Chapter 18

 

“We’re working late, guys,” Harvey said as he entered Priority.

Jimmy groaned.

“You got plans, Jim?”

“Wendy’s parent-teacher conference at seven.”

“We should be done by then. Everybody wears vests.”

“Field work?” Tony’s eyes brightened.

“We’re picking up Brad Lyons. I’ll make the arrest.” Harvey tossed his key ring to Eddie. “Bring me my vest?”

As soon as the men headed toward the locker room, he sat down at his desk and called home.

“Jenny, I’ll be a little late.”

“Should I go to Bible study with Jeff and Beth?”

“If I’m not there. And tell Leeanne, will you? We’re closing one case, I hope.”

“The Bolduc case?” Jennifer’s voice thrilled with excitement.

“No, not yet, but the other one. I don’t want to say it. You know what I’m talking about.”

“Sure.”

“I love you, gorgeous.”

“Why do I feel like you’re wearing your Kevlar vest?”

He sat groping for a response that would comfort her. “I don’t think he’ll fight us, babe. It’s just a precaution.”

Jennifer was silent for a moment. “I’ll be praying.”

“Thanks. Tell you what, I’ll call you when he’s in custody.”

“That would be nice, if you have time.”

“I will. Take your phone with you. And kiss the little guy for me.”

He hung up and stared at the cartridge display that hung on the far wall.

“Here you go, Harv.” Eddie laid his vest on the edge of his desk.

“Thanks.” Harvey stood and took off his suit coat. When he had the vest on and had adjusted his holster, he picked up the framed picture of Jennifer on the breakwater at Rockland.

Eddie said, “I went into the observation room while Nate had Lloyd in interview earlier.”

“Yeah?”

“Nate asked him if he had a gun. He said he owns two deer rifles and a shotgun, but no handguns.”

“Did you believe him?”

Eddie grimaced. “He was nervous. Wanted to smoke.” He looked over Harvey’s shoulder at the framed photo. “She’s a knockout, Harv.”

“Don’t know what she sees in me.” Harvey replaced the frame on the shelf of phone books and software manuals.

Eddie laughed. “That was my first impression, too, but when I’d thought about it a while and seen her with you a few times, well, I can see it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Harvey chuckled. “She’s worried about me. Us. Thinks we’re taking a risk here. I could tell, the way her voice went higher.”

“Are we?”

“I hope not.”

“Brad’s got a temper.”

“Mm. Listen, if anything ever happened to me …” He gazed uneasily into Eddie’s eyes.

“Don’t talk that way.”

“But still—I’ve done everything I can to protect her financially, but emotionally—she’s strong, but, well, she wasn’t always.”

“Okay, I hear you. The same for me and Leeanne.”

Harvey nodded. “Let’s pray.”

“You want to go in the breakroom?”

“No. I want to do it here.” He looked around at the others, as they finished their preparations. “Guys, gather around here. Let’s pray before we go.”

Tony’s eyes were wary, but Nate and Jimmy came without question and bowed their heads, and Tony followed. Paula was still at her desk, and she bowed her head, too, as Harvey began to pray for their safety and the resolution of the case.

As he finished, he said, “amen,” and Eddie and Jimmy joined in. Harvey looked around the circle, and each man met his eyes expectantly.

“Okay, let’s go.”

 

*****

Twilight was gathering when they approached Brad’s apartment building. Wives one, two, and three had modest houses, but Brad lived in a cheap third-story flat.

“Nate, Jimmy, cover the exits. Tony, take the stairs.” Harvey got on the elevator with Eddie. “I still hate this case,” he said, freeing his pistol.

“Me, too. But I’ll feel like the Bolduc case is half solved if we have Lyons in the lockup.”

“You may be right. If we just had a weapon.”

“Yeah.” The elevator door opened, and Eddie peered out cautiously.

They walked side by side to the door of the apartment. Harvey motioned him to stand to one side. Down the hall, the stairway door opened, and Tony positioned himself just inside it, with his pistol drawn. Behind them, the elevator door closed.

Harvey pushed the doorbell, and they heard the chime echo inside.

“S’pose he skipped?” Eddie asked.

Harvey took a sharp breath. “We were stupid to let him loose after he was suspended.”

“We weren’t ready to charge him.”

Harvey rang the doorbell again, knowing nobody would answer.

“We going in?” Eddie asked. “He could be in there.”

The elevator door slid open, and Harvey whipped around to face it. Brad stood in the car, staring at them.

“Company, on a Wednesday night.”

“Come on out here, Brad,” Harvey said, watching him intently.

“Guess not.” Brad reached toward the control panel within the car, and the door began to close. Eddie ran toward it, but it shut tight and the apparatus began to hum.

“Tony! Downstairs, quick!” The stairway door was closing, even as Harvey turned toward it. “Idiot!” he exclaimed.

