Exceptional Merit (39 page)

As Keegan stepped out of the shower he examined himself closely in the mirror.  The left side of his face was swollen and had turned a deep shade of purple.  He opened his mouth wide to see the eight stitches he had received in the hospital as well as the missing and shattered teeth.  There was a small amount of dry blood in the corner of his mouth.  He lifted his left arm and examined his rib cage.  It was hurting him something awful whenever he took a deep breath.  He saw a deep bruise in the middle of his rib cage and realized when he
fell; he landed on his gun in the shoulder holster.  That was what most likely caused the fracture.  He stared into his own eyes to reassure himself that killing Flynn had been necessary.

He wasn't even going to attempt to put on a suit today.  He was going to wear loose fitting, comfortable clothing.  He wore a pair of black Dockers and an
Emerald Society golf shirt.  He strapped his nine millimeter back to its familiar position on it's hip and thought about the fact that it wasn't even his own gun that he had used to kill the hit man. 
It was ironic that Flynn had died at the hands of his own gun.

He thought back to the gun and was thankful that he had drilled the serial numbers out so there was no way the gun could ever come back to haunt him.  He looked at the time on his wristwatch as he put it on.  It was eight o'clock.  Keegan knew he had to leave soon but he figured since it was a Saturday morning there wouldn't be much traffic on the Expressway and he could leave a little bit later than usual.  Keegan went back downstairs and peeked in on his children as they watched the television together.  He then went back into the kitchen where Kate was sitting at the table drinking
a cup of coffee.

“Would you like me to get you a cup, hon?”

He shook his head adamantly at his wife.  “No thank you love.  I'm afraid the hot coffee would get right into the nerves.”

She grimaced at him.  “Oh, I'm sorry hon.  How could I forget how much pain you're
in?”

“That's all right love.  I hope this dentist can fix me up today so you and I can go out for dinner by the end of the week
; just the two of us.  I’ll have mom watch the kids again.”

“That would be so nice Jim, but only if you are feeling up to it.  That reminds me Jim, she called yesterday but you were trying to get some rest, so I told her you'd give her a call today.”

Keegan walked right over to the telephone and dialed his mother's number.  “Good, then I can kill two birds with one stone.”

Kate listened to her husband's end of the conversation.  After assuring his mother he was okay and going over the details of the parade with her, he secured her baby sitting services for Friday night.  Keegan looked over to Kate and gave
a thumbs up.  “Great, we'll drop them off at your house around six or seven.  Thanks ma, I'll see you tomorrow for Sunday dinner,” he promised before hanging up the phone.

He looked over to his wife with a smile.  “So, do we have a date for Friday night young lady?  You pick the restaurant.  Any where you want.”

“We sure do. I just hope we don't have to bring a straw for you to eat with.”  Kate couldn't resist the opportunity to throw one more harmless taunt at her husband.

“Ha, ha, ha.  What a comedian I married.”

“I'm sorry Jim.  I just couldn’t resist.”

Keegan took in all in good fun, as it was intended.  He looked down at his watch and saw he had to get going.  He was sure the Police Commissioner, himself, would be there as well as the Chiefs.  The last thing anyone in the department would want to do is make the department’s top echelon wait for you.  Keegan was no exception, hero or not.  The media saw him a hero but he couldn't let that go to his head and get cocky.  Keegan put on his winter coat since it was colder than normal for this time of year.  He went into the living room where his kids were still watching television.  He gave each of them a hug and a kiss.

“What time will you be home dad?” Timothy inquired.

Keegan considered the question before answering.  He estimated he would be leaving the dentist's office somewhere after one o'clock.  “I should be home around two or three.”

He allotted an extra hour or so in case he needed to finish any paper work to tighten the case up before he could leave the his office.  Keegan was greeted by Kate who came over to give him a kiss goodbye.  “See you later, hon.  I love you.”

“I love you too Kate.”

He opened the front door and was met with a burst of cold air.  He kept his mouth tightly closed to prevent any cold air from striking the exposed nerves in his mouth.  He decided he would take the Explorer to work instead of the department auto.  He remembered the Crown Victoria was low on gas and didn’t want to waste time stopping at a precinct somewhere to fill it up.  He informed his wife he'd be taking her car into Manhattan before closing the door behind him.

He unlocked the door of the Explorer and got inside.  He couldn't wait for the car to warm up so the heat would come up.  He inserted the key in the ignition and turned it, expecting the car to jump to life.  Instead of turning over, the car didn't make a sound.  The cold weather had evidently killed the car's battery.  He looked at the clock on the dashboard of the Explorer and saw that the battery had went dead at thirty eight minutes after two a.m.  This was probably the coldest part of the night, Keegan estimated.

Not today; isn’t that, just my friggin luck.

He knew he couldn't be late but now he didn’t want to chance getting stuck with the Explorer.  He decided it wasn’t worth jump starting and taking the Explorer just in case it was something more serious than just a dead battery.  He would worry about the Explorer later.  His priority now was getting to the meeting and putting his secret life behind him.  He had only about an hour to get to Police Headquarters.  He hoped he had enough gas to make it to headquarters without having to stop off.

It was a chance he would have to take.  Keegan got out of the Explorer and walked over to the department Crown Victoria.  He unlocked the door of the car and got inside.  If for some reason the battery was dead on this car also, he would be in a lot of trouble.  He hoped the dead car battery would not be the indication of the beginning of a bad day.  He inserted the key into the ignition and turned it, figuring it was not.

