No Mercy (14 page)

Paul suddenly stood up and spoke.

“I've been advised that what is happening with the Music Club Murders is unfortunately connected to . . .” He hesitated for a moment as Bud became alert. Paul looked over at his partner and finished, “the Face of Fear investigation.”

Bud's face became flush as Lynagh stood up. Paul raised his hand to stop them from talking and continued speaking. “Deborah Lance, Rachelle Robinson, and Lindsey Wilkerson are fine, but we will have them watched just in case. This is not about them. This is about the Priority 1 squad. We solved the case; we killed O'Connor's team and put his sorry ass away in a cell filled with photos of lives he destroyed. Somehow, from his jail cell, he managed to reach Simpson, who apparently claims Cronin ruined his life by allegedly forcing him to be a part of a plan to bring the Face of Fear investigation to an end.”

Bud looked over at Lynagh as Paul continued to speak, saying, “Simpson is out for revenge on the rest of the Priority 1 squad for allegedly threatening him to go away with additional threats to stay away from Bud and Lynagh. Keep in mind this is a killer's allegations that with O'Connor and some kind of connection with the music clubs have purposely killed innocent young women to set up the case that would be assigned to Priority 1.”

Bud unfolded his arms as he spoke. “Three girls lost their lives just so the case would be assigned to us, to make it easier to eliminate us?”

Paul nodded in agreement as he replied, “That's not all. There is a $100,000 bounty on all Priority 1 cops, which is why Dugan and Hansen were eliminated, why Chapman is in the hospital with Caulfield at his door, and why the attempt on Lynagh and Healey was made before Detective Baker here saved their lives. Holly Moore worked at the City nightclub, and it has been confirmed that Sean Martin worked part-time as a bouncer there, which is where he met Deborah Lance. This whole thing has been a setup, to get us both emotionally and professionally.”

Detective Baker stood up to speak to Powers. “Sir, how do you know all this?”

Paul nodded as he replied, “ADA Ashley informed me a few hours ago. The DA has a very reliable source from Bedford Hills Prison, where O'Connor is being held. It appears that his lips have gotten a little loose since he was successful at eliminating Cronin. The bounty on Detective Cronin was $200,000. We are all at $100,000 with the exception of you Bud.” He looked at his partner and then left the area behind his desk and walked up to him. “It seems you are the grand prize of $250,000. Now why would he put such a high bounty on you?” he said with a slight sarcastic tone.

Bud gave a slight nod and moved his lips a little, then smiled as he said, “Maybe he doesn't like my singing.”

Paul walked back to his desk as he replied, “Always the funny one.”

Bud just stood silently as Paul called in Gina. There was silence in the room to the point of being uncomfortable when the woman who had worked for Detective Cronin for years walked in. “Gina,” Paul said, “I want you to get Officer Shepard from the Sixth Precinct to stay with ADA Ashley. Get Officer Whitson from the Sixth as well on attorney Al Simmons. They will have twelve-hour shifts with Officer Leonard replacing Shepard and Buckley replacing Whitson. Franks, you stay at the Lance mansion. I know Rachelle Robinson is staying with Deborah Lance.”

He turned his attention to Lynagh and said, “Pick up Healey, make sure he's up to it, and have him fifty yards from the Wilkerson house. No contact until I approve, or there is an emergency. Got It?” Lynagh nodded.

“Once he is set there, get back here for further instructions,” Paul continued.

He pushed the intercom for Gina and asked her to call ADA Ashley's office to get O'Connor at Bedford Hills completely shut off from the rest of the prison population. No news, no newspapers, no one. He took his finger off the intercom as he looked at O'Malley and Wyatt. “You guys are part of this case, and being assigned to Priority 1 is hazardous to your health right now. Do you want out?” Wyatt looked over at O'Malley and said, “I've been with Detective O'Malley for five years. I'm in if he's in. I won't leave him now.”

O'Malley stood up, put a pumpkin seed in his mouth, smiled at Wyatt, and looked over to Paul.

“Well, I've been thinking about retiring, so why not go out with a bang. Besides, it's the least I can do for Hansen. We will see this through. It started as our case, and we will be a part of it until the end of it.”

