Cool for the Summer

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, racism, 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 - The Way Forward

"All right, Mary," I said to Intel Lieutenant Mary Milton as she stood in front of my desk at 10:15am, Wednesday, August 12th, "I want you to very quickly and very quietly begin looking into this 'Archie Brody' guy. And bring your results directly to me, not to Captain Muscone. Do I make myself clear on that?"

"Yes sir." said Mary, with enthusiasm. "Is there anything in particular I should be looking for?"

"I'll say 'no', so as to not bias your research." I replied. "But take note of any red flags you find, and start digging deeper depending on what you find."

"Wilco, sir." Mary said. I dismissed her and she left the office. I got up and headed down the hall to the anteroom for Interrogation Rooms A, B, and C. I looked in I-A to see Teresa talking to Archie Brody inside. I listened in for a moment.

"Okay, Archie," Teresa said, "we brought you down here to get your statement on camera. This interview is being recorded. And to protect your rights as well as ourselves, I'm going to read you your rights." She did so from the card, then asked if he understood the rights.

"Uh yeah, but what's this about?" Archie asked. He looked and sounded rattled. "Do I need a lawyer?"

"You have the right to one at any time." Teresa said. "Right now what I am doing is getting a more complete picture of what you said at BOW Enterprises. You said that you concealed a tracker in Captain Muscone's wheelchair?"

"Yeah, like I said earlier, Commander Troy asked me to." said Archie. That was my cue to go in, and I did so.

"Hello, Archie." I said as I sat down next to Teresa. "In case you don't know, I'm Commander Don Troy. You're saying that

I

asked you to put that tracker on Captain Muscone's wheelchair?"

"Uh, well, it was another Police Officer. A Sergeant." said Archie, who then added almost desperately "But he had a letter signed by you, asking me to install the tracker."

"What day was this?" I asked.

"It was in mid-April." said Archie Brody. "Saturday. Maybe the 11th?"

"Yes, April 11th was on a Saturday." I said, remembering that Teresa and I were in her hometown that day. (

Author's note: 'Centuries', Ch. 03.

) "So just walk me through what happened that day."

Archie Brody said "A TCPD Officer... a Sergeant... came to BOW Enterprises and asked for me. When I came to the front desk, he asked if I was part of Captain Perlman's... er, Captain Muscone's wheelchair team. I said I was, and he told me that Commander Troy wanted me to put a tracker on Captain Muscone's wheelchair when she got to rehab that day, and that he'd drive me up to the Hospital to do it. He gave me a letter, signed by you, with those instructions."

"Was the tracking device a BOW Enterprises device?" I asked.

"No sir." said Archie Brody. "He had the device with him, and asked if it would work with the wheelchair's battery. I said it should, so we left for the Hospital. Captain Perl... sorry, I keep forgetting she's married now... Captain Muscone came in for rehab and I told her I was going to do some work on her wheelchair. So I installed the tracker, the Police Sergeant gave me a ride back to BOW, and that was that."

I had an insight, and brought out my Police iPhone and brought up a photograph. "Is this the Police Sergeant."

"Yeah, that's him!" Archie exclaimed. "He had a beard when he came to pick me up, but I think that's the guy."

I showed Teresa the photo.

It was the last official Police portrait of Sergeant McCombs.

Teresa's eyes widened just a bit, then she nodded as she made some notes on her notepad.

"What did he say his name was?" I asked.

"Gray." said Archie. "Sergeant Earl Gray." I managed not to react, but I saw Teresa's eyes shoot up at that.

"Do you have the letter he gave you?" I asked Archie Brody.

"Uh, no, I think he took it up while I was working on the wheelchair, and he just kept it." said Archie. "I didn't give it a second thought, really."

"Okay, I appreciate your cooperation." I said. "We're going to have to verify the details, and we're doing so now. What I can tell you is that I did not write that letter, nor did I authorize anyone to get you to install anything on Captain Muscone's wheelchair. That device was not a tracker; it was a bug, a listening device. We found it in a routine sweep of our offices."

Archie Bunker's face was a combination of shock and fright. "I... I'm sorry, sir, I had no idea... I thought it was you asking for that to be done---"

I held up a hand to stop him. "I understand. And you were trying to be helpful. As fair warning, and I'll be having the BOW Enterprises CEO put this out to everyone, don't be afraid of asking to verify anything like this if it happens again. For now, Mr. Burke has sent a car to come get you and take you back to BOW Enterprises. They'll have you stay in the conference room until we verify the story. Don't say anything to anyone about this, either..."

