JC: Ed Biggers
Part 2: Equilibrant
Chapter 10
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

There was a huge meeting scheduled in the large conference room 
at the federal building and Ed was one of the featured speakers. It 
was two days after the big raid based on the detailed plans that Ed 
and John had created to take down the criminal organizations in 
twenty cities. It was time for them to debrief everyone on the 
actions of the previous day. The crowd would include FBI, IRS, 
and ATF. 

Ed woke up dreading the day as he knew that he would be in a 
spotlight for a good percentage of the meeting. It was his role to 
explain how they had used tax laws to arrest most of the members 
of criminal organization. Rolling out of bed, he dressed and headed 
out of the room in his normal morning fog. He followed the smell 
of coffee to the dining room where Marguerite had set up a coffee 
urn.

After drinking a cup, the fog started to evaporate and he became 
aware that John was seated at the table watching him with 
amusement. After refilling his cup, he looked at John and asked, 
"What?"

Smiling, John replied, "You are just such a wreck in the morning."

As he worked on his second cup, Ed asked, "Any chance of getting 
out of this thing today?"

"None," replied John knowing exactly what Ed was talking about. 
He wasn't looking forward to the briefing. After seeing the grimace 
on Ed's face, John added, "If we are to teach them how to do these 
kinds of operations, then we have to talk to them."

Groaning at the implications, Ed finished his cup of coffee. He 
could feel the caffeine coursing through his system waking him 
with its usual effectiveness. At least he had set it up so that 
someone else would explain the tax laws under which the raids 
were authorized.

Marguerite showed up with a plate of French Toast and slid it in 
front of Ed. Confused, he looked up and asked, "How come I'm the 
only one you cook breakfast for every morning?"

Marguerite was no longer wearing the chain mail bra and no 
panties, although she still tended to dress with shorter skirts that 
normal. Spreading her legs and putting a hand on her hips, she 
said, "Because the others are awake enough in the morning that 
they come in and make their crappy breakfast before I have a 
chance to chase them out of the kitchen."

Ed glanced over at John and noticed the bowl of cereal in front of 
him. Looking up at Marguerite, he said, "Sometimes, I like cereal 
too."

Shaking her head, she stomped off to the kitchen swearing, "These 
people are barbarians. You just can't teach them anything."

After taking a bite of the French Toast, Ed said, "She does make a 
good French Toast."

Winking at Ed, John said, "One of these days I'll have to try out 
her breakfast foods."

Marguerite called out, "I heard that. Tomorrow morning, you eat 
the food I cook."

Slowly eating his breakfast, Ed thought about how complicated life 
had been ever since the Medieval Dinner that they had thrown. The 
staff had made a demand that they be allowed to have sex with 
members of his family. That had really surprised him, but 
explained a number of recent events including Ling's nude swim a 
couple of weeks ago. The raids had been successful, but they 
hadn't seen or heard from Ann since that day. He wondered if they 
had insulted her somehow. Today he had the meeting and just 
about everyone who was everyone would be there. Most likely that 
included the press.

Interrupting his thoughts, John said, "We had better hurry. It would 
be horrible to be late to this meeting."

Bluntly, Ed said, "After this is over, I'm going to find someone that 
likes to ride and go out for a week hunting rocks."

 Nodding thoughtfully, John said, "What about, oh what's her name 
from the rock store?"

Looking up from the last bit of French Toast, Ed said, "Who? 
Kim?"

"Yes, Kim."

"She's a woman. I don't know how I would handle being out with a 
woman alone for a week."

Shrugging, John replied, "It's okay with me if things develop, just 
so long as you are honest about it. I'm sure the wives feel the same 
way."

Entering the room, Beth asked, "About what?"

John replied, "Ed said that he wanted to find a fellow horse lover 
and go hunting rocks for a week. I suggested that he take Kim, but 
he's afraid that it will be uncomfortable spending a week alone 
with a woman outdoors."

