Teresa's Christmas Ordeal Ch. 02

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.

Dedicated to Frederick Forsyth.

Part 6 - Day of the Jackal

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the lovely redheaded MILF reporterette from in front of the Civic Center at 7:00am, Wednesday, December 28th. "Registration for Dr. P. Harvey Eckhart's 'Envision Your Life' seminar is well underway! People are already beginning to show up, even though the seminar does not begin until 9:00am. Over 1500 people are expected, and they may allow an overflow to come in!"

"Where's Commander Troy?" asked Captain Cindy Ross as she came into MCD, wearing civilian clothes.

"Uh..." Detective Joanne Warner started, then said "If he's not in his office, maybe he's at the Civic Center?"

"He said he was going to stay out of the way of that." said Cindy. "Captain Croyle and Sergeant Irwin have it handled very well."

"Ma'am," asked Joanne, "is Sergeant Irwin going to be promoted to Lieutenant?"

Cindy smiled, then looked around the room at the MCD Detectives. "Keep this under your hats, people. Irwin is being considered for Lieutenant and would be the 1st Precinct Deputy Leader behind the Precinct Captain. We're also looking at candidates for the 2nd Precinct, and Sergeant Carswell has the lead on that. But nothing is final, so don't say anything."

Yeah, right. And that is how 'scuttlebutt' gets transmitted through a Police Force. And one Police Commander always strives to stay in tune with the feedback from that scuttlebutt...

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

My assistant Helena had not yet arrived, so Cindy knocked on the door and opened it. Seeing me sitting alone in my Command Chair, looking out the window, she said "Can I come in?"

"Oh!... Yes, come on in." I said, coming out of my thoughts.

"Wow, you look like you had a bad night." Cindy correctly observed. "One of your kids get sick?"

"Something like that." I said cryptically. "So! What's going on?"

Cindy immediately noticed that I was trying to steer the conversation into new channels, but she let it go and said "I'll be leaving in a few minutes to go down and ride with my father right back here into Town."

"You look nice, today, but what are you doing for armor?" I asked. Cindy was wearing civilian clothes, a dark blue jacket and skirt, light blue sweater, and sensible dark blue shoes. And I noticed that she was wearing her 'Fourth Rune' around her neck.

"This jacket has a very thin lining of kevlar, and I'll have a heavier jacket with a lining for the Civic Center hall, which they'll keep at like 58º Fahrenheit during the seminar. My father has two bodyguards who will have heavy armor on, so I'll let them step between us and any flying bullets."

"Good." I said.

Cindy got out her bug-killer and turned it on. "So, you think this JACKAL is after my father?" My eyes must've registered my shock, as Cindy failed to hide a grin. "The FBI guys briefed me, too."

"Nice of them to tell me, so we could discuss it." I said sarcastically, and with considerable asperity. "But yes, your father might be a target meriting the talents of an assassin like this guy."

Cindy asked "What are you going to be doing for the seminar, if anything?"

"I'll be minding the store here at Headquarters for most of the day." I said. "I'll probably drop by the seminar this evening. Your father was kind enough to send me an 'All Access' badge."

"You already have one of those. It says 'Commander' on it." Cindy said, referring to my badge. I smiled at the joke.

"Well, I might show up in civilian clothes, have some armor on, and my armor-lined trenchcoat. I guess I better go home and get my own Fourth Rune before I show up, though." I said, making Cindy smile, perhaps remembering that life-changing night at 'The Vision' when we'd received those runes.

"Okay, you can head on out any time you like." I said. "It's been really quiet the past couple of days... the duty logs are boring as hell."

"Just the way we like them." Cindy said. As she turned to go, she said "By the way, it's leaking out about Sergeants Irwin and Carswell being up for Lieutenant."

"What's the response been like?"

"Too early to tell." Cindy replied. With that, she left the office.

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

Looking out from the window of Room 201 of the Sunrise Hotel, he examined the cloud cover and the slush of the black streets and now-dirty white snow. Overcast. Good. People will keep their heads down and not look at other people, including me, he thought to himself.

"Get up, Rusty." he said to the other man, who was still asleep. "It's time. We've got work to do." The young man got out of bed and staggered towards the bathroom.

