Second Chance:

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 32



“So what exactly are you asking?” asked Harley Waters, cousin of Steven Waters.

“Maybe some help here. The girl has run away again and we think back to Tennessee. We put out the Amber Alert, but they claim not to have found her,” said Steven.

“And why would my help be necessary?” asked Harley.

“Well, the whole sympathy thing. She’s spun quite the tale of lies about this whole thing and apparently they have bought it hook, line and sinker,” said Steven.

“So what do you need from me?” asked Harley.

“A little political pressure when the time comes,” said Steven.

“The agency you work for should be able to have enough pressure without the Legislature coming into play,” said Harley.

“Maybe, maybe not. There are other conditions here,” said Steven.

“Such as?” asked Harley.

“I’m dealing with a Muslim community,” said Steven.

“We don’t need another scandal like before,” said Harley. “That New York Mosque thing almost bit…never mind, it did bite us in the butt.”

“Well, she’s from there and escaped. Started telling tales about being forced into the religion, being forced into marriage, abuse. Just quite a few lies she made up,” said Steven.

“And why isn’t Tennessee playing ball?” asked Harley.

“Probably because they believe her,” said Steven.

“And you did the investigation?” asked Harley.

“I did, found nothing of the sort,” said Steven.

“I’ll have to read the investigation report before I can say whether I’ll help or not,” said Harley.

“They can help you as well,” said Steven.

“They…who?” asked Harley.

“The Muslim community I’m dealing with,” said Steven.

“Help as in how?” asked Harley.

“Your reelection campaign,” said Steven.

And Harley knew right then his cousin had been bribed once again. He had worked behind the scenes to get him transferred to Rochester to get him out of the spotlight in New York City. And he had helped ward off the investigation coming right at his cousin as well by doing a few favors for those in that department. And Steven had been clean…at least for a while. But obviously, he hadn’t learned his lessons from before.

“They can contribute to my reelection campaign?” asked Harley, leading him where he wanted him to go.

“Generously so,” said Steven.

“I can’t believe you did it again. After what happened last time, I cannot believe you took a bribe again,” said Harley.

“What? No I didn’t!” protested Steven.

“You wouldn’t be in here otherwise,” said Harley.

“I didn’t take a bribe!” objected Steven.

“You would have been content to have the system work if you didn’t. Something happened, you got paid off, there is probably evidence you suppressed and you need my help to clean up your mess,” said Harley and added “again.”

“I just want to see that girl get back to her family,” said Steven.

“Yeah right. Save your innocent lecture for someone else, Steve,” said Harley and looked out the window of his office. “What do you need me to do?”

“If I call, put some pressure on the Governor, Attorney General or someone else to start making calls. Remind them our family contributed to their election campaigns and sometimes below the table. Get them to help us out,” said Steven.

“This is the last time I help clean up a mess for you,” said Harley. “I don’t care if you’re family, I won’t do it again.”

“I’ll make sure my friends know you’ve helped,” said Steven.

“So now they are your friends?” asked Harley.

“No, but influential people with large wallets,” said Steven.

“I probably don’t want to know where their money comes from,” said Harley. “Just get me the file to review before I do anything.”

Steven handed over a disk containing the files, pictures and everything related to the case. Most were forged with the exception of the files that came from Tennessee. Harley took the disk from him and put it in the top drawer since he had a meeting scheduled soon. He would take it home and look it over before starting to make calls.

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

“All set?” asked Charlie after the local social worker finished up.

“Charlie, I’ve known you a while now and I know what kind of person you are. But when this report goes in, you know how this is going to look,” said the State worker.

“I know,” said Charlie. “Cindy will probably go someplace else.”

“I didn’t say that, but the boys up at the State always want to see a stable home life. And that typically means a caring husband and wife combination in a decent home. You’ve got everything but the wife part down,” she said.

“Well, I can’t just run out and get married,” he chuckled.

“There’s always those mail order brides from Eastern Europe,” laughed the State worker. “But seriously, if there is a way of convincing them otherwise…”

“You mean the perception of being married?” asked Charlie.

“Something like that. You know I can’t suggest you conceal the truth,” she replied.

“I think I can arrange something,” said Charlie, thinking of Erica.

“Best be quick about it. We already have the ball in motion on some things,” she said.

“How long?” asked Charlie.

“Don’t know. The TBI is looking hard into the matter and will probably be building a case to send to New York. Plus there is a political angle as well so maybe the Governor gets involved. Mitch had already been talking to the Representative,” she replied.

“As long as I can get a few hours notice, I can come up with something,” said Charlie as he heard the familiar sound of a police cruiser pulling into his driveway. Mitch had come back again.

“I’ll leave you to it, but remember, we never had this conversation,” said the State worker before leaving. Cindy came back into the room after she departed.

“Do I have to move someplace else?” she asked.

“Maybe…maybe not. Depends on how much of a slight of hand I can arrange,” said Charlie.

“I don’t want to move if I can get away with it,” said Cindy.

“I know,” said Charlie as Mitch knocked on the door. He opened it up and motioned him inside.

“How’d it go?” asked Mitch after seeing the social worker leave the house.

“Pretty good I’d say. But said there were certifiable people living here,” smiled Charlie.

“I’d say she hit the nail on the head,” laughed Mitch.

“Wait a second…that was a slam against me as well wasn’t it?” asked Cindy.

“Fairly quick on the uptake isn’t she,” laughed Mitch.

“And only matched by her mouth,” laughed Charlie.

“Hey!” she objected.

“Yes, you’re okay,” admitted Charlie.

“You realize you’re going to have to present the happy home, right?” asked Mitch.

“Can we ask Erica to help out?” asked Cindy.

“Nope, I’ve already got someone who will work,” said Charlie.

“Who?” asked Cindy. “Wait a minute!”

“Of course Mary Worthington will work,” said Charlie.

“No!” objected Cindy.

“Of course I’m going to call Erica,” said Charlie.

“I think she would be more than willing to help us,” said Cindy. “Does she know I’m back yet?”

“I don’t think so,” said Mitch.

“We should surprise her,” said Cindy.

“I can’t imagine the look on her face,” said Charlie as he laughed.

“Well, you need to talk to her anyway, right?” asked Cindy.

“Suppose so,” said Charlie.

“Let’s visit her and surprise her,” suggested Cindy.

“We can do that,” said Charlie as he was wondering what the look on her face would be like as well.

“Nothing else on the agenda today?” asked Mitch.

“Nothing I can think of,” said Charlie. “Can I expect regular visits from certain State agencies?”

“No, I don’t think so. Not unless they have a reason to investigate further. But I would plan on the potential for others to get involved. You know how politicians love to get involved,” said Mitch.

“I’d rather they not,” said Charlie.

“There is a political angle here Charlie. And that’s something that works in our favor,” said Mitch.

“More or less,” said Charlie.

“Trust me, there isn’t a politician in this State that will want her to go back there knowing what we know now,” said Mitch.

“I hope you’re right,” said Charlie.

“And at least we have a new Governor. He’s a pretty good man,” said Mitch. “Better than the last one we had.”

“True,” said Charlie. “You want to go see her today?”

“Sure!” said Cindy. “I’ll have to get changed.”

“It’s just a quick visit to talk,” said Charlie.

“I’ve been cleaning the house all morning and I’m probably icky. I need to shower and change,” said Cindy.

“Don’t ever have a daughter,” Charlie chuckled while speaking out of the side of his mouth to Mitch.

“I heard that,” said Cindy as she bounced up the stairs.

“She ain’t your daughter bud,” laughed Mitch.

“Sometimes I wonder if my little one would have turned out that way,” said Charlie thoughtfully.

“Nah, you would be twice as mean, twice as worried and five times as likely to go headhunting in New York if that was your daughter,” said Mitch.

“I’m already five times more likely to go headhunting in New York because of what she brought back,” said Charlie in a serious tone.

“No, we let the system work for us this time. But this time, it will be our system that works, not theirs,” said Mitch.

“I’m not sure if I trust any system right now,” said Charlie.

“Trust me, nobody in this town or even the State for the moment is going to let anything happen to her. You have to understand. We got burned when we let them take care of it and we have a long memory about things like that. This time, it’s done by the book,” said Mitch.

“Sometimes there isn’t a book for things like this,” said Charlie.

“I know what you’re thinking, don’t go down this path Charlie,” said Mitch.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” said Charlie. “But I will protect her if it comes down to it.”

“Couldn’t imagine anything to the contrary,” said Mitch. “And if you need help, you give me a call.”

“Best to bring a shovel,” said Charlie.

“I’ll have to take the badge off for something like that,” said Mitch, thinking Charlie was joking until he saw the expression on his face and the look of resolve in his eyes.

“Leave it in the drawer and pick it up when you’re done,” said Charlie as serious as a heart attack.

“You’re serious aren’t you?” asked Mitch.

“As I hope you would be. We send her back into that situation again and you and I both know there’s only one way it can end,” said Charlie.

Mitch was slightly stunned right then and couldn’t answer. But at the same time, he thought about what Charlie was saying and realized sometimes there were things that didn’t have to happen within the law. And if the system failed, there was only one way of guaranteeing Cindy’s safety. But Mitch wasn’t ready to cross that line just yet, not until every other attempt had been exhausted.

“I’ll get back to you on that,” said Mitch.

“Don’t have to have an answer right now,” said Charlie.

