Hampered in His Plans Ch. 02

"How are you going to cover that?" asked Quinlin. "By that I mean, what if they try to block our trucks, or block ambulances from coming in or out of University Hospital?"

"Well, if they go that far," I said, "we'll have to clear them out. As long as they are peaceful and don't put anyone in harm's way, they have that Constitutional right of peaceful assembly."

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

The owner of the Cop Bar announced last call at 11:00pm. He didn't want any problems in his bar with the midnight vote closing. I called Laura and told her that I was going to the Station to monitor the situation. Cindy called Jenna.

On the way back, I asked "How are things with Jenna?"

"She's agitated about the girl that was raped." said Cindy. "She went to the Hospital to visit her, and give moral support."

"I happen to know," I said, "that there is going to be political pressure brought to bear on Krasney to lessen the charges and cut a deal. What would Jenna think of that?" I did not mention that my source was the lovely Mrs. Peabody, the County Intendent.

"Why don't you ask me what *I* would think of that." Cindy replied. "I'll be royally pissed. And Jenna just might explode on Krasney... Don, do you really think he'd do that?"

"I don't know." I said. "But you won't be the only one going off on Krasney. I'm told I have political pull in this County. If he balks at pressing charges, we're going to find out just how much influence I have with this County's good Citizens."

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

"This is Amber Harris, KXTC Channel Two News!" yelled the lovely blonde athletic reporterette at midnight, as it became Friday, January 8th., reporting from in front of Union Hall. "The vote totals are in, and they are overwhelmingly in favor of a strike. 96.6% have voted to strike. We now go to local NBESW leader Wilbur James!"

Wilbur James came up to the microphone at the podium. "With the vote totals in, the members of the local chapter of the National Brotherhood of Emergency Service Workers have authorized me to call a General Strike. I implore the Town & County Council to open a dialogue with us before this last step is necessitated. With three of our members in the hospital, one of them having been violently raped by Fire Department personnel, we cannot understand why the Town & County Council refuses to talk with us. So, should the Council continue to condone rape by not speaking with us, the Strike will be called at 8:00am tomorrow, I mean today, Friday, January 8th."

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

"We do not condone rape." said Councilman Thomas P. Cook fifteen minutes later at City Hall. "We also deplore the Union's lies and using that crime to pressure us into breaking the law. The law is clear: if the EMTs Union goes on strike as threatened, all of their members will be summarily fired, and prohibited by law from being re-hired into any public position of employment in this County. There is nothing more to be said, except I want to underscore my anger with the Union for their dishonest words in saying we condone rape, and I reassert our resolve to stand up to their filthy bullying tactics."

As the reporters attempted to tell us what we should think about this, I killed the sound on the TV set in my office. "So, Crowbar 2, it's 'awn'."

"Yep." said Cindy.

Just then, Lt. Wes 'Coldiron' Masters came to the door of my office. "Commander, Captain," he said, "I didn't realize you were here."

"Best place to secretly drink each other under the table." I said jokingly. "Come on in. What brought you in?"

"The strike." said Masters. "I've got to start immediately implementing conditional plans for whatever they do."

"Here's my input." I said. "As long as the EMTs keep it real, keep it peaceful, and don't block any fire trucks or ambulances, they can peaceably assemble. If they get rowdy, violent, threatening, or block anything, then you need to notify me immediately. I'll take the public hits; that's what I get paid to do."

"Yes sir, I'll put out the word." said Masters.

"Okay," I said, "I'm going to go home, pet the dogs, kiss the kids, and go to sleep. Captain, you should get some sleep also. 'Coldiron', if you do stay through the night, expect to be told to leave at noon tomorrow to get some rest." With that, Cindy and I made our way out of Police Headquarters and into the cold winter night...

Part 10 - The Cowardice of Politicians

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the lovely redheaded reporterette from in front of City Hall at 7:00am, Monday, January 11th. "While the EMT strike has been peaceful so far, it has not been peaceful at City Hall. The Town & County Council has called an emergency meeting for this morning, to formalize the firing of all EMTs in the County. The second reading of the bill will occur tomorrow night at the regularly scheduled Council meeting."

