JC: Ed Biggers
Part 3: Expansion
Chapter 17
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

The seafood restaurant was not very crowded that night and the 
four men had a nice table in the corner where they could talk 
without being overheard. It was a nice restaurant with the 
obligatory plaster swordfish hung on the wall. The tables were real 
wood stained a dark brown. Unlike a lot of places, this one had 
actual cloth napkins and the silverware was set out in proper place 
settings.

The two cops felt a little out of place there. They were dressed in 
their normal uniform complete with nightsticks and guns. Ed and 
Leroy were the only ones in the restaurant that were not wearing 
suit coats, although neither one of them seemed to notice. Looking 
over the menu, Jay said, "This place is kind of expensive."

His partner nodded his head in agreement. He reached for his 
wallet to see how much money he had, when Ed stopped him. "Put 
your wallet away. It's our treat."

The two cops exchanged glances, unsure what to do. Hoping to let 
the men know that they were really free to order what they wanted, 
Leroy asked, "Do you guys feel like the lobster tonight?"

Harry glanced at the menu and noticed that the price for the lobster 
was listed as Market Price. Even the low end item on the menu was 
expensive. Not for the first time, he wished that they had suggested 
a different place to eat. Mumbling, he said, "It all looks good."

Ed leaned across the table and said, "I'm authorized to spend a lot 
for dinner tonight. You guys order what you want. There's no way 
that we can spend half as much as my budget allows in this place."

The two cops relaxed assuming that Ed was on some sort of FBI 
expense account. Jay said, "It must be nice working for the FBI."

Smiling, Ed answered, "I work for the IRS. John is the one that 
works for the FBI."

Leroy smiled and said, "I'm just a civilian observer."

Harry looked over the menu and decided on the fisherman's platter. 
It had a nice assortment of seafood and wasn't the most expensive 
item on the menu. He announced, "I'm going with the Fisherman's 
Platter."

Ed looked over that item in the menu and decided that sounded 
pretty good. He said, "Actually, that sounds pretty good. I think I'll 
have that too."

Jay shrugged and said, "Count me in."

Shaking his head, Leroy said, "I know it's going to sound like a 
black stereotype, but I'm going with the fried catfish."

Ed laughed and replied, "A man after my own heart. You order 
what you want and you enjoy what you get! Who cares what others 
may think."

The waiter came over to the table and started the spiel about the 
specials of the day. Ed held up a hand and said, "We know what 
we want."

Making a face like he had bitten into a lemon, the waiter replied, 
"Very well, sir. What do you want?"

After the men placed their orders, Ed asked, "Could you bring us a 
pitcher of iced tea?"

"A pitcher?"

"Yes, a pitcher. It's that or you get to run back and forth all 
evening," replied Ed. He watched the expression on the face of the 
waiter, recognizing that the man thought this party belonged at a 
burger joint instead of a fine restaurant.

"What ever you say, sir."

Looking over at the two policemen, Ed joked, "I bet he goes in the 
back and tells everyone that a couple of country bumpkins have 
come to town."

With a wicked grin on his face, Leroy suggested, "Why don't you 
make his day? Flash your IRS badge at him and ask if he declares 
all of his tips."

While everyone laughed, Jay leaned back and said, "That's mean."

A large group of men in suits entered the dining room and were 
seated at three tables that had been moved together to 
accommodate the large party. One of the men kept looking over at 
Ed. Finally, he came over to the table and asked, "Excuse me, you 
wouldn't happen to be Ed Biggers?"

Looking up at the man, Ed answered, "Yes, I am."

The man immediately extended a hand and said, "I'm Jim 
Morrison, the Attorney General for the State of Colorado."

At the announcement of the man's identity, Jay and Harry stood up. 
They expected the man to give his normal denial of having been 
with the Doors, but he didn't. The two looked at each other 
wondering why the Attorney General would come over to their 
table.

Accepting the man's hand in a firm handshake, Ed asked, "It's 
pleasure to meet you. What can I do for you?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to thank you for your role in Operation 
Druids Revenge. We just successfully prosecuted another mob 
figure today," replied Jim. He pointed over to the table and said, 
"The prosecutor and others associated with the case are over at my 
table."

