Interlude Ch. 10

"What about you?" Jeanine asked.

"No, I'm not really interested in finding some girl whose accusation might have been accurate." Todd said. "Jack was a legend in bed, and I'm proud to be his brother in that capacity, but I'm hearing that he wasn't a very good man overall."

"So you think he really raped that girl?" Jeanine asked.

"Maybe." Todd said. "Somebody might have paid her off to drop the case, then had Jack disappear. Or it could really have been a set-up, like Michael and Eleanor think."

"So why would he never come back? Why would he hide?" Jeanine asked. "Why did he become a drifter for nearly a decade?"

"I don't know." Todd said. "And I don't care. It's you and me, and you're in my arms now, baby, and that's all that matters." He eased up and turned her onto her back so that he could mount her and sink his huge cock into her again.

"Mmmm," the lovely woman moaned. "I can't fight such a... persuasive argument as that... ohhhhh, oh yeah that feels so good!" she moaned as Todd entered her and sank balls-deep into her, again sitting on his knees to keep the pressure off the baby. Her gorgeous legs were pressed against his chest, her shapely feet resting on his shoulders. Todd knew he'd be licking and sucking those feet as he approached his climax. It was heaven to him. Life was good.

---

"Mmmm, that's good Michael. Keep eating my pussy just like that!" Eleanor Burke quietly moaned. She was lying naked on her bed with her husband between her legs, face-deep in her sopping wet cunt.

"Yes, Eleanor." Michael said as he tongued her slit.

"You bastard!" Eleanor said. Grabbing him by the hair she pulled his head up and slapped him in the face. Hard.

"You know what your position is when our clothes are off." Eleanor hissed. "And even if your son and our daughter-in-law are in the guest room fucking their brains out, you know what is expected of you!"

"Yes, Madame, I'm sorry." Michael said as Eleanor shoved his face back into her pussy.

"Did you speak to her about that bitch woman Ivy like I told you to?" Eleanor asked harshly.

"Yes ma'am." her husband replied.

"Good." Eleanor said. "Maybe Jeanine will be able to get some answers for us. Certainly Todd's uncle hasn't been worth shit to us."

"Maybe-" Michael started to say.

"Shut the fuck up and get your face in there and start eating my pussy." Eleanor commanded, pulling her husband's head hard into her quim and grinding her pudenda into his face with gusto. "Come on, you wimp. Eat my pussy like you've got a pair!"...

Part 6 - A (N)arrow Flight Away

A few nights after discovering the information in the Olivet data, I was able to pursue my theory of Tim Olivet's secret.

The Armory and Range are in the basement, to the front left whereas I.T. is in back left. The 100-meter course stretches below the secure parking lot above, and there were 8 lanes. At the far end, to the left of the gun range, is an archery range that goes 50 meters downrange. Heavy bulletproof glass provided a safe wall between the archery range and the gun range, and there were several target blocks inside for an archer to shoot at while inside.

It was in the archery range at 11:00pm that I found our young new Police Scientist, Barry Oliver. Just out of graduate school, he'd been a gem of a find by Tanya Perlman a couple of months before, though I knew he'd approached her with a strong desire to work for the Police.

Barry was shooting arrows with unbelievable ease, precision and accuracy. He was not a large man, just under six feet in height and slender. Compound bows take some strength to operate, and while Barry looked like he didn't have it, my observations of his shooting showed that he did.

"Lieutenant!" he said, practically coming to attention as I entered the range.

"At ease." I said instinctively, then added "Keep going. Don't let me interrupt you."

Barry shot off three arrows in quick succession with unbelievable speed, each hitting the center of the target thirty yards away in the bullseye and a tight group. I had rarely seen such good shooting.

"Great shooting." I said as Barry retrieved the ten arrows he'd sent downrange.

"Thanks." he said.

"Mind if I try a shot?" I asked. Barry handed me the compound bow and an arrow. As I pulled back I was amazed at how heavy the pull was; it took quite some strength. Barry's strength has fooled me, I thought as I let the arrow fly. I hit the target block 30 yards away, though not dead center.

"Not bad." Barry said.

"How long have you been shooting?" I asked.

"Years." Barry said. "My dad and I go bowhunting every year, and we've been doing that since I was 12 years old."

