A Case of Revenge Ch. 03

The Media asked about the absence of Director Jack Lewis. The Governor replied that Director Lewis was detained by previous appointments, but that he fully supported the action appointing Inspector Maxwell to her new duties. The Governor's words fooled no one who heard them.

When Dexter Robinson was asked to speak, he told of how wonderful it had been to watch 'Miss Maxwell' grow with the Campus Police, and that he was going to miss her greatly. But he was 'tickled pink' that she was getting this opportunity, that she deserved it, and that he wished her nothing but the very best. Britt couldn't hold back a tear as she hugged him...

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The piece d'resistance of my plan was fulfilled at 3:00pm that day.

"Crowbar One and Crowbar Two!" the Chief practically shouted into the MCD room. "Main Conference room. Yesterday." Cindy and I hustled into the room. Inside was SBI Deputy Director Conlan. He had papers on the table in front of him, and an SBI Reserve badge. Also in the room was Molly Evans, who was beaming.

"Guys, to make a long story short:" said DD Conlan, "With her promotion to Inspector in the SBI, Britt Maxwell can no longer be a Reservist in the same SBI, so her slot becomes vacant. This leaves a gap to fill in this region. I am going to fill that gap right now, if Detective Ross would be so kind as to accept the appointment." Cindy looked totally surprised.

"We're not taking 'no' for an answer." I said. "That's why Molly is here; she's going to beat you up if you don't accept... Partner." Molly grinned as she let her eyes bore into her sister's.

"In that case, I guess I'd better accept." Cindy said. smiling shyly. Deputy Conlan had her sign the appropriate paperwork, administered to her the oath of office, and handed her the Reserve badge. I could see that Cindy was inwardly very pleased with all this, though she tried not to show it.

"Oh, by the way, Lieutenant," Conlan said, drawing out more paperwork. "You need to sign this paperwork." I did so, was administered the oath of office, and given my new SBI Reserve Badge, which gave me full Lieutenant rank during those times I was deputized into State service. Only SBI Captains, Inspectors and Directors would outrank me.

"Still my boss, no matter where I go." mused Cindy.

"I hope that's not a complaint; you have the best boss anyone could possibly have." Molly chastised.

"NO doubt about that." Cindy said agreeably.

"Thanks, guys." said the Chief. "You guys can head back to MCD now."

After walking the short distance down the hall to MCD, I intentionally held back to let Cindy walk into the room first. She was met with a full room of Detectives and Uniformed officers, applauding and cheering her for her SBI appointment, making her blush furiously.

Those Reserve appointments were becoming badges of honor around the State, I realized as the others made Cindy cut the cake that had been brought in for her. For a half hour we partied and forgot about the toils and drudgery of police work. We had no idea of the bombshells that were about to hit us...

Part 16 - Business Transfers

"I'm going home."

The words were spoken by Michael Burke as he sat on the sofa at Todd and Jeanine's home, holding his baby grandson Jack after dinner.

Earlier in the day, Michael had called Todd and Jeanine into his office. As Todd was now 21 years old, Michael was signing over the bulk of his company to his only remaining son. Todd was receiving 60% of the company, with Jeanine getting 20% and Michael retaining 20%, which would be split between his grandsons Jack and Doug upon his passing. After signing the paperwork, Jeanine invited Michael to dinner at their home.

"Oh, that's so sad." Jeanine said. "You're going to miss the babies growing up."

Michael smiled briefly. "I'll be visiting fairly often, I'm sure, and you can come visit me at the lake house I've bought on Lake Amengi-Nunagan. I'm sure you and Todd will have questions as you learn the ropes of the business, even though I have full confidence in your abilities to run it. Your mind for business is years ahead of your age, Todd."

"Thanks, Dad." Todd said. He could see that the ordeal of his father's wife's attempt to murder Todd's uncle's wife, as well as all the truths that had come out about Jack, had worn the man down. He definitely needed rest.

"I... I should never have come to this town." Michael Burke said. "It's been nothing but a disaster."

"That's not quite true, Mr. Burke." said Jeanine. "You found a son you didn't know you had, you have two grandchildren now."

"Yes, that's true." said Michael. "But I just wonder if we'd stayed where we came from, if things would've been different. Poor Eleanor... I had no idea she'd go off like that and..."

"Dad," asked Todd, "can I ask you something? You've wanted to know the truth about Jack for years. Now you know. Mom acted on what she learned.. how do you really feel about it all?"

