Return to Chapter 1.
Return to Chapter 2.
Go to The Alternate Universe Group.
12:10 PM Friday, August 26
PATH Station at the World Trade Center
Abbie had called her office to tell them she would be unable to go to
Newark for a while, as the extremely heavy rain had knocked out service on both
the PATH Train and New Jersey Transit (with a power failure in Jersey City,
across the Hudson River from Manhattan), and the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels
were also rapidly becoming flooded. The rain was continuing to come down at a
two-inch-per-hour rate, and it turned out it was being caused by a front
that parked itself close enough to the New York metropolitan area that (had not
been forecast to happen to the point where) flooding was now expected all
over the area. Her supervisor told Abbie to stay inside and/or walk underground
where possible for the time being and try to wait for this rain to slow down.
Luckily for Abbie, she had come in to work a bit late this day (due to
her working until close to midnight the night before on another matter), so
she was not as hungry as she normally would be about now. It still was annoying
Abbie, who absolutely hated being stuck as she was, and seeing the water
continue to come into the station with the puddles becoming deeper for a third
time took her shoes off, sticking them in her briefcase while continuing to
become increasing frustrated at the turn of events, looking up at the glass
ceiling and tempted to give "a finger" to the sky when she got a phone call from
Jack McCoy.
"This is a surprise", said Abbie.
"Did I call at a bad time?", asked Jack.
"Of course not", replied Abbie.
"Are you dry? It sounds like you're outside", then said Jack.
"For the most part, except for my feet. This rain caught me totally off
guard as I was on my way to Newark to handle something, but I can't go
because the trains are out both at the PATH station I'm at and at Penn Station",
said Abbie.
"I know, it caught everyone off guard", replied Jack.
"So I heard. It's so bad I had to go barefoot, and in fact I'm standing
in what has quickly become a big puddle, covering my feet. This station has
become flooded in a hurry", said Abbie, who then walked over to one of the few
areas of the PATH station that was completely dry while asking Jack why he
called.
"I need to talk to you about something. Is there a place we can meet?",
asked Jack.
"Now? I'm a little gun-shy about taking the subway, given all the rain",
replied Abbie.
"Abbie, not even a hurricane has knocked out the subways in New York.
You know that," replied Jack.
"OK. How about I take the train from where I am to Canal Street, and
then I'll walk over to the 'J' platform, and you can meet me there if you can
stand walking two blocks to the entrance at Walker and Centre Streets", said
Abbie.
"I can do that", replied Jack.
"Good enough", then said Abbie, who then hung up and headed to the
uptown "R" and "W" platform on the Broadway line where she would get a train two
stops to Canal Street, then walk through the massive station to get to the "J"
platform, which she knew would be a pain, especially in high heels that she
would put back on as where she was walking was dry, but would be the easiest
way given the extremely foul weather.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, Joe and Ed were still at 17th street and 11th avenue at the
Chelsea Piers, where they were asking boat owners who dock there if they saw
anything, moving their operations inside the massive complex there as the rain
was coming down extremely hard there as well.
"I was the one who called it in", said a man identified as Mike
Scarborough, who after introducing himself to Joe and Ed said, I saw what I thought
was a cooler, but there was something funny about the smell, and that's why I
called. I had no idea it was the remains of a body."
"Well, I'm glad you did. You may very well help us solve a case that has
not been for years", said Joe.
12:15 PM
Cortlandt Street station on the Broadway line
Just as Abbie was about to start walking, she got another phone call
from Jack, telling her to forget meeting him for now as he had just found out
much of the Canal Street station was closed because of track flooding, with only
the Broadway Line platforms open because they are further underground in the
station than most.
"Just as well. I really didn't want to take the subway in this rain",
said Abbie to Jack on her phone.
With that, although the Cortlandt Street station was relatively dry,
Abbie again took her shoes off and walked back to the PATH station platform,
while doing so cursing to herself why she didn't think to keep a pair of rainboots
with her knowing how flooded the PATH station was becoming, and in just the
few minutes she had left the station to when she returned it had become worse.
She would walk through what had become one giant puddle of water, stopping
when her supervisor, John McCormack called again.
"Abbie?", said John.
"John?", replied Abbie.
"Good, at least I was able to reach you. I got a call from Jack McCoy a
short time ago, looking for you. I was trying to reach you", then said John.
"OK. You got a busy signal because I was just talking to him. He wanted
me to meet him on the "J" platform at the Canal Street station, but backed off
when he found out how flooded the station was", said Abbie.
"Just as well. Not worth going out in this if you can avoid it, and I'm
sorry I told you to head to Newark. I was completely caught off-guard by the
rain", then said John.
"You, me and at least half of New York apparently was caught off-guard
by this. It was not forecast", then said Abbie, noticing how many people were
now coming into the PATH station wearing suits and sloshing through water on
the upper platform that used to be the underground mall of the World Trade
Center and relaying that to John.
"Unbelievable", said John.
"You're telling me. Anyway, I didn't have a chance to say so earlier
before you got another call, but I did have a chance to talk with Serena
Southerlyn as you wanted me to", said Abbie.
"At least something good came out of this", said John.
"Yes. She was able to confirm that Christopher Moltistanti was in fact
in the hospital with Mrs. Soprano yesterday, and she was there because she's
representing Mrs. Soprano on the car accident yesterday. She also said
Detectives Joe Fontana and Ed Green needed Christopher's last name because there was
another man who looked like him, that we know is Nick Falco who was briefly in
custody this morning because Internal Affairs at the NYPD thought he shot up
Bungalow North late last night", then said Abbie.
"Anything else?", then asked John.
"Not really. I don't think Serena really knows all that much about it
aside from what she confirmed to me that she said on TV this morning, nor should
she. She's only been with the firm she's at since January after she was fired
from the DA's Office", then said Abbie.
"And what about her room mate?", asked John.
"Serena said that Michelle never saw anything either. Given the time of
night it happened and the fact I know Michelle, there is little chance of
there being anything different from what she said on TV either. Michelle has no
interest at all in this, other than what she heard last night and the bodies she
saw", then said Abbie.
"OK. So what are you going to do now?", asked John.
"I'm going stir-crazy down here, so I'm going to walk through the
Chambers Street station and either come back to the office or get some lunch at one
of the spots close to the exit at Chambers and Church. I think I can manage
four blocks outside if necessary, especially since I was fortunate not to be
already soaked, other than my feet which currently are in water up to my ankles",
said Abbie.
"Just try to stay dry whatever you do", then said John.
"Of course", then said Abbie, who then hung up and proceeded to walk
back through the Chambers Street station on the 8th Avenue line. It was a very
long station because the southern end was the terminal for the "E" train while
the other tracks that went to/from Brooklyn were a bit north of there for the
"A" and "C" trains. Through the walk, Abbie could see how wet the station was,
and how few people walking through the station were prepared for the rain,
with more than a few like her having to walk through it barefoot because of how
much rain was falling, with Abbie also seeing how some had the sense to wear
flip-flops, sport sandals or rain boots, about the only sensible shoes on this
day. Abbie would again curse herself for not sticking a least a pair of
flip-flops in her briefcase for emergencies even if she hated wearing them personally
as she walked through the station in her bare feet, at least glad she opted
for an above-the-knee dress as if she had worn slacks or a long skirt, it would
have been ruined by water being kicked up in areas of the station that were
increasingly becoming worse as water continued to pour in from up above.
Once at Chambers and Church, Abbie would walk out of the station to
see that the rain had let up enough for her to stop and get some pizza and
soda for lunch that she would take back to the office, only putting her shoes
back on while she was getting her lunch before making a mad dash from there to
her office while barefoot again, making it back to the building her office was
in on Duane Street and Broadway just before the rain again intensified, with
the guard in the building amazed that Abbie was not soaked while Abbie was
putting her shoes back on.
Once back in her office (with everyone who saw her amazed she was very
close to completely dry), Abbie turned on one of the News Networks on cable,
where there was major news about both the unexpectedly heavy rain that was
causing major travel problems in the New York area and other parts of the
northeast, but also breaking news about the discovery of the body of Salvatore "Big
Pussy" Bonpensiero at the Chelsea Piers.
"Can you believe that?", said John to Abbie after he knocked and came
in, his seeing she had on the TV and was seeing the same story.
"I can. His body was in a cooler from what I understand. Probably some
big ship out in the Atlantic caught it and dragged it a long way", said Abbie.12:15 PM
Serena's wound up stuck on a train on the Broadway Line for a good 20
minutes as the train in front of her had to be taken out of service due to a
mechanical problem. It would brighten a bit, however, when she was able to walk
out of the 23rd street station and walk through Madison Square Park to her
office on 25th street and Madison Avenue, as while there were puddles, they
were nothing she could jump over.
As she returned to her office, her supervisor (Mary Conway Clark) asked
her why a US Attorney wanted to talk to her over what appeared to be a minor
case.
"Two things, Mrs. Soprano's son A.J. being missing and they think that
Christopher Moltistanti may have been behind the shooting of Bungalow North.
Also, apparently Mr. Moltistanti looks like a highly decorated Detective in
the NYPD, Nick Falco, and the Detectives I used to work with, Joe Fontana and
Ed Green, needed his last name from Mrs. Soprano because of that", said Serena.
"They know we represent her husband, and quite a few members of who work
for him", said Mary.
"Yes. It also happens the US Attorney I spoke with was my predecessor as
Jack McCoy's assistant in the DA's Office", said Serena.
"Abbie Carmichael? I know her very well. They didn't tell me it was her
when I got the message. All they said was a US Attorney wanted to talk to
Serena. You were busy I assume when I tried to reach you, and then I guess you
were where you weren't reachable on your cell phone after that", said Mary.
"Yes. Abbie and I wound up walking underground through the Chambers
Street Station and then the PATH Station at the World Trade Center. It was really
a mess down there. I had to go barefoot for a bit and Abbie had to do so
twice as a lot of it was flooded down there", then said Serena.
"I can imagine. That's why I ordered a lunch buffet for the whole staff.
No sense in anyone going out in this mess if they don't have to", then said
Mary as she and Serena both headed for the window, seeing down below the
number of people either attempting to leap the large puddles that were forming on
Madison avenue and 25th street as the rain was again intensifying.
"You're telling me", then said Serena as she and Mary were then told to
quickly get to a television.
"You're not going to believe this!", said the worker who told Mary and
Serena to head for a TV, as both first saw a massive shoot-up that had taken
place in a restaurant not far from DA's Office, and also their finding out
(though on television not yet confirmed) that the body of Salvatore "Big Pussy"
Bonpensiero was found at the Chelsea Piers on 17th street and 11th avenue.
--------------------------------------------------------------
US Attorney's Office
Abbie had also found out about the shooting at the restaurant at the
same time as finding out about the body being found, but at that point, she nor
anyone else in the US Attorney's Office had any idea if it was related to any
cases they were working on.
------------------------------------------------------------
12:15 PM
George couldn't believe that less than half an hour had passed since
the attempt to kill Detective Falco. But it had been his most hectic half-hour since the
rigors of his training days.
After finding Acquaviva's license, Officer Willow found two
interesting papers elsewhere on his person. One set consisted of State Supreme Court documents which
indicated that a larceny charge against him had been dismissed yesterday. The other
had pictures of a familiar-looking face, teeth bared in grimace. Their caption read
CHRISTOPHER MOLTISANTI in 48-point caps.
"Whoa!" Willow said. "That's you, Detective ... except this guy looks
long in the tooth."
"Or short in the gums," Falco said.
Another difference, George saw, was that Moltisanti was leaner than
Falco, didn't have as much fat under his chin. But the overall resemblance was so striking
that Acquaviva's mistake was understandable.
But that hadn't been the problem now. George had noticed that many people were
talking into their cell phones, no doubt giving conflicting reports to the 911 dispatchers.
"Detective, you'd better call this in and take charge of the scene. Willow, feed as many law
enforcement databases as you can with the names Achilleo Acquaviva
and Christopher Moltisanti. Start with the NYPD, then try local and state agencies --
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut."
Willow went to the till, which she said had a high-speed connection.
George telephoned Special Agent Caleb Followes and asked him to run Acquaviva and
Moltisanti through Federal databases.
By that time -- 11:54 AM -- sirens were wailing. Cruiser after
cruiser pulled up with heavy rain bouncing off the car bodies as mist as the wipers threw great
sprays. In less than a minute the place was crowded with uniformed officers. Nick spoke to a
sergeant as most of the others gathered around them.
Some of the cops wandered around Acquaviva as if they wanted to beat
him. The largest cop said, "Pie in your face, mister? Have a cherry." He spat on
Acquaviva's head.
"That's enough, Officer!" George barked. "Somebody control these
men!" His voice was more shrill than he wanted. The cops glared at him. The sarge looked
at George with dull, dim-looking eyes which spoke much more of his attitude than his
intelligence. It was just as well, thought George, that he'd changed his mind about getting
Acquaviva clean.
Senior NYPD personnel arrived. The Chief of Detectives and the Patrol
Borough Commander spoke to Falco and Willow. They were soon joined by the
Chief of Department, and by Don Cragen (who seemed to be alone among the NYPD brass in
having sympathetic eyes for George).
Don patted Willow's shoulder, then went to George. But before either
man could speak...
The Chief of Department barked, "Quiet, everyone! Listen!" He was
pointing to a television which was mounted above the cafeteria. There was a still photo of
bodies and overturned chairs. The caption below read RESTAURANT SHOOTING.
George's first thought was that the TV station was reporting false information. Not a shot
had been fired here in Bianchi's. And the still looked like an old photo. He heard
newscaster Angela Maragozis say, "...details are still sketchy..."
But the police radios began to chatter, furiously.
My God! George thought. Acquaviva may have been a diversion, sent by people who
KNOW that even an unsuccessful attempt to kill a New York City cop brings a massive
response from the NYPD.
George realized that his throat felt parched.
12:25 PM
George's throat had felt parched until the newscaster got new
information that no shots had actually been fired at the restaurant, and that it
was the quick work of an Officer and a psychiatrist who happened to be there and
knew how to shoot that prevented the place from being shot up.
Don Cragen had called in two of his top detectives, Elliot Stabler and
Olivia Benson to the restaurant, with their arriving at the same time the Chief
of Detectives had yelled "quiet" because the story of the restaurant shooting
was on TV. Also arriving by that point was Casey Novak, who was sent there by
Arthur Branch even though this was not an SVU case, and right behind was
Casey's new boyfriend, Mike Logan.
After the report finished, The Chief of Detectives told officers to
arrest Acquaviva.
"What are you doing here, Casey?", asked Don once he saw her after the
Chief of Detectives finished his announcement, with Casey still trying to shake
excess rain off her raincoat and wellies (which she was wearing with a black,
well above the knee skirt and a short-sleeved white turtleneck).
"Branch had me come over. Jack McCoy is really swamped right now since
his assistant is out with two bad knees and a bad ankle thanks to Carmela
Soprano's accident yesterday", replied Casey.
"At least something nice is in here", then said Mike upon seeing Casey.
"Something up with you two?", then asked Don, noticing how Mike was
acting toward Casey and how Casey was acting back.
"Might as well confess. We've been seeing each other for about a month
now, and wanted to make sure it was serious before we told anyone", then said
Casey, with Elliott, Olivia and Don all a bit surprised Mike was now seeing the
SVU ADA, though Olivia not as much, since she has known Mike since she was a
rookie cop in the 2-7 in 1988 and dated Mike for a time in '89 and again in
'95, and has been a confidant of his ever since Claire Kincaid was killed by a
drunk driver in the spring of 1996.
"So, what happened here exactly?", asked Mike, with
George and Atlanta walking over, Atlanta introducing herself.
"An unusual name", said Casey to Atlanta.
"I know. I get that a lot", replied Atlanta, who then said to Mike,
Casey, Don and everyone else, "Dr. Huang had come in with I think six cousins, and
they were waiting for lunch, and Mr. Acquaviva then was about to shoot Det. Falco
before his gun jammed. If it weren't for the quick work of Dr. Huang, Det. Falco and I, you
could have had at least one dead Detective and a bunch more dead bodies in
here."
"I must thank you Officer Willow Detective Falco and Dr. Huang for your quick work. I
know some of the cops in here really wanted to take Mr. Acquaviva out, but you
really did a great job and I apologize for what they did earlier", then said
the Chief of Detectives.
"So, are we needed here right now? We do have other cases to attend to",
said Elliot.
"Right now, no. It appears this was an easy case", said Don and backed
up by the Chief of Detectives, with Elliot and Olivia returning to the case
they were working on when called in on this and Mike heading for Bungalow North,
where he, Bobby Goren and Alexa Eames were once again going over the crime
scene as best they could as the extremely heavy rain continued. Casey meanwhile
headed back to the DA's Office to get ready to arraign Mr. Acquaviva on
attempted murder charges.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Over at the Chelsea Piers, Joe and Ed learned about what happened
across town to Nick Falco. Nick called Joe to let him know he was OK, and
not to worry.
------------------------------------------------------------------
12:35 PM
Bianchi's was quiet now that the preliminary debrief was over. The only sound was from
the roar and spatter of rain, which drowned Atlanta's fast yet soft dance at the till's
keyboard. Everyone was aware of whose side luck had been on -- if Acquaviva hadn't
forgotten to disable the safety, God only knew how many could have died.
George was still troubled by his memory of the incident.
"I froze," he told Don. "When that guy aimed, I just stood there like a lamplit buck, didn't
push any of my cousins to safety." He glanced at little Cai.
Don said, "From what we hear, you weren't frozen long. You snapped out in time. Atlanta,
Nick and the other witnesses all agree that you were great taking charge."
