Cassandra (Fells Point Private Investigator Series)

by Denise Irwin

  “Of course, she can.”

  As they entered the ICU, Leona’s knees buckled. When she started to fall, Randy took hold of her around the waist and held her up. Shelly was sleeping. There was some sort of pump out of her left side, an IV in her arm that fed fluids and painkillers into her body. There were bandages across her face, and a very large bandage across her head. There were monitors for her heart rate and blood pressure connected to her body. Leona sucked back her tears for Randy’s sake. She forced her body to move to the other side of the bed. She took Shelly’s limp right hand into her own while Randy took her left hand.

  “Babe, I’m here. Leona’s with me. I stayed at Leona’s last night.” Randy had tears rolling down his face as he leaned over the bed to kiss his wife. “Shell, I love you.”

  The nurse stepped into the room to tell them it was time to leave. Leona leaned over the bed and told Shelly as she kissed her goodbye, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  As they left the room for the drive back to Leona’s house, she told Randy, one of us has to call her mother.”

  “I know. Can I do it tomorrow?”

  Leona knew he needed time for his emotions to recuperate before he called Shelly’s mother. “Of course, you can make that call.”

  As the Deputy Marshals drove Grossman back to the prison, he handed one of the Deputies a note he’d written before he left the safehouse to testify. “Can you please give this to Smyth for me?”

  “Sure kid, you okay?”

  “Deputy, I’m a walking dead man. I’m not going to cop a plea, so the US Attorney’s Office might find that note useful. Make sure you give it to Smyth and not anyone else.”

  After turning Grossman over to the prison guards, they walked back to the car.

  “Wanna bet that guy isn’t going to make it through the night?”

  “Nope, cause I’d bet the same as you.”

  As the car pulled into the driveway, Cassie saw that Sam was already there, standing in the driveway like some sort of century on post. “Hey guys, thanks for the lift home; ya’ll be safe on the drive back.”

  She jumped out of the car and wrapped her arms around her knight in shining armor. “Sam, I missed you.”

  “I can’t stay. Shelly was in a terrible automobile accident, so I need to get home to Leona. Sue’s made dinner. She also opened a bottle of wine. Once I know what’s going on at home, I’ll come back and check on you.”

  “Sam, tell me Shelly didn’t lose the baby.”

  “I wish I could.”

  “Oh, Sam, that’s just horrible. Please let me know how everyone’s doing.”

  Before Sam climbed into his car, he kissed her on the top of her red head and said to her, “When I see you next, you’re gonna explain this knight in shining armor statement you made.” He started the engine and drove off before she had the chance to respond.

  As Sam’s car pulled onto the marina’s lot, he saw a car pull in behind him through the gate. When he parked his car, he waited to see who exited the vehicle. Last September a car pulled in behind him and he hadn’t paid attention. Not paying attention earned him a bullet in the shoulder from a crazy Secret Service Agent he’d worked with. The last he’d heard she was in a hospital for the criminally insane, but it couldn’t hurt to be cautious.

  Sam saw a young couple exit the car, so he grabbed his bag from the trunk, and called to them, “Hey, did you use a key to get onto the parking lot?”

  It was obvious when the young man spoke that they’d been drinking alcohol, when he asked Sam, “Who wants to know?”

  Sam laughed, “I asked because if you slid in behind my car, you’ll not get back off the lot without a key. There’s a card key device on both sides.”

  The young woman spoke, “Thank you mister, I told Billy that it probably needed some code or key both ways. Would you mind opening the gate, so that we can leave?”

  “Not at all, I’ll open the gate so you can pull out.”

  When Sam opened the house door, he saw that Randy was sitting on the sofa staring at the television and he heard someone rattling pots and pans. He leaned against the kitchen doorway and laughed. “Isn’t there some song about rattle those pots and pans?”

  Leona dropped what she was doing and ran to her husband, “Sam, you just don’t how happy I am to see you. Give me a kiss hello.”