“Sorry,” said Eddie, pushing past him for the stairs.

Harvey ran behind him. “Not you, me!”

“How many floors in the building?” Eddie gasped.

“Four.”

“Right. I’ll take two.” Eddie jerked open the door at the second-floor landing.

When Harvey emerged in the ground floor hallway, Tony and Jimmy were standing, one on either side of the elevator car.

“You sure he went down?” Tony panted.

“Yes. Eddie took the second floor.”

“If it stops there, he can go up again, can’t he?” asked Jimmy.

“Where’s Nate?” Harvey asked.

“Out back under the fire escape.”

“This thing’s too slow,” Tony said through gritted teeth.

Harvey hit his shoulder mic. “Miller, you hear me? Come inside. Charlie?”

“Right here, Captain,” said Charlie Doran, one of the dispatchers.

“I need backup,” Harvey said.

Tony jerked his head toward the elevator. “It’s coming down.”

“Step aside, Winfield.”

Tony flattened himself against the wall on the other side of the door.

The street door opened, and a couple came in.

“Police,” Harvey yelled. “Wait outside, please. Now.”

The baffled woman looked at her escort. He grabbed her hand. “Come on!” He pulled her back out through the door, just as the elevator settled and the door slid open.

Brad stood inside, holding a pistol to the ear of a teen-aged boy. He smiled at Harvey. “Unlucky kid.”

“Think what you’re doing, Brad,” Harvey said.

“Oh, I thought about it, Captain. All the way down from upstairs. No turning back now.”

Eddie burst from the stairway door and stopped as he saw the open elevator. He approached slowly, his gun leveled.

Brad’s gaze flicked to Eddie and back to Harvey. “Stay back, Thibodeau, or this kid will look like Swiss cheese.”

The boy let out a little squawk, and his eyes rolled. He looked about Travis’s age, and Harvey’s heart pounded. He couldn’t lose this one.

Eddie stopped a dozen feet away, but kept his gun trained on Brad and the terrified boy. “The kid was waiting for the elevator on level two. The door opened, and Brad grabbed him. I was too late.”

“Just let us take a little walk,” Brad said.

“No,” Harvey replied. “You know me better than that.”

Brad sniffed. “Nice seeing you. Push four, kid.”

The boy stood motionless, and Brad shoved the gun’s muzzle into his neck. “I said, push four.”

The teenager reached out a trembling hand and touched the control panel.

“Say bye-bye to the kid.” Brad smiled as the door closed.

Tony swore.

“Winfield—”

“I know, sir. I’m sorry.”

“Stay here, Eddie, and watch the stairs, too. Winfield, up to four.”

Tony rolled his eyes but sprinted for the stairway. Nate came in at the front entrance.

“Nate, second floor, Jimmy the third. Go! And buzz me when you get there. I want to know if he gets off this elevator.”

“It’s still moving,” Eddie said, his ear against the door.

“Go!” Harvey yelled again, but Nate and Jimmy were through the door. Harvey’s mic beeped. “Larson.”

“Four patrolmen on the way, Captain,” Charlie said.

“Copy that.”

Nate’s voice came over the radio. “He went past the second floor.”

“Stay there,” Harvey said. He looked up at the light panel above the door. The digit 3 lit up then went off.

Eddie looked at him a moment later. “The elevator’s stopped on 4.”

“Winfield?” Harvey asked.

Panting, Tony said, “Boss, he beat me to four, sorry. They got out.”

Harvey hit the wall with his fist. “Where to?”

“The stairs, I think,” Tony said. “Up.”

Harvey said into his mic, “Wait for me, Tony, and watch that roof stairway.” He looked at Eddie. “Stay here. I’m going up the hard way and meet Winfield on four. Brad’s got the kid on the roof. You pray. Get the elevator down here and jam it open so it stays here. And when the backup gets here, position them and come up.”

Eddie nodded.

Harvey answered another call as he walked briskly toward the stairs. “Yeah, Jimmy.”

“I’m pretty sure they didn’t get out on three.”

“No, they’re above you. Stay there ’til the backup comes. I’m going up the stairs.”

He passed the second-floor landing, pushing buttons on his phone as he went.

“Mike. I need you.”

“Where are you?” Mike asked.

“At the suspect’s apartment house.”

“I’ll be there.”

Harvey pushed onward, thankful he hadn’t given up running with Eddie and Jeff. Even so, he was breathing hard when he came out of the stairs into the hallway on the fourth floor.

“Over here, Captain,” Tony called. “The stairs to the roof go up here.”

“Stay put until someone relieves you here.” Harvey looked over his shoulder. “You can see both stairways and the elevator.”

“Got it.”

Harvey pushed open the door to the narrow roof stairway and started climbing. At the top, he breathed a prayer and pushed the door open.

“Took you long enough,” Brad called.

