Moonlight Shadow Ch. 02

"And May worked with him before all this happened? After?" I asked.

"Both." said Callie. "And we just found out about the 'after', when James Cialis was found dead. An internal CIA investigation has been started, to see if it was just May or both James and May working with 'Warspear', and why. The only case we know of for sure where she worked with him after he left the Company was in Florida last May and June, just before James and May came here last summer."

I nodded. "Got a picture of this 'Warspear' rascal?" Callie took out her cellphone, unlocked it, started an app, unlocked that with a different set of numbers, then brought up a photo. 'Warspear' was a man in his upper 20s or early 30s, full head of wavy black hair, squarish, not quite 'chiseled' face but a strong jawline, and blue eyes. Yep, most women would find him to be 'handsome', but two of three people in my office (that being me and Cindy) didn't look at men that way...

"And he's in our area right now?" I asked as Callie emailed me the photo.

"We're trying to ascertain that now." said Callie.

"Mighty big word for a porn star to be using... 'ascertain'." said Cindy. Callie gave Cindy a 'what the hell?!' look as Cindy tried to keep a straight face, and failed when I began laughing, too.

"What did you feed my Police Captain for breakfast, Callie?" I asked. "She's got an acid tongue today."

"No doubt about that---" Callie started.

"Don't say it!" Cindy all but shouted. "Don't you dare say it!" I began laughing again, knowing what, or who, Cindy had had for breakfast, and had sharpened her tongue with... eating Callie for breakfast, if I did not miss my guess... (and I rarely do)...

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

Saturday, April 7th, 9:30am. When I came out of my office some time after the meeting with Callie and Cindy had ended, I was surprised to find an MCD full of Detectives working at their desks. And then I saw that Vice was nearly full, as well. Captain Croyle was also in her office.

I went into MCD. Jerome Davis was studying photographs on his computer monitor. I could see they were the footprints at the Cialis crime scene.

"Find anything, Davis?" I asked, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to him.

"I'm trying to figure out how he... or they, as is most likely the case... did this." Jerome said. "He was definitely a magician... and left us with this, his final magic trick."

"Yes." I said. "What do you think about the length of his stride from those footprints?"

"A little on the short side." said Jerome. "But well within what would be normal, kind of like soldiers marching in formation and having to take 30 inch steps."

"Very true." I said. "But the weight distribution is normal walking, not deliberately short marching steps. So, no other marks anywhere along the path?"

"Not that I could see, sir." said Jerome. "And Parker looked harder than I did at all of it, and he didn't find anything that would suggest a towel or a board had been set down."

"Yes." I said. "So you think this is his doing, of his accord?"

"I'm not sure, sir." said Jerome. "I'm beginning to think he could not have done this alone. And of course, I doubt he did this expecting to be shot six times at the end of it."

I smiled. "Very likely not."

"Sir," asked Jerome, "am I on the right track concentrating on this?" I felt as much as saw everyone else's eyes turning to me.

"Yes." I said. "Figure it out, and we are a long, long way to solving the full crime. But as you study how it was done, you should also ask yourself why it was done. That's just as important, if not more."

"Sir," said Teddy Parker, "Ballistics came back. The 9mmP rounds recovered from the body were not fired from James Cialis's Kimber CDP pistol."

"I'm not surprised to hear that." I replied, then added "Look closely at the ballistics of the recovered bullets, Teddy. See what you think of them." Parker's brow furrowed in seeming confusion as he brought up the ballistics report.

"Okay," I said, getting up "let's welcome to our Major Crimes Division the Los Angeles Police Department's Major Crimes Division!" I'd seen Lt. Claire Michaels and newly-minted Lt. Lorena Rose come to the door, accompanied by Cpt. Croyle.

There was much acclaim and greeting, hugs and talking as both MCD and Vice Detectives renewed their acquaintances with Lorena and Claire. After some (many) moments of conversation and catching up, I invited Claire, Lorena, Christopher Purvis, Cindy, and Teresa into the Main Conference Room for a 'pow-wow'.

"First," I said as we all got seated, "I'd like for Purvis to brief us on what he's found out about the perps. Then we can hear from you L.A. guys."

