Exceptional Merit (24 page)

“Got it boss.  No surprises.  You have my word.”

As Castillo left the office, he felt a sense of relief. 
If Marsh could lie, so could I
.  He knew Marsh would be happy to see this investigation closed out.  He felt in spite of his apprehension that Marsh had bought his story about closing it.  He thought about Marsh telling him to report any new findings to him immediately.  He now felt for sure Marsh was the one who had tipped Keegan off.  It made perfect sense.  He thought again how infuriated Marsh was going to be when he finally took Keegan down.  Castillo closed the door behind him and went back to his desk.

He took a new case folder, inserting the newly attained documents into it.  He made photo copies of the original file making them also part of this new case folder.  He then returned the original folder to its place in the file cabinet in case Marsh decided to look for it.  He decided to carry the new folder
, containing all the vital evidence, inside of his briefcase.  This way he could be assured no one would see the true file on Lieutenant James Keegan until he presented his findings to the District Attorney's office and the Grand Jury.

Shortly after their meeting, Marsh emerged from his office and signed out for the day.  Castillo wondered if Marsh was going to meet with Keegan to let him know the investigation had come to a close.  Castillo was tied up in this thought when one of the other detectives informed him he had a phone call.  Castillo thanked the detective and picked up the line.  “Detective Castillo.”

“Louie, it's Frank.  I have that information on the Flynn boys you wanted.”

“
Wow that was quick.”

“What's the fax number over there, I'll fax it over to you.”

Castillo gave him the number and hung up the phone.  He hoped Marsh wouldn't walk back into the office and catch him receiving the fax.  He would've had a hell of a time explaining the information he was getting to his commanding officer.  Castillo went over to the fax machine, anticipating it coming to life.  It did.  Castillo received the information when it came through.  There were six pages in all.  Castillo put them directly into his secret file on Keegan, rather than take the chance of reading them in the office.  It was almost three thirty and time for Castillo to sign out.  He decided he could wait until he left the office to find out what valuable information the fax held.

After signing out, Castillo left the building with briefcase in hand and got into his private auto.  Castillo started his car and pulled away from the office of Internal Affairs.  He had originally decided to wait until he got home to read the information but the anticipation was too great.  He got only a few miles from his office when he decided to pull over and examine the contents.

Castillo parked his car on Gold Street in between Flatbush Avenue and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.  He parked his vehicle at an angle where he could watch the traffic back up on the B.Q.E.  Castillo knew he would be sitting in traffic for quite a while, at this time of day, so the extra time he killed reading the report wouldn't make much of a difference.  Castillo reached over to his briefcase in the passenger seat of the auto and retrieved the file.  He opened it up and soaked in the new information.  He read the information on Patrick Flynn first, almost as if leaving the best for last to build up the anticipation.

The report documented Patrick Flynn's criminal record and his three arrests in Northern Ireland.  He was on a list of suspected terrorists to be watched by the police and government in Northern Ireland.  Patrick Flynn was currently serving time in prison for an I.R.A. related bombing.  A phone call had been made to the warden of the prison by the Northern Irish Police (at the request of the F.B.I.), to verify if he was still incarcerated.  He was.

Balentine was very thorough and a good resource to have on his side, figured Castillo.  Castillo was impressed at how detailed the report
was.  These reports were much more detailed than the ones he had previously received.  It listed all of his past addresses, his educational background, the fact that he had once used the alias of Paddy Taylor, and probably most importantly, all his known acquaintances and ties in the I.R.A., including his brother Gerald.

Four of the six pages of information Balentine had faxed over to Castillo were dedicated to Patrick Flynn.  Castillo was slightly disappointed by this because that meant that only two pages of information would be on the man that was directly involved in his investigation into James Keegan.  Castillo was almost afraid to turn the last page on Patrick Flynn
, fearing the information on Gerald Flynn wouldn't be what he hoped.  Castillo scanned the pages on Gerald Flynn before reading in detail what they had to say.  The information was basically the same as the information on the previous man except Gerald Flynn's record wasn't nearly as intense as his brother's.  Gerald Flynn only had one arrest on his record but much to Castillo's delight, he was on parole.  One of the condition's of Flynn's parole was that he not leaves Northern Ireland.

Castillo had a warm feeling of satisfaction.  He finally had something semi-solid to go on.  Flynn was in clear violation of his parole and Keegan was apparently aiding in his willful neglect of the conditions of his parole.  Furthermore, Castillo now had real solid proof Keegan was associating with a member of the Irish Republican Army.  This alone, was substantial violation of department policy and enough to bring Keegan up on charges.  It was
not; however, enough to bring him up on criminal charges and send him to prison.

