We'll Always Have Paris Ch. 03

"So who's fighting over it in Court?" I asked.

"No one's really fighting over it." said the Sheriff. "Especially after that body was found on the property last year. It was a little over a year ago, when they were having those riots in your County, and you were suspended." said Sorrells.

"Ah, no wonder I don't remember it." I said. "Okay, I'm bringing that up now... okay, I see it. Our Crime Lab went down and took evidence. Body parts found in some trash bags, somewhat ground up, buried under the compost pit. They were able to get some DNA, but never matched it to anyone. We have the DNA profile still in the records, but the case is still considered open."

"That's right." said the Sheriff. "Your crime lab said it was a woman, but the DNA markers did not match any women we knew were missing at the time."

"Well, Sheriff," I said, "it doesn't look like we have anything new on it. I hope that won't hamper the Court case."

"No, it shouldn't." the Sheriff said. "Dr. Eckhart expressed interest in buying it, since it borders upon his current property. But our County Council has had some feelers from several groups that want to buy it, and I'm sure some palms were greased, if you know what I mean. The upcoming Court case will settle it once and for all. Both our County and the State are trying to get possession of it. It'll bring good money into our coffers."

"That's true." I said. "Listen, I'd like to send my lawyer down there to check on the legal issues of that property. I'd appreciate it if you could have Deputy Strait help him out. It's to wrap up some loose ends of the Biller case up here."

"Sure." said the Sheriff. After we hung up, I called Mike G. Todd and asked him to look into some things for me...

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

"Daddy!"

My favorite greeting was followed by a five-year-old girl rushing up and attempting to tackle me, followed by a four-year-old boy doing the same thing, followed by two excellent dogs barking happily and running around the sea of humanity wrapped around my legs.

After greeting the kids with hugs and petting the dogs, I said "Where's your mom?"

"She's in the 'puter room." said Carole.

"Yes, she's been in there for some time." called out my mother, who was in the kitchen, cooking. "Why don't you go disturb her, Don, and tell her dinner is nearly ready."

"Okay, Mom." I said. "Carole, are you helping your grandmother set the table?"

"Yes, Daddy." said Carole, who rushed off to do just that. Jim did not rush to help, so I asked him if he was going to help, or was he going to clean up the greatroom of all his toys. Somewhat to my surprise, he went and began cleaning up the toys. I made the proper deduction.

I knocked on the door of the computer room, then opened the door and went on in. Laura was working at the desk, and she looked darkly at me. "How did you open that door?" she asked. "I'm sure I locked it."

"Uh, I dunno, it just opened." I said. I came on in. "Dinner's almost ready. What's up?"

"Have a seat." Laura said. I did so, next to her, and she began: "There are a few tricks I've learned about accessing CIA files. One is how to know if I'm being monitored. I was going to start looking up Admiral Keating's information at work this morning, and saw immediately that I was being monitored, and accessing those files would be immediately seen. So, I went the route of accessing the Kurchikov incident."

"And since you were actually involved in that," I said, "those monitoring you wouldn't be too shocked to see that you did so."

"That was the plan, anyway." said Laura. "I did find out some things. First, Kurchikov made it back to Moscow alive, and was treated for his injuries. Second, there is absolutely nothing on the attack on Kurchikov nor those who rescued him. No incident report, no nothing."

"That's unusual?" I asked.

"Damn straight it is." said Laura. "I should've found a routine Embassy report on it, especially after the Russians summoned our Ambassador to read him the Riot Act."

"Would they classify it with extra compartmentalization?" I asked.

"I should still have seen it, even if they did." Laura replied.

"Well," I said, "if I were the CIA Director, and six of my agents got the shit beat out of them by a couple of American tourists with crowbars, I'd probably try to hide the report, too."

Laura laughed. "No doubt. Anyway, after I got home, I used my special high-speed access line, which costs our Government $100,000 a year to maintain and encrypt, to access the Keating data. He had a lot of access, especially to military intelligence and defense planning. He was an advisor to the National Security Advisor, and often briefed Congress in closed hearings."

"Middle East theater?" I asked.

"No." Laura said. "NATO. But he covered Russia, so whatever they're doing in Syria, he'd know... have known... about it."

