by JL Schneider
Every turn led to another dead end. O’Shea was beating every bush and calling in every favor he had. After two days he was no closer than then he had been the first night. It was 10 PM on Monday September 10th 2001. He decided to call it a day. He had no idea that at 8:46 AM the next morning the whole world would change. The murder of seven gang bangers was about to take a back seat.
Chapter 43
Tuesday September 11th 2001 dawned beautiful in St. Maartin. We had arrived the day before and taken a shuttle to Orient Beach on the French side of the island. This was a clothing optional beach and we were all enjoying the scenery. Jasmine had led the group. She stood and removed her bathing suit. Her body was completely healed and her red hair now long and flowing. She was quite a site. Not to be out done Rachael removed her suit, for her age her body was magnificent.
The three men were somewhat more hesitant to follow suit. Carl was certainly enjoying the show. He was probably wishing he had a lady to keep him company. We were sitting on the beach enjoying the beautiful day when word of the terrorist attacks reached us. The Woman dressed and we hurried to the bar and watched the events unfold on live TV. We watched for hours and finally had to leave. There was no good news to be seen, only death and destruction. We walked back to the beach and sat in silence. All I could think of was the people in those planes and building especially those fireman, medics, and policeman who were only there to help. It hit all of us hard. We wanted to head back to the states but everything was grounded. We would have to stay here a few more days, at least. We began to talk about what we had just seen and Shelby said what we were all thinking. Those people killed had families and friends that would never see them again. The people we had killed over the past several years probably also had family grieving. None of the men we killed was a choir boy, but neither were we. We each had killed many men in war, but this felt different. We tried to convince ourselves this was also a war, but the argument rang hollow.
Then a thought really hit me. Some of the money from the drugs we were helping distribute was probably helping to fuel the terrorist. In a way, we had been partly responsible to today’s tragic events. Just the thought that our actions, even in some very small way, could have played a part in this stunned us into silence.
We sat for a long time and Carl finally said “We can’t do this anymore. I don’t feel a thing for the guys we put down, but if that drug money in any way was used by terrorist, then that is unforgivable.” We all shook our heads in agreement. It was too late to undo what we had done, but we didn’t have to participate any more.
In stunned silence we headed back to our rooms and our own gloomy thoughts.
Chapter 44
The next day we met at breakfast. Now the discussion was, how do we get out without more violence? I wasn’t sure what would happen if we just threw our hands up and quit. I doubted if Perroni or those above him would let us just walk. We knew too much. I decided to test the waters and called Perroni. Everything in the northeast was down and there was no way to reach him. It would be days before communications was restored. We had to sit tight and wait.
Finally, four days after the attach I was able to reach Perroni. I didn’t beat around the bush. “Peronni, this ain’t going to work any more. We’ve been talking, we are out.” He did try to conceal his anger. “It don’t work that way. I already assured my boss that I had a security team to handle the shipments.” I told him no several times, but he wouldn’t listen. “You working for me or the cops will find out who was responsible that mess in Camden.” I sighed, “Bullshit, you don’t want the cops that close. You’re full of shit. Look, I don’t want any trouble, but you know we can handle ourselves.” He argued, “You guys need to think beyond yourselves. What about Rachael and Jasmine, you need to think about them.” That got me, I couldn’t put them in danger. I had no idea if he was just threatening or would actually have something done. I needed time, “OK, you got me there. We’re in, as soon as we can get back to the states I’ll contact you.” He disconnected and I turned to Carl and Shelby to explain what he had said. To me he had crossed the line. Threatening us was part of the bargain, but the women were off limits. In my mind Peronni had just sighed his own Death Certificate.
We needed to get back to the states. I had one ace in the hole, Perroni knew we had a third man, but he didn’t know Carl.
Chapter 45
Seven days later we were finally able to charter a flight back to the States. Whatever I was going to do I knew I had to do it quickly. We were all in danger. We finally arrived back in New Orleans on September 23rd. It seemed like everyone needed to get somewhere and the airports were clogged. I decided it was just too dangerous right now for Rachael and Jasmine. I couldn’t take losing either of them.
