"And what do we have here?" Paul Carson, one of the rescue firefighters, asked.
Josh pulled him aside, "Paul, I have to ask you a favor. This has to be off the books for now. Do your best to patch him up, but he can't leave here for a while."
Carson and his brother, Mike, had been working as a team on the Rescue for years. They were two of the most respected firefighters. Josh was counting on their experience, and their trust, in going along with his request.
Paul smiled, "Let me look him over. Tell you what I think," patting Josh on the back. "Mike's out at the truck, go tell him the story while I'll see what I can do here."
Josh nodded and walked out the door to the rescue. Donahue and Kennedy stayed with the guy while Carson examined him. Josh explained things to Mike and the two came back into the cellblock area.
"So what we got, Pauly?" Mike Carson asked, dropping some more equipment on the floor.
"Well, not too bad," Carson smiled, "I've seen a lot worse in this place."
Josh chuckled, "Just tell me what we have and what you can do, smart ass."
"Okay, let's see. We got a broken wrist, some scratches and contusions around the throat. I'd say a potential broken rib, severe bruise at least.” Carson reached into his bag. "I can put this inflatable air splint on the wrist. The ribs are more of a problem so you need to immobilize him. If they are broken, there's a potential for any movement to puncture a lung.” Carson slid the splint over the wrist and inflated it.
"I assume you don't want him to puncture his lung?" Carson asked.
"Well," Donahue said, "not right away."
The two rescue guys chuckled.
"In that case, you have to limit his movements," Mike Carson said. "Just keep him still and he should be fine. I could give him some pain medication but we'd have to document it. I assume that is not something we want to do?"
Josh shook his head, "Okay, thanks. We'll take it from here. How you gonna write up the run?"
"How about I put one of the prisoners fell down the stairs?" Carson laughed. "No one will pay attention to that."
"Is everybody who works for this city a comedian?" Donahue asked.
"Pretty much,” Josh said. Turning back to the rescue brothers, "Thanks guys. When this is all over I owe you some drinks and the rest of the story at Bovi's."
The two firefighters returned to the rescue.
"Did you notice the guy never talked," Paul said. "He never said a word. The guy did not even flinch when I probed his chest. It had to hurt."
Mike smiled, "You never know what waits for you in a police cellblock."
Paul thought for a moment, "I don't know, something was different about this one. When I examined him, I noticed several scars. If I had to guess I say they were bullet and knife wounds," looking for his brother’s reaction.
"Bullet wounds?" Mike asked.
"Yep, no doubt in my mind," Paul said. "I don't know who that guy is, but he's been shot and stabbed more than once."
"Did you tell them?" Mike asked.
"I pointed them out," Paul said. "The big guy, I think he's a trooper, saw them but didn't say anything."
"Okay then," Mike said. "Whatever the guy is, I hope they don't let him go."
After the rescue guys left, Josh brought the prisoner up to the juvenile cellblock in detectives. "We can keep him in here away from prying eyes."
As the words were coming out of his mouth, Captain Charland walked into the office.
"Why is there an adult prisoner in the juvenile detention cell, Lieutenant?" Charland asked. "You know this is a violation of protocol."
"Captain, there is a need for this man to--." Josh stopped in mid-sentence as he saw the grin come over Charland's face.
"Is there something I'm missing, Captain?" Josh asked.
Charland smiled, “Just having a little fun at your expense, Lieutenant. You have to learn to lighten up. Brennan informed me there are special circumstances in play." Charland patted Josh on the shoulder and continued on to the Detective Captain's office.
Josh stood there, watching Charland walk away. He looked at Donahue, "What the fuck was that?"
"Seems like a nice guy to me," Donahue said. "Maybe you just need to give him a chance."
"You have no idea," Josh said. "Okay, let's go talk to Brennan. Find Kennedy, maybe he found a way for us to hold this guy for a while without arraigning him in court."
Chapter 40
Kennedy came back into the SIU office, "Where's our friend?"
"I got him in the Juvenile detention cell," Josh said, turning his laptop to face Kennedy. On the screen was a camera view of the man. He sat in the corner of the room, staring at the camera.