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

The helicopter's rotors cut through the gusty March winds.  The New York City Police Department's sharpshooters stood alertly on top of the roof tops to watch over the tens of thousands police officers who had come to pay their final respects to their brother officer and fallen hero, James Keegan.  The car bomb, which ended Keegan's life with the turn of a key, had rocked the quiet suburban town of East Northport.  The explosion could be heard as far as the neighboring town of Commack.

The sharp shooters, some of whom were armed with sniper rifles and others of whom looked through binoculars, looked over the crowd on Northern Boulevard in Queens.  They could see that there were not only thousands of fellow officers mourning his death, but also about three thousand civilians had showed up to pay their respects to a true hero.  The thousands of officers were congregating with one another in an unorganized manner until a hush fell over the crowd.  The men and women in their blue dress uniforms fell into ranks, standing as many as ten deep for as far as the eye could see.  An additional three rows to the rear stood non uniformed officers such as detectives and retirees.

“ATTEN-TION!”
was shouted through a megaphone by the officer in charge of the funeral detail.  Every officer in attendance stood motionless and in complete silence upon receiving the order.  The motorcycle cops from throughout the city's highway patrol units led the procession.  They drove up Northern Boulevard with their lights on traveling about five to ten miles per hour.  Members of the police department's Emerald Society carried the color guard.  The flag of Ireland was sandwiched between the United States flag and the flag of the New York City Police Department.  The men who made up the color guard marched slowly and evenly in perfect choreography with each other.  The somber beat of the Pipes and Drums Band drummer's could be faintly heard in the distance as the black hearse grew closer.

The hearse was being escorted by the members of the Pipes and Drums Band, who were spread out evenly as they marched along each side of the slow moving hearse.  They continued to softly beat their drums while staring straight ahead.  A black limousine, carrying the Keegan family, followed directly behind.  Kate stared out of the window at all of the officers who had turned out to pay their respects to her husband.  Kerry tightly clung around her neck while the boys sat emotionless in the back of the limousine, one on each side of their grandmother.  Kate knew she had to be strong for her children.  They were taking it very hard, as she would expect.  They hadn't slept very much over the past few nights since Saturday.  The hearse stopped and the limousine followed behind it right in front of the Roman Catholic Church.

“PRESENT ARMS!”
was the next command.  The mourning officers instantly rendered a sharp, white gloved salute as the members of the Pipes and Drums Band began to play Amazing Grace.  The pallbearers removed the coffin of James Keegan from the back of the hearse and lifted it onto their shoulders.  They then lowered their hands to their sides and carried the casket on their shoulders, into the church.

The thousands of officers remained completely motionless as the coffin was escorted inside.  Kate carried Kerry out of the limousine.  She refused to release the grip she held around her mother’s neck.  The boys
exited, each holding one of their grandmother’s hands.  As Kate carried Kerry towards the church, Kerry started to cry uncontrollably.  Kerry's wailing could be heard by all in attendance, breaking the uncomfortable silence.  There was a lump in the throat and a tear in the eye of every officer in attendance, as they listened to the now fatherless girl mourn her loss.  Kate rubbed her back assuring her everything was going to be okay, even though Kate, herself, was not sure it would.

Once the family, friends, and dignitaries had filed into the church the detail commander gave his next command. 
“ORDER ARMS!”

Thousands of white gloves broke the salute they had been holding for some time now.  It was an impressive sight the way the gloves, all in perfect harmony, snapped back down to the officer's sides.  The mood remained gloomy as the officers slowly broke the formation while the funeral mass was taking place inside the church.

The cops began to once again look for old friends.  The cops would walk around until they saw someone they knew, maybe someone they went to the Academy with or an old partner from a previous command.  They would then stand around and catch up on old times as well as see what each other were doing now.  Other officers would walk to the nearest coffee shop or fast food restaurant to get themselves a cup of coffee; still others, to a nearby
watering hole
.  The detail, which was over twenty thousand strong, was almost like a huge reunion of the men and women in blue.

Funerals brought cops together geographically as well as emotionally.  There were cops from all over the country who had come to pay their last respects to James Keegan.  There was an assemblage of cops from numerous jurisdictions in New Jersey, Boston, Miami, and numerous other cities on the east coast.  There were cops from as far away as San Diego and Hawaii who had come to pay their respects.

It wasn't uncommon for cops to come from all over the country to bid farewell to a fallen colleague.  What was uncommon was that all of the police officers, who had come to New York City today to mourn the loss of a brother officer, had at least known who Keegan was.  Most cop funerals were for cops, who until the time of their death were unsung heroes.  After their death, they became a martyr of the times.  Their names, usually forgotten soon after by all of those who hadn’t personally know them.

This was not true of James Keegan.  He was a hero time and time again.  He had graced the front page of every newspaper in the country when he thwarted the attempted bombing of the Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn and again only a few days earlier with his courageous actions on Saint Patrick's Day.  The fact that all of the mourners had known of Keegan's legend, made the funeral that much more devastating.

After about forty five minutes of mingling with their friends and fellow officers, the rank and file police officers filed back into formation without being told to do so.  It was an unwritten rule at these funerals that about forty five minutes after the funeral begins inside the church the cops would reform the ranks and patiently wait for their next instructions.  They talk quietly, barely above a whisper, until the order is barked out.

“ATTEN-TION!”
  A hush once again falls over the crowd.  The focus of attention is on the doorway of the church which is slowly opened.  The first to exit the church is the Mayor of New York with the Police Commissioner and the Cardinal on either side.  Other dignitaries followed next, along with the top echelon of the police department.  Kate, who had finally let out a good cry during the service, walked out next.  She held Kerry in one arm and held a handkerchief to wipe her tears with the other.  The red eyed Keegan boys, along with their distraught grandmother followed.