He checked his equipment. All was good. He took his cellphone out of its protective sleeve, powered it up, and checked his emails. Nothing of significance. Returning the powered-down cellphone to its shielded sleeve, he packed what few things he had into the small suitcase, which sat next to the black plastic box that looked like it was carrying a set of tools. And in a way... it was...

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

After breakfast at the University Avenue Diner, he and 'Rusty' drove into Town. There was overflow parking at The Fairgrounds for all the vehicles that needed parking; he parked there and walked with 'Rusty' to the Civic Center. As he passed by the front of Police Headquarters, he peered at it... so that is the home of the Iron Crowbar, he thought to himself...

The lines at the Civic Center were very long, but he finally made it to the table and gave the false name under which he registered. A pretty young girl wearing a blue 'Vision' collared golf shirt and black pants, smiled brightly as she checked him in. All of the young people were handling the large numbers of people with cheerful smiles, which immediately lightened the mood of many of the visitors, who were at best wary of what this seminar was all about.

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

Back behind the stage, Dr. P. Harvey Eckhart was sitting in his raised chair, which looked like a stool a movie star would sit in. He was talking to Adam, his main assistant at these seminars. Adam was short, with black hair, and in good shape; he'd served Dr. Eckhart loyally for nearly ten years now, since coming to The Vision as a teenager hopelessly addicted to drugs. Now he was clean, and had a bright, hope-filled future ahead of him.

"Everything is going very well, Father." Captain Cindy Ross said. She was standing next to her father, watching everything, her eyes everywhere, just absorbing every bit of this. Then Dennis Cole, his assistant trainer for this seminar, came in.

"Everything's going well, Harvey." said Dennis. "It's going to be a big one."

"We can only hope." said Eckhart, somewhat cryptically. "Cindy, if you'll excuse me, I have some things to discuss with young Dennis. I'll see you again shortly."

"I'll go check on security." Cindy said, then walked away from the area. She found Teresa nearby, peeking into the large main room from behind the velvet curtains that had been set up to frame the stage. On either side of the stage were huge video screens that would show the trainer on the stage, or show video clips when needed.

With Teresa were Tommy and Candy, the Vision acolytes that had been involved in the 'Murdered Football Player' case. They greeted Cindy enthusiastically, and she greeted them back.

Teresa was wearing all black, Cindy noted, and Teresa had on what looked like a vest over her shirt, but was really an armored vest. Cindy also knew that Teresa had heavier armor around here somewhere, which she could put on quickly at the first sign of trouble.

"All those people..." Teresa said. "They don't look all that happy, do they?"

Tommy smiled and said "Just wait until the end of the seminar, ma'am. All of those people will be much happier, and crying that the seminar is over."

"It'll be fun to see the energy growing over the three days." said Cindy.

"Oh, that reminds me." said Teresa. She went to stand by Cindy and said quietly "Dr. Fredricson wants me at the Hospital tomorrow morning for an MRI. Her husband has told me he expects me to make the appointment, and to be early for it."

"You should follow her husband's instructions, fer sure." Cindy said. "Don't worry, we've got plenty of security here. You're well covered." Cindy did not say it out loud, but she was filled with a sense of foreboding. An MRI? For what?

And then she remembered how Don looked earlier in the morning...

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

"Not a sign of him." said Jack Muscone as we met in the Federal Building's FBI offices. "We've got teams of people in Washington poring over data, seeing if any murders in the last few weeks could've been done by JACKAL. There's just... nothing."

"And there likely won't be." I said. "Until he strikes. Meanwhile, I understand the Japanese Government has the equivalent of an international APB out on him. He tried to kill our friend Takaki Misaki a few years ago, while Misaki was running the Japanese Secret Service. One of JACKAL's few failures, but he got away, to Takaki's great anger... and shame."

"Yes, that's true." said Muscone. "But at least 20 countries want him, including all the big nations in Europe, as well as Russia. We got some word that Sergei Molotov tried to hire JACKAL to kill Mr. Putin, but JACKAL wisely turned that one down."

"And speaking of Sergei Molotov," Jack continued, "the CIA has gotten word that he's been spotted in Eastern Europe. My boss said he's not sure what's going on, but the CIA is acting like a stirred-up hornet's nest over him. Stolen nuclear weapons, perhaps." He then observed my face. "What?"

