Fire in the Hole

This story is part of an ongoing series.

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 17 - Exercise of Power (continued)

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Fox Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Thursday, August 23d. "We are bringing you continuing coverage of the assassination of Lieutenant Governor Graham Collins yesterday in Midtown!"

"The FBI has been humiliated once again as criminals were able to easily penetrate their security and murder Graham Collins and his lawyer." said Bettina. "The perps fired shotguns into the faces of the victims at point blank range, giving them no chance to survive the attack. The FBI also has no clue who was behind the shooting. The two perps that executed the attack committed suicide by cyanide ingestion before they could be apprehended."

"Governor Val Jared has ordered flags in the State to be flown at half-mast for three days." said Bettina. "However, his bland statement of condolence has been called 'insincere' and even 'insensitive' by critics. Some supporters of the Governor said his statement was remarkably conciliatory, considering that Collins was going to admit that he was behind the attempt to kill Governor Jared, but critics again attacked those statements as 'harsh' and 'insensitive to the family of Lt. Governor Collins'."

"And locally," said Bettina, "tonight is the pre-opening of T-Square's new club, 'Jasmine'. It was built where the Cub Club was before it was burned to ashes, and the new club is named for the superstar singer that was murdered on the night the Cub Club was destroyed, Jasmine Nix. Tonight's opening is an invitation-only affair, and tomorrow night will be the Grand Opening for the Public. According to T-Square, the new club is high-end, and will feature smooth jazz and rhythm & blues in a relaxing, laid-back atmosphere..."

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

"The Governor cannot catch a break." said Joanne Warner as we drank coffee in MCD. "No matter what he says or does, he's attacked for it."

"At least he's alive." said Theo Washington. "Collins is not... oh, I guess that's 'insensitive', too."

"What gets me," I said, "is that Bettina absolutely did not mention that the perps used fake Press cameras and Press IDs to penetrate the FBI's security, which was otherwise good. Collins was wearing a bulletproof vest just like what we wear under our shirts. No one else could've gotten into that garage, and they pulled up within ten feet of the doors. But you won't hear Bettina say one word about it, because

the Press

was used to penetrate the security arrangements."

"How

did

they do it, sir?" asked Julia Rodriguez.

"I can answer that." said FBI Special Agent In Charge Jack Muscone as he came into the room. "Their plan really was brilliant, almost 'Consultant-esque'. Two of the four cameras allowed in had caps that looked like glass lenses, but the cameras were really empty shells with semi-auto shotguns inside, with modifications of the triggers to allow firing from the bottom of the fake cameras. Yeah, we missed it, but we did look at the cameras before letting them in, and they looked real. Also, the perps's IDs were Washington, D.C. affiliates of MSNBC and CNN. They were scanned, and they checked out as good."

"Washington, D.C., eh?" I mused. "Interesting."

"Jack, you look beat." said Tanya, looking up at her fiancé. "Have you gotten any sleep?"

"No, I was down there all night." said Muscone. "The EAD called me in to lead the investigation of what happened, so I guess I'm the OPR guy now."

"And considered trustworthy enough to do that." I said. "But your fiancée is correct; you need to go home and get some sleep."

"I will, after talking to you, Commander Troy." said Muscone. "Why don't we go to your office and do that, so I can go on home after we're done..."

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

"My God, what could we have

done?

" asked Muscone as he sat sipping the coffee I'd poured him in my office, frustration obvious in his voice.

"Not trying to mess with you," I said, "but this is a great excuse to keep the Press far away from now on. So how bad is the collateral damage?"

"As bad as it can get." said Muscone. "As soon as he would've signed the plea deal, Collins was going to give us Russell on a platter, everything he had on Russell and BigAgraFoods. You think Russell is squirming about that rape allegation? There would have been

no

getting out of this one."

Jack shook his head as he thought of how close he'd been to busting the filthy dirty U.S. Senator. Then he asked "So, Don, who do you think did this? I heard you sent something to Cardigan."

My Police iPhone has an app that can record phone conversations with one touch of a button. I had exercised that app, and I now played the feedback to Muscone. I'd sent the recording and my phone's meta-data of the call to Cardigan the day before. Myron also was looking into it for me.