Bettina continued: "Also on tomorrow night's agenda for the Council is to hear the recommendation of the committee to determine if Fireman Roy Easley should be awarded the Medal of Valor. Police Commander Donald Troy and Captain Cindy Ross, both Medal of Valor recipients, happened to be at the scene of Fireman Easley's heroic actions that saved a child from a fiery death, and both have strongly urged the Council to award the Medal of Valor to Fireman Easley."

More Bettina: "However, there is still tension between the Fire and Police Departments over the arrests of several Fireman during the Police interdiction of the brutal rape of a female EMT. Several Council members have called for District Attorney Krasney to work out a solution of the problem that includes a plea agreement for the Firemen involved."

"What was it that John McEnroe said? 'They cannot be serious!'." Cindy said. "I'll raise hell myself if the guy who attacked me is let off, much less those bastard rapists."

"Get in line." I said. "I'll be pulling rank on this one."

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

At 10:00am, Cindy and I were called into the Main Conference Room. Waiting there were Chief Moynahan, Captain (and Acting Deputy Chief) Della Harlow, Sheriff Daniel Allgood, his Chief of Staff Charles T. Oswald... and Chief Emeritus Griswold.

"Come on in, guys." said Moynahan. "Take seats." I sat at the far end of the table, that seat being left open for me by some unspoken rule. Cindy sat to my left.

Moynahan started. "I asked Chief Griswold to discuss with us the reasons for the hostilities between the Fire Department and EMTs."

"And I replied," said Griswold, "that I don't know much. But I can tell you what I do know, and Oswald can tell you what he knows."

"Many years ago," said Griswold, "back when I was a young whippersnapper on the Force like Crowbar is now... but I was a Sergeant, not a Commander... the Town and County were still separate. The Town had a Fire Department. The outlying County had volunteer Fire Departments, but some of the subdivisions around the Town's City Limits contracted with the Town to provide Fire service."

"There was no EMT service to speak of." said Griswold. "The University had an ambulance service, and would send medical interns on them, but they charged out the wazoo for that. So the County tried to begin an EMS service. They were hoping for a reciprocal agreement with the Town and the Fire Department, but the Town declined."

Griswold continued: "Well, some years before the Town and County formally merged, they were granted some State and Federal money if and only if they created a combined Fire and EMS Department. So the Town and County's governing bodies formed an elected Commission to do just that. I'll have to talk to y'all separately about Commissions in this County, but back to the original story."

"The Fire and EMS Departments were separate from each other." Griswold said. "They were housed in the same buildings, though. And that's where I think the first real problems began. First, there was money. The EMS was getting a lot of money to get vehicles and hire and train people, and the Fire Department resented that.

"But I think it was also more: the Fire Department has something of an initiation ritual for their new people. Having to clean up the Station, having to do the cooking, cleaning the senior guys's equipment, stuff like that. Well, the EMTs didn't cotton to that very well, and refused to do all that. And so things got pretty hostile, pretty quickly, though it was pretty much under the surface. And then... the merger.

"During the merger, the Council decided to put the EMS under Fire Department control. There was supposed to be some semi-autonomy for the EMTs, with their own leadership structure. But that got ripped pretty quickly by the Council when the Fire Department complained the EMTs weren't doing their share, weren't cleaning up as they were told to, and so on.

"The EMTs started being harassed, and when the Council told them to pound sand, they unionized. That did nothing; the Council just made the structure to where the EMTs were literally subservient to the Fire Department. So, the EMTs started getting jobs in the Police Department, Public Health Department, and a few even went over to the Fire Department. And that's when the Council passed a law that EMTs who leave before a certain amount of time-in-grade could not be in any other County Government position; not as a Fireman, Policeman, EMT again, school teacher, librarian, anything at all."

Charles T. Oswald took it up. "That's the gist of it. The question has always been 'why'. I've been with the Sheriff's Department almost as long as Grizz was on the Police Force. What I saw was that certain Council Members put their people in place on the Police Department, Fire Department, and such. They kept Grizz out of the loop; he was too damn honest. I need not mention that Harold Malone was one of their people, and I daresay his replacement here is a damn sight better than he was."

"And she looks a hell of a lot better, too." said Chief Griswold. Cindy blushed, realizing they were talking about her.