Castillo would wait and build the case against Keegan criminally, before taking any action at all.  Castillo continued reading the information and learned Flynn’s last meeting with his parole officer was in February and he had shown up on schedule.  His next scheduled appointment is on March 30, so Castillo figured he was only here in America for a short time.  Castillo wondered exactly what Keegan and he were up to.

Castillo's thoughts captivated him as he explored the possibilities.  He figured maybe Keegan was involved in collecting money for the I.R.A. but how could he do something as public as collecting money without anyone in the department noticing.  Castillo realized Keegan worked in the Joint Terrorist Task Force and wondered if maybe he was getting information from the F.B.I. and passing it on to the I.R.A.  That made more sense.  The more Castillo threw this notion around in his head, the more he liked it.

It makes sense
, thought Castillo.  The passing of the envelope from Dan O'Brien to Keegan which he had on film was probably the payoff and the meeting with Flynn must have been the transaction of the information.  Castillo decided the information was both too valuable and too dangerous for Keegan to send it through the mail or even through email so someone from the other side would have to come to New York to receive it in person.  Whatever the scenario was, Castillo was sure Keegan was dirty and he was slowly getting closer and closer to finding out the truth as the investigation progressed.

Knowing that Keegan had made him, Castillo realized he could no longer follow him.  Flynn on the other hand, might not know who he was.  If he could find Flynn and keep an eye on him from a distance, he might get the hardcore evidence he needed to hang Keegan.  It was a way to backdoor the investigation.  He would have to run a parallel investigation and surveillance on Flynn, until he crossed paths with Keegan again.  Finding Flynn would be hard enough, conceded Castillo.  Even if he did find him, Castillo knew he would have to be careful to avoid Keegan.  That would be disastrous to the investigation, possibly blowing any chance at all of bringing the case home.

Castillo put the papers back into his briefcase and closed it up.  He placed the briefcase back on the passenger side of his car and looked up at the clock on the dashboard.  Castillo was surprise to learn he had been there over an hour, examining the information.  He glanced over at the B.Q.E. and saw the traffic was as heavy as, or even heavier than it was before.  For some reason, the fact that he was going to fight traffic for the better part of the next hour didn't seem to matter that much at all to Castillo.  The only thing that mattered right now was the fact that the case on James Keegan—the case of his career—was beginning to pan out.

****************************

Nora O'Donnell watched Gerald Flynn enter the bar.  It had been almost a week since she had seen him and she wondered if Keegan had ever been able to track him down.  She had gotten the impression from him the other day that the two of them were not friends like she originally thought and that maybe the man she still knew as Sean Murphy was in some kind of trouble with the law.  She prayed he was.  It would serve him right.  She genuinely hated the man.  It hadn’t been the first time a man had taken advantage of her for sex.  It was the way he was so mean and obnoxious about it afterwards, that really got under Nora’s skin.

She wished she had taken Keegan's phone number so she could call him and he could come in here tonight and maybe arrest the man for something.  She reflected that Keegan didn't seem to be surprised when she told him that Sean was carrying a gun.  Maybe that was why he was looking for him, to arrest him for the gun.  No matter what the circumstances, she was greatly disappointed she had no way to contact Keegan.

Gerald Flynn walked into McBride's wearing a pair of blue jeans, a black sweatshirt, and a blue denim jacket.  His nine millimeter handgun was in its usual place tucked into his waistband.  Flynn walked directly into the back room of the bar and sat at an open table in Nora's section of the room.  Every time he came into the bar, he sat in Nora's section just to watch her squirm and ask one of the other waitresses to serve him.  He got a perverted kind of satisfaction out of the fact that Nora couldn't even look at him.

Flynn ordered a beer and sat alone at the table listening to the music of Tommy McDermott and his band.  When the waitress returned with his beer, he reached into the inside pocket of his denim jacket and removed a pack of cigarettes.  He wrapped the unopened box against the table, packing the tobacco to one end.  He then opened the pack and removed one of the cigarettes from the pack by holding it up to his mouth and closing his lips around it.  At the same time, with his free hand he removed a lighter from his pocket and lit the cigarette.  He set the cigarette down in an ashtray and took the first sip of his beer.

Flynn was halfway done with his first beer when Dan O'Brien finally got his attention.  Flynn looked up at O'Brien as he motioned for him to join him over to the bar.  Flynn's instructions, given to him by Eamon Quinn, were quite clear.  While Flynn was over in the United States, O'Brien was his boss.  Although Flynn always ultimately did follow their orders, he often gave his superiors a hard time before carrying them out.  Flynn was not only a rebel of sorts but he was also extremely arrogant.  He knew he was good and he also knew especially in an operation such as this one he, and only he, would be able to successfully execute it.

