Who Watches the Watchers

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 6 - The Lost Flight (continued)

"Hello, Phyllis." Amy said with a smile of radiant happiness. "It is good to see you again. Just relax, and you'll be home soon. And say hello to Carole, Teresa, and Buddy for me. I'll be seeing them again soon, too..."

Phyllis was trying to remain awake, but her eyes grew heavier and heavier. She saw a strange flash of purple lightning outside the window of the aircraft, its branches seeming to grab the aircraft. Then she lost the battle and fell asleep...

Part 7 - Who Do Ya Trust?

6:30pm, Monday, February 22nd. As the last of the sunset faded in the western sky, Teresa and I were at a little park that had an overlook of the North River, called Joe West Park. I had had Teresa come with me, and we'd left the Federal Building. I cautioned Teresa to say nothing as I drove along a major road that went east.

That road dead-ended onto a north-south road that paralleled the North River, the river that separated Eastphalia and Westphalia and flowed north to form The City's eastern edge. The river would turn east and join the Mississippi-Missouri River Systems much later on.

The area was industrial. Further south, where the Railyards were, was grimy. This area was rough, but not as bad. I drove to our destination and parked.

"Before we go any further," I said, "there is something I have to do. Sign this paper." As Teresa examined the document, I set up my Police iPhone to record what was about to happen.

"Do I really need to do this?" Teresa asked, even as she was signing it.

"Yes." I said. "Britt Maxwell is insisting on it, and to be candidly honest, I've been looking for the excuse to make this happen. So... please raise your right hand and repeat after me..."

And I proceeded to administer the Oath making Teresa Croyle a Lieutenant in the SBI Reserve.

She took the oath and I handed her her SBI Reserve Badge. Then, in my capacity as a Principal for the Town & County, I signed a contract with her similar to the one I had, that allowed her to be an SBI Reserve Lieutenant and paid by the SBI when she was logged in as one.

"Kelly Carnes will turn purple over this." Teresa said as I did the necessary things to download the SBI app onto Teresa's Police iPhone, and she signed in.

"I hope so." I said. "Okay, leave your cellphone here. Let's take a walk along the river, shall we?"

We walked down to the semicircular balcony that looked over the river, named the Hank Voight Overlook. As we looked over the North River, seeing the lights on both sides coming on, Teresa said "Was I wrong?"

"Not at all." I said. "You may have saved Pitts's life. I really was about to walk out of there. And don't ask about Tanya right now. We'll talk about that at a more proper time."

"Okay." Teresa said. ""And I hope I didn't speak out of turn nor say too much at lunch today."

"No, you were right." I said. "You and Carter Fischer were right to consider that Pitts's disappearance was a ruse. I considered that myself, but I have other reasons to believe it's not, and that he really was abducted. And you cut yourself off before saying something... what was it, that Dwight Stevens tried to send us home?"

"Yes, that's exactly it." Teresa said. "Once again, are you

sure

he's not dirty?"

"At this point I consider every Federal Agent except those that are or were once married to me to be suspect." I said.

"Even Muscone?" Teresa asked, her voice connoting disbelief.

"Full dirty? No." I said. "But I haven't forgotten Archie Brody." (

Author's note: 'Cool For The Summer'.

) "But more than that... you remember the Louella Hopper case?" (

Author's note: 'Casting Aspersions'.

)

Teresa nodded, and I said "I remember Muscone joking about the Feds telling Hopper that I had McGinty's Materials, and when I jumped down his throat about it, he swore he was joking. But someone wasn't joking, and the Feds

did

feed Hopper exactly that fake information... and it put my family in mortal danger, and almost got me killed, twice over."

"Yes, I remember." Teresa said, remembering all too well what she had found in that room under University Hospital.

"So no, I'm not trusting Muscone right now." I said. "And I wasn't kidding about the Chief possibly firing Tanya if anything happens to 'Coldiron' Masters."

"So how 'bout telling

me

what this is all about?" Teresa said.

"You've heard most of it, but I'll tell the story just to get my own head wrapped around it." I said. "First some background: when 'Coldiron' left the TCPD for City Internal Affairs," (

Author's note: 'The Yellow Rose of Texas', Ch. 01-02.

