ON THE WHEELS OF LEGENDS. COVER MOUTH. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FAMOUS AND THE LEGEND. BEAUTYREST GREENWOOD QUEEN. PIG OUT. DINE OUT. FUND MEALS. TO ROOT OUT HUNGER! SEPTEMBER 26, 2018. PHINNEY NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION'S HOT MEAL PROGRAM. GRAYBAR. HOW TRACKING PROTECTION WORKS. OH. THANKS. BUT FRENCH FROGMAN IN LA FITNESS HOT TUB, ABOUT 3:00 PM-ISH? FROG HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN SEVERAL HIT ATTEMPTS OR STING OPS . . . I SAW HIM COME IN, AND, HE IS ABOUT 5'5" SMALL BUILD, BALD, BUT FOR THE FRYER TUCK LOOK, FRINGE HAIR, BROWN, HE WAS WEARING A BLACK OR WAS IT RED? SWIMSUIT. I WAS GOING TO SKIP THE HOT TUB ALTOGETHER, SEEING HIM ARRIVE, THEN I THOUGHT, NO, I AM GOING TO TRY TO COMPLETE MY STRETCHING ROUTINE, AND HEAD ROLLS. I GOT IN, AND HE WAS, BLOCKING OR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FAR END, SO I COULD NOT GET IN ONE OF THE CORNERS, WHERE I SIT, AND STRETCH MY LEGS, PUTTING THEM ON THE BENCH, AND REACHING MY TOES . . . HE WOULD KNOW MY ROUTINE, BECAUSE HE HAS TRIED TO DISARM ME OR NOT ALARM ME BEFORE, BUT, BEEN AGGRESSIVE. PHYSICALLY, I COULD TAKE HIM, BUT, WE ALL KNOW THAT, NOW DAYS, ALL HE HAS TO DO IS TOUCH YOU WITH SOME POISON AGENT, THE NEW ASSASSINATION, TOOL, AND YOU ARE A GONER! SO, I GOT ABOUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DISTANCE FROM THE STAIRS TO THE END OF THE HOT TUB, SO, NOT WITHIN, REACHING DISTANCE . . . HE HAD HIS BACK TO ME, BUT AS SOON AS I STARTED TO DO MY HEAD, CIRCLES, AND TURNS, HE STARTED, COPYING ME, AND MOVING INTO THE CENTER OF THE HOT TUB, CLOSER AND CLOSER! I JUST GOT UP AND LEFT! THE STRANGE THING IS, ANOTHER, DUDE, WHO I HAVE SEEN BEFORE, AND WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED, BLACK DUDE, HAD ONLY BEEN IN THE POOL, MAYBE, FROM THE TIME, I GOT OUT, BECAUSE I WAITED FOR HIM, TO SWIM BY BEFORE I CROSSED OVER THE PLASTIC BLUE & WHITE LANE DIVIDERS, BUT HE STAYED AT THE FAR END OF THE POOL; HOWEVER, WHEN, I GOT OUT OF THE HOT TUB, AND WENT TO THE SHOWERS, BOTH ME, QUICKLY GOT OUT, OF THE POOL AND THE HOT TUB AND DISAPPEARED! ONE TO THE DRESSING ROOM, AND THE OTHER UP THE STAIRS, I BELIEVE . . .I WAS JUST TRYING TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE DUNGEON, WITH POSSIBLE THREE MEN, FROM WHAT I COULD TELL, WHO COULD HAVE BEEN, INVOLVED. THERE HAD BEEN, ANOTHER MAN, STRANGELY POSITIONED, IN THE HOT TUB, WHO CONCERNED ME AND STRUCK ME AS A TEAM PLAYER, OLDER MAN, GRAY HAIR, JUST THE TYPE, YOU MIGHT DISMISS, AND NOT NOTICE, BUT HE GOT UP AND LEFT, BUT TO WHERE, I DIDN'T KINOW? TRACKS ON ME THIS MORNING TOO. HOPE GOOD GUYS? I NEVER KNOW. IF PROTECTION? WOOHOO! IT IS ABOUT TIME. CAN YOU IMAGINE, WHAT LEX LUTHER COULD DO WITH A WORLDWIDE AUDIANCE, AND THE TRUST THAT MY READERS HAVE IN ME? SLOWLY COOK THE FROG IN THE BOILING WATER! LOL. POETIC, ISN'T IT? THAT GUY IS AN ANGRY, PISSED OFF LITTLE FRENCH MAN! RACHEL HONEYMOONED IN PARIS, AND CONCEIVED HER FIRST CHILD THERE TOO, STEPHANIE, NOT GRETA! THAT FAKE AS SHIT, MOAB, ANGEL'S ARCHE, IN FRONT OF THE ORACLE AND EBAY BUILDING, WHERE THE FBI AGENT RACED, TO AFTER HE COULDN'T FIND ME, IS THE ARCH THAT IS ON THE UTAH LICENSE PLATES! ANY CONNECTION? A VISIBLE SIGN AND SYMBOL OF MORMON CONTROL