by Dan Kelly
His thought are interrupted by the sound of a gunshot coming from somewhere close by and he dives for cover alongside a car parked a few spots down from his. After waiting for a minute or so, another shot rings out and then nothing. With his sidearm drawn, Derrick slowly starts to move towards the street the sounds came from. When he gets to the street and looks around, all he sees is an old beat up small truck in the middle of the road, smoke pouring out of the engine compartment like smoke from a chimney. He walks over to the driver who has opened the hood of the vehicle and is standing there shaking his head and swearing like a sailor with a hole in his hull and asks, “Was that your truck that backfired?”
“Yeah, this pig just gasped it’s last breath. It’s ready for the junkyard graveyard.”
“Do you have Triple A or do you want me to call a tow truck for you?”
“I have a road side service, but it’s not Triple AAA. I’ve just called them and they’re on their way.”
“Okay then I’ll leave you to your cussing and move along.”
This got a chuckle out of the driver and Derrick was glad he was still on a roll with the laughs.
Walking back to his car though he began chastising himself for being so careless and not paying attention to what was going on around him. “You moron, there could have been a sniper out here and you would never have had a chance to spot him or hear the sounds of the rounds aimed at you because that pea brain of yours was elsewhere. If you keep pulling stunts like that, you won’t be laughing anymore. You’ve always got to expect the worst and prepare for it. You know that damn it! You forget that and you’ll soon be forgotten lying in a grave somewhere. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”
All the way to picking up Champ and then driving home he thought about how fortunate he was that no one was out in the parking lot waiting for him and how fortunate he was to also have a dog like Champ to look out for him. Looking back at Champ he says, “When this is all over buddy, you’re going to have a feast fit for royalty, courtesy of the thankful idiot here.”
Champ barks softly once and then ignores him by looking out the window and watching the scenery roll by.
“Okay, your reward is negotiable. How about I fix you up with that cute golden retriever across the street from me?”
Laughing, he feels the tension from the embarrassment his behavior generated lessen and by the time he pulls into his driveway at home he’s managed to forgive himself for being such an ass and for chewing himself out for being human and hung up on a very interesting woman. Going forward, however, he’s determined to keep in mind the danger he and Julie are in and act accordingly until the heat is off. “No more screw ups numbnuts.”
Chapter 43
The next morning when Derrick and Julie show up for work there’s no sign of Bemis and his admin hasn’t come in yet either which is really weird because she’s always the first one in.
Derrick busies himself with writing the report on the visit to Pelegrinno’s office while Julie gives her notes one last review before her ten o’clock court appearance.
When nine-thirty rolls around, Julie splits for the courthouse and Derrick settles in to attend to some routine matters and the paperwork associated with them.
He’s having difficulty concentrating on them though because his mind keeps drifting to the winery investigation. “To me, coincidence is the mother of suspicion. I’ll admit they occur, but I don’t trust them to reflect what’s really going on. More often than not they embody lies and half- truths that can lead a person down the primrose path to disaster.
“The appearance of Benjamin Cordell on the scene, the killings of Nicolas Petrillo and Nofri Nuzzoli so close together soon after his appearance and the common thread between all three being the Paganelli twins has my conspiracy detector pegging its meter. If there’s a way to keep a closer watch on those two, it’s not roaming around in my noggin because I can’t think of a damn thing. I don’t have sufficient cause for a warrant to tap their phones, only my suspicion, but there’s got to be something I can do.”
While Derrick is beating his head against the wall trying to come up with something that will enable him to move forward with the investigation, the Paganellis are also engaged in some mental gymnastics.
Sitting in Duilio’s office, they’re discussing Cordell’s accomplishments and wondering how many more people will have to bite the dust before they are free to go on their merry way without any more interference from outsiders.
Their hopes of acquiring all of the targeted wineries in Napa Valley any time in the near future have been dashed, for the time being at least, but they now have funds they didn’t have before that they can use to acquire a couple of them if they can be persuaded to sell. Riccardo is saying, “We now have an income stream from the string of retail outlets we’ve opened and we have a decent chunk of our former partners’ money still sitting in our account at Bank of America. We also have the black mail material we can still use to pressure the owners into selling.
“The fly in the ointment is whether or not someone else will step up to the plate in Milan and pick up where this Nofri Nuzzoli and Petrillo left off. If that happens, how will we identify them for elimination by Cordell and will he be willing to continue to thin out the ranks of the higher echelon of the heavy hitters of organized crime no matter where they may be. If he is, the price may be too steep for us to handle if it turns out that there are a lot of them.”
