Safe Room Ch. 03

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Doing the wrong things for the right reasons.
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Part 3 of the 4 part series

Updated 06/08/2023
Created 07/14/2017
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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 9 - Shock and Awe (Continued)

"Drop it!" one of the guards ordered.

"I will not." said Joanne, who pulled the hammer back and pulled the trigger. "If you shoot me, the gun goes off and Karen dies. She's under arrest, and I will not stand down."

"Please, Ms. Joanne, she will not harm you." said Conrad King.

"Sir, my wife is right." said Seth. "Karen is a wanted fugitive, and my wife is doing her sworn duty. If you kill her, you'll have to kill me, because I won't let it go... and it'll be a bloodbath."

Conrad smiled. "Spoken like a true King." he said. "But I won't allow my granddaughter to be harmed, nor arrested."

"Go ahead, bitch." Karen taunted. "Shoot me. And then your husband dies with you."

"Stop it, Karen." ordered Conrad placidly. "No one needs to get hurt here."

"She's going to jail, Mr. King." said Joanne. "I'm not leaving here without her in custody."

No one moved. It was growing more tense. And Joanne's thumb on the cocked hammer was growing tired.

"Away put your weapons." called out a voice. "Stand down, all of you."

From the kitchen area walked in... Your Iron Crowbar. I was in all black, with my kevlar-lined trenchcoat, Tilley hat, and of course the red crowbar. My weapon was still holstered under my shoulder... for the moment.

Everyone stood stunned, but Joanne had not looked back at me, nor taken her eyes nor her gun off of Karen. Good! she's been well-trained, I thought to myself as I slowly walked up to Conrad King.

"Mr. King, I said, looking down at the old man, "please do tell your guards to stand down and holster their weapons. Or it will indeed get very bloody in a very short time."

"Well, the great Iron Crowbar rides in to the rescue!" Karen Warner all but shouted, her face a mask of smugness.

"Gentlemen," said Conrad King, "stand down. Put your weapons away. Do it. Now." The guards very slowly and very reluctantly did so, but were tense and ready to draw and fire.

"It's okay, Detective Warner." I said. I moved closer to her and whispered "We can't arrest her. I'll tell you why later." Joanne nodded, eased the trigger back, then lowered the hammer as she pointed the gun at the ceiling. But she remained very wary.

"Why are you here, Commander Troy?" asked Conrad King, his voice connoting his unhappiness with me.

"I'm sure you understand, Mr. King," I replied, "that I would never allow one of my Officers to come into a situation like this without backup... considerable backup." It was then that Lt. Molly Evans and Detective German, both in uniform and armor, came out from the same place I had.

"You act as if your Officer was in danger, Commander." said Conrad. "I am annoyed. Of course your Officer, my granddaughter-in-law, is perfectly safe, and always was."

"I am afraid I do not share your evaluation, Mr. King." I said. "Especially when Karen Warner Harlan is in the room. So sorry, sir, but I do not trust her one... little... bit."

"Very well, then." said Conrad. "Seth, I would like to talk with you again, in a safe public setting, but it will have to be for another time. Why don't you and your lovely wife go with the Iron Crowbar."

"Yes, let's do that." said Seth. "Come on, Joanne." he said, wanting only to get his wife out of this situation.

With that, the five of us left, with me bringing up the rear. As I got to the door, Conrad King called out "Commander?"

I turned, more quickly than my back would have preferred. "Sir?"

"Well done, young man. You take care of your people. A laudable trait of a leader." said Conrad. Then he said, a bit more stern in his voice: "You play the Game well, son. It is indeed too bad you are not with us. Farewell."

"Au revoir, Mr. King." I replied.

Part 10 - Meddlesome

Once out in the parking lot, I thanked Molly and Detective German for their help. I turned to Seth and Joanne and said "Why don't you ride home with me, and I'll explain everything at Police Headquarters."

"Sure, sir." said Joanne. Then she saw the vehicle I had driven over... the Black Beauty. "Oh, it is for real! Seth, this is the Black Beauty!"

"And appropriately driven by the Green Crowbar, a.k.a. Kato." I said. Cindy was behind the wheel. "Go with her, and I'll drive your car behind you."

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

Back in my office, I had Joanne and Seth sit in hot chairs while Cindy sat in her usual perch, the sofa. I sat down in my 'Command Chair', grateful for the lumbar support built into it.

