by Robert Boren
Chief Ramsey glanced at him, then at Kyle and Jason.
“I had an interesting conference call this morning,” he said. “Very interesting.”
“Here it comes,” Holly said. “Heard about it. I was supposed to be invited.”
“I decided to take it alone,” Chief Ramsey said. “Hope you don’t mind.”
“I do mind, but you don’t care, so cut the crap,” Holly said. “Get on with it. I don’t have all day.”
The chief glanced at Kyle and Jason with a twinkle in his eyes, and then smiled. “The conference call was with Kip Hendrix and Assistant US Attorney General Casey.” Everybody except Commissioner Holly fidgeted in their seats.
“Those creeps are gonna apply pressure on us to help them spin the terror attack yesterday,” Peterson said.
“Of course,” Chief Ramsey said.
Holly shot an angry glance at Peterson and Ramsey. “And I take it you resisted?”
“How’d you guess?” the chief asked, twinkle back in his eyes.
“Excuse me, sir, but why did you ask my officers to join the meeting?” Hank Jeffers asked, looking like he wanted to take the question back as soon as it left his lips. He was not much older than Kyle and Jason, with blonde hair in an Air Force crew cut.
“I’m getting to that, Hank,” the chief said. “I needed them here for two reasons. First, I wanted to get a reading on the Dripping Springs Sheriff. You two know him pretty well, don’t you?”
“Yes sir,” Jason said. “Good man.”
“How does he do under pressure?” the chief asked.
“He’s pretty steady and really stubborn,” Kyle said. “Why?”
“He has something that AG’s office wants. Video footage of what happened during the attack yesterday, from the parking lot and inside the store.”
“Oh,” Kyle said. “They want to suppress it?”
“Yes, because it doesn’t fit their narrative. This can’t be a terror attack. It especially can’t be an Islamist terror attack. They want it to be an event that bolsters support for stricter gun control, instead of adding fuel to the open and concealed carry movement.”
“Now wait just a minute,” Commissioner Holly said. “That’s a totally one-sided political view of the situation. There’s a lot at stake here. We have real problems in the Muslim community over the rhetoric that’s being aired these days. Not to mention the carnage caused by your second amendment.”
“I’ll take your concerns under advisement. Want to give me a memo? I have a nice round file to put it in, right next to my desk.”
Kyle snickered, and Holly glared at him. “Better watch it, officer, or you’ll find yourself out of a job.”
“Not as long as I’m chief, Holly. Now shut up or leave the room.”
“I can have you fired.”
“Yeah, if you can get the rest of the commissioners to agree,” Ramsey said. “Otherwise, stuff it.”
“Why don’t you just bring the video here and put it in the evidence locker?” Hank asked.
“Simple,” Assistant Chief Peterson said. “Chief Ramsey is an employee of Austin, and can be ordered to follow instructions from the nutcases running this city. The Sheriff of Dripping Springs is elected. He doesn’t have to do jack for these idiots.”
“Yes, that’s right,” Chief Ramsey said.
“The lack of respect in this room is appalling,” Commissioner Holly said. “If this is being requested by the Assistant to the Attorney General, it’s coming from the White House.”
Chief Ramsey laughed. “You don’t think I know that?”
“You don’t respect the President?”
“I respect the office. I don’t respect the man, and by the way, he serves the citizens, not the other way around. Coddling terrorists in the name of diversity is not in the interest of the citizens of Texas.”
“Here here,” Peterson said. Hank Jeffers nodded in agreement.
“So, that brings us to the other reason these two officers are here. I got a request from Kip Hendrix. He wants to make a deal. You two don’t talk publicly about what happened at the Superstore, and you’ll be promoted. I refused to allow that. I want to be totally up front with you both on that, so you’ll understand when Hendrix sends one of his operatives to tell you about how I’m holding you back.”
“Oh, please,” Holly said, rolling his eyes.
