Ch15
It was now 2 weeks before Christmas and everyone was looking forward to their planned vacation:
My apologies for the what feels like advertising that is a heavy part of this story. I wrote this story immediately after "Just a little help" which was laced with this stuff. For that reason this story is also heavy with it up to chapter 29 which is where i stopped writing this story.
I have no plans on going back to re-write those chapters that have it. You can just scroll down quickly and pass over it or read it, do what you like. You are the reader and are in charge of how and what you read.
However after chapter 29 i promise that you will not have to put up with this much advertisement again. I've learned a few lessons along the way.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Seagulls: Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.
[repeatedly]
Nigel: Oh would you just shut up? You're rats with wings!
"I'll get it mom." Alexis calls out. "Mom it's the Sheriff's office again." And Alexis backs off out of sight.
"Yes, may I help you?" Kate uses the video screen again.
"Ms. Crystal, we are with the Sheriff's office. We would like to speak with you."
"Show me your ID please." Kate tells them. See if they have learned anything from last time.
"You know who we are MS. Crystal. Just open the door." Morgan tells her.
"Your ID please." Kate stands her ground. And they are agitated, especially Morgan but they show their ID's anyway.
Kate opens the door. "May I help you with something deputies?"
"Just let us in so we can talk with you Ms. Crystal." Morgan is now making demands.
"No." Kate tells them.
Morgan pulls out a piece of paper. "This court order says you will allow us entrance. Or we can take you to our office and you can talk to us there." And Morgan shoves it into Kate's chest and attempts to enter.
However he is stopped by Kate. "I will arrest you for interfering with a court order Ms. Crystal."
"First, you're little court order as you call it is missing a seal. Second Andre Anderson is a county clerk not a judge. Which makes this document a fake. I'll be keeping this and you two can leave or I'll throw you out." Kate tells him.
"You are messing with the wrong people Ms. Crystal." Morgan threatens her outright.
"I'm well aware of who you are Deputy. And the man who got you released from police custody. I've dealt with people far more intimidating then you or him. Now you can leave or you'll be lucky to get a job as a mall cop." Kate tells him.
"I'll take that." And Morgan makes a grab for his court order. Kate however was a lot faster. "Oh no, this is mine now. Since you were so kind as to shove it into my chest."
Morgan however is not used to not getting what he wants and makes a more determined stab and getting it back.
Kate however is more than ready for him. A quick kick to his left knee cap has him hitting the ground in pain, another quick kick to his chin has him falling backwards out into the landscape.
The other deputy has drawn his gun and has it pointing at Kate. Kate simply slams the door closed in his face. "Lucile fire the EMP on their car please and call the police again. This time it is an armed attempt at gaining illegal entry."
"EMP fired. Police have been called. …. Intercept of their dispatch indicates that six police cruisers are now responding. I have also made the call to our surrogate legal counsel and instructed them what complaint papers to file. I'm also having him call the captain of the precinct of the cruisers who are responding." Lucile tells Kate.
Kate decided to let it all play out while watching the video feed that Lucile provided. When what looked like the last of the unmarked police cars arrived Kate went downstairs and opened the front door. A heavyset Hispanic man approached Kate from one of these cars. And Lucile told her that was Capt. Underwood of the 12th Precinct.
"Ms. Crystal, I'm Captain Underwood of the 12th Precinct. It seems you've had a very eventful day today. From talking with officer Kersey you've had an encounter with at least one of these Sheriff's deputies before today."
"Yes a Deputy Morgan and myself have meet before. A very rude individual." Kate tells him.
"Is there someplace we can talk?"
"Of course Captain, come on inside." And unlike the deputies, the captain asked nicely and Kate is willing to let him in.
Once upstairs. "Very nice Ms. Crystal." He is actually impressed.
"Thank you captain. My husband and I like it."
"And where is your husband Ms. Crystal?"
"You can call me Kate Captain, and my husband is out shopping for Christmas presents. It is the season." Kate explains with a hint of a chuckle.
"I'm told someone gave you a court order to allow them entrance and you refused?"
