Home Goes The Warrior (27 page)

Authorities are investigating the deaths as murder and arson, said Officer Chris O’Neal, a police spokeswoman. One of the deceased appeared to have been shot in the head, O’Neal said. Investigators had not found a motive or suspects at the time of this writing.

The blaze was reported at about 6:40 p.m. by neighbors. According to neighbors, the home had been converted to a private club and was owned by a group known locally as “the Skimmers”. Its assumed that the dead are all members of that club, according to Lt. Bernard Williams, a Fire
Department spokesman. He further stated that there may be more bodies in the rubble. The nine found last night were all grouped in the living room, he stated, and there could be more in other parts of the home when it cools enough to inspect further.

The fire started on the first floor, apparently in a first floor furnace room. The neighbors report that a huge fireball shot about a hundred feet into the air as the home exploded, blowing the roof completely off the home. The Fire Marshal’s Office believes it to be an explosion related to a gas leak, but is still investigating to confirm the cause, Williams said.

An arson dog was on the scene in the morning, as neighbors and relatives gathered to discuss the Skimmers, a group that were not well-known to anyone living in the area. They did comment that the well-kept house had been among the nicest on the block.

The police are investigating to determine the identities of the victims, who are apparently not well-known to in the neighborhood.

“Oh, my God! The Skimmers!” His voice trailed off. He was having trouble wrapping his head around this. He reread the article twice more before he sat back and picked up the telephone. His call to Tom Wright’s home number was answered immediately by the FBI agent himself.

“Yeah?” Tom sounded sleepy.

“Tom, it’s Lee. Are you awake enough for some news?”

“Of course, what ‘cha got?” He sounded suddenly alert.

“I’m gonna read you a news article from this morning’s
Philadelphia Inquirer
. I think you might be interested in it.” With that, Lee started reading.

Tom was silent until he finished. Then he stayed quiet for a moment before uttering a puzzled, “What the fuck?”

Lee stayed quiet, understanding the other man’s confusion.

“Lee, do you know any more than this?”

“Nope.”

“Okay. Go ahead and go to work and do whatever you do for a living there. I’m going to get my people involved right away. You said that article was in the
Inquirer
?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll get back to you. Gotta go now. Thanks, Lee. This is big!” The phone went dead in Lee’s hand.

Lee showered and went to work.

CHAPTER NINETEEN - BREAKING NEWS SPECIAL

he morning at work was mental agony for Lee. He knew that all hell was probably breaking loose at the site of the fire, but he had to stay where he was. He thought about walking around the shipyard to break the tension, but didn’t want to get that far from a telephone. So he waited.

By mid morning, he had done all the work he could do while sitting at the desk, so he toured the combat systems office. He was surprised to find that the people in the building were all staying within earshot of a radio and all the radios were on a local news station. He decided to walk back and talk to Hank Herperowski. He found Hank listening intently to a little radio in his cubicle.

“Hey, Hank. What’s with all the radios?”

“Gee, Lieutenant, haven’t you heard? A bunch of shipyard people were found dead in a burned-out rowhouse last night. The police are identifying them one at a time and reporting over the radio. There are nine dead, and so far they’ve identified five of them. One’s a contractor, Rick Burley. Two are shipyard people from the supply department. Another one’s a shop planner from the electrical shop. The last one they identified was a DCAA
¹¹
auditor. The other four are apparently so badly burned that they haven’t been able to identify them yet. We’re all wondering who they are.”

“Oh man, I’m sorry. I read about the fire in the
Inquirer
this morning, but I didn’t put it together with the shipyard. The paper said one was shot. Is that still the story they’re telling?”

“Yeah. Burley was the one that was shot.”

“I’ll be darned. I met him at the officers’ club the other day. I guess he must have pissed off the wrong people, eh?”

“Sure sounds like it. They say the whole bunch of them were probably murdered. They were apparently found clumped together around a conference table that was just a few feet from the front door of the house. But none of them even left the table to try to get to the door. Really weird, if you ask me.”

Just then the radio announced a “Breaking News Special Report,” so they both went silent to listen.

This is a breaking news special from KYW News Radio. We’ve just been informed that no further police updates will be given regarding the South Philadelphia fire situation. According to the police spokesman, the FBI has taken control of the investigation and is halting news coverage for the time being. The spokesman states that a formal news conference will be held later in the day at a time to be announced by the police commissioner in coordination with the FBI.

The announcer then went on to repeat the same information Hank had already given Lee, so they turned the radio down.

Hank was excited by this latest development. “The FBI! I bet this is somehow tied to that investigation they had here a while back. I sure wish I knew what’s going on over there!”

“I guess we’ll find out soon. Maybe as soon as the news conference this afternoon. Oh well, I guess I’d better get back to work.” With that, Lee headed back to his office.

He found Tim Connors waiting in the reception area for him. Tim followed him into his office to ask if Lee knew anything about the fire and the murders. Lee just shook his head and asked Tim to keep him informed if any other news broke.

“Will do, boss. By the way, I did bring a pistol in this morning. I’m keeping it quiet, but it’s there if we need it. No one else knows about it.”

“Thanks, Tim. Keep it out of sight, but be ready. I’m not sure what we’re getting into around here. Somehow, I don’t think it’s over yet.”

“I’ll be ready.”

Tim went back into to his office, leaving Lee at his desk, deep in thought. After a minute, he picked up the telephone and dialed Maggie’s number. Her chipper “hello” at the other end of the line brightened his day. They hadn’t talked for several days and he’d missed her.

“Hi, lover.”

“Lee! I’m so glad that you called. I’ve been missing you, but I know you’re busy, and I didn’t want to bug you.”

