Exceptional Merit (30 page)

When he got to the top of the stairs, he sat in the children's rooms for a few minutes to watch each of them sleep so peacefully.  He gave each of them a kiss on their head and felt a lump in his throat.  He couldn't help wonder what would happen to his family if anything were to happen to him…or them.

Flynn's threat had been so real it terrorized him just to think of Flynn.  Keegan closed the door to his daughter's bedroom on the way out and once again returned to his own bedroom.  Kate must've woken up momentarily at some point because the television was now off.  When Keegan crawled into bed, the remote control was in his wife's hand.  He gave her a gentle kiss on the face and rubbed her back.  He then took the remote control and placed it in its proper place on the night table.  Keegan got under the covers but couldn't fall asleep.

He kept reliving the night’s events over in his head, especially Flynn's threats.  He put his arm around his wife and pulled her close but she continued to sleep and didn't reciprocate his affections.  Keegan desperately needed to be held.  He was frightened.  He wanted in the worst way to wake Kate up and tell her about everything.  He wanted to get his secret past off his chest and level with her.  He would tell her how he'd been running guns to the I.R.A. for many years now and that he was going to get out.  He would sometimes have this fantasy about being honest with Kate and telling her everything but he knew he never could.  Keegan tossed and turned in bed for the next couple of hours contemplating his fate before he finally fell to sleep at the crack of dawn.

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

James Keegan got off the elevator on the fourth floor in the building where Martin Devine's law office was located.  It was the Monday before the Saint Patrick's Day Parade and Keegan realized he had to act fast.  He wished he had been able to get a hold of Devine over the weekend but his attempts had been fruitless.  Keegan read the sign on the door before opening it.

Martin Devine-Attorney at Law

He entered Devine's law office and was greeted by Devine’s secretary.  She was a petite blond with striking green eyes.  She wore a beige skirt with a floral blouse buttoned to the collar.  Keegan figured her to be in her mid thirties.  “Can I help you with something sir.”

“Yes I'd like to speak with Mr. Devine.”

“Do you have an appointment?” not remembering
having scheduled any for this time.

Keegan shook his head from side to side.  “No, I don't.  I'm a police officer and I’m here on official business.”

Keegan showed her his Lieutenant's shield and identification card.  He added, “It's extremely urgent that I speak to Mr. Devine as soon as possible.”

“I see.  Well this is a bad time because he's in a meeting right now.  If you want to wait, as soon as he's available, I'll tell him you're waiting to speak with him.”

“I'd appreciate that.  Yes, I'll wait for him.”

“Have a seat then.  Would you like a cup of coffee?” offered the secretary as she walked him to the waiting area.

Keegan politely refused the coffee and took a seat on the couch in the office's waiting room.  The waiting area was very different from any law office Keegan had ever been in.  His only points of reference would be the offices of the various District Attorneys and that of the New York City Corporation Counsel.  Those offices were just a step or two cleaner than a police precinct.  This office was in sharp contrast.  It was immaculate and beautifully decorated.  Keegan glanced at the artwork hanging on the walls.  They were mostly prints from artists he was unfamiliar with, in addition to a couple of original pieces.  The couch was the softest leather that he ever felt.  He figured it was a fine Italian make.  He thumbed through the magazines laid out neatly on the coffee table in front of him.  The secretary returned to her station, the heels of her shoes echoing as she walked across the highly polished, granite floor.

After a few moments, he picked up the current edition of the Daily News from the coffee table in front of him.  There was an article on page four of the paper about Martin Devine and the parade.  The article went on to say that a rally protesting the protestant Grand Marshall of the parade was held yesterday without any incident.  More protests were expected between now and the parade, but the police did not expect any problems.

Keegan shook his head, if they only knew the problems they might be in for.  He stared at the picture of Martin Devine in the newspaper.  He thought back to the first time he had ever heard of Devine and how he, along with every other cop in the city, hated him.  It had been back in the late 1970's and Keegan was a still just a patrol cop at the time.  He didn't personally know the officer involved but every cop in the city was outraged at the story.

There had been a robbery
of an elderly woman at knife point in the East New York section of Brooklyn.  The women dialed 911 and gave the operator a description of the robber.  The description was broadcast by central communications to the officers in the field.  A seasoned and experienced officer in the precinct saw a male fitting the description.  When the officer tried to stop the man, he turned on the officer with the knife in his hand.  As he lunged at the officer, the officer side stepped the stab and smashed the subjects hand with his nightstick, disarming the man.  The man promptly punched the officer in the face and a violent fight ensued.  The officer collapsed to the sidewalk, dazed.  The perp stood over him kicking him repeatedly in and about the head and face.  The officer's partner struck the perp about the head with his blackjack but it did not seem to deter the man’s assault of the officer.  The man finally fell on top of the fallen officer, who was now semi-conscious.  Even though he fell, the man still had his wits about him and had a plan of action, in spite of the one officer continually striking him.

As numerous back up officers arrived at the scene, they helplessly witnessed the man remove the fallen officer's service revolver from its holster.  He turned and shot the cop's partner at point blank range before they had the chance to join the melee.  The man was subsequently placed in handcuffs and arrested but not before a second fierce struggle had ensued.  The first officer had lost consciousness and suffered a concussion, as well as
twenty stitches about the face.  The second officer had been shot twice; his life saved by his bullet proof vest.  The perpetrator had been on angel dust, a powerful hallucinogenic, and never felt any pain from the fractured arm, two cracked ribs and broken eye socket he received during the life or death struggle with the officers.