“Let me add that you both have been identified as high-potential employees,” Chief Ramsey said, “and you are on a faster track towards promotion than most officers of your rank. Please don’t tell your fellow officers this.”
Kyle and Jason nodded at each other, then looked back at the chief.
“We agree sir,” Kyle said.
“Good. I’ve also talked to the Police Union about Hendrix’s attempt to bully the department. If he can’t draw you guys with honey, he might try something a little less sweet. If he does that, the Union will back you and go public with the whole thing. I’ll do the same.”
“There were a lot of other witnesses there,” Jason said.
“Yes, but they were a mixture of rednecks, Superstore workers, and just plain folks, many of them senior citizens. Idiots like Kip Hendrix always think they can just ignore people like that.”
“Now just a minute, Chief…” Holly said. Ramsey held up his hand.
“Save it,” he said.
“Thanks for looking out for us, sir,” Jason said.
“Yeah, thanks,” Kyle said.
“Okay, you men are free to go. If you are approached by anybody in the Austin City government outside of this department, let me know right away. Understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Jason said.
“Yes sir, and thanks, Chief,” Kyle said. They got up to leave the room.
“I think we need a follow-up meeting, with all of us,” Commissioner Holly said. “Except the officers, of course.”
“Sure, I’ll schedule it at my convenience,” Chief Ramsey said, “and I’m inviting all the members of the police commission.”
“I’m the rep for this quarter,” Holly said.
“So you are,” Chief Ramsey said. He got up and walked out of the room without speaking another word.
Chapter 5 – Strategy Call
Commissioner Holly walked into Kip Hendrix’s office. “We need to talk.”
Hendrix looked up from his paper. “Why did you miss that conference call this morning?”
“Ramsey made sure I didn’t get notified,” he said, sitting on a chair facing the large oak desk. “We need to do something about that redneck son of a bitch.”
“All in good time. He tell you what the gist was?”
“Yeah, but I had to wade through the right-wing garbage to get it. Felt like I needed a shower afterwards.”
Hendrix chuckled. “He thinks he’s immune to pressure from the administration on this case.”
“I wouldn’t take it so lightly,” Holly said. “A big majority of people in this state agree with Ramsey on things like gun control, Sharia courts, and hate speech laws. If we nudge him and he goes public, we’ll lose control of the situation. The administration will take revenge on Texas.”
“You act as if that would bother me,” Hendrix said. “Things will get worse around here, and the right will be blamed. Not such a bad thing for us.”
“And what if less Federal money isn’t looked at as a bad thing by the people?” Holly asked.
“You worry too much. People believe what we tell them most of the time. As long as we aren’t taking away their favorite TV shows or their booze, they lose interest real fast.”
“Unless they have a trouble maker like Ramsey around to explain things to them,” Holly said.
“We can tell those two officers that Ramsey is standing in the way of promotions for them, for political reasons.”
“Ramsey already told them that,” Holly said.
“And?”
“And they don’t really care,” Holly said. “Austin has made a lot of prog
ress over the last fifty years, but there are still way too many reactionaries around, and now they have access to information like never before. Internet. Conservative news outlets. Hell, cell phone video. I’m surprised none of that has shown up from the Superstore attack.”
Hendrix leaned back in his chair, thinking. “Maybe the best thing for us to do is throw up our hands and let the story come out. We’ll lose the new Islamic Center, but there will be others soon enough. There were obviously bad apples at the first one, all the way into the leadership.”
“I don’t get that,” Holly said. “You say Joram was a participant. It doesn’t sound like him. Are you sure he wasn’t there trying to stop it?”
Kip sighed. “Yeah, I’m sure. I talked to his brother right before he flew back to Syria. Joram thought that he could scare the citizenry of this state by pulling off the attack. They were supposed to hit fast and leave. They only planned to kill a couple of seniors. No big loss there. Hell, they even went in with their faces covered.”
“Not smart to push Texans around. Why did he want to scare them?”