Kate gets up and retrieves a copy of what she was given and hands it to him. "This is a copy. You can keep it. The original is already locked up and a scan of it has already been sent to our legal counsel." Kate explains.
Captain Underwood is silent for a moment as he reads it. "Andre Anderson? I've never heard of a judge with that name in this area."
"Mr. Anderson is a court clerk. I've meet and dealt with him before. There was an incident at my class where a man attempted to shoot a retired police officer, a Sgt. Kersey." Kate explains. "I intervened and prevented him from shooting Sgt. Kersey." Kate explains.
"So you knew when he handed you this that it was a fake?"
"A county clerk does not have authority to sign a paper like the one you are holding. Plus it is missing an official seal." Kate tells him. "I teach Criminal Justice at St. Johns University so I'm well acquainted with police procedure and the justice system. Unlike that fake deputy out there." Kate hints.
"Do you know why this Deputy has gone to such great lengths?"
"I have a theory but it's only that, just a theory." Kate tells him.
"Care to share with the class?"
"Several weeks ago my daughter came home distraught. Seems her husband had been cheating on her and now wanted a divorce so he could marry this other woman. My husband and I immediately made arrangements to have all of our daughters finances transferred to a location where he could not reach them. The next day we arranged for a moving company to collect, pack and ship out all her possessions from there to here.
My theory is that he wanted to bleed my daughter dry prior to the divorce being final. He just wasn't any good at it." Kate finishes. It wasn't an outright lie. Ray had been mad that the movers had taken everything and he was now penniless thanks to Lucile. And damaged a little thanks to Jim.
"I see, and is your daughter here with you?"
"She is probably in her room or downstairs in the game room." Kate tells him.
"May I speak to her?"
"Of course, I'll go find her. Can I get you something before I go? Water, coffee perhaps?" Kate asks him.
"Coffee would be great, thanks." And Kate steps into the kitchen and puts a K cup into the machine and grabs a coffee cup out of the cabinet. "Help yourself when it is finished. I'll be right back."
Kate came back in a few minutes with Alexis in tow. "Captain Underwood, this is my daughter Alexis. Alexis this is Captain Underwood from the 12th Precinct."
"Ms. Thornton."
"Alexis please. I'm already looking into having my name changed back as soon as the divorce is final." Alexis tells him.
"Of course. Can you tell me a little about why he wants a divorce?"
"He told me that he had been seeing someone where he worked for several months and that he wanted to be with her so he was filing for divorce. …. I asked him why? He just said he didn't love me and didn't want to be around me anymore." Alexis explains.
"Did he tell you who this other woman was?"
"There is only one woman that fits the description he provided. Her name is Debbie Bennett. She started working with him about 8 months ago."
"And do you know where this Miss Bennett lives?" And Alexis simply shakes her head.
"Have you ever seen this woman?"
"Two or three times. I would occasionally find time to go see Ray during lunch. Surprise him. Each time I went she was working with him. I just assumed she was another assistant at the college."
"Do you know what car she drives?" And again Alexis shakes her head.
"When you did go out to lunch with your husband did you use his car or yours?"
"Mine each time." Alexis explains. "His was parked a lot closer but he always insisted that we take mine."
"And then you flew out here to be with your parents?"
"The very next morning yes." Alexis tells a white lie. She didn't fly but it was the next day, sort of.
"Do you still have your airline boarding pass?"
"I don't think so. It has been a few weeks now and I have cleaned out my purse of junk I don't need any more since I don't live there anymore."
"Your mother has told me that her and her husband helped move your possessions out here."
"Yea, they arranged to have my personal checking account moved to a new bank. And they hired movers to go over to the house and pack what I own and have it moved here." Alexis tells him.
"And what did you have moved here?"
"Mostly clothes and a few items from the trip to Athens, Istanbul and Rome. Everything else was left behind."
"Athens, Istanbul and Rome?"
"My daughter did not get a honeymoon right after she was married. There were some conflicts with their schedules then. So my husband and I paid to have them go on a trip for their first year anniversary." Kate explains. "If I knew then what I know now." And Kate makes a growling noise and shakes a little. (no acting required).
