Scavenger Hunt Ch. 04

7:00pm, Wednesday, October 13th. My Angels, myself, and the Sheriff and Chief, were having beef nachos and soft drinks at the Cop Bar. The fire pot was lit, as the warm day had turned into a cool evening.

"Somewhat to my surprise," said Teresa Croyle, "Claire Michaels accepted her beatdown like a man. She met with Theo, Teddy, Joanne, and Micah, and while she didn't outright apologize, she said she would be more respectful to them and their positions. She also said she would let them run their teams, but to make sure to never embarrass her in front of you or the Chief by not keeping her informed of things, and never leave her to be unable to answer your or the Chief's questions."

I said "What about Purvis?"

Teresa replied: "She did not invite him to that meeting, nor speak to him privately, as far as I know."

Cindy said "I got the vibe that Claire actually felt relieved that you did what you did. She was beaten in personal combat by the Iron Crowbar... who among us hasn't been... she took her medicine, and nobody else stood up to her. So honor is maintained, she can offer to pull back and reset, and we all go forward. But she has no respect for Purvis, none at all; nor he, her. And I'm not sure what can be done about that."

"Nothing needs to be done." I said. "Mary Milton answers straight to me, not to Claire. When Mary is back from maternity leave, Purvis will answer to Mary, and have that buffer. As long as Claire leaves Purvis alone, treats him as persona non grata if s he wants to and only deals with him through the proper chain-of-command, it should be okay..."

Part 17 - Attack of the Asian Team

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the redheaded MILF reporterette at 7:00am, Friday, October 15th. "Social Justice groups demand the Town & County Council reject Commander Donald Troy's unacceptable choices for Internal Affairs!"

After the hard-charging intro music, Bettina began: "The Council's ratification of Eitan Abram and Lisa Monroe for the top two Internal Affairs position requires a second reading of the bill next Tuesday. Social Justice groups are lining up against Abram as I.A. Commander. Roll tape."

Tape rolled, showing Eldrick X. Weaver saying "Abram as I.A. leader would be a even worse disaster for this County's People of Color than Donald Troy and Daniel Allgood are."

Stacy Jacobs was shown saying "Donald Troy's sycophants Abram and Monroe are just an insult and a joke. Abram has not shown any respect for People of Color, and Monroe was Wes Masters's crony in the corrupt City Police I.A. scandal I urge the Council to reconsider, and vote them out, and name replacements for them that will respect People of Color as well as have the integrity to stand up to Donald Troy and his Police brutality with that crowbar he carries around."

After more of the same, Bettina came back on the air live, saying "And in other news, Federal Authorities have received credible information of potential threats to the railroad lines that run through our County. The Federal Railroad Administration, or FRA, told Channel Two News that it has shared the elevated threat information with the Town & County Police. And Authorities at all levels, Federal, State, and local, are closely monitoring the situation..."

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

As the Usual Suspects drank coffee in the Chief's Conference Room, Sheriff Griswold said "Would someone please tell me who told Bettina that? And why is she trying to frighten the Public with that story?"

"For exactly that reason, Sheriff." Teresa Croyle replied. "To frighten the Public. To start a panic, and cause trouble for us, the Public Safety Department."

Tanya Perlman said "Some 'junior adjutant' in the FRA contacted Damien Thompson and said they had a threat assessment from the FBI. Considering that I sleep with the FBI's Special Agent In Charge in this region of the country, and he was unaware of it until I told him last night, one has to wonder if it was the Bob Rovers BAU Team putting that crap out, and they likely went to Bettina and asked her to do their scaremongering dirty work."

"No, there's something to it." said the Sheriff. "The State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, was contacted by the FRA and told to prepare for a possible railroad derailment or terrorist attack in our area. SEMA in turn called the Public Safety Department and tried to order us around about it, telling us to obey the orders of the Feds, be it the FRA or FEMA. Neither the Feds nor SEMA have called back, though."

"We are ready to respond to anything." Cindy declared. "But the questions are valid, and they stand: who told Bettina, and why is she trying to frighten people by publicizing something that never normally gets publicized before something happens?"

For some strange reason, all eyes were upon me. I finally said "Teresa is right... it's to frighten the Public, to create fear. But the real question is why do they want to create that fear? And I believe it is so that the Public Safety Department, and especially the Police, must respond to anything that happens. So if a train stops on the tracks near BigPharmaCorp, or Crown Chemicals or BOW Enterprises... or worse, derails anywhere near those companies or the Town... then Police will have to be diverted to that situation, and away from anything and everything else."

"Toyota Gang at work?" Teresa asked.

"So I read the riddle." I replied. "But we'll be on watch, and as Cindy said, we're ready for anything."

"What about the riling up of the 'Woke' groups over the I.A. nominations?" Chief Moynahan asked.

I said "They were demanding we make I.A. nominations. And then, when we did, they're going off on them and whining about it. I think the Media is ginning it up, not in partnership but leading the groups by their noses. I'm just tuning their shit out..."

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

7:45pm, Friday, October 15th. As the sun set over the western horizon, the bright light of a train heralded its eastbound travel. As it took the curve near BigPharmaCorp, the loud, shrill sounds of brakes being applied filled the air.