"Has he said anything?" Kennedy asked.
"Nope," Josh said, "not a goddamn word."
"Really?" Kennedy replied. "I spoke to Justice. We can hold the guy on the weapons charge and violations of the Terrorism Act for 24 hours. Then we have to charge him."
"Let me talk to him for a minute," Donahue said. "I have some cousins that were IRA. Maybe we can bond."
Josh laughed, "He already has a broken wrist and fractured ribs from your last chat. We don't need him to talk anyway. I have an idea.” Josh grabbed his camera and motioned for them to follow him.
Josh led them into the juvenile office. Handing Donahue the camera, he opened the cell door, motioning for the prisoner to come out.
The man looked at Josh for a moment, stood, and then came out of the cell. Josh pointed for him to stand against the wall. The man moved to the wall, turned, and faced Josh.
"Ready?" Josh asked.
"Ready for what?" Donahue replied.
"A picture with my friend here," Josh said, standing next to the man and putting his arm around him.
The man tried to pull away. Josh grabbed the splint on the broken wrist and pulled him back. The man grimaced, and then resumed the stoic look.
Donahue shot off a few frames, nodded to Josh, and showed the images to Kennedy while Josh put the man back in the cell.
As they returned to the SIU office, Josh took the memory card out, plugged it into his laptop, and brought up the pictures. Selecting two, he sent them to the printer. He then added some of the pictures from the surveillance of the meeting, and printed those.
"And these are for what, your scrapbook?" Donahue asked.
"Nope," Josh smiled. "When we go talk to Collucci tomorrow, I have no doubt Mr. Sorin will be there. These are a bit of leverage."
Kennedy's cell phone rang. He spoke for a moment, and then held the cell out from his ear. "The US Marshals are here for our friend. Where do I send them?"
"Have them drive around back," Josh said, "I'll go out and bring them in."
Twenty minutes later, with the prisoner in the custody of the US Marshals, Josh called Tommy.
"Tommy, where are you right now?"
"At the office with Jennifer," Tommy said. "I was just going to call you. Sorin called Jen, he wants to meet now, instead of tomorrow. He said something has come up."
"Yeah, you could say that," Josh said. "When is he going to be there?"
"He said within the hour," Tommy replied. "She just got off the phone with him."
"Okay, we're on the way," Josh said. "Whatever you do, don't agree to go anywhere with him or leave the office. I'll explain later.” Josh hung up and said, "Okay, we gotta go. Sorin's on his way to meet with Tommy and Jennifer. We need to get there, now.” Grabbing his portable radio, he led the group out to the surveillance vehicles.
* * *
It took just fifteen minutes for the surveillance team to set up on the office, but it seemed longer. Josh worried Sorin might try to act on his own. He didn't want to put Tommy on edge by giving him too much information, but he needed to make sure he was aware things had changed.
Josh called Tommy's cell. "Hey, LT, you guys set up?"
"All set," Josh tried to control the tension in his voice. "Listen to me, Tommy. We've had some developments that ma
y change things a bit. Sorin reached out to some bad people. These guys may try to go after us. Us as in you and me. However, they would not let someone else being there stop them. You understand?"
"I got it," Tommy said, the tone now serious and somber. "I doubt he'll do anything here, it’s too public. But if he even flinches the wrong way, I'll light his ass up."
"That's my boy," Josh said. "Okay, there are four of us out here. We'll be monitoring everything he says. First sign of things going south and we'll be crashing the door."
"L T," Tommy said, "if things go south, by the time you crash the door he'll have already bled out."
Josh smiled, "Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Assuming all goes well, call me after he leaves and we will bring you guys in. None of this will be necessary after tomorrow."
Tommy noticed Jennifer had been listening to the conversation.
"Something I should know?" she asked.
Tommy walked over to her and took her in his arms, kissing her on the top of her head. "Nothing, it's nothing. We're just covering all possibilities. Sorin doesn't have the balls to do anything and even if he did, it wouldn't be here."
Jennifer snuggled closer to Tommy. "When this is over, can we go away somewhere? Where it's just you and me?"
