The Disappearance of Sergeant Ed Brown

Chapter 2

2.1

Robert Ironside maneuvered the specially equipped van along the country road in Sonoma County. He supposed he should have called Katherine and told her that he was back in town, but the commissioner's visit had put him in a sour mood. The forty minute drive into the country was just what he needed to calm his nerves.

Ironside was willing to take on almost any case Dennis Randall would send his way, but he hated babysitting politicians. They were, by the most part, impossible to deal with. They expected the police to help protect them, but refused to follow the advice of the officers that were charged with their protection.

Senator David Murdock was nothing but a egotistical maniac that got in front of a camera every chance he got. Murdock figured the more press he received, the better the chances people would come to recognize his face. Ironside knew he had aspirations for higher office. In fact, he was sure the man had his eye on President James Whitmore's job. He certainly spent his share of time criticizing the man. The junior senator from California seemed to think that the way to move up was to find fault with those around him, and then go after them with a vengeance.

He seemed to be giving President Whitmore a breather, as now the subject of attention was the San Francisco Police Department. Ironside had always been able to accept constructive criticism. The SFPD wasn't perfect. Every police department had room for improvement. Ironside was, however, protective of the officers and detectives. As far as he was concerned, it was one of the best run police departments in the state of California. They did not deserve to be branded incompetent by a power hungry politician, that had no idea what law enforcement in a large city entailed.

As Ironside approached the entrance of the Denuerve Vineyards, he decided to put Senator Murdock out of his mind. He had not seen Katherine since he had gone to Los Angeles to the police convention. He had stayed much longer than he had obviously planned when his son had been accused of murder. He had no choice but to stay and help clear him. With his lawyer brother, they found out just what had happened and who was responsible.

Pulling the van through the gates of the Vineyard, he drove down the long road that led to the house. When he reached the circular drive way, he parked the van in front, and turned off the ignition. Ironside maneuvered his chair onto the van's lift, pressed the button and watched as the doors opened. After being lowered to the ground, he wheeled to the front door and rang the bell.

The door opened and Katherine looked at him. A smile broke across her face. "Robert!" She bent down and they kissed. "I didn't know you were back in town. Why didn't you call?"

"I just got in. I came as soon as I could get Commissioner Randall out of my office." He grinned at her. "Well, aren't you going to invite me in?"

Katherine stepped back. "Of course I am. You had me momentarily stunned."

"Good. I am happy to know I was missed." Ironside wheeled into her home as she shut the door behind them.

"You are always missed and you are just in time for dinner," she told him.

"I'm a big eater. Are you sure there is enough for two?" he asked her.

"I always make enough in case you stop by," she smiled. "Make yourself a drink, Robert. I will put dinner on the table.

Ironside wheeled over to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a glass of bourbon. He poured a second glass with Katherine's favorite wine. He was looking forward to a relaxing evening with her. She had become the center of his life.

2.2

Benito Corneilo looked at the telephone, for what had to be the twentieth time in the past hour. What was taking Dante Domenico so long to locate Ava. He had had another terrible fight with his lady. There seemed to be more of them lately. Why couldn't she just accept him for who he was. He had given her everything; a beautiful place to live, furs, jewelry, and all the money she could possibly spend. That woman was never satisfied. She would just not stop nagging him about the business.

He was not about to give up the empire he had built, for a woman. What would he do? Where did she think all of those expensive things she had grown so fond of came from? Dames... why did men have to be cursed with them? He knew the old saying, You can't live with them and you can't live without them.

There was a knock on the door. Benito walked over and opened it. Dante Domenico walked past him with out saying a word. Unlike Benito, who was only five feet nine and small in stature, Dante Domenico was a big man. He stood at least six feet two inches tall and was built like a tank. He had a long, menacing face and a voice that could scare the devil himself.

Dante went over to the couch and sat down. "Is there anything to drink, Boss?"

Benito poured his right-hand man a drink and handed it to him. "Where's Ava?"

Without looking at the mobster, Dante took another swig of his whiskey and said, "We lost her."

"You what? How could you lose her?"

"She had some help," Dante said, finishing his drink. He stood up, walked over to the window and looked out. "We followed her into the DNA Lounge. She was sitting at the bar drinking. She had the usual number of wolves hovering around her, which she turned down, by the way."

"She damn well better have," Benito said angrily.

Domenico ignored his boss' display of temper and walked over to the bar. He poured himself another glass of whiskey. Turning back to Corneilo, he decided it was time to be frank with him. "Why don't you just dump her and find another woman. They are a dime a dozen. You can pick up any one of them in a bar."

Benito moved so fast that Dante did not even see him approach. He knocked the glass out of Domenico's hand. The whiskey splattered all over the floor as the glass shattered when it hit the floor. "I don't want any other woman and no woman leaves me. When I am done with them, I will let them know." He reached up, grabbed Dante by the throat. "Tell me what the hell happened!"

