Return of the Black Widow Ch. 02

"Okay, guys, I appreciate this information." I said. "You have dinner plans? Cindy? I'll treat you all to The Steakhouse tonight. Laura has a Faculty Dinner sans spouses, and my mom is keeping the kids..."

"Can I invite Callie?" Cindy asked. I enthusiastically agreed.

Part 8 - Seeking Council

Callie Carrington was in the office of Dr. Laura Fredricson, blissfully unaware of the fearsome reputation of the couch she was sitting on, nor the one across from her.

"Janet is doing fine." said Callie, meaning former Nextdoor County Police Lieutenant Janet Dixon Riordan. "She likes California. And I've been working with Claire Michaels in the LAPD Major Crimes division, who used to live and work here. Their 'Major Crimes' is a lot more specialized, while your husband's is more all-encompassing of crimes against persons."

"That's true." said Laura, sitting on the other sofa. "It sounds like you're studying police work. You asked Don a good number of questions the other day about his work. Are you doing the same with Cindy?"

Callie smiled her beautiful smile. "To tell you the truth, I was fascinated when they were solving the Steve West murder last Winter. So I started writing a book on that, and that's how I got in touch with Claire Michaels. She says she left here because she loves L.A., but she talks about how great Don and Cindy and all those guys here were, so I get the feeling there was more to her leaving than just loving L.A."

Laura smiled. "My husband would commend your observational powers---"

Just then, Laura's intercom buzzed and her assistant Gayle said "Ma'am, Dr. Karpathian is here to see you."

"Send her in." Laura said. A second later, Bonnie came through the door.

"Hi, Bonnie." said Laura. "Callie, Dr. Bonnie Karpathian has studied criminal behavior, so you might want to talk to her. Bonnie, this is my friend Callie Carrington."

"Ah yes, I remember when you were in Town a few months ago." asked Bonnie. "How are you, Callie?"

"Very well, thank you." said Callie. "And you?"

"Oh, very well." said Bonnie. "My new book is coming out soon. So, you're becoming famous in adult film circles, aren't you?"

"Uh oh." Callie said with a grin. "Looks like I won't be doing any undercover work any time soon."

"More like under covers." Laura said drily. "Yes, Bonnie, as you remember, Callie was involved in that case of the murdered porn producer last winter, and she was kind enough to let me interview her. She's been researching police work since the Steve West murders while continuing in the adult film industry."

"Yes, and I've followed her career." Bonnie said, "I have to admit that I'm a fan of yours, Callie." Just then, Laura got a phone call and went to her desk to take it. Bonnie sat down opposite the beautiful blonde porn actress.

"So what brings you to Town?" asked Bonnie. "Your research?"

"Yes. I came to interview Laura's husband and Cindy Ross about the West case and some of their other ones for my book." Callie said, not revealing her real reasons. Then she grinned her beautiful grin and said: And of course... I came to re-ignite the relationships I developed with them last time. Cindy introduced me to that smoking hot Indian reporter, and of course I fucked Laura's husband's brains out."

"Oh really?" Bonnie asked.

"O-M-G." Callie said. "I'm in the porn industry, and those guys and girls don't fuck me like the people here do... especially that man with the iron hard little crowbar and that hot blonde Miss Physical America..." Callie sighed in pleasure, then peered at Bonnie. "You should know... you've fucked him, too. Haven't you?"

"Oh!" Bonnie gasped, then said "I didn't realize it showed."

"It doesn't." Callie said with a knowing grin. "But I hear things. And Don is so fucking hot----" Her cellphone rang and she answered it. "Hi... tonight?... sure... dinner sounds great... you, Don, and the FBI... sounds like trouble!... no, I'm kidding. I'd love to come... okay, bye."

Hanging up as Laura came back to the sofas, Callie said "Well, I just got a dinner invite with your husband, Cindy, and two yummy FBI Agents."

"I envy you." said Laura. "Bonnie and I have a boring Faculty Dinner tonight. "But have fun..."

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

The Members of the Town & County Council came into the private meeting room after finishing with public business and going into Executive Session.

"Can't believe those old people are still being so ugly about the Community Center." breathed Kelly Carnes as she sat down in her seat.

"I don't blame them." said Dagmar Schoen. "And we're going to fix that tonight."

"Oh really?" snarled Thomas P. Cook. "And how do you propose to----"

*TAP!* *TAP!* *TAP!* *TAP!* *TAP!* *TAP!*

The Mayor was tapping his gavel. "Okay everyone, let's settle down and run this meeting like a meeting, so that I can actually get to bed at a decent hour." Everyone sat down... and the seat to the left of the podium at the far end of the table was palpable in its emptiness... the seat once occupied by the late Pastor Raymond Kyle Westboro.

