Second Chance:

[kaijafon]

can we please PLEASE have some moar??? cause I'm hanging by only two fingernails now... and finals is coming up next week..... :D

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 39



“You will stop!” her father’s voice commanded from behind her. But her legs weren’t working like they should have and the distance to the woods wasn’t really closing as fast as she hoped.

“Cindy!” the voice rang in her ears. She could hear the heavy footfalls chasing her as she tripped up and fell on her face. She attempted to get up, but strong hands grabbed at her shoulders and shook her. She swiped at them, screaming and crying at the same time. She was attempting to fight back, but it seemed like her body wasn’t following the commands of her brain.

“It’s okay!” the voice said.

“NOOOOO!” she screamed. The hands grabbed at her hands and held them in place.

“Cindy! Wake up!” said Charlie as he shook her trying to wake her out of the nightmare. Her screams had woken him instantly and he had come running into her room. His first thought had been someone had broken into the house and was attempting to take advantage of her, but he entered the room to find it empty. She was having a nightmare and was screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs. Charlie was thankful there were no neighbors around to hear the screams.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” she screamed once again, not fully awake yet. Charlie released his grasp and stepped back as he gave her the chance to fully wake.

“Cindy, it’s Charlie, you’re okay,” he said in a calm voice, hoping it might soothe her in waking out of the dream. He pulled the pistol he carried with him into the room away from the end of the bed just in case she hadn’t snapped out of it.

She was panting as if she had run a marathon and looked around the room. The last images of the dream came crashing into her mind once more before she finally woke up fully. Her eyes darted around the room back and forth looking for an unseen threat, but only finding Charlie. A tear escaped her eye as the vivid images played back into her mind, terrifying her one last time.

“Are you okay?” he asked calmly, again hoping the soft voice might help.

Cindy attempted to slow her breathing and looked around the room one last time to make sure she was safe. She still couldn’t shake the thoughts in her head about the horrid nightmare and broke down and started balling her eyes out. Charlie sat down on the bed and attempted to soothe her with a calm voice while giving her a hug.

“It’s okay, you’re safe,” he said as he patted her on the back.

“I saw it! It looked so real!” she cried and buried her head in his shoulder.

“It’s okay, I won’t let anything happen to you,” he whispered calmly and continued to let her grasp him in her vise grip. They sat for several moments before she finally released her embrace and wiped her eyes.

“You had me worried there for a minute kiddo,” he said with a smile.

“It was a horrible nightmare!” she exclaimed as another tear escaped her eye.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” he said and held onto her hand. “You’re safe here.”

She looked around once again, just to make sure she wasn’t dreaming once again. There were no threats she could see and she saw nobody but Charlie in the room. Peeking outside the window, she saw it was still dark out and looked at the clock. It was just after three o’clock.

“You want to try to go back to sleep?” he asked.

“No!” she exclaimed, thinking the awful dreams would return from the dark place in her mind they originated from.

“You want to talk about it?” he asked calmly.

“You were out in the barn and my father showed up with others from New York. He started shooting and you…” she said and her voice trailed off.

“Come on, let’s get an early breakfast,” he said and released her hands. She was coming back down to normal and starting to feel safe once again knowing she was in his home in Tennessee and away from her father. But the nightmare worried him as this was the first time she had manifested her feelings locked away deep in her mind.

“I’ll be down in a minute,” she said as he rose from the edge of the bed. She was still collecting her thoughts as the horrible images of her father standing over Charlie pointing a rifle flashed into her mind. As much as she tried, the images kept coming and she finally realized just how much she cared about Charlie as a father figure.

“Take your time,” he said and retrieved his pistol. He left the room and replaced the shorts with a pair of sweat pants to go to the kitchen. He would call the counselor and give her an update on the situation and make another appointment for Cindy. While he didn’t know the exact details of the dream, he figured he had been killed and her father had done something else. Hopefully he had stopped the nightmare before anything worse had happened, but only the counselor would know if she chose to talk about it. She appeared in the kitchen several minutes later, dark circles under her eyes as he was fixing a pot of coffee. She grabbed the milk from the fridge and poured a glass, slumping into the chair at the table.

“I’m sorry if I worried you,” she said after taking a sip of the milk.

“It’s nothing. I’m fine and so are you. I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said very fatherly.

“I know, but it felt so real,” she said.

“Dreams often do. Our mind likes to play tricks on us quite a bit,” he said as he watched the coffee run through the maker.

“Do you ever have bad dreams?” she asked.

“Sometimes,” he answered without looking.

“How do I make the images stop?” she asked.

“Time and don’t dwell on them. Think of happy thoughts,” he said. “Like your kitten that’s hungry.”

Cindy looked down and saw Spazz coming into the kitchen, wondering what the commotion was all about. She had taken him to bed with her and he had probably run off scared when she started screaming. She got out his moist food from the fridge and spooned out the remainder into a dish before setting it in the floor. She had to step around him since he was rubbing at her legs waiting for his morning treat to come early. She petted him as he started eating and was rewarded with a purr as he chomped at the food. It did have a calming influence on her as she thought of other things as Charlie started on breakfast. It would be a long morning for her and he hoped to divert her attention away from the thoughts by keeping her busy that day.

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

“It was not who thought. The runaway girl there was from another place,” said Abdul as he briefed the Imam about his trip. They were driving up the Interstate heading back to New York after checking out of their hotel early that morning.

“How did we get the two confused?” asked the Imam.

“We were searching for any runaways that might have been hidden away from view. Apparently this girl was a victim of abuse and sexual assault by her father and had run away from Fort Campbell and ended up near Morristown. She was originally from New York, or at least born there so there was some confusion,” said Abdul.

“I see,” said the Imam.

“We did get quite a scare out there though,” said Abdul with a chuckle.

“Oh?” asked the Imam.

“Yes, the farmer apparently does some poaching during the off season. He just about stumbled across our hide while we were watching his farm,” said Abdul.

“Bad?” asked the Imam.

“No, we were silent and still enough to avoid detection,” said Abdul.

“Nothing else to report?” asked the Imam.

“The farmer apparently is a good marksman. He took a rabbit and two squirrels with only three shots,” laughed Abdul.

“Yes, the southern infidels are good with their firearms,” laughed the Imam.

“We are continuing to look, but it appears there is no one in the Tennessee State Government that knows where she is at or is not willing to talk about it,” said Abdul.

“And money isn’t helping?” asked the Imam.

“No, not really. The secret is being well kept,” said Abdul. “All the information we have collected so far has been useless.”

“Everyone has a price,” said the Imam.

“Maybe so, but we obviously haven’t hit that yet or the people we are talking to are not the right ones,” said Abdul.

“Nothing else?” asked the Imam.

“Not yet,” said Abdul.

“Keep looking,” ordered the Imam. He checked the clock and saw the three would be due back by that evening. It was an early phone call for him and he decided to go ahead and start his day instead of going back to sleep. He started his morning prayer, although a tad early and went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea to start the day. He went into his office afterwards and started checking the five e-mail accounts he had set up for use. He downloaded the files onto a CD and disconnected the internet connection before running the decryption programs on the scrambled files. They came out in English and Arabic as he started to read. Nothing of major importance as some of the e-mails were just general chit chat with others he kept up with from around the world. But some were information and instructions from the others he dealt with. He read through them quickly before deleting the files and making sure they were gone by destroying the disk.

He departed the simple house and headed towards his office in the mosque. The Imam wished Abdul was around to assist with the planning on certain items, but he would have to wait until tonight to get his opinion on certain matters. He hoped he was getting some sleep along the way and would be fresh tonight when he arrived. He also needed to speak with Mohammed Hassan and let him know about his son. The contact from Pakistan had written back and let him know everything was ready and in place for the boy to arrive and continue his education, albeit with extremist views. Hopefully the seed they had planted would bear fruit once he was surrounded by the faithful in that area and he would become a powerful force within Islam.

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

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent saw there was no better time to infiltrate than now. He had studied the community in New York for several days now from a concealed position outside of the main gate. He watched as visitors came and went, using the training he received as an intelligence specialist in the Army to record the details. After several days of observation and going over his notes, he carefully prepared himself to go and visit the mosque and hopefully meet some of the occupants. He especially hoped to meet the Imam and Mohammed Hassan and speak with them. Possibly even gain their confidence, but that was fairly farfetched. So he began his investigation by speaking with the “guards” at the gate, convincing them he was one of the faithful coming in for a midday prayer.

“Are you one of the faithful?” asked the man at the gate.

“I am and it is time for the midday prayers,” said the TBI Agent.

“And you believe we will just let you in?” asked the man.

“Yes, you will. As we are one faith we should be praying together. Or have you forgotten your religion today?” asked the TBI Agent.

“It is not yet time for prayer,” said the man evasively.

“It grows near. Are you just going to continue to sit out here and watch TV while forgetting about Allah? Or will you join me in prayer at the mosque?” asked the TBI Agent.

“One doesn’t need the mosque for prayer. The faithful can pray anywhere and at any time,” said the man.

“This is true, but I prefer to have myself surrounded by the faithful,” said the TBI Agent.

“I am not sure if we can permit you,” said the man.

“Then I will pray right here,” said the TBI Agent as he got out a prayer rug and a bottle of water to wash his hands and feet.

“In the middle of the road?” asked the man.

“Allah requires full devotion and does not care where it is given at,” said the TBI Agent as he put down the prayer rug in the middle of the road.

“You are crazy!” exclaimed the man and made a phone call. He spoke for several seconds before hanging up the phone. “All you require is a place for prayer?”

“Just to show my devotion to Allah and Mohamed his prophet,” said the TBI Agent.

“Will you leave one this is complete?” asked the man.

“Yes,” said the TBI Agent, continuing to prepare.

“Come inside and go to that building,” pointed the man at the central mosque and the people already arriving for the midday prayer.