“Nowhere for you to go, Brad.”

“I see the extra units. Let me go, Harvey.”

Harvey stayed behind the door, peering out at him in the dusk. Sirens wailed, increasing in volume. He could make out the white blobs of Brad’s face and the boy’s, near the far edge of the roof.

“We’re past that, Brad. We were coming to see you on an assault charge.”

Brad laughed. “Don’t give me that. You wouldn’t put up this show of force if it was just assault.”

“Well, we have to consider kidnapping now.”

“And a few other things?”

“What did you think we were here for?”

“Oh, no. I’m not playing that game. Just let me walk out.”

“Where will you go?”

“Do you care?”

“Of course.”

“Right. You’d be glad to see the end of me, wouldn’t you, one way or another?”

“No, that’s not true.”

“I’m walking out of here, or this kid goes over the edge.”

“Not the best plan, Brad.” Harvey wished he could reassure the boy somehow. “Hey, kid, what’s your name?”

“Todd Crichton.”

“Your folks live around here, Todd?”

“In Naples.”

“What’s your father’s name?”

“Matthew.”

“Matthew Crichton,” Harvey said soothingly, knowing Eddie would hear and pass on the information. He muted the radio, so Brad wouldn’t hear anything from it.

“Cut the chatter,” Brad snapped. “And you can spare me the poor grieving family speech.”

Harvey heard footsteps on the stairs behind him and looked over his shoulder. Tony was creeping up the stairs.

“Backup’s here, and Eddie came up the elevator with two other guys,” Tony said quietly. “They’re in the hall on four.”

“Got a negotiator?”

“I don’t think so.”

“The chief is coming,” Harvey whispered. “Get him up here as quick as you can. Ask for an ambulance. And call the kid’s parents. Matthew Crichton, in Naples.”

“Harvey!” Brad yelled.

“Yeah?”

“What’s going on?”

“What do you think?”

“You putting a safety net down below to catch this kid?”

“Nope.”

Brad chuckled bitterly. “Well, it won’t help for you to bring on the weeping wives to talk me down. They’d all love it if I took a dive over the side.”

“Just let the boy go, Brad.”

“Nope. Todd and me are buddies.”

Harvey fought the impulse to say, Todd and I, idiot.

“You don’t want to add a murder charge, Brad. You’re too self-protective for that.”

Brad was silent, and Harvey thought he might be wavering.

“Todd,” he said clearly, “we’re calling your parents, and we’ll tell them you’re in a bad situation here, but don’t worry. This will be over soon.”

“Let me walk, Harvey,” Brad insisted.

“Can’t do it. I could get you a good lawyer, though. You want a lawyer?”

Brad swore.

Harvey swallowed hard. “I’m making the rules, Brad, and you know I’m stubborn.”

There was movement in the stairway, and Harvey threw a glance over his shoulder. Mike was climbing the stairs.

“How’s it going?” Mike breathed in his ear.

“Not great.”

“Ask him what he wants.”

“What do you want, Brad?”

“My car, and a chance to go somewhere else and start over.”

“Not going to happen.”

“Say good-bye to Todd then.”

Harvey stiffened and whispered to Mike, “Do you think he’ll do it?”

“Is he sober?”

“I think so.”

“Then he won’t. Does he know you’ve pegged him in the Bolduc murder?”

“I think he suspects it. That’s why he did this. Will you take over? I’m sweating bullets here.”

“You’re doing fine.”

“Mike, give me a break, please.”

“All right.”

A late concern hit Harvey, and he eyed Mike’s jacket in the dimly lit stairway. “You wearing body armor?”

“You think I could go home to Sharon tonight if I didn’t? She hates it when I’m on the late news as it is.”

Harvey stepped down two steps, letting Mike pass him, and leaned limp against the wall, letting his pistol point downward.

“You okay, Captain?” Tony whispered.
“Yeah, thanks.”

“Charlie Doran is patching Eddie through to the parents.”

Mike called into the growing darkness, “Sergeant Lyons, this is Chief Browning. Let’s put an end to this right now.”

There was a pause, then Brad’s voice came mockingly. “What do you know? I dragged the chief out away from his desk.”

Mike swung the door open, and before Harvey realized his intent, walked out onto the roof, holding his hands high.

“Mike!” he said urgently, but the chief was already ten feet away.

“Brad, I don’t have a gun on you. Let’s talk.”

“Not unless you want to talk about letting me go.”

“Let the boy go first, then we’ll discuss it.”

“What am I looking at here?”

Harvey inhaled sharply. Brad was willing to reason, at last.

“Well, let’s see,” Mike drawled. “I asked Harvey to come around and talk to you, and you took a hostage. That’s not good, but things could be a lot worse. Why don’t you just tell me why you thought you had to do this when you saw Harvey?”