Duilio says, “There’s another fly in the ointment that needs attending to, Riccardo. If Nuzzoli was in cahoots with anyone else, they could be wondering if we played a part in the removal of Nuzzoli and Petrillo. If they are lower in the food chain over there, Cordell can probably take care of them without any serious blowback. However, if his fellow investors in our little business venture are of equal power and influence, Cordell may decide it’s too risky to push his luck with guys this dangerous and call it a day. What do we do if this happens? I’d like to go on breathing for many years to come and I don’t want to do it in hiding afraid for my life.”
“There’s only one answer to that since we can’t go to the cops. We’ll have to find someone smarter, tougher, meaner and gutsier than Cordell.”
“How the hell will we do that? Look at what we had to go through to find Cordell.”
Thinking about the challenge that would be facing them to find the person they would require Riccardo finally responds with, “Well, assuming we can identify the new players, we could take care of them ourselves.”
“What? Are you out of your skull? Assassinations are out of our skill set.”
“Listen to me for a minute. These people know us as businessmen, ruthless in our tactics, but not cold blooded killers. They would never expect us to go on the offensive and seek them out ourselves.”
“If we were successful the first time out, what’s to prevent someone else from picking up the gauntlet and continuing the fight? These people aren’t wimps. Their reputations mean everything to them and they won’t tolerate any one messing with them, especially if they find out it was amateurs.”
“I admit that these people are tough and proud, but they’re also astute businessmen, not like the knuckle draggers of old, and will weigh the consequences of their actions before reacting. I believe they’ll readily see that the financial rewards aren’t worth the risks of deadly retaliation by us or the law. They’ve learned that flying below the radar is the safest and most lucrative way to fly.”
Duilio remains still and quiet for an inordinate amount of time for him, but he eventually gets up and walks over to a bar set into a wall of his office and pours himself a double shot of Glenfiddich 21 year single malt Scotch and downs it in one gulp. Pouring himself another double but this time sipping it he then turns to his brother and says, “Where the hell have you been hiding this set of balls?”
“Does that mean you agree?”
“Only as a backup plan if we can’t find a pro to our liking.”
“I can deal with tha
t. Do you think we should call Cordell off and wait for new developments or leave him alone to sniff around for potential trouble? He definitely knows what he’s doing. He got Petrillo to give him Nuzzoli’s name before he offed him.” He might be able to uncover a situation where he can use his powers of persuasion again.”
“It won’t hurt to leave him be for a while and continue to use him to remove the smaller threats that might rear their heads. If he decides to drop out of the game because of the nature of any future threats, at least we now have a plan to deal with that contingency which makes me feel a little better about things.”
Chapter 44
A little after eleven Julie returns from testifying in court and asks, “Any word from Bemis?”
“Nothing, but his admin showed up around ten. Her cat got into a scrap with a neighbor’s dog and the dog got the worst of it. The dog had deep lacerations on its snout and ear and had to be taken to the vet. She went with the neighbor and ponied up for the vet’s fee. Evidently, there’s been bad blood between the two ever since the dog caught the cat drinking out of its water bowl several months ago. I guess people aren’t the only ones to hold a grudge."
“Anything new with the arsonist?”
“Nothing.”
“Did you come up with anything new for us to pursue?”
“Again nothing. Julie, I’d bet my last nickel on the Paganellis being hip deep in the troubles surrounding the wineries as well as the killings. Everywhere I look I see them, but I can’t prove a damn thing. I’ve been racking my brain trying to come up with something that will let me get a better look at them, but nothing has shaken loose. Maybe you’ll have better luck.”
“What? You want me to rack your brain?”
“If I wasn’t so frustrated I’d laugh. Go sit down and take a crack at it. It’ll do you good to learn some of the finer points of detective work, things like being overwhelmed with your ineptness, being awed by the realization that effort isn’t directionally proportional to results, that patience is a virtue that is extremely hard to obtain, that lady luck seldom shows her face if you’re in the room, etc., etc., etc.”
“Wow. I sure hope I’m not around when you’re having a bad day.”
Smiling he says, “Go on. Leave me be to stew in my own juices. If you come up with something, don’t hesitate to rub it in my face because I’ve earned the privilege.”