"Maybe," George said, shaking his head. "Perception of..." His cell phone chimed. "Excuse
me."
Caleb was at the other end. He told George that Moltisanti had been severely wounded in a
shootout four years ago, and was a former heroin addict. George thanked him, closed his
cell, and turned to Nick.
"Detective," George said, "any scars on your body? Punctures, holes, incisions?"
"Nope."
"Then you're definitely not Chris," George declared, and for the first time since
Acquaviva's attack there was laughter at Bianchi's.
Atlanta emerged from behind the till with a collection of printouts. One glance told George
that she'd found information -- including good photos -- about Acquaviva and Moltisanti.
The Patrol Borough Commander said, "Forward this info to the Major Case Squad, and St.
Vincent's Hospital. That's where our command post is."
Before Atlanta could turn back to the till, the lights went out. "Don't worry, sir," she said,
"everything's saved."
George wasn't surprised. Atlanta's computer skills had improved over her time at the 1-6,
and she was taking extra courses -- lately a paramedic's training manual had been at her
desk. Like many other cops, she was getting ready for a career change in case the NYPD's
downsizing caught up.
The downsizing was a product of lower crime rates in recent years. But George feared that
the BN massacre could mark the beginning of a new wave. To minimize this possibility, the
FBI and local police agencies would have to set aside their rivalries and work together.
George would do his best to make that happen.
12:35 PM
Bungalow North
Mike Logan had returned to the scene at Bungalow North, one where some
of the earlier evidence had been washed away by the extremely heavy rain, with
enough concern that water from the rain could come into Bungalow North that
sandbags were put in place at the entrance to keep that from happening as
best possible. Alexa and Bobby continued to go over the area while forensic
officers continued to collect pieces of bullets that were in the bathroom stalls
and elsewhere throughout the bar.
Pictures had been taken of the floor earlier, and the forensic officers
working the floor got up about as much evidence as they could by this point.
The rain was continuing to come down at an unbelievable rate of two inches an
hour, creating even more havoc for Alex and Bobby, who like Mike were having
to deal with it.
At that point, they were done gathering evidence, and were about to head
back to St. Vincent's Hospital when word came along of Joe and Ed finding
what apparently was the body of Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
With Joe and Ed not far from them, Mike, Bobby and Alexa decide to walk
the three blocks over to see if they could help, since all three had dealt
with "Big Pussy" at one time or another.
"What are you three doing here?", said Joe to Mike, Bobby and Alexa upon
seeing them inside the Chelsea Piers complex.
"We were only three and a half blocks from here, where the Bungalow
North shooting happened last night. All three of us have had to deal with "Big
Pussy" at one time or another, and I think we can tell if it's him", said Mike.
"Be our guest", said Joe, showing them what was in the cooler.
"These pants have to be Pussy's. They're huge, and so is the shirt",
said Bobby upon seeing the shirt and pants found in the cooler.
"Exactly the kind of shirts he used to wear, too", then said Mike.
"Whoever stuffed his body in here did an incredible job of making it
where the cooler would not break open", then said Joe.
It would be a few days before the body could be officially identified as
"Big Pussy", but it was clear to the Detectives at the scene that it was in
fact him, with Alexa, Mike and Bobby returning to Bungalow North to go over
the scene for themselves one more time before returning to St. Vincents
Hospital.
12:35 PM
Susanne Chambliss-Gorton's apartment
Broadway and Worth Streets
One of the reasons Susanne Chambliss-Gorton took the apartment she did
on Worth Street and Broadway as part of a settlement of her divorce from her
second husband Neal Gorton was because of the close proximity to the DA's
Office, which Susanne went to after bolting from her ex-husband's firm shortly
after the September 11 attacks, no longer wanting to deal with the sleazy
tactics her ex-husband was famous for. She didn't care that she was taking a
significant pay cut to do that (not that it really mattered since Neal had to also
pay her a big amount of alimony each month on top of what he was paying
ex-wife #1 Jamie Ross in both alimony and child support, one thing Neal has never
has been a deadbeat on), as even if she had to live with Lexi in her little
apartment in Brooklyn, she'd be still happy as she'd be doing exactly what
she would be wanting to do, knowing if she had to she could always go to a big
firm as she would be in high demand if she did.
Having the apartment's biggest benefit came into play on this day, as
with Lexi laid up due to two sore knees and a bad ankle, Susanne was able to
bring over some paperwork that Lexi would have needed to do anyway, as
Alexandra just had to be off her feet, but she could sit and work pretty much like a
normal day, and Lexi wanted to do that or she would become stir crazy.
Susanne didn't mind doing bringing over the work to Lexi, as it gave her a chance
to be with one of her best friends since college, and in this case, have lunch
at home before going back in on an absolutely awful day.
"Can you believe this? It's a good thing you talked me into staying
here. There's no way I could have gone anywhere", said Alexandra as Susanne
walked in the door, with Alexandra lying down on the couch in Susanne's apartment
while going over papers with both ladies wearing a t-shirt and denim skirt
made out of old pairs of jeans, with Susanne wearing flip flops and Alexandra
having a pair of mesh slippers on the floor in front of where she was on the
couch and her crutches to the left of the end of the couch, with her knees and
ankle still bandaged.
"I know. This rain caught everyone off-guard. We were supposed to have
'some' thunderstorms, not a monsoon!", said Susanne, who then headed to her
bedroom to change into dry clothes while Alexandra knew that Susanne had
changed into what she had been wearing before coming home knowing how bad it really
was outside.
"Unbelievable what's happened today aside from the rain", Alexandra then
said to Susanne in a slightly raised voice so Susanne could hear her since
she was in her bedroom, with Susanne popping out and replying "I know what you
mean. I heard about the shooting at Bungalow North last night and then the
non-shooting at Bianchi's just a short time ago."
"And now, they apparently found what they think is "Big Pussy's" body",
then said Alexandra.
"What?!", then said Susanne.
"At the Chelsea Piers, not far in fact from the Bungalow North
shooting", then said Alexandra.
"Oh my god", then said Susanne, pausing before saying to Alexandra, I
need to get a shower and get dressed. I'll talk about it in a couple of
minutes."
Susanne did come out a few minutes later, throwing on a white,
short-sleeved open-collared shirt and black, above-the-knee skirt before doing so.
"So, they apparently found 'Big Pussy's' body. Doesn't surprise me, I
figured he was killed, and they would find it eventually", said Susanne to
Alexandra upon coming out of her bedroom, heading for the kitchen where she would
make lunch for both of them.
"No shock he was dead, just that his body was found and they apparently
were able to probably identify him", said Alexandra.
"I can believe that", then said Susanne as she quickly finished
preparing lunch, and brought it over, with both watching what had become continuous
local news because of mainly the unexpected rainstorm, coupled with the
"shooting" at Bianchi's, updated on the massacre at Bungalow North and the finding
of "Big Pussy."
"I can't remember a day like this in a long time. If I'm going to be
laid up, this is one day I don't mind it being the case", said Alexandra, about
15 minutes later as both had not really talked while they ate.
"True, this has turned into a sucky day weatherwise", then said Susanne
as she headed for her closet to grab a raincoat and pair of wellies she would
put on right before she left, with Alexandra reminding Susanne she didn't
have to worry about her.
----------------------------------------------------------
NYU Downtown Hospital
12:40 PM
While Carmela was undergoing some tests, Meadow had gone downstairs to
the lounge in the waiting area, as she was trapped with the extremely heavy
rain that was falling and no umbrella or raingear of any kind for that matter
with her. Her eyes were glued to a TV set that was showing coverage of
everything that was going on. She had been sitting exactly as before in her mothers
room (hands on chin, elbows on knees, feet hidden under her skirt and mesh
slippers on the floor) until she saw the news that they had found "Big Pussy",
with Meadow then putting her shoes on and heading outside to one part of the
entrance of the hospital that was sheltered from the rain, calling her father.
"I saw", said Tony to Meadow after she called him asking if he had heard.
"Unbelievable", replied Meadow, who then mentioned to Tony the Lincoln
and Holland Tunnels were closed.
"I heard that too. If this rain ever breaks, I'll come see your mother.
I assume you still have not heard from A.J.", said Tony.
"Not at all. Where could have he gone?", asked Meadow.
"Probably hanging out with his friends if I had to guess", then said
Tony, with Meadow then saying goodbye as she wanted to get back inside and get
some lunch.
Corner of South 4th and Hooper Streets, Brooklyn
12:40 PM
Walnuts said, "Cheer up, Chrissie. Make like you're a little kid wading at the beach."
"I don't go to the beach in weather like this. And I wouldn't feel up to the beach even if it
were sunny." Chris rubbed the sore spot at the lower right side of his jaw. "That dentist is
a freaking quack."
"You wanna look at who's to blame, go find a mirror."
"Sure. I've had enough mirror play for today. You know how dentists are."
At breakfast, Chris had developed a raging toothache. The over-the-counter remedy he
tried tasted awful and didn't do much for the pain, and by nine he decided that he needed
a dentist.
There was a Dr. Henarez just two blocks west of the Cobalt Hotel on Scholes, near the
intersection with Avenue of Puerto Rico. Chris waited more than a hundred minutes, so
achy that he didn't bother to read anything. Henarez shook his head and said that the
tooth would be a difficult save due to advanced gum disease. "When did you last see a
dentist, while Clinton was the sitting prez?"
The hour and something that followed was far worse than any that Chris could recall in a
dentist's chair. Henarez repeatedly scraped and irrigated. The tools and the water
sparked agony. Each time he suctioned Chris's mouth, the transparent tube turned red.
"Lucky I got the world's strongest disinfectant, 'cause I'll need to use plenty of it on my
equipment after I'm done with you." Worse, the dentist rinsed Chris's mouth with peroxide;
the taste and reaction reminded Chris of what he'd taken at BN.
Then, there was the drill.
When it was over, Henarez urged him to take antibiotics and see a regular dentist. Chris
waved him off, pausing just long enough to pay the bill. Then, with his mouth only half-
frozen, he stepped out of the frypan and into the rain.
Paulie had changed the license plate on their van. Confident that nothing would stop them
from getting back to Jersey, he drove west along Meserole. This street ended at Union
Avenue and the new street beyond, which bent to the right, was South Fourth.
Water covered South Fourth beyond the intersection with Hewes. Paulie floored the gas
and the van sent up great arches in its wake...
Until it stalled just before reaching Hooper.
Now their clothes and b-suits alike were soaked, and the rain wasn't letting up. Each man
carried a handbag of loot. Paulie also carried a shoulder bag which housed his AK-47.
Chris noticed to his horror that the outline of the assault rifle was visible. He yanked the
bag off Paulie's shoulder so hard that the older man almost fell. He threw the bag into the
flood, where it disappeared.
"What the fuck you thinking!" Paulie roared. "You trash a Raven or a Phoenix. You do not
just toss an AK-47!"
"People'll see it if it's not gone."
"I ought to break your balls!" Paulie rushed forward.
The whoop of a siren stopped him. Both men froze. A police truckwagon with flashing
lights appeared one block ahead. It slowed for the water and entered the intersection.
Then it turned left, away from Chris and Paulie. It drove under the Brooklyn-Queens
Expressway, went around a truck, and disappeared from sight.
"I'm sorry, Paulie, but we can't be seen in public with the AK. It won't be found for hours.
You know these guns, their finish don't hold prints. Let's get out of here."
"You know, prissy Chrissie, I hate it when you're right. I can always buy another with this
loot."
The two men trudged east. Rainwater streamed over their bodies. They hoped
to find a nice dry bus or a cab on the avenue ahead.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1:00 PM
Criminal Courts Building
100 Centre Street
The Arraigment of of Achilleo "Ack Ack" Acquavivia went through as
expected, with Ack Ack held without bail on attempted murder charges. While Casey
handled the arraignment, Kelly Gaffney was also there since she is the
assistant to Homicide Buerau Chief ADA Tracy Kibre and it was realized Casey could be
called as a witness by the defense if this did go to trial, a way of dotting
the I's and crossing the t's, though no one expected this to go to trial since
Ack Ack was caught red-handed.
------------------------------------------
1:10 PM
Arthur Branch's office
Right after the arraignment, Kelly was asked by Arthur Branch if she
could head over to Bungalow North, since he wanted an ADA to look at Bungalow
North specifically before any evidence possibly got washed away by the rain,
saying, "I know it's not what you normally do, however, you are one of the only
people in this office that actually has the sense to keep raingear around, and
several of the investigators had to leave early because of the rain."
"Understood. I know you're shorthanded because of this and it being a
big vacation week, though I'm probably going to have to walk over there since
this rain is so bad I won't risk getting stuck on the subway", then said Kelly,
knowing that included Tracy, who was in San Diego visting an old boyfriend she
had started seeing again the last time he was in New York.
------------------------------------------
1:20 PM
Kelly was cursing herself privately for keeping raingear in her office
for days like this until she realized she probably would have had to go out
anyway because they were shorthanded, even more so because of Alexandra being
injured. Nearly three inches of rain had fallen in a matter of two hours, and by
the time this was over, it was expected to be as bad as a major hurricane or
tropical storm, and even worse because this rain was not forecast. In Kelly's
case, she was wearing a raincoat over a sleeveless turtleneck with pants that
went to just below her knees that were waterproof, rainboots and a vinyl
backpack that was also waterproof.
Just walking along Worth Street, Kelly could continue to see how many
people were totally caught off guard as offices were letting people off early so
they could get home, and how some women, fearful of their clothes being
ruined actually went as far as to wearing bathing suits while men were quite a few
cases were going shirtless, which they could get away with because these were
tropical downpours with very high humidity, and temperatures were still in the
low 80s in spite of the rain falling.
"This is so surreal", said Kelly to herself seeing what she never
thought she'd see in Manhattan, let alone in a business district. Upon reaching the
corner of Church and Worth Streets, Kelly was about to cross over when from
behind a couple of women, trying to get out of the rain were running so fast
they didn't see Kelly, causing her to go to all fours just off the curb into a
deep puddle of water.
"Ugh!!!!", yelled Kelly as she got up with no one helping her while
looking at the sky, seeing everyone running for either the subway, buses or their
apartments in the area, then crossing Church Street and heading over to the
entrance of an office building between Worth and Leonard Streets on Church,
cursing at herself while walking over as her boots had become waterlogged to the
point she had to take them off.
"I know it's bad out, but is it that bad?", said a woman who even with
an umbrella had her dress soaked saw Kelly take off one of her boots to drain
the water out of it.
"It's bad all right, though my boots only got like this because I got
knocked over by a couple of people running and landed on all fours in a nice
puddle of water over there", replied Kelly as she took off her other boot to get
the water out of it, then pointing to where she got knocked over on Church and
Worth.
"Not surprising. I'm hoping for a long enough break in the weather to
get to the subway with getting even worse", said the woman to Kelly while Kelly
put her boots back on.
"I can believe that. If I didn't have to be out, I wouldn't", replied
Kelly who then resumed walking north on Church Street, which at While Street
veered off into Avenue of The Americas (6th avenue) before going northwest on
West 4th Street, a street that was a shortcut to where she needed to be on
Washington and 14th street.
As Kelly continued to walk north and then northwest, sloshing through
streets that were flooded or rapidly becoming such, she could not believe what
she was seeing, and at the same time, the humidity and water still in her boots
from the fall were causing Kelly to slide in her boots enough that she nearly
fell without any help. She could also see the water going into the entrances
to the subway station at Canal Street, reaffirming her decision to walk in
spite of the extremely heavy rain that continued to fall, and even more so when
she got to 9th avenue and 12th street where the flooding was worse, bad enough
for Kelly to take off her boots again when the water while crossing the street
came up to the tip of them, halfway up her thighs.
Upon arriving at 13th street and 9th Avenue, Mike, Bobby and Alexa were
wrapping up their work and were about to head to St. Vincent's Hospital when
Kelly arrived.
"Who are you?", asked Alexa, not knowing who Kelly was.
"ADA Kelly Gaffney", said she, showing Alexa her badge.
"And what brings you here?", asked Alexa.
"I was asked by the DA to take a look at here in case the rain was
enough to wash away evidence inside Bungalow North. Normally, one of our
investigators would do it, but a lot of them had to leave early because of the rain",
Kelly replied while Alexa noticed she was carrying her boots and was barefoot,
with Kelly then saying realizing what Alexa was looking at, "Oh, the flooding
is so bad on 9th Avenue and Little West 12th that the water came up to the top
of these, and if I didn't these would have become waterlogged as it was deeper
after that."
"I can imagine", then said Alexa as both ladies walked over to the
entrance of where Serena's loft was that was relatively dry, with Kelly first
putting her boots back on and then putting on surgical scrubs over them so she
could go in and see the crime scene for herself, while Alexa did the same with the
scrubs.
"Unbelievable. It's a miracle more people weren't killed in here", said
Kelly after touring the place with Alexa while Mike Logan walked to the door.
"What are you doing in there again, and who is she?", asked Mike.
"I'm Assistant DA Kelly Gaffney. I was asked to see the place by the
DA", then said she as she shook Mike's hand.
"OK", then said Mike as Alexa and Kelly then walked out and back to the
area of shelter at the entrance to what was Serena's Loft, removing the scrubs
that were over their boots. Kelly then called Jack McCoy (whom Arthur said
to) so he could know how it was, with Jack apologizing to Kelly for making her
endure that.
"Don't worry, Jack. If it puts away the creeps who did this, it's well
worth doing no matter how bad the weather is", then said Kelly.
"You sound just like your father", then said Jack.
