The Saga Continues Ch. 06

"Okay, okay." said Teresa. "But what's the big deal? Don has done that a ton of times, and we all sit there amazed. He's just that good."

"And I don't expect to ever be him or at his level," Cindy said, "but like I said.. I was here for the case six years ago. I saw everything he's seen for the last five years since he's been here. And I'm not any closer to 'getting it', to being able to solve cases than I was when he walked in the door for the first time."

"That's not true." said Teresa. "You've got amazing insight, and intuition. You feel things we don't, like when Don has Slender Man dreams. And you're Captain of Detectives, you just have to lead the guys and let them solve the crimes, and they're good and getting better."

Teresa realized her words were not mollifying Cindy. She wondered why Cindy was so down like this. No, Cindy wasn't Don. Tanya was not Don. Joanne and Jerome were not Don. Chief Griswold was not Don. Even Phyllis Troy, while perhaps a faster 'Mycroft' brain, ultimately could not match her son's acumen at gathering the info and putting it together.

So what was hurting Cindy about this now? Teresa wondered...

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

Monday, December 11th. We were winding down the year, and I was getting a monstrous mountain of year-end paperwork organized... not done, just organized to start getting it done. The Holiday Season was in full swing, and that meant keeping an eye on the increasingly moody Teresa Croyle. Christmas was anything but her favorite Season.

I was in my office at 11:00am when the door flung open. I could see why Helena had not been able to stop this visitor: it was Judge Lorraine McGill. Her dress was neat and correct, her hair perfectly in place. Her eyes stared into mine, and I could feel her power trying to reach into me. I mentally reached out to her mind, as well.

"Judge McGill." I said, not standing up. "I've been anticipating this visit."

"I'm sure you have." she said.

"Please, have a seat." I said. She sat down in one of the comfortable hot chairs. "I'd offer you coffee, but I see you've already had some. How may I be of service to you today?"

"I'll get right to the painful point." she said, not looking to see where she's spilled coffee, if anywhere. "I came to apologize to you."

"That's kind of you." I said. "Though we both know your actions weren't really to stop me. There's no way your husband will ever stand in the dock for Tammy's murder, unless he confesses or you turn him in... which I don't expect to happen. But you wanted me to look into this... and that is because you wanted me to bust Thomas P. Cook."

"Since the moment I first saw you," Lorraine McGill said, peering hard into my eyes, "I knew you were all they said you were. Yes, I knew who Westboro was, and the sheer power he had, which my husband and I together could not hope to match. But you utterly destroyed that man. You made him commit suicide, so completely did you wipe him out."

I nodded as Judge McGill continued: "And so I knew that you would be able to bring down Thomas P. Cook when no one else has before, by getting the links to the nerve agents. Yes, that was him and Dora Ellis, whom you vanquished years ago. And you did get those links and the indictments. My congratulations to you."

"It was you who convinced your husband to give up any connection to Cook and Ellis, and Superior Bloodlines." I said.

"I've been a judge for so many years." said McGill. "I was tough, but I made sure I was fair. So many times I saw D.A.s try to annihilate innocent black men, and I made damn sure they did not do that in my Courtrooms without a serious fight. Only truly guilty men were convicted, regardless of ethnicity. I don't know if I made a dent in the System that blacks so rightly despise, but it wasn't for lack of trying." I nodded.

"So," she continued, "when I saw that despicable bitch Ellis trying to ensnare my husband in her web of race hatred, I made sure he pulled out of that stuff. He's not really a racist anyway, so he was amenable to pulling back and away from all that. Saved his life, too... Dora's dead, Westboro is dead, Conrad King, Wallace Bedford, all of them dead. But my husband lives."

"And you got me to do your dirty work for you taking Cook down." I said. "Admittedly I wanted to do it anyway, and more than you realize... but just don't think you were dealing with an Agency of the Weak-Minded."

"No, I would never make that mistake." said Judge McGill, rising to her feet. "Again, I apologize if I pushed too hard. Goodbye, Commander."

"One more thing." I said, having risen to my feet. "I understand you and what you did, and for you to goad me is one thing. But what you did to my Captain, and in front of other Officers, and then going to the Sheriff about her after she did her job correctly... that wasn't right, and I will not excuse it."

Judge McGill looked shocked, and was even more so as I said: "Beyond that, Cindy Ross is my blood. I don't give a God-damn who you are, Judge; if you ever, ever treat my cousin or any of my family like that again, I will come against you with everything I have... and I will annihilate you."

Judge McGill saw that my gray eyes were blazing, and that I was not kidding in any way. As with her, my family came first with me. She also was brilliant enough to know what to do: she just nodded acknowledgement, then turned and left.

Part 37 - Epilogue

She watched as the man approached her desk in the old building north of the City. He stopped about 12 feet in front of the desk.

"Well?" she said.

"I came to let you know that Thomas P. Cook was indicted by the Feds and locals." the man said, his voice raspy and harsh. "They've seized his assets. He may have fled the State."

"Likely not." said the woman, relaxing back into her chair. "But I'm not surprised they got him. In fact, I'm surprised the Iron Crowbar didn't get him sooner."

"The final links to Cook were provided by J.G. McGill." said the man.

"Ah, him." said the woman. "He's not important. His wife... she still bears watching. Anyway, what happened in California? That film company was supposed to be shut down, drugs found, Carrington in jail, Ross crying her eyeballs out if not in jail with Carrington."

"Dana Fox isn't very good, ma'am." said the man. "He managed to totally botch it by being seen by people who knew who he was. LAPD reamed him when they found out."

"And I'm expected to believe that." the woman said sarcastically. "Fox is stupid. He's trying to play both sides. The Iron Crowbar saw through him like glass. Hmmm..." she said as she thought about it, "I wonder if killing Fox and his body being found might bring some fun chaos to the FBI... and the Iron Crowbar, yes?"

"I don't know, ma'am." the man said. "That might solve some problems for the FBI, rather than exacerbate them."

"True." she said. "I'll think about that. Okay, thank you for coming. Have you had the pleasure of a... release... from one of the girls?"

"No ma'am." he said. She flung what looked like a small white cube to him. "Give this to my assistant outside, and you'll be properly serviced."

"Thank you, ma'am." the man said. He turned and left.

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

KSTD reporter John Hardwood came into his house with bags of groceries, which he quickly put away. He checked his mail, then headed down the hall to the M-I-L apartment area in back.

"Thomas, you here?"

"Yes." said Thomas P. Cook, sitting at the desk in the darkened bedroom. "And feeling cooped up."

"I understand." said Hardwood. "But obviously you can't be seen around Town, with the Police looking for you. I got word from the grapevine that Troy really wants to barbecue you."

"Yeah, that bastard has cost me everything." said Cook. "They've seized my businesses, my properties, frozen by bank accounts. I've only got a couple thousand in cash left."

"Well, it's almost over." said Hardwood. "And then we'll get you safely out of the country, to Europe. I've worked through intermediaries to have someone get you out... one of the very best."

"Yes, it won't be long now." said Cook.

"Yessss." hissed Hardwood. "And all the pain Troy has caused you... will come back to him in spades. God! I can't wait to see the look of pain on his face..."

Finis.