"Yes sir." said Purvis, hooking his computer up to the monitor. "First of all, leaving the world no worse off, the fourth man that Commander Troy shot up died of his injuries last night. He was a real bad seed, named Manuel Herrera Rodriguez, rap sheet as long as my arm. The other three deceased were relatively small potatoes, all three from Southern California."

Twelve mug shots filled the monitor screen, brought up by Purvis on his computer. All were very tough looking Hispanic men. "Of these twelve guys that were arrested alive, nine are from the metropolitan Los Angeles area, and three from our State. The Pottsville area."

"Pottsville?" I asked. "What's the deal about them being from there?'

"Pottsville is southwest of the City and Westphalia, along the Interstate to Midtown." said Purvis. "Roads go out of there to nearly every sector of the State: northwest towards Nextdoor County and to us, west to Hamilton County, southwest to Midtown, and most importantly, southeast to the lower right quadrant of the State, where a great deal of the farming takes place. Pottsville has become the crossroads between populated City areas, industrial sectors, and rural sectors of the State."

"As a result," said Purvis, "a large number of Hispanic illegals come to that area and are distributed towards jobs wherever they can fit in and are needed. Which explains why State Representative Wilson Hammonds is a Republican but so strongly protects Illegals. They're spending money in his District."

"That," I said, "and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filling his pockets with tremendous amounts of money. Any of that related to these slugs?"

"It is looking increasingly like that is not the case, sir." said Purvis. "NS-14 has people based in Pottsville, maybe sent these three slugs to do some drug deals with the California gangbangers. Not sure there's more to it."

"I would look harder into that." I said, then said to Lorena and Claire: "I remarked to Captains Croyle and Ross the other night that these guys are not doing drug deals with themselves, so something else is going on. What that something else is, is explosives. Our explosives dog sniffed out some bricks of plastique hidden in the cash and drugs."

"Oh, wow." said Claire. "So this is not the normal drug operation."

"No." I said. "It looks like a drug deal, but is actually something much, much worse."

"I do recognize some of these L.A. guys, though." said Claire. "Don't you, Lorena?"

"Oh yes." said Lorena. "Roberto Sanchez sticks out like a lighthouse in a storm."

Claire said "Commander, I'm sure you remember busting that little twit when you rescued Mikey Towson. The twit was put in prison, and it was circulated that he was trying to rape a little boy when he was busted. So the prison system meted out its own kind of justice: they went in and raped him. He then snitched on who did it, and asked for Punk City protection. They were... late... in getting him the protection he needed, and they found him in his cell... raped again, and this time murdered."

"Can't say I'm really sorry about that." I said.

"Well, the cloud to that silver lining," said Claire, "is that this Roberto Sanchez guy is that little bastard's cousin. Vivian Leigh Towson made a point to get a message to Sanchez that you, Don Troy, the Iron Crowbar, was the man who busted Roberto's cousin, and sent him to jail and to his death."

"So that guy came here," said Teresa, "to come after Commander Troy?"

"We're not sure." said Claire. "Though the LAPD's Major Crimes unit is now thoroughly aware of what the Iron Crowbar thinks of coincidences." I grinned at that one.

I then got serious. "This question might seem to be out of left field," I said, "but are the Feds interested in Sanchez or any of these NS-14 losers? And by that I mean a special kind of interest beyond the ordinary gangbanger, illegal alien kind of interest?"

Claire and Lorena looked at each other, seeming to not know, then Claire said "Not that I know of, Commander... anything you want to share with us?"

"No." I said. "Just a hunch, based on another case we have going, a local murder. It really would be a coincidence if that case and the gangbangers drug party were related, but one never knows... the party never stops in our Town and County, as you both well know."

"Yes sir, we do." said Lorena, almost excitedly. "Los Angeles is really just a very big Town and County. You'd love it, sir."

"I do love L.A., but I love the original Town & County even more." I replied. "Okay, do you L.A. ladies want to go out to County Jail and interrogate these suspects with my Vice people?"

"Oh, we sure do." said Claire. "Also, I do need to speak with you privately, Commander, if you don't mind."

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

Claire was in my Police SUV, riding shotgun as we drove towards County Jail. Cindy was taking Lorena, and Purvis and Geiger were in Purvis's unmarked sedan. The Teacher knew the car well, but we didn't care; it got Detectives from Point HQ to Point County Jail most very effectively.

