The Stuff of Legend Ch. 02

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 6 - Discovery

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Fox Two News!" shouted the redheaded reporterette at 7:00am, Monday, April 30th, from the corner of Courthouse Square with Police Headquarters in the distant background. "The secret is out! Fox Two News has learned that filming for the hit daytime series 'Days of Promise' will be happening right here in our Town and County next week, starting May 9th!"

"Details of what scenes and events will be filmed are a closely held secret," said Bettina, "but Fox Two News has learned that the Fairgrounds behind Police Headquarters has been rented for a week and a half by the company that produces the show, and reservations were made at the University Hotel for the staff."

"In other news," continued Bettina, "The Guardians of Justice have released another batch of highly classified Government documents! Some of the documents reveal a CIA investigation of a Florida company called 'Zion Dynamics Technologies', which is an Israeli-based company. The documents reveal that the CIA was investigating if Zion Dynamics was passing technological secrets to Israel. The documents also reveal that the investigation was headed by the man who is now the CIA Director, and was ended after Israel filed a formal protest with the U.S. State Department."

"The CIA Director issued a statement to the Press," Bettina went on, "saying that investigations of possible industrial espionage are routine and not unusual, and that nothing was found implicating Zion Dynamics Technologies of any wrongdoing. The Director also stated that the Guardians of Justice are a traitorous group, and he questioned if they are putting out false information on behalf of Russia or Israel."

"Our own U.S. Senator, Samuel Russell," continued Bettina, "again condemned the Guardians of Justice as a group of traitors and terrorists, and said he will hold more hearings to demand answers from the FBI on why they have not shut down this group and made arrests..."

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

"Wow." said Joanne Warner as she sat at her desk in MCD, her voice a bit solemn this morning. "Those Guardians sure know how to stir up a hornet's nest."

"Imagine if the Media had told the whole truth." I said as I sat in the MCD's 'Commander's Chair' and watched with the others. As everyone looked at me, I said "The FBI is supposed to do investigations of industrial espionage on American soil, not the CIA. But the Press is not mentioning that, and most people won't realize it. And I think the CIA abuse of its authority and moving into the FBI's territory is the worst of that entire incident."

Detectives nodded as they pondered my words, and none of them had comment. Except, of course, Sergeant Micah Rudistan.

"No sir, that is not the worst thing." said Rudistan jovially. "The worst thing is that if you're not the Guardians of Justice, why isn't the U.S. Government begging you to go after the GOJ?"

"How do you know they haven't?" asked Teresa. I just arched my eyebrows at Rudistan. He just grinned even more jovially.

"And for the record, once again," I said, making sure my voice was clearly heard by all, "I am not The Guardians of Justice. I could not pull off what they are doing, and if I tried, I'd have been caught and arrested a long, long time ago. Whoever they are, they are smarter than me."

"The FBI and CIA have been crawling around the Commander, Myron Milton, and my father for months." said Cindy Ross, with no small amount of bitterness in her voice, "and they're not finding a damn thing showing any of them having any connections to the GOJ. And I for one am getting tired of the Government's crap."

No one asked how Cindy knew what she knew. I already knew that her father and her fiancée had told her, and nobody else wanted to 'go there'. Smart Detectives, my MCD people are. Smart Detectives...

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

Thankfully, after painting my office and Cindy's new office (Paulina's old office) and the anteroom, someone had left the doors open and brought a number of fans to help dry the paint and carpet glue, so that the odors would not be too overpowering. 'Better Living Through Chemistry' does not include getting high on paint fumes while trying to do my job.

And the workers had done a very good job. My office now was painted a color between off-white and light beige, and it matched the wood of my desk very well. The carpet was light tan and seeing it made me realize that the old carpet had been dirtier than I'd realized. It all looked very good.

The office next to mine was also done well. Similar colors, but the walls looked strangely more beige, a bit darker than the walls of my office.

"How does Captain Ross's old office look?" Joanne asked. "It's locked, and there's a 'Do Not Enter' sign on it with your signature, Commander."

