While a hastily gathered Elders' Council were ironically having their impromptu "war council" in the zen garden of the Tachibana no Akane estate, Sheriff Douglas Cooper was addressing problems of his own caused by Jack Crawford.
It was bad enough that the closest legal parking space the Sheriff of Moon Lake could find was a good three blocks from his own department, but the fact that word had gotten out that the notorious mobster Fredrick "The Shark" Parker and his men had been caught by a relatively small town police force was now the focus of a media circus for every news outlet in the state, if not the entire country. That not only endangered the peacefulness of such a small town, but risked the exposure of Moon Lake's were secret as well.
As he approached the front door of the Sheriff's office, Cooper took note that the only news gathers not represented were those he knew were members of the (Lance) Knight Media Group. A small fact he would thank the werepanther member of the Council for the next time he saw him.
"OKAY PEOPLE! LISTEN UP!" shouted Sheriff Cooper in hopes of drawing everyone's attention. He had never seen so many people in one spot for one specific purpose that he didn't like. It was kind of unnerving, but Cooper refused to let it get to him.
Once all eyes were trained on him, the Sheriff continued. "Now then, I am Sheriff Douglas Cooper of Moon Lake, Washington. ALL OF YOU are trespassing and interfering with the operations of the Moon Lake Sheriff's Department. You are hereby ordered to go back to the other side of the property line on the public sidewalk at once. Also, on my walk to my own office, I noticed a lot of your news vans and other vehicles were illegally parked. I am sending my men out at once to ticket any and ALL violators, regardless of who you are!"
With that, the Sheriff nodded to a couple of nearby deputies, who just simply smiled as they nodded in acknowledgement of their orders and ran out into the crowd.
Some news personnel grew worried and hied off to beat the deputies to their vehicles so they could move and park them in safer, more legal spots.
But others stood their ground and started asking questions.
"What's this about you having Fredrick Parker in custody?"
"How did such a small, hick town accomplish such a feat?"
"Are you afraid of reprisals from Fredrick's alleged fellow mobsters?"
Sheriff Cooper wasn't sure Fredrick Parker actually had any true friends, let alone ones who would in turn try to bust him out of jail, although it wouldn't be his or Moon Lake's concern once the Feds came in the morning and hauled Parker and his men off to join his son in Federal Custody in Seattle.
"Fredrick Parker's son Daniel shot and tried to kill a local resident during an attempted car jacking this past week," began the Sheriff, choosing his words carefully. "He was apprehended in due course, as mandated by the laws of this town, Washington State, and the United States of America. Fredrick Parker and an... entourage of associates came immediately upon hearing the news of his son's arrest and tried to obtain Daniel Parker's freedom. When all legal channels were exhausted, the elder Parker attempted more... questionable methods of extraction, which led to the arrest of him and his associates," said Cooper, not going into details about the mobster's attempted siege of the Sheriff's station.
"Unfortunately for Fredrick Parker, his son Daniel had already been transferred into Federal custody at the time, well out of Moon Lake jurisdiction, but I assume that when the Feds return to collect Fredrick and his men on the outstanding charges that they have, father and son will be reunited at some point. Now, like I have already stated earlier, you are on Sheriff's Department property and interfering with our daily operations, so please move back to the public sidewalk."
"What about local charges against the Parkers?" one reporter asked.
"Surely the person Daniel Parker is accused of shooting will want their day in court," pointed out another.
"You still haven't answered how a small town police force managed such a successful coup."
Sheriff Douglas Cooper just shook his head negatively.
"Our local District Attorney is representing Moon Lake with the Federal authorities. While the Federal charges against the Parkers are more major, once all is said and done on those matters, I have been told that our charges against them will be implemented. Now then, have a good night, and drive safely on your way back to wherever you came from," added Cooper, as he turned to walk into the Sheriff's office.
"Why won't you tell us how you managed to apprehend Fredrick Parker and his men?" one reporter demanded to know.
"Any other town would be bragging about such a coup. Why the secrecy?" another asked.
That last question stopped Cooper in his tracks. Slowly, he turned back around to face the crowd of reporters again.
"The secrecy as you call it, was in hopes of having a smooth transfer of prisoners between our department and the Federal authorities. Something not possible in the middle of a media circus like we find ourselves in at the moment," the Sheriff pointed out to them in return. "As to the rest of your inquiries, we of the Moon Lake Sheriff's Department did our jobs just like any other police force around the world. To uphold the law and safeguard our citizens and any other innocents who might happen to be in our jurisdiction at the time.
"No cop puts on a badge," continued Cooper, pointing proudly to the one pinned onto his uniform shirt, "thinking What can this bring me down the road? If anyone working for this department ever does such a thing, thinking of either themselves or the alleged fame and glory doing their duty might bring them, I will fire them so fast it will make their heads spin. Serving the law, just like being a fire fighter, a paramedic, or any other high public service position may be a job, but it is also a calling. To serve and protect isn't just our job description, it's our duty."
With that, Sheriff Cooper turned and went back inside the building, ignoring any further questions from the crowd of reporters.
Inside, Cooper turned to the closest deputies and said, "Spread the word. If necessary, hand out tickets for fines that can be paid by proxy later, but absolutely NO arrests! I don't want any of those vultures having an excuse to get inside this building and possibly seeing Parker and any of his men, let alone..." and with that, he held up two fingers of each hand so that they formed Vs, before bringing the Vs together to create a W.
The deputies present simply nodded in acknowledgement and went off to carry out their orders and duties.
I miss you Joan. You and Darrel more than I ever thought possible, realized Cooper, as he started walking back to his office. Soon as all this is over, we're taking a proper vacation, even if it's just for a weekend so Darrel doesn't miss any school. And when I get my claws on Jack Crawford... he angrily growled, barely keeping his were-grizzly bear fursona in check as Cooper carried on to make sure his station, prisoners, and town were secured and safe.