The Payback Game (19 page)

An hour past
Albany, Galvani finally pulled into a thruway rest stop to get gas. Wallachi was able to find a pump far enough away so he wouldn’t be noticed. While Wallachi filled the tank, Cullen jogged to the Starbucks nearby. In addition to coffees, he got a chicken and vegetable wrap for himself, the same thing minus the chicken for Hannah, and three ham and Swiss sandwiches along with three turkeys and Swiss for the others. As he got back to the car, Galvani was just taking off.

“We won’t lose him, will we?”
Cullen asked.

“Nah,” Wallachi said. “We’ll catch up soon enough.” As soon as he got back onto the thruway, he gunned the car.

“Hey!” Manny erupted. “Don’t run my car into the ground! It’s not fully broken in yet!”

“You’re not fully broken in yet, either,” Wallachi said with a chuckle. “But I still use you.” He kept his foot to the pedal and took the car up to ninety.

The crack op leaned over the front seat and looked at the speedometer. “Slow down! You’ll ruin my engine!”

“Just a couple more minutes.”

As soon as the church SUV was in sight, Wallachi eased off the pedal and brought it down to seventy. When he did, Cullen started passing around the sandwiches and coffees.

Three hours later all the food and coffee was gone and nobody felt like talking. Galvani finally got off the thruway at exit 30 and pulled onto Route 9.

“Hey, Pete,” Manny said, “Galvani’s following the MapQuest directions to Massena.”

A half hour later, Galvani left Route 9 and began a long stretch to Massena using state highways. There wasn’t much traffic on most of the roads, so Wallachi kept far back and relied on the GPS tracker. The cop eventually got onto NY 420, which Manny said would take them directly into the city.

When Galvani reached Massena, he drove past the Alcoa plant and some constructions sites
, and factories, then made a right turn onto Aluminum Workers Highway. After passing a Wal-Mart Supercenter, he began taking a series of smaller roads that were dotted here and there with modest homes and farms.

Hannah pointed ahead. “Look! The sign on that farm says they grow organic vegetables and fruit. I’d love to stop and buy some super-fresh produce.”

Wallachi glanced in his mirror at the redhead. “You want me to let you off at the farm?” he asked. “We can pick you up on the way back. Who knows, you might find your calling and get a job picking lettuce.”

The roads grew more and more desolate, forcing Wallachi to stay further and further behind Galvani. When they lost sight of the SUV, they relied on the GPS.

“Pete,” Manny said, “he’s stopping somewhere up ahead. About
a half mile away.”

Hearing this, Wallachi gunned the car hard until they were able to see Galvani’s SUV in the distance. Then he slowed to a crawl and stopped on the road, where they watched as the cop turned into a long driveway next to an old stone house. There wasn’t a paved shoulder, so Wallachi pulled off the road onto the grass and chose a spot under a big maple tree to park. That way, the Crown Vic was partially hidden.

“Manny,” Boff said, “do you have high-powered binoculars?”

“Sure do.” The crack op pulled a pair out of his camera bag. “This baby’s a Bushnell twenty-by-fifty surveillance binocular with zoom capacity,” he announced.

“Good. Zero in on the SUV and tell me what they’re doing.”

“They’re just standing outside of the SUV. Leaning against it.”

“Give me the binoculars,” Boff said. “You use your camera and take pictures. Will your camera zoom have reasonable clarity from this distance?”

“Count on it.”

“Here’s what I want you to do. First, get me a couple shots showing Galvani and Laterza standing next to the church SUV. Then zoom out a bit and show the two of them in the same frame as the house. After that, zoom out even more and include the road in the shot.”

“Why the road?” Manny asked.

“I want to show how isolated the house is. Take pictures of everything they do.”

The crack op handed his binoculars to Boff, then grabbed his camera and started snapping off the requested shots.

After focusing the binoculars on the house and the SUV, Boff reported to the others what he was seeing. “The lawn’s overgrown with weeds…. A couple window panes are missing on the house….Nobody’s walking anywhere.” He lowered his glasses and looked at Wallachi. “Pete, the house looks abandoned.”

