Chapter 20
Captain O'Brien glanced through the window into the Infirmary. It had taken several hours, additional correctional officers had had to be deployed from other facilities on the Island or recalled to duty but the situation had been brought back under control. The unconscious guard and nurse had already been moved to a civilian hospital and the prison doctor and several nurses were busy checking the vitals of the remaining inmate patients. He turned back to the two frightened and embarrassed men before him. He had already vented his anger at them so his question came out in a tone of exaggerated patience.
"…and you didn't think to ask them for identification?"
"They didn't look or act suspicious, sir." one replied defensively. "They had keys and their story was believable. In fact, they seemed like regular guys, anxious to get back home but still ready to shoot the breeze for a while."
He sighed, he really couldn't blame the officers, they were usually posted to minimum or medium security facilities and they had faced men who were highly trained and experienced in infiltration techniques. Nevertheless, they had failed to follow procedures. "Alright, you're both suspended pending a disciplinary hearing; starting now. Get out of my sight!"
The two officers departed quickly, no doubt relieved at being spared a further tongue lashing as O'Brien stomped down the corridor into the basement. The hole in the fence had been discovered and a search of the jail had confirmed what his gut had already told him. Bristow and Sloane had successfully escaped. The good news, if you wanted to look at that way, was a count had shown that all the other prisoners were accounted for.
As he entered the basement a young C.O. glanced across and gestured towards a laptop hanging down by a single lead from inside a junction box. "Sir, they stole this from the Education Department and used it to access the security system from here. I'm guessing they somehow breached the firewall and programmed the doors to open and close at random, then used the resulting chaos to cover their escape."
"So, they're also responsible for the near riot in C Block!" O'Brien noted, then muttered to himself, "When those sons of bitches are recaptured, I am going to make it my personal objective to make their lives hell. By the time I'm finished, they'll wish they'd never been born!"
In his heart, however, he knew the chances of finding them were minimal at best. They were trained agents with the contacts and resources to flee the country any time they wanted. And, even if by some miracle they were caught, these men had been trained to withstand torture and, if the scars on their bodies were anything to go by, had done so on several occasions. Nothing he could do to them would be anything like as bad. Nevertheless, contemplating the punishments he intended to mete out made him feel better.
"Have the police had any success in tracing them yet?" the C.O. asked. "Most escapees make right for their old neighbourhood and their family."
O'Brien shook his head. "They're checking out their daughters now but I doubt if they'll have contacted them. These are not most escapers!"
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They heard the sound of its engines first but slowly the returning motor boat came into view of the lighted marina. Detective Ed Greene looked at his watch. "It's about time. Zipodi's been out there for hours." he noted.
"Hey, it's only 12.48 on Christmas Eve, the night is still young!" his partner replied.
"Technically, doesn't that make it Christmas Day?" Greene asked.
Lennie Briscoe was about to reply when his attention was drawn to the police radio that had been quietly playing in the background. He turned up the sound.
"Attention all units, attention all units. This is an APB for fugitives, Jonathan Bristow and Arvin Sloane who escaped from Riker's Island Maximum Security facility sometime between 22.30 and 00.30 tonight. Both men are to be considered armed and extremely dangerous and officers should seek back up before approaching. Descriptions of fugitives are as follows …"
Briscoe muted the radio and turned to his partner. It was clear from Green's expression they were both thinking the same thing.
"Zipodi hires a boat and takes a river cruise the same night our friends from Langley go on the lam." he mused.
"And all he has to do to be in the general vicinity of the prison is chug upstream a ways." Briscoe confirmed.
They reached an unspoken decision. Briscoe leaned forward and hit the radio transmit button. "Despatch, this is Detective Car 186 with Briscoe and Greene from the 29th Precinct. We may have a lead on the fugitives. We are at the Golden Seas Marina on the Lower East Side and are about to approach suspect, Melvin Zipodi, who we believe may have information on their whereabouts. Stand by to send back up on request."
"Acknowledged, DC-186." The dispatcher responded.
"Maybe we should have asked for back up straight away." Greene grumbled.
"And look like chumps if we're wrong? We know he went out alone. Let's wait and see how many people get off."
