New York Chief of Detectives (14 page)

Pat walked to the front of the group.

“If I could have your attention, I’ll tell you what we know.”

Things quieted down quickly, and the commissioner gave Pat a nod.

“Last Saturday morning we found the body of Detective Second Grade Tony Rodriguez in a vacant lot in Queens. Tony’s police car has never been located. As is our standard procedure, when significant police equipment is stolen, we routinely notify the Joint Terrorism Task Force. In this case, we believed the car to contain police access placards as well as an NYPD portable radio and possibly a Glock 9 mm handgun. The FBI has requested this notification due to the numerous targets that visit this city and the damage that these items could potentially do in the wrong hands. We have no information that this incident involves terrorists or any act of terrorism, but with a New York City Detective and several other related deaths in this case, we could not take a chance. I want to thank Assistant Special Agent in Charge Mike Wilson and Assistant Director Roger Whittington for their loyal assistance and for doing their best to protect this city and this country.”

Pat could see the Assistant Director smiling, and he hoped he had calmed the stormy waters and eased Mike Wilson’s fears.

“Tonight, a red Ford Escort, operated by two white males entered Manhattan and was spotted by the FBI. The Escort was displaying the tags from the missing police car assigned to Rodriguez. Mid-Town South patrol units attempted to stop the Escort, but the suspects fled and fired at the pursuing officers. One of our Mid-Town guys, P. O. Frankie Greene, was shot and taken to Belleview.  I’m happy to say that he will fully recover from a gunshot to the right arm. He also caught another slug in the vest. The pursuit continued through Manhattan, and the suspects
continued firing at pursuing officers with multiple handguns. When they entered Times Square, an ESU Sergeant, Paul Davis, ended it when he fired at the suspects. After being hit, the suspects crashed into a concrete security barrier. The passenger was pronounced dead on the scene, and the driver was rushed to Belleview, where he is unresponsive in the Intensive Care Unit. A lot of speculation has been made about whether these suspects are responsible for the murder of Tony Rodriguez. At this point, we don’t know. The license plates are a connection, but we’re far from being able to determine this in a definitive manner. This scene will be worked by the Rodriguez Task Force, and we’ll evaluate the evidence to see what it tells us. Once we get our photographs and diagrams completed, we’re going to put the Escort on a flatbed tow truck, and process it inside at the lab. Hopefully, we can then break down this scene and have Times Square back to normal by rush hour.”

Commissioner Longstreet stood up and faced the group.

“I appreciate the hard work of Patrick O’Connor and the Detective Bureau on this case. It hasn’t been an easy case, and they’ve poured hundreds of man-hours into it. We all want Detective Rodriguez’s killer brought to justice, but we need to do what the Chief of Detectives has encouraged us to do. Let the evidence determine where we are, what’s connected, and what’s not. I’m going by the hospital to see Frankie Greene, and I suggest we let the professionals do the work here. Thanks again to the FBI for helping us locate these perps.”

The commissioner shook Pat’s hand and walked out of the bus. Pat knew that Longstreet had just sent the message to stay out of his way, and let him handle this. It would not be well-received, but there was not one chief who would challenge the commissioner or the Chief of Detectives in this case.

CHAPTER 29

Friday, April 9-Day 8

Chief of Detectives’ Office-One Police Plaza

Borough of Manhattan, New York

0515 Hours

Pat
briefed the Task Force regarding Marcus Johnson’s escape from the hospital in Queens. He asked that everyone meet at One PP at 0900 hours for a status briefing. Pat was dead tired and went to the office. He sent Dickie Davis home for some rest. Pat looked at his watch, and it was 0515 hours. He set the alarm on his phone for 0730 hours and stretched out on the long couch in his office. Almost instantly, he fell asleep.

Pat woke up to the beeping of his cell phone and realized he had enjoyed two hours and fifteen minutes of uninterrupted sleep. He stood up and saw a bag on the conference table with a fresh cup of coffee. Angie Wilson, no doubt had delivered coffee and some bagels. He sat down at the table and enjoyed the food. He buzzed Angie.