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

11:30am, Wednesday, August 12th. My Team was well trained, and had executed their missions flawlessly, and we were now meeting in Classroom 'E'. Present were: Chief Moynahan, me, Lt. Commander Croyle, Captain Muscone, Lt. Davis, Lt. Mary Milton, and Lt. Myron Milton at my request and as a courtesy.

Lt. Davis started us off: "Detectives Joanne Warner and Theo Washington went up to the Hospital, and had a number of people confirm that Archie Brody was at the Hospital a few times working on Captain Muscone's wheelchair. They picked his face off a piece of paper 'lineup' with six persons on it. But they said he was not there very often, and not on any kind of regular pattern. And other guys worked on it, as well."

"I have a question." asked Teresa. "Tanya, why were you in rehab on Saturday, when you normally go on Wednesday."

Tanya replied: "I think that's when you and Commander Troy were in your hometown, and I was 'Acting Commander' (air quotes). I told the Hospital that if they could fit me in on Saturday to do so, as I didn't know when you'd be back."

Teresa said "And it was right when you predicted it might be, sir."

I said "Their timing was prodigious. We were out of Town, they conveeeeeniently had a weekend slot for Tanya come open, and McCombs went and got Archie Brody and brought him to do the installation of the bug."

"How did they pick up the signal transmissions?" asked Jerome Davis. I looked at Myron Milton.

Myron: "Probably McCombs, or another Police Officer in league with him, was able to park a car in the parking lot near Commander Troy's office and Captain Muscone's spacious office." Tanya burst out laughing at that, followed by the rest of us.

Myron: "So I believe a device in the car picked up the bug's transmission and relayed it somewhere. All in all, if they were sophisticated enough to get the bug planted and working, re-transmission would be no problem for them."

I said "I agree with that. If McCombs was involved, then it likely is a further inside job with other corrupt stains upon the TCPD Badge. Okay, what else do we have?"

Jerome Davis said "Julia Rodriguez and Teddy Parker went to BOW Enterprises with Lt. Commander Croyle. The Saturday receptionist was called in, and picked McCombs off our sheet with six persons on it, but she said he had a beard when he came to BOW. She said McCombs asked specifically for Archie Brody, and they talked for a few minutes then left together."

Davis: "The gate guard for that day was called on the phone, and confirmed that Sergeant McCombs, who he recognized by sight, let Brody out of the car outside the gate and then left, leaving Brody to go through the gate and walk all the way up to the BOW Enterprises main building. He said he remembers it because he thought it was weird, and that McCombs was driving a blue Camry, but he didn't get the tag number."

"That's still good information." I said. "Has anyone put out an APB on McCombs?"

Teresa said "Not only 'yes', but

'hell yeah!

sir." Everyone laughed, and Teresa said "I had that out the minute you showed Brody that photo. But the unit we sent to his home said that no one was at home, there was no car in the garage. They didn't have a warrant so they didn't try to enter the home, but they didn't think he was there."

"Probably not." I said. "Okay, we've got some good information here, and---"

"I'll let Jack and Karina know." Tanya said. "Maybe they can---" She stopped when she noticed that Myron and Mary were staring darkly at her, and I was shaking my head vigorously in disagreement. "What? Why shouldn't I tell Jack?"

"Because neither I nor Commander Troy have authorized you tooooo." said Chief Moynahan, saving me from having to. "I know he's your husband, Captain, but this is a TCPD matter that the TCPD will handle, and I do not want this information disseminated to any-wunnnnnnn without my or Commander Troy's explicit authorization. Is that understoooood?"

"Yes sir." came a chorus. Tanya had not joined it, and felt as much as saw my eyes boring through her. She finally said "I won't say anything.", but it was clear she was not happy about it.

"Anything on Archie Brody?" I asked.

"Yes sir." said Mary Milton. She began her narrative: "Archie Brody graduated from State Tech with a 3.0 GPA. Not great, not terrible."

"You sound like Comrade Dyatlov from the 'Chernobyl' movie." I said.

