Still lots of disagreement about how Grim should handle his insurance company not paying for the damage to his home. I think I will stick with how I handled it.
For those curious, attempted murder, even of a police officer, is not a capital crime. It only becomes a capital crime (death penalty) if the target actually dies. Therefore, the attempted murders of Little Billy and Grim don’t get the death penalty. However, the deaths of the other six terrorists do qualify for a death penalty (homicides during the commission of a felony; it doesn’t matter who does the killing, bad guys or cops.) Talk about being convoluted!
I am trying to avoid politics in this particular vignette, but some is going to have to intrude. A half-dozen terrorists getting shot up in Georgia is going to guarantee something political is going to happen! Reminder: If I write that a liberal says something liberal, it is a character in a novel! It is not something I particularly believe. Cool your shit down!
In a politically related item, Governor Deal mentions having Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle say something, since he was running for Governor. At the time this occurred in the story, March 2018, that was correct. However, in real life, Mister Cagle lost his primary afterwards. Just thought I would mention it.
As one reader commented, Jack giving Grim money to repair his house could well cause tax ramifications from gifting. Yes, Grim could be hit with IRS problems because his house was shot up by terrorists. I didn’t want to get too technical, so I left that out. Still, it could happen.
For those who are curious, police consultants do exist. They do many of the things described in the story and are paid well for their services. Grim might be small potatoes at the moment, but can anybody believe he wouldn’t do well? We’ll just have to see.
It amazes me how I continue to get complaints about politics in this story. When I wrote A Fresh Start between 2011 and 2014, the main character was a moderate and centrist. Such individuals no longer exist in American politics. I doubt I could write a story like that any longer. American politics is no longer an argument between liberals and conservatives but has devolved into a blood sport. Political parties have become religious cults. We are more fragmented as a people than at any time since the Civil War. I am terribly afraid for our country.
In any case, we will be returning to Grim in a few weeks. In the meantime, we return to Carl Buckman and A Fresh Start. Enjoy!