petty Officer.

"Good to see you guys." said Jonathan as he and Chief Griswold man-hugged, and then shook hands with me. "My son staying out of trouble?"

"Yes, despite my every effort." I said with a smile. "Seriously, he's really showing the leadership that I want to see out of all my Detectives. You might be visiting again, soon... to watch him get promoted." Jonathan was pleased to hear that.

I had him and Chief Griswold sit down. Davis said "I told Jerome this last night, while we were at dinner, and he suggested I mention it to you."

"Let's hear it" I said. Chief Griswold nodded vigorously in agreement.

"The Valley Villages community to the south of here has been 'discovered' by military retirees." said Jonathan. "I bought a smaller home there, and in our cul-de-sac are a number of other retirees. We know that it was built for some of what Jerome calls 'the Elites', but they mostly were arrested, died, or left for other places. This is not being publicly discussed much, but the Veterans Department has been subsidizing the upkeep of the place since so many vets are retiring to the place."

"Sounds good." I said. "I was afraid that place might die on the vine."

"It's doing okay, though it's not the luxury place they originally intended it to be." Jonathan said. "Anyway, we don't have a lot to do there but play golf, pool, and cards, and we tend to notice anything out of the ordinary. And we're noticing some strange things about the school."

Jonathan went on: "The actual town used to be called 'Hogg Valley', but was renamed 'Valley Villages' when they began building the retirement community. It's the second-smallest school system in the State; only Benning County is smaller. While most elementary schools might have wings for each grade 1-5, Rivers County Schools is five wings for elementary through high school."

"And what we've been noticing," Davis said, "is that every once in a while, without any pattern we can see, trucks will come in to the school on a Saturday night, as if making deliveries, then smaller trucks and vans with school logos come in."

"Did anyone ask the school about it?" I asked.

"Several people did." said Davis. "The Superintendent says they're bringing in extra supplies beyond the norm, sometimes food for the week, sometimes other stuff. When my friend Master Sergeant Martin Terhune asked why they were coming in at night, the Superintendent said he didn't know, but figured they had several places to go and got to our county late."

"That is curious." I said. "And you said there's no regular pattern?"

"Not that I can tell." said Jonathan.

"Okay." I said. "Do me a favor and let me know the next time you see that happen. And it's probably legit, but all the same, have everyone stop asking about it... just in case."

Just then there was a knock on my door. Cindy came into my office with a box. "I've given the badges and ranks out. Here are the medals..."

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

The ceremonies were behind Police Headquarters, as usual. First came promotions. There were very few pay grade promotions, as we were trying to reserve those for February and August. Sergeant Myrtle Wausau was promoted to Supervisor and then brevetted to Lieutenant. Janice Holloway was made a full Lieutenant from a brevetted one. Cindy clipped her badge on in the symbolic gesture.

Then came ribbons and medals. A number of people were receiving the basic service ribbon with "6" designations, meaning six years with the TCPD. This was given away mostly because it was after six years that Officers became eligible and would be considered for Sergeant. So it was somewhat strange and humorous when, after announcing the other names to come up, Chief Moynahan then said "... and last but not least, Commander Donald Troy."

Yes, it was six years ago that I had joined the Town & County Police Force (Author's note: 'Interlude, Ch. 01'.), and it had been an amazing six years. Chief Griswold made the point to be the one to clip my ribbon on my pocket flap, growling something like "I'm glad we both lived long enough to see this day..."

Then came Certificates of Appreciation and Certificates of Achievement. The first Appreciation certificate was for Jonathan Davis, for helping interpret for Charlie Griswold. As the Chief read the citation, I handed Jerome the framed document so that he could present it to his father. Everyone cheered as their handshake became a man-hug.

And then it quietened down as Chief Moynahan spoke: "For his service in helping to bring wanted criminals to Justice, and helping crack the codes that led to ending some corruption, this posthumous Certificate of Appreciation is awarded to Charlie Griswold. Accepting the award on Charlie's behalf is his father, Chief Emeritus Antonio Griswold."

The applause was solemn but sustained as Chief Griswold came up. Of course I was going to hand this one to the old Chief myself. I could see the emotion on his face as I handed it to him, and he only shook hands with me to pull me to him in a hug. We hugged a long moment as the Force continued the applause.

Then came medals. Chief Moynahan had told me beforehand that he'd read them and I'd present them... knowing that my voice would be 'untrustworthy' after the emotional moment with Chief Griswold and presenting Charlie's citation. And he was right.

