A small crowd had gathered around them. Troy felt humbled by how quickly he’d been adopted into this community.
Troy nodded, then he looked at Rufini again. “I’m only going to ask you one more time. Who sent you?” He lifted Rufini’s bound hands behind his back until the fat man howled.
“I don’t know their names, I swear. They kill my wife. They are going to kill me.” Ismar bawled like a baby.
Troy tightened his grip. “It was you who followed Tobi home the other night, it was you who tried to sabotage her car, and it was you who hit me in the head with the wire cutter.”
“Yes, yes, it was me.” Rufini nodded his head rapidly up and down. “They made me do it.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know their names. They only say they are from ‘the Project.’ That’s all I know. And they give me money. I wanted to give it back, but they say no.”
“Tzenkov? Is that who you work for?” Troy hyperextended Rufini’s arms again until he screamed.
Tobi was suddenly at his side. “Troy. Stop. He’s a nobody. He’s not worth it,” she whispered.
Troy barely recognized himself, consumed by a murderous rage. He lowered Rufini’s arms.
The sirens got closer and a minute later, blue and red strobe lights lit up the parking lot. Officers Tarman and Westin got out of the patrol car.
Tarmin recognized Tobi immediately. “You guys again,” he said.
Rabbi Lilly, Reggie, and Lynn walked over to Tobi protectively.
“He threw that knife at Tobi and when that didn’t work, he pulled out a gun. Jimmy has the gun,” Troy motioned with his head.
Rufini squirmed when he heard “knife” but couldn’t speak; Troy had mashed his face back into the ground.
Jimmy handed the revolver to the Suffolk officers. “I’m ‘on the job,’ ninth precinct, New York City. This is my side gig.” The officers shook hands. “There was definitely something moving in the bushes at the south end of the lot. I went to check it out and then I heard the gunshot and the screams. The knife may actually have been thrown from there.”
“What is going on here?” Rabbi asked, but she looked at Tobi and Troy. “You guys don’t seem particularly surprised by any of this.”
“It’s a long story, Rabbi, not one for standing out in the cold,” Tobi said.
Officer Tarman looked at Troy. “Is this the same guy who hit you at your girlfriend’s house last week?”
Troy saw Tobi flinch when the officer identified her as his girlfriend. “Yes, officer, and he will admit it to you himself. Won’t you, Rufini?”
“Yes, yes, it was me. I did that. I had to do it, they made me do it, but I didn’t throw any knife! I was going to shoot her, but I couldn’t do it!”
“You couldn’t do it because I stopped you!” Troy snapped back.
“Well, I guess you guys will sleep easier tonight,” Tarman said.
Troy let go of Rufini and let Officer Westin pick him up and drag him into the patrol car. Rufini kept muttering, “No knife, no knife ….”
“I don’t know, officer,” Troy said, addressing Tarman. “He was taking orders from someone else.”
Westin examined the double constrictor knot, grinning. “Geez,” he said, “this is more secure than cuffs.”
“Get it off me,” Rufini yelled, “it hurts, get it off!”
“Sorry chum, we’ll need to cut that off at the station.” He pushed the fat man into the back of the car and locked the door while Tarman walked over to Troy and Tobi.
“I’ll need you two to come down to the station with me. Dr. Lister, are you injured? Is that blood?”
Troy spun around. Her shoulder! “Tobi …” his voice cracked.
Rabbi Lilly took charge. “No one is going anywhere. Tobi, come back inside and let’s get your jacket off.”
“We’ll call an ambulance,” Tarman offered.
“No! No ambulance. I don’t do hospitals,” Tobi said definitively.
Of course, Troy thought, she’s not going to be reasonable about this. The guilt was overwhelming. He’d promised to keep her safe and the knife had sailed right past him and into her.
“Did you all witness this?” Tarman asked.
“Lynn and I were just walking to our car when we heard Tobi scream,” Reggie said. “I saw Troy run around the side of the car and tackle that guy just as the gun went off.”
