Chapter 17: Midnight Rides

“Hello,” Cassidy spoke into her cellphone.

“Hi,” the female voice on the other end of the call excitedly responded. “You weren’t sleeping, were you?”

“Who is this?” Cassidy asked abruptly.

“It’s me, Flavia,” the voice gleefully confirmed. “Hi.”

Cassidy instantly recalled that Flavia and Radu were the Dacia names for Alexandra and Ryan.

“What do you want?” Cassidy asked in an annoyed tone of voice.

“We got a surprise for you,” Alexandra eagerly declared. “You need to come to the Avenue J Station at East 16th Street.”

“Tell her to hurry up,” Ryan asserted from the background.

“Okay,” Alexandra acknowledged Ryan’s instruction. “And hurry,” she instructed Cassidy.

“It’s after eight,” Cassidy challenged. “Why are you calling me?”

“I told you, it’s a surprise,” Alexandra excitedly returned. “You need to get here quickly.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Cassidy complained with irritation.

“But you must. You’ll be glad you did,” Alexandra insisted in a voice filled with joy.

“There’s zero chance of that,” Cassidy disputed snidely.

“You want to bet? I can’t wait to see your face when we show you,” Alexandra cheerfully countered.

“Tell her we found him,” Ryan asserted.

“Found who?” Cassidy questioned sharply.

“I want it to be a surprise,” Alexandra whined.

“Tell me what this is about or I’m hanging up,” Cassidy insisted with vehemence.

“We found the killer,” Alexandra dejectedly reported.

“What killer?” Cassidy questioned with a mixture of suspicion and dread in her voice.

“You know,” Alexandra continued to speak in a despondent tone. “The guy who shot that bodega owner.”

“Gary Bibb,” Ryan spoke over Alexandra.

“What?” Cassidy yelled in shock.

“Yeah, we found him,” Alexandra declared proudly.

“And if you want to arrest him tonight then you better get down here,” Ryan called out in the background.

“Did you hear that?” A thrilled Alexandra asked.

Cassidy began to seethe with annoyance. She was dubious that they had found the real killer. She knew from experience that the Gary Bibb murder investigation was almost impossible to solve without the addition of new evidence or with the help of an informant. What had her most annoyed was the knowledge that they had been poking around in her investigation.

“I told you to stay away from my investigations,” Cassidy loudly scolded.

“Yeah, but we didn’t think you meant it,” Alexandra stated in a childishly somber tone.

“I meant it,” Cassidy angrily grumbled into her cellphone. “Stay away from my cases,” she resolutely finished.

“Okay,” Alexandra glumly assented. “So, what do want us to do about these guys?”

“Who?” Cassidy questioned with a mixture of anger and curiosity.

“The killers,” Alexandra stated as if surprised to hear the question.

“Alexandra, there’s no way you could’ve found Gary Bibb’s killer in two days,” Cassidy insisted with exasperation in her voice.

“Yes, we did,” Alexandra disputed.

“Yeah, and if you don’t get down here, they may do it again,” Ryan spoke into Alexandra’s cellphone.

“What’s he talking about?” Cassidy asked with a mix of aggravation and intrigue.

“They’re coming here, tonight,” Alexandra quickly explained in her usual up-tempo voice. “And their planning to rob another bodega.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Cassidy bellowed into her cellphone. “You couldn’t have found Gary Bibb’s killer. If we haven’t found him then there’s no way…”

Before Cassidy could finish speaking, Ryan reached out and grabbed the cellphone. “Give me that,” he commanded while pulling the cellphone out of Alexandra’s hand.

“Detective, come or don’t come, that’s up to you” Ryan sharply directed before Cassidy could finish speaking. “But you’ve got until eleven o’clock and then we’re leaving.”

Ryan disconnected the call immediately after making that declaration. At first, Cassidy was angered by the way he spoke to her and his abrupt disconnect. Her first thought was to ignore the entire exchange and go back to her original plans. After fuming over the call, she changed her mind and punctuated the decision with a resounding, “damn it.”

