Exceptional Merit (37 page)

Kate walked in to her husband's room at Bellevue Hospital and saw him sitting up in bed watching television.  He wore a white and blue hospital gown with his legs under a white blanket.  There was no beeping, no
monitors; he was not hooked up to any machines. 
Thank
God.
  She breathed a sigh of relief.  Although Anderson had explained his injuries, she expected worse until she laid her own eyes upon her husband.  She didn't notice that he was watching the news, which aired the events as they unfolded earlier in the day in front of Saint Patrick's Cathedral.

He was relieved that the entire ordeal was now behind him and his ties to the I.R.A. were severed forever.  Gerald Flynn was dead and could now never speak of their meetings.  He was flipping from station to station, all of which were showing the entire sequence of events as their own camera men had captured it.  Keegan decided he was impressed with his own heroics as he watched them.  Once the Police Department released his name as the officer involved in the confrontation, he was once again being praised as a hero by the media.  He figured he would get a real high medal for this; an
Exceptional Merit
, perhaps.

Keegan didn't notice his wife enter the room until she ran over to him and threw her arms around him.  Kate wept softly as she examined her husband's injuries.  The left side of his face was swollen and discolored.  He had a black eye and a few missing or cracked teeth but he was very much alive.  “I love you Jim.”

Captain Anderson and the other officers excused themselves from the room and closed the door behind them.

“Did you thee what happened?" lisped a battered James Keegan.

“No I couldn’t bring myself to watch the parade today.  But apparently I'll be seeing you all over the news again, won't I?”

Keegan shook his head in agreement and gave his wife a sheepish smile, exposing his missing teeth.  Kate grimaced, sympathizing with the pain her husband must be feeling.  She caressed his head with her hand and as sorry as she felt for him, she couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease him.  “Did you at least get the license plate of the bus that ran you over?”

Keegan once again smiled, appreciating his wife's humor and he gave her a playful slap on her shoulder.  “Justh what I needed, a comedian.”

A knock on the door interrupted the Keegan's conversation.  The emergency room doctor treating him entered the room.  He was about thirty five years old with dark hair and glasses.  He wore a white lab coat with a stethoscope hung around his neck.  “I have good news for you Mr. Keegan.  The x-ray results were negative.  You do, however, have a mild concussion.  Usually, I would recommend you stay overnight but I respect your wishes and I will discharge you.”

“Thanks doc.  I appreciate it.”

The doctor handed him a prescription from his pad.  “Get this prescription filled immediately,” the doctor instructed.  “It's a pretty strong pain killer that should let you rest comfortably.  Get it filled before your current pain killers wear off or you will wish you had.  Tomorrow or when you feel better
, make an appointment with an oral surgeon.  You need to get your mouth back in order.  You are a brave man Mr. Keegan…it could have been a whole lot worse.”

Keegan nodded in agreement and offered his hand.  “Thanks again, doc.”

The discharge nurse, who had accompanied the doctor, went over all of Keegan’s discharge instructions.  She handed Kate the prescription and the discharge papers.  Captain Anderson arranged for one of the detectives in JTTF to drive Keegan’s department auto to his Long Island home for him.  They would drive him home as well.  He was in a fair amount of pain and winced as he got up to get dressed.

The pain was a small price to pay for everything he had won over the course of the afternoon.  He stopped the assassination, severed his ties with the I.R.A.,
and kept his freedom, his job and most importantly, his secret.  His family would never find out about any of this.  He took comfort that he would no longer have to lie to his wife or put anyone or anything before his family again.  He looked at Kate and took her by the hand.  He did his best not to lisp as he spoke through a swollen mouth.  “Are you ready to get out of here, my love?”

“Jim, I can't wait to get home.”

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

Louis Castillo still couldn't believe the events of the previous day.  He had watched the news over and over again on all of the major networks and saw James Keegan, once again, emerges as one of the great heroes of our country.  Castillo couldn't believe his luck.  It was less than a week ago, when he was sure he was about to nail Keegan.

Since then, everything seemed to go awry.  He lost track of Gerald Flynn, who had been the main link between Keegan and the I.R.A.  Combining that fact with Keegan's own heroics yesterday, Castillo knew he couldn't present the case he had against Keegan to a Grand Jury without it being a rock solid case.  There wouldn't be a man, women, or child that would dare indict Keegan unless the case was indisputable.  Castillo stared at the newspaper that he had bought on the way to work.  He read the headlines in frustration;

MASS-ACRE AT ST. PAT'S:

Hero cop injured in life or death battle with gunman

Castillo stared at the headlines.  He didn't even want to open the paper up, fearing its contents would only annoy him even more.  He instead opened his briefcase where he kept the secret file on Keegan. 
All of my hard work was for nothing
.  He was so discouraged; he debated throwing the entire file away.  He realized the only hope he might still have, is to find Flynn once again and bring him in for questioning.  That would be very tricky, he conceded.  He would have to do it behind his bosses back.

He thumbed through the now useless file and looked at all of the photos he had covertly taken.  Castillo then closed the file and returned his attention to the newspaper.  He reluctantly opened the paper up to see there was a two page pull out of still photos of the confrontation.

Castillo skimmed the photos over as he thought to himself what a clean shooting it had been and that it was all captured on tape.  The footage would be shown nationwide.  There was no doubt of that.  Castillo had barely glanced at all of the pictures when one of them jumped out off the page at him.  It was a photo of the gunman as he lay dead on the asphalt. 
Gerald Flynn!

Castillo was almost sure of it.  His hair was shorter and darker and he wore a mustache but Castillo was convinced it was him.  Castillo excitedly reached into the file and removed one of the photos he had taken of Flynn.  Castillo compared the photos, concentrating on the features of a face which can't be disguised, such as the shape of the eyes, nose, and chin line.  The comparison was
identical; the dead gunman was in fact Gerald Flynn.

