Criminal
Buster’s Brigade
by Bonnie
H.
It was quiet. The morning had
just broken and everything was still.
Except for one man who was tossing and turning in his
bed, dreaming
about horrible things of the past. In his small apartment
in
Angeles
to stop doing something. The pain in his voice was immense. You could
hear that he was crying. The other residents were waking up and
calling the police. They didn't know that he was dreaming. The police
busted down the door. Thus began the investigation of The Criminal
Buster's Brigade.
The Criminal Busters Brigade is
an organization put together by the
FBI and the CIA. It's a top-secret organization that bends the
statute of limitations on rape and busts rape offenders everywhere.
Although mainly made up of FBI agents there are a few CIA agents as
well. The FBI agents are: Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops, Colin Mochrie,
Wayne Brady, and Jeff Davis. The CIA member is Charles Esten,
although he goes by Chip.
When they got the news that they
had a rape victim right in Agent
Proops' hometown, they went there right away. They knew there were
many people to bust but they had to do what they could. Plus, they
were only one branch. They only had jurisdiction on the West Coast.
They had to go to L.A. Agent Proops was certainly happy.
When they
arrived in the town the first thing they did was set-up a
in a nice little hotel. It was privately owned and operated
so they
paid money so they could stay there for a long time. They were doing
a run-over.
"Alright everybody, listen
up. As you know I am the only CIA agent in
this unit. Therefore if I tried to appoint myself as leader there
would be mutiny. So, here is the thing, there is no leader. We are a
team and we will do this together. There is too much at stake to do
it any other way. Do you understand?" They all nodded yes and Chip
continued, "I believe that the safest way to do this would be someone
go get the victim, bring him here and
we'll grill him. I need someone
who has a good sex appeal; I want him to think this is not a
government operation. After his rape he must be looking for someone
to comfort him. Agent Proops. I'm giving you this
assignment; court
him for a couple days then bring him back here. Do whatever you have
to. Even if it means pretending to fall in love with him.
Who knows…
maybe he'll tell you something before we get a chance to get him. Go
shopping and get some less formal clothes. We're going to wire you."
Agent Proops nodded his assent and went to get changed. For some
reason, he didn't like the idea very much.
He walked into the café and
spotted the victim. Bradley Randal
Sherwood. A 36-year-old white male. With a nowhere job. Greg adjusted
his shirt and sat down at one of the tables. A waitress came over.
"May I help you?" The
blonde woman asked.
"Actually you can. You see
that man," he pointed to Brad, "Can you
get him to come wait on me? I need to talk to him." Greg replied.
"Sure." The blonde
lady bounced off and sent Brad over.
"May I help you?" Brad
asked.
"Sit down please."
"Okay." He sat down
very gently, like a woman would.
"My name is Greg Proops. I
was wondering if you'd like to go out with
me later tonight."
"Sure… I get off of work in
like 10 minutes. I'll get you something
to drink. What would you like?"
"Water will be fine thank
you."
"Okay." He walked off,
just as he did, Greg's phone rang. Brad wasn't
in hearing range but the blonde lady, Shana, was.
"Agent Proops… Oh, hey
Stiles… what's up? You already know what
happened… remember… you've got me on a wire… yeah… I'll see you
around 10 tonight I guess… Yeah… bye" Shana walked back into the
kitchen.
"Brad… what did that guy
want from you?"
"Just a date."
"Be careful… he's
FBI."
"No way.
That ROCKS! I have always wanted to date a government
employee. Neat." Shana shook her head.
"Be careful Brad… it could
be a set-up."
"I doubt it is… no one goes
out on a date for a set-up."
"Well, if you say so, but…
still Brad… be careful… you know how the
government is."
"Yeah… I'll be fine though.
I better bring him his water." Shana
again shook her head as her friend practically floated out of the
kitchen.
"Sorry it took so long." Brad said
apologetically.
"It's fine… I understand. You ready to
go?"
"Yeah, let me grab my coat." Then
he yelled "See you tomorrow
Shana."
"Bye Brad… have
fun!" Shana called back. With that the two
men walked out of the store and into the balmy night. They walked for
a long time. They walked until they got to this nice little burger
joint about an hour away from the restaurant. Unfortunately, Brad
chose the restaurant and the restaurant he chose was right next to
their hotel. So, of course, his teammates were in that restaurant.
Things went downhill from there of course.
"Proops! Come
sit with us!" Chip called. So, of course, Greg
had to, he pulled Brad with him.
"Are these your FBI buddies?" Brad
whispered in his ear.
"Yeah," Greg whispered back,
"but how did you know I was FBI?"
"Shana heard you talking on your
phone."
"Oh, you aren't mad are you?"
"No… I actually think it's cool. But
what are you guys doing
over here?" Greg then explained the whole thing and Brad seemed very
cool with it.
"Tell your FBI buddies that you don't
have to pretend to fall
in love with me. I want that guy put away as much as you do… probably
more. I won't be able to sleep peacefully until that guy is where he
belongs."