), "Chief Moynahan and now-Sheriff Griswold gave him some advice: if he ever ran into corruption in the CPD that I.A. couldn't handle, like the top brass being dirty, then he should go to Britt Maxwell for help.

And that is exactly what he did.

"

Your Iron Crowbar: "So that tells me he was dealing with corruption high up in City PD. And that brings the Feds's involvement into play. First of all, for the first time I completely believe Kevin Pitts is

not

a Swamp Frog."

"How can you tell?" asked Teresa.

"

Because he got Terence Johnson out of there.

" I replied. "He put his own cover on the line when he didn't have to. He could've let Johnson be, he could've asked Johnson to collaborate with him. But instead, he got the State Agents out of there. And I suspect he did so to keep them from being harmed."

"And upon what data do you make that theory?" Teresa asked.

"More like circling around to it." I said. "Stevens said the money involved in this drug operation was getting huge. And that's how perps start getting caught... when they try too hard to sustain those levels. It's also how attention gets attracted by other greedy people, and I think that's what has happened here. When I hear the name 'Robin Isley', I see the shadow of DNI Brendan Chapel behind her... and he is one money-hungry son of a bitch."

Your Iron Crowbar: "So the Swamp Frogs are working with the CPD Narcotics Bureau Chief Ken Z. Adams, and very likely First Deputy Commissioner Liz Chennault. And Wes Masters has found out about it, and wants to bust them. He brings in good people, but they're about to be found out by the bad people, and another (air quotes) 'good people' warn off the State-level 'good people'."

"And the data that I believe I have to support it," I said, "is the technology that was used to subvert Siri, and make Pitts go in the wrong direction. No one was expecting that. And it's not technology that you just buy at the corner electronics store."

I did not mention that Britt Maxwell also had mentioned that Wes Masters had found the corruption by top City PD brass, and that her State Agents were beginning to look into it.

"Okay, then." Teresa said as the North River grew darker and reflected the lights of the streets and buildings along it shores. "I think I understand the basics. I still don't understand why Coldiron didn't come to Chief Moynahan, and therefore

you.

And I still don't understand Dwight Stevens's actions in all of it."

"That's simple." I said. "You know how I say Robin Isley only values citations on the wall? I think Dwight is a bit like that... he wanted the Marcie Harper bust, but in truth she would've gotten away and left him looking stupid. She had less luck against certain Iron Wolfs in Whirlybats." (

Author's note: 'Schoolhouse Rock', Ch. 07.

)

Teresa gave what was for her a smile as I finished: "I think Dwight saw a huge bust coming, and wanted the kudos. And I'm all for letting him have the glory, if he'll just get his head out of his fourth point of contact and let me help him."

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

It was my Police iPhone in the SUV. I rushed over to answer it. "Troy."

"This is Owen Lange." said the scratchy voice of Owen Lange. "We may have a bead on where Pitts is..."

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

Things were very busy in the FBI Offices when we got back. Tim Jenkins had met us at the elevator and said he's escort us to Owen Lange's office. I wondered why he was doing that, as we knew the way. But it soon became apparent why.

The large room where the task force had been working was full of Agents milling about. As Teresa and I walked by it, looking through the glass walls, I groaned.

"What is it?" Teresa asked, then saw what I'd seen. Among the Agents in the room were FBI or ATF Agent Lindsey Black, we were not quite sure which hat she was wearing today. The ATF's Karl Coleman was also in the room.

"They got here an hour ago." said Tim Jenkins. "They pretty much threw me out of there, and I didn't argue; I don't want any part of them."

"I don't blame you." I said as we continued down the hall and around the corner to Owen Lange's conference room office.

"Brace yourselves." Tim warned, then knocked on the door, opened it, and let us pass him into the room. I hoped I had steeled my face into impassivity as I saw who was there, but I heard Teresa gasp.

Owen Lange was at his place at the near-end of the table, looking somewhere between sick to his stomach and like a cornered cat. Standing around the table were Peter Page, Andrew Parsons, and David Rovers of the 'Bob Rovers BAU Team'.

And sitting to Owen Lange's left was... Dr. Robin Isley.

"It's about time you got here!" Lindsey Black said loudly as she came into the room behind us and then passed us to join her colleagues at the table.

