Chapter 70
O’Shea and I were standing on the corner of 64th St. and York Avenue in Manhattan. His information put the location of Guzman’s boyfriend at the apartment building on that corner. The more I look around the less promising this looked. The entrance to the building is on York Avenue. There is a doorman on duty who greets every visitor. There is video surveillance at the entrance. I was able to see a delivery van enter a rear dock, but that was also monitored and secure.
I looked at O’Shea and shook my head “This is fucked. Why did he have to put his squeeze here?” He laughed. “Hey, if this was easy anyone could do it.” I shared the laugh but didn’t feel very festive. “Too many people, too much foot and car traffic; somebody else would get hurt; I don’t want any collateral damage.”
He nodded in agreement “Yea, not a great situation, plus even if we did something here, no way out.” He was right, I had been trying to figure a way into the building for the last hour; I could come up with nothing. “No fucking train to jump off of, too bad, I kinda liked that.” He had to laugh at that.
I looked toward the south and a few blocks down saw the Queensboro Bridge. I turned and looked north and a few blocks away saw some high building on both the East River and the west side of York Avenue. I looked at O’Shea and motioned in that direction; “Let’s take a walk.”
At the intersection of 68th Street and York Avenue was the building I had been looking at, it was on the East River side. It turned out to be a Medical College. I walked to the entrance, there was no visible security; I watched people enter and leave, none had on any ID nor were they ever challenged. O’Shea and I entered the building and followed someone on the elevator. No one stopped us. I pressed the highest floor, which was the 15th. The elevator door opened to a long hallway of closed offices. Some had names, others just room numbers. I walked toward the York Avenue side of the building; the last door on my left had no name. I knocked and got no response. I shrugged, looked at O’Shea and tried the door. It opened to an unoccupied office with just some bare furniture. It was in the corner of the building looking south down York Avenue. I could barely see the apartment on 64th Street from here, but I could see it, there were no obstructions. I was shaking my head and looked at O’Shea. “That would be one hell of a shot to pull off, that’s got to be a good five hundred yards, plus a good sixty yard or so elevation. I’m good, but I’m not that good.
O’Shea had a frown on his face, “Fuck man, there ain’t nobody that good. You talking about over fifteen hundred feet and he will be moving.” He was right about the movement; that could present a problem. “If I had a five second window I would give myself a sixty percent chance of making this shot. Now Carl, with that window I think I would give him a ninety plus percent chance.” O’Shea was shaking his head, “No way, now you getting carried away, I can’t even see that far.” I chucked “You don’t have to see that far, you wouldn’t be making the shot, let’s get the fuck out of here.” We exited the building and walked back toward 64th Street.
Chapter 71
The flight from Los Angeles had been long and boring. The two hour layover in Dallas did nothing to improve Vincent’s mood. Vincent was Vincent Grimwold; he had traveled to New Orleans with his twin sister Amanda. It was unusual for them to travel so far east. Their work kept them primarily in California, however, three million dollars was too big a payday to pass up. Together they made up a team known as the Team Grim, a name well earned. Together they were responsible for over thirty murders in the past three years.
They had very few contacts in Southeastern area; they had to rely on a friend of a friend to get their necessary equipment. That was only their first mistake, they would make several more before the day was out. They arrived in New Orleans at 3:12 PM, their plan was simple. They had three primary targets and two secondary targets. They already knew at least one primary and one secondary a man and a woman, would be at West Jefferson Medical Center, that one would be easy and first.
Their local contact was Logan Small. Logan was a small time drug dealer and wannabe wiseguy, only Logan wasn’t very wise. He had got himself pinched selling meth to an undercover Jefferson Parish Sheriff. Logan was no stranger to the cops, he was already on probation on a sale and manufacturing beef, this pinch would send him away to Angola for a long time. So Logan made a deal, he knew two shooters coming to town to commit a murder, and Logan was to pass their weapons off to them.
