Trouble And Money #31

Conrad is ready to tangle while Special Agent FBI, Sophie Tanner, waits for an after action review. (A.A.R)

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

I'm a little annoyed that I have driven this far and nobody jumped out of the dark and yelled Boo. My eyes are looking ahead, and I even have my driver's side window cracked to listen.

This is making me cranky. I have ten miles to go.

If I make it, the delivery is supposed to go to a warehouse in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, at an industrial park close to a naval shipyard. The noise from my Federal friends on my tail has been minimal.

My earpiece (Made In China) clicked, and I heard a voice say, "Bravo, get ready to move at my next command."

The Bravo team responded with a double click. I wondered what they were doing in the back of their van since I left with the cargo over an hour ago. Feds are funny. They are pious when a big boss is nearby, but these enforcement types all have college, and in most cases, a military hitch. Maybe they are in the back of the truck playing beer pong?

I have just left the highway, five miles from the destination warehouse. The Alpha team in a plumbing van is about two miles behind me.

Bravo is instructed to proceed. I now have Alpha behind me and the Bravo shooters heading toward me from near my destination.

​The strike should happen very soon. I start laughing when I think about Claire at Clifton Trucking telling me to watch Jeopardy while drinking my juice box and eating a cookie. I give her credit; that shot cut me off at the knees. It was kind of stunning and amusing.

Up ahead, at least a mile away, I see the flashing blue lights of a law enforcement car.

I reported this and started laughing.

​It's showtime.

I hope Tammy and Gator are snug in the trailer, having a beer and watching Jeopardy.

Beverley, Massachusetts - Ralph Clifton's Home

Ralph Clifton's neighborhood is now an amateur circus of local and state law enforcement, emergency medical services, the fire department, the Medical Examiner, and, most likely, animal control. Everybody wants a piece of a big case, especially when the Feds are involved.

At some point,, the Mayor will show up with coffee for the first responders since an election year is approaching.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation sent a point person to explain that an armed individual was shot by an equally armed FBI agent in the course of an investigation.

There would be nothing else to say since the investigation is still ongoing.

Off to the side of the driveway near a pile of pool noodles, a huddle of cops is trying to work out who will pick up the ball in the investigation of the death of Scott Kinney.

Special Agent FBI, Sophie Tanner, sat quietly on the porch as the Essex County Chief Medical Examiner started inspecting the pieces of Scott Kinney.

It will be a long night.

(Scott Kinney's dream of a Florida retirement is over. Conrad is alert and finally driving into the plan laid out by the other Kinneys. He misses his woman and his dog. It's been a while.)

Trouble And Money is published Monday through Friday. It is a free serial fiction detective story with characters you will love. Read the adventures of Conrad Grange as he solves cases and contends with a harsh world.