As Beth poured herself a cup of coffee, she tried to remember who 
Kim was. It took her a bit of effort to recall the cheerful young 
lady that ran the rock store. Turning to face them, she said, "Oh, 
she's cute. I don't see any problem with that. I doubt that Kelly 
would have a problem with you going out on the range with her."

Shaking his head, Ed finished his breakfast. He sat back and said, 
"I don't feel comfortable with it. I'll find someone else."

Beth said, "Don't be silly."

The discussion was interrupted when John said, "We had better 
head out. The meeting starts early."

As Ed followed John out of the house, they ran into Kelly entering 
the dining room. With quick kisses, they left followed by Rover. It 
was a rare day lately when only one cat went with them. Not 
trusting Ed to drive first thing in the morning, John drove them to 
the Federal Building. Ed stared out at the landscape as it slowly 
changed from wild desert to suburban setting. 

Ed remarked, "It seems that the city is getting closer to us every 
year."

Laughing, John replied, "I wouldn't be surprised if we aren't living 
in downtown in a decade."

"I definitely need to get out of town. I've been spending too much 
time in the city. The city really depresses me," said Ed. He looked 
at a suburban house with the green lawn with disgust. He asked, 
"What kind of idiot would by a house in a desert area and plant 
grass?"

Glancing over at Ed, John said, "Some people think that a lawn is 
an important statement about them."

Grunting, Ed said, "Right. You grow grass in a desert so that you 
have to water it all of the time. Then it grows so you have to cut it 
every week. What a stupid way to spend half a day."

Recognizing that Ed was just feeling a little more grumpy than 
usual, John decided to put a good spin on it. He said, "Just think 
about Carlos. If it wasn't for these guys, he wouldn't have a 
business."

"I guess you're right," replied Ed. Still thinking about it, they 
finally reached the Federal Building. Pulling into the parking lot, 
they sat in the jeep for a minute. Neither man was in a hurry to get 
out, but the clock was ticking. Horrified by the implications, Ed 
stared at the news trucks parked in front of the building. Turning to 
John, he asked, "Is there a back door to this place that we can use?"

Laughing, John replied, "No. We have to face them some time or 
another. Might as well be today."

"Let's get through this and get home." Ed had only been awake for 
two hours, but he was already feeling exhausted. 

The two men, followed by Rover, headed to the entrance. The 
crowd of reporters was so large that neither one of them was able 
to get to the building. Finally, John said, "I heard a bunch of them 
were thinking about going in the back way."

About half of the reporters within earshot looked around quickly 
and then headed to the back of the building. They went into the 
building amidst the confusion. Ed looked over at John and said, 
"Thanks, I would never have been able to say that."

They were met by Gary Smales and a very large woman. She was 
both tall and broad, but not fat. He introduced the woman, "Ed, this 
is your boss, Deana Ahlberg."

She extended a hand as she said, "Thank you for avenging Sean's 
death."

Taking her hand, Ed replied, "I was more than happy to do it."

Mike Holden came over and shook John's hand. With a very large 
grin, he said, "Great job, John. When I finally saw the packet that 
you put together, I have to tell you that I was really impressed."

Deana turned to Mike and said, "Hello, Mike. Our two special 
birds really stirred things up."

Mike laughed and said, "A pleasure to see you again Deana. Yes, 
they did create a little bit of news. I spent most of that day briefing 
the president. Most of it was spent wondering why you weren't 
there too."

Laughing, Deana said, "I called in sick. I wanted to watch it all by 
myself."

"Well, your boss was more than happy to take credit for what was 
going on even though he had no idea what was happening," replied 
Mike. Turning to John and Ed, he asked, "Are we invited out to 
your place for dinner?"

Smiling, John said, "Of course you are, you both are. In fact, we 
were expecting you to stay at the house last night, but Bill said you 
turned down our invitation."

"I figured you guys needed a day off and didn't want to burden you 
with entertaining us."