"So," said Oswald, "it just grew, little by little, by degrees, until there was just a mob mentality about it. And I'm afraid that our EMS is going to be utterly destroyed by this."

"Crowbar, what are thinking about?" asked Chief Griswold, looking at me. I was in a reverie.

"I was just thinking, Chief," I said, my voice far away, "All of what you and Chief Deputy Oswald have said is logical. But there has to have been something behind it, something else."

"Only the Iron Crowbar could see that far into it." said Daniel Allgood.

"Well," I said, "I think we've had an example of the 'why' of it. I do recall being the intended target of an assassin, who extracted his weapon via a University Hospital ambulance. So maybe someone had intentions of turning the EMTs into his personal courier service, maybe to transport drugs like Carroll and Delmar were doing as Police."

"Wow, you might be right, Commander." said Moynahan, fascinated. "And yes, that's a brilliant observation."

"With respect, Chief," said Cindy, "he was the guy whose head dodged that bullet by the smallest of fractions. That will definitely put perspective on it."

Just then there was a knock on the door. The Duty Sergeant looked in.

"Apologies for disturbing you," he said, "but the Commander asked me to notify him if any news was about to come up. KXTC just called Lieutenant Peterson with a five-minute warning."

"Mighty nice of them." I said. "Shall we watch, everyone?" I moved to turn on the TV.

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

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" yelled the lovely redhead MILF from outside City Hall. It was 10:35am. "The Town & County Council has just formally passed a motion to fire all EMTs in the County, and to dissolve the EMS as a branch of County public service. This will not formally go into effect until the second reading of the bill at tomorrow night's regular Council meeting! EMT Union rep Wilbur James has begged the Council to open a dialogue with the EMTs before taking the ultimate step of firing them, and he also says the he is prepared to file a lawsuit to enjoin the Council from firing the EMTs until Federally mediated negotiations take place."

"However, there is a lot more!" Bettina said, setting off my spidey-sense. "Channel Two News has learned that District Attorney Gil Krasney is considering offering plea deal packages to the Firemen that were arrested last week on various assault charges. Several sources have confirmed that Fire Department lawyers and Union reps are in talks with the District Attorney's Office."

"Also," said Bettina, "Karl Frazier of Public Policy Polling has told Channel Two News that the County's citizens are firmly on the side of the Council, and would support the firing of the striking EMTs. Many comments on social media are calling the EMTs 'selfish' and 'arrogant'. People do see the EMT strike as a separate issue from the rape and beatings of several EMTs last week; however, there are many that say the rape of a female EMT should not be excused, and expect the suspects to be brought to trial. This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News, and we will break in with any new developments!"

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

The tension could be cut with a knife. District Attorney Gil Krasney was at the head of the conference table in his 'public' office, his desk behind him. Solicitor Miriam Walters was at the other end of the table, and her main assistant ADA, Savannah Fineman, was to her left. Walters had raven black hair, a tall, erect posture, and beady eyes that seemed to stare right through you. Fineman was blonde, beautiful, curvaceous, but smart and tough underneath. To her left was ADA Franklin Washington, younger brother of TCPD Detective Theodore Washington, and, like his brother, 'movie star handsome'. To his left was ADA Jenna Stiles, who was to Krasney's right.

ADA Dwayne Gregory was to Walters's right. He was far and away the most inept ADA of the bunch. To his right was ADA Ted Mason, a young but very up-and-coming D.A., who told people he ultimately wanted to be considered to be 'Perry Mason' in the Courtroom. To his right was the redoubtable ADA Paulina Patterson, radiant and pregnant. Paulina was to Krasney's left.

"Look folks, the news reports are wrong." said Krasney, getting exasperated. "We are only talking to their lawyers; we have not cut any deals."

"Why talk to them at all, then?" asked Miriam Walters, her eyes boring into Krasney. "Why not just come out and say you're prosecuting these bastards, and end any rumors or controversy?" Krasney stared back at Walters, believing her to be using this as an opening salvo in angling for his D.A. position.

"Look, everyone." Krasney said. "We have an absolute tinderbox of a situation here. It could get very ugly for the Fire Department will all this EMT crap going on. Everyone is concerned the National Labor Relations Board will step in, and that's going to be a nightmare if they do."

