Vengeance is Mine Ch. 02

"Tough shit!" yelled Lindsey Black. Yep, digging that hole...

"A TEN YEAR OLD BOY!" I yelled as I came up to Lindsey, who was being held by Lt. Commander Croyle herself. "AND HIS DOG!"

I continued: "Whoever hit me was firing at a ten year old boy who was armed with a puppy. A PUPPY! And I am going to barbecue whoever shot at them. Especially if it's you, Black."

"No, you're not." said EAD Owen Lange, who was armored He came in with two Federal Marshals as his bodyguards. "I'm taking them into my custody."

"Like HELL you are!"

It was Teresa's voice. "They're under arrest and in TCPD custody until that ballistic report comes back." she said with authority and conviction.

"No." said Lange. "Lower your weapons, and give these Agents to Jack's team."

*CLICK!*

Teresa responded by putting the business end of her powerful service weapon literally into Lindsey Black's earhole, and cocking the hammer. "No, Lange. Not this time." the Iron Wolf replied. "Either they go to County Jail, or this bitch here just tried to resist arrest, and I shot her dead to protect my Officers."

"Don't do this, Croyle." Lange said.

"They tried to murder my husband today!" Teresa yelled. "My HUSBAND! I am not giving them back to you! This bitch will die first! It's our jail or death for them. What's it going to bee, Mr. E-A-Dee?"

"Sheriff?" Lange called out, seeing that Teresa meant every word she just said, and that she would kill Lindsey Black before giving custody of her to the Feds again.

"Not this time." said Sheriff Griswold, coming up after putting Jimmy and his dog on a gurney to be checked out by medics. "I told you at the flower shop that I wouldn't help you again, Lange." Then he said quietly "Let it play out."

"You heard the TCPD Operations Commander!" I said, my voice cutting through the very tense silence in the room. "Take these dirty Federal Agents to County Jail! Full booking! If they resist at all, shoot them dead with no compunction. And I hope you do try something, Black."

"Go with them." Lange said to the Swamp Frog Agents. "Don't cause them any trouble, nor give them any reason to do something to you."

Meanwhile, the EMTs were having a problem. Jimmy was refusing to let go of Billy Beagle so they could examine Jimmy, and he we was literally fighting them over possession of the dog.

"Hold on, guys." I said as I came up to them.

"Wow, it's the Iron Crowbar!" Jimmy said. Then he realized what had happened, and said "Thank you for saving my dog, Mr. Crowbar."

"My pleasure." I said. "Tell you what, I'll hold on to Billy while these guys check you out to make sure you're not hurt. Then we'll take Billy to the Vet Center." Jimmy reluctantly relinquished the dog, and I gave the redoubtable Billy Beagle some good skritchins while the EMTs checked out his young owner...

Part 12 - Cleanup on Aisle 5 (The Solution)

The Sheriff and I took Jimmy to the Animal Hospital, where University Veterinary School students were present to handle emergency cases. Jimmy had again not wanted to relinquish his dog, but I told him that it would be okay. Jimmy still watched very warily as they checked Billy out.

"He needs to eat, but slowly." said the vet student. "Give him too much at once, and he'll throw it back up." She proceeded to give Billy some milk from a dropper, which the puppy lapped up. "We really should keep him here overnight."

"No!" Jimmy said. "Please, Mr. Crowbar, don't let them take him from me!"

"I won't." I said. Then I said "Sheriff, I can't keep them, what with the two dogs I already have."

"Jimmy and his dog can stay with me tonight." growled Griswold. "But after that? What are we going to do with him?"

I said "He's not going back to the Kolings, for sure. And we can't take him to the Orphanage, because they don't allow the kids to have pets there. We'll call Janelle with DFACS in the morning, and see what we can do."

After helping Jimmy and Billy Beagle into the back seat of the Sheriff's SUV, he said "Crowbar, I appreciate you not saying anything about my actions at the flower shop earlier today, and I know you want an explanation."

"It's Teresa who needs to understand why you did that after they tried to murder Todd." I replied.

"All will be explained." said Griswold. "I just have to set up the meeting..."

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

11:30pm, Friday, April 9th. I was at The Cabin, and my back was being examined by Dr. Laura Fredricson, my wife. My own dog Bowser, a white lab, was watching with great concern.