The TBI Agent thanked the man and collected the prayer rug before driving inside and parking near the mosque. It was a nice facility from the outside and Ramzi was already calling the Adhan for the community over the loudspeaker. The TBI Agent brought his prayer rug inside and removed his socks and shoes before washing once again. He found a place in the room unoccupied and prepared for the prayer service.

The Agent leaned forward and touched his head to the floor again as he continued to pray (falsely) in the traditional Islamic prayers. While a practicing Methodist, this was not the first time he had been undercover investigating potentially violent Muslims. While he never practiced the religion, he knew far more about it than most practicing Muslims and had fooled even the best of them during his times undercover. In addition to speaking Arabic fluently, he had a mixed Hispanic background which helped him pass as Middle Eastern several times before.

However, this time was the first he was far out of his jurisdiction. The mosque in New York State was relatively new and in good shape. There was enough floor space for at least two hundred people although there was only about a quarter of that number including the children. The Imam gave a short sermon after the prayers were completed, speaking of the evils of sin and America as a whole while quoting several verses in the Quran. He ending with the threat of eternal pain if they dared stray from the word of Allah and how they should guard against the Great Satan in America. The Agent had heard such rhetoric before in the Middle East out of extremist Imams, but never before in the United States. After everything was done, he rolled up the prayer mat and stood looking at the front of the mosque as if he was deep in thought over something. Eventually the small crowd left the central prayer area and he was alone, still wondering what angle to use to meet the head Imam.

“Can I help you brother?” asked a voice from behind him.

“I am reflecting and looking for guidance,” said the Agent as he turned and saw the Imam.

“Not a bad setting in looking for guidance, but there is more than enough guidance in the Book,” said the Imam. “Are you new here?”

“I am passing through on my travels, bringing the word of Allah and Mohammed his prophet to all,” said the Agent in Arabic after hearing the accent of the Imam.

“You speak Arabic?” he asked.

“Yes, I learned it during my time in the Army,” said the Agent.

“From a…Syrian I believe,” laughed the Imam.

“From Damascus,” laughed the Agent.

“They have a particular dialect in that region,” said the Imam.

“So I have been told,” laughed the Agent.

“And how did you find this place?” asked the Imam.

“I have heard about it from others in New York City. I was told by Imam Kamil of this place. Please forgive the intrusion, but I was curious,” said the Agent.

“I know Kamil, he is well?” asked the Imam.

“Growing sick due to the cancer,” said the Agent, getting vetted in the process. “But his mind is still as sharp as a razor.”

The Imam knew only a few would have known about the New York Imam’s sickness and started to learn the man wasn’t just a casual intruder from the outside. He didn’t know the Agent had also been to that particular mosque already and been vetted by the veteran Imam in the process. “What were you curious about?”

“This place. It is far away from most other places,” said the Agent.

“We like our seclusion. We attempt to get as far away from the temptations of this nation as possible,” said the Imam.

“A wise decision, there are many who fall away from the true path by giving in to the decadent evils of America,” said the Agent.

“So many have fallen away from the faith,” agreed the Imam. “How long are you staying?”

“I should be on my way soon,” said the Agent. “I have a meeting scheduled in Cleveland tomorrow.”

“With Imam Yousef?” asked the Imam.

“No, with a family in a private setting,” said the Agent. “I just stopped in for prayer and guidance.”

“It is nice to see you remembered your faith,” said the Imam.

“For Allah, one will make the time for prayer,” said the Agent.

“It is good to see a young man of true faith,” said the Imam. “Would you care to have a meal before you leave and talk about your problems? Possibly I might be able to give you guidance as well. I may not be as intelligent as Kamil, but perhaps I can offer a different viewpoint.”

“I don’t want to impose,” said the Agent.

“It is no problem. Please, it would honor me to have you as my guest,” said the Imam.

“If you insist, I cannot refuse,” said the Agent as they departed the central area of the mosque. They entered another room where younger men were being instructed in a classroom and continued walking through the back of the room. The conversation stopped once they saw an outsider was with the Imam and all eyes turned to the intruder. They continued into a smaller kitchen where the Imam got out some soup and crackers.

“It is not much, but the midday meal is often simple,” said the Imam.

“It is better to eat with those of the faith rather than others,” said the Agent.

The lunch was spent covering little get to know you items, where the Agent had been, where he was heading, how the faithful was flourishing in America. The wars against Islam in the Middle East, other politics, his family, his teachers in the faith. The Agent knew he was being vetted right then by the answers he was giving as the Imam was probing for validity in his cover. And lucky enough for the Agent, he had practiced it plenty of times before and his cover was all but impenetrable. Eventually the Imam seemed content with who he said he was; a fundamentalist with a sincere desire to spread the words of Allah and Mohammed his prophet. He was the type of individual the small community would actively seek out if the situation presented itself as they had other ideas for the decadent American evils.

“May I have some of those sunflower seeds?” asked the Agent.

“I believe Abdul won’t mind a handful,” chuckled the Imam. “He is addicted to them.”

“I like them myself,” said the Agent as he took the bag from the Imam as well as a Styrofoam coffee cup to spit in.

“And your time in the Army? Why did you get out?” asked the Imam.

“The American Army is on a crusade of killing the faithful just so they can fill their gas tanks. It is nothing more than a continuation of the killing of our people since the first Crusade. I cannot willingly go and fight against those of the Faith and I did not reenlist,” said the Agent.

“And how did you discover the one true faith?” asked the Imam.

“During my time in the Army and during my travels to the land of the faithful. Since I was trained as a linguist, we had to study the Quran. Along the way, my eyes were opened to Allah and his love. Just one day…no never mind,” said the Agent.

“No, please continue,” said the Imam.

“One day I believe I had a vision from by Allah himself. As if it was something straight from the Quran, He opened my eyes and made me see the path of the faithful. I converted that day and my life has been in service to Allah ever since,” said the Agent.

The Imam seemed to understand what he was saying and a slight smile came over his lips. But he caught himself as this man still wasn’t a member of the community. But he was starting to see a younger version of himself in the Agent and was warming up to him rapidly as a member of the faithful.

“So what troubles you?” asked the Imam, getting around to the point.

“It really is no great concern in the big scheme of things, but a problem troubles me and I fear I do not have the solution,” said the Agent.

“Which is?” asked the Imam.

“I am to be married soon,” said the Agent.

“And this troubles you how?” asked the Imam.

“My bride was picked for me by a family in Cleveland. This is why I am traveling there,” said the Agent.

“This is not a bad thing. Many marriages are still arranged in the land of the faithful,” said the Imam.

“I know, but there is a considerable age difference in the two of us,” said the Agent.

“How much are we talking about?” asked the Imam.

“It is rather embarrassing,” said the Agent.

“It cannot be that bad,” said the Imam.

“She is seventeen and I am thirty-two,” said the Agent, whose actual age was closer to thirty seven, but carried younger looks.

“Fifteen years…this is not a big problem,” said the Imam with a laugh.

“I know, but I was raised in this country and I fear I might have been conditioned to think in other terms,” said the Agent. The Agent was good at gaining the confidence of people around him. He was a skilled interrogator and was able to get people to open up to him almost immediately. His time in Guantanamo Bay was spent with several high level terrorists and he had gained valuable information. But being an Army Reservist, his time was limited in those camps although he had made several trips since as a consultant. But the Imam was warming up rapidly to him and he hoped not to push the boundaries too far with this first meeting. But he was surprised at the next part of the conversation.

“The teachings of Mohammed do not give an age on marriage. Some women are in their teens when they marry,” said the Imam.

“I mean, she is to be eighteen in another two months, so I won’t feel as bad then,” said the Agent.

“What is to feel bad about? As long as she is loyal to you and the faith, is age a concern?” asked the Imam.

“I suppose not,” said the Agent.

“I have seen more than a few women in their teens married around here. Obviously we keep such things somewhat hidden, but it does happen with arranged marriages,” said the Imam.

“You have seen seventeen year olds married?” asked the Agent.

“Younger still in the land of the faithful. Again, there is no age in the Quran for marriage,” said the Imam. “In old times, a girl could be nine and be married. As soon as she showed signs of becoming a woman, she was wed off to a man.”

“Nine is kind of young,” laughed the Agent.

“Yes, we are slightly more progressive these days,” laughed the Imam.

“I suppose it is my upbringing in America. You know we have been taught to believe a woman should be of legal age before being wed,” said the Agent.

“Bah, legal age? What is legal except in Allah’s eyes?” asked the Imam.

“And your wife? If I may ask how old she is?” asked the Agent.

“We practice some of the older traditions here,” said the Imam guardedly. But the man in front of him seemed to accept the answer as he nodded politely.

“As in more than one wife?” asked the Agent.

“We cannot legally do such things as it is forbidden in New York,” said the Imam.

“But you are secluded here,” said the Agent.

“Such things might go unnoticed since we are away from other populated areas. We believe in the shari’a,” said the Imam.

“I see,” said the Agent, realizing the answer had been presented by the last statement. The Imam had answered the question without actually saying it and could legally go into a court of law and deny everything while getting away with it.

“But between Allah, you and I, there was something recently that happened. It is has been postponed for a time, but eventually will happen,” said the Imam.

“Oh?” asked the Agent.

“Yes, the daughter of one of the faithful in this congregation was to become my bride. But unforeseen circumstances occurred and have placed these plans on hold. But we should have resolution in due time. She is returning here and the plans will proceed,” said the Imam.

“What happened if I may ask?” asked the Agent.

“She disappeared for some time, but she is to be returned to her family soon,” said the Imam.

“And if she does not?” asked the Agent.

“All things will happen. The laws will see to it,” said the Imam.

“And if she is impure when she returns?” asked the Agent.

“Her father will have his honor restored,” said the Imam simply.

“Do you mean…” started the Agent.

“It means many things to many people,” said the Imam.

“I was in Iraq with the Army before I converted to the faith. I witnessed a father having his honor restored. It was a good thing to see the faithful keeping up with traditions,” said the Agent.