Castillo's world once again turned around.  The case which he was ready to close out only five minutes earlier had now taken on new life.  It was now a solid case, thought Castillo as he examined the numerous pictures he had taken of Flynn and Keegan together.  The pieces all came together now for Castillo.  Flynn must have come over from Ireland to assassinate someone, apparently Martin Devine, at the parade and Keegan was the one to supply the weapon.

The only unanswered question for Castillo was why he stopped the hit.  That was one question he didn't know the answer to but still the evidence was overwhelming. 
It couldn’t be denied
.  Castillo then thought back to the night when he saw Keegan doing something under the hood of the Toyota down by the pier.  He wondered if maybe he was running guns to the I.R.A. and the Irish bartender was his connection here.

It all made sense, and Castillo had plenty of evidence, as well as a couple of witnesses.  Sharon would be able to tell what she saw and the two officers that stopped Keegan that night could corroborate the fact that he was
there; in a car that Castillo was sure Keegan couldn't explain having.

Castillo looked at the clock hanging on the wall.  It was twenty minutes past eight.  He closed his file on Keegan after pulling the photos from the newspaper and stuffing them inside the file.  Castillo got up and looked at the roll call to see what time Inspector Marsh was due in
; a
four to twelve
.  Feeling safe that he wouldn't get caught, Castillo picked up the file and entered Marsh's office.  Castillo closed the door behind him once he was satisfied none of the other detectives in the office had seen him sneak in.  Once inside, Castillo reopened the file and examined it closely.  He again compared the photos in disbelief that his luck could have changed for the better so quickly.

Castillo figured his case against Keegan was enough to get him indicted but Castillo wanted more than just an indictment, he wanted to humiliate him and expose him for what he was
; a gun runner to a terrorist organization
.
  Imagine the irony, thought Castillo.  The Executive Officer of the Joint Terrorist Task Force running guns to terrorists.  Once the story got out to the press, Keegan would no longer be a hero but instead he'd be exposed as a rogue; someone who abused his power, and should be sent to prison for years to come.  The press would finally vilify him instead of singing his praises.

Even after the indictment was handed down and Keegan was arrested, Castillo decided he would continue to build the case.  He would order wire taps on Dan O'Brien's house as well as the phone at the bar.  If Castillo was correct, O'Brien would be in touch with the I.R.A. back in Northern Ireland after the hit was botched.  Then he could ask his good friend, Frank Balentine, to run a check on whoever O'Brien gets in contact with.

Castillo realized that only he and Keegan actually knew the truth of the matter and Keegan certainly wasn't going to help in the investigation.  He would rather just pretend he saw a guy with a gun on pure coincidence rather then tell anyone he knew about the hit man and the attempted hit.  The case would be buried if Keegan had things his way, without the truth ever being told.  Castillo shook his head smugly.  He wasn’t going to let that happen.  He would blow the whistle regarding the entire conspiracy to assassinate a well respected lawyer, in Martin Devine.  He would build the case and eventually lock up Dan O’Brien as well as anybody else he found out to be involved in the conspiracy.  Then he, Louis Castillo, not James Keegan, would be the hero.

Castillo spent the next hour going over all of the photos and notes he had in the secret file he had been keeping.  Castillo once again assured himself the case was air tight.  He thumbed through the rolodex on Marsh's desk.  Upon finding the number he was looking for, he picked up the telephone's receiver and punched it in.

“A.D.A's office, can I help you?”

“Yes, this is Detective Castillo, from Internal Affairs.  I'd like to speak with the Bureau Chief of the Integrity Bureau please,” requested Castillo.

The integrity bureau always handled cases of police corruption and with a case of this magnitude; Castillo wasn't going to talk to anybody other than the person in charge of the bureau.  He imagined the District Attorney of New York County would want to speak to him as well when Castillo explained there was a leak within his own department.  The last thing he needed was another leak to get back to Keegan.

“I'm
sorry; he's on vacation this week.  He'll be back in on Monday.  Can I take a message?”

Castillo was disappointed.  “No thank you, I'll call back on Monday.”

Castillo hung up the receiver.  He thought about it briefly.  He has waited this long, so a few more days wouldn't make a difference.  He had Keegan dead to right and there was no place for him to run, and nothing that he could do about it.

Castillo wondered what the consequences were going to be since he was going over his superiors head and going right to the District Attorney's office.  The hierarchy did not like to be made to look bad.  There would likely be serious repercussions…unless he played his cards just right.  Castillo figured when the case broke, his superiors would be mad at him but they would jump on the bandwagon and say they were working on the case for a long time and Saint Patrick's Day was the break in the case they were waiting for.

This way, they too, would look like heroes.  All he would have to do is go along with their lies.  He could do that…if the price was right for him.  Castillo figured this case could finally be his ticket out of Internal Affairs and into a major case squad somewhere.  He could once again be a real detective, solving real cases.  Maybe even get grade.

Castillo didn't want to take any unnecessary chances so he got up from the chair and peeked out into the squad room.  The other detectives were busy typing and reviewing their cases.  Castillo picked up his file on Keegan and walked out of Marsh's office undetected.  He returned the file to his briefcase and was feeling good about himself.  Castillo hadn't felt this good about his job since his days back in Anti-Crime in Brooklyn.  Feeling real good about things, he decided to push his luck.  He picked up the telephone on his desk and punched in a number.  He sat back in his chair and put his feet up on the desk as it rang.

“Special Victims, Detective Winters.”

It was nice to hear Sharon's voice.  Castillo felt almost like a teenager calling a girl for the first time.  Since his break up with Sharon some years back, Castillo hadn't been in a serious relationship with anyone and he felt a bit awkward.  “Hi Sharon.  It's Louie.”