Paul nodded as he replied, “Nice to have you on board. O'Malley, you will be in charge of Wyatt and Caulfield, but you will report to me. Let Caulfield stay with Chapman and have him relieved through Gina's office in six hours. No one is to get to Chapman's room except for the doctors, nurses, the ADA, or members of Priority 1. You schedule the shift through Gina here on in. Also, we are missing something with Kate Summers's murder. She was there with friends and set up to meet Wiley on a blind date. Yet he never showed up. Your reports show you spoke to her girlfriends who were with her at the club. Speak to them again. How long did they know each other, and more important, did the girls she was with have a connection to anyone from the club? If so, it can give us a trail. Also, we never saw video of who walked into the rooms, only who walked out. Find out why.” O'Malley nodded and looked at Wyatt to get up and follow him.

Paul looked at Ellyn Baker, who was sitting down again. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

She looked directly at Paul when she answered, “Like I killed two people.”

“OK,” Paul answered, “maybe you should feel like you saved two cops' lives. I have your gun. Keep your backup for now, but I want you to see Dr. Watts for a session.”

Baker nodded her head and said, “Whew, Dr. Watts, now there is an idea. What kind of name is that for a psychiatrist?”

Bud smiled, appreciating her sense of humor. He couldn't help but notice her shoes were already off.

“Very funny,” Paul said. “I get it, the name Watts and the word idea, ha ha. Now get yourself checked out. You know I will be speaking with you tomorrow before you get your piece back. Regardless, we will have to get a replacement for you tonight, we can't let you work till the doctor OKs it.”

Baker started to protest, but Powers interrupted her. “You're on desk duty till further notice. Go home, relax, and see the doctor.”

Baker got up to leave and started getting near the exit when Bud yelled, “You forgot your shoes!”

The detective turned around, picked up the pair, and walked out with her shoes in her hand. Bud just shook his head with a smile as he thought,
I could never get away with not wearing shoes.

As Baker got close to the exit, Powers yelled, “Don't forget to give your schedule to Gina. She needs to know where everyone is.”

“Yes, Boss,” Baker answered as she opened the door to the main part of the building. It was now just Powers and Johnson left in the office.

Paul shook his head and looked up at Bud as he said, “Just you and me now. We got a lot of work to do.”

Bud started singing, “You and me against the world.”

Paul just stared at his partner.

“You have a bounty of $250,000 on your head, and you're singing a song by Helen Reddy?”

Bud's face turned serious. “I don't care about me. I do care about what could happen to people I care about. Let them come looking for me, but they hurt Deborah, Rachelle, Lindsey, or you, and I'll give them a war they won't believe.” He walked out of the office and went to his desk.

Ashley hung up the phone, looked at DA Steinberg, and told him what Gina said. Detective Powers's request was on Jason “Jack” O'Connor's line of communication being 100 percent completely shut off until further notice.

Steinberg leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling as he said,

“Maybe Cronin was right. Powers can handle a case like this.” He moved his eyes to the ADA and said, “Be careful, John, you were as big a part of the Face of Fear investigation as the squad from Priority 1.”

The ADA nodded. “I trust these guys, Barry. They know what they're doing, and with me keeping the legal guidelines in perspective, this will be resolved once and for all.”

The DA stood up. “It better be. This whole thing with undercover at the Riverhead jail, I assume this is on hold, or is
Long
Island Pulse
willing to put another writer undercover without a cop in there?”

The ADA replied, “Let me have Bud ask Nada how they feel about it. He and Cronin have had the relationship with her.”

Steinberg sat down again as he replied, “What about the female cop who put bullet holes dead center in the chests of naked people?”

“Yes,” Ashley replied. “You left out the part that they had guns. One running out of the bathroom, the other had a gun under the pillow, and reached for it when she came out shooting.”

The DA continued to be inquisitive. “Where did Baker come from?”

John Ashley was prepared for this. “Cronin selected her from the Third Precinct when he saw her scores on shooting. He interviewed her and requested the transfer after Sherry Walker left the task force.”

The DA nodded. “That was probably the smartest thing she ever did.” He looked out the window as he spoke again, saying, “Get Powers ready and prepared in the case. Both of you have to give a press conference. Place a call to East Hampton and make sure the incident that happened is not released to the media until further notice. Once this gets out, there will be a panic if the public finds out this is related to the Face of Fear investigation. Madison Robinson may be behind bars, but if by some chance Robert Simpson is telling the truth, he was forced into all of this and it gets out, Priority 1 will be in danger of being dissolved.”

