Chapter 17

The seafood restaurant was not very crowded that night and the four men had a nice table in the corner where they could talk without being overheard. It was a nice restaurant with the obligatory plaster swordfish hung on the wall. The tables were real wood stained a dark brown. Unlike a lot of places, this one had actual cloth napkins and the silverware was set out in proper place settings.

The two cops felt a little out of place there. They were dressed in their normal uniform, complete with nightsticks and guns. Ed and Leroy were the only ones in the restaurant that were not wearing suit coats, although neither one of them seemed to notice. Looking over the menu, Jay said, “This place is kind of expensive.”

His partner nodded his head in agreement. He reached for his wallet to see how much money he had, when Ed stopped him. “Put your wallet away. It’s our treat.”

The two cops exchanged glances, unsure what to do. Hoping to let the men know that they were really free to order what they wanted, Leroy asked, “Do you guys feel like the lobster tonight?”

Harry glanced at the menu and noticed that the price for the lobster was listed as Market Price. Even the low end item on the menu was expensive. Not for the first time, he wished that they had suggested a different place to eat. Mumbling, he said, “It all looks good.”

Ed leaned across the table and said, “I’m authorized to spend a lot for dinner tonight. You guys order what you want. There’s no way that we can spend half as much as my budget allows in this place.”

The two cops relaxed assuming that Ed was on some sort of FBI expense account. Jay said, “It must be nice working for the FBI.”

Smiling, Ed answered, “I work for the IRS. John is the one that works for the FBI.”

Leroy smiled and said, “I’m just a civilian observer.”

Harry looked over the menu and decided on the fisherman’s platter. It had a nice assortment of seafood and wasn’t the most expensive item on the menu. He announced, “I’m going with the Fisherman’s Platter.”

Ed looked over that item in the menu and decided that sounded pretty good. He said, “Actually, that sounds pretty good. I think I’ll have that too.”

Jay shrugged and said, “Count me in.”

Shaking his head, Leroy said, “I know it’s going to sound like a black stereotype, but I’m going with the fried catfish.”

Ed laughed and replied, “A man after my own heart. You order what you want and you enjoy what you get! Who cares what others may think.”

The waiter came over to the table and started the spiel about the specials of the day. Ed held up a hand and said, “We know what we want.”

Making a face like he had bitten into a lemon, the waiter replied, “Very well, Sir. What do you want?”

After the men placed their orders, Ed asked, “Could you bring us a pitcher of iced tea?”

“A pitcher?”

“Yes, a pitcher. It’s that or you get to run back and forth all evening,” replied Ed. He watched the expression on the face of the waiter, recognizing that the man thought this party belonged at a burger joint instead of a fine restaurant.

“What ever you say, Sir.”

Looking over at the two policemen, Ed joked, “I bet he goes in the back and tells everyone that a couple of country bumpkins have come to town.”

With a wicked grin on his face, Leroy suggested, “Why don’t you make his day? Flash your IRS badge at him and ask if he declares all of his tips.”

While everyone laughed, Jay leaned back and said, “That’s mean.”

A large group of men in suits entered the dining room and were seated at three tables that had been moved together to accommodate the large party. One of the men kept looking over at Ed. Finally, he came over to the table and asked, “Excuse me, you wouldn’t happen to be Ed Biggers?”

Looking up at the man, Ed answered, “Yes, I am.”

The man immediately extended a hand and said, “I’m Jim Morrison, the Attorney General for the State of Colorado.”

At the announcement of the man’s identity, Jay and Harry stood up. They expected the man to give his normal denial of having been with the Doors, but he didn’t. The two looked at each other wondering why the Attorney General would come over to their table.

Accepting the man’s hand in a firm handshake, Ed asked, “It’s pleasure to meet you. What can I do for you?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to thank you for your role in Operation Druids Revenge. We just successfully prosecuted another mob figure today,” replied Jim. He pointed over to the table and said, “The prosecutor and others associated with the case are over at my table.”

