Who Watches The Watchers Ch. 02

"That's be great." said Weller. I led them to I-Charlie, then I went through I-Bravo to the anteroom and watched the interview through the one-way glass.

"Here's what we've found, Mrs. Troy." said Green. "The black boxes were in excellent physical condition, and showed no sign of being tampered with. But when we examined them, we found that the plane's route took it to Colorado, not New Mexico. The pilot did originally set the heading for Louisiana via New Mexico, but shortly after takeoff he changed it to Colorado."

"Are you sure he changed it?" Phyllis asked.

Green looked at her funny. "Who else could have changed it?" he asked.

Phyllis said "I was just thinking of the possibility of mechanical failure of some kind. What else did you find?"

Weller took it up: "We also found gaps in the cockpit voice recorder, including at the time the pilot said he was getting clearance from Albuquerque Control to go to Flight Level 3-2-0. The instrument recorder shows the plane never went above 28,000 feet, so the pilot did not take it higher, as he claimed he did."

Green: "Last but not least, both black boxes stopped recording all data very shortly after the time the plane disappeared from all radars that had been seeing it, and the boxes began working again only when the plane appeared on TCA Control. The boxes were not manually turned off, either."

Weller: "We just want to ask you both one more time if there is anything, anything at all, that either of you saw, heard, or experienced, that could help us with our investigation? And are you sure you never saw the pilot sleeping?"

Phyllis: "As I said before, I cannot say with certainty that the pilot was not asleep, but I also cannot say with certainty that he was asleep. I would like to recommend that you give the pilot a lie detector test before telling him any of this, and see if he passes it."

"That's not a bad idea." said Weller. "Still... right now the black box evidence contradicts what he's told us."

Phyllis said: "And that is the problem, here... we trust our machines to not lie to us. You're not questioning the black boxes... and neither am I. But sometimes things are not as the machines tell us, like the Siri app giving a driver the wrong directions. And I suspect that that is what has occurred here... what the black boxes are telling us is true, but also not what really happened..."

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

Some few minutes later, the women came back to my office. Teresa was there, and she hugged her Aunt Clarissa and her grandmother-in-law Phyllis.

"So you think someone messed with the black boxes?" I asked after they'd sat down.

"No, son, I do not." Phyllis said. "And while I can't testify to it, I do believe the pilot is in error, here, and that he likely did fall asleep or pass out. But he genuinely believes his story, and the lie detector will show that. Alas... he is still probably in a lot of trouble..."

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

7:15pm, Tuesday, February 23d. There was a Council meeting that Chief Deputy Sheriff Cindy Ross wanted me to be at, but I texted her I couldn't make it. I'd gotten word that Kevin Pitts was regaining consciousness.

At the Hospital, Teresa and I met FBI Special Agent Julius Jefferson, SBI Inspector Britt Maxwell and Lieutenant Norm Chow, U.S. Attorney John Jones, and Midtown Police Chief Frank Soltis in the lobby. Chief Soltis had come up to give his colleague and friend Wes Masters support, as Molly and Chief Moynahan were doing.

"He cannot have all of you in his room at one time." said Dr. Cordell. "Just a couple at a time."

"Julius and me at first, and the rest of you can watch on my video feed." I said, exhibiting the TCPD video camera I'd brought along. We all went up to the floor Pitts was on, and through the hoops of TCPD protection he had guarding him.

Inside, Kevin Pitts opened his eyes when we came in. "Hey, Julius, what are you doing here?" Pitts asked.

"Just helping a brother out." said Julius. "And trying to keep you outta trouble." Both black men chuckled at that.

"You did a lousy job of that." said Pitts. "Oh, hey Commander." He'd seen me come up to the side of the bed.

"One thing's for sure, Kevin." I said. "I'm now completely sure you're not a Swamp Frog." Kevin chuckled at that.

"The Iron Crowbar flew the life flight chopper to get you here, too." Julius said. "And y'all came under fire. They tried to shoot you down."

"I appreciate you doing that, Commander." said Pitts.

I said. "I wouldn't have missed it. And I'm glad to see you're getting better. How are you feeling?"

"I must be on drugs," said Pitts, "because it don't hurt that much."

I winced internally. Whatever Pitts said could be challenged in Court if he was on heavy medications. However... I knew that it might still be enough to get arrest warrants, and we could talk to him again later when he was more fully recovered.

"Kevin, are you up to answering a few questions?" I said.

"Yeah, sure." said Pitts. I hurriedly set up the camera, and said the preliminaries into it, then said "How did your vehicle get to Carroll Street?"

"I was following what Siri said." Pitts said. "I looked up, and I was nowhere near where I was supposed to be going."

"Were you attacked at the dead-end of the road?"

"Yeah, about 12 guys." said Pitts. "Most of them were gangbangers, part of the drug gangs. But I remember seeing Ridley there. I thought they'd tricked him, too, but he told someone to TASER me."

"Let me ask this." I said. "In your investigation of the drug ring, whose names came up as dirty?"

Pitts said "It was obvious that Ken Z. Adams was running the ring out of the Narcotics Bureau Office. He covered for the evidence guys that were saying they destroyed the drugs but turned around and put them in a squad car that Adams himself would drive to the docks."

Pitts: "Word was getting to Internal Affairs, and Masters was starting an investigation of it. But Lieutenant Walker was dirty, and he was about to expose some SBI Agents that were also embedded. I knew Terence Johnson... dunno why they sent him undercover, everyone knows who he is... and I told Johnson they were moving in on him, and maybe on me and the other Feds. Is he okay? Did they get him out?"