Cassidy was preparing herself for a quick visit to the Cavern Nightclub to deliver the file she had on Tony McGuire to David (Cristiãn). She knew that her decision to meet with Alexandra and Ryan was putting that plan in jeopardy. Cassidy still had her doubts that Alexandra and Ryan had found Gary Bibb’s killer. Unlike the Pier 17 stabbing where there were plenty of suspects, Cassidy knew that the Gary Bibb murder had no known suspects. She could not imagine who Alexandra and Ryan could hypnotically compel to identify the murderer. Because of Alexandra and Ryan’s childish behaviors, she thought it more likely that they had found someone who had committed a similar crime, but the thought they may have found a person was about to commit a crime is what swayed her to go meet with them.

Cassidy phoned David (Cristiãn) and told him that she might not be able to make it to their meeting at The Cavern Nightclub.

“If I miss the meeting, I will bring the file to your home tomorrow morning, if that’s okay?”

David (Cristiãn) agreed to the morning meeting. Cassidy told him nothing about the meeting she was going to with Alexandra and Ryan, and he did not ask. After she disconnected, she began preparing for her new destination.

It took Cassidy about an hour to change into functional clothing. The sitter for Cynthia and John had been schedule for the previous meeting, so no changes were needed there. Cassidy left the house at a quarter to ten. It was 10:39pm when she arrived at the Avenue J Subway Station. She parked her car a block down the street and approached the station on foot. Ryan and Alexandra got out of their car when they saw her approach.

“You came,” Alexandra cheerfully greeted.

“Yeah,” Cassidy grudgingly agreed coming to a stop in front of them. “So, where are they.”

“They’re coming,” Ryan flippantly advised.

“What do mean, they’re coming?” Cassidy questioned with a confused a look.

“They said they were going to be here just before the market closed,” Ryan explained dismissively.

Cassidy became noticeably peeved with Ryan’s lack of seriousness. It was bad enough that she had to make this detour in her plans, flippancy made this likely waste of time even more irritating.

“What are you talking about?” Cassidy asked with extreme aggravation. “Who are these guys, and what makes you think they killed Gary Bibb?”

“Because we found them,” Alexandra insisted with a nod and a smile.

“Their names are Jacob Gibson, Oren Webber and Darryl Jenkins,” Ryan immediately added with indifference. “But it was Darryl who shot Gary Bibb,” he continued. “He has the .38 revolver. They’re planning to rob Lorenzo’s Market & Deli down the street.”

Cassidy was taken aback by Ryan’s declaration that a robbery was about to occur. She was expecting Ryan and Alexandra to just point someone out to her. But either way, she was not convinced that they had found Gary Bibb’s killers.

“Wait. Wait. How do you know this Darryl person killed Gary Bibb?” Cassidy asked completely confused.

“We asked,” Alexandra returned as if speaking the obvious.

“You asked?” Cassidy mockingly repeated.

An instant later, Cassidy remembered the vampire’s gift for getting to the truth and abandoned her derision with a shake of her head.

“Okay, but how would you even know who to ask?” Cassidy challenged.

Cassidy spent the next five minutes listening to Ryan and Alexandra summarize their investigation. They related how Leslie Dunn, the Metro reporter, told them that the bullet that killed Gary Bibb was a possible match to a five-year-old unsolved murder in Harlem. They explained that Dunn told them who the persons of interest were in that shooting and where they were likely to be found today. They went on to recount how they spent much of Thursday and Friday entrancing and occasionally strong-arming more than two dozen individuals in Harlem to find the owner of that gun. And they finished with a report that it was an entranced Darryl Jenkins and Jacob Gibson who told them that they killed Gary Bibb and were planning this robbery.

Cassidy already knew about the possible ballistic match to a five-year-old unsolved murder in Harlem. Because the ballistic report showed only a 32% probability of a match, Cassidy was worried about wasting her time on a case that had nothing to do with her investigation, and she was dubious that a renewed investigation into an unsolved five-year-old murder would produce results. But it was because of these facts that she was sold on the accuracy of Ryan’s and Alexandra’s conclusion.

“They told you the robbery was going to happen tonight?” Cassidy questioned with an astonished inflection.

“More or less,” Ryan hesitantly returned.

“What does that mean?” Cassidy demanded with a stern expression.

“We may have pushed their timetable up a little bit,” Ryan explained with a shrug.

“You brainwashed them into doing it tonight?” Cassidy blared out with a look of shock.

“We didn’t think you would want to wait,” Alexandra defensively spoke.