"What the hell does that have to do with that woman being raped?" thundered Jenna Stiles, unable to hold back.

"We have to take into consideration the publicity of everything else." said Krasney. "We have to find a way to keep this tamped down, so that the other stuff can be resolved. And then we can proceed with this." He could tell that the others in the room were not buying this, so he added "There are no deals right now, guys."

"That's not what I've heard." said Jenna Stiles. "I'm hearing that you want to cut the deals, you want to let rapists go free, you want to let a guy who attacked a Police Captain, who is also a woman, go free."

"Where did you hear that?" snarled Krasney.

"From a Town & County Council member." said Stiles. "Are they pressuring you to let rapists off the hook, Mr. Krasney?"

"Why you--" Krasney said, then stopped. Jenna's eyes were like lasers, and everyone else was staring at him, as well.

"It's true, isn't it?" Jenna snarled. "You're making a deal with them right now, aren't you?" She was rising from her chair as her voice rose.

"Now hold on just a minute..." Krasney started. He did not get to finish.

"You son of a bitch!" yelled Jenna. "Are you so fucking callous to what happened to that girl... to what happened to me... that you're going to let rapists go free?"

"Look, Jenna, I know what happened to you, but that's different--"

*WHAP!!*

Jenna's hand flashed as she swung and slapped Krasney full on the face. "God damn you!" she gushed, her voice bitter and also near tears.

"Why you bitch--" Krasney snarled, rising suddenly and acting as if he were going to attack Jenna. He was stopped by seeing Franklin Washington rise, a look of menace on his handsome face, ready to defend his fellow ADA by beating the living shit out of Krasney. "You need to calm down, Jenna. I'm the D.A. here, I make these decisions."

Jenna had not backed off. "You won't be D.A. after November, if I can help it." With that, she turned and walked out the door, slamming it behind her.

In support, everyone except Miriam Walters also got up and left the room. Krasney paced around a moment, then realized Walters was staring at him. "What?" he thundered.

"Gil, you just fucked up." said Walters. "If Stiles goes to a reporter, it'll get ugly. And that's not the worst of it, you know."

"What do you think is?" queried Krasney.

"The Iron Crowbar." Walters replied. She got up and left, leaving Krasney alone to contemplate his problems.

Part 11 - Sex and Secrets

"Uhhhhh!"

I gasped in pleasure as I slid my throbbing hard cock into Adele Peabody's sopping wet pussy from behind, driving in with raw sexual power until my groin slammed into her succulent asscheeks. I heard her groan, matching mine, as I pulled my meat out of her then shoved it back into her.

The staccato slaps of flesh on flesh filled the master bedroom of the Cabin as we rutted lustily. I admired the sight of Mrs. Peabody's asscheeks rippling as I smacked into them repeatedly. Her head was on the mattress of the bed, her ass high in the air, giving me total access to it. I was grasping her hips, pulling her to me in rhythm to my forward thrusts, feeling the hot wet ecstasy of burying my meat balls-deep into her cunt.

Now this is a great way to spend lunch hour, I thought to myself as I fucked Mrs. Peabody lustily, feeling her push back to meet my thrusts as we mated...

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

We lay together, cuddling, lying on our sides. I had come deep inside Adele's pussy, then we'd collapsed together on the bed.

"Mmmm, that was wonderful." she said, pressing her ass into my groin and her back into my chest. I gently kissed her neck and jaw, and she turned so that our mouths could press together in a hot kiss. Our tongues twined for long minutes.

Finally, she turned to face me. "So, what is it that you wanted to know?"

"Everything." I said.

"Well," said the Intendent, "I can tell you that it's absolutely true that Krasney is negotiating to reduce the rape charges, and to drop all the other charges against the Fireman."

"Why?" I asked. "That could be crushing to his re-election."

"He's running unopposed, at least right now." said Mrs. Peabody. "And there are Council members looking to get this whole thing squashed, because it helps the EMT side and makes the Council look bad for not even talking to the EMTs. They're also afraid it could bring State or Federal people in to mediate the dispute."

"Which, of course," I said, "is what they don't want. They have to destroy the EMTs. And I'm betting Thomas P. Cook is all ready to start up an ambulance service, and the Council will sell him the EMT equipment at a tremendous discount, which he'll use in his business."