Chapter Eight
"Give up your boss man, Lockwood. Turn state's evidence, and we'll get you life without parole. Otherwise it's the needle for you," said Kate to the assassin.
Lockwood looked up at her with his expressionless face and said, "No way. I'll take my chances in court. Besides, that worked out so well before, didn't it?" he added with a reptilian smile.
Remembering the killer's escape from his last court appearance, Kate could barely control her temper. "Have it your way," she said, standing up. "Esposito, let's put this guy on ice for the next 12 hours. Then we'll let him go. His Mr. Big will think he's spilled his guts and take care of our problem for us."
Lockwood laughed without mirth. "Just because that worked with Johnny Vong doesn't mean it'll work with me. "
"We don't need it to work," said Beckett. "Either you work with us or you're dead. Either way, I win." And she walked out.
Twelve hours later, the media, alerted to the news, broadcast images of accused cop killer Hal Lockwood leaving lockup. He turned up the collar of his raincoat and sprinted for the nearest cab.
At the same moment, in a coordinated movement, law enforcement officers from several different agencies entered the attorney general's office in Albany and arrested him on multiple charges of murder. Stunned, the residents of the state turned on their televisions to watch Jordan Shaw read a prepared statement.
"New York State Attorney General William Thames was arrested this morning by agents of the state police, the FBI and the NYPD. Evidence for the arrest warrant came from testimony of informants and financial records spanning a 21 year period. The charges include multiple counts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping, and racketeering. "
"Kidnapping?" asked a reporter?
"Yes," replied Shaw. "We believe Thames ran a kidnapping ring about 20 years ago that focused on members of the local crime families. The ransoms from those crimes eventually totaled millions and supported Mr. Thames's successful runs at the city and then the state attorney general offices."
"Who were the informants?"
"We're not at liberty to say. We'll have a more complete statement in the morning. Thank you."
The statement the next morning, however, was quite different than anticipated because late the night before, an inmate with mob connections somehow got close to the imprisoned Thames and slipped a home made knife into his heart. Shortly thereafter, and not too far away, a large plastic bag, awkward in size and shape and weighted with several cement blocks, was dumped into the East River. Hal Lockwood would never trouble anyone again.