“For the record,” Manny grumbled, “I’m not too happy about you driving my car.”
“If I let you drive, who’s going to take pictures?”
“You can handle a camera, Pete.”
“Not as good as you. Plus, you’ve never tailed a car before.”
“No shit. Maybe now’s a good time for me to start learning?”
Wallachi shook his head. “Not on an op this big. But I promise you’ll do the tailing on our next job.”
Manny seemed placated. “Okay. Just don’t drive my car the way you do yours. Be more careful. Don’t run stop signs or try to beat red lights like you always do.”
Wallachi arrived at the 71st Precinct an hour before Galvani normally got off work. After parking down the street, he sent Manny out for refreshments.
“Boff,” Hannah said, “do you think you can talk to that Bellucci character? He’s been eating my vegetables without asking me. I never should’ve taken him to a vegan restaurant.”
“Ask Danny. He’s his roommate.”
“I did. He refused to help.”
“That’s bullshit,” Cullen said. “I told Mikey if he was going to eat your vegetables, he had to buy replacements. And he did.”
“Junky produce from the supermarket! Loaded with pesticides. I only buy organic.”
Cullen shook his head in frustration. “You know, you could lighten up a little on Mikey and me. We’ve bent over backyards to meet all your ridiculous demands. Not to mention I have to sleep on my couch. You should be grateful to us.”
“I didn’t ask to live with you. I was forced to.”
“Then deal with it and stop bitching. I encounter all kinds of difficult situations in the ring, and I have to adapt or lose the fight.”
“This is real life,” she said, “not boxing.”
Cullen spit out a laugh. “Real life? Really? What the hell do you know about real life? You’ve spent years in fancy colleges, you’ve been babied by Cassidy, and you chose to work for a small newspaper so you could be the queen bee.”
Wallachi raised his voice a notch. “Can we tone it down?”
When the redhead didn’t reply to Cullen, he nodded. He’d finally put her in her place. But, of course, he knew it would be a very short-lived victory. She would probably punish him by making his life even more miserable at home than it already was.
Wallachi turned to Boff. “Frank, why’d you bring her in the first place?”
“Partly because Cassidy insisted,” Boff replied. “Also to get even with you for bringing Manny along.”
The crack op bristled. “Hey, don’t compare me to her! I’m nowhere near as bad as she is. Plus, I contribute to the team with my camera work. What exactly does she do? Besides complain about everything?”
Wallachi shook his head. “Both of you! Shut. The Fuck. Up.”
Galvani left the station at three-fifteen with his Hispanic partner. They got in the Mustang and Galvani drove it to a Jamaican section of Crown Heights, then parked in front of a store with black curtains covering its front window. On an adjacent stoop was a bunch of young Jamaicans that Boff recognized from a previous case he had worked on. The store, he knew, was the headquarters for a street gang called the Jamaican Posse. Getting out of the Mustang, Galvani and his partner walked up to the stoop and showed their badges to the gang members.
“What’s this about?” Hannah asked.
“They’re probably investigating a murder or a robbery in the area,” Boff replied. “Those guys they’re talking to are members of a Jamaican gang.”
Galvani and his partner talked to the gang members for about fifteen minutes. Boff noticed that the Hispanic cop had a pad and pen out but wasn’t writing much on it. That didn’t surprise him. From his own experience with this gang, he knew they wouldn’t reveal much, if anything, to strangers. Especially cops.
After the two detectives finished questioning the gang, Galvani drove a few blocks away and double parked near a Jamaican grocery. They spent twenty minutes inside the store. From there, Galvani drove back to the precinct, dropped off his partner, then continued to his apartment building and disappeared inside.
“I have a feeling this is not going to be a fruitful day,” Hannah muttered.
Wallachi’s phone rang. “Yeah, Bob?” He listened for a few moments and then hung up.
“My op tailing Laterza said he’s alone in his Beamer and appears to be heading our way.”
Ten minutes later, Laterza drove past the surveillance team and double parked outside Galvani’s building. Moments later, the cop walked out carrying a black duffle bag and climbed into the Beamer.