OF BELLEVUE? I WOULD BE PISSED, BECAUSE IT IS SO OUT OF SORTS, AND OUT OF PLACE, IN THE LUSH, GREEN, NORTHWEST! BUT RACHEL DID LIVE HERE, BACK, 15 OR MORE YEARS AGO! I AM KIND OF LIKE, ARCHITECT, FRANK LOYDE WRIGHT, BOTH ARCHITECTURE AND THE ART OF A BUILDING OUT TO FIT INTO THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE LOCAL SCENERY! THIS IS AN EYE-SORE, AND DOESN'T BELONG! PERIOD. THAT ALONG WITH THE MACY'S SIGN, HAVE BOTH BOTHERED ME FROM THE GET-GO, HANGING OUT IN THESE PARTS. NATURAL DIRECTION! I KIND OF GET THE FEELING, THAT, MUCH LIKE MY LAST DAYS, IN LOGAN, UTAH, AS A FRESHMAN, AT UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY, AFTER I HAD OFFENDED, ONE BRO IN EACH FRATERNITY, THAT, I BETTER LEAVE, OR BE RUN OUT OF TOWN ON A RAIL! LOL. SORRY IF I AM OFFENDING ANYONE, WITH EITHER, ISSUE, BUT REALLY NOT. SMILE. NOW, EACH TIME I GOT USE THE RESTROOMS, AT SOPHIA'S PLACE, TWO WORDS, JUST TWO OF THEM, ON THIS SIGN, HANGING THERE, ALWAYS, JUMP TOGETHER AND SKIP, ALL THE STUFF IN BETWEEN . . . "PLEASE . . . APPLICATORS" OR IN MY LINGO, PLEASE GIVE US, IDEAS OR THOUGHTS, WHETHER CONSTITUTIONALLY, OR OTHER WISE, THAT, WE CAN TAKE THE LAW OR THE RULE OR THE PRINCIPLE OR THE CONCEPT, THEN SEE HOW YOU APPLY IT! I WAS READING, PATRICIA CROMWELL'S BOOK, "BLACK NOTICE" AND I CAME ACROSS A CHARACTER, WHO REMINDS ME OF EITHER SHELLEY OR KAY, USING SEX, BODY, TO WIN, FAVORS, WITH COPS, SO THEY WILL DO THEIR BIDDING, GETTING IN THE POSITIONS IN THE FIRST PLACE, USING MY CREDENTIALS, AND WORK HISTORY, ONLY TO USE SEX, TO COZY UP TO THE POWER PLAYERS, MOVE UP THE CHAIN OF COMMAND FAST, THEN, COMPROMISE, UNDERLINGS, WITH SEX, USING THOSE ENCOUNTERS, TO CURRY FAVORS, TO CONTROL THE MEN, AND TO THREATEN THEIR WIVES OR SUPERIORS, THUS, GETTING AWAY WITH A ARMY OF MEN, COPS, DOING THEIR BIDDING! I READ THIS PERFECT SECTION, THAT, EXEMPLIFIES, WHAT I HAVE BEEN SAYING SINCE THE FIRST OF THE BLOG, OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN, BECAUSE, I HAVE BEEN A VICTIM OF THEIR ANTICS, AND, SO HAVE, I BELIEVE, MANY, OTHER WISE GOOD COPS . . . WE KEEP SAMPLES! THIS IS HOW WE PIN THEM DOWN . . . KEEP THE BEDROOM AND THE BOARDROOM OR WORKROOM, SEPARATE AND DISTINCT, BECAUSE, NOTHING CAN COMPROMISE YOU FASTER! THERE WAS A NEWS TITLE, THAT, SANDRA BULLOCK, WHO HAS PLAYED A FEMALE COP, IN MANY SHOWS, BETTER LOOKING AND YOUNGER, BY FAR, BUT SHE DOESN'T HAVE THE AMPED UP, SHINY BOBBLES, HER BOOBS, SHE USES, BUT IT SAID, SHE HAS LONG, RELIED ON HER, BOYFRIEND AS HER SOURCE . . . SHELLEY, HAD FUCKED UP TO POWERFUL MEN, AS HAS KAY AND RACHEL, AND THAT, HAS GIVEN, THEM, ALL THE LEVERAGE, TO GET IN POSITIONS OF POWER, TO COMPROMSE THE TROOPS, AND THEN, BOTH THE MEN AND THE WOMEN, CAN USE THE COPS, MALE AND FEMALE TO DO WHAT THEY WANT THEM TO DO OR TO PAY THE PRICE! I AM GOING TO COPY, VERBATIM, PATRICIA'S WORDS . . . FREE WORLDWIDE ADVERTISEMENT, AND YOU CAN TELL, THAT SHE, HAS DEALT WITH WOMEN, LIKE THIS AND THE MEN, WHO, DO THEIR BIDDING . . . IN THE BOOK, KAY SCARPETTA, THE MEDICAL EXAMINER, IS BEING TARGETED, BY THIS NEWLY CREDENTIALED, CHICK, AND SHE IS GOING AFTER, THE WOMAN, WHO HAS BECOME A LEGEND IN THE FIELD OF FORENSICS AND MEDICAL EXAMINATION . . . BUT WEAK, FROM GRIEF WHEN, HER BOYFRIEND AND COMPANION IS KILLED.