"Thank you, sir... I think." Mary said. "But you have more experience than me with nuclear bombs."

"

Touché.

" I replied. "But don't bring that up anymore, even among friends. So what about Archie Brody?"

"He was hired by BOW Enterprises almost straight out of school." said Mary. "His employee reviews show him to be competent, but not particularly impressive. I noted a pattern, that he'd be assigned to a team and always end up doing the rote work, the cleanup work, not the cutting-edge research work. No bad marks, but nothing exceptional. Not great, not terrible."

"Yes, I am indeed sensing a 'Comrade Dyatlov' pattern, here." I replied.

"Archie Brody was assigned to what they call the 'Tanya's Tank' team." Mary went on. "Once they got her wheelchair, Tank, and van modifications done, others on the team were reassigned new projects. But Archie was left on the team, apparently to do the routine maintenance."

"So he's useful, he can do the jobs he's given," I said, "but he's not the brightest bulb on the string... ergo, he was the perfect person to be tricked into planting that bug."

"Sounds about right, Commander." said the Chief. "For myself, I'm much more worried about who else in this Police Force may have been helping McCombs. It is always a terrible thing to think we have traitors in our midst, but we have to consider the possibility. Therefore, let's continue to keep this under tight wraps." Everyone nodded.

"Just one more question." I said. "Any anomalies in his finances?"

"He keeps his credit cards paid off, sir." said Mary. "But no spending spurges or big debts incurred followed by big payoffs. We're getting a warrant to get his bank records, but so far there's nothing out of the ordinary for him; no deposits or withdrawals of over the $10,000 reporting threshold..."

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

"May I speak freely?" Tanya asked as she just about ran over me driving into my office behind me.

"Always, when we're alone like this." I replied.

"Why can't I tell Jack about this?" Tanya asked. It was more of an accusation than a question.

"For several reasons." I said. "First, we now know how the bug got there, and who was behind it, but we still need to find out who was behind McCombs. No way in Hell he's smart enough or good enough to be the brains behind that bug or the real leadership of whoever we're up against."

"Second," I went on, "I'm actually trying to keep Jack out of the line of fire on this. If it

is

Federal Agents or Swamp Frogs behind this, then he might inadvertently tip them off by trying to find them. I'd rather we get some more data and then really ambush the shit out of them when we're ready."

"And third," I continued, "I have a real nagging feeling that this is not something that Jack can help us with, that it's a local thing. Ergo, again, he could inadvertently hurt our cause if he's being watched. Soooo, I'm going to hold off telling him or any Feds what's going on, and I expect you to do the same, even if you understandably don't like it."

"No I don't like it." Tanya said, almost defiantly. "And I'll tell you what I really don't like. If Myron and Mary Milton had looked at you the way they looked at me in there, you'd lock their heels, at best---"

"We've had this conversation." I said sternly. (

Author's note: 'Woman In Love', Ch. 04.

) "And I've had an Angel or two... or three... look at me that same way from time to time. Let. It. Go..."

Part 9 - Stains Upon The Badge

At 2:30pm, Wednesday, August 12th, Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle came to my office. "We've got him, sir." she announced. "McCombs was found in Pottsville. He was arrested by Detective Seamus O'Brady and Pottsville P.D. Officers, and is being transported back here by State Patrol Troopers."

"Outstanding!" I said. "Who found him, and how?"

"After the APB was put out," Teresa said, "State assets were put to work finding his cellphone. It was found, easily enough, pinging in Pottsville. So O'Brady went to the house where McCombs was staying, and he and his escorting Officers made the arrest. They report that McCombs asked what it was about, but did not struggle nor resist arrest in any way. The house he was in apparently belongs to his cousin's husband."

"Good." I said. "When he gets here, put him through full booking, including the ubiquitous orange jumpsuit, then bring him into either I-1 or I-2 and let him call his lawyer if he wants one..."

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

At 3:30pm, McCombs and his State Patrol escort arrived, whereupon he was taken into TCPD custody and put through full booking. He was then brought into I-1. Detective Teddy Parker went into I-1 with Lt. Cmdr. Croyle and led the interrogation, thoroughly prepped by Your Iron Crowbar on what I wanted asked. Sr. Patrolman Johnson was the Uniformed presence.