“You heading to the hospital?” asked Mitch, changing the subject.

“Yeah, give Erica a shock,” Charlie laughed.

“It’ll be a pretty big surprise,” laughed Mitch. “How are things on that front?”

“Doing okay I suppose,” said Charlie.

“My wedding’s planned speaking of. Sarah and I more or less picked out the date,” said Mitch.

“When?” asked Charlie.

“November. Probably before Thanksgiving,” said Mitch.

“We’ll be there,” said Charlie.

“And I was kind of hoping you would be my best man,” said Mitch.

“I think that can be arranged. Even if I have to get out on a work release program,” Charlie laughed.

“Let’s hope it never comes to that,” laughed Mitch s Cindy came back downstairs.

“You ready?” she asked.

“Suppose so,” said Charlie as he went in to collect his pistol. After coming out, he was putting the holster in and sliding the spare magazines onto his belt.

“Two spare mags?” asked Mitch. “Looking for trouble?”

“Nope, that’s when it finds you,” said Charlie. “Just don’t look in my truck box.”

“Should I be worried?” laughed Mitch.

“Nah, probably no worse than yours,” laughed Charlie. “Come on monkey girl, let’s go see the good doctor.”

“Let me know what you work out,” said Mitch as he put on his hat and departed.

“Think we should grab her some lunch or something?” asked Cindy.

“That would be nice to do wouldn’t it?” asked Charlie.

“A woman appreciates that kind of thing,” said Cindy.

“Getting involved again?” he chuckled.

“Nope, friendly advice. I’m stopping in your love life,” said Cindy.

“Until the next time you can wiggle in,” said Charlie.

“Maybe so,” she laughed. “What does she like?”

“I haven’t the first clue. Let me make a call,” said Charlie and called the hospital desk. After several questions, he received his answer. On their way into town, he stopped by the grocery store and picked up a pack of premixed fruits as she typically ate for lunch. Charlie often considered it a breakfast meal, but wouldn’t argue with her choice of foods for lunch. He picked up some sandwiches for him and Cindy along with a small bag of chips and drinks. They headed towards the hospital, getting there ten minutes before she was scheduled to break for lunch.

“Can I take it to her? I want to surprise her,” said Cindy.

“I think that will be funny,” said Charlie with a grin.

They headed into the hospital and checked in at the desk before going towards her office. As they arrived, her last appointment was heading out. Her door was still open and Cindy headed right in.

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 32 CONTINUED

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 33


“Sir, I have an Agent John Anderson that needs to speak with you,” said the secretary to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations Director.

“What about?” he asked.

“Said he would only speak with you about it,” said the secretary. “You’ve got another meeting in twenty minutes. This is the only time I can squeeze him in.”

“Show him in,” said the Director as he finished typing out an e-mail to one of the State Representatives. The Agent came inside and stood politely in front of his desk until he was acknowledged. The Director hit the send button before speaking to him.

“Sorry about that. Another request from a Representative,” said the Director and shook Anderson’s hand. “I don’t believe we’ve ever met formally have we?”

“Not formally sir, just very briefly at a conference in Knoxville,” said Anderson.

“Please sit down,” said the Director as he motioned at the seat. “What can I do for you today?”

“If you don’t mind sir, this might take a few minutes to brief you in on,” said Anderson.

“I have another meeting in about twenty minutes,” said the Director.

“Hopefully this won’t take that long,” said Anderson as he started to brief on the situation in upper East Tennessee. The Director stopped him at certain points and asked for clarification before asking the obvious question.

“How does this affect us?” he asked.

“Simple, she came to us for help,” said Anderson. “And I’m coming to you for assistance as well.”

“Why involve my office?” asked the Director.

“There’s some bad things happening in New York. We initiated another request for an investigation and got a return call from a State Representative basically ordering us to turn over the girl,” said Anderson.

“And why wouldn’t we?” asked the Director.

“Because of this,” said Anderson and handed over a recording of the conversation between Cindy and the two in New York. The Director looked at the recording with puzzlement until he started getting into the gist of the conversation. A dark frown came over his face as he continued going on.

“And the Representative told you…us we needed to give her up or what?” asked the Director.

“Or they would call it a kidnapping, get the FBI involved and the Governor. And it just so happens the Representative is the cousin of the investigator on the recording there,” said Anderson.

“Have we contacted the New York State Police about this?” asked the Director.

“We have,” said Anderson.

“And their official position?” asked the Director.

“Apparently the Representative is on the committee that controls their funding…they haven’t been very forthcoming about assisting us,” said Anderson.

“They turned down the opportunity to take care of their problems in house?” asked the Director.

“And told us to return the girl or else,” said Anderson.

“Or else what?” asked the Director.

“Or else they would be calling the FBI with the kidnapping charge. Said we were committing a criminal act by keeping her in state until they had a chance to reinvestigate,” said Anderson.

“That’s a crock! She came to us!” thundered the Director.

“I know,” said Anderson.

“And they threatened us? A professional law enforcement agency? They dared to call us criminals?” demanded the Director.

“Yes sir,” said Anderson. The phone rang on the director’s desk and he took the call.

“I don’t care, reschedule the appointment and give them my regards. Cancel all my appointments for the remainder of the day! And I want you to patch me in to the head of the New York State Police immediately!” he said forcefully into the phone. Apparently he took the message quite personally. “Where is she at?”

“She is with a family in upper East Tennessee. You want to know the specific location?” asked Anderson.

“No, not yet. I want her protected though. Night and day until we get this mess straightened out,” said the Director.

“Already done through the local sheriff,” said Anderson.

“Do you have the investigation case file?” asked the Director.

“Yes sir,” said Anderson and handed over a thick envelope with a copy of the case file prepared by Steven Waters in it. The Director skimmed over it for a couple of minutes before his phone rang.

“Director Pete Lyons speaking,” said the Director.

“This is the Administrator of the New York State Police. How can I help you Director?” asked the voice on the other end of the phone.

“I’ve got an agent here telling me about-” he started to say but was interrupted.

“About a fifteen year old liar who needs to be sent back to our State immediately and turned over to her family,” said the Administrator.

“Excuse me?” asked the Director.

“Yes, one Haseena Hassan, also known as Cindy Grant, needs to be returned to our State immediately. She is a runaway from her family and we know you have her there. Return her immediately before we have to get the Federal authorities involved,” said the Administrator.

“Return her without you even conducting a proper investigation into the misconduct of one of your state agents?!” demanded the Director.

“We have every intention of reinvestigating the case, but in the meantime, the original report was validated and stands. She can and will be released back to her family immediately. She is a known liar and has drawn you into one of those lies. If I don’t hear from you or a representative of your department within twenty-four hours that she is on the next plane up here, I will be forced to upgrade her status to kidnapped and send out the alert. And since she is over State lines, the FBI gets involved,” said the Administrator.

“How dare you threaten me?! We are not kidnappers and we will not be threatened! You need to check the professional conduct of your own State Agencies before you go pointing the finger at us mister! How dare you accuse us of kidnapping when she came to us for help?!” thundered the Director in a loud bass voice.

“And you will be helping us by sending her back to her family,” said the Administrator.

“Negative! Not until we receive confirmation her father is in jail, the agent who investigated the case is in jail and her family is safe from that community! There will be no discussion about this!” shouted the Director.

“You give me no choice but to get the Governor and the FBI involved. Your twenty-four hours starts now,” said the Administrator and hung up the phone.

The Director slammed the phone back into the cradle, breaking the handset in the process. He stewed for several moments before going off on a rant about the pompous Administrator, New York State in general and of the situation at hand. Anderson sat silently through the entire ordeal until the Director finished up. The Director started to pick up the phone and saw the broken handset. He went to the door and called for each and every leadership position that happened to be in the building at that time. It took two minutes for them to assemble after having been prompted by the secretaries and informed the Director was in a bad mood. After they crammed into the office, they all received orders.

“I want an investigation started on this whole situation from our end. I want that agent investigated, I want that family investigated and I want that whole community investigated! I want answers no matter how you get them! I wouldn’t expect any help from them on this so if we have to send in people undercover to get the information, so be it! There is a blanket authorization on undercover work in reference to this case from now until it’s closed!”

“And I want her protected! I want her to be Yasser Arafat, moving around so they cannot find her until we get the situation under control! And nobody, I repeat NOBODY knows where she is at unless they absolutely, positively have to know! And those that do know take that secret to the grave with them!” exclaimed the Director. He calmed down slightly and took account of the situation. Turning and pointing at Anderson, he finished his orders. “And you need to be ready to brief the Governor.”

“Sir?” asked Anderson.

“Yep, you’re in this up to your neck Special Agent Anderson,” said the Director. “From now on, Agent Anderson is in charge of a Task Force for this investigation. He answers to me and me only and can call on any of your divisions for support. You will give him what he needs. Am I understood?”

Nods and “yes sirs” were heard from around the room. Anderson looked fairly shocked at the announcement since he was only here because a friend at the State Patrol had called in a favor. But since he was charged with leading the Task Force, he would do so to the best of his ability.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go cool down,” said the Director as he stormed out of the office. He wondered why he didn’t have a punching bag in his office and needed some form of physical release right then to help “cool down.” But a walk on the grounds should help him calm down in light of what happened over the phone. But he didn’t know when he set out he would become angrier at the situation as a whole and would end up calling the Governor in a rage later on. After the Director left the office in a storm, everyone turned to Anderson with puzzled looks on their faces.