“The faithful must do what the shari’a demands,” said the Imam. “Have you received the guidance you sought?”

“I will think on it more, but for the moment, I believe you have provided me the path I know I should take,” said the Agent.

“We all have problems and they are better to be discussed with others from time to time,” said the Imam.

“Am I welcome here again?” asked the Agent.

“Any time you would like guidance or the opportunity to pray, you are most welcome in our house,” said the Imam.

“I must thank you for your hospitality and your guidance,” said the Agent.

“It is nothing more than the ramblings of an old man,” said the Imam.

“With age comes wisdom,” said the Agent.

“You are wise for your years. With time, you can become a powerful leader in the faith,” said the Imam as they walked towards the door.

“Thank you, but I am only a soldier for Allah at this moment,” said the Agent.

“Allah needs soldiers and generals alike. While you are a soldier now, you could become a wise general in time. Please, return to our home again. We should meet again and talk further,” said the Imam as he shook the hand of the Agent.

“Insha’ Allah, I will return,” said the Agent as he got into the car and departed. He didn’t say anything more in the vehicle since he was unsure of it had been bugged while he was away in the mosque. However, he felt the overwhelming urge to shower right then and would find a hotel as soon as he was out of the local area. He felt extremely dirty from the short time he spent in the mosque and the conversations he had with the Imam. In his brain, he started making out the contact report to his superiors and the Governor and the confirmation on the allegations of misconduct at the mosque. But he would certainly omit the colorful terms he was using in his head to describe the occupants he had met that day.

[Ozarks Lady]

Thanks for not killing off Charlie. I've grown kinda fond of him. LOL

Another great chapter. Thanks for that too.

[Gwynmael]

Whew! Is is bad to say I am happy Cindy was having a nightmare? :O
Didn't see the twist coming of them not being at the right farm!
Excellent chapter Grand, thank you!

[RunAndGun]

Wow!

More Please!?!

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 40



Three days later


“Mister Gray?” asked the State social worker as he answered the door.

“Yes, can I help you?” asked Charlie.

“I’m Lydia Cantu with the state social services. May we come in?” asked the woman. She was accompanied by three others: the local social worker, another woman and a man in a suit.

“I’m Reese Capp,” said the man introducing himself.

“And I’m Carrie Montgomery,” said the second woman.

“Please,” said Charlie as he waved them in.

“Is Mrs. Gray around?” asked Lydia.

“Her last name is actually Chase,” said Charlie.

“Oh. Why is that?” asked Capp.

“Her patients tend to remember names. In a small town like this, a name goes a long way,” said Charlie. “Can I get you anything?”

“No, it appears you were expecting our visit,” said Lydia.

“I was told the State would probably want to interview me and inspect the home,” said Charlie.

“And talk with Cindy. Is she around?” asked Reese.

“Yes, she’s actually doing homework right now,” said Charlie. “Cindy!”

“Coming,” she said and popped out of the study. “Hi.”

“Cindy Grant?” asked Lydia.

“Yes?” said Cindy, not knowing who these people were.

“We’re with the Tennessee Social Services,” said Lydia.

“Okay,” said Cindy in a questioning tone.

‘We’re just here to make sure you are doing okay and getting everything you need,” said Reese.

“Oh, okay,” said Cindy. “Can I finish one little math problem before we start? It’s bugging the life out of me.”

“It would give us time to get Mrs. Chase here,” said Reese. “Go ahead.”

“I’ll conduct the interview with Mrs. Chase when she gets here,” said Montgomery.

“I can call her,” said Charlie as he grabbed his cell phone and dialed the number to her office. “Hey baby…can you come home for a little bit…the State sent social workers…okay, half an hour…love you too…bye.”

“Does she have a hard time getting away from work?” asked Lydia.

“She’s a doctor and in the middle of an appointment,” said Charlie.

“Well, we’d like to go ahead and get some of the interview data out of the way before we start,” said Reese.

“By all means,” said Charlie as he swept his hand towards the living room.

“I’ll go ahead and get the information on Cindy if she’s ready,” said Lydia. Reese took a seat and pulled a leather portfolio out to start taking notes.

“Mister Gray,” he started.

“Please, call me Charlie,” said Charlie.

“I understand you’re the same Charles Gray that used to write fiction novels,” said Reese.

“The very same,” said Charlie.

“I read your books and enjoyed them. I wish you would get back into it,” said Reese.

“I’ve actually got some thoughts on paper for the first time since my first wife died,” said Charlie.

“Really?” asked Reese.

“Just started popping into my head,” said Charlie with a sly grin.

“Good for you,” said Reese. “Now before we start, do you mind doing me a small favor?”

“Of course,” said Charlie.

“I’m not supposed to ask, but would you mind autographing my book?” he asked.

“Sure,” said Charlie with a slight laugh. He took the hardcover book from the man and signed the first page to “Reese” and handed it back over.

“I didn’t put two and two together until we did a quick background check on you,” said Reese, returning the book to his briefcase. “Recent renovations?”

“Yeah, new borders and curtains,” said Charlie.

“I thought I could smell the glue,” said Reese. “Any reason why?”

“Erica got it in her head the house needed redecorating and I got to do the manual labor,” laughed Charlie. “Sometimes women just get the urge you know.”

“I can understand that. Just finished a new kitchen myself last year,” laughed Reese. “Let’s do some identification questions and things like that first. Then if you don’t mind, I’d like to get a tour of the house and property.”

“Okay,” said Charlie as he sat back in the chair and started answering the usual questions.

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

“No, Charlie and Erica have been nothing but supportive of me,” said Cindy.

“We heard the recording you brought from New York. I am so sorry you had to deal with that,” said Lydia.

“Better to have proof than not this time around,” said Cindy and suddenly jumped back to the paper on the desk. “Yes!”

“What?” exclaimed Lydia.

“I finally figured out that problem!” exclaimed Cindy as she wrote out the answer to the equation she was dealing with.

“What are you working on anyway?” asked Lydia.

“Calculus,” said Cindy. “Finished!”

“May I have a look?” asked Lydia.

“Sure,” said Cindy and handed over the paper. Lydia looked it over and saw she was probably in over her head as her job didn’t require complex mathematics. She was far better at reading people and saw Cindy was very intelligent. Handing back over the paper, she continued down her battery of questions.

“How would you describe the living conditions of this place?” asked Lydia.

“I’ve never been on a farm before so everything was kind of new to me. But I didn’t mind it. It’s kind of fun doing new things and even the daily chores are exciting,” said Cindy.

“Daily chores?” asked Lydia.

“Yes, Charlie has me doing some daily chores around here as well as my homework,” said Cindy.

“Daily chores like?” asked Lydia, making some notes.

“The dishes and making sure the house is cleaned up. Well, I kind of volunteered for that one myself. Men are kind of slobs you know,” said Cindy with a grin.

“And Erica doesn’t help out?” asked Lydia.

“Of course she does. But since she’s at the hospital during the day, it kind of bugs me and I start cleaning. I don’t mind it since I’m kind of a neat freak,” said Cindy.

“So general housework is mandated by Charlie?” asked Lydia.

“No, not mandated. I feel…obligated I guess to do something around here. I like doing things and can’t stand sitting still for very long. I more or less bug him to find things for me to do,” said Cindy.

“Anything else you do?” asked Lydia.

“I have cut firewood, help him on his carpentry, we are working on a car as well, help out in the gardens. Things like that,” said Cindy.

“And this is all mandatory for living here?” asked Cindy.

“No, nothing except the dishes,” said Cindy. “I volunteered for the rest.”

“So would you say manual labor is not enforced here?” asked Lydia.

“No, not at all. I want to do something and I tag along with Charlie during the day to help out,” said Cindy.

“And how much time is Erica gone during the day?” asked Lydia.

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

“She leaves around seven, seven-thirty and comes home around five or so,” said Charlie as he heard a car pulling up. “That’s probably her right now.”

He went to the door and found Erica getting ready to put her key in the lock. He greeted her with a kiss and was informed the third party was waiting for her with Cindy. She was introduced to Capp and went on into the study.

“Typical work day?” asked Reese, continuing the line of questions.

“More or less. Some days later rather than sooner since she is a good doctor and wants to make sure her patients get better,” said Charlie.

“Seems like you spend a lot of time alone with Cindy,” observed Reese.

“I wouldn’t say that. There are workers in here three days a week,” said Charlie.

“Workers?” asked Reese.

“Working the farm. Typically I hire out teenagers during the summer. It’s a decent paying job for them for summer work. Around harvest, I get some others to help out since the kids are back in school,” said Charlie.

“The next few questions are going to be somewhat pointed. I hope you can understand,” said Reese.

“Okay,” said Charlie.

“Are there any sexual desires for Cindy?” asked Reese, getting the hard ones out sooner.

“No!” exclaimed Charlie immediately. “Absolutely not. She went through a rough time in New York and I will not add to that!”

“I mean, she is an attractive girl and all,” said Reese.

“She is an attractive girl, but I’m not that kind of person. Erica is my only desire now,” said Charlie.

“I have to ask you know,” said Reese.

“I understand,” said Charlie.

“No sexual advances, comments or unwanted contact between you and Cindy?” asked Reese.

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

“Absolutely not! I would have seen the signals otherwise. Cindy and Charlie have a completely…well I might call it a father daughter relationship, but they aren’t related. I tend to think I can keep Charlie’s mind off something like that,” said Erica with a sly grin.

“Oh, you two are fairly active?” asked Carrie.

“We’re still relatively new to marriage. You know how it is in the first couple of years,” said Erica with a wink.

“Oh I know,” sighed Carrie and followed with a laugh. “But after that, it’s the late shows on TV followed by the occasional encounter.”

“I wouldn’t know, we don’t watch TV,” winked Erica with a grin.

“So nothing, as far as you can tell, is going on between Cindy and Charlie?” asked Carrie.

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

“Absolutely not! Charlie is a good guy!” exclaimed Cindy. “Why ask such a terrible thing?”