  Sam wrapped his arms around his wife and gave her a sloppy kiss. He nodded to the living room, “How’s Randy doing?”

  “Not so good. The doc let us in to see her for a few moments. The doctor told us that he’d upgraded her from critical to critical stable. I’m not sure what that means, since she looks like shit. So, we’re in limbo until the doctor knows if she’s gonna make it. Randy hasn’t called her mother and that worries me. Is the Jersey case done?”

  “For the moment, we start the federal criminal trial on Tuesday, November 27. The state trial starts the following week on Monday, December 3. How long has Randy been staring at the television?”

  “Since we came home from the hospital, I can’t get him to eat much food. He’s worrying himself to death.”

  Sam grabbed two beers out of the fridge and took both to the living room. He put one of the beers in Randy’s hand. “Sam, I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “I brought you a beer, but if you want something stronger, I’ll get it.”

  “No, I…” Randy started to sob. Sam let him cry while he could. Crying was a great tension reliever.

  Cassie was sitting down to have dinner with Sue and Neal, “It feels so good to be home.”

  Sue smiled, “We’re happy your home as well.”

  Cassie chortled, “It must suck cleaning the kennels yourself so, I’m back on duty tomorrow morning.”

  Sue laughed, “I think you’ve earned a day off.”

  “Thanks for the offer, but I’m sick and tired of sitting around. I need to get into the sunshine and shovel some shit.”

  “In that case, I’m gonna take you up on the offer. I know you can’t talk about the case, but did you get any chance to relax a little?”

  “Sue, I met a guy. He’s the state prosecutor in this case. He asked me out. What do you think I should do?”

  Sue shook her head, “Hell, honey, go out with him.”

  LoVerde walked to the burger joint across from his fleabag motel. He bought a burger and fries and turned around to walk back to the motel. A car pulled up beside him on the motel parking lot. Two thugs told him to get into the car.

  Randy sobbed for nearly an hour. Sam sat beside him the entire time. When Randy regained his emotional stability, he managed to pick at half of the food Leona handed him. When he handed the half-empty plate back to her, he said, “Thanks, do you mind if I try to get some sleep?”

  “No I don’t, I put fresh sheets on the guest bed this morning before we left for the hospital.”

  Leona and Sam waited quietly in the living room waiting for his sobbing to give way to sleep.

  “Sam, I’m heartbroken for him.”

  “How are you holding up?”

  “I’m not sure I am. To see her lying in that bed hooked up to monitors and bags of glucose and pain killers along with a pump for draining the water and phlegm out of her chest made it really hard to support Randy.”

  Leona started to cry, “Shell and I had dinner the night of the accident. She was driving home when it happened. I just think if I hadn’t asked her to go out with me, that accident would never have happened. Brown and Brown laid me off that morning. The only thing they offered me was a fucking recommendation letter. I was so pissed about what the firm had done. I asked her to join me for dinner so I could vent my anger, which means in my mind; I’m partially responsible for that accident. Sam, she lost the baby, and the car was hit so hard one of her ribs ruptured her heart.”

  Sam held her in his arms and cradled her until she drifted off to sleep.

  Two prison guards roughly pushed Grossman into a solitary confinement cell. When the guard pushed hi
s dinner through the opening in his door, Grossman knew someone had poisoned his food. He was going to die tonight. Before eating the food, he knelt beside his bed and asked God to forgive his sins.

  As Sue and Cassie cleared the dishes from the table, Sue prodded Cassie, “Tell me more about this guy who’s caught your fancy.”

  Cassie giggled, “I don’t know anything about him. He just somehow makes me feel good. He winked at me in the middle of my testimony. He’s funny and smart.”

  Sue told her, “I see that glow on your face. When do you go back?”

  “The Deputy Marshals will pick me up Monday, November 26.”

  “That’s perfect; you’ll be here for Thanksgiving. We have a full house for the holidays.”