"I'm not on your timetable, nor punching your clock. But I

will

punch

you

in the nose." I growled in reply.

I looked over at Robin Isley and said "And speaking of that... nice nose job." It was a reference to when I smashed her nose in at TCPD Headquarters. (

Author's note: 'No Way Out', Ch. 04.

)

Isley was not amused. She looked hard at me and said "You'll never do that again and get away with it. You so much as touch me, and you'll be shot dead." The other Federal Agents in the room, except Owen Lange, looked like they were about to pull their weapons out and shoot me anyway. They were staring at me with utter hatred.

"Oh, I won't touch you again." I said to Isley. "But I can shoot and kill you and every one of your little minions in here before they can even blink, much less retaliate. I look forward to you attempting to test me on that."

"You'll lose." Teresa said. "I'll have already waxed them all." The Iron Wolf was in a 'Teresa Cunt' mood today, I surmised.

"Why don't we put all the crap aside for a minute," said Owen Lange, "and see if we can find Kevin Pitts alive, okay?" In the silence that followed, he said "Okay, tell us what you've got."

Lindsey Black said "We believe the City Police are behind Agent Pitts's kidnapping, and

we believe City I.A.'s Captain Wes Masters is the leader of the corrupt cops that kidnapped him

. We know of several places where the City Police take suspects, usually black men, and subject them to enhanced interrogation, usually just beating the shit out of them until they confess to their crimes and give the cops the information they want to know------"

"The Feds have places around here like that, too." I interjected. "Like the one Archie Brody was taken to. Not to mention where Casey B. Walker tortured and damn near murdered me." (

Author's note: 'Cool For The Summer', Ch. 03; 'Dream Weaver', Ch. 03-04.

)

"I wish he

had

murdered you." Lindsay Black said, her voice full of hatred.

"That makes two of us." said Dr. Robin Isley, her voice more calm and level.

"Guys, please." said Owen Lange, exasperation in his voice. "We all want the same thing, here, to find Pitts. Keep going, Agent Black."

Lindsey Black said "As I was saying, the City Police have facilities they think are secret, but we know about them, and where many of them are. We are sending members of our elite Covert Ops teams on reconnaissance missions. Once they find where he is, we'll send in Rescue Teams to extract Pitts and bring him to City University Hospital."

FBI Special Agent Peter Page said "Right now our intel shows two leading candidate locations. One is in the western suburbs of The City. The other is just southwest of City International Airport, in the Ferguson Park District."

"So you haven't found him yet, have you?" Owen Lange said, his voice rancorous. "You'd led me to believe you had something."

FBI Special Agent Andrew Parsons said "Our teams are ready to go once we confirm Pitts's location. We're having to move after dark, so that the CPD patrols don't see us and give us away. We estimate that we'll know something by midnight, and we can move in after that."

"What do you say to that, Commander Troy?" Owen Lange asked.

I shrugged, then said "I don't think Wes Masters has anything to do with any CPD criminal activity, except possibly investigating it as part of his job. So the Bob Rovers BAU Team is fruit loops on that, just like they've always been on everything else. Having said that, if the City Police have have him, then what these guys are doing now is our only hope of getting him back."

"And to that point, Mr. EAD," I said, "it looks like you do not need my services nor my presence here any longer. So we'll be going. I'd appreciate it if you let me know if Pitts was successfully rescued." I turned to go, with Teresa about to follow.

"Don, we need your leadership on this." said Owen Lange. "If you don't actually go with the rescue team, we could use you here to make sure the coordination doesn't get fucked up."

I smiled briefly. "Sir, you heard the hatred of these Agents, and two of them saying outright that they want me dead. No sir, my work here is done. It's up to you Feds now."

"You're not going anywhere." Robin Isley said. "At least not until Pitts is found."

"Oh?" I said. "What, are you going to kill us to keep us from leaving?"

The Rovers BAU team members drew their service weapons and aimed them at us. Robin Isley said "Yes, that is exactly what we will do, to stop you from leaving until this is done------"

*WHAM!*

The door to the room violently flew open. FBI ASAC Karina White and Special Agents Tim Jenkins and Julius Jefferson came into the room, all wearing armor... and all pointing their drawn service weapons at the Rovers BAU team and Lindsey Black. Teresa had drawn her weapon, and it was aimed right at Robin Isley's (repaired) nose.