"Oh, that's right, you've met him a few times", then said Kelly,
referring to her father Ray Gaffney, who was Chief of Detectives in Boston, where
Kelly grew up and most of her family is from.
At that point, Kelly would join Mike, Bobby and Alexa as they went to
St. Vincent's Hospital to check on paitents who were at Bungalow North the night
before and see if they could remember anything (of those who could not do so
earlier).2:25 PM
St. Vincent's Hospital
Mike, Bobby, Alexa and Kelly all arrive at St. Vincent's Hospital just
as Anita and her husband were coming out of seeing her son Stefan along with
Atlanta, with all three happy to see that Stefan will almost certainly
recover, but will need to be in the hospital for a while.
"That is great news to walk into!", said Mike, giving his former
Lieutenant a big hug, with the others, including Mike's current Lieutenant James
Deakins happy to hear as well.
"This has been some day, hasn't it? The shooting at Bungalow North very
early this morning, then the rain, the situation at Bianchi's and the
discovery of what is thought to be 'Big Pussy's' body all in about 12 hours?", said
Anita.
"Tell us about it", said Alexa as she took off her raincoat to reveal a
sleeveless, open-collared shirt she was wearing with jeans and fisherman's
boots that were over the knees.
"Who is that next to you?", asked James upon seeing Kelly, with Kelly
then introducing herself and then pulling down the hood of her raincoat to
reveal her blonde hair that was wet.
"I'm sorry, I actually did meet you before. I just didn't recognize you
with the hood up", then said James.
"That's OK", Kelly replied.
James then said to Mike, Bobby and Alexa, "So, I understand you're able
to almost confirm that the body found at Chelsea Piers was in fact 'Big
Pussy?'", with all three replying, "Yes", with Mike then saying, "The pants were
huge, and the shirt is exactly the kind he used to wear."
"Wow!", then said Anita, who noted that Joe and Ed are still handling
that investigation as they walked outside to an area that was sheltered from
rain, as the air conditioning inside St. Vincent's was turned way up because of
the extremely high humidity, making some of them cold because of their being
wet.
Kelly then said, "They probably won't get far for a while. I wound up
walking all the way from the DA's Office to Bungalow North."
"In this rain?", asked James.
"My choice. I didn't want to risk getting stuck in the subway with this
rain falling", then said Kelly, with Anita after that walking back inside.
"I don't blame you. I understand most of the subways are in fact out of
service because of flooding", then said James.
"Yes. Last I heard, they think this rain will be one for the record
books", then said Kelly, who then remained outside while Mike, Bobby, Alexa and
James then went back in and began interviewing victims of the shooting at
Bungalow North who were unable to speak earlier. Meanwhile, Kelly decided to head
diagonally across from St. Vincent's to a store on 11th street and 7th
avenue south where she was able to get a couple of things she felt she'd need
given the weather. During this time, Kelly also called Jack once she got back
from the store to the outside area in St. Vincent's that was sheltered from the
rain.
"Anything new?", asked Jack.
"Some good news, actually. Lt. Van Buren's son is probably going to
survive, but he'll probably be in the hospital for a while", said Kelly.
"That is good news", replied Jack.
Kelly replied while first taking off her boots and then putting one pair
of a six-pack of dry socks she had just bought, "About the only good news
today it seems. Anyway, Detectives Eames, Goren and Logan and Lt. Deakins are
interviewing shooting victims at St. Vincent's they couldn't earlier right
now. I'm outside in an area that is sheltered from the rain", said Kelly.
"Well sheltered, I assume?", asked Jack.
"Very, up from the steps of the entrance, sitting on a bench with a
ceiling protecting me. It's unbelievable seeing all these people caught off guard
by this rain. I'm sure it's a nightmare for them, especially since I'm sure
many can't get home", then said Kelly.
"You're telling me. Arthur and I so sorry again about your having to do
that", then said Jack.
"Will you quit apologizing? I realized you and Arthur didn't really have
a choice with Lexi injured. You can't help the fact that all this happened
on a day half the DA's Office is on vacation, including Tracy and Ron", then
said Kelly, referring to Major Case Squad Assistant DA Ron Carver in the
latter case, then saying she'd check back if anything came up, with Kelly then
hanging up and seeing how wet the socks she was wearing had become just in the
time she was talking with Jack changed them to another dry pair, which she was
doing as beforehand, her feet had started to itch from the boots having
water come into them when she was knocked down and then from having to walk
barefoot through flooded streets where the water was higher than her boots.
The Detectives and Lieutenant's interviews of the new people from the
shooting (which Atlanta also helped in doing) revealed to the Detectives that
there were actually 12-14 people who stormed into Bungalow North. Mike then
came out, and seeing Kelly sitting there gave her the updated information after
first sending out a bulletin that there were, including descriptions of some
of them.
After Kelly was able to relay the new information to Jack while changing
her socks for a second time (as the second pair of socks also soaked up a
lot of water, though they were drier than the first pair), she would then put
her boots back on (throwing the wet socks in a garbage can) and come inside to
where the Detectives and Lieutenants Deakins and Van Buren were, relaying
that Jack was now aware of what was going on, and she was going to remain there
for a bit in case they get any additional information given the extreme
weather conditions.
(Writer's Note: Portions of this part take place simultaneously with
portions of Part 45)
1:25 PM
Arthur Branch's Office
With Kelly on what would turn out to be an adventure in the rain and
Jack swamped on another major case, Arthur summoned Susanne, who was acting as
Homicide Bureau Chief while Tracy Kibre was on vacation to his office.
"How is Lexi?", asked Arthur, knowing by the change of clothes Susanne
made since the morning she had returned to her apartment for Lunch.
"Her knees and ankle are still sore, but a bit better, though she still
needs to be off her feet for now. She's able to at least use the time to take
care of paperwork she'd be having to do anyway, though I know she'd rather
be here on a day like this, bad weather and all", replied Susanne.
"That's good to hear. Anyway, you know, Achellio Acquavivia was just
arraigned for what happened at Bianchi's this morning", said Arthur.
"I heard what happened there, but I didn't know the arraignment already
took place", said Susanne.
"It did. Casey Novak handled it, but I realized there is a slim chance
she could be called as a witness if it went to trial, so I had Kelly observe
the arraignment. I think you'd be a better choice to talk with Acquavivia's
attorney, however, plus, I needed Kelly to head to Bungalow North and tour it
in case it gets flooded, and most of the investigators had to leave early
because of the weather", then said Arthur
"I see. I hope she'll be OK in this", replied Susanne.
"I saw her before she left. About the only one in this office who has
the sense to keep proper clothes here for days like this", replied Arthur.
"You're telling me. You know I live only a few blocks from here, and I
was soaked by the time I got back to my apartment. Anyway, bring him on", said
Susanne.
---------------------------------------------------
1:55 PM
Holding Cell at Criminal Courts Building
120 Centre Street
The rain made it impossible to transport inmates to Rikers, so "Ack Ack"
and his attorney, Gary Feldman, Jr. were still where Susanne only had to
walk through the Criminal Courts Building to reach them, in a Cell in the
Holding portion of the massive complex.
Upon seeing Susanne, Gary said, "Ah! Someone who actually is dressed
like a normal person and not like she was about to get on Noah's Ark."
"You better watch it", replied Susanne, having seen how Gary was going
gaga over her long, thick blonde hair that she actually went to the trouble of
blow-drying before meeting with Arthur, also knowing of Gary's reputation of
trying to date attorneys who were his adversaries.
"Testy, aren't we", replied Gary, with Susanne not liking his reply at
all.
After pausing for a moment, Susanne said, "Anyway, you're client clearly
attempted to kill a New York City Police Officer, and would have if the
trigger had gone off."
"But he didn't kill him", replied Gary.
"Only because the trigger failed", replied Susanne, who paused and then
said, "I have only one offer: Attempted murder, 15-to-life instead of
25-to-life."
"In your dreams", replied Ack Ack, with Susanne not fond of Ack Ack's
cockiness.
"Hold it!", then said Gary to his client, then asking Susanne, "Why such
a harsh sentence? He didn't kill anyone!"
"He would have killed six people at least if the trigger didn't fail. We
are treating it the same as a homicide even though no one was killed!",
replied Susanne.
"He is right", said Gary.
"OK. What if I can tell you who did the shooting of Bungalow North last
night.", said Ack Ack.
"Then we might have something. I'll be back shortly", then said Susanne,
with her walking out to where she could call Arthur and Jack on her cell
phone, with Arthur saying for her to return to the office and meet with him and
Jack, which Susanne subsequently did, though first returning to the cell to
inform Gary and Ack Ack she had to do so.
--------------------------------------------------
2:55 PM
After meeting with Arthur and Jack and Jack then being updated by Kelly
over the happenings at Bungalow North and St. Vincent's Hospital that he
subsequently relayed to Arthur, Jack walks to the holding cell at 120 Centre
Street with Susanne.
"See you brought the big gun this time", said Gary upon seeing Jack with
Susanne, with Susanne responding silently by staring at Gary in a manner
that said not to mess with her.
After that, Jack said to Ack Ack, "So. I understand Mr. Acquavivia you
can tell us who shot up Bungalow North last night."
"He says he can, Jack. I need to know what you are offering first", said
Gary.
"OK. Aggravated Assault, 5-10, however, any such information must lead
to convictions of the people responsible and he must testify in court", said
Jack.
"You can't do better than that, Jack?", asked Gary.
"He would have wound up killing at least six people if the trigger had
gone off. That is a very generous offer given he's looking at 25-life, same as
a Murder Two charge", said Jack.
"OK. I'll take it, as long as I get Protection", said Ack Ack.
"I can look into that", said Jack.
Ack Ack then said, "OK. It was Christopher Moltisanti and Paulie Walnuts
led the shoot-up of Bungalow North last night. I know this because I had
orders to follow Mr. Moltisanti around and kill him. The cop just happened to
look like Moltisatni."
"And who gave you those orders?", asked Jack.
"Carmine Lupertazzi. He owns Bungalow North, and wanted revenge for Mr.
Moltisanti's and Mr. Walnuts' shooting up the joint", said Ack Ack.
"And you will testify to this in court?", said Jack.
"Yes", replied Ack Ack.
With that, Jack and Susanne quickly wrapped up their meeting with Gary
and then returned to the Office to share the news with Arthur. Jack in turn
then called Kelly (who had remained at St. Vincent's) to inform the officers
there they were now officially looking for Christopher Moltisanti and Paulie
Walnuts as prime suspects in the Bungalow North shooting, and also "Little
Carmine" Lupertazzi for ordering a hit on the other two for shooting up Bungalow
North that led to the attempted murder of Nick Falco, which in turn went out
as an APB.
3:00 PM
Chris dared to think that luck was smiling on himself and Paulie, with help from Vermont.
Two hours earlier, while waiting for a bus on Union Avenue, Paulie flagged a Toyota Sienna
minivan with Vermont plates. The driver, a plump bearded half-bald man of forty or so,
accepted Paulie's plea for help. Now the driver and his family -- full-figured wife and thin
pre-teen daughter -- lay under a tarp in the rear compartment, bound with duct tape.
Chris hoped nothing else would go wrong. If a bad day produced gray hair, then he was
starting to grow plenty. After taking the van, with its powerful heater, Paulie had insisted
on retrieving the AK-47. He returned to South Fourth and spent many teeth-chattering
minutes (teeth-chattering for Chris, that was -- no joke with his new filling) wading
through the water. Chris had thought of taking the van and leaving Paulie behind, but
Paulie had the key and there didn't seem to be a spare. Chris considered searching the
three MacDougalls and was about to do that when Paulie raised his arms in frustration.
"Gone!" Paulie said. "Like it dissolved!"
"Stop being a hothead. That could work in our favor. If the guy who found it uses it, the
cops'll be thrown off."
"Maybe you're right. You *better* be right."
Since then there had been little talk. The van's radio was tuned to a news channel which
had breaking news of an attempted shooting in a Chinatown restaurant. A later update
said that an unidentified city police detective had been the intended victim. Chris smiled;
there was something which should keep the cops looking in the wrong places. And of
course the weather was tying a lot of them down.
Now Chris and Paulie were on the Henry Hudson Parkway, just one mile south of the
George Washington Bridge turnoff. The rain was still heavy, but traffic was moving and the
wooded bluffs on the Jersey side were just visible.
"After we get across," Paulie said, "we'll see about waste disposal. We got maybe four
hundred pounds in back."
*Four hundred pounds still living and breathing,* Chris thought, his lips almost pouting.
*But not for long.*
2:25 PM
Exactly 24 hours had passed since Carmela's accident set the wheels in
motion. Meadow had been at NYU Downtown Hospital for most of the 24 hours
since it happened, only going home to sleep, but now she getting stir-crazy being
there with no internet access or other things. It didn't matter that Meadow
was not dressed for this rain, she was like most New Yorkers on this day,
caught off-guard as this was not forecast.
With her mother all right and not really needing Meadow to be there
24/7, Meadow decided to attempt to make it back to her apartment on 116th street
and Broadway, which happened to be right next to the subway entrance, so even
if she was in the rain, if she could get back, she'd not be in the rain for
more than a minute or two, starting by making a mad dash for the subway
entrance, which she was able to since it was directly across the street.
To Meadow's surprise, although the Lexington local avenue line was not
running uptown, trains were terminating at Brooklyn Bridge and were in fact
running into Brooklyn going downtown. That allowed Meadow to hop on a downtown
train one stop to Fulton Street, where she would then get an 8th avenue line
train uptown. Seeing how many people had their clothes soaked to the skin
with a number of men actually shirtless due to the rain and hearing all about
the flooding, Meadow changes her plans and gets off at the 34th street stop,
knowing she could walk through Penn Station and from there, dart into a big
department store with an entrance in Penn Station. With the store open, Meadow
was to her amazement able to find the proper rain gear for a bizarre storm
like this, then changing into it in a ladies room while sticking the clothes she
was wearing into a waterproof backpack she also bought, then walking back
onto the Long Island Rail Road level of Penn Station.
It was while eating a quick lunch at a pizzeria in Penn Station that
Meadow saw on a TV news that Ack Ack had been arrested and had named both
Christopher and Paulie as the people who shot up Bungalow North. At this point and
especially since she was now wearing a raincoat and very short, denim skirt
that the coat completely covered up and rainboots that were knee-high, Meadow
decided to head back to the 8th avenue subway and wait on the platform where
both "A" trains stopped at, not caring that by this point close to four
inches of rain had fallen, with the rain falling at an inch and a quarter an hour,
deciding she had to see the scene at Bungalow North for herself if at all
possible, especially since she was concerned her mother might ask her questions
about it.
3:20 PM
34th street station on the 8th avenue subway
Meadow could not believe how crowded the downtown "A" train was, and
realizing the local would be far less crowded would head over to that platform,
taking an "E" train to 14th street that was far less crowded, but also showed
like everything else how bad the rain was and how unprepared most people
were for it, with only a few wearing any rain gear at all and most either having
their clothes soaked or in some cases not caring about what they were
wearing at that point.
She would get out of the station and walk west on 14th street, with the
rain appearing for a moment to let up enough to pull down the hood on her
raincoat, but only for a second before the rain started up again and very
quickly re-intensified into the unexpected storm that just decided to park itself
over Manhattan and just rain almost non-stop in the same places for hours at a
time, with the official total at Central Park not as much as originally
thought, only around 2 1/2 inches in four hours, but likely to become much more
as the rain now was heavier than before.
"Just be glad this isn't snow", said Meadow to herself while putting the
hood of her raincoat back over her head, surprised she was able to walk
across 9th avenue and 14th street where it was not as flooded (though still going
well up her boots) while just a block south there was water that clearly was
deep.
Reaching Washington Street, even with some of the evidence washed away
by the rain, Meadow was in horror seeing for herself first-hand how badly
Bungalow North was gutted out, also seeing some of the marks even from the rain
of bullets that were clear across 14th street that knocked out a couple of
windows of the flagship store of a top fashion designer that Meadow sometimes
goes to.
Meadow didn't say a word as she walked the block south for herself on
Washington to 13th street, seeing where many of the shots went, in complete
shock that Christopher would actually do this. Obviously, she knew she couldn't
say anything about this to Christopher, but truly felt she had to see this
for herself as she walked south on Washington to Little West 12th street before
starting back east to 9th avenue, encountering the same flooding that Kelly
encountered earlier.
"What the hell?", Meadow would say to herself before backing up,
deciding she would attempt to walk across 12th street and 9th avenue very slowly,
though then backing up when she saw the water was coming up very close to the
top of her boots to where it was not as high, then getting a ring on her cell
phone, but when she answered the connection was lost before whoever was on
the other end could speak.
"Figures!", then said Meadow to herself before seeing the flooding
further north on 9th avenue in just the time since she went to Washington Street,
she would walk back north one block to 13th street, but even that didn't
really help as the rain was again nearing the top of her boots before she was
even halfway across the street, then taking off her boots realizing the water
would come into them otherwise, then walking barefoot on 13th to 8th avenue,
where she to her surprise, a friend from college who was driving a Hummer
honked.
"You're a real lifesaver!", said Meadow to her friend, Rachel Sommers,
who lived in the same building as Meadow and had very wealthy parents.
Rachel replied as Meadow came into the Hummer, which had the capability
of being driven in a rainstorm like this, "You're welcome. I don't why I
drove this in today, but I saw what the forecast was last night and I guess my
instincts told me this was going to be much stronger than what was forecast."
"You're telling me. I just bought these", Meadow replied, showing her
the rainboots she had bought before putting them back on after first drying off
her legs with a towel that was in the Hummer.