They watched as the boat came alongside the pier and Zipodi jumped off, tied it up and began to walk off.
"It looks like he's still alone." Greene observed.
"Yeah, let's go and see if our upstanding citizen enjoyed his moonlight cruise."
The two detectives got out of their car and approached their quarry.
"Hi Melvin, remember us?" Briscoe asked brightly.
Zipodi turned towards them. "Yeah, I remember you. This looks like harassment to me. You'll be hearing from my attorney about this. What do you want now?"
"Speaking about your lawyer, Melvin, we've just heard some news about another one of his clients, Arvin Sloane, know him? Appears he unexpectedly checked out of Riker's this evening and his former hosts want to know why he rejected their hospitality. Know anything about that?" Greene took up the story.
"No. Why should I?"
"It's cold out here. Why don't we discuss it in more detail in a nice warm room at the Precinct?" Briscoe invited the man.
Zipodi hesitated but it was cold and snow was beginning to fall again. "OK but I want my lawyer to be present."
"You can call him from the station." Greene said as he and Briscoe escorted Zipodi towards their waiting car.
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The Christmas Eve party was in full swing but Sydney surveyed the scene with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm. Nadia and Weiss were at the party too but, while Eric had come over and spoken to her briefly, her sister had ignored her totally. Across the room she could see the two of them dancing with every appearance of enjoyment and that darkened her mood even more. She's my sister. Why isn't she as affected by our estrangement as I am? she wondered.
From his position at her side, Vaughn sensed her depression and loneliness. APO was still checking on the whereabouts of the other staffers at the Novgorod 21 project but so far had failed to identify anyone with the resources to have Sydney and Nadia tailed and, without clear evidence that she was wrong in accusing Sloane, Sydney was unwilling to take the first step in healing the breach between them by apologising to her sister.
He touched her gently on the shoulder. "It's OK, sweetheart. It'll work out and I'll be here for you until it does." He glanced over at his best friend and, if everything worked out, future sister-in-law. "Nadia feels it too. She doesn't like this thing between you any more than you do. Trust me."
"Yeah, well it doesn't look it from here!" Sydney replied sarcastically. "Or do you have intel from Weiss you've been keeping from me?"
Vaughn understood her pain and frustration and remained calm and gentle. "No, Eric hasn't said anything to me but I know your sister well enough now to know all that is for show. Inside she's hurting as much as you are but she thinks she's right so she's too proud to let you know it." He grinned, "You're very much alike in that. Well, at least I finally know where you got it from. It's clearly your mother's side!"
Sydney began to smile, almost against her will, at his banter. "I don't know about that. Neither my Dad or Sloane are exactly members of the Heart on Sleeve Club!" She shook her head. "Vaughn, I'm sorry but I'm not in the mood for partying. Would you mind if we went back to our suite?"
"Your wish is my command!" He offered her his arm and they walked out into the foyer of the hotel. Across the reception area they could see a man and a woman talking to the night receptionist. Although they were not in uniform, their dress and manner screamed out 'police' to the experienced agents. The deskman saw them and pointed them out to the detectives while Sydney and Vaughn stood and waited for their approach. Sydney felt herself beginning to panic. She was sure they were here about her father. What's happened now? Is he alright? She fought down the rising tide; I'm a trained agent she told herself fiercely, I'm not going to give in to my emotions!
"Ms Bristow?" the female officer asked, her face grave.
Sydney nodded. "Yes. What is it? Has something happened to my father?"
"Why do you ask that?" the male detective asked brusquely, "Do you have any reason to think something might have happened to him?"
The woman gave her colleague a warning glance. "Ms. Bristow, I'm Detective Mears and this is Detective Kowalski. We'd like you to come down to the precinct and answer some questions for us. We also have a warrant to search your hotel suite and obtain a printout of your telephone calls. Please come with us."
"Why do you need to bother her on Christmas Eve?" asked Vaughn, "And why can't you ask your questions here?"
Kowalski glared at him in contempt, taking in his slim frame and college boy looks. "This is a high class hotel. We can discuss it here and embarrass the hell out of your girlfriend in front of all these fine people or we can do it nice and quietly down at the station. It's her call."