THIS BOOK, COULD HAVE BEEN THE INSPIRATION FOR TEAM SHELLEY AND THE DEA . . . IT WAS WRITTEN, OR COPYRIGHTED IN 1999, THAT IS THE YEAR I WAS POISONED BY BIG SIS, AND THE FEDS, GAVE HER THE RIGHTS TO BE ME, AND SO MUCH OF THIS SOUNDS, SO, FAMILIAR, THAT IT IS SCARY!

     "Imagine how I felt when it all stared," he innocently said.  "See, Detective Anderson (Shelley's first married, name!) called me a couple of months ago, said she was new and wanted to ask me questions about the M.E.'s office, about our procedures, and could I meet her at the River City Diner for lunch.  That was when I got on the road to hell, and I know I should've said something to you about her call.  I should've told you what I was doing.  But you were teaching classes most of the day and I didn't want to bother you, and Dr. Fielding was in court.  So I told Anderson I'd be glad to help her out."

     "Well, it's pretty obvious she didn't learn anything."

     "She was setting me up," he said, "and when I walked into the River City Diner, I couldn't believe it.  she was sitting in a booth with Deputy Chief Bray, and she told me she wanted to know all about the way our office runs, too."

     "Who did?"

     "Bray did."

     "I see.  Big surprise," I said.

     "I guess I was really flattered but nervous, too, because I didn't understand what was going on.  I mean, next thing, she's telling me to walk back to the police headquarters with her and Anderson."

     "Why didn't you tell me all this at the time?" I said as we drove toward Fifth Street to pick up 1-95 South.

     "I don't know . . ."  His voice trailed off.

     "I think you do."

     "I was scared."

     "Might it have anything to do with your ambition of becoming a police officer?"

     "Well, let's fact it,: he said.  "What better connection could I have?  And somehow she knew I was interested and when we got to her office, she closed the door and sat me across from her desk."

