Price No Object

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 10 - Undermined (continued)

"WHAT?!" I yelled, rising to my feet in pure shock.

"I'm dropping the charges against Richard Davalos." Savannah Fineman said with alacrity, and the beginnings of a smile on her face. I could see she was actually enjoying this, which only added to my fury.

"What the FUCK?" I yelled, feeling the heat on my face and the back of my neck. I'm sure my face was darker red than my hair. "The son of a bitch attacked another man! We've got it on video!"

"That doesn't matter." Savannah said, making her voice taunting. "The charges don't merit prosecution."

"How in the fuck can you SAY that?" I said, my voice still loud.

Savannah said happily: "Mr. Davalos is an upstanding member of his community, he obviously was emotional at the death of his daughter, very likely by her husband. I'm asking that the charges be dropped

with prejudice!

"

I looked down at Miriam Walters. "And you're okay with this atrocity, this travesty of justice?"

"It's Savannah's decision to make." Miriam said, dodging responsibility.

"Bullshit!" I thundered. "You can stop this! And what's next? Are you going to support this lazy idiot when she asks for low bails for armed robbers because of the color of their skin?"

"Now

that's

just wrong!" yelled Miriam Walters as she rose to her feet. "For God's sake, Commander, stop with

your

bullshit grandstanding. And as I've told you before: you do your job, and let us do ours!"

"

That's the goddamn problem!

" I yelled back into her face. "You're undermining me doing my job! You're cutting my legs out from under me!"

"How?" Miriam asked sneeringly.

"Because he knows what really happened!" I said. "And those charges are the only leverage I have to get him to cooperate!" I pointed at Savannah and said "And now this

idiot

is just going to let him

go?

Really? And you're just going to let her do it?"

"You never told us anything about threats and leverage." Savannah said mockingly.

"YOU NEVER FUCKING ASKED!" I yelled. I turned to Claire and said "Did this piece of crap ADA ask you about it?"

"No sir, and to my knowledge she didn't ask anyone." Claire said.

"She didn't ask me, either." said the Chief. "And yes, Ms. Fineman, you

should

have contacted Captain Michaels or Commander Troy before making that decisionnnn unilaterally and without all the facts."

"Chief," said Miriam Walters, "perhaps you and I should discuss this alone in your office."

"Noooo, Mizzz Walters." the Chief said. "Commander Troy is right, and I will tell you that in private or here in front of him. We need to keep Davalos in jail."

"No." said Savannah. "I'm dropping the charges, and I don't give a flying damn what Donald Troy wants. He should've let me know long before now what he was doing."

"I agree." said Miriam Walters.

"That's bullshit." I said, a little more evenly but still angrily. "I'm under no obligation to tell you a goddamn thing until I have a case for you to proceed with through the legal system. And with all the fucking leaks to the God-cursed Press, I'm not going to tell the world what We the Police are doing while we're still busting our asses trying to solve the case!"

"Then you're getting what's coming to you." Savannah said. "I'm dropping the charges, and if you don't like it, you can shove that crowbar up------"

"Savannah, go." Miriam interrupted, seeing it was about to get physical. "I'll back whatever decision you make on Mr. Davalos. Go. Now." Savannah hurriedly exited. Miriam then said "Shall we sit down and finish this meeting?"

"Please don't walk out, Commanderrrr." said Chief Moynahan, observing that that is what I was about to do. "Have a seat, please." I had a seat.

Miriam said "You'd better reconsider not cooperating with ADA Fineman. I came here this morning to tell you that I'm assigning Paulina to Vice cases, and Savannah to MCD cases. And I fully expect you and your MCD Detectives to cooperate with ADA Fineman and help her successfully prosecute the cases that are brought to her."

"And I fully expect

you

... to burn in Hell." I replied. I got up and said "Come along, Captain, we have

real

work to do." Claire looked at the Chief, who nodded for her to go with me.

As I passed behind the Chief, I stopped next to Miriam and leaned over, then said "Oh, one more thing. You may just have destroyed my case, and my one opportunity to get Justice for the Mathesons. And in return favor, I'm here to tell you that Savannah Fineman will never,

ever

win an election in this Town & County as long as I'm in it."

"Is that a threat?" Miriam said angrily.