"Alright.
Well, lets go. Oh, and pretend you don't know
they're FBI."
"Okay." They approached the table.
Greg could tell that Ryan
or Chip had lectured them. They were actually calling each other by
their first names. It was kind of funny. Ryan was having the least of
a hard time; he always called everybody by his or her first name. He
held no kind of respect for any of them. Ryan was in the top ring of
Special Agents. He got demoted because another agent accused him of
stealing weapons, they had already demoted him when they found out it
was a lie and they didn't want to do the paperwork to get him back in
his position, so they kept him demoted. Everyone in their unit had a
high respect for Ryan, especially their newest agent Colin Mochrie.
Although Colin was a new agent he came from a long line of people who
were cops and stuff like that. He knew more about guns and weaponry
than everyone except for Ryan. Everyone knew, well, except for Ryan,
that Colin's feeling went past admiration. Greg smiled and sat with
his group of `friends'. He couldn't really call them that though
because the only one he got close to was
the best agent. He was quiet, swift, dark, and intimidating. Coupled
with the fact that he wore all black he was exactly the kind of
agents that the government wanted. When you got him talking though he
was a great conversationalist. He loved talking about his hometown.
It was cute. Another agent exactly like
couldn't get very close to him though… he was a lot quieter than
to be the perfect agent. He thought that up until the
day he walked
in on Jeff bawling his eyes out. He still didn't know why he was
crying that day. He really wanted to know but he never got up enough
courage to ask the reticent man. He thought that if he did he would
shoot him. He was very scared of Jeff's emotionless personality. Brad
didn't know what he was like and decided to try and strike up a
conversation. He tapped Jeff on the shoulder.
"Hello, what's your name?" Brad
asked.
"Jeff…" he replied
"How're you today?"
"Fine…"
"How was your day?"
"Fine…"
"How old are you?"
"27…"
"You're mighty young. What do you do
for a living?"
"Work…"
"What kind of work??"
"Construction…" Brad gave up after
that; he didn't like
reticent people that much, and it made him
nervous. He decided to
talk to Colin. He tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hello! What's your name??" Brad
said.
"Hey! I'm Colin… who're you?"
"I'm Brad… how old are you??"
"42… I'm pretty old… how old are
you?"
"36… and you're not that old."
Brad smiled and continued on
talking to Colin. They seemed really engrossed with their
conversation. Greg was studying Jeff. Brad leaned over and whispered
in his ear.
"What's wrong with him?" Brad
asked jerking his head towards
Jeff.
"I dunno. He is always like that; I'm
trying to figure him
out right now. I suppose I should tell you some things. Colin is a
great conversationalist. Ryan is a good one too, but he is very
snobby since he was in the top ring of SA. He got demoted for being
accused of lying. Jeff rarely says anything… don't take that as a
personal offense. Once you get
not sure about Chip though. He's CIA not FBI. That's about it. You
already know me." Greg replied. He continued studying Jeff and Brad
continued talking to Colin. It was quite amusing. Then Ryan cleared
his throat and the table fell silent. He looked at everybody oddly
and went back to eating. Brad started laughing. He thought it was the
funniest thing in the world.
*******************************************************************
Greg went up to his room that night and was
thinking. He
absolutely loved the way Brad was whispering in his ear. He loved the
way his hand and brushed his under the table. And then it hit him
with the force of championship fighter. He was in love with Brad. He
couldn't believe it. After all the things that he had done and all,
he was finally falling in love. It made him so happy. But then, a
knot formed in his stomach out of fear. It had been so long since he
had felt this way. How should he act? He didn't know what to do. It
freaked him out. Whenever he had found someone he made absolutely
sure that they had romantic interest in him. He didn't know with
Brad. He barely knew him. What he did know was that he couldn't stand
being away from him and that he would not give up until he loved him
and only wanted to be with him. It was actually kind of pathetic. It
hurt his feelings. Then, the dark thoughts came. The
plaguing thought
of someone rejecting him and laughing at him. The thoughts of him
saying yes then using him. He thought of him cheating on him, lying.
He got lost in despair. His bubble of darkness was soon popped when
he heard his cell phone ring. He picked up the phone and looked at
the number. It was someone from the main office.
"Proops."
"Agent Proops.
This is Sean Thomas. I have an important thing
for you to do… and don't tell the others. We have found one of the
rape victims and we sent him your way. I need you to see if you can
find his family. They live in
what you can do. Goodbye." He heard a click and the other line went
dead. He sighed and called up Brad.
"Hello?" A sleepy voice asked.
"Is Brad Sherwood there?"
"This is he."
"Hey, Brad, it's Greg. Do you have a
brother named Matthew?"
"Yeah… have you found him?"
"Yeah. He's a rapist. He might be the
one-"
"He *is* the one Greg. If you get him
here, I'll testify.
Please, put him away."
"I will. Bye."
