Case of the Lost Drone Ch. 02

"With all due respect, sir... no." I said. "This has to come out. It has to be made public. The murders of three innocent people must be properly closed, and the murderers brought to justice in a Court of Law. You bring me those murderers to put on trial, and I'll let you handle it... but nothing less than the public exposure of these crimes will do. And I absolutely will not be silent about this, no matter what claims of 'national security' anyone tries to impose."

"Okay, then." said the EAD. "I'm behind you, as is Jack. But we're all fighting some pretty powerful forces. U.S. Senator Roy Lester from that State is firmly with Dana Fox. Samuel Russell from this State is also firmly with Fox. While Senator Bill Nunn and others are working with us, Lester and Russell want Fox to show that you, Commander, were involved in that incident, and then they're going to arrest you. And if you reveal anything classified to the Public, you'll be arrested and charged with treason."

"If they arrest me, they risk the truth coming out in public." I said. "And that is exactly what I want. So bring it on. And like I said... I will not be silent on this. I fully intend to give the information of this incident to the Press and make it as publicly known as possible. If you want to arrest me for that, go for it."

The EAD rose from his chair. "Laura, can we talk a moment? Jack, you and Don need to talk and decide what you're going to do." The EAD and Laura left the room, leaving me alone with Muscone.

"Those guys really wanna butcher you, Don." said Jack. "They see this as their chance. They smell blood."

"The blood of an innocent family that they spilled?" I asked in reply. "So, Jack, out with it...what were you left behind to tell me?"

"That I submitted my resignation from the FBI over this." said Jack. "The EAD has not yet accepted it, and he sees how bad this situation is. If they don't come correct, though, I'm done."

"Then we'll share a jail cell together, I guess." I said with a mirthless grin. "You know, this feels almost like the way Westboro tried to destroy my reputation, only worse in some ways... I do the right thing, I get destroyed; I don't do the right thing..."

I went into a reverie... a deep one. When I came out of it, Jack Muscone was no longer in the office. Laura was sitting in the chair, watching me. Definitely an upgrade in the looks department, I thought to myself...

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

"I talked to my Army friends." said Sean Moynahan as we sat in his office later that afternoon. "First, those were not Army officers or men that were killed. They were FBI or CIA agents. Special level operatives. Second, would you like to know what they told me?"

"If you don't mind, sir." I said.

"They said 'Sean, cover your ass. Get a lawyer, and a good one, on retainer.'." said Moynahan. "They said that the FBI is going to cover up the murder of that family, and they're gunning for Commander Troy. Several U.S. Senators are putting tremendous pressure on the FBI to do something about you, Don. BigAgraFoods is pushing those Senators, and may be doing more and worse behind the scenes. And my Army friends said that if I stood with you, I would share your fate. Not that that's a threat; I can think of worse things than to go down fighting with you, Commander."

"I appreciate that, sir." I said.

"Also... my Army friends asked me to not contact them again." Moynahan said. "They're afraid they'll be targeted, too. It's getting bad in Washington, very, very bad..."

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

Saturday night, January 13th. I was sitting on the deck of The Cabin. The burning logs of a fire in the fire pot were providing good warmth, and I had a blanket over me, as well. I heard the back door open, but didn't pay it much mind. Then I saw Chief Griswold come around, also bundled up and armed with a blanket.

"Mind if I sit with you, Crowbar?" he asked.

"Please do, sir." I said. He sat down in the chair to my left.

"Nothing like a good fire to pull up to and have a good chat." he said. "You worried about this FBI thing?"

"Not so much worried, sir, but in full realization of the inevitable." I said. "The power of the Federal Government is about to be unleashed upon me. It does not matter that I am right. It does not matter that they murdered three innocent people. They are going to use the full power of the Federal Government to cover up their crime, and to crush me for daring to solve the case and get Justice for the dead."

"That does not sound like the Iron Crowbar I know and love like a son." said Griswold. "Sure it's not a hangover from what happened with Carole and Teresa?"

"My daughter was put in a death trap because someone hated me for doing good." I said. "Teresa, bless her heart and soul, had to suffer pain and nearly die to save my little girl. My family is in danger again. Larry Wheeler's death remains unavenged. The Eldons' deaths will go unavenged. Every time I try to do right, they just mass more and more power against me. When does it stop?"

Griswold pulled a bottle of Jack Daniels from under his blanket. "Here, son, you need a drink of medicine. I really have never seen you like this. You've never given up before, not even when Westboro was trying to destroy you, not even when your daughter was sitting in that warehouse. Why now?"

I drank a long pull from the whiskey bottle. "It's not me I'm worried about. It's my family. Laura, the kids. Molly, her kids. Cindy will stand with me, and she'll be destroyed... they'll go after her father, and everything good he's done in this world. And it's the Government doing this. With unabated power, and a deep desire to punish and destroy."

"You're 'the Government' too, you know." said Griswold.

