No Mercy (33 page)

“Just great,” O'Malley answered. “I won't get much sleep thinking about that. I'm wondering if I did the world a favor.” He walked out as other officers walked in.

“Boss,” Lynagh said, “how did you know O'Malley wouldn't be here with a gun on your head? Besides a rifle was dropped from upstairs.” They handed off Lander to one of the officers as they walked up the stairs with guns drawn to find Dave Biggs with his eyes wide open and a knife wound in his chest. Four feet down the hall on the floor was the Ghost Face mask with blood splatter on it.

“Have the crime unit check for DNA, but most likely it's just never been worn.”

Cronin looked at Lynagh. “As for O'Malley, he has been on the force for thirty years. He never fired his weapon. He wasn't about to start by being on the wrong side of the law.” Lynagh nodded as they went down the stairs and drove off to the precinct, where ADA Ashley was waiting for them.

“Is he in custody?” Ashley asked.

“Yes,” Cronin replied. “The devil has him.”

The ADA shook his head.

“You killed him?”

“Not me,” Cronin replied. “O'Malley did it.”

“What the hell happened?” Ashley yelled.

“Well, I guess he decided my life was more important than Special Agent Sherman's.”

“What about Tangretti and Branca?” he replied.

Cronin looked over at Lynagh before answering. “They are long gone. This woman Linda Tangretti, she used all these men to get what she wanted, the money and, I have a feeling, Branca. She worked with Sherman through her ties with Simpson, her cousin Patty Saunders, may the devil rest her soul, and the correctional officer Roberts at the prison. She was underestimated from the start.”

Ashley sat down in Kevin's chair and spoke. “Now you're talking about Face of Fear.”

“Yes,” Lynagh answered. “She was Fun Mom on the twitter accounts from that case. We looked at her only as the cousin of Patty Saunders. Nothing more.”

“Now,” Cronin said, “it's all about insurance fraud. Sherman cut a deal to get money from the club closing, but the surprise was getting himself killed off to get life insurance paid out to his wife and to disappear together. The club was hiding cash thanks to some good accounts but must have found out collecting on the business loss would have been a paper trail nightmare.”

“Branca and Sherman used Simpson's revenge as a distraction from the real goal. Simpson utilized their contacts and put bounties out on Priority 1, knowing that the women getting killed in the club would ‘hide' the insurance fraud. They might have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for Powers's notes and charts. It was a well-thought-out plan. Get rid of me and most associated with Face of Fear. Use the revenge motive; use Simpson's money he embezzled from William Lance. What gave them away was the attorney, Edward Larson, when he verified the coverage of the BI clause from the insurance company.”

“BI?” Ashley asked.

“Business Interruption clause. He checked six months ago and confirmed how it would work, what triggered it, and how they would be paid. When they found out murder was not a qualifier for the payout the way they wanted it, they took a different route. Powers checked it, but somehow it was discreetly hidden. He did an incredible job of investigating in the case.”

Ashley looked back at Cronin. “But it's not over?”

“No, not yet,” Cronin replied with a tone of annoyance. “We still have to find Branca and Tangretti.”

Ashley looked back at Officer Lynagh. “Would you excuse us, please?” The officer looked over at Cronin and left as soon as the detective lieutenant made a motion with his eyes signifying it was OK to leave. The door shut behind him as Ashley spoke.

“You're right about this with Branca and Tangretti, but there's one thing. Who killed Phil Smith in the barn that night eighteen months ago? I ask because I don't believe it's over till all loose ends are taken care of. Now I'm going to ask you, because I know how you were desperate last time and a few things backfired. So did you kill Phil Smith that night?” Ashley stood up to hear Cronin's answer. “And where is the missing money?”

Cronin hesitated, which made Ashley uncomfortable. “Kevin, I'm waiting for an answer,” he pushed.

“No,” the detective lieutenant replied. “If it was me, I would have only needed one shot, and it wouldn't have been in the throat.” He opened the door and walked out of the Priority 1 area with Lynagh behind him. ADA Ashley stood behind Cronin's desk, not sure whether to feel relieved that Cronin told him he wasn't involved in the shooting or upset with himself that he asked him the direct question he had thought about over the past year and a half. His cell phone rang and he saw it was DA Steinberg.