"No kidding. This is about the worst of the flooding I've seen so far.
It must be real bad for you to have to take off a pair of boots that supposed
to be worn in this weather", said Rachel.
"Bad enough that if I didn't, they'd be flooded. That water almost came
up to my skirt that I only bought because of this", said Meadow, revealing
the very short denim skirt she was wearing under her raincoat because of the
weather as they ladies were traveling up 8th avenue to about 23rd street, then
turning east seeing what appeared to be gridlock ahead as the Lincoln Tunnel
was closed. They would reach 7th avenue before Rachel realized it would be
impossible to continue, able to find a parking garage that was open where she
could park the Hummer.
"Unbelivable! I bet a lot of people simply abandoned their cars", said
Meadow.
"I can believe that. At work, when people were leaving, I saw quite a
few who stripped down as far as they could before they left, knowing whatever
they wore was going to be ruined", then said Rachel as she parked the Hummer
in the garage.
"Same here on the subway in my case. I saw a lot of men with no shirts,
and a few women only wearing underwear, and those who didn't were mostly
soaked to the skin. Only a few were dressed properly", then said Meadow as they
got out of the Hummer, parked on the second level of the garage.
The ladies then walked out of the garage into the rain, with Rachel
asking, "What were doing there anyway?"
Meadow was caught off guard by that, then after a moment replying, "Oh,
my mother's attorney happens to live around there, and I needed to see her on
something", said Meadow.
"You mean Serena Southerlyn?", asked Rachel
"I assume you saw her on the news this morning because of the Bungalow
North shooting", Meadow replied.
"That's where I did see her in fact. I remember the name because my
sister went to Harvard with her", then said Rachel.
"Oh, that's right", then said Meadow as the two then headed for the
subway entrance at 23rd street and 7th avenue, deciding to take the train back to
their building directly across from Columbia University.
3:20 PM
St. Vincent's Hospital
Kelly finally had a chance to stop and have some lunch in the
cafeteria, which normally would be closed at this time, but was opened because it
was doubling as a police station for the time being because of the Bungalow
North shooting. Not much had really changed in the last 25 minutes or so, and
after what had been a very hell-raising afternoon to say the least, was seated
with Bobby and Alexa, who were both exhausted having been up since late the night
before on short sleep as was Mike, who had joined them. All four were simply
looking at the local coverage of this completely unexpected rainstorm,
completely amazed at the sights of people who normally would be dressed very dapper
and classy in many cases looking closer to homeless bums, with many simply
dumping clothes they were wearing in trash bins as they were ruined in their eyes.
Interviews with many were saying they could not believe how bad a storm this
was, and how it was completely missed by weather casters. The weather casters
who came on were interviewed, with them saying their computer models and those
at services they use completely missed this storm, which now was expected to
dump as much as a foot of rain on some parts of the New York area when all was
said and done.
"Luckilly, this is inland enough where it won't get flooded that
easily", said Mike, who knew the area very well, with Bobby seconding as he lived
a couple of blocks from the hospital in a building on 12th and Hudson
Streets.
"I should be fine as well, if I can get home. I live on 97th between
5th and Madison, right next to Mount Siani", then said Kelly.
"Well, it appears the west side lines are not that bad at least",
then said Bobby.
"I see", then said Kelly.
After they finish eating and still needing to be there for at least
a bit longer before she could go home, Kelly decides to walk back out to the
sheltered prominade of St. Vincent's that was still dry, doing so in order so
she could change her socks again since the pair she was wearing had become
soaked inside her boots, absorbing most of the water that was in them.
"Unbelievable!", said Kelly to herself as she took off one of her
boots to reveal how wet the socks were before taking that off and the looking at
her foot to see her skin peeling a bit before doing the same with the other
foot, then stretching out her feet.
"What are you doing?", said Alexa as she walked outside for a
minute, then sitting next to Kelly, who moved the socks over to the opposite side of
the bench from where she placed them.
"Just changing socks", replied Kelly, then showing Alexa one of them
before saying, "Would you believe this is the THIRD pair of socks I had worn
in the last hour?"
"Not surprising. You did say you got knocked down and water came
into your boots earlier", said Alexa, who after pausing then said, "Oh I forgot,
you were barefoot when came by Bungalow North, weren't you."
"Yeah, and that pair only absorbed the water that was in my boots
from earlier. Those are the kind of boots I needed for today", then replied
Kelly, looking at the fisherman's boots Alexa was still wearing.
"I knew my father's love of fishing would come in handy someday",
then joked Alexa.
"Never did that myself. My father was never an outdoors type", then
replied Kelly with both then laughing for a moment before Kelly put on a new
pair of socks and then her boots before noticing what looked like an overweight
male about 18 stumbling along outside, collapsing near the steps of the
hospital with Kelly and Alexa along with a couple of doctors running out for help.
"Get a stretcher, stat!", yelled one of the doctors as several
others came out to see what was going on.
"Oh my god, A. J. Soprano!", then said Mike, who was among those who
came out.
"You know him?", asked Alexa.
"Busted him earlier this year for underage drinking on Staten
Island, as I happened to see him coming out of a bar and he was drunk", then said
Mike, who paused and then said, "His mother Carmela is at NYU Downtown."
"That's right, she was in an accident yesterday", said Alexa.
"I'm calling Detectives Fontana and Green at the 2-7, they were
handling Mrs. Soprano's case because the ADA that works with them was injured in
an accident she caused, apparently in part because she was looking for her
son", then said Mike, whom after doing that found an I.D. card that said to call
Meadow Soprano on her cell phone if anything happened.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------
3:45 PM
Uptown #1 train on the Broadway-7th avenue line
Meadow and Rachel were on the uptown #1 train that was not nearly as
crowded as earlier trains were, though as before with many people ill-dressed
to handle the day.
The ride to the 116th street station was relatively uneventful,
other than a couple of women offering Meadow a considerable amount a money for the
rain coat and rain boots she was wearing, which Meadow politely declined
before they got off at 116th street station.
The two reached their apartment building very quickly, with both
taking off their rain gear before heading up to their apartments. Upon walking
into hers, Meadow hears a ring on her cell phone.
"Hello?", asked Meadow as she awnsered it.
"Meadow Soprano?", asked Mike Logan.
"Yes?", asked Meadow.
"My name is Det. Mike Logan, NYPD Major Case Squad. I'm at St.
Vincent's Hospital, where your brother A.J. collapsed at the entrance to. He was
admitted, but he didn't appear in great shape. He's in the emergency room right
now", then said Mike.
"Thank you. I'll be down as soon as I can", then said Meadow, who
decided to quickly change out of the tanked t-shirt she had worn most of the day
into a bathing suit that she would wear under the denim miniskirt and a
long-sleeved t-shirt she would wear in turn under her raincoat, now knowing what
was forecast, keeping in her backpack the full skirt and mesh slippers she was
wearing earlier while taking out the denim jacket she had also been wearing,
then once at the door putting the rainboots she was wearing back on for the trip
to St. Vincent's, very worried about A.J. and in a dilemma about calling her
mother. While she was getting ready, she would call her father to let him know
that A.J. had been found, but was at St. Vincent's in bad shape, with Tony
then saying he would call Carmela at NYU Downtown and for Meadow to for now just
head to St. Vincent's if she could get there.
3:48 PM
Reports that the whole area west of the Hudson was blacked out made Paulie decide to
stay out of New Jersey for now. He drove to Inwood and parked on Vermilyea Street
between Academy and West 204th. Before leaving the van, he pocketed a few bundles of
money from his bag. Then he led Chris to a small restaurant called The Oasis.
Inside, Paulie introduced Chris to an old army buddy -- Oscar Leopardi. "We spent six
months together at the USDB," Paulie said. Chris knew about Paulie's army life, knew that
USDB meant the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth.
Oscar was gaunt and had a gap-toothed grin -- undesirable for a chef or a waiter, Chris
thought. The neighbourhood seemed to feel the same way, for there were two other
customers and at least three dozen vacant seats. Someone was doing a fair enough job of
keeping the dining area clean, but there was a faint chemical smell like ammonia and paint
thinner.
"You look like you could use a pick-me-up," Oscar told Chris. "I got just the stuff."
"Stuff I already got," Chris replied. "Dentist's medicine. I'll feel better once it wears off." In
truth, Chris was feeling worse as the last traces of Henarez's anesthetic wore off. His
newly filled tooth glowed like a coal under a gentle stream of air. His muscles felt stiff. He
had intermittent chills.
"Suit yourself," Oscar said. "How about you, Peanuts?"
"Walnuts," Paulie said with a grin. "I've moved up. If you got crystal ... yeah, I'm
interested."
"For you, special deal."
Chris was not sure whether Paulie would sell the crystal for profit or use it himself. Paulie
was much too well-built to be a skel, but his ultra-violent behavior this morning could be
attributed to substance abuse. On the other hand, Chris thought, the massacre might be a
climax of something which had been building for years, drugs or no drug.
Paulie ordered hamburgers, fries, and onion rings. Chris had no appetite for anything
other than coffee and soup. Paulie ate the remaining food (*not a skel, that's for sure,*
Chris thought) and said goodbye to Oscar in as cheerful a tone as Chris had heard.
The rain did not stop Paulie from whistling, but he fell silent on seeing the gap where the
Sienna had been. His eyes took on a glare fit to kill any smile Chris might have shown.
4:10 PM
Broadway-7th Avenue Subway
Downtown #1 train
With Meadow very worried about A.J., once in the 116th street station,
Meadow would sit on a bench near the front of the station in the fetal
position as she had sat in several times earlier in the day, though only briefly as
the train was coming. With the front car nearly empty, Meadow sat in the very
front of the train, next to where the motorman was, with her then while
sitting playing with her feet, allowing her boots to come part of the way off,
then taking her feet out of them, letting them fall sideways and placing her
bare feet on top of them, anything to if for only a moment take her mind off
the bizarre happenings of the day.
Though seeing an express train at 96th street, Meadow decided to stay on
the local, thinking of she got stuck for some reason, she would have an
easier time getting out, especially in the front car of the train where she was.
The local was also far less crowded, though once the train got to 59th
street, Meadow would put her boots back on, managing to do so without her feet
touching the floor of the train that had a lot of wet dirt on it.
Getting to 14th street was the easy part, with her then being able to
exit at 12th street and 7th avenue, which put her less than a block from the
entrance to St. Vincent's, though walking carefully realizing the ground was
very slippery, seeing many coming downstairs having trouble negotiating the
steps into the station.
Not caring this time if her boots got flooded, Meadow would dash across
12th street and run into the entrance of St. Vincent's, with her asking for
Mike.
"Ms. Soprano?", asked Mike upon hearing name.
"Det. Logan?", then asked Meadow.
"Yes. I'm the one who called you", then said Mike.
"Yes. I'm A.J.'s sister. Is he all right?", then asked Meadow.
"He'll be fine. Apparently, he was simply drunk, and had walked around
too much and was a bit dehydrated, of all things. Nothing too serious from
what we were told. He better lay off the drinking, as I only knew who he was
because I busted him earlier this year for underage drinking", then said Mike.
"So you're the Detective my mother screamed at early this year. She told
me all about that. I'm glad you recognized him, he'd been missing for 36
hours, and my mother wound up crashing her car as a result yesterday", then said
Meadow, then asking if she could see A.J.
"Not yet, Ms. Soprano. Right now, he needs his rest. It would be best if
you came back tomorrow, once he got some rest and we could run some more
tests to make sure he's OK", then said a doctor, who came over and introduced
herself as Dr. Muller, with Meadow understanding and then going out to call her
mother, letting her know that A.J. was going to be all right, but she could
not see him until tomorrow, then calling Tony with the same news.
While that was going on, Kelly's work at St. Vincent's was done, and
Arthur said for her to head home, as there little reason to attempt to return to
the DA's Office. Mike, Bobby, Alexa and everyone else at St. Vincent's also
headed home, while Meadow then called Serena.
"So they found A.J.", said Serena on the phone to Meadow, who now was
outside on the promenade.
"They did. He's fine. I called both my parents already, but I felt you
should be aware as well in case it helps in the case", said Meadow.
"Don't know if it will help at all, but it's still good to hear", then
said Serena.
"Yes. Can I talk to you privately somewhere?", then asked Meadow.
"Should I come where you are?", then asked Serena.
"No. I think I can walk over to where you are, and that might make more
sense", then said Meadow.
"OK. Just be careful", then said Serena, with Meadow saying she was now
wearing rain gear, so she'd be fine.
Brooklyn North, 4:15 PM
"Haven't been razzed so badly since my rookie days," Nick Falco told Lieutenant Zoppo.
The two were standing beside Nick's desk in the 91st Precinct headquarters building. On
the floor close by, a pail was collecting drip water. The squad room had fewer people than
usual for this time of day because the precinct commander had ordered the incoming shift
to stay outside while engineers assessed the roof's integrity. "C.M. might as well become
my legal initials," Falco added.
The lieutenant said, "Worse things are happening. You made it through first-year hazing
and you'll make it through this."
"Maybe, but the next person who calls me Chrissie and asks if I have assault rifles for
sale..."
"Is gonna get assaulted?" Zoppo raised his eyebrows. Before he could say anything else,
Falco's desk phone rang.
Falco answered with, "Detective Falco." With his free hand he took a pencil and scribbled
on a note pad. Zoppo watched him write *Dr. Henarez, DDS* then *Hit on Moltisanti!*
Zoppo smiled; it had been Falco's idea to have photo facsimilies of Moltisanti sent to the
city's dentists. Falco stayed on the phone for another minute or so, then got the dentist's
address and thanked him.
"Henarez is *positive,*" Falco said. "He treated Moltisanti almost four hours ago. The guy
gave no forwarding address or travel plans, but it's him. Henarez says there's a chance
Moltisanti could develop complications -- maybe even septicemia -- because his gum
disease is so bad. I'll notify area clinics and hospitals."
"I'm not one to stop you," Zoppo said.
At the same time that Dr. Henarez was talking to Detective Falco, two of Zoppo's other
subordinates were confronting a gaunt dark-skinned man in a corner booth of Lorraine's
Coffee Shop on Stagg Street almost a block east of Union Avenue. The younger detective, a
heavyset baby-faced blond, wagged his finger and said, "How can we trust you, Anjos?
Your previous information was inaccurate."
The older detective was bald and outweighed his partner by about twenty pounds. He
clucked his tongue and said, "Rasmussen, you forget. Anjos only understands words of
one syllable. Try again."
Rasmussen looked at Anjos and said, "Your last tip was false."
The bald detective -- Brown, if Anjos remembered right -- said, "Much better. But I don't
like the look of Mr. Anjos' eyes. I think he's using, possessing. Let's search..."
Anjos raised his hands. "Wait. I know where there's a ... assault rifle."
"Assault rifle. Pretty impressive," Brown said. Then, more briskly: "Be even better if you tell
us where."
"Bloods' place on South Fourth. Heard `em talking about how two white dudes stalled their
van in the flood, then fought a bit and one of `em threw a bag in the water, and in that bag
was a perfectly good rifle and ammo."
Brown shook his head. "That's a fantastic story. As in hard to believe."
Rasmussen added, "If it's true, I'll buy you the most expensive dinner at Furini's in
Manhattan."
But Brown and Rasmussen were aware that bullets from an assault rifle had done almost
all of the harm at Bungalow North. Brown called for a SWAT team, which was available to
assist with a raid on the Bloods' home despite the weather.
By five, Brown had the AK-47 in his hands and Rasmussen was swallowing hard.
4:30 PM
St. Vincent's Hospital
Kelly Gaffney's work was finally done for the day, as was Mike,
Bobby and Alexa's, with the three detectives ordered to go home and get some rest
by Lt. Deakins. Lt. Van Buren and her husband had also left, knowing Stefan
was out of the worst of what happened and was now expected to recover fully as
well.
Everything that happened this day, coupled with walking through a
monster rainstorm that flooded her boots once and forced her to walk barefoot
another time (and needing four pairs of socks to dry her boots and her feet)
left Kelly with a surreal feeling as she finally could head home to her apartment
on 97th street and 5th avenue, but with one small problem: The Lexington
Avenue Subway that she would normally take was out due to flooding, and the
closest she could get without having to go through Central Park was the 63rd street
and Lexington Avenue stop on the "F" train. Both primary uptown lines on the
west side were running, however, and Kelly decides her best option was to take
the #1 train to the Columbus Circle station and change there for the "B" or
"C" train there to take her to 96th street and Central Park west. That would
work out very well to begin, as Kelly was able to slowly walk across 12th street
without the water in the street getting up to the top of her boots, then being
able to get into the station and immediately get the train to Columbus
Circle.
What Kelly saw at Columbus Circle was a major surprise, and that was
some people who actually were NOT soaked to the skin, though she then
remembered that station has entrances from The Time Warner Center and a few office
buildings that are completly indoors, with people able to basically spend the
whole day without going outside even once, with the 47th-50th street station on
6th avenue similar as those who worked in Rockerfeller Center and office
buildings all the way to 53rd street and 6th avenue could never step outside if
they didn't need to. That was reflected in the station and on the "B" train Kelly
took to 96th street, with many who had obviously been indoors all day amazed
at seeing some who were out in the rain not only as soaked as they are, but
dressed a lot lighter than normal to say the least.
Getting off at 96th street, Kelly first headed to a bench in the
station so she could put the raincoat she had taken off in the subway back on
before venturing back out, first walking through a puddle many walked gingerly
through prior to her walking through easily before heading back up into rain
that was more intense than at any time during the day, dreading having to walk
through Central Park, choosing to walk through the vestibule that was
surprisingly still open in spite of the rain, that had apparently before this had been
less than in lower Manhattan.
