New York Chief of Detectives (29 page)

“Flannery.”

“Have you had some sleep?”

“Yes sir, I just got up at three.”

“I’ll explain later, Bryan, but I need immediate twenty-four hour protection for Richard Chambers. I mean around the clock, and cover his family as well.” 

“Sure, Chief, what’s going on?”

“There’ll be some very pissed-off, powerful people soon, and Chambers may become a target.”

“I’ll take care of it immediately, Chief. Does Chambers know about the protection?”

“Not yet. He should be at One PP being interviewed by the FBI.”

“Okay, I’ll track him down.”

The flight from Albany was uneventful. It was difficult to talk in the helicopter, so for the most part Pat and Mike just enjoyed the scenery. When they arrived back at Aviation Base at Floyd Bennett Field, Dickie Davis was waiting in the Chrysler. As they pulled out of the field, the radio chatter was interrupted by an alert tone indicating an emergency. Pat turned the radio up and heard the bomb squad being dispatched to One PP. Pat commented quickly.

“It’s probably a suspicious package or something. That’s a fairly frequent call.”

Dickie looked at his watch, and doubted that was the case.

“You know, Chief, deliveries to One PP usually happen in the mornings. It’s 1815. That makes it seem a little more suspicious.”

“That’s a good point.”

Pat’s cell phone vibrated and he answered it. “Pat O’Connor.”

“Chief, it’s Bryan. We were setting up the protection for Chambers, and we’ve found a bomb on his car, which is in the garage at One PP.”

“Thanks Bryan, I heard the job go out on the radio and I’m enroute.”

Pat turned to Dickie and said. “They’ve found a bomb in Richard Chambers’ car at One PP. Light her up Dickie!”

Mike Wilson was not used to the action, and just shook his head.

“I will say that you guys waste no time getting to and from the air field.”

CHAPTER 61

Thursday, April 15-Day 14

One Police Plaza

Borough of Manhattan, New York

1845 Hours

As
the shiny black Chrysler neared One PP, Dickie could see the road blocked ahead. He cut the siren. The uniformed cop directing traffic recognized the Chief of Detective’s car and stopped all traffic to allow them to proceed through the intersection. FDNY had several trucks on the scene, and Pat could see the big NYPD Bomb Squad trucks. One PP had been evacuated. Pat spotted Richard Chambers standing with some officers, along with Bryan Flannery. Pat approached them and Chambers spoke first.

“I think you saved my life, Pat, by affording me protection. I never thought it would come to this.”

“They’re killers, and they won’t hesitate to do anything to survive. How’s your family, Richard?”

“My wife and kids are in a hotel with detectives, and there are uniformed cops at my house. The Bomb Squad has checked out the house and my wife’s car. They were clean. How’d it go in Albany?”

“You’re still the Queens DA with full authority!”

“Thanks, Pat, I must admit I’ve questioned if it was worth it.”

“Don’t lose your ground now. We’re getting real close, because they’re shaking in their tracks.”

“Obviously, but it’s really scary.”

A Bomb Squad Lieutenant approached Pat and gave him an update. “Chief, we have six sticks of dynamite attached to the gas tank. There’s an antenna on the device, so we assume it is radio controlled. We’re using the robot to take a look. It appears to have a GPS tracker on it, as well. It’ll take us quite a while to render it safe.”

“Thanks Lou. We’ll need to fully forensically process the vehicle. Let’s hope they got careless and left a print.”

“I’ll make sure my guys don’t touch anything, unless it’s life or death important.” the lieutenant assured Pat.

Pat turned to Bryan and stepped aside. “I know this place is crawling with cops, but we need to get Chambers out of here. I don’t want to take a chance on anything happening.”

“You’re probably right, Chief. Where should we take him?”

“Take him to the Police Academy. That’s probably the closest building we control. Once things calm down, we’ll go to plan B.”

Bryan escorted Chambers away. Pat noticed that four detectives were with him. One of them was carrying a familiar briefcase that Pat recognized and knew it contained an MP-5 9 mm sub-machine gun.

Mike Wilson offered some help. “Pat, we have a safe house in Long Island that is very secure. It’s a condominium town house but it’s completely secure with a garage, explosive-proof walls and doors, and I know for a fact, it’s empty.”

“Remind me to take back all my FBI jokes. I think that your safe house would be great!”

“If you didn’t take shots at the Bureau, you wouldn’t be Pat O’Connor. Besides, most of your observations about the FBI are true.”

“Okay, Mike, set it up, and we’ll get Chambers and his family secured.”

Pat asked Dickie Davis to take Mike back to his office. He called Bryan, to let him know of the plans. Pat called Longstreet, updated him, and filled him in on the results from the visit to the State Police Barracks in Albany. Longstreet was nervous.

“Do we absolutely know that this bomb is connected to the Rodriguez case, Patty?”

“Of course not, but if you like, I’ll call Donald Harrison and ask him.” Pat fired back.

“Not funny.”

“I’m certain it’s connected. It’s common sense really. It also means that we have them rattled to the point of their resorting to something like this. Since their plans aren’t working, they’re taking drastic measures.”

“Thanks for the update, Patty. I’ll let Chief Abernathy know. He’s given up on you telling him anything.”

“I’m sorry, Commissioner, but I tend to cut to the chase sometimes.”

Pat went in the command bus and talked with detectives and some brass from the Bomb squad. At about 2000 hours, they received word that the bomb had been removed and rendered safe. The trucks began to move out and the all-clear was given to re-open One PP. Pat and Dickie pulled into the garage and saw the Crime Scene Unit going over Chamber’s car with a fine-tooth comb. The flashes from cameras were lighting up the garage, much like fireworks.