“Sweetheart, you can bug me any time you want to - with any kind of bug that you choose.”

She laughed, a light, tinkling sound that made him feel more lonely than he’d felt in a long time. He blinked and continued, “What’s new in beautiful San Diego, Maggie? Anything on your orders?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact. I’ve got them in hand now, and I’ll be leaving here in two weeks. I’m shipping all of my belongings and planning on flying there, with a stopover in Utah to visit my folks. I should be there in about three weeks.”

“Wow. That’s great! I have to admit, I’ve been missing you - a lot! Gosh, I’ll be glad to see you!”

“Me too, big guy, me too! Now what’s new there? How goes the super snoop business?”

“Maggie, you won’t believe it. Things are happening. I’m not totally sure what it all means, but things are definitely happening.” He then told her about the events of the past few days. After the first few moments, she went silent and let him tell the story.

She was still silent for a short while after he finished. He was about to ask if she was still on the line when her voice came across, her tone steely. “Let me get this straight. You were attacked and have some broken ribs. Tony’s goon saved your life, and the two of you captured the attackers. Then you were shot at. And now nine people have been murdered. Is that everything?”

“Yeah. Pretty much.” He knew he was in trouble.

The same steely tone continued, “You son of a bitch! All that, and no phone calls? What if you died? Goddamn you! I wish I were there right now. I’d kick your ass up between your ears.” She had to stop. She was sobbing hysterically.

“I’m sorry, Maggie. I did try to call, but I got the answering machine and I didn’t want to leave any of this in a message.”

That didn’t appease her. “You know damned well that you can call me at work in any kind of emergency. Answering machine, my ass!” She was having trouble talking around the sobs, but she was getting the message across.

“I’m sorry. I know that I can call the hospital. But, to be honest, I didn’t want to worry you.”

The conversation went on for almost a half-hour. Maggie was genuinely mad and Lee was absolutely contrite. He knew he’d screwed up and he wasn’t going to do anything that made it any worse. By the time they hung up, they were back on good terms, but Lee had promised a telephone call every other day for the next three weeks. He felt good to get off so lightly. He’d never heard Maggie so mad before.

When the call ended, he hung up the receiver and leaned back in his chair to think about it. But Jane came in with a message, breaking his thought pattern before it really became formed. “Your cousin called again. He’s at a Philly number this time.”

“Thanks, Jane.” He picked up the phone. Tom Wright answered at the first ring. “Yeah? Wright here.”

“Hey, Tom. Lee Raines here. You called?”

“Hi, Lee. Yes. Just wanted to let you know what we’ve found out about the mess in South Philly. Thought you might have some insight.”

Okay. What’s happening?”

“Well, first off, there’s this guy that got shot. His name’s Rick Burley. Know anything about him?”

“Yeah, just met him once, but heard a quite a bit about him. He’s a former supply corps officer that started a business supplying obsolete parts to U.S. and foreign Navy buyers around the world. He has a big warehouse somewhere in Philly that he works out of. Lately he’s been winning contracts to supply hard-to-get parts to the shipyard. I’ve
been wondering if he might be tied in with our shop planner scams, but haven’t got far enough to know for sure.”

“That computes. I’ll have my guys lock down that warehouse right away. Since he was here with these ‘Skimmers,’ I have to assume that he’s up to his ears in this thing. By the way, we’ve now identified three shop planners in this bunch of dead dudes here. It looks like your call was right on the mark with this stuff. But we aren’t out of the woods yet.”

“Why do you say that, Tom?”

“Think about it. Somebody killed these people. Who? Why? It just don’t add up. Oh, one other thing. Keep this close, ‘cause we aren’t releasing this info. The only one shot was Burley. The others were all poisoned.”

“I’ll be damned.”

“We think that they tried to use the fire to cover up the murders. But, as luck would have it, most of the explosion went up and to the side, away from where the bodies were. Did a number on the upstairs and the house next door, but left the bodies just singed a bit.”

“It sounds like we got really lucky.”

“Yeah. Do you have any other words of wisdom for me?”

Lee smiled. “Actually, yes, I do have a thought. Those two guys that you have locked up down in Quantico might be willing to talk if you hit them some facts and show them a few pictures of their barbequed friends.”

“That’s a good thought. Maybe I’ll head back down there. But they were pretty clammed up when I saw them last.”

“Yeah, but think about the sequence, Tom. I think the capture of those two caused someone, or multiple someones, to panic. They took out as many of the people who might be able to identify them as possible. Now the only loose ends might be the two that you have in custody. So their lives aren’t worth spit outside of jail. If you threaten to turn them loose and send them home, I think they’ll spill everything they know.”

“Damn, Lee. We sure got our money’s worth when we found you. Thank you! I’m heading for the airport as soon as I get some pictures and a list of names.”

“Please keep me cut in, Tom.”

“You got it. Call you as soon as I know anything more.”

Lee got up from his desk, intending to walk around the office again to stay busy. But before he could get to his door, the telephone rang again. Turning back, he picked it up just in time to hear Jane say, “Same guy again, Boss.” Then the click on the line as she signed off and Tom Wright came back on.

“Hey Lee. How would you like to join me when I interrogate those two? I could use your shipyard expertise, and besides, I think you deserve to be there. Can do?”

“Hell yes! When and where?”

“I’m gonna get some sleep tonight and then start first thing in the morning in Quantico. Can you get there all right?”

“Yeah. I’ll drive down tonight and get a motel outside the base. Tomorrow is Saturday, so no one will even miss me here.”

“All right then. I’ll see you at the front door of the Marine Corps brig on Quantico at 8 a.m. tomorrow.”

“You got it. See you then.”