He grinned at me in a taunting manner. “I’m not finished. You do your own write-up. I’ve only been your boss for twenty-four hours, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to waste my valuable time doing something you’ll need to be able to do when you’re bumped up to SSA. Besides, it’ll give you good practice.”
“Not a problem, sir.”
“Send it to me for review and I’ll file it.”
“Of course.”
“And when you’re done, you’ll begin ten days sick leave.”
“What? No. Please, sir. We’re getting close to Sand’s female accomplice and I—”
“And you’re injured,” he said forcefully. “You can’t be active in the field with one good arm, and we’re perfectly capable of apprehending a most wanted fugitive and his accomplice without you,” he advised with a hint of resentment. “I don’t want to hear about any other incidents while you’re part of my detail. It’ll take ten days for your promotion to be made official. I know you’ve got issues with your father. What you do in an unofficial capacity is your own business. Come back when your wound is healed and not a day sooner.” He stood as if to signal the end of our meeting. “You’ll officially be Ambler’s headache at that point, not mine, and hallelujah to that.”
“But I’ve had the lead on this investigation since the beginning.”
“That’s all, Mather. I’ll expect the incident report by the end of the day.” He picked up the phone and gave me a get-the-hell-out-of-here stare.
“Sir.” I maintained a flat expression on my face as long as I could. I was down the corridor before allowing anger to surface on my face. Son of a bitch!
Cabrera was banging away at his keyboard when I caught up with him. He took one look at me, winced, then said, “That bad, huh?”
I nodded with large eyes. “He put me on leave.”
He rattled his head. “He put you on leave? Is that all? I thought you would have had to crawl back to your desk, bludgeoned and bloody.”
“This is worse. It takes me away from Sand’s investigation.”
He glared at me. “You’re not thinking clearly, Gumdrop. You need the time anyway. Take care of your own business and come back rested and ready to kick ass. Every available agent and police officer is looking for this slug. He won’t get far.”
“But—”
“But you wanted to do it yourself?” He grinned. “Bad little Gumdrop, what’s the matter, don’t want to be a team player anymore?”
“Eat shit. You know why I want this slug so badly.”
“And I don’t?” he retaliated. “And every agent here doesn’t want to grind this guy under the heel of his or her boot? Come on, Mather, smell the roses, would you? You’re too close to this case for your own good.”
Cabrera had a good point, but I was too hot to back down. “I was there. I was right next to him when he got hit. I can’t help but make this personal.”
“Well, at the risk of pissing off my future boss … you’ll just have to.” He looked back at his desk. “I’ve got to go back to work. Go home and cool off, would ya? Believe me, if I come up with anything, you’ll be the first to know.”
Chapter 33
I transmitted the photo of Benzino’s arm to the cryptanalysis unit before sitting down to peck out the incident report with one finger. I wanted to cool off, but I couldn’t and was becoming increasingly infuriated over my slow typing speed. I had to fight the temptation to submit a half-assed effort. I knew that Bakal was going to review my report before submitting it, and I wasn’t going to run the risk of having it kicked back for inadequacies.
I couldn’t get my father out of my head. The Suffolk County PD was looking for him on a missing-persons basis and also as a person of interest in Benzino’s homicide investigation. I was angry because he had drawn the family into another mess, yet I was guilt ridden and worried for his safety. Ah, the blessing of having a caring heart. I don’t know how we live with these things.
I looked up and saw Cabrera coming my way in a hurry. “You still on the clock, Gumdrop?”
“You know I am. What’s up?”
“We’ve got a hot ticket: Simone Bocquet. We’ve got a multipoint match on the facial recognition software and an address in Washington Heights.” His eyebrows jumped until they practically touched his hairline. “You in?”
“You know I am.” I hit the save icon and stood, lifting my bum wing. “You’ll have to help me with my jacket.”
“Jesus. What a lame-ass partner. I don’t know how I’ve managed to put up with your slacker crap all these years.”