"I'm sure it looks great." I said. "We'll find out tomorrow." Joanne sulked (not really) at having to wait for the mystery reveal...

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

"I transferred my files to the new office." said Cindy as she came into my office. "But I'm not going to work out of there until tomorrow. The Chief is letting me use his Conference Room today."

"You and your idiosyncrasies." I replied with a teasing smile. "But that's fine. By the way, have you considered who you're going to hire as your assistant?" The look on Cindy's face told me that she had not.

"Oh wow, I never thought of that at all." Cindy replied.

"Helena will help you for a while," I said, "but she won't be able to handle the double workload very long, especially when this Mullen shit starts hitting the fan. So get someone within a couple of weeks."

"Any suggestions?" Cindy asked. "Can I put a Police Officer in that position?"

"Ye-es, you ca-an..." I said, "but I would advise that you hire a civilian. It's budgeted, and just between you and me, if someone doesn't work out, it's a hell of a lot easier firing a civilian than an Officer."

"Well," Cindy said, "if someone transfers out of Personnel & Records, they could just go back there, couldn't they?"

"Except that if they fail as your assistant," I said, "would you really want them going back to P&R? Or anywhere else, for that matter? Also, an Officer might talk about things he or she shouldn't. And my biggest worry for anyone you hire will be if that person leaks information... and our assistants and the Chief's assistant are in the supreme positions to have knowledge that the Press and our Enemies would love to know."

"The Press, and our Enemies. But there, you repeat yourself." Cindy said, in an excellent play on the Mark Twain quote about Congress. I laughed, then Cindy said "I understand what you're saying. Maybe Helena or the Chief's assistant Cassie can give me some ideas..."

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

"This is Priya Ajmani, Five-Alive News in the Morning!" said the beautiful Indian reporterette at 8:00am, Monday, April 30th, from in front of City Hall. "We are following a breaking national news story! The shadowy cyber group calling themselves 'The Guardians of Justice' have struck again!"

Priya started: "The Guardians of Justice released a batch of highly classified documents revealing a CIA investigation of a Florida company, Zion Dynamics Technologies." Priya went through the story that Bettina had told before, but Priya had an extra to trump the Bettina report.

"We have with us FBI Special Agent in Charge Ashton Cardigan, who is the chief of the FBI's cyber-operations group in the City." said Priya as the camera zoomed out to show Cardigan. He looked to be approaching middle age, getting a paunch in his belly but not out of shape at all. In reality, he was well into middle-age, and was very experienced in the ways of computers, cyber-attacks and hackings, computer security, and things related.

"Sir, what can you tell us about the Guardians of Justice, and what they're doing?" Priya asked.

"Thank you for having me here today, Priya." Cardigan said. "This group, which we're calling a cyber-terrorist organization, is hacking into U.S. Government computers and extracting emails and other documents of a highly sensitive nature, then releasing them to the Public, particularly to Media organizations."

"Why are they able to hack Government computers?" asked Priya. "Aren't they safeguarded?"

"We try, Priya." said Cardigan. "But many Government computers are old and antiquated, and the software is years behind current technology found in most homes today. We need better tools and better equipment to fight the well-equipped cyber-enemies of today."

"Are you making any progress in taking the Guardians of Justice down?" asked Priya.

"Well, Priya," said Cardigan, an expert interviewee with the Media, "we've eliminated many suspects, and with every revelation they make, we make progress in capturing these enemy subversives.

"Do you have anything that might lead to arrests soon?" asked Priya.

"Their time is limited, Priya." said Cardigan. "In time, their foot will slip. The day of their calamity is near."

"Mr. Cardigan," said Priya, "are the documents the GOJ is releasing real? Is there really a plan by BigAgraFoods to control our food supply, and a plan by the Government to strip all Citizens of their guns?"

Cardigan said "I think we can take whatever the GOJ puts out with some skepticism, Priya. Their motives are obviously to cause mistrust, angst, and discord, and they are playing on the fears of American Citizens who don't fully trust their Government..."

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

"Nice." Teresa said. "He's pretty much throwing the FBI under the bus."

