Blood Money (NYPD Blue & Gold)

by Tee O'Fallon

  “Ms. Romano?” The taller detective with red hair and a fair complexion held out his hand to her, which she shook. “I’m Detective Shanahan, and this”—he indicated to the man beside him, slightly shorter with dark hair and a kindly face—“is my partner, Detective Grimaldi.” Alex shook the other man’s hand as well. “Principal McNally was about to fill us in. I know this is hard on you, and you probably want to yell and scream and hit someone, but right now we need everyone’s attention focused on doing everything possible to find your son. Can you work with us, Ms. Romano? We can’t do this without you.”

  Alex nodded, appreciating Detective Shanahan’s calm, sensible approach and the fact that he instantly understood what she was going through. She really did want to yell and scream and hit someone. “Of course.” She choked down a sob. “What do you need me to do?”

  “We’ve already put out a missing person alert based upon a description from Principal McNally,” Shanahan said, “but we’d like to add a recent photo of Nicky. Did you bring one?” Alex fumbled in her pocketbook for the picture she’d pulled from her album and handed it to Shanahan. “Thank you.” He rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Let’s all have a seat.”

  Alex and Daisy sat on two chairs facing the principal’s desk. Shanahan and the other officers stood to the side of the room. Alex clutched one arm around her waist and covered her mouth with her other hand. Detective Shanahan was more than right. If she didn’t keep her mouth covered, she would scream.

  The principal sat behind her desk and took a deep breath. “Nicky and the other children were outside playing during recess. One of the teachers noticed Nicky wasn’t feeling well. His forehead was warm, and she suspected he was running a fever. She sent Nicky back inside to see the school nurse, but after recess was over and the teacher went to the nurse’s office to check on him, he wasn’t there. The nurse said Nicky never arrived.”

  Principal McNally pressed her lips together, looking first to Alex, then the detectives. “When he wasn’t found in his homeroom class, either, I was notified and we initiated a room-to-room search. When we still couldn’t find him, I made an announcement over the PA system notifying him to report to my office immediately. I waited five minutes, and when he didn’t show, I called the police, then you.”

  Alex began fidgeting in her chair. This was taking too long. Pressure built in her chest. She felt a wail of pain and sorrow rise from her throat and had to press her lips together to keep from sobbing out loud.

  Shouldn’t the police already be out there scouring the streets, the rail stations, the airports…something?

  “While we waited for the police to arrive,” the principal went on, “I directed every teacher to inquire of their students as to whether they knew where Nicky was, and when the last time was that he’d been seen. None of the other children saw him after he left the playground to head inside to the nurse’s office.”

  “Who was the last person to see Nicky?” Detective Grimaldi looked up from his notepad.

  “Mrs. Deitz,” Principal McNally said.

  Alex rose from her chair, looking around for Mrs. Deitz. “Where is she? She must have seen something.” She crushed the tissue in her hand.

  “We’d like to speak with her.” Grimaldi made a note on his pad then gave Alex a reassuring look. “Don’t worry, Ms. Romano, we won’t leave any stone unturned.”

  “Th-thank you.” Alex took a deep breath and sat down again.

  The principal pointed to the door. “She’s waiting for you in the adjacent office.”

  “I noticed you have cameras outside.” Detective Shanahan waved his pen to the ceiling. “Are they working?”

  “Yes.” The principal nodded. “I have someone pulling up the footage as we speak. We’ll have to go to the AV room to review it.”

  “Let’s go.” Detective Shanahan stood, as did his partner.

  Alex put her hand over her heart. The pain in her chest was palpable. Am I having a heart attack?

  No. But she couldn’t move. Her brain was clouded with panic to the point where she couldn’t think straight. She’d heard the back and forth conversation around her but couldn’t really process anything except the only points that mattered.

  Nicky is missing.

  “Ms. Romano?” someone said.

  People were talking to her. She could hear them but couldn’t make out the words.

  “Alex?” Daisy’s voice. A hand on her shoulder. “C’mon, lets look at the footage.”

  She nodded, then stood and followed the detectives and Principal McNally into the hallway.