"You decide." I replied. "I am going to do everything in my power... legally, legitimately, of course... but everything I can to undermine any campaign she makes. If she runs for Solicitor, I will find candidates to primary her and run against her in the General, and I'll endorse them and work my ass off to help them beat her."

I went on: "If she runs for D.A., I will do everything I can to defeat her. If she runs for the Council, for Mayor, for School Board, for Garbage Collector... she is going to lose, because I will be there to make sure she is defeated."

I headed towards the door, opening it and having Claire walk through first. As I went out, I said "As for you, Miriam... enjoy your final two years as District Attorney." Not waiting for a response, I shut the door behind me as I left.

Part 11 - Downhill Fast

10:05am, Wednesday, January 6th. My lovely assistant Helena French buzzed me and said Paulina Patterson wanted to see me. I told her to let Paulina come on in.

"We got the subpoenas, both State and Federal, for the BigCommo employee records." Paulina said. "They're being served both here and in The City now."

"Good, and thanks for doing that for us." I said. "Have a seat. Get some coffee if you want.

"Don't mind if I do." Paulina said. She poured herself a cup and sat down in the near-side 'hot chair'.

So, is Tasha coming to Betsy's birthday party tonight?" I asked.

"Oh yes, she can't wait." Paulina said. "Also, Federal Judge K.M. Landis personally called the CEO and HR Officer and told them he expects full and swift compliance with the subpoenas, and to not even try any stalling tactics."

"That's good." I said. "If he did that, maybe they won't try the bullshit things they normally do. And if what I think happened did happen, these employee records are now my last hope to win this case, and get Justice for the Mathesons."

Paulina's face looked pained as she said "Yes, it did. Savannah did get Judge Folsom to drop the charges against Davalos

with prejudice.

Dwayne Matheson's father is appealing the ruling, but that'll get shot down in Leahy's Appellate Court. Nathan Masterson was cock-a-doodle-dooing all over the place."

"So how did your meeting with Miriam go?" I asked.

"Not much gets past you." Paulina said. "Yes, I didn't get here sooner because I was in a meeting with Miriam, Savannah, and Dwayne Gregory. Miriam dropped the bomb. She's putting me on Vice cases and Savannah on MCD cases. Dwayne will be handling overflow, like this morning when he handled Alicia Tate's arraignment while Savannah was getting Davalos off and I was securing your subpoenas."

Paulina: "She's also shelving the DDA structure idea. She's planning to hire one or two more ADAs and then some support staff. Even though we're the fourth largest jurisdiction by population in the State, we would not need more... if Gregory were competent, that is."

"Jenna Stiles is out there, just waiting to be hired." I said.

"True, but that's likely not gonna happen." Paulina said. "You know I've always believed that Miriam has tried to keep me down not so much because I'm Black but because she perceives me to be a threat to run against her for the D.A. post. And I think she perceives Jenna as a possible threat to run against her, as well. Soooo, she doesn't want to give Jenna the résumé to do it."

Paulina: "And, as we've discussed, Miriam is trying to help Savannah win at least the Solicitor position, and so she's giving Savannah the juicy MCD cases. And with you solving cases and making them so easy for the D.A.'s Office to prosecute or make plea deals, it'll help Savannah."

"Well, that's not gonna happen" I said. "Did you hear about our meeting with Miriam and Savannah here at Headquarters?"

"Only that you had one," Paulina replied. "And that you, the Iron Crowbar, went berserk when Savannah announced she was dropping the charges against Richard Davalos and Miriam backed her up."

I said "It was worse than that." I told her everything that had been said, then added: "Savannah showed her true colors this morning. She really enjoyed shoving that in my face."

"What part, the Davalos charges, or her being the MCD ADA?" Paulina asked.

"The Davalos thing." I said "I can't shake the feeling that she

knew

she was undermining my case, and that she was happy to be doing it. And Miriam didn't tell us about the assignments until she got Savannah out of the room."

"Savannah was like that in our meeting." Paulina said. "She was giving me this smug look the whole time, as if she were enjoying getting one over on me. I just didn't say anything."

"I'm glad you didn't." I said. "I need my spy in the D.A.'s Office."

Paulina said "Sure. And if there's anything you need that I can help with, let me know."

I said "That's the one thing we cannot do. I'm sure Miriam is looking for us to do something like me coming to you instead of that idiot, so that Miriam can fire you for cause. We have to be very careful."

