Молчаливая ночь [with w_cat]

10

[369] At lower Manhattan ’s One Police Plaza, the command post for the Jimmy Siddons manhunt, the escalating tension was visibly evident. Everyone was keenly aware that to make good his escape, Siddons would not hesitate to kill again. They also knew he had the weapon smuggled in to him.

[370] “Armed and Dangerous” was the caption under his picture on the flyers that were being distributed all over the city.

[371] “Last time, we got two thousand useless tips, followed up every useless one of them, and the only reason we ever got him behind bars last summer was because he was dumb enough to hold up a gas station in Michigan while a cop was on the premises,” Jack Shore growled to Mort Levy, as in disgust he watched a team of officers answer the flood of calls on the hot line.

[372] Levy nodded absently. “Anything more about Siddons’s girlfriend?” he asked Shore.

[373] An hour ago one of the prisoners in Siddons’s cellblock had told a guard that last month Siddons had bragged about a girlfriend named Paige, who he said was a world-class stripper.

[374] They were trying to trace her in New York, but on the hunch that she might have been involved with Siddons in Michigan, Shore had contacted the authorities there.

[375] “No, nothing so far. Probably another dead end.^”

[376] “Call for you from Detroit, Jack,” a voice bellowed above the din in the room. Both men turned quickly. In two strides Shore was at his desk and had grabbed the phone.

[377] His caller did not waste time. “Stan Logan, Jack. We met when you came out to pick up Siddons last year. I may have something interesting for you.”

[378] “Let’s have it.”

[379] “We never could find out where Siddons was hiding before he tried to pull the holdup here. The tip about Paige may be the answer. We’ve got a rap sheet on a Paige Laronde who calls herself an exotic dancer. She left town two days ago. Told a friend she didn’t know if she’d be back, that she expected to join her boyfriend.”

[380] “Did she say where she was going?” Shore snapped.

[381] “She said California, then Mexico.”

[382] “ California and Mexico! Hell, if he makes it to Mexico we may never find him.”

[383] “Our guys are checking the train and bus stations as well as the airports, to see if we can pick up her trail. We’ll keep you posted,” Logan promised, then added, “We’re about to fax her rap sheet and publicity pictures. Don’t show them to your kids.”

[384] Shore slammed down the phone. “If Siddons managed to get out of New York this morning, he could be in California right now, maybe even Mexico.”

[385] “It would be pretty tough to get a plane reservation at the last minute on Christmas Eve,” Levy reminded him cautiously.

[386] “Listen, somebody got a gun in to him. That same somebody may have had clothes and cash and an airline ticket waiting for him. Probably managed to get him to an airport in Philadelphia or Boston, where no one’s looking for him. My guess is that he’s met up with his girlfriend by now and the two of them are heading south of the border, if they’re not already eating enchiladas. And I still say one way or the other the go-between had to be Siddons’s sister.”

[387] Frowning, Mort Levy watched Jack Shore go to the communications room to await the faxes from Detroit. The next step would be to forward pictures of both Siddons and his girlfriend to the border patrol in Tijuana, with the warning to be on the lookout for them.

[388] But we still have to cover the cathedral tonight on the one-in-a-million chance that Jimmy’s offer to surrender was on the level, Mort thought. Somehow neither possibility rang true to him-not Mexico, not the surrender. Would this Paige be smart enough to lie to her friend on the chance that the cops might come looking for her?

[389] The coffee and sandwiches they had ordered were just being delivered. Mort went over to get his ham on rye. Two of the women officers were talking together.

[390] He heard one of them, Lori Martini, say, “Still no sign of that missing kid. For sure some nut must have picked him up.”

[391] “What missing kid?” Levy asked.

[392] Soberly he listened to the details. It was the one kind of case no one in the department could work on without becoming emotionally involved. Mort had a seven-year-old son. He knew what must be going through that mother’s mind. And the father so sick he hadn’t even been told his son was missing. And all this at Christmastime. God, some people really get it in spades, he thought.

[393] “Call for you, Mort,” a voice shouted from across the room.

[394] Carrying the coffee and sandwich, Mort returned to his desk. “Who is it?” he asked as he took the receiver.

[395] “A woman. She didn’t give her name.”