“Okay, who is being moved around like Yasser Arafat and who specifically are we investigating?” asked the Director of the Forensic Services Division.

“We probably need a conference room to spread out. Can you all give me about ten minutes to get prepared?” asked Anderson.

“Anyone special we will need to bring?” asked another division head.

“I have no idea yet,” said Anderson honestly as he was in up to his neck right then.

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

“Well, I passed on the message as you instructed,” said the Administrator of the New York State Police.

“And their reply?” asked Harley Waters.

“I don’t think we will be exchanging Christmas cards with the TBI,” he replied.

“Do you think they will send her back?” asked Harley.

“I don’t know. Probably will though,” said the Administrator. “You start waving the FBI in their face and they tend to back off.”

“Have you already called the FBI?” asked Harley.

“I’ve talked to a few friends there, but nothing more than informal contacts,” said the Administrator.

“Okay, keep it in mind. I’ve got a meeting with the Governor and Attorney General scheduled,” said Harley.

“We probably should still look into your cousin’s dealings up there,” suggested the Administrator.

“He’s being taken care of already. You don’t need to bother,” said Harley.

“It’s going to be quite the mess no matter what,” said the Administrator.

“We’ll come out winning on the end,” said Harley as he hung up the phone and checked his schedule. His meeting with the Governor would be the next day and he would be presenting him additional evidence of the campaign contributions of the community and their links. Not that the Imam had contributed directly to the campaign of the New York Governor, but apparently he had several friends that did quietly behind the scenes. And that little tidbit of information would come in handy when he had his meeting.

But he also remembered his cousin had gotten them into this mess to begin with. He had been chastised at length already and needed to be reminded constantly of the disadvantages of taking a bribe. He never understood why Steven did so since the family was fairly well off financially and the money he took from the bribes could easily be duplicated by the family had he only asked. But some people just had a money issue and couldn’t get enough of it no matter what. And his greedy cousin probably happened to be one of those people. But this time he had stepped into the crank big time and it was coming back around on him. Hopefully he would wise up and be set on the straight and narrow for the time being. Harley considered trying to find him a job within the State Legislature, possibly as an aide to one of the various Representatives or Senators since he figured that would be a far better place to have him instead of working in an agency where there was so much temptation around. He made a note to remind himself to look into it when the opportunity arose.

But in the meantime, he prepared for his conference with the Governor and Attorney General. He knew they could and would be swayed by his information and he figured it was all nothing more than a formality to get them to exert some pressure on Tennessee to get the girl returned. Nobody wanted a Governor and the FBI on their bad side at the same time and Tennessee would crumble at the pressure from the outside. He was sure of it.

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

“No, the grey border goes in here and the blue border goes in the kitchen,” said Erica as she saw Charlie getting ready to put up the new border.

“I thought you said it matched the couch?” said Charlie.

“I did, but I meant the grey one,” she said with a smile.

“You’re impossible,” he said with a shake of his head as he came off the stepladder and started folding it up.

“I would have done this a long time ago you know? I like interior decorating,” smiled Erica.

“Haven’t really had a need for a woman’s touch until recently,” he smiled.

“And is it so bad?” she asked.

“I think I’ve been missing something over the years,” he smiled back at her and gave her a quick kiss in passing. “You ready for lunch soon?”

“After the mongo breakfast we ate?” she asked.

“I would be willing to bet pennies to dollars there is a hungry teenager with good ears around here somewhere,” said Charlie with a grin.

“Yes, I’m hungry,” called Cindy from the kitchen.

“See?” laughed Charlie and added in a low voice. “Anything in particular you want?”

“Food,” called Cindy.

“Has she had her hearing tested yet?” asked Erica.

“No,” he said. “But I’m guessing she could hear a pin drop from two miles away.”

“I heard that,” Cindy called from the kitchen. Both Charlie and Erica laughed and made arrangements to have a working lunch. The house was being reformed from a place to live into a home quickly, although Charlie was running around doing this and that. Cindy was getting an education on some things like hanging the wallpaper border, but the physically intensive work for the most part was being done by Charlie. Overall though, the house was starting to brighten up and Charlie saw Erica and Cindy had a good thing going when picking things out.

“You know, maybe you should look at some new colors in different rooms,” suggested Erica.

“Such as?” asked Charlie.

“Well, maybe not white in the bedroom,” she suggested.

“Mine?” he asked.

“Yes, yours. Can I pick the color?” she asked.

“I suppose,” he said, wondering what else she was going to do for refinishing the house.

“And getting the siding cleaned. The yard is impeccable, but the house itself needs a face lift,” she said.

“Am I going to be tearing out any walls?” he chuckled as he added the item onto his list.

“I don’t know yet,” she said with a laugh. “Give me some time.”

“The kitchen is all set except the border,” announced Cindy as she came into the room. “Can we do pizza for lunch?”

“I don’t see why not,” said Charlie. “You want to order?”

“Sure, what flavor?” asked Erica as she retrieved her cell phone.

“Whatever is fine,” said Charlie.

“Same,” said Cindy. “But no pineapple.”

“Okay, give me a few minutes,” said Erica as she got the number from the phone book and called in the order. “It’ll be ready in about twenty minutes. Who’s picking it up?”

“I can run out and grab it,” said Charlie. “Only as long as you two don’t start renovating the house entirely while I’m gone.”

“No promises,” said Erica with a wink, knowing Charlie had about a week’s worth of work on his list. She and Charlie walked into the study where Charlie was busy retrieving his pistol. “You always carry?”

“Pretty much,” said Charlie.

“I saw you with it on last night,” she remarked.

“Why were you looking at my butt?” he asked with a wink.

“Because it’s nice to look at!” she remarked. “I hate to ask, but do you have any more of those around?”

“Maybe…why?” he asked.

“In case I needed something while you are gone,” she said.

“Know your way around a gun?” he asked.

“My father taught me to shoot a long time ago. Said I needed to know how in case some boy was feeling frisky,” replied Erica with a grin.

“Well in that case, shotgun is in the hall closet, top shelf under the hats,” he said.

“Loaded already?” she asked.

“Wouldn’t do me much good otherwise,” he said.

“Okay, but that’s a little fact you don’t need to announce to the child services folks,” said Erica.

“I know, hadn’t planned on letting them in on my secret here,” he said. “Be back in a few.”

After he departed, Erica joined Cindy in the kitchen where she was getting ready to start putting the border up. Looking around, it looked more like a woman’s kitchen and everything was getting into its proper place.

“You are lucky you know?” asked Erica as she watched Cindy hanging the border.

“How so?” asked Cindy as she aligned the border with the ceiling.

“For the stars to be in perfect alignment or whatever for Charlie to have picked you up. He’s a good man,” remarked Erica.

“He is the best man and yes, I got really lucky,” she said and started applying the print to the wall.

“I just wish he would open up a little more,” said Erica.

“He seems to have opened up a lot since the night I met him,” said Cindy.

“Maybe you have that influence on people,” said Erica.

“No, I’m just an ordinary girl,” said Cindy as she ran her hands along the border like Charlie had showed her.

“You are far from ordinary. You are a very special girl,” said Erica.

“Not really,” said Cindy.

“And anyone who tells you otherwise is an idiot,” said Erica.

“I’ve heard otherwise,” said Cindy as her expression changed.

“By who?” asked Erica.

“My father…” said Cindy as her voice trailed off and she stopped what she was about to say.

“Sweetie, you are special and have a gift for helping people that you didn’t even know you had. Charlie was still depressed after all these years over the loss of his family. You helped bring him out of it and got him back to having somewhat of a normal life. And that’s a special gift to have. And you do not ever let anyone else tell you otherwise,” said Erica taking her by the shoulders.

“You think so?” asked Cindy.

“I know so,” said Erica with a warm smile.

“I just…I don’t know. I never knew him before so I don’t know what he was like,” said Cindy.

“Withdrawn and quiet. He kept to himself for the most part. He always had a hurt look on his face and the thousand yard stare. But since you’ve been around, he got to be more outgoing, personable and laughs a lot more than I remember. He used to just smile at a joke, but now he laughs and even tells his own jokes. I think you had a lot to do with that,” said Erica.

“Really?” asked Cindy.

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 33 CONTINUED

[RunAndGun]

Grand, as usual you have me on the edge of my seat.

Looking forward to another chapter and thank you!

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 34



Nine days later


The assembled congregation saw a man walking forward prior to communion being served. It caused more than a few voices to waver and a few to stop singing altogether. But Jeff Tilson wasn’t being stopped by anyone right then and there. He went to the front pew and had a seat, looking at the ground the whole time. It wasn’t his first time in the front of the church, but it was a place he hadn’t been in a long time. The minister came forward and sat down with him, speaking softly. Jeff spoke back to him, still looking at the ground with a vacant stare. He continued speaking and those towards the front of the sanctuary could see tears streaming down his face. The song had stopped and slight whispers were heard from the front pew. Jeff put his head down in his hands and continued crying, not caring who saw him or what they thought.

The minister put his hand on his back and leaned over to speak softly in his ear. Jeff nodded slightly and spoke once again, the tears still coming down his face. The minister spoke once again and received another nod. He patted him on the back once again and stood in front of the congregation.