"You're damn good." I said. "That setting gives the arrow a lot of power, but it was hard to pull back. No way I could do that three-shot volley like you did so accurately."

"Yes sir, I've gotten pretty good with it over time," Barry said honestly, "but it doesn't get me a badge. I get to qualify on the gun range after I attend the Police Academy this fall."

"Oh, you haven't done that already?" I asked, knowing that he hadn't.

"No sir." he said. "I'm officially a Consultant now, working in the Lab."

"Speaking of your office in the Lab, let's go there now." I said. "No, you're not in any trouble; I just want to talk to you where it's reasonably safe and quiet."

--

I used the device I'd purloined from the late Rev. Jonas Oldeeds's security officer to check for bugs around Barry's desk, which was in the Crime Lab building on the other side of the secure parking lot. There were no bugs. I had Barry sit down at his desk and brought up a chair next to it.

"Barry," I said, "I need to talk to you about something important, but something that you and I need to keep in total secrecy, just between you, me, and the test tubes here."

"Yes sir." Barry said.

"Barry, did you work for Tim Olivet before he died?" I asked, scrutinizing his face. His eyes lit up, first with surprise, then fear, then resignation.

"I guess you know that I did." Barry said. "What do you know?"

I said "I know that a lot of people tried to buy the man's company because they thought some new secret process would be part of the deal. Something new that they believed Olivet had invented or discovered. Something so great that everyone from the Federal Government to foreign spies to criminal organizations wanted to get a hold of it."

I continued "I also believe that they're not sure exactly what it was. They also haven't realized that Olivet was working with someone else, a contract researcher. I believe the researcher took every scrap of paper on a project, a nanotechnology project, after Olivet was murdered, and that this researcher has hidden the papers well."

"And," I finished, "I believe that you are that researcher, Barry."

Barry didn't answer for a few moments. His face was a mask of worry.

"Barry," I asked, "I'm on your side. But I need to know: has the CIA tried to recruit you at any time in the past?"

"Yes sir." Barry said. "Relentlessly. When I was in college and began showing promise in chemical and metallurgical research, they came around and offered me a job working for them while I finished my degree. Even offered to pay for the rest of my schooling. I told them that I did not want any part of the CIA, ever. I guess I'm one of those anti-Government types, at least on the Federal level."

I nodded as Barry continued, "I told them not only 'no' but 'hell no!', but they wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. They hounded me for two years. I began concentrating in police science, as I was interested in that, and they still bothered me. I actually went to Court where I lived and asked for a restraining order against them. The judge wouldn't issue one but they finally left me alone."

"I came here, hoping I was throwing them off the trail by leaving no forwarding addresses. I don't use credit cards and I'm almost completely off the grid." Barry continued. "I began working for Tim Olivet and we agreed that he would pay me from a dummy corporation so that no one would immediately find me."

"Unfortunately," Barry said, "it didn't work. A CIA guy, a young guy, college student around here, contacted me one day when I was having lunch on the Town Square. He said that the CIA was still interested in having me work with them. I told him to go to hell and leave me alone, that I would commit suicide before agreeing to work for the CIA. He seemed to get the message and left."

"Did he know, or seem to know, that you were working with Olivet?"

"No, he didn't say anything about that; in fact, he said that there were some chemistry research projects at this University that I could work on. I already know about two of them, one under the Pharmacy Building and another under the Biology Building. The pharmacy one is okay, your wi-" Barry stopped.

"My wife is overseeing that one." I said, finishing the sentence for him. "And the one under the Biology Building is of a nature that no sane or decent person should ever be working on. My wife won't have anything to do with that one, and I may just move in and shut it down one of these days."

"Yes sir, it seems you know everything about that." Barry said. "But you don't seem to be working with them talking to me now."

"I'm not." I said. "And Barry, the CIA tried to recruit me when I was in college and when I was in the Army, and they tried to get me to sell security products to them before I moved here and became a policeman. I told them 'hell no!' too... and in much stronger language."

Barry grinned as I asked "And you were working on nanotechnology when Olivet died? You took the papers and hid them?"

"Yes sir." Barry said. "But I won't say where, not even to you, Lieutenant."

