The Watchman of Ephraim (Book Club Edition) (4 page)

The shell-shocked firefighter lumbered into the middle of West Street with De Niro thrown over his shoulder. Walkie-talkie chatter emanated from all directions as he made his way north through the trashed landscape. West Street was lined on both sides with vehicles of every type, some completely covered in powdery-white cinders.

De Niro was barely able to lift is head up to look around.

What in hell happened? This couldn’t all be from a plane crash?

Tompkins made it less than a half-block, plodding through wreckage strewn all over the usually traffic-infested thoroughfare when the ground started shaking under his feet. From behind him, a sound erupted like a herd of stampeding cattle.

Twisting around and peering up towards the top of the tower they just exited, Tompkins couldn’t believe his eyes. The once-mighty building was collapsing, its roof, along with its famous antenna racing down towards the ground at a furious pace.

Grunting and breathing heavily with each step, the lanky fireman did his best to sprint away from the crumpling structure. He only made it part way down the street before the menacing cloud billowing from the mountain of rubble - that only a moment ago was one of the tallest buildings on earth – a pitch black, monstrous fog - overtook them.

At the last moment, Tompkins threw De Niro in front of a parked car and then fell on top of him to protect him. Immediately, an enormous storm of soot enveloped them. From within it, building fragments pelted the fireman’s heavy overcoat and helmet while paperwork from the desks of people in the tower rained down like macabre confetti during a parade, ending up on the ground all around them.

Blinded, the two men lay in the gutter, coughing and gasping for air as daylight turned to the blackest night. De Niro could feel the cold blackness creep inside his heart as a torrent of wind whistled pass them. The enormity of what just happened and what it meant – hit him.

Lisa was gone.

“
LISSSAAA …!”

“
LISSAA …!” De Niro shouted again, this time his voice broke down from grief.

Tompkins lifted himself off of De Niro and kneeled beside him. His nostrils flared as his eyes, too, became watery; the power of hearing a man crying out for his wife, in anguish, overcame the seasoned firefighter.

Slipping into unconsciousness, De Niro’s last thoughts were a prayer.

Please Father; let it be that she didn’t suffer!

Chapter 3

Dos Escuelas Park

Henderson, Nevada

11:30a.m., Saturday, May 14, 2011

(Almost 10 years later)

“
WAIT FOR A GOOD ONE, LOUIS!” De Niro shouted to his youngest son.

Both De Niro’s boys played for the same team, the Paseo Verde Yankees. 10 year-old Louis was the team’s catcher while his soon-to-be 12 year-old brother Richard was one of their starting pitchers. Standing at the plate, Louis heard his dad’s advice from the bleachers and nodded in his direction. He smashed the next pitch past the shortstop.

De Niro jumped to his feet.

“
WAY TO GO!”

Standing next to De Niro, his brother-in-law, Captain Louis “Mugsy” Ricci USN (SEAL) Ret. used his fingers to emit a loud whistle of celebration. His sister Lisa had given him his nickname when he was very young and it stuck – even his parents called him Mugsy. Formerly Commanding Officer of the Naval Special Warfare Center, where all Navy SEALS undergo basic and advanced training, Mugsy Ricci was just getting used to writing the “Ret-period” after his name.

After just completing his twenty-third year with the SEALS, he surprised more than a few fellow officers and friends with his decision to “hang up his spurs,” as they put it. Borrowing a line from one of his favorite movies, “The Godfather,” Ricci simply told them that his brother-in-law Cris had
made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

The truth was, De Niro had called him a few months before, to ask him if he’d be interested in heading an anti-terrorism consulting firm he was about to acquire. If it were anyone else asking or any other position being offered, Ricci would have declined, but it was Cris De Niro doing the asking and the position was ideal for him.

Other than the fact that De Niro was a billionaire and one of the most respected businessmen in the world, he had also been married to his sister …and family was everything to Italians. As for the job, from the time the Muslim terrorists had murdered Lisa, Ricci was committed to dedicating the rest of his life to fighting terrorism. His service in the SEALS helped him deal with his grief, though he couldn’t shake the guilt of not being able to protect his sister and the rest of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.

For the first several years after 9/11, Ricci had taken part in countless covert operations with the SEALS in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places to be left unnamed. He was awarded eleven different military decorations during that time, including: the Medal of Honor, Silver Star, Purple Heart, Commendation Medal, and Combat Action Ribbon. A victim of his own success, the Navy also rewarded him with a promotion to Captain and put him in command of the Naval Special Warfare Center. The problem was that running NSWC placed Captain Ricci behind a desk far too often for his liking.

De Niro hadn’t explained all the specifics of the position, but his brother-in-law did confirm that he would be completely in charge. All Ricci cared about was that he would have the authority to decide who would take part in any operations - meaning he was going to be back in the game, not just coaching from the sidelines. He found out after accepting the position that it paid three times his captain’s salary. Ricci told his brother-in-law he would have taken the job for minimum wage. De Niro replied that he was happy that Uncle Mugsy could finally afford all the gifts he bought for Richard and Louis.

