Moonlight Shadow Ch. 03

This story is part of an ongoing series. 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.

Part 12 - En Garde! (continued)

"DEFEND YOURSELF, TROY!"

*WHANG!*

My instincts had cut in even before I'd heard the warning yell, and I was turning to intercept the crowbar blow with my own red crowbar. My attacker was in all black, with armor that was better than a basic motorcycle protection suit. My attacker was a woman; those large breasts could not be hidden.

*CLANG!* *WHANG!*

I parried the blows as everyone stopped to watch. I don't know if they'd figured it out yet, but it was the golden yellow crowbar that gave her away.

This was Troy vs. Troy... I was facing off against my own wife, Dr. Laura Fredricson, late of the Central Intelligence Agency, and one serious badass at the martial arts (not to be confused with the 'marital' arts, but I digress...).

*CLANG!* *WHANG!* *CLANG!*

This was the first time Laura and I had engaged in personal combat with crowbars, and she was holding nothing back. She came at me with a couple of strong crowbar blows, then went for martial arts kicks. I parried the blows and simply sidestepped the kicks, graciously not taking her down with the Aikido moves available to me.

The noise and chatter in the gym increased as the crowbar battle continued. Most of the Officers had gone back to the bleachers to sit and watch. And they were getting a great view of a great battle.

Laura feinted and then moved in with a blow. I did not react in time and only partially deflected the blow onto my arm. In the real world, that would've hurt. In this exercise, it still hurt. I acted as if I was enraged and was going to hurl myself into an attack, but as Laura readied to take advantage, I suddenly stopped. As Laura nearly lost her balance, I tried to cut her legs out from under her.

*WHANG!*

Damn, she was fast enough, and stopped it. She was good. Damn good. We continued the lightsaber... er, crowbar battle, and then the earsplitting whistle, blown by Chief Moynahan, stopped us. We bowed to each other, then took our helmets off. Officers were stunned when they saw it was their Police Psychologist that had battled me to a standstill.

"Sir!" said Micah Rudistan with a jovial grin, trying to start trouble, "did you take it easy on your wife, there?"

"Are you kidding?" I replied with a grin. "You better believe it! I took it very easy on her... I don't want to have to sleep on the couch tonight!" As laughter erupted, I saw out of the corner of my eye that Laura was not amused, and was putting her helmet back on. I quickly put on mine, turned, and parried the powerful swing at my back!

*CLANG!*

Stupid to fail. And Laura had failed to get me. Now she was swinging at me again, then began mixing it with more martial arts, and this time she was really out for blood. For a moment she pressed me, and I remained on the defensive. But then I saw my opening... and I showed some things about Aikido that even Cindy had not seen.

I swung the crowbar, which Laura parried, but I was already pressing the attack and moving in on her. With a lightning fast, deft move, I grabbed her wrist and arm and twisted her around, using her own weight against her. She went to the floor and rolled, but was fast and experienced enough to be back on her feet instantly. Then came more crowbar clashes, then Laura tried another martial arts move and kick. I flowed with it, turned her, then cut her legs out from under her, successfully this time.

"Whooooaaaaaa!" the audience gasped almost as one. Laura had quickly scrambled up, so I couldn't take further advantage. I couldn't see her face behind her darkened helmet mask, but I could sense she was shocked at my Aikido skills. And getting a bit angry and frustrated. She was 'not winning'.

She tried an 'anti-Aikido' move that Cindy had been practicing for a long time, but I just switched to a more basic judo-"ish" move. In the blink of an eye, I had her yellow crowbar in one hand with my red one, and with the other I practically threw my wife over my shoulder, in reality over my arm, using her own weight and momentum against her. She flipped over and landed pretty hard on her back.

Chief Moynahan blew the whistle again, and everyone broke into applause as we took our helmets off and bowed to each other again. Laura's face was flushed, and I wondered if I really was going to be sleeping on the sofa with Bowser tonight.

"Damn, I had no idea you were that good!" she said quietly.

"I'm even better in bed." I whispered back, making her laugh.

"I knew that already." she replied with a 'look' and a little smile.