The two cops looked at each other and then at Ed, realizing only now the identity of the man they were supposed to be protecting. Puzzled, Ed said, “We didn’t target anyone in Colorado.”

Jim said, “The Las Vegas crowd had some operations going on here. In the follow up investigations we shut a number of them down here.”

As understanding burst over him, Ed replied, “That’s great. I’ll let John know that his operation grabbed more than we had planned.”

Jim looked over at the policemen and said, “I see you are here with two of Denver’s finest.”

Slapping his head with the palm of his hand, Ed said, “I’m sorry, I should have introduced our party. The two officers are Harry Albertson and Jay Brown. They are escorting us around the city while we are here. This gentleman is Leroy Jones, he’s a member of our family and is providing backup on another case.”

The waiter showed up with their salads and after setting them on a nearby table, waited politely behind Jim. The waiter knew that Jim was the Attorney General since his office had arranged for the tables earlier. He wondered what such an important man was doing over here with these cops and two lowlifes.

Jim shook the hands of everyone there. He turned to the cops and said, “Take really good care of these two, they are perhaps the two most important people you’ll ever meet.”

As the waiter looked at Ed and Leroy trying to figure out who they were, the two cops answered together, “Yes, Sir.”

Jim looked over at Ed and said, “If you or John ever need anything in Colorado, just call my office.”

Ed said, “I’m sure John will be sad that he missed you. He’s on stake-out right now eating an MRE.”

“You guys are on another case?” asked Jim.

Nodding, Ed said, “Two of them. You’ll hear all about them tomorrow night on the news.”

Realizing that Ed wouldn’t say another word about what they were working on, Jim said, “Well, I’ll let you gentlemen get back to your meal. It’s been a real honor to meet you.”

Turning, he noticed the waiter standing behind him and said, “Put their bill on our tab.”

Raising an eyebrow, Ed said, “Thank you very much.”

Jim returned to the table as the waiter set the salads on the table. The two cops sat down exchanging looks. It was clear that John and Ed were a lot more important than they had realized. Jay said, “Maybe we should get an undercover agent to take John’s place.”

Shaking his head, Ed said, “No, John is fine.”

Harry said, “It’s an awful dangerous place to be.”

Laughing, Ed replied, “I guess you didn’t notice all the stray dogs and cats moving into the area where John is sitting. There are probably a hundred rats there as well. He’s a lot better protected than any undercover policeman.”

Leroy thought back to the raid this morning and only now realized that there had been a large number of cats, birds, and dogs in the area. The cats had even followed them into the house. Looking over at Ed, he asked, “Is that why there were so many animals at the raid this morning?”

“Yes,” replied Ed with a knowing nod.

The initial report of the restaurant incident had suggested that a large number of birds had surrounded John when he approached the armed man. Jay said, “That explains what happened this afternoon. John was surrounded by all kinds of birds.”

Not fully knowledgeable about the events at the restaurant, Ed was not comfortable addressing that episode directly. Choosing a more general answer, Ed said, “John is the Grand Druid. He is very well protected. I imagine that he isn’t very comfortable tonight, but he wants to do it.”

Leroy silently processed that news. In the time spent at the house, he had noticed that people didn’t generally talk about the things they did unless it was a normal kind of activity. Even when they had rescued that woman trapped in the car, they had treated it as an everyday event. In a way, he now understood. He didn’t really want to talk about the raid this morning, as it was horribly painful. Finally, he said, “So how long have you guys been policemen?”

The discussion centered on the two cops and their lives in the patrol car. The men ate their salads as the discussion progressed, finishing them in time for their dinners to be delivered. The pitcher of iced tea was emptied and then refilled. The dinner progressed in a relaxed fashion. The waiter treated them with much more respect, having overheard discussions about Ed at the other table.

As the men finished their meal with Soufflés, Ed asked, “So how do you guys want to handle the night?”

