It Needed Doin' - Lamarr Wilson

"Good afternoon, Chief." Kiki Narvaez said as she walked into the office like she had been there before. "I'm Agent Kiki Narvaez, here on assignment. I take it you've been told and have the authorizations?"

"Hello, Agent Narvaez," the Chief said, watching the woman sit down in front of him.

"Have a seat," he finished sarcastically.

Narvaez just kept her gaze on him, expecting an answer to his question.

Just so he could rattle her cage, the Chief sat back in his seat, gave the woman his neutral look, then turned in his chair, picked a small stack of papers off his side-desk, and made a show of looking through them.

"You say you are 'Kiki Narvaez?" the Chief asked. "It says here your name is Karen."

The woman visibly ground her teeth for a moment, then exhaled.

"I go by Kiki to my friends." She said. "If you aren't going to be my friend, I'm Agent Narvaez."

The Chief quirked an eyebrow at that, then went back to flipping through the papers he'd already looked through several times.

He again confirmed that all the authorizations had been given, the paperwork filed, and the annoyance he didn't need had now walked into his office.

"You have the paperwork?" Kiki prompted again.

"I do," sighed the Chief. "I'm still verifying a couple of these." He then softly tossed the papers onto his desk.

"They'll check out." Kiki informed him.

"We'll see," the Chief said. "Until every one of them does, you don't have my authorization to conduct your operations." His tone was even, measured, and designed to be infuriatingly reasonable.

"That's wasting time." Kiki lightly protested. "I'd like to start as soon as I can."

"If... when... all those clear verification."

"How long will that take?"

"I don't know," Chief said reasonably. "My office already has the calls in. We're just waiting for verbal confirmation."

Kiki grimaced, knowing how long these things could take. She might have to goose things a bit back in Arlington.

Kiki hated the feud between Federal and local. It was getting in her way.

++++++

Kiki made two phone calls back to Arlington, one of which was fairly tense, but she got results.

Two hours later, she had several division heads from the local cops in a meeting room.

Kiki brought them cups of their own free coffee to try and foster a 'positive working atmosphere.'

"Gentlemen, you undoubtedly know about me by now, I'm certain the news of a Fed coming in and stomping on your business has been discussed to death."

There were a couple of nods, and the rest just gave flat looks, with their arms crossed.

"I'm going to make this easy... I have a list of names of people the DEA suspects of trafficking. They've been doing this a while, if they're doing it. I'm here to shake things up, and in a span of time, either confirm these people are scumbags and collar them, or clear them."

"To do so, in some of these cases, we're going to be doing something different... something I think you are all going to enjoy."

Eyebrows were raised, speculative looks were given.

"I intend, with my current ability to give you a safety-blanket while operating under my authority, to shake the tree, send the monkeys running, and see what happens. We will be doing the things I know some of you have wanted to do, but have been restrained from by current operational laws."

Kiki Narvaez then held up several papers for all to see, then put them down on the table.

"This is my authorization. I invite you all to satisfy yourselves as to the legality of it before you do anything. Your Chief..." Kiki nodded to the individual in discussion, and he just gave a neutral look in return. "... has already gotten verification in both written and verbal form."

"I would like you to do the same. Satisfy yourselves, make certain this is on the up-and-up."

"That said, once I start operations, if you have any objections... I do not care. If I say, then you do. You will not be held responsible for my orders, but if you do not carry out those orders, I will come down on you."

Several sets of eyes went hard at this.

"I can see some of you don't like that. I don't care. The normal rules haven't worked in this case, and I've been sent here to clean up a mess... a mess in your back yard. You will work with..."

"AGENT Narvaez..." said the Chief as he stood up, and walked to the door of the briefing room. He hadn't raised his voice, but he'd cut through everything with how he'd said it.

Kiki resented this, and let it show on her face. It was her first time ever giving a briefing, and she didn't want this candy local stepping on her show.

"If I can see you in my office?" The Chief asked, holding open the door for her and palm-up gesturing for her to join him in the hallway.

Kiki turned, and marched through the door, intending to shred this puffed up mayor-puppet.

"Chief, I'm not here to be..."

"Shut. Up." Chief said, using Command Tone.

