Home Goes The Warrior (9 page)

Lee smiled at Anthony’s comment. “Yeah. I can’t imagine anyone trying anything on a Navy base. Besides, there probably wouldn’t be much to be gained from doing anything there anyway. Just a bunch of yard-birds, sailors, and engineers. Doesn’t sound like much of a gold mine.”

At that, Anthony put his fork down for a moment and leaned back in his chair, looking directly at Lee. “I dunno about that,” he said. “I’ve been hearing rumors, and there’ve been some incidents lately that worry me a bit.” Both Lee and Maggie stopped eating and looked at the old don as he gathered his thoughts.

“There’s some rumors around about a gang of thieves working on the base. An independent bunch that no one knows much of anything about. I’ve heard that the FBI has been there, but didn’t find anything. But the rumors are still out there and I think there’s something to them.”

He paused and Lee interjected, “What are they stealing, Tony?”

“Money, but I don’t know how - or how much. Like I say, I stay clear of the military, so I don’t know very much about this.”

He paused, obviously struggling with his thoughts, marshalling his words. Lee and Maggie stayed silent, watching him. “But there is one thing that I do know. There’s been three of the shipyard’s civilians killed in the past few months. The first one fell into a drydock. That was called an accident. But my neighbors that work in the shipyard don’t agree. They say the guy had worked in the shipyard for more than twenty years and his workplace was over a mile from the nearest drydock.”

Startled, Lee spoke up. “That does sound suspicious.”

“I think so. Anyway, then there was a shipyard worker shot dead in South Philly. The cops put a lot of heat on my friends over this one, but none of us know anything about it. Nobody’s been arrested yet on it. The rumor is that it was a dump job, with the killing taking place somewhere else. Then the body was dumped close to my home in South Philly.”

“Then another shipyard guy was found about a week later with his throat slit. That happened across the river in Camden. They say that
he was robbed and killed by a streetwalker. It’s possible, I guess. But I don’t like coincidences. All three of these guys worked in the paperwork end of the shipyard, something to do with getting the machinery and parts for the ship-overhauls. Now, I don’t know what any of this means. But if I was you, Lee, I’d watch my back in that shipyard. Something smells bad.”

Lee was silent for a long moment, absorbing this information. Agent Wright had never mentioned anything about people being killed. Maybe he didn’t know, or maybe they hadn’t considered the deaths to be related to his shipyard investigation. But this was definitely a new twist. He let his surprise show as he commented, “Wow! Are the cops looking into any of this?”

“Probably, but I don’t think they’ve gotten very far. I’ll know more by the time you get to Philly. I called this morning and asked some of my people to look into this stuff. I’ve got some friends in high places in the Philly police force, and they’re gonna do some checking for me. When you get there, I’ll have more info for you. Can’t have you blindly walking into a meat grinder. After all, it wouldn’t look good for my godson to be whacked by some amateur on the Navy base, would it?”

Maggie had been silent through all of this. Now she spoke up. “Tony, anything that you can do to keep him safe would be very sincerely appreciated by me. I wasn’t worried about him before, but if there are murderers on that base, I’m worried now.”

Tony smiled and reached over, patting the back of her hand. “Don’t worry, little lady. I’ll watch over him. But he’s probably safe. None of the dead people have been in the Navy. All civilians - so far.”

She smiled at him, “Thank you, sir. I feel better knowing you’re on his side.” She meant it.

The subject changed, and the rest of the evening was uneventful. After dinner, the three moved to the living room as an army of waiters cleared away the remnants of the dinner. Tony enjoyed a cigar, seeming a bit hurt when Lee didn’t join him. But Maggie explained that Lee’s war wounds didn’t allow him to do any smoking. “But don’t worry. We both enjoy the smell of a good cigar.” They had several after-dinner drinks and were in a merry mood before it came time to say goodnight. Tony made a
point to give Lee his private telephone number so he could “call anytime, especially if you run into trouble.” Then they said their goodnights.