"Okay," said the Mayor. "We have three items to work through tonight, and no tabling of them. First is the Robert Brownlee situation. Second is the Community Center situation and that lawsuit. And third is approval of the Special Election to fill the seat of the late Pastor Westboro."

"We can handle that last one first." said J.P. Goldman. "Because it's past primary elections, State Law generally guides that there should be an open, non-partisan election for the seat, and anyone who otherwise meets the requirements of the seat is eligible. We need to approve it tomorrow night at a special meeting, because there will be one month of open registrations, then the registrations will be verified and the eligible names sent for printing on the ballots. That has to happen by one month before Election Day."

There was no disagreement, and there was a 9-0 vote to call for the Special Election, and to meet the next evening for the Second Reading of the Bill and getting the process underway.

"Okay, which do you want to deal with next?" asked the Mayor.

"The Community Center." said Dagmar Schoen, very eager to stick it to Kelly Carnes and Thomas P. Cook.

"Mr. Mayor," said Thomas P. Cook, "despite your previous words, I believe we should table this matter until we have a report from our lawyers regarding the court case... and also until after we've elected a replacement for Pastor Westboro, may he rest in peace."

"May he rest in Hell." said Edward R. Steele. When Cook peered at him, he matched the look and said "It was my daughter that bastard Westboro tried to frame for murder. I'll never, ever, forgive that."

"Whether you forgive him or not," said Kelly Carnes, "I second the motion to table this discussion."

There is a motion to table," said the Mayor, trying to hide his exasperation. "Let's vote, per requirements." The vote was 2-7 to table the discussion, a solid defeat, with only Cook and Carnes voting for that.

Jack Colby took it up: "I propose, as a motion, that the Council and therefore the County withdraws its opposition to Dr. Eckhart's lawsuit, and that we reverse the previous ordinance to declare eminent domain, and that Dr. Eckhart's Charitable Trust be awarded the deed to the property that was rightly bought by him."

Thomas P. Cook said "Point of order, Mr. Mayor. Only someone who voted to pass that previous bill can bring it up again for a re-vote."

"I voted to break the tie." said the Mayor. "So I can bring it back up again."

"No, you're just a tiebreaker." said Cook. "I believe that legally it has to be one of the five of us... oh, that's right, Pastor Westboro is dead and won't be bringing it up, and I can assure you that I will not be."

"It doesn't matter, anyway." said Edward Steele. "I propose to amend the motion to make it a separate action, not a re-vote of the previous one. We'll vote to stand down on the lawsuit, and to award Dr. Eckhart's Trust the title deed that we technically hold through eminent domain. Either way, Eckhart gets his title deed back."

"I'll tie this up in Court for years if you do that." said Cook.

"It'll be you versus the Council and every bit of legal firepower we can bring against you, Cook." warned John Colby, relishing his words. "You'll have to bring it up as a private citizen, and we'll run roughshod over you, legally as well as practically."

"Okay, a motion has been submitted." said the Mayor. "Is there a second."

"I wish to be the one on the record seconding this motion." called out Dagmar Schoen with great alacrity.

"Let the record show it." said the Mayor. "Let's vote." The vote was 5-4 to undo the damage and the Government assault upon the Senior Citizens of the County. Thomas P. Cook's face and neck were red with suppressed fury.

"Okay," said the Mayor. "Just one more thing: dealing with the lawsuit filed by Robert Brownlee."

"If we're going to not resist the Community Center lawsuit," said Thomas P. Cook, acid in his voice, "then we should not resist this one. Furthermore, Commander Brownlee should be restored to his position as Police Deputy Chief, and immediately."

"No way in hell." said John Colby. "I say we fight the bastard to the last ditch."

"It would improve our relations with the Police Captain's Union to support Deputy Chief Brownlee, and it's the law as well." said Kelly Carnes.

"It's not the law, not in stone. We have other options." said Ian McGhillie. "Mr. Brownlee can be given an equivalent position anywhere within the Public Safety Department, and possibly anywhere within the County Government structure. There is an open position in the Fire Department with Assistant Fire Chief Jefferson gone. There can be more than one Deputy Public Health Officer; Brownlee can go there."

"Loran Michaels will fight Brownlee going to the Public Health Department." said Carnes. "He's already furious with Sheriff Allgood about it. For that matter, why not have Brownlee be put in the Sheriff's Department?"