“Because you are a pretty girl. And some men would take advantage of that,” said Lydia.

“Not Charlie!” objected Cindy. “That’s the reason I came back here. I knew he wouldn’t do those things and I trust him!”

“You can trust me. If it’s happening, I can help you,” said Lydia.

“It’s not! Believe me, he is in love with Erica and he’s more like…a father I guess,” said Cindy.

“You think of him as a father?” asked Lydia.

“No, I know he isn’t my father, but he has a lot of fatherly qualities in him,” said Cindy.

“Do you know if he and Erica are planning on having children?” asked Lydia.

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

“I’m not sure. I mean, Erica wants kids I think, but we aren’t sure if it’s the right time,” said Charlie.

“Sounds like my wife and I,” said Reese.

“Erica and I have kind of left it up to chance. If it happens, it happens,” said Charlie.

“But she wants a family?” asked Reese.

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

“Yeah, I do want kids. Just the maternal instinct showing out in me,” said Erica with a smile.

“But Charlie doesn’t?” asked Carrie.

“I wouldn’t say doesn’t. He more or less will go with it if I get pregnant,” said Erica.

“More or less?” asked Carrie.

“Well, neither of us believe in abortion so if I happen to get pregnant, we will have a child. He might be a little mad about it, but with what he went through before, I think it will make him happy. Maybe that’s why he isn’t really pushing the issue,” said Erica.

“Pushing what issue?” asked Carrie.

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

“From what I was told, Charlie had a family before and his first wife died while giving childbirth. His daughter died a few days later since she was premature,” said Cindy.

“I didn’t know that,” said Lydia, writing down a few more notes.

“Part of me thinks that’s why he was so ready to take me in. I think he probably…no, that’s stupid,” said Cindy.

“What?” asked Lydia.

“No, nothing,” said Cindy.

“Go ahead and tell me,” said Lydia.

“Well, maybe I replaced his daughter or something. From what Mitch, I mean Sheriff Brewer told me, he grieved for a long time afterwards. Maybe he thought of me as a daughter or something,” said Cindy.

“Do you know how long ago this was?” asked Lydia.

“Seven or eight years I think,” said Cindy.

“Does he talk about it much?” asked Lydia.

“No, not really. From time to time he makes a reference to his past, but he mainly avoids it,” said Cindy.

“Anything else that’s going on?” asked Lydia.

“He and Erica are really good people. I couldn’t have asked for a better foster home to take me in while everything is getting settled in New York,” said Cindy.

“Okay, I’m going to go talk to my friends for a moment,” said Lydia and went to find the other two. They were just getting finished up themselves and meeting near the front door. As planned, they all switched places and went back to the family in question and repeated the same answers to see if there were changes in the story. Generally speaking, stories will change very slightly from person to person when the telling occurs. Minor details are omitted or added in as a person speaks if it’s the truth. But a practiced lie will rarely change from each telling. A lot of times, investigators will ask a more opinionated question to see if the story changes slightly and this happened as they interviews were conducted once again. The three social workers got together once more after the second round of interviews and switched one final time.

“I’m answering the same questions over and over. Is there something you all don’t believe?” asked Erica.

“No, this is just standard questioning,” said Reese.

“But I feel like a criminal!” objected Cindy in the next room.

“We have to make sure everything is okay. We’re just doing our jobs here,” said Lydia. “Trust me, you aren’t a criminal.”

“Sure makes me feel guilty about something,” said Charlie.

“Nothing to worry about. This is the last time, I promise,” said Carrie.

Cindy, Charlie and Erica all let out a sigh at about the same time even though they couldn’t see each other and completed the questioning once again. After everything was said and done, the investigators would compare notes and see just how much the story changed and how much more investigation should be conducted. They wanted to cover all their bases and make sure the home was bulletproof from any outside probes as they had been ordered to by the Governor.

“Did I pass?” asked Cindy.

“It really isn’t a pass or fail thing,” laughed Carrie.

“Sure harder than some tests I’ve done before,” said Cindy.

“Why is it harder?” asked Carrie.

“Well, trying to remember small details. Confusing sometimes,” said Cindy.

“Like acting?” asked Carrie, fishing for information.

“No, just sometimes things happen so fast and you can’t remember everything,” said Cindy. “But bits and pieces come back in like a flash.”

“That’s normal. I wouldn’t expect you to remember everything all at once,” said Carrie. “I’m going to go talk to my friends now.”

“And we get to do this again?” asked Cindy.

“No, this was the last time,” said Carrie as she met the others.

“Initial opinions?” asked Lydia.

“Small inconsistencies in the stories,” said Reese.

“Nothing major though,” said Carrie.

“I think there is more than meets the eye between Charlie and Erica though. Things aren’t adding up,” said Lydia.

“Oh?” asked Reese.

“Like the marriage is not what it seems. We’ll check our notes and dig a bit more after we get done here,” said Lydia. “Do we need the doctor to stick around for the tour?”

“I wouldn’t think so,” said Reese.

“She has patients to attend to,” said Carrie.

“Okay, I’ll let her know and we’ll go ahead and tour the grounds,” said Lydia. She walked off and reappeared a few moments later with Charlie and Cindy in tow. They wanted to see the two of them together to see the interaction and their body language. Many times, what a person did rather than what they said was more telling. So far though, there was no foul play suspected with the exception of the marriage issue between Charlie and Erica. The house was seen first and they saw it was entirely normal, even with a smattering of Erica’s clothing in the closet for good measure to throw them off. Everything was neat, tidy and kept up as it normally should be. The grounds took a bit longer to walk over, but after a half an hour, the investigators figured they had seen all they needed to see. They thanked Charlie for his time and started walking back with the local agent in tow. Once inside the vehicle, they started comparing notes.

“He has a nice woodshop,” said Reese.

“You were practically drooling over it,” laughed Lydia. “It’s a nice house for being older. Overall impressions?”

“Looks to be a good choice. They have never had foster children before, but seems like they are the kind we would typically have no problem with,” said Reese.

“I was thinking the same thing. She is being properly cared for and I doubt anyone would have a problem with that home. Pam, did you make the choice?” asked Lydia.

“No, actually Charlie was the one that found her,” said Pam.

“Right place at the right time. That was helpful for her,” said Lydia.

“Something is up with that marriage, I can feel it,” said Carrie, blurting it out.

“Such as?” asked Lydia.

“It’s too Ozzie and Harriet for my liking,” said Carrie. “No marriage is that perfect.”

“Aren’t you a bit young for Ozzie and Harriet?” laughed Reese.

“My parents made me watch it when I was growing up,” she laughed in return. “But still, the way they acted was like something fairly perfect out of a movie.”

“I got that impression as well, but chalked it up to being somewhat newlyweds,” said Reese.

“Maybe I’m just getting old,” said Lydia. “Pam, anything to add?”

“No,” said the Unicoi County social worker in return. She was waiting to get the team leader off by herself to talk about the case. The remainder of the drive was spent talking over the home and the occupants therein. A consensus was being reached that Charlie and Erica should be investigated further just to make sure everything was okay.

[robb1313]

Grand,

Thanks for the post. Been following for a while on ANOTHER FORUM (ADMIN EDITED- not needed), and got booted.

Thanks, and keep up the great story telling!

[barfife]

thanks for the new chapter.....still hooked and waiting. Good job.

[RunAndGun]

Awesome!

Thank you very much for the chapter!

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 41



After arriving at the office, Lydia and Pam walked into a smaller room while Pam closed the door behind her.

“Something tells me this could get interesting,” said Lydia.

“Your agent was right on the mark. There are some problems with Erica and Charlie’s marriage,” said Pam.

“Oh?” asked Lydia. “I noticed she wasn’t wearing a ring.”

“Plenty of doctors don’t do that,” said Pam. “But that’s not what I mean.”

“Point taken, go on,” said Lydia.

“Listen, I’m going to have to come clean with you on this, but I ask you think on neutral grounds when I tell you what I’m about to tell you,” said Pam.

“Go ahead,” said Lydia.

“Erica and Charlie aren’t married,” said Pam.

“Which is a violation of the foster family rules. Under aged females cannot stay with single males,” said Lydia.

“I know, but you have to know Charlie Gray,” said Pam.

“I’ll have to report this,” said Lydia.

“Charlie lost his family, seven, eight years ago now. Just one of those things so to speak. She died during a premature childbirth and the baby not long after. It hit Charlie pretty hard as it would anyone, but he went into a serious state of depression for several years afterwards. Only recently has he come out of it,” said Pam.

“Which still doesn’t explain why you let a single male have a female living with him,” said Lydia.

“Charlie isn’t a threat to that girl, everyone who knows him knows that, but he took her in when she needed help the most. But more importantly, she helped bring him out of his depression. She gave him a reason to live once again and brought him back to the land of the living. He started dating again, to Erica Chase if I heard the local grapevine correctly, and has gotten back to his former self. Plus, he’s spent a lot of money out of his own pocket to make sure Cindy was okay. Yes, I could have arranged to have her stay with another family, but I’ve known him almost all my life. He’s a good man and would never think to do anything stupid with someone so young,” said Pam.

“People change and she’s an attractive girl,” said Lydia.

“And she is, but Charlie wouldn’t ever let himself come to something like that. He even tried to get the sheriff to find a place for her. They came to the agreement Cindy was better off with him rather than anyplace else,” said Pam.

“And this still doesn’t make me comfortable with the arrangement,” said Pam.

“Cindy latched onto him when she got there. I saw that myself. She trusts him implicitly. She’s had her share of bad luck so far in her life and she is trying to put together the pieces. Charlie is helping out, being the father she never had before. Or at least the father figure she needs right now. She even calls him Uncle Charlie so she even thinks of him as family. She’s a bright young girl with a good head on her shoulders. She thinks of him more like a father figure than of any kind of sexual escapade. She needs something stable in her life right now and Charlie provided the rock she is grasping onto,” said Pam.

