No Mercy (17 page)

What puzzled Bud was why the dogs were so calm when it was apparent someone was in Paul's bathroom. He could hear the movement of water faucets being turned on and off and towels being taking off the door, as well as a toilet seat cover being dropped. Bud took his 9mm Glock out and stood by the door waiting for someone to come out. He took his phone out and quickly texted Paul a note asking him if Rachelle was downstairs with him at Z Pita. Paul quickly answered him that he was sitting across from Joey Z and Rachelle. The detective wanted to text him back that someone was in his bathroom, but there was no time. The door opened and Bud grabbed the woman wrapped in a towel and threw her across the room onto the bed. Deborah was screaming so loud that Paul, Joey Z, and Rachelle could hear her through the ceiling due to the quiet of the late night in the restaurant.

Paul jumped up, yelling “Stay here!” to Rachelle and Joey Z, but like many times lately Rachelle did not listen.

Rachelle could hear Joey Z in the background as she went out the back, saying,

“I'll stay here. Too much excitement for me.”

Paul ran up the stairs, gun drawn, as the dogs were barking, and he heard the sound of crying. He stopped at the top to keep himself covered in case he had to fire his weapon and saw Deborah Lance lying on his bed with a single towel barely covering her while Bud was trying to comfort her.

“Jesus Christ!” Paul yelled. “What the hell is going on?” Rachelle ran right by him as she went to Deborah.

Bud shook his head and said to Paul,

“I heard a noise in your bathroom. You sent me a text back that Rachelle was sitting across from you downstairs when I asked you. It did not cross my mind that Deborah would be in your bathroom taking a shower at 11:30 at night.”

Paul looked over at Rachelle with an expression on his face that said Bud should be forgiven.

As Rachelle held Deborah, she spoke to Bud.

“May I ask why you came up here when Paul was downstairs?”

Bud answered quickly. “Two reasons: to give you and Paul some private time and, second, to use the bathroom.”

Rachelle brushed her hair back as she replied,

“There is a bathroom in the restaurant, Bud.” He looked over at Paul as his partner smiled and Rachelle noticed.

“What?” she asked.

Suddenly Deborah spoke. “Bud has a phobia about using public bathrooms.” With that Deborah Lance started giggling as Rachelle looked at Bud, sheepishly grinning, and Paul's smile.

She looked back at Bud as she spoke again.

“Seriously? Super cop, crazy cop, hero cop has a problem with public toilets?”

Bud sat down on the bed next to Deborah as he replied,

“I don't expect to see this in one of your articles. It's a private thing.” They all started laughing.

The gathering was interrupted by Joey Z from downstairs: “Is everything OK up there?”

Paul yelled back, “It's all good, Joey, justa misunderstanding.”

The owner of Z Pita replied, “OK, I'm closing up everything and moving forward with my boring life. Good night.” They all laughed again as Paul's ringtone started playing “Let's Talk About Tomorrow” by Olivia Newton-John.

Bud got up as he heard it and said, “Oh fish, I swear he put that ringtone on just to antagonize me.”

The smile from Paul's face disappeared as he said, “Pick up Linda Tangretti and have her down at the precinct for the morning, and make sure Gina keeps an eye on the alert bulletin for all the dentists and oral surgeons in the radius to notify us if they get Sysco in their chair.”

He disconnected as he looked at Bud and said, “It was O'Malley. He did some checking after he spoke with Linda Tangretti, who set up Kate Summers's blind date with Jake Wiley aka Jerry Wakefern. She herself has a relationship with him. O'Malley and Wyatt noticed pictures of them on their visit to her house before tonight's show that you put on at the club. She came to Long Island last year from Connecticut. She is the second cousin of Patty Saunders. If we dig deep enough, she is most likely involved with the calls that were being received from Connecticut during the Face of Fear investigation.”

Bud shook his head and said, “And the hits just keep on coming.”