  “Alex.” A familiar voice called to her from the end of the hallway.

  Numb as she was, she would recognize that deep voice anywhere.

  Gray.

  What is he doing here?

  With Dom one step behind, Gray strode down the hallway. “I heard what happened.” He glanced at Daisy.

  “I don’t understand any of this,” Alex sobbed. “Why is this happening?”

  The next thing she knew, Gray’s arms were around her, holding her. “We’ll find him. You have to believe that.”

  He held her tight against his chest. His heart thumped steadily beneath her cheek. For an absurd moment, having Gray here made her believe that anything was possible.

  Detective Shanahan cleared his throat. “Gray, we were about to review the feed from the outside cameras.”

  He released her, but held her hand and squeezed it. “Honey, let’s go look at the video. Time is critical.” They followed Principal McNally down the hallway. “The sooner we can get a lead on where he is, the sooner we can get him home.”

  Alex wanted to believe him, but it was all too surreal. This was really happening, but it was like she was going through the motions, watching the horror of the situation unfold before her in a fog.

  Their heels clicked and echoed on the hallway floors. Alex was there, but her mind was somewhere else, imagining the worst. That she would never see Nicky again. Or that they would find his mutilated body in a field somewhere. It happened to children all the time. Nicky might be one of a multitude of children that went missing every year, never to be seen again, except on the side of a milk carton.

  Vaguely, she realized they were now in a small room, one wall of which was covered by metal shelving crammed with audio-visual equipment and monitors. In front of the shelving was a skinny young man seated at a small desk. Without looking up, he typed rapidly at a keyboard and clicked a mouse until both monitors displayed frozen images of the outside of the school.

  “This is Dan Thomas, our AV expert.” Principal McNally indicated to the man who reluctantly pulled his gaze from one of the monitors.

  “I’ve already cued up footage for the timeframe you requested.” Dan paused in mid-keystroke. “One camera faces the playground, the other faces the nearest stairs leading back inside the school.”

  “Start with the playground.” Detective Shanahan pointed to one of the screens.

  Dan clicked the mouse, and the video of the playground began rolling. “This is just before the kids went outside to play.”

  Alex watched as about a dozen children ran onto the playground. Her heart clutched as she watched Nicky trudge over to a seesaw and sit on one end. It was clear to her that he wasn’t feeling well. Gone was his usual exuberance at playing with his friends, and he swiped his hand across his forehead more than once. A sure sign of a fever.

  As if on cue with Alex’s thoughts, one of the teachers walked over and placed her hand on Nicky’s forehead. She spoke to him, then Nicky got off the seesaw and headed out of the camera’s range, back toward the school.

  Daisy caught Alex’s eye. “Something’s definitely wrong with him.”

  Dan clicked the mouse and the image froze just as Nicky left the screen. “Now I’ll cue up the camera facing the stairs leading back inside the school.” Another click of the mouse, and Nicky walked into the image. He paused at the base of the stairs and turned, as if someone c
alled his name. A man appeared and talked to Nicky for a few minutes. Soon after, Nicky smiled and nodded.

  Alex clutched her hands to her chest. “Oh my God. He was kidnapped.”

  “Do you recognize him?” Gray asked.

  “No.” Alex shook her head, yet something about him was familiar. Whatever the man was saying to Nicky, he had her son’s full attention.

  “Can you magnify the image?” Gray asked.

  “To a point.” Dan clicked the mouse several times. “If I magnify too much, the image will get distorted and blur.”

  Alex watched intently as the man’s image enlarged, but all they could see was the back of his head. The digital counter in the upper right corner of the monitor ticked by for another thirty seconds before he turned. His face was now visible to the camera.

  She gasped. “No. It can’t be.” The man put his arm around Nicky’s shoulder and led him out of the camera’s range. “Go back!” Alex shouted. “I want to see his face again.”

  “Who is it?” Gray slipped his arm around her shoulder.

  “Just go back.” She began to shake. “I need to be sure.”