[396] As Mort pressed the phone to his ear, he said, “Detective Levy.”

[397] He heard the sound of frightened breathing. And then a faint click as the line went dead.

[398] WCBS reporter Alan Graham approached the squad car where he’d interviewed Catherine Dornan an hour earlier when he had done an update on the story.

[399] It was eight-thirty, and the intermittent gusts of snow had become a steady flow of large white flakes again.

[400] Through his earphone, Graham heard the anchorman give the latest information about the escaped prisoner. “The condition of Mario Bonardi, the injured prison guard, is still extremely critical. Mayor Giuliani and Police Commissioner Bratton have paid a second visit to the hospital where he is in intensive care after delicate surgery. According to the latest report, the police are following up on a tip that his assailant, alleged murderer Jimmy Siddons, may be meeting a girlfriend in California with the final destination, Mexico. The border patrol at Tijuana has been alerted.”

[401] One of the newsmen had been tipped off that Jimmy’s lawyer claimed Siddons was turning himself in after midnight Mass at St. Patrick’s. Alan Graham was glad that the decision had been made not to air that story. None of the police brass really believed it, and they didn’t want the worshipers distracted by the rumor.

[402] There were few pedestrians now on Fifth Avenue. It occurred to Graham that there was something almost obscene about the breaking stories they were covering this Christmas Eve: an escaped cop killer; a prison guard clinging to life; a seven-year-old missing boy, who was now the suspected victim of foul play.

[403] He tapped on the window of the squad car. Catherine glanced up, then opened it halfway. Looking at her, he wondered how long she would be able to maintain her remarkable composure. She was sitting in the passenger seat of the car next to Officer Ortiz. Her son Michael was in the back with a handsome older woman whose arm was around him.

[404] Catherine answered his unasked question. “I’m still waiting,” she said quietly. “Officer Ortiz has been good enough to stay with me. I don’t know why, but I feel as though somehow I’ll find Brian right here.” She turned slightly. “Mom, this is Alan Graham from WCBS. He interviewed me right after I spoke with you.”

[405] Barbara Cavanaugh saw the compassion on the face of the young reporter. Knowing that if there were anything to tell, they would have heard it by now, she still could not stop herself from asking, “Any word?”

[406] “No, ma’am. We’ve had plenty of calls to the station, but they were all to express concern.”

[407] “He’s vanished,” Catherine said, her voice lifeless. “While Tom and I have raised the boys to basically trust people, they also know how to deal with emergencies. Brian knew enough to go to a policeman if he was lost. He knew to dial 911. Somebody has taken him. Who would take and hold a seven-year-old child unless…?”

[408] “Catherine, dear, don’t torture yourself,” her mother urged. “Everyone who heard you on the radio is praying for Brian. You must have faith.”

[409] Catherine felt frustration and anger rising inside her. Yes, she supposed she should have “faith.” Certainly Brian had faith-he believed in that St. Christopher medal, probably enough to have followed whoever picked up my wallet. He knew it was inside, she reasoned, and felt he had to get it back. She looked back at her mother, and at Michael beside her. She felt her anger ebb. It wasn’t her mother’s fault that any of this had happened. No, faith-even in something as unlikely as a St. Christopher medal-was a good thing.

“You’re right, Mom,” she said.

[410] From the receiver in his ear, Graham heard the anchorman say, “Over to you, Alan.”

[411] Stepping back from the car, he began, “Brian Dornan’s mother is still keeping watch at the spot where her son disappeared shortly after 5:00 P.M. Authorities believe Catherine Dornan’s theory that Brian may have seen someone steal her wallet and followed that person. The wallet contained a St. Christopher medal, which Brian was desperately anxious to bring to his father’s hospital bed.”

[412] Graham handed the microphone to Catherine. “Brian believes the St. Christopher medal will help his father get well. If I had had Brian’s faith, I would have guarded my wallet more carefully because the St. Christopher medal was in it. I want my husband to get better. I want my child,” she said, her voice steady despite her emotion. “In the name of God, if anyone knows what happened to Brian, who has him, or where he is, please, please call us.”

[413] Graham stepped back from the squad car. “If anyone who knows anything about Brian’s whereabouts is listening to that young mother’s pain, we beg you to call this number, 212-555-0748.”