Tarman had gone over to Tobi to take the knife for evidence. “There’s blood on this knife,” he said. “We should take you to the hospital.” He looked at it more closely. “This is a very unusual knife.” He held it out to his partner. “Hey, Westin, have you ever seen anything like this?”
Officer Westin came over to inspect it.
“I’ve seen these before, usually when someone is trying to hide from a metal detector. If I’m not mistaken, it’s Grivory.” He walked over to Rufini. “Where’d you get this? Why do you have a Grivory knife?”
“It’s not my knife!” Rufini started jabbering in Turkish. He looked like he was having a nervous breakdown.
Tarman was scanning the parking lot. “I think we need to clear everyone out of here and do a search of the grounds. Dr. Lister, I want you to be checked out in the hospital.” As he spoke, several other patrol cars arrived on the scene.
“No, no, I’m fine! It’s probably just a scratch.”
Troy walked over to her. “Let’s go inside and look, okay?” She was never going to just walk into an emergency department, of that he was sure.
They walked back into the building, and Troy gently took her coat off. There was blood caked onto her sweater.
“Damn, I liked this sweater,” she said. Chloe, Lynn, and Rabbi Lilly took her into the ladies room to get a better look, and Troy was left to wait with Reggie and Leo. Rabbi Lilly had kindly but firmly recommended that the rest of the congregants go home. Leo was very sweet and asked if they needed anything before continuing to clean up after the oneg.
“Oh my God, it’s so lucky you were here tonight, she might have been killed!” Reggie said. “You never did say how you two know each other. I don’t remember Tobi ever mentioning you.”
Troy laughed. “No, I don’t suppose she would have. I didn’t leave under the best of circumstances. None of it was her fault; all of it was, well, it wasn’t entirely mine—at least I tell myself that. It was circumstance ….” He knew he was rambling.
Reggie said nothing, and Troy felt pressured to continue. This guy was a friend of Tobi’s, would she be okay with Troy talking to him? Right now, Troy really wanted someone to talk to.
“Tobi had a brother––”
“I know, he died years ago, like my sister. We kind of adopted each other. Both of us lost our parents and our only siblings.”
Troy looked closer at Reggie. He was about their age with a full head of short gray hair, thick mustache, and kind eyes. Tobi was lucky to have him for a “bro.”
“Yes, well, her brother—”
“It’s not deep, but it needs to be sutured,” Tobi said as she came back into the lobby with Chloe, Rabbi, and Lynn. “I’m not going to the hospital. I just texted Ellie, and she’ll meet me at the office and throw a couple of stitches in it, then we can go to the precinct. Meanwhile, I need to call out for tomorrow.”
“Do you want us to come with you?” Rabbi Lilly asked.
“Thank you, but no. I’ll be okay with Troy. You have a bar mitzvah tomorrow morning; you should go home.”
Chapter 61
“Damn!” Kazi spit on the ground.
“Quiet, you punk, they will hear us,” Mannfort whispered. The security guard was approaching, and Mannfort grabbed Kazi’s arm and motioned with his head toward the street. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” They softly retraced their steps out of the brush and headed for the side road where they had parked th
e car.
“But I never miss, Mannya,” Kazi said as they exited the trees onto the side street. “He had to bend down just at that second. I would have had him and the toad could have shot the doctor! Completely unexpected. The knife is tapered differently and is lighter. It doesn’t fly the same.”
Mannfort shook his head. “Such good fortune to find the hippie here tonight; at least we don’t have to travel across the country to California. But if he is here with her, that sister knows whatever he knows. You see? I was right, she has to go. Let them all think the lady doctor was the target, and hopefully the toad takes the heat.”
“What if the toad talks?”
“That is a problem,” Mannfort said. “We should have neutralized him before; he is a hindrance now. Maybe we can pluck him off on his way to the police station. Follow the patrol car, but Kazi, don’t make it obvious. Blend in with the traffic.