"No, not stolen nukes." I said. "All of that is kubbuke theatre. The CIA has been expecting those developments for some time. And I might add that there are no coincidences in the Universe... it's tied to JACKAL."

"Okay, so what do you know about it?" asked Jack.

"Let me answer by asking you a question, Jack... how did you FBI guys learn about JACKAL?"

Jack's eyes widened. "I... I'm not all that sure. My boss gave me the info, and told me to brief you."

"And he's not here to brief me himself, because he knows damn well I'll ask him the same question I just asked you." I replied. "But that doesn't matter, because... I know I am JACKAL's target, and I know why JACKAL is trying to kill me."

"So tell your buddy who buys you double cheeseburgers." quipped Muscone.

"Let me give you this clue." I said. "Follow the money. As I asked before, who would pay ten million dollars or more to have me killed? Who has the means to spend that kind of money in the first place? And who would be the only entity able to mask that money being moved around?"

As it hit him, Jack's face showed that he was beginning to understand...

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

He sat in the back of the audience, taking in the full scene. The sales tables were at the back of the room. Behind them were steps leading to the audio/visual room, which had a large pane of glass. And on the back wall, near the high ceiling at intervals, were openings where lights or cameras could be placed. One of those perches would be absolutely perfect, he though.

The seminar had begun with Dennis Cole getting the crowd warmed up. The killer had had to endure standing up and clapping rhythmically with everyone else to the tune of "Brand New Day", then a video clip with pulse-pounding music, that featured P. Harvey Eckhart. Then the man himself came onto the stage, spry, full of energy. He hugged Dennis, then began the seminar.

Now he heard Eckhart say "There are no coincidences in the Universe! You are here for a reason! And you could one day change lives just by having been here!"

No doubt about that, he thought wickedly to himself. No doubt about that...

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

"Okay, Rusty," he said during one of the fifteen-minute breaks, "we need to find out how to enter the rooms up there where those lights are."

Rusty pulled out a few sheets of paper from inside his sportscoat. They were floor plan drawings of the Civic Center. "We have to get to the third floor. There's not much up there, but several doors lead into those closet-like rooms."

"Let's see how we can get up there." He went up the stairs, then found some stairs to the third floor, but at the top of the stairs were a couple of TCPD Officers, Patrolmen Hicks and Johnson.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you cannot come up to this floor." said Patrolman Hicks.

"Ah, I was just looking for a less crowded restroom." he said.

"I don't think there are any restrooms up here, sir." said Johnson. The man nodded in acknowledgement and went back downstairs. As the seminar started up again, he and 'Rusty' pored over the schematics...

Part 7- Puzzle Pieces

It was about 2:00pm and I was in my office at a quieter-than-usual Police Headquarters when Helena buzzed me and said the Mouseketeers wanted to talk to me. I told her to let them in, and Mary Mahoney Milton came in, her hair bright pink, followed by her husband Myron Milton. Detective David Krueger, 'The Guru', brought up the rear.

As they were seated, Mary said "Oh, you have personal whiteboards." Indeed, on the wall on the right, to my desk's left, there was hanging what looked like two wooden panel doors. When unlocked and opened, they revealed the whiteboards inside. I was using them for the first time since attempting to solve Henry Wargrave and The Four.

I closed the whiteboards and said "Yes, despite rumors to the contrary, I actually use them from time to time. So, whaddya got?"

Krueger started. "We've got a lot more information on this group 'Citizens For Police Accountability', as well as Jay Swenson and Ken Eidex. They're being funded and supported by George Schwartz."

"I think we knew that already, didn't we?"

"Yes sir," said Krueger, "but the new information is that Schwartz is funding a lot of so-called 'student groups' like these all over the country. And right now he is pouring money into CFPA and into the pockets of Swenson and Eidex, and they're distributing it to others, as well. Those are cash transactions, so we're having trouble with the money trail, but if we can get some more names for these groups, we can see if they suddenly have bigger bank accounts."

"Hmmm," I said, "distributing money. They're paying people to recruit others, so that when the right time comes, a 'spontaneous' riot can break out. And of course they'll make sure Media cameras are well placed to cover the 'spontaneous' event before it starts."

