THE SWORD AND SICKLE

PART TWO: DECEPTION

CHAPTER ONE

HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT

©2017, Olan L. Smith

Aseph said, "As you know finger prints are unique, but did you know you can tell an aged person prints from someone who is younger?"

"No, I didn't. Go on."

He brought the prints up on his computer. Here are all the prints on the bills. Look at this set, they are different. See how they actually have wrinkles in them. That only happens with extreme age. The telomeres in your body control the reproduction of all cells in the human body. The telomeres are like tiny shoelace caps and are at the end of every gene. When the tips fray, as they do on your shoelaces, they slow the number of times the body regenerates itself. This person is near the end of his life to have wrinkles through his fingerprints like this. As you look at the other prints, see how crisp and distinct they are."

"Yes, I see. Do you have a match?"

"No, not yet. Wait, just a minute. The computer has found something. It is right here. It looks like the old man did a little shop lifting about twenty years ago in Jackson, Mississippi at a Wal-Mart Store. Yes, his name is Ansell Bastion. Let me print out a copy for you."

"The Chief Detective said, "Good work, now forget you know what you know."

"No problem Chief...I will erase my files."

The Chief Detective walked briskly to the elevator and headed up to his office. He opened his door and plopped down the fingerprint report on his desk in front of the Director. "Here is the fingerprint analysis you wanted, sir."

Director Morgan looked at the report thoroughly and said, "Hmm... give this to Assistant Chief, Bastion, and have her get on it, quickly."

"Yes sir."

"Was the clerk from the Best Western any use to us?"

"No sir."

"Cut him loose and have him remain in D.C."

"Sir, can I ask why I am being left out of the loop?"

"No, but let me add, be glad you are not in the loop. When we have something substantial, I will bring you up to date. In the meantime, give her free reign."

"Yes sir." The Chief Detective Wescott wondered what he meant by "be glad you are not in the loop"...perhaps he had better hold his emotions in check and let things play out. He walked to where Greta had set up shop' and knocked on the door.

She came to the door, opened it and said, "Hi Boss, how may I help you?"

"Here is the report on the fingerprints. The Director asked me to give them to you. How is it going?"

"Nice try, Chief, but this is my horse and I'm going to ride him home."

"No problem. I wouldn't want to have your assignment; it's too hot to handle. Better your ass on the line than mine," as he turned and walked away.

Assistant Detective Greta thought to herself, He is as jealous as it comes. He would give his right arm to have this one. She turned and retreated to her new desk. Opening up the report, she was dumbfounded. Ansell Bastion's fingerprints were on the JIM, and not just any Ansell, they were the prints of her dead shoplifting Grandfather. "Grandpa, what have you gotten yourself into, you old dead fart," she muttered under her lips. Well, I need to call Aunt Lucy again and get her digging, literally. She sat down and called the coroner in Jackson, Mississippi.

The Director of the FBI was on the phone in the office trying to keep up with everything happening in the city on finding Levi and his family when Assistant Detective Greta just walked in and said, "I have a block buster, and I did it with an hour to spare."

Director Morgan hung up the phone in mid-sentence and said, "Glad you are on top of it, Bastion. Give me the low-down."

"Sir, I thought I would eliminate my own family first and good thing. It saved me a lot of work and time. I called my Aunt Lucy, who is the family historian, to find out if they had any record of Levi Jackson having contact with our family. She pulled up her genealogy records on her computer and did some research for me, and when she returned my call, she had a wealth of information. It seems Director, I have cousins; I had no idea they existed. Get this. One of my cousins is named Venus Bastion, who grew up in Jackson, Mississippi. After she graduated from the University, she just drops off the map. No social security number, and absolutely no record of a Venus Bastion, anywhere."

"Did she get married, or something?"

"Yes, but it wouldn't account for her not having a social security number. Lucy said he was going with a man named, Jim something, and that she would call around to find out what his last name was. "So, she calls me back in thirty minutes and gets a hold of Venus' mother at a nursing home. Her mother says that Venus changed her name after her father died; it seemed the old fart was having sex with Venus since she was a child, and she wanted nothing to do with the family, ever again."

Did she have Jim's last name?"

"Yes, and Lucy finds out from her sister that Ivy became ill and went to live with a Judy V. Polanski in Boonville, Missouri. I looked him up on the computer, phoned him and asked about his wife. He tells me that Venus divorced him and went back to her maiden name, Bastion. He further tells me that years later she remarried an artist from Missouri, named Levi Jackson, and they have a child named Ariel. The people we are looking for are my cousin and her husband. Can you believe that, sir? The whole nation is in an uproar about my cousin. My cousin is fuckin' married to the founder of the SDL. How awesome is that."

"That is great work Bastion. Brilliant."

"Oh, that is only the tip of the iceberg, sir. The prints on the bills are of my grandfather, Ansell. I called up the coroner to see if they had a death certificate for him. They did and then I told him to dig both of them up, pronto."

"The coroner says he would have to get a family member to approve, and I told him that I was the granddaughter and I gave my permission. A while later he called me back and reported to me the graves were undisturbed and the bodies were still in the grave, but the bodies were remarkably preserved, like they had been buried only hours ago. He said the local officials would perform an autopsy on the bodies to determine their miraculous preserved state."

"I don't want him to autopsy them, do you have his number?"

"Yes sir, it is right here on the report. Front page, sir. There in the lower right corner."

Morgan was on the phone and the coroner picked him up. "This is Director Morgan of the FBI, the bodies of Ansell Bastion and his wife. I don't want you to do the autopsy, I want you to put them on ice and ship them to D.C. Yes, we will foot the bill. Yes, and thank you very much."

"Sir, this is really weird shit. Would you mind filling me in on what is going on?"

"Well, this goes against the President's orders, but maybe Levi and Venus will visit you, and in that case it would be better that I read you in. He brought her up to date on the case and finished by saying, "Levi and Venus are the most dangerous people on earth; if you can call them people. Levi nearly killed the President, but we know he murdered Dianne Menisci, and if you encounter them you most likely wouldn't survive. We deemed him nearly unstoppable, and we definitely have our work cut out for us. Now, it is my turn to ask you questions. If you come in contact with them, would you tell us about it?"

"Of course. Most definitely I would."

"I wasn't sure since she is your cousin. You know the old saying that blood is thicker than water."

"My country comes first. I guarantee you sir."

"Good we might be able to set up a trap for them, using you as bait."

"Are you willing to risk your life for your country, Assistant Detective Bastion?"

"Yes sir...most definitely."

"No one, except you will know what you are up against. It will be up to you, to make sure you live. Your team will be there for you, but they will be of little help. I am afraid."

"Do you want me to wear a wire?"

"No, it will not work around Levi?"

"Shit sir, what is he?"

"It is more like, what are they. Oh. What about the handwriting analysis?"

"I asked my aunt to send me a copy of his signature, and they were a perfect match."

Bastion walked toward her desk. She turned to tell Evelyn she had finished and could have her room back. Then she thought about what the Chief Detective had said earlier. "Better you, than me." Crap, what has my family done? Who are they? Maybe I am part mutant. Evelyn walked pass her and bumped her. Assistant Chief Detective Greta, deep in thought, paid no attention and walked on to her desk.