As she began her walk into the park, the hood came off Kelly's
raincoat long enough for Christopher, Paulie and an associate who happened to be
driving on 96th and Central Park West, seeing Kelly's blonde hair as she started
into the vestibule.
"Is that the broad who got "Ack Ack" the deal?", asked Paulie.
"Nah. She's the broad who was seeing Bungalow North earlier, and
that is what she was wearing. One of my 'snitches' I was on the phone with
earlier happened to be in the area, talking with the Detectives", said Christopher,
who paused and then said, "OK. We don't want to do any bodily harm to her, but
I think a nice spraying would send a message. Maybe enough to cause her to
lose her balance and fall to the ground, or give her some other kind of scare."
With little traffic, Paulie and Christopher decide to wait, figuring
in the middle of the tunnel they could "nail" Kelly, making it look like
something that happened because of all the water in the vestibule.
In the vestibule, Kelly would scream out an "Ugh!!" seeing the first
of two tunnels in the 96th street vestibule flooded, deciding to cross over
at that point knowing that would take her across the street from her apartment
building on 97th once she exited at 5th avenue. She would attempt to walk
through it, but seeing the water was quickly becoming too deep, she would back up
and then take off her boots and socks, glad at least she would this time only
have to walk barefoot for a couple of blocks before being able to get out of
rain gear that was never meant to be worn on a day with temperatures in the 80s
with high humidity in addition to the rain. The walk through would be very
slow, especially since the water would this time come up to just about her knees
before it would become lower, with once out of the tunner Kelly putting her
boots back on seeing quite a bit of debris on the street. Reaching the second
tunnel, Kelly would again have to go barefoot as the water was again very deep,
with as she was walking through it a van that was moving very quick in the
eastbound direction suddenly veer into the westbound lane, not only drenching
Kelly, but causing her to lose her balance and after being completely turned
around falling on her rear end.
"F*** you punks!! This isn't funny at all!!", yelled Kelly to
herself as she got up, with water all over her raingear as she continued to walk
through the tunnel.
Christopher and Paulie were laughing hysterically to the point where
his mouth was starting to hurt again as the van they were in (driven by the
associate) exited the vestibule at 97th street and 5th avenue, making the turn
onto 5th at a high rate of speed, then making a left on 96th while still going
fast on a street normally jammed that was deserted at this point.
Kelly would then walk the rest of the way home, not bothering to put
her boots back on as she was so close and wanting to give a "finger to the
sky" for the "lovely" day she had. Once in the entrance to her building, she
took off both her raincoat and pants that were very wet, happy she lived on the
first floor, right next to the entrance and could get into her apartment
without anyone seeing she was only at that point wearing a sleeveless turtleneck and
her underwear, quickly changing into dry clothes once in her apartment and
watching news of the storm.
5:20 PM
Lobby of Office Building housing law firm of Bradford, Cohen & Styles
25th street and Madison Avenue
Meadow's adventure to see Serena was nothing compared to earlier, as
while the rain was as hard as it had been all day, Meadow was able to walk to
the entrance to the subway at 7th avenue and 12th street and then through the
Broadway-7th avenue line station before then walking upstairs and through a
walkway to the 6th avenue local, taking that one stop to 23rd street and then
walking on the south side of the 23rd to where Madison Avenue starts going
north, and then the two blocks north to where Serena's firm is without any
problems.
"I see you didn't mess around", said Serena, who was waiting for Meadow
in the lobby, remembering how she was dressed earlier in the day compared to
now while Meadow pulled out the mesh slippers from her backpack and put them
on the ground, outside the building on 25th in an area that was sheltered
from the rain.
"True, but even these weren't enough for some streets", said Meadow as
she changed from the boots to the slippers, with Serena seeing the boots and
Meadow then saying, "In one instance, the water came all the way up to here!",
with her hand right under the bottom of the very short denim skirt she was
wearing,
"Wow! I knew it was bad, but not that bad", then said Serena as they
then went inside, with Meadow then asking, "Is there a ladies room where I could
change skirts?", and Serena replying, "Sure", as Serena realized Meadow
still likely had the skirt she was wearing earlier with her and was not
comfortable wearing such a short skirt like she was wearing inside her attorney's
office.
Following a quick change to the full skirt Meadow was wearing earlier in
the ladies room, Meadow (carrying her rain gear with the mini in her
backpack) walked with Serena through the offices of the firm she was now working for
to where her office was, on the Madison Avenue side between 24th and 25th
streets where both could see many people just getting off work still unprepared
for this unexpected rainstorm. Once in Serena's office, she would ask Meadow
if this specifically had anything to do with Christopher, saying, "I know he
was named in the Bungalow North shooting."
Meadow replied by saying, "Yes. I was in a pizzeria in Penn Station
having lunch after buying the rain gear at the big store than has an entrance in
there, and it was on a TV there that I saw that Achiello Acquavivia had
pointed the finger at Christopher for the Bungalow North shooting. Even before
that, given Christopher was not around at all during the day and even the way he
was acting last night at the hospital when you were there said to me he
might have done it, as he was very antsy much of the evening. It was after I saw
that I headed to where the shooting happened last night to see it for myself.
I knew it was brutal, but I didn't realize how bad until I saw how much it
was."
"I know it was brutal. When I finally did go by there last night, I saw
the bodies. I assume you saw the cleaned-up version", then said Serena.
"Yes. Even with all this rain, you can still see how brutal a shooting
it really was", then said Meadow.
"I can imagine", then said Serena.
"Anyway, I have not told my mother yet about Bungalow North, and she is
under doctor's orders not to watch any TV. She will be going through the roof
if she finds out Christopher is a suspect", then said Meadow.
"I don't know what to tell you. I suspect the last place he'd go right
now is the hospital, especially I'm sure they would inform police the second
they showed up", then said Serena.
"Then I guess you answered it for me. Don't tell her unless it's
absolutely necessary", Meadow replied.
"That might be the best case unless the doctors feel otherwise", then
said Serena.
"Thanks. I know you're in a tough position here, and I appreciate
whatever you can do", replied Meadow, who then with Serena walked out of the office
and through the firm's offices back to the ladies room, where Meadow changed
back to the shorter skirt and rain gear she was wearing earlier before
heading downstairs and back to NYU Downtown Hospital to see her mother.
By the time Nick phoned Joe at 5:32 PM, the storm was beginning to wind down. Nick said,
"Joe, it looks like we found the gun that did most of the killing at Bungalow North.
Ballistics won't be available `til the morning, but the story is that two guys matching the
description of Moltisanti and Gualtieri threw it in a flooded street."
Joe laughed. "Got to douse a hot potato somehow."
"Yeah. Given that it was in the possession of the local Bloods, some of us are wondering if
they're in cahoots with the Bungalow raiders."
"No evidence of Blood or any black participation at BN. Pick their brains if you have to, but
I think it's a dead end."
"Me too. But we'll pressure them a bit more and see what steams out. What's new at your
end?"
"We're setting up a get-together with the FBI, to be held at ten tomorrow morning, 26
Federal Plaza. Local, state and Federal agency reps will be there to share what they know
about the people believed to be connected with BN. Hope you'll come."
"Count on it."
"By the way, Anita's son is out of the ICU."
"Great!"
Joe didn't answer, but Nick could hear him talking to someone else. After a minute, Joe
was back.
"Nick, we just found a family who was carjacked and abducted by our two boys."
"They OK?"
"Shaken, but they'll live. They were found in Washington Heights, but their van was seen
an hour earlier near Inwood Park on Vermilyea."
"Sounds like a social call."
"We're working on that. See you tomorrow, Nick, and say hello to your gang for me."
5:45 PM
Kelly Gaffney's apartment
7 East 97th street
Kelly had changed into a dry t-shirt and shorts, content with
staying home and nuking a frozen dinner after she saw the news on
the rain and everything else, when a news bulletin came along that a
family had been abducted in a van, but were let free a short time
later. That would not seem like a big deal until she heard the
description of the van.
"Son of a b****!!" yelled Kelly to herself when she realized the van
that had been carjacked was the one that sped by and caused to her
to first be doused by a heavy amount of water and then completely be
turned around before falling into the water in the vestibule in
Central Park, her also realizing had she not been turned around as
she was by that, she could have fallen face-first into the water and
drowned as the water was deep enough for that to happen.
Kelly then put in a call to Jack McCoy at the DA's Office, with Jack
then conferencing her with Joe Fontana.
After Jack did so, Kelly said to Joe, "Detective, that van which you
heard was stolen came after me in Central Park. I was walking
through there to get home since I had to take the 8th avenue subway
with the Lexington Avenue line out. That in turn forced me to walk
through the vestibule that runs going westbound to traffic on 97th
street. When I got to the second tunnel, a van that was exactly like
the one reported stolen came into the westbound lane and sped
through there, causing a ton of water to be sprayed right on me. I
wound up being turned around, losing my balance and falling into
water that was above my knees to begin with. If I had fallen face-
first into that, I might have drowned."
"Are you sure that is the van?", asked Joe.
"Yes. I thought it was kids doing some sort of sick joke when it
happened, but it was only when I saw the report that I realized it
was that van", then said Kelly.
"Thank you", then said Joe, with Kelly then hanging up, and with
that new information and her suddenly stewing, Kelly decided to
throw her raincoat and rainboots back on and walk over to the
pizzeria on 97th street and Madison avenue and get a pizza there
instead, suddenly feeling a need to walk outside again as the rain
was appearing to let up.
---------------------------------
27th Precint
Right after Kelly hung up, reports were coming into the 2-7 from
witnesses who said they saw what they didn't realize earlier was the
stolen van move at an extremely fast rate of speed, first coming out
of the crosstown vestibule the wrong way at 97th and 5th, making a
sharp right on 5th and then a sharp left at 96th street, traveling
eastbound. They included reports from several people who were
heavily doused by the van hitting flooded streets, saying it was
moving "like it was on its way to a fire", as one person put it.
With that, an updated APB was put out to look for the van already
reported stolen, with it clear Christopher, Paulie and an associate
were in the van.
5:50 PM
York Avenue and 92nd Street
York Avenue used to actually be one full of tenament buildings
dating back to the days before the FDR Drive was built when it was
part of Avenue A (with some of the oldest buildings on York Avenue
actually having "Avenue A" inscribed on the outside), some of which
still stood, but since the 1950s had slowly become one of the more
expensive streets to live at in New York.
Christopher and Paulie were stopped on the northernmost end of York
Avenue at 92nd Street.
"I remember when that used to be the ASPCA", said Paulie to
Christopher as he pointed to where a high-rise building now stood
where the ASPCA used to on the northwest portion of York Avenue and
92nd, noting as well it had moved down the street when it was torn
down to make way for the high-rise.
"So, who gives a f***!", then said Christopher, who paused and then
said, "We need to get out of this van, fast", with the associate
then driving down York Avenue, realizing they were at that point
very close to Gracie Mansion and needing to get away from there.
They would eventually make a left turn on 76th street, remembering
that was a dead-end street with the back entrance of a very ritzy
building on it, figuring they would be able to grab something.
"Hey, look at that!", said Christopher seeing the back entrance to
the garage in the building that had been left open because of the
rain that was beginning to start up again after appearing to have
leveled off. Inside the garage, which was unattended, Christopher,
Paulie and the associate put stockings over their heads as they see
two women with long, dark hair in their mid-20s, both wearing vinyl
trenchcoats with what appeared to be very short dresses with black,
knee-high vinyl boots with white trim and a white bottom were
walking through the garage, heading for a van that appeared to be a
little higher than normal and could more easily be driven in bad
weather like this.
"Good thing you have this", said one woman.
"Yeah", said the other.
"Jackpot!", yelled Christopher as they drove the van over to prevent
the ladies from getting out of their van.
"Open the van and get in the back!!", yelled Christopher to the
ladies, who saw the rifles he and Paulie had and obliged, with the
fear showing on their faces as they did such, with Christopher,
Paulie and the associate then shoving in everything from the earlier
heists into the new van, with once Christopher and Paulie in the new
van (Paulie driving and Christopher pointing his gun at the ladies),
the associate first driving the old van out of the garage and down
to the dead end near the FDR Drive and then running back to meet
Christopher and Paulie at the garage as they then drove out and back
onto York Avenue, heading uptown on York Avenue to 91st Street and
then west to 1st avenue up to 125th street in traffic that was
relatively light and the streets in good shape in spite of all the
rain earlier and now the start of another round of heavy rain, then
across the Willis Avenue Bridge and onto the Major Deegan Expressway.
"What do you want from us?", asked one of the women, who clearly was
scared and let a tear fall from her eye as they were continuing
further north on the Major Deegan around 6:20.
"Shut up!!", yelled Christopher, after a moment then saying, "We'll
tell you when we want!"
A few minutes later around 6:25, the van pulls up into an abandoned
rest area right on the boarder of The Bronx and Yonkers in
Westchester County.
"Can we get out?", asked one of the women.
Christopher replied, "Sure, but first you're going to do as I say!",
with his point the gun at them, then commanding, "First, you're both
going to take off those boots you're wearing!", with both obliging
and afterwards his then telling them to take off their trench coats
and dresses, then once in their underwear telling them to get out of
the van into a driving rainstorm, with after their doing so the van
going to an area that was very wet with the associate in the back
then throwing the clothes the women were wearing onto extremely wet
grass near the highway while the women watched in horror before the
van sped off, continuing north towards Yonkers while the women
retrieved their clothes that were soaked, putting on their trench
coats so at least they were halfway decent before flagging down a
highway patrolman who happened to be in the area, telling him the
horror before his radioing in the call and a police car coming to
pick up the women and take them back to the precint closest to where
they were in the Bronx, as they technically were still in New York
City.
A new APB went out desribing these men as armed and dangerous.
------------------------
27th Precint
6:50 PM
Joe and Ed get the APB and in the process then get a call from
security at the building that runs on York Avenue from 76th-77th
street and from York Avenue to Cherokee Place (on 77th) that a van
matching the description was seen stolen, and videotapes inside the
garage saw three men in stocking caps going inside that car,
throwing in a lot of stuff into it.
With that, Joe and Ed rush over to the building, and once there
15 minutes later they go over the tapes.
"No question that's Christopher Moltistanti and Paulie Walnuts!!
They forced those two women into the van, with another officer at
the scene then noting the earlier stolen van was found next to the
FDR Drive at the dead end on 76th street.
"Then we know it's those two and someone else. Even with the
stocking caps, the earlier reports give them away!" then said Joe to
the officers at the scene, with Joe alerting State Police as well
that Christopher and Paulie were almost certainly the men who stole
the van and abducted the two women found at the abandoned rest area
on the border with Yonkers.
7:30 PM
Susanne Chambliss-Gorton's Office
Susanne was one of the few people still working in the DA's
Office, one of the biggest perks of her apartment being within
walking distance of the office. Not having to commute like
practically everyone else who worked there allowed Susanne to put in
more hours than anyone else there, and a day like this was no
exception.
Susanne was going about her work, getting ready for a trial that
was about a week away from starting when she got a call from
Alexandra, telling her to quickly turn on the news.
"Oh my god!!!!" was Susanne's reaction to seeing the van
Christopher, Paulie and their associate had stolen from the building
on 76th street and who was inside.
The two women inside the van turned out to be close friends of
Susanne and Alexandra, Carla Marino and Caitlin Healy, whom Susanne
and Alexandra both knew were actually in their early 30s and not
their mid-20s as originally thought. The women were both considered
on the fast tracks in their companies, and Susanne remembered they
were supposed to go to a function that obviously had not been
cancelled.
"Unbelievable, isn't it? That has to be Moltistanti and Paulie
Walnuts", then said Susanne.
"Are you sure?", asked Susanne.
"I'm sure. Even before we knew who was in the van, I had a sick
feeling it might be them, since from what I had heard the van that
had been stolen earlier was found abandoned next to the FDR Drive,
you know where that school is?", then said Alexandra.
"Oh my god, you're right!", then said Susanne.
"Exactly. How many times have we played softball with them in the
park?", asked Alexandra.
"Too many scraped knees to count. I keep forgetting that's an
asphalt surface", then said Susanne, who afterwards then said she
needed to go and hung up as another call was coming in. A short while
later, the women at their request were taken to Lenox Hill Hospital
in Manhattan to be checked out, since it was familiar territory for
both. Susanne would join them there along with Joe and Ed for
questioning. Alexandra wanted to also come, but given the horrible
weather realized it would not be a good idea given she was on
crutches and had trouble moving around as it was.
----------------------------------------------------
8:15 PM
Lenox Hill Hospital
Susanne had relatively little trouble getting to Lenox Hill
Hospital to meet with her two friends, who were in the process of
being checked out for rape. Joining Susanne was Olivia, since this
could have been an SVU case, with the victims telling the three
Detectives of their ordeal while in the van, making it very clear
while they were forced to strip, it was only at the end of the ride
and that they never were touched by the men, also noting the men were
wearing stocking caps and gloves the entire time that made it
impossible to see their faces.
Susanne at that point was relieved they were OK, with Joe and
Ed joining them. Joe and Ed would ask them for a description of the
van they came out of, with it then confirming what they thought:
Christopher, Paulie and the associate were who abducted them.
At the same time, word came that the van Caitlin and Carla
were getting into when they were abducted was found in the northern
end of Yonkers, abandoned with what Carla and Caitlin had in the van,
but none of what the others had in it. There was no word if they had
stolen another car, bought one, or had a car there they could move
the stuff into.
