by Dan Kelly
“That’s about all I can think of for now. Do we have your permission for the tap and do you think you could pull this off if your husband does call you?”
“You certainly have my permission to tap our phone, but as for the rest of what you’re asking I don’t know. I’m not a very good liar, but I’ll do my best.”
“That’s all we’re asking, Katherine.”
I wave Don and Doris over and relate to them what we’ve been talking about and what Katherine has agreed to do. Don says, “Mrs. Aldrich, I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now, but your willingness to help us put an end to your husband’s killing spree in the midst of all this emotional turmoil is greatly appreciated and makes you a very special lady in my book.”
“At the moment, I don’t feel special. For some unexplainable reason, I feel nothing but guilt. I feel like I’m betraying my husband in helping you to arrest him or worse. I know that sounds horrible, but that’s what I’m feeling right now. Maybe I’m getting ready to flip out.”
Suddenly, I was at a loss for words. I didn’t know how to respond to that and that doesn’t happen to me very often. Thankfully, Janet fielded that unexpected comment before things really got awkward.
“Katherine, I think what you’re feeling now is quite normal for someone who has had a successful marriage full of love, loyalty and happiness for so many years only to have it torn apart by a tragedy that you and your husband perceive might have been prevented if others were doing what they were supposed to be doing.
“To make matters worse, in your eyes, and I’m not saying you aren’t seeing the truth of the matter, these people have not been made to answer for their negligence, their deviousness, and this has driven your husband to take matters into his own hands to settle the score. It took courage and determination, however misguided, to take the first step down the road your husband is on, but it also took courage and determination on your part not to go down that road yourself. You still have a proper sense of what is right and wrong. Your husband no longer does, but because your husband did something to render justice that was being denied and you have elected to stay within the law, it’s understandable why you would have some feeling of guilt because you have not done something more forceful, more dramatic, to get justice for your son. In short, your husband is doing something about this miscarriage of justice, is still fighting the battle, while you have apparently accepted things the way they turned out.
“However, if you will take the time to think about what I’ve just said you will realize there is no good reason for you to be on this guilt trip. You are doing what is right, not just in the eyes of the law, but in the eyes of everyone who is capable of discerning right from wrong and your conscience will let you live with it.
“I’m sorry for being such a motor mouth. I just want to get you back on the right track with your thinking. How did I do?”
With tears in her eyes and a sad smile on her face she says, “You did great and thank you.”
Taking hold of Katherine's hands in a comforting manner Janet says, “I’m glad. Okay everybody let’s get this show on the road.”
Chapter 24
About mid-afternoon a couple of days later Ericson calls me at my office to tell me that Hank Aldrich has just contacted his wife to apologize for everything she is being forced to live with because of him.
“At the beginning of the call he appeared to be quite calm and lucid, but he soon lapsed into ranting and raving about how what he is doing is just payback for what these scum, his word, did to their son. He said if it wasn’t for the media blitz he’d be done with his planned executions, his word again. He ended the call by telling his wife that he loved her, but he wasn’t going to surrender even if he does accomplish everything he set out to do. He said there was no way he was going to spend the rest of his life rotting away in some prison. He said he had a few more people to deal with and then he would just disappear. He urged his wife to forget about him, to pick up the pieces and move on. There was no good bye, just the sound of him breaking the connection. It was both very scary and kind of sad.
“The call was traced to a pay phone at Union Station, but by the time my guys got there he was long gone. I think it’s time to set our trap and put an end to this guy’s rampage. Hopefully, we can do that before he kills someone else.”
“Okay, I’ll ask the obvious questions, when, where and how?”
“I’d like to keep the blitz going while we set things up. Keeping the pressure on him will make luring him into our trap a lot easier. I want to do this ASAP, so I’m going to set up a meeting between one of our SWAT teams, our imposter, Andy Barrows, his bodyguard, Nora Sinclair, and you and Janet for tomorrow morning right after our shift on the phones. As for the where, I still believe the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD is the perfect setting for this and will proceed on that basis. The purpose of the meeting tomorrow will be to introduce the participants to each other and to focus on the details.
“The media blitz has to be getting in the Crusader’s way because other than the attempts on you and Janet he hasn’t gone after anyone else. That doesn’t mean he won’t though, so the sooner we can start the ball rolling the better. I’m shooting for putting the ‘President’s visit’ on his schedule on his office computer no later than two days from now with the visit to take place two days hence. That gives us four days to work things out, including how we can get him to hack into the President’s computer to find out about the visit.”
“Okay. Who’s going to clue in the President about what we’re up to, not Piedmont I hope.”