Paulina said "That wouldn't save her against my lawsuit for racial discrimination, and I

am

going to play that card if she fucks with me in any way, at all. Having said that... I know you're serious about undermining Savannah's political future. But what do you think Miriam is going to do when you do that?"

"Miriam better think about her own future." I said...

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

At 10:45am, just after Paulina left, Captain Claire Michaels came to my office with Lt. Mary Milton.

"

K'plaa!

sir." Mary said in the original Klingon. "The DNA results came back. The skin under her fingernails and the pre-cum swabbed from Julie Matheson's vaginal labes got a match."

She handed me a file folder with the test results and the profile of the criminal as she said "Roberto Cardona Jimenez, age 34. He's been arrested and deported twice, but his name has frequently popped up in drug operations. His DNA was taken after he was captured with two other men that had kidnapped a woman in Houston, Texas, and were in the act of gang-raping her when Police arrived and they were arrested. Apparently he hadn't raped her yet so no rape charge for him, and they just deported him instead of the kidnapping, aiding and abetting rape, and other charges that should've landed him in prison."

"Our Federal Government at work." I said. "Have you put out an APB for him? What am I saying? of course you have."

"Even better." Mary said. "The State Crime Lab put one out on our behalf as soon as the results came off the their computer. That was abouuuuut... fifteen minutes ago."

"Good." I said. "Maybe we'll get a break and find this son of a bitch------"

*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*

It was my Police iPhone, and it was Nextdoor County Police Chief Molly Evans. "Yes, Chief Evans?" I said as I answered it. "Is this personal, or business?"

"Business." said Molly.

"Let me put you on speaker then." I did so, then said "I'm here with Captain Michaels and Lieutenant Mary Milton. Whassup?"

Molly said: "I was about to call you about two bodies we've found at The Fucking Field about an hour ago." (

Author's note: 'Unresolved' for more on The Fucking Field.

) "Two males, Hispanic, mid-30s. We got identification by fingerprints, and then your very recent APB also showed up."

"Ohh, noooo." I said.

"Yep." Molly said. "One of the bodies is that of Roberto Cardona Jimenez..."

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

"The bodies have been taken to your Morgue for autopsies." said Chief Molly Evans as she, Captain Michaels, Detective Julia Rodriguez and I watched as the CSI's processed the scene in the field where the bodies had been found. "The bodies were cold, and the EMTs that first responded thought they had been out here all night."

I nodded. "How'd you find them? Who called it in?"

Molly said "Our morning patrol routinely rides through here, looking for drug drops or contraband being dumped. This morning they found the bodies."

"Chief," asked Captain Michaels, "do you have any cameras set up anywhere out here?"

"We tried hiding some in the treeline back there." Molly said, pointing to the trees to the south. "Those were found and stolen. We also tried putting in some sensors to detect if anyone drove down the road into here, but they haven't worked very well, and the signal relay equipment was stolen a few months ago."

"Okay, then." I said. "I do believe these men may have been involved in the Matheson deaths, so welcome to our joint investigation of those issues, Chief Evans."

"It's your party, Commander." Molly said. "We're just attending it..."

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

"Fast DNA markers suggest that the guy on the left is the same guy that attempted to rape Julie Matheson." said Martha the M.E. as she and I stood next to the two bodies in her autopsy room. "He also has scratches on his face, especially around his eyes and on his ribs, which I suspect will correspond well to her fingernails. She fought back hard. And he didn't get much penetration because his penis is two inches long when hard."

"Any idea who the other guy is?" I asked.

Martha said "I sent the fingerprints in for both of them. Jimenez's ID came back quickly, but the other man's prints either aren't on record, or have been flagged by the FBI with no indicator to us. This other man is younger, so maybe he hadn't been busted yet. He also appears to be white, especially compared to Jimenez."

"That's plausible." I said as I looked at their dead faces. "Both clean shaven?"

"Yes." said Martha. "Looks like they shaved every day."

"Damn." I said. "The eyewitness said one of them had a big mustache... probably a fake, a disguise. And these guys were shot?"

"Yes sir. Execution style." said Martha. "Their hands were tied behind their backs and they were likely on their knees, judging from the downward angle of the bullets. Small caliber rounds, likely.22, but I'm not certain of that just yet."

