The French Connection

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 12 - Prison Break, Redux

"Ah, so you

are

dirty." I said to the Warden. "And we now have the proof."

"You ain't gonna live long enough to prove a damn thing." said Warden Williams. "Men, kill this bastard. The girl gets killed by a ricochet, unfortunately."

As the guards moved to shoot me, the third guard behind them slammed the butt of his rifle into one of the guards' head from behind. The other hesitated, and I moved with lightning speed and kicked the gun out of his hands. Then the crowbar went to work. As the third guard collected the weapons, I administered punishment to the two guards as well as the Warden, who thought he was a 'Kung Fu fighter', but was sadly mistaken.

"They don't have any cuffs to put on them." said Leonard Lotz, the 'third guard'. He'd infiltrated the prison and confirmed what we'd been told: Yvonne Newton proclaimed her innocence the first time she saw him.

"No problem." I said. I got what looked like a solid rectangular box out of my pocket and placed it where I knew the electric junction for Yvonne's cell was. Then I manually pushed the door open.

"Come on." I told Yvonne. She came out as I directed Leonard to help me put the two guards in the cell. Then I closed the door and took the box with me, locking them inside.

"Let's take Warden Williams back to the FBI." I said. We hauled him up off the floor.

"Won't do any good." said the Warden. "My men ambushed your men. They're all dead by now."

"Warden," I said wearily, "I truly hope you don't think you're dealing with an Agency of the Weak-Minded, here. Lotz, you got a radio?"

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

"Don, we're holding out in the control room!" said Muscone. "They've got the room surrounded, but haven't tried to come in yet."

"What about the cafeteria?" I asked.

"It's a standoff, there." Muscone said.

I looked at Lotz and we both grinned as I asked "Have they tried to shoot at you, or shoot their way in? Have any of them fired a shot?"

"No." said Muscone. "Not yet."

"Good." I said. "Tell your men to start shooting to kill.

Their guns have no ammo in them!

"

A moment later, Jack radioed back. "They all surrendered. How did you know they had no ammo?"

"I learned a few things... oh, about 400 years ago." I radioed back. I was later told that Jack Muscone responded to that with words that he did not learn in my daddy's household...

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

The FBI Agents locked the rogue guards into the cells in which they'd been hiding. Turns out some of them were the convicts sent to this prison, and were offered favors if they helped the Warden defeat us. They were given empty guns, and told that if they surprised the FBI, they'd be able to get the FBI's loaded guns and kill the Agents with them.

More Agents and other 'good guys' were coming in, so we left. At the helicopter, I asked Lotz if he was coming with us. "No, I'm going to make a run for it." he said. "Your sister will find something for me to do. By the way... thank you for giving Kathy that nice funeral. She was a good person, she deserved it."

"Yes, she did." I said. "Take care of yourself, Leonard, and thanks for your help."

"I told you I was good at prison breaks." Lotz said in his cynical way, but with a grin. I grinned and we shook hands, and I boarded the helicopter to leave.

We got Yvonne Newton to the helicopter and took off. FBI Special Agent Jefferson remained behind to take command of the prison and the situation there.

"Who was that guy that helped you?" asked Muscone as we buckled into the plane to go home.

"Oh, some guy I met in Paris last week." I said. "He's good at prison breaks."

"No doubt." said Muscone. "So... they're going to send extra lighter fluid for your bonfire for this one. How'd you do it?"

"My buddy there infiltrated the prison as a guard." I said. "He confirmed that it was Yvonne... she told him she was wrongly imprisoned as soon as she saw him, like she did every other new person she saw... and then he got wind that the Warden was going to give a lot of guys empty guns to hopefully subdue all of you. He was hoping some of his loyal guards could fire their loaded guns at you to make you think they were all carrying loaded guns. Fortunately, you guys were able to barricade yourselves long enough for me to get Yvonne out."

"And the Warden into our custody. And we got it all on tape. Good job." said Muscone. "But we really do need to talk about you deliberately walking into traps like that..."

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

I went up to Yvonne, who was sitting towards the front of the plane, ravenously eating the breakfast she had been brought.

"Yvonne, what happened?" I asked as I sat down next to her.

