All disclaimers are found in Chapter 1.
Chapter 3:
Monday, May 21st, 2007:
Jack Malone wasn't someone who slept very late anyway but that didn't mean he enjoyed having his cell phone be his alarm clock at 5:45 a.m. and that displeasure was readily apparent in his voice as he answered the phone keeping his eyes firmly shut. "Malone."
"This is Lieutenant Cooper with the New York State Police. Does a Martin Fitzgerald work with you?"
"Yeah, he's one of my agents." Jack's eyes were opened now as he sat up in bed and turned on a light, grabbed his watch and looked to see the time.
"Sir, we've got a vehicle here on the Saw Mill River Parkway about a mile north of Exit 37. The vehicle registration comes back to a Martin Fitzgerald. We checked him out and came up with your number to call."
"Exit 37, what's he doing all the way up there?" Jack wondered aloud.
"Sir, we haven't towed the vehicle yet since the registration came back to an FBI agent. We're going to need someone to come up here and also, I need to tell you that there was a woman driving the car."
"What?"
"That's right, sir. Routine patrol spotted the vehicle crashed against the guard rail. When the officer checked the vehicle, he found the unconscious woman. She appears to have been raped and there was a stocking around her neck that someone had used to try and strangle her. Lucky for her she got away. She's been transported to the hospital, but she's still unconscious and is still being examined."
"All right. What about Agent Fitzgerald how badly was he hurt?" Jack rubbed a hand through his hair and then over his face trying to wake himself up more.
"Sir, Agent Fitzgerald wasn't in the car."
"What?" Jack was quite awake at that point.
"Sir, I understand that he's your agent and…oh, hell, this will be a PR nightmare once the word leaks out and all and…sir, we've received the alerts about a possible killer after that nurse from Mt. Sinai, what I'm trying to say is that I can only keep this quiet for a short period of time."
"What are you talking about Lieutenant Cooper?"
"Sir, only about a mile away from here is a small little park with a duck pond. On a hunch I sent one of my men there just to have a look around. He found a woman's shoe that matches the shoe of the woman driving your agent's vehicle. He also found a badge…it's Agent Fitzgerald's."
Jack was stunned and couldn't speak for a moment. Then he recovered and went into action.
"I'll have two of my agents meet you at your location within the next 90 minutes. Keep everything under wraps for now. We don't have anything concrete until we speak to the victim."
Receiving assurance from the lieutenant that his commands would be followed, Jack hit the speed dial on his phone for Martin. He wasn't surprised when the call went directly to voice mail but that did little to quiet the dread that was developing in his gut. Not wanting to be less than thorough he quickly dialed in Martin's beeper number giving his own cell as the call back and then without waiting for the unlikely response, he dialed Martin's home number. He came away with nothing for his efforts save the slight satisfaction of being thorough. With one final resigned sigh he pressed Danny's speed dial designation and waited.
"Taylor." Jack grimaced, Danny sounded too damn cheery in the morning.
"Danny, it's Jack. I need you to get a hold of Elena and head up the Saw Mill River Parkway about a mile north of Exit 37 and meet Lieutenant Cooper of the State Police."
"Okay. What's the case?"
"Martin."
"What?"
"I don't know anything else other than Martin's car has been found there with a woman driving. Danny, there was no sign of Martin and the woman was possibly raped and someone tried to strangle her. Get moving and meet Lieutenant Cooper; I told him it would take you about 90 minutes to get there. Try to do it faster than that. They've agreed to keep it under wraps for a little while longer."
"All right. I'll call Elena and we'll head up." Danny disconnected and Jack took a moment to gather his thoughts and hit the next speed dial on his phone, after the second ring he heard Vivian's voice.
"Hello?"
"Vivian, it's Jack. I need you and Sam to get over to Martin's apartment immediately." For the second time today he gave another member of his team the scant details and felt his own worry deepen as the myriad of what ifs and possibilities rose unbidden to his mine. After Vivian told him she and Sam would be at Martin's within the hour, he headed for a fast shower and shave before the trip to the office. Not even 6:00 a.m. on Monday and he had already written this whole week off as a bad week.
Saw Mill River Parkway: one mile north of Exit 37
Danny and Elena pulled in behind the other cruisers and personnel that were near the taped off area around Martin's car.
"Danny." Elena's voice carried a hint of warning and he followed her gaze. His stomach tightened as he took in the figures of Agents Mitchell and Clark.
