FORGOTTEN (25 page)

The plane touched down at JFK precisely on time. Pat and Mary quickly made their way through Immigration, reclaimed their checked baggage, and went through the line for those with
nothing to declare
. As soon as they entered the terminal they spotted Detective Dickie Davis. He immediately grabbed Pat’s bag.

“Welcome home, Chief.  We’ve missed you.”

“Thanks, Dickie. I can carry my bags, but you can help Mary.”

“Don’t bother,
Dickie. I can manage. You’ve already shown me whose bags are more important to you.” Mary teased.

“Sorry, Mary, I asked for that one.”

“Just kidding. We appreciate your picking us up.” Mary responded. 

“No problem.”

They walked out of the terminal. Dickie had parked the black Chrysler at the curb with the Chief of Detectives’ placard on the dash. Pat immediately starting pumping Dickie for information.”

“Have we made any progress on finding Pellegrino?”

“No, but Captain Flannery has called a task force meeting in about an hour.”

“Great! You can take Mary and me directly to One PP, if that’s okay with Mary.”

“No problem, Chief. I look and feel like warmed over death, but this is important. I can spruce up in the locker room.”

“Mary is recovering from German hospitality,
Dickie.”

Mary smiled, showing a slight blush.

Chapter 71

Friday, April 1 - Day 73

Major Crimes Conference Room - One Police Plaza

Borough of Manhattan, New York

1900 Hours

P
at called Commissioner Longstreet and updated him on the status of the investigation and what they had discovered in Germany. The commissioner wanted to attend the 1900 briefing.

At 1900, Pat walked into the conference room. A few German jokes, like “
Frauline McDonald,” were directed at Mary in good fun. She threw it right back. “If you guys knew what my head felt like, you would be kinder and gentler toward me.”

The jovial mood changed when the Police Commissioner walked in along with the Chief of Department, Roger Conrad. Pat welcomed everyone. “Okay, let’s get started. I’d like to welcome the Commissioner and Chief Conrad to the meeting. We appreciate the support.”

Longstreet responded. “Thanks, Patty. We’re glad to have you back on the North American continent in one piece.”

“I’m glad to be back. I’ll update you on what we’ve found. Daniel Pellegrino was living in a small cottage on
Ober Street in a little Wine Strasse town called Dedesfeltd. We conducted surveillance for two days until the bastard showed up here in the city yesterday. He was living as Daniel Zimmerman in Germany. We believe he may be going as Daniel Klein now. We found some practice signatures.”

Mary interrupted. “I have an email from Herb Mueller, Chief. They’ve confirmed he left Frankfurt as Daniel Klein, on Wednesday. He was on a Delta flight bound for New York. They have photos of him boarding. Karla Adams is checking with the detail at JFK to try to locate his arrival on the cameras Wednesday night.”

“That’s good, Mary. Maybe we’ll get lucky. We also found a folder of newspaper clippings which contained the obituaries of Judge Fitzpatrick, Nathanial Moses and Forrest Butelli, not to mention a photograph of me, as well.”

“What does that mean, Patty?”  Commissioner Longstreet asked.

“I don’t know. We already know he wants me dead from our fun and adventures in New Jersey.”

“I wouldn’t take it lightly, Patty. Maybe, we should assign you a protection detail.” The commissioner added.

“I’ll be fine. Dickie does a good job of protecting me.”

“I’m serious, Patty, we don’t want to lose you.”

“I appreciate your concern, but I can take care of myself. Captain Flannery, can you update us on what has occurred this week?” 

“Sure, Chief, but unfortunately the whereabouts of our suspect is still unknown.”

“I’m well aware of that.” Pat said.

“Yesterday, we were notified by the Investors Bank in lower Manhattan that Daniel Pellegrino was withdrawing $50,000 from his accounts. They put the money together, gave it to him and then called the police. The U. S. Marshals were also alerted, but before anyone could get there, he’d walked out of the bank with the money. We have camera footage and have confirmed it was indeed Daniel Pellegrino. We’ve checked every security camera with a view of the bank, but we were unable to locate a vehicle.”

“So what are we doing now, Bryan?” Pat asked.

“We’ve plastered his photo on the news and have put out a nation-wide alert for him. The Marshals are up on his sister’s phones. We have 24-hour protection details for Margaret
Butelli, Gloria Moses, Phyllis Dunaw, and we offered it to his old partner, Roland Brewster, but he refused. We’ve asked the RMP’s in Forest Hills to keep a check by anyway.”

Karla Adams came in the conference room with a legal pad in her hand. Pat was curious.

“Did you have any luck, Karla?”

“Actually, we did, for a change. Daniel Pellegrino, AKA Daniel Klein, rented a car from National Car Rental at JFK. They gave him a white, Ford Explorer with Pennsylvania tags RD-6821. He has it rented until Monday night. He paid for it with a credit card in the name of Daniel Klein. Our financial surveillance team is getting the card flagged as we speak. We’ve put out a nation-wide alert for the Explorer as possibly armed and dangerous.”

“That’s a step in the right direction, Karla. Do you have anything else, Bryan?”

“We have Pellegrino’s picture added to the facial recognition cameras posted by the Anti-Terrorism Bureau. They should include most of the major attractions in New York, including One PP. We’ll get the tags of the Explorer added to the License Plate Readers as well.”

“Talk to Angie after the meeting. Her husband, Mike, can probably help us.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks, Bryan. Commissioner, do you or Chief Conrad have anything for us?”