The two cops looked at each other and then at Ed, realizing only 
now the identity of the man they were supposed to be protecting. 
Puzzled, Ed said, "We didn't target anyone in Colorado."

Jim said, "The Las Vegas crowd had some operations going on 
here. In the follow up investigations we shut a number of them 
down here."

As understanding burst over him, Ed replied, "That's great. I'll let 
John know that his operation grabbed more than we had planned."

Jim looked over at the policemen and said, "I see you are here with 
two of Denver's finest."

Slapping his head with the palm of his hand, Ed said, "I'm sorry, I 
should have introduced our party. The two officers are Harry 
Albertson and Jay Brown. They are escorting us around the city 
while we are here. This gentleman is Leroy Jones, he's a member 
of our family and providing backup on another case."

The waiter showed up with their salads and after setting them on a 
nearby table, waited politely behind Jim. The waiter knew that Jim 
was the Attorney General since his office had arranged for the 
tables earlier. He wondered what such an important man was doing 
over here with these cops and two lowlifes.

Jim shook the hands of everyone there. He turned to the cops and 
said, "Take really good care of these two, they are perhaps the 
most important people you'll ever meet."

As the waiter looked at Ed and Leroy trying to figure out who they 
were, the two cops answered together, "Yes, sir."

Jim looked over at Ed and said, "If you or John ever need anything 
in Colorado, just call my office."

Ed said, "I'm sure John will be sad that he missed you. He's on 
stake-out right now eating an MRE."
 
"You guys are on another case?" asked Jim.

Nodding, Ed said, "Two of them. You'll hear all about them 
tomorrow night on the news."

Realizing that Ed wouldn't say another word about what they were 
working on, Jim said, "Well, I'll let you gentlemen get back to your 
meal. It's been a real honor to meet you."

Turning, he noticed the waiter standing behind him and said, "Put 
their bill on our tab."

Raising an eyebrow, Ed said, "Thank you very much."

Jim returned to the table as the waiter set the salads on the table. 
The two cops sat down exchanging looks. It was clear that John 
and Ed were a lot more important than they had realized. Jay said, 
"Maybe we should get an undercover agent to take John's place."

Shaking his head, Ed said, "No, John is fine."

Harry said, "It's an awful dangerous place to be."

Laughing, Ed replied, "I guess you didn't notice all the stray dogs 
and cats moving into the area where John is sitting. There are 
probably a hundred rats there as well. He's a lot better protected 
than any undercover policeman."

Leroy thought back to the raid this morning and only now realized 
that there had been a large number of cats, birds, and dogs in the 
area. The cats had even followed them into the house. Looking 
over at Ed, he asked, "Is that why there were so many animals at 
the raid this morning?"

"Yes," replied Ed with a knowing nod.

The initial report of the restaurant incident had suggested that a 
large number of birds had surrounded John when he approached 
the armed man. Jay said, "That explains what happened this 
afternoon. John was surrounded by all kinds of birds."

Not fully knowledgeable about the events at the restaurant, Ed was 
not comfortable addressing that episode directly. Choosing a more 
general answer, Ed said, "John is the Grand Druid. He is very well 
protected. I imagine that he isn't very comfortable tonight, but he 
wants to do it."

Leroy silently processed that news. In the time spent at the house, 
he had noticed that people didn't generally talk about the things 
they did unless it was a normal kind of activity. Even when they 
had rescued that woman trapped in the car, they had treated it as an 
everyday event. In a way, he now understood. He didn't really 
want to talk about the raid this morning, as it was horribly painful. 
Finally, he said, "So how long have you guys been policemen?"

The discussion centered on the two cops and their lives in the 
patrol car. The men ate their salads as the discussion progressed, 
finishing them in time for their dinners to be delivered. The pitcher 
of iced tea was emptied and then refilled. The dinner progressed in 
a relaxed fashion. The waiter treated them with much more respect, 
having overheard discussions about Ed at the other table. 

As the men finished their meal with Soufflés, Ed asked, "So how 
do you guys want to handle the night?"

Jay looked up and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I assume that you'll be going off duty as soon as you drop 
us off at the hotel," answered Ed. He added, "I also assume that 
you'll want to be present at the arrests tomorrow if anything 
happens there."