Lee and Maggie rode the elevator down without speaking. Both were lost in thought. By mutual agreement, they walked across the casino floor and entered a bar where a tall lady was singing Diana Ross songs. Conversation was difficult, but Lee leaned over and tried anyway. “Tomorrow after we leave and get some miles behind us, I’m going to call Tom Wright. He needs to know about all of this.”

“Why not call tonight from the room, Lee?”

“Because I’m not sure how private the conversation would be. You can bet that Tony’s friends, and his competitors, are watching our every move right now. I’d much rather make the call from some little desert pay phone.”

“You’re right. I hadn’t thought that out yet.” With that, they sat back and enjoyed the music for an hour or so.

The night brought more of that wonderfully tender, incredible lovemaking. But Maggie found that she had a hard time letting go tonight. She spent the night with her arms wrapped tightly around Lee, as if she never wanted him to leave. He didn’t mind.

Lee lay awake for a long time, thinking about Tony’s revelations. He had mixed feelings about what he’d heard. He was genuinely happy that he wasn’t going to have to fight Bruno when he got to Philadelphia, but he was also apprehensive. The conversation had revealed that he was in for a battle. Big Tony had said that his adversaries were dangerous and that they might already be murderers. Lee had been prepared to encounter bad people, but somehow, in the back of his mind, he had been assuming that they would be a known variety of thugs. Now he was facing a big unknown: a group of thieves, and possibly murderers, who were faceless. A gang that even the FBI hadn’t been able to unearth. This was not good news.

It was almost noon before Lee and Maggie left Las Vegas. They worked out in the hotel gym, then had a leisurely breakfast and took one last walk around town before leaving. Today they intended to get to the Grand Canyon or thereabouts, so it would be a relatively short day. The next day they planned to visit the Casa Grande cliff dwellings.

When they stopped for the night, Lee immediately went to a telephone booth outside a neighborhood drug store and put in a collect call to Agent Wright’s home phone number. Mrs. Wright answered, but she accepted the charges and put Tom on the line as soon as Lee told her who was calling.

Tom didn’t waste any time getting to the point. “What is going on, Lee? Is everything all right?

“Yeah, Tom. But last night we had dinner with Big Tony Bruno, and I thought that you would like to hear about it.”

Tom’s reaction was explosive. “God Dammit, Lee! What did you say? That’s not funny! Are you drunk? If you’re calling to bust my chops, it’s not appreciated!”

Lee had to laugh at the reaction. “I’m not drunk and I’m not pulling your leg. We had dinner with him last night and we did a lot of talking about the Navy Yard. Do you want to hear it or would you rather wait until we aren’t on the telephone?”

“Shit, Lee, give me a minute.” Lee could hear Tom asking his wife for a pencil and paper. Then he came back on the phone.

“Okay Lee, let me ask some questions, and then we’ll make a decision on your last question. First, did you talk about any of the things that we’re mutually interested in?”

“Yes, but not directly.”

“Is he involved?”

“I don’t think so, but he does know things.”

“Okay, can you give me an example?”

“Yeah, first, Tony agrees that there is theft going on in the shipyard. Says he hears rumors about it. Second, we need to take a look at three recent murders that Tony thinks are tied to our case. Three shipyard workers, probably from either the shipyard’s planning and estimating department or its supply department.”

“Can you give me more on them?”

“One fell in a drydock, one looks like a South Philly mob hit, and one was knifed across the river in Camden, New Jersey.”

There was a pause while Tom scribbled madly. “Got it. Where are you now? When will you be back this way?”

“We’re on our way from Las Vegas to Phoenix. We plan to be in D.C. next Monday or Tuesday for some sightseeing.”

Another pause, then the question Lee had been dreading. “Lee, I’ve gotta ask, how in hell did you end up having dinner with this guy?”

Lee noticed that Tom wasn’t mentioning any names. That was smart telephone procedure, he thought. “Well, Tom, we ran into him in a casino. It turns out that he’s my godfather.”

“Oh, my God! Why didn’t you tell me this?”