“Today Jeff Tilson has come forward to ask for the prayers for his daughter. She is still in critical condition, but is expected to make a full recovery in time. But the road will be long and hard for her and he has asked for the collective prayers of us all during her trying times. Let us pray together.”

“Oh Lord our mighty savior. We humbly ask your prayers today and all days for the healing of Whitney Tilson. Provide her with your strength, dear Lord, and with the fortitude to endure the long road ahead of her. We ask you provide your strength to her family as well as they endure this burden with her. Guide, guard and protect her and her family, dear Lord and they will find comfort in your love. From Psalms we learn to cast our burdens on You and You will not let us fall. Today, we humbly ask You take the burden from Whitney Tilson and her family and return her to good health. In Your name we pray, amen.”

The congregation had a spattering of “amen’s” that followed and the minister moved on to his next prayer.

“In addition, Jeff has come forward today asking for forgiveness for his sins. He has asked for prayers as he begins his long road to redemption and for guidance in starting a new life. The Lord teaches us to forgive, seventy times seven if it needs to be, and to forget old transgressions. Also, from Luke we remember the story of the lost son. We will celebrate as Jeff was once lost, but has now been found. He was dead, but is alive again with the willingness to embrace the spirit of the Lord.”

“Paul wrote to the Corinthians ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new.’ Today Jeff has come before us wishing to become a new creation in Christ our Lord. And is asking for the prayers of the congregation to help him on his path of following the Lord. We can all learn a lesson here today that there is strength in the Lord. So let us pray again.”

“Oh merciful Lord, we come before you today to ask you forgive the sins of Jeff Tilson. He has come before this congregation today and expressed his remorse in the sins of his past. He is willing to take You into his heart once again, dear Lord, and we ask for your guidance as he starts his new path in life, walking hand in hand with you. He will be tempted dear Lord, but with You being the steadfast rock in his life, he will endure the temptations of this life and persevere. Guide, guard and protect him almighty Lord as he starts his new life. In Your name we pray, amen.”

There was something to be said about starting a new life once again. And even though Jeff Tilson had seen…and been part of his share of bad things in life, several of the congregation stepped forward to let him know they were thinking of his daughter and wished him the best. But many of them couldn’t find themselves able to forgive him just yet. But as all things in life, he would have to work hard to prove he had changed. And his journey had just begun.

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

“This waiting and political posturing is not helping! They should be taking active measures to retrieve my daughter!” growled Mohammed Hassan at the Imam.

“They cannot at this time,” said the Imam patiently.

“Then we should be taking active measures!” he exclaimed.

“And possibly ruin all we have worked for?” said the Imam.

“How can you be so calm about this?” asked Hassan.

“It is a trait I have learned over the years. Let this play out the way they want it to. In the end we will have what we want,” said the Imam.

“So we know where she is?” asked Hassan.

“Abdul is looking for her,” said the Imam.

“And no progress?” asked Hassan.

“These things take time my friend. Abdul is good at his job and we should let him do what is necessary,” said the Imam. “Insha’ Allah.”

“These things take too long,” said Hassan, tempering himself.

“As God wills it. In time, we will be rewarded,” said the Imam.

“I will be patient,” said Hassan, but wanting to take a more active role in finding his daughter and arranging a meeting with Allah with those who were keeping her. As he was departing, a car was pulling up. It was Steven Waters coming by unannounced. Hassan had no desire to speak with him at that moment and went back to his house. Waters was met at the door and showed into the office of the Imam.

“It’s not looking good. They might be reinvestigating the case,” said Waters.

“Why?” asked the Imam.

“Pressure from Tennessee. There are some that think this will be the best way of getting her back sooner,” said Waters.

“This is not acceptable,” said the Imam.

“Our cover will work as long as the key players continue to say the same story,” said Waters.

“They have all been advised to say what you put in your report. Another investigation will go nowhere,” said the Imam.

“And if I am investigated?” asked Waters.

“Surely you didn’t start spending the money already?” asked the Imam.

“No, nothing I couldn’t afford already,” said Waters.

“You should be more careful,” warned the Imam.

“And if I am investigated again?” asked Waters.

“You have been so before and nothing was found,” said the Imam.

“Yes, but there was never this much heat on me before,” said Waters.

“If it comes down to it, we will assist you in these matters. We can help you avoid an investigation or trial. We are faithful to those who do us favors,” said the Imam.

“As long as I have a safe harbor,” said Waters. “Otherwise, our department is looking at another investigation and my cousin is assisting in lining things up with the Governor. Very soon he will be placing a phone call to the Governor of Tennessee and discussing the matter.”

“Why take so long?” asked the Imam.

“It’s the way things are done. Politics at work,” said Waters.

“Is there anything to speed up this process?” asked the Imam.

“Not anything right now. Money might work in the long run, but for the moment, let the politicians do what they have to do,” said Waters.

“She should be returned immediately to her rightful place in her family,” said the Imam.

“I can’t speed things up,” said Waters.

“Have you tried?” asked the Imam.

“I can’t without arousing suspicion,” said Waters.

“Haseena needs to be returned to her family,” said the Imam. “Do you have anything else?”

“No,” said Waters and took that as his sign to leave. After he departed, the Imam went to see Abdul.

Abdul looked through the online newspapers and limited the search to those in upper East Tennessee. It was a long shot, but in searching for information, sometimes even the experienced slipped up and put full names into newspapers and articles.

Let’s see here, what’s the name of the next town and county…Erwin, Cindy, Cynthia, Grant, Haseena, Hassan and Unicoi County, he thought as he typed in the search words into the computer and hit enter. He figured it was a long shot using her Muslim name, but sometimes even a blind squirrel finds a nut. He got a lot of hits since the words being used were fairly common in that part of the world and started looking through the keywords highlighted in the search engine.

Hmmm, Casey Grant, Cindy Grace, Cynthia Grace, Cindy Grate, Cindy Gray...nothing. Let’s check a few of these names out just in case. Casey Grant serving in Afghanistan with sister…no, not her. Cindy Grace engaged to local boy, wedding at Ninth Street Baptist Church…no picture, next article, Cynthia Grace marriage…okay, this one…no picture of her. I supposed the photographer didn’t like her or something…Cindy Grace wins award, finally, no, that isn’t her…well maybe bears a passing resemblance, but she’s too young to be getting married…well, at least in that part of the world, but let’s see if we can get a better picture…no…still not her…Cindy Grate wins academic award…no picture…Cindy Grate to compete at State level academic competition…picture kind of, no that girl is Latina…church group saves local girl from flooded creek-

“Find anything?” asked the Imam as he came into the office.

“No, nothing yet. It’s a reach to think they would be so casual about putting her in the papers,” said Abdul as he took a break from the computer screen and wiped at his eyes.

“One never knows what they will turn up,” said the Imam.

“True, but they have been fairly effective at concealing her so far,” said Abdul.

“Do you need help?” asked the Imam.

“No, I started this, I want to finish it,” said Abdul.

“How are you going about this?” asked the Imam.

“I am using the main highways into Tennessee from New York as my guide and going east to west. I-81 was my first attempt and now I am onto I-26. Later I will move onto the other Interstates. Basically, I am searching around the Interstates and into the local communities that are somewhat close,” said Abdul.

“And no luck so far?” asked the Imam.

“Not yet, it is a long shot, but it is worth a try. Sometimes it is better to try the impossible rather than wait for something to happen,” said Abdul.

“Let me know what you require and it will be provided,” said the Imam.

“I will find her,” said Abdul resolutely and refreshed the browser to a new screen to continue his search. Elizabethton, Cindy, Cynthia, Grant, Haseena, Hassan and Carter County…

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

“School is starting up,” said Mitch the next day. Cindy was off with Sarah in Johnson City doing a little light shopping and just getting out for a change.

“Yeah, that time of year,” said Charlie.

“I’ve arranged for a special deal with the school system here. Basically, you can home school Cindy provided she passes the assessment tests,” said Mitch.

“We don’t want her checked in?” asked Charlie.

“Too visible,’ said Mitch. “You’ve got a Masters Degree, you can teach her.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve done a lot of that stuff,” said Charlie.

“True, but it will come back to you. But if she’s as smart as you say she is, there won’t be much tutoring needed,” said Mitch.

“When?” asked Charlie.

“We’ll let the school year get started and bring her on up. Maybe in another week or so,” said Mitch.

“You setting everything up?” asked Charlie.

“I can, won’t take that long and I can talk to the guidance counselor to help keep his yap shut,” said Mitch.

“What’s the normal course load for kids these days?” asked Charlie.

“That four bell thing is kind of weird. Not like when you and I were in school together. Maybe four I think,” said Mitch.

“Odd,” said Charlie. “Anything else going on in the world?”

“Yeah, talked to the Mayor this morning. Told me to give you this,” said Mitch as he handed over a small cardboard box. Charlie looked at it oddly and opened it up to find a Deputy Sheriff badge from Unicoi County inside.

“What’s this?” asked Charlie.

“Reserve commission. You are hereby deputized and all that jazz. I’ll need you to stop by and fill out some paperwork, but we figured you would be an okay replacement until I get some other hands hired on,” said Mitch.

“And?” asked Charlie, knowing there was more. It was something he and Mitch had talked about in passing from time to time and Charlie had volunteered to help when needed. But he wasn’t expecting a full reserve commission in the department.

“And this makes you legal in case something were to happen to Cindy,” said Mitch.