"I don't know." said Yvonne. "One night last August I went to bed like normal, and the next morning I woke up in that cell. At first I had no idea what was going on, and the guards wouldn't tell me anything; they looked at me like I was crazy. I asked for a lawyer, and they said no visits, that my appeals were up. Over time, I figured out that they thought I was my sister Julie..." She began crying.

"Yes." I said. "Your sister betrayed you, too. She had you put in that prison cell so that she could roam free without anyone knowing she escaped. But you're out now. We'll have to confirm your identity by a DNA test, and you'll have to stay at home in your townhouse until we do, under Police guard."

"They didn't foreclose on my townhouse?" Yvonne asked.

"No." I said. "Apparently your sister made the monthly payments, and she would stay there or let her associates stay there. We're going to see about getting you your old job back with the library system, but it's more likely we'll have to find you a place with the University."

Yvonne nodded, then said "Thank you for coming for me, Commander." Her voice quavered as she said "I had lost hope that I'd ever get out of there."

"Never lose hope." I said. "It is never over, until it is over."

Part 13 - Early Elections

"Early DNA markers show it's Yvonne, not Julie." said Cindy Ross at 3:00pm, Tuesday, March 27th. "The full tests won't be back for two days, and the legally defensible data won't be back for eight days. The Federal Judge agreed to let Yvonne wear an ankle monitor, and she can go to the grocery store."

"Good." I said. "Laura informs me that Dr. Paul Berkshire needs an administrative assistant, and he is going to interview Yvonne. So things should work out for her, I hope."

"God, I can't even imagine it." said Cindy. "Doing something like that to Molly, or her doing that to me. I know you and your sister are a long way better than you used to be, too."

"True." I said. "I still make sure to keep my eyes firmly on my sister when she's in my presence, but few things compare to what Julie did to Yvonne... what Westboro and Thatcher did to those poor puppy dogs qualifies, but few other things..." I shook my head in wonder of the evil that people can do to each other... and to puppies.

"That leads to one other thing." said Cindy. "Davis thinks someone was using Yvonne's apartment as recently as last night. He thought he smelled perfume, and of course Yvonne hadn't been in her own apartment in months."

"He might be right." I said. "You put out the APB for Julie?"

"Yes." said Cindy. "State-wide. The FBI has put out a nationwide alert for her, as well." Then she said "I just have one question, sir."

"Which is?" I replied.

"How long have you known Julie Newton was out of prison and working against us?"

I paused and then said "I knew there was someone, a so-called 'outside agency' working against us as early as last Fall. Dana Fox did not go to California and choose to harass Callie on his own; the CIA would have barbecued him for fucking with their Agent 'Honeybee'." Cindy smiled at that, and at the thought of her beloved Agent 'Honeybee'.

"When we got Jack's kids out of that townhouse in Florida," I continued, "Brooke said something about killing my family... and my dog, too. I think that was when it first struck me that someone was behind his prison escape, someone who also knew about Bowser. Of course I was trying to avoid being beaten up by Red Brooke at the time, so I didn't think about it again until later... and I realized that the Bowser reference went to Brooke by a dog-hater, and then it followed that whoever hated Bowser did so because it was Bowser who outed the Consultant of Crime."

"Yes it was." said Cindy, who had facilitated Bowser's action.

"I put it all together after the incident in Paris." I said. "Waddell was sent there by Julie Newton, and perhaps some other rogues, to eventually set up my sister, who coincidentally is your cousin, to be killed. Someone gave the new CIA Director bad information, and he sent Melina to kill Elizabeth... and Melina was to be killed by Waddell."

"By the time I got back and handled everything concerning Goth Girl Kathy's death," I said, "I was in the process of finding out if Julie was still in prison, and she wasn't; her sister had been put in there in her place. So I was already planning to go get Yvonne when Paulina couldn't find her. And so it goes..."

Cindy shook her head. "And why any criminal on earth thinks they can do business here and get away with it, I'll never know."

"That's what I wish they'd think." I replied. "But still they try. Still they try..."