Suppressing a groan, Ed realized that tonight was going to be spent 
entertaining. He looked out the window of the building hoping to 
see the desert, but all that he was able to see was a mass of news 
reporters. He needed to get out into the desert and soon.

Gary said, "We had better go inside."

Ed followed everyone into the conference room. Rover walked 
beside Ed, almost as if he shared Ed's desire to be anywhere except 
for there. The room was filled with row after row of seats like in a 
theatre. Almost every seat had someone in it. Looking around, Ed 
didn't think he had ever seen so many suits and ties in one place. 

He looked for a seat in the back, but John waved him to the front. 
With a sinking feeling in his stomach, he realized they were going 
to be sitting on the stage. On the way there, he stopped to talk to 
Frankie Paulovich to make sure that he was ready to talk about the 
tax laws that were the basis for the arrests. 

Everyone was waiting for him to get to the stage and to his chair. 
Sitting next to John, he leaned over and whispered, "Is this really 
necessary?"

Chuckling, John replied, "The sooner we get started, the sooner we 
can get done."

Snorting in derision, Ed said, "They are going to keep us here all 
day. It doesn't matter when we get started. The earlier we start the 
longer people will talk."

Mike went to the podium and turned on the projector. Immediately, 
the agenda came up on the screen. Groaning, Ed saw that it was 
going to last at least three hours. Mike opened the proceedings 
when he said, "Today, we are here to learn about the greatest law 
enforcement victory in history. Never before were so many 
criminals that were associated with so many crimes arrested in a 
single day. The raids two days ago were masterminded by John 
Carter of the FBI and Ed Biggers of the IRS. Let's give them a big 
hand."

There was a very loud round of applause from the people in the 
audience. Ed looked around, embarrassed by the attention, and 
noticed that Ann was not present. He didn't listen as Mike 
continued talking about the number of arrests made, the amount of 
money confiscated, and the quantity of drugs taken off the streets. 
He was surprised to find that arrests were still taking place as 
evidence identified the involvement of other individuals.

Mike spoke for almost thirty minutes identifying the various 
individuals that had performed above and beyond the call of duty. 
In the feedback that they had received while tracking the raid, no 
one had mentioned any gunfire. Apparently, the last few raids 
encountered serious resistance.

After Mike, Deana took the podium where she outlined the number 
of tax fraud cases that had been developed. The amount of money 
that would be collected was phenomenal. It was well known that 
the underground economy was the same size as the legitimate 
economy. With the ability of criminals to hold small businesses at 
their mercy, it was expected that many of those companies would 
be able to report as much as ten thousand a year more income.

Eyes glazing over, Ed looked at his watch. Almost an hour had 
passed, but it had felt like an eternity. It was hard to believe that he 
would have to be here for two more hours. He fidgeted in his chair 
as it felt like his legs were about to fall asleep. Looking across the 
audience, he could see that most of them were enthralled with what 
she was saying. 

Finally, John was asked to take the podium. There was a huge 
applause that lasted at least five minutes. John said, "I'm pleased to 
be here. I guess there are some questions about how we put 
together the operation that should be resolved."

Without waiting for any feedback, John started outlining how they 
had taken known information about the individuals and correlated 
that with types of criminal activities. This allowed them to time the 
raids with times when they were performing criminal acts such as 
counting undeclared money. 

Since he knew exactly how they had constructed the plan, Ed 
didn't pay attention. John was scheduled to talk for an hour. There 
was an exit near his seat and sitting there, he decided that this 
would be a good time to slip out of the room. Making as little noise 
as possible, he slipped to the door and went out. Leaning against 
the wall, he closed his eyes and thought about getting in front of all 
of those people. John made it look so easy, but he was terrified of 
standing up in front of large audiences like this. 

He went into the men's restroom and washed his face at the sink. It 
was his hope that he could calm down sufficiently to get through 
the speech. His stomach churned and his palms were cold and 
clammy. It only got worse when he thought about getting up there 
at the podium. 

