Hampered in His Plans Ch. 02

The chronological order of my stories is now listed in WifeWatchman's biography.

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.

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Part 7 - Internecine War

The yelling at the Fire Department ceased Police Cruisers careened into the parking lot, blue lights blazing and sirens blaring. A SWAT vehicle also pulled up, and heavily armed para-military Police poured out, M-4 machine guns ready to be used.

As I pulled up in my SUV, I took in a lightning fast evaluation. Two Firemen were holding back an EMT while another was relentlessly punching him in the face. The EMT's face was bloody. Another EMT was on the ground, unconscious, blood seeping from his nose and mouth as a Fireman sat on him.

"Arrest those four!" I shouted to my Officers as we swarmed onto the scene. I yelled at the SWAT leader: "Sergeant Charles! All fireman are to be put on the left side, away from the doors! Rudistan, Morton! Go get the girl!"

"Stop them!" yelled a Fireman. He tried to get between Rudistan and a doorway. Rudistan took him down swiftly, and Morton and Hicks ran to the door.

"Hey! Stop!" yelled another Fireman, who had on Sergeant stripes and had light brown hair.

"Get back!" yelled Cindy Ross, getting in his way.

"Fuck you, bitch!" the man growled, and took a swing at Cindy. Oops.

My partner parried his blow, then delivered a staggering kick to his midsection. He slammed into the column between the big firehouse doors, whereupon Cindy hit him again, hard. She then grabbed him by the back of his collar and took him down, his chest and the side of his face slamming into the concrete with a sickening thud.

The other firemen were angry and about to charge, but then all noise ceased. Your Iron Crowbar was walking up, the red crowbar very visible and about to be used. I may also have drawn my service weapon. My first order was to the SWAT Team: "Shoot to kill anyone who tries to move past you." That froze most of the Firemen in place.

More EMTs arrived, and they helped their fallen, beaten comrades. Then two of them went in and brought out a young woman on a gurney. She was barely conscious. Her face was bloody, her shirt ripped open, and her pants had been torn off. The EMTs covered her with a blanket as they moved her to an ambulance. Hicks and Morton brought out two firemen, their hands in cuffs behind their backs.

"Do they have cellphones on them?" I asked.

"In their pockets." said Hicks. I put on latex gloves and extracted the cellphones. "They were taping the rape with their cellphones. The evidence will be used against them." I put the cellphones in separate evidence bags.

"Hey, you gotta have a warrant to take those!" yelled a Fireman.

"I've got probable cause, cocksucker!" I yelled back. "And a warrant is being issued. Okay, Captain, the guy that attacked you is under arrest for assaulting a Police Officer. These guys beating up the EMTs are under arrest for assault and battery, and conspiracy to commit rape, since they were blocking the EMTs from trying to help the girl. Oh, it's a State felony to interfere with EMTs in the course of their duties, add that. And I need not say that those two pieces of dog shit are going down for forcible rape."

"What the fuck is going on here?" yelled a voice. Superintendent Harris, a older man beginning to put on a paunch, came barreling out. "You can't just come in here and-- uhk!" He'd tried to move past the SWAT guys. One of them took him down hard, and put a pistol in his ear. To make a point, I bent down over the prostrate man and put my own gun on his cheek, right below his eye.

"You'd better shut the fuck up, Harris." I said. "You'd better show my officers a hell of a lot more respect than your men have, or I'll start just shooting people dead, and you first--"

"What the hell? Get off of him!" yelled a voice. It was Fire Chief Quinlin. "Commander, tell your people to stand down, and release all of my Firemen. Now! That's an order!"

"Fuck that and fuck you!" I shot back. "Your firemen have committed rape and assault. They're going to prison."

"I gave you an order, Commander, and you'd better--" started Chief Quinlin.

"That order is countermanded." said another voice. Sheriff Daniel Allgood had just pulled up, with four heavily armed and armored Deputies. "Commander Troy is correct and is doing his job. Carry on, Commander. Quinlin, not another word out of you, or I'll arrest you for aiding and abetting rape."

"You have got to be kidding." said Quinlin. "Rape? Really? Harris, is that true?"

