Fire in The Hole Ch. 01

"Very very easy for you brave people to say." Daniel said. "And I mean that as a compliment to all of you, I truly do. But not everyone is, nor can be expected to be as brave as you, or hardened by combat as you have been, Chief Moynahan."

"True, Sheriff." said Moynahan, "but those that aren't willing to do the duty they signed up for... need to be invited to find new lines of work more suited to their... temperaments...

Part 3 - Cause And Effect

"Well," said Cindy as we drove back to Headquarters, via a drive around the Bypass, "have we disturbed a bed of fire ants again?"

"Oh yeah." I said. "But it needed to be disturbed. I noticed the Sheriff had the I.G. there and then asked me if I thought I was wrong and put the Firefighters in danger by my actions. If I'd admitted that, Quinlin and the I.G. would've used that to either force you to retract your complaint, or to find for him and say I shouldn't have put him in that quandary. Then the Sheriff went to work on you, but you held firm. Righteously so, I might add."

"So whose side is the Sheriff on?" asked Cindy.

"I think he's hoping it'll just go away." I said. "And that will depend on what Quinlin does..."

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

I was looking at Martha's autopsies of the dead dogs. She said that nine of them died by asphyxiation and/or smoke inhalation, that only two burned alive. It did not assuage how I felt. And then Helena buzzed me that I had a visitor. It was Fire Marshal Zoe Singer.

"Formal and official." she said as she came in, handing me a file folder full of papers. "It's arson. I'm turning it over to you for the criminal investigation."

"Thanks." I said. "Have a seat." Zoe sat down next to Cindy, both of them in the hot chairs in front of my desk. "Oh, I see you've already secured the video of the Animal Facility."

"Yep, and I turned it over to your evidence servers." said Zoe. "You'll have to identify the person in the video." I nodded.

"So," said Zoe, "between us and the lampposts..."

I smiled a brief, pursed smile. "What, you weren't a fly on the wall for that meeting with the Sheriff? Seriously, some of it is going to the I.G., and I suspect more will before long." I filled Zoe in on what had happened at the meeting. I finished with "So tell me, off the record... are all the Firefighters like that bozo? I'd like to think more of them are like Easley."

"I'll tell you this." said Zoe. "When Easley was in the field, no one dared showed the kind of lackadaisical attitude that was shown last night. But he's now working for me, and a lot of his example is gone from everyone's minds. Also, while most guys do their jobs conscientiously and well, there is an increasing sentiment among many of them that their job is to get through their shift unscathed so they can go home. I guess the Iron Crowbar's Police Force doesn't have any of those."

"I think you mean Captain Croyle's Police Force." I said. "Seriously, no one wants to be explaining to her why they hid behind a wall while a perp got away or hurt innocent people." Cindy was nodding vigorously in agreement.

"Of course," I said, "one thing we do emphasize in training is that no one on this Police Force is Superman, and they're expected to show good use of their brains, not foolhardiness as a substitute for bravery."

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

I did not need facial recognition software to see who the arsonist was, and neither did Cindy Ross when she saw the video. I called Captain Tanya Perlman and told her to meet me in Classroom 'D' with the Detectives she intended to assign to the arson case. She brought Roy McGhillie and Julia Rodriguez.

"He's underage, so you'll have to get his mother and bring her to the Station before we can do anything with him." I said. "Get a warrant, and take at least two Uniformed Officers with you to get him out of school."

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

"What the hell is this about?" Patricia Ridley demanded to know as she practically flew into Interrogation-A. "Why have you taken my son out of School and brought him here?"

"I'm about to show you, Mrs. Ridley. Have a seat" I said. She sat down... next to her son, Zack Ridley. We'd dealt with Patricia and Zack before, and Zack had been one of the seven kids kidnapped by the Slender Man (Author's note: 'Another Day In The Life', 'Return of The Slender Man'.). I sat down opposite them, with Julia Rodriguez sitting next to me, and Roy McGhillie behind us in the chair by the back wall. Corporal Hicks and Patrolman Johnson were the uniformed presences.

"First, I'm going to read you your rights, Zack." I said. "You have the right to----"

"Why are you reading him his rights?" interrupted Patricia.

"You'll see in a moment." I said. I read Zack the rights and asked if he understood them.

"Yeah, I guess so." said Zack.

"Let's watch some TV." I said, taking the remote and turning on the monitor. Video tapes from several angles clearly showed Zack setting fire to the kennels. Patricia was horrified, but still tried to protect her son.