"Good enough." I said. "And you know I'm going to ask it: the time of death?"

"Ten to twelve hours before they were found." Martha replied. "But the cold night makes it a little uncertain until the tests I'm running come back."

"So maybe around sundown last night, slightly before to slightly after?" I suggested.

"Entirely possible, Commander." Martha said.

Captain Michaels had been watching through the window, and she joined me as I walked across the parking lot to Police Headquarters.

"Sir, do you think Davalos might have done this?" she asked. "Maybe give us a chance to re-arrest him?"

"He was in jail all last night," I replied, "and Masterson was here late enough that it's likely they were dead before he left here for the night. As to whether or not Davalos hired these guys? I doubt it. He didn't want his daughter harmed, and that's exactly what 'Stub Hub' and his buddy were doing when they attacked the Davalos home."

A moment later, I said "Claire, send Joanne Warner and Julia Rodriguez to see Mrs. Jones. Have them show her a photo of Jimenez and this other cat, and see if Mrs. Jones recognizes them. And tell Joanne and Jerome that I have invited them and you to lunch. Subway sandwiches. We'll watch the interview tape, so I can show Joanne see why I kicked her to the kerb last night."

"Wilco, sir." Claire replied...

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

"Bad?" asked Chief Moynahan as I reported to him in his office.

"Yes sir." I said as I sat down at his hand-gesture invitation. "About as bad as it can get. I'm fairly sure those guys are the ones that invaded the Matheson home. They are now dead, so our chances of finding out who hired them have dropped through the floor."

"Truuuue." said the Chief. "And while you were in Nextdoor County, I learned that when Davalos was released, he went straight to County Airport and boarded a small Learjet, which had flown in an hour earlier and took off immediately after he boarded. Its flight plan was for Acropolis City."

"Yeah, they wanted to get him out of here as fast as they possibly could." I said. "And do observe, Chief, that in having a plane here and ready to go shows us that they

knew

he was going to be released. The fix was in, and hours before. And that means Savannah Fineman was part of it, if not Miriam Walters herself."

"Could well beeeee." drawled the Chief. "It might interest you to knowwww that

your words to Mizzz Walters, that you were going to make sure Mizzz Fine-mnnnn never gets elected to anything, had an interesting effect. I ex-peck-teddd that she was going to be angry, and accuse you of making threats and all. But instead, she looked very worrieeeeed. I don't think she properly thought about the consequences of her act-shunnnnns, and that you would retaliate so forcefullly in that wayyy."

I just shrugged, and felt my eyes going jet. The Chief observed my reaction.

"Okayyyy, what's next in this Matheson case?" asked the Chief.

"We have one slim hope left." I said. "Very, very slim. But if Matthew Willis is as arrogant as I think he is, if he's as arrogant as his father was... we may see that slim hope come to fruition..."

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

11:30am, Wednesday, January 6th. Captain Michaels informed me that Joanne Warner and Julia Rodriguez were back, and that Mrs. Jones apparently wasn't at home; she had not answered the door, nor was her vehicle in the garage. Joanne had looked through the glass that framed the door, and saw no movement inside nor lights on, just the living room furniture.

I sent a Patrol cruiser to pick up Jeff Cawthorne and bring him to I-A. I had Captain Michaels bring Detective Joanne Warner to the Monitor Room to watch the interview. Detective Julia Rodriguez went into the room with me, and Patrolman Johnson was the Uniformed Presence.

"Okay, just to say I did it, I'm going to re-read you your rights." I said, and did so from the card. Cawthorne said he understood the rights.

"Mr. Cawthorne, do you know a man named Richard Davalos?" I asked.

"Yes sir." said Cawthorne. "He's Julie's father."

"When did you first meet him?" I asked.

"Around the time of Julie and Dwayne's wedding." said Cawthorne. "I was Dwayne's Best Man at the wedding."

"How did Davalos feel about Julie marrying Dwayne?" I asked.

"I suspect you know." said Jeff. "Davalos despised Dwayne. Really hated him."

"Enough to want to kill him?" I asked sharply.

"I don't know about

that.

" Jeff said. "He knew Julie loved Dwayne, and backed off because of that. And he definitely did not want to see Julie harmed in any way."