“Shit,” he said out loud. He was sure it was about the death of FBI Agent Sherman. He sat back down as he picked up the call and wrote on a big piece of paper for Gina to see through the glass,
Where did they go?
She wrote back in bigger letters,
The hospital
. He nodded as he began to speak to his boss.

I
t was getting unusually late for Madison to get a visit from her attorney, Al Simmons, but Correction Officer Steven Jacobs brought her down to the attorney-client room anyway. It was one of those rare times when Janet Gates and John Bay were not on shift. When she walked into the room she greeted Simmons with a hug as always. Even in a jail outfit Madison was as sexy as could be, and thanks to Paul, she had the reputation of having legs equal to Kimberly Guilfoyle of Fox News's
The Five
. As she sat down, Officer Jacobs informed them that Officer Gates would come back for her in forty minutes because there would be a shift change.

Al Simmons reviewed everything that was going on in the hospital and the case. Cronin had Gina send him an email for him to find out if there was anything he needed to know. Madison thought about telling Simmons about having Gates make a couple calls and going to the hospital to speak with Rachelle, but Simmons was shaking his head sideways as if he was hoping she would not. She thought about the exact words he asked her because she did not want to lie to him. His question was, “Is there anything I need to know about this?” She decided that there wasn't anything he needed to know as of now, so she simply said no. Simmons started nodding his head up and down as if to say he agreed with her answer.

“Has the doctor helped with your nightmares?” the attorney asked.

“A little,” she replied. “He told me it will take a while, but I'm not going anywhere.” She had a smile on her face, which Simmons was happy to see when she cracked the joke.

“Are they the same?” he asked. “The nightmares?”

“Pretty much,” she answered. “The Ghost Face mask finds me in different locations, stabs me, then pulls off the mask, and it's me. It's frightening.” Her attorney put his hand on hers.

“Someone is killing with the mask, but this time they're leaving it behind as a calling card. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?”

Madison looked at Simmons. “I'm in here. I can't get out. It's not me.”

“OK,” he said, “we can talk again later in the week.” He was concerned she did not answer the question directly. Their conversation turned to the condition of Powers and Johnson at Stony Brook. It was felt that Powers would be up and around within twelve days, while everyone had Bud in their thoughts. The forty minutes was stretched to forty-five by the time Janet Gates opened the door to lead Madison back to her cell. Madison hugged Simmons good-bye and then Janet led Madison back to her private cell. When Madison got back in her cell she asked Janet to talk to her inside her area, out of view of the camera. The correction officer knew what it was about, so she complied. Janet Gates sat down so Madison would sit. With Gates height at 5'4” Madison towered over her when they were standing.

“How did it go with my sister?” she asked Janet.

“She's OK, Madison. She is emotionally stressed out over her worries about you, Paul, and Bud, and I get the feeling there is insecurity setting in over the relationship.”

Madison seemed puzzled as Janet continued. “The shooting at the mall was traumatizing for her, yet she is the one trying to be a source of support for everyone. I'm concerned about her. Don't forget she will be missing work for a few days, if not more.”

Madison Robinson stared at Janet Gates as the officer continued to explain to her about Rachelle. They talked for over an hour about everyone. In between even a few jokes were cracked, and Madison thought Janet had the most attractive laugh. The smile on her face disappeared as she looked at Janet totally differently, as their eyes focused on each other.

The correctional officer knew she was getting in over her head emotionally with Madison but couldn't help herself.

“I better get back to my post,” Janet said.

She got up to leave and didn't see the disappointment on Madison's face.

When she got back to her desk, she covered her face with her hands and spoke to herself. “Oh my God, what am I doing?” Her breathing got heavier as she spoke to herself again. “Get control.” She knew she had already crossed the line in her job with Madison, but she felt an overwhelming urge to help her even if she wasn't sure why.

Detective Lieutenant Cronin knew once he set foot in the hospital he would officially be alive. Rumors of his sighting were already taking effect. Suspicions rose even more once the escorts were assigned to Rachelle, Deborah, and Lindsey Wilkerson.