     "Was Anderson there?"

     "Just Bray and me.  She said that with my experience I might think about becoming a crime-scene technician.  I felt like I'd won the lottery."

     . . .

     ""I have to admit I was in a dream after that and lost interest in my job, and I'm sorry for that," he said.  "But it wasn't until two weeks later that Bray e-mailed me . . . "

     "Where did she get your e-mail address?"

     "Uh, she asked for it.  So she e-mailed me and said she wanted me to drop by her house at five-thirty, and that she had something very confidential to discuss with me."

     "And I'm telling you, Dr. Scarpetta, I didn't want to go.  I knew something bad was going to come out of it."

     "Such as?"

     "I halfway wondered if my be she was going to hit on me or something."

     "Did she?  What happened when you got to her house?" I asked.

     "Gosh, this is really hard to say."

     "Say it."

     "She got me a beer and moved her chair real close to the couch where I was sitting.  She asked me all kinds of questions about myself like she was really interested in me as a person.  And . . ."

     A loaded-down logging truck pulled in front of me and I sped around it.

     "I hate those things, " I said.

     "Me too." Chuck said, and his shoe-licking tone was making me sick.

     "And what?  You were telling me?" I said.

     He took a deep breath.  He got very interested in the trucks bearing down on us and the men working with mounds of asphalt on the roadside.  It seemed as if this stretch of 1-95 near Petersburg had been under construction since the Civil War.

     "She wasn't in a uniform, if you get what I mean," he resumed with overblown sincerity.  "She, well, she had on a business suit, but I don't think she was wearing a bra, or at least the blouse . . . you cold sort of see through it."

     "Did she ever try to seduce you, make any overture at all beyond how she was dressed?" I asked.

     "NO, ma'am, but it was like maybe she was hoping I would.  And now I know why.  She wouldn't go for it, but she'd hold it over me.  Just one more way to control me.  So when she got me my second beer, she got down to what she wanted.  She said it was important I know the truth about you."

     "Which is?"

     "She said you're unstable.  Everybody knew you'd lost your grip, those were her exact words, that you were almost bankrupt because you're a compulsive shopper . . . "

     "Compulsive shopper?"

     "She said something about your house and car."

     "Why would she know anything about my house?"  I asked, realizing that Ruffin knew about both, among many other things.

     "I don't know, " he said.  "I guess the worst thing, though, was what she said about your work.  That you'd been screwing up cases and the detectives were beginning to complain except for Marino.  He was covering up for you, which was why she was going to have to do something about him eventually."

     "And she certainly did," I said without a trace of emotion.

     "Gee, do I have to go on?" he said.  "I don't want to say all these things to you!"

     "Chuck, would you like a chance to start over and undo some of the damage you've done?" I set him up.

     "God, if only I could, " he said, as if he really meant it.

     "Then tell me the truth.  Tell me everything.  Let's get you back on the right track so you can have a happy life," I encouraged him.

     I knew the little bastard would turn on anyone if it was in his best interest.

     "She said one of the reasons she'd been hired was the chief, the mayor and city council wanted to get rid of you but didn't know how," Ruffin went on as if the words, caused him pain.  "That they couldn't because you don't work for the city, the governor basically ad to do it.  She explained to me it's like when a new city manager is hired because people want to get rid of a bad police chief.  It was amazing.  She was so convincing, I was sucked in.  Then, and I'll never forget it, she got up from her chair and sat next to me.  She looked into my eyes.

     "She said, 'Chuck, your boss is going to ruin your life, do you understand?  She's going to take down everyone around her, especially you.'  I asked her why me?  And she said, 'Because you're a nothing to her.  People like her may act nice, but deep down they think they're God and have contempt for minions.'  She asked me if I knew what a minion was, and I said I didn't.  She told me it was a servant, Chuck."

     "I know, I know!"

     I believed some of his account was true.  Most of it was self-serving and slanted, I was sure.

