The Guardians of Justice Ch. 02

This story is part of an ongoing series. The chronological order of my stories is listed in WifeWatchman's biography.

Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

Part 8 - Courageous Act of Justice (continued)

Thursday, October 4th. I was stunned as I listened to what Lt.(B) Janice Holloway was telling me as she gave the details of Della Harlow planning to have former Detective Gayle Tunnin claim Daniel Allgood sexually harassed her.

"Who else have you told this?" I asked.

"No one, sir." said Janice. "I didn't know what to do, so I came and asked you."

"And you did right." I said. "Did they try to get you to make a claim? Against Teddy Parker, maybe?"

"Della brought that up," Janice said, "but I told her that Commander Ross had already warned me to stay away from Teddy, so it wouldn't be successful. And Commander... I never was trying to trap him or wanting to accuse him of anything. I really like Teddy, and was hoping we could get back together. I really fu------ er, messed that up."

"I understand." I said. "Let me ask you this: are you willing to put what you've told me in writing, in the form of an affidavit?"

"Yes sir." Janice said.

"Are you willing to meet with them again, wearing a wire?" I asked.

"Yes sir." said Janice.

"Let's go talk to the Chief."

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

The new green crowbar was bringing us good karma already. The Chief, Cindy, Tanya, and myself talked with Janice Holloway, then we called Paulina Patterson and asked her to come over. After she heard the story, she asked Judge Rodney K. Watts to come to Headquarters, as we feared someone seeing us go to his Chambers might talk to the wrong people.

Judge Watts talked to all of us, then talked with Janice alone. After that meeting, he said "I will be approving a warrant under seal for the wiretap and any reasonable stings you set up." he said. "But there's nothing you really can do until they actually make the false allegation."

"Yes, Your Honor." I said. "But we now know what they're planning, and we can counteract it as soon as it happens."

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

After all that, I asked Janice Holloway to come back to my office. Cindy came into the room with us.

"Janice," I said, "after this goes down, it might be difficult for you to continue in Personnel & Records, where Harlow still has friends. Is there anything you want to do? Any place you'd like to be transferred to?"

"I... I haven't thought of that, sir." said Janice. "I... I've been thinking that I might find another job, so that I can talk to Teddy. I don't know if he wants me back, though." Her face fell as she said the words.

"Oh, if things are meant to be, they shall be." I replied. "And it just so happens that there is a 'civilian' job in City Hall that requires your recordkeeping and financial talents in the Office of the Intendent. After all this goes down, we'll see about getting you there. And you'll have at least the level of pay you do now, maybe higher if we promote you to full Lieutenant as you walk out the door."

Janice's eyes brightened considerably upon hearing that. I dismissed her to her duties, admonishing her to not say anything about her upcoming undercover mission, even to people she trusted. She agreed and left.

"Wow." said Cindy, examining her new green crowbar as she spoke. "You always take care of your people, but I don't need to be your mother to see that you've been planning this for some time."

"More like hoping for it." I said. "And as your father teaches, if I ask the Universe and manifest something with the belief it will happen, it will happen."

Part 9 - Bikers For Justice

Friday, October 5th. Neither Bettina nor the SNN's pathetic excuses for 'journalists' had anything worth saying on the morning news. I was conducting the Angels meeting in my office.

Tanya started: "Sir, you remember how something came up that suggested someone in the Press was working to help drug distributors in the area?" I nodded and Tanya continued: "Grubby Paul and Chris Purvis of Vice have been working on that. They've been tracking Press mobile vans, and------"

"How are they doing that?" I queried.

"Their transmission signals, sir." said Tanya. "Myron pointed out that, per the 1934 Communications Act, it is not illegal to receive or even intercept radio signals. Satellite receivers flourished when cable signals were being intercepted, and the Supreme Court said it was legit. That caused the cable companies to encode their signals, and it is illegal to decode those without paying the cable companies, so there's that."

"But you can intercept and triangulate the Press transmission signals to determine where they are, and without a warrant." I said. "I like it. Any results, so far?"