8:15 PM
NYU Downtown Hospital
By this point, having heard about the two women having been
abducted, before Carmela heard about it, Meadow felt she had no
choice but to tell her mother everything. She had time to think about
it while Carmela had gone for tests, with Meadow looking outside as
the extreme rainstorm was continuing, with parts of Manhattan now
having gotten six inches of rain in nine hours.
With Carmela now finished with tests, she had been returned
to her room. With her now allowed to watch TV, Meadow really now felt
she had to break the news to her.
Carmela was very happy to see Meadow after going through all
kinds of tests, which as expected said she was likely to fully
recover very quickly, and she also knew A.J. was found and should be
OK within a couple of days.
"That's great mom concerning you! A.J. will definitely be
fine from what I understand", said Meadow, with Carmela then seeing
Meadow's facial expression change quickly, and Meadow then
responding, "Mom, there is no easy way to tell you."
"Tell me what?", asked Carmela.
"Brace yourself. Late last night, there was a shootup of
Bungalow North on Washington and 14th Streets. Christopher was among
those named in it, and it appears that he also has since stolen two
vans, abducting a family for a brief time before releasing them and
then kidnapping two women on the upper east side before releasing
them unharmed. The van I last heard was heading towards Westchester
County", then said Meadow.
"He did WHAT?!?!", then said Carmela, with her furious she
could not get free from the bed she was handcuffed to, with Doctors
coming in and telling Meadow she needed to leave.
Carmela was furious about what happened, and it took three
doctors to settle her down. The Doctors told Meadow before she left
she'd be all right, but Meadow knew this would upset her a lot.
While in the hospital, Meadow had changed from her rain gear
back to the full skirt and slippers she had worn before the rain, and
seeing it pour again would have to change back again before venturing
outside, with the rain coming down as hard as it had all day.
Once Meadow had walked back to Park Row and Spruce Street,
Meadow would yell to the sky, "What did I do to deserve this?!",
before then walking through City Hall Park to Broadway.
The tropical downpours felt even worse at night with
temperatures even warmer than earlier in the mid-80s and the humidity
at the saturation point. The frustration of the entire day was
getting to Meadow, and between the rain, her mother, A.J. and
Christopher looking like he was staring at the death penalty if he
was caught, Meadow was reaching the boiling point. It finally drove
Meadow to the edge, and after walking to first Chambers Street and
walking two blocks to Church and nearly having the water come up to
her boots, once turned to walk uptown on Church, she would in
frustration kick off one of her boots into the air, with it landing
in a puddle of water at the corner of Reade and Church and her
retriving it, then walking on one boot for a half-block north before
kicking off the other one in frustation, then saying "F*** this!!!"
before ripping off her raincoat, not caring if she got soaked to the
skin, which would happen instantly as she began crying, running over
to the plaza of a windowless office building on Thomas and Church
Streets and lying down there for a few moments, not caring the
clothes she was still wearing were on the verge of being ruined. That
would last a few minutes (with no one seeing her) before she
proceeded to walk north to Walker Street while carrying her raingear,
then putting that back on before heading into the Canal Street subway
station entrance at Walker Street and 6th Avenue to go home, waiting
for the 8th avenue subway to take her to 59th street and then
switching to the Broadway-7th Avenue line to take her home to 116th
street. The ride home was uneventful, with Meadow once off the train
at 116th street taking off her rain coat before going outside because
it it being so oppressive, and the boots once out of the station
before walking the short distance to her apartment, falling asleep
quickly once inside and changing to dry clothes.
8:15 PM
US Attorney's Office
Broadway and Duane Streets
Abbie had tried to reach Jack on her phone, but she realized
with the latest developments involving Christopher, Paulie and the
two stolen vans, Jack was probably staying in touch with the 2-7 and
also with the State Attorney General's Office since they were
absolutely sure by this point it was those two and an unknown
associate who committed both crimes, and it would be impossible to
talk with Jack as she wanted to for a while)
With Abbie's work at the US Attorney's Office finished for
now (still unable to go to Newark as she was originally supposed to
due to both PATH and New Jersey Transit service being out, she felt a
need to see what happened the night before at Bungalow North for
herself, especially given there was both a genuine concern that
evidence might be washed away by the continuing rain, and the fact
she could wind up prosecuting them on Federal charges.
John McCormack (her immediate boss) said it was fine with
him, as he agreed it would be a good idea, knowing she might
prosecute it, but reminded Abbie that many streets in the area were
flooded and if she felt it were too flooded to worry about herself
first and evidence later.
"Of course", Abbie replied to John before she scurried around
her office, looking for whatever rain gear and old clothes that were
clearly expendable she could find, also remembering these were the
kind of tropical downpours she would sometimes deal with growing up
in Texas, so she wanted to also dress as light as possible.
After changing, Abbie would ask John "Do I look
representable?", In this case wearing a bathing suit she kept there
for times she went straight to a health club near her office with a t-
shirt and very short, vinyl skirt over it with a very light raincoat
that had "US Attorney's Office" on the back and wellies she had not
worn since a nor'easter hit in the spring.
John replied, "Given the conditions, about as practical as
you can realistically do. I was out in it earlier, and there were a
lot of women dressed worse than hookers because their clothes were so
badly soaked. They really messed up on this", referring to the
weathermen, who badly misforecast this, discovering the remnants of a
hurricane that had hit Alabama two days earlier and now was simply a
low pressure system had come much further north than expected. This
rain was now expected to continue in the New York area until the next
day at least, as a blocking high pressure system that spared New
England the worst of this, coupled with another high pressure system
in the Atlantic Ocean that would not budge kept this extremely heavy
rain parked over the New York metropolitan area (except for extreme
eastern Long Island, which was clear) as well as all of New Jersey
and as far south as Dover, Delaware were getting pummled, with
Philadelphia and southern New Jersey actually getting this rain even
worse than New York.
"Unbelievable!!" said Abbie to herself as she walked outside
into what not only was a heavy rain storm, but with the air also
oppressive with it saturated with temperatures still well in the 80s
and only expected during the night to drop to around 80 if that. She
would walk back to first Chambers Street and then into the subway at
Church Street, taking an "A" train she thought would take her to 14th
street and 8th avenue from where she would walk to the crime scene,
with the walk not as bad as she anticipated. When the train reached
the West 4th Street station that ran from 3rd to close to 8th streets
on 6th Avenue, it was announced that service between West 4th and
34th streets had been suspended due to flooding at the 14th street
station.
"Just what I needed to hear", said Abbie to herself, who was
in the first car and got out of the station at the northernmost exit
which put her on Greenwich Avenue. Realizing while walking on
Greenwich avenue she was close to St. Vincent's Hospital, Abbie
decided to walk in there for a second in case Anita was there,
knowing her son was one of the victims of the shooting. Not seeing
her or anyone else from the shooting and being informed by a
uniformed officer stationed there that she had gone home late in the
afternoon once Stefan was out of the woods, Abbie continued on
Greenwich Avenue through a heavy rain to 8th avenue and 13th street,
where she could see water pouring through subway gratings that would
cause the kind of flooding that would knock out service on the subway
at that point. Those gratings were about the only things that would
keep the street itself from becoming flooded, and Abbie knew it
likely was going to get worse the further west she walked, now west
on 13th.
"Oh my god!!", was Abbie's reaction to seeing the area of
Hudson and 13th streets. Abbie would cross that without that much of
a problem, though the water was just as deep as she crossed there as
it was earlier in the day in the PATH station, with it up to her to
the ankle part of her boots. It would only get worse as she got to
9th avenue, knowing a few blocks south of there on 9th was the West
Side Highway that often gets flooded in much lesser rain than this,
and the water came up to the sidewalk on 13th. She would manage to
cross that without the problems others had (in part because Abbie is
a lot taller than many women in particular) and head west to
Washington Street, however, unlike when others had gone there
earlier, 13th street had thanks to the West Side Highway become much
worse, and Abbie was forced to back up, then walk one block north on
9th avenue to 14th street, then walking west to Washington on 14th,
which while also now flooded was not as bad, though Abbie did have to
walk very slowly, thankful she happened to have a vinyl skirt she
kept just in case she needed it to go undercover.
Upon seeing Bungalow North for herself, she saw the NYPD did
an excellent job of sandbagging and boarding up the entrance and the
blown out windows, as from what she could see, the floor inside was
relatively dry given all the rain that had fallen and now was
expected to over the next day or so before this front finally moved
out.
"Someting else, isn't it?", said Serena, who happened to be
about a half-block behind Abbie, still wearing the sundress she did
to start the day that was soaked with wellies that she had also worn
at the beginning because of the mess caused by the shooting in front
of her loft.
"I see you forgot a raincoat?", asked Abbie.
"Actually, I didn't have one in my office, as I had to use it
last week when had a thunderstorm unexpectedly. Just as well, it is
so opressive that I probably would have taken it off even if I did
and been soaked just the same", then said Serena as both ladies then
walked over to a sheltered portion of the entrance to Serena's
apartment building, saying as they did, "I can't believe how bad this
shooting really was, including all the bullets that hit across the
street", pointing to those that hit across 14th street on Washington,
which was the northernmost point of that street.
"You can tell me, it's amazing more people weren't killed",
then said Abbie as both reached the sheltered portion.
"Same here", then said Serena as she took off one of her
boots and turned it upside down to see if any water got into them,
then doing the same with the other while asking Abbie if she wanted
to come up to her apartment for a second while Abbie had taken off
her raincoat for a moment.
"That would not be a bad idea, but I know you're probably
very tired dealing with everything here last night and today. The
last thing you need right now is my coming up, and I need to go over
the area more closely again anyway in case I have to prosecute
whoever did this", then said Abbie, with Serena going inside and
upstairs to her loft.
Serena then went inside and while doing so, she saw Abbie
then slipping off her boots and placing her bare feet on what was the
only patch of relatively dry ground in the area, which didn't
surprise her because of it being oppressive, and the raingear they
were having to wear was not meant for a night as warm as this one
was. Serena was tempted to ask Abbie again, though she realized it
probably was better if she didn't, as once upstairs and a quick
change into dry clothes later, Serena collapsed into bed, out like a
light.
Meanwhile, while standing under shelter, Abbie pulled out
from a waterproof backpack she had with her a mini portable TV, which
she used to see if there were any updates on anything. She would see
during this brief period there was a new APB out for Christopher,
Paulie and the associate and that the van they had stolen from the
garage on 76th street had been abandoned in Yonkers, plus the fact
the West Side Highway and FDR Drive were both now officially closed
due to flooding for most of their routes, and in general the streets
were a mess.
After the brief pause, Abbie would put her rain gear back on,
stick the little TV back in her backpack and again look around the
area, amazed at how many bullets were fired just outside the place,
knowing at least twice as many were fired inside. From there, since
it was only three and a half blocks away, Abbie decided to walk west
on 14th street to 10th avenue, wanting to see for herself the area
where Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero's body had been found earlier
in the day at the Chelsea Piers on 11th avenue and 17th street. She
knew that John McCormack had previously tried to muster up enough of
a case without a body to try Tony for murdering "Big Pussy" at sea
(as John believed he did it), but until now, there had been no body.
"Whoa!" was Abbie's reaction to seeing how bad the streets
were on 11th avenue, but with her determined to see the area for
herself, after first backing up on 15th street to the sidewalk, Abbie
would take off her boots and then cross over, with the feel of the
water that went up close to her knees as she walked across 11th
avenue actually a nice one on her legs as opposed to the wellies
given how oppressive this night was.
Upon reaching 17th street and Chelsea Piers, Abbie was
amazing that on this, of all days they would find "Big Pussy's" body,
given how the water was very choppy and coming up on the boats that
were docked there. To her, even on an awful night like this, it was
worth seeing, with Abbie then walking barefoot back to 10th avenue
and 14th street (10th avenue's southernmost end is 14th street and
11th avenue's is 15th street), then putting her boots back on once
under a gas station there where she would quickly dart into a
convience store that was part of it and was open to get of all
things, a soda given all the rain before then deciding to walk to 7th
avenue where Jack lived, figuring she could either take the subway
back to her own apartment on 79th street and Riverside Drive (two
blocks west of Broadway in that area) or she could wait for Jack for
a bit, undecided on what to do there at this point).
8:45 PM
“Guys, we’re nearing the state line,” said Oscar Leopardi.
Chris raised his head in time to see the sign -- NEW JERSEY THE GARDEN STATE WELCOMES YOU! -- and clapped his hands as the van drove past. So did Paulie.
“Next stop, North Caldwell,” Paulie said.
“Maybe,” Oscar said. “We ain’t out of the woods yet.”
“Yeah,” Chris replied, rubbing his sore jaw. “Be happier if there were lights on.” Chris had driven the New York State Thruway/Garden State Parkway before and knew that suburban-type housing developments covered most of the border area. Now that it was dark, electric lights ought to be visible, even with this rain.
“Cheer up,” said the driver, who had been introduced by Oscar as Cookie Log (his prison nickname). Cookie was an old buddy of Oscar who lived in Tarrytown. Oscar had abandoned the stolen van not far from Cookie’s home and persuaded him to drive Chris and Paulie home in his own wagon.
The wisdom of this move was proven at the Tappen Zee Bridge toll plaza, where state troopers had established a checkpoint. But Cookie’s license and registration were valid, and the trooper had done just a cursory search with a flashlight -- not thorough enough to find Chris and Paulie.
“Duck and cover again,” Cookie said. Chris looked through the rain-spattered windshield and felt his heart race at the sight of a Crown Vic on the shoulder, no lights on, no equipment visible. But to Chris, Paulie and all other criminals in America, every Crown Vic is a PI (Police Interceptor) unless proven otherwise. Quickly the two fugitives returned to their hiding places. Chris had his senses tuned to the van’s speed; he prayed that Cookie would be allowed to keep it steady.
8:50 PM
Jack McCoy's Office
Jack had gotten the call from Susanne that Carla and Caitlin
were shaken by what happened to them, but otherwise were unharmed,
and were going to spend the night with Susanne and Alexandra in
Susanne's apartment.
"Thank goodness. At least they're safe. Do you know if they
ever saw their faces?", said Jack to Susanne when she called them.
"They both said no as they were wearing stocking caps all the
time. I don't think it matters since we know the other van which we
know they took was abandoned on the dead end, half a block down from
where they live", replied Susanne.
"You're right, it really doesn't", then said Jack, with
Susanne then telling Jack she was calling it a night, feeling her
friends needed her more right now and Jack understanding, then
saying, "At least you and Lexi will be able to help them, which is
good."
Jack was very relieved that they would be OK and that Susanne
and his own assistant would probably be able to get them through what
figured to be a very rough night, and Arthur was relived too upon
hearing such.
------------------------------------------------
Newton, NJ
Christopher, Paulie, Oscar and "Cookie", all felt they were
safe now that they were in the state of New Jersey, as with all of
the action in New York State. As they continued on the road, however,
they see a woman in a rain coat and hat with a short dress
underneath, knee-high rainboots that had a reflector band on the side
with socks sticking out of the top and a waterproof backpack.
"What the f*** is that?", said Cookie upon seeing the woman,
who then pulled off one of her boots and waived it over her head.
"Some broad it looks like. Maybe we should stop and f***
her!", said Christopher.
"No time for that", said Paulie, with Cookie stopping the car
as they got near the woman, with Paulie then saying, "Why the f***
are you stopping?"
"Would have killed her if I didn't", then said Cookie, with
the woman, who also had long, jet black hair.
"Can you help me? My husband tried to kill me this afternoon,
and I've been running ever since!", said the woman, who had an
Australian accent as she took the sock off her left foot that was
soaked and threw it to the side of the road before putting her boot
back on.
"Sure", said Cookie, as the woman came over to the other side
of the car and went into the passenger seat, with Paulie moving to
the back and the car then speeding off.
After being silent for a brief period, Cookie said to the
woman, "You look like you were through hell", with the woman
replying, "I have, and I'm Elizabeth, by the way."
"OK, Elizabeth", then said Cookie.
Elizabeth then hunched down, appearing to move something from
inside either the boot or her sock on her right leg to her rain coat,
which she did with no one noticing.
After a few more minutes of silence, Elizabeth then without
warning pulled from her raincoat what turned out to be pepper spray,
spraying that into the eyes of Christopher, Paulie and Oscar, with
Cookie hitting the breaks and subsequently being sprayed with none of
the men able to see.
"Get the f*** out of this car!!", yelled Elizabeth as she
also pulled a gun that was on the floor and loaded, ready to shoot
the men, with the men obliging and finding their way out of the car
with Elizabeth then driving off with the car and all of Christopher
and Paulie's loot.
"Son of a b****!!!", yelled Christopher as none of them ever
saw that coming, with their now being out on an abandoned road in the
rain.
Meanwhile in the car, Elizabeth was laughing as she pulled
into an abandoned rest area, then making a call on her cell phone.
"Hello?", answered what turned out to be Tony on the other
end.
"Tony, it's Nicole. I did it all by myself. Those rat
bastards never knew what was coming!", then said Elizabeth, who it
turned out was actually Tony's new girlfriend, Nicole Wallace.
"You are good. No wonder you managed to escape the hands of
that Detective in New York as many times as you have", then said Tony.
"You mean Bobby Goren? He's a piece of cake", said Nicole.
"How long will you be?", asked Tony.
"I need to first move everything into the other car, then
I'll be there in probably about a half-hour to 45 minutes if traffic
is OK", then said Nicole, who then hung up and proceeded to move
everything into a Crown Victoria that happened to look like a
Detective's car, but actually wasn't and then took off, before doing
so removing the wig she was wearing to reveal shoulder-length blonde
hair.
