Frank was boiling over with rage. “You can’t do this. I have the right to protest against what the city is doing. This whole thing is wrong. Just plain wrong.”
“Mr. Gillis, this is your opportunity to retain counsel. If you do not ask to have counsel present now, I will have to assume you do not wish to be represented by an attorney.”
“I know my rights” Frank yelled. “You can’t do this. I have the right to assemble and the right to protest against the city. You can’t stop me from doing that.”
The Magistrate looked at Frank. “You are only partially right, Mr. Gillis. You have the right to peaceably assemble and peacefully demonstrate. You do not have the right to block public access, nor do you have the right to disturb the peace. Five hundred dollar fine for contempt of court. You were warned about proper decorum Mr. Gillis.”
Willa couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Screw you,” Frank shouted. “I’ll appeal this to the State Supreme Court.”
“Which is your right,” the Magistrate calmly replied. “An additional one thousand dollar fine for contempt of court, Mr. Gillis.”
Frank shut up and just glared at the Magistrate.
“Chief Dolan, what did you observe in regards to Mr. Gillis yesterday?”
“I observed Mr. Gillis blocking the practice evacuation route, which was an approved city function. He was shouting and being disruptive.”
“Any witnesses present?” the Magistrate said looking directly at Willa.
She stood. “I saw exactly what Chief Dolan reported.”
“Mr. Gillis, do you deny that you were present at the location in question?” the Magistrate asked.
“I’m not admitting to anything,” Frank said, unable to quell the anger within him.
“That’s not a denial,” the Magistrate replied. “Do you deny blocking the street yesterday?”
“This is stupid.” Frank said in a loud voice.
“Well, this response certainly is,” the Magistrate replied. “An additional two thousand dollar fine for contempt of court. The defendant does not deny he disturbed the peace. Do you have any witnesses to bring forth to prove you did not do what you are charged with?”
Frank stood ramrod straight and stared back at the Magistrate, anger still etched on his face. He at least didn’t say anything else to place him in further contempt of court.
“Having concluded testimony, I find you, Frank Gillis, guilty of disturbing the peace and interfering with a proper city function. Two hundred dollar fine and fifty dollars court costs. You can pay your fines at the city clerk’s desk, at which time you will be free to go, otherwise you will be remanded to the city jail until your fines have been paid — your choice, Mr. Gillis. We are adjourned.” The Magistrate handed the Chief his written court order.
Frank fumed at Willa as Chief Dolan led him over to the City Clerk’s desk. Frank pulled out his checkbook and wrote the city a check for $3,750.00. “This isn’t over,” Frank said to Willa. “Not by a long shot.”
Willa just couldn’t stop laughing.
CHAPTER 22
Senator Elizabeth Bechtel stared at Ann Miller who sat across from her. “Tell me you made some progress.”
Ann grinned. “The more powerful people are, the more they ignore the little people.”
Senator Bechtel chuckled. “And the little people all have eyes and ears.”
“They do…” Ann replied. “Here’s what your boy, Rod Schneider, has been up to.” Ann opened a folder and handed her a single piece of paper laid out as a spreadsheet. “People he visited along the left, dates across the top. Notice anything interesting?”
Bechtel looked at the sheet. “So who’s this Billingsly? He’s the only one Rod visited every single day.”
“Deputy Director of Covert Operations,” Ann replied. “No idea what they discussed, but Vice Admiral Billingsly is getting daily photo updates on something. Most popular pick is China.”
“Any idea where in China?” she asked.
Ann shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing definitive — could be anywhere.”
“So why China?”
“Strange things are going on over there.”
“I know. First they expel all of our people, and then they stop shipping products to us. Last word from the State Department is that China has refused entry to all American commercial ships. All trade between the U.S. and China has unofficially come to an end.”
Ann sat back in the chair. “That’s a huge economic hit to China’s economy, but it helps explain the other thing.”
“What other thing?” the senator asked, becoming more curious.
“The mainstream media isn’t reporting the story, but Chinese warships have become confrontational with U.S. Naval vessels. Our ships are being pushed back to 200 miles off the coast of China.”
“That’s international waters — they aren’t supposed to do that,” Bechtel said, feeling more agitated.
“As long as our ships stay beyond 200 miles, there’s no problem,” Ann said. “Rumor has it a Navy admiral took a run at the 200 mile line with an Aircraft Carrier. A Chinese destroyer cut across its path and reportedly launched a deck-mounted torpedo at the carrier.”
“A live torpedo?”
“We don’t really know. The Aircraft Carrier changed course to go back behind the 200 mile line. As soon as it turned, the torpedo went dead in the water.”
“Oh my God,” Bechtel exclaimed. “Could it have sunk the carrier?”
“My sources tell me China has torpedoes that are nuclear capable. Whether that torpedo had a nuclear warhead, we’ll probably never know. At least my hope is we never have to find out.”
“And this didn’t make the news?” Senator Bechtel asked incredulously.
“No. The White House has squashed everything to do with this story. Nobody’s going to touch it.” Ann leaned forward and spoke softly, “What I don’t get is if China wanted to go to war with us, why didn’t they just go ahead and sink the carrier?”
Bechtel drummed her fingers on her desk and twisted her mouth. It’s a good question, she thought. China has gone through most of the motions a country does before they declare war, except they haven’t closed the U.S. Embassy. Nor have they withdrawn their embassy from Washington. Is that the last step? Are we that close to war? “We’re missing something,” she said. “Something important.”
The look on Ann’s face indicated she was debating telling the senator something. “What are you thinking?”
“There’s a resource,” Ann said. “The guy’s retired — ex-Defense Intelligence Agency Analyst. He spends a lot of time fishing and hunting, so you’re going to have to leave a message and wait for him to get back to you.”
“Have you talked with him?”
“On previous situations, yeah. He knows what’s going on in the world. His specialty is Global Strategic Analysis.” Ann dug a card out of her folder and handed it over. “A word of advice,” she said seriously. “Call once and leave a message. Do not pester him or you’ll never hear back from him.”
Senator Elizabeth Bechtel bullied her way into Sam Forrester’s office at the State Department. “You said you’d keep me informed.” She stood defiantly and stared at him.
His posture visibly wilted in front of her. “Not intentional. We’re neck deep in political sharks right now. Everyone who’s anybody wants to know what’s going on. We just don’t have any answers.”
“You could have told me our Navy is being pushed back away from China.”
Forrester glanced away from her. “That’s not for general consumption. You need to keep it quiet.”