Harry nodded his head and replied, "That's true."

Ed said, "How about I promise that we won't leave the hotel until 
you come in the morning?"

Jay looked over at Harry before he answered, "Okay. We'll double 
check with the Sargent and clear it with him."

"Sounds good to me," said Ed. Finished with his desert, Ed looked 
around the room deciding how to end the evening. After a few 
minutes, he said, "I'm going to suggest that we head back to the 
hotel. I have a promise to keep with Leroy and it is getting late."

Leroy grinned and looked down at his desert. He said, "I'm done 
with my meal."

The two cops had finished their desert long before Ed and had 
spent most of the time listening to Ed and Leroy talk. They were 
both ready to head home and get some rest. After Ed stopped at the 
other table and extended his thanks for covering the meal, the 
group left. 

In the morning, Ed had arranged for a limousine to carry them 
around the city. After driving to the warehouse district, they had 
waited for news that arrests were being made at the warehouse 
where the stolen car had been stashed. Once the news had arrived, 
they approached the location where John had spent the night. In 
front of John, two men were sprawled out on the sidewalk moaning 
softly. Ed and Leroy got out of the limousine and joined John on 
the sidewalk. Looking at John with the leaves in his beard, dirt on 
his face, and bags under his eyes, Ed commented, "Well, it looks 
like you had a rough night."

 John looked at Ed and Leroy as Leroy blushed under the 
examination. He teased, "It looks to me like you got less sleep than 
I did. Anything I should know about?"

"Nah. Nothing outside the usual debauchery, you'd have been 
bored," replied Ed with a wink. Leroy just stood there looking 
embarrassed.

One of the men on the ground attempted to get up. A quick rap 
with the walking stick put him back on the ground. A police car 
arrived. Harry and Jay got out and looked at the men on the 
ground. Harry asked, "Any problems?"

"Nope. I just captured two Cronians."

All of the men laughed at the joke. John had said that he was going 
to act like a crazy man afraid of being captured by the Cronians, 
stating that Cronians were human-like aliens that differed from 
people by not having nipples. Leroy asked, "Did you check out 
their nipples?"

Inspector Kosta, the detective that had assigned the two patrolmen 
to watch over John and Ed, walked up. Looking down at the two 
men on the ground, he shook his head realizing that in two days 
John had been successful in resolving a hostage situation and 
breaking a car theft ring that had been in operation for months. He 
said, "Well, congratulations. They caught the whole gang. There 
was another stolen car in the truck."

John shrugged as though he had done nothing and replied, "I'm 
glad to hear that. We had better get over to FBI headquarters. 
Inspector Kosta, you're welcome to join us if you'd like."

At FBI headquarters, Inspector Kosta listened in shock as the 
reports from the field arrived. He had figured that any case the 
John Carter was involved in would be big, but he had no idea how 
expansive this case was. As report after report of an arrest arrived, 
the true scope of the operation became clear. 

John sat back with a smile on his face as he thought about the 
number of monsters that were going to jail. They arrested almost 
three hundred adults and liberated just as many children from 
sexual slavery. 

Ed and Leroy worked with several of the other agents in 
organizing the reports. As messages came in from the field, Ed 
sorted them according to location and handed them to Leroy. 
Leroy hung the reports on the wall by location. As they worked, a 
picture of what was happening around the country slowly 
developed. 

When the last report came in, Inspector Kosta said, "Very 
impressive. I don't know how you do it. You captured a car theft 
ring and child swapping ring all in the same day."

Agent Mauz added, "This operation today was entirely due to you, 
John."

John yawned as he shook his head. The lack of sleep the night 
before was catching up to him. "No, I had lots of help."

Ed looked up at the clock and realized how little sleep John had 
over the past two days. He suggested, "I'd say it's about time we 
head home, wouldn't you?"

"Sure. Let's go. I turn this operation over to you Agent Mauz." 
John turned to face at Inspector Kosta. With a wink, he said, "I'll 
give you one hint, never do your own paperwork."

The laughter that came from Inspector Kosta was genuine. "Yes, 
that'll give you about 38 hours a week more to work on cases."