Paul continued to speak, ignoring his comment as Deborah and Rachelle were on the bed sitting quietly. “We have Branca, Larson, and his four cronies locked up for at least twenty-four hours. Tomorrow we find Wakefern, Simpson, and Sysco or we could lose more cops with the bounties. It's not safe to have the girls with us.”

Rachelle stood up and said, “What's going on Paul?”

The detective started to answer her but was interrupted by a text from Lynagh, who had gone to the hospital. He read it out loud to Bud: “Ellyn has a fractured cheek, concussion, three fractured ribs, and a broken arm. I have assigned two officers from the precinct to stand guard at her room. Advise if you disagree.”

Paul scratched his head as Bud only said,

“Damn.”

Rachelle spoke louder this time. “Paul, what is going on?” Paul looked at Rachelle and couldn't believe how beautiful she was even in a state like this. “Paul!” she yelled again.

He hesitated as he looked at Bud, then spoke. “We believe there is an aftermath of questions unresolved from the Face of Fear case that has created repercussions that we have to handle. We are on what we call the Music Club Murders that has a link to Face of Fear. One of the links is bounties on the cops from Priority 1, especially those connected with the case.”

He looked at Deborah as her face became more concerned. And he continued, “We believe Robert Simpson has become involved with O'Connor and a few others, and his contacts murdered three innocent young women to draw out the Priority 1 Task Force. Simpson was tipping DJs to play certain songs, getting turned on thinking about you, Deborah, and killing them. With this case becoming a Priority 1 assignment, we became targets that resulted in the deaths of Hansen, Dugan, and Cronin, while Baker and Chapman have been severely injured.”

There was silence in the apartment until Deborah said, “I would like to speak to Bud alone if I could.” She said it in such a soft tone that it surprised Rachelle.

Bud put his hand on her shoulder, almost forgetting she had been wrapped in a towel the whole time. He said, “Deborah, now is not really a good time.”

She looked at him without hesitation. “Excuse me? I have always been available for you. I answer your texts. I never said no to you when you've wanted to see me. Talk to me now, Bud, or you will never see me again.”

Bud was startled by the determination in her voice, and it became awkward for Rachelle and Paul. Finally Rachelle got up and asked Paul to walk the dogs with her for a few minutes, which he quickly obliged just to get out of his own apartment. The door shut downstairs as Deborah tightened the towel around her body. Bud looked at her, waiting for her to speak, and it became uncomfortable until finally she sat down on the bed and said, “Were you ever going to tell me that it's apparent I may be the inspiration of three girls getting killed or there was a bounty on you?”

Bud tried to speak, but the young woman interrupted him. “Bud, I need to know what you think about when you think about me. I don't know what I mean to you. Are we friends? You are the kindest man I have ever met, but I don't want to be hurt anymore. It hurts me to be around you because of the way I feel about you. I don't know the real reasons you are with me sometimes, whether it's to protect me or that you really care about me. We were so close, and now I have to drag things out of you. Tell me once and for all how you feel about me.” The timing couldn't have been more perfect. It was midnight, but William Lance sent his daughter a text that he had not heard from her and wanted a reply or phone call to be sure she was OK.

Deborah started answering her father verbally in a trembling voice. “I'm OK, Dad. I'm just standing naked in Paul's apartment asking Bud to love me. Gee, I wonder how well that would go over with dear old Dad.”

Bud stood silently as Deborah actually typed in,
I’m OK, Dad, and I’m with Rachelle, Bud, and Paul. Love you
. He returned a smiley face within thirty seconds as Deborah looked at Bud and adjusted her towel again.

“Deborah,” Bud said, “the truth is I rarely stop thinking about you. My feelings for you scare me for so many reasons. If anything were to happen to you as a consequence of who I am, what I do, I could never forgive myself. It's true our relationship cooled as we settled into our careers, but it doesn't change my feelings, especially when I see you like this,” he said with a smile.

His attempt to make light of the situation did not work with Deborah this time.

