by Saurav Dutt
“I think you know exactly what I want.” Pearce replied, his expression blank.
“Durning is running the ship now didn’t ya hear?” John answered “I’m just a washed up asshole who needs to rethink his priorities…apparently.”
“Come, come” Pearce smirked as he tried to peer past John’s shoulder “you and I both know you’re a far more resourceful man than Durning or IA make you out to be.”
“So you’ve spoken to the suits?” John frowned, straightening his back to block the view.
“I don’t need to” Pearce replied “what do they know? I know you’re a smart man.”
“Enough with the flattery Pearce” John shot back “what are you doing here?”
“Aren’t you going to invite me in?” Pearce leant forward.
John unlatched the chain, letting Pearce slip inside. Agent Pearce closed the door, slipped his spectacles up the bridge of his nose and studied the flat, arching his eyebrows at its tardy décor, the clothes scattered over the couches and tables as well as the stale odor saturating the air.
“You’ve got Gina here somewhere.” Pearce remarked, his eyes focusing on the room looking for any telltale signs that there had been visitors, spotting the dabs of rainwater sprinkled across the carpet.
“You’re not still on that Gina Rossi rap are you?” John scoffed as he circled Pearce, trying to obstruct the view ahead of the bedroom down the hallway.
“Running from me was the worst thing she did, she’s disorientated now..even worse than before-not to mention doped up and probably suffering withdrawal symptoms” Pearce shrugged “we’d have given her a roof above her head, medical treatment…what she doesn’t understand-and you don’t comprehend-is that we’ve always had her best interests at heart…she got into this mess, she ran after she compromised her position, and now again she’s put herself back in this situation.”
“You know why she’s in Manhattan..” John smiled.
“She has a daughter here, we’re not concerned about her.” Pearce shook his head
“Yeah, but she is..” John replied as he shot him an incredulous glare.
“You know I have every right to execute a warrant to search this premises if you’re hiding her.” Pearce interjected.
“….but you won’t” John smiled.
“You care about her don’t you?” Pearce grinned, knowing the answer.
“Enough to know that I can’t say with any certainty whether I trust you or not” John replied.
“Listen, I like Gina believe it or not John..” Pearce nodded “she’s a wild one, temperamental and a shit magnet for trouble…but she did a very brave thing to testify against someone like Dennis Rossi..she did something for the country that she has never really been able to comprehend…knowing how dangerous it was, knowing how it would change things in her whole life…” he added “..but whatever happened to her, and going by her profile, all she ever really wanted was to have a family, be a good mother..at least until she realized being Dennis Rossi’s wife meant that was always going to be wishful thinking..”
“-and?” John snapped, studying Pearce’s face carefully, his voice, searching for something in his words and appearance that confirmed he was lying through his teeth.
“And..if I show you some good faith” Pearce went on “are you willing to talk to her, to make her understand she is better off working with us than against us?” he nodded , taking off his glasses, showing the sincerity in his dark eyes, dulled with tiredness and lack of sleep.
“What show of good faith?” John asked, unpeeling a fresh pack of Marlboros, letting the unlit cigarette dangle from his lips.
“Well..” Pearce stepped forward, quickly lighting the cigarette with his own lighter “I know that the daughter is in Manhattan …she left Long Island and the family home …but I do know that her husband, Gina’s son-in-law, arrived here a couple of days ago, where he’s staying and the fact that he’s visited her…”
“What for?” John queried as he took a long, hard drag from his cigarette.
“..They’re getting a divorce, he’s here to sort it out as well as visitation rights for their only kid” Pearce explained as he mirrored John.
“This might seem stupid asking a Fed” John mused “but exactly how do you know all of this?”
“You’re right, it is a stupid question to ask..” Pearce chuckled “we’re the FBI, we bugged the home the minute Gina skipped the safe house, thinking she’d get in touch with them…well she hasn’t”
“I hate to hurt your feelings here Pearce…but I don’t know if I can really trust you..let’s just call it instinct, huh?” John shrugged.