Ed drove the jeep into the driveway as the garage door opened and 
pulled into John's normal space. Turning off the jeep, he sat back 
in his seat and rubbed his eyes. He and Leroy had taken turns 
driving home while John slept in the back seat. Getting out, Leroy 
stretched and yawned while Ed looked in the back of the jeep at 
the sleeping form of John. Ed reached back and shook John awake. 
"We're home, John."

Yawning, John sat up and stretched his arms, as much as was 
possible within the tight confines of the jeep. He looked around at 
the garage with surprise. He protested, "Oh, we're home. Why 
didn't you wake me earlier?"

Leroy laughed at the suggestion and answered, "We weren't brave 
enough to return home with a tired John. Ling would skin us 
alive."

The men got out of the jeep and headed into the house. Cathy met 
them at the door with a notepad of items to discuss. Turning to 
John, she said, "John, you've had another invitation to the White 
House. I turned it down as per your standing order. You have a 
date tomorrow night with one of the wives in town. She'll be here 
around seven for dinner. The University called and wanted to 
know if you still intended to take a semester off from your lectures. 
I told them that your intentions had not changed. I've put your tax 
forms in your inbox. You need to look over them, but Jack and the 
IRS agent have both okayed it."

John mumbled, "Thanks, Cathy."

She turned to Ed and recited, "Your tax forms are in your inbox. A 
check arrived from the New York Diamond Exchange. They gave 
you a nice bonus. I deposited it in your account. A box of samples 
arrived from Antarctica. I put it on the table in front of your 
workshop. You have a date tomorrow night with Rosa. She'll be 
here for dinner around seven. A rather persistent student has called 
several times a day wanting to know if you'll be his advisor for his 
dissertation. I told him that you would be available to talk to him 
tomorrow at three."

Smiling despite the fact that he had at least two days worth of work 
ahead of him, Ed replied, "Thanks, Cathy. You're a lifesaver."

She turned to Leroy and recited, "Your thesis advisor called while 
you were out. I told him you'd be available tomorrow at three."

Leroy hugged Cathy. "I think you're the greatest."

Cathy smiled and returned to her office. The three men looked at 
each other as if to ask what they should do next. John suggested, 
"Nothing to do until tomorrow afternoon. How about a swim?"

Leroy answered, "Sounds perfect to me."

The three men entered the poolroom laughing about crazy John. It 
took them a minute to realize that the room wasn't empty.  Mrs. 
Hayes, Ling, Kelly, and Linda were lounging on the chairs beside 
the pool. Dr. Hayes was in his wheelchair next to his wife. There 
wasn't a stitch of clothes on any one of them. Kelly asked, "What's 
so funny?"

Leroy took a quick glance in Linda's direction and then answered, 
"We were laughing about crazy John."

A confused look crossed Ling's face. She had never heard anyone 
refer to John in that fashion. "What about John?"

"Not John, crazy John!" asserted Ed who couldn't believe that John 
had actually pulled off the crazy act.

Laughing, John got a crazy look on his face. "I can see by all of the 
nipples in the room that these are all earthlings. You two, I'm not 
sure about. Do you have nipples? I have nipples, very good 
nipples. I bet you're from Cro. Are you Cronians?"

Ed and Leroy laughed as they took off their shirts. Ed pointing to 
the nipples on his chest answered, "We have nipples."

John frowned and looked crazy for a minute. Making a wild face, 
he asked, "Are you sure those are nipples? They might be painted 
on. I'm not going back in space."

While Ed and Leroy laughed, they slipped off their shoes and 
pants. John took off his cloak and robes. Still puzzled, Kelly asked, 
"So what is all this talk about Cronians?"

Leroy answered, "We found some car thieves in Denver. John 
went over to them acting like crazy John and watched them until 
the police arrived. The car thieves were quite confused by all of the 
talk about Cronians too."

Dr. Hayes smiled at the image. "Very nice. I bet they thought you 
were mad as a hatter."

"Yes they did. They even asked me if I was an undercover cop. I 
told them I was FBI. They didn't believe that either."

Linda still looked puzzled. "Why would you watch them until the 
police arrived?"