Mary was giggling. "You're right, sir. That is how they do."

"I'll go you one further." I said. "Those who were here at the time should thank God that the PCGW did not have this kind of funding when they came up against Crown Chemicals. They'd have gotten a lot more people protesting, not knowing what they were protesting, and a lot more people would've died without knowing what they were dying for."

"Sir," asked David Krueger, "if you'd been here then, what would you have done?"

"I don't know." I said. "I do know that I would've been totally on Crown Chemical's side, and would've said they did the right thing in the aftermath of it all."

"If that happened today, sir," asked David, "do you think Crown would have gotten away with what they did?"

"Again, I don't know." I said, noting the form of Krueger's question. "The Media is even more rabid now than they were then. And who knows what the US DOJ would do today."

"We may find out, sir." said Myron. "If Schwartz is funding these people to riot, and knowing you don't play around sir..."

"If you're here to do anything about it." said Krueger. I peered at his very out-of-the-blue comment.

"Sir," Mary said in explanation, "we know about JACKAL... and about Sergei Molotov."

My eyes widened in shock. I put my finger over my mouth in a 'hush' sign, then got out my bug-killer and activated it. "How in the hell do you know about all that?" I asked. My voice was not friendly in asking the question.

"Agent Muscone of the FBI asked us to help look into JACKAL." said Myron. "David agreed to help. Of course I refused. As to Sergei Molotov... my father has kept an eye on him, and has asked me to do the same, since the day you beat him down with your crowbar and earned your nickname, sir."

"Did you give the FBI information on JACKAL?" I asked.

"No sir." said Krueger. "There's nothing to give them. We didn't come up with anything, at least not yet."

"What about Molotov?" I asked. "That is far more important to me than JACKAL."

Myron nodded. "Yes sir. This is from my father." He took a jump drive out of his pocket and handed it to me.

Part 8 - The Attempt

After the dinnertime break, the seminar reconvened for the final lessons and processes. The energy in the room was already considerably stronger than when the seminar began that morning.

During the dinner break, a youngish-looking Uniformed Officer came in with one of the seminar attendees. Officer 'Rusty' was carrying what looked like a plastic black toolbox case. He and the attendee went around the far side of the building, towards what were conference rooms and offices. The Uniformed Officers on duty saw the pair, but seeing that one of them was a Police Officer, did not stop them.

They got to a service elevator in the back area of the building and rode up to the third floor. Getting off, they walked down the long hallway towards the stairs one of them had tried to ascend earlier. The Officers that had been guarding those stairs were now on the second floor at the base of the staircase; they were watching the second floor, as it was now being made off limits to the seminar attendees.

Moving quickly, the man took the tool case from the Officer, who went back to the service elevator and would later appear to be manning a station with other Officers. A master key expertly applied to the door allowed the man entrance to the small closet of a room. A large light was sitting at the opening at the other end. The man looked out, and was happy to have an overwatch of the auditorium.

He took his tool case and opened it, and began assembling the high-powered rifle that was inside. Once it was put together, he put a small cartridge-looking device into the breach, which fired a laser beam through the barrel. He checked to make sure his scope was properly aligned with the barrel. In the movies, those assembled rifles really aren't worth shit because the alignment gets out, he thought to himself. In reality, we make sure not to make those stupid movie mistakes.

He was ready. He heard the music turn up and play loudly, which was the signal for calling everyone back in.

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

I was wearing a black pullover sweater and black pants... 'ninja suit', Cindy would say. My badge was affixed to my belt, and my gun was in its shoulder harness, hidden by my trenchcoat. I had on the 'girdle', more light armor under my ninja shirt, and yet more sewn into the trenchcoat. My 'Fourth Rune' was around my neck and highlighted against the black of my shirt.

I chose to enter by the service entrance near the back garage, where my Police SUV was parked. Corporal Ronnie Kirkpatrick and Sergeant Rudistan were guarding this back entrance, and I chatted with them for a moment as I went by. As Dennis Cole's voice boomed out, warming up the crowd for the final phase of Day 1 of the seminar, I made my way to a door in the hallway that said "A/V". It was the back entrance to the audio-visual room behind the back tables.