Women's Work Ch. 03

Seth was moved. "Thank you, Commander."

"Least I could do. She saved my Officer's life... and your wife's. Cindy, get someone to take Seth back to the Hospital, would you?"

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

Another hour later. I was still sitting on that big chunk of debris, being left alone. Finally, Zoe Singer came up to me, with a large plastic bag. Inside was a gray high heel pump, and some jewelry, including a wristwatch, a necklace and a ring.

"That's her necklace, and she wore that ring..." I said.

"We'll do a DNA test on them and the shoe." Zoe said. She sighed, then continued, "These items were found on the ground right next to the hot spot where we think some of the explosives were. It looks like she was right in front of them when they blew... are you sure you want to hear this?"

"Yes." I said. "Go ahead."

"The explosion probably atomized her body." Zoe said. "We may not find much more. I'm sorry, Don."

My head was bowed. I then asked "What about the others?"

"No trace of Karen Warner." said Zoe. "No trace of Goth Girl Kathy, either, but from the witness reports, she may not have been there in the first place."

I just nodded. "Thanks, Zoe." I got up and went over and told Todd what had been found. And then I left.

Part 17 - Smoke and Mirrors

I went by the Hospital. Joanne was going to be held overnight, to make sure there was no internal bleeding. Her gunshot wound had not broken the bone or hit the major blood vessels, so Dr. Morgan expected her to feel a lot of pain but recover quickly. The shrapnel in her leg had not gone very deeply, and had been removed and stitched up.

"She's lucky, Commander." said Dr. Morgan. "We'll do another hearing test in the morning, as well. She seems to be hearing okay, but still has some ringing in her ears. That's not unexpected. We're not seeing any real signs of a concussion, either, but will check that again in the morning."

"Thanks, Doctor." I said. I went on inside the room, where Seth was sitting next to Joanne.

"I'm sorry, Commander." said Joanne. "I fucked up." I was mildly shocked to hear the language.

"No, you didn't fuck up." I said. "I would've done the same thing, and gone in there to make the arrests. We need to get you some more tactical training, though. As Captain Ross is so fond of hearing, you need 'range time'."

"My favorite words." said Cindy, who I'd felt and seen come into the room. "Welcome to the Purple Order club, Joanne."

"And I'll tell you what I told Lieutenant Croyle." I said. "Get any more Purple Orders, and you will forever be on Desk Duty. Seriously, don't beat yourself up, you did a good job. Waiting for backup is a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' proposition."

After some more chatter, Cindy and I left. As we drove away from the Hospital, Cindy said "She really should've waited for backup."

"Probably." I said. "But it's a tough call."

"Don..." said Cindy. "I, uh... want to offer my condolences, for your sister."

"She's your blood, too." I said.

"But I didn't grow up with her. You did." Cindy replied. "And even if it wasn't a close relationship..."

"Yep. Thanks." I said. "And I guess I better go say something to Mom."

"Todd and Teresa are with her." Cindy said. "The Crime Lab got a sample from her to see if there's a mitochondrial match with what they found at the crime scene, for faster identification. Your mom is pretending this isn't hurting her."

"Okay." I said. "Cindy... there's something I need you to do for me..."

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

I came into the Mountain Nest, seeing the family scene before me... Carole being held, Bowser being petted, and Buddy nearby. But just as I came into the room, I heard the back door unlock. My mother was coming up from her apartment below.

"I heard you drive up, Don, and so I---" my mother started, then saw the shocking sight. Sitting on the sofa, holding Carole and petting Bowser... was my sister Elizabeth.

"What in the hell..." Phyllis said, totally and utterly stunned.

"Long time no see, Mother." Elizabeth said sardonically, not all that happy either.

"Don," my mother said, staring at her daughter, "what is going on here?"

"Oh, I'm not understanding it, either." I said. "Why I would want to save my sister's life, I don't know, but that is exactly what we are doing right now."

"What? Why?" Phyllis asked.

"Have a seat, Mom." I said.

"No, I don't think I'm going to be staying." said Phyllis, her hackles now up. "You can tell me about it later."

As she turned to go, I said "Mom, you might want to say goodbye to your daughter. You will probably never see her again."

"That's fine by me. And 'goodbye' is the right word, Elizabeth..." my mom said darkly as she went out the door.

Laura came from upstairs with little Jim. "Okay, he's all cleaned up now." Laura said then added with mock casualness in her voice: "I must admit, Darling, I did not expect to find your sister here. Bowser seems to like her, though."