     "So I started doing things for her.  Little things at first, " he went on.  "And every time I did one bad thing, it got easier to do the next.  It's like I got harder and harder inside and talked myself into believing everything I was doing was justified, even right.  Maybe so I could sleep at night.  Then the things she wanted got big, like the e-mail, only she got Anderson to give me those assignments.  Bray's too slippery to get caught."

     "What things, for example?" I said.

     "Dropping the bullet down the sink.  That was bad enough."

     "Yes, it was," I said, holding in my contempt for him.

     "Which is one of the reasons I knew something really big must be on her mind when she sent me the page about meeting her at Buckhead's last night," he went on.  "She said not to say a word to anyone and not answer her back unless there was a problem.  Just to show up.  Period.

     "I was scared to death of her by then, " he said, and that part I certainly believed.  "she had me, you know.  I was dirty and she had me.  I was so scared of what she night ask me to do next."

     "And what might that have been?"

     He hesitated.  A transfer truck swerved in front of me and I tapped my brakes.  Bulldozers were moving dirt on the embankment, and dust was everywhere.

     "Screw up the Container Man case.  I knew that was coming.  She was going to get me to tamper with something to get you into so much trouble that it was over for you.  And what better case then one with Interpol and everything?  With all the interest?"

     "And have you done something to compromise that case, Chuck?" I said.

     "NO, ma'am."

     "Have you tampered with any cases?"

     "Other than the bullet, no, ma'am."

     "You realize of course you would be committing a felony if you altered or destroyed evidence?  Do you realize Bray's heading you toward prison and probably even setting you up for it so she can get you out of the way after she's finished with me?"

     "Deep down, I don't think she'd do that to me, " he said.

     He was nothing to her.  He was a flunky who didn't have sense enough to avoid a trap when he found one because his ego and ambition got in the way.

     "You're sure about that, " I said.  "Sure Bray wouldn't make you the fall guy?"

     He wavered.

     "Are you the one who's been stealing things in the office?"  I hit the matter head-on and asked.

     "I have all of it.  She wanted me to do . . . to do anything I could to make you look like you couldn't run the office.  It's all at my house in a box.  Eventually I was going to have it in the building somewhere so someone would find it and return the stuff to everyone."

     "Why would you let her have this much power over you?" I asked.  "So much that you would lie and steal and premeditate tampering with evidence?"

     "Oh, please don't let me get arrested, go to prison, "he said in a panicky voice that would win him no acting awards.  "I have a wife. A baby on the way.  I'll commit suicide, I promise I will.  I know lots of ways to do it."

     "Don't even think such a thing," I said.  "Don't ever say that again."

     "I will.  I'm ruined, and it's all my fault.  Nobody else's."

     "You're not ruined unless you choose to be."

     "It doesn't matter anymore," he muttered, and I was beginning to fear he might be serious.

     He was constantly licking his lips, and his words were sticky because his mouth was so dry.

     "My wife wouldn't care.  And the baby doesn't need to grow up with a father in prison."

     "Don't you dare send your body to me," I told him angrily.  "Don't you dare have me walk in and find you on one of my tables."

     He turned to me, shocked.

     "Grow up," I said.  "You don't just shoot your brains out when things turn to shit, do you hear me?  Do you know what suicide is?"

     He stared wide-eyed at me.

   "It's getting in the last pissed-off word.  It's a big there," I said.

IF YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN COMPROMISED, DON'T

IF YOU HAVE BEEN, STOP, DOING IT AND GET SOME HELP!  IT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD, BUT YOU CAN COMPLICATE YOUR POSITION FURTHER, IF YOU CONTINUE DOWN THAT PATH!

NEVER BE SO AMBITIOUS, THAT YOU, MUST COMPROMISE, WHO YOU ARE, AND WHAT YOU BELIEVE, TO GET WHAT YOU WANT!

HERE IS WHERE CHRIST COME IN . . . REPENTENCE MEANS, SIMPLY TO CHANGE, DIRECTIONS . . . START GOING IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

THIS IS A BAD SITUATION TO BE IN, BUT, SERIOUSLY, EVERYTHING, AS I HAVE FOUND, OUT CAN GET WORSE!