"I realized," I started, "that if Conrad King was reaching out to you, Seth, he might well also reach out to your sister Karen, and that she might just be there... which is what happened and took that situation into the realm of the law-breaking and the dangerous."

I continued. "And if she was there, I realized I did not know what Karen's reaction to Joanne would be... after all, her mother died while saving Joanne in the Standard Tools explosion."

"I think she hates you for that more than me, sir." said Joanne. Seth nodded.

"Quite possibly." I said, "At any rate, I gathered some backup and we came to the Lakeside Inn & Suites, just in case. And sure enough, Karen was not only there, but she has wormed her way into her grandfather's confidence, which is most very unfortunate for us good guys."

"Why couldn't we arrest her, sir?" asked Joanne.

"On what charge?" I asked.

"Uh, she's wanted for the crimes committed by that Women's Gang your sister led, sir." Joanne said. I could see that Cindy was beginning to grasp the full problem.

"I see what you're saying, sir." said the Green Crowbar. "We really don't have much of anything on her. The others in that Women's gang are either dead or out of the country, and Eleanor Burke is not exactly a reliable witness."

"Exactly." I said. "So, I apologize for upsetting your family reunion, but there was danger there."

"With respect, Commander," said Seth, "I don't think it was that bad. Karen and I do not have the level of animosity that you and your sister do. And I don't think Mr. King would've allowed us to be harmed, either."

"So you trust your sister with your wife's life?" I asked Seth, my eyes boring into him.

Seth contemplated, and said "Maybe not, but in that situation, we were okay."

"No, Seth, we weren't." said Joanne. "As soon as Karen walked into there, knowing I'm a Police Officer and would try to arrest her, they knew it would escalate. At least she did. I don't know what Mr. King was thinking, but he may have been co-opted by your sister."

"Seth," I said, "those guards were very quick to train their weapons upon your wife. Only her brilliant action is cocking the gun and holding down the trigger stopped them from shooting her. And Conrad King is a man who can make problems disappear, with nary a whisper in the Public's ear."

Seth saw that he was losing this argument, but I could see in his eyes he was only pretending to concede. "All right." he said. "Can I take my wife home now?"

I nodded. "Keep a sharp eye out. Joanne, if you see Karen, at all, any time, any place, contact me or Captain Ross immediately. Even if she's helping a child cross the street, let me know."

"Yes sir." said Joanne. She hustled Seth out of there. After they left, Cindy and I looked at each other.

"I know you think Conrad King is one of the Big Boyz, and maybe part of Superior Bloodlines," she said, "but do you really think he had harmful intent towards Seth and Joanne?"

"No." I said. "He wanted to meet them, especially Seth. He was evaluating them, and might have probed further to see if Seth was worthy to take over some of his businesses. All seemingly legit... except that Joanne is right: Karen is a wanted fugitive, Joanne was duty-bound to arrest her, and Conrad had Karen not only there, but had her show herself. Now what was up with that? Oh... never mind."

"What?" Cindy asked.

"Color me deeply cynical..." I said, "but let's just say the guards did shoot Joanne. What then?"

"Then the Iron Crowbar goes on a rampage, and no one but Seth is left to tell the tale." Cindy replied.

"Well, they weren't planning on me being there." I said. "But they were planning to escalate that situation. If Joanne is dead, in Karen's eyes, and maybe Conrad's, Seth is now free of those 'Police influences'. I'm sure someone doesn't like Seth being married to a TCPD Detective... and one of my very best ones, at that."

"I don't know." said Cindy. "You're going way deep into the Dark Side with ideas like that."

"Touché." I said.

"Okay," said Cindy, "if you don't need me any more tonight, I'm going home. Callie gives great massages, and I need one right now."

"Have a good night." I said. "I'm going to do some computer work, then go home."

Part 11 - Connecting The Dots

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the lovely redheaded MILF reporterette from the Courthouse steps at 7:00am, Friday, May 5th. Cinco de Mayo. The party never stops...

Bettina continued: "Channel Two News has learned that the State Office of Ethics and Review will not open an investigation into the arrest of Richard Ferrell, where Police found Mr. Ferrell badly injured and now paralyzed. Citizens for Police Accountability spokesmen Jay Swenson and Ken Eidex issued a statement strongly condemning SBI Inspector Britt Maxwell, questioning her integrity and accusing her of covering up for Commander Donald Troy's Police Force."