"Not yet." Tanya replied. "Statler and Waldorf have been patrolling in an unmarked vehicle, checking out Press vans that go near places we think are drug trade locations, like MLK Jr. Park after dark. So far, we're not seeing anything, but Mary is watching for trends, like if the same Press van goes to the same areas way too often to be coincidental."

"Love me some coincidences." I quipped, then had an insight. I said "Ask Mary, and only Mary, to also watch and see if the Press goes to places that would be ripe for protesters to gather and cause trouble. Don't disseminate that to the Vice people, or the other Detectives; just tell Mary."

"You really think something's going to go down with these elections, don't you?" Teresa asked.

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"You made a point to confront a US DOJ Civil Rights official over it, and they made a point to tell LEOs to not investigate anything election-related." Teresa said. "We've got that thing with Janice going down, if Harlow and Tunnin actually do what they're talking about. And you've just been hinting at it generally at times."

I nodded. "Yes." I said. "Keep this between us and any crowbars we make use of, but after Superior Bloodlines was shut down, several FBI teams, including Jack Muscone and Ashton Cardigan's teams, have been monitoring for other white or black race-related activity. They've been seeing the beginnings of patterns of those Antifa-type anarchist groups demonstrating to intimidate supporters of candidates, and voters at the polls, including the so-called 'New Black Panthers' threatening white voters with baseball bats in Philadelphia."

"And like you said, Teresa... after that unbelievable US DOJ edict to not investigate voting anomalies?" I continued. "Am I the only one seeing the huge flashing neon sign?"

"No sir, you are not." said Teresa. "And speaking of protests, that's my report for you this morning. A Mr. Terence Alvin passed away Wednesday, and his funeral is tomorrow. He was a decorated Viet Nam veteran, two Purple Hearts and a Silver Star, and he was a teacher at Booker T. Washington High School for years. He's black, and he was known to lament the lack of patriotism in black students these days."

Teresa continued: "The American Legion requested a larger-than-normal Police detail for the funeral. They've gotten word that some of those anti-war activists are going to protest the funeral. I'm going to give them triple the normal contingent of funeral escort Officers, and the SWAT Team will be on standby."

"Good." I said. "I don't know if this is a dry run for other things, or what. But if they want to test the Town & County Police response to troublemakers, we shall show them our answer to that test, and they will not like it..."

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

Sunset, Friday, October 5th. I was wrapping up some paperwork at my desk when my desk phone rang. It was the Duty Desk.

"Sir, one of our patrols just reported that a motorcycle gang rode into the County and appears to be setting up camp in the field east of Cemetery Hill."

"How many of them?" I asked.

"About sixty, sir."

"Okay, radio all patrols to not approach them. I'll be there shortly." I said. Teresa had already left when I all but threw her out of the Station an hour before, after the Chief had left, but Cindy was still here. So we got in my Police SUV and rode out to the field that I'll always remember as being where we found Roy Chen's body. (Author's note: 'Eyes Only', Ch. 03.)

Driving up to the turnoff to the dirt road that cut between the cemetery and the field, I stopped by the parked Patrol cruiser. "Whaddya got, Johnson?" I asked.

"Bikers, sir." said Johnson. "Looks like they're setting up camp, here. The land is part of the Cemetery property. It belongs to the County, and it's off-limits to camping."

"Hmmm, there's no land more off-limits to the Public than Public lands, eh?" I quipped, wondering why that was really true. "What were the logos on their backs?"

"Sorry, sir, I never really saw those." said Johnson.

"Okay, call for backup." I said. "But no lightbars, and stay quiet and stay up here for now. Commander Ross, you care to go with me and be neighborly to our new friends?"

"Sure, why not." Cindy said. We got into my Police SUV and drove down the path until we were close to the group. I got out, making sure the red crowbar was clearly visible, and Cindy came around the vehicle exhibiting her green crowbar.

As we walked up to the group that was building a campfire, one of them said "Everyone get up!" They all stood, and the leader saluted us! The others then followed suit and saluted. Out of instinct, I returned the salute.

"You're the Iron Crowbar, sir?" the leader asked.

