Swamp Frogs Ch. 01

This story is part of an ongoing series. The chronological order of my stories is listed in WifeWatchman's biography, which is currently not updating. Stories after Music Box Dancer are: Return To Apple Grove, Media Matters, Swamp Frogs.

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, 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 1 - Prologue

Tuesday night, July 17th. They were in a room next to Robert Mullen's office, lit by only one lamp. The *clink* of ice cubes melting mixed with the pouring of bourbon as the men in the room fortified themselves with liquid courage.

Attending this clandestine meeting were the Republican Establishment's top leadership: Lt. Governor Graham Collins, Attorney General Karl Handel, State Senator Cain Mitchell, State Rep. Wilson Hammonds, and Independent State Counsel Robert Mullen. Also attending were Governor Jared's aides Steve Fuqua and Alan Davidson.

"What we're proposing," said Fuqua, "is to help you destroy the Iron Crowbar, and then you drop the ISE investigation on the Governor."

Grahamnesty Collins chuckled. "No fucking way." he said, then sipped his drink.

"Hold on." said Cain Mitchell. "What do you have on Troy that can make that happen?"

"Not much, really." said Davidson. "But if we can strike a deal, we'll work to help you find something on Troy. Once he's gone, your real problems are over."

"You guys are just kids." said Mullen. "What you need to understand is that Troy is going to be here tomorrow morning... tomorrow morning, just hours away... and I'm no closer to busting his ass than I was the day I was appointed Independent State Counsel. Everything we've tried to get on that bastard... has failed."

"If you guys have some proof that Jared ordered Troy to harass those women," said Collins, "then maybe we can strike some kind of a deal."

"Come on, we're not that stupid." said Fuqua. "Even if we had that, you'd just use it against the Governor."

"You damn right I would." replied Collins. "Busting your boss's balls is my lodestone. It is absolutely my end goal. And I'm saying that to your faces."

"Let me ask you boys something." said Handel. "Does the Governor even know you're here? Are you speaking for him at his request? Or on your own?"

The younger men's faces fell. "We're on our own. We're trying to create a smooth exit, a soft landing for the Governor, to keep from destroying the Republican Party in the process. We know we have to get rid of Troy first, and completely. So we want to work together to make that happen."

"I for one have no interest in working with you," said Collins, "whether or not that bastard Jared sent you here or not. I want Jared's ass to hurt very badly when he falls. And I want the Grassroots to understand----"

"I hate the fucking Grassroots!" exploded Wilson Hammonds.

"Gentlemen," said Mullen, to Davidson and Fuqua, "it was brave of you to come here tonight. But it's too little, too late. Time has run out; we're at the critical mass moment of this whole damn thing."

Cain Mitchell stood up. "Why don't you give me numbers I can reach you at. We'll talk some more after we find out where we stand with Troy in the ISE investigation." The Jared staffers gave him cards, and he escorted them to the door with promises to call... promises he actually intended to keep.

"Wow, is Jared that desperate?" asked Handel.

"No." said Mitchell. "They're like Smigelski: they came on their own. Maybe to sniff us out, maybe to actually strike a deal. We might can use them to our advantage in the future."

"You're not thinking of working with them, are you?" asked Graham Collins.

"What if I am?" replied Mitchell. "If they can give us Troy's head on a platter... or if we can do it and then blame them for it... it'll be worth it."

"Getting Troy is not more important than getting Jared." said Collins.

"That's your opinion." said Mullen. "Others disagree. Alot of others. I'm tired of taking their phone calls."

Collins took stock of the situation. Was he really the only one that believed taking out Jared was the most important thing? he wondered to himself. Who would want it any other way?...

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

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Fox Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Wednesday, July 18th, from in front of the Courthouse complex. "Today is finally the day! Commander Donald Troy is appearing before the Independent State Counsel this morning, where he will be forced to answer questions about allegedly using Police harassment to intimidate two women who made very credible claims of sexual harassment against the Governor!"

"We have with us Della Harlow," said Bettina, "who is the Democrat nominee for Sheriff. Della, Police often testify, but rarely as the accused suspects. This has to be humiliating for the Town & County, doesn't it?"

