Blurred Visuals – Chapter 4
*Lovely Readers, originally I had written that Danny and Lacey would meet in Chapter 4. However, once I started writing, their meetup became Chapter 5. Then, Chapter 4 got even longer and I had to revamp what was occurring in Chapter 5. Thus, the meetup is now Chapter 6.
Yes, it is a bit before Danny and Lacey meet, but I have updated and posted Chapters 4 - 6! You don't have to wait. You can read 3 chapters back-to-back! What are you waiting for...the sooner you read, the sooner you get to the meeting in Chapter 6! LOL
All kidding aside...I hope you enjoy these three chapters. I worked very hard on them. DimplesValntina
Lacey's day starts on very interesting note. Mr. Stevenson, Solomon's attorney, called Lacey and asked for her to meet him at his office. Lacey decides to take an early lunch. He explains that Solomon has left provisions in his will for her.
The will of the late Solomon Fitzgerald has half of the estate going to charities for cancer research and for a shelter back in New Jersey. The rest of the estate is going to Lacey. Solomon's total estate included the duplex, of which he owned both parts, along with some life insurance and savings accounts. $100,000 is what is Lacey's inheritance from her portion of the estate.
Mr. Stevenson advises Lacey to distribute the money amongst herself, her mother and sister. He explains that it will be useful to have this type of 'liquid' cash on them - just in case they need to leave town quickly. Lacey feels a little uneasy at his statement. However, Mr. Stevenson bluntly points out the facts. Since Solomon was murdered and since Vinny Bastinino was most likely involved, Lacey and Phoebe may be called into court to offer testimony on behalf of the government against Vinny. This would place any witnesses in danger - which would mean witness relocation via the Federal Witness Protection Program. On the other hand, the witnesses could refuse to testify, but still would end up relocating themselves - disappearing far away from danger.
Moreover, Mr. Stevenson advised to keep the FBI and Witness Protection Program unaware of her sudden cash windfall. The attorney told Lacey to consider this inheritance a 'safety blanket' that Solomon had left for her. While, this 'security blanket' does allow Lacey to feel like she has an additional option available to her current situation, she still feels frightened for herself, her family, and for Phoebe.
She hopes the FBI can solve the case without needing further testimony from Phoebe and her. Judging by Mr. Stevenson's assessment of the circumstances, Lacey knows the lawyer was far more adept at concluding how this case was going to end: a change in life was in store for all involved in this case.
Lacey left his office (with instructions on how the inheritance would be distributed to her). As she returned to work, she could barely focus as so many questions went through her head. She would need to call Agent Eddison to inquire how the case was progressing and ask about the likelihood that she and Phoebe would have to testify. She could also question his plans regarding everyone's safety - especially her family who lived an hour away.
Per Agent Eddison, Lacey nor Phoebe had informed their families of the danger they faced. The agent believe that the fewer people who knew the actual details regarding the Solomon Fitzgerald/Manny 'The Fingers' Riccobono case, the better. Both families would have security detail - the security would blend in the back ground inconspicuously. If the time came, then Agent Eddison would advise what knowledge to give to the Porter and Daly families. Neither Phoebe nor Lacey liked pretending to their family that all was 'well and fine' in their world...especially, when the direct opposite was true.
Lacey devised that she would tell her family part of the truth...a well-to-do neighbor left her some money but they would have to hide it because his relatives would be angry that someone not blood-related had inherited a huge amount. It was partially a lie, yes. Still, this lie was far more palatable than the truth behind Solomon's life and death...the lie was more soothing than admitting the danger Lacey now faced.
The day had started with an interesting surprise for Lacey. Little did Lacey know that her evening would also become very interesting - just not in a pleasing way...
Earlier in the evening when Phoebe had ventured outside to let down her garage door and she heard a noise...
Phoebe turned to the right. What was that noise?
Suddenly, an arm came around her upper body and across her chest - immobilizing one side of her body. As she opened her mouth to scream, a cloth was placed over her nose and mouth. There was a very strong odor on that cloth. Phoebe tried to use her 'free' side to break free from the strong hold. She couldn't break free. She tried to stomp this person's feet. She heard the assailant grunt but this person was much stronger than she was.
Her breath was becoming painful as this strong pungent odor made her eyes tear. Her actions seem to be slowing down...her mind said to 'fight' but her body seemed to not obey that command. She was becoming so tired.
As she was losing consciousness, she thought about her boyfriend, Scott. She loved him. She thought about her family and that she probably wasn't going to see them again. She loved them as well. Then, she thought about Lacey. She widened her eyes in one last moment as she feared for her friend's safety. She stayed conscious enough to mentally send one thought...Please, God, protect Lacey.
With that final thought, blackness occurred.
Charlie McBride finished the job by tranquilizing the woman with some poison. He had been told to make this look like an accident...maybe an apparent suicide. That would be how the scene would initially look until the cops discovered one agent dead in the car and another agent, alive, but knocked out. The Feds would see that this was a warning. They would know to heed with precaution before coming after Vinny Bastinino. Witnesses had a habit of disappearing whenever the Feds had a case against Vinny.