"You got it," Tommy said, kissing her on the lips. "Wherever you want to go, we'll go. I promise."
Tommy's cell chirped with a text message. Jennifer looked up into his eyes.
"It's Josh, Sorin's here. They spotted him as he pulled in."
Jennifer turned to go to her desk; Tommy pulled her back to him. "No one is going to hurt you, Jen. Not ever, I won't let anything happen."
She smiled, touched his cheek, and walked to her desk.
"Methinks, there be hormones afoot in the office," Donahue said, as they sat in the surveillance van. "I wish I hadn't heard that. He must have forgotten about the mikes being live."
"I hope it doesn't get out of hand," Josh said.
Sorin parked out front and walked into the main lobby. Ignoring the receptionist, he went to Karen's office, glancing around making sure no one saw him enter.
Karen looked up from her desk, "Anthony," she said, her eyes widened as she realized he had been standing there. "This is a surprise."
"I have some business to attend to with Jennifer," Sorin said. "I was wondering if you might be available for dinner tomorrow night. I think it time we discussed some new opportunities."
Karen hesitated a moment, "That, ah, that would be lovely. Where should we meet?"
Sorin glanced at his watch, "I'm running a bit late here. How about I call you tomorrow afternoon and we'll arrange things then?"
"Sounds perfect," Karen said, smiling at Sorin. "I'll look forward to hearing from you."
"Great, talk to you then," Sorin said, walking back out the door. As he stood in the hallway, he pulled out one of the disposable phones, sending a quick text.
"Where the hell is he," Josh asked. "He went inside ten minutes ago."
"I wonder if he stopped to see the other one, what's her name, Karen Reynolds?" Donahue said. "What the hell is that buzzing noise, is your cell going off?" looking around the van.
Josh shrugged, continuing to listen for any signs of Sorin getting to Jennifer's office.
"Who the hell does this belong to?" Donahue said, holding up a vibrating cell phone.
"I don't know," Josh said, taking the phone. "It's not one of ours." Then the light went on. "It must have come from the guy we grabbed. When we tossed him in here, it must have fallen out of his pocket. I knew it was weird he didn't have one on him."
Josh looked at the display. KR, tomorrow 9:00 PM, call me before.
"What does that mean?" Donahue asked.
"Not sure, but it's obvious he's telling him to do something tomorrow at 9:00.” Josh picked up his own cell and called Kennedy, reading him the text.
"What do you think?" Josh asked.
"Not sure, but I wonder?" Kennedy said.
"Wonder what?"
"I bet KR is Karen Reynolds. She was one of the named targets. Maybe he's made arrangement for her to be somewhere at that time?" Kennedy speculated.
"Do we respond to the text?" Josh asked.
"I'd say no," Kennedy said. "If they have a pre-arranged code we'd tip them to their guy is in custody. It's more likely there wouldn't be a response to limit potential for any interception of the messages."
"He's in the office," Donahue interrupted, putting on a set of headphones.
"Gotta go, Sorin's inside," ending the call. Josh put on his own headset.
* * *
Sorin barged into the office. He shot a glance at Tommy, and then moved towards Jennifer. Placing both hands on her desk, “So what are these so-called issues you need to discuss, Jennifer?" he demanded. "This is pretty clear cut. Either you have the land, or you do not. Which is it?"
Tommy started to explain, "Anthony, the reason I wanted--"
Sorin held up one hand without looking at Tommy. "I am asking the person whom I hired for this task. I am not interested in talking to her errand boy," turning his head to face Tommy. "When I want you to speak, I will ask you the question. Until then, be quiet."
He returned his attention to Jennifer. "Now, what is the damn problem?" slamming his hands on the desk, causing Jennifer to jump a bit. "Do you have the land or not?"
Tommy started to move towards Sorin, but Jennifer's look told him to stay where he was. "Anthony, we have settled the land problem. If you had bothered to return one of my calls, I would have told you."
Sorin glanced between the two, folding his arms. "Why didn't you tell me when I called?"