"What I wanted to tell you, and ask you," said Claire as we drove behind the others, "is that our leader, Commander Raytheon, is retiring. She has a fairly serious medical condition. l've been asked to unofficially feel out your interest in a position like that with the LAPD. If you have any interest, the Brass will follow up, more formally."

"It sounds like a great opportunity," I said, "but my first question is what will the people already there, like Provino, and Tal Shiarr... who have worked their asses off in LA for twenty years for the chance of that job... what will they do if an outsider like me is installed over them? And for context: that's what happened here. I came in, the Detectives found themselves suddenly being led by a barely-30-years-old redhead, then the entire Police Force suddenly found they had a new and babyfaced Police Commander..."

Claire laughed. "First of all, the L.A. Major Crimes guys have seen you at work, and they were more than impressed. They were even more impressed at the way you came out just to get Mikey for your Officer and his brother, and they've heard the stories of how you take care of your people. We need that in L.A... badly. And of course, they'll be professional about it, in whatever job you might get. You can have your choice of just about any Captain position within LAPD, many which would go well with your talents. And maybe even a Commander position... the LAPD's version of it."

"Well," I said, "taking over a small-Town Police Force like this one is one thing... but doing the same in L.A. is quite another. I do appreciate being thought of, and it is tempting to consider. But I'm happy where I am."

"I'll tell them to talk to you anyway." said Claire with a sly grin. I laughed.

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

The Conference Room at 1st Precinct Headquarters and County Jail was wired up for computers, so Cindy, Lorena Rose, Claire Michaels, and I set up our computers and began going over the data that we'd amassed on the NS-14 perps. Some of it was spotty, and the LAPD's files were able to supplement ours.

"ICE has sent us requests to hold all of these bastards for deportation." said Cindy. "I've already notified them that they can have them when we are finished."

"Unless the FBI wants them for further interrogation." I replied.

"You guys are lucky you can do that." said Claire. "We'd go to jail if we cooperate with ICE in any way."

"I'll withhold speaking my thoughts on that." I said. Your Iron Crowbar is loyal to the Constitution of the United States, and considers 'sanctuary' city and State policies to be in direct violation of the Constitution and Federal law. But I digress... we had these perps to process.

"We can watch the interrogations on our computer screens, here." I said. We all brought up the TCPD feed as Purvis and Geiger went into I-1 to talk to the first perp.

He tried to pretend he didn't speak English. "I'm all over that." said Lorena Rose. She left the conference room and went down to Interrogation-1. Going in, she spoke in Spanish, thus killing the perp's dodge of not understanding us. So he immediately took the Fifth.

This went on with the rest of the perps, until we got to the last two. One was Roberto Sanchez, the other was someone we thought might be one of the leaders of this gang.

"So, Roberto," said Purvis, "why are you here? Why this County?"

"What of it?" said Roberto.

"Strange place for you to be making a drug deal... with your own gang." said Geiger. "All of you from L.A. What's the point of coming here?"

"Just sightseeing." said Roberto. "Meeting girls at your Yooo-niversity."

"Yeah, right." said Purvis. "So... what are you doing in the Iron Crowbar's County, Roberto?" I'd told Purvis to ask this incisive question, hopefully to shake Sanchez up by indicating that we knew plenty about him.

"The Iron Crowbar is a cabron." said Sanchez, anger creeping into his voice.

"And that's why you're here, in his County?" repeated Purvis.

"What of it?" snarled Sanchez. His Court-appointed lawyer leaned over and whispered something to him, and he nodded but said no more.

"The Iron Crowbar knows that your cousin wanted to rape a little boy." said Purvis. "The Iron Crowbar thinks your cousin was a little faggot... and he thinks the same of you, Roberto? Are you a NAMBLA member? Do you like sex with little boys?" That got him a look of hatred from Sanchez, and a rather nasty look at me from one Cindy Ross in the conference room.

Unfortunately, Sanchez's lawyer intervened with another whisper session. Sanchez nodded, then said "I invoke my Fifth Amendment rights. I will answer no more of your questions."

"Damn." I muttered. "We almost provoked him, but his lawyer saved him. And just one of these bastards left to talk to."

"Gonna call him a name, too?" Cindy asked acerbically, which got her a look of shock from Claire.

"If it'll loosen his tongue and get us some answers," I said, looking levelly at her, "then damn straight I will. Psychology, Captain. Psychology." Cindy was not amused, but said no more. The last perp was brought into I-1.