The train began stopping as it went into 'emergency', but being nearly 15,000 feet long it took time, and a few miles, to come to a complete halt. The front engines stopped just as they reached the northern edge of BOW Enterprises...

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

*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*

It was my Police iPhone ringing and I answered it. "This is the Duty Desk, sir." said the Duty Desk Officer. "The FRA just notified us that trains in the area have been stopped due to an alarm of a breach in the rails south of Town. One train is stopped on the southbound track by BOW Enterprises and Crown Chemicals."

The Duty Desk Officer continued: "BOW Enterprises has called, sir, and asked for you to send Officers to help secure the facility. They're seeing people coming out of box cars on the train that's stopped. And the FBI called and asked for you to come down to BOW, because their CEO is refusing to let any Federal Agents onto his property."

I said "Contact Intel Branch and have them get the manifest of that train from the Railroad Company. I'll call BOW Enterprises."

As I disconnected, I looked up at Teresa and said "And so it begins."

Teresa said "You'd think the CEO of BOW Enterprises would call me personally if he needed any help out there."

"Which is why I don't think they really need our help out there." I replied. "If it really was them that called in the first place..."

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

"Things look great." said Dr. Napp to Bobby Sedgwick and his sister Amelia in Bobby's hospital room. "You'll be released and transferred to the Ross Recovery Home on Monday."

Amelia said "And I'll come visit you." The door opened, and Your Iron Crowbar walked in, with the Iron Wolf and two Deputies. Amelia looked at Bobby and said "Are you ready to do this?" Bobby nodded his head.

We escorted Amanda to the Emergency Room side of University Hospital. The Town & County Sheriff Department van was waiting under the awning where ambulances normally unloaded patients bound for the E.R. As Amelia and the Deputies got into the vehicle, Teresa and I were watching the area carefully.

*BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!* *BRING!*

It was my Police iPhone. I stepped out from under the awning, away from the others, and took the call.

"Hey Dog!" said FBI Special Agent In Charge on the other end of the line. "When are you coming down here to BOW Enterprises? We've got a situation here!"

"I'm sure you do." I said curtly. "But the manifest of the train says the cars are all empties, and are being returned to Southport. What's the situation you're so worried about?"

"Your nephew has armed guards here, refusing to let any Federal Agents inside." Muscone said. "We're just trying to help him keep the place secure---"

"If you want to help, Muscone, then leave him and his property alone." I said. "Get a warrant if you want to go in there... oh, that's right, both the Federal and local Judges have denied your warrant applications."

"Dammit, Don, this is an emergency!" Muscone yelled.

I said "It always is with you Feds---"

*KA-BOOM!*

I looked up to see the fireball rising to the sky on the western side of Town. "Okay, it's an emergency now." I said to Muscone...

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

There had been a grand total of three tanker cars on the train, and the manifest said they were empty ethanol containers. But one of them had been full of something, something that exploded. TCFD firefighters were coming up to battle the blaze, wearing chemical masks as well as their firefighting gear. Public Health Department HAZMAT personnel were already taking quick air samples, to determine the toxicity of what had exploded.

I received a call from Cindy on my Police iPhone. "I'm as close to the scene as they'll let me get." she said. "The car that exploded was halfway between BOW Enterprises and Crown Chemicals. The other railcars were empty, and they were blown off the tracks for a hundred feet in either direction."

"What about BOW, and Crown Chemicals?" I asked.

Cindy replied: "Neither of their properties suffered any damage, but Crown Chemicals is shutting down as a precaution. BOW shut down when the train stopped. The Farmer's Market Restaurant is on fire, though. They'll be rebuilding from the ground up... hold on..."

A few seconds later, Cindy said "The HAZMAT people just told me that the air particulates of the explosive material is gasoline-based, and not nearly as deadly as something like vinyl chloride would be. You'd know more than me about that. And they're saying the wind is blowing east-to-west, away from Town and towards the farm fields. We may have just caught a huge break, there..."

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

When the Hospital had been rebuilt and renovated after the terrorist attack (Author's note: 'Only Time), a concrete path had been poured that paralleled the long main hallway on the back side. It was used for walking, but the gates could be opened to allow vehicles to go from the ubiquitous 'Authorized Personnel Only' E.R. parking lot to the big parking lot on the southside of the Hospital's property.

Amelia Sedgwick's TCSD van went along that back way and then through the parking lot's back row to another path that led to an east-west side street that subsequently led to the streets and alleys and buildings, which included Fraternity and Sorority houses and apartments for students. The van slowly made its way towards the halfway house prison facility.

Suddenly, a Toyota Camry pulled out right in front of the van! The vehicles collided, then two more Toyotas, Corollas, boxed off the van to its rear and side with the sliding door. The perps in the Toyotas, masked and clothed in all black, poured out of the cars and began spraying automatic fire from their 'assault rifles' into the van, shattering the windshield and door windows, and perforating the metal sides.

Then they backed off, and two of them aimed small rocket launchers at the van, and fired.

*WHOOM!* *WHOOM!*

The rockets exploded inside the van. It was a raging sheet of flame...

To be continued.