THERE IS NOTHING LIKE OPERATING WITH A CLEAN SLATE!  EVERYONE IS ENTITLED TO A SECOND CHANCE!

WE ARE ALL HUMAN, WE ARE ALL YOUNG, WE ARE ALL INEXPERIENCED AND MAY FACE, PEOPLE WHO ARE MUCH, OLDER, MORE MANIPULATIVE AND TEMP US, THREATEN US, TRAP US, TRICK US, LIE TO US, AND THAT IS WHERE THE RUB COMES IN!

TRUST NO ONE AND FOLLOW YOUR GUT!

WALK TO PREVENT SUICIDE!

50% OF THE CHILDREN OF A SUICIDE PARENT, END UP, COMMITTING SUICIDE THEMSELVES!

SOBERING THOUGHT!

DON'T DO IT!

NO JOB IS WORTH IT, NO MARRIAGE, NO GIRLFRIEND OR BOYFRIEND, NO HOUSE OR APARTMENT, AND, THERE IS NO SHAME, IN HITTING THE BOTTOM AND CLIMBING OUT OF A WHOLE!

IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO FAR YOU FALL, BUT HOW HIGH YOU BOUNCE BACK UP!

EVERYTHING IN LIFE IS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE!

WE ARE ALL DOING OUR BEST!

WE ARE WHERE WE ARE.

START FROM WHERE YOU ARE, AND CHANGE TO A POSTIVE DIRECTION!

THERE WAS ONLY ONE PERFECT MAN, AND THAT WAS THE SON OF GOD!

PERIOD.

THE REST OF US, JUST BUMBLE AND STUMBLE OUR WAY THROUGH LIFE, DOING THE BEST WE CAN WITH THE CARDS WE ARE DEALT!

LOVE YOURSELF!

FORGIVE YOURSELF!

YOU CAN ONLY LOVE SOMEONE ELSE AS MUCH AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF!

KISSES. HUGS. LOVES.

YOU WILL SURVIVE!

PEOPLE LOVE YOU!

P.S., WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FAMOUS, AND THE LEGEND?

NICE DISCUSSION QUESTION . . . I WOULD SAY, THAT, A LEGEND, IN ANY FIELD OF STUDY OR PROFESSION IS SOMEONE, WHO ON A CONSISTENT BASIS, CALLS THE SHOTS RIGHT, DOES THE RIGHT THING, AND MOVES IN THE RIGHT DIRECTIONS!

THEY ARE JUST, A FEW NOTCHES, UP THE RUNG, FROM, THE AVERAGE PROFESSIONAL IN THEIR FIELD, BE IT LAWYER, COPS, DOCTOR, TEACHER . . . WHO, ALL DO A PRETTY GOOD JOB, BUT THERE IS JUST SOMETHING, THAT GOES ABOVE AND BEYOND WITH THIS PERSON.

WHEN I THOUGHT OF THIS, WHAT CAME TO MIND, WAS, "DETECTIVE JOE: HOMICIDE DETECTIVE" WHO HAS SOLVED, LIKE 350 MURDER CASES, AND NOW HAS HIS OWN TV SHOW.

THEY ARE CONSISTENTLY BETTER THAN THEIR COLLEAGUES IN THE SAME FIELD.  A CUT ABOVE THE REST.

THERE IS SOMETHING SURE ABOUT YOU BABY . . . WHEN YOUR HAND IS ON MY HEART, I REALLY FEEL IT!

GENERALLY, THEY ARE VERY, AUTHENTIC PEOPLE.

QUIET LIFE.

NEVER SEE, NOR SOUGHT THE LIMELIGHT OF BEING FAMOUS--JUST DID A GREAT JOB, AT THEIR JOB!

GOOD ROLE MODELS.

THE BEATLES ALSO COME TO MIND . . . ALWAYS DOING NEW CREATIVE INNOVATIVE MUSIC, AND THEIR SPOUSES, WERE NOT TROPHY GIRLS, BUT, REAL SOULMATES, LIKE YOKO ONO AND LINDA MCCARTHY.

NOTHING FLASHY.
BUT REAL.