"Had to figure they'd be here. They're the point agents for these killings." Danny unhooked his seatbelt and exited the vehicle. With Elena in step beside him they approached the small group.
"Agents Taylor and Delgado. Which one of you is Lieutenant Cooper?"
A tall man with an obvious air of experience surrounding him reached forward to shake Danny and Elena's hands.
"Malone said you'd be here in around 90 minutes, you made it in 82, not bad." He gave them a wry smile and then quickly got down to the business at hand.
"All right. Patrol came across this vehicle around 4:30 this morning, Ambulance was contacted first and transported one Rachel Sanders to the hospital. EMT stated that rape was very likely, strangulation had been attempted but for whatever reason, thankfully, had not been completed. She had been beaten around the face and while the air bag had deployed in the car upon impact, she wasn't belted in so she was unconscious and has remained so at last check which was about 15 minutes ago.
We ran the vehicle, came up with Agent Martin Fitzgerald, contacted Senior Special Agent Jack Malone and here we are. Also, on a hunch based upon the recent alerts from Agents Mitchell and Clark, I sent an officer to the park that's about a mile from here. It has a nice little duck pond and is a frequent spot for joggers. Near the pond my officer found a woman's shoe that matches the other shoe Ms. Sanders was wearing as well as this."
Lieutenant Cooper offered an evidence bag to Danny who took it carefully. Inside was a badge.
"It belongs to your Agent Fitzgerald and it was found near the shoe by the duck pond."
Danny nodded quietly. "What about the car?"
"We're going to tow it to our impound yard and we're going to process it. We're almost done photographing and detailing the scene here and I have another team at the park doing the same."
"Okay. Agent Delgado and I are going to need to take a look in the car briefly and then we'll head to the park."
"No problem, it's back about a mile, take a left and go straight; there's nowhere else to go but to the park after that." Cooper was friendly yet businesslike and his eyes and tone held no judgment; just a man intent on doing his job with professionalism.
Unfortunately the same could not be said of Agent Mitchell.
"Agent Taylor, we've already been through the car, glove compartment is empty save the usual maintenance manuals and registration and insurance paperwork. There's an empty coffee mug in the cup holder and a bottle of water in the second holder. Trunk is empty except for the spare tire and the usual car tools. There's nothing of interest and I don't want you or Agent Delgado contaminating the car."
Elena restrained herself from laying a hand on Danny's arm to control him but did step slightly in front of him to block him while she spoke. "Agent Mitchell, both Agent Taylor and I have been doing this for years and we know how not to contaminate a crime scene. You also must know from your years of experience how valuable first hand information at any scene, no matter how limited, is to an investigator."
Scowling Mitchell stepped back and allowed them access. When they were done, they moved as if to head back to their vehicle to drive to the park.
"Actually, we'll split up. I'd like Agent Delgado to ride with Agent Clark while I ride with you, Agent Taylor. I'd like to ask you a few questions."
Without waiting for Danny's agreement Mitchell climbed into the passenger seat of Danny's vehicle and waited for Danny to take the driver's seat. Agent Clark gestured for Elena to walk in front of him to his car.
Danny got behind the wheel and started the engine.
"Why don't we just sit here for a minute while I ask you some questions." Mitchell phrased it as a request but there was no hint of compromise in his tone.
Danny turned the engine off after a moment and stared straight at Agent Mitchell.
"How long have you worked with Agent Fitzgerald?"
"He joined the MPU about five years ago, so since then."
"Would you say you know him pretty well?"
"As well as I know any of the others."
"What does that mean?"
"He comes to work each day, I come to work each day. I trust him with my life."
"Do the two of you spend time together outside of work?"
"Occasionally."
"But he's not someone you do things with outside of work?"
"This is a tough job, if you don't have some separation and outside interests that take you away from the job, it'll eat you up."
"So, people need coping mechanisms?"
"People need lives."
"Okay. Have you ever seen Agent Fitzgerald be inappropriate with a suspect?"
"In what way?"
"Has he ever hit a suspect?"
"No."
"No?"
"That's what I said."
"Okay. So about a year ago, when he was chasing a suspect and he hit the suspect in the face, you don't call that hitting a suspect?"
