Chapter Thirteen

“Sergeant Hitchens, can you step into my office for a minute?” Chief Halsey closed the door behind her as she sat down at his desk, and then took his own chair. He looked as unsettled as Valerie had ever seen him in the twelve years that she had been in the department. He was the rock of the division. He had seen it all in his career and was generally unflappable and calm. They called him “Mr. Spock” behind his back, in fact, because he so rarely showed an emotion. But he was a good mentor and he looked after his team.

“What are doing in tonight, Chief. It's a quiet Sunday night, and second shift no less. Isn't there a football game you would rather be home watching?”
 

“I would actually. Although you and I both know that my team is not going to win today. Sure is fun watching them lose though. I've been following the Bears since I was a kid. Who knows, maybe today is the day they surprise me and win. But, to answer your question, I wanted to check in here with you folks. How was your patrol tonight?”

“It's pretty tame in P-Town tonight, Chief. I had to chase some skateboarders out of the McDonald's parking lot. That's the extent of the crime spree so far. You look worried though. Is there something that I don't know about?”

“Yeah, I think there might be. It's got me a little on edge, truth be told. You've noticed, I imagine, that there are a lot of out of towners around this weekend. Washington DC types. Right?”

“Well, yes. Of course. We had that DEA briefing yesterday in the break room. Something about the cartels from Chicago coming down here to get in our Meth operators. I saw a lot of black sedans parked at the Coal Miner's Motel tonight. Are there more of those gorillas coming in? Is there cartel action happening already?”

“Valerie, it's more than that, I'm afraid. I can't be quite sure, because I haven't been officially briefed yet. I'm not in the loop so to speak. I don't have a 'need to know' as they call it.” The Chief was looking a bit peeved that there were out of towners operating in his town without his blessing or the courtesy of briefing him. “There are people in town that are not DEA. They are after bigger fish than the cartels. That's what I know.”

“There are bigger fish than the cartels? In little ole Pekin? How can that be? Those are some mean bastards, per the briefing.”

“Agent Watkins had breakfast with me this morning. He was concerned. I've known Darryl for a long time through our Meth busts, and I haven't seen him rattled before. Really. But, there's a bigger boss in town than him, and he's not sure where this is headed.”

“Okay, I'll bite. Who's the honcho in town. Is the Attorney General here to give us all medals?”

“Ha! I wish. You guys deserve some more recognition. No, it's another alphabet soup group. DHS. The Department of Homeland Security is here.”

“Really? Is our homeland insecure, here in Pekin?”, Valerie asked. She was leaning forward in her chair now.

“Apparently so.”

“Al-Qaida? We've got AQ in Pekin now? Are you kidding? I've always wondered if they would come to Peoria, if they understood the PR value of hitting the twin towers on the Peoria Riverfront. Would al-Qaida “Play in Peoria”, and all that jazz. I bet they haven't heard that expression before though.”

“DHS is domestic. Domestic terrorists don't necessarily have to be of the Middle Eastern persuasion. We have our home grown versions too, every now and then. I take it, from what I am seeing today, that this is what we will be dealing with. I want you guys to be safe, and to be on guard at the right levels. So, I'm sharing my suspicions with you outside of channels.”

“Cartels? Terrorists? In Pekin? Chief, did I mention that I have some vacation time saved up that I'd like to use?”

“Valerie, I wouldn't blame you if you cashed it all in this week and headed out of town somewhere. That would be a good thing to do actually. But, before you did that I would like you to look in on a prisoner first. I got a call fifteen minutes ago that DHS was bringing in a detainee, and that they would like to use our holding cell for the night. I don't like how this feels at all. Not one little bit. For one thing, they asked me to not book him in using our regular booking procedures. They just want to detain him while they talk to him. They are invoking the Patriot Act to hold him. I'm not a lawyer, and I haven't read the dad-blasted thing. But I've been a lawman most of my life and I will tell you one thing. I do not like where we are headed in this country with the erosion of civil rights of suspects inside our borders. People have rights, dammit. We don't just detain citizens without due process. Not on my watch.”

“How do you know that this detainee is a citizen, Chief?”

“Because, Sergeant Valerie Hitchens, I know this young man. And so do you. They are bringing in Carlo Antonetti for detention.”

Valerie sat back in her chair abruptly. Her head was suddenly spinning. She started processing what she had just heard like a lawman would. Carlo? Terrorism? What possible evidence could they have of that? Carlo Antonetti had lived in Pekin his whole life. Valerie had known him since high school. Sure, he had a rough life growing up and got into a spot of trouble now and then. Sure, he'd been down since Lisa had left. She saw him every now and then at the diner with a regular group of friends. They seemed aggravated at the President, and at the direction that the country was headed. But, he was a good man. She was sure of that. Her lawman instinct stopped there, and she reacted as just his friend.

“Carlo? That can't be right. Terrorism? No. I just saw him yesterday at the diner having lunch with Gus Kesselmann. I knew them both in high school. They were discussing Gus's misfortunes and fixing up Gus's house so he could sell it this week. Telling military veteran stories. That kind of thing. Who could think he's a terrorist?”

“Valerie, we're in this thing whether we like it or not. We're just a local police force, and we're going to have feds big-footing us all over the place in very short order. I've got enough time in to retire, and I should. You've got vacation time, and you should take it. Those are the shoulds. But here's what I know. You and I both took oaths to serve and protect this community. We take those oaths seriously, even at our level. That oath used to be a simple thing. Protect our community from the bad guys. But this world has gotten so much more complex in my time here on it. What does that even mean anymore. 'Bad guys'? It means our local run of the mill crooks. It means these gangs running dope. It means international cartels setting up shop. It means terrorist who have ungodly intentions for destruction. And Val, it may mean one more thing.”

“What's that Chief?”

“It may mean US federal agents who are operating outside of the bounds of the Constitution as I know it. That may sound radical. But we are in radical times. We didn't come this far in this experiment of America to forfeit the Constitution in the name of security. That would be a foolish and irretrievable mistake. It may take guardians at our level all across America to preserve it. I'm going a long way around to say that I do not trust these particular set of gung-ho feds as far as I can throw them. And if they come in here pushing us around, I am going to want to throw them. Out.”

“Okay, what do you need me to do Chief?”

“Protect that young man's rights at reasonable costs. We didn't give up our badges or that oath just because some feds come in and act badly. We're going to do our best to book that young man by our standard practice, and to get him in front of a judge as quickly as we can. I'll handle that. I have a different assignment for you, if you are game.”

“Name it, Chief, and I'll do it.”

“Do you know where Gus Kesselmann lives?”

“I do. They were talking about it at the diner. Gus is selling his house. He's moved everything into storage, and is staying at the Coal Miner's Motel.”

“Go see him. Ask him if he'll come in and talk to me. Unofficially. We're not arresting him. We don't have any probable cause to. But I want to know what exactly is going on here. Bring him in the back door and here in to my office.”

“I'm on it Chief. I'll be back in thirty minutes.”