"Don't even think about it, assholes." Karina White said. "Come on Don, Teresa. Let's get out of here." Teresa and I went for the door and Tim came with us as Karina and Julius covered our exit. Once in the hallway, Karina led us to the stairwell. We took the stairs down to the garage level.

"Thanks, guys." I said as we went to my SBI SUV. "I just hope that wasn't a (air quotes)

'career move' for you all."

"You'll just have to hire us into the TCPD." Tim Jenkins quipped.

"I'd

love

to do that." I said. "And no kidding, Karina... we might need a new Deputy Chief soon. And speaking of that... where's Jack Muscone?"

"The EAD sent him home, to your Town & County." Julius Jefferson said. "Don't worry about us, sir. I've seen worse... I was in Providence Springs when you destroyed Spaulding and his operation. These cats are nothing in comparison." (

Author's note: 'Along Came A Spider', Ch. 02.

)

"No doubt about that." I said, remembering. "Good luck to you all."

"And good luck to you, sir, and you, Commander Croyle." Julius said as we all shook hands. Teresa and I got into the SBI SUV and pulled out of the garage and onto the street as the others went back inside.

Teresa used my ink-pen device to check for bugs. "No active devices." she said. "Of course, they could be using our phones against us, and listening in."

"At this point, it doesn't matter." I said. "The die is cast, and the wheels are in motion. Still, say nothing until we clear The City."

We got onto the University Highway towards home. The road was being made into a limited-access highway, and a new exit for the road to Pottsville, that one would take to go between Pottsville and our Town & County, was completed. To Teresa's surprise, I took the exit. I turned left, crossing the bridge over the highway. About two miles down the road, I turned left again, on a small paved road. I drove east for another two miles until we dead-ended at a fence.

"Come on." I said as I grabbed a bag and a post hole digger out of the back of the SUV. I used a key to open the gate and we walked inside and down the path for a couple hundred yards. We were now on a large, flat space. To our east a light periodically flashed green, then white.

"That's the local airport." I said. "Only small private aircraft can land here; it's not big enough even for the BOW Enterprises planes."

"But a helicopter can land in this field." Teresa astutely said as I began using the post-hole digger to take chunks of earth out of the ground. I dug three such holes in a triangle, about 20 feet apart, then took three small but powerful klieg lights and put them in the holes.

"Do you know what I'm doing?" I asked Teresa.

"Yes." Teresa replied. "Nagamasa-san did this when I flew the Whirlybat out of the late CIA Director's compound." (

Author's note: 'Causing A Commotion', Ch. 03.

)

"Ah yes, that's right." I said. My task done, I hooked the lights up to the small generator I took from the bag and started it up. I was happy to hear, or not hear, how very quiet the generator was. I had Teresa walk about 20 yards away with me, and we could not see the lights that were beaming into the sky. Then I guided her back to the lights, and had her stand with me in the middle of them. "Stay inside the lights."

"Okay." Teresa said. "So the Swamp Frogs

did

come in, just as you predicted." I'd told her that I was expecting them while she and I talked at Joe West Park.

"Yes." I said. "And they think we are stoo-pid. They openly wished for my death, and then turned around and told us their operation and their plans to rescue Pitts. And they fully expected me to believe every word of it."

"You don't think they're going to rescue him?" Teresa asked.

"Think about it." I said. "If the Swamp Frogs are in bed with the dirty CPD brass and making a boatload of money with this drug operation, and if Pitts is

not

dirty and was getting the goods on them, as was 'Coldiron' Masters, do you really trust them to (air quotes) 'rescue' Pitts?"

I then said, my voice cold enough to freeze blood: "No, what they were going to do was take him from where

they

have him and are torturing him, kill him, then stage a raid on a CPD rendition center, which I'm sorry to say do exist. They would 'find' him, but he'd be dead already."

"Geez." Teresa whispered.

I continued: "And then they began having their corrupt allies of the Mainstream Media chanting that it's Wes Masters that was the ringleader of the operation, and gin up fake evidence of it. Oh, did I mix up my tenses? The Media lynching begins tomorrow morning, and the dirty CPD cops and the Swamp Frogs will walk away unscathed."