Long Cool Woman

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 14 - Damsel In Distress

*WHAM!*

The Geek went flying as Keiko Shimono viciously kicked him in the side of the head.

"I did not tell you you could do that!" Shimono yelled at the skinny punk. As he tried to get up, she smashed her hardened foot into his face again.

"Tie him up. Ass up." Shimono angrily ordered. Laura just watched as the men manacled The Geek's hands behind him, then his ankles, and turned him so that his skinny ass was up in the air.

"Oh, you want to see rape tonight?" Keiko said, her voice dripping with honey and venom. "Then you shall have it. You three!" she said as she pointed at three men she knew would be willing to do the job. "Teach this piece of dog shit that he only does what I tell him to, when I tell him to. Take turns fucking him in the ass.. until

you

are satisfied! The rest of you, bring Dr. Fredricson with us."

One man went over and violently pulled The Geek's jeans down his skinny thighs as the others half-dragged, half-walked Laura with them, following Shimono out the door and to another room. The Geek's screams followed them down the hallway as Shimono's orders were ruthlessly followed...

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

Then suddenly we heard the sirens

And everybody started to run

A-jumping out of doors and tables

When I heard somebody shootin' a gun...

------ The Hollies, 'Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress'

The room Laura was brought into was like an examining room in a doctor's office. They put her down on the reclining table cushions, which was uncomfortable with her hands manacled behind her. Tape was applied to her mouth.

A few moments later, Keiko Shimono entered the room. She was now wearing an Army uniform, the insignia of Military Intelligence on the lapels of her jacket, the bars of a Captain on her shoulder epaulettes, and the Parachutist Badge over her ribbons over the left jacket pocket.

The screams of 'The Geek' could still be faintly heard as Keiko came up to Laura, standing next to her. "Fortunately for you, Dr. Fredricson," Keiko Shimono said, "you will be flying to Beijing instead of traveling by ship, so you should not become too dehydrated. The spy novels and movies usually do not mention how... messy... things can become when one is shipped in a box. We will be putting a toy, a butt plug, into your ass, then putting a big diaper on you. You will be very thirsty and very constipated when you reach Beijing, but that will be the least of your discomforts once you arrive there. The People's interrogators are very good, very very good."

"I have a better idea..." said a voice in the doorway. Keiko and Laura looked up...

... into the gray eyes of the Iron Crowbar.

"Rather than the toy butt plugs, or the dicks of those guys raping that little faggot in the other room," I said, "why don't I shove this here red crowbar where the sun don't shine... in

your

ass, Shimono."

At that moment several armed and armored raiders in black came past me, their weapons brought to bear against Shimono and the two men in the room. We heard a gunshot down the hall as Teresa Croyle, wearing all black, armored, with the icon of Clan Crowbar on her back and on the necklace she was wearing, came into the room. A man and woman, who were medics, attended to Laura.

"Well, the Iron Crowbar rides in to save his wife." said Shimono. "As I said, Dr. Fredricson, you are indeed fortunate to have this man as your husband."

"Don't I know it." Laura said as the medics helped her up, having taken the tape off her mouth and the manacles off her wrists.

As Teresa went to arrest Shimono, Keiko shrugged out of her grasp. "Do not touch me, you nasty Leg!" Shimono hissed. Laura's eyes widened. I chuckled. Teresa showed no emotion at all.

"As you wish." Teresa said to Shimono, then turned to me and said "Commander, would you mind?" as she offered me the steel handcuffs.

"Don't mind if I do." I said. I walked up to Keiko and behind her, cuffing her wrists behind her back. "Paratrooper Keiko Shimono, you are under arrest. For a great many thinnnnnnngs. You have the right to remain silent. If you give up the right------"

"I know the rights." Shimono said, her voice sounding almost serene. I began leading her out, Teresa staying with us as the medics helped Laura.

"You can cut my friend here some slack." I said to Keiko, indicating Teresa. "Her father was awarded the Medal of Honor."

"A worthy legacy." Shimono said. "But she is still a dirty... nasty... Leg."

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

"Well the DA was pumping my left hand

And a-she was a-holding my right

Well I told her don't get scared

'Cause you're gonna be spared..."

------- The Hollies, 'Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress'.