"Or go nowhere at all." said Colby. "I believe we can make a strong case that Brownlee is unfit for duty, both physically and also because of his physical assault upon a female police officer."

"She initiated that." snarled Kelly Carnes.

"Bullshit!" thundered Dagmar Schoen. "We've got video proof that Brownlee initiated that assault on Ross."

*TAP!* *TAP!* *TAP!* *TAP!* *TAP!* *TAP!*

"Language, Mrs. Schoen, language!" admonished the Mayor. Dagmar apologized for her potty mouth language.

Thomas P. Cook said "I think we should stop trying to end-around the law, here. Commander Brownlee deserves to be restored to his position as Deputy Police Chief."

"They already have a Deputy Chief." said Dagmar, looking at Malinda Adams, who caught the look.

"Then put her in the Public Health Department, or the Sheriff's Office," said Cook, then his face broke into a grin as he said "or demote her back to Captain."

"Are you suggesting, Mr. Cook," thundered Malinda Adams, taking up the bit, "that Deputy Chief Harlow, who has shown herself to be a most capable person in that position, should be demoted? Why? Because she's a woman?"

"No." said Cook. "Because she never should've been promoted to Deputy Chief in the first place. I warned you all about this at the time. And I will be in full support of Brownlee being restored to Deputy Police Chief, no matter what we have to do to Mrs. Harlow."

"Let's be practical, here." said J.P. Goldman. "Robert Brownlee is not going to be welcomed back to the Police Department, nor the Fire Department for that matter. But especially the Police. The Force simply won't allow it."

"They have no choice." said Cook. "They'll do what we damn well tell them, or they'll be out on their asses... especially that bastard with the crowbar."

"Who only has two more Medals of Valor than you do, Mr. Cook." said Dagmar Schoen. "Not to mention he owns a dog with more integrity in his left paw than you have in your whole body."

"What are you saying----"

*TAP!* *TAP!* *TAP!* *TAP!* *TAP!* *TAP!*

"Okay, okay... back to business, people." said the Mayor, once silence was restored. "Let's decide how we're going to handle this. We can let it run through the Court system, which the County will likely win. We can simply demand that Brownlee be assigned elsewhere. I agree that there is no way Brownlee can go back to the Police Force. That's sending him to his death, and I might not be speaking rhetorically, there."

"That's all he'll accept, being returned to the Police Force." said Reginald B.F. Lewis. "He'll push the lawsuit, even if offered an equivalent position elsewhere. Don't get me wrong; I'd love to see Loran T. Michael's face when Brownlee walks in the door as his Assistant PHO. But it's not going to be as simple as that."

"So, Reginald," said Edward Steele, "you think we should just let the Courts decide?"

"No, no-no-no." said Lewis. "We do need to make a positive action step, to at least lay groundwork for our side of the Court case."

"Okay, someone make a motion." said the Mayor. Someone made a motion, which was seconded. The vote was 7-2. You do not need to be the Iron Crowbar to know who voted against the measure... or do you?

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

"Hello, Darling." said my lovely wife Laura as I came into the Mountain Nest. "How was your dinner?"

"Good!" I said as I came into the den. "Cindy was more relaxed than she has been in months. Drank a good bit of wine, so I drove her home. Martin and Sandra got to talk about anything but their FBI work, which I think they enjoyed. And, of course, anything about Westboro was off limits. And Callie charmed the hell out of everyone."

I sat down on the near sofa beside my mom and kissed her on the mouth. "Hi, Mom. How were the kids?" Laura was sitting on the far sofa against the wall.

"Oh, they're wonderful." said my mom Phyllis. "As always. Carole read a book to Bowser. I think she actually is beginning to read some words."

"She is." said Laura. "She's reading stop signs and asking what words are, already."

"Wow, and she's just barely turned three." I said. "She must have a brilliant mom... and grandmother."

"And a silver-tongued dad." said Phyllis. "So, Son, how is your case going?"

"First, I want to hear about the Faculty Dinner." I said.

"I was saving that to put you to sleep." said Laura. "It was okay, though. The whole Faculty is working on plans for the Fall Semester, and we basically add supper to the end of it. Dr. Woodrow is going to be teaching Evidence in the Criminal Justice Department, so that's new, and may interest you. My Department's only issue is that Bonnie Karpathian is about to publish her book on Angela Harlan... which will tear the scabs off some old wounds, if I don't miss my guess."

"Well," I said, "with this copycat killing we just had, all that just got dredged up anyway. As to the case, Mom, we're just beginning to get data on the victim and his family. Interesting stuff."