“Somebody could get hurt,” Cassidy argued back with a stunned expression.

“We thought you would want to catch them in the act,” Ryan defended. “You didn’t like it the last time when we just told you who they were.”

“Jeez,” Cassidy exclaimed, tossing her arms. “When are they supposed to do this?”

“Ah, now,” Ryan answered with another shrug.

“Yeah,” Alexandra confirmed, nodding with excitement. “We saw them drive by a couple of times already.”

“Damn,” Cassidy yelled as she pulled her cellphone out of her jacket pocket.

It was Cassidy’s suspicion that the would-be robbers were scouting the neighborhood to make sure there were no police around and a minimum of pedestrians. Because she knew that the robbery had to happen before 11:00pm when the market closed, Cassidy hurried to get reinforcement in the area. Using her cellphone and badge number, she requested backup from the 70th Precinct for a possible armed robbery. She insisted on a silent approach, and she advised them that she would be inside the market.

“I’ll keep the line open,” Cassidy instructed the dispatch officer. “Don’t move in until you hear the robbery going down.”

After giving that last instruction, Cassidy put her cellphone inside her jacket pocket.

“Stay here,” Cassidy instructed Alexandra and Ryan.

Cassidy hurried down the street toward Lorenzo’s Market and Deli. It took her nearly a minute to get to the front of the store, and then she promptly went inside. The market was long and narrow with two grocery aisles, a deli counter and register along the right front wall. Behind the counter was a male salesclerk who looked to be in his late twenties.

“We’re closing in ten minutes,” the salesclerk called out as Cassidy entered the store.

Cassidy pulled out her badge and identification and quickly went over to the counter.

“I’m Detective Tremaine,” Cassidy announced as she extended her identification toward the salesclerk. “I believe there’s going to be an attempted armed robbery here. You should go in the back.”

“I’m not leaving the counter,” the salesclerk returned after a quick examination of Cassidy’s identification.

“Fine,” Cassidy returned without hesitation. “Do what they say, act naturally and keep your hands where they can see them. More officers are coming.”

The salesclerk agreed with a dubious nod of his head. Cassidy knew that the salesclerk was unsure about her and what she said. She speculated that his doubt about her was why he chose to stay behind the counter. Cassidy also knew that time was not on her side. The would-be robbers had to be minutes if not seconds away from entering the store. Rather than get into a debate with the salesclerk, she chose to let him stay.

“What’s your name?” Cassidy asked in a commanding tone.

“Raymond,” the store clerk answered.

“Is there anyone in the back, Raymond?” Cassidy asked as she looked about the store.

“No,” the salesclerk answered as he continued to look at Cassidy as though she was a liar or insane.

Cassidy quickly noted that the store was empty of patrons, and then she took a second to ponder what to do next. Her decision was to conceal her gun and holster behind her back and beneath her jacket. She then grabbed a shopping basket and tossed several random items into it. While she milled about the grocery aisle pretending to shop for goods, the salesclerk noted her with a mixture of confusion and concern. In his mind, the sight of Cassidy’s gun and holster added weight to her claim that robbers were about to enter the store. Cassidy was just past two minutes into her shopping charade when three young males raced into the store, one behind the other, with handguns out and at the ready. Each man was wearing baseball caps and a colorful neck gaiter that was pulled up over the lower halves of their faces.

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” Robber One yelled out as he raced over to the front of the counter with his gun pointed at the salesclerk. “Show me your hands! Show me your hands!”

The salesclerk was shocked and frightened by what was rapidly unfolding before him. He quickly raised his hands up off the counter as instructed. While this was happening, Robber Two raced deeper into the store and shortly found Cassidy halfway down the right aisle. Robber Three locked the front door and put the Store Closed sign on display.

“Hey, come here! Come here!” Robber Two commanded Cassidy while pointing his gun at her.

Cassidy feigned shock and fear as the young man approached her with his gun directed at her head. She repeatedly responded with “okay” as Robber Two took her by the arm and began pulling her to the front of the store.

“Don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me. Please don’t hurt me,” Cassidy pleaded in her best imitation of a terrified civilian.

As Robber Two was hauling Cassidy to the front of the store, Robber Three raced behind the counter.

“Open the register,” Robber Three yelled as he brought his handgun up to the salesclerk’s head.