Dante looked down at the hand that was squeezing his throat. He knew if he wanted to, he could crush the little man cutting off his air. The problem was, he was scared of him despite being so much bigger than he was. Benito had a lot of people that were loyal to him. He could easily have him killed and would do so with no regrets, if he crossed him.

Domenico attempted to loosen the hold Corneilo had on his throat. "Alright, Boss, take it easy. It was just a suggestion. That dame is driving you crazy."

Benito let go of him and stepped back. "I am sorry, Dante. I know you mean well. I don't want to give her up. She just needs to be put in her place, that's all. Once she realizes what her place is, I will have no more trouble with her."

"Boss, can I say something without getting belted in the mouth?"

Corneilo nodded his head. "Yea, go ahead."

"I know you are stuck on her, but if you don't watch it, she is going to be your downfall... especially now."

With a quick turn of his head, Corneilo growled, "What the hell are you talking about... especially now? What happened?"

"That is what I was trying to tell you." He rubbed his throat for emphasis. "Like I said, she was ignoring all the guys trying to hit on her until this one guy walked up to the bar. I saw her smiling at him. They were talking and drinking together. When she saw us, she and this guy went out the back. By the time we caught up with her, she had gotten into his car and they drove away."

"Why the hell did you not follow them?" Benito roared.

"Because he would have known we were following and he is the kind of guy you don't want knowing you are tailing him."

Benito stared at him for a moment. "What is that supposed to mean? Who was this guy?"

"Ed Brown," he answered.

"What? Ed Brown... you mean Ironside's Ed Brown?"

"That's the one. Now do you see why I did not follow them. Brown is a pro. He would have known. I did not figure you would want us to attract his attention. If we attract his attention, then we..."

"Attract Ironside's attention," Benito finished for him. He patted Dante's cheek. "You did the right thing. I don't want to tangle with Ironside."

"Now you see why I think you should dump her?"

Benito pulled out another glass, filled it with whiskey, and handed it to Domenico. "I am not going to dump her. Brown is asking for trouble if he doesn't stay away from her."

Dante sighed. "She isn't worth it, Boss."

The mobster turned on his top man and snarled. I will decide whether or not she is worth it. Brown doesn't know she belongs to me and I doubt that she will tell him. She is smarter than that. I want you to give Brown a friendly warning. Tell him to stay away from her."

"How friendly?"

Benito looked him in the eye and said, "Short of putting him in the hospital. Don't do the job yourself. I can't take the chance that he knows who you are. Send three or four boys he won't know. Do it as soon as you can find him alone. Is that clear?"

"Yes, that's clear. Now what about Senator Murdock. What are we going to do about him?"

"Murdock's days are numbered. We will discuss that later. Right now, I want Brown warned. And Dante, I don't want Ironside snooping around us, so make sure he does not become suspicious."

"What about Ava?" Dante asked.

"She needs a warning too. It is time I put her in her place. Bring her to me. That is one warning I will issue myself."

2.3

Ed Brown pulled his car in front of Ava Blake's apartment building. "I told you I would see you home." He smiled at her.

Ava smiled back at the detective. She knew she should end everything right there, but there was something about the man she could not resist. She was so tired of Benito Corneilo, who bullied her all the time and treated her like she was a slave. Sure, he spent a lot of money on her, and at first it was overwhelming, but the price she had to pay was too high. He never treated her in the tender manner this man was doing. Even when Benito made love to her, he was rough and took what he wanted with no regards to her needs.

She was wrong to become involved with Benito, she knew that now. It was time to move on. She could go without the furs, the jewelry and the money. If she had learned one lesson in the entire affair, it was that material things were not what made you happy. She heard a voice say, "Would you like to come in for a nightcap?" She realized it was hers. She knew this was a bad idea, bringing Ed Brown into this whole mess, but she was enchanted with the man. He treated her like a lady. He had not tried to force himself on her like so many man did. He let her make up her own mine. This man was a gentleman... the kind you bring home to meet your parents.

"Are you sure it would be no bother?" Ed wondered. This woman was upset about something. He wondered why she had men following her. Ed thought the one looked familiar but it was hard to tell in that club. It was so dark and they were quite a ways away from them. One thing for sure, Ava had been scared of them. Maybe if he accepted her offer of a nightcap, she would open up to him. He was a cop after all. It was his duty to help those in need. Ed wondered if he was only kidding himself. She was a beautiful woman and he rarely got to spend time with any women, let alone with one as beautiful as this one. The chief kept him far to busy.

"It is no bother at all, Sergeant. Please do come in," she said.

Ed smiled. "Under one circumstance."

She looked across the car at the handsome detective and inquired, "What would that be?"

"You start calling me Ed and drop the Sergeant Brown."

She laughed what Ed thought was a delightful sound. "You are on, Ed." She reached for the door handle when Brown took her other hand.

