Vengeance is Mine Ch. 01

Dr. Eckhart was also my father's brother, and it had been a wonderful day when I revealed to Cindy Ross that he was her biological father, which made Cindy and I first cousins, blood kin. (Author's note: 'Reichenbach', Ch. 05.)

Janelle was black, and had come from a very broken home in the Projects in the City. She'd come to 'The Vision' hooked on drugs, under-educated, and with no hope to reach her 18th birthday. Thanks to Dr. Eckhart's programs, she'd gotten clean, and she'd gone on to college. She worked for the State's Department of Family and Children's Services now.

Mary said "Janelle told me that the Kolings had been approved to foster nine months ago, and Jimmy was placed in their home four months ago. She said Nate Koling had checked all the boxes, but Linda Koling had had two juvie arrests, though no adult arrests, and she was approved to foster mostly because of Nate, and also because there's too few foster parents for too many desperate kids."

Claire said "Janelle is at 'The Vision' compound, and is on call to help with Jimmy when we find him. She says he won't be going back to the Kolings."

I said "Is that what you want to show me?"

"Yes sir." Mary said as she plugged her laptop into the dock that allowed her to put video on the television monitor. She said "Jimmy jumped out of the car at the intersection of Elm and University. And here's what happened at the intersection of College and University." She started the tape, and I watched.

"That fucking bitch!" I said angrily as Mary ended the video. "You got that in evidence?"

"Yes sir." Mary said.

Claire said "The Kolings are still in the Pastor's Room, sir."

"Okay, here's what we're going to do." I said...

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

Five minutes later, with Sr. Detective Joanne Warner in tow, I went to the Pastor's Room, which was just behind the anteroom of Interrogation Rooms A-C. Father Alberto Romano, our Catholic Chaplain, was in the room with the Kolings.

Nate Koling was 6'5", an inch taller than me, and fairly athletic looking, with darker red hair than me and a trim beard. His wife Linda Koling was shorter, and not particularly pretty, with dirty blonde hair that looked a bit unkempt, and telltale signs that told observant Detectives that she was a heavy smoker.

Upon seeing us, Nate said "Any news?"

"We have new information." I said. "Mr. and Mrs. Koling, I'm Commander Donald Troy, and you already know Detective Warner. I'm going to have to ask you to come into the Interrogation Rooms so that I can ask you some clarifying questions on camera. Mr. Koling, if you'll come with me first, please? Detective Warner, escort Mrs. Koling to I-A."

Koling followed me into the anteroom and into Interrogation-B. Officer Goodwright was the Uniformed Officer in the room, per TCPD requirements.

I had Nate sit at the table, then sat down myself and said "For your protection and ours, I'm going to read you your rights." I did so from the card. "Do you understand the rights?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah, but why are you reading me my rights?" asked Nate. "Do I need a lawyer?"

"It's your right to have one." I said. "I just want to ask you a few questions, and Mirandizing you is a procedural thing. First of all, you've had Jimmy in your home for four months. How has that been working out?"

"Good." said Nate. "Jimmy's a decent kid, though he was in the Orphanage before he came to us, and he learned some things that most kids don't have to learn. I've tried to do things with him, like go to ball games and stuff, but with the Spring season starting up, my business is getting very heavy, and I haven't been able to spend the time with him that I'd like."

I said "How does Jimmy and your wife Linda get along?"

Nate said "Pretty well, I guess." He then stopped, hesitating.

I peered at him. "Bu-ut..." I said.

Nate said "Don't get the wrong idea. Neither of us has hit the kid nor hurt him. I've sent him to his room a few times when he acts up, but he seems to have learned from that. Linda is much less strict with them than I am, but sometimes she'll get mad at him for something and really light into him... but verbally, never physically."

"I get that." I said. "How does she punish him, if she does?"

Nate said "Usually she'll take away a privilege, like watching TV or playing games on his Playstation. I've done that too, but only once."

"I understand Jimmy ran away from home once before?"

Nate said "I wouldn't characterize it that way. There's a creek... more like a canal or drainage ditch, as it's perfectly straight... that runs along the property line behind the houses in our neighborhood, with other houses on the other side. Apparently Jimmy went exploring down the creek, and we didn't find him for several hours."

I said "One more thing: today, your wife called you when Jimmy jumped out of the car... but she didn't call 9-1-1. Why not?"

Nate said "She told me when I got there that she hoped she'd have found Jimmy by the time I got there. Since she hadn't, I called 9-1-1 immediately."

I nodded, then said "Did she tell you why Jimmy jumped out of the car?"