About a half-hour after Nicole stole the car, the boys found
the abandoned rest area and the car they had stolen from them by
Nicole. The keys were still in it, but the loot in the car was gone.
"That b**** did it all by herself?", yelled Christopher as
they got in and took off.
9:10 PM
Broadway-7th Avenue Line
14th Street Station
As Abbie entered the 14th street station, she was at odds on
what to do: Take the subway as planned to 79th street or walk out and
wait for Jack inside his building.
While she was happy to be out of the rain, she was greeted by
a huge puddle that came up about halfway into the station, and one
entrance that had a fare control at the entrance had to in fact be
closed because power had to be shut off to it as a big puddle was
there. The main fare control was not an issue, as it was a
considerable distance away from there, and the water wasn't nearly
close to it.
The bigger problem as she walked through the station was how
hot and sticky it was. With temperatures still in the low 80s and the
air saturated, the station felt like a sauna, with Abbie seeing sweat
pour down her body so fast that she had to take off her boots out of
concern the sweat would cause her to take to slip in them once clear
of the fare control, furious at herself for not thinking to pick up a
pair of flip-flops or sport sandals earlier in the day when she had
the chance to.
She would head down the platform and then take off her
raincoat once seated at a bench, now suddenly bathed in sweat, badly
enough that the bathing suit she was wearing under her t-shirt was
showing. With no train in the station, after a few minutes Abbie then
walked back up the stairs and put her raincoat back on midway up the
stairs, then debating whether to attempt to jump the puddle barefoot
for a moment before putting her boots back on, deciding to head for a
an all-night coffee shop a half-block north of the station, happy to
feel the relief of air conditioning once inside.
Once seated at a booth, Abbie would pull out her mini TV to
watch for more news updates, while kicking off her boots and taking
off her raincoat, then bringing up her legs and sitting in the lotus
position. Most of those were re-hashes of what happened before, with
the rain falling at around two-thirds of an inch per hour and
expected to continue well into the night, and also updates on the
earlier happenings. Abbie also gets a call on her cell phone from
Jack.
"Sorry I wasn't around earlier, but with what happened I had
to attend to that, especially if those guys were caught. I hear you
walked over to the crime scene at Bungalow North", said Jack.
"I did. I had to see the scene for myself, and with what's
forecast, I was concerned it might get all washed away", said Abbie.
"I don't blame you. Arthur sent one of our ADA's over there
earlier for the same reason", said Jack.
"Makes sense. I know it wasn't your current assistant as I
heard she was injured yesterday. How is she doing?", then asked Abbie.
"She'll be OK. She got banged up pretty good, though", then
said Jack.
"At least she'll be all right. Anyway, I also saw Serena when
I walked over there. She was on her way home, soaked pretty good
without a raincoat", then said Abbie.
"I can imagine", said Jack.
"Yes. She said she'd probably have taken off any raincoat she
was wearing if she were because it was so oppressive. It really is,
and so bad in fact, before coming here I went into the subway
station, and it was so bad and I was sweating so fast, it was a good
thing I'm wearing a bathing suit under my clothes or I'd look like I
was in a wet t-shirt contest!", then said Abbie.
"That bad, huh?", said Jack.
"Yes", Abbie replied.
"So, why did you want to talk to me earlier?", asked Jack.
"I don't know. I needed to be in the loop on the Bungalow
North shooting, but with everything that's happened since, that's no
longer necessary", then said Abbie.
"OK then. I have to get back to work here. I'm in the process
of getting ready for a trial next week and I'm a little hamstrung wth
everything that happened today and Lexi being hurt", then said Jack
With that, Abbie hung up and continued to look at the menu,
wondering what she wanted to do after this.
Chris smelled rats. Two-legged vermin named Oscar and Cookie. They must have phoned
ahead to this "Elizabeth" to let her know that they'd be on this God-forsaken road at a
certain time. Chris reached inside his jacket...
But his Phoenix Arms HP-22 was gone. Elizabeth, if that was her real name, must have
taken it after she sprayed the guys (Oscar and Cookie, too, to make it look good) and just
before she ordered them out of the car. More than likely she had also taken Paulie's gun.
And along with the loot, she had carried off anything that could have been a weapon in
Chris's hands -- tire iron, jumper cables, adjustable wrench.
Cold horror washed through Chris. He was certain that Oscar and Cookie were still armed
and would be `calling the shots.' But the feel of plastic on his fingertips told him that he
wasn't entirely helpless.
For Lizzie had missed the plastic case which held Chris's nail file
9:40 PM
Tony Soprano's home
Nicole had made it back to Tony's home in near-record time, as she
quickly was able to get to a main road, and the drive from there was easy as there
were practically no cars on the road.
While driving home, Nicole called Tony again and asked him to have a
robe at the door inside when she got there. When she did, Nicole first parked
the car under shelter and then got out, and then walked to the door, where
under shelter Nicole was tempted to do a strip show where Tony could see her
before thinking better of it and taking off first her boots, then her raincoat,
and after thinking for a moment her dress and even her underwear, with Tony
shocked to see her completely nude when he opened the door.
"What the f*** is that?! Put that on before you come in" said Tony as he
handed Nicole the robe to put on, which she did before coming in.
"I thought you wouldn't want me walking in here with clothes completely
soaked. Even wearing a rain coat, I was soaked to the skin so bad even my
underwear was soaked!", Nicole replied.
"I suppose you're right, but you know, my son could have been here and
answered the door", then said Tony.
"I thought your son as well as your ex-wife was in the hospital, and your
daughter has been running around ragged between them", then said Nicole.
"She is, babe. And you're right, you knew I'd be here alone or you
wouldn't have completely stripped before coming in. Where did you put your
clothes, anyway?", asked Tony.
"My dress and underwear are on that rail where they should dry, and my
coat and boots are closer to the door. My wig's still in the car", said Nicole.
"Good enough. How did you know where the boys would be, anyway?", then
asked Tony as he poured drinks for both Nicole and himself.
"It's an escape route I had to use a couple of times myself. When you
have people dying that you are accused of killing but didn't, you learn every
back road, and I knew those boys had to be on that particular road. I was
willing to wait another hour or two, even in this rain", then said Nicole.
"No wonder I love you. You do everything right up my alley", then said
Tony as he walked into the kitchen to find something he could microwave for
both as Nicole was hungry.
"You better believe that", then thought Nicole to herself, as Tony was
also unaware of how manipulative she really can be, then heading for the
closet in his home where she kept some of her clothes.
If silence were deadly, Chris thought, *this car would already be a hearse.* No one was
speaking. Cookie kept his eyes straight ahead as he guided the wagon through spattering
curtains and flowing sheets.
Cookie turned off Route 206 (called Water Street on the northern outskirts of Newton) and
headed southeast along Spring Street, which ran through the heart of the town. Spring
curved to the right, then left, and became Sparta Avenue after the junction with Woodside,
which branched off to the right. Cookie turned left onto Hicks Avenue, which passed a
small housing development. Beyond the homes were thick woods.
Pretending to scratch his chest, Chris pulled out the case. He would use the file as soon as
Cookie stopped.
Without warning, Paulie lunged at Cookie. He held something -- a toothpick -- to
Cookie's right eye and yelled, "Pull over! Now!"
"What the f***?" Oscar said.
"Shut up! Not another word, both of you!" Paulie bellowed.
The trembling Cookie eased his car to the shoulder.
"Stop here," Paulie said.
Cookie pressed the brake pedal and put the transmission in Park.
"Now empty your pockets," Paulie added.
"Th-that's..."
"I said quiet!" Paulie roared, twisting his right hand. Cookie screamed.
"Stop that!" Oscar yelled.
"You, shut up!" Chris shouted, pressing the tip of his file to Oscar's neck.
Paulie opened his door, then stepped out and pulled open the driver's door. He grabbed
Cookie (who didn't seem to be aware of anything other than the agony in his right eye)
and yanked him into the darkness. Chris could hear blow after smacking blow, along with
Cookie's cries, moans, and a wet-sounding cough. Followed by a bone-breaking crack, a
splash from the ditch, then silence.
Paulie reappeared at the front passenger window with dark smears on his hands. He
grinned and said, "Oscar, my man. Step outside for a minute."
"P-paulie, I don't know why..."
"Relax. Take it easy. She didn't take my cigs. You and me, we'll have a smoke and a chat."
Oscar stepped out of the car. A faint gray piston doubled him over and expelled his wind
in a long moaning retch. Paulie wrestled over him and hooked an arm around his head.
*Crack!* Oscar dropped like a carcass. Paulie lifted the limp body and threw it in the
ditchwater. Then he scrambled to the driver's seat as if furies were erupting from the
ditch.
At the curve, maybe a thousand feet behind them, thin white light was illuminating the
rain.
Paulie slammed the transmission into Drive and floored the gas. The wheels spun and
whined in the soft shoulder.
"Easy!" Chris shouted. "Don't spin `em."
The light was getting brighter. Paulie eased down the pedal, but the wheels still spun.
"Back her," Chris said, "and easy."
"Shut up, I been driving since `fore you were born!"
Paulie reversed the car, which went back but failed to escape the trough its wheels had
dug. He shifted to Drive and manipulated the gas gingerly. The car moved forward,
almost got stuck again, then gained traction as one of its wheels reached the gravel next
to the pavement.
Just in time, for the other car was coming into view.
When Paulie reached the pavement, he pressed harder on the gas. Chris stared at the car
behind them and guessed that it was a mid-sized model -- maybe an Impala, another
common police make.
Yes, look at those lights! Chris thought on seeing the red-and-blue roof bar go on.
But the cop car didn't chase them. Instead, it stopped at the spot where Paulie had done
his deadly work.
"Not good, Walnuts. Not good at all."
9:50 PM
Casey Novak's Office
Casey's involvement in everything seemed relatively minor aside
from handling the arraignment of Ack Ack, though she had seen
firsthand much of what had been going on throughout the day, only
venturing out aside from the non-shooting at Bianchi's only to get
lunch for a little while, thankful she didn't have to go see the
crime scene in the awful weather that had progressively gotten worse.
She had gotten through the day on energy bars after lunch, but
even though her day was not nearly as ragged as many others, it was
time for her to head home, if she could get there.
Casey thought about seeing Mike at his apartment on 8th Street
between Broadway and University Place, but she knew Mike had started
the Bungalow North investigation around Midnight, and he needed all
the sleep he could get since he, Alexa and Bobby were supposed to
resume interviewing witnesses in the morning, as many were still not
in shape to do so. She could also see her best friends Serena
Southerlyn and Michelle Ross at the loft both live in right above
Bungalow North, but Casey knew both had a hellish night before and
probably were both in bed asleep, which they were. She would think
about what to do while searching for whatever she could find that
would have her look decent, but cover as little skin as possible,
finding an athletic tube top that would only cover her breasts and a
small part of her back and a pair of waterproof pants that were
above the knees, then finding a raincoat and pair of foul-weather
boots that were not that high up (only about halfway to her knees)
and were a pair Casey had there as an afterthought, last using them
when it snowed in March.
"Whoever thought we'd never have a day like this was badly
mistaken", Casey told Jack upon seeing him while pulling up her
boots before leaving , seeing him still working hard as she left,
unsure of what he wanted to do.
Walking out of the DA's Office onto Centre Street, Casey saw the
effects of this day-long rain that by this point had officially
dumped close to seven inches of rain since it started 10 1/2 hours
earlier. Water all over the streets, clothes so badly soaked they
were simply discarded as well as the rain that continued to come
down at an alarming rate. The sidewalks were not bad, but she could
see approaching the entrance to the subway she normally uses when
not riding her bike closed due to flooding how bad this was,
eventually deciding to walk over and see the scene at Bungalow North
for herself, in part in case it got even worse and Serena was awake.
The walk was not bad early on, across Canal Street to 6th
Avenue, which Casey was using early on, able to avoid the more
flooded streets, though as she walked on West 4th, though like with
many others, these being tropical downpours and it being very warm
and humid, Casey also knew she had to still drink fluids as she
would if she were biking, stopping where she could, amazed some
stores were open with only a few people outside, mainly die-hards
determined to have a Friday night out. Reaching Sheridan Square
(where West 4th and Christopher Streets and 7th Avenue all
converge), She would stop at a bar-restaurant that ran from where
West 4th and 10th streets crossed over and from those two streets on
7th Avenue that was showing a lot of baseball games and pre-season
football via sattelite. Casey felt in heaven and amazed her boots
stayed relatively dry, keeping her raincoat on while in the
restaurant because of her wearing so little underneath, with one of
the waitresses recognizing Casey since she, Serena and Michelle
often came in there if there were multiple games Casey in particular
wanted to see on at the same time.
One set tuned to one of the cable networks providing coverage of
the rain ran a bulletin ran across the bottom of the screen saying
the bodies of two men were found just outside Newton, NJ, and that
one of the two men was considered to be "the associate" with
Christopher and Paulie, which was only noted because the officer who
found them recognized Oscar from a picture of him that was part of
an APB sent out earlier from the description the family who had
their van stolen and found on 76th street in Manhattan gave, coupled
with the fact this particular officer had stopped Oscar in the past
on his drives through New Jersey and remembered him specifically,
specifically noting that in a phone interview he gave that could be
heard on the radio Casey was listening to that she had pulled out of
a pocket in her raincoat, calling Jack on her cell phone.
"Are you seeing this?", said Casey to Jack.
"Yes. I do have it on. So we know who the 'unknown associate' is
now", replied Jack.
"Unbelievable", then said Casey.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Coffee Shop
7th Avenue between 14th and 15th streets
"Unbelievable" was also Abbie reaction to the developments that
she was watching on her mini TV, saying so to John McCormack on her
cell phone as he was still working at the US Attorney's Office.
"You're telling me. It's sounding like you were right to head
over to Bungalow North even though it's an awful night", then said
John,
"And I also went over to see where 'Big Pussy's' body was found
since it was only three and a half blocks away. It was worth it,
even though some of those streets were so badly flooded I had to
walk barefoot for a bit", then said Abbie.
"Now I really know why they wanted you as badly as they did when
they got you to come over a few years ago, not that I didn't know
already. Talk about going the extra mile. Obviously, you're OK?",
then said John.
"Oh, I'm fine. I used to deal with this kind of rain back home
growing up on occasion", then said Abbie, with the conversion
wrapping up pretty much from there since neither really knew what
would happen at that point.
--------------------------------------------------------------
7th Avenue between 10th and West 4th Streets
Casey had finished her phone conversation with Jack about the
new developments, and after eating could not believe all of the
twists that have happened with Christopher and Paulie over the
course of the day, with after eating dinner her then wanting to call
Olivia, but knowing she was also likely asleep since she had a very
exhausting week even before all hell broke loose on this day and not
doing so.
Once back outside, Casey decides to head for Serena's loft since
even if she was unable to get in touch with Serena or Michelle, she
would see the crime scene at Bungalow North first-hand, walking on
7th Avenue to 10th street and then on 10th to where it intervenes
with West 4th and then northwest to Hudson Street and then 9th
avenue, taking off her boots once reaching 9th and 13th street with
her then walking in water that quickly went to midway up her knees
that she slowly waded through before it lowered when she got to
Washington Street, though even that street was partially flooded at
this point.
Casey was in horror seeing what was left of Bungalow North and
the shots that had rung through the area less than 24 hours earlier.
She would try and call Serena on her cell phone, and of no surprise
to Casey, there was no answer as both Serena and Michelle were out
like lights at that point. Casey knew it was hope against hope that
either would be up given what happened the night before, and Casey
then walked back on 14th street, not putting her boots back on until
reaching 8th avenue, then heading for the subway at 7th avenue and
14th street for her ride home to 96th street, happy to immediately
take a #2 train that came in and getting her there quickly, with
Casey seeing how big a difference it was in the stations as getting
out at 96th street, it again felt like a sauna, with Casey walking
to 97th street before then walking west to Riverside Drive and back
to 96th street on a bridge, passing her building, but before so
seeing a gigantic puddle at the entrance to the West Side Highway
before heading into her apartment, but not before taking off her
boots while looking at the water from the bridge and then her
raincoat and pants once inside, collapsing on her couch not even
five minutes after walking in.
------------------------------------------------------------------
After leaving the coffee shop she was at, Abbie decided to walk
north on 7th avenue as she didn't want to deal with waiting in a
sauna of a station at 14th street, doing so until reaching Penn
Station, with Abbie then walking through the station to where the
subway was, where she could wait in much more comfortable
surroundings (relatively speaking) for the #1 train that took her to
79th street, like everyone else who dealt with this stunned at all
the developments of this day, deciding once out of the 79th street
station on Broadway to take off her rain gear and t-shirt after
nearly doing so while walking earlier as it was just too warm for
her to wear it. That would prove just as well as there was flooding
on West End Avenue that got progressively worse going down the steep
hill between West End and Riverside Drive, with the entrance to her
building even have a lot of water on the floor because of some water
from the street coming up as she walked in, once in her apartment
like it seemed everyone else falling asleep in no time.
After killing Oscar and Cookie, and seeing the cop, Paulie felt that he and Chris had
nothing to lose by returning to New York. They returned to the Parkway and took it to
Route 440, which led to Staten Island. Vince Brandt's home was on Swinnerton Street in
Staten's southernmost neighbourhood; he lived across from a heavily wooded lot which
was about to be developed. Vince had done his time and was free of parole supervision.