  Dan put the cursor onto the progress bar at the bottom of the screen to rewind the video. Again, the man entered the image. Alex waited for him to turn until the camera captured his face. “Stop!” She held her breath. Her eyes widened with fear and certainty. She turned to Gray and clutched his shirt in her hands. “It’s Jan.” She gripped his shirt tighter. “It’s my husband.”

  “You’re married?” Daisy’s eyes went round.

  Gray gently clasped her upper arms. “Are you sure it’s him?”

  “Positive.” She nodded, absorbing the strength in his steady gaze, grateful that after everything that had passed between them, he was here for her now.

  “John,” Gray said to Detective Shanahan, “the kidnapper is Alex’s estranged husband, Jan Mohammad. We have his photo on file. He’s on the Watchlist.”

  Dom yanked his phone from his belt. “Give me five and I’ll have a photo of this guy for the BOLO and an Amber Alert.” He headed for the door, the phone already pressed to his ear.

  “Wait,” Gray grabbed his arm. “Notify HSI and the Port Authority Police. Mohammad may try to get Nicky out of the country. We should assume he’s been planning this for a while and already has travel documents for the boy.”

  “Ten-four.” Dom disappeared out the door.

  Alex released Gray’s shirt and covered her face with her hands. “I should have seen this coming. I just didn’t want to believe it could really happen.”

  “How?” He tugged her hands from her face. “You haven’t seen your husband in seven years. How in the world could you have seen this coming?”

  “Fatima.” Alex looked up into Gray’s face. “It was something she said. Something she did.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “What did she do?”

  “After I refused to cooperate, she did something on her cell phone. I don’t know what, but afterward she smiled as if she already had something planned. I think she sent Jan a message telling him where Nicky was. I know she told Jan. I know it in the depths of my heart. That woman was evil. Even in death, she’s still a vindictive bitch.”

  Alex began to shake violently, consumed first with shock then rage at the woman who essentially orchestrated Nicky’s kidnapping.

  “Sweetheart.” Gray brought her hands to his mouth and kissed them. “We’ll do everything in our power to find Nicky. You have to trust that the entire department will be searching for them.”

  “As soon as Dom gets me that photo of Mohammad, I’ll get the BOLO and the Amber Alert on the wire.” Detective Shanahan held up the photo Alex had given him. “Don’t worry, Ms. Romano, we’ll get Nicky’s photo out there, too. Gray, I’ll be in my car making calls. Before you leave, you need to fill me in on what’s going on here.”

  “Hold on.” Gray tipped his head to Shanahan. To Alex, he said, “Sounds like Nicky’s running a fever. When is he due for his next treatment?”

  “Not until next week. He was fine this morning, but I called the doctor anyway, and we scheduled an appointment for tomorrow.” Alex gazed into the eyes of the man she still loved. “I’m worried. Jan has no idea Nicky has leukemia. If he doesn’t get another treatment soon, he could die.”

  Shanahan headed for the door. “I’ll include that in the alerts and make sure all the hospitals get notified.”

  Gray cupped the side of Alex’s face. “I’ll do everything I can.” And then he was gone, too, leaving Alex alone in the tiny room crammed with equipment. She stared at the frozen image on the monitor, the one showing Jan’s face.

  Daisy hugged her tightly. “Don’t lose hope.”

  Alex rested her head on Daisy’s shoulder and breathed a heavy sigh. “I’m trying not to.” But inside, her hope was sinking fast. It was quickly being replaced with grim reality.

  Best-case scenario, Jan would take Nicky out of the country and she would never see him again. Worst-case scenario, her son would die. Either way, he could be gone from her life.

  Forever.

  …

  Eighteen hours had passed and still no sign of Nicky. Every police department, hospital, train and bus station, and airport in New York, along with every surrounding state had the BOLO, the Amber Alert, and photos of Nicky and Alex’s estranged husband.

  The last of Gray’s coffee churned in his stomach. He didn’t think he could ever again feel as helpless as he had when Alex had been taken, but he felt it now. All the bases had been covered and there was nothing more he could do than wait for someone to call in a tip.

  Shanahan and Grimaldi had interviewed everyone at Nicky’s school and every resident within view of the school. No leads there. They’d even run every vehicle tag that any other camera within a five-block radius recorded in the hour leading up to when Nicky was kidnapped. Also a dead end.