Lacey comes home...an unexpected surprise awaits...
As Lacey drives into her neighborhood, she sees one of the unmarked vehicles with a person sitting inside. It was Agent Shields, one of the two agents assigned to guard Phoebe and her. The other agent, Agent Hayes, would be doing foot patrols around the area to ensure that no one was hanging about nor monitoring the ladies. At certain times of the night, one of the agents would call periodically to check on the women and give a status update. Agent Eddison assured Lacey that her family, an hour away, also had a detail watching them. The same for Phoebe's family two hours away.
Lacey parked her car in her detached garage and exited the vehicle. She walked out of the garage and pressed her remote to let down the door. As she was waiting for the door to completely come down, she heard a car running. It seemed to be coming from two garages away. It was Phoebe's garage. The garage door was down, but the car was running. That was unusual. Phoebe knows that she should leave the door up if her vehicle has been started but is operating in neutral for any extended amount of time.
Lacey opens her purse and grabs her cell phone. She speed dials Phoebe on the phone. The rings are unanswered and the call goes to voicemail. That is strange. Phoebe is definitely home by now. Lacey's pulse quickens as she runs to Phoebe's garage and lifts the cover over the number panel to key in the security code for the garage. (She and Phoebe are each other's emergency contacts. Both know the codes to the security systems of their homes, the parental phone numbers, and yes, the codes to their individual numbered garage panels - just in case the remote cannot be used).
When the garage door opens, toxins pour out of the garage. Lacey coughs. She sees Phoebe sitting in the driver's seat. She tucks her phone into her pants' pocket as she runs towards the front of the car to yank open the door.
She screams "Phoebe!" She sees that Phoebe's eyes are closed. She tries to shake her. There is no response and Lacey's eyes are tearing. Lacey starts coughing more.
Lacey drags Phoebe from the car and pulls her outside into the fresh air. Lacey pulls the phone out of her pants' pocket and speed dials the number to one of the agents. She puts the phone on speaker and places it on the ground as she checks the side of Phoebe's throat for a pulse. No pulse. Also, no answer from the agent. Lacey feels dread. She tries the other agent's number. As the phone rings the agent, Lacey tilts Phoebe's head back to force her mouth open as Lacey bends her head down to listen and feel for any sign of breath. No breath. Also, no answer from the second agent.
Lacey begins to panic as she then dials 911. As the call connects, she begins to perform CPR on Phoebe by crossing her palms over Phoebe's chest and she begins compressing. As Lacey is compressing, the dispatch operator comes on the line. Lacey yells out the state of emergency, gives the address of their location, and also asks for Agent Eddison of the FBI to be notified since Lacey feels that she is in danger. The female dispatch operator decides to keep one line open to Lacey, because of the seriousness of this situation, as she directs the other personnel to Lacey's location. For safety, the operator continues to stay on the line as Lacey waits for help to arrive.
During this whole time, Lacey has not stopped her CPR efforts: compressing, checking for breath or a pulse, and repeating the process.
Lacey pleads "Come on, Phoebe! Come on. Don't die on me. Phoebe! Come back. Don't die on me, Pheebs! I need you. Help will be here soon. Don't die!" Tears stream down Lacey's face as she continuously compresses on Phoebe's chest cavity.
Her arms are tired. Her back, neck, and knees are becoming stiffened and sore from the awkward position. Yet, Lacey continues to compresses, then feel and listen for breath. No sign of life…back to compressing and back to calling Phoebe's name for her to wake up. Lacey does this until the EMTs arrive and take over for Lacey.
The police and some Federal agents have also arrived on the scene. Agent Shields was found dead inside the unmarked car. A single gunshot to the head. The way he had been shot would make Shields appear still fully alert inside the vehicle (to any passersby - just as Lacey had assumed when she saw his image from afar). However, upon closer inspection, one could see that he was dead.
The second agent, Agent Hayes, had been caught unawares (during his patrol of the area) and was struck in the head by an object. Then, he had been suffocated to unconsciousness, but not to the point of death. He was taken to the hospital.
Unfortunately, Phoebe could not be saved. She was pronounced dead on the scene. Lacey is distraught.
Lacey is also frightened. She demands to speak to Agent Eddison. Two of the four agents, who arrived at the same time of the police, escort Lacey to a secure location where Agent Eddison meets her. He has confirmed that Lacey's mother and sister are fine and agents have swept them out of their home. Agent Eddison is very concerned over tonight's events. He orders that Lacey, Judy, and Clara are moved to another secure location for the night. It is a safe house in neighboring Ponotoc, New York.
When the three ladies are united in that safe house, there is an outpouring of relief but also a shared sense of fear as both Lacey and Agent Eddison detail the events which have led them to this tragic night. To give the ladies a deeper sense of security, Agent Eddison himself provides watch detail over the ladies for part of the night.