"He's trying to get Congress to give the FBI more funding." I replied. "But he's right... a lot of the Government's computer systems are woefully behind. Ten to even 20 years behind today's newest technologies. Very easy to hack... though I'd think the CIA would be a little more up to speed and have better countermeasures."

"He never really answered the question about the veracity of the GOJ's released data." Teresa said. "In fact... he all but verified it, just twisted the words to sound pro-Government, but they really weren't."

"True." I said, my mind trying to grasp at something.

"Interesting Bible verse, there." said Cindy.

"Deuteronomy 32:35, if memory serves me correctly." I replied, memory indeed serving me correctly.

*DING!* And I was off to reverie races, triggered by the recognition of that phrase. I was going deep and not knowing where I was. I could barely believe it. Was Cardigan just making that quote coincidentally? Or did he know something? Did he know how that quote was related to me after 'Providence Springs'? And if so, was he warning me? Or threatening me?

"Okay ladies." I said, slowly coming out of it. "Orange Order Dinner tonight. And have your uniforms looking especially sharp for tomorrow's ceremonies."

After they left, I plugged into my 'Myron-enhanced' secure line and continued my research. Since Laura and the DepDirector had not been all that forthcoming with me at the Lake, I'd 'repaid' the favor by holding back on one piece of information... the so-called 'Queenie files', a.k.a. the 'Willis files'.

If I could get to those, and crack their secrets, I realized, I not only would avenge the murder of that young woman, I would be able to take down some disgusting people who believed they could hide behind the walls of political power. The Queenie Files were the key to it all.

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

The Orange Order Dinner began at 7:00pm. Cindy, Teresa, myself, and Sergeant Morton arrived early at the Junction Station Depot to prepare the food and set up. I was cooking steaks on the grill while Teresa cooked the sides in the kitchen area, and Cindy and Morton set up the tables. Chief Moynahan and Myron Milton arrived with the beer keg and other alcoholic beverages.

There was little pre-dinner discussion, as it was a weeknight, and soon the hungry Police Officers were consuming all the steaks and sides with gusto. Beer flowed, and the extra keg the Chief had brought (upon Teresa's sage advice) was tapped into.

I was sitting next to Efram Elliot, former head of Internal Affairs and now retired. It is possible that he was still an advisor to Inspector General Horace S. Wellman behind the scenes. I asked Elliot what he thought of the current crop of candidates for I.A. Chief.

"Not Tunnin." he said with a bit of energy. "She was a promising, up-and-coming Detective when she was younger, but she plateaued. Harold Malone was instrumental in getting her transferred to I.A., and we never knew if it was to get her out of the way or if she was his mole. What I fear about her, is that she will become like Della Harlow... one day a very good Officer, the next an embittered political hack. I'm still stunned by what happened with Della."

He may have been fishing for information on all of that, though I had none to give him. "I was also very surprised about it." I said. "How fast it happened, and the reasons for it. It's like someone just flipped a switch in her head. Certainly nothing was done to her. And you may be right that Tunnin would be similar. What about Hanson?"

"Hanson always seemed to be looking for greener pastures." said Elliot. "I'm not sure why or how he got into I.A., but he would not have been in there when I was heading it, being as out of shape as he was... and still is. But from what I understand, he's honest, politically neutral, and a fairly efficient leader."

"So maybe we should look for an outside candidate?" I asked.

"That would be what I would do." said Elliot. "Part of your problem, Commander Troy, is that things can get political on you in a hurry. The Media is already pushing you to fill the position by accusing you of not filling it on purpose. Make sure you give Tunnin an interview, and have a good reason ready if and when you don't select her. And maybe the same with Hanson, if he thinks he's entitled to the job. You bring in an outsider, you avoid a lot of problems."

I nodded, the Elliot hit me with a bombshell: "I'll tell you this, also, Commander: there are a lot of people in the I.G.'s office, and maybe the various I.A. departments, that are really rooting for Robert Mullen to destroy you. People you may think are friends, are anything but."

"Who would those 'friends' be?" I asked.