"And in other news," said Bettina, "State Senate Democrats, led by 1st District Senator Katherine Woodburn, are organizing committee hearings to investigate Governor Val Jared for what they say is a misappropriation of funds, and using those funds to illegally discriminate against ethnic minorities who are undocumented. Senator Woodburn says dealing with undocumented workers is a Federal pervue, and the Governor has overstepped his bounds."

"And locally," continued Bettina, "Police have no comment on the investigation of the death of Tim Burris, but sources tell Channel Two News that they have no new leads and are making no headway in the case. Asked if this was a crime or a horrible accident, Sheriff Daniel Allgood declined to answer, referring Channel Two News reporters to the Police Department Press Office, who refused to answer or issue a statement on the matter."

"What the Police are talking about, and with considerable excitement, is the beginning of the Police Boxing Matches tomorrow!" Bettina said. "Last year's Champion, Commander Donald Troy, is unable to defend his title after his recent back surgery, and it is widely believed that prior Champion Captain Cindy Ross is the favorite to win this year."

To my surprise, not a word was said about that, though Cindy, Teresa, and Joanne were all here amongst the Detectives watching. Joanne looked exhausted; I sensed trouble in Paradise in the Warner household. Cindy's ice-blue eyes showed determination, but Teresa's eyes showed something else: cunning. Ahhhh, I thought to myself, she's doing what I did last year: she's letting Bettina butter Cindy up... hmmm, maybe Teresa even leaked that one to Bettina...

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

The BigPharmaCorp board gathered in their boardroom for their pre-meeting breakfast. Steak and eggs, mushrooms and gravy, French toast, ham, sausage, hash browns, and biscuits were being served, and the hungry Board members took and ate large portions.

"Well, Conrad," said Wallace Bedford as they sat down next to each other, "I heard you had a visit from the Iron Crowbar last night."

"Yezzzz, yes." said Conrad King. "I was meeting my grandson for the first time, and his wife is a Police Officer. A situation with my granddaughter, my grandson's sister, developed, and from out of nowhere... *poof!*... there he is, standing in our midst."

"Meddling in your affairs." said Bedford.

"Yes, but it was understandable." said Conrad. "He is obviously keeping his eye on me. Maybe on you, too, Wallace."

"Yes." said Bedford. "We're getting closer to Operation 'Stormbringer', and that red-headed hand grenade with a crowbar shows up right in your midst. That certainly cannot be a coincidence, can it?"

"Oh my, no." said King. "Neither the Iron Crowbar nor I believe in coincidences. My idea to have my granddaughter show up had unexpected consequences, but good ones, I think. The Iron Crowbar is probably regretting right now that he has exposed himself to us. We now know... that he knows."

"He's known, and for a long time." said Bedford. "The word I have is that he single-handedly crushed 'Operation Apple Grove' and was responsible for Mitt Baker's imprisonment. Poor man, such a staunch ally, and now he's rotting in a jail cell with a bunch of 'deplorables'."

"I wonder how much the Iron Crowbar knew when he put my son Jack behind bars." said Conrad King. "At least my son is now safely in Europe, out of the Iron Crowbar's grasp."

"Speaking of Europe," said Wallace Bedford, "what is being done about the Iron Crowbar's sister? Your daughter was in prison, but at least she was alive, until the Iron Crowbar's sister meddled."

"Oh, I don't blame the woman for that." said Conrad. "I do blame Raymond Westboro for that, may his filthy name be cursed for all time. In that, I am grateful to the Iron Crowbar for eliminating that piece of filth."

"Yes, I can agree with that." said Bedford. "That bastard fucked us up, trying to take us over while pretending to be our friend. By they way... why was Tim Burris killed? He was just an idiot, a wannabee-soldier and a lousy prepper."

"I have no idea." said King. "All I heard was that 'Paulsen' wanted him exterminated, and so he was exterminated. Either 'Mr. C.' wanted that done, or it was someone cleaning up some loose ends."

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

The MCD Detectives met in Classroom 'E'. Present were Chief Moynahan, Your Iron Crowbar, Captain Ross, Detectives Parker, Washington, Warner, and Davis, Supervisor Milton (Myron), Master Technician Milton (Mary), and Sergeant Rudistan.

"Okay, guys," I said, "I barely need mention that what is about to be discussed is to be considered 'classified' by TCPD standards. Okay, Myron, Mary, whaddya got?"