"I tried. You wouldn't listen. So I am telling you now. We have the property title. You can thank Tommy for that. He was the one who negotiated with the owner. She was resistant to selling."
Sorin looked at Tommy. "I am glad to see someone in this office can follow simple instructions." He walked towards the door. "Please send all the necessary documents to the attorneys at Harriet Lane Corporation."
"You're welcome," Tommy said, smiling as Sorin face him.
"Mr. Meadows, you should be cautious in your flippant attitude. I made this business thrive. I can change that, if it suits me," slamming the door as he left.
"I am going to break his jaw when this is over," Tommy said, gritting his teeth and driving his fist into his hand. "Then I am going to hurt him."
Tommy grabbed his cell and called Josh. "The motherfucker is gone. He is a real son-of-a-bitch."
"I know," Josh said, "we heard. Such violent tendencies, Tommy, I may have to send you to Be Nice School for remedial training.
"I am sure that will help," Tommy said.
"Let's wait a half hour or so, then you guys head out to the Lincoln Mall off Route 146. I'll have the state police meet you and take Jen up to the safe house until this is over. Once they pick her up, you come back here."
"You got it, LT," Tommy said, clicking off his cell.
Jen came over to his desk and sat on the edge. "Now what?"
"Now I take you to stay with your daughter and father," Tommy smiled. "This will all be over in a couple of days. We'll just keep you guys safe and sound while we roll this up."
"I won't see you?" Jen asked. "Do we have to leave right away?"
"Josh and the rest of them headed back to the station. He said he had some things he needed to fill me in on. Soon as I drop you off, I am going to head to the station- why?"
Jen walked to the office door, locking it, then turned back to face Tommy. As she walked towards him, she slowly unbuttoned her blouse, removing it and tossing it aside.
Tommy pushed himself up from the chair and walked towards her. Reaching around, he undid her bra. As it fell to the floor, Jen began to undo his pants.
Tommy reached under her skirt, sliding her panties down. Then stopped and looked around.
"What's wrong?" Jennifer whispered in his ear.
"I gotta turn off the record
ing devices," he said, trying to walk as his pants fell to the ground.
"Good idea," she giggled, following close behind him as she slid out of the rest of her clothes.
* * *
Two hours later, Tommy pulled into the parking lot of the police station. Chief Brennan was just getting into his car.
"Chief," Tommy nodded.
"What is this? We have a Detective Moore sighting," Brennan said. "Can I believe my eyes? Nice of you to stop by."
"Well you know how it is, Chief," Tommy smiled, “The demands of working undercover."
"I do so hope you'll be able to resume your normal duties with us little people when this is over. We are still paying you; it would be nice to get some return on that investment."
"To be honest with you, I am looking forward to it," Tommy confided. "Don't get me wrong, I like some of it. But this is not something I want to make a career of. I like things the way they were."
"You and me both, son, you and me both," Brennan said, firing up a cigar and getting in his car.
Tommy walked into the SIU office.
"Glad you could join us," Kennedy said.
"Where's Josh?" Tommy asked.
"Back in a minute, had to bring something over to the Detective Captain's office," Donahue said.
The door opened, and Josh walked in. "Well, well," Josh said, "he found his way home. Did you get lost?"
"No," Moore shook his head. "I did what you said. We waited a bit, and then I took Jen up to the mall and met the troopers."
Josh stood with his hands on his hips, looking at Tommy. "Hey Tim," he said. "You worked the road in uniform, right? How long does it take to drive from the office on Waterman to Lincoln and back here?"
"30 minutes tops," Donahue said. "What'd you do with the rest of the time, Tommy boy? You haven't been playing hide the shillelagh with the Judge's daughter have you now?"
"Fuck you, Donahue," Tommy said. "It's none of your damn business what I do," glaring at the trooper.
"Okay, okay. Just a little joke, Tommy. Calm down," Josh said.
"Yeah, a wee little joke of a shillelagh," Donahue said, holding his index and thumb an inch apart. "Come on now, Tommy boy. You have been busting my ass since we got involved in this mess. You gotta expect a little payback."
Silenced Justice: A Josh Williams Novel Page 29