Parker read McCombs his rights from the card. To no one's surprise, when Parker routinely asked if McCombs understood the rights, McCombs simply stated "I want an attorney, and will answer no questions without an attorney present." He was allowed to call his attorney, and again to no one's surprise, it was Gwen Munson of Prodder, Ryder & Reems, P.C.

She took her time getting to TCPD Headquarters; it was 4:15pm before she deigned to darken the doorstep with her presence. Then she asked to speak to her client alone. Parker, Croyle, Julia Rodriguez and I watched from the anteroom.

"Sir," asked Julia Rodriguez, "isn't it strange that Munson wanted to speak alone with her client, but

she never asked why we arrested McCombs, nor anything else about any of this?

"

"Outstanding observation." I replied, then tested her: "What do you infer from that?"

"Uh, that she knows something already, sir." Julia replied.

I replied: "I wouldn't be surprised if she does know something, but in this case I think she's just stalling, trying to waste our time. We'll know for sure soon... the longer they take without her asking us what's going on, the more likely I'm right that she's just being her normal self and wasting our time."

At 4:35pm , they were still talking, so I had Teresa and Teddy go back in. Gwen Munson acted offended. "We haven't finished our conversation yet."

"You can talk about non-essential things on your own time and your own dime." Teresa retorted. "And don't say you're talking about the case... we haven't even discussed with your client why we arrested him, and you definitely haven't asked... or

DID

you know...

somehow?

"

Realizing she'd been defeated on that one, Munson said "Okay... what's it about?"

Teresa sat down, followed by Parker, who said "Your client has been arrested as a person of interest in the State and Federal felony crimes of planting listening devices at Police Headquarters and upon the equipment of one of our Officers."

"You have got to be kidding me." Gwen Munson said.

"It's not a joke, and no one is laughing." Teresa replied coldly. She looked over at Parker, who picked up the bit:

"Your client was picked up out of a printed lineup as having been at BOW Enterprises, talking to their employee about planting the bugging device." stated Parker. "The gate guard knew your client by sight, and has given us his story. Your client also gave the BOW employee a ride to the Hospital, where the victim's equipment was bugged."

"So my client did not actually plant the bugs." said Gwen Munson. "And it's not a crime to talk to someone or give them a ride."

"It is when it's Conspiracy." Teresa replied.

"Fine. We'll see you in Court." Munson said, acting as if she was about to get up. To McCombs she said "Go ahead and invoke, and I'll go to the Courthouse and begin arranging your hearing and bail."

"Better be sure." Teresa said to McCombs. "Once you invoke, there are no deals on the table. And going to Court is what we

do

."

McCombs knew the law, so he said "I'm not answering any questions at this time---"

Everyone in the room was a bit shocked to see the door open and Your Iron Crowbar come in. "Patrolman Johnson, take McCombs to a holding cell. McCombs is a 'keepaway', so go with them, Detective Parker, and make sure he's isolated. Ms. Munson, stay here."

"Why?" snarled Munson as Johnson led McCombs out, followed by Parker. "I'll leave if I damn well please."

"Oh no you won't." I said as I put my fists on the table and leaned over like Snoopy the Vulture in the 'Peanuts' comic strips. "Commander Croyle here will stop you, by physical force if necessary, and it's likely that she is praying that it becomes necessary. Now I just have one question for

you

, Ms. Munson: you used the word 'bugs'... plural...

How did you know we found more than one planted bug?

"

Gwen's eyes looked confused for just one second... then narrowed in hatred as she realized that not only had she slipped up, but that I'd caught it.

Still she tried: "My client told me that. You must've fucked up and said something to him, or in his presence."

"You are the one fucking up, here, Ms. Munson." I said coldly as I straightened back up. "Like Commander Croyle said when she and Detective Parker came into the room: we had not told either you or your client what the situation was until

after

your private conversation with him. So no, I do not believe he told you nor that we mentioned it to him. And it certainly was not mentioned about how many bugs... hell, they didn't even mention exactly what the equipment that was bugged was!"

"So!" I said, "let's try this again, Ms. Munson, and while it pains me to have to waste my time dealing with a clearly inferior intellect, I suggest you begin telling us what you know about all this."

"Am I under arrest?" snarled Munson, standing up. "If not, I'm walking out now. And you can shove it up your rapist ass, Mr. Crowbar."