"Yes." I said, then noticed the patches on their leather jackets. "And you're the Patriot Guard Riders?" They affirmed it.

The Patriot Guard Riders were a motorcycle club that went to funerals of veterans upon request of the families, to guard against people despicable enough to protest those veterans's funerals. Apparently they'd heard the rumors I'd heard.

The leader explained that they were here to protect Mr. Alvin's funeral. "We thought we might be able to stay here tonight, since it's public land." the leader said.

"You'll need a permit." said Cindy.

"And the good news is that I'm going to give you that permit right now." I said. I took out a sheet of paper, hand-wrote the permit, and gave it to the leader.

"You can do that?" Cindy whispered.

"As can you." I said. "We're principals for the County, and can enter into contracts and do things like issue this temporary permit. And who besides you is going to stand up to me and say I can't?"

"Won't be me opposing you." Cindy said.

I then asked the leader for a few moments of his time as Cindy went to the SUV and radioed in that the motorcyclists were permitted to stay at this spot, by order of the Police Commander.

We sat by the fire as he explained what they would be doing. I asked him a few questions about other subjects, and got answers that I was happy to hear...

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

The next day, the TCPD's patrols noticed gatherings of young persons in three locations, including on the University campus and in the old Cub Club parking lot. They were wearing red shirts with a logo of a person on a hill with a pennant flag. They shouted obscenities at the Police cruisers that went by.

The funeral for Mr. Alvin was at the A.M.E. Church, led by its pastor, the Reverend Joseph E. Williams. As the procession arrived, those groups of young anarchists began marching towards the Church.

They did not make it. The procession was led by, followed, by, and escorted by the Patriot Guard Riders. At the Church, they formed a perimeter, many holding American flags as the American-flag-draped coffin was taken into the House of God. The anarchists could not get through the cordon, and Police came in to break up the beginnings of their attempts to protest.

More Patriot Guard Riders were at the Cemetery. As the U.S. Army Honor Guard went through the rituals, including the folding of the American flag on Mr. Alvin's casket and its presentation to his widow, and the playing of 'Taps', the Riders, backed up by TCPD Officers, were making sure there were no disrespectful protests.

The mourners did notice that the Police Chief was there, wearing his Army uniform as Retired Officers are allowed to do. The two Police Commanders were also there, in their formal Police uniforms with medals draped from red ribbons around their necks. The family and Rev. Williams made sure to thank us for coming, and Cindy told me that she had a 'vibe' that our attendance and respect would not be forgotten...

Part 10 - Getting Out The Vote

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Fox Two News!" shouted the redheaded reporterette from in front of the State Office Building on Courthouse Square at 7:00am, Monday, October 8th. "Fox Two News is bringing you continuing coverage of tomorrow's caucuses for the Lieutenant Governor nominations!"

"Candidates for both Parties are complaining about the short campaign times as well as the format for the races." Bettina said. "State Attorney General Karl Handel, who has been endorsed by most Republicans as well as getting the important endorsement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said that it has been difficult to make connections with the voters. State Secretary of State Brian Cagle said that many voters don't understand how the caucuses work. And the State Elections Board has fielded hundreds of calls asking if tomorrow is the beginning of the early voting period for the General Elections, but that does not start until next week!"

"Everyone is blaming Governor Val Jared for the chaos," said Bettina, "saying that this was all his plan, and its many faults are now becoming apparent. State Senator Katherine Woodburn said this. Roll tape."

Tape rolled, showing Katherine angrily yelling at a campaign speech: "And once again, Val Jared has brought chaos to this State's voting process, and has disenfranchised women and minorities with his caucus voting schemes. The sooner he is impeached and removed from office, the better for all of us! And the only way to make that happen is to vote Democrat in November!"

The KXTC people made sure to let the tape run long enough to hear loud cheers, but did not show the crowds... making my cynical mind wonder if the cheering was dubbed in.

Bettina came back live. "We have Karl Frazier of Public Policy Polling with us." she said. "Karl, what do the polls look like?"

"Bettina, it's absolute chaos right now." said Frazier. "Most people are unaware of the special caucus, most are unaware that they have to go to the Civic Center or University Arena to vote, not their usual assigned voting locations, and most have no idea who is running for either Party."