“It's not funny, Bud,” the young woman answered. “I want to know what you want from this relationship. I tried to move on, and yet here we are again. Do you want to be with me? Do you even think about the times we were intimate? You mean the world to me, Bud. I am literally undressing my love for you, but I need to be happy.”

Bud put his hand on her cheek and said, “I'm afraid of being close to you because of who I am. This job and what has happened and what is happening now. I would sacrifice myself for you. That's how much you mean to me, but I worry what if I'm not there. At the very least we need distance until this case is finished. I can't let people get to me through you, but don't ever think I don't love you.”

Deborah raised her hand to take his hand that was on her cheek as she replied, “You're worth the risk to me. I will create distance, but when this is over I need you to come to me. We will move forward together, or release me. I don't want to have the ache anymore.” For the first time in eight months Bud kissed her on the lips and held her tightly as they heard Paul, Rachelle, and the dogs running up the stairs.

By the look on Rachelle's face, she was nervous to ask Deborah but did anyway, “Are we good?”

Her friend smiled and said, “Yes, I should probably get dressed now.”

Rachelle turned to Paul and said,

“I'm going to stay with Deborah for a few days till this thing blows over.” She then turned to Bud and reminded him they would be there Saturday to help with his move into the Henry Hallock house on South Street.

“Thanks, Rachelle,” he answered.

Everyone was out of Paul's apartment within fifteen minutes. Paul sent Rachelle a text as they walked into the Lances' Pink Mansion:
I miss you already
. She held the phone to her chest as if to say, “I love you without saying the words.”

As Deborah laid down on her bed for the night in her room, her phone vibrated, and when she looked at Bud's name on the screen she pushed the
connect
button.

“Can't sleep?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “I would like to tell you more of what's going on, Deborah, so you understand this case. If it's too late I will call you tomorrow.”

“No, no,” she answered, “please tell me.”

For the next hour the detective told her everything about the case. The people involved, including the names, and his feelings about who was to blame and why it was happening. He needed her to know everything and why, especially that it involved Robert Simpson, the first love of her life. He even told her how he himself threatened Simpson to stay away from her after the case was over. Regardless of Bud's threats or Cronin's pressure to have Simpson draw out O'Connor in the face of fear investigation against his will.

Deborah reassured Bud that she understood why.

“Rachelle told me about Cronin asking her to meet with Simpson at the Red Onion Café to cause confusion to O'Connor. Bud, Robert brought all this on himself. If he is killing innocent people, then he will suffer the consequences—if not in this world then in the next world when his soul leaves his body.” Bud felt better after they spoke and said he would be in touch.

“Be careful, Bud,” Deborah said as they hung up.

Bud walked outside on the back deck of his house in Miller Place for what would be the last time before he moved to the village in a few days, and prayed. He picked up the book Lindsey had given him called
Jesus Calling
and read the passage for October 5 since it was past midnight. A calmness set over Bud as he got to the last sentence of the devotional passage:
If you make problem-solving secondary to the goal of living close to me, you can find joy even in your most difficult days.

D
r. Martin Dominger had been an oral surgeon for fifteen years and had been located in Port Jefferson Station in Davis Park for ten years. He was a well-educated man who graduated from Columbia Dental School and had four years of dental training, from 1988-1992, two years of medical school from 1995-1996 and completed 4 years of residency in 2000. At 5'11” he looked almost like a midget compared to the size of Kevin Sysco, who had come in as an emergency. He had never seen a man the size of Kevin Sysco who could still walk around normally. In fact, the Surgeon was worried about his chair being damaged by the big man sitting in it too long.

He cleaned Kevin's teeth and proceeded to take X-rays of his mouth to verify the extent of the damage. When the results came back, Dr. Dominger knew the roots had to be taken out and he would have to tell the big man that implants would be necessary. As he had Kevin open his mouth for further damage confirmation, all of a sudden, the big man in the chair made a loud noise as he felt something hard in his groin. As Dr. Martin Dominger stood up from the sudden jerk of Kevin Sysco, he saw Bud Johnson holding his 9mm Glock in the big man's groin.