“There are plenty of families out there she could have stayed with. You could have contacted my office and asked,” said Lydia.

“Yes, but I saw how those two clicked from the start. It’s almost like fate brought them together. Charlie was in the right place at the right time to get her out of trouble. I don’t want to destroy the fragile safety net she has created with Charlie and take her out of that home. Sure, Charlie is seeing the doctor and they aren’t a family yet. But from what I understand, they are getting along really well and it very well could end up in marriage before long,” said Pam.

“Which still makes the original point stand out. How can an underage female stay with a male?” asked Lydia.

“Because she trusts him when she will trust nobody else. I overlooked that fact since she was in trouble and I knew Charlie would take care of her. He’s a good man, I’ll stake my reputation and my job on it,” said Pam.

“You’re willing to stick your neck out for him?” asked Lydia.

“Absolutely,” said Pam.

“I can’t have her stay with him. I can’t continue to enforce the rules and regulations of the State if I allowed that,” said Lydia.

“Did you not see the bond already? Did you not see how she reacted to him?” asked Pam.

“I did and I was surprised that a foster child took up with a foster parent like that so soon,” said Lydia.

“Just imagine for a moment if it was your own daughter. Would you not want her with someone who would keep her safe and furthermore, someone she trusted?” asked Pam.

“My daughter wouldn’t be in that position to begin with,” said Lydia evasively.

“Well Cindy Grant was put in that situation,” said Pam. “What else did you learn while you were out there?”

“Cindy is being treated well, there is more than enough food and she is being provided more than adequate clothing and shelter. She is continuing her education at his insistence and getting into subjects which I’m lost in. Work and chores are not demanded or required, but she does them anyway. No signs of physical or psychological abuse. There wasn’t a drop of alcohol or illegal drugs in the house I could see. Neither one of them has any kind of criminal record; and he’s even a reserve deputy sheriff with the county. Erica is a doctor in good standing with the hospital and the local community. Both are active in church and from all accounts are upstanding citizens,” said Lydia.

“And what does this tell you?” asked Pam.

“Cindy is being cared for and properly nurtured with continued emotional growth for a girl her age by a good home. All in all, it would be a good foster home if it wasn’t for the marriage thing,” said Lydia.

“And that one rule, that one simple rule that doesn’t take anything else into account is the reason you would pull her?” asked Pam.

“Yes, and it’s a pretty big rule!” Lydia shot at her.

“It’s not a big deal and you know it. I’m sure you’ve been into plenty of foster homes that weren’t even close to that one!” exclaimed Pam.

“Look at the big picture here. If New York was to find out about this, it could unravel the entire deal. We have to hold the moral high ground here. And having a single male running a foster home for a under aged female could destroy everything the State is working for. I might even consider it if they were living under the same roof. Yes, before you ask, if those two were married I’d sign off on that report in a heartbeat,” said Lydia.

“So you’re saying if they were legally married, you wouldn’t have a problem with this?” asked Pam.

“If they were legally married and living under the same roof, yes, it would be just fine,” said Lydia. “But the fact is, they aren’t and I have an issue with it.”

“Even knowing the home has provided for her since she ran out of that horrible situation in New York?” asked Pam.

“Yes, knowing that. I’m trying to look at the big picture here,” said Lydia, who agreed it might be the best place for Cindy, but with only a male in the house, couldn’t be entirely comfortable with it. Plus, there were the rules.

“And she trusts him. She came back to him after going back to New York. She went straight to him and nobody else,” said Pam.

“Listen, I would usually agree with you, but I just can’t condone this,” said Lydia.

“And if he were to get married?” asked Pam.

“We wouldn’t be having this conversation,” said Lydia. She looked at Pam and saw her staring at her. “Wait a second, are you suggesting?”

“Just thinking out loud,” said Pam.

“Okay, I’ll give you that. If he and Erica Chase were married, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” said Lydia.

“And you would have no problems signing off on that report?” asked Pam.

“No, none at all,” said Lydia.

“And no mention of the fact they weren’t married when you investigated?” asked Pam.

“That’s a big if, but I can tell Cindy is comfortable there. And if there is anything she needs, it’s comfort,” said Lydia.

“Can I convince you to sit on that report for twenty-four hours?” asked Pam.

“What are you planning on doing?” asked Lydia.

“Providing proof they are married,” said Pam.

“That’s perjury!” exclaimed Lydia in a whisper.

“I’m sure you’ve seen worse. You saw that so called report from New York. You think there isn’t any perjury in that one?” asked Pam.

“That’s not the point, we are better than them!” exclaimed Lydia.

“Listen, you said yourself if they were married you would have no problems with it. Well, if I have proof they are married, what problem will you have with it?” asked Pam.

“Because we are trying to uphold the law here!” exclaimed Lydia.

“The same way New York was trying to do it? Sticking by rules and regulations and returning that girl to a home where she would be sexually, psychologically and physically abused? Are we going to rip her out of a perfectly good home minus one silly point and throw her into someplace else where she will have to reform a bond with another family? Seriously? Can you not look past the big picture and see she’s perfectly fine where she’s at?” asked Pam.

Lydia stared at the wall for a moment and realized Cindy was in a decent place. A good home which had provided for her since she had run away and continued to do so after she came back. And all in all, she sensed Charlie was a good man although she didn’t know him all that well. He was good to Cindy and anyone with a brain could see as much. And she didn’t care for the fact New York was unwavering in their desire for Cindy to be placed back into the home of her parents even in light of the conversations Cindy had with the New York Agent and her father. She did need someone stable in her life and Charlie was providing that. As well as Erica as Lydia saw she was a positive influence on her as well and they seemed to get along perfectly. But the lingering integrity in her mind kept calling to her and saying it wasn’t a good idea. But sometimes a lie told for good intentions wasn’t a bad thing. New York was lying about the family situation, which made it bad. Her lying kept Cindy safe and that wasn’t a bad thing at all.

“You’ve got twenty-four hours,” said Lydia. “If you haven’t done what you need to by then, I sign the report as is and send it up. And probably pull her out of the home at the same time.”

“Stick close,” said Pam.

“Where are you heading?” asked Lydia.

“To make wedding arrangements,” said Pam.

“How is that possible on such a short notice?” asked Lydia.

“Ever lived in a small town before?” asked Pam.

“No,” said Lydia.

“It’s amazing what you can get done if you know the right people,” said Pam as she closed the door after her. Lydia departed and went back to her team.

“What happened in there?” asked Carrie.

“We talked and Pam is running a few things to ground for us,” said Lydia.

“Are we going to do further investigation?” asked Reese.

“I don’t believe so,” said Lydia.

“Did you ask about the marriage thing?” asked Carrie.

“I did,” said Lydia.

“And?” asked Carrie.

“Some people just have a good marriage,” said Lydia, wondering if she should tell the truth or not. She would wait to see what came up in the situation, even though she was sticking her neck out as well. She knew she was in a bad position, but her heart told her waiting was the right thing to do right then.

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

Charlie was out mowing the front yard when he suddenly got that strange feeling once again. He stopped the mower and turned off the engine before looking around. Something again was out of place and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He started scanning the area out of the corner of his eye, but couldn’t find what it was that was bothering him. He stopped and headed into the house to grab some water and clear his mind. Cindy was in currently working on homework and listening to her iPod (a replacement for the original taken into evidence) and didn’t notice him wandering through the house.

Suddenly he found what had been bothering him. He went into the study and opened his gun case before finding what he wanted near the back. It had been some time since he had fired the rifle in question at anything, but this was as good a time as any. After grabbing the rifle and a box of ammo, he headed back into the living room and informed Cindy of his decision.

“Better cover your ears and stay in this room. Do not leave under any circumstances,” he said as he headed through and went to the upstairs.

“What?! What’s going on?!” said Cindy, suddenly alarmed he was walking through the house with a rifle with a huge scope and a long barrel. And his instructions did little to alleviate the concerns she had.

“Just got a bad feeling and it’s something that needs to be taken care of,” he said and went upstairs. She was curious about what was going on, but didn’t want to follow him. But then again, she had the normal desires to follow him up the stairs. She did as she was told and waited in the living room, nervous about his motivations right then. She heard a shot coming from the second story of the house followed by another shot several seconds later. Her concerns and fears grew as she waited on him to reappear.

Charlie came back down the steps holding the rifle in one hand and the box of ammo in the other. He went back to the gun safe and put everything back up before relocking the safe and heading outside.

“Is something going on that I need to know about?” asked Cindy.

“I have been getting a bad feeling over the past few days and I finally put my finger on it. There are three coyotes that have been stalking the property, probably looking to get into the chicken coops. That’s why they have been staying inside more lately and acting strange,” he said.

“You shot them?!” she demanded.

“I did. It’s either them or the chickens and they won’t go away that easily. I found a dead deer the other day in the back forty and I figure it was probably them,” he said. “I got two out of the three.”

“You could have chased them off!” she protested.

“And they would have been right back. Coyotes don’t just leave because you ask them too,” he said.

“Was it necessary?” she asked.

“Yes, to protect the chickens as well as you. Mainly coyotes won’t bother humans, but if they get desperate enough, they will go after whatever they can find,” he said.

“They would attack me?” she asked.

“Probably not, but you never know,” he said as he went back outside to dispose of the bodies. Grabbing a shovel, he went over to the wood line and found the body of the first. He found his shot had almost immediately dropped the animal in its tracks as he had seen in the scope. The second one had taken off at the sound of the shot, but had stayed out of the woods making his shot easier. It was a moving target, but Charlie was an exceptional shot with the varmint rifle and had managed to dispatch the second coyote before it got out of range. He grabbed the first coyote and walked in the trees towards the second, finding it about a hundred and fifty yards down the tree line. After bringing both inside the woods, he dug out a deeper hole and tossed them both in. While he felt fairly bad about having to shoot them, they were a menace to his chickens and could be harmful to Cindy as she was taking her daily runs. There was plenty of game nearby, but he certainly didn’t want to take the chance of her getting hurt.