“I know” Pearce nodded, softening his expression as he slipped the spectacles on “I told her this, and I’ll tell you also..if I wanted her dead, she’d be dead believe you me..and as for you, you’d be dead too for harboring her..it’s in my interests she goes willingly with me…I’ll be frank with you Detective..she’s done the work for the FBI that we wanted, there are people who have now washed their hands off her, couldn’t care less if Dennis Rossi sent a hit man to kill her and left it at that..but I do care, I’ve looked after her from the trial to the witness protection programme…I’m not here to hurt her, she’s been through enough.”
“I do care for her..” John exhaled, swatting away the layer of cigarette smoke slowly spreading out in front of him “…I won’t judge her if she really is who you say she is, but if this is all true about a daughter, then I would like to meet her for myself first.”
“First?” Pearce grunted “before what?”
“Before I can get them to meet” John explained, pacing the spot, rustling through his thoughts.
“Right..” Pearce scoffed “you don’t seem to appreciate the daughter was allocated to a foster family after the witness protection program kicked in, not least because Gina Rossi is a known alcoholic with a dependency on painkillers..the daughter has probably grown up hating her mother and Gina wouldn’t even recognise her daughter if she was standing right here …don’t think you’re Mother Teresa here, that shit won’t work.”
“Well let me talk to her first, you don’t know how she’s gonna react…” John protested as Pearce continued to shake his head vehemently “I don’t believe Gina Rossi ran from all this shit to Manhattan just to sleep on the streets, she came here looking for her daughter-she came here beaten and bruised and she came here, fought as hard as she could to make this happen.”
“Yeah, for a handout…” Pearce smiled to himself “Gina Rossi was snorting coke up her pretty little nose while you were doing traffic patrol Detective, she’s a head case, and she wouldn’t know her daughter from Marilyn Monroe…”
“How come you guys couldn’t find her earlier?” John sighed.
“Her biggest mistake was using that dud money” Pearce smiled “she left a counterfeit trail of bills, from the Continental Hotel, to almost every flop house in New York-she could buy time but eventually these fake notes were popping up all over Manhattan-and the alarm bells were rung.”
“Who tried to kill her?” John snapped “after what the doctor told me, and the size of the scar on her head, someone tried to make sure she wouldn’t be snorting, talking or walking, period..”
“Someone Dennis sent out…” Pearce nodded “all this time we heard nothing, she was living the nice life we built her-and fucking it up without our knowledge-and just like that he found her, maybe he was looking the entire time and got lucky or maybe it was because she was fleecing all the casinos she was running for him…”
“Which begs the question” John eyed Pearce suspiciously “who exactly is the leak who told them where she was?”
“I don’t know…” Pearce shrugged his shoulders “…I really wish I did. That’s why it’s important I find her as soon as I can..is she here?”
“No…” John replied “but I might know where she is…”
“Right” Pearce replied “well whatever you can help me with is enough, y
ou take me to her, just to talk, like I said as a sign of good faith I’ll show you it’s in my interests for her to come with me-no cloak and dagger shit” he added, casually strolling over to the coffee table and stubbing his cigarette out in an ashtray crowded by empty butts.
“Maybe..” John answered “but first you take me to the daughter.”
“Agreed” Pearce replied, exchanging a cautious glare with John “I don’t see the point but fine if that’s what it takes for you to play ball…but you have nothing to gain by crossing me.”
“I’m only interested in clearing my name” John replied “and in finding out what really happened to her-and if it confirms that she really is who everybody is sure she is, then so be it.”
“Good” Pearce sighed “by the way what’s a good looking guy like you, Detective on the force…what’s a guy like you see in a street tramp in the first place?”
“She’s a looker, ain’t she?” John smirked as Pearce nodded his head in agreement, “There has to be something else besides that..” he asked.
“Because…” John smiled to himself “nobody really likes me, nobody really likes her…we’re a perfect match for each other..”