“Never thought of myself as a law man,” he said, genuinely shocked at the situation.

“Can’t think of a better man to help out when I need it,” said Mitch.

“Wow,” was all Charlie could say.

“You won’t be saying that if I have to call you at two in the morning,” laughed Mitch.

“You might get an earful,” laughed Charlie.

“I’ll have Sarah call you instead,” he laughed.

“So Jeff Tilson turned State’s Witness and gave up everything?” asked Charlie.

“Yeah, dealers, fields, distributors…everything,” said Mitch. “More than a few cops and a judge are finding themselves in a predicament today.”

“Any of your guys?” asked Charlie.

“Two deputies and three city cops. They are currently wondering how they ended up on the wrong side of the bars,” said Mitch. “Which is why I suddenly need some reserve deputies.”

“I’m a little…surprised,” said Charlie after finding the appropriate word.

“Everyone gets a wakeup call in their life. Jeff was past due on his,” said Mitch.

“Heard he was in church as well,” said Charlie.

“Guess he is running with his second chance,” said Mitch.

“You know he came to see me not long after this whole thing blew up? Offered his assistance with protecting Cindy and all,” said Charlie.

“No, you never mentioned it,” said Mitch.

“Didn’t cross my mind to. I kind of forgot about it until recently,” said Charlie.

“Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt having the Tilson bunch watching over your place,” said Mitch.

“They tend to get a little rowdy,” laughed Charlie.

“That’s an understatement. And suspiciously I had a present gift wrapped on the court house steps the other day. Seems one of the guys from the drive by mysteriously appeared along with a tape of his confession,” said Mitch.

“Which is probably inadmissible in court,” said Charlie.

“It is, but we got to digging around and found a slew of other charges. Give us some time, we’ll get a legal confession out of him,” said Mitch.

“And then?” asked Charlie.

“Well, Jeff is in an interesting situation. He flat refused to go into witness protection, but gave up everything. He’s kind of a marked man now, but he’s facing it pretty strong,” said Mitch.

“Strange,” said Charlie.

“It’s what happens when a member of your family gets hurt over something you did,” said Mitch.

“True,” said Charlie. “When can I come by for the paperwork?”

“Whenever you get into town next,” said Mitch.

“Anything from Nashville?” asked Charlie.

“No, Anderson called me from his drop phone and let me know they were still waiting on New York,” said Mitch.

“No timeline?” asked Charlie.

“Nope, we just wait for them,” said Mitch. “You have plans for the remainder of the week?”

“I’ve finished the rough work on the stocks for the new rifles I’m building and need to start the fine tuning. Plus working on the car as I’ve been meaning to do,” said Charlie.

“That old beat up Firebird? You’ve been tinkering with that thing for years,” said Mitch.

“Yeah, I dabble at it here and there,” said Charlie. “I need to step back from the gunsmithing for the moment and probably will work on the car.”

“You’ll never get that thing back together again,” laughed Mitch.

“I’ll race you when I’m done,” laughed Charlie as they moved on to speaking of simpler times when they both drive fast cars and took wild chances. Both had somehow survived the wild youth and wondered her they ever got past those times alive with laughs and fond moments of nostalgia.

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

“Nothing from New York yet?” asked the Governor.

“Nothing,” said Anderson, giving his report as requested.

“What are they waiting on?” asked the Governor. “Should I call first?”

“Maybe it would help speed things up,” said Anderson.

“Politics at work up there?” asked the Governor.

“Maybe so,” said Anderson.

“How’s the investigation proceeding?” asked the Lieutenant Governor.

“Pretty well. I am probably going to be getting the pertinent parties together this Friday for a group meeting,” said Anderson.

“Taking longer than usual?” asked the Governor.

“Without help from New York, it isn’t easy,” said Anderson.

“How’s that Sheriff First legislation coming along?” asked the Governor.

“Fairly well. The final draft will be done on Thursday with the changes you recommended,” said the Lieutenant Governor.

“Anything else I should know about?” asked the Governor.

“Yes, we want to send up a man to infiltrate the community in New York,” said Anderson.

“Is it legal?” asked the Lieutenant Governor.

“Not entirely illegal, but in a grey around between the two,” said Anderson.

“If he is caught?” asked the Governor.

“You will have to answer some pretty pointed questions,” said Anderson.

“What can we hope to accomplish?” asked the Governor.

“Confirmation on some of the claims made by Cindy. Folks like to brag and we might get lucky on some of the things we are looking for,” said Anderson.

“You have my permission,” said the Governor after thinking for a few moments.

“He will be headed out later this week,” said Anderson.

“Tell him to be careful,” said the Governor.

Anderson took his leave of the Governor and went to find the Agent who often went in undercover. Although this time, he would be far out of his jurisdiction and without official cover. However, they really needed more information about the inner workings of the community and more specifically about the residents. With him getting more incriminating evidence, they would have a more solid case against the community and a better chance of guaranteeing Cindy’s safety. After Anderson departed, the Governor turned back to the Lieutenant Governor.

“How did the meeting go with the 6th Circuit Court?” he asked.

“Not bad. The judge is in our pocket for this if we need him. He’ll squeeze us in on the docket when we call,” said the Lieutenant Governor.

“He supports this?” asked the Governor.

“Absolutely. We go back a ways and he knows the dangers of the radical Muslims. He’s fully in our court,” said the Lieutenant Governor.

“And it will not be challenged?” asked the Governor.

“Maybe, but that means New York has to send a lawyer into court. Hopefully our Attorney General won’t fold under the pressure,” said the Lieutenant Governor.

“Yeah, I hope so as well,” said the Governor, knowing he couldn’t replace the man if he wanted to. “Why are we assuming the worst case is all this?”

“Better to assume we are going to be fighting the uphill battle rather than thinking everything will be hunky-dory and go our way,” said the Lieutenant Governor, not realizing just how far uphill the battle would be fought.

[barfife]

thanks for a new chapter....been looking forward to it.

[Ozarks Lady]

Great to have a fresh chapter so fast. Thanks it was great.

[RunAndGun]

Still on the edge of my seat!

Thank you for the Chapter!

RunAndGun

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 35



“Sir? It’s the governor from New York calling,” said the secretary over the phone to the Governor of Tennessee.

“Have the Attorney General and the Lieutenant Governor join me for this call,” said the Governor and paused before taking the call. The two States had already worked out the time for the call in advance and the two others were waiting nearby. He was joined by one of the two before putting it on speaker phone. “Good afternoon Governor.”

“And a good afternoon to you. I’m not inconveniencing you in any way am I?” asked the Governor of New York.

“No, I just got done with a budget meeting,” said the Governor of Tennessee.

“Then you are probably happy for the interruption,” laughed the Governor of New York.

“Indeed,” laughed the Governor of Tennessee politely and got down to business. “How can I help you today?”

“It seems we have a problem between two of our State’s Agencies that is probably going to need our involvement to get resolved,” said the Governor of New York.

“Which is?” he asked.

“A matter of Haseena Hassan, also known as Cindy Grant,” said the Governor of New York.

“Yes, she approached one of our State Agencies. Did you receive our request for further investigation into her family and community as well as the person responsible for doing the suspected child abuse and sexual assault?” asked the Governor of Tennessee.

“We did,” said the Governor of New York.

“And?” he asked.

“We will be initiating a conduct board to determine the reliability of the CPS Agent in charge of the investigation,” said the Governor of New York.

“And the family?” asked the Governor of Tennessee.

“We feel the information gathered on the initial investigation is sufficient to allow her to be rejoined with her family. An additional investigation is in the works, but we feel she needs to be released back to the custody of her parents in the meantime,” said the Governor of New York.

“Even with the claims of physical and emotional abuse? Along with the fact she was to be forcibly wed to a man thirty years older than she was where she will probably be raped? Along with the transcripts of the conversation between Miss Grant, the CPS Agent and her father?” asked the Governor of Tennessee.

“We are still reviewing the transcripts at this time and rest assured, if there is any foul play involved, we will take action,” said the Governor of New York. He was somewhat surprised, but didn’t show it since this was the first time he had heard about the transcripts of the conversation.

“If you have read the transcripts, you can see there is already foul play,” said the Governor of Tennessee.

“I haven’t been able to read them yet. They are still being reviewed by our State Police,” said the Governor of New York.

“I see…” said the Governor of Tennessee as his voice trailed off. The Lieutenant Governor quietly entered the room.

“If we could work out arrangements for one of our State Agencies to come retrieve her and put this matter behind us?” asked the Governor of New York.

“I’m not sure if I feel comfortable releasing her from the custody of Tennessee to New York without assurances she will not be going back into that situation. We already have done this once Governor and I don’t think we need to do it again,” said the Governor of Tennessee.

“You will not voluntarily give up control of her to our State?” asked the Governor of New York.

“I didn’t say that. I said I wasn’t comfortable with releasing her until your State has completed an in depth investigation into the conduct of the Agent in question, a reinvestigation of the family and community and your personal assurance she will not be released until justice is administered,” said the Governor of Tennessee.

“Trust me on the fact we will see justice served if it needs to be as well as another investigation,” said the Governor of New York.

“But in the meantime, you feel the child can be released back to her family?” asked the Governor of Tennessee.

“We feel there is a slight risk involved in doing so,” said the Governor of New York.