Charlie filled the hole back in and headed back towards the house to finish up mowing the yard. He put the shovel back in its rightful place before starting the mower and continuing to finish up where he left off. As he was making another pass, Erica came rolling back up in her vehicle. He pulled the riding mower off to the side and turned off the engine.

“What brings you back so soon?” he asked after wiping the sweat from his forehead and getting a kiss.

“Don’t know. Pam called me up and said I needed to get here soonest,” said Erica.

“She didn’t say anything to me,” said Charlie, checking his cell phone to make sure it hadn’t rung while he was on the mower. They went into the house and found Cindy busy mopping the bathroom. “Anyone call?”

“No,” she said. “Hi Erica. What are you doing back out here?”

“I don’t know,” said Erica, getting out her cell phone and preparing to call Pam. As she was dialing the number, Pam came driving up with Lydia in the passenger seat. After coming to a stop, Lydia came over to them before Pam got out of the vehicle.

“I know about it,” said Lydia without prompting.

“Know about what?” asked Erica.

“Don’t play dumb. You two aren’t legally married,” said Lydia. Erica shot a look that could kill at Pam. “Don’t blame her.”

“How could you tell?” asked Charlie, knowing the gig was up.

“No marriage is that perfect,” said Lydia. “Carrie stumbled on it. Called it Ozzie and Harriet. And Pam and I talked about it, but I figured it out.”

“And now Cindy goes to another home,” said Charlie and a look came over his face.

“No, if you two were legally married, she would be allowed to stay,” said Lydia.

“I’m not sure if we could get married just on this account. We’ve only been dating a little while now,” said Erica.

“No, you don’t understand. Your marriage isn’t legal yet,” said Lydia.

“Excuse me?” asked Charlie.

“Well, your marriage license says you’ve been married for…eight months,” said Lydia after looking at the document through her reading glasses. “But in checking it, I found an error.”

“Marriage license?” asked Charlie with a confused tone and was handed the folder.

“Looks like the county clerk forgot to have you two sign it,” said Lydia. “Had to do some back checking, but I’m glad we caught it in time. So you two weren’t officially married since you never signed it.”

“I don’t understand,” said Charlie, somewhat confused.

“Okay, simple terms, I cannot allow Cindy to live in a household with a single male. However, if this was a family home, I have no problems with it. And since you two have a marriage license…” said Lydia, trailing her voice off and letting the two come to the conclusion.

“It means she can stay here,” said Erica.

“Only if she wants. Cindy are you happy staying here with Charlie and Erica?” asked Lydia.

“Absolutely!” said Cindy.

“Would you rather stay with someone else? Another couple perhaps?” asked Lydia.

“No!” exclaimed Cindy.

“Well, there you have it. A legally wed couple can have foster children,” said Lydia.

“And all this trouble because we forgot to sign our license?” asked Charlie, getting with the story.

“Pretty much,” said Lydia.

“Why?” asked Charlie.

“Because I know she’s in good hands here. You two are doing a dynamite job at keeping her safe for the time being and caring for her under the best circumstances,” said Lydia. “But as a State Agent, I cannot allow her to stay unless she is with a family.”

“Wow honey, I can’t believe we forgot to sign,” said Erica, raising her eyebrows.

“I know, I was just so happy and all,” said Charlie, hamming it up.

“Listen, you two need to act married. Married couples have spats and little things that drive each other up the wall. Act up a little, makes for a more realistic situation when others come in,” said Lydia.

“Again, why?” asked Erica.

“I want the best for Cindy. And it appears the best is right here with you two even though you aren’t technically married. I’ve seen a few common law marriages that have made dynamite foster homes, so this isn’t so different. And plus, I’d like to tell those Yankee…people where they can stick their attitude concerning Cindy,” said Lydia.

“So I can stay as long as Charlie and Erica are married?” asked Cindy.

“Absolutely,” said Lydia. “One condition though, you have to spend the majority of your time out here Erica.”

“I can do that, especially now that we are legally married and all,” said Erica.

“Hold on a moment,” said Cindy and ran over to the grassy area across the road. She came back with some dandelions, daisies and red clover before handed them over to Erica.

“What’s this?” asked Erica.

“I told Charlie I wasn’t too old to be a flower girl,” said Cindy with her cheesy grin.

“We want what’s best for you. I think you’re getting the best care possible right now with these fine folks,” said Lydia.

“So if you two will just sign right there…and right there. Thank you,” said Pam. “I’ll be the witness and sign right here…done. I’ll make sure this gets filed appropriately.”

“Any other inaccuracies?” asked Charlie.

“Nothing that comes to mind immediately,” said Lydia, suddenly a co-conspirator in the perjury case. Pam had planned out that minor point while having the conversation as her own safety net. But as long as Lydia stuck to the story, they would be fine. She knew it was lying, but a lie to help…

“Well Pam, thanks for pointing that out. When do we get a copy?” asked Erica.

“Tomorrow,” said Pam. “And the original that forgot to be filed gets put under a deep paperwork file and forgotten unless it needs to be seen by those that need to see.”

“I can’t thank you enough,” said Charlie.

“Listen, I’m sticking out my neck because I want what’s best for Cindy and the fact she has been taken care of by you from the start. You have probably had plenty of opportunities to take advantage of the situation, but haven’t. My job is to make sure she has the best care possible and continue that trend. I know if it was someone I cared about, I would want them to have the best possible situation. I think Cindy has that right now with the two of you,” said Lydia.

“Again, I can’t thank you enough,” said Charlie.

“Now go fight like married people,” grinned Lydia as they departed.

“Married huh?” asked Erica with a twinkle in her eye.

“Guess the house just got a bit smaller,” said Charlie and got a kiss.

“Do I need to go like take a long walk or something? Give you two newlyweds the house for a while?” asked Cindy with a grin.

“Young lady!” exclaimed Erica. “That’s not very proper!”

“Just saying,” grinned Cindy.

“Actually, she does bring up a valid point. If we get investigated again, it will have to look like you are occupying the house,” said Charlie.

“I already left some clothes over here plus what Annie had around,” said Erica. “I suppose some other things need to be around, like my dirty unmentionables in the laundry.”

“We wouldn’t be staying in the same room,” said Charlie.

“So I would have to give up my house to stay here?” asked Erica.

“No, you wouldn’t have to give up your house,” said Charlie.

“You could always rent it out,” suggested Cindy.

“What?” asked Erica.

“You know, like stay here and rent your house to someone else,” said Cindy.

“And if Charlie and I have problems or something?” asked Erica.

“Well, he can always sleep in the cabin for the night,” suggested Cindy.

“I think your portion of this conversation is over,” suggested Charlie.

“I’m just saying,” said Cindy as she threw up her hands and went back to the house.

“Married huh?” asked Erica with a twinkle once again. Thinking that being married to Charlie wasn’t so bad after all. However, a part of her wished the marriage license was real instead of a decoy. But she was waiting on Charlie to make up his mind. Although he certainly didn’t object when the idea came up.

“Guess so,” he said with a grin.

“Wanna kiss your bride?” she asked.

“Hmm, maybe. Didn’t the lady from social services suggest we should fight more?” he asked with a grin.

“You know what follows a fight don’t you?” she asked.

“Making up?” he said with another grin.

“Nope, a long night on the couch,” Erica laughed.

“And there I was getting my hopes up,” said Charlie.

“I’m not that kind of girl, remember?” she laughed again.

“And I’m to believe you’re all innocent and stuff,” he laughed and pulled her in close.

“I could get used to this,” she said with a dreamy smile.

“What? Me holding you or the marriage thing?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Erica with a smile as they kissed briefly.

“On which question?” he asked.

“It’s my secret and I’m not telling,” said Erica with a wink.

“Uh huh,” he said and got another kiss in return. “And I thought the best marriages were based on communication.”

“Oh they are sweetie. Now if you want to open lines of communication, we can talk about your past girlfriends and I get all mad about it and start bringing up old boyfriends, so on and so forth,” she grinned.

“I suppose it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie,” he said and gave her another kiss.

“But for the record, you’ve got them all beat hands down,” she smiled at him.

The current conversation and situation drummed up some old feelings in him, familiar feelings that he hadn’t felt in a long time. A feeling of contentment, of happiness, of just general satisfaction with his life. He had waited a long time for those feelings, and never thought he might feel them again. One thing was fairly certain though; he knew for a fact he didn’t want them to stop and continued to enjoy the embrace of the fine woman standing in front of him.

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

“You should at least call and talk to him before trying to make the trip,” said the Imam to Mohammed Hassan. They had been fully debriefed and the search for Cindy continued by other members of the community.

“I’m not sure if he would even talk on the phone to me,” said Hassan.

“It is dangerous to make the trip so far out west,” said Abdul.

“I know, but a face to face meeting might be best for me in this situation,” said Hassan.

“We are on the travel watch list. It will not be easy to fly,” said Abdul.

“Why are you so insistent on meeting him in person?” asked the Imam.

“I want to make it clear I will not have him interfering in my family’s affairs. Haseena would possibly go to him when she is in trouble. She and my brother were fairly close,” said Hassan.

“And you feel it is better to see him in person rather than making a phone call?” asked the Imam.

“I need to gauge his reactions and see his face when I tell him what happened if he doesn’t know already,” said Hassan.

“What will this solve?” asked the Imam.

“It will tell me whether she has made it all the way there. Plus, if she was on the run, the easiest thing to do for them administratively is to put her with her real family while the situation resolves itself. That would help us,” said Hassan.

“You believe Tennessee would send her to California?” asked Abdul.

“It’s a possibility,” said Hassan.

“It’s worth a try,” said Abdul, thinking about it for a moment.

“And if she is out there?” asked the Imam.

“I will ask he return my daughter to her rightful place,” said Hassan.

”And if he refuses?” asked the Imam.