"Bruising, but relatively shallow." Laura said. "The triple layers of protection really helped diffuse the impacts. And no direct impacts on your spine. You were lucky... again. Sometimes I wish you wouldn't be a hero."

"A ten-year-old boy would be dead now if I hadn't have intervened." I said. "I could never have lived that down if I hadn't have tried."

"I know." said Laura. Just then we heard a knock on the door. Laura went and answered it. It was Teresa Croyle. Laura said she'd go up and get ready for bed. Teresa and I went out to the back deck, and I started up the fire pot for warmth.

Teresa said "Did you talk to the Sheriff?" I knew what she meant.


"He said he was going to set up a meeting, to explain what's going on." I said.

"He couldn't just tell you?" Teresa asked.

"He could, but what he said confirms what I was thinking." I replied. "You'll be at that meeting; I will insist upon it. Todd should be invited, too."

"Todd is bit-terrrr." Teresa said. "He's already laying the groundwork to sue the FBI, and especially Lindsey Black and Karl Coleman, and he's going to swear out criminal warrants, too. He is not going to let this go."

"Good." I said. "And I loved the way you stood up to Owen Lange tonight. That was righteous, and then some. And your TCPD Officers loved it, and loved you for it."

Teresa nodded, then changed the subject: "We heard what you said through the microphone on your Officer-cam." she said. "No one understood it... except me."

"Yes," I said, "I figured you would understand. And you're the only person I can talk to about it, seeing as you were with me in Apple Grove... when we found Westboro's gold." (Author's note: 'Cat's In The Cradle', Ch. 02.)

Teresa said "And Aurus found Westboro's gold that was hidden in the Museum?"

"Yes." I said. "You remember when they gave us the tour of the Museum after it's renovation?" (Author's note: 'Send In The Clowns', Ch. 01.) Teresa nodded.

I continued: "Well, a group called 'The Powers Group' was subcontracted to take the sandstone tiles out of the secret room they discovered. That was Aurus's group, and the employees had criminal records but did good work. They also had one other thing in common: they once were part of The Wrangler Circus."

I continued: "They took the sandstone tiles out, and kept them. As you know, but few others do, they contained some of Westboro's gold, just like the tiles we found in the Apple Grove cemetery. Aurus took the gold, paid his employees a nice bonus, and made arrangements for the rest to go to an impenetrable charitable trust, not unlike yours for the Hospital. His goal was do something like the Tiffany Barclay Trust for Battered and Abused Women in the State to our east, but his would be for at-risk boys that, like him, were abused."

"Wow, very noble." Teresa said, then added cattily: "Especially for a serial killer like him."

"I'll circle back to that in a minute." I said. "Anyhoo, Brendan Chapel and maybe others either knew or suspected that Westboro's gold was somewhere around here, and so they arranged for Aurus to (air quotes) 'escape' from Federal Supermax prison. But Aurus was far, far ahead of them. He easily gave them the slip and went into the wind, with the help of his former Circus buddies."

I continued: "Soooooo... the Swamp Frogs wanted him back, and they tried to get me to do their work for them by suggesting that Aurus was after the Lost Greuze. But they did that so poorly that even Detective Betta Fish could figure out that Aurus had nothing to do with the Greuze. But he did leave me a clue... by painting in Westboro's face on that clown painting they substituted for the Greuze."

"How did he manage that?" Teresa asked.

"I don't know." I said. "Maybe there's a Mole embedded in the Swamp Frogs. But in any case, I knew that Aurus had already found and taken Westboro's gold, and possibly legally. And that permitted me to see the Lost Greuze theft for what it really was, and take down the real perps."

Me: "And after Brendan Chapel was forced to resign after trying to steal your inheritance, I knew that the Swamp Frogs would become less interested in recapturing Aurus alive. They opened fire on him the minute they saw him, and would have even if he had not been armed."

Teresa said "That's the one thing I don't get: why did Aurus deliberately walk into that very obvious trap? And why were you there alone? Were you trying to save him?"

I said "If I could have kept him alive, I would have. But it might not have mattered. I'm waiting for the autopsy to come out. If I'm right, it may be that Aurus committed suicide-by-FBI... not unlike what Goth Girl Kathy Larrington did in Paris, France." (Author's note: 'The French Connection'.)

I continued: "And I suspect Aurus had a different plan in mind for the Swamp Frogs that had tortured him in prison and harassed him and his people for years. He's dead, so I can't prove it... and I don't care to... but I think he intended to not go into the Museum, and would spring his own trap... and when the Feds came out, he and his people were going to lay waste to them."