It took Ricci only three months to resign his commission - typically a person had to submit the paperwork six months out. As soon as the Navy gave him their approval, he packed his bags and per instructions from his brother-in-law, used his new corporate credit card to book his moving van and first-class plane fare to Las Vegas McCarran. With his new salary, he could afford to buy a small mansion of his own but De Niro told him he was welcome to stay in one of the estate’s guest houses for as long as he wanted.

Ricci liked being close to his sister’s boys and he suspected that his brother-in-law liked his company too. He was well aware that De Niro had virtually no social life apart from raising his sons, since Lisa died. He knew that there was only one person who was more devastated than he was about his sister’s death … and that was Cris.

De Niro told him that they were scheduled to fly east to meet the staff of the firm he just purchased, on Monday. That gave them the entire weekend to spend with the boys.

As both men sat back down, an attractive blond-haired woman took a seat on the bleachers right in front of them.

Ricci nudged De Niro.

“
Do you know her?”

“
Uh-huh,” De Niro replied keeping his eyes on Louis at second base.

“
What’s her name?”

Before De Niro could reply, the boy at-bat hit a long fly ball to right field.

De Niro jumped back to his feet and started yelling to Louis, “RUN!”

Ricci jumped up too. It took him a moment to figure out what happened.

“
GO LOUIS!”

Running as fast as he could, De Niro’s youngest son slid under the tag of the opposing catcher, a boy twice his size. After making sure he touched home plate, the umpire extended his arms.

“
SAFE!”

The Yankees bleachers erupted in cheers as Louis’s run ended the game with a Yankees victory. His teammates stormed out of the dugout and swarmed around him.

While some of the other parents started exiting the bleachers, De Niro remained where he was and motioned for his brother-in-law to join him.

“
Hang here for a few minutes. Their coach likes to talk to them in the dugout after each game. Then we’ll head back to my house. I invited the whole team and their parents to a back yard barbecue.”

Ricci nodded again towards the woman sitting in front of them.

“
So, what’s her name?”

De Niro sighed with an audible exhale.

“
Her name is Lauren, she’s a mom of one the boys’ teammates.”

“
Where’s her husband?”

De Niro shook his head knowing where his brother-in-law was leading with his line of questions.

“
She’s divorced.”

“
Did you invite her to the barbecue?”

The woman stood up and started walking down the bleachers as he asked the question. Moving quickly, Ricci intercepted her and offered his hand.

“
Hi, I’m Louis. Richard and Louis … on the team are my nephews.”

“
Nice to meet you, I’m Lauren.”

“
Cris De Niro is my brother-in-law. Do you two know each other?”

Joining them, De Niro answered.

“
As a matter of fact, we do. Pay no mind to him Lauren, my brother-in-law is a former Navy Seal and they tend to be a little … high strung.”

Lauren smiled at De Niro.

“
Is that so? Well in that case …”

Ricci shot De Niro an angry look.

“
Uh, Lauren, do you know about the barbecue Cris invited everyone to?”

“
Yes, the coach told me about it.”

“
Will we see you there?”

Lauren beamed a big smile, more to De Niro than his brother-in-law.

“
I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

De Niro returned her smile but didn’t reply, so Ricci did.

“
Great, we’ll see you there.”

As soon as the striking blond was out of earshot, De Niro punched his brother-in-law in the arm.

“
What?”

“
What was that all about?”

“
Cris, are you blind?! Lauren is drop-dead beautiful … AND she’s available!”

Paying no mind to him, De Niro made his way over to his sons. Fist-punching both, he grabbed Louis around his shoulders.

“
Now, THAT’S the way to run bases! Richard, did you see your brother drop it into high gear!”

Ricci wouldn’t give up.

“
Cris, you have to be blind if you don’t move on her at the barbecue!”

“
Who are you talking about, Uncle Mugs?” asked De Niro’s oldest son, Richard.

“
One of your teammate’s moms is super-hot and she’s coming to the barbecue. I was just telling your dad that he’s an idiot if he doesn’t try to move on her.”

“
You didn’t say I was an idiot, you said I was blind.”

“
Same thing,” Ricci shot back.

“
Is she nice, Daddy?” Louis asked.

“
What does
that
matter, Louis?!” Richard snapped at his younger brother.

Ricci admonished his oldest nephew, “Hey Richard, take it easy!”

It was obvious Richard didn’t want his dad to even look at another woman. Louis, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind.

Richard glared in fury at his uncle, as De Niro tried to put an end to the whole topic.

“
Hey, Mugsy and Richard … Louis asked me the question. Louis, to answer your question, yes, she’s a very nice lady, but I have absolutely no interest in, as your fool-of-an-uncle puts it, ‘moving on her.’”

The boys threw their bags into the back of De Niro’s Cadillac Escalade and everyone got in.

Ricci buckled himself in and grumbled.

“
You’re crazy! That woman is drop-dead gorgeous, she’s nice, she’s hot … she’s got the greatest smile … the greatest personality and…”

“…
and she’s not my type,” De Niro interrupted.

“
Yeah,” Ricci shot back, “and what is your type?”

De Niro didn’t reply prompting his brother-in-law to mutter in frustration.