His place would be an ideal 'safe house' -- not even Tony Soprano knew of their
relationship.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trouble! was Vince's first thought on hearing his doorbell chime just after midnight on
Saturday, August 27. It could be a cop here for him ... or Jenny (six years ago next month, Jenny,
ten at the time, had killed a small boy). And if it wasn't a cop, it was one of his prison pals
here to collect on a debt.
Walnuts, I'll bet. Vince peered through the door lens and saw Paulie Walnuts with a
younger man at his side. Against his better judgment, he opened the door.
"Vince, my man!" Paulie said with a grin. His hair was unkempt; his knuckles were dark and
swollen. He'd been fighting or beating; Vince would have hated to be the other guy. His
companion was pale except for the dark bags under his eyes. "I'd like you to meet Chris.
We've had a bad day. Don't just stand there, lead us in!"
"Sure." Walnuts had been one of Vince's protectors in prison back in `99. "I take it you
need a place to stay."
"F***ing-A!"
"That wouldn't be bad," Chris said, gazing beyond Vince. And yes, Jenny was glaring from
her bedroom doorway, her eyes venomous to a degree not seen in years.
"Pretty young lady you got there," Paulie said.
"Jenny, go to bed!" Vince turned to face Paulie and Chris again. "Guys, I'll do just about
anything, but please lay off my kid."
"She looks ready for a lay-on," Chris said. Paulie winked.
Jenny slammed the door harder than Vince had ever heard her slam before.
6:02 AM Saturday, August 27
Vince's pulse quickened with worry when he noticed that the door to Jenny's room was
open. She always kept it closed. Her bed was empty. Vince looked through the house, but
couldn't find her in the kitchen, either bathroom, or anywhere else. Walnuts was sleeping
on a couch in the living room, and Chris was snoring in the guest's bed.
*Did they touch her?* She would have screamed if they had. Jenny's private parts were
*extremely* sensitive; she had told Liz Olivet that merely stroking her clit felt like painting
it with molten solder. And Jenny wouldn't have just screamed. She'd have put up a good
fight, maybe a deadly fight, if given half a chance.
Vince thought of another possibility: Jenny had run away. That looked likely; her hair
brush, which she kept atop her dresser table, was gone. So was her backpack. Vince went
to the kitchen and searched it. Jenny's favorite drinks and snacks -- Gatorade, Kraft snack
kits, Quaker granola bars -- were missing.
He returned to her room and searched every drawer, hoping to find a clue as to where she
might go. He found her short story The Spider and the Robin (which had earned an `A' in
Grade 9 English last spring), but didn't think that she was off to Germany despite the
story's setting -- Nuremberg over the last seven years of Hitler's rule. Jenny's story was
structured as a series of vignettes featuring Hilda `Spider' Sinner and Rolanda `Robin'
Guttfreund. At the beginning, Hilda was a cruel 10-year-old; Rolanda was an athletic but
timid teenager who became Hilda's `unwilling' partner-in-crime and an accomplice to
murder during the Kristallnacht of November 9-10, 1938.
The parallel to Jenny Brandt and Tara Padden in the terrible late summer of 1999 was
obvious, and so disturbing to Vince that he'd read the story only once. As hard to take as
anything was Hilda's scathing verbal attack on Rolanda during the story's last chapter (set
as the two were awaiting trial in November 1945). Hilda laid the blame for all of her evils
on poor Rolanda.
Jenny's present-day shrink -- Pam Haring -- was on medical leave, and Vincent would
show the story to her when she got back next week. Or maybe he should send a copy to
Olivet. The consequences of Jenny's frontal lobe brain damage included poor attention
span and impulsive behaviour -- weaknesses which had been obvious throughout her time
at school. Jenny would have fared worse without the research skill that Olivet and a few
teachers had helped her develop, a skill which Jenny used with impressive though
unsettling effect in her story.
Over the past year, Jenny had become fascinated with Nazi Germany to such a degree that
she dressed like a girl in the BDM (female equivalent of the Hitler Youth) -- white blouse,
black neckerchief, dark blue skirt. She braided her hair in the German fashion of 70 years
ago. She associated with like-minded girls.The police had questioned Jenny a couple of
times (among the investigators last winter was a detective named Logan -- handsome for
a cop, Jenny said) but hadn't presented proof of any crime on her part, hate-related or
otherwise. The school saw no evidence (apart from her choice of friends) that she was
developing a hatred of ethnic groups, and no extraordinary behavioral problems apart
from her tendency to yell at boys who got too close.
All told, Jenny's recent behavior had reaffirmed Olivet's early hope. Olivet was right --
Jenny was complex but not the hopeless sociopath and guaranteed serial killer like McCoy
and Carmichael presented under the advice of their rubber-faced shrink Skoda. When
Jenny was assigned to take care of lab rats in Biology last term, not a single animal died or
went missing.
But now she was gone.
Except for her eyes, which had shown a terrible anger six hours ago, a fury kindled by
Chris's lewd talk. Vince was increasingly fearful that Chris had set off something long
dormant, something which could undo all the progress Olivet and Haring had helped bring
about.
6:05 AM
Saturday, August 27
Staten Island Ferry
Jenny Brandt was a much different girl at 16 than she was at
10. She had realized the horror of what she did when she was younger,
and was so scared when she saw Christopher and Paulie, knowing they
were the prime suspects in the Bungalow North shooting that she ran
away in spite of the continuing downpour in the early hours of
Saturday morning after being unable to sleep all night.
To her amazement, the ferry was running in spite of all the
rain, though it also was known that even though it had been raining
like it had all night, that rain was not accompanied by any wind or
fog, so visability was not all that bad. She was equally amazed at
the fact her clothes under her rain gear (a very short skirt with the
blouse and socks under a rain coat and rain boots) had stayed dry in
spite of the fact she had to walk through water that nearly came up
to the top of her boots, and especially her socks that she saw when
she took off her boots while riding the ferry, also taking those off
and putting on a pair of flip-flops that were more comfortable on
what was a very oppressive morning, unsure at this point of where she
wanted to go once she was in Manhattan, though her most likely
destination was One Police Plaza, where the Major Case Squad was
located as she knew that's where Mike now was, changing back to the
boots once in Manhattan as the streets around the ferry terminal were
flooded to the point where she would have to walk to One Police Plaza.
6:05 AM
Meadow Soprano's Apartment
116th street and Broadway
Meadow fell asleep very quickly once she got home around 9:30
Friday night, and was out like a light until she got up around 5:45,
unusually early for her to be starting a Saturday as she frequently
would be just falling asleep at this point after a Friday night out.
Upon awakening, she would see that it was still raining very hard,
but that the weather forecast called for this to finally let up, and
once doing so it becoming a hot and humid day with temperatures
shooting up well into the 90s.
"Oh, isn't that fun", said Meadow to herself upon seeing the
forecast for Saturday, knowing because of there likely being a ton of
flooding from the rain she still would likely need to wear her rain
boots, which figured to be extremely uncomfortable on a day like this.
What caught Meadow's eye next was an update on the report
that Christopher and Paulie were now also suspects in the murders of
Oscar and Cookie.
"Those bastards!", then said Meadow to herself.
With the rain finally stopping about 15 minutes later and
Meadow suddenly stir crazy in her apartment after taking a shower,
she would throw on similar to what she had been wearing the previous
day: A long-sleeved t-shirt and above-the-knee denim skirt, though
one not nearly as short as the micro-mini she had worn the day before
and her rainboots while also keeping the pair of mesh slippers she
had in her bag the day before there and also sticking her rain coat
and a pair of sport sandals in her backpack in case she needed it.
Breakfast at a coffee shop on 112th and Broadway would be one
of the few bright spots of a very challenging day, having to shuttle
back and fourth between St. Vincent's and NYU Downtown Hospitals were
here brother and mother were in respectively, and her father not
likely able to make it in until at least later in the morning at the
earliest. After that, with it close to the start of visiting hours at
St. Vincent's, she would head there first to see A.J., whom she had
been unable to the day before, but first decided to see the crime
scene at Bungalow North again for herself, hoping that Serena might
be awake. Serena's cell phone was turned off, which Meadow sort of
expected when she got over there, but that didn't matter to Meadow as
seeing the crime scene was top priority.
"Unbelievable everything that came from this", said Meadow to
herself upon seeing the scene again for herself, having to walk
through water that went halfway up her boots, even on 14th street
before walking over to 8th avenue and 13th street and then to
Greenwich Avenue, walking that to get to the hospital on 7th Avenue
South and 11th street.
After changing to the slippers upon reaching the hospital,
Meadow would finally be able to see A.J.
"What happened?", said A.J. upon seeing Meadow, with him
clearly not in the best of shape.
"Lets see. You were gone long enough for mother to come into
Manhattan looking for you, and while she was she winds up crashing
her car and is in the hospital herself, facing a reckless driving
charge because she crashed into another car and nearly killed
someone! Daddy is not pleased to say the least", then said Meadow.
"Well, I was at a party and wound up staying over with some
guys on Wednesday and Thursday, I don't know what happened Friday, we
were going somewhere, and I just started walking around in the
village and I guess wound up here", then said A.J.
"And you never thought to tell Mom or Dad where you went?",
asked Meadow.
"They don't really care. They never have", then said A.J.
"Uh, I don't think so", then said Meadow before she realized
A.J.'s state of mind was not all that great right now, and what he
really needed was more rest. With that, Meadow would leave St.
Vincent's and head for NYU Downtown Hospital, thankful the subways
were close to normal and she could get there a lot easier than the
day before.
One Police Plaza, 7:15 AM
Anita Van Buren folded her umbrella as she walked to the security check-in at One Police
Plaza. She wanted to learn of the latest developments before visiting Stefan. Ahead, she
heard a girl's shrill voice: "Hey, you're not gonna take any of that, are you!"
"Don't give me such lip, kid," the fat guard snarled. The `kid' was blond, with a braided
ponytail. "Take off that coat."
Anita walked to the girl's side. Her profile looked vaguely familiar. Anita said, "Procedure"
in a gentle tone.
The girl looked at her, and the eye contact was enough. "Jennifer Brandt," Anita said,
looking her over. She was clean, well-groomed, and for the most part looked like a poster
girl from the Hitler era -- although the skirt was too high for the thirties or forties.
"Lieutenant Van Buren," Jennifer said. She licked her lips and added, "I'm here to see Mike
Logan ... but ... maybe you'll do."
Anita flashed a smile. "Try me. Just leave your things here -- they'll be ready when you
want to leave."
Jennifer hesitated, as if she thought that once she put her coat and backpack on the desk,
she wouldn't see them again for years. Then she sighed and said, "Well, why not."
"Good. We'll get some food and drink first, then we can talk."
"I'm not really hungry."
"Suit yourself." Anita realized that Jennifer had changed over the past six years. The blank-
faced, remorseless killer child of 1999 had become a young woman who seemed to be
thinking that she had waded into deep sewage. Her nervousness was worrisome in its own
way -- was she here to make trouble? Did she have a concealed weapon? A cop who was
zealous about security might well force her to strip for a body search. But over-aggressive
methods could do more harm than good by antagonizing people who would otherwise
provide useful information. Anita would be careful the old-fashioned way, by watching
Jennifer closely.
"Real snazzy place you're working at," Jennifer said.
"Actually, I'm here as a visitor. I still run the detective squad at the 2-7, and the place hasn't
changed a bit since you were there."
Jennifer let the corners of her mouth go down (which she had not done in `99). She said,
"How's Tara Padden doing?"
"You don't need to know."
A few minutes later, Anita and Jennifer had a room to themselves. They sat beside the
table, facing each other with nothing in between. A box of food and coffee sat on the table
within Anita's reach.
"I get pissed off thinking about Tara," said Jennifer. "She was older and bigger and
stronger than me, but she did nothing!"
Anita folded her arms. "You were the one who did something."
"I know, and I'm sorry." Jennifer's first verbal remorse, at least to Anita. Jennifer
went on, "But Tara was an athlete, for Christ's sake!" Jennifer slapped the table. "She
could have forced me away from little Stevie, could have taken my rock away. But no --
she just stood there and stared with her big dumb eyes."
"I hope you didn't come here just..."
"To talk about Tara? She's my point. Because the killers you're looking for, Christopher
Moltisanti and Paulie Gualtieri, showed up at my dad's place at midnight. And when they
did, Dad's eyes looked just the same as Tara's."
"Your ID ... does that have your dad's present address?"
"Yes." Jennifer slumped in the chair, hands clasped in her lap. Her hard blue eyes stared
straight ahead. "Is a telephone handy? I want to call Dr. Olivet."
7:20 AM
The cries and babbles took Vince on a time trip, back to his days as a trusty in the hospital ward at Sing Sing. He rushed to the guest room and found Chris curled in a fetal position, his skin covered with goose bumps. Chris was shivering, and hot as a radiator, hotter than Jenny had ever been during her worst childhood illnesses.
“I’m clean now, Uncle Tony,” Chris shouted, “tollya I’d clean up!”
Walnuts entered the room and said, “What the f***’s going on ... holy s***!”
“Yeah,” Vince said. Now the smell was the same as at Sing Sing. Chris babbled again, as if the fever had sent his mind fifty or sixty years forward to the late stages of Alzheimer’s.
Walnuts reached for Chris’s forehead, then yanked his hand back as if he’d touched a live burner. “Tell you what, Vince. Get that pussy a yours to bring in some eggs and fry ‘em on his body.”
“She’s gone, Paulie. You two spooked her.”
“F***!”
“Well said. But your friend...”
“I know. Needs a doctor.”
Chris shouted, “Tollya, Ade! Tollya you’d be dead. See ya in hell!”
“I’ll call 9-1-1,” Vince said.
“No. We're getting out of here."
Paulie and Vince bundled Chris in blankets and carried him to the car. By 7:30, they were
heading north on Craig Avenue and Paulie was using Vince's cell.
“Tony? Yeah, I know we’re hot, but listen...”
7:30 AM
Tony Soprano's stomach went cold and his heart raced as he heard Paulie talk about
Christopher's illness.
"Came on suddenly," Paulie said. "I never seen anyone so hot."
Tony heard a hoarse scream in the background. A chill swept over him, as if his blood was
becoming sludgy with ice. His consigliere, Silvio Dante, looked at him from across the
table where the two had been eating breakfast. That scream banished all thought of
conferring with Silvio before making his decision.
Tony said, "Paulie, where are you?"
"Craig Avenue, Staten Island."
"Here's what you do: Stay where you are, call 9-1-1 and let 'em take Chrissie to the
hospital. Call me back when the ambulance arrives." Tony closed his cell.
"You look like the news could hardly be worse," Silvio said.
"I'm worried that it will be worse," Tony barked, pushing himself from the table so hard
that his chair toppled. "Come on, we're going to Staten."
***********************************************************************************
Mike entered the MCS squad room at 7:32. He immediately sensed that something
important had happened -- people were moving briskly; Bobby and Alex had bulletproof
vests on.
"We may have our break," Alex said. "A girl walked in fifteen minutes ago and gave us the
address where she says Moltisanti and Gualtieri are staying."
Not far away, Anita led Jennifer Brandt out of a room. Mike knew Jennifer's history because
Lennie had told him about her six years ago. He wasn't surprised last winter to find that
Jennifer was associated with a neo-Nazi group. The surprise in that interview came when
she said that neo-Nazi denial of the Holocaust was "bull****" and she was just trying to
figure out how a civilized nation like Germany could have produced the Nazis. "More
recently," she'd added in an apologetic tone, "some have been trying to figure out how the
civilized Brandt family produced *me.*"
Now she glared at Mike. "Detective Logan," she said, "my dad is in cahoots with those
Bungalow North killers. You nail all their asses!"
"Take it easy," Mike said. Jennifer sounded too spiteful for his liking.
"He should have slammed the door in their faces!"
Minutes later, Mike and Anita were ready to join Alex and Bobby. "Glad to have you,
Lieutenant, long as you don't get started on my return to Staten."
"You don't sound all that excited," Anita said.
"I'm waiting 'til those two are in the bag."
7:39 AM
Christopher was deteriorating more rapidly than Paulie could have imagined. His breathing was increasingly labored, he no longer seemed to be conscious, and he was developing a spotty rash. Paulie ran out of the car to intercept the coming ambulance.
He expected the paramedics to take a minute or so to relay Chris's vital signs, just as on TV. But in a matter of seconds, they had him on a gurney and were loading him into their vehicle. "Scoop and run," the lead medic said.
"Where to?" Paulie asked.
"Staten Island University."
***************************************************************************************
Staten Island University Hospital
8:25 AM
Paulie rubbed his forehead. He had been swamped with questions -- verbal and printed. His writing hand was cramped from paperwork. In return, they were making him wait. Vince had gone to hunt his daughter. Paulie wanted to leave, but he knew that any hope of mending fences with Tony Soprano depended on him doing his best for Chrissie.
"Mr. Gaultieri?" The speaker was a black woman about fifty years old and five-and-a half feet tall. With her was a slightly younger dark-haired man who was an inch or two above the six-foot level. Both were wearing white doctor's jackets. "I'm Dr. Jamison and this is Dr. Ferris. We've stabilized Mr. Moltisanti and you may see him for a minute. Please follow us."
"Is he gonna be okay?" Paulie asked.
"Everything'll be fine," Dr. Ferris said. "He's in the next room."
They led Paulie through swinging double doors and the blue uniforms were on him at once, wrestling him to the floor and wrenching his arms behind his back before he had a chance to break free.
"Paul Gaultieri," said Jamison, "you are under arrest for felony murder, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon."
Paulie had been arrested before and knew that it would be useless to struggle. But the anaconda in him was furious.
Go to Chapter 4.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
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