We went up the stairs, and into and then out of the lobby of the MegaTech Industries office building. I led Shimono towards the Police cars on the street in front, blue and red lightbars blazing.

"I'll take her!" said a voice. CIA Cal Willingham was coming up, with two CIA Agents behind him.

"No you won't!" said another voice. It was EAD Owen Lange. "We're taking custody of her."

"Like hell you are!" said Willingham, standing up to the EAD, his Agents ready to draw guns and shoot the FBI Executive Assistant Director.

"Back off, Willingham!" said yet another voice. Walking up with Jack Muscone and Martin Nash was Nash's uncle, retired FBI Deputy Director William Hargreaves. When Willingham whirled around, the DepDirector said "You've fucked this thing up enough. My people are taking custody of Shimono. And if you don't like it, the Iron Crowbar just might take matters... into his own hands."

"Now if you want to talk about a truly dirty nasty Leg," I said to Keiko, pointing at Willingham, "this guy is the poster child." Teresa laughed, which sounded more like a cackle. Willingham looked at me with cold fury in his eyes.

"Farewell, Iron Crowbar." said Keiko as Nash and Lindy Linares took custody of her. "Tell your wife that it was nothing personal. Just business."

"

Au revoir.

, Ms. Shimono." I replied, certain that I'd be seeing her again.

Laura came up with the two medics. "She's fine, sir." the female medic said.

"Good." I said. And I finally got to hug my wife, who hugged me back more than a little warmly. "See what happens when you go to 'meetings'?" I whispered into her ear.

"Yeah." Laura whispered back, hugging me more tightly. "And like Carole says, you always come and get us..."

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

Some minutes later, 'The Geek' was brought by us, under arrest and in the custody of Federal Marshals, followed by other Marshals with the three men that had used The Geek's ass for their sexual pleasure. "You can give this guy to Willingham." I said to the DepDirector and to Muscone. "Consolation prize."

"I swear to God I am going to kill you." spat the Geek at me.

"How's your ass feeling, faggot?" I shot back. The Geek's face got even uglier with hatred. The other three arrested men began laughing out loud at The Geek, and hurling a few insults at him that would probably be better if I just didn't mention here.

To Teresa I said "Don't tell Cindy I said that. She gets mad when I say things like that."

"I can't imagine why." Teresa replied, flat deadpan. "But if any guy ever deserved to have that done to him..." I nodded vigorously in agreement.

Part 15 - The "How"

Wednesday, June 19th. It was a long, long night. Muscone and the DepDirector had wanted me to be the 'liaison' with the Palmyra County Police, who were enraged that the Feds had raided the offices of one of their most prestigious companies, and made arrests without including nor informing the locals. I'd declined that, saying that I'd have to do it as the SBI Reserve Inspector, and I wasn't going to be the hypocrite on that by trying to boss it over the locals.

The tension over that was bad enough, but when I wanted to take Laura home, Willingham vociferously objected, saying she had to be debriefed... and the FBI guys took his side. "She'll be okay with us." said Muscone, but he could not withstand my glare at him.

"What say we make our way back home, Kemo Sabe?" Teresa suggested, seeing my growing anger, and stepping in to resolve the situation.

"Yes, get out of here, Troy!" yelled Willingham, not resolving the situation. "You've done enough damage for one night." FBI Agents and Federal Marshals rushed to get between us, but it was Teresa Croyle that saved his life by being the only person at the scene who was physically able to hold me back.

"Come on, Don." Teresa said, taking my arm. "Let's go."

"Yeah." I said, weariness replacing the fury within me. Teresa had no legal status here, and I was barely within the lines myself.

We made our way back to the Black Beauty. To our surprise, Melina Allgood appeared out of the shadows. If she'd intended to kill us, she would've succeeded; neither Teresa nor I reacted quickly.

"Can I get a ride home?" she asked.

"Don't you need to be debriefed by Willingham, too?" I asked bitterly.

"Heh. Hell, no." Melina replied, a twinkle in her eyes. "

He doesn't even know I'm here.

"

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

Melina was in the backseat as I drove and Teresa rode shotgun. I used the monitor screen as we drove on the highway home, and the Coltrane County speed traps were unerringly detected.

"O65 Imperial Crown." Melina said approvingly as she looked around. "I have got to get me one of

these!