He raised the binoculars again. “Galvani just opened the rear door of his vehicle and took out some kind of tool.… He’s kneeling by the rear end of the SUV….
Drops down on his knees and sticks his head under the car…. Now he’s seems to be using his tool on something under the car.… Oh, this is interesting. A large false bottom dropped down under the SUV. It looks empty…. Galvani stands back up and resumes his position leaning against the car next to Laterza…. He’s not putting the tool away. It’s still in his hand.”

“Man,” Cullen said, “this thing gets crazier and crazier.”

Hannah’s phone rang. “Hi, Uncle Mike.”

Want to have dinner tonight?

“Love to. It’ll have to be a late one, though. I’m sightseeing in upstate New York near the Canadian border.”

What the hell are you doing
up there? Who’s with you?

“The usual suspects. We tailed Galvani up here. I’ll explain later. Bye.”

Something in the rearview mirror suddenly caught Wallachi’s attention. “About a hundred yards away,” he said, still looking in the mirror, “there’s another SUV approaching us.” He turned around to his crack op. “Is there a map in your glove compartment?”

“Yes. I keep one just in case I forget to bring my Blackberry.”

“Frank, give me the map and lower your glasses. The rest of you slide down in the seat so you’re not visible from the road.”

Wallachi spread the map open against his steering wheel. “They’ll see the map,” he said, “and figure I got lost and just pulled over to check where I am.”

“What if the SUV stops?” Hannah asked. “And the driver gets out and offers to help you? Then they’ll see us in the backseat.”

“Not gonna happen. If they get out of their car, I’ll get out, too, and walk over to them.”

He kept his eyes on the rear view mirror for a minute. “Well I’ll be damned. This SUV, ladies and gentlemen, is dark blue
and
looks identical to the one Galvani is driving.”

The second SUV sped by without stopping. As it passed them, Boff noted that the car had Canadian plates; there were a man and a woman in the front seat and two kids in back; and—most intriguing of all—the words Sonlight Christian Reformed Church were painted on the side. He relayed that info to his crew in the backseat.

“Pete, this looks
really
promising,” he added.

“You bet your ass it does.”

When the second church SUV had gotten far enough away, Boff told the rest of his crew they could sit up. Then he raised his binoculars and instructed Manny to resume shooting.

“I expect the second SUV to rendezvous with Galvani.”

Sure enough, the Canadian SUV turned into the same driveway and drove up alongside its twin. The man and woman got out first, followed by a teenage boy and a girl. Galvani walked over to them and shook hands with the man.

Still watching through the binoculars, Boff said, “The Canadians look like a typical middle-class family.”

“What’s this all about?” Hannah asked.

“Well, I believe another transfer of some sort is about to take place.” He continued narrating. “Galvani’s kneeling down at the rear of the Canadian car. He’s using the same tool he used under his own SUV…. Ah, and lo and behold, another false bottom drops down. This one isn’t empty. It looks like there are three big duffle bags inside it. Galvani puts his tool down and drags one of the bags out. It must be heavy, because he waves Laterza over to help him lug the bag to their own
SUV.… And of course they push the bag into their own false compartment…. Then they go back to the Canadian vehicle and get a second bag…. Shove it into their false compartment…. After the third and final bag is loaded in, Galvani and Laterza lift the false bottom and close it…. Galvani uses his tool to lock the compartment.”

He brought the binoculars down. “That’s a decent size load, whatever it is,” he said. Then he raised the binoculars and went back to watching. “Now Galvani’s going over to his
SUV.… He opens the rear door and brings out the black bag he got from the Hells Angels.… Unzips it and shows what’s inside it to the Canadian man. The Canadian puts a hand inside the bag for a few moments, then nods. Galvani zips up the bag and carries it to the rear of the Canadian SUV…. Kneels down by their false compartment. Puts the black bag in the compartment and closes it and locks it.”