"If I gave you my word that I won't tell anyone, not even my wife, and that the papers are yours and safe with you," I said, "would you at least satisfy my need to understand it? Tim Olivet died over it and you're in danger, Barry. If I found you, eventually the dogs of the CIA or someone else much worse might find you. Certainly I'm going to expedite your entry into the Police Academy and get you gun-qualified so that you can shoot the bastards if they come after you, and your arrows are better than a crowbar, as well. But I need you to trust me, also."

Barry considered my words, then said "Okay, come over here." He led me to a shelf that was next to the wall, open to both sides, with boxes of glassware on the shelves. "This shelf slides into the wall to give extra room if needed. These screws down here and up there..." he pointed at some screws near the very top and bottom of the shelving... "keep the shelf from sliding all the way out."

"But if you take out those screws," he said, suiting his action to the words, "then it comes out about a foot farther, and Voila!." Several holders were screwed into the shelf, and in those holders were file folders filled with sheafs of papers.

"All the research notes I had are in here." Barry said. "We found a process to etch a metal board at virtually the atomic level, and do it with precision, accuracy and consistency. Semiconductors could be etched at a level almost undreamed of now. Supercomputing would ramp up to incredible levels, new technologies from micro-cameras to surgical tools to, unfortunately, weapons would be possible. I've still got work to do on it, but with all the heat on the company after Tim died, I'm going to lay low and keep it hidden for a while, then come out with it when I can safely do so."

"Good idea." I said. "Go ahead and fix the shelf back. It's a good hiding place. I certainly won't say a word about it unless you ask me to. In the meantime, you're right to be very careful. I want you to tell me if anyone contacts you about this. If someone contacts you about anything out of the ordinary, please let me know. I also want you to take precautions: if someone tries to kidnap you, try to find a way to let us trace you."

"So how did you find me, Lieutenant?" Barry asked.

"Detective work." I said. "I think the only reason you haven't been found is because your pay stubs have 'Oliver' on them, and everyone else misread them as 'Olivet', as I originally did. All that paperwork is now in the hands of the new owners of Olivet's company, Acme. And the man behind them is exceptionally dangerous. Be careful and always be on your guard, Barry. Try not to be anywhere alone, if you can help it."

"Yes sir. Thank you, sir." Barry said, and as I turned to go, he called out "Lieutenant, there is one thing I need to tell you."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Tim Olivet was a good man. He was a friend to me, and he was a decent person that didn't like the Government any more than I do, and apparently as you don't. One reason I took this job here with the police was to find the bastard that killed him. I know he's your nephew, but if I find him before you do, you're only going to find his dead body. You can fire me for saying that, but that's my intent."

I just nodded. "If you do find him before I do and he comes over confirmed dead... you'll have nothing but my total gratitude for it... and I'll even make damn sure you get a medal." Leaving Barry behind, I walked out of the building.

Part 7 - Shovel-Ready: Digging For Information

"I don't know what's going on, but I thought I'd better tell you." Jeanine Olivet Burke said to me.

We were in the basement room of my mom's house, the "Mountain Nest." It was mid-September, during a lull between cases. Todd, Laura and my mother were outside on the patio with Carole, enjoying the afternoon sun.

Jeanine and Todd had just married. It was a small ceremony, attended mostly by family and Jeanine's legal partners. I was a bit surprised by the speed in which Todd had decided to marry Jeanine, but I wasn't complaining: they were well-matched. I think my mother was a bit miffed that they didn't have a bigger wedding, but grandmothers are like that.

"So what happened?" I asked.

"I got this call from Mr. Coleman, of the Lowe, Ball & Lynch Law Firm." Jeanine started.

"Business attorneys, if memory serves me correctly." I said.

"And it always does." Jeanine replied. "Mr. Coleman is the firm's 'worm', the guy who annoys and irritates people, getting under their skin until they give up the information he wants. He called me a couple of days ago on behalf of Acme Consolidated. He asked if we'd turned all the papers of the company over to Acme."

"I replied that we had given them everything they were entitled to, but of course the papers related to patents licensed by other companies wouldn't be shared with them. Mr. Coleman said he wasn't talking about that, but that he was looking for the basic papers of the company, such as personnel records and pay stubs."

"Ahhh, interesting." I said. "Did you send him everything?"