“He was very upset by the growing support for the religious courts ban. He wanted his community ruled by Sharia. Believed it was his people’s right. I don’t disagree. Who are we to tell them how to live?”
“That doesn’t play well anywhere in this state, you know,” Holly said. “The damn feminists don’t even like it, and they’re usually on our side.”
“They don’t have to live by it themselves, they just have to tolerate it in their communities. People need to open their minds. Diversity makes all of us better, and we’ve got a debt to pay to the world for our overbearing actions in the past. It’s time the American middle class pays for its sins.”
“That’s a hard sell just about anywhere in this country,” Holly said. “So this whole thing blew up in Joram’s face. How could he let that happen? He was a smart guy.”
“God damn Texas gun laws,” Hendrix said with disgust. “Or lack thereof. Joram’s brother said he was shot right at the beginning by a young housewife. Can you imagine? Our carry laws have turned this state into the frigging wild west.”
“Have you seen the video yet?”
“No, that stupid piss-ant sheriff in Dripping Springs is sitting on it. Got it locked up in his safe. Of course as soon as the store found out who wanted it, they stonewalled us too.”
“So what do we do?” Holly asked.
“If we didn’t have the administration breathing down our necks, I’d just forget this one. Let it play out, then let the people forget about it by the time the next football game rolls around.”
“The administration won’t let us get away with that, will they?”
Hendrix leaned forward in his chair. “I need to think on this one for a while. It’s probably best for the administration to drop it. It’s too late to get a lid on it now. The news is coming out whether we like it or not. I suppose they could play up the angle of where the shooter’s guns came from. Ask for tighter controls again. Keep chipping at it, like we have been.”
“They had AK-47s,” Holly said. “You don’t just walk into the corner gun store and pick one of those up.”
Kip sighed. “Dammit. All right, I’ll keep thinking, then. I might have to talk to you again. Might be late.”
“No problem,” Holly said, getting up to leave. “Talk to you later.”
Chapter 6 – News Spin
“What time they coming over?” Jason asked, watching Carrie mix salad at the kitchen counter.
“About an hour. Got enough beer?”
“Yeah, we’re good. She’s really interested in Kyle?”
“It’s only a first date, and it’s a double. Might not go beyond tonight, you know. Why, you disapprove?”
“No, I think it would be great for Kyle, but you know how he gets. Kate doesn’t look like somebody who would put up with his nonsense.”
Carrie laughed. “Yeah, maybe she’ll lay him out like she did to the whiner.”
“The whiner is trying to press charges, by the way,” Jason said. “She’s already talked to the sheriff’s office.”
“So we push back,” Carrie said. “She put both of us in danger.”
“Oh, the sheriff isn’t giving her the time of day,” Jason said. “And he’s a tough old bird. She pushed him a little too hard. Bad idea.”
“It was a bad idea to push us,” Carrie said.
“So it would appear,” Jason said, walking behind her, putting his arms around her waist, his hands resting on her baby bump. “I was so worried about you. Had bad dreams about it last night.”
She paused, leaning back against him. “I know, honey. I was worried about you too, when the gunfire was going on outside.”
“There were a couple scary moments,” Jason said.
“I heard that the shooters were from that Islamic Center over on Grand Ave.”
“Yep,” he said. “This is a hard problem. Not all of these people are bad. Not by a long shot. Telling the good from the bad is a real challenge.”
“You think we should let them set up centers like that, don’t you?”
“Hey, it’s a free country.”
“Yes, it is,” she said. “Now let go of me so I can get back to work.”
He backed up and gave her a swat on the butt.
“Daddy, don’t spank mommy!” Chelsea said, walking into the kitchen. “I’m hungry.”
“It’s too close to dinner time, sweet pea,” Jason said. “Want to help me set up the back yard?”
“Oh, I guess so,” she said, pouty lips coming out.
“You two have fun,” Carrie said.
Jason opened the sliding door onto the deck and took a breath of fresh air. The wind flowed through the old oaks that dotted his two-acre lot. It was all his, and he loved it.