Chapter Fourteen
Warden Sheen sat across the table from Dennis Rossi, focusing on his claw like fingers, particularly his nails. It was obvious they had been chewed, contorted beyond all recognition and still he continued to bite them. “Nervous?” Sheen rasped, his warm voice carrying across the expanse of the large meeting room. Rossi glanced up, shooting a glare at the two men sat behind a mahogany desk whose surface seemed to glint with the lustre of a polished gold bullion bar.
“Whaddaya think?” Rossi spat, his beady eyes darting around the room, focusing on a solitary fly dancing around in the corner. It was high above the elongated tube light, skipping across its dull white exterior. No matter how hard he tried to collect his thoughts, the fly seemed to be the only thing he could concentrate on.
“Just be calm” Rossi’s lawyer whispered, leaning forward to place a hand across his handcuffed wrists which were now clenched together. “Where is she?” Rossi hissed, staring up at the clock and realising the time hadn’t changed since a minute ago when he last looked. 11:05 A.M. “It’s been twenty five minutes Dennis” the lawyer muttered, shuffling through papers and cutting through swathes of sentences with his ballpoint pen “she’s not coming; she said she wouldn’t to the Warden..let’s just deal with it and move on with the hearing..” he shrugged.
“You don’t understand” Dennis growled “she promised me, she said she would…my daughter’s a Rossi, she’s not a liar, she keeps her word..”
“I’m not saying she is” the lawyer sighed “but you have to admit Dennis, this was a long shot.”
“Ah these friggin’ women..” Rossi grumbled “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree does it? She was always her mother’s child..fuckin’ cunts.”
“Right…” Warden Sheen piped up as he slipped on a pair of spectacles, opening a lever arch folder, letting the snap back of the metal dividers reverberate through the room. Pushing over several sheets of documents towards the other two gentlemen, he peered down at the lawyer, savouring the irritation and impatience written all over Rossi’s face. He sat back in his seat, a smug smile etched over his baggy face, and flipped on a cassette recorder.
“The time is 11:05 A.M. April 29th..Warden Bradley Sheen present and chairing this parole commission hearing..” he paused “..for one Mr Dennis Salvatore Rossi. Present also the case manager, Mr Jonathan Remar..as well as the Hearing Examiner Paul Falk…Mr Rossi’s attorney Flip Laminsky is also present. Two character reference candidates for Mr Rossi-his ex wife Gina and his daughter Andrea-were invited and given notification of this hearing…..but have not attended.”
“He can’t do this, can’t he wait?” Rossi shook his head, leaning back into his seat as he studied Laminsky’s face, cool, detached and bereft of any emotion. “We are happy to begin the hearing without our character references; it should be noted that Gina Rossi was not locatable, and that Mr Rossi’s daughter Andrea intimated she would be present, but that for whatever reason, she has chosen not to come this morning.” Laminsky boomed, his deep resonant voice belying his young features.
Remar picked up a pencil from the desk, twirling it between his fingers, his jaw clenched as he stroked the grey of his stubble. “As the applicant knows after two failed parole hearings in the past eight years, parole prevents the needless imprisonment of those who are not likely to commit further crime and who meet the criteria for parole set forth in the criteria requiring reintegration into our society…given your age Mr Rossi, this latter concern is not up for discussion today…rather the question is if you are released, in the community, supervision will be orientated towards reintegrating you as a productive member of society.” he rasped.
“My client..” Laminsky cleared his throat “is concerned that his reputation, his conduct at the previous hearings and the absence of his two requested character witnesses will be used as grounds of prejudice against him in this application..this is why our application has been predicated upon the basis of his failing health, Mr Rossi has recently been diagnosed-”
“-we are fully aware of your client’s present medical status” Falk interrupted “the Commission is interested both in the protection of society against further criminal behaviour as well as Mr Rossi’s needs as an individual. There are no hard and fast rules about the content or length of the hearing…now Warden Sheen has been present at the last two parole hearings, but neither myself or Mr Remar were..this is our first hearing for your client and as such we have met the request of impartiality which was raised at great volume by Mr Rossi at his previous appeals…” he added with a smirk.