As Cronin and Lynagh stepped off the elevator on the eighteenth floor, heads started to turn. Police officers were not even sure how to react. It was so awkward that Cronin actually thought it was amusing. He went to Bud's room and saw Deborah Lance curled up on the chair trying to get some shut-eye. The officer standing guard at his room didn't know how to acknowledge the detective lieutenant so he decided not to say anything. Cronin stood outside the window looking at Bud Johnson lying with all the tubes inserted in his body. Deborah opened her eyes and glanced up to see the man she thought was dead. She tried to fix her hair but gave up since she figured she didn't have any makeup on anyway. She didn't bother to put on her shoes and came out into the hallway with bare feet. Cronin looked over at Lynagh and nodded toward the officer at the door.

Lynagh put his hand on Officer Phelan's arm. “Let's go get a cup of coffee.” Deborah was already standing there with her arms folded, waiting for an explanation of why he was standing there alive. Cronin turned his head to look at Bud lying there, and then turned back toward Deborah, who was still waiting for him to speak.

“You must be confused by this, but you will understand soon enough.” He looked back at Bud and added the word “unfortunately” to the end of his sentence.

“There was a bounty on you, Rachelle, and the Wilkerson girl. It was set up by Robert Simpson to get revenge on me for what happened during the Face of Fear investigation. Once I was pronounced dead there was no need for Simpson to spend the extra money. He wanted you for himself or he would have taken care of you. FBI Agent Sherman allowed him to do it as a distraction and an alibi for an insurance scam he had going on.”

Deborah did not say a word, but he could see the anger in her eyes as he spoke again. “The only way to resolve this was to have the freedom to go where I needed to go and keep you safe while they thought I was dead.”

Deborah just nodded her head as she backed away from him to go back in the room. Her face had disgust all over it as Cronin spoke before she entered the room.

“Nothing to say?”

Deborah stopped and turned back toward Cronin with her arms still folded and finally spoke. “What about Bud? He thought he lost you. Did he know about this? I know the answer. It's no. Why do I know? Because I know this man, his heart, he would give up his life to bring your killers to justice. His whole way of thinking and his actions are based on his heart, whether it's right or wrong. He should have known.”

She started to walk away again as Cronin spoke.

“You will understand why he didn't know. The last case, both Powers and Johnson were so conflicted over you and Rachelle, I had to take the lead. This case is a direct link, and I was not going to have the conflict again. This case will be closed soon, and as for Bud it may have been me on his mind, but it's you that controls his heart. We have him on tape at the club telling Branca to put all the bounties on him to be the target. He wanted all of us safe, but it's you that dictates his heart.”

She looked back at Bud and wiped the tears from her face as Cronin spoke again.

“Now I need you to continue to support him emotionally and make him stronger so we don't lose him.”

She nodded as she went back to the room. She turned around and saw that Officer Phelan and Lynagh came back to Cronin. They spoke for a few seconds as she saw the detective pointing at Phelan before walking away with Lynagh. Her thoughts were simply,
You’re a mysterious man, Kevin Cronin
. She turned around and looked at Bud and bent over to kiss his forehead.

Paul Powers was talking to the doctor when Detective Cronin walked into his room. Rachelle was standing on the other side of the bed and grabbed ahold of Paul as soon as she saw it was either Detective Cronin or his ghost. Paul was dumbfounded as it became awkward with the doctor standing by the bedside.

“Well,” Doctor Ng spoke, “I will be back in a couple hours to discuss your rehabilitation when you are out of here. I'll be sending you to St. James Medical Center. I know the director there very well. You're in great shape, but you should have therapy and limited walking for at least another two weeks.”

Doctor Ng was an Asian American doctor from Hong Kong who studied at Stony Brook and ended up being one of the doctors on staff. He left the room as Lynagh poked his head in to acknowledge Paul. The injured detective nodded to him with a half smile before turning his attention to Detective Lieutenant Cronin. His boss gave him the same details he gave to Deborah, except he added one more thing.

“Paul, the work you did on this case as lead is outstanding. I'm beyond proud of you. Especially the work with the charts between the two cases.”

Powers looked at Rachelle as he tightened his grasp on her before he spoke.

“There was no other way, I suppose, but I don't agree keeping it away from Bud and myself. Ashley knew and yet we didn't.”

Cronin respected Paul's feelings but he was clear in his reply.

“I needed the freedom to roam as I saw fit. It was approved by the DA's office and the commissioner. As for you and Bud, you didn't need this on your plate. I didn't want what I was doing interfering with your decisions. With me dead and the bounty off the girls, it served a couple of purposes. With a dirty cop in the squad it could have been much worse.” He looked at Rachelle and he could see the anger in her eyes. “I'm a real hit with the ladies today.”