"No you don't. Wait right here." He got out of the car, sprinted around it and opened the door.

Ava Blake placed one leg out and set her foot on the ground. Ed Brown got an eye full of a very shapely leg. He took her hand and helped her out of the car. Ava placed her arm in his and they strolled into the building. She was going to enjoy this handsome gentleman. She would make an impression on him, he would not soon forget. This was the type of man a woman had a future with.

2.4

Senator Murdock looked over the paperwork in front of him. His aide was sitting at his desk pouring over records of the San Francisco Police Department. Jodi Parker glanced over at her boss. She just did not understand this obsession the senator had with the the SFPD. If he was going to pick a police department to investigate to make a name for himself, why on earth would he pick that one? Robert Ironside was famous for his criminal detection abilities. He had solved more crimes, and put more criminals behind bars than any police officer in the state of California; probably in the entire country.

Yet, the more Jodi thought about it, the more it was beginning to make sense. If he could show that the mob had been operating under the nose of Chief Ironside, he could be the senator to prove that the San Francisco Police Department was incompetent... including Ironside, himself.

But why tangle with Ironside? Jodi somehow doubted that Senator Murdock would be able to prove that particular detective was not doing his job. Then again, maybe it was not Ironside he was going after. Maybe he was trying to prove his staff was incompetent. Oh, just when she thought she had it all figured out, she just became more confused. Maybe it was time to just come right out and ask the senator. "Sir, just exactly what are we looking for?"

Senator David Murdock looked up from his paperwork. He hesitated, and just for a moment, Jodi suspected that he did not even know, himself.

"The crime rate has gone up in San Francisco in the last three months and ..."

"But it has gone down overall this year by eleven percent from last year, and six percent from the year before," she interrupted the ambitious politician.

He frowned at her, as if he did not care to be reminded of that pesky little fact. "That is not important, Jodi. It is on the rise and it is because of Benito Corneilo and his organization, that it has done so. Mark my words, it is going to continue to go up. The police in San Francisco have lost control of the city."

Jodi put her paperwork down and walked over to the senator. "That is not necessarily so, Sir. You know that statistics can go up and down. It is the over all percentage that is important, and that is going down every year in that city. They have the best detective in the country working there. His office has..."

"Please! I don't need a lecture on Robert Ironside. He was good in his day, but he is slipping. He has allowed Benito Corneilo to run his criminal enterprise unchecked."

"But Sir, it takes time for a police department to build a case against someone like Corneilo. You know that. You were a prosecuting attorney. "

"Ironside is taking far to long. He should retire. He has lost his touch," the senator said.

Jodi shook her head. "I think President Whitmore would disagree with you on that one."

He let out a disgusted snort. "Whitmore would not have a clue about these kind of things. Besides, Ironside just got lucky in Washington."

"You can't possibly believe that. He brought down all those politicians with his investigations and..."

Senator Murdock waved his hand in dismissal. "It was the lawyer that solved the whole thing. Ironside just got the credit."

"I can't believe you actually believe that," she said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Not only do I believe it, but I am going to prove that Ironside's days are over."

Jodi pushed the paper over to the edge of the footstool her boss had been working on, and sat down. "Look, Sir, it is my job to tell you when I think you are making a mistake and I believe you are. Robert Ironside is no dummy. He will figure out what you are up to. I disagree with you that he has suddenly become incompetent. His record indicates otherwise. Besides, he is not the kind of man you take on and tangle with."

"He's just a bully, Jodi. I know how to handle a bully. Believe you me, when we get done, we will prove that Benito Corneilo has been operating in San Francisco under his nose, and it is his fault that crook has got a foothold there. I intend to bring Corneilo down. Then we can force Commissioner Randall to close down Ironside's office."

"He is not going to roll over just because you say so. Many people have gone up against him and he has always come out on top. This is a mistake, Senator. You could end up being the one that looks incompetent."

Murdock was not deterred. "If I can prove Ironside was lax in controlling the mafia in San Francisco, then I have him. You must understand, the way to move ahead is to bring down the successful and the prominent. We could blame it on the city council, but that would not get the headlines. Even blaming Commissioner Dennis Randall would not get them either. But, blaming it on Ironside, the city's most famous son... now that gets headlines."

"I think you are in for a big disappointment, Senator. Ironside is a good cop, a very clever one. He is never lax. He is not going to let you target him. He is more then likely to bring you down."

Murdock, showing a bit of irritation with his aide, growled. "You just keep your nose in the San Francisco police records and let me do the thinking."

2.5

The next morning Sergeant Ed Brown left the apartment of Ava Blake. He did not notice the two cars parked down the street, one at each end. One man got out of the vehicle closest to the apartment building and went in. Three men from the vehicle closest to Brown got out of the car and began to walk towards the San Francisco detective.

TBC...