“What are you going to do, daddy?”
“Well, I need to get the tongs and the spatula out and bring them to the barbeque,” Jason said. “You want to carry the tongs?”
“Okay,” she said, an earnest look on her little face. He took the implements out of the cabinet and handed the tongs to Chelsea.
“Make sure you don’t drop them, sweetie,” Jason said. He stood watching her as she walked to the barbecue carefully, setting the tongs on the counter which the grill was built into. There was a pang of doubt and fear growing in him. She could have been at the store yesterday. The thought terrified him.
“I’m going back in the house,” Chelsea said.
“Okay, sweet pea. Don’t bug mommy about food.” She skipped through the back door.
Kyle and Kate showed up on time, separately, meeting on the front walkway.
“Mommy, they’re here!” Chelsea shouted.
“I’m coming,” Carrie said as she walked to the door and opened it. “You two come together?”
“Yeah, from the sidewalk,” Kyle said, handing her flowers.
“Thanks, Kyle. Always the gentleman. Well, almost anyway.”
“Now be nice,” he said, holding the door for Kate.
“So nice to see you again, Kate.”
“Likewise,” she said. “Can I help with anything?”
“I’ve got it covered, but you can keep me company in the kitchen while Kyle and Jason do their man-love thing.”
“That didn’t sound very good,” Kyle said.
“Oh, you know what I meant, so get out there. Jason has the beer all iced up.”
Kyle gave her a sheepish look and went out.
“So how did he find you?” Carrie asked Kate as they walked into the kitchen.
“You know how cops are,” Kate said. “I’m a little apprehensive about this, but I was too interested to say no.”
“Apprehensive?”
“About falling for a cop,” she said.
“It’s not so bad,” Carrie said.
“Don’t you worry about Jason?”
“Some,” Carrie said. “He knows how to take care of himself.”
; “So do you, from what I saw.”
“Yeah, my dad taught me well growing up. He was a cop too.”
“Oh, I get it,” Kate said. “Family tradition. I suppose Jason’s dad was a cop too?”
“How’d you guess?” Carrie finished with the salad and slid it into the fridge. “Well, I’m done in here. Let’s go out and get your courtship started.”
“Carrie!” Kate said, face turning red.
Carrie chuckled. “We kid each other a lot, in case you haven’t noticed. C’mon.”
The two women walked through the sliding door to the deck, where Kyle was sitting, Chelsea on his lap. Jason was scrubbing the barbeque grill with a wire brush.
“Hi, mommy,” Chelsea said. “Uncle Kyle said you were gonna get me a pony when I turn five.”
“Gee, thanks a lot, Uncle Kyle,” Carrie said. She glanced at Kate. “Looks like my daughter has your seat.”
Kyle laughed. “There’s room for both of them.”
“In your dreams,” Kate said. “Is next to you good enough?”
“Of course,” Kyle said.
“Want a beer?” Jason asked.
“I’ll take one, but make it a light,” Carrie said, patting her bump.
“Sure, why not, and not light for me,” Kate said.
Jason fetched them from the ice chest, then sat next to Carrie, across the table from Kyle, Chelsea, and Kate. He slid the beers to the women.
“So Kyle, how did you find Kate?” Carrie asked.
“I used my superior detective skills,” he said. “I hope you don’t mind, Kate.”
She sighed. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
Jason snickered. “She’ll be a tough nut to crack.”
“She hasn’t witnessed the full impact of my charming personality yet,” Kyle said.
“That’s why she’s still here,” Carrie said. She looked at Kate and giggled.
“I’m gonna go watch TV,” Chelsea said.
“Okay, sweetie,” Jason said. “I’ll call you when dinner is ready. You want a hot dog, right?”
She shook her head yes and scampered back into the house.
“She’s just a doll,” Kate said.
“Yes, she is,” Jason said. “They change your life around.”
“That’s for sure,” Carrie said. “And we went and did it again. Must be nuts.”