Paul looked at Rachelle and she could tell he wanted a few minutes alone with Cronin. She got up without saying a word to Cronin and joined Lynagh in the hallway.

“Good thing,” Paul said, “you missed Lindsey. She would have had a few things to say as well.” Cronin ignored the comment and spoke to Paul in detail about his chart. He told him about Sherman and the insurance premiums fraud and how it was all set up with the murders allowing Simpson his revenge on Priority 1 and giving Sherman the distraction he needed.

Paul nodded as he spoke.

“Am I still the lead on this case?”

“Yes,” Cronin replied. “It was your charts that made the connection to Sherman. It is likely that Tangretti and Branca are out of the state. I put holds on their passports, so unless they paid big bucks, they're in the country somewhere. There is one more thing. Someone is still killing with the Ghost Face mask, and we know it's not Madison Robinson. They are using a gun as well as a knife and have no problem leaving the mask as a calling card.”

There was no reaction from Paul, which bothered Cronin as he spoke again.

“Make no mistake, if it's someone from my team, I will take them down.”

Paul answered with a firm voice. “I don't know who it is, but aren't you the kettle calling the pot black? There are rules for all of us except for you.”

Cronin started to walk away but turned back.

“You may not like my style, Paul, and I know it seems I'm on the edge, but make no mistake, the law will be followed. You are the lead, but right now I'm more concerned about Bud. With Branca and Tangretti gone with the money, it will be an FBI case. Besides, we put an agent behind bars, and now with O'Malley killing the other, we are not exactly on everyone's favorite hits list. Hurry up and get out of here. My old cell number is back on.”

He got to the door when Paul called to him,

“Boss.” Cronin turned around as Paul said, “I may regret saying this, but I'm glad you're back.”

Cronin nodded as he entered the hallway where Rachelle and Lynagh were talking. Rachelle walked back into Paul's room, again without saying anything to Cronin.

“You're a popular guy,” Lynagh said with a smile. It quickly disappeared as the detective lieutenant stared at him.

“Sorry, Boss,” Lynagh said as they walked to the elevator. “Just bring me to Wyatt and Baker's rooms, please.” Cronin said.

They drove back to the precinct as Cronin rearranged some of the things that Paul had done while he was “dead.” He asked Gina to give him a list of all the officers borrowed from the Fourth Precinct that were now escorting Deborah Lance, Rachelle Robinson, Lindsey Wilkerson, Chapman, Healey, Baker, and now Powers and Johnson.

He shook his head at all the injuries and touched the names of those who were killed. The three girls as well as Dugan, Franks, Hansen, and that bastard Caulfield. He went over the Face of Fear case in his mind a few times and was starting to second-guess his actions with Simpson, which many believe resulted in the ramifications of the Music Club Murders. A voice interrupted his thoughts.

It was ADA Ashley. “Don't second-guess yourself, because if you have doubts you will not be good for anyone.”

The detective lieutenant looked up at his old friend Ashley. “John, we have to make sure Branca and Tangretti are caught.”

“And,” Ashley replied, “the same goes for whoever shot Phil Smith that night.”

Cronin nodded his head. “That too.” Ashley started to leave when Cronin spoke again. “You are never going to let me live that down are you?”

Ashley slapped the side of the doorway as he continued to walk.

“Don't make a promise that you can't keep. Have a nice evening.”

Cronin went back to the chart from Paul's folder and called Gina into his office. He wrote a name on a piece of paper.

“Give me every flight he has been on between July 1 and July 9 of 2013.” She looked at the name, nodded, and went back to her desk.

Cronin walked over to Gina's desk and looked like he was staring at the air behind Gina. She glanced up at him and finally turned around to see what he was looking at. When she turned around he was now tapping the tip of her desk, still staring into space. She had known him long enough to let him be and continue to entertain his thoughts until he was ready to speak. It was another ten seconds when he did begin to talk. He looked at Gina and said, “Have the tech man, Tillman, gather all the video in the surrounding blocks of the City nightclub when Stone was shot and Linda Tangretti got away. I want a six-block radius of the club fifteen minutes before, during, and after the shooting. Everything we got. I also want him to check all social media of the names I will give to you, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, all that shit, within the same time frame. If he needs help, fine, let's pull strings to get him the help.”