I knew it was too little too late but I told them I was sorry for bringing all this on them. Finally, my Rachael spoke “Jessie we're all in this together. Jasmine and I knew what was going on, we aren’t blind.” I nodded, “Thanks, but we need to know you two are safe. We’re going to fix the problem, but in the meantime I want you two to take a vacation, a long vacation. I’m going to make reservations in Europe and both of you spend about a month.” Rachael was shaking her head, “Jessie we don’t want to run, we want to help.” I understood, “No baby, if we are distracted worrying about you two we might make a mistake. We need to have our minds clear. Please do this for me. As soon as the problem is gone I’ll call you and you can come home.” Of course they asked what my plan was. The truth was I didn’t yet have a plan, but even if I did, I wouldn’t share it with them. I had told them enough already.
They wanted me to go to the police and ask for immunity. I could give the cops enough information on the drug shipment and then could disappear. There was no way I was going to hide. I wanted this settled one way or the other. Just as James Allen or I had to die, Perroni and anyone else who knew about us had to die. It was us or them. I begged Rachael to do as I asked and to trust me one more time even though I didn’t think I deserved it. I certainly hadn’t earned their trust, but they agreed.
Travel was extremely restricted because of the terrorist attacks. But once again money talked loudly. I paid a fortune and was able to book them on a flight to Paris on September 28st. I used a travel agent to book hotels and transportation around Europe. I was hoping to get them to relax just a little. I arranged for everything to be first class and put a ton of money in their travel account. I hired a limo to take them to the airport the morning they were leaving. I rode with them and had Shelby and Carl following for security. We were all armed. I saw them off, sent the limo on its way and rode back with Shelby and Carl. Now, with the hope they were safe, we were free to begin planning.
We had several problems we needed to overcome. First, we had no idea besides Perroni, who else knew about us. Second, since September 11th weapons were much harder to get. Guns shows had been tightened down and I didn’t want to use Perroni’s contact. We still had pistols, shotguns, and hunting rifles. All the other gear had been tossed. We needed to come up with a plan to utilize what we had. I thought we could probably get by with our weapons, but the lack of body armor was my major concern. I sat Shelby and Carl down and asked them one more time to consider getting out of this. Perroni knew Shelby’s name but nothing else about him. He didn’t even know Carl existed. They could disappear with their money and never be bothered. They told me we started this together, we would finish this together. That was it, end of discussion. These two guys were closer to me than any brother. I didn’t want to see anything happen to them because of me. Our plan had to be solid and executed to perfection. We started to discuss our problems and iron them out one by one.
Three days later we had come up with a plan. I hoped it was good enough. It was bloody and brutal, but so were the circumstances we were facing. We were able to purchase three Kevlar vest locally. We stocked up on shotgun and pistol ammo. If this plan was to work I needed to convince Perroni we were onboard with h
im. I wasn’t sure if we were being watched so I didn’t want to lie to him. I told him we were back in the States and were ready for work whenever he was. He told us to standby, since the terrorist attach he was setting up a new import location, things were to hot locally.
We anxiously waited for him to call back. If this took too long Rachael and Jasmine would be anxious to come back from Europe and things could get dicey. Finally one week after I spoke with him he called back. He had arranged for a shipment to come into Jacksonville Fl.
A shipment with a street value of one hundred million dollars was due in three days. We were to secure it and escort it to his warehouse in Camden. There the drugs would be cut up and processed for shipment around the country. Since the terrorist attack many shipments had been canceled and the supply on the street was drying up. My plan was simple, I was going to take the drugs and force him to deal with me. I knew he hadn’t had a shipment in over two months and his organization was hurting. Someone had ripped off one of his shipments and his last one had been a fake to draw out the hijackers. I was counting on him needing this shipment desperately. I knew just icing a few of his guys wasn’t going to get his attention, hitting his pocketbook just might.
