Chapter 156

1845 hours, local time
Saturday, 9 August, 2014
The Saunders Residence
Owensboro, Kentucky

“So, we’re being drafted as the local county commission? This is a temporary expedient, I’m told. You’re organizing this body, but you’re not sitting on it yourself, is that right? What am I missing here? What’s your angle in this whole situation, Reverend Clarke, Prophet of God? You claim that all existing religions are bad and you have lots of good ideas for government ... you’ve helped to destroy the Quinlan Gang, mind you, which made a real difference, no doubt,” one of the local bigwigs asked now, both his wife and he glaring at me for some reason.

“No, actually, I don’t need traitors to help out with this business at all. Mr. and Mrs. Van Doren, don’t feign innocence. Nobody is fooled or duped by your act. The Prophet here has informed me that you’ve been taking bribes from the Peterman and Quinlan gangs, of all people. Look, Gerald ... we were close friends once, so for the sake of that friendship, I’ll let you choose. Face criminal charges for espionage and sabotage or cut the Gordian knot with a considerably more ... efficient solution,” Bud Saunders confronted the former friends who had betrayed him and worse,

“What solution is that?” Gerald Van Doren demanded now, while his wife, Astrid, nervously lit her cigarette now.

I slammed my fist down on the supper table and then rose, lifting my staff to smite both of them dead. They slumped instantly in their chairs, eye sockets burned out just like the gangsters yesterday, as some deputies collected their remains. They no doubt resented that we had destroyed their confederates, who they hoped would reward them with more wealth and power. I suspected myself that Peterman, Quinlan, and the other thugs would never trust someone willing to sell their community and neighbors out like that. No one liked or trusted traitors, even those who enticed them.

“Good riddance, and no, I won’t resurrect treasonous, duplicitous scum like those two. Relax. I saved you a money on a criminal trial for the Van Dorens. It will cost you enough to jail and prosecute the criminals we helped you quell this morning. They will definitely have to be dealt with, no question of that, and that won’t come cheap. You will need to deputize some civilians as an auxiliary police force, call them ‘constables,’ if you wish.

“You need to better flesh out your courts of law, adding more judges, prosecutors, public defenders, bailiffs, court reporters, clerks, etc. It should be reorganized as a Free City-State for now, just like Louisville and hopefully others will be, pending a larger scale of government that might be practical in the future. For now, the Free City-State will replace county, state, and municipal authorities.

“Instead of a county commission, there will be a Metropolitan Council like that of Louisville, with sixteen members in this case. There should be a Mayor, who can handle those executive functions that you probably wouldn’t wish to divert you from your law enforcement duties. You need an attorney general, a treasurer, a secretary of state, an assessor, a coroner, and a secretary of war. You need a militia, of course, to defend your territory and let you lawmen focus on restoring and preserving law and order.

“These first officials will be appointed, though elections could happen in time. You should handpick them now, so you are the real leader of this place in the ultimate sense. I presume that the others at this table are the ones who you trust with this kind of power. Make your selections tonight. Just remember that you’ll be the one living with them, not me. I’ll be long gone by then,” I observed while sipping some bourbon and Coke with my fried chicken dinner.

“Okay, then. Ben Donaldson as Mayor. He’s a former state senator. He seems to be a good fit for the job. Some might object to a black mayor, but they suck a milkshake out of my ugly ass! His wife, Nadia, is Romanian, believe it or not. She would make a great First Lady for Owensboro. She teaches at both high school and collegiate levels and is fluent in four languages: her native dialect of Wallachian Romanian; Russian, German, and English. They now have seven children, so are invested in saving this community, though they are all teenagers now. Four daughters and three sons, in fact.

“The councilors are: Nathan Gould, Ernie Adamson, Yancey Cole, Stuart Robinson, Michelle Latham, Cory Latham, who’s Michelle’s first cousin, in case you wondered, Dorothy Black, Oscar Galtieri, Tammy Owens, Ichabod Traficant, Michael Nichols, Leonard Welch, Kendra Sutton, Kevin Chang, Andrew Ives, and Serena Toscanini. The city attorney is Amy Muldoon, the city treasurer is Roland Ward, the secretary of state is Jerry Dark, the assessor is Bruce Adcock, the coroner is Dr. Indra Narain, and the secretary of war is retired Colonel Lowell Gaines. I think that is a decent start at least,” Bud declared to my relief, as he was clearly leaving the crisis focus mentality and thinking of the future.