Myron went first, showing a Powerpoint presentation on his computer.. "We've done a lot more digging into Tim Burris, Jeffrey Burnham, and Melissa Burris. First, Melissa: we've discovered that the reasons for her being put on night shift a lot and having to change jobs is because she has been written up on several occasions for making statements considered racially biased. Additionally, black employees also filed complaints that she showed favorable treatment towards white employees and give white employees better reviews and easier job assignments."

"Jeffery Burnham's job with the University is not quite what he made it out to be." said Myron. "He does work for the University Museum... but on a part-time basis. And his recent trip to Europe was not funded by the University."

"Before you go further." I said. "I want to go ahead and add a couple of things I found out. First, some of the dates of Tim Burris going into his shelter for what he called 'test runs'. One of the dates was the Bulldogs-Wildcats game last Fall... Tim was always afraid of events that created large crowds, thinking them ripe for mass attacks."

"He missed an awesome game." said Theo Washington with his 'movie star handsome' grin in Cindy's direction.

"That's in the eye of the beholder." retorted Cindy Ross, her ice-blue eyes blazing.

"And the beholder of the Red Crowbar agrees with Detective Washington's astute analysis." I replied with a grin. "But all that aside, Tim also tested his shelter from the day before Thanksgiving through the Monday afterwards, almost a week. He also was in there on June 22d of last year and missed all the fun and excitement then, too."

"I have a question." asked Chief Moynahan, "How could he have known June 22d was going to be the day of the final showdown with Pastor Westboro? It's not like we advertised it, much less really knew."

"Ah, Chief," I said, "that brings me to the connection. Tim Burris's parents were moles within the Oldeeds Organization, and it is believed they were found out and murdered by the Oldeeds people. Chief, you remember the death of CIA Agent Mike down in Midtown while you were there. Same people betrayed them both."

"Ah yes, and you came to visit us then." said the Chief. "Setting off wheels in mo-shunnnn..."

"Glad I did, sir." I said. "Since it led to you being here as our Chief, Lt. Masters as our Vice Lieutenant, and Lt. Evans keeping her sister out of trouble.. with limited success." As everyone laughed, a green crowbar was waved in my general direction.

"Okay, back to it." I said. "Burris's parents had an Oldeeds connection. And Oldeeds's protégé, the Reverend Robert Patterson, was supposed to speak at First Baptist Church that evening, and somehow managed to not show up..."

"Ahhhh..." said Rudistan.

"Yes." I said. "Tim went into hiding when the Oldeeds people were scheduled to be in the vicinity. What do we think of coincidences, Mr. Parker?"

"We think they are worse than alibis, Commander." replied Teddy Parker adroitly, which made me laugh. Everyone else clapped.

"Touché, Mr. Parker." I said. "A distinct touch on your part. Here, hold this." I handed him the red crowbar. He admired it as I continued:

"So I wondered where Melissa Burris would be during these times." I said. "And Mr. Burnham, for that matter. During Thanksgiving, Burnham's RV was up near Lake Amengi-Nunagen. During the Wildcats-Bulldogs game, the RV was at the RV park near Junction Station, like it always was., and it was there on June 22d and the other dates."

"Curiously," I continued, "Melissa Burris was not at work on the weekend of the Wildcats-Bulldogs game, which was a busy time. She had time off over Thanksgiving, and curiously enough, she was not at work between June 21st and June 24th last summer. Even her cellphone didn't register a ping on any cell tower anywhere in the Nation. Her whereabouts on all these days... is unknown."

"It's known now... she was in that shelter!" Rudistan said mischievously. Everyone laughed, then Rudistan said "I'm just joking Commander; I know we don't have proof of that."

"All kidding aside..." I said, "... you are likely right. We are definitely going to be pushing her buttons about this. Okay, Myron, keep going."

"Just one other thing, sir." said Myron. "Jeffrey Burnham said Tim never traveled anywhere together, as far as I can tell. But Tim did travel to Gun Shows to sell survival equipment, and I also found some chess tournament postings in Texas and Florida this Winter and Spring that he played in."

"Ahhh, interesting." I said. "Anything else?" Myron said there was nothing, and deferred to Mary.

"Sir," said Mary, "I've been digging very deep into Jimmy and Jennifer Amberton of the Jason Rutledge class reunion murder case. I also looked into Susan Gurley, Kate Helmsley, and some of that so-called 'cool crowd'. First, Jason Rutledge and his father had some serious ties to the 'Church of Jesus Christ Christian'."