Shelby and I packed up and headed for Jacksonville. Carl was to head for New Jersey and wait for our call. I was trying to set him up. I just hoped he wasn’t setting us up. I didn’t think that was his style, I figured if he wanted us he would come straight at us. He knew there were only three of us and he could overwhelm us with firepower. My bet was he wanted the drugs more than he wanted us.
We wanted to keep the killing to a minimum. I was hoping the guys sent to pick up the load felt the same way. We arrived in Jacksonville two days before the pickup and I called Perroni to get the location. He told me the timeframe had changed and the pickup would be that night. If he was trying to throw us a curve, he succeeded. We wanted to scout the location and set a trap, but now that wasn’t possible. We would have to go in blind, possibly into an ambush. He told me he suspected no problems from anyone during this shipment. The ambush in Camden had calmed the natives down. Nobody wanted to fuck with us.
I didn’t like it “What the fuck man, we have no time to prepare.” He didn’t care, “Look, there going to be there tonight, just cover them and escort them to the warehouse. Ain’t no big deal, nobody is going to fuck with you guys.” I still didn't like it, “I don’t guess I have much choice, so where are we taking the shipment?” “He replied, “You don’t need to know that, just escort it.” I argued, “Well that’s brilliant. How am I suppose to know if the shipment is being taken to the right location if I don’t know where it is?” He thought about that and I guess it made sense. He gave me the address of his warehouse in Camden. As soon as I hung up with him I called Carl and gave him the location. He was almost halfway to Camden. I told him about the pickup time change and he was going to drive straight through. Carl’s job was to wait for us to hijack the load and then take down the warehouse. We all hoped there were very few people there at night, but Carl was the man to handle any situation, he had been there before.
The pickup location was a small inlet at the intersection of Sunset River Dr. and Holly Oaks River Dr. A boat was to bring the load to the shore and a van was to meet it at 2 AM. The shipment would be transferred to the van and they would head north to Camden. This whole setup sounded fishy. Exposed on a public road that dead-ended at the water’s edge. Neither Shelby nor l liked it. Shelby’s instincts as a pilot in bad situations had always been right on. Now bells were ringing and lights were flashing in his head. If we got in a firefight on that road we would be trapped. The ends of the two streets could be closed off and we were toast. I called Perroni and told him we would be in position and out of sight long before 2 AM. After I hung up the phone I immediately called Carl. He was well on his way and told me he had two shotguns, one rifle, and two pistols with him. That would have to do. We headed for Jacksonville International Airport, I wanted to arrive somewhere close to Camden, but not close enough to be possibly seen on security cameras. At the airport I checked flights and saw one leaving at 3:45PM to Baltimore. That would give us just over a one hundred mile drive. He wasn’t going to catch us on a dead end road in the middle of the night. Our only option was to take the fight to him.
Security at the airport was very tight, but we carried nothing with us. We left our body armor and weapons locked in the car parked at an offsite parking lot. We were able to get the flight to Baltimore. If all went as planned we would be in Camden before Perroni realized we weren’t in Jacksonville. Our original plan was out the window, but we couldn’t wait. Time wasn’t on our side.
Thankfully, even with congestion we arrived in Baltimore before 9PM. We needed a vehicle but didn’t want my face on some rental car video camera. I called Carl, he wouldn’t arrive in Camden until the next morning and was still many hours from Baltimore. We had already broken almost every law on the book so adding auto theft seemed like a good idea. Shelby and I discussed the best was to handle this. Shelby assured me he could start a car, all we had to do was find one that wouldn’t be missed until the next day. We walked through Baltimore Airport’s long term parking garage. We walked and felt the hoods of the cars. We found several still warm and assumed they had been parked recently and would be there for at least a few days. We picked an inconspicuous four door sedan. Then we realized we didn’t even have a pocket knife. Shelby went back to the terminal and found a small store. The best he could do was a fingernail clipper set. Luckily it had a cuticle pick in addition to a file and clippers. The pick proved useful on the exterior lock. The entry wasn’t pretty, but did the job. Next he messed with the key switch on the column, after about ten minutes he managed to mess it up enough to turn, sure enough, the car started. We used the makeshift tools to switch license plates with another car in the lot and drove out. We paid the parking fee and headed to Camden.