"All right, guys." I said. "As you can see, one has to go full bore no matter who the opponent is... in this exhibition against my wife, who has totally shocked me this morning, to being in the Police Boxing Matches rings with fellow Officers, to the real world out there where the perps don't consider it a friendly contest."

"That's right." said Chief Moynahan, addressing everyone as well. "Practice like you play, play like you practice. Train as hard as you can, so that you can defend yourselves and innocent civilians out there as effectively as you can.

"Also," said Chief Moynahan, " it would seeeeeemmm that all of the Troys are well versed in the martial arts. All of you are going to have to be at the very top of your games if you're going to beat Mr. Crowbar in the Police Boxing Matches. Isn't that right, De-tec-tive Davis?"

"Anything worth having isn't easy, sir." said Davis. "But I'm still going to win it all."

"What do the rest of you have to say about that?" asked the Chief.

"SET THOSE BRACKETS UP RIGHT, COMMANDER!!" they said in unison. I broke down laughing, realizing the Chief (and probably Teresa) had coordinated that, and very well. We simply have too much fun in this Police Department, I thought to myself. No wonder Laura wanted to join the fun.

Then I started wondering about the real reason Laura had used me for crowbar practice...

Part 13 - Messing With Clan Crowbar

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Fox Two News!" shouted the lovely reporterette from in front of City Hall at 7:00am, Tuesday, April 10th. "The Board of Inquiry has reached its decision and issued its report in the case of Commander Donald Troy's use of a helicopter gunship!"

MCD was full of Police Officers, one Police Psychologist, and one four-year-old Future Detective, but it was totally silent as everyone listened.

"The Board voted 2 to 1..." said Bettina, "that Commander Troy was justified in his use of the helicopter to engage criminals in order to rescue two wounded Police Officers!"

MCD erupted into applause, then settled down to listen to the rest of Bettina's broadcast:

"Though the vote was 2-1," said the lovely redheaded reporterette, "an unusual event happened in that all three Board members wrote separate opinions. Lead Commissioner Silas voted that Commander Troy's actions were justified, but he took the unusual step to write an opinion that stated that continued actions beyond the norm of Police protocols would be a problem in the future, and his comments advised the Town & County Council to set guidelines on Police procedures and actions that might go beyond the expected norms."

More Bettina: "The Town & County Council meets tonight, and will very likely take up the issue. They can accept the Board's findings, or reject the findings and impose their own judgment regarding Commander Troy's indemnity in this situation. Meanwhile, Commander Troy has made no statement regarding this incident or the Board's findings, but Chief Sean Moynahan issued a statement saying that Commander Troy's actions saved the lives of Officers and good people, and that the Commander should not have been subjected to, and I quote, 'a political witch hunt by politicians hostile to those who put their lives on the line for the Public every day', close quote. Retired Police Chief Griswold, who is running for Sheriff, said this. Roll tape."

Tape rolled, showing Chief Griswold. "Commander Troy takes care of his Police Officers, and always has their interests and the interests of innocent, law-abiding citizens in his mind in every action he takes. His swift action to use the helicopter to end the situation in the park and get his Officers medical attention is just one example of why the People of this County are extremely lucky to have Commander Donald Troy and his fellow Officers serving them..."

Bettina: "Candidate for Sheriff Della Harlow did not agree. She blasted the Board's findings, saying that the dissenting opinion was the real truth, and that the Council should accept it and reject the other findings. In the dissent, Commissioner Finneran said that, and I quote, 'Commander Troy's actions were more akin to a paramilitary operation that has no place in this Town & County, especially not by our Peace Officers'...

MCD erupted into laughter at the mention of the term 'Peace Officers'. I don't know whyyyy...

Bettina moved on: "And calls for the impeachment of Governor Val Jared grew louder as Jared doubled down on his war on undocumented workers! Governor Jared wants the SBI and local law enforcement to fully cooperate with Federal ICE agents, and stated that the recent declaration by the City's political leadership that the City was to be a Sanctuary City was unlawful, and that he would end the unspoken agreement of the City's self-sovereignty and send State Agents into the City to enforce immigration law."

"State Senator Maxine Watts renewed her calls for a Independent State Counsel to investigate Governor Jared for collusion in covering up the involvement of the Federal Government in the assassination of superstar singer Jasmine Nix. She also repeated her assertions that Governor Jared was a racist and misogynist, and not even trying to hide his hatred of ethnic minorities and women."