Boff said, “That black duffle looks like the bag he came out of the Hells Angels’ headquarters with.”
“If they’re going on another raid,” Hannah said, “where’s the other guy?”
“He could be joining them at the garage where the fake NYPD van is stowed,” Wallachi said.
Boff shook his head. “No. That bag makes me feel they’ve got a different agenda right now.”
They followed Laterza until he drove inside the parking facility where the church SUV was parked.
“This looks promising,” Wallachi said.
Ten minutes later, the church vehicle came out of the facility, the cop behind the wheel, the longshoreman riding shotgun.
Manny snapped off some pictures, then lowered his camera. “Pete, why do you think Galvani is taking just Laterza along this time?”
“Not sure,” Wallachi said. “Most logical reason is they’re not going on a raid. Like Frank said, they’ve got have something different in mind. Something requiring just two guys.”
“Like what?”
“Well,” Boff replied, “it’s possible Galvani’s taking Laterza along because he’s going to drive outside the city limits.”
“So what if he is?” the crack op asked.
“Well, let’s say the SUV’s outside city limits and Galvani gets stopped for some reason by a cop or a state trooper. He can’t just flash his badge and say he’s working undercover looking for a suspect. No cop goes on a mission like that without a partner.”
Boff’s theory proved correct. Galvani drove through the Lincoln Tunnel to New Jersey, went north on Route 3 to the Garden State Parkway, then took the Parkway north until it merged onto the NY State Thruway.
“What do you make of this, Frank?”
“I think we can rule out sightseeing.”
When the Thruway split, and Galvani took the fork for Albany/Montreal, Boff turned around to Manny.
“Use your BlackBerry to find a map of Massena,” he said.
Manny typed a query. “Okay, I got a map. Massena is right near the Canadian border.”
“If they’re going to Massena,” Wallachi said, “and it’s near the border, we’re in for a long ride.”
Boff nodded. “We should’ve brought more food.”
“Manny,” Wallachi said, “use MapQuest to get directions from Brooklyn to Massena.”
After the crack op had worked on his Blackberry a few minutes, he looked up and made a face. “Crap. It’s another five hours away.”
“Maybe they’re not going to Massena,” Hannah said.
“If they weren’t,” Boff replied, “then why are they driving the church SUV?” He turned to Wallachi. “How’re you doing on gas?”
Manny replied before his boss did. “I filled up before I went to the gym.”
“How many miles per gallon does this thing get?” Wallachi asked.
“The manual says thirty-two on the highway. That’s about right.”
Wallachi frowned. “We’ve got a little less than three-quarters of a tank. We won’t make it to Massena. We’re going to have to stop for gas at some point.”
“Yes, but so will Galvani,” Boff said. “That SUV probably gets no more than fifteen or twenty miles per gallon. When they stop for gas, we stop for gas. These thruway stations are pretty big. If we park by a pump that’s as far from the SUV a
s possible, they shouldn’t spot us. Also, the rest stops we’ve passed have all had restaurants. We can get some food while we’re gassing up.”
Chapter 33
An hour past Albany, Galvani finally pulled into a thruway rest stop to get gas. Wallachi was able to find a pump far enough away so he wouldn’t be noticed. While Wallachi filled the tank, Cullen jogged to the Starbucks nearby. In addition to coffees, he got a chicken and vegetable wrap for himself, the same thing minus the chicken for Hannah, and three ham and Swiss sandwiches along with three turkeys and Swiss for the others. As he got back to the car, Galvani was just taking off.
“We won’t lose him, will we?” Cullen asked.
“Nah,” Wallachi said. “We’ll catch up soon enough.” As soon as he got back onto the thruway, he gunned the car.
“Hey!” Manny erupted. “Don’t run my car into the ground! It’s not fully broken in yet!”
“You’re not fully broken in yet, either,” Wallachi said with a chuckle. “But I still use you.” He kept his foot to the pedal and took the car up to ninety.