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

BigAgraFoods CEO Lloyd Feingold was relatively short at 5'6" tall, and was beginning to show curvature of the spine in addition to having that classic 'pear shaped' body that denoted future health problems. Normally this was offset by his friendly demeanor, easygoing manner, and his way of bringing all sides together to make deals in the Boardrooms of the Nation. But now he looked haggard, exhausted, and in some ways befuddled as he took his place in the room in the U.S. Capitol, where he was to be grilled by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

After the swearing in, the Senators began asking questions. Senator Samuel Russell was one of the first to be recognized by the Chair.

"Mr. Feingold," said Senator Russell, "BigAgraFoods feeds millions of people, is that not right?"

"We estimate that between six hundred million and one billion people are fed either directly or indirectly by BigAgraFoods farms." said Feingold.

"That is doing a lot of good for a lot of people." said Russell. "But you have groups that attack you in the Press, for using genetically modified crops, stuff like that?"

"That is true, Senator." said the CEO.

"And in the past few months, a group calling themselves 'The Guardians of Justice', a criminal, treasonous organization, have been making false accusations against you, is that not right?" asked Russell.

"We consider their accusations to be baseless, yes sir." said Feingold.

"I would like to emphasize," said Russell, "that this 'Guardians of Justice' group is being pursued by the FBI for charges that will include treason against the United States for releasing classified documents to the Public. I yield the balance of my time."

Over an hour later, Senator Richard 'Bill' Nunn was finally recognized. He bore in: "Mr. Feingold, whatever you think of the Guardians of Justice, they released what were purported to be copies of BigAgraFoods documents that suggested BigAgraFoods had plans in association with the Government to control the foodstuffs of the Nation. Are there genuine BigAgraFoods documents that match the copies the Guardians released?"

"Senator, I have not seen what that terrorist group released." said Feingold. "So I would have no idea what matches what in that regard."

"Let me ask this---" started Nunn.

"Will the gentleman yield?" asked Russell.

"The question is, Mr. Feingold---" tried Nunn again.

"Will the gentleman yield?" asked Russell again.

"No, I will not yield to you, Senator Russell!" yelled Nunn, worn to anger. "You are obviously trying to use up my time before I can ask these important questions, but your tactics to hide the truth will not work! Now Mr. Feingold... is it true that BigAgraFoods made plans with the Government, or without the Government, to control the foodstuffs of the Nation?"

"That is not true." said Feingold. "I am not aware of any such plans, for benign nor sinister purposes, to exercise that kind of control over the world's food supply."

"Mr. Feingold, did you know a BigAgraFoods employee named Larry Wheeler?" asked Nunn.

"Will the gentleman yield?" asked Russell.

"Please answer the question Mr. Feingold." said Nunn, ignoring Russell. "Did you know a former BigAgraFoods employee named Larry Wheeler, or were you aware of him?"

"Will the gentleman yield?" persisted Russell.

The Chairman intervened. 'Senator Russell, Senator Nunn has already said he will not yield, and I will extend his time to cover the time you're obviously trying to waste, here. Mr. Feingold, please answer Senator Nunn's question." Russell was red faced with furious anger; if looks could kill, the Chairman would be dead.

"I've met many of my BigAgraFoods employees," said Feingold, "but beyond the ones I am in constant contact with on a daily basis, I don't believe I can be expected to remember on a close basis. I don't recall knowing Mr. Wheeler, though I may have met him at a company function."

"Mr. Feingold," said Nunn, as the majority of the room got interested, "Larry Wheeler was murdered, and the SBI investigators believe he may have been a whistleblower that exposed or was going to expose BigAgraFoods corruption, and that the Guardians of Justice documents were real. Are you sure you don't know who he was within your company?"

Feingold looked deeply confused. He covered his microphone with his hand as his lawyer whispered into his ear. The exchange went on for several seconds. Finally, Feingold answered: "I stand by my previous answer, Senator. And I further assert that I am not familiar with what the Guardians of Justice may or may not have released to the Public. We have lawyers and cyber-security that handle those things, and I was never briefed on any of it."

"You're the CEO of the company, Mr. Feingold." asserted Nunn. "And you're telling this Committee, under oath, that you had no knowledge of any of this?"

"That is not what I said." said Feingold. "I said I'm not familiar with what this group put out in any detail to which I can answer in this hearing."

