Homewrecker Ch. 02

"Daddy, what are Ran-gers?" Carole asked.

"They are special Army soldiers." I said. "They do extra training, and do the hardest missions."

"Are they like Green Berets?" Carole asked.

"Where did you hear about Green Berets?" I asked my six year old daughter.

"Jim and Ross were talking about them." said Carole. "They saw a video on YouTube about them."

"I see." I said, then explained: "Rangers and Green Berets are both special soldiers, but have different training to do different things."

"Oh." said Carole. "Jim is going to be a Green Beret. Will that help him be a good CIA spy like Mommy was?"

"Yes, it will." I said. "And Carole, you should not mention that Mommy was in the CIA to anyone, anyone at all. That's one of those things we keep to ourselves, that other people do not need to know, okay?"

"Yes sir." said Carole, absorbing the lesson.

"Thank you." I said. "So how is school?"

"O-kay." Carole said. "But Ms. Billings doesn't like it when I read ahead of everyone. She says I already know the answers when the rest of the class is talking about something, and I have to give everyone a chance to learn about it. Why do I have to wait for them? Why do they get to hold me back?"

Damn good questions, I thought to myself. "That's the way school is." I said. "If you do read ahead, just let others answer the questions during the class. And maybe rather than read ahead, just read some extra stuff about the current lesson."

"Yeah, I can look stuff up on the In-ter-net!" Carole said. "Did you have the In-ter-net when you were in second grade, Daddy?"

Hell, no, I thought to myself. But before I could answer, I noticed the kittens scamper around the far corner of the house. That meant that two outstanding dogs were coming around the near corner. Sure enough, a moment later we were joined by Buddy and Bowser, whose canine eyes expressed a desire for skritchins. Carole and I obliged them. Someone had someone trained, I thought to myself...

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

7:30am. Cindy Ross and Teddy Parker met me at County Airport, both in civilian clothes. Cindy was wearing a dark blue jacket and skirt(!), and a royal blue blouse. Parker was in his usual civilian clothes of black slacks and beige trenchcoat, and wearing a white shirt and brown tie.

The TCPD helicopter had been made ready and fully fueled, and I did my pre-flight checks. Cindy and Teddy had already put on their earphones/microphone set, allowing them to hear my conversations with the Tower as I got behind the controls. I contacted the Tower and was cleared for takeoff, then lifted off and began flying south, over our Town. As always, I enjoyed that exhilarating feeling of taking flight.

Upon the Tower's instructions, I flew southwest to the State Line River, then followed it down towards Southport. I made contact with the nuclear power plant's security station in Farmdale County, as we were flying over the edge of their property, and received a 'go' to fly south directly over the State Line River. Cindy and Teddy watched out the windows at the mostly farmland beneath us, occasionally seeing the buildings of a town.

Considering that it was a major water and rail transportation hub, it was surprising that Southport did not have a big airport. There was a fairly big one across the State Line River in the State west of us, but the nearest one in our State was in Jacksonville to the east-north-east. I was told by their Tower to maintain my course straight in to the Southport Federal Building, upon whose roof I landed right at 9:30am.

FBI Special Agents Tim Jenkins and Supervisory Agent Ted Crenshaw were there to greet us. "Southport P.D. Lieutenant Eugene Graham has a car to take you to the Dagny Piers." said Crenshaw and Tim Jenkins greeted Cindy. "Are you going to need any Federal help?"

"I think we'll be okay." I said. "I just have to make a phone call..."

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

Lieutenant Eugene Graham of the Southport P.D. knew Teddy Parker from our previous joint operations. As Teddy and I got into the car with him to drive down to the Dagny Piers, I said "Once you go in there with me, your cover is blown forever. You okay with that?"

"They've known who I am for a long time." said Eugene, who was black. "I never go undercover. And I act like the Black Iron Crowbar around here if anyone really crosses the line, so they know me from that, too. The Mob and I have a policy of mutual respect; they don't fuck with me, and I won't have to fuck with them."

"What about gangs?" asked Teddy Parker.

"I did five years in the Gangs Unit." said Lt. Graham. "Compared to the City, it's surprisingly easy work. There are no really good areas, like what Palmyra County is to Midtown and the northside of the Town & County. The best areas of Southport are to the east, on the way to Jacksonville towards Midtown. Everything else is lower middle-class, and the Mob keeps the streets clean. The Mob controls the drug traffic. Sure, you can get your dime bags of product, but the sellers, right down to the 15-year-old boys on the street corners, had better be 'licensed' by one of the Families."

Eugene continued: "The really bad areas are south of us, across the River: Turpin Heights, Chippewa Crossing. Those places are like the southside of Chicago on steroids. Nobody in their right minds go down there. Okay, here we are, the Dagny Piers."