Jay looked up and asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well, I assume that you’ll be going off duty as soon as you drop us off at the hotel,” answered Ed. He added, “I also assume that you’ll want to be present at the arrests tomorrow if anything happens there.”

Harry nodded his head and replied, “That’s true.”

Ed said, “How about I promise that we won’t leave the hotel until you come in the morning?”

Jay looked over at Harry before he answered, “Okay. We’ll double check with the Sargent and clear it with him.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Ed. Finished with his desert, Ed looked around the room deciding how to end the evening. After a few minutes, he said, “I’m going to suggest that we head back to the hotel. I have a promise to keep with Leroy and it’s getting late.”

Leroy grinned and looked down at his desert. He said, “I’m done with my meal.”

The two cops had finished their desert long before Ed, and had spent most of the time listening to Ed and Leroy talk. They were both ready to head home and get some rest. After Ed stopped at the other table and extended his thanks for covering the meal, the group left.

In the morning, Ed had arranged for a limousine to carry them around the city. After driving to the warehouse district, they had waited for news that arrests were being made at the warehouse where the stolen car had been stashed. Once the news had arrived, they approached the location where John had spent the night. In front of John, two men were sprawled out on the sidewalk moaning softly. Ed and Leroy got out of the limousine and joined John on the sidewalk. Looking at John with the leaves in his beard, dirt on his face, and bags under his eyes, Ed commented, “Well, it looks like you had a rough night.”

John looked at Ed and Leroy as Leroy blushed under the examination. He teased, “It looks to me like you got less sleep than I did. Anything I should know about?”

“Nah. Nothing outside the usual debauchery, you’d have been bored,” replied Ed with a wink. Leroy just stood there looking embarrassed.

One of the men on the ground attempted to get up. A quick rap with the walking stick put him back on the ground. A police car arrived. Harry and Jay got out and looked at the men on the ground. Harry asked, “Any problems?”

“Nope. I just captured two Chronians.”

All of the men laughed at the joke. John had said that he was going to act like a crazy man afraid of being captured by the Chronians, stating that Chronians were human-like aliens that differed from people by not having nipples. Leroy asked, “Did you check out their nipples?”

Inspector Kosta, the detective that had assigned the two patrolmen to watch over John and Ed, walked up. Looking down at the two men on the ground, he shook his head realizing that in two days John had been successful in resolving a hostage situation and breaking a car theft ring that had been in operation for months. He said, “Well, congratulations. They caught the whole gang. There was another stolen car in the truck.”

John shrugged as though he had done nothing and replied, “I’m glad to hear that. We had better get over to FBI headquarters. Inspector Kosta, you’re welcome to join us if you’d like.”

At FBI headquarters, Inspector Kosta listened in shock as the reports from the field arrived. He had figured that any case the John Carter was involved in would be big, but he had no idea how expansive this case was. As report after report of arrests arrived, the true scope of the operation became clear.

John sat back with a smile on his face as he thought about the number of monsters that were going to jail. They arrested almost three hundred adults and liberated just as many children from sexual slavery.

Ed and Leroy worked with several of the other agents in organizing the reports. As messages came in from the field, Ed sorted them according to location and handed them to Leroy. Leroy hung the reports on the wall by location. As they worked, a picture of what was happening around the country slowly developed.

When the last report came in, Inspector Kosta said, “Very impressive. I don’t know how you do it. You captured a car theft ring and child swapping ring all in the same day.”

Agent Mauz added, “This operation today was entirely due to you, John.”

John yawned as he shook his head. The lack of sleep the night before was catching up to him. “No, I had lots of help.”

Ed looked up at the clock and realized how little sleep John had over the past two days. He suggested, “I’d say it’s about time we head home, wouldn’t you?”

“Sure. Let’s go. I turn this operation over to you Agent Mauz.” John turned to face at Inspector Kosta. With a wink, he said, “I’ll give you one hint, never do your own paperwork.”