The Grims were smart; they didn’t want to carry any weapons on them until absolutely necessary, so they arranged to have Logan meet them at a local IHOP Restaurant. As they made the pickup the Grims also picked up a police tail.
The cops tailing them had no idea who or where the target was, so they had to play it safe and stay well back. They had a swat team on standby but needed to allow the suspects room to move. They could bust them now for weapons possession, but would be much more interested in getting them for attempted murder. The Grims’ plan was simple enough, wait until 2 AM; enter the hospital ICU and kill anyone in the waiting room and the woman in ICU Ward 6. Easy enough, they had two suppressed 9mm Berettas, passed to them by Logan Small, to handle the job.
At 6:20 PM they found a strip club to kill the evening, their weapons were left locked in their rental. Amanda liked strip clubs as much as her brother, Amanda liked girls. At 1:46 AM they left the club and headed for the hospital, cops in tow. Hit and run was their motto, so they parked the car in the Emergency room lot and entered quickly through the rear door. The cops following couldn’t keep up, they entered the Emergency room only to find it empty; the suspects had disappeared into the hospital. The cops had an ‘aw shit’ moment, they had no idea where in this large hospital the Grims were heading.
Chapter 72
Shelby had been dozing in a chair in the waiting room, Walter was with Rachael. They had been here now for two days. One of them was constantly in the room with Rachael, much to the distain of the nurse on duty. She argued that staying in the room wasn’t allowed, but they refused to leave, and they were armed. They also had a Protection Order that showed they had been hired by the patient’s husband. She had no idea why her patient would require protection, but, that part wasn’t her business.
Shelby awoke and for a second was totally disoriented; he then remembered where he was and why he was here. He checked his watch, 1:55 AM; he would relieve Walter in Rachael’s room at 2 AM. He decided to grab a cup of coffee to take with him; the coffee pot was in a small separate room just off the entrance of the waiting room.
The coffee room door was closed as Shelby was pouring his coffee, but he heard the waiting room door close. That wasn’t the protocol Walter and he had used, the person relieving the other in Rachael’s room would call on their cell, which was set to vibrate, signaling the other that they were about to enter. Shelby thought it was probably a nurse or another visitor, but there were no other patients in the ICU and it was rare for a nurse to enter through the visitor’s door.
Shelby slid his Sig Sauer P250 .40S&W from its holster and quietly opened the coffee room door. He looked to his left in time to see a woman exiting the waiting room carrying a silenced pistol against her right thigh, she seemed to be alone. Shelby rolled out of the room swinging the door open, the woman turned and fired where a standing target would be, but the target wasn’t standing. The bullet went two feet high and two feet left. From the kneeling position Shelby fired two shots into her chest. She woman fired again, but the round went harmlessly into the ceiling.
In Rachael’s room Walter heard the shots and drew his H & K USP C 9mm; he went from his chair to a prone position at the foot of Rachael’s bed in one smooth movement. The lights in Rachael’s room were off but the nurse’s station lights silhouetted a person stepping into the doorway, the persons arm was raising and he could clearly see a pistol. He fired three shots, two into the chest and one into the head, there was no return fire.
The entire incident had lasted less the seven seconds and it was over. The po
lice arrived thirty seconds too late and found two dead suspects. The paperwork would take considerably longer than the Grims entire visit to the Crescent City.
Chapter 73
Detective Cheryl Manning’s beeper went off at 2:22 AM, she rolled over Detective Ryan Thibodeaux to grab it. They had only been in bed for a little over an hour. She called the watch commander and was informed of an incident at West Jefferson Hospital, two were dead and her presence was requested. Her first thought was, oh shit.
She was dressing when Thibodeaux sat on the side of the bed. “What’s up” She was looking for her bra when she answered “Something went down at West Jeff, two dead, no details, gotta run.” He started grabbing his clothes also “Shit I’m coming, this has got to be related to the Carr deal.” They ran out the door and each jumped in their car and headed across the river.