“Good morning, Chief.”

“Thanks for the nourishment. It was just what I needed.”

“My pleasure, Chief. Also, Mike said to tell you that you were amazing with the brass this morning.”

“No problem, I just told the truth.”

“Mike was very relieved, and the Assistant Director even told him that he did a good job.”

“I’m glad that it worked out. I’m going to catch a quick shower, and we have a Task Force at 0900 hours.”   

Pat showered, shaved, and put on a fresh suit. He kept a couple of suits in his office for such occasions. He checked the news. For the most part, they were telling it straight, with most of the terrorism theories having been dispelled. He made a note to thank DCPI Nancy Peters for getting it right.

At 0830 hours, he called Caroline Rodriguez.

“Good morning.  It’s Pat. I’m sorry for calling so early.”

“That’s fine, Pat. I don’t sleep much these days.”

“Have you seen the news?”

“Yes. Do you think they’re the ones who killed Tony?”

“Of course we’re not certain; but it just doesn’t feel right to me.  I’ve been wrong before, but I don’t think they’re going to be our killers.”

“I’ve racked my brain Pat, but I just can’t think of anything that could help. I’ve been rattled ever since the Internal Affairs detectives visited me.”

“Don’t worry about that, Caroline. Tony was an honest cop and a good man. I just wanted to touch base with you and let you know what I could tell you. If you need anything, call me any time day or night.”

“I will. Thanks for calling. Goodbye, Pat.”

“I’ll talk to you soon.”

Pat walked into the 0900 briefing and looked at his task force members. They looked ragged, and he knew they were exhausted.

“Okay, guys, I know you’re tired and I’ll try to get you out of here as soon as possible, so you can get some rest. We just need to get our arms around this and see where we are.”

Bryan Flannery stood up.

“I want to thank you for the hard work. We arrested 62 people in Queens last night. Nothing really significant was developed except for this one collar. So, what do we know about this kid, Marcus Johnson?”

Mary McDonald, who was still looking great after 24 hours plus with no sleep, responded. “He’s 23 years old. He’s been busted a few times for marijuana possession, and when last arrested, was living with his mother on Collier Street in Queens. The uniforms have been to her house and searched it with her consent, but it doesn’t look like he’s been there this morning.”

“How serious are his injuries?” Pat asked.

“We thought that they were deep enough that he couldn’t walk, but when you look at the hospital security video, he was only barely limping. It looks like he can get around pretty good.”

“Will he need more medical attention?”

“Maybe. According to the doctors, if he moves around too much, he’ll likely start bleeding and that could get serious.”

“Make sure we send out a city-wide medical alert to the clinics and hospitals in case he shows up.  I’m assuming we will be getting warrants on him.”

“I’ve already got them, Chief. We’re charging him with the drugs, obstructing and escape.”

“Good! Does he work anywhere?”

“The mom says he works as a dishwasher at some joint in Queens. She doesn’t know the name of it, but says it’s a Latino club.”

“Let’s pursue that, and see where it takes us.”

“George, do you have anything on our car from Times Square?”

“We recovered two guns from the scene. They were a Glock 9 mm and a 38 special revolver. Just so you know, the serial number has been removed from the Glock. Until we raise the serial numbers in the lab or test fire it, we’ll not know if the gun is Detective Rodriguez’s duty weapon.”

“Bryan, who can tell us about our two geniuses in the Escort?”

“Andy Anderson’s been working on that. What do you have for us, Andy?”

“Both of these guys are losers. They’ve been in and out of the tombs on charges since they were teenagers. The passenger had the revolver and has been identified as a perp by the name of Hugo Clemmons. He’s held collars mostly for auto theft and burglary. He has one weapons charge that was dismissed in a plea. He’s 24 years old and lives in Corona, Queens. The driver, who is barely still with us, is Stanley Sturdivant, also from Corona. He’s 26 years old and also has collars for boosting cars. He’s currently on parole, and I have a call in to his parole officer.”