“I didn’t know it until last night. It changes nothing. I left that life behind me when I was seventeen. But it is good to know that he isn’t the enemy - so far, at least.”

“All right. We have to get together when you get here. In the meantime, I’ll get some people working on these deaths. Call me at this number sometime next Sunday and give me your schedule. Plan on spending a few hours with me at my headquarters while you’re here. Anything else?”

“Yeah. Have you put any people in the yard yet?” They both knew he was referring to the back-up people Tom had planned to put in the shipyard.

“No, there’s a hiring freeze on there and we can’t get them in without arousing suspicions.”

“Good. Don’t send them in yet. Let’s look into those killings before we put anyone else in jeopardy.”

“Agreed. Anything else?”

“Nope. See you in a week or so.”

Lee hung up the phone and got back in the car. He was feeling good about the reception Tom had given his news. Tom was a professional, he reflected. The godfather thing could have been tough, if it hadn’t been put in perspective. Lee was sure that he would hear more about it when he got to D.C., but he could deal with it then. Right now he was on vacation!

The days that followed were magical. They visited the cliff dwellings, then went on to New Mexico, where they saw the White Sands Monument. Since they had recently seen a movie about him, they visited Billy the Kid’s museum and the town where he died. After that, they
drove straight through to San Antonio, where they visited the Alamo. Then on to New Orleans. Neither of them had anything that they particularly wanted to see between New Orleans and Washington D.C., so they stayed in the Big Easy for a few days, taking tours and partying on Bourbon Street. From New Orleans, they called Tom Wright again to tell him their schedule. Then they left for D.C. and the beginnings of their new reality.

Neither of them was anxious to get there.

CHAPTER SIX - FBI HEADQUARTERS

he FBI conference room was buried in a corner of an old Justice Department building. Tom Wright had met them on the street and guided them through the maze to this spot. He’d apologized repeatedly for the crowded and deteriorated appearance of the building, saying that the FBI was in a state of flux since the Bureau was planning to move into a new building soon.

When they finally arrived at their destination, the conference room was large, very crowded, and extremely messy. It looked like people had been working here for weeks with very little time devoted to cleaning the place. Boxes of paper and files were everywhere. A half-dozen men, with their ties missing and shirtsleeves rolled up, were in the room.

When Tom walked in with Lee and Maggie in tow, everyone looked up. A burly man sitting at the head of the table immediately barked at Tom. “”Who the hell is the broad?”

Tom started to explain, “She’s with Lee - “ The burly man interrupted him. “Shut up Wright, and get her out of here. I authorized you to bring one person here, not two. Certainly not some Navy guy’s girlfriend!”

Tom looked helplessly at Lee, who had been standing behind Maggie, just looking at the mess in front of them.

Lee walked forward and stood by the table, leaning down to look directly into the burly man’s face. “Mister, I have no idea who you are, or who you think you are, but this isn’t a ‘broad’. This is an American
citizen, a Navy nurse, a Viet Nam veteran, and a person with a secret security clearance. If she leaves, so do I. Now I want to hear an apology from you before we do another damned thing here!”

The man hesitated, obviously startled. Lee bent further, his face within six inches of that of the burly man. His next words were in a low tone that easily penetrated through the dead silence that had fallen in the room.

“Now, mister. An apology. Now!” The man stood, his face reddening as he glared back at Lee. Then he folded.

“Okay, Okay. Don’t get your back up. I’m sorry, lady. Didn’t mean anything. Just working too hard and not thinking, I guess.”

Maggie took Lee’s arm and guided him backward as she politely replied, “That’s all right. I do understand what it’s like to work under pressure. No offense taken.”

The burly man reached out a hand to Lee. “My name is Jim, and this,” he waved his hand to indicate the room and its inhabitants, “is the FBI’s Organized Crime Task Force. We work crimes that fall under the RICO Act. I’m not going to introduce anyone else because we don’t particularly like our names to go public, if you know what I mean.” He had regained his poise and was now acting the congenial host.