Think Uncle Harvey will make me one?" She called Dr. Eckhart 'Uncle Harvey' because he was my uncle and she had once been my wife. And I knew that she well knew the Founder and Great Leader of 'The Vision', and even had a 'Fourth Rune' from him.

"If you ask nicely," I said, "he just might. And by the way, I appreciate all your help on this. I have no doubt you saved Laura's life."

"No, that was all you." Melina replied. "I just sent you the 'red alert'. And I can't believe how fast y'all got in there and down to the basement. You guys been doing

ninja

training or something?" Fortunately she could not see the gleam in Teresa's eyes at that.

"Ohhh, just some advanced Police tactical training." I said, trying to make Teresa laugh, and almost succeeding.

"Yeah, right." Melina said. "Clan of the Crowbar training, I'd guess. But I'm not a part of that."

"Still," I said, "the credit for getting Laura out alive and well goes to you, Melina. And weren't you part of Jack's team, monitoring Laura?"

"No." said Melina. "I was not invited to Team Lazarus's party. I was sent on an assignment, probably to get me out of the way of this. And they don't really consider me to be part of Team Lazarus, anyway." I noticed a visible reaction on Teresa's face for a fleeting second, then Melina said "I've never been a good teammate."

"Oh, I think Hizzonor the Mayor disagrees." I said jovially. "Y'all make a great team."

"If I may ask," Teresa said, "why

were

you watching over Laura, if you weren't working with Team Lazarus?"

Melina said "Because intelligent people were not making intelligent decisions. Willingham is a tool for the Swamp Frogs in Washington. He thinks he's doing right, but he's like a dog that will do any trick to get a treat and be petted on the head. Team Lazarus... well, Martin Nash is a good guy, but he has ambitions to be where his uncle was, at the top of the FBI. And the rest of them follow; they just do their jobs. I don't blame them for that, but that's what it is."

Melina continued: " Jack Muscone is fighting for the Guardians of Justice side, and I don't think you realize just how loyal he is to you, Don." It was Teresa's turn to notice the fleeting reaction on my face at that as Melina went on: "He played this Game to try to help and protect Laura... for you. And one more thing: the previous EAD, that you forced to retire, would've left Laura abandoned. Owen Lange is trying to do what's right, and hold the line. One day... he'll be remembered as a Guardian of Justice."

"And Laura..." Melina finished, "... well, maybe she wanted revenge on the woman that handcuffed you to a nuclear weapon set to detonate, or maybe for the patriotic reasons of taking out an enemy spy. But she really wanted to capture Keiko Shimono. And by the Grace of God and the Clan of the Crowbar, she has. But my point is that she took risks she should not have in order to get Shimono. She never should've done this mission, she never should've trusted Willingham at all. She made some decisions I don't think she would've made in the past. And she let her guard down..."

Neither Teresa nor I said a word. We let Melina talk, knowing we were hearing something on the order of a confessional, and hearing truths that no one else would be willing to reveal.

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

5:00am, Wednesday, June 19th. Jack Muscone, Lindy Linares, Laura, and Callie Carrington arrived at the Country Breakfast Diner, owned by Town & County Councilman Jack Colby. They were shown to the private back room. Waiting for them were Your Iron Crowbar, Your Iron Wolf, and 'The Huntress'.

Laura hugged all of us before sitting down, and though he didn't like these things much, I made sure to man-hug Jack Muscone. "Thank you for helping us save my wife's life."

"I should've done a lot more." said Jack. "This thing went to Hell in a handbasket from the get-go, and I should've stepped in and called it off."

We all sat down after getting large portions of breakfast foods from the buffet. As we ate, the conversations started up:

"So how did you know to rescue me, and where I was?" Laura said. "No one else seems to know how it happened. And what happened to Donna, my assistant? Was she kidnapped?"

"Let's take Donna first." I said. "No, I don't think she was kidnapped."

"That hasn't been ascertained for sure." Jack said.

"It

will

be." I said. "Even if the CIA won't admit it, my bet is she's back at home at Langley, being complimented for doing a great job with Willingham to pull the wool over the FBI's eyes... and help MegaTech know who you are and what you were doing, Laura."

"That's treason!" Teresa said angrily. "Why don't we have APBs out there for her?"