Flynn lifted his beer at O'Brien to acknowledge and chugged the remaining beer down testing O'Brien's patience.  O'Brien continued to wave Flynn over but instead of immediately going over to see what the bartender wanted, he slowly finished his cigarette first.  Once done, Flynn put it out in the ashtray and stood up.  He took off his denim jacket, put it down on one of the chairs at his table and walked to the front of the bar to speak with Dan O'Brien.

This was the third night in a row Louis Castillo had come to McBride's on his own time to see if Gerald Flynn would appear.  Castillo had begun to lose hope and had figured that maybe Flynn had already returned to Ireland.  He finally showed up tonight.  Castillo was relieved and hoped Flynn would lead him to his ultimate goal; incriminating evidence he could use against Keegan.  He took note that Flynn was wearing his long hair in a ponytail tonight and that he was here alone.  He wondered if maybe Keegan would be in later to meet him.  He hoped he would not.  Castillo decided Flynn seemed to be rather smug as he walked up to the bar to meet Dan O'Brien.

Castillo was a sharp cop and wouldn't be burned twice by the same mistake.  He had enlisted an old friend of his from his Police Academy days to help him out.  Sharon Winters was a shapely brunette with deep, light brown eyes.  Her pouty lips
, a soft shade of red.  She was thirty years old and like Castillo had never been married.  In fact, she and Louis Castillo had been an item from their days in the Police Academy until some years later when they went in their own directions, parting on the best of terms.

Castillo had decided to call Sharon
, not wanting to return to the bar by himself and once again attract attention he didn't need.  Sitting in the bar with a woman, helped him blend into the crowd a little better.  He no longer looked out of place.  He couldn't ask for help from his office without Marsh finding out.  Even if someone would be willing to do him the favor, he couldn't be sure they would be loyal to him and not tell Marsh.  He definitely wanted another cop's help in case something went down, so going off the grid made sense to him.  Sharon was perfect for the job, he concluded.  She was a seasoned cop and a detective in the Special Victims Squad in the Bronx.

She trusted Castillo and went with him even though he didn't inform her of any of the details of the case he was working on.  They had been in the bar for over two hours catching up on old times and sharing stories of the job like they had done the two previous nights when Flynn walked in.  “That's the man I was hoping would show up,” Castillo announced to his fellow detective, pointing Flynn out.

“He doesn't look like a cop,” noted Winters.  His hair is too long and he has a very rough look to him.

Castillo shook his head from side to side.  “I never said he was a cop, Sharon.”

“I assumed since you work for Internal Affairs you were investigating a crooked cop,” explained a confused, Sharon Winters.

Before Castillo had time to dodge the question on his own, Nora O'Donnell rescued him almost on cue.  “Excuse me,” began Nora.  “Is your cop friend going to be in here tonight?”

Castillo was cautious when answering the waitress.  “Which cop friend is that?”

“I can't remember his name…I think it might be Jimmy.  Don't you remember, he bought you a drink and I brought it over to you last time you were in here?”

Castillo would never forget that night.  It was one of the low points of his career.  “Of course I remember.  And yes his name is Jim.  Why do you ask?” baited Castillo.

“Do you see that man who just walked up to the bar wearing a black sweatshirt?”

Castillo was very interested to see where this was going.  “Yeah, I see him.”

“Well your friend was in here looking for him earlier in the week and said it was extremely important that he find him.  I forgot to take his phone number in case he came in here and now that he's here, I feel terrible that I have no way to get in contact with your friend.  I think he is going to arrest him,” further explaining her dilemma.

Castillo smiled and motioned for Nora to inch closer.  He whispered, “Can I let you in on a secret?”

Nora leaned in and shrugged her shoulders.  “I guess so, sure.”

“Good.”  He could sense from the way Nora was speaking to him she did not like Gerald Flynn and Castillo decided to use this to his own advantage.

“The man you're talking about is the subject of an investigation.  The other detective and I are working on a case against him.  We've been staking this place out for the last few nights waiting to see if he would show up.”

“Good, I hope you nail the bastard and hang him high.”  Nora O'Donnell was clearly angry with the man for whatever reason.

“Please, just do me one huge favor.  Don't mention this to anyone.  If my partner does come in here later, don't mention to him that I’m here.  He'll just be relieving me and I don't want that guy to realize that we are together.  And please, make sure you don't even say anything to my partner about any of this.  If that guy even overheard you telling my partner you saw me in here, the entire case would be compromised.”

Castillo had told Nora exactly what she wanted to hear and she wouldn't dare do anything that would jeopardize the arrest and prosecution of Sean Murphy.  “You have my word,” Nora promised as she walked away from the table.

“Well, well, well,” began Sharon.  “You've either told that cocktail waitress more about this case in five minutes then you've told me over the past three nights that I've spent working on it, as a favor to you, or you were lying through your teeth.  Which one is it?”