"Tell me what it's about first." Sydney demanded.
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"Has she gone?" Nadia whispered to Weiss.
Eric glanced across to where Sydney and Vaughn had been standing seconds earlier.
"Yes." He replied.
"Thank God!" Nadia responded. "Eric, I'm sorry for ruining tonight but would you mind if we left as well?"
Weiss nodded. He had sensed from the beginning that Nadia's apparent buoyant mood had been put on for her sister's benefit so he wasn't surprised at the request.
"I'll get your coat." was all he said.
"No, just a moment, give Sydney and Vaught time to get upstairs. I don't want her to see us leaving so soon after them."
Weiss was an easy-going guy and he couldn't understand how they could let pride get in the way of their developing relationship in the way they were doing. If it had been him, he would have made up the following day, but was too smart to let that show.
"Ready now?" he asked after a pause.
Nadia nodded and they left the party, heading towards the cloakroom. As they entered the hotel's Reception area they saw Sydney and Vaughn still there, talking with two strangers.
Nadia grabbed Weiss and was beginning to retreat back into the ballroom when Sydney saw her.
"Nadia!" she called. "I think these people want to speak to you too." She paused for a beat, "It appears our fathers escaped from jail this evening."
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Serena Southerlyn tried to ignore the incessant ringing of the telephone. Finally she gave up, rolled over in her bed and picked up the handset. Glancing at her alarm clock she realised it was the early hours of Christmas Day. She listened to Jack McCoy's voice with growing apprehension. Sloane and Bristow were free!
"I'll be there as soon as I can." she told her boss. "No, I realise there's nothing I can do to help with their re-capture but at least I can start preparing the additional charges they'll face when they are! No, I hadn't made any special plans for Christmas."
As she put down the phone and began shrugging into some street clothes she reflected bitterly that what she had told McCoy wasn't the entire truth. She and Jenny had been planning to spend Christmas Day together until she had pushed her away in response to Bristow and Sloane's blackmail threats. Now, they were out and she wondered, fearfully, how that would affect her situation. She castigated herself for being a coward by not coming out at work.
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Jack and Sloane quickly changed into the street clothes that had been left for them in the abandoned warehouse in an, as yet, un-gentrified part of the Brooklyn waterfront. Zipodi had dropped them there and then gone on to return the launch.
They were in the Greenpoint section and Sloane would have preferred somewhere in Red Hook, closer to Schirovsky's place of business but, given the short notice of the operation, he admitted that this was the best location available. He looked round and had to admit that Shapiro had come through. In addition to the clothes, there were several thousand dollars in old bills and identification documents in a number of different names, including four passports. All told, he was very satisfied. Shapiro has proved he was worth the investment he thought.
Jack opened a large trunk and his face also took on a look of satisfaction as he dived in and took out an Uzi. As he began field stripping it he asked, "How did you get your lawyer to arrange all this?"
Sloane shrugged. "Jerry's the son of a childhood friend of mine. He couldn't afford to send him to Law School so he approached me. At the time, I felt it might be useful to have an attorney with no connections to SD-6 so I agreed. Both of them are suitably grateful."
"Clearly." Jack commented as he checked the barrel. "Especially since Shapiro's risking disbarment and prison to help you."
"Us, Jack, us." Sloane gently reminded him.
"Us then. We need to act quickly. The police will be setting up road blocks and organising a search for us. The longer we remain on the run, the more chance there is of us falling into their net. I propose we ...deal promptly… with Schirovsky and then turn ourselves in."
Sloane felt some disappointment at this. He'd been incarcerated for over two months now and was relishing his freedom. He had to agree with Jack's analysis though. It was imperative they deal with their problem quickly, after that he hoped he'd have a chance to persuade his friend that there were alternatives to letting themselves be re-taken.
"Tomorrow's Christmas Day." He looked at his watch, "Actually today's Christmas Day. He's likely to spend today and tomorrow at home on Staten Island. That's a long trip for two wanted men."
Jack brandished another gift from Shapiro, a cell phone, "Disposable and almost untraceable. I'm sure if we told Schirovsky we wanted to meet him at his warehouse, he'd come running."
Sloane nodded his agreement and smiled.
T.B.C.