“Slacker crap, huh?”
“Yup. Slacker crap.” He grabbed my FBI jacket and draped it over my shoulders like a cape. “You’re all set, Gumdrop. Would you like me to carry your books to class?”
“Would you like a broken arm?”
“Alrighty then. Let’s hit the streets.”
Chapter 34
Simone had become expert at tiptoeing around Sand in her small apartment, avoiding his hulking form, shunning eye contact, and eschewing conversation whenever possible. Even still, his presence was all-pervasive and she was aware of him every waking moment. He even came to her in her sleep, his image haunting her dreams and making her restless.
She awoke every morning tired but energetic in her effort to leave for work before he rose, and returned exhausted in the evening, dragging herself back to the fugitive she had quickly learned to hate. She walked the blocks from the subway station slowly and without energy, hoping to avoid him as long as possible. She had always seen him as someone who was strong and larger than life, but now … He’s disgusting, she thought, venting to herself. He doesn’t shave. He doesn’t bathe. She’d have been able to overlook his new shortcomings were it not for his constant funk, and she realized the man she had served and idolized was nothing when not propped up by his cronies and wealth. “God,” she said aloud. “I hope he’s not waiting for me by the window again.” The thought slowed her pace even further. She glanced up at her apartment house window from a block away, looking to see if he was peeking out from behind the curtains, dreading the idea that she might see his face. I’ll stop for some groceries, she thought, as an avoidance mechanism. Nutrition meant nothing to him right now. He was barely eating and only sweets at that. He was taking in calories but not consuming anything of substance. Ice cream and some pie, she thought. She had grown to detest him but she couldn’t stand by and watch him starve.
A bodega was directly across the avenue from her building. She continued to get closer and closer to her home all the while peeking at her window to see if he was there. Of course he is. She pretended not to notice him as she headed for the grocery store door. She was about to signal to him her intent to visit the store when all the doors on a black SUV swung open. FBI agents surrounded her and forced her down on the ground. She was face down on the concrete sidewalk, pinned and unable to move as the arrest was made.
~~~
Sand’s heart knocked arhythmically as he watched Simone’s capture. He had not left her apartment since the time he first arrived and was deathly afraid to leave. His concern was not for her but was instead focused on his own plight. He had been trying to think of an escape plan but had been too depressed to see it through to a sound conclusion. Now though, there was no time to delay. It was only her capture that bought him time to escape, and provided enough urgency to pry him out of the small apartment he had been hiding in.
He was about to turn from the window when he saw her again, Mather, the one he had failed to kill, the one whose efforts had forced him to make such a foolhardy and disastrous blunder. Adrenaline cleared his mind and panic drove his decision-making process. In an instant he knew what he had to do.
Chapter 35
“Shouldn’t you be someplace else?” Bakal said as he caught up with the team racing up the stairs to Simone’s apartment. He joined me, Cabrera, and four other agents, each of us taking two steps at a time on our way to the top level.
“Can we split hairs later?” God, he’s such a jerk. One floor to go. Focus!
I heard dogs barking and a child crying in the adjacent apartment as we paused outside Sand’s door. Sand was a moose in stature, and it would take a lethal wound or the seven of us tackling him in order to bring him down. Unless of course he flat-out surrendered—yeah, right. Of course, with just one good arm I wasn’t planning to go toe-to-toe with the man. One between the eyes should do nicely. I was ready for that, ready to send him on a one-way ride on the hereafter express.
Bakal gave us the nod. Cabrera rapped on the door with the butt end of his Glock. “FBI,” he announced loudly. “Jo’Ell Sand, we have a warrant for your arrest.” He waited a moment, then, “FBI. Open the door,” he said loudly. Another moment passed. Bakal nodded again and one of the other agents came forward and slammed his size thirteen shoe into the door. The frame cracked. A second kick did the job. We entered and cleared the small apartment in seconds.
