Chapter 235

Tuesday morning was a tough mood with the unknown hanging over us. We tried to stay positive, that sequester of all the trial participants would not be necessary. Helping Jenny load her extra bags in the car was an emotional chore. After a tearful goodbye, we headed different directions.

When I pulled out of the driveway, a DHS cruiser pulled out onto Summers Road from several driveways further down the road. They were so easy to spot; I didn't see how they ever caught anyone.

As Patti and I backed into our parking spot we noticed an out of area police car and 2 local police cars in the visitor parking spots. As we disembarked the vehicle, so did they.

Each of them had two male students in handcuffs and escorted them into the building. I was lady enough to hold the door open for them, although I wondered what the heck was going on.

I separated the six so they would not be talking, until I found out what was going on.

C-town police Chief Dustin Banks introduced police chief Darrel Walls from Rock Heights (a neighboring town 20 miles away) and Chief Sammy Clarke from Kens Grove (another small town about the same distance in the opposite direction).

Each of the three chiefs followed me to my office and tossed 6 Maryland drivers licenses onto the counter, "Bogus - they used these to get into bars and liquor stores in each of our towns last night," Banks said.

The picture on each one of the cards matched one of the students. I looked at the cards very carefully. They were well made with the pictures under the lamination and bar codes on the back with the state logo - like the real deal.

The thing that had caught my eye was the Centrex number and the way it was organized. They were not in the right order. They were in a code and I had seen it before.

When I was doing the reenactment at the mall in Annapolis - during one of the breaks while I was talking with Eric - one of the agents held one of the IDs taken off of one of the terrorists. He interrupted our conversation to point out the flaw in the ID. It was a Maryland license, just like the one I was holding.

I took my cell, took a close up of each of the licenses and sent them to Eric's cell. Then I called the number I had for Eric's office and switched to the speaker phone.

"Department of Homeland Security, Director Robinson's office; you are speaking to Mable, may I help you?"

"Mable, this is BJ from the Island. I just sent copies of six Maryland licenses to Eric's phone. They bear the same flaw as the ones at the mall shooting. They were used by underage male students to get into parties with alcohol last night in three different local towns. Is he in?" I replied.

"Good morning BJ, good to hear from you today. That was a great party at your house yesterday. Mike and I really enjoyed ourselves. Thanks so much for inviting us. The agents are still raving about being invited to join in the feast. Yes, Eric is here - I will send you through," she replied.

"I'm here," Eric replied "BJ, how did you get these?" I informed Eric he was on speaker, introduced the chiefs to him and let them each tell their story.

"David Smith and Horace Thompson were the tags on you this morning – BJ, did you see them?" Eric asked.

"Yes, I saw their car several times; I do not know where they are right at the moment," I replied

"They are on the way to your office now. Under-age students - that is going to present a problem in so many ways," Eric mumbled.

"I might be able to help you with some of that. Are you more interested in prosecution of the students or finding the source of the cards?" I asked.

"The source of the cards" "What do you mean, you can help?"

"I have some leeway under student safety until HR gets involved. Whichever of those guys has the best stone face, put him in charge and tell him to work with me," I said.

I had used scare tactics with gullible recruits many times. I figured this would work the same.

The two men walked in, "I'm David, Eric said to see you and you would fill me in."

I gave him the rundown on what I was going to try and the signal as to when he was to go ape-shit bad-cop. Since the three chiefs brought them in I had to let them stay and participate. I asked if anyone had an orange jump suit in their car.

"We have several in the trunk. I will bring them in," Horace replied.

I opened the file cabinet where I kept all the goodies that came from Mid Atlantic security when the original KCC system was installed. They were the same kit that each of the JBG sites received when we set them up. At the JBG sites they were kept in the gun safe in the director's office.