As the men finished undressing, Ed explained about the car theft 
ring they had broken up that night. By the time Ed finished telling 
the story, all three men were naked and standing by the pool. John 
quipped, "Last one in is a…"

As soon as John started talking, Ed grabbed Leroy and jumped into 
the water. With a little difficulty, Leroy kept his cast out of the 
water. Seeing the other two men in the water, John added lamely, 
"great guy."

Everyone laughed as he finally got in the water. Ed and John took 
a couple of laps, while Leroy walked around. He couldn't wait until 
he would be able to swim and splash water like everyone else. He 
looked over at Dr. Hayes and realized that he was actually very 
lucky in comparison. 

When the men exited the pool, Ed took a moment to look over Dr. 
Hayes, Mrs. Hayes, and Linda. Despite their age, the elderly 
couple still appeared to be in good shape. Admittedly, Dr. Hayes 
had lost some weight and muscle tone as a result of his injury, but 
with a little work and a reasonable diet he was going to recover as 
a very healthy man. Mrs. Hayes reminded him of Beth, and 
looking at her, he knew that Beth would have aged gracefully. The 
thought depressed him.

Looking over at Linda, he was surprised by how curvy her body 
was. The clothes that she normally wore hid her body. Even the 
one-piece bathing suit, complete with ruffles, was designed to hide 
the real shape of her body. It confused him why she would want to 
hide that body.

Ed had been lost in his thoughts, when Linda finally exclaimed, 
"Hey, aren't you guys going to say anything?"

Leroy asked, "About what?"

"About the fact that I'm naked."

Looking at everyone in the room, Ed laughed and said, "So is 
everyone else."

"I told you they wouldn't say anything. They'd treat you like you 
were fully clothed."

Mrs. Hayes snorted, "I can't believe they didn't make any remarks 
about this old wrinkled body."

In a very serious tone of voice, John replied, "I only see beautiful 
people in this room. Mrs. Hayes is glowing with a newfound 
confidence. Dr. Hayes looks happier than I've ever seen him, 
accepting a lifestyle that he's probably always wanted. I see a 
young woman that has found her passion and is about to unleash it 
on an unsuspecting world. Leroy sees himself as a human being 
that can embrace all that life has to offer him. Kelly has that glow 
that a woman achieves only in the creation of a new life. Ling is a 
force of nature and is following her path to happiness."

Dr. Hayes commented, "You're quite perceptive."

"He's much more perceptive than you would credit him for. He's 
worked hard to bring everyone to this point. He's offered me a 
chance to explore my personal boundaries without pressure. He's 
kept from sleeping with Linda until she's found herself. You don't 
think it was an accident that Bob and Sarah were always naked 
when it was their turn to watch over you?" offered Leroy. He knew 
he wasn't fully aware of all that John was doing to help people 
become all that they could be. 

John stood up and walked over to where his clothes were laying on 
the floor. He picked up his robe and slipped it over his head. He 
turned to Leroy and corrected him, "The only thing I do is love the 
people around me. It's that simple."

Linda watched John leave the room and asked, "Where's he 
going?"

Debating whether he should answer, Ed looked at the smiles on the 
faces of his wives and decided that it would be best if he said 
nothing. Changing the subject, Ed said, "Leroy made a pretty big 
step towards joining the family while we were in Denver."

"Oh really?" asked Ling with a speculative look in her eye. She ran 
her tongue over her lips as she examined Leroy. After a quick 
glance at Ed, she said, "Leroy, could you help me with something 
in my room?"

The question caught Leroy by surprise as he had been talking to 
Dr. Hayes and hadn't heard what Ed had said. Not knowing what 
she wanted with him, he volunteered anyway, "Sure."

As Ling and Leroy headed out of the room, Linda asked, "What 
does she need him to do?"

Laughing at the naivete of the question, Kelly answered, "She has 
an itch that needs to be scratched."

"She doesn't have to leave to have him scratch her back," remarked 
Mrs. Hayes.

Laughing, Ed replied, "That's not what she's getting scratched."

"Oh," replied a very embarrassed Mrs. Hayes when she realized 
what Ed meant.

It was almost a minute later when Linda, eyes wide, said, "Oh!"