"I know this is a personal question, but I need to ask. When was the last time you were intimate with your husband?"
Alexis looks scared all of a sudden. "It's Ok sweetie, you can whisper it to him." And Kate puts her fingers in her ears. While Alexis leans over to the Captain to answer his question. Getting a nod from Captain Underwood, Kate removes her fingers.
"It's ok sweetie, I'll never ask or know unless you tell me." Kate assures her. Not that it wasn't eating Kate up inside. She wasn't' sure if she was hoping for months or the day before. Ray was only ever touching her again over her dead body.
"Thank you for your time ladies. I may have a few more questions later."
"Of course Captain, we'll be here. … Oh that's not correct. The family is going to be out of town celebrating Christmas. I'm afraid you will not be able to reach us during that holiday week." Kate tells him.
"That's quite all right. If you are gone it'll keep until you are back." And Kate sees him out the door. "We should have this mess off your property shortly." And Captain Underwood heads for the other police officers.
After Kate closes the door. "Lucile I think it's time we did a little digging. Look up everything about Ray Thornton and all his family. Especially his father. That Morgan guy got his gun and badge back, real or not just a little too easily. And scan the house and the grounds after they are all gone. I don't want them to leave anything behind."
"I will begin immediately." Lucile assures her.
"Sweetie, tell me what you know about Ray's father." Kate asks her. Something about him was always off to Kate. Now she is really wondering.
Rick meanwhile during all the excitement is off shopping with the boys for Christmas presents. The boys may hate shopping but going shopping for gifts for their sisters, especially Alexis since she was so sad, had gotten them to change their attitude. At least a little. Though after the first hour they were getting more and more cranky, sister or no sister.
When he comes home he finds Kate just getting up off of her knees in the driveway holding something in her fingers up to her face to get a good look at.
Rick drives up to her and starts to roll down the window.
"Richard, close the window and do not talk. Do it NOW!" Lucile tells him. "NOW drive into the garage and stay there with the boys until I tell you otherwise.
Kate I need you to take it inside with you and down to the communication area of the panic room. And no talking." Lucile tells her firmly.
Once there. "Kate do you see a small square glass box on the table in the corner? I want you to place it in that box and then close it and place it in the safe. …. Place your thumb on the panel you see to open the safe. …. Good now close the safe. … You can talk now." Lucile tells her.
"Was that what I think it was?" Kate now gets to ask.
"A very sophisticated listening device? Yes it was. State of the art for this level of technology." Lucile informs her.
"How state of the art?"
"If it was attached to say a lamp or coffee maker, it would steal power from the device in order for it to function. Just one device in the living room would have covered the entire floor level. It also has an RF transmitter built into it. Provided there were signal boosters outside, someone could be listening while sitting in Mexico somewhere." Lucile explains.
"Or Ohio." Kate adds.
"Easily." Lucile agrees.
"Inform Natalie and Jim and have them search their area along with their home and the girls homes." Kate tells her, just in case.
"Message sent."
"Someone wants in our home and they want it bad." Kate is thinking. "Who can make these things?"
"They are likely made and used by high level security companies. CIA, NSA, FBI to name three local ones."
"So they work for or have connections to someone or someone's in any of those. Helps explain how that low life got his badge and gun back so easily." Kate is thinking. "Lucile, go back at least 2 years and search all of their communications. Find out if they are talking to or about us or our friends. And pay special attention to anything about Honji Sinhindrea, or whatever name they are using for them."
"I will begin immediately. Even for me this is likely to take a few hours." Lucile warns her.
"That's ok let it. Oh and scan the local area to at least a mile out. Let's see if anyone is watching us." Kate adds.
"If they are, they will have likely have seen you find something in the driveway and suspect it is their device since it will have gone silent after you went inside." Lucile adds as a warning.
"Can't be helped. Not like I was going to leave the damn thing out there. … First it's Bracken and now this. I swear, the universe hates me."