Fishtown: A Jack Regan/Izzy Ichowitz Novel

by Neal Goldstein

  Ninety minutes later Kate was holding their daughter in her arms.

  “She looks just like you,” Jack said and felt the tears of relief welling in his eyes. The doctor and the other medical staff were all smiles.

  “Do you have a name picked out for your baby?” the nurse asked Kate.

  “Brigid Hogan.”

  They had decided if the baby was a girl to name her after St. Brigid. The name meant ‘power, vigor and virtue.’ According to Irish lore, Brigid made the land fruitful and is held in equal esteem and shares a grave with St. Patrick. The baby’s middle name is Jack’s grandmother’s maiden name.

  “It’s a beautiful name, for a beautiful baby,” the nurse said as she took the child from her mother’s arms and placed her in a bassinet.

  Jack stood in front of the nursery window and stared at his daughter as he waited for Mike O’Malley to bring Liam, and for his parents to arrive. He was overwhelmed by the wave of emotions and pride he felt. Now he fully understood Michael Flynn’s willingness to put his own life on the line when Liam was in danger. He knew in his heart that he would also sacrifice himself for his children, Liam and Brigid. He hoped that with the birth of their daughter the unresolved issues between Kate and him would work out.

  He turned as he heard Liam approach, “Come see your sister,” he said and watched as the boy put his face against the window.

  “She’s so little,” he said. Regan tousled his hair as Liam continued to stare at his sister. “Look Jack she smiled at me!”

  In short order O’Malley and his parents joined them. “Liam, I’m sure your mother is anxious to see you,” he took the boy’s hand and they walked down the hall as the rest of the group continued to gaze at the newest addition to the Regan-O’Malley clan.

  “Is our man in Fishtown reporting anything useful?” Kasdan asked.

  “He thinks she made him.”

  “Already?”

  He nodded.

  Kasdan was having second thoughts about his strategy. “Jesus Christ maybe we’re taking the wrong approach here. Levy is your guy, are you sure he has things under control? I already got a call from Langley. The Israelis are putting up quite a stink over our plan to convert their asset.”

  His adjutant shrugged, “Got any better ideas?”

  “Maybe we should approach her directly.”

  “Too risky. I suggest we give Levy a little more time.”

  “That has its element of risk too,” Kasdan said. He thought over his options and finally said, “Alright, let’s give him the time he needs, but put someone else on them just in case.”

  Chapter 54

  “The preliminary hearing in the Jerry Kastanski Accessary to Murder case is scheduled for next week, and Judge Matthews has scheduled jury selection for the Martison retrial in two weeks. Is Coratelli going to continue as Martison’s counsel?” Susan Romansky asked Regan

  “Izzy told me Vito’s wife asked him to try to talk him out of it.”

  “And?”

  “Vito more or less laughed at him.”

  “I figure you’re going to have your hands full with the Kastanski case, not to mention the new baby. So since Harriet Samitz is back I asked her to second chair the Martison trial. Is Mark going to be a problem?”

  “No, he’ll be fine. He’s using the cane as a prop to get the jury to find him to be a sympathetic character. He’s a smart kid.”

  “I hear Amato DiSantini represents Kastanski.”

  Regan nodded.

  “What a scumbag. Did you know he got kicked out of his old firm for skimming from his partners?”

  “You’re kidding.”

  She shook her head, “So what do you expect?”

  “DiSantini will try to get his guy to cop to a plea. I don’t think he has actually tried a case in the last ten years.”

  “What does his guy have to deal?” Romansky asked.

  “My guess is he knows a whole lot more about what went on in Heilman’s church than he’s let on. Now with counsel, even of the caliber of Amato, he might be a tougher nut to crack.”

  “You’ll be fine.”

  “I guess we’ll have to see how it plays out.”

  Regan’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He looked at the caller ID; it read ‘Amato DiSantini and Associates’. He showed Romansky the phone.

  “Guess we won’t have to wait too long,” she said.

  He answered the call, listened and smiled at his boss.

  “Certainly, I’ll see you in my office this afternoon, say 2:30,” and disconnected.

  “He wants to talk about a plea.”

  The District Attorney nodded and asked, “Did the caller ID actually say Amato DiSantini and Associates?”

  Regan nodded.

  “I wonder who would associate with that asshole.”

  Jack made DiSantini sit in the waiting room for twenty minutes before having someone escort him into the conference room where Dave McElroy, Izzy and he were seated. He could see the perspiration beading on DiSantini’s bald head. It had been several years since Regan had last encountered him. DiSantini hadn’t aged well. When he was a young man, DiSantini thought of himself as a hot shot, the brash young attorney who could impress young women with his exaggerated stories about his courtroom prowess. All of it was total bullshit.

  In the decade that had passed, DiSantini had shaved his head completely bald and put on about thirty pounds. The buttons on his shirt looked like they were about to pop open from the stress of his belly that hung over his waist. He looked disheveled and his gait was unsteady. Jack could smell vodka on his breath when he accepted his clammy handshake.