"I wouldn't know to that level." said Elliot, though I knew he could tell me if he wanted to. "But I keep in touch with old friends, and I hear some things. A lot of people didn't like the way you handled Mullen's questions while he was the I.G. attorney here. And a number of people believe you should've been suspended after the Cobra incident, because you didn't cooperate with Mr. Mullen. That could have really hurt morale in the Police Department. So do be careful, Commander. Do be careful..."

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

Spoon tapped glass, Cindy Ross's signal after dinner to get the meeting going. Sergeant Morton got up and began speaking.

"First of all, let's thank Commander Troy, Captain Ross, and Captain Croyle for all the cooking and setting up they did." The group gave us a round of applause.

"Second," said Morton, "I have little to say, so I'll turn it over to Commander Troy to tell us about the promotions and medals for tomorrow." I stood up as Morton sat down. My back protested the movement, but settled down as I stood still.

"It's going to be a big one tomorrow." I said. "Two Purple Orders, and thankfully McGhillie and Barker are still alive to receive them." There was applause, then I went through the medals and promotions.

"Don't tell anyone, it's a big secret," I said jovially, "but it's possible Damien Thompson will be promoted to Captain tomorrow." There was a solid round of applause for Thompson as he sat at the table, which turned into a standing ovation for his history-making promotion. Then everyone but me sat back down, and I shocked everyone as I named some of the other promotions. And the one for Cindy to Deputy Chief got her a standing ovation.

"You left one out Commander." Rudistan said jovially as I finished. "Captain of De-tec-tives."

"Rudistan," I said with equal joviality, "you will never be a Detective on my Police Force, since you can't figure even that simple thing out." There was laughter; while Cindy and the Chief knew, I'd done a good job of keeping that one a secret from all of them. "You all will just have to come to the ceremonies tomorrow to find out who it will be... if anyone at all." That got a few gasps; the rumor machine had led everyone to believe that the position would be filled...

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

The beautiful Asian woman lay on her back, her legs spread wide, her red leather bra and panties pushed away from her breasts and her pussy, and only wearing red high heel laced-up pumps in addition. A young stud was mounted on her, pounding her pussy with his huge cock.

Surrounding them were a number of old men, none of them less than 55 years old. They were Board Members and large stockholders of BigPharmaCorp, and they were in Town for the big shareholders meeting the next day. They were all naked, or nearly so, and were stroking their cocks of mostly modest sizes in rhythm to the young stud's thrusts deep into the Asian woman.

They were in the 'grand ballroom' of the first basement level of 'Lashes & Lace', the place of kinky good times run by the lovely statuesque blonde Rita. Rita was almost as tall as Laura Fredricson, and her legs and body were just as fine. Rita also had a brain inside her head, and used it to make herself a very wealthy woman.

The 'grand ballroom' was aptly named. It was a large room, and made to look like a hall where ballroom dancing could take place, but the 'balling' that went on in this room usually meant large penises sinking into wet pussies, most often the young penises of Rita's Satyrs into lovely married women who needed... more. This being Monday night, there were no orgies, just this one private party.

They cheered the young stud on as he banged the hot Asian babe. She was taking his thrusts and yelling for more as she cupped and squeezed her own breasts. None of the men in the room knew who she was, not even the Satyr fucking the hell out of her sweet Asian cunt... and it was dangerous to be in the Iron Crowbar's Town & County, as she was known to him, and she was a wanted woman. She was Tomoko Shimono, who'd run afoul of the Iron Crowbar in the 'Eyes Only' case.

The young stud finally pulled out his cock and came, spurting long, thick ropes of cock-cream onto the woman, covering her chest and belly with lines of spunk. As he got up and off her, the other men began coming on her, adding their loads to the younger man's, coating the beautiful woman's face and body with their semen. The woman moaned and lapped up what she could, scooping up her protein snack with her fingers, then sucking or licking the stuff off. Then she sucked the young man's half-hard cock, still enviably huge.

*BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!*

The beeps were the signal of a possible law enforcement raid. All of the men rushed for their clothes as two security men appeared, ready to take them to a secret exit.