"Absolutely, Bettina." said Della Harlow. "The Citizens of this County deserve better than to have their highest level Police Officers, not only Commander Troy but Captain Croyle and Commander Ross, subpoenaed to appear before the Independent Counsel's very important investigation. As your next Sheriff, I will clean up this despicable mess and give the Police Department better, more honest leaders who will do the right things instead of harassing women to protect Governor Jared!"

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

"I guess we can consider the war with the Press to be fully engaged on both sides." growled Chief Moynahan as he drank coffee with a full room of Detectives in MCD.

"That has got to be illegal." said Joanne Warner. "Giving Della that free advertising. Don't they have to give Chief Griswold equal time?"

"They're supposed to." said Cindy. "But when they do, it will be in the form of an ambush on him."

"Yeah, they're up to something with Griswold." said a voice behind them. They turned, surprised to see FBI Special Agent in Charge Jack Muscone having come in.

"Oooooh." said Tanya Perlman with a bright grin and twinkling eyes. "The 'handsome quotient' in the room just went up."

"No wonder I asked you to marry me." replied Jack, putting his arm around Tanya in a half-hug for a moment. "Unfortunately, I don't have time to chat. Detective Davis, Detective Warner, and Commander Ross... can I see you and the Chief for a moment?"

Part 2 - The Confrontations

"Three things." said my lawyer Mike G. Todd as we came into the State Capitol Office Building from the Parking Deck. I'd flown the TCPD Bell 206 helicopter and landed it on the Parking Deck helipad. A crush of Press were on the ground below, having been denied access to the Parking Deck.

"First," said Mike, "it's one-for-one. You and Mullen, then they can only have one lawyer for every lawyer you have. They can't pack the room like they tried to do to Captain Croyle. They'll probably rotate their people in and out, but that's okay and that's the second thing: you get restroom breaks. There's a washroom for the room we'll be in, and they can't stop you from using it. So you don't have to be catheterized. They also have to permit us a food break of at least an hour after four hours of inquisition... er, testimony. They're not permitted to starve you."

"Good." I said, smiling at Mike's jokes.

"Third, I demanded we be allowed to tape the proceedings, after what happened with Captain Croyle." Mike continued. "They refused that, but they're allowing the feed of their taping to also go to a monitor in Rep. Billy Williams office, which he and Norm Chow will watch. They can't speak about what they see, and they've had to sign papers to that effect."

"Good." I said. "I appreciate that. It may be our only protection from him."

"Honestly, Don," Mike said as we went inside, went through security, and were walking down the hallway, "I expect him to be on reasonably good behavior. He knows he's dealing with a pit viper with a crowbar, that being you. I think our biggest problem today is going to be limiting the scope."

"No," I said, "you need to really be watching out for perjury traps, trying to trap me into contradicting myself in some way. The 'Scooter Libby' treatment, is what they will try to give me."

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

"What this is about," said Jack Muscone," is that the Press began looking into the records pertaining to a Charles Griswold, who is the son of Chief Antonio Griswold. Charlie was badly injured in a car crash 14 years ago, when he was 22 years old, and he's a quadriplegic at a Special Care facility at Eastern State's medical hospital. I was alerted to the attempts to intrude into the medical documents, and came here to tell you and to tell Chief Griswold."

"And it's noooo coincidence," said Chief Moynahan, "that they are doing this while Commander Troy is 'distracted'."

"I seriously doubt it." said Muscone. "I'm not sure what the Press wants out of this."

"To cause Chief Griswold pain." said Cindy, her face a mask of iron, her ice-blue eyes flashing cold fire. "Dredge it up, make it as public and as embarrassing for the Griswolds as possible. It won't do any good; hell, it might make the Chief even more sympathetic with the voters. But the Press is doing it to cause pain to the people Commander Troy is closest to."

"What would you like us to do, Mr. Muscone?" asked Jerome Davis.

"I'd like for you and Ms. Warner, if she's willing, to do your own research on the situation, to make us aware of what the Press is going after." said Muscone. "You can tell Commander Troy when he gets back home. Also, see if you can find out what the Press has gotten, and interdict them... with the power of the Federal Government behind you."

"Any word on the BigAgraFoods cases?" asked Chief Moynahan.