"Sir, this is different." I said. "The same people who are putting every bit of power they have into the triphammer they want to crush me with, are people who have the power to plunge the world into war. These people have the power of nuclear-tipped missiles at their fingertips. They have the power of the law and the Courts behind them if they want... secret FISA Courts, secret facilities where they can torture people to death... oh yeah, they already tried that with me. And now, these murderers are going to cover up for their crimes by calling me a traitor..." I took another drink from the bottle. And another.

"So, Don," said the Chief, "they want to accuse you of being a traitor, eh?"

"Looks like it, Chief." I said.

"You know what I think of that?" growled Griswold. He leaned over and said quietly "I say 'in for a penny, in for a pound'." I whirled to peer at him. And I understood.

Part 12 - A Lack of Justice

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Fox Two News!" shouted the reporterette from in front of City Hall on Monday, January 15th. "Channel Two News has learned that District Attorney Gil Krasney has reached a sweetheart plea deal with Billy Russell, son of U.S. Senator Samuel Russell!"

Bettina: "Russell will plead nolo contendere to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and failure to follow Police instructions, and he will receive a suspended sentence of six months probation. He had been facing felony charges of drunk driving and assaulting a Police Officer, as well as being legally responsible for a traffic accident that damaged an Orphanage bus."

"The Orphanage is getting a new bus and other financial considerations, courtesy of anonymous donors, in exchange for not pursuing any charges or lawsuits." continued Bettina. "The driver of the bus, who was seriously injured in the accident, has received a settlement from the Insurance Company of Senator Samuel Russell. Asked if this was a fair plea deal, District Attorney Gil Krasney had this to say. Roll tape."

"This is not an uncommon plea deal for a first time offender." said Krasney. "Mr. Russell had no priors, and we treated him the same as we would treat other first-time offenders for minor violations of the law."

Back to Bettina: "Fox Two News reached out to Commander Donald Troy, who was the Police Officer assaulted by Billy Russell, for comment, but we have not yet heard back from him."

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

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

The question was asked by me. I had barged into Gil Krasney's office, practically running over his secretary, my red crowbar in my hands and screaming to be used.

"Get out of my office." snarled Krasney. "If you don't have the courtesy to knock, I have nothing to say to you."

"Like hell you don't!" I shouted.

"I'm calling the Police!" yelled the secretary.

"Please do." I yelled back. "Ask specifically for Police Commander Troy." I turned back to Krasney. "So how much did Russell bribe you to let his son off the hook, Krasney? Or did he threaten you?"

"Neither one." said Krasney. "And one more time: get out of my office. You're nothing more than a police officer, an employee of this County, not even an elected official. You do not have the right to question my decisions on who I give plea deals to."

"Like hell I don't!" I snarled. "I was the Police Officer that Russell assaulted. And you let that bastard off with a suspended sentence? After he hit a bus full of orphan girls while driving drunk?"

"Again, Troy, I'm not explaining myself to you." said Krasney. "If you don't like it, go fuck yourself up your God damned ass. If you want to assault me with that crowbar, go ahead, but my mind is even more made up now, and you can shove it up your ass. I'm glad I made that deal if for no other reason that to spit in your face!"

"You better remember your place, here." continued Krasney, now getting carried away. "You are just a fucking little pipsqueak cop, no more than any other one. I'm the District Attorney, and I make the decisions who to prosecute... which is going to be you when the Feds come to me with treason charges against you."

"Oh really?" I said, beginning to understand what was really going on here. "You just picked the wrong side, Krasney. You're the one that's done. You're going down with Senator Russell----"

"Not before I take your ass down, traitor!---"

"All right, all right, enough of this." said the voice of Chief Moynahan as he came in the door. Sheriff Allgood was right behind him. "Come on, Commander. Krasney's just a prostitute for Russell; don't compound his irrationality by doing something silly, however well-intentioned and badly needed it would beeeeee." I was all but dragged out of the office, leaving the Sheriff alone with Krasney.

"You should arrest that man." started Krasney, but Sheriff Allgood was hearing none of it.

"Shut up, Krasney." Allgood ordered, venom in his voice. "Troy is right; you chose the wrong side. You now have the entire Police Department, hell, the entire Public Safety Department as your enemy, not just Commander Troy. And if you really think you can be re-elected after what you just did to let Russell go... and after making deals with rapists before... well, good luck with that."

"Why don't you go get your piece-of-shit Police Officers in line, Allgood, and leave me to my job." growled Krasney. "And I'll be glad to run on my record. Are you going to run again on yours, especially being unable to keep trash like Troy in line?"

Daniel Allgood said nothing, but peered at Krasney. Wow, he went off the deep end, just like Della Harlow did. Now whassup wit' dat? I wonder...

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

"What do we do?" asked ADA Paulina Patterson, nearly in tears. She and ADA Franklin Washington were having lunch at the Cop Bar, knowing it would be suicidal for Krasney to show his face here. The Police and Fire personnel there for lunch did not give them any flak.