The door of the restroom opened and he turned to see who had 
come in. To his surprise, it was Gary Smales, the head of the 
Phoenix office. Gary took one look at Ed and shook his head. He 
said, "You look like shit."

Groaning, Ed replied, "Thanks a lot. I needed to hear that."

Laughing, Gary said, "Yes you did. Now listen to me. I know that 
we got off on the wrong foot the first day you came into my office. 
However, thanks to you we are clearing cases in record time. Our 
collections are up at record levels and that's without imposing 
penalties on most of the people. Now you did that."

Not wanting to take credit for the work the other agents had 
performed, Ed said, "I had very little to do with that."

Shaking his head in disbelief, Gary said, "Now you have helped 
bring down a huge number of criminals. I know you don't like to 
take credit, but it is important to the people out there to know how 
you did it. Don't talk about yourself, but about the job. Rather than 
say, I examined the tax forms and selected items that were 
suspicious, you should say that it is necessary to examine tax forms 
for suspicious items. That way, you aren't talking about yourself."

Glancing at Ed, Gary added, "You did the work. Nobody knows 
more about what you did than you. No one in that room can 
contradict you."

It struck Ed as ironic that the one person that had given him the 
hardest time over the past year was giving him the advice that 
would allow him to get up at the podium. He looked over at Gary 
and said, "Thanks for the advice. Is there any chance that you'll 
give the talk for me?"

Laughing, Gary answered, "Not a chance in hell. Now lets get out 
there and let you say your piece. John should be finishing any time 
now."

Ed followed Gary out of the bathroom. It wasn't long before he 
took his place at the podium and started talking. Somehow, once 
he started it wasn't so bad. He spoke for fifteen minutes and then 
turned the floor over to Frankie to give the background on the tax 
laws that were invoked. 

Sitting in the chair next to John, Ed breathed a great sigh of relief. 
John nudged him and whispered, "I was afraid that you weren't 
going to make it back in time."

In a whisper, Ed answered, "If I had my way, I wouldn't have come 
back."

The reply made John chuckle. He whispered back, "Well, I'll let 
you speak first next time. When I leave the room you can worry if 
I'm coming back."

The two men got quiet and listened to Frankie talk to the crowd. 
He appeared to handle the pressure of talking to a crowed room 
very well. Ed wondered if he should sign up for some sort of 
public speaking lessons. This was his first time to have to address a 
large crowd, but he suspected that it wouldn't be the last. 

After Frankie had finished, Mike returned to the podium. He 
smiled at the people gathered there and checked his watch. 
Somehow, he had to fill almost thirty minutes of time. Thinking 
quickly, he said, "I'm sure that many of you have questions that 
you would like to put to John Carter and Ed Biggers. I would like 
to invite you to ask your questions now."

An agent in the middle of the room, stood up and asked, "I would 
like to know how both men feel about their role in this effort?"

John and Ed both went to the podium. With a gesture, John 
suggested to Ed that he go first. As Ed stepped to the microphone, 
John made a move like he was about to leave. Ed grabbed John, 
just so that he couldn't get away. Staring intently at the 
microphone, Ed answered, "I am pleased that it was successful and 
I'm proud that I had a part in it however small it was."

Stepping back, he pushed John to the microphone. Smiling, John 
took his place and answered, "Ed is too modest. He played a major 
role in planning this operation. He worked evenings and weekends 
while going to school full time to make it happen. Personally, I'm 
pleased to have played a part in this. I'm proud of all the people 
that were involved."

Another agent stood up and asked, "What motivated you to tackle 
an operation this large?"

Not waiting for John to step forward, Ed took the microphone and 
answered, "There were multiple attempts on John's life as a result 
of a previous case. When an individual was dispatched to inform 
that providing assassins against John would result in severe 
consequences, that individual was brutally tortured and killed. 
There have been more attempts on his life since then."