Me: "He also could've gotten behind a bulletproof display and shot the Feds dead; his aim with guns in the Wrangler Circus was almost as good as Melina's is, and he would've achieved accurate head shots. But apparently he called that off, and instead went in alone, to help the kid find his dog. And maybe I distracted him, and he didn't take cover when he needed to."

Teresa said "And he held back from firing because the kid ran out with his dog. Which circles back to that endowment he wants to make. Like the Sheriff said to the kid: 'a little bit of good in the worst of us'?"

I said "I'm not saying this to defend George Aurus nor his actions in any way. But in my studies of him over the years, he has not come across to me as your typical serial killer. Many of his early victims, while innocent, were killed either to bring attention to people being abused, or because the person he killed wouldn't help him expose the abuses. It was the wrong way to go about it, but that was his idea behind his actions."

I continued: "While his kidnapping Cindy and Becca Larrington, now Becca McGhillie, was inexcusable, I believe it was to get my attention so that I would move against him and end his killing sprees. And what he did to David B. Palmer was in direct revenge for Palmer cutting off Sarah's mother Beverly's insurance, as Sarah's baby-daddy was one of Aurus's Wrangler Circus associates." Teresa nodded sadly as she remembered little Sarah's death.

I said "And as you probably heard on my Officer-cam, Aurus was appreciative of your Charitable Trust's efforts to help Sarah, even though it didn't work out. And it may have given him the idea for his own Trust to help abused boys, or strengthened the idea he already had."

Teresa said "He was one fucked up little man. But those dirty Feds, especially Black and Coleman, are just as evil."

"And even more dangerous." I said "They have Federal badges... and Government guns."

"True." Teresa said, then after a pause she continued: "After Brendan Chapel crippled University Hospital just to get my inheritance, I told you something needed to be done about him, and you did it; you got U.S. Senators Nunn and McGill to go after him, and he resigned as DNI. So... now Lindsey Black and Karl Coleman are out of control. What can we do about them?"

I said "You're not going to like hearing this, but if what I think the Sheriff's meeting is going to turn out to be... those dirtbags are probably going to be shielded, and nothing will happen to them..."

Part 13 - The Vision

10:00am, Saturday, April 10th. The small convoy of vehicles drove south into Coltrane County. Not long after crossing the county line, it turned right and went west along a newly paved road to a gate. After being permitted inside, we parked in the parking lot of the main building.

This was the World Headquarters of 'The Vision', the self-help seminar empire that was known the world over for empowering and enlightening its seminars's students, bringing out the leadership potential in many of them. And many troubled teens spiraling downward had been not only saved, but had thrived and become productive members of Society as a result of The Vision's programs.

The acolytes living at the compound wore either blue or red shirts, and black pants. And they were always seemingly happy. They came out of the main building to greet us, and high-fived us on the way in.

The visiting party included myself, Teresa, Sheriff Griswold, Jimmy, Billy Beagle, and Janelle from the State Department of Family and Children's services. Also with us was Cindy Ross and her wife Callie Carrington, and their adopted daughter Betsy and Cindy's son Ben. We were all in civilian clothes.

The elevator was out of service for maintenance, so we climbed the hidden stairs to the office on the second floor. The office had semi-circular windows to the east and west. To the south were offices and treatment rooms. To the north was the elevator, stairs, and rooms I knew were there but had never seen before; maybe they were security rooms. The west windows had a door leading to a balcony that overlooked a huge meadow, with the River cutting through it at the lowest point, the same River that ran through my Town & County.

"Ah, there you all are!" said Dr. P. Harvey Eckhart, founder and great leader of 'The Vision', getting up from his desk to the right (west) side, down from the windows and door to the balcony. He was tall and fit, especially for his age, and his hair was a shock of pure white."

"Hello, Father." Cindy Ross said, going up to him and giving him a warm hug. He then hugged all of us, including Our Sheriff, who took it in stride and hugged him back.

"Hello, young Donald." he said to me as he hugged me, and I hugged him back.

"Hello, Uncle Harvey." I said to my late father's half brother. It was through them that Cindy and I were blood-kin first cousins. "Is that a Greuze I perceive on the wall behind your desk?"