“Then I will take her by any means necessary,” said Hassan with resolve.

[RunAndGun]

Awesome stuff Grand!

Thank you so much!

[kaijafon]

Awesome stuff Grand!

Thank you so much!

I'll second that! Very good!!! I can't wait for more!!! thank you SO much!!!

[Ozarks Lady]

I still have a love/hate relashionship with this story. I love the story but still almost dread it when a new chapter comes up. I'm so afraid that something bad is going to happen to good people. LOL Oh my how we get caught up in these fine stories!

Thanks a lot Grand.

[Firestorm]

Grand ! Keep-on keepen-on

Love the story line. personaly I would have taken them ragheads out by now, thats way I don't wright .:rolleyes:

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 42



As promised, TBI Agent John Anderson brought the group together for a full conference about what the investigation had uncovered so far. He had gotten the entire preliminary report finished up and sent around for checking before calling the concerned parties in for a meeting with the Governor and other leadership of the State. Even Mitch and Joel Parker had made their way down for the briefing. As each person filtered into the room, they walked around and introduced themselves to those they didn’t know and caught up with those they did know. Before long, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General came into the room.

“Let’s go ahead and grab our seats. I figure this will be a long briefing,” said the Governor as he made his way towards the head of the table. The remainder of the room followed suit and headed to where they had seats designated. Those that didn’t grabbed available seating on the sides of the room.

Anderson opened the briefing and spoke about the status of the investigation so far into the conduct of the New York State Agencies, the investigation into the community and how Cindy was being treated in the State of Tennessee so far. After completing the brief synopsis, he turned to the main briefers and let them handle their areas of concern. First up was the Social Services.

“First off sir, I’ve got some concerns over this report from New York. It appears to be completely out of whack. Steven Waters didn’t run any kind of investigation as far as we can tell,” said Lydia Cantu to the assembled group.

“What kind of concerns?” asked the Attorney General.

“Mainly inconsistencies,” said Lydia. “Okay, first off, his timeline is completely off. He supposedly was interviewing the other families in this community on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. But we also know he was in Syracuse on Wednesday for a conference, Thursday he was on paid vacation and Friday he was in his office nearly all day drafting the report. We’ve got the time stamp as being completed on Saturday at 4:48 PM although it wasn’t signed and completed for another week.”

“Okay, maybe he wasn’t out there as long as he claimed to be,” said the Attorney General.

“I think he might not have been out there at all,” said Lydia.

“How’s that?” asked the Attorney General.

“Typically when we do interviews with the neighbors and local community, it takes us at least a week but normally longer. It might take a week if everything is picture perfect, but for him to finish up in a day or even two is not really feasible,” said Lydia.

“Okay, I’ll give you that point,” said the Attorney General.

“And secondly, he spent only one day with the parents, with no interviews of the son at all,” said Lydia.

“What’s the standard timeline on that?” asked the Attorney General.

“At least a week of interviews and observing the family environment, especially in cases like this. Plus interviewing the other children,” said Lydia.

“So he wasn’t very thorough,” said the Attorney General.

“I would probably have suspended one of my agents for doing such slipshod work,” said Lydia.

“Okay, so he didn’t do a very good investigation. How is that our concern?” asked the Attorney General.

“We’re leading to that, but we ran a background check on the agent in charge of the investigation. Seems that he made several small deposits into two of his three accounts not long after the report got filed,” said Anderson.

“We did a background check on him? Why?” asked the Attorney General.

“When we think there is something fishy, we conduct a simple query with a financial check as well,” said Anderson.

“Are you saying he was bribed to falsify that report?” asked the Attorney General.

“Evidence points that way,” said Anderson. “Plus he has a history of being investigated for bribes.”

“Possibly he received some inheritance from a dead relative?” asked the Attorney General.

“Marcus, a word please?” asked the Governor who had watched the discussion in silence. They walked out of the conference room to an adjacent office and asked the occupants to leave. “You’ve got a problem with this?”

“I do. This isn’t our problem Governor, this is a New York problem. We’ve got enough problems in this State without having to take care of other State’s issues. I say we send our report back to New York along with the girl and ask them to redo the investigation,” said the Attorney General.

“Just as simple as that?” asked the Governor.

“Should it concern us?” asked the Attorney General.

“That girl asked our State for help when she wasn’t getting any from her home State. You darn right we should look into it!” exclaimed the Governor.

“Which typically isn’t our problem,” said the Attorney General.

“Well, she made it our problem,” said the Governor.

“I understand sir, but we are getting involved in the way another State conducts business,” said the Attorney General. “What would you do if New York was telling us how to conduct investigations?”

“I would be happy if they pointed out such major foul plays to us,” said the Governor.

“The best thing we can do is to send back the report to the New York Attorney General and ask him to intervene. We can’t make a demand of it,” said the Attorney General.

“I understand that, but the girl stays in our State until they have completed their investigation,” said the Governor.

“I’m not sure that’s legal,” said the Attorney General.

“There has to be a way of it being legal,” said the Governor.

“I can have my people check, but I’m not making any promises,” said the Attorney General.

“Anything pop into your mind that this has been done before?” asked the Governor.

“Not that I can recall. I’ve never heard of a case like this, but I’m not saying it hasn’t happened before,” said the Attorney General.

“Well, if it won’t bother your normal schedule, have a few of your folks check into it,” said the Governor.

“Why such the big deal over this?” asked the Attorney General.

“Imagine just for a second it was your daughter…well, you wouldn’t allow your daughter to get into that situation, but say a cousin or a niece. How would you feel then if a case was run as slipshod as this one seems to have been?” asked the Governor.

The Attorney General was quiet as he knew the answer to that question. He had to remember this wasn’t the same pushover they had for the past eight years as this governor had fire in his heart. “I’ll check into it personally.”

“And do me a favor for the moment, stop being so defensive about this and listen to what the folks have to tell you. You seem to be playing devil’s advocate over this whole thing,” said the Governor.

“I’m trying to make sure the State is protected,” said the Attorney General.

“As well as the rights of the citizens,” said the Governor.

“She isn’t by definition a citizen of this State,” said the Attorney General.

“That could be changed pretty quickly,” said the Governor.

“I hope you understand you could open a big can of worms here,” said the Attorney General. He hadn’t gotten the opportunity to get the Governor alone for this conversation yet and had been building his argument.

“That can of worms got opened when that girl contacted a member of the Tennessee law enforcement,” said the Governor.

“Okay, I’ll give you that, but it still isn’t our problem to deal with,” said the Attorney General.

“I just made it our State’s problem. Cindy Grant’s problems are now our problems,” said the Governor.

“I can make a good argument if we need to,” said the Attorney General. “But I’m worried about the political backlash here.”

“Trust me, I know the political winds. They will blow in our favor when and if we need to present our evidence. When this thing hits the press, you can guarantee we need to have our ducks in a row. And you are a big part of that by making sure we are within the law to do so,” said the Governor.

“I’m not entirely certain everything we will be doing will be within the law,” said the Attorney General.

“You were a successful defense attorney before you turned to the prosecution. Everything is within the law,” chuckled the Governor.

“There is that,” said the Attorney General with a laugh.

“Work with these folks here and help them out. If there are irregularities, help them work through the problems,” said the Governor.

“I’ll attempt to be a little more open minded,” said the Attorney General.

“You’ve got to remember we’re a fairly Christian minded State and once this hits the news, there will be a pretty big uproar over it. Especially the Muslim factor. But all in all, we need to make sure our State is protected and make darn sure we come out on top,” said the Governor.

“I’ll do my best slimy defense lawyer routine and look for the legal loopholes,” said the Attorney General.

“No, not the legal loopholes, but the point that we come out in the right. Not only legally right, but morally right and right in the eyes of the nation,” said the Governor.

“You think it will be that big?” asked the Attorney General.

“Probably so,” said the Governor.

“Tennessee is my home, I’ll help keep her out of trouble,” said the Attorney General.

“Let’s go get the rest of the briefing shall we?” asked the Governor and opened the door. They walked back in and sat in their appointed seats and the briefings continued.

“Okay, tell me about this investigator,” said the Attorney General.

“Well, here we have his bank accounts before the supposed investigation. We know he had at least three, but only two that have his name on them. One was set up by his parents a long time ago and apparently he still gets an ‘allowance’ so to speak from his family. That one has about $40,000 or so and he rarely touches it. Another one is his direct deposit from his work and has about fifteen, give or take a little bit. The other we found during our investigation and has another twenty, give or take a few thousand. The official account wasn’t touched, but his family accounts and the unofficial accounts had activity,” said Anderson.

“Roughly totaling around?” asked the Attorney General, making notes.

“He had around $87,000 in the bank. And afterwards, we have several deposits of $9,500 apiece. $10,000 would alert the IRS and he would need to fill out a form, so we can assume he kept the numbers in under that cap. But he didn’t know the limit was lowered to $5,000 for reporting purposes. Anything between five and ten gets reported to the IRS and they keep a record of it. We have four deposits of that much. And also, we have a new vehicle being bought by him, a brand new BMW Z4 convertible, top of the line model. No loans out on the vehicle and no withdrawals from the bank, so we can assume he paid it off in cash. But he didn’t register it under his name, but rather a cousin who can’t drive,” said Anderson.

“Why can’t he drive?” asked the Governor.

“He’s legally blind,” said Anderson. “Glaucoma.”

“And how do we know this Steven Waters is driving it?” asked the Attorney General. Anderson slid over a folder with pictures in it with Waters in the driver’s seat and the top down. “This is him?”

“Taken by an undercover agent,” said Anderson.

“We have an undercover agent in New York?” asked the Attorney General.

“We’ll get to that in a minute,” said Anderson.

“Did a relative die off or something? Maybe he was in a will?” asked the Attorney General. “Just asking the question.”

“Possibly, we haven’t dug into his family background all that much yet,” said Anderson. “But we did find his family is well connected politically and well off financially.”

“On a State or National level?” asked the Governor.