“We would feel better if there were no risk involved,” said the Governor of Tennessee.

“Okay, so there is no risk involved. Does that make you feel better?” asked the Governor of New York.

“I don’t care to be patronized,” said the Governor of Tennessee with a tone.

“Nor do I care for the fact you are holding the daughter of one of my citizens and making conditional demands on her release,” said the Governor of New York in the same tone.

“And again, we do not feel comfortable releasing her until we get the matter of her home life resolved. Put your own daughter into this situation and see how you might react,” said the Governor of Tennessee.

“If your daughter was in New York and you requested her to be sent back, I would do so immediately,” said the Governor of New York.

“Even knowing she might be going back into a bad situation?” asked the Governor of Tennessee.

“If I received assurances from another Governor that justice would be served, I would take him at his word,” said the Governor of New York.

“But it seems that you are letting this one slip by and not taking further action. You have to look at the overall situation,” said the Governor of Tennessee.

“Which my agencies have assured me they are doing,” said the Governor of New York.

“But again, we aren’t comfortable releasing her until action is taken. What’s to say she will be safe upon her return and this won’t happen again?” asked the Governor of Tennessee.

“The original report stated the chances of doing so are minimal,” said the Governor of New York. “Additionally, holding that child is causing tension between our State and yours.”

“I don’t know of any tension,” said the Governor of Tennessee as he saw the Attorney General scribbling on a notepad.

“You won’t release her, you haven’t allowed our investigators to talk to her much less revealed her location and you are demanding further conditions prior to release. Do you know what my police are telling em about this?” asked the Governor of New York.

Before he answered, the Attorney General tapped the notepad and slid it across the desk. He’s baiting you and will pull the kidnapping card, the note said. “No, what are your police telling you?” asked the Governor of Tennessee after nodding at the Attorney General.

“These are the classic signs of a kidnapping case. Now this is obviously different since Haseena is in your custody, but overall, the situations are eerily similar,” said the Governor of New York.

“Who is Haseena again?” asked the Governor of Tennessee as the Attorney General scribbled more notes. Sliding the pad across, the Governor saw the new note and nodded.

“Haseena is the name of Cindy Grant now. Her father had it legally changed some years ago in accordance with their religious beliefs,” said the Governor of New York.

“The same religious beliefs that could be causing the problems to begin with?” asked the Governor of Tennessee.

“Our investigators don’t believe there are any problems, only the lies of a fifteen year old girl,” said the Governor of New York.

“And we have the report of three psychologists that say she isn’t lying,” growled the Governor of Tennessee.

“Which our own mental health personnel cannot confirm since you have refused to allow access to her,” said the Governor of New York.

“We have not refused access. There have been no requests made to our State to meet with her,” said the Governor of Tennessee.

The phone was silent for a moment before the Governor of New York answered. “Would you allow access to Haseena Hassan in a neutral location to be interviewed?”

“Define neutral location,” requested the Governor of Tennessee.

“Preferably in our State or another of our choosing,” said the Governor of New York.

“So you want us to bring her up to your State in a supposed neutral environment to be interviewed? And afterwards she gets packed up and sent back to her family?” asked the Governor of Tennessee. “We aren’t simpletons down here.”

“That wouldn’t be the case if we found anything in our investigation,” said the Governor of New York.

“You should have already found something! Corruption in your child agencies, turning a blind eye to abuse and sexual assault and forced marriages! How can you sit there and say nothing has come up so far!” exclaimed the Governor of Tennessee. Both the Attorney General and the Lieutenant Governor were both signaling with their hands to ease up. However, the Governor was fairly passionate about this and was on a roll.

“Which, again, we found the contents of the original report valid. They were confirmed by the Rochester Child Services,” said the Governor of New York, knowing he was holding the upper hand since the Governor of Tennessee was getting emotional.

“Then reinvestigate with another city! Use New York or Albany or Buffalo or any number of other cities!” exclaimed the Governor of Tennessee running out of major cities he remembered from New York.

“I don’t question your investigators when they do their jobs, why are you questioning our investigative methods?” asked the Governor of New York.

“Because we have that right! Cindy Grant came to us for help and by God we are going to give it to her! Now you listen to me; your investigators made a complete mess out of that situation and you refuse to look at what happened! The State of Tennessee will not, I repeat NOT release that child until an independent investigation is completed, charges are filed and that home is safe for her to return to! You better bet on that mister!” exclaimed the Governor of Tennessee, looking at the open mouths of the Attorney General and the Lieutenant Governor. And in that little announcement, he had just made policy for the State of Tennessee and furthermore, drawn the proverbial line in the sand for the State of New York.

“You realize this could be turned over to the Federal Government and we could bring the State of Tennessee up on claims of kidnapping?” asked the Governor of New York.

“No, she came to us, we are helping her. She is within our State custody and frankly, will remain there until your State has the guts to actually do a satisfactory investigation and finish it,” said the Governor of Tennessee, calming somewhat.

“Satisfactory to whom?” asked the Governor of New York.

“To me, the State of Tennessee and most of all, to Cindy Grant!” he exclaimed.

“Again, we would like the opportunity to interview her in a neutral location,” said the Governor of New York after being prompted to do so by his own counsel.

“The only neutral location I will approve will be here in my State. If your investigators want to interview her, they will have to come here,” said the Governor of Tennessee.

“This is not acceptable to the State of New York,” said the Governor of New York.

“And your conduct in the investigation of the home of Cindy Grant is not acceptable to the State of Tennessee,” said the Governor of Tennessee.

“And here we have our quandary,” said the Governor of New York.

“Only of your own making. Have your people do another investigation. It shouldn’t take long to complete. Then we talk about what to do,” said the Governor of Tennessee.

“Release Haseena Hassan and we will provide you complete access to our investigation including interviews and visits to the home,” offered the Governor of New York.

“Unacceptable until such time as that home is declared safe,” said the Governor of Tennessee.

“I will declare it safe right now as my investigators have already done so,” said the Governor of New York.

“Not acceptable,” said the Governor of Tennessee.

“Then we are finished here. We will take up other means to resolve this situation,” said the Governor of New York.

“And we will not release custody until such time as we have deemed it safe,” said the Governor of Tennessee.

“It won’t end well for your State,” said the Governor of New York.

“And far worse for yours,” said the Governor of Tennessee and hung up the phone before he could get another word in edgewise. He was upset to say the least as the Governor had all but blown him off during the whole situation. “How is that investigation going?”

“I haven’t heard yet from Anderson. I do know his undercover guy left recently,” said the Attorney General.

“I want another meeting of the key players including the sheriff of the county where she happens to be at,” said the Governor.

“Anything else?” asked the Lieutenant Governor.

“Make sure she is protected and hidden away. I don’t like the way this is going,” said the Governor with a sigh, knowing there was a long road ahead.

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

“Should we start contacting the federal government?” asked the New York Attorney General.

“No, let’s give this a chance to work out. Maybe we both got too passionate during our talk. I’ll give it a couple of days to cool off and give him another call,” said the Governor.

“The longer we wait, the harder it will be to get her out,” said Harley Waters.

“I understand, but I’m not going to get into a dispute with another State before we have exhausted all other means. I will see this through and get the girl back, but I want to do it without having to go through the FBI or the Department of Justice,” said the Governor.

“I just hope we have the time,” said Waters.

“What of this investigator? What do we do with him?” asked the Attorney General.

“Go ahead and start a conduct board and review his case. Did the section head or whatever at the Rochester branch sign off on the report?” asked the Governor.

“As far as I know, yes, he did,” said the Attorney General.

“What’s his batting average like?” asked the Governor.

“I couldn’t tell you, but the head of the Child Services seemed to think highly of him,” said the Attorney General.

“And the investigator?” asked the Governor. Waters stood silently since he knew they were talking about his cousin and didn’t want or need to get involved just yet.

“I know he’s experienced. He worked in New York and now in Rochester. Promoted I guess,” said the Attorney General.

“Any reason to think this is all being made up?” asked the Governor.

“Not to my knowledge. I skimmed over the report and saw everything appeared to be in order with the exception of the girl’s statement. As for this supposed transcript, I’ll have to check with the State Police about that,” said the Attorney General.

“I was wondering about that too,” said the Governor.

“From what I understand, the girl supposedly recorded a conversation between herself, her father and the CPS Agent on the case. The conversation was less than what she imagined,” said the Attorney General.

“Overall bearing on the case?” asked the Governor.

“It could mean we need to reinvestigate the case. Nothing more though,” said the Attorney General.

“Public stance if it comes up?” asked the Governor.

“I would take the side that Tennessee is not really following established procedures by not allowing us to do our jobs. They are withholding a witness and withholding information we require to complete our investigation. I wouldn’t go with the kidnapping terminology yet, but maybe that will shake them up in the long run if needed. But for the moment, I think letting everything calm down might be the best option,” said the Attorney general.

“Sir, I disagree. I believe the family is being put under undue mental anguish by them not releasing that child. The father and mother are extremely worried about the situation and want their child back. We should be pressing this to the fullest extent possible and getting her back,” said Waters.

“And risk turning this into a media circus?” asked the Attorney General.

“If that’s what it takes, absolutely,” said Waters.

“I would advise against that. For now it’s not in the media and we have no idea how this will turn out if it does hit the media. I believe we should be careful about putting this out there,” said the Attorney General.

“Why?” asked the Governor.