"As far as I know." Jeanine said. "Payroll was outsourced to ADP, of course. But here's the rest of the story: when I told him that, he got testy with me. He said that he believed that Acme had not been given all of the paperwork to which they were entitled, and that some of the pay records appeared to be missing. I put Tina Felton on the line at that time, and she told him in no uncertain terms that he'd gotten everything he was supposed to get, and that the records had been meticulously organized and grouped, so payroll was all in one batch."

"By the way," Jeanine continued, "apparently when you police copied the records, your guys organized them. They were a big mess before."

"Yes, I think some of my guys are too efficient by half." I said. "What about contract workers, 1099 workers and such?" I asked. "Did Tim have any other corporations from which he might have paid contractors?" I knew the answer but was asking just to see what Jeanine knew.

"I'm not sure." said Jeanine. "I don't think Tim was trying to hide anything from me, but he might have set up a dummy corp for research work, to keep what he was doing secret. If he did, he didn't siphon off much money to them. Do you have any ideas about any of it?"

"Oh yes." I replied. "They're looking for someone. They think your husband had separately and secretly employed someone doing research for him, and are looking for pay records. So the worm met his match with you and Tina, eh?"

"It got pretty ugly for a few moments, there." Jeanine said. "The guy was threatening to sue us, and Tina told him to bring it on and get ready for one hell of a counter-suit. After that the guy eased up a bit. Tina said she thought she heard someone in the background telling the guy to back off."

"Ah, so someone is pulling the guy's string." I said. "Thanks for telling me this, Jeanine."

"So, did you ever find out anything at all?" Jeanine said, peering at me.

"As long as I don't tell you, you have 'plausible deniability'." I said, half joking. Jeanine didn't appear to be amused, so I continued, "If they haven't found anything from the records by now, I doubt they're going to. They obviously haven't found anything because they're calling you in the belief there is more data. That actually speaks of desperation on their part."

"I agree... but that did not answer my question." Jeanine said. "You don't have to tell me if you think it's important not to, but I would like to know at some point in time. I want to know why I had to bury my first husband."

"I hear you." I said. "And I'll tell you in due time. I do think the situation is still fluid and potentially dangerous, so what you don't know may keep you... and your upcoming baby... safe."

Just then the others came back inside. Todd asked Jeanine "Did you tell him about Ivy?"

"Not yet." Jeanine said. "Don, that's the other thing I wanted to ask you about. Todd's parents, the Burkes, have asked us both about some girl Jack knew in college, named 'Ivy'. They believe she framed Jack for rape."

I made a studied effort not to react nor to look at Laura, though I could feel that both she and my mother were listening intently.

"Yes, Mr. Burke spoke to me about that." I said. "It was months ago, when he first moved to this Town."

"Uncle Don," said Todd, "we're wondering what to do or say about it. I really don't care about what happened in your college days, but they're pretty intent on finding out about this woman, and they think you might know something or be able to help them find this woman."

"I have less than zero interest in finding that woman, nor helping your parents find her." I said. "In fact, I don't want to have to investigate any more murders than I need to, and if they found her, I might end up being... 'professionally' involved."

"They say they just want to find out the truth of what happened with Jack." Jeanine said.

"Tell me, both of you." I said. "What do you think their reaction would be if they found her? Do you think they really just want to talk to her? Just find out what happened, when they openly have said they think she set their son up?"

"He's got a point there, babe." Todd said to his new wife. Jeanine was more skeptical.

---

It was late that night, and the air was getting cold as I stood on the deck of The Cabin. Cold, just the way I liked it. Laura, not so much, but I heard her come outside.

"Carole's asleep." she said.

"Good." I said, my mind adrift.

"Penny for your thoughts." Laura said, coming up next to me and putting her arm around my waist, a gesture I reciprocated.

"Oh, just looking at this beautiful view... and the view of the Town, too." I said, complimenting my lovely wife.

"Mm-hmm." Laura said. "You've been pretty quiet since we got home. Something you and Jeanine talked about while we were out on the patio?"

"No," I said, "it's more about what they said about the Burkes still looking for that girl Ivy. That was a long time in the past, but I'm concerned about their zeal to find her. I'm hoping I don't have to do anything about it." I then looked directly at Laura. "I'm sure you agree."