"I'll address that in a second." I said. "As to her disappearance... apparently you sent her home, Laura, and she came straight up the University-Midtown Highway."

"I told her to drive towards the City and cut over." said Laura. "God, she was incompetent!"

"No, she was anything but incompetent." I said. "She was working with Willingham to blow your cover. When you sent her home, her use to Willingham and

their

mission was over. She called him on the cellphone he gave her, and he had her stop on the highway and be picked up. It was very simple, and it was meant confuse us, and distract the FBI team as well as you if you heard about it."

"I can see where you're coming from, Don." said Laura. "But you seem very sure. Why?"

"Oh, you haven't heard the full story." I said. "What happened is that I got to the scene right after the State Patrol Officers did. And I made observations. First, the State Troopers found the car without any personal effects in it, and the keys were not in the car. Ergo, Donna took them with her, perhaps out of habit, and she took her personal stuff. Now if they want to make it look like a kidnapping, they leave the keys in the car and maybe her purse there. And there's no reason for her to abandon the car... the 9-1-1 call was for a flat tire. If someone came to get her, can't they just change the tire? Or wouldn't she hang around for the HERO truck that she called 9-1-1 about?"

Everyone nodded and I continued: "The second thing, was that the address for the car tag was the old Post Office behind the Federal Building. People don't live there, so it's clearly not an individual home address. The State Patrol wouldn't know that, and they certainly wouldn't know who answered if they made the call. But the one person who DID know the address was fake and recognized the voice at the other end of the line... was me." People chuckled and agreed.

"The final piece of the puzzle, at least for me," I said, "is Willingham's arrival and his fury that I was there. It was truly a coincidence that I was at the scene, but he wrongly thought that I was there because I was watching over you. And he showed his ass about it at the scene. So it was not a hard deduction to make that I'd stumbled onto something, and for him to be so angry about it meant it had to be about your mission." I might not have mentioned that Cindy had already told me that as we drove home.

Jack Muscone said "He was showing his ass about it on the way home, too. He really thought you were not staying out of it. He wanted to revoke your security clearance and cut off your access to any information, but the EAD twisted his cap around. The fallout, though, was that he stopped sharing information with us, and us with him."

"And my rescue?" Laura asked.

"It wasn't me, but you

were

being watched." I said. "By good guys as well as bad guys. You were spotted being taken out the back of the club after you passed out... your drink was likely drugged..."

"It was." said Laura. "And they arranged it very well. Kara Zorn makes a job offer, they bring out champagne to make a toast... but everyone drank from the same bottle..."

"The glass." said Melina. "I think one of them had the drug in it already, and they forced that glass on you. I was at the event, as part of the waitstaff, which was the only way to get in there since it was a private event. I saw the tail end of it, you being 'helped' out the back door."

"It couldn't have been that much time between then and you making the raid." Laura said.

"You're right." I said. "Teresa and I and a couple of... friends... were already on the way down there. The Council meeting ended... early."

"We were also on the way." said Muscone. "The EAD don't play. This guy is good. I do suspect the DepDirector had a hand in that, though."

"They didn't want anyone seeing anything," I said, "so the front lobby didn't have the security guards it normally would have had. The building had been scouted out and the original schematics found, and we knew where all the entrances to the basement areas were, as well as air ducts. I think that was MegaTech's biggest miscalculation: they didn't think we could or would move so quickly and with such unerring accuracy."

"You say that like you believe MegaTech was behind the attempt to kidnap Laura." Lindy Linares said.

"That's because I

do

believe they were behind it, in close coordination with the Swamp Frogs within the CIA and maybe other agencies." I replied.

"I agree." said Laura. "There is no way Kara Zorn didn't personally know. I passed out right in front of her. Furthermore, I'm sure I heard her voice down in that basement as I was waking up. And the way they all acted from the moment I got there... no, we can't prove it, but it's enough for me to know that MegaTech Industries is working hand-in-glove with the Swamp, the Establishment Elites."

Lindy said "Kara Zorn flew out of Palmyra County Airport right at the time we were raiding the office building. Her flight plan said she was flying to the City, but her plane flew west, and we believe she's flying back home to Silicon Valley. Dr. Mark Wages and Margaret Mason were not at home when our Agents went to arrest them as material witnesses. We think they may be on the plane with Kara Zorn, and will not be seen in this State again."