"The poisoners both here and in Fillmore County were indicted on Federal charges." said Muscone. "Our cyber guys are still working on the Feingold murder, at least the cyber stuff surrounding it. Don's going to really attack that once he's past the Mullen stuff."

"He might not be a Police Commander after that probe." said the Chief. "I sus-pect Mullen is going to trump up charges to indict Don, to get him suspended."

"Then he can work on it at a desk in the Federal Building." said Jack. "As a full-fledged FBI Agent."

Clean words cannot describe the look on Cindy's ruggedly pretty face, and Jack was feeling the stare. Joanne and Jerome had gasped, as well. They were realizing what was truly at stake... not just for the Iron Crowbar, but for them and the TCPD.

"Sorry, Cindy." said Muscone. "But if these State bastards try to fuck with Don, we're not going to take it lying down. We'll give him Federal power and a Federal mandate. He's not going to slow down one bit."

"And may God have mercy on BigAgraFoods and Mitt Willis if that happens." drawled the Chief...

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

At 9:00am sharp, we entered the interrogation room. "They'll be with you in a moment." said a man in a suit.

"Tell Mr. Mullen that if he makes my client wait more than ten minutes, we're leaving. We've fulfilled our obligation to be here under the subpoena, and he has to be here on time, as well." The man looked daggers at Mike, then left the room by the door in the back of the room.

"They would have had us sitting here for an hour, if I had not said that." said Mike. I nodded. Exactly ten minutes later, Robert Mullen walked in, along with Brafford Bacon. There was no shaking of hands, no small talk, as they sat down. Mike was to my right, and Brafford was to Mullen's left as we faced each other across the table.

"State your full name, please." said Mullen.

"James Donald Troy." I said.

"And your lawyer is?"

"Mike G. Todd." said Mike. "And who are you and your assistant, here?" Mullen looked daggers at Mike, then both he and Bacon stated their names. I was then instructed to sign the paperwork which demanded I tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

"Don't sign that," said Mike, "until Mullen signs this document saying he won't lie and that he'll stay within the scope of the ISE's mandate."

"I'm not signing any such thing!" Mullen all but shouted.

"So you admit you're going to lie, in order to attempt to entrap my client?" Mike said, trying not to grin, and failing.

"I'm under no obligation to tell you the truth, asshole." said Mullen angrily. "Commander Troy knows that Police are not obligated to tell the truth when interrogating criminals. This is no different; this is an interrogation of a suspect."

"Is he a witness, or a suspect?" asked Mike. "I demand you clarify that right now"

"He's officially a suspect." said Brafford Bacon. Mullen scowled at him, but the damage was done.

"Ah," said Mike, "so he's a suspect and this is an interrogation... and you began asking him questions before reading him his rights.haven't even read him his rights. That's one thing we'll be bringing up in any Court case you try to bring against him."

"The rights are part of the paperwork." said Mullen. "Troy knows that, too."

"You still have to mirandize me verbally." I said. "And since you're not signing your paperwork, I'm not going to sign any of this."

"You're required to." said Bacon.

"No I'm not." I said. "So decide what you want to do." Mullen and Bacon got up and left the room. Todd was grinning; I'd told him to do all this, and it was going better than he'd ever expected. I cautioned him to not speak. A moment later, Mullen came back in, this time with another attorney.

"All right." said the other man. He read me the rights from the card. "Do you understand the rights?" he asked.

"Yes." I said.

"Are you going to sign the paperwork?" he asked.

"Is Mullen going to sign my lawyer's paperwork for him?" I replied. "His answer is my answer."

"Don't bother. It's okay." said Mullen to the other attorney. "It won't matter, in the long run." His answer told me what I wanted to know: Robert Mullen fully intended to drag me in front of the Special Grand Jury. This was just a preliminary probing exercise, trying to find points of weakness.

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

Meanwhile...

The meeting was being held in one of the conference rooms of the Hyatt Hotel on the north side of Town. The Mayor, Larry Vaughan, the People's Choice, was 'moderating'. Present on the T&C side were Sheriff Daniel Allgood, Fire Chief Patrick Quinlin, Assistant Fire Chief Davies, Fire Marshal Zoe Singer, Police Chief Sean Moynahan, Deputy Police Chief Cindy Ross, and TCPD Captain Damien Thompson.