The salesclerk opened the register as instructed and was then promptly pulled away and directed out from behind the counter. Robber One kept a gun on the salesclerk as Robber Three collected the cash from the register and stuffed it in his jacket pocket. Robber Two pushed Cassidy toward the salesclerk so that they were standing side by side. In just under thirty seconds, Robber Three was done collecting the cash from the register.

“Move,” Robber One ordered Cassidy and the salesclerk with a gesture toward the rear of the store. “Take me to the safe.”

Cassidy and the salesclerk were just about to move toward the back of the store when the sound of multiple sirens began resounding from two directions. In that moment, the three robbers turned to look out the front window of the store. As they turned toward the window, Cassidy pulled her gun from the holster situated on the backside of her right hip and beneath her jacket. In one swift movement she grabbed the second gunman by the collar and yanked him backwards and off balance while pressing the nuzzle of her gun against the base of his head.

“Police!” Cassidy shouted in a commanding tone of voice. “Move and I’ll blow your head off,” she loudly exclaimed.

The words and action of Cassidy along with the feel of her gun against the back of his head shocked Robber Two into a hand’s up stationary posture. Robbers One and Three turned about just as Cassidy spoke. As they brought their guns up, she pulled the second gunman to the side so that he was directly between them and her. The salesclerk stood behind Cassidy in a state of terror and confusion.

“Police!” Cassidy called out again. “Put down the guns,” she insisted in a stern word-for-word delivery.

Robber One and Three were nearly as confused as the salesclerk. The stunning discovery that the terrified lady shopper was a police officer was competing for their attention with the growing assembly of police officers outside and their calls for them to come out with their hands up. For a few seconds there was a silent standoff between the robbers and Cassidy. Robber One and Three did not know what to do. During their moment of indecision, an additional three police cars screeched to a stop in the street outside the store to bring the total to five.

“Think it through, guys,” Cassidy advised in a calm voice. “You’ve got no way out, and you don’t want to add the murder of a police officer to the charges that you’re facing. Think it through.”

Cassidy was slowly moving back toward the left grocery aisle as she spoke.

“Raymond, stay behind me,” Cassidy commanded the salesclerk.

The salesclerk maintained his position behind Cassidy as she moved back toward the opening to left grocery aisle. Robbers One and Three were positioned along the front wall next to the storefront window with their attentions fixed on the growing number of police officers taking defensive positions in front of the store.

“Okay, Raymond, I’m going to need you to move to the end of the aisle and lay flat on the floor.”

Cassidy moved into the front of the right aisle as Raymond hurried to the far end of it. Robber One turned to note their actions and then started to move toward the rear of the store.

“Don’t do it,” Cassidy sharply cautioned Robber One. “Things are going to get messy real quick if you do,” she threatened while giving Robber Two’s head a nudge with the barrel of her gun.

Robber One instantly stopped in reaction to Cassidy’s warning. He thought to use the store clerk as a hostage and a shield, but Cassidy’s threat to fire her weapon gave him cause to stay where he was. He feared to shoot at Cassidy while she was using Robber Two as a shield, and he worried that any gunfire would bring in the police outside.

“Guys, she’s got a gun at the back of my head,” Robber Two reported fretfully.

Raymond got to the floor just as Cassidy came to a stop inside the front of the aisle.

“Put the gun on the shelf,” Cassidy ordered as fiercely as she could while pressing the nuzzle of her gun hard into the back of Robber Two’s head.

Robber Two hesitated to act. He looked back and forth between his two comrades with terrified eyes. After a moment of hesitation, he heard Cassidy cock the handgun she had pressed against the back of his head.

“Okay, okay,” Robber Two agreed in a voice thick with fear.

As Robber Two reached out and shelved his gun, Robber One and Three watched in silence. Their attentions repeatedly switched back and forth between Cassidy and the police officers who were accumulating outside the store.

“Think it through, guys,” Cassidy spoke with deadly seriousness while pushing Robber Two out of the aisle and away from his gun. “You’ve got no play here. You can either walk out of here in handcuffs or be carried out in body bags,” she threatened after stopping in front of the two aisles. “Which is it going to be?”