When the case went to trial, a young and ambitious lawyer, looking to make a name for himself, took on the case.  The lawyer’s name was Martin Devine.  Devine's defense strategy was that the cops were beating the man with their blackjacks and nightsticks, although he did not resist arrest.  He argued the officers were
exacting street justice to a man,
they
believed had robbed an elderly woman.  This was considered to be deadly physical force, therefore the man should be allowed to use whatever means necessary to protect his own life.  Devine, in a sense; put the New York City Police department on trial.

The media, as well as the Police Department, watched the trial with bated breath.  The thought of Devine using this as a defense for these crimes was unconscionable.  This was an attempted murder and felony assaults on two uniformed police officers
affecting a lawful arrest, in addition to an armed robbery.  There was no way that could work.  Not even in Brooklyn, most cops tried to convince themselves.

The acquittal of the man hit the front page of almost every newspaper in the country.  The jury had been convinced by Martin Devine that the officers were using unnecessary deadly physical force and that the armed robber had a right to defend his own life against the over aggressive officers.  Devine
had used photos and medical records to document the beating that his client had suffered at the hands of the police.  He additionally convinced the jury, that the officer, who had suffered a concussion, was inadvertently struck by his own partner rather than his client.  Devine had done an excellent job of impeaching a police medical expert, who testified the defendant was suffering from a psychosis due to the ingestion of the angel dust, and therefore continued to fight the officers because he hadn't felt any of the blows the officers had landed on him.  Rather, he convinced the jury, that the man fought so furiously because it was a life or death situation for him.

Devine had done a masterful job of turning the trial from his client and placing the blame on the officers.  The decision became a media sensation as well as a humiliation for the department.  Every cop in the city at the time was outraged at the acquittal, but many officers today were too young to remember the incident.  The perpetrator was acquitted on attempted murder, felony assault charges, weapons possession and resisting arrest.  The sole charge he was convicted
on was the knife point robbery for which he was sentenced to six to twelve years in prison.

To add further humiliation to the Police Department and the city as a whole, Devine and his client sued the city for police brutality and civil rights violations.  The last thing the city wanted to go through was another high profile trial.  Instead, they settled the case with 2.6 million dollars awarded to the man for damages, even as he sat in an upstate
prison cell.  The only justice the officer's could find in the entire matter was that after serving five years in prison, and out on parole, he was shot and killed in a drive by shooting in front of a Brownsville shooting gallery.

The trial had blemished the career of two officers and made an armed robber a millionaire for a short period of time, but most prominently, it made Martin Devine one of the best known criminal and civil rights lawyers in the country.

James Keegan would be very careful in how and what he told Devine.  He knew if things worked out the way he hoped they would, he could be in the clear.  All he had to do was convince Devine that his life was in immediate danger and to relinquish the title of Grand Marshall.  He should not march in the parade at all.  If Keegan could accomplish this task not only would he be saving Devine's life but he would also be saving his own neck.

Without Devine marching, the I.R.A. would have no target and therefore have no
hit.  It would even be a victory for them, he reasoned.  No protestant Grand Marshall.  That is what they wanted from the beginning.  To Keegan, this meant neither his wife nor his job would have to ever find out about his connections with the I.R.A.  Keegan was holding the paper in front of him, daydreaming about what was going to happen when Devine's secretary broke his concentration.  “Mr. Devine will see you now.”

He put the newspaper back down on the coffee table and got up from the couch.  “Thank you.”

Keegan smiled and nodded at her as she showed him into the office of Martin Devine.  Devine was seated behind his desk, thumbing through some legal documents when Keegan entered.  It was a generous sized office with tiled floors and light green walls with beige trim.  Devine’s desk was a dark brown wood, highly polished.  It was littered by an assortment of case folders.  On the wall behind Devine’s desk hung various degrees and certificates issued to Devine.  On the opposite wall were bookcases that contained more law books than Keegan thought possible to read.  Devine stood up to greet his guest and extended his right hand.  Keegan accepted his hand and introduced himself.  “How are you Mr. Devine?  My name is Lieutenant James Keegan.  I'm with the New York City Police Department's Joint Terrorist Task Force.”

“Of course, I knew I recognized you.  You're the detective who broke that terrorist ring last year.  That was some piece of detective
work; I'd have loved to have had a chance to cross examine you on that.”

Devine was showing his cockiness.  He was a skilled crossexaminer and loved a challenge.  Keegan examined the man behind the desk.  He wore an expensive, custom made suit and a large gold ring with the scales of justice embedded in it.  Maybe a law school ring, figured Keegan.  He had a far receded hair line and a neatly trimmed beard which was beginning to gray. 
Clearly he did not miss too many meals,
thought Keegan, noting his rather large frame.

Keegan decided to put his contempt for the man aside.  As much as Keegan had once hated the man and did not respect him, especially after his comments about Keegan’s collar, he still wouldn't let any harm come to him if he could prevent it.  It would never be a personal matter with Keegan.  He was a true professional police officer and took his oath of office very seriously.  “Have a seat, Lieutenant.”

Keegan accepted Devine's offer and pulled up a chair.  “The name is Jim.”

“Call me Martin.  Now Jim, could you tell me why such an important man such as yourself is paying me a visit?”

Devine was genuinely curious.

Keegan sat on the forward edge of his chair before answering.  “Well Martin, it seems that over in Ireland the Northern Irish Police arrested a man with a substantial amount of explosives.  In return for not getting prolonged jail time, he told them of an assassination plot over in the United States.”

“Fascinating, Jim.  Please do tell more.”

Keegan wasn't quite sure if the man was being genuine or if he were mocking him.  “So what does a snitch in Northern Ireland have to do with me?”