"Bye." Greg turned off his cell
and wondered about the next
day. He wanted to know what it would bring. He was scared to death.
Part 2
The next morning Matthew arrived. The others
already knew. Even
though he wasn't supposed to tell, in a situation like this it was
mandatory to undermine the higher ups in D.C. and start treating the
higher ups in your unit like gods. So he told Ryan. Even though Ryan
wasn't the leader, in all actuality, Chip was. He still deemed it the
best course to take was the one where he knew the road. Ryan was
smarter and more cunning than any man in their unit. There was no
reason not to tell him. Ryan instantly took action by waking everyone
up and telling them what was going on. Chip was vexed that he had
told Ryan and not him but there was nothing he could, since a single
CIA agent couldn't take over 5 FBI agents. It would be a state of
mutiny and the last thing they needed right now was a rift between
the two groups. Ryan took charge, even over Chip.
"Alright.
Here's the deal. If this guy is bad enough to rape
his own brother that means he is the foulest thing on the planet. We
need to get this guy locked away and we need to do it fast. We need
Brad to testify. Will he do it?"
"Yeah. He said he would. I talked to
him last night. He
agreed because he wants put away really badly too."
"Alright…
Greg…. You go get Brad. Colin and I will get
Matthew. Jeff,
him. The jury is a different story. If the judge I want agrees to do
it, we'll have an upper hand. You guys ask for Judge Tony Slattery
and we want our prosecutor to be Paul Merton. He's the best in the
business. I'm going to contact the higher ups after we get Matthew in
jail. All right everybody. Go!" They all set off in their different
directions. Greg hopped into his car and sped over to the restaurant.
He jumped out of the car and went inside. Brad was chatting lazily
with Shana. He didn't make himself noticeable and he listened to
their conversation.
"-Such a sweetheart.
Absolutely with no questions asked. I
mean… I'm sure that the love he was showing me was just an act put
up. I think I'm in love though." Brad said, sighing afterwards.
"Oh, Brad. I told you not to go and
fall in love again.
You're going to wind up hurting yourself, and that isn't good. We've
been trying to protect you and it isn't working. Now, you've gone and
fallen in love and I see no way to get you out. He probably doesn't
even love you." Shana said, brushing her hair out of her eyes. Brads
face contorted with pain, the pain of rejection Greg knew so well.
"But what if it isn't
an act. What if I really do love him? I
do love you Brad. I'd make love to you right now… but… we got him and
hopefully
defend you. Let's roll." With that Greg grabbed Brad and Shana and
threw them in the car, and sped off towards the courthouse. They met
and whispered to Greg.
"We got Paul Merton. We're about to see
if Judge Slattery
will do this case for us. If you're here we have a better chance.
You're more lovable."
They walked into Judge Slattery's courtroom. There were no cases
going on.
"Hey Tony."
Jeff said quietly.
"Jeff!" The Englishman exclaimed
jumping out of his chair and
running over to hug the normally stoic man. Jeff smiled for the first
time since Greg had met him. He had an extremely nice smile. Tony
kissed Jeff full on the lips. Leaving Greg and Brad totally shocked.
Brad blushed bright red and looked away. Greg,
though, regained his
composure and gently kissed Brad on the lips. It was the sweetest
thing he had ever tasted and he would've gone on but
his throat and they all stopped. Then Jeff did something he almost
never did. He started talking quite animatedly. That shocked
everyone. Ryan came in with Matthew, he was in
chains and all. Colin
had a gun held to Matthew's head and he also had his chains held.
Brad looked at him critically. Matthew smiled sweetly at him.
"I have a question Brad. How in the world are you going to convict
me? You have no evidence that I did it." Matthew said, that same
smile on his face, it was a triumphant type smile.
"Well, well, well. Looks
like you forgot Matthew… remember that I
have a video camera in my room. When you raped me… your face was
pointed directly at the camera. You helped me install it so it was
hidden. It looks like you forgot dear. I don't know how you could. We
had only installed it the week before. Plus… I had
a tape recorder
on… I was trying to see if I talked in my sleep. It was an assignment
for my Psychology class. I dropped out the night after though. I have
plenty of evidence. Not only that but also the fact that
you
practically admitted that you did it." Brad said his jaw was set.
Not
even an inkling of his usually happy smile was on his face.
"Yes… but technically we can't use that
in court. It's
hearsay. So… the story could be twisted and it's not allowed to be
used in a court of law." ADA Paul Merton walked into the room with
all the flair of a well-trained lawyer. "As soon as we get him a
lawyer we can start the case. Can you afford an attorney?"
"No. I don't want one appointed to me.
I went to law school
and passed the bar. I'll represent myself."
"Alright.
That's fine. I'll give you three days to get
yourselves together. Court will commence then. I need to talk to my
esteemed friends from the government though. So, bailiffs… please see
that people know I'm out." The bailiff nodded and Tony walked out
with Jeff and his friends.
To be
continued.