"Bowser is a good dog." Carole said, in the form of a quotation. Elizabeth smiled at that one and petted Bowser again. I made a phone call.

"Okay, Elizabeth, it's time to go." I said. "Bring Carole." Laura looked shocked at that, but I just nodded to her in reassurance.

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

We were riding in the back of Cindy's Police SUV. Cindy was driving. Elizabeth and I were in the backseat, Elizabeth holding Carole, Carole's child seat on the other side of Elizabeth.

"Oh, she's such a darling child." Elizabeth said. "She is your luckiest and best thing, baby brother."

"I couldn't agree more." I said.

"I never had a daughter." Elizabeth said. "I so wanted one. Todd turned out okay, but Ned was a disaster from the day he was born. And I never could have another baby, though it wasn't for lack of trying." I nodded, noting that this was the most emotion and love I had ever seen from my big sister. "And I wanted a sister, too, but that sure didn't work out."

"No apologies from here for that." I said, then added what needed to be said: "But I will tell you this... if I could change things... I'd never say a word about seeing you with that guy in the basement. Even then, I knew what our parents were putting you through with that religious shit was just wrong."

"It is what it is, baby brother." Elizabeth said. "We'll just say you're making up for it now. So... where are we going?"

"City Airport." I said. "There will be a plane there, ready to take you to France. No, you cannot take Carole."

"Why?" asked Carole.

"Because you have to go back home and take care of Bowser." I said.

"Bowser is a good dog." Carole said. "But Mommy doesn't like him." Elizabeth's eyebrows arched up at that.

"Your Mommy loves Bowser more than she'll admit." I said in reply.

"He's a sweet dog." said Elizabeth. "Carole, you take care of Bowser for your Aunt Elizabeth, okay?"

"O-kay, Ant Lissbuth." said Carole. Elizabeth likes dogs, I thought to myself. A redeeming feature of my sister, in my opinion. Definitely a redeeming feature...

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

We went through a side access gate to the Airport. Cindy's FBI Consultant badge got her through the FBI Agents guarding the gate. Cindy drove up to a building, practically onto the tarmac. A plane was waiting nearby.

"Goodbye, my precious." Elizabeth said, hugging Carole one last time. "Take care of your daddy for me."

"Bye, Ant Lissbuth." said Carole, hugging her aunt back with her little arms. I saw a tear in my sister's eye as she handed Carole back to me.

"Well, this is goodbye, mon petit frère." Elizabeth said.

"More like 'au revoir', if I'm not mistaken." I replied. "Take care of yourself."

"I will. And you too... that man is pure Evil. He will stop at nothing. Don't let him harm this little girl. And thank you... for everything."

With that, Elizabeth gave me a fast hug, then broke away. Not looking back, she went up the stairs and into the airplane.

I walked back a distance as the plane taxied out. I followed it with my eyes to the runway, then watched it take off into the night sky.

"Come on out, Todd." I said. "She's gone."

"You have eyes in the back of your head, Uncle Don?" Todd said, flashing his brilliant smile as he came up from around the building behind me.

"No, but I have a daughter that looked behind me and smiled when she saw her cousin." I replied.

"Think she'll be all right?" Todd asked, meaning his mother.

"I would imagine she will be." I said. We began walking back to the SUV. "Need a ride, Todd?"

"Sure." said Todd. He got in the shotgun seat next to Cindy as I put Carole into her child seat and strapped her in. She'd be asleep before we made it out of the Airport.

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

"So the whole thing was a deception?" Cindy asked as we drove back on the highway to Nextdoor County, then home.

"Not all of it." I said. "I was able to contact Elizabeth on Wednesday. I told her that I thought she was in danger, and that our Consultant of Crime, who was also the 'Number Four' of her little group, was going to try to kill her."

"She wore full armor under her athletic wear." I continued. "I think she intended to shield Karla Warner, but Joanne showing up screwed that up... Karla shielded Joanne, and died in the act of saving Joanne's life. Karen's body wasn't found, and I suspect it won't be... I think she got clean away."

"Can't imagine how." Todd said.

"The explosives were rigged to take down the building, crash it down on their heads." I said. "There were apparently some nails piled up near the explosives to be shrapnel, but that wasn't the Consultant's major intent. He wanted to see what it took to take down a building like that."

"Why?" asked Cindy.

"Very observant to see that there is always a 'why' with the Consultant." I said. "As to what that 'why' is, say that three times fast... I dunno yet."