At the hospital there were already ten units parked around the entrance and at the emergency room door. They were told by a uniform officer that the problem was in the ICU. They jumped in the elevator and as they stepped off together there were so many cops in the hall you could hardly move, if anyone had any doubt about them being a couple before, there was no doubt now. As the elevator door opened everyone looked in their direction, they were standing there, clothes and hair a mess; Too late to worry about that now.
As the crowd opened up to let them through Manning could see the body of a woman lying in the hall. She was face down and lying in a pool of blood just outside the waiting room entrance. Manning was approached by the on scene commander, who was also the swat team commander. Sitting at the end of the hall looking in her direction was Shelby Wilson, he nodded to her. The commander was trying to explain how they had tailed two suspects to the hospital and lost them, but her thoughts turned to Rachael. She looked at Shelby and as if he could read her mind, he smiled and nodded, indicating the she was alright. Manning breathed a sigh of relief; she turned her attention to the commander.
She stopped his explanation and asked him to please start again and to calm down; he was talking so fast she couldn’t understand him. He was explaining how his officers had been only seconds behind the suspects when the shots were fired. Basically he was hoping he had not fucked up to badly.
Since she was the homicide detective next up this mess was hers. She would need statements from everyone, but first she wanted to see the second body. The commander pointed to the ICU ward. She looked at Thibodeaux and moved in that direction. From the entrance she saw a body lying on the floor just outside of Rachael’s room. She was about to kneel and look closely at the body when she noticed activity in Rachael’s room. She stepped around the body and saw Walter and several nurses standing around the bed.
She stepped over the dead man and was about to ask everyone to step out when she looked at Rachael’s bed. Rachael was lying there, but her eyes were open and her hands were moving. Walter noticed Manning and came to her side. “Nobody understands what happened, but apparently the loud noise of the shots did something to stimulate her brain. She woke up and is actually somewhat making sense.” He looked at the man on the floor, “Oh yea, I did that guy, the other one is Shelby’s mess.” All Manning could do was just shake her head.
Chapter 74
It was just after 10 PM and Detective Manning and Thibodeaux were sitting in the Blue Light Bar. Manning had spent the entire day investigating and completing the paper work on the West Jefferson Incident. Thibodeaux had been called to a murder scene in New Orleans around 7 AM and was dying to hear the details.
Manning had interviewed Shelby, Walter, the first officers on the scene, the swat commander, the district commander, the head nurse, and the duty nurse. She was interviewed out. It wasn’t up to her, but the cops tailing the suspects didn’t really do anything wrong. Had they arrested the suspects before the incident, they would have avoided the shooting, but would have had only weapons possession charges on them. But by waiting they had risked lives, it was up to the Chief of Police; she thanked God it wasn’t her call.
She had arrived at the Blue Light before Thibodeaux and was on her second beer, he signaled for two more and sat with her. “Ok, what the hell went on in there. Did somebody screw the pooch or what? That shit should have never gone down in a public place.” She was finishing her beer and looked at him. “You’re right, that could have went really bad for everyone involved. A couple of dead nurses wouldn’t be too good for our image. I don’t think the Chief is gonna like the way it was handled, I don’t know.” Thibodeaux took a long swallow “No kidding, at least the right ones are dead, whoever the hell they were.”
She smiled “A couple of big time shooter out of LA believe it or not. A sister and brother team, Amanda and Vincent Grimwold. Came to town just to cap Carr and his friends I would guess. I talked to the guys in LA: these were some seriously heavy hitters. LA is overjoyed they are coming home in a box. I need another beer.” Thibodeaux signaled for another round, it looked like more than a six pack night. “So what did you get from Wilson and the son?” She sighed, “What do you think; they have no idea why these guys wanted her dead, yada, yada, yada.” The beers arrived and she took a long swallow; he looked at her and wished he could help. “Hey, all you can do is your job. Take the reports and fill in the paper work. Go home at the end of shift.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes. She smiled and said “Good news though, by the time I left the hospital Rachael was actually talking and making sense. The docs said it had to be the loud noise causing some kind of shock. In other words, they have no clue. She doesn’t remember anything about the deal at her house and only remembers opening her eyes earlier today. She is going to be ok.” Thibodeaux was smiling, “That’s good, I guess all’s well that ends well. I guess that case is closed, two dead assholes, like I said all’s well that ends well. I would have been nice if two of your deputies would have been there and capped those assholes.”