“Patty, this guy is a psychopath. I want him behind bars. If there’s anything you need, I’ll make it happen. We can’t afford to have more murders from this guy. I want you all to be safe, but we have to nail him soon.”

“Thanks, Commissioner. Your support is important to me.”

Commissioner Longstreet and Chief Conrad left the conference room. Pat continued the dialog. “I want everything possible done to apprehend this guy. Hit up your snitches; be creative; and visit the sister. Maybe if we rattle her chain, she’ll contact him and that’ll throw us a lead. Right now the white Explorer is our best lead. I want every cop in New York looking for it.”

Pat ended the briefing. He was exhausted. The jet lag was kicking in.It had been 73 days since Margaret Butelli walked into his office. This case had been a whirlwind of highs and lows. He knew it was almost over. It had to be, but Daniel Pellegrino was still likely somewhere in New York City. It would be hard to sleep until this very dangerous man was arrested.

Chapter 72

Friday, April 1 - Day 73

Chief of Detectives’ Residence

Borough of Manhattan, New York

2230 Hours

P
at got home at 2100 hours and immediately went to bed. He was awakened by the door bell at 2030 hours and slipped his robe on, grabbed one of the .357’s, and walked to the door. He looked through the peep hole and saw it was Maggie Parker.

He opened the door. Maggie was carrying a bag of groceries. Pat took the bag and Maggie stepped in. He sat the bag on the counter and gave Maggie a big hug.

“It’s so good to see you, Maggie. I’ve missed you a lot.”

“
Me too, Pat. I thought you might be hungry. I picked up some snacks and some eggs and the thick-sliced bacon you like.”

“That sounds great. I think the jet lag is kicking in.”

“I hate that feeling. I used to get it all the time when I was on the detail with the President. Sometimes it takes days to get over it.”

“That’s not encouraging.”

“I know. Have you made any progress finding your fugitive?”

“Not really, but we do have a tag and description of the car he rented at JFK. It was a white Ford Explorer.”

“Do you want to eat something now or later? I brought some things with me from the office I need to work on tonight.”

“We can eat later if you want, Maggie, unless you’re hungry.”

“I’m fine, Pat. You can grab a few more winks while I read if you like.”

“I don’t want to be inhospitable.” Pat said.

“Don’t worry. I just want to be close to you. I’ve missed you so much.”

“So have I. It’s good to be together.”

“Do you have any big plans this weekend, Pat?”

“Not unless the phone rings. What do you have in mind?”

“I don’t know, I was thinking about going to the shore and just getting out of the city.”

“I just got back from the other side of the world.”

“I’m sorry, that’s a good point.”

“But I don’t mind going somewhere if you want. I want my favorite person to be happy.”

“Let’s just play it by ear and see what happens.”

“Sounds great, Maggie, and if you don’t mind, I’ll take a little nap while you work.”

Maggie kissed Pat and then laid her head against his chest.

“I’ll feel better when you catch Daniel Pellegrino. It gives me the creeps.”

“Don’t worry, Maggie. That’ll happen in due time. Every conceivable trap has been set.”

Pat went back to bed, but couldn’t stop thinking about the investigation. Somewhere in this city, Daniel Pellegrino was a dangerous threat. In his head, he thought about everything which was now in place to trap him. Second-guessing himself, he kept wondering if he was missing something.

Chapter 73

Saturday, April 2 - Day 74

Chief of Detectives’ Residence

Borough of Manhattan, New York

0730 Hours

P
at woke up to the smell of frying bacon and coffee. He realized he had slept through the entire night without even having a bathroom break. The jet lag had obviously left him exhausted. He slipped on his robe and walked into the kitchen. Maggie had the table set and was cooking away.

“Good morning. I was beginning to think you were hibernating.”

“I guess the jet lag did a number on me.”

“The coffee is ready. I made your favorite brew.”

Pat poured himself a cup of the smooth Jamaican coffee. He opened his laptop, scanned through his emails, and answered a few messages. There were no new developments in the search for Pellegrino. 

Maggie served Pat a ham and cheese omelet with a hefty serving of crispy thick-sliced bacon and wheat toast. She refilled his coffee and joined him. She got directly to the point. “Can we get out of the city today? I’d like to go to the shore and just look at the ocean. It is supposed to be in the 70’s today.”

“I think we can do that. Where did you have in mind?”

“I know you’re not much of a gambler, but I was thinking about just driving down to Atlantic City. We could be there in a couple of hours.”

“That would be fun. Maybe I can hear my old friend play the banjo.”

Pat had an old musician friend who played banjo at a New Orleans themed casino. He had played his trumpet with her a few times at the casino, but the musicians union frowned on it, since he was not getting paid and was not a member of the Atlantic City local union. It
would be fun just to listen. He would stick his trumpet in the car, just in case the opportunity presented itself. He liked having a horn with him.

They finished their breakfast and Pat took a quick shower. He dressed casually in khakis and a forest green, long-sleeved shirt which fit loosely over his stocky frame. He strapped one of his revolvers in an ankle holster and dropped the second one in his right pocket. It was one of the advantages of the hammerless design of his guns, allowing them to be safely carried in a pocket.

In about an hour, they were in Maggie’s Lexus heading south on the Garden State Parkway toward Atlantic City. Traffic was light for a Saturday morning. It should be a relaxing day, but Pat’s mind kept drifting to the fact that somewhere out there, Daniel Pellegrino was free and also able to enjoy the nice day. He had to do something to change that option. Patience was not Pat O’Connor’s best virtue.

Chapter 74