“Because the family in question is Muslim,” said the Attorney General as if that explained everything.

“And that’s an issue because?” asked Waters.

“Remember how that ground zero mosque thing in New York City blew up in our face? The same thing could happen here as well,” said the Attorney General.

“Not if we get the press on our side,” said Waters.

“I’d rather not take that chance. The media is like a cat and will go with the general consensus of the public. They will turn and scratch us if we don’t play this one right. This can blow up on us just like the ground zero mosque did,” said the Attorney General.

“For now, we’ll let it sit for a couple of days,” said the Governor to Waters. “I understand your position, but let this thing play out a bit. Maybe we can find something to offer to Tennessee in the meantime.”

“I understand,” said Waters, but making plans of his own.

“Anything else gentlemen?” asked the Governor.

None had anything further and the meeting was adjourned. Waters went out and placed an innocent phone call to his cousin, telling him to watch himself and what had been decided at the meeting. He also told him he was planning on doing some things of his own and for him to lie low for the moment. But Steven Waters was under orders to report anything and everything to the community. After he finished his phone call, he headed out to the community to let them know in person. After arriving, he was showed to the Imam’s office.

“Trouble brewing,” said Steven Waters.

“How so?” asked the Imam.

“The Governor isn’t pressing this issue really. He gave an ultimatum to Tennessee, but didn’t back it up like he should,” said Waters.

“Oh?” asked the Imam.

“Yes, he wants to let it sit for a couple of days,” said Waters.

“We are currently working a lead. Sometimes we can get information you cannot. It seems there is a possibility of us knowing where Haseena is located. Abdul is checking that out right now,” said the Imam.

“Where at?” asked Waters.

“In a small town in Tennessee, or rather outside of a small town,” said the Imam.

“What kind of information did you gather?” asked Waters.

“The local sheriff has placed the girl in a protective state and hidden her away from the public view. She was reportedly the victim of child abuse and possible sexual assault. And she is from New York originally,” said the Imam.

“That’s great!” said Waters. “When will we know?”

“Soon enough. Abdul is checking the information out now,” said the Imam.

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

“And this place, this farm is where she is being kept at?” asked Abdul.

“Yes,” said the Social Worker.

“And you know this for a fact?” asked Abdul.

“I saw the report with my own eyes,” said the Social Worker. “I wasn’t supposed to see it I think, but the facts meet the criteria you are looking for.”

“Do you have the address?” asked Abdul.

The Social Worker passed over the address to Abdul after writing it down. She had no idea why he was looking for the runaway in question, but knew the money she was being paid to provide the information was good even though she only got half up front. “It’s not going to be easy to find. The east part of the State isn’t easy to navigate around.”

“We’ll manage,” said Abdul.

“And the rest of my money?” asked the Social Worker.

“When we retrieve her and get her back to her family, you will be paid the remainder of the sum we agreed on,” said Abdul.

“I’m taking a huge risk here,” said the Social Worker.

“We understand and the risks are big for both of us,” said Abdul.

“Maybe something else might be in order?” asked the Social Worker.

“If the information turns out to be correct, we will take that under consideration,” said Abdul as he made mental plans to scout the location along with Mohammed Hassan and the other man he had brought along from New York. With surprise, the three of them could easily overpower some simple farmer and retrieve Haseena. Then they would no longer have a need for Waters, his boss or the money. He already had plans in his mind for that as well. His cell phone rang as he was departing the fast food restaurant. “Hello.”

“Our little weasel brings some information,” said the Imam.

“Oh?” asked Abdul.

“Yes, it seems there may be further investigation,” said the Imam.

“Do we need to advance our plans?” asked Abdul.

“Possibly so. The weasel can still be valuable with his contacts, but the superior might present a problem,” said the Imam.

“I will take care of that,” said Abdul.

“Be careful, this is not going the way we planned,” said the Imam.

“It never does, but Insha’Allah, we can make additional arrangements,” said Abdul.

“And the reason you are there?” asked the Imam.

“I believe we might have a real lead,” said Abdul.

“If she is returned before the remainder of this plays out, it would be in our best interest,” said the Imam.

“We will take care of the problems,” said Abdul and ended the call. He placed another call to the community and set some plans in motion before looking at the map of Tennessee. The Social Worker was correct, the place was not easy to find or get to, but this worked best for them as well as the police couldn’t respond in a timely manner or at least before they were able to retrieve Haseena and return her to New York. By the time they had started their initial investigation, they would be out of Tennessee and into another jurisdiction. And this worked well for him since the political battle was between the two States so far and none had jumped onto the bandwagon. But if they got her back to New York, they would hold the upper hand and whatever Tennessee complained about would fall on deaf ears.

He collected the other two and set off in the vehicle, heading towards East Tennessee on I-40. The time spent in Nashville was worth it since, like any other State Government, they tended to collect massive amounts of data and keep a close eye on certain situations. And this situation was far too large to keep a secret forever. The Social Worker was one of the faithful, although greedy, and had been bribed to quietly check into the situation. And after two days, she had called back and let them know about the lead. Hassan was fairly happy about the situation and was ready to exact his revenge in restoring his honor. And they carried the instruments to do just that in the trunk of the vehicle. While the rifles were not the original select fire AKM he would have preferred, the civilian equivalent would kill a man just as easily and was far easier to explain if they were pulled over.

As they traveled along, Abdul started making plans to survey the farm for at least a day or two then decide on a plan of action. It was risky, but for his brother sitting in the back seat, he would take the risks without even thinking twice.

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

Cindy was looking out the back of the house when she noticed something near the barn. It was unusual to say the least and she went outside to see what it was. Charlie was busy upstairs fixing a leaky faucet and she had finished cleaning everything up and was preparing to go help him. But the sight made her go outside to take a look and figure out if she had seen what she thought she saw. After heading out towards the barn, she went inside and looked around. She didn’t see anything until she was about to leave and saw the same sight once again. Heading over to the spot, she saw a small kitten looking around the barn. She knew Charlie didn’t own cats but had no idea where this one was from. The kitten saw her and darted away into a pile of hay, hiding from her. It seemed hungry, but was scared of the human coming towards it. But it sensed she wasn’t a threat and came out softly meowing at her. She wondered how old it was and furthermore, if it had eaten.

Cindy went back into the house and looked in the pantry for anything to feed a kitten. She saw a can of tuna and decided it was probably going to be the best choice. Opening it up, she thought about telling Charlie, but was worried he might not agree to it and take the kitten to the local animal shelter. Since she was a guest here, she didn’t know if he would allow her to feed the kitten until it was large enough to feed itself. So she made a decision in her mind to conceal the fact the farm had a new resident for the time being. After opening and putting the tuna onto a Styrofoam container, she headed back into the barn where the kitten was still roaming around. It got scared once again and darted away, but the smells of the fish on the plate must have enticed it to come back out of where it was hiding. It smelled at the tray before attacking it and grabbing large bites. It was still somewhat afraid of her, but let her pet it on the head, calming somewhat.

She would bring up the subject to him at some point in the near future and see what he thought about the kitten. She had never had a pet before besides the chicken that followed her around the coops when she went in (which she also realized most of the older chickens that didn’t lay as well as the others were gone except for that one in particular), but never a pet that could come inside or one she could play with. She felt sorry for the poor animal and wanted to make sure it was taken care of. So she decided to keep it a secret from Charlie until the time was right to bring the subject up.

After the kitten was finished eating, it must have decided Cindy wasn’t all that bad and came over to play with her shoestrings. Cindy giggled at the kitten before it went off back into the hay and hid once again. She put the empty can in the steel recycling container and went back into the house to wash the Styrofoam container. Just as she was finishing, Charlie came back downstairs.

“Finish up already?” he asked.

“Sure did,” she said.

“I’m thinking of getting you tested for school,” said Charlie.

“How come?” she asked.

“Well, Mitch brought it to my attention you should be educated while you are here,” said Charlie.

“Okay, I can understand that, but school?” asked Cindy.

“I could home school you if we know what grade level you are at,” said Charlie.

“I think that might be a better plan,” she said.

“Why?” he asked.

“I’m not sure if I would fit in the high school. Remember my last little run in with girls my age?” she asked.

“True enough, but it’s part of the growing experience,” he said.

“I know,” she sighed. “I wouldn’t mind getting home schooled though. You’re a pretty good teacher. Plus the whole thing of me moving back if it happens…better to just home school me for the moment. Plus I can pace myself here at home.”

“I’ll take that into consideration. School started this week and Mitch is going to get back to me on when to bring you to see your placement,” said Charlie.

“I’m not sure how well I will do,” she said.

“You’ll be fine,” he said with a reassuring tone.

“You sure? I mean, I don’t think I’m that smart plus I’ve been out of school for a while now,” said Cindy.

“I have this feeling you will be just fine,” he said reassuringly.

“Okay,” she said and got a little more self confidence about her. He didn’t know she had been told over the past three years that women were inferior to men and their intelligence levels weren’t the same. And being told this over and over again started to sink into her mind and she actually started to believe it. But Charlie had started in the opposite direction and she started to doubt her own feelings. She had a long road of recovery ahead of her and he was helping her take the first steps into becoming a full human being once again.

[RunAndGun]

Thank You!

Great Chapter!

......RunAndGun

[OR Medic]

Yet another great chapter, Grand!

Waiting (somewhat) patiently for the next installment.