"That's a good question." said Michael. "I've long wondered what I'd do if and when I learned the truth about Jack. Now that I know... well, what Eleanor did wouldn't have brought Jack back. Your uncle is a good man, Todd, and for my wife to try to kill his wife like that... that is not what I wanted, Todd, it's not what I wanted... it doesn't bring Jack back..."

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"I just don't know what to do, Lieutenant." Seth said. "I feel totally boxed out."

It was now dark on the night of May 29th as I spoke with young Seth Warner in the greatroom of The Cabin. Cindy was in the TV room in the front part of the house, pretending to watch TV but listening to our conversation as we sat on the sofa.

Seth had approached Laura's administrative assistant, the lovely Gayle Roberts, who had been his father's secretary and also Seth's lover. Seth needed advice, badly. Gayle had talked to Laura, who had immediately suggested that Seth talk to me.

I was totally fascinated by what Seth had told me. He recounted how his sister had confronted him and his Aunt Katherine Wilson, saying that she intended to sell their late father's company DynaCorp to another company. To Seth's utter shock, Katherine was going along with Karen Warner, who had her mother's proxy for voting shares. It also was Karla who had convinced both Karen and Katherine to sell to this company.

"I have no idea who they are." said Seth. "They're a totally new start-up. Their name is 'Boxall Holdings, LLC', and they're incorporated in Nevada, which means I can't get any of their shareholder names; Nevada laws are the worst about that. They have no other holdings that I can see; in fact, they're a brand new startup."

"Curious." I said. "And your sister just sprang the whole thing on you, with the votes from your mother and aunt?" Gayle Roberts had told me that Seth and his Aunt Katherine were having a sexual relationship; it surprised me that Katherine was betraying him for her sister-in-law and lover Karla Warner, who was now in State Women's Prison.

"So what can I do, Don?" asked Seth. "I don't want to sell Dad's company. I mean, money's not an issue since we got that big settlement from Jonas Oldeeds's wife, but I wanted to run that company. Some exciting things were going on there."

"Seth," I asked, trying to choose my words carefully, "was there anything in DynaCorp that was really big? Anything new coming out?"

"No, sir." said Seth. "We were just fulfilling our Government contracts, and I was trying to generate new clients for our existing products. The travel was the fun part of it all." I don't know why, but those words resonated with me. Now who else wanted to be a part of a business because of the travel part of the job? I left that for the moment.

"Well, Seth," I said, "I don't see if there is much you can do. You can probably put up a legal fight for a while, but if you don't get your aunt to turn back to your side, there's not much to be done. You can take the money and start a new company, of course..."

"Yeah." said Seth. "I could do that."

As Seth spoke, my 'spidey-sense' started to tingle. I picked up a device from the table. It looked like a TV remote, but actually controlled the dimmer switch to the lights in the room, which I had installed some time before. I could use the remote to dim the lights or turn them off. Without warning, I hit the 'off button', plunging the house into darkness, and I peered at the lattice of windows to the back deck.

A shadowy figure was pressed against the windows, peering in at us!

"Ross! Watch Seth!" I yelled as I rushed to the door and tore it open. The figure had fled instantly after realizing the lights had been cut. As I rushed onto the deck, I heard the crashing of a person rushing down the side of the mountain... a treacherous thing to do, especially at night.

That did not stop me from jumping the walkway rail and sliding down the mountain after the culprit. Even though I controlled the slide to some point, it was steep. Loose rocks further made it a perilous journey. I slid most of the way on my fourth point of contact (a little Airborne lingo for one's derriere).

As I got to the road below the house, I listened intently. I could hear no one, nothing at all. The perp must be running down the road, and my chances of catching him or her was minimal.

A minute later the headlights of my Police SUV came down the road to my right side, the blindingly bright flashing blue lights giving an eerie hue to the road and landscape. Cindy was driving with Seth in the passenger seat. I got in the backseat and had Cindy drive down the road until it curled around the mountain, then had her go back. There was no sign of the spy.

Back at The Cabin, I told Seth to be very careful and watch his back. He left for home in his car, agreeing to come by the Police Headquarters the next morning.

"Any ideas on who that was?" Cindy asked.

"The person was slender, not too large." I said. "Maybe a woman or a small man."

"Oooh... motorcyclist." Cindy offered.

"Could be." I said. "But what would a potential assassin want with Seth Warner?"

It was a question I would ponder through a sleepless night.

To be continued.