Rossi leant towards Laminsky, the jangling of the cuffs around his wrists and ankles ringing through the air as he did so. “So do I get to speak now or do you?” he growled. “Just let me get the documentation in order” Laminsky shot back. “You’re young…” Rossi smiled “you came recommended through my people, top of the class, top of Yale, a regular smart ass, right?”
“Right..” Laminsky smiled, sifting through the papers only for Rossi to lean in further until his nose was brushing against his cheek. “I don’t care whose teacher’s ass you had to brownnose to get here” Rossi replied with a firm shake of his head “how smart you think you are…. You look at Dennis Rossi when he’s talking to you, you understand me boy?”
Laminsky swallowed hard, nodding incessantly as beads of sweat collected on his forehead. He placed the papers down in front of him, his hands trembling and his palms sweaty. “Would you like to make a statement first then Mr Rossi?” he asked, tilting his head slightly so that he could avoid Rossi’s intense glare. “Yes son, I would” came the swift reply.
Rossi rose to his feet, his buzz saw haircut illuminated by the white beam falling down from the lights above him. His prison uniform was crisp, ironed to perfection and the sunken cheeks of his worn and tattered skin prominent after the morning’s clean shave.
“Warden.. Mr Remar, Mr Hearing Examiner…” Rossi nodded with a mocking grin as he straightened his back and cleared his throat before he went on “I’m a 67 year old man; you’ve read a lot about me, heard a lot about me, most of it…well….anyway, I am a man who has many regrets, and I have showed remorse for the things I have done, but the parole board has never wanted to listen to any of that…it was always a fight from day one to have me released..I guess a man’s reputation can follow him to the grave…and I gotta tell you gentleman, I feared no man..for 67 years I feared no man…I don’t think I even feared God..but now I come to think of it God was keeping score..”
He stared down at the table, inhaling deeply as he struggled to find the words to continue. Before he could part his lips, Laminsky shot up from his seat, clutching medical records as he motioned for Rossi to sit. “Mr Rossi’s application is on compassionate grounds, he has been diagnosed with an advanced stag
e of prostate cancer” he said, stumbling over his words “he faces major surgery, a radical prostatectomy to surgically remove the prostate gland..all Mr Rossi wants to do is face this surgery, retire and make peace with his friends and family, the battle for recovery is-”
“-Yes yes…” Remar cut in, his eyes concentrating on the medical report, his fingers running along the sentences as he cupped his chin “you have one daughter is that correct Mr Rossi?”
“Yes” Rossi answered with a blank stare.
“She’s married, with one child…living in New Jersey and then Long Island as her last registered domicile..you ceased paying child support once you were incarcerated but thereafter would send cheques to her through your previous lawyers..Warden Sheen has made it clear in his statement that you no longer speak with your daughter Andrea..” Remark blinked, staring up at Rossi for an explanation.
“Sir, my client is estranged from his daughter, but-” Laminsky interjected before Remar waved him off.
“-and the wife? It says here the marriage was annulled by reason of separation” Remar replied, letting the papers fall from his hands as he leant back in his seat.
“Mrs Rossi…” Laminsky began before correcting himself “I mean the former Mrs Rossi, was relocated to the FBI witness protection programme, she was not given custody of their only child on the grounds that she was an unfit mother, and this is something my client attested to at the child custody hearings at the time of his incarceration.”
“We’re not here today to assess the quality of Mrs Rossi’s parenting” Falk scowled, nodding at Remar and Sheen “the real matter is that you are estranged from your daughter, she hasn’t attended today, you haven’t been in contact with her since you’ve been here, in fact she hasn’t visited you once in that time…from the statements and evidence we have here, you weren’t much of a father to her and could have cared less what happened to her before now..so to get out on compassionate grounds to live with her of all things …well it seems a tad optimistic on your part, don’t you think?”