Thank you!

Jim

[barfife]

Thoroughly enjoying the saga. Find myself checking quite often for new chapters. You really are talented. Thank you for sharing your gift.
Barfife

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 36



Monday


“Okay, everything is set with the high school. Cindy goes up on Wednesday at nine and takes her placement tests. The guidance counselor knows to keep his mouth shut about her,” said Mitch.

“Okay,” said Charlie.

“Other than that, we are still working with the State to get a resolution to this matter,” said Mitch.

“An outcome that we all can be happy with?” asked Charlie.

“Absolutely. Apparently the Governor got a demanding phone call from New York. Some threats were made, but he stood his ground,” said Mitch.

“Nice to know he is working with us on this,” said Charlie.

“Yeah, Anderson said he was pretty adamant about not letting her go back until things worked out in her favor,” said Mitch.

“So she is safe for the moment?” asked Charlie.

“For the moment. They are trying to keep it close hold in Nashville, but more folks know than I care about,” said Mitch.

“Hopefully they keep their yap shut about it,” said Charlie.

“Anderson assured me the only ones that need to know about her know about her. But let’s face it; the fact is we have to get more folks involved to get results. Social Services are starting to ask questions,” said Mitch.

“And of course the obligatory home inspection,” said Charlie.

“Yep. Have you got that planned out yet?” asked Mitch.

“I have a partner in crime willing to help out as long as they don’t pry to deep,” said Charlie.

“Who?” asked Mitch, knowing the answer in advance.

“Erica said she would be willing to help,” said Charlie. “Even redecorated the house for me to give it a female perspective.”

“Sarah did the same thing when she moved in,” laughed Mitch. “Said I was uncultured.”

“Actually the quote was ‘missing a woman’s touch.’ She and Cindy went a little hog wild with the credit card,” laughed Charlie.

“You can afford it,” said Mitch.

“I know, but you know I’m fairly frugal as it is,” said Charlie with a smile.

“You know, that whole marriage thing could be real with a certain doctor,” said Mitch with a grin.

“I already got into Cindy about that, I don’t need any relationship advice or prods from you either,” said Charlie with a shake of his head.

“I’m allowed! It’s part of the contract between friends,” laughed Mitch.

“Funny, I don’t remember signing anything,” said Charlie.

“No big deal, you just let that pretty thing go her own way,” said Mitch.

“Nah, we’re doing okay. Talking more, texting back and forth…all sorts of relationship stuff,” said Charlie.

“You know how to text? I wasn’t aware you had become that technologically advanced,” laughed Mitch.

“I’m still not up on everything, but enough to know how to do something like that,” said Charlie with another shake of his head.

“Let’s face it, we’re both old fashioned,” said Mitch.

“True enough,” said Charlie. “Anything else?”

“Nah, Anderson called a meeting for later this week so I’m heading out to Nashville,” said Mitch.

“Does Cindy need to come along?” asked Charlie.

“No, not for now,” said Mitch.

“Okay, I’ve got to get back on these rifle stocks. We’ll talk to you later,” said Charlie.

Mitch departed and Charlie went back into the barn where Cindy was busy sanding at one of the stocks. She was getting into it a lot more and getting more technically skilled at the fine woodwork as she went along. The stocks were getting into pretty good shape and he let her continue while he left to work on the car engine. He started putting pieces he had cleaned back together and into the motor, but knew before long he would have to lift it by his crane and lower it into the body of the vehicle. It was coming along nicely, but he didn’t know how long it would be before then. He hoped to have it together by the time the cold weather came around so he wouldn’t be forced to work in the cold barn during the winter. Plus with harvest coming up, he surely didn’t want to waste any time before then as he knew he would be plenty busy around that time.

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

“We are being investigated!” whispered Kurt after he closed the door.

“By who?” asked Waters.

“The State I think! I got a call from a friend and they said they were looking into us!” he exclaimed in a whisper.

“There is nothing to be worried about unless you went out and bought a new car or something,” said Waters. “This has happened before. Just stick to the story and everything will be okay.”

“I can’t go to jail over this and I surely can’t lose my job! I’ve got bills to pay!” said Kurt.

“Take it easy Kurt, we’ll be fine. I have friends in high places that can help out,” said Waters.

“Listen, if it comes down to it, I’m not comfortable with this whole situation!” exclaimed Kurt.

“We both go to jail, remember that. But with my influences, my sentence might be lighter than yours,” said Waters.

“Are you threatening me?” asked Kurt.

“No, just letting you know the realities of the situation,” said Waters.

“I’ll come clean if I have to. I’ll give the money up and everything,” said Kurt.

“No, just give it time. This will blow over,” said Waters. He was starting to see his supervisor might be becoming a liability.

“For how long though?” asked Kurt.

“These investigations rarely turn up anything. Trust me, I’ve been thought enough to know that much,” said Waters. “Just keep your mouth shut about it and it will go away.”

“I’m not comfortable with the arrangements you made,” said Kurt.

“But you willingly went along with them,” said Waters. “You could have stopped it at any time.”

“And I’ve been beating myself up ever since then,” said Kurt.

“Just stick to the plan and everything will be okay. I promise you that. Think of your family for crying out loud,” said Waters.

“I am and that’s the only reason I haven’t said anything until now,” said Kurt.

“It will be fine,” said Waters as he left the office and Kurt to continue thinking of what a bad idea the bribe was overall. After Waters got out of the office, he called the number he was instructed to if things weren’t going to plan. The voice answered after several rings.

“Hello,” said Abdul.

“The other individual might be a problem,” said Waters.

“How so?” asked Abdul.

“He has reservations about our arrangements. It might take more to convince him otherwise,” said Waters.

“You have plenty of convincing to spread around,” said Abdul.

“I do, but I’m not sure if he will hold up,” said Waters.

“Convince him otherwise,” said Abdul and ended the call. He was busy shopping around for camouflage suits to be able to blend into the environment at the farm. They had the address and location, but saw it was secluded enough to where the surveillance from a vehicle was impossible. So they would have to take turns watching from the nearby forest and making their notes from there. Their typical civilian clothing would stick out like a sore thumb and they needed some concealment before attempting any kind of recon of the farm. They would begin on Thursday or Friday after going over the maps once again and finalizing their plan of action. This was the first time in the “field” for Mohammed Hassan, but he was coming along nicely. They had spent the previous day at a local range getting his weapons skills up to par although he had basic instruction before coming to Tennessee with them.

The supervisor situation was nagging at Abdul as he absentmindedly looked at different suits. H knew there was always the potential for a problem, but also knew Waters would keep his mouth shut. But the boss was a different matter entirely. As he came to a decision in his mind, he dialed another number.

“Yes?” asked the voice.

“Take care of the supervisor problem,” he said.

“We’ve already laid the ground work,” said the voice.

“Just get it done,” said Abdul and ended the call.

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

Tuesday


Kurt was in working very late at the office that evening. He was taking Waters’ advice for the moment and letting things fall as they may, but the fact there was another investigation was always in the back of his mind. He was finishing up some other case files and preparing for the worst just in case things didn’t turn out so well. But for the moment, he was playing everything else by the book in case they started researching his other cases. And some of the money had been put to good use so far just in case. The cleaning crew had departed about a half hour prior and Kurt was the last to leave the building. He wasn’t used to leaving at 10:30 at night, but he had managed to clear just about everything on his plate.

As he left the building, he started walking towards his vehicle in the parking lot. It was darker in the parking lot as the halogen lamp was out for some reason. Looking around, he also noticed two of the streetlights were out as well. He would speak to the building manager in the morning about getting them replaced and contacting the city about the others. He was lucky in the fact Rochester was somewhat of a tame town and the area they were in wasn’t that bad anyway. But as he reached his car and put the briefcase in the truck, he was surprised when a man came from around the front of the vehicle.

“Wallet and keys!” he demanded in a hushed voice. He was wearing a ski mask which Kurt thought was fairly theatrical for the situation. But the pistol he held was far from theatrical.

“Take it easy bud,” said Kurt as he held his hands out.

“Wallet, cell phone and keys now!” demanded the masked man.

Kurt reached into his back pocket and handed over his wallet with a shaking hand. The man snatched it away before demanding the keys and phone once again. Kurt handed over the keys and phone as well, almost dropping them on the ground before they were also snatched away.

“Move around the side of the building!” demanded the masked man.

“Listen, you have my wallet and keys, leave me alone,” pleaded Kurt.

“Move, now!” said the man with a jerk of the pistol. They walked to the side where the dumpsters were located. Several bags of trash were sitting outside the dumpster and Kurt knew the cleaning crew was typically tidier than this. As he came to a stop, the man told him to remove his shoes.

“Why?” he asked and started to turn. The hit from the butt of the pistol on the side of his head was a reminder of who was in charge right then. He slipped off his shoes and left them sitting on the ground.

“Get inside the dumpster!” ordered the man.

“Listen, just go. I won’t tell anyone about this,” said Kurt.

“Yeah right, get into the dumpster now,” said the man and prodded at him with the pistol. Kurt did as instructed and got inside the smelly container. He heard a sound behind him that sounded like metal scraping on metal. Or something metal being screwed onto something else. He almost turned when he was struck once again by the butt of the weapon.

“Eyes forward!” ordered the man.

“Just leave me alone,” said Kurt.

“I would be clich

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 36 CONTINUED

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