After some Achievement Medals were awarded, Janice Holloway was brought up. She was awarded a Commendation Medal for going undercover and wearing a wire to get the evidence on the deeply corrupt Della Harlow and Gayle Tunnin. And then she was awarded the Police Medal for her stellar career with the Town & County Police Force. Commander Ross pinned both medals upon her jacket.

Last was Teddy Parker. He was awarded the Star of Gallantry for his bravery in intercepting the bullets meant for Janice Holloway. And then came the medal we almost always awarded last, the Purple Order. I took the purple and silver ribbon with the purple star hanging below it and draped it around Detective Parker's neck as he received a thunderous ovation from his fellow Police Officers...

Part 19 - Federal Issues

At 10:00am, Thursday, November 1st, FBI Special Agent in Charge Jack Muscone came to my office. He accepted my offer of coffee, somewhat to my surprise. I poured him a cup and then one for myself.

"I came over to fill you in on some things." said Jack. "First of all, Austin R. Murphy has disappeared again. Completely. We've picked up some people in Washington that we think he and the late CIA Director were working with, but he's flown the coop."

"Consider me 'not surprised'." I said. "Austin R. Murphy is a coward who runs away from his comrades in battle. I think he was at the Clinton County facility but ran away when we showed up, and now he's run away from Lilly Wargrave and whatever other associates he had, leaving John Lewis and Dick Ferrell to their fates... uh, whatever those fates may be."

"True." said Muscone. "He almost got court-martialed in the Army for cowardice, but Henry Wargrave bought him out of it. They let him retire."

"What about Lilly Wargrave?" I asked.

"She went to her home in south Florida when you led us to the facility under the Wynand Building." Jack said. "She then slipped away from us. We think she's in Paris now, or perhaps somewhere in eastern Europe. She's eastern European herself, so that makes sense."

"Gonna try to extradite her?" I asked.

"Any reason why we should?" asked Jack. "We can't prove a thing against her." I silently gave a thumbs-up... we both knew that letting Lilly get away meant the truth about what happened to Ferrell and Jack Lewis would very likely never come to light.

"Okay, on to new business." said Muscone. "The DEA is beefing up their field offices in the City and Southport at the specific request of Governor Val Jared and U.S. Senator Richard Nunn. They are correct in saying that the SBI-NTF is worthless if not actually corrupted, and they want the DEA to come in and help local LEOs. I will confess that while your Captain of Detectives and I don't usually talk shop, we did talk about some things going on around here that we independently became aware of."

"Drugs coming in through Southport, and no idea of how they're being distributed throughout the State?" I asked.

"Yes." said Muscone. "We have really dropped the ball in Southport. Not trying to make excuses, but Les Craig was the reason for a lot of it. Anyway, when they're set up in the Federal Building in the City, I want to bring you over and introduce you to them. They're good people. You know Dwight Stevens?"

"He was FBI, wasn't he?" I asked. "He was helping with the Superior Bloodlines stuff."

"Yes." said Muscone. "He went undercover and was infiltrating WorldBankTrust, but Superior Bloodlines started crumbling and we got word he had been made. So we pulled him out. He transferred to the DEA a year ago."

"Cool beans." I said. "What about the EAD? And your team?"

"He's pretty much stayed in Washington the last few weeks." said Muscone.

"I really should talk to him before too much longer." I said.

"I'll let you know the next time he comes to the City." said Jack. He got up. "In the meantime, I'm really here to talk to your Chief about possibly acquiring a new FBI Consultant from your Detective ranks."

"You can marry Captain Perlman," I said, "but you cannot steal her from me and take her to the FBI."

"She's going to marry me," said Jack, "but she will never leave you and the TCPD, even if I asked her to. No, it's Joanne Warner we're talking to." He excused himself and left.

A moment later, Cindy knocked on my door, and came in. "Don, why is Melina here?" she asked. "She just went into the Chief's office."

I had her sit down, then said "Between us and the crowbars, you may remember hearing that our Town is going to become an FBI Resident Agency. Melina is going to become the Supervisory Agent assigned to it. She wants Joanne to be an FBI Consultant if they get low on manpower, or need someone who is actually capable of solving a case around here."

Cindy grinned at that as I continued: "I'm amenable to Joanne doing that, as long as I keep Jerome as an FBI Consultant with me, and as long as both Joanne and Melina know that Joanne's first loyalty should be to the TCPD."