Kiki hadn't heard Command Tone since Arlington, and before that, Boot on Paris Island.

"I'm going to do you the courtesy of being blunt, Agent." The Chief started, leaning down into her face, just like her old Drill Instructor used to do. "Your level of fuck-up is unacceptable."

Chief's tone was only a little louder than a normal speaking tone, but how he used his voice, his posture... Kiki was put on her heels by this.

"You do not have MY permission to abuse my people. You do not have MY say-so to use my people beyond what they are going to put up with. You do not have MY blessing to run roughshod over those fine people's morals, put their lives, careers and families in jeopardy with your rage-fueled crusade." The Chief said, throwing steel from his eyes into hers.

"Get this in your head and get it clean..." Chief went on. "These are MY people. They are professionals, and they are hesitating and unhappy because YOU are telling them exactly what they do not want to hear. None of them are green. After you throw around your storm of righteous justice, they will still have to work and live here. I do NOT care what Federal authorization you have, and who is pulling strings for you... you do NOT abuse my people. If they are hesitant, it's for a reason."

"Now, you can come in here and be the Queen High Federal Bitch that you want us to believe you are, or you can be an effective agent, working toward a goal, and do that while NOT running over good men and women trying their best in a bad situation!" He summed up.

"Am I clear?" Chief asked her, their nose tips almost touching.

Kiki looked a challenge at him.

"AM I CLEAR?!" Chief asked again, but not really any louder than before. Kiki saw resolve in his eyes.

Kiki realized she was seeing a more front-line version of someone she knew, who was doing much the same job... Mallone.

"You are clear." Kiki slowly acknowledged, not breaking eye contact.

++++++

The door to the briefing room opened, and the Chief walked in. Agent Narvaez walked in behind him, her bearing a bit different. Several people in the room, knowing what had just happened in the hallway, suppressed their smiles.

"Agent Narvaez?" Chief asked, gesturing to the front of the room, and then heading back to his chair, where he took a seat, his face carefully neutral. Again.

"Uhm, right... Mierda... Where were we?" Kiki said, moving to the white board again.

"I will try to make some of this fun, and I will try not to disrupt your operations, but make no mistake, I am after a number of baaaaad people, and after I identify them, I intend to act on it. I will be working through you and your divisions. I will direct, you will do. Any questions?"

"I don't believe you have blanket authority to violate anyone's rights," said one division head. "You might be able to get something arranged for one person, if a judge goes along with it, but I don't think you can do a wide-spread action like you are implying."

"Oh, I'm not going to violate anyone's rights..." Agent Narvaez said, keeping in mind the one-sided hallway conversation she'd just been hit with. "... we're just not going to ignore all the little things. Not any we observe."

"If someone on this list jaywalks, we snatch them up. If they drop a cigarette butt, we nab them for littering. If they park in handicapped, we tow and fine them. We are no longer ignoring the little things that judges dismiss... because this is about pressure. I don't care if they go to court and it gets dismissed, prosecuted, they get a paddling, or free ice cream... we fulfill the job, to the absolute letter of the law."

"You know, if we just follow someone around and tag them for every little thing... if we're following them waiting for that to happen... that's harassment," said one professional.

"Yes." Kiki confirmed. "Yes it is."

Then she smiled a nasty smile.

++++++

"I have a list of forty-two names." Agent Narvaez later said, after everyone had investigated the situation, generally confirming with the Chief that yes, the paperwork was legitimate. Some had resented the situation, a couple were enthused, and one was resigned. "We're going to work on five at a time, with two exceptions..."

"James Klippinger, and this one..." she said, putting her finger beside a name on the white-board. "...Lamarr Wilson."

Nobody in the room recognized those two names.

"If there's a distribution network here, all these names are the low-level street sellers. These names here," she gestured to another list on the same board. "... are their contacts. These here... another bunch, suspects now, slightly higher on the ladder. And these two... Klippinger and Wilson... they're as high as we currently suspect."

"These two get our attention until I'm satisfied, or we have them." Kiki finished.

"I'm not happy about this," said one individual. "This is targeting."

"Yes, it is." Narvaez confirmed.

The nasty smile was there.

There were a number of unhappy faces in the room.