She shook her head “I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think that would have turned out so good. I mean Wilson told me had he not gotten up for coffee that whole situation would have happened differently. Our guys wouldn’t have been in the patient’s room and probably would have been in the waiting room. We would probably have a dead patient and two dead cops.” Thibodeaux looked at his empty bottle, “Well, it’s late, why don’t we get out of here, it’s been a long day for both of us.” She agreed; “Sounds good, I need to get to bed.” Thibodeaux smiled, Manning looked at him and continued, “I mean for sleep, you understand, sleep?” Thibodeaux nodded, “No problem, you go ahead home, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Manning was confused, this wasn’t like Thibodeaux. She walked out to her car and sat waiting, Ten minutes later Thibodeaux exited the bar with a woman. She recognized her as the barmaid. He had his hand on her behind and was kissing her. The two climbed in to Thibodeaux’s car and drove off. She sat stunned, no wonder he was so willing to let her sleep alone.
Chapter 75
It was day three in Manhattan; so far we hadn’t seen Guzman or anyone famous for that matter. I had received the call I was hoping for, Rachael was awake and making great improvements. Shelby and Walter were ok and had, at least for the time being, removed the threat. Another plus, the news out of New Orleans that a woman and man had been killed at West Jefferson Hospital, no identities had been released. I was hoping Guzman would hear this and assume the dead were Rachael and I; that just might cause him to relax and visit his friend.
I had bounced around several ideas in my head and still hadn’t convinced myself that the long shot from the Medical School was the correct approach, but it was obvious our options were limited.
O’Shea and I had talked and we couldn’t see any way we could make a hit at ground level and still escape. Anyone can kill anyone else, as long as they are willing to give up their own life to accomplish it, well we weren’t. I decided to take another look at the Medical School so I asked O’Shea to keep an eye on the apartments while I took a walk. We had
a couple of digital cameras so either of us could share what we saw with the other.
I entered the elevator of the Medical School just as I had a few days before; again, no one challenged or stopped me. On the 15th floor I found something new, there was construction going on in a room across the hall from the one we had scouted. No one was there at the time but I looked in the room and saw walls had been torn out and lumber and insulation had been stacked in a corner. Immediately wheels started turning, this could work to our advantage.
My cell rang, it was O’Shea; Guzman had just made his entrance. It was 5:47 PM, now to see how long he stays. I went back and met up with O’Shea and we waited till 8:22 PM. Guzman came out with his two bodyguards, he was exposed and on the street less than three and one half seconds. O’Shea had photographed his entrance and together we photographed is exit, now time to plan.
We walked back to our hotel, I received a call from Carl; he was about one hour away. I downloaded all the photos we had taken onto my laptop and started studying. O’Shea was watching from behind me “What exactly are we looking for, I mean, he doesn’t take any chances, out of the car and in the building in record time.” He was right, his body guards checked over the area for about ten seconds, opened the car door, he exited and was between the car and the street in four seconds. “Small window, I see that, and moving horizontally makes it hard, but I do see one possibility, I need Carl to look with me.” O’Shea was skeptical, “That’s crazy; it’s an impossible shot to start with. If I was a swat commander and my guy wanted to take that shot I would fire his ass; can’t be done.”
I was still studying the picture in sequence, “I disagree, you see this first picture in the sequence?” I pointed to the screen “the bodyguard opens the door; Guzman swings his legs out and stands. You were shooting these pictures by holding the shutter down, now, between the time his feet hit the pavement and he takes his first steps toward the building I estimate about two point five seconds.” O’Shea was studying the picture “What the hell are you talking about? All I see is him getting up and going to the door.”