Stuart Woods - Fresh Disasters

“Monahan,” she said. She listened to what the voice on the other end of the line was saying, and she felt herself turning white. She asked some questions, then hung up.

“Dierdre,” her boss said, “you look weird. You’re not going to faint, are you?”

“I hope not.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Gus Castiglione is dead.”

“What?”

“He got knifed at Rikers.”

“Didn’t you put him into protective custody?”

“Yes, but for some reason his cell opened at lunch call, and he went to the dining hall, or at least he started out for the dining hall. Somebody put a shiv into him twice. They’ve got a suspect, a little rat named Skinny diSalvo, who’s awaiting trial on a gambling charge, but, of course, nobody saw anything.”

“I want an investigation of how that cell door got opened,” the chief said.

“Somebody got bought,” Dierdre replied, “and I don’t think we’re going to find out who.”

“You’ve still got that other witness, what’s his name?”

“Fisher, Herbert Fisher.”

“Is he in Rikers?”

“No, I’ve got him in a safe house, a hotel.”

“You’d better make sure nothing happens to him.”

“Right,” she said. “I have to go make some calls.”

Herbie had been in the hotel for nearly a whole day, now, and he didn’t like it. The bed was hard, the food from room service was lousy, the TV in the bedroom was too small, and the two cops who were always with him hogged the bigger one in the sitting room.

One of the cops opened the door. “You okay, Herbie?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m gonna take a shower.”

“Good idea,” the cop said. “I was gonna mention it to you.”

Herbie got out of his pajamas, went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Then he started getting dressed.

There was a knock on the sitting room door, and the two cops looked at each other. “Yeah?” one of them yelled.

“Room service,” a muffled voice said from the other side of the door.

“Jesus, is that kid eating again? It’s only been an hour since the cheeseburger.” He got to his feet and went to the door. As he turned the knob, somebody kicked it wide open, and something hit him in the chest. There had been no sound. He tried to yell to his partner, but somebody was stepping over him. He heard his partner yell, “Oh, shit!” followed by a tiny pfffft.

The man with the silenced semiautomatic pistol put one extra shot into the head of each cop, then he moved quietly to the door to the bedroom. He put his ear to the door and listened: The TV was playing, sounded like a soap opera. He pushed the door open and stepped into the room, the gun held out before him. Nobody in sight. Then he heard the shower running.

He walked quickly to the bathroom door, which was ajar, allowing steam from the shower to escape. He pushed the door open and stepped inside. There was so much fog, it was difficult to see, but after a moment, he made out the shower curtain. He reached over with his left hand and snatched it open, ready to fire. Nobody. He checked behind the door. Still nobody. Where was the kid?

Herbie hadn’t wanted his guards to see him dressed, so when he heard the cop yell, he ducked into the bedroom closet and watched as the man with the gun went into the bathroom. He didn’t hesitate but ran into the living room, looking for the cops, who were both on the floor with holes in their heads. Once again, Herbie didn’t hesitate. He went into the pockets of the cop lying by the door and found a roll of bills, then took the cop’s gun and ran like a deer down the hallway to the fire stairs, then ran all eleven floors to the lobby. There was a cab waiting in front of the hotel, and he dived into it.

“Just drive,” he said to the driver.

“That don’t do it, pal,” the driver replied. “Where you want to go?”

“Brooklyn. I’ll give you directions.”

Stone had left his office for the day and was in the basement exercise room, running on the treadmill, when the phone rang. He paused the treadmill and went to the phone on the wall.

“Stone Barrington.”

“It’s Dierdre.”

Dierdre was horny, that was it. Okay, he had a couple of hours before he had to meet Dino at Elaine’s. “Well, hi there,” he said, panting from his exertion.

“Did I interrupt you in bed?”

“No, I was on the treadmill. You want to come over?”

“I’m not in the mood right now.”

Stone was disappointed. “Whatever you say.”

“That’s not why I called.”

“What’s up?”

“Gus Castiglione got shivved at Rikers today; he’s dead.”

“Oh, no, there goes most of your case. I mean, Herbie can testify to the kidnapping and the murder threat, but it was Gus who could really have put Dattila away, wasn’t it?”

“That isn’t all the news,” Dierdre said. “The two cops who were guarding Herbie at the hotel are both dead, small-caliber handgun, two each.”

“Oh, shit,” Stone said, dreading what might come next.

“One of the cops’ guns and the expense money in his pocket are missing.”

“And Herbie?”

“Herbie’s missing, too.”

Stone sat at Elaine’s, staring into his bourbon.

Dino sat down. “All right, what fresh disaster has visited you now?”

“A cascade of them,” Stone said. “First of all, Gus Castiglione got shivved at Rikers while on his way to the dining hall. You probably heard about that.”

“No. Although the NYPD’s grasp of technology is improving, I don’t yet get a daily e-mail about who got shivved at Rikers on his way to the dining hall. What else?”

“The two cops guarding Herbie at a hotel got capped, and Herbie’s missing.”

“All right, let’s start with Gus. I thought the D.A. had him on ice. What’s he doing going to the dining hall?”

“Nobody knows. He was supposed to eat in his cell, but the door was unlocked with all the rest, and he started for the dining hall.”

“That means Dattila has somebody inside who could work that.”

“Right.”

“With regard to Herbie, I thought he was in a safe hotel.”

“So did everybody else.”

“That means Dattila has somebody in the D.A.’s office, too. Jesus, New York law enforcement is turning into a sieve. You think Herbie’s dead?”

“Probably not. Why would they kidnap him again? Who would spend ten minutes with him who didn’t have to? Dattila’s already on tape saying he wants Herbie dead, so the hit man was obviously sent there to shoot him. Also, some expense money was missing from one of the cops’ pockets, and his gun was gone, too. That doesn’t sound like a pro.”

“So Herbie’s on the loose with some cash, and he’s armed. Has Bob Cantor heard from him?”

“Nope.”

“And Herbie hasn’t called you, either?”

“Nope. I don’t know if he even got out of the hotel with his cell phone. We had an arrangement where he’d call in every day. I hope he sticks to it.”

“Herbie has more lives than any three cats I know,” Dino said.

“Yeah. Gus’s death is a big blow, though. I thought Dierdre would send Dattila up for life, and that would bolster Herbie’s civil suit. Even if Herbie lives to testify, he can only nail Dattila for kidnapping and attempted murder.”

“Dattila’s what, fifty? He might get enough time to keep him in the rest of his life.”

“I’m not counting on it, and if he gets Herbie, he won’t do any time at all. Any news on Devlin Daltry?”

“I’ve got six people on it, including a knockout blonde detective who’s six-feet-one.”

“That’s encouraging, and I need encouraging.”

“I’m expecting to hear more tonight,” Dino said.