Chapter 62
Tobi sent a text to Steve Chagall as Troy drove to the office. She was supposed to notify the regional lead if she had to call out, but Rufini wasn’t going to be much help.
Thanks for your assistance. I was just assaulted by Rufini, who is now in custody, and I’m heading over to the clinic for Ellie to repair a knife wound before going to the precinct. Please get coverage for me tomorrow.
She read it out loud to Troy before she hit send. “I guess that’s not very nice, but I’m so pissed at him. I thought he was my friend.”
“It’s fine,” Troy said. “I don’t think you need to mince words at this point.”
Troy’s phone rang through the Jeep’s Bluetooth device, and they both jumped.
“Hello, my name is Agent Logan from the FBI. Is this Troy DeJacob?”
“Yes it is.” Troy reached over and took Tobi’s hand.
“Hello, Mr. DeJacob. We are on Long Island and have been directed to look into some activity that you were involved with in Australia. Where can we meet you to talk?”
Troy glanced at Tobi. “We will be at the Second Precinct in about a half hour. We are stopping off first to get my friend’s shoulder stitched up, she was just knifed and nearly shot.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t get here sooner. Take care of your friend and we will be waiting for you at the precinct.”
As they hung up, Tobi’s phone rang. “Hey, it’s Steve. Are you okay? My God, I’m so sorry. What happened?”
She told him the barest details in an icy voice. “Please get coverage for me tomorrow.”
“Of course. Tobi, umm, was there anyone else there?”
Tobi and Troy glanced at each other again. “My congregation, it happened in the parking lot.”
“No, I mean, was it just Rufini?”
“That’s all we saw. Do you know something we should know?” Tobi asked.
There was silence for a minute.
“I have to go,” Steve said. “Feel better, Tobi, and be careful.” The line went dead.
***
Tobi had never been in a police precinct before. There was a faint smell of tobacco and the tile walls were a nauseating green. They were brought back into an interview room with Officer Tarman, a man in a black suit and blue shirt and tie, and a woman in a business-casual navy pantsuit and light yellow blouse. The man and woman both had guns just visible under their jackets, and they flashed their FBI credentials. It felt to her like a Criminal Minds episode, or at the very least, The Twilight Zone. Rufini was nowhere in sight.
“Come in. I’m Agent Logan, and this is Agent Jacquart,” he nodded to the woman. “Have a seat. We’ve been talking to Inspector Bent in Port Douglas, and there’s some question of whether these attempts on your life and the two victims in Port Douglas are connected to a larger ring of violence that we are looking at.”
“And they killed a patient of mine up here,” Tobi broke in. “And another patient is in serious jeopardy!”
The agents exchanged looks. “We need to know everything you know,” Logan said.
Troy interrupted. “First, you need to promise to protect her.”
“Of course. We will keep you under constant surveillance. Dr. Lister, what can you tell me about what you have noticed at work?” Logan asked.
Her lips were parched and she swallowed hard. Tarman brought her a bottle of water.
Tobi told them everything she knew, which she realized wasn’t actually very much. Most of it was hearsay from Ellie who heard from Monica, and Troy filled in what he knew from Reuben. But she did explain about her heartbroken patient who had lost her father right before the transplant, and about the Lenman’s having been approached to mortgage their house for coverage of a liver transplant that was not likely to ever happen. She suggested they talk to her friend, Chloe, since her husband, Larry, had been approached by Kordec to buy a policy, but fortunately, he had turned them down. Kordec would have likely left a contact number in case he changed his mind. Tobi toyed with sharing her conversation with Daniel Comet.
“You’re hesitating, Doctor, what is it?” Jacquart asked.
“Well, I did speak to someone yesterday, but I wasn’t supposed to be sharing it yet. They’re still evaluating.”