The crack op leaned over the front seat and looked at the speedometer. “Slow down! You’ll ruin my engine!”
“Just a couple more minutes.”
As soon as the church SUV was in sight, Wallachi eased off the pedal and brought it down to seventy. When he did, Cullen started passing around the sandwiches and coffees.
Three hours later all the food and coffee was gone and nobody felt like talking. Galvani finally got off the thruway at exit 30 and pulled onto Route 9.
“Hey, Pete,” Manny said, “Galvani’s following the MapQuest directions to Massena.”
A half hour later, Galvani left Route 9 and began a long stretch to Massena using state highways. There wasn’t much traffic on most of the roads, so Wallachi kept far back and relied on the GPS tracker. The cop eventually got onto NY 420, which Manny said would take them directly into the city.
When Galvani reached Massena, he drove past the Alcoa plant and some constructions sites, and factories, then made a right turn onto Aluminum Workers Highway. After passing a Wal-Mart Supercenter, he began taking a series of smaller roads that were dotted here and there with modest homes and farms.
Hannah pointed ahead. “Look! The sign on that farm says they grow organic vegetables and fruit. I’d love to stop and buy some super-fresh produce.”
Wallachi glanced in his mirror at the redhead. “You want me to let you off at the farm?” he asked. “We can pick you up on the way back. Who knows, you might find your calling and get a job picking lettuce.”
The roads grew more and more desolate, forcing Wallachi to stay further and further behind Galvani. When they lost sight of the SUV, they relied on the GPS.
“Pete,” Manny said, “he’s stopping somewhere up ahead. About a half mile away.”
Hearing this, Wallachi gunned the car hard until they were able to see Galvani’s SUV in the distance. Then he slowed to a crawl and stopped on the road, where they watched as the cop turned into a long driveway next to an old stone house. There wasn’t a paved shoulder, so Wallachi pulled off the road onto the grass and chose a spot under a big maple tree to park. That way, the Crown Vic was partially hidden.
“Manny,” Boff said, “do you have high-powered binoculars?”
“Sure do.” The crack op pulled a pair out of his camera bag. “This baby’s a Bushnell twenty-by-fifty surveillance binocular with zoom capacity,” he announced.
“Good. Zero in on the SUV and tell me what they’re doing.”
“They’re just standing outside of the SUV. Leaning against it.”
“Give me the binoculars,” Boff said. “You use your camera and take pictures. Will your camera zoom have reasonable clarity from this distance?”
“Count on it.”
“Here’s what I want you to do. First, get me a couple shots showing Galvani and Laterza standing next to the church SUV. Then zoom out a bit and show the two of them in the same frame as the house. After that, zoom out even more and include the road in the shot.”
“Why the road?” Manny asked.
“I want to show how isolated the house is. Take pictures of everything they do.”
The crack op handed his binoculars to Boff, then grabbed his camera and started snapping off the requested shots.
After focusing the binoculars on the house and the SUV, Boff reported to the others what he was seeing. “The lawn’s overgrown with weeds…. A couple window panes are missing on the house….Nobody’s walking anywhere.” He lowered his glasses and looked at Wallachi. “Pete, the house looks abandoned.”
He raised the binoculars again. “Galvani just opened the rear door of his vehicle and took out some kind of tool.… He’s kneeling by the rear end of the SUV…. Drops down on his knees and sticks his head under the car…. Now he’s seems to be using his tool on something under the car.… Oh, this is interesting. A large false bottom dropped down under the SUV. It looks empty…. Galvani stands back up and resumes his position leaning against the car next to Laterza…. He’s not putting the tool away. It’s still in his hand.”
“Man,” Cullen said, “this thing gets crazier and crazier.”
Hannah’s phone rang. “Hi, Uncle Mike.”
Want to have dinner tonight?
“Love to. It’ll have to be a late one, though. I’m sightseeing in upstate New York near the Canadian border.”
What the hell are you doing up there? Who’s with you?
“The usual suspects. We tailed Galvani up here. I’ll explain later. Bye.”