"Considering the perps were using Washington news media IDs," I said, "and considering the nature of BigAgraFoods and U.S. Senator Russell, I'd say it was Washington-based Elitists trying to protect their own. If Collins had given you Russell and BigAgraFoods, then some ugly things would've happened for the Establishments of both political parties. Swamp Frogs would've been feeling the water begin to boil them alive."

"God

damn

." said Muscone, shaking his head. "

Another

rogue cell?"

"Not just a cell." I said. "An increasingly large part of the Federal Government in Washington. I do not use the term 'Swamp Frogs' lightly; these guys are the cause of all the filthy muck that is going on and has been going on for years in D.C. Makes the Jack Lewis SBI and Democrats like Langdon, Justin Madoff, and Katherine Woodburn look like saints in comparison."

"Geez." said Muscone. "How do we fight this rotgut?"

"Same way we always have." I said. "Expose their filth to the light of day. Just don't expect the Mainstream Media to help us in any way. They are part of the problem, and are working to protect the Filth and Corruption. In fact, the Media are the dirtiest and most corrupt players of them all."

Do you get the feeling I

despise

the Press?

"Well," said Muscone, "the Swamp Frogs waxed Collins. Got him good. Gave him both barrels, literally, pun not intended..."

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

"This is a nice place." said the former Deputy Director of the FBI as he looked around the Soup and Salad place.

"It's always been my favorite for lunch." said Dr. Laura Fredricson. "The beef salads can be pretty filling if you're looking for something heavy."

"And 'heavy' is what I came to talk to you about today." said the DepDirector. "The Collins assassination was a disaster, all the way around."

"Except for the current CIA Director and his fellow Anti-Semitic Power Elites in Washington." replied Laura. "My husband is more than a little disappointed that we missed the chance to nail Samuel Russell to the wall. My husband added the words 'by his foreskin', but I won't be so uncouth about it."

The DepDirector was laughing out loud. "I can imagine that one of your lectures on sexual psychology would burn the ears of half the population, even though it'd be 'clean' in every way."

"True." said Laura. "So... what's going on that I need to know about?"

"I have to hand it to the bad guys." said the DepDirector. "The way they penetrated the FBI's security was brilliant. They also pretended to be Press people when they attempted to kill the Governor and did kill Queenie at that event you were at." (

Author's note: 'Agents and Angels', Ch. 03.

) "But concealing shotguns inside cameras was smart; not only to smuggle them in, but because Collins had on a bulletproof vest, and they used the shotguns to blow his head off. As your husband says, we couldn't armor-plate his head."

"The reason I bring that up," continued the DepDirector, "is because it was reminiscent of the Consultant of Crime's ideas, which is scary enough. We're wondering if we have another wannabee successor to the Consultant, like Julie Newton tried to be. And if this new person has allied himself or herself with the Swamp Frogs, as Muscone and your husband call them, then we've got a real problem on our hands."

"I agree." said Laura. "And on top of that, it's becoming clear that the FBI, CIA, and indeed all of Washington is becoming very divided, between the Establishments of both political Parties, and the outsiders like us that want to restore some honesty and sanity to our respective institutions."

"Yes," said the DepDirector, "I'm not even sure who to trust anymore. I've been very skeptical of Ashton Cardigan, but Don has been working with him a lot lately, so maybe he's not a bad apple. It's a mess trying to figure it out."

"Maybe not." said Laura. "My own evaluation of the situation is that there are only a few real leaders of the anti-Semitic sect that is infecting the Federal Government, and neutralizing them is the key to cleaning up a lot of stuff both in America and around the world."

"Well," said the DepDirector, "you're focusing on the Jew Hatred issues, and rightly so. I'm looking at a different thing, the corruption of law enforcement at every level. I am really worried that the FBI could be turned into a corrupt machine that protects the Special Interests and the Establishment politicians rather than stopping corruption and bringing Justice on behalf of the American People."

"And here I was," Laura quipped, "thinking we'd both retired from all of this."

"One never retires from defending Justice." said the DepDirector. "But I think when the balloon goes up, it'll be your husband that we need to have fighting with us."