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

What I did not tell Cindy nor Todd, was what happened at the Wal-Mart the day before, Wednesday.

Elizabeth had been disguised and was shopping for some things when I came up to her. She recognized me and I quickly said 'Come with me to the back area, you're in danger'. She did, and we went into the Men's Room.

"Your Number Four has a knack for betraying people loyal to him." I said. "Unless you are in with him on your plan to interdict the gun run... he's going to come against you, and kill you and your fellow women in your gang. Karen, too."

"How do you know..." Elizabeth said, then began realizing some things.

"Yes." I said. "He is much more than just a member of your Group of Four. He has an organization that stretches across this nation, and he wants to go overseas. He'd love to take over your smuggling pipelines... after you're dead."

"I must commend you, baby brother." Elizabeth said, looking up at me with a gleam in her eye. "You know a lot more, a lot lot more, than I ever would've given you credit for."

"I'll take that as a compliment---" I stopped, as we heard someone coming to the men's room.

"They'll catch us." Elizabeth had said. "Here, I've got an idea." She pulled me to the lavatory counter and sat herself on it, then began unzipping my pants. She fished out my manhood, which was rapidly getting hard, and fit it to her cuntlips. I thrust my manhood forward... and sank balls-deep into my sister's snatch!

I began thrusting in and out of her as we heard the door of the bathroom being opened with a key. The employee looked inside and saw the backside of a man with a woman's shapely legs wrapped around him, and the man was fucking the hell out of the woman He gasped, then quickly retreated.

"Okay, he's gone." said Elizabeth.

"I'm not stopping now." I growled. I was already about to come. Elizabeth watched between us as she reached around and pulled my ass into her, matching my rhythm perfectly. It didn't take long for my nut to rise, powerfully and eagerly.

I groaned as I shot my full load deep inside Elizabeth's pussy, thinking that maybe that would get her knocked up with the daughter she desired... who knows?

Finally, we disengaged and I fastened my pants. We raced out of the bathroom and into the back employee areas just as the employee was bringing his manager in from the main store. We hurriedly found a back exit, and made our escape. Elizabeth made a hasty run to her vehicle, and old green car that looked vaguely familiar to me. I didn't try to follow her... it would've done no good, and I would have failed to keep up with her.

Part 18 - Solutions

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" yelled Bettina at 7:00am, Friday, April 15th. "Channel Two News is bringing you continuing coverage of the explosion at the old Standard Tools warehouse, which claimed at least two lives, with others missing!"

"These are the details we have so far." Bettina said. "We know that Police Detective Joanne Cummings Warner spotted the women that had escaped from the State Women's Prison several days before. Her husband called in for backup while Detective Warner entered the building to effect the arrests. Detective Warner was wearing double body armor, but she was wounded in the arm as she exchanged gunfire with Cheryl Belle Dunston, one of the State Women's Prison escapees. Dunston was killed in that exchange of gunfire."

"At that point, there was an explosion that buckled the supports for the building, and it came crashing down on those inside. Detective Warner was covered by her new mother-in-law, Karla Warner, also a prison escapee. Detective Warner was not seriously hurt; however, Mrs. Warner was badly injured, and died of those injuries. The formal Police report as well as Commander Troy confirmed that Mrs. Warner saved a police officer's life, and Governor Jared made this announcement yesterday. Roll tape."

The tape rolled, showing Governor Jared: "Having received the reports that Karla Warner died in the act of saving a police officer's life, I am commuting her sentence to time served, so that her family may claim the body and bury her, instead of this being done by the Prison System."

Back to Bettina live: "Two other people known to be in the warehouse, Karen Warner Harlan and Elizabeth Troy, are presumed dead. Their bodies have not been found, but personal effects that both women were known to be wearing were discovered at the scene. And yes, Channel Two News confirmed with Commander Donald Troy that it was his older sister that died in the explosion. Our condolences to the Troy and Warner families."

"Eleanor Burke, former wife of Michael Burke, was recaptured and has been returned to State Women's Prison. The last escapee, one Kathy Larrington, apparently was not with the rest of the group in the warehouse. Her whereabouts remain unknown, and it is believed she has fled the State. The FBI continues to search for her."

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

Saturday, April 16th. A tax attorney firm had rented The Steakhouse to celebrate a successful tax season for them. So we reserved the back room of the Cop Bar.