The delay caused almost everyone to burst out laughing. Dr. 
Hayes, winking at Ed, said, "Mrs. Hayes, I have an itch that needs 
scratching as well."

"Oh, you're a sex fiend all of a sudden," the elderly woman replied. 
As she went to push the wheelchair out of the room, she said, 
"Imagine, I find that I'm married to a dirty old man after forty-three 
years of marriage."

Ed laughed and watched her push the wheelchair out of the room. 
Now that only Kelly, Linda, and he were left in the room, Ed was 
about to ask about the pregnancy. Looking over at Kelly, he 
realized that she wanted to say something. 

Kelly was looking at Ed hoping that he would get the hint that he 
should leave. When he just sat there looking at her, she realized he 
was waiting for her to say something. Frustrated, she said, "Ed, 
don't you have to check on how the new staff is fitting into the 
household?"

Tapping his temple with a fingertip as he realized that Kelly 
wanted to talk to Linda before her date with John, Ed said, "Sorry, 
I didn't think about it. I'll be back after a while."

After dressing, Ed left the room to the women and went to locate 
the two new men they had hired. Cutting through the garden, he 
found Bob sitting on a bench. Sitting down next to Bob, Ed asked, 
"How's it going?"

Bob, turning his whole body to face Ed, answered, "Pretty good. 
Walt is over by the waterfall cleaning the filters right now.  I 
imagine they are pretty messy as I haven't been able to take care of 
them weekly."

"Do you like working with him?" asked Ed curious how the man 
was taking to his new responsibilities.

"Oh, yeah. He's a good hard worker. I can't wait to get this brace 
off my neck and get back to work myself. It'll be fun having 
someone with whom to share the duties," replied Bob.

Walt came out from behind the waterfall carrying a plastic bag. He 
looked at the mess on his hands and asked, "Where can I wash 
up?"

Bob answered, "I usually rinse my hands off in the pond after 
changing the filters. Then I trim some of the dead leaves off the 
plants."

Bending down to wash his hands in the pond, Walt answered, 
"Smart. Do you want to check my work?"

"Do I need to?"

"No, but I'd feel better if you did. It's the first time I've done 
anything like that," replied Walt. There had been a lot of firsts 
since he started working at the house. 

Stiffly, Bob stood up and walked behind the waterfall. Ed watched 
him go and asked, "So, how do you like it here?"

Smiling, Walt said, "Lots of new things to learn, but I like the 
work. It's a little of this and a little of that. Nothing too hard, but 
most of it just takes time."

"Settling in okay?"

"I went out and bought some furniture the other day. It's really nice 
to be able to go in my room and relax after working all day," 
replied Walt. He had bought a television, a stereo, a chair, and a 
small desk. Sarah had visited him several times in his room and he 
had enjoyed the sessions with her tremendously.

"Good. So are you going to stay?"

"You'll have to fire me to get rid of me," replied Walt. Laughing, 
he added, "And I might stay here and work for free."

Bob returned from behind the waterfall and said, "Looks good to 
me."

"Great, I'll get to work on the plants now," replied Walt. He went 
along the path pulling off the dead leaves and putting them into the 
plastic bag. 

Ed didn't even try to hide his smile as he watched the man working 
among the plants. This young man definitely was happy here and 
Bob liked him. Standing up, he said, "Bob, you take it easy until 
you're fully healed."

"Sure thing," replied Bob with a smile. 

Ed wandered off to the front of the house to check on Marguerite 
and see how she was doing. On the way, he ran into Cathy and 
stopped her. She looked at him wondering what he could want 
from her. He asked, "So how are the two new guys working out?"

With a very wide grin, she answered, "Well, George is great in 
bed. I haven't had a chance to try Walt since Sarah has been 
keeping him busy."

Shaking his head, Ed asked, "Are they fitting in?"

"George fills me just fine and I haven't heard any complaints from 
Sarah," replied Cathy with a wink.

Laughing at the unintended joke, Ed said, "You know what I 
mean."

"No problems at all. They both seem happy," replied Cathy.

Nodding, Ed knew that the ladies were doing their best to make the 
new men happy. Looking up at the sky, Ed thought to himself, 
"The Gods and Goddesses love randy women."