Eugene parked the car, and as I got out I looked around. To my left (east as the crow flies) in the distance I saw the paddlewheel boat Riverboat Gambler, and remembered the case from nearly a year before. (Author's note: You guessed it: 'Riverboat Gambler'.) We were not going there, though; we were going to its sister ship, the River Rose.

The River Rose was longer than the Riverboat Gambler, and slightly wider. Whereas the Riverboat Gambler's dining room was created to be a fun dining experience for a reasonable price, the River Rose was created for elegant, fine dining, the very best for those willing to pay for it. The entire ship, from the dining room to the gambling facilities, bespoke an elegance that befitted the legends of opulence of the 1920s.

We walked down the dock to the gangway, and heard a voice on the upper deck above us: "Well, if it isn't the Iron Crowbar. With a few of his friends, this time."

I looked up to see Jimmy 'The Creek' DeAngelo. He was short, slender, well dressed, with sparse black hair combed back, and a gaunt-looking face. His voice and manner of speaking greatly reminded me of the character Hyman Roth in the movie Godfather II.

"Permission to come aboard, Mr. DeAngelo." I called out.

"Granted." said Jimmy The Creek. To his security men, he said "Gentlemen, these men are okay. Allow them to come aboard, with their weapons." I led the way up the gangway ramp, and followed DeAngelo into the dining room.

"It is good to see you again, Commander Troy." he said, extending his hand, which I shook firmly.

"And you, sir." I said. "Allow me to present my colleague, Detective Teddy Parker of the Town & County Police Force, and Lt. Eugene Graham of the Southport Police."

DeAngelo shook hands with Parker as if they were good friends. "Ah yes, I heard about your undercover mission that took down Edward Blassingame. You're a courageous man, just like your boss."

"Thank you, Mr. DeAngelo." said Parker.

"And of course I've heard of Lieutenant Graham." said DeAngelo, shaking Eugene's hand. "Please understand when I say I hope to see very little of you on my boats, Lieutenant."

"Likewise, I'm sure." said Eugene Graham with joviality.

"Please, gentlemen, have a seat." DeAngelo said as he sat down at a dining room table. "Can I offer you some water, or coffee?" We politely declined as we sat down, and he said "You are here about my niece?"

"Yes sir." I said. "And may I offer my condolences for your loss."

"You're very kind." said Jimmy The Creek. "Yes, it was unfortunate. Her parents are deceased, so I will make all the arrangements to have her brought home for her funeral."

"Our Coroner's Office will help in any way they can." I replied. "So the River Rose is in port on a weekend?"

"Yes." said DeAngelo. "She's being overhauled, getting ready for the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons, and the Winter, of course."

I said "May ask you a few questions, to help us find whoever killed your niece?"

"Of course." said DeAngelo. "How can I help?"

"Can you tell us a little bit about her background?" I asked. "Her upbringing?"

"I'll just say it right out." said DeAngelo. "She was a bad seed from a young age. She ran away from home when she was twelve, and was caught three months later selling dime bags of dope in the Wharf District. Her father rightly told the Police to lock her up; he thought 'tough love' might get her right. But it didn't. She was in and out of Juvie, then Women's Prison in Madison County."

DeAngelo continued: "I didn't see a lot of her, but I know Jimmy Cerone and then Orrin B. Taggart kept her from getting hurt or getting in too deep. But when she was 26, she disappeared. We thought the worst, but she turned up in Midtown. And to this day I don't know what happened, but she never was arrested again for drug use nor distribution, and she was never again busted for prostitution."

"Did you see much of her?" I asked. "Did she stay near home, or do a lot of traveling?"

"I know she did some traveling, usually with her beau du jour." said DeAngelo. "She liked to drive cars, fast cars, but she'd rent a car and drive to Florida or Los Angeles, too."

"She rented cars?" I asked, perking up with curiosity.

"She was always driving different cars, so I thought they were rentals." said DeAngelo. "Decent cars, Fords and Chevys, but not the luxury cars I'd have expected her to be driving. You see, Beverly liked money, and she liked buying things with money. Nice clothes, always buying shoes...Imelda Marcos had nothing on her... and she liked parties and the good life. And she wasn't getting my money to spend on that."

I nodded. "Which brings me to my question: did you know of anyone that might want to harm your niece? That had something against her? Or maybe something against you, or your... 'extended'... Family?"

"There's always that possibility." said Jimmy The Creek. "But I don't know who it might be. I've had no threats against me, and if Beverly was in trouble, she never told me and I never heard about it."

Just then a security man came in. "Sir, the Boss is here."

"Guys, stay put and stay calm." I said to the Officers with me. We heard the commotion of movement outside, then the doorway was filled with the rather large frame...

... of the Southport Mob Boss of Bosses, Orrin B. Taggart...

To be continued.