Chapter 6

Come early spring, the weather was clearing and warming. It was an otherwise beautiful day when a large sedan with Illinois plates drove slowly by the front of our new Colby County Law Enforcement Center and opened fire with automatic weapons, peppering the front of the building and cracking up most of the aluminum and glass front. The windows were all bulletproof and shatterproof, but not crackproof.

What the shooters didn’t see was four deputies on the side of the building drying their vehicles after a couple of trustees had just washed them. Two of the three men in the vehicle were killed by those deputies and the car ran into a tree at the end of the driveway. The third was questioned and just conscious enough to give some pertinent information before he too passed away.

“Cross is going to kill you, assholes,” were his dying words. Frank called and told the ambulances to slow down.

The investigation conducted by soon to be Corporal Shirley proved them to be employees of Cross’s enterprises and driving a vehicle which was stolen from a business in Quincy, Illinois, just that morning.

We will always remember the day of the drive-by shooting of our workplace, as it was the eve of Lori and Charlie’s little wedding. There were at least ten federal agents at the reception, since they’d be there a few more days investigating the shoot-out. It was a pretty big deal and even hit the national news.

The next day, at noon, she said, “I do.”

About a minute later, I said, “I do.”

I then had her Uncle Roger’s explicit permission to kiss his niece. I had no idea Robert’s brother was a preacher. I thought, like his other one, they were all lawyers. After the service, as we were signing documents, I asked him about it.

“Well, Charlie, our mother and father wanted one of us to have an honest job. Tag, I’m it.”

Robert and his other brother Raymond heard the conversation and broke out in laughter that could be heard outside the building, I’m sure.

The reception in Liberty City was not only catered, thank you, Robert, but secured by three different law enforcement agencies, not the least of which was the state police. Liberty City, my deputies, and the state troopers all showed up in uniform, most of them working while they were mingling. We didn’t expect any problems since it had only been a day since the drive-by. Retaliation takes planning, and planning takes time. We figured we had a few days, anyway, so we tried to have a good time. Frank made sure to let me know I was off duty for the duration and not to even think about work.

Then Major Grant Wilson, troop commander of our local state police office took Lori, Frank, and me aside and let us know the good news. Cross had been arrested that morning on federal racketeering charges and was in the custody of the United States Marshal Service. We wouldn’t have to worry about him for a while, but there were people above him, and time might show us they didn’t care for what happened. They may just let it go and fry bigger fish. We just didn’t know.

There was no more nefarious activity for quite a while in Colby County. We had a new high school quarterback coming up next year, most assuredly, but he came from a good home and was a good kid. The only jerks were going to be playing defense, and they get taken care of internally for the most part.

Marge got what she wanted, Lori letting me know after work one evening. “I saw the doctor today, hon. She thinks we might want to go shopping for furniture for the nursery now.”

That was the last coherent thought either of us had until the next morning. Making love to the mother of your children is really fun.