  “Amato I assume you know Detectives McElroy and Ichowitz,” Regan began the meeting.

  “What are they doing here?”

  “They’re the principals on the Fishtown investigation,” Regan answered dismissively. “So I understand your client is interested in a plea.”

  DiSantini nodded.

  “So what does he have to offer?”

  “Plenty.”

  Regan waited.

  “Jack he’ll admit that he helped Heilman bury the two hookers in the slaughterhouse yard.”

  “Is that all?”

  “No. He told me he can give you the identity of the Jane Doe that was buried there.”

  “And what does he expect in return?”

  “He’s wants to walk on the accessory charge and he wants you to leave his mother alone.”

  “Not gonna happen.”

  “So what are you willing to do?”

  “Amato we have an airtight case against your guy. He’s going to do some serious time. And as to his mother, we have a witness who ties her in to the Blutarski and Jane Doe Number 3 homicides. Why would we want to do anything? We’ll need a hell of a lot more than what you’re telling us to offer him any kind of deal.”

  “He says he knows something else that you would like to know.”

  Regan waited.

  “He says he can tell you the identities of the two girls that were buried in the church cellar.”

  Jack hesitated as he considered this last tidbit. “I’ll tell you what. If your guy can tell us who they are, and if it’s turns out to be true, we may be able to do something. Go back to Kastanski and tell him we won’t bargain in the blind, and make sure he understands that he’s not going to walk. And regarding his mother, no deal. You can tell him we’re going to take her into custody later today.”

  “OK Jack.”

  “Do you think this is the emes?” Ichowitz asked after DiSantini was escorted out of the room?

  Jack shrugged.

  “And what do you make of his wanting his mother off the hook? The vibe I got off that woman is that she wouldn’t give a shit what happened to her son,” McElroy added.

  “If I know
Amato he’ll sell Kastanski a line of bullshit to try to convince him to give up everything he knows. Let’s get a warrant for his mother and take her into custody and see if that loosens her son’s tongue.”

  They arrested Helene Kastanski that afternoon. The staff at the nursing home was ecstatic to be relieved of the responsibility to care for the woman. The Director of the facility referred to her as a harridan. One of the Nurse’s Aides said she was hands-down the most miserable resident in the home. “She belongs in a jail cell, but you better warn the guards that she bites!”

  When Dave McElroy ‘Mirandized’ her, she gave him the stink eye and said, “I won’t be needing an attorney. You’d think the police had more important things to do than to harass a crippled old woman like me. The Lord God is my judge and savior. You’re all a bunch of rotten bastards! I hope you all burn in hell!”

  “That went well, don’t cha think?” McElroy said to Ichowitz as the uniformed officers drove her away in the paddy wagon.

  Ichowitz rolled his eyes and replied, “I’m gonna give Jack a heads up that Mrs. Kastanski has declined counsel, at least for now. I think he should line up the Defender’s Office to be on hand for her arraignment.”

  DiSantini left the conference with Jack Regan and the two detectives and went directly to the Detention Center to let his client know the DA wouldn’t go for the deal. “I got Jack Regan to tell me the police have a solid case against you for the AM, that’s ‘Accessory to Murder” of Lee and Sukarto,” DiSantini was trying to make it sound like he was controlling the dialogue with the District Attorney’s office. “Look, I think I can bring him around if we give him something on the identities of the Jane Does that they can run with. Can you tell me who they were and how we can confirm it?”

  Jerry Kastanski already knew that his attorney was worthless. The other prisoners on the cellblock laughed when he told them he had retained DiSantini, “Man that guy’s so full of shit, you can smell him as soon as the bulls let him in. Shame you can’t afford the old dude Coratelli. Now that motherfucker is the man. Ain’t no bull shit bout him; you fucked up big time!”

  “Mr. DiSantini tell them I’ll give them everything they need on all three of the bodies they found, and I’ll confess to the accessory charge. You can also tell them I can give them something on the murders at the Church if they agree not to prosecute my mother.”

  DiSantini couldn’t believe his ears. Kastanski was folding like a cheap tent in a summer breeze. “Jerry, hold on. I think you’re going way overboard here. If you give up everything right up front, you’ll have nothing to deal down the line. They’ll lock you up for twenty years! Let me play them for a while.”

  Kastanski shook his head, “No, I want you to set everything up.”

  “Think about it a minute, for Christ’s sake.”

  Kastanski gave him a faraway look and said, “Yes there is one more thing I want.”

  Amato smiled believing he had convinced his client to allow him to get some media play out of ‘convincing’ Kastanski to come clean so that he could milk it for all it was worth.

  “Tell them I want to see my mother first.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  DiSantini shook his head. “That’s crazy. Listen to me…”

  “No that’s all I want. Guard!” Kastanski stood up ending the interview.

  “Wait a minute. I’ll need something to tell them to make them willing to make a deal.”

  Kastanski turned and shook his head, “No, I’m not telling you anything. Everyone in here told me you’re a worthless piece of shit. That you’ll try to use whatever you learn from me to make money or get publicity for yourself. Now do what I told you.”