“Doctor, we are the FBI,” Agent Jacquart said gently. “It’s not like sharing with your girlfriend, and if you withhold information—”
“No, of course not,” Tobi said. “I’m sorry. I was told that Hospitals for Health has some questions about this Kordec insurance too. Seems many of their patients die before getting surgery. I think they just started looking at it. It’s not like H for H hasn’t been getting paid, so they didn’t notice it right away. It’s that they never need to put claims in to begin with.”
“Yes, we know, we are looking at them too,” Jacquart said. “The AMA had been receiving email warnings that were just recently turned over to us. We’re just now evaluating them. Who is your contact at Hospitals for Health?”
“Dr. Daniel Comet, vice president.”
Officer Westin came in. “Rufini’s talking big time, but he hasn’t got much to say. He keeps denying throwing the knife, and there are no prints on it. Of course, he was wearing gloves, but it’s an odd knife. And it would be strange to bring a knife and a gun and then to use the knife first, and from a distance. Someone else had to have been at the synagogue tonight. We looked through the perimeter of the parking lot and found two sets of footprints in the snow at the south end, but no other evidence of who it could have been.” He looked carefully at the knife. “I wonder if we can trace where this was purchased … Rufini is a pitiful reject, though. Mostly he just whimpers a lot, and I’m not sure he knows enough to be much help. He’s a patsy.”
“Now Randy, you’d whimper too, if you just lost your wife and your hands were nearly severed at the wrists,” Tarman winked at Troy.
“Yeah, he said he needs medical attention for those wrists and wants to sue. Ha!” Westin laughed. “That wasn’t even on us. Then he said he wants immunity. I told him that’s not going to fly.”
Logan spoke up. “No immunity. We can offer him protection, that’s all, and to try to keep him out of the same prison as his employers. We’d like to examine the knife. Did you get anything at all?”
“Just the sources his phone was contacted from, we got those off his cell. So far, they’re a dead end, “ Westin said. “Mostly disposable phones, no email addresses.”
“We can probably help there,” Agent Jacquart said. “We may be able to trace where the phones were bought, and at least see if it was from within this country. If not, Interpol wants to be involved as well; it might turn out this is an operation they’ve been chasing for the last decade. We can also trace his bank deposits.”
“You should speak to Steven Chagall too,” Tobi said suddenly. She felt a little like a heel, but Steve had turned on her, so chances were, he either deserved police scrutiny or he was threatened himself. He might know somethin
g, and maybe he could get protection too.
Logan turned to Tobi and Troy. “Alright. I want you both to go home and stay there. We have a car ready to follow you, and there will be one outside your house 24/7. We are also going to offer some assistance to your gatehouse. Dr. Lister, is your shoulder alright? Do you need any further medical attention?”
“No, I’m okay.”
“Like ‘house arrest’?” Troy asked.
“No,” Agent Jacquart said, “of course not. Just give us a few days. There are sure to be repercussions from whomever is ultimately responsible. They obviously didn’t want you alive, and knowing their pawn is in custody will unnerve them even further. It’s just the easiest way to keep you safe right now.”
“Does Troy have to stay home too, then?” Tobi asked.
Jacquart looked at Troy. “You may be a target yourself at this point. If you need to go out, let the officers know. Someone should go with you.”
Officer Westin took Troy’s keys. “I’ll bring your car around. We don’t want either of you out of our sight,” he said.
Tobi’s shoulder ached as Troy helped her on with her jacket. “I guess I need a new coat, this one’s kind of a mess.” The blood was dried and there was a two inch hole in the shoulder.
As they walked through the puke-green hallway, the building shook with an earsplitting boom. Tobi and Troy were forced to their knees, and suddenly, people were running everywhere. Troy pulled her back against the far wall, out of the way. “What the hell was that?”
It only took ten minutes for the police to secure the building, but it felt like forever. Neither Tobi nor Troy wanted to interfere. They exchanged worried glances, both of them fearing the explosion had something to do with them. When Officer Tarman came back over to them, he was visibly shaken and he guided them back into the interview room.
“What happened?” Troy asked him.
“That was your Jeep. I think it would be best if you stayed somewhere else for the next few days.”
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