“The Captain and I want to thank you for the long hours. We know you’re all exhausted. We were lucky last night that no police officers or innocent people were killed. It looks like the Mid-Town cop, Frankie Greene, will be fine. Let’s wind things up and meet in the morning at 1000 hours. The transit cops in Queens will be doing another flyer hand-out tonight on all the Queens’ trains and stations. It was a week ago since Tony Rodriguez came in to work for what would become his last tour. Thanks for everything. Let’s get some sleep.”

Pat returned to his office and called Commissioner Longstreet and gave him the latest. He intentionally left out the part about the Glock 19 until they knew for sure it was Tony’s gun. The commissioner told Pat to get some rest. Pat was exhausted, and he had let Dickie go home hours ago. He thought he might just crash on the couch, but he hated to do that during the day.

His desk phone buzzed. It was Angie Wilson.

“Hi, Angie.”

“You have a visitor, Chief. I’m sending her back.”

“Okay, any clue who it is?”

“United States Secret Service.”

“Thanks!”

Pat looked up and saw Maggie Parker standing in the doorway. He stood up and walked to the door.

“Hello, Gorgeous, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

“I was in the building in another meeting, pre-planning a protectee visit. I know you’re a walking zombie.”

“I’m okay. I grabbed a few hours this morning.”

“So what is that, probably a few hours in a few days?”

“Something like that. I admit I’m exhausted.”

“I’m taking the afternoon off, Pat. Would you like a ride?”

“That would be great.”

Pat grabbed his briefcase and all his communications hardware from various chargers and walked out with Maggie. He stuck his head in Angie Wilson’s office.

“Hit me on the cell phone if anything develops. I’m going to crash.”

“You‘ve got it, Chief. I hope you get some rest.”

“So do I!”   

CHAPTER 30

Friday, April 9-Day 8

Maggie Parker’s Residence

Borough of Manhattan, New York

1300 Hours

Pat
stuck his briefcase in the back seat of Maggie’s Suburban. He dropped his radio in the cup holder and leaned back in the seat. Maggie was talking on her cell phone, and before they left the One PP parking garage, Pat O’Connor was fast asleep. It would only take about twenty minutes to get to Pat’s high rise, but Maggie decided to go to her place. She pulled into her space and opened the door. Pat opened his eyes and looked around.

“I decided that you should crash at my place, Pat. You look so exhausted.”

“As tired as I am, you’ll get no arguments from me.”

They made their way to the elevator and then into Maggie’s apartment.

“Would you like a sandwich, or would you rather just crash?” Maggie asked.

“I’m okay on food. I just need some sleep.”

“You can use my bed. There are fresh towels in the bath.”

Pat put his cell phone beside the bed.  He emptied his pockets on the dresser and removed both of his guns. Out of habit he placed his 357’s beside the bed. He undressed and laid his clothes on Maggie’s fancy chair in the bedroom. He washed up a little in the bath and noticed that Maggie had pulled the door closed. It was 1:30 in the afternoon.

Pat slid into Maggie’s lavender satin sheets, which felt heavenly. He could smell the whiff of her perfume on the pillow, which made him smile. In seconds, he had drifted into a deep sleep.

As Pat started to stir in the bed, he knew he had been asleep a long time. This bed was so comfortable, and he loved waking up smelling her scent, He looked at his watch and saw that it was 2045 hours in the evening. He had been asleep for over seven hours. Pat swung his feet off the bed and saw that Maggie had pressed his suit and his white shirt was clean and crisp. They were hanging in a drycleaner bag. He smiled and walked into the bath, where he saw a t-shirt, a pair of shorts, and some boxer shorts beside the towels. There was also a razor, some shaving crème, deodorant, tooth paste, and a new toothbrush. He felt a warm comfort, knowing that Maggie was always the problem solver.