“I’ll call him after our meeting tomorrow when I know how we’re going to proceed.”
“I’ll call Janet now to bring her into the loop and get her thinking about ways we can go about putting this guy down for the count.”
“Alright, see you tomorrow.”
I call Janet and we agree to get together for dinner at Morey’s Diner and to toss around ideas for a bad guy trap that will keep the good guys’ exposure to harm at an absolute minimum. It will be impossible to adequately prepare for every contingency. There are just too many unknown variables in something like this, but I’m hoping we’ll be able to come up with a plan that will address the most likely scenarios.
I spend the rest of the afternoon doing research on the physical plant and layout of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to acquaint myself with the number of buildings, where they are located on the property and what’s in them. I’m trying to identify the most likely places the Crusader could conceal himself until he makes his move. I soon realize that I’m missing a key piece of information, the location of the helipad where the mock press conference is to be held. I’m going to have to call Ericson to see where it is.
It takes four attempts before I finally get through to him and then he puts me on hold. When he comes back on the line he says, “Make it quick, Chet. I’ve got pandemonium taking place here and I’m trying to decide if I should try to deal with it or just sit back and enjoy the show.”
“What’s happening?”
“Twenty minutes ago some well-meaning and obviously very well-heeled citizen put up a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the Crusader. This has brought every crackpot in the area out of the woodwork and onto their phones. To top it all off, about a half hour ago Piedmont confronted me as I was walking into the building with complaints about how the Crusader investigation was going, insufficient progress were the words he used, and he said that he was thinking of taking it over himself. Before I had a chance to say anything, the sound of gun fire hit my ears and bullets were ricocheting off the side of the building just above Piedmont’s head. I dove for cover behind one of the pillars supporting the overhang at the front door and yelled for Piedmont to do the same, but he just stood there like a deer in someone’s headlights. I had to yank him down alongside me and I’m still kicking myself in the pants for doing so
. He was lucky he wasn’t hit. I think it was the sudden glare of the sun as it momentarily broke through the clouds reflecting off the windows that spoiled the Crusader’s aim.”
“How do you know the shooter was the Crusader?”
“As usual, he left his calling card, this time in an envelope at the reception desk in the lobby. He paid a kid five bucks to drop it off. There was a note on the back of the card. It said, ‘You and Ericson were lucky this time. I won’t give up.’
“Chet, in this guy’s eyes, everybody that tries to stop him from getting his revenge is the enemy. He’s completely out of control. There’s a good side to this though. Now Piedmont has to deal with this maniac on a personal basis also. I’m almost hoping he’ll take over the investigation so I can watch him go down in flames. He’s strictly a paper pusher. He just isn’t emotionally equipped, tough enough, to deal with what goes on in the field. He froze out there today.
Pausing for a minute he then says, “On second thought though, I can’t give up the investigation without a fight. Who knows what the Crusader will be able to get away with if Piedmont is at the helm. Somebody was definitely asleep at the switch when he was promoted into his current slot.”
I say, “If the Crusader isn’t stopped soon, his self-confidence is going to be so strong that he’ll be thinking he can get away with just about anything. If that happens, the bodyguards may need bodyguards.”
“Why were you calling me?”
I tell him and he gives me the location. “The helipad is the ideal place because it’s outside, so if any shooting starts nobody in the hospital will be in harm’s way. A portable canopy can be erected to deal with any inclement weather conditions.”
“Okay, that’s all I wanted to know. See you tomorrow.”
I know Ericson will be calling the President tomorrow, but if I don’t give the President a heads up he’ll be more than a little peeved at me because he hates to be blindsided, so I punch in the number without even putting the phone down.
When the President answers he says, “I hope you have some good news for me. I’ve been the world’s football today. Even the first lady had it in for me because I forgot to kiss someone’s butt she’s been trying to recruit for one of her pet projects.”
“It’s not bad news. How good it is I’ll leave up to your interpretation.”
I bring him up to date on everything and then tell him what are next step is going to be. “Mr. President, we’ll have to coordinate our scheme with your real life agenda which you’ll have to keep off your office computers until our trap is sprung. This guy is a high tech guru and can hack into just about anything.”
“That can be arranged. When Agent Ericson calls tomorrow, he’ll receive my full cooperation. Happy hunting, Chet.” Click.
When I hang up I start thinking about how Aldrich was able to get into a concealed position, take shots at Piedmont and Ericson and get away without being seen and recognized. The media blitz has certainly gotten the word out about him. The only thing I can think of is he’s taken to wearing some kind of disguise. I’m guessing this can work for short periods of time, but a disguise has got to get very annoying if worn too long, hot and itchy being the first thing that comes to mind.