"While you all are doing your jobs, I'm arranging some things through some other agencies," she finished with.

++++++

"Can I get your license and insurance information please?" asked the officer, as he stood beside the driver side rear window of the car he'd pulled over.

"What are you hassling me for, bro?" asked Lamarr Wilson through the cracked drivers-side window.

The officer could see through the partially lowered window now, and he could see one of the drivers hands, and an irritated face.

"Window tint," the officer said reasonably. "You can't have the windshield tinted, and the rear window is darker than allowed, sir."

"What!?" Lamarr asked, not believing what he was hearing.

Lamarr argued for ten minutes, with the officer failing to see his ID. Another unit, with two uniformed cops appeared. Lamarr kept arguing. Lamarr asked the officer why he was hassling a black man. The officer, a black man, said it had nothing to do with skin, his windows were illegally tinted.

Lamarr argued on. The officer put a measuring device on the driver-side door window, and it registered that the tint on it was above the allowed limit. He showed the reading to Lamarr.

Lamarr started cursing the officers.

It went on for twenty-three minutes.

Lamarr was eventually arrested for obstruction, failure to provide ID, threatening Law Enforcement Officers, Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer (spitting), and failure to identify.

He spent an unhappy night in jail.

Damar Lord Freeman (13), who was with Lamarr, was taken by Child Services. When his mother, Shawna Freeman was called and appraised, she was also unhappy.

Lamarr's silver Mercedes, with the vanity plate of 'H0M13' was towed and impounded.

++++++

Wilson Food Services was paid a visit from the Utility Board.

"We need to check your connections," said the lead-man of the three-man inspection crew, who produced paperwork. "We need to look for faults."

Lamarr was called, and he showed up after a short time, while his manager stalled.

"We need to check for faults." Lamarr was told.

"What does that mean?" Lamarr asked, knowing the building was old.

"We gotta shut off the juice, and look over all the connections," said the foreman. "We gotta find out if you are under spec for this business. You're drawing a lot of juice, I think you got big refrigerators? We need to make certain there ain't gonna be a problem. It's a public safety issue. Here..." and he handed Lamarr a piece of authorizing paper, issued by the utility board and the city.

"You can't shut us down!" Lamarr protested. "How long's this gonna take?!"

"It takes as long as it takes. How old's this building? How many connections you got?"

"How the fuck would I know?" Lamarr said, waving his arms. "Yo, you can't drop this on us!"

"I don't like it, but that's the order." He was told. "Where's your box?"

Two hours into the inspection, the foreman called back to the utility board. He informed the appropriate people that when they were done assessing, they might want to look into the plumbing here. This building was old. The pipes in the walls looked like lead, and he thought the drains were old broken terracotta.

The utility board said they'd get someone out soon.

The foreman also made note that none of his people were allowed in certain parts of the building, and that when the point was argued, several large men appeared.

The foreman knew an implied threat when he saw it.

That information was also passed along.

++++++

Lamarr received an official looking envelope. He threw it down on a side-table, where it was promptly buried, and he forgot about it.

His high school records were being reviewed. His immediate action was required. Failure to respond and arrange an interview time would potentially lead to his graduation diploma being investigated.

++++++

A state audit notice appeared at Wilson Food Services.

Lamarr had to turn over all employment records for the past ten years.

No explanation was given.

++++++

Shawna Freeman was annoyed that she had to go to DL's middle school, to pick him up. Lamarr wasn't being allowed to pick him up for her suddenly, there was some issue.

Shawna was reflecting as she drove.

She'd been 'with' Lamarr for several years now, and the glitter was long gone.

He'd been exciting at first, compared to the men she'd been seeing after her divorce. He had that element of street-wisdom, and he was forceful. She'd been enthralled, and then after Lamarr had moved in... he was a business owner in good standing, he had an excellent income... some things had slowly revealed themselves. Things that at first had been frightening, which then became a new flavor of exciting, and following that... she'd been drawn in.

Lamarr was a mid-level drug-dealer.

She'd been left wide-eyed when she'd discovered that.

There'd been a few days of fear, not knowing how Lamarr would react if she told him to move out.