Nothing new comes to light during the rest of the day or the next three days and Derrick’s beginning to feel that the investigation is on its way to becoming a lost cause. Well, something new did pop up. Two days ago Bill Bemis handed in his resignation. He called everyone into his office and told them that he had had it with the politics of the job and has decided to explore other opportunities. He said he had no idea about who would be his replacement because there was no chit-chat with George Baldwin when he handed him his resignation. Bemis said the man was literally stunned to have received it and for once was at a loss for words which really made his day. He told them that he gave no notice because he couldn’t stand to spend one more minute facing the possibility that he would have to deal with any more politicians.
Derrick is not too thrilled about this development because he was losing a great boss and he now has to deal directly with the Chief Administrator himself until other temporary arrangements can be made for the time it will take to have a special election for a new sheriff.
On a dreary Monday morning, the clouds and fog so thick the sun is completely hidden and the visibility is less than thirty feet and in some places less than that, there’s a chill in the air and the smell of impending rain which only adds to the dreariness. The weather is a perfect match for the mood Derrick is in as nothing has happened that will let him move forward with his investigation.
For the past two hours he’s been reviewing his notes, looking for something he might have overlooked, but nothing is jumping out at him. He’s feeling like the guy must have felt who has bought a lottery ticket and when the winning number was announced it’s one digit off from what he’s holding in his hand. So close, but no cigar. All the circumstantial evidence points to the Paganellis being at the center of everything that has taken place. He’s so close to nailing them, but he needs at least one piece of solid proof before he can put the cuffs on them.
When his cell phone rings he’s thinking, “The way my day is going this is probably the IRS calling to tell me I’m going to be audited.”
“Good morning, Sergeant. This is Dr. Hennessey from Queen of the Valley Hospital. There’s been significant improvement in the patient’s condition. He is a lot more cognizant and able to speak, but slowly and haltingly. I’ve asked him some simple questions like ‘What’s your name?’ and he could hear me if I spoke loudly.”
“What did he say his name was?”
“His memory has clearly been affected, but he remembered his first name. He said it is Remo.”
“Do you think he’s putting you on?”
“I don’t know. It’s quite common for patients who have experienced brain injuries to recover memory in stages. To what extent he will regain his memory I have no way of predicting. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Will it be okay for me to try to communicate with him, ask him some basic questions?”
“I don’t see any harm in it as long as you don’t overdo it. He tires easily when he tries to answer questions.”
“I’m on my way and thanks, doc.”
“Maybe, just maybe a door is about to open that will allow me to get off this dime I’ve been sitting on.”
“Julie! Drop what you’re doing and come with me. We may finally have gotten a break on who some of the other players might be in the winery case.”
On the way to Queen of the Valley Hospital, Derrick fills Julie in on the brief conversation he had with Dr. Hennessey. “I don’t know if this guy is faking his partial amnesia or if it’s for real. How forthcoming he’ll be I think will be depend on the questions asked and perhaps who does the asking. I’d like you to do the questioning because he might be more inclined and feel less threatened to be questioned by an attractive woman instead of someone like me.”
“What should I ask him?"
“The basics. What’s your name? Where do you reside? Who is your employer? What were you doing at the Arlinghaus Winery? Do you remember getting shot?”
“Okay.”
When they get to the hospital Dr. Hennessey is in surgery, but he has parted the waves with the charge nurse in ICU to allow them to talk with the patient. After she leads them to where the man is located she says, “At times he appears to be quite lucid and then he gets this blank stare in his eyes as though he has lapsed back into a comma, but he’s only fallen asleep. He tires easily and when that happens he’ll close his eyes and fall asleep, but only for a few minutes and then he wakes up and seems to know what’s going on around him. Please tread lightly with your questions. We don’t want him lapsing back into a comma. I’ll be at the nurses’ station if you need me for anything.”
Before entering the room Derrick asks the police guard, “Has anyone tried to get in to see him?”
“Not that I’m aware of, but there are three of us working eight hour shifts. Maybe the other two know of someone who has tried.”
Giving him one of his cards he says, “Find out if the other two know about anyone trying to get in to see him and call me with their answers. Before we leave, I’ll run the same question and request by the charge nurse.”
“Will do.”
Remo is awake and there’s wariness in his eye as he takes in his visitors. Derrick’s thinking, “Oh yeah, this guy’s back to the world of the living.”
Giving a nod to Julie, he backs away from the bed to observe his reactions to Julie’s questions’
“Remo, can you hear me?”
He turns his head to look at her and she repeats the question. He nods but remains silent. “Remo, what’s your last name?”