Nate said "No, she didn't. When I asked her, she said he just suddenly took off his seat belt, opened the door, and jumped out and ran before she could stop him. She never said what the reason might have been. Was there one?"

"Oh yes, there was one." I replied darkly. I asked Nate two more questions. He looked totally shocked, then realized what was going on.

I said "Okay, stay here a minute. If you need to use the restroom, Officer Goodwright will escort you." I got up and left the Interrogation room.

In the anteroom, I said "Okay, Joanne, you're with me, but let me lead this. Claire, is the video queued up?"

"Yes sir." said Claire.

Joanne and I went into Interrogation-A, where Linda Koling was seated at the table, and Officer Colquitt the Uniformed Presence. We sat down opposite Linda, and I said "I'm going to read you your rights from the card." I did so, then asked if Linda understood the rights.

Instead, she said "Why are you reading me my rights?"

"Just to keep things procedurally correct." I said as I held up the card to the camera, to show the suspect had been mirandized. "Mrs. Koling, why did Jimmy jump out of the car?"

"I have no idea." Mrs. Koling said.

"I think you do." I replied, my eyes boring into her. "Detective, what are my four favorite words?"

"Uh, 'you are under arrest'." Joanne said.

"Yezzz, and I'll be saying those words in a moment." I replied, my eyes not wavering from Linda Koling. "What are my second four favorite words?"

"Let's watch some TV." Joanne said.

"Yes, let's do watch some TV." I said as I pressed the remote. The video began playing. "What is that, Mrs. Koling?"

"That's me punishing Jimmy for not shutting up when I told him to." Linda said.

"You threw a dog out of the car!" I thundered. The video clearly showed the driver side door of Mrs. Koling's car opening, and her dropping a brown and white puppy onto the street. The puppy then ran under the car and the next car, and was seen on the sidewalk before the traffic started moving again.

"You damn right I did!" Linda Koling yelled back. "That boy has to learn to mind me! I told him that if he kept acting up I'd take that flea-ridden dog away from him and take it to the pound!"

"Oh, but instead you threw that puppy out of your car!" I snarled. "And into heavy traffic! It could've been killed!"

"I wish it had been!" Linda fired back. She was not helping herself. When one is in a deep hole, the first thing to do is 'stop digging'. Linda was digging her hole deeper and deeper...

"And at the next light," I said, "Jimmy jumped out of the car, to find his dog. That's why he jumped out... to find that little dog that he obviously loves, the dog you cruelly threw onto the street right in front of him!"

"Yeah I did!" Linda said. "To teach him a lesson! He should never have brought that mangy piece of shit home in the first place! Do you know how fucking much dog food costs?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." I said. "I have two dogs, one that was an abused rescue dog." (Author's note: 'Pale Morning Light', Ch. 01.) "My children love those dogs, and I would never dream of harming them. And you, Mrs. Koling, have crossed the line. Stand up."

"Why?" Linda said.

Joanne had gotten up and was coming around the table. She said "Because of Commander Troy's four favorite words. Stand up."

I dropped a pair of handcuffs on the table. They landed with a loud clatter. "You are under arrest, Mrs. Koling. "For animal cruelty, child neglect, and lying to Police." I said. "Take her through Booking." Officer Colquitt affixed the handcuffs, then took Linda by the arm and escorted her out the door.

What I'd asked Nate Koling was if Jimmy had a dog, and Nate said he'd found the dog in the creek the day he'd disappeared. Then I asked if Linda had argued with Nate or Jimmy about the dog, and Nate said Linda had wanted to take it to the pound from the first day Jimmy found it, but Nate had said Jimmy could keep it, and that Jimmy was taking care of the dog very well.

As Linda Koling's yells reverberated through the front lobby and to the Interrogation rooms, I went into I-B and said "Mr. Koling, your wife has been placed under arrest..."

Part 9 - The Trap

7:30pm, Friday, April 9th. The sun was reaching for the western horizon and it was getting noticeably cooler as the Federal Agents ate the takeout food they'd acquired.

The Federal Building is on the north side of Courthouse Square. Behind it (to the north) is the Old Post Office building, which the Federal Government still owns, and has a few meeting rooms and a lot of storage space. In the parking lot of the Old Post Office sat an RV with Federal car tags.

It was used by mobile FBI units that traveled around the country instead of being based in a permanent location. This particular vehicle was being used by the Robin Isley special FBI team, and Lindsey Black, Karl Coleman, and Cabe Andrews were inside after being brought back by EAD Owen Lange and the Jack Muscone team. Also in the RV were David Rovers and Peter Page of the 'vaunted' Bob Rovers BAU Team.

"Where's Nancy?" Lindsey Black asked.