"Having said that," said Frazier, "it's hard for us to get a handle on who is going to win, because we're not sure who is going to turn up. On the Democrat side, if a large number of women and minorities turn up, then State Senator Maxine Watts will get the nomination. On the Republican side, there is not much interest, and we expect an exceptionally low turnout at their caucuses across the State. That means that it could go in any direction."

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

The women of 'Point Taken' filed into their studio to fanatical applause from the all-female audience, and took their seats on the set.

"Thank you, and welcome to 'Point Taken'." said Connie Chen. "Okay, it's the best kept secret in the State: there's a special caucus tomorrow to nominate candidates for Lieutenant Governor after the assassination of Graham Collins. How's it going to go, ladies?"

Donna Roselle, the militant, deeply racist black woman, said "It's going to be a great day for State Senator Maxine Watts!" Applause broke out amongst some of the audience. "Maxine Watts will be able to get to the truth of the assassination of Jasmine Nix, and we will finally get some justice for her." More applause.

"I've always wondered," Ruby Russell said cynically, "is that if she really was murdered by the CIA, why haven't the Guardians of Justice exposed that yet?" There was tepid laughter from the audience.

"Because they're a bunch of racist whites!" yelled Roselle.

"Do you know who they are?" queried Zara Zeigler. "Really, do you know? Because they've attacked Republicans more than Democrats, and they've shown no sign of being racists at all... just the opposite, in fact."

"We'll know for sure when they're caught and executed for treason!" said Ruby Russell. "The Guardians of Justice are doing everything they can to destabilize the Government and cause us to not trust our Government. They're nothing short of terrorists."

"Okay, let's get back to the subject." said Connie Chen. "Tomorrow's special caucuses. Who wins? Who loses?"

"We're all losing, right now." said Rosie Berkmar. "It's a mess, a total, frickin' mess. No one knows where to go vote, or knows that it's a meeting where you vote. No one knows who is running, on either side. It's just another Val Jared disaster."

"Beats letting the Republican Establishment choose whoever they want as their nominee." said Zara Zeigler. "We'll see if the Jared Grassroots can upend Wilson Hammonds and Samuel Russell again."

Her comment was pre-planned and calculated to get a rise out of Ruby Russell, U.S. Senator Samuel Russell's daughter. It only worked to put a smirk on Ruby's face.

"I think we're going to be very happy with the outcome tomorrow night." was all Ruby would say, her eyes seeming to glow to go along with that knowing smirk...

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

"And welcome to another hour of Conservative broadcast excellence." said Reed Hudson. "We're continuing our discussion of the upcoming special caucuses to determine the nominees for Lieutenant Governor. We're also talking about the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division warning local law enforcement jurisdictions to not investigate any voting irregularities, and the reports I've gotten that the US DOJ is planning to sue the Town & County for any issue, real or imagined, after the Sheriff and the Police Department stated their intentions to oppose the DOJ's edicts."

"As to the caucuses, I can partly agree with those who say this special caucus is confusing." continued Reed. "But in reality, you had to work pretty hard to be ignorant of what's going on. Candidates for both Parties have explained what to do. Ads have run on radio, television, social media, everywhere, explaining what is happening."

"But at least we get to vote." said Reed. "Wilson Hammonds and Samuel Russell wanted a private Republican convention, where only a few politicians, bought and paid for by the pro-illegal-immigration U.S. Chamber of Commerce, would vote... giving you no say-so in the matter, and forcing you to choose between their choice for you and the Democrat. And they wonder why they're predicted to be blown out in a 'wave' election this November!"

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

I was shown into the office of University President Sidney P. Wellman. He looked as he always did: white-gray hair, a sinister perma-grin on his face. He'd lost a little bit of weight, I noticed, but he was fit and energetic.

"Ah, come in, Commander." he said enthusiastically. "I'm glad you asked for this appointment. Have a seat, have a seat." He directed me to two chairs with a table between them holding a coffee and tea service. I politely declined his offers of coffee, tea, or water.