Something in the rearview mirror suddenly caught Wallachi’s attention. “About a hundred yards away,” he said, still looking in the mirror, “there’s another SUV approaching us.” He turned around to his crack op. “Is there a map in your glove compartment?”
“Yes. I keep one just in case I forget to bring my Blackberry.”
“Frank, give me the map and lower your glasses. The rest of you slide down in the seat so you’re not visible from the road.”
Wallachi spread the map open against his steering wheel. “They’ll see the map,” he said, “and figure I got lost and just pulled over to check where I am.”
“What if the SUV stops?” Hannah asked. “And the driver gets out and offers to help you? Then they’ll see us in the backseat.”
“Not gonna happen. If they get out of their car, I’ll get out, too, and walk over to them.”
He kept his eyes on the rear view mirror for a minute. “Well I’ll be damned. This SUV, ladies and gentlemen, is dark blue and looks identical to the one Galvani is driving.”
The second SUV sped by without stopping. As it passed them, Boff noted that the car had Canadian plates; there were a man and a woman in the front seat and two kids in back; and—most intriguing of all—the words Sonlight Christian Reformed Church were painted on the side. He relayed that info to his crew in the backseat.
“Pete, this looks really promising,” he added.
“You bet your ass it does.”
When the second church SUV had gotten far enough away, Boff told the rest of his crew they could sit up. Then he raised his binoculars and instructed Manny to resume shooting.
“I expect the second SUV to rendezvous with Galvani.”
Sure enough, the Canadian SUV turned into the same driveway and drove up alongside its twin. The man and woman got out first, followed by a teenage boy and a girl. Galvani walked over to them and shook hands with the man.
Still watching through the binoculars, Boff said, “The Canadians look like a typical middle-class family.”
“What’s this all about?” Hannah asked.
“Well, I believe another transfer of some sort is about to take place.” He continued narrating. “Galvani’s kneeling down at the rear of the Canadian car. He’s using the same tool he used under his own SUV…. Ah, and lo and behold, another false bottom drops down. This one isn’t empty. It looks like there are three big duffle bags inside it. Galva
ni puts his tool down and drags one of the bags out. It must be heavy, because he waves Laterza over to help him lug the bag to their own SUV.… And of course they push the bag into their own false compartment…. Then they go back to the Canadian vehicle and get a second bag…. Shove it into their false compartment…. After the third and final bag is loaded in, Galvani and Laterza lift the false bottom and close it…. Galvani uses his tool to lock the compartment.”
He brought the binoculars down. “That’s a decent size load, whatever it is,” he said. Then he raised the binoculars and went back to watching. “Now Galvani’s going over to his SUV.… He opens the rear door and brings out the black bag he got from the Hells Angels.… Unzips it and shows what’s inside it to the Canadian man. The Canadian puts a hand inside the bag for a few moments, then nods. Galvani zips up the bag and carries it to the rear of the Canadian SUV…. Kneels down by their false compartment. Puts the black bag in the compartment and closes it and locks it.”
Lowering his binoculars again, Boff said, “Exchange complete. I think there was money from the Angels in Galvani’s bag to pay for whatever the Canadians smuggled in.”
“And the cash,” Wallachi added, “was from the sale of the drugs that Galvani gave them from his phony raid.”
“It would seem so,” Boff replied. “Pete, odds are that both SUVS will be coming back this way. I suggest you drive past the house right now. Stop somewhere up the road, close enough that we can see them with the binoculars and camera, but not be noticed by them.”
Moving at fast clip, Wallachi passed the house and stopped about a hundred yards away. After doing a U-turn, he parked Manny’s car on the grass. Boff raised his glasses and resumed his narration.
“The house is blocking my vision of Galvani and the Canadians, but that’s not going to matter. Here comes the Canadian SUV, backing out of the driveway. Mr. and Mrs. John Canuck and their lovely family are returning to Canada after a very brief vacation. Manny, get a shot of the Canadian vehicle’s license plate.”
The Payback Game Page 19