"You're not worried that Joanne might up and go to Quantico and become an FBI Agent?" Cindy said.

"Naah." I replied. "She has an awesome dog at home now."

Cindy laughed. "Leo, son of Bowser." she said. "And as you well know... nothing like having sons, huh?"

"And daughters." I said. I saw Cindy get introspective. A few moments later she snapped out of it, excused herself, and went back to her office.

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

I did not get to take Laura out to dinner for her birthday. Someone arranged a 'Hen Party' birthday bash for her... at Rita's 'Lashes & Lace'. Cindy, Callie, Tanya, Teresa, Joanne, Paulina Patterson, Selena Steele, Stephanie Steele and other female professors were part of the celebration.

Edward Steele brought Marie to the Mountain Nest, and Chief Griswold came over. Marie and Carole were absorbed in their drawings, then Bowser would come over and wedge himself between them. They would spend a few minutes petting him, then go back to their drawings. Rinse, repeat, every 15 minutes. Meanwhile, us older guys had 'guy talk'.

"Looks like you're well on your way to becoming Sheriff, Grizz." said Edward Steele.

"Don't jinx me." growled Griswold. "Naah, you're right. I'm much more worried about Allgood's race for Mayor. He and I are sharing Peter Dwayne Gordon's polling agency, and his race is very tight."

"It would be a resounding loss if Don hadn't've busted Tunnin after she made those false claims." said Steele. "That energized the Republican base, and put some doubt in the minds of the so-called 'undecideds'. And Harlow hasn't been able to make the 'victim' argument, either."

"Harlow's lucky she wasn't arrested, too." I said. "She didn't show up at Tunnin's presser, so she dodged it, big time."

"I wonder if she was tipped off to stay away." said Griswold.

"It's very possible." I said. "A lot of the Admin people on the Police Force liked her a lot, and will probably vote for her. If one of them got wind of our sting, then that person might've warned her."

"Wouldn't she have warned Tunnin, though?" asked Steele.

"Not if she was told herself at the very last minute," I replied, "and then she was told to say nothing to Tunnin."

"I'm starting to feel like Miss Ross." said Chief Griswold. "Spill it, Crowbar."

I laughed (which got Bowser's attention), then said "This is theorizing without data. I have no proof whatsoever, just a hunch... a 'vibe', as 'Miss Ross' would say. It occurs to me that Harlow was warned off... by State Senator Katherine Woodburn."

"Whaaa?!" gasped Edward Steele. "But why? I mean... why not warn Tunnin, too?"

"I dunno." I said. "Maybe she wants Daniel to win the Mayor's race." Edward was stunned. Chief Griswold's mustaches quivered; he understood better.

"Don," said Steele, his voice connoting fear, "have you heard anything, or gotten any 'vibes' about Eldrick Weaver pulling any dirty tricks on Election Day?"

"No." I said. "Nothing specific, anyway. Of course I don't trust Weaver any further than I can throw him. Judges Folsom and Watts are ready to shut down any trickery by Nance, like trying to re-open certain districts but not others. And if Leahy tries to overturn them, the State Supreme Court's Chief Justice will be ready to squash Leahy like a bug. The Sheriff's Department will be augmented by TCPD Officers in transporting ballot machine servers to be counted. Both sides have poll watchers at every district, and most of ours have my TCPD phone number on speed-dial. We're going to do what we can to ensure a clean, fair election."

Carole and Marie finished up one of their drawings and turned their attentions to giving the redoubtable Bowser some love in the form of skritchins. Bowser raised no objections, and let the girls have their way with him. Chief Griswold looked at what they were drawing. It was him, Griswold, with the caricature mustaches that looked like coiled springs, wearing a brown jacket with a star on the heart, and khaki pants... the uniform of a Sheriff.

"Ladies," Griswold growled, "the Elections are not until Tuesday."

"We know that!" Carole said, a bit too arrogantly for my liking. "But you're going to be Sheriff. It's a duuuuuunnnnnn deal, Grandpa Grizz... a dunnnnnn deal!"

"Yeah!" Marie agreed enthusiastically.

"Did you tell Carole to call me that?" whispered Griswold a moment later, and I could tell he was secretly very pleased about it.

"No sir." I said. "She calls Cindy 'Aunt Cindy', and you 'Grandpa Grizz'... and I had nothing to do with any of it."