"No, no, that can't be Zack!" Patricia exclaimed. "He was at home, in bed, asleep! Zack, tell them you were at home!"

"I wasn't at home." said Zack. "I snuck out. I set fire to the kennels."

"What?!" Patricia wailed again, her eyes all but popping out of her head. "But.. why?!"

"I was bored." said Zack.

Everyone was in shock at Zack's admissions. "Okay," I said, "Mrs. Ridley, you should call a lawyer for your son while he is being taken through booking." Hicks and Johnson took Zack through booking as Patricia went outside and began talking on her cellphone. I told Julia and Roy that it was their case from this point on.

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

After taking Zack through booking, Johnson cleared the hallway before getting to Interrogation-1. Hicks was escorting Zack, who looked bored and scornful. As they got to I-1, the door opened, and into the hall walked Your Iron Crowbar. I stopped right in front of them as I closed the door, my eyes boring into Zack's.

"Eleven dogs died, Zack." I whispered menacingly. "You killed eleven dogs. Do you know what I am going to do to you for that?"

"I'm a kid, you won't touch me." Zack said, his voice full of hatred, his eyes glaring as he looked up at me.

"You're right." I said. "You're a kid. I won't touch you. Now."

I named a date. "That's your eighteenth birthday, Zack. That's the day they'll let you out of Juvie. You won't be a kid then. And I will be there. I will be waiting for you to come out, and when you do, I will be remembering those dogs that died. See you then, kid."

With that, I went back into I-1 and back to my office. Hicks didn't see or hear a thing, no cameras picked up a thing. And it was only a matter of time until that little bastard reached legal age. Only a matter of time...

Part 4 - Federal Report

Still Friday, August 17th. At 11:00am I got a call from FBI Special Agent in Charge Jack Muscone, asking me to meet him at the Cop Bar for lunch at 11:30. Of course I agreed. We got a table in the back room for privacy.

"Glad you made it out of those burning kennels alive." Jack said. "Unbelievable how... lazy... those firefighters were."

"How'd you hear about that?" I asked.

"Oh, we hear things." said Jack. "Truth is, this one is all over Town. A lot of outrage on both sides. I'm a bit surprised at the intensity of it."

That got me to thinking to myself. Was Jack trying to give me a clue about something? Or was the Town really that passionate about this particular issue? And really, how did Jack know so much, so quickly? I put these questions into their compartments of the mind.

"So," I said after Jack's 'Jack's Double Cheeseburger Plate' and my 'Breakfast Burger Plate' arrived, "what's the reason for this lunch date? Besides an excuse to have double cheeseburgers, of course?"

Jack gave what was for him a smile as he ate a bite of his double cheeseburger. "Who needs an excuse to have the best hamburger on earth?" he replied. Then he said "But... I thought I'd use lunch as an excuse fill you in on some things we're finding out at our level."

Jack started: "As you know, we got FISA warrants to obtain the transmissions of several people, and we amped that up after Charlie Griswold's death. Leon Mills and Jack Lewis have both disappeared off the face of the earth. We paid the Reverend Steven Ikea a visit, and he says he has no clue where either has gone to. We've checked on him carefully, but he's created no phone chatter nor has done anything that might lead us to Lewis or Mills, or Ferrell for that matter."

"And you won't." I said. "Ikea is a dirtbag and then some, but he's never been one of the Swamp Frogs. He's like the guy the Mafia lets stay clean to be a front for the filth that goes on behind the scenes."

"He puts on one hell of an act as a religious nut." mused Muscone.

"Except it's not an act." I replied. "He really is what he appears to be when he gets all righteous."

"Yep." said Muscone. "Anyway, one thing we're slowly finding out, in association with SBI Inspector Britt Maxwell and Lt. Norm Chow: the Democrats in this State had a plan that once they gained control of both Houses of the Legislature, they would get Jared impeached and removed, then get Graham Collins impeached and removed. Once a Democrat was Governor, they were going to pardon Jack Lewis and Dick Ferrell, bring Lewis back as SBI Director, then pass a new SBI bill that would impose crushing SBI authority over county and local LEOs."

"And the Republicans would just help them do that?" I asked. "They need two-thirds majority to convict on impeachments in the State Senate."

"From what we're finding out," said Muscone, "yes, enough Establishment Republicans, led by State Rep. Wilson Hammonds, would vote to impeach Jared, and then convict him and get him out of there. I have never seen such hatred for one man as the Republicans and their Democrat friends have for Val Jared."