  The thugs drove to one of the harbor port lots and told LoVerde to get out of the car and lay face down on the ground. Then they each shot him in the back of his head. As they climbed back into their car, one of the assassins dialed his cell phone, when the person he was calling answered the phone, the thug said into the phone. “It’s done.”

  When Grossman finished praying for forgiveness, he sat on his bed and started to eat his evening meal. He could taste the rat poisoning in his food. His only hope was that whoever poisoned his food got the dosage right this time. He shoveled the food in mouthful after mouthful. His last dying thought was that he’d given Sal’s name to the US Attorney’s Office. Grossman would get the last laugh. He died with a small-contorted smile on his face.

  The following morning, Sam asked Leona, “Do you want me to come with you and Randy to the hospital?”

  “I’d love that. I think Randy would like it too.”

  No sooner than the words were out of her mouth, the zombie from the guest bedroom appeared like a shadow in the kitchen, “Randy would like what?”

  Leona handed him a cup of coffee. “Sam asked if he could come to the hospital with us.”

  “Sam, I gotta tell ya, she’s is bad shape. Personally, I’d be delighted if you joined us, but don’t look shocked when you see her.”

  When they arrived at the hospital, Shelly was sitting up in bed. Randy ran to her side. “You gave me the fucking scare of my life.”

  “I gave myself, the fucking scare of my life. Randy, the doctor was in this morning. I’ve been upgraded from critical stable to stable.” As tears streamed down her pale face, she went on, “He also said that once all this surgery heals, we can try to get pregnant again.”

  Leona rushed to her side, “Shell, I’m just, so sorry.”

  Shelly giggled, “What are you just, so sorry about?”

  “If we hadn’t had dinner, you never would have been involved in an accident.”

  “You goose, it’s not your fault. Shit happens.”

  The doctor ducked his head in and asked Randy to join him in the hall.

  “Mr. Jordan, you wife has an iron will. I can say now that I never expected her to live. She’ll be in the hospital for quite a while since we still have her shattered shoulder to deal with, but my prognosis is looking much better this morning. If she looks this good tomorrow morning, I’m moving her into a step-down room, which is essentially a regular hospital room. After that, I’d really like to start physical therapy.”

  Randy hugged the doctor and through his tears, told him, “Thank you, she’s the love of my life.”

  “You’re welcome, but just remember she still has a long way to go.”

  “I will.”

  It was Saturday morning, but Smyth was in the office putting his paperwork for the Grossman case together. He had nearly a month to prepare for the trial, so he intended to spend Saturday morning getting back to the cases he’d let go of when he needed to focus on the Grand Jury indictment. When his desk phone rang, he thought about letting the caller leave a voicemail and then decided to take the call. It was probably his wife asking that he bring lunch home.

  “Smyth.”

  “Counselor, this is Deputy Marshal Brandon, Grossman gave me a note when we dropped him off at the prison yesterday. He asked that I deliver it to you personally.”

  “I’m in the office, so come on by.”

  The State Police received an anonymous tip that they look into the body of a dead man on the port docking lot.

  “Sue, I have to say, I missed working with you in the kennels.”

  As Sue reached for the hose, she asked, “Are you thinking of becoming a kennel owner yourself?”

  “I don’t know. All I know at this point is that I will be changing my life. I not sure I mean by that, but I need a life different from the one I’ve been living.”

  Brandon knocked on Smyth’s office door. “Come in.”

  Brandon handed him the note. Smyth opened it,

  “It’s likely that I’m dead as you read this note. The person you’re looking for is Salvatore Cappella. Bruce Grossman”

  “Thank you Deputy.”

  As soon as Brandon left his office, his phone rang. When he answered the call, the Prison Warden told Smyth that Grossman was dead.

  Smyth stared at the note, while he softly told the Warden, “Thank you, Warden Trenton. I wish I could tell that your call was unexpected.”

  Before Smyth had the chance to call Frankel, his phone rang again. The call was from the State Police.