Joanne Cummings Warner got a standing ovation when she entered the room with her new husband, having been released by the Hospital the day before. All of the 'usual suspects' were present, including Chief Griswold, who wasted no time sampling some bourbons.

This was not a victory party. No one felt like celebrating; we just needed a break. A lot of the questions people wanted to ask couldn't be answered in front of the whole group. And there were still a lot of unanswered questions, as well.

"I've got one question" Teddy Parker asked quietly. "Joanne admitted that she dropped her gun when she was shot, and that Karla Warner picked it up and shot Cheryl Dunston. Why does the official report say Joanne and Dunston exchanged fire?"

"Because it was Joanne's gun that was used to kill Dunston." I said. "Boards of Inquiry don't like hearing that a cop lost control of his or her gun. If Joanne had been shot dead with it, we'd be having a much uglier scenario right now. And it would probably ruin her career if she received an official black mark over it from the report."

I added: "This is one of those times where the Truth doesn't necessarily serve us best. We'll get Joanne and everyone coached up with some more training, and she'll have a wound for the rest of her life to remind her of what happened."

"What I noticed," said Jack Muscone, a few moments later, "was that the shots that killed Dunston were exceptionally well placed, center of mass, double tap. Karla Warner was a very, very accurate shooter, and that with a gun she picked up off the floor."

"I noticed that, too." I said. "I spent a few minutes with Martha the M.E. talking about it. Karla Warner definitely had some firearms and shooting training. I think there was more to her than meets the eye."

"So why did Cheryl try to kill Joanne?" asked Jack.

"I have a sneaking suspicion... a bad one... that Cheryl was someone's mole within that Women's Group." I said. "I think she was going to ambush and kill the rest of the women for him. Then Joanne came in and surprised all of them, and Cheryl was already fingering her loaded firearm... a bad habit... a bad, bad habit..."

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

"By the way, sir," said Julie Newton some moments later, "I found out that Cheryl Dunston moved her money from that account she set up. Almost immediately, too, before the FBI moved in on it."

"Was she the only one?" I asked.

"No sir." said Julie. "Your sister moved half of hers to an offshore account, and I'm having trouble chasing that down. Karen Warner moved about 30% of hers, and to where... I have no idea yet. Karla Warner, Eleanor Burke, and Goth Girl Kathy left theirs in, and that money's gone; it's been impounded by the FBI."

"Good work on that, Julie." I said. "By the way, what do you do for hobbies? And it better not be solving theoretical physics problems."

Julie laughed. "No sir. I leave that to Myron Milton's father. But higher order mathematics is the same as higher order economics equations, so there's more of a link there than you might know. But for a hobby, I do what you do, sir... I read a lot of crime reports and stories. Everything that has happened before, shows up again. I think there's a Bible verse about that... 'there is no new thing under the sun'."

"No doubt about that." I said. We clinked beer mugs and drank.

"Sir," said Julie, "I did want say I'm sorry about your sister, however bad she was."

"Thanks." I said. "I'll tell you this, Julie, and just between us: she trusted the wrong people. She was part of a Gang of Four, and there is one member of that group that has a nasty, nasty habit of betraying people loyal to him."

"Who is this guy?" Julie asked as I downed some more beer.

"He's the one we've been calling the Consultant of Crime." I said. "We don't talk a lot about him out loud, as we don't know much about him. What I do know, though... is that Henry Wargrave was loyal to him, and he turned on Wargrave and fed Wargrave to the dogs. And he did the same to my sister and Karen Warner Harlan, and now they're dead, too."

Julie nodded. "Maybe they betrayed him first."

"Maybe." I said. "Or maybe they didn't, and he just thought they did and turned on them. I just know... if I were loyal to someone with a track record like his... I'd watch my backside... and my family's. Okay, enough of that. You want some more beer?"

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

"What I don't get," said Cindy later in the evening as we pounded down some beers, "is why those four escapees? You asked that before, and I freely admit I'm stumped."

"Well, I can only guess." I said. "Karen Warner was not broken out of jail, and she was Elizabeth's buddy from The Four. I think Elizabeth may have met Karla Warner in prison, as well. At any rate, I think Elizabeth liked Karla, and vice versa. Similar ages, both had kids, both had relationships with Jonas Oldeeds. Goth Girl Kathy was her son Ned's girlfriend, and I think Elizabeth liked her... and I'll admit, Kathy is one smart-as-hell Goth Girl, like our own Mary. It's too bad Kathy went bad; she'd have been a great Detective, I'd bet."