Bakal was on his radio in an instant, barking instructions to cordon off the building and set up a perimeter ten blocks in each direction. The sound of police sirens filled the air while he was still talking. “Shit! I hope he hasn’t gotten far,” Bakal lamented. “Let’s get a crew in here to sweep for clues.” I could see that he was still hot as he turned to me. “And you …” His eyes flashed. “You’re a liability with that clipped wing of yours. Get the hell out of here. Scram!”
Chapter 36
“What do you mean he put you out on leave?” Grace asked hotly. “Can he do that?”
“Of course he can. He’s my commanding officer.”
“But I thought you were equals now.”
“Not yet. My promotion has to go through channels. The position has to be posted on the HR web page to give others the opportunity to apply.”
“But they gave the job to you.”
“Yes, but like I just told you, they have to follow protocol or the bureau opens itself up to lawsuits from disgruntled employees who thought they deserved consideration. It’s like that in the private sector too.”
“Private sector, private shmector. I never worked for a big organization. How would I know?”
“I thought you’d be happy to have me home.”
“Of course that makes me happy, but …” Her eyes flashed wide. “Why are you putting your holster back on?”
“I’ve got some work to do.”
“What kind of work?”
“It’s better that you don’t know.”
“This is about your father, isn’t it?” She lowered her head and was biting her lip when she raised it again. “That old SOB. What a wonderful parent he’s been to you.”
I paused in the middle of getting myself together and kissed her on the forehead. “It’s more than okay—you gave me all the love and parenting anyone could ever need.”
She plopped down on my bed and misted up. “How can he have such a hold over us? He doesn’t care about us at all and yet …”
I sat down next to her and put my healthy arm around her. “We can’t just stand by and do nothing, now can we?”
Her head swung in an arc like the movement of a swinging pendulum. “I guess not, but what can you do? You’re not even officially working right now.”
“That doesn’t stop me from looking into things as a private citizen. It doesn’t matter to the local police that I’m on leave. They’ll extend me the same courtesies either way.”
“Well, I guess that’s good. Have you eaten today?”
Coffee. A snack bar. Diet Pepsi. “Uh-huh.”
“You’re still not a hundred percent, Chloe. Why don’t you rest tonight and do whatever you have to do in the morning.”
“I’m not tired—a couple hours poking around won’t hurt me.”
“Can I make you a roast beef sandwich for the road?”
“Absolutely. Thanks.” I gave Grace another smooch and stood up. “So, you really don’t know anything about the old business?”
“Well, of course I did, Chloe, but then your father came along and I was more than happy to hand those responsibilities over to him.” She smiled proudly. “My little girl was born and, well … I never looked back.” She closed her eyes and sighed. Some dope, huh? All the while your father was selling off pieces of the company and bedding anything in a skirt.”
“Who expects their spouse to be a lying, crooked piece of garbage?”
“Still, I was a little naïve, wasn’t I?”
“Yes. You were a little naïve, and Al took advantage of you. You can hardly blame yourself for that.” I sat down again. “He told me that he was illegally dumping toxic waste and that’s why he thinks he’s in so much trouble now. You had no idea about what he was doing?”
She shrugged. “Not an iota, Chloe. I swear to God.” She crossed her heart and kissed her fingertips.
“You didn’t know any of the people he worked with? You never went out socially?”
“Oh yes.” She seemed to perk up. “There was that nice resort on Long Island with a lovely nightclub we used to go to.”
“Resort?”
“The Beacon Hill. It was a hangout for very influential people.”
“How so?”
“You know, Chloe, wealthy business owners and politicians. The Beacon had wonderful bands and dancing, and the food was really special. We went there several times, but no one ever talked business. It was just for shits and giggles as they say, hardworking men blowing off steam with their wives. Your father used to play golf there on the weekends.”
“I don’t remember him playing golf.”
“Well, you were little, but still … you don’t remember him going out on Sunday mornings wearing lime green pants?”
“Well, maybe, but I didn’t know he was going out to play golf. I thought he was colorblind.”