"He's fine." I said. "Who else in CPD is dirty?"

Pitts named several CPD Officers in the Narcotics Bureau and the Evidence Bureau, then said "And First Deputy Commissioner Liz Chennault. She's been getting her cuts, and she's the Swamp Frogs's liaison to the TCPD. Dwight Stevens was trying to get a FISA warrant to intercept and listen in on her cellphone calls, but I think it was denied."

I nodded. "That's very good, Kevin. You get some rest. We'll have a better interview when you're stronger..."

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

8:35pm, Tuesday, February 23d. We went back to the lobby area of the Hospital to discuss what Pitts had given us. As we were talking, FBI SAC Jack Muscone and TCPD Deputy Chief Tanya Muscone came up to us.

"We heard Pitts is awake." Jack said.

"We just interviewed him." I said. "We're getting U.S. Attorney Jones's opinion."

John Jones said "It's a fight between Judge Landis and Judge Taney. Judge Landis is senior, but Taney has taken it to the Appellate Courts. I don't know if she's one of the Swamp Frogs, or if she is (air quotes) 'honest within her heresy', as the Catholics say about Protestants. But I heard she was really, really pissed when her warrants were canceled by Judge Landis."

John Jones: "And my point to that is that what Pitts gave us will be really helpful to Judge Landis... but it's not admissible beyond creating 'probable' cause."

"Why not?" asked Teresa.

"Because he's hooked up to a morphine machine." I said. "Which is one reason I never allowed them to hook me up to one."

"That's because you were just showing off." Teresa replied cattily, making everyone else laugh. A red crowbar was waved in her general direction.

I said "Okay, did you all get copies of that? Britt, Norm?" They replied that they did. "Okay, John, if you'll head on down to Lexington and see Judge Landis, maybe we can get some Federal warrants for Ridley and Liz Chennault. Britt, Judge Watts is just waiting in his Chambers for you to ask him for warrants for Ken Z. Adams and the rest of those dirty CPD cops."

John Jones left, escorted by Frank Soltis and Julius Jefferson to make sure he got to the Federal Courthouse in Lexington safely. Britt Maxwell and Norm Chow left for Courthouse Square...

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

10:30pm, Tuesday, February 23d. I was getting way too many text messages. Cindy Ross and T&C Council Member Edward R. Steele were texting me on my personal iPhone, and I had to reply that I couldn't converse with them at the moment.

On my Police iPhone I received updates that Judge Watts had issued the State-level warrants, but Judge Mohammed Omar in The City was trying to block Judge Watts's warrants and was also issuing an arrest warrant for City I.A. Captain Wes Masters.

Then Auxiliary Detective Carole D. Troy sent a text on my Police iPhone to be careful because I was in danger. Before I fired off a reply text, I looked around. And only now I noticed that there were a number of TCPD Officers milling about the lobby and the first floor hallway.

"Yes sir." said Teresa. "They're there to protect you, and Deputy Chief Muscone if need be. And we have four SWAT guys in full regalia in one of the offices."

"You think they're going to try to get Pitts again?" I asked.

"Yes sir," said Teresa, "though now that he's awake and has given some testimony, maybe that'll mitigate the danger. But if the Swamp Frogs don't know that, they may come after him in one last, desperate attempt."

"But Judge Landis ordered that all warrants go through him." said Jack Muscone.

"Ohhhhh, okay." I said as it hit me, then said: "You know what they say...'possession is nine-tenths'. If they can get Judge Taney to issue a warrant for Pitts, maybe something like a material witness warrant instead of an arrest warrant, they can whisk him out of here, and we'll never see him alive again.

"Damn!" Jack Muscone muttered. "They party never stops with those bastards."

"But it's good to be prepared, and the Iron Wolf is that: prepared." I said. "But are you now having vibes like Carole and Cindy?" I said that to needle Teresa, but was stunned at her reply.

"Not my vibes." Teresa said. "Your mother told me to get more prepared. She said that since her aircraft landed in the wrong place, she's been having a lot of vibes... and very few of them good. Whatever they went through on that plane has really affected her------"

I saw it in the same instant Teresa did. Federal Agents Lindsey Black, Karl Coleman, David Rovers and Andrew Parsons came in, followed by four Federal Marshals who I did not know, and two men dressed in paramedic gear and pulling a gurney with them.

Lindsey Black held up a document and said "We have a warrant to take Kevin Pitts into custody as a Material Witness! Get out of our way, or we will shoot every one of you dead to enforce this warrant."

*CHIME!*

It was Jack Muscone's FBI iPhone. "Hold on!" he said. "Judge Landis just issued a temporary restraining order blocking Judge Taney's warrant, and ordering Pitts to remain here per his previous order."

"Whose side are you on, Muscone?" yelled Karl Coleman.

"The Constitution's." Muscone replied. "You try to take Pitts out of here, I'll stop you. No matter what it takes."

"I am sick and goddamned tired of you do-gooders spouting the fucking Constitution all the time." growled Karl Coleman. "The Constitution is just a goddamned piece of paper!"

"So's that warrant." Muscone replied. "And it's not valid, but the Constitution still is. You Swamp Frogs have not destroyed it yet."

"Fuck you, Muscone." yelled Coleman. "You're a goddamned traitor to the Federal Government! Die, you goddamned Guardians of Justice wannabee!"

Time slowed down.

I saw Coleman going for his service weapons as he said the words, and I knew I was too late in my reaction. Coleman was already raising his powerful handgun and flicking off the safety as he aimed it right at Muscone's chest.

*BLAM!* *BLAM!*

To be continued.