John stepped up to the microphone and said, "Everything that Ed 
said is true, but he is telling only half of the story. The rest of the 
story is that a lot of people risk their lives for others everyday. 
Those people have to be protected as well. If I was the only victim 
of the organized crime families, then I wouldn't have acted. 
However, they prey upon people and exploit their weaknesses for 
profit. That is wrong."

John stepped back and nodded at Ed, letting him know that 
avoiding mentioning the Druids was a good thing. Although the 
operation was called Druids Revenge, most of the audience was 
unaware of how many of their brethren were Druids. For now, that 
was the best policy.

Another individual stood up and asked, "A lot of evidence has 
been collected indicating crooked police officers were protecting 
criminal organizations. What about them?"

John answered, "They will be dealt with. They have sworn a holy 
oath to protect and to serve. By taking money and looking the 
other way while criminals were making victims in their jurisdiction 
they have violated that oath."

Stepping forward, Ed added, "Crooked police officers are only part 
of the problem. We also have a large number of elected individuals 
that worked on behalf these organizations. In addition, there are 
judges, district attorneys, and others in the judicial branch that are 
crooked as well."

Another individual said, "You seem quite vehement about this."

Stepping forward, John said, "If you are in service to your country, 
either as an elected representative or government employee, and 
accept a bribe to do what is not in the best interest of the country, 
then you have committed treason. In my opinion, it is that simple."

When Ed didn't step forward to say anything, another individual 
stood and asked, "Does that go for Political Action Committees?"

Glancing over at Ed, John stepped forward and said, "If an elected 
representative accepts a bribe to act in a manner that he knows is 
counter to the best interests of this country, then he has committed 
treason. PACs make distinguishing that a very difficult problem."

A FBI agent that Ed recognized from the White Slavery Ring case 
stood up and said, "You've taken on serial killers, white slavers, 
and organized crime. What's next?"

The answer was short and to the point when John said, "I have no 
idea."

Mike stepped to the podium and said, "Excuse me, but we have a 
special telephone call for John and Ed."

The voice of the President echoed through the conference room 
from the overhead speakers as he said, "Our country owes John 
Carter and Ed Biggers a huge debt of gratitude for severely 
crippling what has been a plague on the American People for too 
long of a time. People have been hurt, small businesses destroyed, 
and confidence in law enforcement undermined by organized 
crime."

"Personally, I would like to thank John Carter and Ed Biggers for 
what they have done. It restores my faith in the American People 
to learn that you two men worked so hard to make a real 
difference. I was staggered to learn that you did all of that work 
without pay. You are an example of what a person can do to make 
life better for everyone if they only put their energies in that 
direction. You are both American Heroes."

"I would like to take this opportunity to invite both of you and your 
families to the White House."

The two men looked at each other for a second as they exchanged 
the looks that both used when being forced into something they 
didn't want to do. With the pause in the President's speech, John 
replied in the microphone, "Mr. President, this is John Carter. My 
family and I appreciate the invitation you have extended. I would 
like to comment that there are a lot of American Heroes that go 
unnoticed only because their work is on a much more local scale. I 
would say, in fact, that America is a country of heroes. Americans 
put their lives on the line everyday for others. Soldiers, Law 
Enforcement, Fire Fighters, Doctors, Nurses, and Teachers work 
every day to make this a better country. If I am to be praised, I feel 
that it is only fitting that these other people are praised to a greater 
degree. I am but one man, they are a multitude."

John stepped back and gestured to Ed. Ed said, "Mr. President, this 
is Ed Biggers. I feel exactly the same as John. The only difference 
between us and a cop on the beat is the level of support we 
received. It is embarrassing to take credit when so many did the 
real work. While it is true that we directed the harvest, it is 
important to recognize that we did not do the actual planting, 
weeding, or reaping."