"I've got proof. Video proof." I said. "This is not just an internal matter anymore. Okay, guys, every Fireman here has to give a statement."

"Don't do it!" yelled Harris, still being held down by the SWAT Officer. "Demand a lawyer or a Union rep! Tell this cocksucking Crowbar to eat shit!"

"Fine." I said. "Rudistan, call for a paddywagon. Every Fireman that wants a lawyer or Union rep will get one... at County Jail."

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

"This one's bad, isn't it?" asked Chief Moynahan.

"The worst." I said.

We were in his office. It was 2:00pm. The young female that had been raped was at University Hospital, as were the two beaten male EMTs. Evidence had been collected. Myron also had the videotaped evidence, which was clear, and put it into the servers. I'd also broken into the rapists' cellphones. They had indeed taken photos and videos of themselves raping the girl, and that was now in evidence servers.

All of the Fireman had been processed. None of them would speak against their fellow Firefighters, meaning all of them had eventually had to take the Fifth. Fire Chief Quinlin had apologized to me, and then suspended Superintendent Harris. Harris immediately grieved his suspension with the Fire Department's Union. So had the Engineer, which is what the Fire Department called their Sergeant-level people, who Cindy had taken down.

"Captain Ross did right, and I'll stand by her to the death." I said. "The rest of this is cut-and-dried."

"Yes." said Chief Moynahan. "Pertaining to the rape, you are correct. We also have what we think will be sufficient video footage to prosecute the ones who stopped the EMTs from helping the girl and started beating them. I think the gray areas are all the other guys. I don't think we can charge them with much anything."

"They didn't try to help that girl." I said. "Aiding and abetting, I'd say."

"Look, Commander," said Moynahan, being formal with me, "you are one of the few people who would stand out from a crowd and even defy that crowd in order to do the right thing. Most people... are too scared to. I don't know what any of them were in a position to do, but it's likely that any Fireman that had tried to help would've been beaten, maybe murdered, and his career with the TCFD would have been over; he'd have been branded a traitor. I'm not saying they were right; I'm saying that I understand the mob mentality and why they held back."

"Gutless cowards." I said under my breath.

"Yes." said Moynahan. "But you and your people are not. And that girl is alive because of it. ADA Stiles is alive because your people have the guts to do the right thing. I'm proud of you, and I will be right there in front of you when the shit hits the fan over this."

"What shit, and what fan?" I asked sourly.

"They're already trying to sweep this thing under the rug." said Moynahan. Seeing the look on my face, he said "Don't worry, we are not going to let that happen."

Part 8 - Gathering Clouds

That evening, January 5th, a few good moments occurred amidst all the problems. First, Teddy Parker paid off his dinner bet. The Detectives of MCD and Vice and their families had a private dinner in the back room of The Steakhouse. Word had it that several Detectives told Teddy they'd pay for their meals, or help with the overall bill. Hell, I would've paid it myself.

But we didn't need to. When Teddy went to pay the bill, he was met by the restaurant owner, John 'Jack' Colby. Mr. Colby instructed Teddy to give him a $1 bill. Upon taking it, Colby said "Paid in full. Enjoy your dinner. And Ole Miss will get 'em next year." I'm not sure if Teddy was comfortable with that 'perk', but I later told him to roll with it; it's one of the 'okay' perks.

As the dinner neared its end, Paulina produced a manila folder, and her beautiful smile told me it was something good. I looked at the documents, then did the Cindy Ross thing of tapping my glass with a spoon.

"I have a brief announcement of something to celebrate." I said. "Not football-related, either. Teresa, would you please come up here." She came up and I handed her the documents.

"Congratulations, Lieutenant Croyle." I said. "You are now officially the legal guardian of our friend Amy." Everyone applauded, and Teresa tried to be stoic, but the light in her face could not be turned off.

The party broke up soon after, and a number of us headed to University Hospital to give Amy the news. It is possible that some tears were shed, especially when Amy said "Wow, I've never had a family before..."

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

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" yelled the redheaded reporterette in front of the Fire Department Headquarters at 7:00am, Wednesday January 6th. "The growing hostilities between the Fire Department and EMTs severely worsened yesterday, as a female EMT was raped by two Firemen. Two EMTs who tried to help their colleague were severely beaten. All three are hospitalized, and one of the male EMTs is in ICU at University Hospital, in critical condition."