Robber One and Three looked back and forth between Cassidy and the police outside the store and then to each other before silently deciding to lower their weapons. Cassidy quickly ordered them to put their guns on the floor and then to slide them off to the side. She then ordered all three down to their knees and then face down on the floor.

“Raymond, unlock the door,” Cassidy instructed the salesclerk in a commanding tone.

Now in a daze fueled by fear and amazement, the salesclerk got up from the floor, hurried to the front of the store and carefully moved around the prostrate would-be robbers. He unlocked the door and pushed it open. The sound of several officers calling out “hands up” could be heard coming from outside. The salesclerk quickly complied with these commands.

“Okay, guys, you can come in now,” Cassidy spoke up so that she could be heard through her cellphone microphone.

It took several seconds for Cassidy’s instruction to be relayed to the uniform officers outside. When the officers moved into the store, Cassidy held up her badge and identification for all to see. Raymond looked on in awe as the arrests were completed. He watched Cassidy blend in with the throng of uniformed police officers who were securing the area and removing the would-be robber in separate vehicles. After a brief period, he lost sight of her in the confusion. After nearly a minute of visually searching, Raymond concluded that the lady police officer who had awed him so completely was no longer in the vicinity.

~~~~~Line Break~~~~~

“What’s going on here?” Tony grumbled after walking through the back door of the stash house.

Keegan, Charlie and Malcolm were sitting in reclined positions in different locations of the storage room. A medium size television was displaying an old movie while the trio watched while doodling with playing cards, a pencil and notepad, and a smartphone’s internet connection, respectively. But it was not what they were doing that prompted Tony’s temper; it was what they did not do that spurred his anger. They did not defensively rise from their chairs when he entered the storage room.

“Nothing, that’s what’s going on,” Keegan returned with a tone heavily laced with sarcasm.

It was 12:38am, Friday night when Keegan, Charlie and Malcolm showed no inclination to jump to attention for Tony. They continued to function as if they barely noticed he was there.

“You’re supposed to be guarding this place,” Tony roared at the three of them.

“From what?” Malcolm growled after quickly sitting up, “a mouse—a stray dog? We’ve been here four days and five nights twiddling our thumbs. What have you been doing?”

Tony was enraged by Malcolm’s response. He was not prepared to accept this level of disrespect from Charlie despite their long association with him. He thought of Malcolm and Keegan as his ensigns and Charlie and Ben as his lieutenants. He took a pause to give his two ensigns an angry glare, and then he went to the television and turned it off.

“What I do is my business,” Tony furiously growled with a combative stance.

Malcolm and Keegan quickly rose to their feet to match Tony’s ferocity. Their defiance surprised Tony, but he maintained his posture. Moments into this standoff, Tony looked toward Charlie and began to assess his disposition.

“You shouldn’t have just left us alone with no word about what you’re doing or when you’d be back,” Charlie lectured testily while maintaining his seat. “We’re in this together.”

Tony was surprised to hear Charlie lecture him. He had never known Charlie to consider himself as his equal. It only took Tony a couple of seconds to connect the defiance he was seeing from Charlie, Malcolm, Keegan and Jeremiah with their transformations into vampires. He understood how much they had improved physically and mentally because of his own transformation from human to vampire. After a moment of thought, he decided it was not wise to push the disagreement they were having.

“I had personal business to attend to,” Tony announced with a breath and a much softer tone. “It’s done now. I’m back.”

Tony waited for a response, if any was to come. And it soon came from Malcom.

“Yeah, well it’s about time. I’m tired of being cooped up in here.”

“Just a few days more,” Tony assured. “Once we get this stuff on the street, you won’t ever have to look at this place again.”

“That sounds good to me,” Keegan acclaimed.

Tony gave no note to Keegan’s approval. His thoughts had turned to a new subject.

“Where’s Ben?” Tony asked as he looked around with curiosity.

Silence followed Tony’s question. Malcolm and Keegan deferred to Charlie who showed a reluctance to speak on the subject. The sudden quiet did not escape Tony’s notice, and he promptly suspected Ben was not in the building or running an errand.

“Where is he?” Tony angrily grumbled.

“He went out Tuesday and we haven’t heard from him since,” Charlie returned in a voice laced with defiance.

“What the fuck?” Tony roared with fury. “I told you, all of you, to stay here. Why did you let him go?”

“If you wanted him here, then you should have been here to stop him,” Charlie loudly growled back. “I’m not your jailer, Tony.”

Once again Tony was outraged by what he perceived to be insolence from people he considered his subordinate.

“You’re whatever I say you are,” Tony yelled as he stepped toward Charlie.

Instantly, Charlie jumped to his feet and checked Tony’s advance with a fierce posture a foot in front of him. The two vampires were suddenly locked in an angry staring contest. For several seconds they did nothing but glare at each other. Despite Tony’s rage, he was loathed to do anything that might turn any member of his team of vampires into an adversary.

“Hey, he’s coming back,” Keegan spoke up to break the silence.

“When?” Tony demanded with a furious look toward Keegan.

“I don’t know,” Keegan returned with an indifferent shrug. “But he did say he’s coming back.”

“That doesn’t help me,” Tony spoke with scorn. “I’ve got plans for tonight and I need him here.”

Charlie, Malcolm and Keegan’s interests perked up when they heard that Tony had plans, and they promptly questioned him about them.

Tony informed them that Tommie Grasso threatened war if he saw their coke on the streets in his territory. He explained that the local drug dealers were afraid to buy from him.

“We’re going to take care of Tommie Grasso tomorrow night,” Tony instructed with a solemn look to each vampire in front of him. “That is why I need him here.”

Tony continued to fume over Ben’s absence for several minutes. Charlie, Malcolm and Keegan paid no attention to Tony’s displeasure, they were too busy being giddy over the idea that they were finally going to put their excess energy to use.