"Oh, I wonder if that's the correct direction." said Phyllis. "There are certainly obstacles to it being enemies of the victim's family, or one of the parents being the culprit, don't you agree?"

"Yes I do agree. How did you get into our files?" I asked.

"Through my Auxiliary Detective account." said my mother, not even bothering to ask how I knew she'd gotten into the files.

"Except everything is sealed." I said. "Did Cindy give you the passwords?"

"Oh no, Son, she would never do that." Phyllis said. "But may I recommend changing them from time to time. The current ones are getting rather old and well-known..."

No, they weren't, I thought to myself. I almost never use the same passwords when sealing and encrypting evidence for different cases. My mother 'Mycroft' figured my ass out, is what happened here. I need to be more careful... much more careful...

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

Before going to bed, I watched the late night news.

"This is Amber Harris at the Channel Two News Desk." said the lovely, athletic blonde from behind the anchor desk in the KXTC studios. "Tonight, an exclusive interview with Dr. Bonnie Karpathian, who has studied the Angela Harlan murders and has written a book about it.

A few minutes later, I watched as Bettina interviewed Bonnie Karpathian, obviously taped earlier.

"Doctor," said Bettina, "your book is coming out soon. What will it tell us about Angela Harlan and her crimes?"

"She was a brilliant Detective." replied Bonnie. "In many ways it is very unfortunate for us and our Police Force that she went bad. Her crimes were motivated by passion, by jealousy, as she pursued Ms. Selena Steele for years."

I knew that might actually not be true, but continued watching.

"Doctor, this apparent copycat killing that imitated Detective Harlan's methods." said Bettina. "What would be the reasons for using her methods? Is this also a crime of passion?"

"We don't know yet what the motives are for this particular crime." said Bonnie. "Copycat killers usually are attention-getters; they are seeking the publicity of the original killer. They often are caught quickly, as they want to be known for their crimes."

"So the copycat's motives might not be the same as the original killer's?" asked Bettina.

"That is often the case." said Bonnie.

"What are you watching?" Laura asked. She had come back downstairs after getting ready for bed.

"Interview with your psychology professor." I said.

"What the hell?" Laura asked. "She should know better than to talk about this stuff while your case is ongoing, even the general stuff."

"She has a book coming out." I said. "She wants it to sell. And I suspect it will."

"Maybe I should write a book." Laura said. "About how good my husband is in bed. Why don't you come upstairs with me and help me do some research on that subject?..."

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

"Mmmm, that is sooooo good." Cindy murmured. She was lying on her bed, on her belly, totally naked. Callie Carrington, equally naked, was straddling Cindy's back and massaging Cindy's muscles in her shoulders, neck, and back. Callie was very expert at deep tissue massages, and Cindy was groaning and mewling at the same time.

"Wow, you're really tight in a few places." said Callie. "You been working out?"

"Learning some new techniques." Cindy said. "Got into a fight against six guys, and I realized I need to keep up my skills. And I lost the Police Boxing Matches to Don... not gonna let that happen again... and training starts... now..." She was half asleep, then jolted awake as Callie found some sore muscles and worked them hard. "Aah!"

"Mmm, relax, let it work out." Callie said. "Looks like you won the fight against those six guys, I'd say."

"Yeah, but I was motivated." said Cindy. "Enough about that. Want me to do your back?"

"Mmmm, later." Callie said. "Just let me work on you... you have a magnificent body, Cindy. I'm loving working my way down... to that magnificent ass of yours... can't wait to get my tongue on you, down there..."

With that, the hot blonde worked her hands down Cindy's back. Callie put her palms and wrists together, pushing down on Cindy's backbone, 'popping' it as one 'pops' one's finger joints. Then Callie went back over the muscles over Cindy's ribs.

As she succumbed to the pleasure of Callie's hands, Cindy was remembering the other night. Cindy had kept her promise to Priya Ajmani. She'd invited the beautiful Indian reporterette to a small private dinner with her and Callie. And both Priya and Callie's eyes had sparkled at the sight of each other...

Part 9 - Venomous

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" said Bettina from Courthouse Square, with City Hall in the background, at 7:00am, Wednesday, August 10th. "Channel Two News has learned that the Town & County Council has voted to require the Public Safety Department to give Robert Brownlee the position of Deputy Public Health Officer, as an equivalent position to the one in the Police Department that he left when he suffered a massive heart attack. Mr. Brownlee had a heart transplant, and is suing to be returned to his old position. As the law allows for him to be placed in an equivalent position within the County, and at no less salary, the Council has wisely chosen this alternative course of action."