Much out of character, Grace snorted. “Ha. Ha. Ha. Silly goose.”
“Some of his outfits were so strange—I thought he was dressed up for Mardi Gras.”
She was smiling so hard that I could see her dimples. “Chloe, are you abusing your meds?”
“No. It’s just good to see you laugh. Anyway, is there anyone still around that I could talk to about it?”
“Well, I’m sure there are, although I doubt they’d remember anything important.”
“You never know. What about you? What do you remember?”
“I don’t know, Chloe that was so long ago. Long before …” She frowned.
I patted her leg. “Do your best, Mom. Tell me anything you can remember.”
She wiped away a tear. “I’ll try.” I could see her focus ebb as memories stirred in her mind and then she smiled. “It was one of the first times Billy Joel had ever performed in concert. Oh my God, he was amazing. He was so passionate about his music and he had so much energy.” Her memory, it appeared, was better than she thought.
‘“Sing us a song you’re the piano man,’” Grace crooned. “Billy Joel stood but kept his fingers on the keyboard as he invited the audience to sing along with him. He was still a kid with large bedroom eyes and a wad of wavy hair. He was humble and fun to listen to and just a little full of himself, just enough to put us under his spell. Chloe, he was perfection. I really didn’t know that much about him at the time, but everyone knew that song and joined in. Then he went into ‘New York State of Mind’ and the audience went crazy.”
“When was that?”
“Oh, let’s see if I can put a date on it.” Grace became quiet and I could see that she was reaching back. “June 1979,” she said excitedly. “Chrissie Evert had just returned from Europe after winning the French Open and that nice union boss invited us out for the weekend. I actually met Chrissie and had lunch with her.” She smiled fondly. “You were upstairs with your nanny—you were in that terrible two stage for a very long time. You graduated from the terrible twos to the tantrum threes and the frantic fours.”
“So I wasn’t so much a model child?”
&n
bsp; “You were a tornado dressed in pink and pale yellow. You were a handful. You screamed your head off when I handed you over and then you were out two seconds later. It was a lovely weekend away from the city.”
She became quiet again and I could see she was fighting to keep the bleak moments out of her mind. That was my father’s legacy to Grace and to me, a tear to go along with every memory. Even reliving wonderful moments brought the Mather women sadness.
“Hey, where’d you go?” I waited for her to return to the moment. “Concentrate, okay?”
She nodded with a brave smile, once again ready to delve into the past.
“Who invited you out for the weekend? You mentioned a union boss?”
“Oh yes, Bairre Donovan. He was a lovely man … for an Irishman,” she grumbled. Good old Grace, always defending the superiority of the Crown. “He always pampered us. Classy gent. He’s James Donovan’s father, you know.”
“The senator?”
“Yes. I’m surprised you don’t know that. The Donovans are Long Island aristocracy, sort of like the Kennedys were in Massachusetts. Smaller scale perhaps, but you get the idea.”
“Can’t remember the last time I was out in the Hamptons. You used to take me there when I was young, but …” I’d gone through quite a transition after Al squandered the family fortune and jumped ship. It was kind of a rags-to-riches story only in reverse. “I prefer combat missions in the desert anyway.”
“Oh yes, what girl wouldn’t?” Grace said cynically. “Well, anyway, Bairre saw to it that we wanted for nothing when we stayed at his place. The rooms were complimentary as well as our meals, your father’s golf, and my spa treatments, of course. He treated all the wealthy guests just so, because he was hoping to bring gambling to the Beacon and he wanted us to come back and drop lots of cash. Besides, our company employed a great many union laborers and the hotel was built with union money. That kind of made us celebrities.” She paused briefly and then her eyes shined brightly. “Oh yes, Bairre became filthy rich. Went into local politics and cornered the real estate market out east. Never lost his accent, though—had a brogue so thick you could cut it with a knife.”
The Mather Triad: Series Boxed Set (Chloe Mather Thrillers) Page 59