Chapter 139: Alphabet Soup
*You can tell a bully from a leader by how they treat people who disagree with them. – Miles K. Davis*
Tylenol.
That was the mantra going through Douggie’s mind at this point.
Tylenol.
The last forty-five minutes of the meeting had to be the longest decade of his life.
Tylenol.
He usually had some in his desk. But he was not at his office. He could only hope that the city jail infirmary had some Tylenol. Ibuprofen. Acetaminophen. Aspirin.
At this point in time, he would take a twenty-pound sledgehammer upside the head. As long as it knocked him out or just completely put him out of his misery.
“Douglas?” special agent in charge David MacFarland called out as he followed Douggie down the hall.
Douggie let the hand that was rubbing the bridge of his nose, he turned around and plastered his professional smile on his face. “It’s just Douggie.”
“Mac.” He held out a hand and Douggie took it.
Looking at the special agent in charge, Douggie was picturing Timothy Magee from the TV show. The Navy one, whatever the name of it was.
“Yeah, I know what you’re thinking.” Mac grinned. “Everyone tells me that I look like Sean Murray. The actor that plays Magee on NCIS.”
“That’s the show.” Douggie said as their hands fell to their sides.
Mac handed over a small pocket size bottle of Tylenol. “You look like you could use this.”
“Could I ever.” Douggie admitted.
“Is this your first trafficking case?” Mac asked as they started down the hall again.
“Yeah.” Douggie sighed as they entered the breakroom. “I mean….” He let out a breath. “I worked with one back when I was first out of the academy. A few hundred years ago, or so.”
“I know the feeling.” Mac chuckled as Douggie got a Mountain Dew out of the vending machine.
“I haven’t had a migraine in years.” He told the other man.
“It’s as good a time as any for one.” Mac agreed. “If Fargo hadn’t screwed up with his wife and you investigated the department, we would have never known that it went this deep.”
“I wish it wasn’t in my area. Hell in my state.” He popped a few pills in his mouth and downed them with the soda. “You said you had other witnesses?”
“There was a counselor at your Family Advocacy Center that reached out to us. We’ve been able to place several of the high-ranking wives and children in WITSEC.” Mac admitted. “I know your close to the case, and I’d like to keep you involved.”
“I know when I’m out of my league.” Douggie smiled. “Send my ass back to the minors, I’m not ready for this.”
“I don’t think that anyone is ever ready for this.”
“I never thought that I would have a father admit that he would hand over his daughter to these bastards.” Douggie shook his head in disgust.
“You get so far in with these people,” Mac sighed, “you’ll do anything to save your own ass.”
“I guess. I couldn’t imagine being willing to hand over my wife and daughter.” Douggie gave an involuntary shutter.
“Since your closer to the ex-wife, I’m going to ask for your opinion.” Mac sat down at one of the tables and motioned for Douggie to join him. “Should we put guards on her in case they try to take her on their own?”
Chuckling, he shook his head. “She’s dating the owner of IGYS Security.”
“Neosho?”
“That’s him. He’s just known as Neo around this area.
“One of his guards punched Fargo.”
“After rescuing him from his ex-wife.” Douggie smiled. “It’s been handed over to the DA and I don’t know if they’re going to prosecute. They handed over their footage and he admitted to doing it. Neo placed him on suspension for a week.”
“I hear a but in there.”
“It was the second known attempted kidnapping. And his father had set fire to the IGYS warehouse with people inside it. We believe he was trying to find Jolene, his son’s ex-wife.”
“I guess that you don’t think that they’ll prosecute?”
“Would you?”
Mac shook his head. “No. Not considering everything else associated with it.”
“I expect it to be a plea of no contest with community service or something.” Douggie admitted.
Grinning, Mac agreed. “If anything.”
“Hey, Mac?” one of the other agents stuck her head in the room.
“Yup, I’m coming.” He stood up and offered a hand to Douggie. “Keep the Tylenol. I have more.”
“Thanks.” Douggie stood up and took the hand. “You really think that they might go after her again?”
“I really don’t know. At this point. I wouldn’t put it past them.”
With that declaration, the other man walked out into the hall and Douggie went the other direction to the parking lot. He slid into his car and started the engine. Now that he was outside, he pulled out his phone and checked his messages. He couldn’t help but smirk as a familiar voice filled his car.
“Hey, shithead, it’s Gina. Someone opened a can of alphabet soup over here and I’ve got people with letters coming out their ears. What the hell happened to my quiet little county? Call me when you get a chance. Feel free to bring me a grilled cheese to go with all this soup.”
Douggie stopped at a grocery store and bought a box of salted crackers before heading over to the sheriff’s office. He was halfway through the bull pen when she looked up at him from the desk that she was next to.
“Bring me a sammich?”
“Brought you some crackers.”
“I guess that will work.” She stood up from the chair and walked over to meet him at her office door. “You didn’t bring me any more paper packets, did you?”
“Not today.” He said closing her office door.
“I got back from the meeting and the place was crawling with letters.”
“I’d believe it. There’s a possibility that they may still try to go after Jolene.”
“Son of a bitch.” She muttered as she picked up her desk phone. After she punched in a phone number, he heard it ringing on the other end before a man piked up. “Neo, hey, you got a few minutes to swing by the office? No, don’t bring her please. But don’t leave her alone either. Yeah, I know. Twenty? That’s good.”
“What are you going to tell him?” Douggie asked as she replaced the receiver.
“Me?” She chuckled. “No, no, no. Not me. You, my friend.”
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