I did not need to be Cindy Ross to feel the vibe from Laura about it. Keating had been her colleague as well as Dr. Cordell's. She was taking this more personally than she was letting on.

"By the way," I said, "any interest from the Company about our trip to Israel?"

"Only my own report, which I duly made after my contacts with General Golan and others." said Laura. "Such a report would have been expected, and is required by law. I did mention that you visited the Western Wall and jumped with the 55th Paratroopers into Massada. I might have forgotten to mention your sister's presence."

"Hmmm..." I said, thinking out loud more than I should've been. I realized Laura had noticed, too.

"Okay, then." I said. "Let's go have dinner. I can't wait to see what Carole's newest tactics will be to avoid eating stringbeans."

"How did you know we're having stringbeans?" Laura asked. "your mom tell you?"

"No." I said. "But Jim is avoiding being around her."

Laura gave me a little grin. "Yes, after Jim got your mother to cook stringbeans, Carole said that she was going to make him eat her helping, as well as his own, and by force if need be. From hearing your mother talk, Carole is apparently related to someone named 'Elizabeth'."

I laughed. "Thank God Carole and Jim weren't born eight years apart." I mused.

"By the way..." Laura said. "Cindy corralled me after the meeting at the Police Station, and asked why I let you jump out of an airplane with your back in such bad shape. Her eyes were flashing fire, too."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her it would've been easier stopping sap from running in trees than to stop you from making that jump." said Laura. "She was not mollified..."

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

"Hello, beautiful!" said Callie happily as Cindy walked in the door of their condo. She came up and gave her fiancée a warm embrace.

"Hello, yourself." said Cindy. "How was your day?"

"Good, but tedious." said Callie. "I was in front of a computer screen all day. Research for Laura."

"National research?" Cindy asked, their code for CIA research, as opposed to sexual research.

"Yes." Callie said. "Something is going on. So, what do you want for dinner? I can order in Chinese, or pizza."

"Whichever you think will go better with beer." Cindy said.

"Pizza it is, then." said Callie. "Tough day, huh?" She knew that when Cindy went for the beer, it had been a tough day.

"Yeah." Cindy said. "I fucked up again. Don and Laura went from France to Israel. While there, Don saw fit to make a parachute jump with the Israeli military, bad back and all."

"Well, he was in the Holy Land." said Callie with a grin. "If he needed a miracle, nowhere better to be, huh?"

"Don't start." said Cindy, a shade too quietly and seriously. Callie was instantly on her guard.

"So how was that 'fucking up' on your part?" Callie asked.

"I went off on Don about it... right in front of the Chief and Teresa." Cindy replied.

"Ouch." said Callie. "Did the Chief ream you out, or did Don?"

"The Chief." said Cindy. "He wasn't bad about it... in fact, he's really, really good at getting people to talk when they don't want to. Almost like a father-daughter chat, and he had me almost crying as I talked about how worried I was for Don."

Callie got out her cellphone and ordered the pizza.

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

Dinner was an exercise in anger management.

Jim was eating his stringbeans, going on and on about how tasty they were. Carole was giving him looks that indeed might've been inherited from her Aunt Elizabeth, especially when Carole's mother admonished her to clean her plate.

"Can I give my stringbeans to Bowser?" Carole asked, her mood dark.

"No, Carole." I said. "I'd have to arrest both you and Bowser for destroying evidence if you did."

"Make Jim eat them, then." Carole 'suggested'.

"They're tasty!" Jim said wickedly (for a four year old). "You should eat all of yours!"

"If they're so tasty," Carole shot back, "YOU eat 'em!"

"That's not a bad idea." I said, looking over at Jim.

"I'm not eating anything off of her plate." Jim declared. "She has germs!"

"I do not!" Carole said hotly. "YOU'RE the sicko!"

"Stoppit." Daddy warned them both. "No more calling each other names, or you will both be in timeout. And you will not get to watch 'The Flash' tomorrow night, either."

"Awwww." Carole whined, her Amazon powers unable to overcome Daddy's 'iron' control of the TV remote.

I saw Laura watching me as I handled the kids. "Ready for another vacation?" she asked me.

I winked at her and said "We'll always have Paris... but I wouldn't miss these moments with the kids for the world, either." Laura laughed out loud, and my mom giggled.