Since he’s not a master at disguises, even when he’s wearing one he could still be recognized by someone with a keen eye. That makes me feel a little better about that possible turn of events, not much but even a sip of Bushmills is better than none at all.
It’s after six when I manage to walk out the door to my car to head for Morey’s. When I pull up to Morey’s parking lot, it’s full and parking on the street is at a premium, so I have to drive around for ten minutes before I get the chance to out jockey a little old lady from Pasadena type for a spot a couple of doors down from Morey’s. Her response was far from ladylike. It might have been an arthritic condition, but the look on her face convinced me otherwise.
I had made reservations for six-thirty and it was now pushing seven and the place was packed. If Janet hasn’t shown up on time, we are going to be out of luck for dinner at Morey’s. As I’m waiting in line to talk to the receptionist, Janet comes in. She spots me and hurries over all out of breath. “I’m sorry, Chet. The tail wagged the dog today. I’ve been hanging on and going with the flow ever since I showed up for work today.”
“Not to worry, but we may have to find someplace else to eat as I just got here myself, so we probably lost our reservation. I’m waiting to talk with the receptionist to see if they held it.”
Just then Sadie spots us and comes over to tell us that she saved our reservation for us. “I knew if you didn’t call, you were just running late.”
Janet says, “You’re a sweetheart, Sadie. I haven’t had a chance to grab a bite to eat since breakfast and that was only a buttered bagel and a glass of mango juice.”
Sadie says. “Follow me you two. I’ve set you up in the new dining room and we have a special treat for our customers this evening. He is a musical virtuoso who tickles the ivories with a wonderful repertoire that will at the very least aid and abet our diners’ digestive juices. His name is Ray Reardon and he comes on at seven-thirty. You’re gonna love him.”
When we arrive at our table, I see that we are being seated close to the piano, about twenty-five, thirty feet away, and there is a beautiful bouquet of flowers resting in the middle of the table. None of the other tables have flowers.
As Sadie hurries off, I glance at Janet and catch her stealing a glance at me. We smile at each other somewhat awkwardly and Janet says, “It appears our host is up to some cupid shenanigans this evening.”
I reply with what I’m hoping comes across as casual aplomb although I feel my face turning beet red. “It appears so.”
The next thing I know Janet is laughing uncontrollably, but eventually she catches her breath enough to say, “Red definitely isn’t your color.” This triggers another burst of laughter and all I can think of to say or do is to be a gentleman and assist her with her chair and keep my mouth shut. My Mr. Cool façade is vanishing faster than my money in Vegas and I’ve set records for that.
Finally, she runs out of steam and apologizes for her fits of laughter. “I’m sorry, Chet. I didn’t mean to embarrass you, but the look on your face just now was hilarious. Sadie really put us in a tough spot by assuming our relationship is something other than a working one. I’m fortunate in that my complexion is dark enough to hide any signs of embarrassment, especially in the summer when I’m sporting a tan.”
“Well, her heart was in the right place even though her thinking cap was slightly askew.”
Looking at me with her bug under a microscope stare she says, “Only slightly?”
Oh boy. How are you going to react to this little feeler, Dawson? You’ve been developing some strong feelings for the lady and she’s just cast her line smack dab in the middle of your pond. Are you going to nibble at her bait or let her troll some more? Stop trying to kid yourself. This decision is a no brainer. She’s already hooked you with her query.
“Well, I feel we are in the process of developing a friendship as well as a working relationship, don’t you? That’s something that could easily be misread by a romantic like Sadie, don’t you think?” That’s not a bad nibble. Let’s see if she’s going to make me choke on it.
Smiling mischievously she responds with, “I think you should have been a politician the way you have with words, Dawson.”
Choke, choke, choke. I’m resuscitated by the waitress coming over to gives us our menus and take our drink orders and the piano player coming out to check out the mike for his first show.
The piano is a beautiful Baldwin and I find myself looking forward to the beautiful music to come from it shortly. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a romantic evening and there are hints that this might turn out to be a doozy even with the Crusader hanging over our heads.
The name Morey’s Diner is a misnomer in spades. It started out as a typical diner with a lo
ng Formica counter with stools plus booths along the front wall by the windows, but over the years Morey and Sadie have added on three large rooms to accommodate the ever increasing demand for Morey’s cooking and Sadie’s witticisms and genuine caring interest in her customers’ lives. It now has the ambience of an upscale restaurant. The two of them are always looking for ways to make their customers dining experience a more relaxing and pleasant one and Mr. Reardon is an ideal example of that.