There was an awkward moment of silence and then the President 
said, "I had heard that you are a modest men. Your statements 
today prove that point beyond any shadow of a doubt as far as I'm 
concerned. Once again gentlemen, I applaud your efforts on behalf 
of the American People as both their representative and as a human 
being."

John and Ed both said, "Thank you, Mr. President."

The President said, "It is I that thanks you. Goodbye."

After the two men gave their good byes, the call was disconnected. 
Mike turned and looked at both of them for a second realizing only 
then that they had effectively ignored the invitation to the White 
House. In a way, he was glad that neither of them had political 
aspirations as they could turn the world upside down in four years.

Taking control of the podium, Mike asked, "Are there any last 
words that you would like to share with us?"

With great energy, John stepped forward and said, "Ed and I have 
received much praise. I would like to praise those individuals that 
participated. I can't name everyone, just going through the list 
would take all day. Each and everyone of you in this room is a 
hero. I hope that you leave here walking tall and proud of your 
contributions to the public good."

With much less energy, Ed took his place at the microphone and 
looked around the room. For almost a minute he didn't say 
anything as he took in the faces of those present. He said, "God 
Bless America."

His statement was received with a thunderous round of applause. It 
had touched upon a sentiment that few of the people in the 
audience seldom admitted. For all of them, this was a job, but it 
was a job in the service of their country. They were all patriots at 
heart and to have a chance to acknowledge that was rare indeed.

The meeting broke up and everyone headed in different directions. 
Mike and Deana made sure that Ed and John did not leave. Mike 
smiled and said, "Time to face the press. They'll be brought in here 
in a few minutes. You can wait outside the side entrance until 
we've got everything set up in here."

The two men went into the hallway outside the door through which 
Ed had escaped earlier. Once there, Ed said, "I was thinking that I 
should take a public speaking course."

Thinking it was a good idea, John replied, "I should probably do 
that as well."

They spent a grueling half hour in front of the press. While the 
initial questions dealt with the raids, the majority of questions were 
aimed at John as the press attempted to find out more about the 
person. It was hard fending off the personal questions. There were 
too many times where they had said, "I'm sorry, but we are not 
answering questions of a personal nature. If you have a question 
about the raid, we'll be glad to answer them."

The men finally escaped and made their way to the car. When 
pursued by the press to the car, Rover turned and bared his fangs. 
That was sufficient to deter even the most diehard of the reporters. 
The drive back to the house was relatively quiet as both men were 
exhausted. Coming back, Ed drove the jeep. 

When they pulled into the garage, Ed asked, "Did you find out 
when Mike and Deana are coming tonight?"

John replied, "Yes, they'll be here about six and will spend the 
night."

They entered the house and were met by Bill. Rover immediately 
disappeared, apparently feeling that his duties for the day were 
done. Bill led John and Ed into the dining room where a late lunch 
had been laid out. Ling, Bob, and Marguerite were already seated 
around the table waiting for them. After they filled their plates, Bill 
said, "We wanted to go over the events for tonight so that there 
won't be any mistakes."

"Okay," replied John. Both men were exhausted, but it was only 
now that John was showing it.

Marguerite asked, "How many for dinner?"

"The family, Mike, and Deana. I guess that makes six," replied Ed.

Bill interrupted, "Beth and Kelly have invited one other. So that 
would be seven."

Curious as to who the seventh might be, Ed let it pass. He said, 
"Mike and Deana will be staying the night."

Ling nodded and said, "I will prepare their rooms."

Expecting to get an argument out of the two men, Bill took a deep 
breath and said, "Dr. Hayes said that you two were to take a swim, 
get a massage, and a nap before the guests arrive."

Raising an eyebrow, John asked, "Dr. Hayes?"

"Yes, she said that it was doctor's orders," replied Bill.

Ed followed Beth's orders to the letter. After a nice long swim, 
Bob came to his room with the massage table and gave him a nice 
relaxing hour long massage. Then he went to bed to take a nap. It 
was a very refreshed Ed that went to face the arrival of the guests.