*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*

Dammit! I thought to myself as I got out my Police iPhone and answered it. It was FBI Special Agent in Charge Jack Muscone.

"Hi Don." he said. "The retired DepDirector is in Town and wants to talk to you. He's buying lunch at the Cattleman's Club. You really should come talk with us. How about at 11:45?"

"All right." I said resignedly. "I'll meet you there." Hanging up, I said, "Well, I'm getting fed lunch by the FBI."

"Any idea what it's about?" Cindy asked.

"No." I said. "But it might be interesting---"

*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*

I answered my Police iPhone again.

"Hi Don." said a lovely voice, belonging to the SBI Inspector that was in charge of the SBI-OER. "This is Britt Maxwell. Norm Chow and I are at your Headquarters. Can you come over to see us? As in right now?"

I rolled my eyes (again). I just could not catch a break while trying to pursue these crimes. I told Britt that I was on my way.

"Is this interrogation being recorded?" I asked.

"Absolutely." said Cindy.

"I'll have to watch it later, and get the Cliffs Notes from you ladies." I said. "I've gotta go."

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

SBI Inspector Brittany M. Maxwell was one of the most drop-dead gorgeous women I'd ever seen, much less knew, much less fucked. Her raven black hair fell in lustrous gentle waves over her shoulders and partially down her back. Her blue eyes sparkled. Her mouth looked a little small on her angular face, but her lips looked like they invited being kissed.

She was relatively tall, and as she always wore high heels she looked even taller, and her slender body enhanced that. Though her body was slender, it curved in exactly the right places, and her breasts, ass, and legs were shapely and made me hot to look at... and to remember some really good times with her. While she usually played with women, she had sucked and fucked my balls off enough times for me to know that she had it all, and in the best possible ways...

I had to stop myself from thinking more nasty sexual thoughts about Britt as I came into Headquarters. The Duty Desk Sergeant said that the SBI people were interviewing the Chief in his office, so I went to my office to wait for them. It was only a few moments of waiting before they knocked on my open office door.

After hugging Britt and shaking hands with Norm Chow, I had them sit down in the hot chairs. "So, what's new?" I asked, somewhat sarcastically.

"We just interviewed your Chief and Captain Croyle," said Britt. "Before we begin questioning you and recording it, there's a few things we need to tell you."

"Okay." I said, glad to get some gossip.

Norm Chow said "We've learned that Senator Maxine Watts is going to begin using this helicopter incident to attack Governor Jared, saying things like this are a result of his lack of leadership in the State. That's no big deal, except for who is working with Watts: State Senator Katherine Woodburn."

"Hoo boy." I said.

"Yeah, 'hoo boy' is right." said Britt. "Woodburn is already coordinating with Democrats this area, and especially candidates for offices. They're going to attack you, and she's going to attack State Republicans and the Governor at the same time."

Chow said: "We've been asked to delay our investigation of this, and by the local Board of Inquiry. We told them to pound sand, and that they should wait for our investigation. They may try to string this out, like they tried to delay last summer during the Luskin case, when you shot that punk that was throwing Molotov cocktails at your family."

"In addition," said Britt, "I've learned from local sources that they're really going to raise a stink over you not being suspended or restricted, saying that other Police Officers would've been chained to their desks for something like this, especially with you allegedly not cooperating with the I.G.'s lawyer Mullen. That's one reason we're moving fast on this, but just be on watch that it's coming."

"Yep." I said. "Okay, let's get on with it." We went into the main Conference Room, where Chow set up a camera to record us. The questions covered the basic grounds: who authorized me to use the helicopter? (myself); how did I ascertain it was safe to use the helicopter in that manner? (infrared); were there other options? (none better); and so on and so forth. But Britt did hit me with one unexpected question:

"Commander," she said, "if there had not been two wounded Officers at the scene at the time, would you still have used the helicopter to attack the perpetrators?"

I had to pause a second, and then I answered: "I don't like hypotheticals, and a question like that is inherently of a hypothetical situation. So I don't know what might've happened under different circumstances. But I would not have ruled out using the helicopter. Remember that the perps had weapons illegally modified to deliver fully automatic fire. My Officers were outgunned. I evened up the firepower on behalf of my Officers, and might've done it even if two of them weren't wounded."