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

"For crying out loud," said Joanne Warner, "will they ever quit lying about Governor Jared and trying to smear him?"

"No." I said. "The Media's hatred of him is unappeasable, as is the hatred of him by what's called the 'Deep State'. But it's really their hatred of us, the people that dared to elect him instead of who they, the deeply corrupt Media, told us to elect."

Have I mentioned... that my hatred of the Press exceeds their hatred of Jared and the People? And the party was just getting started.

"Here's the new Harlow ad." said Teddy Parker. I noticed Laura take Carole out of the room as we watched.

"Police Officer Teresa Croyle." said a woman's voice as photos of Teresa leading the SWAT teams during the previous summer's raids were shown, then printed words that matched the audio: "Physically assaulted a DUI suspect. Numerous complaints about her filed about excessive use of force. Led Police SWAT teams on paramilitary operations, where Police brutality was routinely used to suppress peaceful protesters' free speech rights."

"Why is this Officer, who has shown herself to be a danger to the Citizens of our Town & County, still on the Police Force?" asked a male voice. "Because Commander Donald Troy and Police Chief Griswold covered up for her, protected her, overlooked her abusive behavior. Just one more example of Sheriff Daniel Allgood's cowboy law enforcement policies." A photo of Daniel in his 'Western' garb was shown.

The woman's voice returned. "Della Harlow. She'll clean up the corruption in the TCPD, and ensure that Police Officers respect the rights of Citizens. Della Harlow... I'm with her." Then came Della's voice in the boilerplate about approving the message.

It was dead silent in the MCD room. All eyes were on Teresa Croyle. Her face was inscrutable to me.

'Well, Captain Croyle?" I said, breaking the tremendously tense silence. "Welcome to my world. Sure you don't want to start carrying a crowbar?"

"Won't. Be. Needing one." replied Teresa.

"God damn Della Harlow." Cindy 'whispered'.

"Did Harlow just break the law?" asked Joanne. "Talking about Captain Croyle's personnel records?"

"Everything she said is public knowledge." said Theo Washington. "Boards of Inquiry are public pervue, as are complaints made about the Police to the City Attorney or the Council itself."

"We cannot let this one go." Cindy said menacingly. "What do you want to do, sir?"

"Oh, we can press the 'Easy Button' on this one." I said, then looked at Teresa. "Care to have some fun, my friend?"

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

"This is Priya Ajmani, Five-Alive News in the Morning!" shouted the lovely Indian reporterette from in front of City Hall at 8:00am, Tuesday, April 10th. "We have breaking news in the last five minutes! The SBI's Office of Ethics and Review have issued a statement that they find Police Commander Donald Troy's actions in using a helicopter to engage criminals with gunfire and rescue two wounded Officers to be proper and legitimate for that situation! They have cleared Commander Troy of all wrongdoing!"

Priya went on: "Social Justice groups are outraged at this decision, as well as the Board of Inquiry's findings that Commander Troy was justified in his actions. Jay Swenson of Citizens for Police Accountability issued a statement just moment ago, which said: 'the criminally abusive actions of Commander Troy and the Town & County Police Force, as well as the cover-up of those actions at the local and State levels, continues unabated. Citizens of the County remain under siege.'."

Priya: "Candidate for Mayor Eldrick X. Weaver made a statement regarding the Board of Inquiry findings, which said 'Blacks and other minorities in the County remain under siege from white paramilitary troops pretending to be TCPD Police Officers. This is worse than the Ku Klux Klan of the 1950s!'."

"And the TCPD has called a Press Conference for 9:00am, to address Sheriff's candidate Della Harlow's ad attacking Captain Teresa Croyle's use of excessive force in leading TCPD SWAT teams against peaceful protesters. KSTD will be covering the event as well as bringing you all the news you have a right to know."

"Darn," said Cindy as we watched in my office. "She's started up that 'right to know' stuff again."

"I understand she was told to." I said. "So, Captain Croyle, ready for the Press Conference?"

"Like T-Square says, sir," Teresa said, with what was for her a smile on her attractive face, "you are one nasty Cracker." I laughed out loud at that one.