Each lady has a restless night of sleeping. The next day, they are brought, via security detail, to an office. They are escorted to a conference room, where they are now sitting at a conference table and awaiting a meeting with Agent Eddison. The agent had left the safe house in the early morning hours in order to coordinate the next steps needed in this case.
"Good morning, ladies. How are you this morning?" Eddison greets the three Porter women as he walks into the room. He looks tired – as if he didn't get any sleep once another agent relieved him of the night-watch detail at the safe house.
Judy answers for everyone. "Anxious, exhausted from lack of restful sleep, and a little frightened for our lives." She places a hand on each of her daughters, in a protective gesture, as she accurately recounts how they each feel.
"I'm very sorry for that, Mrs. Porter. However, I assure you that we take your safety seriously and we do have a plan to move you to a more secure location." Agent Eddison guarantees, even though he has a grim look on his face. He sits down at the conference table.
"Phoebe?" Lacey wants to know more information about her friend, but she can't form the words to ask a more definitive question.
The agent shows some sadness as he relays what he knows. "Phoebe didn't seem to suffer. From the preliminary tox screens and testing, we determined she was probably chloroformed and then quickly tranquilized with some drug. The drug is what really caused her death quickly. Afterwards, the killer placed her in the car, started the engine, and made sure the garage door was down. Then, he or she made the scene look as though Phoebe purposely killed herself by locking herself in a closed area with the running engine in order for the emissions' toxins to seemingly cause her death."
The agent leans forward to look directly at Lacey. "Lacey, there is nothing you could have done to save Phoebe. However, take a little solace that she didn't suffer."
Lacey was thankful that Phoebe didn't suffer. Yet, she felt no solace. She felt anger: anger at the killer, anger that Solomon had triggered this when he started interacting with her and Phoebe, anger that her own family was in danger now, and anger that she could see no way out of this predicament.
"What does this mean now for my family?" Judy Porter demands.
The agent explains "The Bastinino organization used Phoebe as a warning to Lacey. There really was no reason for them to kill Phoebe: she knew very little about Solomon. Thus, she was no real threat to Vinny Bastinino. That hit was to silence any other witnesses from providing information to the police."
"Other witnesses like my daughter, you mean." Judy says the rhetorical statement.
The agent takes a moment before he responds. "Yes, Lacey knew considerably more than Phoebe. This means all of you must be protected further – which means a move out of this state to a more secure location."
"How long?" Lacey asks.
"For now, you will be in this new location until Vinny can be brought to trial. We have caught a suspect who possibly knows how Vinny is connected to Solomon's murder. If everything goes according to plan, and I am very confident that things will, there will be an arrest for Vinny. At that time of Vinny's trial, you will have to testify about any information that you know in court. Afterwards, you will be moved to another secure location. Depending upon the trial's verdict, you may be moved again."
"So, in other words, we can kiss our old lives goodbye and any semblance of a future life?" Clara pipes in for the first time in the conversation. She is eight years younger than Lacey. She has graduated from high school and was looking forward to starting college.
"I'm sorry, young lady..." Agent Eddison stops as he lets out a deep sigh. He then looks at each of the ladies as he delivers his chilling message. "I would love to be able to grant you your old life again, but Vinny Bastinino is a very dangerous man. For him to use Phoebe's life as a message to Lacey is proof that he won't be taken down without using all his resources to prevent his downfall. We have to stay ten steps ahead of his people at all times. While the safe houses and moves to secure locations will seem tiring, all these protective measures are necessary - in order to keep you alive."
**Lovely Readers, thank you for your patience in waiting for updates. Because Chapter 4 was getting lengthy, I had to create another chapter and add some additional details. That is how Chapter 5 happened…then I realized that Chapter 4 needed more detail that I accidently left out. So, Chapter 4 became longer, had to be divided to place into Chapter 5 instead. Chapter 5 had to be divided to place into the Chapter 6 - resulting in 4 total chapter updates within three days for 'Blurred Visuals' (Chapters 3 - 6).
Oh, I know that chloroform isn't so toxic to make a person completely unconscious (via the research I did). However, my research showed that many crime stories still use this as a way to incapacitate someone. So, I had Charlie to use it to take advantage of Phoebe and weaken her, so that he could administer the drug, which really killed her.
Also, I had Lacey using the alternative way which CPR is taught these days, without the administering of the mouth-to-mouth breath part after the chest compressions. The alternative way is to check for the breath and pulse, compress on the chest cavity, and then repeat those steps. You will notice I didn't do the proper full way of removing the garment off the victim before you give the compressions. Supposedly, the top may interfere with your compressions - or at least what specific part of the chest cavity you are supposed to be compressing. (Took CPR certification years ago, but some of this information may have changed over the years. If things have changed, please just suspend belief for this story...lol).
Please continue to Chapters 5 and 6 for more 'Blurred Visuals'...
Thank you for reading and for your support! DimplesValntina