"And our enemies know that." Laura said. "Part of my job is going to be... keeping my husband alive." She changed the subject: "So, what's our next move?"

"Keeping the pressure on them." said the DepDirector. "And here's what I think should be the next step..."

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

Later that afternoon, Myron Milton came to my office. "Sir," he said, "I've got some stuff on whoever called you yesterday."

"Good." I said, motioning for him to sit down. "Whaddya got?"

"The phone was a burner phone," Myron said, "but it wasn't your garden variety burner that you get at Wal-Mart. Those, you set up after you buy them. This one had some extra features that are meant to make it more difficult to trace, and also feed back to them if we try to trace them. They probably know I was looking into them."

"So the Government," I said, "

working in close cooperation with the phone companies like it always has

, is behind the technology that made this phone call possible."

"So I read the riddle, sir." said Myron. "I can ask my father to check my work, if you like."

"No, let's not get him in any trouble." I replied. "So

Federal Government

interests are behind that phone call, and are therefore behind that assassination of Lt. Governor Collins. The caller definitely knew before it happened, and actually had the arrogance to call me and have me watch."

"Pretty much, sir." said Myron.

"And the question is 'why?'." I said. "Meaning, why kill Collins?"

"That's beyond my pay grade, sir." Myron said.

"Mine, too." I said. "But since I prefer remaining alive, I have to take interest in it..."

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

To my surprise, Special Agent in Charge Ashton Cardigan confirmed Myron's findings. After telling me of the nature of the 'burner' phone, he said "I don't know what's going on, but it looks like someone within the Federal Government is behind this. Not that many people know about stuff like this. And if I keep pushing on it, we'll find out who is behind it... but possibly at the moment shotguns are blasting us in the face, like they did Collins."

"That's true." I said. "I appreciate the information, and don't get yourself in trouble by pushing too hard." After we said our goodbyes and disconnected, I thought about it: why assassinate a State-level politician? The only answer that made sense was that they were protecting a United States Senator...

Part 18 - All That Jazz, All That Jizz

Thursday, August 23d. As the sun dropped towards the western horizon, Cindy Ross and Teresa Croyle sat down at their 'usual' table on the back of the deck of the Cop Bar, armed with a pitcher of beer and a plate full of nachos.

"Okay, just between us," said Cindy, "I love Don like he's family... oh, wait, he

is

family..." Teresa gave a little smile at her BFF's oft-repeated joke. Cindy then continued: "But I think he set that whole thing up with the gas explosion. I've seen him do tricks like this a few too many times."

"He definitely set up the sting

after

the explosion." said Teresa. "It spooked me when that safe door started swinging open. But did he plan the whole thing beforehand? I don't think so. I didn't smell any gas at all when we first went into that room, and Todd said he didn't smell anything, either."

"That's a point for my side." said Cindy. "It was rigged to leak, and then explode. Don and the Governor got everyone out, they stayed behind..."

"I know Don would put himself into something like that," replied Teresa, " but I don't think he'd risk all of us... and you know that the perps could've started the leak and locked us

all

in there... nor would he risk the Governor's life, even if the Governor knew and agreed with the plan."

"Yeah, maybe you're right." Cindy said, not really convinced one iota. "But that was soooo fast figuring out what to do, even for Don. And the FBI having warrants to track Collins's phone calls already? Yeah, legitimate after Mitt Willis and the Queenie Files, but very conveeeenient for Don, all the same."

Just then a tall redhead appeared with a pitcher of beer. "Peace offering?" asked Fire Chief Quinlin, whose orange-red hair was darker red than Your Iron Crowbar's titian hair.

"Sure!" said Cindy. "Have a seat. But we have a tradition, here: no ranks, no insignia."

"I can live with that for an evening." said Quinlin, sitting down at the end of the table, to Teresa's left. "Is the Iron Crowbar coming? I need to apologize them, also."

"He and his wife are going to the opening of T-Square's new club tonight." said Cindy.

"I'll catch him later, then." said Quinlin. After a pause, he said "I fired those Firemen that gave you guys crap at the dog kennel fire, and essentially ended the I.G. investigation."

"Out of curiosity, why?" asked Teresa, who had not seen the transcript that Cindy had.