  When he’d left Alex at the school, the look on her face—the sheer, abject terror—would haunt him for the rest of his life. As much as he wanted to stay and comfort her, the best thing he could offer was his investigative expertise.

  Outside, dawn was breaking on the horizon. Sunlight glinted off windows on the upper floors of nearby skyscrapers.

  Beside him in the car, Dom yawned and stretched. “If you haven’t figured it out, you’re in love with her, you dumbass.”

  “No shit.” Gray watched the sun rise over Manhattan, wondering if Nicky would still be alive at sunset. “But if we don’t find Nicky, it won’t matter. Alex will be devastated.”

  And I’ll never forgive myself.

  As if reading his thoughts, Dom said, “Quit blaming yourself. Nicky was at school. If it hadn’t happened today, it would have happened tomorrow, or the next day, or the next. Maybe not at the school, but somewhere else.”

  Gray tried unsuccessfully to massage the ache behind his forehead. “Yeah, I know.” He did, but it didn’t mean shit, and it didn’t change a thing. He was so damned tired.

  The phone clipped to his belt vibrated. “Yates,” he answered.

  “It’s Shanahan. We got a tip.” Gray bolted upright, instantly awake. “Mount Sinai Hospital just reported a boy who looked like Nicky’s photo was admitted with a fever of a hundred and five. They aren’t sure the guy who brought the kid in was Mohammad, but whoever it is they’re pretty sure he’s not the kid’s father. The nurse that called said the guy was acting nervous, and it was obvious he didn’t know squat about his own kid. We’re on our way, along with every available unit in the vicinity.”

  Gray held up his hand and motioned to Dom with his index finger to crank up the engine and hit the lights and sirens. “We’ll meet you at Mount Sinai.”

  At this time of the morning, the streets weren’t clogged yet with commuter traffic, and Dom punched the sedan up to forty. “You gonna call Alex?” he asked.

  “No.” As Dom hung a sharp right, Gray grabbed the overhead handle above the passenger door to keep from being thrown acr
oss the car. “Not until we’re sure.” The last thing he wanted was to give her false hope and watch her disintegrate before his eyes when it turned out not to be Nicky.

  At the next intersection, Dom braked at the wall of taxis blocking the way. None seemed perturbed with the fact that the sedan’s emergency lights were lit up like a Christmas tree. He blasted the air horn and tapped the bumper of the taxi in front of them. When the obstructing cab darted to the side of the road, he gunned the engine.

  Five minutes later, Dom maneuvered the car to a screeching halt beside a dozen marked units parked outside the hospital, their red and blue lights reflecting off the hospital’s glass doors. Gray jumped out of the car and ran inside with Dom one step behind.

  Down the hall, Shanahan, Grimaldi, and half a dozen uniforms turned to follow a security guard leading them to the elevator banks. The guard punched the up button.

  Shanahan motioned to Gray and Dom. “They’re on the fifth floor. The kid’s fever is so high he’s in intensive care. No idea if the guy’s armed. We’ll assume he is.”

  “Good call.” Gray and Dom followed everyone inside the elevator, which meant they would be first off. The elevator jerked and began to move upward with excruciating slowness. Thanks to the security guard’s emergency key, they bypassed the other floors, making it an express to the fifth.

  The elevator dinged and came to a stop. As soon as the doors opened, Gray caught sight of the sign on the wall indicating the intensive care unit was to the left. He strode out the doors with Dom and the others at his heels. At the end of the hallway, a man headed for the exit door, looking nervously over his shoulder. He was the right height, weight, and general description of Mohammad, but Gray couldn’t be sure.

  Just the same, he eased his hand to his weapon. “Hey!” he shouted. “Police!”

  The man jerked his head around. Gray recognized him from the Watchlist photo.

  Jan Mohammad.

  Mohammad bolted for the exit door, as did Gray. The door squeaked as it began to close, but not before Gray rammed his shoulder against the heavy door, knocking it open so hard it whacked against the wall. He drew his weapon. Booted feet echoed, heading down. Gray followed.