"The Senator's time has expired." said the Chair as Nunn wanted to press the issue. The hearing concluded shortly afterwards. Nunn watched as Feingold and his attorney left, having an exchange of words, as if Feingold really didn't know what was going on, and was haranguing the legal beagle. Then he saw out of the corner of his eye that Senator Russell was staring at him. He turned and made sure to meet Russell's stare...

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

"How did it go, Lloyd?" asked Mitt Willis, calling after seeing the hearings were over.

"God damn it, Mitt!" swore Feingold. "What the hell is going on? They were asking about that shadow group, and some guy named 'Wheeler'. Who the fuck is 'Wheeler'?"

"He's a former employee of ours that was murdered down in Senator Russell's home area." said Willis. "No one to worry about."

"Mitt!" gasped Feingold, "United States Senators were asking me about him! Asking

ME!

So yes, he's someone I need to worry about! Now you come to Headquarters tomorrow. I'm calling a 'come to Jesus' meeting with the brass and the Board..."

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

"Hi Don," said Senator Nunn, calling me on my personal iPhone. "We just got through grilling BigAgraFoods CEO Lloyd Feingold."

"How did it go?" I asked.

"Russell tried hard to interfere." said Nunn. "But a few of my Conservative colleagues helped me put the guy through the wringer. Don, what I'm going to tell you may sound a little crazy, and you're way more observant than I am... but I think Feingold had no idea what was going on. He looked confused, he constantly asked his lawyer about things, and he's sitting there

under oath

saying he doesn't know what's going on... and he's the CEO of the company."

"Can you send me a tape of the hearing?" I asked. "So I can observe him for myself?"

"I'll see what I can do." said Nunn. "And Don, be careful over there. Russell was enraged at the questions I asked. He looked like a caged tiger..."

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

Carole and Jim had been put to bed, and Buddy was sleeping by Jim's bed. Bowser, however, was enjoying some skritchins from Your Iron Crowbar as Laura, my mom, Cindy, Callie, Teresa and Todd talked and watched election results coming in. At 10:05pm, the results were delivered.

"And from the Fox Two Decision Desk," said Amber Harris, sitting next to Dr. Romanov of the University's Institute for Politics, "with 100% of the votes tallied, Assistant Public Health Officer Susan Weston has won the Council seat vacated by the indictment of Thomas P. Cook. Voters turned out in surprisingly large numbers, with 52% of eligible voters casting ballots. Dr. Romanov, how did Ms. Weston win this race?"

"There were several factors, Amber." said Dr. Romanov. "Ms. Weston is in touch with the issues that are important to voters: climate change, diversity, and equality for women. She's a former Police Officer, but is not a sycophant of Commander Troy and his policies of Police brutality. And name recognition as a Public Servant was also helpful..."

"That's a crock." said Cindy, causing Bowser to look up at her. "Jenna has the same name recognition, the same record of Public Service if not a better one, and the same general political views that this bozo said caused Weston to win. Ditto that for Harlow, for the most part."

"What do you think, Todd?" asked Callie.

"I don't know." said Todd. "Not many BOW Enterprises employees live in that district, so it didn't have much interest for us."

"She

was

a Police Officer, then went to the Public Health Department." said Teresa. "Jenna's been a State Attorney for a while now, not really local or in local news. Turnbull didn't have a snowball's chance; he just did it to make a blog for KXTC on his experiences. And Harlow... how did she do, by the way?"

The numbers were on the Chiron streaming at the bottom of the screen. "Weston 52%, Stiles 31%, Carmela 7%, Harlow 5%, Turnbull 2%." I read. "Might be good for Stiles in the D.A. race. Harlow had a lot of ads, but didn't even out-poll Professor Carmela."

"Why do

you

think Weston won, Darling?" asked Laura, to me.

"I think she got the stealth endorsement of this outstanding dog, here." I said, petting Bowser. He looked at me with pure love in his canine eyes and wagged his tail mightily upon hearing his name. I pressed my palm into the right side of his head at the base of his jaw and he pushed back; he

loved

being rubbed there.

"Seriously," I said as I continued to rub Bowser cheek, "I think Weston saying she was committed to running for the Council again, for either the same seat or Loran Michaels's seat, is what convinced voters to vote for her. The others are running for other positions, and like Teresa said, Turnbull wasn't serious about it."