“Both apparently. They are a fairly wealthy family, old New England money that moved into politics a dog’s age ago,” said Anderson.

“Okay, go on,” said the Attorney General.

“So financially, his family was well off anyway and the cash deposits could be just from stock sales, family earnings, that sort of thing, but it’s fairly coincidental it happened not long after this case was closed,” said Anderson.

“Coincidences that can be explained away easily,” said the Attorney General.

“However, we did find something one of our younger agents was able to track down and piece together. Each time he finished a case that was somewhat questionable; he made a deposit of cash in the bank. Never that much, maybe a few thousand, seven thousand was his most, but always within a couple of weeks of finishing the cases. And a few of those cases later came back for further reviews or reinvestigation,” said the Anderson.

“Which means?” asked the Attorney General. He knew where the Agent was leading him, but wanted to hear it. The evidence against the New York agent was fairly damning at this point, but the case against him would still need to come to a final conclusion.

“We think he was being paid off on certain cases. On the cases where the children were later placed under State supervision, he didn’t make a deposit, but on those where the parents were cleared, there were always deposits in the bank. He thought he was being smart in having a separate account, but we figured out it was him even with a fake name,” said the Agent. “We believe he was being paid off by the people he was investigating.”

“But never much?” asked the Attorney General.

“Not until now. But with the testimony of Cindy Grant along with this evidence, it’s leading us to believe he might have been bribed to clear the home for her return,” said the Agent.

“And New York never picked up on this?” asked the Attorney General.

“They investigated him four times, but never could make anything stick. Plus, he’s connected politically. His Uncle is a City Alderman in New York and his cousin is in the State Legislature. Other family members are in the government up there, typically higher profile positions. There is also political influence on the Mother’s side of the family, but we haven’t been able to make anything stick. Long story short, the investigations never went anywhere because of political influence,” said Anderson.

“And the community?” asked the Attorney General.

“Not much can be found I’m afraid. The construction of the community and infrastructure was paid off by an offshore account from the Cayman Islands and in turn from a bank in Abu Dubai and from that point a bank in Riyadh. After that, the trail goes cold. Some creative work on the part of our computer folks helped us trace it that far,” said Anderson.

“Creative as in probably illegal,” said the Attorney General.

“I can’t speak to their methods,” said Anderson.

“Go on,” said the Attorney General, knowing sometimes the methods were not important to the overall result.

“The unofficial leader of the community is the Imam, one Omar Madani. Born in 1964 and raised in Saudi Arabia and emigrated in 1982 to France and a year later to England. Was involved in Afghanistan in 1985 during the Soviet invasion…worked for the British and us at that time as an arms supplier and made several trips in from Pakistan and Iran. Immigrated to the United States in 1987 where he started a mosque in New York City. Became a citizen in 1991 and traveled the country extensively while making several trips to the Middle East and Central Asia. Suspected involvement in Afghanistan on the side of the Taliban during the 90s and popped back up on the radar prior to 9/11 teaching in one of Pakistan’s extremist schools. Passport revoked and he came back to the United States for good in August of 2001. Speaks English, French, Arabic and Pashtu fluently, educated in several high profile universities… Oxford and Yale both pop out where he received high marks. Ground was laid for the community in New York around 2003 with construction complete in 2006. He traveled outside the country again in 2002 with a trip to Saudi Arabia with an additional visit to Oman and Turkmenistan and again in 2005 with a trip to Jordan. The passport also showed stamps from Syria, Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates on the latter trip,” said Anderson.

“All countries around the trouble spots in the world,” said the Attorney General. “Never in the countries with huge problems, but always around the fringe.”

“Exactly. In the case file from the CIA, they believed he made trips into Iraq and Afghanistan during the last two times, but nothing could be proven. He’s been relatively low key since 2005 although the FBI and DHS has case files on him for suspected involvement supporting the insurgency in Afghanistan and Iraq along with suspected ties to extremist groups around the world. Suspected only as nothing can ever be traced directly back to him.”

“Although he worked on our side in the 80s in Afghanistan, he is believed to be anti-American or more specifically Anti-Western, but has never made public statements to that effect and keeps his work low key. Also believed to be relatively wealthy, but he keeps the majority of his funds offshore where we are having a hard time tracing them. Pays his taxes on time, keeps out of the public eye and never even a traffic ticket. Bout our undercover Agent said he was making some pretty fiery rhetoric about America and the sinful ways we have. The official psychologist report says he’s a bit of an egotist and believes himself to be untraceable in his actions. But other than the official reports, we have almost nothing on him,” said Anderson.

“And the community?” asked the Attorney General.

“We believe there are currently twenty to thirty families residing in the community along with maybe two or three dozen single males. Again, they maintain a low profile, but several have popped up on the FBI radar scope from time to time. The families are from across the United States and nothing seems to be binding them together except for religion,” said Anderson.

“Anyone else?” asked the Attorney General.

“Possibly a haven for immigrants coming into the country. He has sponsored several student visas from predominantly Islamic countries. While they haven’t gotten into any major trouble, the students tend to recite fairly hateful anti-American rhetoric with one even reciting the fatwa’s of Osama Bin Laden. That one got into a minor scrape with the law and was pushed out of the country when Madani withdrew his sponsorship of his visa,” said Anderson.

“So is he on our side or not?” asked the Attorney General.

“He’s your classic Teflon guy, nothing is sticking to him. Most of the students he’s sponsored have gone back to their nations although one or two have popped up since then and one is currently in Guantanamo Bay, captured in Afghanistan in 2009. Otherwise, the CIA and the FBI have a pretty extensive case file on him, but nothing substantial to bring him into court on conspiracy or anything mildly illegal,” said Anderson.

“Your gut feeling?” asked the Attorney General.

“He’s a player, but a low key player. Does just enough behind the scenes to get the ball rolling and steps back into the shadows so he can’t claim complicity with anything that happens. If I had to wager a guess, he paid off Waters with cash so the problem would go away. Cindy Grant’s testimony is entirely circumstantial and without any supporting evidence save the recording she brought out would be dismissed by a competent judge. But since we are digging, we are starting to see additional factors coming into play like the deposits in the bank, the new car and additional circumstantial evidence in his past case history. Supposedly he was moved from New York City to get him away from the area after the last investigation turned up nothing. Nothing would ever stick on him and the matter dropped. But the State probably figured they would send him off somewhere else instead of in his usual network,” said Anderson.

“And after he moved?” asked the Attorney General.

“Nothing. No complaints, no further deposits, no nothing until now. Maybe the move scared him straight and he backed away from the corruption for a while. But if you wave six figure bribes under anyone’s nose, they will think pretty hard on it,” said Anderson.

“Enough money for someone to look the opposite way, but not enough to raise all kinds of alarms unless they were specifically looking in that direction. What about his supposed investigation?” asked the Attorney General.

“Horrible to say the least and a lot of holes in his investigation notes,” said Anderson.

“Such as?” asked the Attorney General.

“Supposedly he spent a week investigating the family and the local environment, right? Says the investigation started on Monday and ended on Friday. Now that’s a pretty short time for an investigation into the allegations so complex, but maybe he’s good at his job. But he put in his report he was out there all week which we know he wasn’t,” said Anderson.

“How do we know?” asked the Attorney General.

“On Thursday he was in Buffalo for a conference and on Wednesday he was on sick leave according to the New York State pay agencies. Which gave him Monday, Tuesday and Friday to interview witnesses, complete his report and get it handed in,” said Anderson. “We have the time stamps on the report, but it wasn’t signed until a week later as we reported.”

“Possibly he was working on it through the sick day?” asked the Attorney General.

“Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. But we also show the some of the times for the interviews on Thursday. Now he might be amazing, but he surely can’t be in two places at once,” said the Agent.

“Okay, stupid mistake on his part,” said the Attorney General. “Go on.”

“So we are looking at only three days of interviews, although his report says he was out there the entire next week. We know that’s a lie since he was logged on to his computer in Rochester almost every day that next week,” said Anderson.

“How do we know that?” asked the Governor.

“We hacked into the New York State networks,” said another Agent from the outer chairs in the room.

“Computer crimes are fairly serious,” said the Attorney General.

“And that’s nothing the federal government doesn’t do every single day of the year,” said the Agent.

“Which still doesn’t make it right,” said the Attorney General. He was playing ball, but trying to protect his law enforcement agencies as well.

“We hired out contractors to do it for us,” said Anderson.

“Contractors?” asked the Attorney General.

“We have hackers on call that do things like this for us,” said the other Agent.

“Which will probably turn on us given the right amount of money,” said the Attorney General.

“We have enough dirt on them to say otherwise sir,” said Anderson.

“Go on,” said the Attorney General after making more notes to look at the investigative techniques used and how they could cover them.

“So the entire next week he was in the office although supposedly he made several trips to the community for additional interviews,” said Anderson.

“Maybe he did them by phone,” suggested the Attorney General.

“His notes suggest otherwise as well as giving details of the home environment,” said Lydia, answering a question she knew about.

“Okay, so he is not that smart in covering his tracks,” said the Attorney General.

“He probably got complacent since the last investigations didn’t turn up anything. He probably figured this would go away and he would be back to work with little problems. Let’s face it, his report is fairly rock solid if you take out the recordings brought out by Cindy. It looks like one we might even produce, but the fact of the recordings and the digging by the TBI makes it completely unethical,” said Lydia.

“So we have an investigation that wasn’t conducted properly and New York not willing to engage on fixing the situation. The New York State Police aren’t playing ball and the Governor of New York is making threats to our State. What’s the outcome of all this?” asked the Attorney General.

“There are a couple of other small factors,” said Anderson.

“Such as?” asked the Governor.

“It seems that one Harley Waters, cousin of Steven Waters is on the budget committee that oversees the funding of the New York State Police, possible political influence there trying to clean up for his cousin. And the Waters family donated heavily to the election campaign of the current Governor. There could be pressure there as well,” said Anderson.