Lowering his binoculars again, Boff said, “Exchange complete. I think there was money from the Angels in Galvani’s bag to pay for whatever the Canadians smuggled in.”

“And the cash,” Wallachi added, “was from the sale of the drugs that Galvani gave them from his phony raid.”

“It would seem so,” Boff replied. “Pete, odds are that both SUVS will be coming back this way. I suggest you drive past the house right now. Stop somewhere up the road, close enough that we can see them with the binoculars and camera, but not be noticed by them.”

Moving at fast clip, Wallachi passed the house and stopped about a hundred yards away. After doing a U-turn, he parked Manny’s car on the grass. Boff raised his glasses and resumed his narration.

“The house is blocking my vision of Galvani and the Canadians, but that’s not going to matter. Here comes the Canadian SUV, backing out of the driveway. Mr. and Mrs. John Canuck and their lovely family are returning to
Canada after a very brief vacation. Manny, get a shot of the Canadian vehicle’s license plate.”

After a few minutes had passed, Galvani also backed out of the driveway and headed back south.

“Now what?” Hannah said.

“We follow Galvani,” Boff replied. “He might make another stop up here, though I doubt it. He’s either going to the garage in
Brooklyn to drop off the SUV or, more likely, straight to the Hells Angels’ club to make his delivery.” He turned to Wallachi. “Pete, keep a considerable distance behind them. When we reach the thruway, you can close the gap.”

Cullen tapped on Boff’s shoulder. “What do you think was in those bags?” he asked.

“Well, I can tell you what
wasn’t
. Heroin, cocaine, or guns. Which as I said before, the Hells Angels can get in New York without this kind of fuss.”

“Then what
was
in the bags?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

Hannah nodded out on the way back. As her head settled onto Cullen’s shoulder, he let her sleep. Manny took a snooze, too. Three quarters of the way back to
New York, Galvani stopped for gas. So did Wallachi. Then they continued south toward New York.

“Well,” Boff said a few miles down the road, “this confirms our theory about why the Hells Angels need cops. Obviously, the Canadians smuggled in some kind of contraband. If Galvani gets stopped by a trooper, he flashes his badge, and the SUV doesn’t get searched.”

Hannah was wide awake again and still curious. “Why are you so sure they’re going to the Hells Angels’ club?”

“How else would they get the stuff to the Angels?”

“Same way as before,” she replied. “Give them to that biker in Bushwick to drive in.”

Boff shook his head. “Those big duffels are much too big for the side bags on Green’s Harley.”

“So maybe,” Cullen suggested, “Galvani will put the smuggled stuff into smaller bags. Like he did before.”

“I highly doubt it,” Boff replied.

“Why?”

“Why? Judging by the size of those three bags he took from the Canadians, he’d need at least eight smaller bags. That would mean the biker would have to make at least four trips into
Manhattan hauling contraband. That’s an unnecessary risk. Not to mention a colossal waste of time. That’s why I believe Galvani is going straight to the club to make the drop himself.”

Wallachi said, “The fact that Galvani gave the Canadians the black bag he got from the Hells Angels pretty much says this was a biker operation.”

“I agree,” Boff said.

Just as Boff had predicted, Galvani drove into Manhattan, where he eventually turned onto East 3
rd
Street and parked in front of the Hells Angels’ club in a space reserved for the gang’s bikes. Wallachi stopped up the street near 2
nd
Avenue, as he had last time.

Galvani and Laterza stayed in the SUV until two Hells Angels came out the club’s front door. One of them was Galvani’s friend from Bushwick, Ted Green. The cop stepped out of the SUV alone, walked over to Green, and gave him a quick hug.

“Get shots of this,” Boff said to Manny.

Seconds later, six more Angels walked out of the club and followed Galvani to the rear of his SUV. The cop looked up and down the street first before he used his tool to open the false bottom. Two at a time, the bikers hauled the bags out and took them inside the club, after which Galvani closed the compartment, stood up, and glanced around again.