Since we felt the pickup was an ambush we had to assume the warehouse location he gave us in Camden was bogus also. We decided to head for Sonny’s Place, maybe we would get lucky and he would be there. We arrived in Camden just after 1 AM. We headed for Sonny’s and parked down the block where we could watch the entrance. At a little after 2 AM my cell phone rang. It was Perroni. “Where the fuck are you guys?” I answered, “We’re at the pickup location, why?” I could hear anger in his voice. “You are full of shit, my guys for the pickup are there and they can’t find you.” I laughed, “Can’t find me, they’re not suppose to find me. We are security and stay out of sight.” After calling me a long list of names he said “I warned you Carr, now you fuckers are dead men, do you hear me, dead.” I pissed him off even more, “Go fuck yourself Perroni, I knew that pickup was a setup. You said once before we were smart. We’ll maybe we are smarter than you.” He was looking to tie up loose ends, and we were the loose ends. We waited another fifteen minutes and out of Sonny’s walked Perroni. We had guessed correctly, now we had to follow him and see where he was heading.
He was alone, which surprised me, I figured him for at least one bodyguard. He got into a Black Escalade parked in front of the joint. We are about to pull out when we spotted a car just a little in front of us. I noticed the motor was running because you could see the exhaust fumes. As soon as Perroni got in the Escalade the cars brake lights came on. Perroni started down the street and the car followed with their headlights off. I notice the car was a Crown Victoria with public plates. It has to be the cops, Perroni was under surveillance. Things just got much more complicated. I had planned on grabbing Perroni and convincing him it was in his best interest to tell me who knew about us. After that, I had to kill him, I had no choice. Shelby and I looked at each other and just shook our heads, now what?
To anyone watching the show it probably looked like a parade. In the middle of the night three cars, two of them with their lights off following each other down the street. Thankfully Perroni wasn’t going far. About six blocks down from the bar
I saw a warehouse door open automatically. The Escalade pulled into the garage. The Crown Vic passed the warehouse and pulled into a parking space just down the block. We were far enough back to take a spot just before the warehouse.
I needed to see how many people were in that car so I slipped out and slowly move down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. I got about four car lengths away and cam see only one silhouette. Last thing I want to do is kill a cop but one would be easier to control. I returned to the car and told Shelby the cop is alone. We both find that unusual and wonder what we are missing. There is nothing we can do for now, Carl is still three hours away, so we settle down and watch the warehouse.
Chapter 46
Lieutenant O’Shea
The terrorist strike on New York short circuited O’Shea’s investigation into the murders on the dock. He was still expected to solve the crime, but all his manpower was pulled away. He was to work the case alone. He had had a team of investigators and was getting nowhere, now he was expected to make progress alone. Retirement seemed to be coming even faster.
He had one lead; a snitch had told him the shipment the goons were to pick up belonged to Dominic Perroni. Every cop in New Jersey knew Perroni. He and his cousin Sammy were reputed to be big time importers, but so far, no one had anything on them. Sammy was found dead awhile back and it was thought to be a drug deal gone wrong, but again, no proof. The lead on Perroni was all he had so he began to work every angle he could. He found Perroni lived extremely well. He owned half of Sammy’s Place, but that didn’t explain his one and one half million dollar house. He had expensive taste. His bank account contained a few thousand dollars but he spent far more than that on his suits. He called the FBI to find out what they knew about him, but no one was available to help, everyone was working the terrorist desk. He wanted to go to New York and help with the rescue effort, but the Chief had him stay and work on the murders. One thing about O’Shea, he followed orders. If he was told to work the murders, he would do just that. He wanted to set up surveillance on Perroni but no one was available. Now here he was at almost 3 AM sitting watching a warehouse. Christ, he thought, twenty four years for this. It was a chilly night early in the fall so he left the motor running to keep the heater on. He had no idea that gave him away. It had been a long time since he had to sit in a car and watch a building, he was rusty.