~~~~~Line Break~~~~~

“What’s going on with you?” Detective Hale scolded as he hurried toward Cassidy.

It was 1:44am Friday night. Cassidy was seated at a desk in the 70th Precinct while typing in her report on the arrests she made that night. Detective Hale’s sudden appearance happened in the middle of her typing. She instantly stopped typing, looked around and then got up from her chair just as Detective Hale came to a stop in front of her.

“Excuse me?” Cassidy inquired with a confused expression.

“Come on, don’t play dumb with me detective,” Detective Hale gruffly challenged. “You go off on your own and make an arrest for the second time in a week. Do you want to explain why you didn’t come to me for permission to run this—this—sting?”

“It wasn’t a sting,” Cassidy defensively blurted. “It just happened.”

“Are you trying to tell me that you were doing some midnight shopping in a Brooklyn bodega when this attempted robbery just happened to occur?” Detective Hale snidely queried. “Is that what you’re trying to tell me, Detective Tremaine?”

“Ah, no, that’s not what happened,” Cassidy hesitantly disputed.

“Good, because I was told you called in the blue and whites before anything went down,” Detective Hale sarcastically stated. “So, tell me, detective, how did that happen?”

“Yeah well, I was tracking these guys and when I realized something was about to go down. I then called for backup,” Cassidy fumbled out with nervous hand gestures.

“Tracking them—so, you were following them?” Detective Hale teased out.

Cassidy knew that Detective Hale was waiting to hear why she was following these men, and the report she was typing into the NYPD computer had that explanation. But the fact that she had an explanation did not ease her reluctance to give it to Detective Hale face-to-face.

“I believe the .38 revolver used in this attempted robbery is going to be a match for the weapon used in the Gary Bibb murder,” Cassidy explained after a pause.

“Really,” Detective Hale responded with a sigh of exasperation. “And you didn’t think to tell the team you had a suspect for the Gary Bibb shooting?”

“I didn’t know I had one until a couple hours before everything went down,” Cassidy explained quickly and defensively.

“And you couldn’t call?” Detective challenged with a suspicious glare.

“The information was weak,” Cassidy countered in a hurry. “I wasn’t…”

“What information?” Detective abruptly asked. “Where did you get it from?”

“A CI,” Cassidy answered with a shrug. “He put me onto a name—a possible. I was looking into it when this started going down.”

Detective Hale gave Cassidy a dubious stare for several seconds.

“This lone wolf business stops now,” Detective Hale instructed with a heavy intonation of insistence. “You need to start talking to me about what you’re doing, Detective Tremaine.”

“Yeah, I will,” Cassidy immediately concurred. “This won’t happen again. I promise.”

Detective Hale gave Cassidy a stern look, and she gave him a nod and a faint smile.