On the Media's side was KXTC Executive Producer Burt West, KSTD Executive Producer Gregg Berger, KSB Executive Producer Julie Moon, KXTC Managing Editor Bettina Wurtzburg, and Fox Midtown Senior Reporter Meredith Peller.

"I've agreed to moderate this discussion," said the Mayor, "in order to facilitate its movement. Let's please be civil in our discussion, and respectful of the opinions of everyone in the room. Who wants to go first?"

"I will." said Burt West. "I asked for this meeting with the elements of the Public Safety Department to try to smooth over the toxic relationship between us, especially the TCPD. Banning us from Police Headquarters and banning us from approaching scenes to cover fires and emergencies are in my opinion extreme positions by the Police that keep us from doing our jobs and does not serve the public interest---"

"And just who determines the 'public interest'?" fired Cindy Ross. "Are you Media people so arrogant that you think you can dictate to the Public what their interests are?" All the Press people glared harshly at her.

"Chief Ross," said the Mayor, "allow Mr. West to finish his statement, please." This was backed up by Chief Moynahan slightly shaking his head at his Deputy Chief. He wondered to himself who was the tougher to contain: the Red Crowbar or the Green Crowbar...

"As I was saying," continued West, "it is far better for all concerned that the Press and the Public Safety Department work together, rather than continue this extremely adversarial situation. So how can we work together to make that happen?"

"Sheriff," said the Mayor, "would you like to start us off for the Public Safety side?"

"I'll make a brief statement," said Allgood, "and then leave the talking to the Police and Fire Departments." He began: "The Mayor and I are the only publicly elected officials in the room right now. We answer to the People of the County. However, the Police and Fire Departments have jobs to do, and their jobs are made tougher by interference of agencies whose actions appear hostile to them, actions which include giving distorted viewpoints and withholding important parts of the story."

Allgood continued: "I fully support the Police Commander's recent contention that the Public does not automatically have a 'right', such as a Constitutional right, to know what the Police are doing in the pursuit of criminals. If Police are abusing the rights of Citizens or suspects, that's one thing. But far too often, that's not what the Press is attempting to reveal in their reporting. Names of rape victims needlessly publicly given out, calling Commander Troy's wife a 'slut' and other names as part of newscasts... actions such as these are abusive of the First Amendment protections of Freedom of Speech and of the Press, and contribute strongly to the problems we're discussing today."

Gregg Berger spoke up: "I fundamentally disagree with a lot of that. The Founding Fathers put the First Amendment in place for the Press to be the watchdog over the Government, particularly the Police, and to report to the Citizens when Police abuses occur. Blackmail threats by Police Officers are a large part of the abuses that need to be exposed to the People."

Sheriff Allgood declined to reply, so the Mayor called upon Fire Chief Quinlin.

"I don't have much of a dog in this fight, particularly with regard to Press relations with the Police Department." said Quinlin. "But as a practical matter, the Fire Department's personnel have jobs to do that are often dangerous, and where lives are often on the line. And having the Press constantly trying to enter the danger zones and interfere with our work and create new dangers for us, is an extra level of hassle that we should not have to deal with. The Public may have the right to know, but not at the very moment we're trying to rescue a child from a burning building or from what's left of a car that's about to explode."

"Anything else from the Fire Department?" asked the Mayor. Chief Quinlin expected nothing more, but Zoe Singer had never been one to take hints.

"I just want to very clearly be on the record," the Fire Marshal stated, "stating that what you Press people did to Commander Troy's wife and daughters was totally unacceptable, and unforgivable."

Cindy could feel the hatred of the Press beginning to well up at Zoe's words. The Mayor said "Ms. Wurtzburg, what do you have to say?"

"Mr. Mayor," said Bettina aggressively, "I don't understand the deep hostility towards the Press from Commander Troy nor the Police overall. Mr. Berger was correct, and I'll add that we journalists are just doing our jobs, reporting the news to the People, especially what the Government... and it's enforcement arm with the power to use lethal force, the Police... are doing. Threats of blackmail and actively trying to stop us from just doing our jobs are worse than unwarranted, and I for one am getting sick and tired of it."