Muscone continued: "As to Graham Collins, it looks like they want to bring a scandal to him. We're getting the idea that they may want to gin up that University scandal with the coaches, and say that Graham Collins knew about it and helped cover it up. Obviously that could get out of their control really fast, but it's the idea we're hearing about."

"I think I'm going to refrain from asking how this information was acquired." I said, barely believing that Jack Muscone was so openly and freely giving me this much information, and thus letting me know how deep their surveillance was going.

"I always knew you were a smart man." said Muscone.

"So absolutely nothing on Jack Lewis and Leon Mills?" I asked.

"No." said Muscone. "Some of our people believe they are not hiding out together, nor are in touch with each other. Mills has friends in the Southport Mafia; his name came up as we investigated Les Craig all those months ago. Lewis... his friends were in Academia and Politics, and we think he had a bolt hole to run to and he ran to it. The Deputy Director lives up at Lake Watchacoochie now; we've advised him to keep on the lookout in case Lewis shows up in that area. We're also watching Valley Villages to your south."

"Retirement communities." I mused. "Hmmmm..." And then I noticed something on the television set, which riveted our attention...

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

Todd Burke was on the raised platform outside the BOW Enterprises main building. On his right was his wife Teresa Croyle, wearing her Duty Dress uniform, and her Medal of Valor around her neck. On Todd's left was Fire Lieutenant Roy Easley, in his semi-formal Fire Department jacket, shirt, and tie, and wearing his Medal of Valor.

"Thank you for coming today." said Todd to the gathering of Press and local politicians. "I am pleased to announce that BOW Enterprises received a patent for the technology that allows our new air or oxygen mask to be miniaturized to a size that is compact and useful for emergency operations."

Todd displayed one of the devices, which he took from its sealed bag. which was small enough to fit into a coat or jeans pocket. The device itself fit over the nose and mouth and had a little 'tank' of compressed air or oxygen that was a cylinder about the diameter of an Eisenhower silver dollar and as thick as six of them in a stack.

"These are one-time-use devices that deliver about five minutes of normal breathing in an oxygen-starved environment." Todd said. "We began working on these air packs after Lt. Easley here was injured while rescuing a child from a fire. With these devices, firefighters can give victims air without having to give up their own masks and equipment. And those of you who watched the news and saw Police Commander Troy's attempt to rescue dogs from those burning kennels... a device like this will enable those rescues to be made even more successfully, with less danger to the rescuers. Last, they can be used by first responders to give oxygen to people needing it. My wife and I could've used one of these after the Fourth of July races a few weeks ago!" People laughed politely at the joke.

"I also want to announce," said Todd, "that BOW Enterprises will be making these devices available to Fire, Police, and Emergency Responders at greatly reduced prices, just enough to cover the cost of making them and taxes. We hope that this will enable heroes like Lt. Easley and Cpt. Croyle to help more people with less risk to themselves." There was polite applause from the politicians and the Press.

Part 5 - Ranger

Friday, August 17th. When I got back from lunch, I was in a pretty good mood. The Breakfast Burger had been delicious, and Todd's live announcement where he'd given me some props for the dog rescue would be helpful, I knew.

And then Cindy came to my office, and the look on her ruggedly pretty face told me that there was a problem.

"Don, can you come to MCD for a second?"

"Sure." I said. I followed her into MCD, where the MCD and a few Vice Detectives were gathered. It was strangely quiet in the room, and the looks on the Detectives' faces pretty much matched Cindy's. Jerome Davis brought me a chair to sit in.

"Okay, whatever it is, show me." I said as I sat down. Cindy nodded, and Joanne started the DVR. It was a Della Harlow ad.

"Antonio Griswold as Sheriff? That's a laugh" said a woman's voice. "He'd let Commander Donald Troy run roughshod over us. Even the Fire Department is sick of Donald Troy's actions, which put firefighters in harm's way." A picture was shown showing Your Iron Crowbar being dragged out of the burning kennels.

"But worse, Antonio Griswold is close friends with the racist Governor Val Jared, who used Government power to harass women that made credible claims of sexual harassment against the Governor. Do we need a friend of Donald Troy and Val Jared to be our Sheriff?"

It was the photo being used with those words that they'd wanted me to see. It was the photo of the Governor awarding Charlie Griswold the Governor's Gold Medal, with Charlie between the Governor and Chief Griswold. Della Harlow had used that photo to attack Chief Griswold in that ad.