“What the hell?” he said as he was tapped on the shoulder from behind. It was Paul Powers showing his badge as he ordered the doctor to move away from the patient. Doctor Dominger's mouth was opened with shock at what he was witnessing.

“Dr. Dominger,” Powers said, “your services are no longer needed. Please leave us alone and shut the door.” The surprised oral surgeon walked to his receptionist, who promptly showed him the police bulletin and had called the police number shown. Martin Dominger nodded as he asked for the schedule of patients for the remainder of the day.

Bud kept his gun on Sysco's groin area as Paul said he was going to get a cup of coffee. When he reached the door he turned around and said, “Now there is an ass you couldn't miss, Bud.” His partner looked up at him and said, “Everyone is a comedian these days. Keep trying to take the title away from me.” Paul shook his head. “That would be impossible. I will be back in five minutes, got it?” As he stared at Bud, his eyes widened a bit. The door shut as Bud kept his gun pressed hard into Sysco's groin. He straightened his arm out so he could reach Kevin Sysco's face.

“Listen to me very carefully and don't move or I will blow off most likely the only small thing on this body of yours. Do you know who I am?” The big man nodded his head yes and Bud continued, “Then you know I will blow your worthless dick off if I say I will, correct?” Sysco nodded again. “OK, good,” Bud answered. “I'm going to ask you some questions, and if I don't think your answer is sincere and honest, then you will become dickless. Understood?” Sysco nodded again. “OK,” Bud said, “let's get started. And be careful, I am not patient. First, are you proud of yourself for beating up a young woman?” Kevin shook his head no. “Tell me why you did it,” Bud replied.

Sysco began to talk. “She made fun of my clothes.”

“Not good enough,” Bud answered, as he pulled back the chamber pin.

Sysco jerked again in the chair and started begging in an almost comical manner, “Wait, wait! Don't shoot my dick off! Please! OK, I'll tell you everything!”

Bud released the chamber back to its original position as he instructed Sysco he was running out of time. “Why did you beat the shit out of our female detective?” He pushed the gun harder into the groin area.

“I was ordered to from Jerry Wakefern. He got information and an image that she would be in the club last night.”

Bud slapped the side of Sysco's face with his free hand. “Where did he get the information from?”

The big man answered right away. “We paid for the information from an officer on the East Hampton Force who was at the house when Baker shot and killed two of our employees. Plus, I was told I would have gotten a $25,000 bonus on her bounty if I was able to hide the body till the following morning. I didn't count on the other officer making it into the control room and the cop knocking my front teeth out.”

Bud nodded as he asked, “Where are you getting information from? O'Connor to Branca to Wiley?”

“No,” Sysco said. “O'Connor to Wiley to Simpson to Branca.”

Bud knew his five-minute time limit from Paul was getting tight and asked, “Is it Simpson who killed the girls in the clubs?”

“Yes,” Sysco answered.

Bud shook his head. “Where can we find Simpson and Wiley?”

Sysco answered, “I don't know, really, but it's someone other than O'Connor making the decisions. O'Connor devised the plan for payback, but there is another involved that is communicating with Branca through his attorney.” Bud heard Paul yell on the other side of the door that there was one minute left.

Bud turned his attention back to Sysco. “You know, I should shoot you just for the way you smell. What the fish kind of cologne are you wearing?”

“No!” Sysco answered, confused over the fish comment. “Please, I told you everything you asked!”

Bud took the gun off his groin and spoke.

“We are going to take you down to the precinct and talk about the bounty list or the hit list. Before we get there and things become official, I want you to know I have my own list. I call it the shit list. You, my friend, are on my shit list. That means it is in your best interest to cooperate. If you think you can get up, now is the time to get up out of the chair.”