Bettina continued "The Town & County Police Force reacted quickly and strongly upon being alerted, and Sheriff Daniel Allgood said that the swift actions of Commander Donald Troy and his Officers saved the lives of the brutally assaulted EMTs. Several arrests were made and evidence confiscated. The rapists were using their cell phones to videotape the sexual assault, and those cellphones were taken into evidence."

"Chief Quinlin of the Fire Department did suspend the Superintendent of the Fire Station where the attacks occurred." continued Bettina. "Sheriff Allgood has put all Fire Stations on notice that any assaults upon EMTs will be met with criminal prosecution of both the perpetrators and their Station leadership. However, Assistant Fire Chief William Jefferson has called upon Fire Marshal Zoe Singer to treat this as an internal matter, with internal punishments, and has demanded the Police release all Firemen and drop all charges."

"In response to the rape of one of their own, and what they call the 'tepid' response by the Town & County Council, the EMTs are staging a 'sick-out'. The EMT Union is in conference, and sources tell Channel Two News that a general strike is very likely. In response, Town & County Council spokesperson Thomas P. Cook has stated that the 'sick-out' will be met with administrative discipline for anyone participating, and that the Council is, in his words, 'absolutely willing and prepared' to summarily fire all EMS personnel should any go on strike."

Bettina then showed a tape of Jack Naples: "The Town Council should be ashamed of themselves! They still hide behind press statements and the walls of their City Hall castle, while three EMTs lay seriously wounded in the Hospital, one of them brutally raped. Does your Town Council condone rape? I ask. Call your Councilmen and -women today! Tell them to open a dialogue with us before other people are hurt or killed!"...

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

The arraignment of the arrested and charged Firemen was held that morning. ADA Paulina Patterson worked very hard to keep them in jail without bail. The lawyers for the Firemen pulled every string, including not waiving the preliminary hearings.

That didn't take long, as Paulina had the video evidence ready to go. Judge Folsom was meticulous in his following of the Law and procedures, and he denied bail for the two rapists. The others were more fortunate; they were given bail of $100,000 each, and ankle monitoring. Their bail was made immediately, by 'concerned citizens'.

"It's amazing." said Paulina. "If you didn't have that video evidence, I'm not sure what we would do. Judge Folsom is not as rigidly law-and-order like Judge Watts, but he's usually straightforward. Today... he put me through the ringer, but couldn't get past the video evidence. And since you had warrants for all the tapes and was getting one for the cellphones even as you took them, he couldn't fight that. But he wanted to."

"Yeah." I said. "You would not believe what the Firemen were saying either. I was asking them how they would feel if it was their wife or daughter being raped like that, and every one of them was saying they didn't see anything, or they couldn't do anything even if they wanted to. I even had a couple of them say that she wasn't a woman, she was an EMT, and she deserved to be raped."

"Wow, they actually said that?" Paulina asked, stunned.

"Yep, a few of them did." I said. "I just don't understand the hatred for the EMTs, to the point they think rape is okay. Help me understand that."

"You're asking the wrong woman, there." Paulina said. "By the way, the latest Public Policy Polling has come out. The attacks dented the Fire Department's majority support, but not nearly enough. The EMTs are facing a huge uphill battle, still."

"Wow." I said. "Well, Paulina, just remember this. I think of it all the time when people are cheering my successful cases... the next day, those same people might be calling for my badge, or my scalp..."

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

"Well, gentlemen," said Jack Naples of the national NBESW, "do you now understand why we have to fight these bastards, instead of spreading your legs and letting them rape you like they did one of your women?"

"Watch your language on that." said Wilbur James of the local NBESW. "That's a serious crime, far beyond the political issues we're dealing with."

"No it's not." said Naples, with that perma-grin on his face. "You have to fight back, punch them in the gut for what they did. If you don't go on strike now, it'll be like begging them to rape you again and again."

"You just heard Mr. James, Naples." said Hans Logan. "You don't need to throw that in our faces. We're hurting for our colleagues, and the way you're talking isn't going to inflame us to do something rash. Your comments to the Press that they aired this morning were not helpful to us. At all."