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

"Oh, that was good." Cindy said contentedly.

"My goodness," said Callie, "one entire large pizza and three mugs of beer. Are you eating for two?"

"Cute." Cindy said, giving Callie a sideways dark look... that looked suspiciously like the one exercised by her cousin Carole right around the same time. She then said "But seriously, I did not realize how hungry I was. I didn't eat lunch."

Callie went back to typing on her computer. "Cindy," she asked, "do you know of anyone named Tomoko Shimono?"

"Tomoko Shimono?!" Cindy exclaimed. "Yes, I've heard that name! Wait... let me check Don's case files." Cindy ran a cross-reference check on her Police iPad. "Yep. The Roy Chen murder. The nuclear power plant case." (Author's note: 'Eyes Only'.) "Tomoko Shimono was involved. She was... hey, check the CIA's 'Disavowed' list."

"Yep," Callie said as she perused the list. "Tomoko Shimono is on the list. She went rogue. Was believed to have helped Pastor Raymond Westboro with several operations to steal technology. Disappeared completely after that nuclear power plant case and Westboro's subsequent death."

"So what's the deal with her?" asked Cindy.

"Her name came up in conjunction with some stuff I found out." said Callie. "I've been looking into Leon Mills. He was under suspicion of running drugs in the Southport area, right under FBI Agent Les Craig's nose, or at least giving SBI cover for the drug-runners out of that area. Seems Tomoko Shimono vouched for someone as an undercover agent at the time, but it's only a notation in these records."

"Leon Mills, eh?" Cindy said, not really paying attention.

"Yes." said Callie. "And here's some more stuff from the City Police database, which is way too easy to get into: Leon Mills was spotted in the Red Light district in the City last Saturday night. Seems he likes visiting the strip bars, then picking up a hooker for a couple of hours. He's been visiting the same joint the last four Saturdays. So what are your plans for this Saturday night?"

"Same as yours, I suspect." said Cindy, feeling a renewed energy. "A little trip to the City..."

Part 14 - Good and Evil

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Fox Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Wednesday, September 12, from in front of the Federal Building. "The Guardians of Justice have struck again!"

"The shadowy cyber-group that calls themselves the Guardians of Justice released a number of documents related to the recent death of Rear Admiral Jonathan Keating." said Bettina. "Among the documents are initial Police reports, which stated that Admiral Keating was found with a gunshot to the back of the head. Those initial reports are now unavailable despite multiple FOIA requests for them, and the Police Officers that filed the reports are not being made available to the Press."

"Police reports that were issued to the Public and the Press state that Admiral Keating died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound." continued Bettina. "Experts say the initial reports were replaced or possible altered. The Navy and the CIA have refused official comment on their separate investigations into the Admiral's death.

"The GOJ also released other documents, which are highly classified." said Bettina. "Sources tell Fox Two News and other Media outlets that the documents pertain to the incident in Paris, France last week, in which a Russian national was allegedly attacked by foreign agents. The Russians believe the CIA was behind the attack, and even summoned the American Ambassador in Moscow to formally complain. The GOJ documents allegedly show that the CIA did commit the attacks, and outlined how to respond to the Russian protest and Media inquiries."

"And the GOJ's trove of released papers also show that several U.S. Senators intended to call Admiral Keating to testify about the Paris incident." said Bettina. "Those Senators, including our State's Republican Senator Richard Nunn, have opened an investigation into the CIA Director's involvement in the Paris incident, and they intend to subpoena the CIA Director to testify. They also are making a list of documents to subpoena from the CIA."

"However," Bettina went on, "a number of Senators are attempting to block the investigation by the Conservative Senators. Our State's Senator Samuel Russell, a Republican like Nunn, has called the investigation into the CIA an 'outrage', and he has accused Senator Nunn of harming the Intelligence Community's ability to do their jobs. Additionally, Republican Senator Russell has said that the Guardians of Justice are traitors that should be executed once they are found and captured. His harsh language was echoed by many Senators of both Parties, who have demanded the FBI prioritize capturing the Guardians of Justice."

"And in State news," said Bettina, "Independent State Counsel Robert Mullen's office said that he has contacted lawyers for Governor Val Jared to arrange a meeting, where Jared will be questioned about his role in the harassment of Donna Rodman and Hillary Braselton, and his role in using the power of the SBI to further harass those women by investigating them."