As Sysco stood up Bud punched him hard in the stomach as Sysco bent over to catch his breath. The detective kneeled over to be next to Kevin Sysco's face and said, “You know what that was for, right? Tell me or I'll do it again.”

Sysco could barely talk, but he said, “Baker.”

Bud nodded as he hit Sysco hard again. “I don't like people that beat up on girls, especially when they're a quarter of your size. Understood?” Sysco nodded as Bud put his knee in his groin as Sysco went to the floor.

The detective bent down and asked again,

“Do you know what that was for?”

“For you,” Sysco answered.

Bud shook his head and said, “Wrong, that was for Baker's broken ribs. This is for me,” and he kneed him in the groin. Paul opened the door as Bud walked out and motioned for Lynagh and Healey to take him in.

“Wait!” Dr. Dominger interrupted the arrest. “You can't just take him out. His mouth is too damaged.”

Powers and Johnson brought the surgeon to another room as Lynagh and Healey stood guard over Sysco.

“What's up, Doc?” Johnson asked. Powers looked over at Johnson and gave him a half smile for the Bugs Bunny reference.

The doctor didn't notice and responded seriously, “I can't let you take him out of here until I at least take his roots out. His nerves are still alive, and if they get infected there could be some real problems. This procedure needs to be done.”

Paul looked at Bud then turned his head back to the doctor. “How long, Doctor?”

“It's at least another hour, but if he has eaten or drank in the past six hours, I have to wait before I begin.”

“Damn,” Bud replied. “Look at him, Doc, he probably doesn't go twenty minutes without a drink or food of some kind.”

Bud's eyes suddenly widened, and he said, “Wait. You would have to use that medication on him. What do they call it? The stuff that they claimed killed Michael Jackson.”

“You are thinking of propofol,” Dominger replied.

“Yes,” Bud answered. “I heard it works like a truth serum?”

Dominger answered, “It helps with putting patients to sleep. I think you may be thinking of Versed. Patients are more likely to speak.”

“OK,” Paul interjected. “If it's safe to use Versed on him, use that instead. We have some questions.”

The doctor shook his head as he responded, “Listen, this is a serious procedure. I will administer the Versed and take care of his roots, but I can't have you guys talking to him while I am working.”

“He's a dangerous man, Doctor,” Bud answered. “You do your job while Officer Lynagh and Healey are in the room. Just make sure we have time to question him.”

They all went into the room, which was now crowded with six people. The doctor explained to Sysco what was going to be performed on him. Bud made sure Sysco understood that only the roots would be extracted and new teeth or implants would have to wait until he was a prisoner.

Powers and Johnson left the room while Healey and Lynagh stayed, Lynagh with his shotgun he had taken out of the back of his vehicle.

“Good old Lynagh,” Bud said as they walked back to reception. “Him and that shotgun.”

Paul smiled as he remarked, “Cronin told me once he picked up that habit from his father, George Lynagh Sr. He was a cop for over thirty years, and it seemed that the atmosphere always got a little quiet once they heard him clank the chamber to his shotgun. They called him Duke.”

Bud nodded as he said, “Never met him, but I like him already.”

Dominger came out and told the two detectives they would have to wait at least another hour before they could start. Powers and Johnson picked up a couple magazines and sat down while they waited.

Once the oral surgeon started working on Sysco, it was another thirty minutes until he came out and told them the medication had not worn off.

Bud jumped up and went to Sysco in the chair and started asking questions as Paul and the doctor entered the room. “What's your name?” Bud asked.

The big man half smiled and said, “Kevin Michael Sysco.”

“Did your mom have a nickname for you?”

“Bud,” Paul said, “stay on track.”

He held up his hand to Paul to motion he wanted to see how the medication worked.

“She called me Sweetness,” the big man answered.

Bud shook his head and replied, “She must have known what your weakness would be. Listen up, Sweetness, who informed the club about Ellyn Baker coming there?”