"I don't know." said Washington. "Either of us should be able to catch on with any number of good law firms. There's a ton of work to be done in the City. Only problem is that if Susie and I have to move, we won't be around Theo and his wife."

"Yeah." said Paulina forlornly. "I've got Tasha to think about, too."

"You know," said Franklin, "you could stay where you are, and feed Commander Troy information. Be a mole in the D.A.'s office for him."

"I'd do that already, if Don wanted me to." said Paulina. "But he's never asked me to do anything like that. He just wants me to do my job, straight up. And that's all I want to do---"

Both ADAs's cellphones rang at the same time...

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

"All right, thanks for coming." said Gil Krasney. The meeting was in his conference room in City Hall, and was attended by Paulina, Franklin, ADAs Ted Mason, Dwayne Gregory and Savannah Fineman, and Solicitor Miriam Walters.

"First," said Krasney, "I'm not going to explain any further my decision to reach a plea bargain with Billy Russell. He's a first-time offender, no priors, and this is not an unusual plea deal to make. I'm also not going to hear any flak about it. If you don't like it, feel free to resign your positions and clean out your desks."

"Second," said Krasney, "we're going to tighten up this ship. Ms. Patterson, you will move into the Prosecutor's office here, next to Mr. Washington's, full time. You will clean out the office you're using at Police Headquarters. It will no longer be used by the D.A.'s office. The Police can come here to discuss cases, and they can sit and wait in line for you instead of you running to their beck and call."

"Third, and last," said Krasney, "I am done with the antics of the Town & County Police Force. If they bring anything to any of you that is the least bit out of bounds, let me know so I can snap their heads back. If you get any wind of them harassing witnesses or suspects, I need to know--- what?"

Franklin Washington had stood up. "In case you've forgotten, Mr. Krasney, my brother is a TCPD Detective, and a good and honest one. If you say one more thing even suggesting the TCPD is dirty in any way, then you won't have to worry about the Iron Crowbar whipping your ass... because I'll do it myself. And, by the way, I'm not resigning. If you try to fire me, you have a racial discrimination complaint filed against you so fast it'll make your head spin." With that, Washington left the room.

"Ms. Patterson," said Krasney, "have your office at Police Headquarters cleaned out by the end of the day. Okay, that's it..."

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

I came into Paulina's as she finished up her packing. Helena had helped her. We were totally stunned by Krasney's actions. Franklin Washington had called Theo and told him of Krasney's insinuations of TCPD dishonesty; that made it to the Chief and the Sheriff, and would be remembered, as well.

"So," I asked, "what are you going to do? Beyond working out of City Hall?" Paulina knew what I meant.

"I don't know." she said. "I know you want me to stop working for the bastard, and you'll support Tasha, but I still have to have my work and my life. At least I can tell you what Krasney is doing, from the inside."

"I understand." I said. "And it'll be good to still have you putting perps in prison for us. But Krasney, he's gotta go. Maybe if you were D.A. yourself..."

Paulina gave a brief smile. "I know, you'd like me to run against Krasney. And I'm tempted. But let me figure some things out, first."

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

As I was walking out of my office late that afternoon, I saw Chief Moynahan inside the doorway of the now-empty office next to mine.

"Well, Mr. Crowbar," the Chief growled, "what shall we do with this offffisssse?"

"Give it to the next Deputy Chief when you get one, Chief." I said. He turned and peered at me.

"Yes, that will work." he said, understanding. "What about the offices on the other side? The D.A. was very pointed in his email to me that neither he nor his people will be using them, anymore."

"If he's still D.A. after November." I said. "And if I can help it, sir... he won't be."

Part 12 - The Guardians of Justice

For several days, there was no news. We had Teresa's emotional Board of Inquiry on January 16th. For the rest of the week, it was eerily quiet.

And then Mike G. Todd called on Friday, January 19th. "Don," he said, "I've got two things. First of all, the State Senate's Select Ethics Committee is going to subpoena you to appear on Tuesday, February 6th. And second, the FBI's homeland security branch is going to open a formal investigation of you on Tuesday, January 23d, saying you violated national security interests during your investigation of the Eldon case."

"Okay, thanks." I said. Mike said he'd begin preparations for the State Senate hearings.

An hour later, my personal cellphone was contacted by a burner phone. I knew who it was, so I answered it.

"Hi Bettina." I said. "It must be important."

"Yes, it is." said Bettina on the other end of the connection. "Don, the Press is being given their so-called 'marching orders' by the Government. They're going to come after you, starting next Tuesday. Apparently that's the soonest they can get a warrant. But they're expecting us to chant the story that you've violated national security. It is full-court press, both barrels, the whole nine yards. They even have the FCC threatening our licenses if we don't comply."

"Thanks for telling me." I said. "So, Bettina... do you want an exclusive?..."

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

Monday, January 22d.

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Fox Two News!' said the lovely redheaded reporterette at 7:00am, from in front of the Federal Building off Courthouse Square. "The Guardians of Justice have struck again! They have released a huge trove of information that is damning for the FBI..."

To be continued.