"Jared's lawyers," said Bettina, "including former State Attorney Gill Haroldson, say that Governor Jared believes the Independent State Counsel's investigation is a political witch hunt, and he will not answer any of Mullen's questions, either in person or in writing. It is not clear if Jared can be subpoenaed to testify before the Independent State Counsel or the Special Grand Jury, but his lawyers have made it clear they intend to fight to the last ditch."

"The Governor's lack of cooperation was viciously lambasted by several Republicans, including State House Ways & Means Chairman Wilson Hammonds, who said, quote: 'If the Governor has nothing to hide, he should cooperate fully with the Independent State Counsel and answer Mr. Mullen's questions under oath, fully, completely, and truthfully.', unquote."

"Finally," finished Bettina, "The Governor signed the recently passed bill into law that lays out how the Lieutenant Governor position will be filled. The Parties will have caucuses on October 9th, and their chosen candidates will be placed on the November ballot after being certified as being eligible to run. Efforts by Republican State Representative Wilson Hammonds and Republican State Senator Cain Mitchell to defeat the bill was obliterated by bipartisan support, led by Senators Molinari and Cerone, and endorsed by our State Senator, Katherine Woodburn. This is considered to be a huge defeat for Establishment Republicans and hardline Democrats like Senator Maxine Watts..."

"And Fox Two News has confirmed," said Bettina, "that Town & County Deputy Chief Cindy Ross will sing the Canadian National Anthem at the Goodwill Ice Hockey Tournament in the City this Friday night. The Canadian team will face off against the Russian team. The Russians's 'Friendship Children's Choir' will sing the Russian anthem as part of their tour of parts of the United States..."

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

Today, Teresa was receiving a 'conditional' baptism. The church Teresa attended as a child no longer existed, so Father Romano was unable to determine if she'd been baptized, though Teresa thought she had been as a small child. I'm not up to speed on the Catholic Church's procedures, but when there is doubt about a previous baptism, another can be done with words such as ". . . if you are not already baptized, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit".

The conditional ceremony was in private, and Father Romano and Teresa were in the Pastor's Room at Police Headquarters. The water I'd brought home from the River Jordan in Israel had been strained and boiled, and was in a pitcher. Teresa bowed over a large bowl to catch the water as Father Romano poured it onto her head with the appropriate words.

Also in the Pastor's Room were Protestant Chaplain Calvin, my mother, me, Laura, Molly, Paulina, Edward and Stephanie Steele, and Selena Steele. Being baptized with more water from the River Jordan were Carole, Marie, Jim, Ian, Ross, and Tasha.

My mother was most happy at the performance of the baptism of her grandchildren. I had explained to the kids what was going on, and they seemed to accept it. Then Chaplain Calvin talked to them, and they looked rather bored.

"So the Chaplain is going to sprinkle us with water from the same river the Baby Jesus was sprinkled with?" Carole asked me. I just said 'yes', even though Jesus was a full-grown man when He was baptized by the appropriately named John the Baptist.

So on this day Carole and Marie behaved as Chaplain Calvin sprinkled the water on all the children's heads as he baptized them. But it was Teresa in whom I saw the most marked change. I could see that the Spirit was Alive in her...

Part 15 - Epilogue

The were meeting in the CIA Director's office within his home near Langley, Virginia.

"It's a disaster." said the Director to his guest. "Keating was all over it almost from the beginning. I think the God-damned Jews found out about it and told him. And he went straight to Nunn with it."

"Why didn't you kill Nunn, too?" asked the guest.

"Harumph." muttered the Director. "Killing Keating has already started a firestorm as it is. Killing a Senator? That would really bring the FBI down on us."

"Well, now they're looking for the Guardians of Justice." said the guest. "Or is Nunn one of them?"

"He may fucking well be." said the Director. "Keating must've been in league with those bastards, too. The documents those cyber-terrorists put out... some of them could only have come from Nunn and Keating."

"Any idea who the Guardians are? Where they are?" asked the guest.

"Hell, if I knew that, I'd be sending agents to kill them right now." said the Director. "Senator Russell is right that they should not be found alive... way too many questions could be asked if they're simply arrested. That is a Court trial we cannot afford to have."