“Officers Blair and Lawrence from East Hampton. They were paid for the info.”

“Where is Robert Simpson, Sweetness?” the detective asked. “He moves around, but he stays in touch with O'Connor through Jerry Wakefern.”

“Who is the man in charge, Sweetness?”

Sysco smiled as he spoke. “Everything goes through Branca, Linda, and O'Connor. We don't know.”

“Who killed Kevin Cronin?” Bud asked.

“The tech man at the club. I don't know his name.”

Bud was getting agitated as he said, “Repeat after me: ‘I am a big fat son of a bitch.'”

A chuckle came to his face as Sysco repeated the sentence. Bud continued as Lynagh and Healey tried to keep from chuckling. Even Paul was smiling.

Bud continued, “What is your favorite food?”

“Lamb,” Sysco answered.

“I bet,” Bud answered.

Dominger was now shaking his head. “You are a bit stressed yourself, Detective. Another ten minutes and you can have him all to yourself.” He walked out of the room. Paul left the room as he heard Bud having Sysco sing “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

Dominger looked at Paul in the hallway as he held up his hand.

“It's best you don't ask,” Paul said.

It was time to meet with Ashley and interrogate the men arrested from the club the previous night. On the way back, Powers sent O'Malley a text to get priors on all the men ready, including Sysco's. O'Malley responded it would be taken care of and reminded Paul that Linda Tangretti was also in custody. He also sent a full report of who was with Chapman, Baker, the Lance girl, and Rachelle, who was now opening up at the restaurant.

When Powers and Johnson arrived at Priority 1, John Ashley was waiting for them in Cronin's former office. He had been informed from Gina they were on their way back with Kevin Sysco. Both detectives walked in with a greeting as Powers waved a hand to Lynagh and Healey to place Sysco in one of the interrogation rooms. Bud added his two cents by telling Lynagh to put him in the largest room. Bud could tell by Ashley's face that there was another issue to be dealt with. Ashley took Cronin's old chair, which was a sign the DA's office was losing confidence in how the case was being handled. Paul and Bud took the seats in front of the desk as ADA John Ashley spoke.

“We have been informed from Brian Branca's attorney that you, Bud, put on such a show last night that the entire club emptied out, and based on your singing performance and announcement it is fair to say that his business is destroyed.”

Just as he finished his sentence, Edward Larson knocked on the door and motioned for ADA Ashley to come to the door. He whispered in his ear so Powers and Johnson would not hear. Ashley looked at Bud as Larson continued to whisper in his ear. When Larson left, Ashley took his seat back at Kevin Cronin's former desk.

Ashley stared at both of them for a few seconds before adding,

“Is there anything I need to know? Gentlemen?”

Bud leaned back and said, “First things first. How is Officer Chapman doing? How is Officer Baker doing? I won't ask about Detectives Cronin, Hansen, and Officer Dugan because we know they are dead. We have a situation here that if we don't get this case under control fast there will be more killings! So what were you saying? Oh yes, the nightclub. Look at our record, Mr. ADA. I think we know what we are doing.” Powers put his hand on his partner's knee as Bud looked away.

Ashley leaned forward while looking at Bud and said, “Anything you want to tell me about Sysco? His attorney claims you put a gun on his dick and threatened to blow it off.”

He looked at Paul to comment, which he did. “I wasn't there, so I don't know, but I will tell you he sang like a bird. We got a lot of information.”

Ashley interrupted him, “So you just happen not to be in the same room with your partner, who it could be argued that we need a linguistic anthropologist to understand his comments and behavior. How convenient is that?” His inflection in his voice indicated the level of sarcasm as he looked at Bud. The room was silent when Gina walked in to tell the three men everyone was set up in the interrogation rooms.

As ADA Ashley stood up, he spoke again. “Is there anything I need to know before we sit across from them with their attorneys?”

Bud raised his hand and said, “Sysco, we should bring in a couple of pizzas to his room. It might help us in the questioning.”