"Well then," said Naples, "what do you want to do? Take more of what they're dishing out? They're willing to use violence, to assault your people, to even violently rape your women... what are you doing? What are you going to do?"

"If even some of our EMTs go on strike," said Jimmy Lawson, "all of us are going to be fired. That's obviously their plan from the start."

"I agree." said Wilbur James. "I almost believe that whole incident was staged, though I can't believe they would actually rape a girl to make a point. Are they really that evil? And they're willing to go that far to force our hand, so the Council can just eliminate us?"

"Yes, yes they are!" said Naples, almost shouting at them. "That's why we go on strike! That's why you let me and my people handle this! We know how to bring in the Press, to have them with us, at the local, regional, and even national level. And believe me, guys, when the Public starts hearing about Firemen raping a woman, the Public will be on your side so strongly that your Council will have to concede and stop persecuting you!"

"We need to discuss this." said Hans Logan to his fellow locals. "Why don't we break for lunch."

"What, you can't say something in front of me?" snarled Naples. "Listen guys, you better get your shit together on this. Now I'm here to help you, to help you win. This is not a fucking game. This is about respect and honor. You've been dishonored already; they didn't just rape one woman, they raped every one of you. The Public will look at you as dirty, defiled, if you don't rise up and take them on!"

"Guys," said Logan, "we need to talk without this guy in the room. He's an instigator; he's using us."

"Are you serious?" asked Naples, staring at Logan. He then put up his hands as if in resignation. "Okay, boys, go to your lunch. Talk without me. Plan what you want. But I'll tell you this. Right now, every other EMT Union in the Nation is looking at you with scorn, as if you're too cowardly to stand up for one of your own people that was raped. And that's what I'm thinking of you, right now. Now I say you call for a strike and go on strike. I'll be here until 2:00pm, waiting for your answer. If you turn me down, there won't be a local EMS Service to represent, anyway. Go on, get out of here."

The three locals left. Naples called some of his people and checked his emails. They'll come around, he thought to himself. They'd better...

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

"No," said Dr. Searles, "nothing on the transplant list."

"How's she doing?" I asked. Dr. Searles and I were in the hallway. Amy and Teresa were inside the hospital room, petting Buddy and talking.

"She's trying to stay hopeful." said Dr. Searles. "Her symptoms are progressing at the normal rate, however. Her red blood cell count is dropping. We can give her red blood cells to a point, but we don't have a lot of O-negative, and her white blood cell count went up... a reaction to the red blood cells. Her body is fighting them. If we're not careful, a liver that might be 'good enough' now... won't be later on. She'll have antibodies built up, and she'll reject the new organ. And that in itself will kill her."

"I understand." I said. "I appreciate all you're doing, trying to help her."

"You know," Dr. Searles said, "I've always tried to stay detached. We lose patients all the time, and some of my experimental patients are long shots to begin with. But after my wife died last year... I realized that sometimes just the professionalism isn't enough. I don't know what it is, but this little girl was ready to fight for her little dog, and so I'm going to fight for her."

"Thanks, Doctor." I said. I went inside the room. Amy was petting Buddy, who was sitting beside her. She looked happy, but more noticeably weak than before. I told Teresa we needed to go. She hugged Amy as I collected Buddy.

After taking Buddy home, and as we drove in my Police SUV to the Station, Teresa said "She loves that dog. I think that's what's keeping her going."

"That, and you being there for her." I said. "We'll find a transplant for her soon. I'm manifesting it."

"So is Cindy, and Dr. Eckhart." said Teresa. "So, what's going to happen with this EMT business?"

"It's going to get worse before it gets better." I said. "And no amount of manifesting is going to change that."

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

"Well, gentlemen," said Naples as the three EMT representatives came back into the Union Hall, "what have you decided?"

"We're split on it." said Wilbur James. "All of us don't like the rash way you're trying to take us to a confrontation. We're not Iron Crowbars, here. But, we do realize that something has to be done. We want to approach the Council first, see if we can get a negotiation going. If that fails, we'll consider a strike."