Pat settled in at his desk and saw a fresh stack of papers in his tray. He handled the urgent ones and then remembered the call he had received this morning from Caroline Rodriguez. He decided the paperwork could wait.

CHAPTER 62

Thursday, April 15-Day 14

Rodriguez Residence

Borough of Brooklyn, New York

2030 Hours

Pat
dropped Dickie off, and headed out to Caroline Rodriguez’s house in Brooklyn. It was about 2030. He popped in an Al Hirt CD. He enjoyed listening to music when he drove alone, and thought about the old days in New Orleans when he was a kid. He had never lost his love for the old New Orleans jazz masters and always considered Hirt to be one of the best. He had read somewhere that Al’s father had been a New Orleans policeman.

Pat parked the black Chrysler in the driveway and walked up to the house. He gave Caroline a hug and apologized for coming so late. She was glad to see him.

“Thanks for coming, Pat. I know you’re very busy.”

“Today has been especially hard. I’ve been all over the place, including a helicopter ride to Albany.”

“No wonder you’ve never been married. You’d never be home.”

“Probably true, at least while I’m on the job in this crazy city.”

“Are you hungry, Pat? I have lots of food in the house. Friends from the church have been bringing food by regularly.”

“I don’t want to put you to trouble, Caroline, but I’m starved.”

Caroline invited Pat into the kitchen where he sat down at the table. She began to put food containers on the table, with fried chicken, ham, vegetables and desserts. Letting Pat fix his plate, she sat down at the table, with a padded mailing envelope in her hand. She had a small plate of a gelatin desert.

“I finally started going though Tony’s things and came across this,” she said, as she pulled a small, white box out of the envelope, and opened it.

“Tony bought this a few weeks before he was killed.”

It looked like an expensive pen case. Pat seemed puzzled.

“A pen. What’s the significance?”

“It’s not just a pen. It’s a spy pen. He ordered it himself, and even played with it around the house. It has a video camera and microphone built into it. You just press a little button on the top, and the little pen records everything in living color. Then you just plug it into the USB port of a computer and watch it. I didn’t even know that he had taken it to work until I saw that the box was empty. It is gold and black and actually writes like a pen. Do you know if he had it with him or if it was in his car?”

“I have no idea, Caroline, but I’ll check on it. It could certainly be important.”

“It may be nothing, Pat, but I just thought it might be important.”

“I’ll make sure we look for it.”

Pat finished his dinner and thanked Caroline for the meal. She responded emotionally with tear filled eyes.

“Don’t take this wrong, Pat, but it just feels so good having a man in the house. Tony made me feel so safe, and now I feel so alone.”

Caroline had tears running down her cheek as she talked. Pat wiped the tears with his handkerchief and pulled her close.

“I know you’re hurting, Caroline. We’re all hurting. It’s just that we get so caught up in trying to get to the bottom of this case that it dulls our pain. Always know that I’ll be here for you and so will the entire NYPD. You’re a part of us and we’re a part of you.”

“I want to thank you, Pat. Tony always said you were a good man.’’

Pat gave Caroline Rodriguez a big hug and headed home. It was 2230. He made a mental note to check and see if the pen recorder was in Tony’s effects or maybe in his car or desk. He took the white box and instructions with him.

CHAPTER 63

Friday, April 16-Day 15

Chief of Detectives’ Residence

Borough of Manhattan, New York

0330 Hours

Pat’s
phone was vibrating across the nightstand. He grabbed it and noticed it was 0330 hours.

“Pat O’Connor.”

“Good Morning, Chief, this is Bryan. I’m sorry to wake you, but we’ve had some action in Queens.”

“What’s going on?”

“Our trap worked. We had three gang bangers show up at Maria’s house. They were screaming and shouting for her to get out before it was too late. It all happened very quickly, but they kicked in the front door.  About two seconds later we heard a shotgun blast, and two came running out the door. The teams caught them quickly, but the first suspect through the door caught a load of ‘double ought’ buckshot, and is missing part of his leg. He was armed with a pistol, but Rosa took care of the threat quickly.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yes, Chief, everyone is ok, except the suspect. He’s still alive and probably will make it, minus a leg. He’s on the way under guard to Belleview.”

“Do we know who the perps are?”

“Not exactly, but they are Hispanic and were wearing 9-24 colors. We’ve taken them to the ‘one-oh-seven’ squad.”

“Has IAB been notified?”

“You were the first person I called.”

“Go ahead and notify IAB, Bryan, and I’ll let Abernathy and the commissioner know about this.”

“Thanks, Chief.”

“I’ll see you shortly.”

Pat started to call Dickie, but he remembered that he had driven the Chrysler home. He would let Dickie sleep. Pat jumped in the shower. It took him about twenty minutes to shave and dress. He grabbed some water and made microwave coffee. He left his high-rise at 0355. Once on the street, he called Chief Abernathy and Commissioner Longstreet and updated them. He truly hoped that this would lead to some developments.

Pat arrived on the scene at 0420. Traffic was light during this time of the morning. The house was lit up by Emergency Service Trucks, and the entire block was shut down by RMP’s with flashing lights. He parked the Chrysler near the scene and got out of the car. He removed his shield from his pocket, and placed it around his neck. He was quickly met by Bryan Flannery.

“Morning, Chief, you sure move fast.”

“I was doing the driving. I let Dickie sleep.”

“I’m sure he appreciates it.”

“Where are we with this case?”

“IAB has been notified. CSU is on the scene. Our suspect is stable at Belleview, and the other two are at the ‘one-oh-seven’ squad. I have sent Alverez and Wilber Stone over there to try to question these guys.”