It was a fair question.  Castillo laughed at the insinuation and responded by shaking his head.  “What kind of detective are you if you don't know when someone is flat out lying?”  He wouldn’t miss the opportunity to challenge his friend’s detective skills.

“Don’t be obnoxious,” she warned him.  “I figured you were probably lying but I just wanted to be sure.”

Castillo kept an eye on the bar area and watched as Flynn and O'Brien seemed to be getting involved in a rather heated conversation.  He wished there was a way he could hear what they were saying but that was impossible, especially with the band blasting its music.  Castillo had strategically selected the table he and Sharon were seated at.  They were sitting almost directly behind the band so the chance of anyone seeing them was greatly diminished.  Castillo liked his vantage point.  He was able to keep an unobstructed view of what was going on at the bar.

Nora O'Donnell returned to the table with another round of drinks.  ”This one's on me.”  She placed the drinks down on the table in front of the couple.

They responded in harmony.  “Thank you.” 

“You are very welcome.  And the name is Nora if you should need anything else.”

Castillo raised his glass in her direction.  “Okay, then.  Thank you very much, Nora.”

Nora O'Donnell flashed Castillo a smile and walked away from the table to tend to other customers at her station.

“Well Louie, you sure have her sold on that story.”

Winters decided to push for a little more information.  “Would she be disappointed if she knew the truth?”

Castillo ignored the question.  “I can use all the help I can get on this one Sharon.”

He once again focused his attention on the men at the bar and their rather intense conversation.  “If I only knew what they were talking about.”

Castillo was frustrated as he hopelessly tried to read their lips.

Neither Dan O'Brien nor Gerald Flynn had noticed Louis Castillo sitting in the bar.  The fact that he brought a female companion this time, seemed to help him blend into the crowd.  When Flynn arrived at the bar he noticed O'Brien's face was red, either in anger that Flynn had been ignoring him or in frustration because he realized it was actually Flynn, who was running the show.  Either way, Flynn rather enjoyed upsetting the bartender.  “So, what is so important that you nearly jumped over the bar to get me attention?”

O'Brien poured Flynn a pint of beer before answering and tried not to let on to the fact that he was genuinely annoyed at him.  No sooner did O'Brien put the beer down in front of Flynn than did he guzzle the entire beer down in one long gulp.  Flynn wiped his mouth with his sleeve and set the empty glass back down on the bar.  “It's Keegan.  He asked me to get in contact with you to set up a meeting.”

“I have no reason to meet with the man.  As far as I’m concerned he did his part and now he should mind his own business.”

O’Brien became insistent.  “Maybe he has some kind of vital information you should know about, Gerald.”

Flynn’s eyes grew narrow as he starred at O’Brien.  He snapped at the bartender.  “That's Sean to you.  Or have ya forgotten me name?”  Flynn didn’t seem too eager to forgive O’Brien’s error this time, as Eamon had told him any slip ups could cost him dearly.

O’Brien shook his head apologetically.  “I forgot.  I'm sorry, Sean.”  His patience
was starting to wear thin with the hit man.  “He asked me to beep him the next time you were in here so he could come in and talk to you.”

Flynn ignored O’Brien’s comment.  “How about another beer, barkeep?  I’m mighty parched, I am.”

He could see the frustration slowly mount in O’Brien.  His face began to turn a shade darker. 

O'Brien could feel his blood pressure rising at Flynn's constant indifference.  O'Brien calmly picked up the empty glass Flynn had set down in front of him, walked over to the tap and filled it up.  With each passing second O’Brien could feel his blood pressure rise.  After all, they were on the same side, trying to achieve the same thing.  So why did Flynn have to keep acting so indignant?  He couldn’t figure the assassin out.  Maybe it was the age difference between the two.  Maybe Flynn didn’t respect him since it was so many years since he left Ireland and was actually living in America, away from the troubles.  O’Brien couldn’t see Eamon Quinn tolerating such arrogance and disrespect.  Nevertheless, he was trying to avoid pulling rank on the man or a confrontation of any kind, for that matter.  With that in mind, O'Brien set the beer back down in front of Flynn and once again asked for Flynn's permission to call Keegan.  “So is it okay with ya if I give 'em a call then, Sean?”

Flynn took a sip of beer and looked O'Brien dead in the eyes before answering.  “No.  It's not okay.  I don't trust the man and I don't like the man.”

Flynn picked up his beer and began to walk away from the bar and Dan O'Brien.

That was the final straw for O’Brien.  “Sean!” yelled an obviously incensed Dan O'Brien.  Flynn, however, ignored O'Brien and continued to walk away.  Flynn walked up to the stage and while Tommy McDermott was in the middle of a break, and made a request of him to play a song.  McDermott, although he had only known the man a short time, had taken a liking to his fellow Irishman and usually played his requests.