  Shona and Levy were ready to make their move. That day after the coffee shop closed she left a note for Bill Miller, thanking him for his friendship and apologizing for the abrupt goodbye. She left it on the counter with her old Mets cap.

  The arrangements for their getaway had been made the previous day. As planned they met Duffy’s people for a drink that evening at Johnny Brenda’s. They assumed they were still being watched so they were all dressed alike. Even though Levy was three inches taller than Duffy’s man, from a distance it would be difficult for anyone watching to notice that it was Levy and Shona who drove away in the car Duffy’s people had parked under the El tracks on Frankford Avenue.

  “Is this really happening?” Shona asked as they drove south on I-95 towards Delaware.

  He smiled at her.

  They had planned to drive to Key West where they had chartered a boat to take them to St. Lucia. From there they could decide on a more permanent location.

  Shona was still wary of Levy. Years as one of Ari’s operatives had heightened her level of suspicion to such a degree as to render her virtually unable to trust anyone. Levy had been able to break through her defenses to a degree, but she would allow herself to trust him only so far.

  “Shona relax, we’re starting a new life together,” he said and turned on the radio. Instead a CD of Irish music came on. He laughed and said, “I hope you like the songs from Ireland, because as soon as we get to Delaware, it’s that or country western music the rest of the way.”

  Kasdan was not happy with the report that Shona Cohen and Moshe Levy had given his man the slip. “I thought you told me our man had the situation under control?”

  “He does.”

  “How the fuck can that be if we don’t know where they are?”

  He waited for Kasdan to calm down. “Turning Shona Cohen is going to take longer than we thought. Our man tells me that after all she has gone through her self-defense mechanism is so keen, even though they are lovers, she still doesn’t trust him.”

  “So what’s your advice?”

  “Let’s give him the additional time and space he needs.”

  “And what if she finds out what Levy is really trying to do and doesn’t want to go along?”

  He shrugged, “In that case we eliminate her.”

  When Bill Miller opened the coffee shop he saw the Met’s cap and the note and knew Carrie had gone. He opened the envelope.

  Dear Bill,

  I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you that I was leaving. There’s so much about me that you don’t know, things I have done that I hope you will never hear about.

  I wanted you to know that the time we spent together were among the happiest days of my life. Thank you for your kindness and patience and your trust.

  I will never forget you.

  Carrie

  Chapter 55

  “O’Malley I understand yer niece gave birth to a little girl,” Danny Duffy said as he signaled one of his men to pour a round of drinks to celebrate the blessed event.

  Mike O’Malley smiled, accepted the glass, “Sláinte.”

  “Sláinte” Duffy and his men responded.

  “So what was it you were wantin to discuss?”

  “Danny did that killer leave town?”

  Duffy raised an eyebrow and said, “I assume yer inquirin about Ari Nooris’ accomplice.”

  O’Malley nodded.

  “She’s an interesting case. I had the pleasure of meetin the young woman. She’s a beautiful gal. If I didn’t know better I’d believe she was someone you’d hope yer son would bring home. She told me she wants to be free from her past. Michael Flynn trusted her with his son’s life. He credits her with rescuing the boy. So…”

  “But you still have yer doubts,” O’Malley said.

  Duffy nodded, “Ya know the fable about the scorpion and frog? ‘A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on his back. The frog asks, “How do I know you won’t sting me?” The scorpion says, “Because if I do, I will be killed too.”

  The frog’s satisfied, and he jumps off the shore with the scorpion
on his back. When they get half way across, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the poison and starts to sink. Knowing they will both drown he asks, “Why?”

  The scorpion replies, “It’s my nature…”’

  “So ya think she’s still someone to be worried about?” O’Malley asked.

  “We should all be keepin our socks up if that one ever shows up again.”

  DiSantini delivered his client’s message to Jack Regan. “Jack I convinced Kastanski that his best move was to come clean. He didn’t want to. He wanted to play you. You know feed you a little taste and make you deal for more. But I told him you were one of my best friends, and I couldn’t play you like that.”

  Regan shook his head and replied, “Amato save that line of crap for someone who doesn’t know you’re a pathological liar. What does Kastanski want?”

  DiSantini turned beet red from the rebuke. “He wants you to go easy on his mother and he wants to see her before he gives you what he knows.”

  “And what does he know?”

  “The Jane Does and something about the Heilman case no one knows.”

  “The House of Horrors case?”

  DiSantini nodded.

  What was that about, Regan wondered when he placed the call to McElroy to bring him up to speed, “I’m gonna clear it with my boss, can you let Izzy know, we’ll set up the loving reunion between mother and son for tomorrow morning.”

  “But what if ‘mommy dearest’ doesn’t want to see her son. From what I can tell, she doesn’t really give a shit what happens to Jerry.”

  “Look all we can do is set it up. I don’t know what Kastanski expects.”

  “Do you believe Kastanski has something to add to the Heilman case?”

  “That’s what DiSantini says, but I don’t think he can be trusted to deliver the message accurately. He’s been known to get lost in his own bullshit.”