The ad ended with Harlow saying "I approved this message." followed by chants of "I'm with her! I'm with her!" and an 'H' with an arrow for the crossbar.

All eyes were on me as Joanne stopped the DVR. The look on my face was of an iron passivity, but nothing could hide the glint of fury in my gray eyes.

"All right." I said, standing up. "Let's get back to work." I left the room and went back to my office. A few moments later the phone rang, and I answered it. "Hello Judge McGill... yes, I saw it..."

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

My day got considerably brighter an hour later. I was asked by Captain Croyle, who was still in her Duty Dress uniform, to come down to the SWAT Team's room, which adjoined the gym.

When I got to the gym, I saw members of the SWAT Team with a handsome looking dog. He was brown with white markings, and looked like a collie except his snout was not long but snub-nosed.

"Sir," said Lt. Hewitt, "this is Ranger. He belongs to Army Sergeant José Morales of the 75th Ranger Regiment. A couple of our guys here served in the 75th with SGT Morales. The dog was staying with the Joneses. They were killed in that accident on the Bypass two days ago. We were going to pick up Ranger from the pound, but it caught fire. Ranger was one of the dogs you saved last night, sir."

"Ahhh." I said. "An Army Ranger named his dog 'Ranger'. So when is SGT Morales returning from his current deployment?"

"In a couple of weeks, sir." said Hewitt. "We'd like to keep him here, but Captain Croyle says there's a no-dog policy, except for the K-9 Corps."

"And only the Command Group can override the no-dog policy, sir." said Teresa. "Hint hint."

"Hint hint, indeed." I said. "All right, let's get Commander Ross down here."

"I'm here already." said Cindy, who was just coming in the door. "What's the issue?"

"We have a guest, Commander Ross." I said. "We can solve this problem one of two ways. You can commission Ranger into our K-9 Corps like you did Bowser, or we can suspend the no-dog policy for a short time. You can inform Captain Aaron that the Police Commander is about to do just that."

"Sounds like a plan." said Cindy.

"Mr. Hewitt, and everyone else," I said, pretending severity, "be sure that not a smear of dog poop appears anywhere in my Police Headquarters and be sure that I don't see any poop on the grass within the fences. Make sure Ranger gets to the Fairgrounds to do his business. And don't let him roam around unattended."

I observed that Ranger's ears picked up upon hearing his name, but when I said "Hello, Ranger." he didn't really respond. I made a comment about it, and a SWAT Team member said he didn't really respond to anything.

"Ohhhhh!" Cindy said "I'll bet I know what it is." She leaned over and said "¡Hola! Ranger.", followed by a spate of Spanish that I didn't quite catch. Ranger happily responded and went over to Cindy, who petted him.

"Ranger is a Spanish-speaking dog." said Cindy. "We could use an interpreter in our K-9 Corps." Fortunately, one of our SWAT Team members was fluent in Spanish, and Ranger became a much happier dog. I made sure to pet Ranger before going back to my office. Dogs make a bad day much, much better.

As we walked down the hallway, I said to Cindy "I didn't know you spoke Spanish, and so fluently."

"You speak French, I speak Spanish." said Cindy with a grin. She then said "I took it in School, and my father has had me practicing it a lot the past few months. He speaks Spanish and Portuguese very fluently. He used to go to South America a lot..."

Part 6 - Plots and Plans

"So what's the story, Graham?" asked State House Ways & Means Chairman Wilson Hammonds.

"I dunno." said Lt. Governor Graham Collins. "But I do know it's getting worse every day."

They were meeting in the State Republican Caucus Conference Room of the State Capitol Office Building. In addition to Hammonds and Collins, attendees included State Attorney General Karl Handel, State Senator Cain Mitchell, and State Rep. Jeff Canton.

"Where's Speaker Newton?" asked Canton referring to State House Speaker John Paul Newton, second in line to the Governorship.

"He said he had a political fundraiser to attend." said Lt. Governor Collins. "I'm not sure he's fully on board as one of us, as it is."

"He'd better be." said Hammonds. "He's our last firewall against the Democrats."

"I'm not going anywhere, Wilson." said Graham Collins, deeply aware that Hammonds comment inferred that Collins might not last much longer than Governor Jared... if Hammonds had his way. "The point of this meeting is about who might be going somewhere... Samuel Russell, to prison."