Ashley looked at the DA and replied, “Enough said,” as he left his office.

It was two hours later when Lynagh called Powers to tell him Healey was home resting and that Gina had assigned another officer to the Wilkerson house until that night, when Healey would return. “Also,” he said, “Emanuel called me to tell me he heard through the grapevine that people we may be interested in will be at the Pajama Club, which operates as Decades on Wednesday nights.”

“OK,” Paul said. “Bud and I will be there tonight, but I would like you and Officer Carol Wright at the City club in Huntington. Go in separately. They will make you as a cop, but not Carol. She will need to go in as someone who just wants to have a good time.”

Lynagh replied, “Where did we get Officer Wright from?”

“She's from the Third, twenty-five, pretty, brunette, and ready to be undercover. Keep an eye on her.”

Bud was at his desk exchanging texts with Deborah when Paul walked over to him and told him they were going to the Decades club aka the Pajama Club.

“Bud,” Paul said, “we've got to try to keep our distance from the girls until this bounty thing is resolved. We don't want them around us while this is going on.” Bud agreed and said he looked forward to checking the place out. He looked at his phone and sent Deborah a text.

Rachelle curled up on the couch as Deborah brought in the popcorn as they prepared to watch a few episodes of
Pawn Stars
on On Demand. Both Deborah and Rachelle loved the show and enjoyed all the historical information they learned from it. Priority 1 had asked Deborah to take a few days off from school, and Rachelle was staying with her. Rachelle took some popcorn as she told Deborah she had an hour before she had to get ready to be at work for the evening.

“Joey Z is leaving at 7:00 pm tonight. I'm closing, so I can't be late,” Rachelle said. There was no reply from Deborah as Rachelle looked at her. “He cares for you, Deb. You need to give him time if you feel the same way.”

Deborah looked down at her iPhone and saw the message from Bud. She smiled as she read it to Rachelle. It said,
You will always be a part of me no matter what the ending shall bring
. She put her phone down as Rachelle continued to look at her.

Deborah cleared her throat before she said, “He is the only man I've ever met that made me feel like he didn't care about who I was or where I come from. He has never asked me for anything other than to spend time with me and create memories. All he cares about is me, nothing else.”

She started laughing as she continued. Even Wes, who was at Rachelle's feet while Craven laid by the front door, raised his head to look at Deborah as she continued, “He is the funniest, most romantic man. One minute he is so ridiculous and silly and I don't know what to expect, whether it's finding a pair of his socks in my pocketbook just to tease me or sending me a trivia question.”

There was about thirty seconds of silence as Rachelle petted Wes, waiting for her friend to continue. Finally Deborah said, “And yet there are times I feel like no one can protect me like he can. I just feel so safe when I'm with him. My dad has always been there for me, but you know what I mean?” She looked at Rachelle, who by now was nodding her head with squinted eyes.

“Oh God,” Rachelle said, as she put her hand on Deborah's arm. “You are so in love with him.” Deborah tried to resist as Rachelle squeezed her arm more. “Oh no, don't you try to avoid this. You are crazy in love with him!” Deborah turned her head away from Rachelle.

“No, no, no,” Rachelle pressed as she put her hand out to her friend's head to sway it back to her.

“Look at me, Deborah Lance; you look at me.”

As she finally got Deborah to look at her, she noticed her eyes were filled with water.

Rachelle held on to Deborah as her friend sobbed into her chest.

“It's OK, honey,” Rachelle said as she stroked her hair. “It's OK, I'm here for you. Until you speak with them, some men need a little more than a clue to pursue things.”

Deborah looked up at her friend and used profanity for the first time. Rachelle had never heard her use it.

“He's a fucking detective. He needs more than a clue?” It was so comical the way she said it that they both began laughing hysterically. Even Wes got up and started barking.

Rachelle said, “Listen, I've got to get ready to go to the restaurant. Why don't you come with me? You can sit in the back and go upstairs to Paul's apartment for a few hours, relax, and I will feel better that you are close by, and the dogs will have company.”