"In the Federal Building, talking to Lange." said Karl Coleman. "She was whining about what I was going to do to that Burke prick. She says she wants off our team."

Lindsey said "Fine. Then she should resign. She doesn't deserve to be a Federal Agent if she can't handle it."

David Rovers said "Lange wasn't very happy about what you did, either, Karl. He did the right thing and got you out of the TCPD's hands, but he told Deputy Director Lance that he would not help us against the Iron Crowbar again."

"God damn the Iron Crowbar." Lindsey Black said. "Just when we had a chance to force that bitch to tell us where her ex-husband is hiding George Aurus, that bastard Troy comes in like a freight train roaring down the High Sierras, assaulting Federal Agents. Why isn't he in Federal custody right now?"

"Look, guys," said Cabe Andrews, "I'm on your side, but I didn't like what you tried to do to Burke, either. That was over the line."

Karl Coleman got up and stepped over to Andrews, fronting him. "Oh really?" he said. "What are you going to do about it?" Andrews stood up, facing off against the larger Coleman.

Lindsey Black ended the tense standoff by saying "Andrews, if you're going to be a pussy, then get out here. I don't need you on my team."

"Yeah... pussy." Coleman said into Andrews face. Andrews began moving to the door, halfway expecting Coleman to shoot him in the back. But it didn't happen, and he exited the RV.

Lindsay Black said "God, he's as much a pussy as Martin Nash is. Whatever happened to real men in the FBI?"

David Rovers said "Okay, guys, let's get our heads back in the game. We've got a problem: there are a ton of Campus Police, TCPD, Sheriff Deputies, and some State Patrol all over Campus."

"Why?" Lindsey Black said.

Peter Page said "We tapped into the TCPD and Campus Police radios, which they think are encrypted, but we easily broke that encryption. Apparently a ten-year-old kid jumped out of a car on University Avenue and ran onto the Campus. They're searching for him."

Lindsey Black said "God, what fucking buffoons they must be, if they can't find a ten-year-old kid."

"No doubt about that." said Karl Coleman.

David Rovers said "The problem is that Aurus is not going to approach the University Museum with all those cops around, so our trap is not going to work if we don't do something."

"I'm on it." said Lindsey Black. She fished out her cellphone and dialed a number. "Yes, this is Special Agent Lindsey Black with the FBI. Put the Campus Police Commissioner on the line." A moment later she said "Yes, Commissioner, I need you to pull all your Campus Police Officers as well as State Patrol Officers and Sheriff Deputies away from the University Museum... yes, I know they're searching for a kid... I don't give a damn about the kid! You pull your people away from University Museum, a five-hundred-foot exclusion zone... do it right now; you're interfering with a Federal investigation... would you prefer a call from the Director of the FBI?... good, pull 'em back. All of 'em. You can find that God damned kid later..."

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

7:55pm, Friday, April 9th. Just north of the University Museum was the University's oldest student dining facility, both buildings's fronts facing west. It was about to close at 8:00pm.

A Dining Facility worker opened the back door to take some trash out to the big trash bin behind the building when he saw a ten year old boy looking around the bin. "Hey!" he called out. "Get away from there!"

"I'm looking for my dog." the kid said. He stepped forward into the light over the back door, and the man saw that the kid was distraught.

"I haven't seen any dogs around here." said the man. "And you need to get away from those bins before you get hurt." He turned to throw the trash into the bin.

"Hey, maybe the dog went in there when he smelled the food." said the kid, who realized he was hungry, too. Before the man could stop him, he'd rushed into the back door.

"Billy! Billll-llleeee!" called out the boy as he looked around the back room... and saw a man there, about the same age as the man that was taking out the trash. But this man was in a wheelchair.

"Hello, young man." said the man in a soft, scratchy voice. "You've lost your dog?"

"Yes sir." said the kid. "My foster mother threw him out of the car, and he ran this way. So I jumped out of the car to find him."

"That's very noble of you." said the man as the Dining Facility employee came back inside and up to them. "Johnny, why don't you get a burger and fries and some Coca-Cola for our young friend, here. And after we eat, young man, I'll help you find your dog."

"Gee, thanks, mister!" the kid said, hope creeping into his young voice.

The worker brought two trays of food to the back room, one of them a regular dining facility meal, and the other the hamburger meal. The kid wolfed his food down.

"What does your dog look like?" asked the man, who was eating more slowly than the kid.

"He's brown and white, and he's still a puppy." the kid said. "He's a beagle, so I named him Billy Beagle."

"That's a fine name." the man said. "What's your name, son?"

"Jimmy." said the kid.

"Hello, Jimmy. I'm George." said George Aurus...

To be continued.