Then she discovered why Lamarr had been so fixated on her at the beginning... it was her job. She was a scheduler at Amerifood.

Her job was overseeing that shipments moving from Mexico and southern U.S. states made it through inspections and got to where they needed to be on time. Then she'd see the products made it to the smaller venues they were ordered from.

It was a business that never ended, antiquated equipment and software was used, far too much time was spent on the phone, and she often had to take her work home with her. It paid well, but she felt it was a poor use of her degrees in Business Management and Economics.

Lamarr was using her to track shipments.

It didn't take Lamarr long to start using certain shipments to deliver certain things. Things he failed to hide from the observant Shawna, despite some efforts to do so.

It was soon obvious to Shawna that Lamarr hadn't made arrangements for drugs to be brought in through Amerifood, that was someone above him. Someone that wanted closer eyes on what was happening than they already had.

Lamarr was street-wise, cunning, knew how to manipulate people, and in many cases clever, but he was also prone to having a temper, played at using 'street-rat' language and manners so people would underestimate him, and was a bit too quick to resort to implied threats.

Someone above him in the drug business was using Lamarr, Lamarr knew it, and was okay with it as long as it brought him a certain level of credibility and most importantly... money.

At first, Shawna had been afraid.

She didn't let Lamarr know what she knew.

She wanted him out, she was afraid for her son Damar, and herself.

Shortly after that, Lamarr's business, who received product from (and through) Amerifood, failed to receive their shipments due to a sudden walk-out by the union. Truck drivers were refusing to do their job, until an issue of expenses was resolved to their liking.

While that happened, Lamarr was 'caught with his nuts in the dogs jaw.'

Being familiar with alternate plans, Shawna was able to help... but the truth came out between them.

Lamarr started to actively use Shawna, without deception, to track shipments. If something went wrong, Shawna was to let Lamarr know. Shawna got 'a little piece' for her troubles. Lamarr had hinted that she should go along, and Shawna had felt a hint of a threat.

It took her four months to know more about shipping drugs than Lamarr. All through observation, subtle questions, knowing more about Amerifoods business than Lamarr, and common sense.

It wasn't long before another issue arose, and Lamarr needed Shawna's help to resolve it. Shawna couldn't explain to Lamarr that the issue didn't have a simple solution, and after an hour of arguing, Lamarr had tried his implied threat hood-rat act. Shawna didn't buy it. Lamarr's answer was to actually put her on the phone with his contact, so she could "splain it to tha man!"

Lamarr's contact had been very unhappy about that. He didn't like any form of exposure. However, he understood the problem when Shawna explained it, and the issue was resolved after a short delay.

A month after that, Lamarr's contact, Mr. Porter, contacted Shawna personally. Except he wasn't the Mr. Porter that she'd talked to on the phone... the Mr. Porter she met sounded very different.

Mr. Porter was a well-dressed, well-spoken man, who approached Shawna away from Lamarr, openly, and they had a frank discussion. While there was an implied threat that Shawna shouldn't ever mention their meeting, to anyone, Shawna felt she could handle what the meeting was about... it was a job offer.

Could Shawna handle doing more than she was already? Could she monitor several shipments, and troubleshoot?

Shawna hadn't given an immediate answer, saying she needed to make certain she could, with the resources available. Mr. Porter had appreciated the answer, stating he approved of her making certain of her capabilities, rather than promise things she couldn't deliver. Shawna found that a refreshing change from Lamarr.

Shawna and Mr. Porter had met two days later, at which time Shawna had informed Mr. Porter that she couldn't do much more than she was already doing, due to insufficient support in software, and communications if needed. Mr. Porter had asked questions, taken notes, and asked Shawna's patience while he looked into getting her what she needed to do the job, if she was interested?

Shawna, feeling a thrill that's she'd lost with Lamarr, agreed.

A week later, Mr. Porter had appeared again, and they 'took a meeting.'

Mr. Porter had told Shawna that her needs could be met, and that the offer was still open to her, but she'd be making a lifetime commitment. One of silence. Could she do that?

She could. She was a little surprised that she was eager to agree when the moment came.

Mr. Porter had been pleased, and asked Shawna's patience while steps were taken to get Shawna the equipment and position she needed, without making it look unusual.