"Not much gets past you, young Donald." said Dr. Eckhart. Indeed, it was the 'Lost Greuze', the very painting that was at the center of my successful case recovering it from the Swamp Frogs's attempt to steal it. Dr. Eckhart had won the auction for it. (Author's note: 'Send In The Clowns', Epilogue.)

Everyone sat down on the sofas facing each other in the center of the large room and the chairs on either end, forming a rectangle. Dr. Eckhart was in the chair on the south end (facing the elevator wall), and was holding his baby grandson Ben. Betsy and Jimmy were petting Billy Beagle, who was sitting between them.

After a few moments of Cindy taking photos of her father holding her son while everyone made small talk, Callie took Jimmy, Betsy, and Billy Beagle outside. I asked Teresa to go with them, in case Callie needed help with the kids. As Billy Beagle explored the meadow, sniffing for rabbits and finding a place to do his business, the rest of us talked about the business we came to do.

Janelle began her narrative: "Jimmy was born into a broken home. His father beat his mother to death when Jimmy was two. The father is on Death Row at Jacksonville State Prison. With no other relatives that we know of, he was sent to the Orphanage and put on the adoption lists. Two different couples applied to adopt him, but they both fell through; one, because criminal records were dug up; and the other, because their financial situation was one of insolvency. So Jimmy made it to grade school level without being adopted."

Janelle: "He was put in a foster home in Nextdoor County when he was eight. Three months later he ran away from home, and was missing for a week. He was found by Police and was taken to University Hospital, badly dehydrated and malnourished. When his DFACS case worker at the time went to get him, he said he ran away because his foster parents were using drugs. And a raid on the home found those drugs."

Janelle: "Then the Kolings fostered him. There were some red flags around Linda Koling, but Nate Koling had a clean record and was making decent money with his lawn care business, and things seemed to be going well. Jimmy said he and Nate Koling got along well, and Nate really likes Jimmy and still wants to keep him. But Linda now has criminal charges against her."

"Damn straight, she does." I replied. "And Jimmy is not going back into that dog abusing woman's home."

"No, he's not." Janelle said. "We told Nate that we could not return Jimmy to Linda's home. I'm not allowed to tell him that if he and Linda divorced, he could re-apply to foster Jimmy, but that's what would have to happen for Nate to get Jimmy back."

"Well," said the Sheriff, "I talked to Jimmy last night. He's a decent kid, and he's more streetwise than a kid his age should be. He also has really become attached to Billy... almost as much as Carole is to Bowser."

"Not to mention Carole's dad's attachment to Bowser and Buddy." said Cindy. Carole's dad nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Point being," said the Sheriff, "the Orphanage doesn't allow pets, and Jimmy will fight against going back there without Billy. He might even run away again... like a certain little girl did to keep her dog Buddy."

"That's why I asked Teresa to step outside with them." I said.

The Sheriff was referring to a girl named Amy, who ran away from the Girls Orphanage to care for a puppy she'd found, and was herself found by Teresa Croyle. Teresa took guardianship of Amy, but the girl was sick, and died weeks after being found. I'd promised Amy on her deathbed that I would keep and care for Buddy like m own family, and to this point I'd kept that promise. (Author's note: 'Teresa's Christmas Story Redux'; 'Hampered In His Plans'.)

Sheriff Griswold: "Having said that, I don't think I can keep Jimmy. You guys have families that can take care of your kids when you're called in on cases, but I don't."

I said "I can't keep him, either. And not just because of all the kids. Billy Beagle is an awesome dog, but if I bring another dog home, my wife will administer a crowbar beatdown to me like none I've ever had."

Cindy said "Since I just had the baby, and with our housing situation in flux, it wouldn't be fair to Jimmy nor his dog for us to try to keep him."

"Can't Jimmy stay here?" asked Dr. Eckhart.

Janelle said "No, sir. Because you have what amounts to patients undergoing rehabs, counseling, and treatments for things like drug addiction and child abuse, DFACS won't allow you to have young children that aren't in your programs here."

I said "What about on a temporary basis? At least until Nate Koling makes some life decisions, or a suitable family is found?"

Janelle said "I'd do that if I could, but it's the regulations."

I said "When I was in the Army, my Battalion Commander would say 'Regulations are merely guidelines for the Commander to follow.' So you let Jimmy stay with Dr. Eckhart (air quotes) 'temporarily', until you find a (air quotes) 'suitable' new home for him, which will include taking in the dog as well as the kid."