"I believe the incident you're talking about is when we were locating a missing agent. When we found the agent he had been shot and died within minutes of our arrival. We had information that the person responsible was looking to escape and was heading in the direction of Agent Fitzgerald and his team. They encountered the fleeing individual who promptly opened fire on them. Agent Fitzgerald radioed their position and that they were under fire and then continued pursuit. During that pursuit the gunman ambushed Agent Fitzgerald and hit him with a pipe knocking him down a flight of stairs. When I and the second team located the gunman on the roof just after he had attacked Agent Fitzgerald, we sought to apprehend the subject. He turned to flee back down the way he had come up only to encounter Agent Fitzgerald who, yes, stopped him with a punch to the face."
"So, the answer is yes, he has hit a suspect."
"It was ruled as an appropriate use of force."
"Regardless, he hit a suspect."
Danny watched in anger as the arrogant man actually jotted notes on his pad of paper.
"Do you think Agent Fitzgerald enjoys hitting suspects?"
"I don't think that at all. He hit one man and that man had fired a gun at him numerous times, hit him with a pipe and was attempting to continue to evade arrest."
"Okay. Now tell me, you and Agent Fitzgerald often team up to interview suspects, is
that right?"
"We team up with everyone on the team."
"That's fine, but you and Agent Fitzgerald team up, correct?"
"Yes."
"Now, during these interviews, do you sometimes employ the good cop/bad cop strategy?"
"Some of the time."
"Who is the bad cop?"
"What?"
"Who is the bad cop?"
"It depends on the situation. Some of the time it's Agent Fitzgerald, some of the time it's me. Each situation is different."
"You're more frequently the bad cop in these little role-playing situations, right?"
"I haven't kept track."
"Well, I mean let's face it, Agent Fitzgerald doesn't really present himself as the tough intimidating agent especially with some of the street thugs and lowlifes you deal with."
"Agent Fitzgerald can hold his own in an interview."
"Oh, I'm not denying that, I'm just saying that in all likelihood, you're a little more 'in the know' about the world and how things work and can probably portray the tough cop/bad cop persona a bit more convincingly wouldn't you say?"
"Again, I haven't kept track."
"Do you think Agent Fitzgerald ever gets frustrated that he doesn't get more of an opportunity to tell some of the scum you encounter what he really thinks of them?"
"I don't know."
"Well, you've worked with him for five years. Your desks aren't more than ten feet apart. You've been on stake outs together, you've spent long hours pouring over documents and interviewing people, surely you plan a little strategy before you go into the interview room, so, I'm sure you know his thoughts pretty well. Does he ever get frustrated that he doesn't get more of an opportunity to tell some of the scum you encounter what he thinks of them?
"Not that he's ever mentioned to me."
"Surely he gets upset that justice isn't always realized. Sometimes the bad guys win and the good guys don't, surely that bothers him."
"Is that a question?"
"That's fine, I'll move on. Now, you say that this is a stressful job."
"That's right."
"People need things to do outside of work to separate themselves from the truly horrific things you encounter?"
"Yes."
"Sports, reading, maybe a trip out of town, you know, just to get away."
"Probably."
"Maybe escape?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Oh, I think you do. Does Agent Fitzgerald sometimes just need to escape the pressure, the horrors, maybe just disappear?"
"You're going to have to be a bit simpler in your question, I'm just a street smart, 'bad cop' I don't know what you're trying to get at."
"Does Agent Fitzgerald have any other ways besides sports or hobbies to escape the pressure, you know, drugs perhaps?"
"To my knowledge Agent Fitzgerald does not take drugs."
"Has he ever?"
"I'm sure he takes aspirin. I'm feeling the need for a couple right now."
"Well, I'll let you get some shortly. Besides aspirin, ever know him to take anything else?"
"I don't know what you want or what you think you're getting at but --"
"Is Agent Fitzgerald an addict?"
"No."
"Is Agent Fitzgerald a recovering addict?"
"Why don't you ask Agent Fitzgerald?"
"Because I'm asking you."
"Well, I decline to answer that as it has no bearing on the fact that right now he's missing!"
"Doesn't matter. We already know he goes to NA meetings."
"Well, I guess we're done then."
With that Danny turned the key in the ignition and followed the directions Lieutenant Cooper had given him. He didn't acknowledge the man in the passenger seat next to him but stared straight ahead aware that Elena and Agent Clark followed close behind.
What have you gotten yourself into, Martin? If you needed help, why didn't you call me? If you figured out who the killer was, I would have backed your play. Danny had no doubts that Martin was innocent what he didn't know was how he was mixed up in this and more importantly where was he and was he all right.
TBC…