"The I.G.'s investigation was actually being run by the Fire Marshal, Commander Singer." said Quinlin. "She and Roy Easley were questioning all our people that had been at the scene. As background: Roy Easley is to the Fire Department what you guys and Commander Troy are to the Police Force. Bronze Star in Afghanistan, Medal of Valor here with us. He inspires all of us to do a little more, look sharper, be better in every way, even making up our beds better."

Cindy and Teresa politely laughed, and Quinlin continued: "I was watching on the closed-circuit monitor, and the guy you wrote up was actually sitting there, telling Roy Easley that he did not care if another person was in danger, that he was not going to risk himself for Commander Troy just because he, Troy, had gone into the fire to rescue the dogs. When Easley pointed out there was no real danger to the Firemen with their proper equipment on hand, the guy shut down and would not speak any further. The pus--- er, the bastard said that right in front of Roy Easley, of all people!"

"At that point," said Quinlin, "I knew that we still had some bad people in the TCFD, that we had some cowards who were an embarrassment to the Badge and a danger to the community. I got up, went into that room, and fired the bastard on the spot. He grieved it and the Union told him to pound sand. I was going to fire the other two that were with him at the time, as well, but they offered to resign and I accepted."

"So..." said Quinlin, holding up his mug of beer, "I owe you this one."

"Good call, Chief." said Cindy as they all clinked their mugs then drank heavily of the beer in the mugs.

"There

is

one thing I would ask you to help me with." said Quinlin. "Try to keep Commander Troy from being so... brave... at fire scenes--- what?"

Cindy and Teresa had begun laughing. "Chief," Cindy finally said, "we have been trying to do that for years, and not just at fire scenes."

Teresa added: "We have standing orders to all Police Officers that Commander Troy is not to lead any attacks or raids, and he is to be physically restrained from doing... heroic... things like trying to rescue dogs in fires. He got the drop on us at the kennels because the few Police Officers at the scene at the time didn't realize he was there nor what he was doing."

"Chief," said Cindy, "the night I was shot up," (

Author's note: 'Trilogy: The Darkest Night'.

), "two Officers had tackled Commander Troy to stop him from doing what I did to cover our wounded SWAT man. Then they tackled him again when I was hit. And I've lost count of the number of times Rudistan has physically restrained him or threatened to. It has been very hard to stop Commander Troy into walking into harm's way."

"Don't tell him I told you this, but the Fire Department guys call him 'Commander Houdini' behind his back." said Quinlin. "Like that gas explosion the other day... he and the Governor hid in a big safe..." The Fire Chief shook his red head in open wonderment.

"And now he's going to walk into it again." said Teresa. "Right into T-Square's new club. I guess I better get going. Todd received an invitation, and of course I'll be there, too. We'll be 'fashionably late'." With that, she thanked Fire Chief Quinlin for the beer, and she took off for the door.

Quinlin had noticed Cindy laughing as Teresa had left. "You guys are really tight-knit, aren't you?"

"Yeah," said Cindy. "Teresa's awesome."

"Sure, but I mean all of you, in the Police Force, especially at the top." said Quinlin. "You guys have an

esprit de corps

that we just don't have in the Fire Department. How do you do it?"

"Well," said Cindy, "it started with Chief Griswold. I cannot say enough good things about that great man. And then he brought in the Iron Crowbar... and unleashed him. And it all flowed from there like the waters of a mighty River..."

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

The summer sun had set. The limousines that had picked up the invited guests were arriving one-by-one. As our limo pulled up, Laura, Paulina Patterson, Daniel Allgood and I got out and went inside. Elsie Gringer's press cameras were photographing us and collecting the video. Paulina waved to them; I studiously ignored the Press. Melina had found a way to be out of Town, so I'd invited Daniel to come with us.

Laura looked magnificent in her wraparound black dress, the generous cleavage showing off her naturally large, milky breasts, and the hem just below the knee, showing off her curvy calves. Her shapely feet were in high heel sandals.

Paulina was wearing a gold dress and gold lamé high heels strappy sandals that showed off every one of her magnificent curves. Her long black hair was piled up on her head, with a ponytail down the back.