  “Counselor, Antonio LoVerde’s body was found dead on a port parking lot. He was shot gang style, two bullets in the back of his head.”

  “Thank you detective.”

  Smyth sat stoically at his desk staring at the note from Grossman. If the dumb fuck had given us Cappella’s name, he’d still be alive.

  The AUSA picked up his office phone and started the phone chain. His first call was to Frankel, “Adam, I just received word that Grossman’s dead and, so is his attorney, Antonio LoVerde. Listen to this, Grossman sent a note to me through the Marshal’s Office. The person we’re looking for is Salvatore Cappella. I’ll call Agent Farlow as soon as I get a warrant to take the bastard into custody.”

  “Do you want me to call Marksman?”

  “I’d really appreciate that. I’ll let you know when Cappella’s in custody.”

  Sam had set his cell phone to vibrate when he entered the hospital. He excused himself and took the call in the hall. “Sam, its Adam Frankel. I just got a call from Smyth; the guards found Grossman dead in his cell this morning. An anonymous caller told the State Police where they could find LoVerde’s body.”

  “What? They’re both dead?”

  “Yes, both of them are dead. The real kicker is that Grossman passed a note to the Deputy who drove him back to the prison and asked that the note be hand delivered to Smyth. Grossman wrote in the note the mob head’s name. He worked for Salvatore Cappella, the jerk we’ve been investigation for years. Smyth is getting an arrest warrant for Salvatore Cappella as we speak.”

  “What the fuck is this about? Grossman would be alive if he’d given Cappella up.”

  “I know. I guess he figured Cappella would find him, so at least we got the name we’ve been trying to get for years. Do you want me to call Agent Henson?”

  “Counselor, if you don’t mind, I’d like to make that call.”

  “Sure Sam, I just thought… You’re right, you should make the call.”

  “Adam, have you taken a liking to my girl?”

  “I asked her out to dinner, when this case was done of course.”

  “Tell you what. I’ll call her then I’ll call you back, so you can officially ask her to dinner.”

  “I can go for that.”

  Neal answered the phone, “Neal, is Cassie around?”

  “Don’t I even get a ‘hello Neal, how’s it going’ first?”

  “Yeah, you do, but it has to wait until after I talk to her.”

  “Hold on while I transfer your call to the kennel phone.”

  When the kennel phone rang, Cassie called to Sue who out in one of the runs with the water hose, “Sue I’ve got it.”

  “Sampson Kennels, this is Cassie, h
ow may I help you.” Cassie was reaching for the kennel schedule when she heard Sam’s voice.

  “Agent Henson, it seems to me that you’ve ditched me.”

  “Investigator Marksman, what the hell are you talking about?”

  “Agent Henson, you were about to cheat on me.”

  Aghast that he would say such a thing about her, “I would never cheat on you.”

  “Did a certain ADA ask you to dinner?”

  Sam knew he had cooked her goose, as she stammered for words, “I…” then she laughed so hard, she dropped the phone. She scrambled to grab the fallen phone. “How did you know that?”

  “He called to ask my permission.”

  “Samuel J. Marksman you better be joking or I’ll...”

  “Or you’ll what?”

  “Did Adam really call you and ask your permission to take me to dinner?”

  “No, but it did come up in conversation. The reason I’m call you is actually business. Grossman was poisoned and the guard found him dead in his cell this morning. His attorney’s body was found on the port parking lot, shot in the back of the head.”

  Cassie started to interrupt, but Sam told her he wasn’t done. “Grossman had a note delivered to Smyth revealing the mob leader’s name. Smyth’s getting an arrest warrant. It’s over.”

  Cassie sat down on the floor of the kennel’s office, “It’s over, just like that?”

  “Just like that, I’m outside of the hospital, so I’m gonna give your Prince Charming a call and let him know he can call you.”

  “Why are you at a hospital? Is Leona okay?”

  “Leona’s fine. Do you remember Shelly Jordan from our wedding?”

  “Yes.”