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

9:00am. The Press that was gathered in the TCPD Press Room was in a raucous mood, smelling blood. They couldn't wait to explode upon the Police over Teresa Croyle's past.

The first to assume the podium was a surprise: Chief Griswold. "I'll make a brief statement, then bring up Captain Croyle herself for your questions." he said. After a pause, he continued: "Most of you in here do not know the true facts regarding Captain Teresa Croyle. Yes, she made a mistake, one mistake, and she paid for it. She also served in Midtown PD's Internal Affairs, where she investigated corrupt politicians and their corrupt Media allies." That shut the Press up, though their hostility level rose substantially.

"Captain Croyle was brought back, with my approval as well as the Council's, by Commander Troy," said Griswold, "who saw the good qualities in her, as he does many of his Officers; and put her in positions where she did excellent work... work she is still doing superlatively, I might add. I am extremely proud of the good work Captain Teresa Croyle has done, and I stand by her. Captain Croyle, will you come up, please?"

Teresa made her way down the aisle to the podium. As she came up to the podium, Chief Griswold made room for her, but did not leave the dias yet. The Press exploded, shouting over each other with questions And then... it suddenly fell silent.

It would seem that the Press noticed that Your Iron Crowbar had entered the room, carrying a four-year-old. My four-year-old.

As I reached the base of the dias, I turned and said "Carole, say hello to these not-so-nice Press people."

"Hello, not-so-nice Press people." Carole said loudly. Teresa smiled and Chief Griswold barked a laugh. I was smiling, too, as I took Carole up onto the platform and handed her to Teresa.

"Smart girl. Just like her mother." I said, then said more loudly: "I'll be back in a second. I'm going to make sure the Press vehicles in the parking lot don't have expired tags." With that, I began walking out of the Press Room. Of course, I didn't go much farther than the door.

The point was well made. Teresa had beaten up Dean Allen in Christmas misery and frustration. She also had saved Carole in a Christmas miracle. Chief Griswold would later say that he'd never seen a Press Corps with such helpless looks on their faces.

"So what were your questions?" Teresa asked sardonically.

Finally, Lester 'Penis Holder' Holder dared to ask a question. "Aren't you exploiting your rescue of that child for political purposes right now?"

"No more than Della Harlow was exploiting Captain Croyle's one mistake, and attacking Viet Nam war heroes like Captain Croyle's father." growled Griswold. "And Harlow may have broken laws in bringing up Captain Croyle's personnel records. I've filed a complaint with the FEC, the State Elections Board, and Public Safety IG Office, who continues to have jurisdiction over Harlow as a retired Police Officer."

It was now really bad for the Press in the room. I came on back in and retrieved my daughter. "Okay, Carole, let's go to my office."

"Okay, Daddy!" Carole said as I took her into my arms. Teresa followed us out; this Press Conference was 'ovah', and everyone knew it.

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

Cindy was beside herself with laughter as we sat in my office. Teresa also looked greatly amused. Carole was sitting on my desk, looking around, and Laura was also with us.

"That'll never make the evening news." said Teresa.

"No," I said, "but it should stop the Press from giving you any crap, and maybe Della Harlow will get the message that you are absolutely the wrong person to use to attack me, Chief Griswold, or Sheriff Allgood."

"What are you looking at, Carole?" asked Laura, noticing Carole's curiosity.

"Daddy's office." said Carole. "It's going to be my office one day." Needless to say, three of the four adults in the room were amazed. Cindy seemed to not be.

"You're going to have to do well in school and then work hard to make this office yours." I said, always taking advantage of a 'teachable moment'.

"I will, Daddy." said Carole importantly. "But it will be Trr-eee-sa's office next."

"And where will your Daddy's office be?" asked Cindy, continuing to sense Carole's vibe herself.

"Over there." said Carole, pointing toward's the Chief's office. "In the funny shaped office in the corner." The Chief's office was built as a pentagon. Again, we were stunned at Carole's vision.

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

"Sir," said Sergeant Rudistan, "the Press is either not leaving the parking lot, or have taken up stations across the street, watching the gated lot. And your mother just arrived to pick up Carole."