“Harvey and his pit bulls,” Brad snarled. “Winfield was going to shoot me.”

Harvey glanced toward Tony in the stairway. The young detective’s jaw dropped, and he shrugged in innocence. Harvey put one hand on his shoulder, and Tony stood still.

“Maybe you misread the signals,” Mike said lazily.

“They were going to take me in. If Harvey wanted to shoot the breeze, he wouldn’t have brought his whole squad.”

“All right, let’s ask him what he was going to charge you with. Captain Larson, what are the charges here?” Mike called over his shoulder.

Harvey open the door a few more inches. “Assault on a prisoner, criminal threatening, obstruction of justice.”

Brad was silent.

“You’ll probably do some time,” Mike acknowledged. “You’re in a position of trust, after all.”

“You got proof I assaulted some drunk?”

“We have a sworn statement, and some paperwork that doesn’t add up,” Harvey said.

“That’s not proof.”

Mike shrugged. “Maybe a lawyer can get you off. Let the boy go, and we’ll help you get legal counsel. There’s no need to make this worse than it is.”

“What about the kidnapping thing?”

Mike was quiet for a moment. “I can’t promise you anything, Brad. By now, the media’s got hold of this. If I promise you immunity on the kidnapping, the city will be outraged. But that’s nothing compared to what will happen if you hurt that boy.”

Very slowly, Brad moved the pistol from the boy’s neck until it pointed straight at Mike Browning.

“Move, kid,” he growled. “Go quick, before I change my mind.”

Todd stumbled away from him, toward the stairway. Harvey holstered his pistol and stepped out onto the roof. “Come here, Todd.”

As the boy passed him, Mike clapped him on the shoulder. “You’ll be okay, son. Do whatever Captain Larson tells you.”

Harvey hustled Todd into the stairway, where Tony and Eddie waited.

“Watch your step now. Are you all right?”

“Yes, I think so.” Todd rubbed his neck as he stumbled down the stairs.

“Did you get hold of the parents?” Harvey asked.

“They’re coming down,” Eddie reported. “Should be here in half an hour.”

“All right, Todd, do you live in this building?”

“I was visiting a friend of mine from school. I live on campus.”

“Okay, one of these officers is going to take you downstairs and get your statement. He’ll stay with you until your parents arrive.”

“Come on, Todd,” Tony said, and as he took the young man into the fourth-floor hallway, Harvey glimpsed several uniforms.

“How’s Mike doing?” Eddie asked.

“Let’s find out.”

Harvey led the way back up the stairs and slowly opened the door a few inches. Mike was sitting three feet from Brad on the low wall at the edge of the roof. Brad sat with his back to the precipice, holding his pistol loosely between his knees, muzzle downward.

“All those little things add up,” Mike was saying. “I know right now this seems unbelievable. Your career, your personal life, everything’s a mess right now.”

Mike looked totally relaxed, but Harvey knew he was coiled to spring if Brad made a sudden move.

Brad took a deep breath. “Been a mess for a long time, Chief.”

“You’ve been a good officer.”

Brad shook his head and looked away. “These women, some of ’em, you look at ’em cross-eyed and they scream bloody murder.”

“This harassment thing is serious,” Mike acknowledged. “Two female officers claim you threatened them because they were women, and because they wouldn’t behave toward you the way you wanted. One woman left her job because of it.”

“I didn’t make her quit.”

“You made her feel she couldn’t stay and keep her honor.”

Brad laughed derisively. “Honor.”

“She’s waitressing now.”

“That’s her choice, not mine.”

“Well, she felt she couldn’t work for you without compromising her standards.”

Brad’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe her standards were just too high.”

“Come on, Brad,” Mike said gently. “You know it’s against regs for you to date a subordinate, but you went after Deidre Cleridge. And then you had Deborah Higgins meet you down at the Old Port.”

“She showed up.”

“She felt intimidated. She thought you would do something to hurt her career if she didn’t go.”

Brad sighed. “I never did understand women.”

“I think that’s a fair assessment,” Mike conceded. “Come on, let’s go face this thing. I’ll be there with you.”

Brad glanced toward Harvey. “I’ll lose my badge, no matter what.”

“If these charges stand up,” Mike agreed.

“I’m not sure I can take it, Chief.”

“You never shied away from a tough duty.”

“Could you stand it if your own men had to book you?”

“I’ll handle it myself, if you’d rather.” Mike held out his hand, and slowly Brad placed his pistol in it.

Mike stood up. “Let’s go.”

Brad stood and turned toward the wall. “Guess I’m famous now.”

“You and Winfield.”

Harvey smiled grimly, wondering if Tony’s participation in the magazine layout would have an adverse effect on the department.

Brad stood irresolutely, looking down at the street far below.

“Don’t even think about it, buddy,” Mike said quietly. “I’d have to grab you, and Sharon hates it when I do stuff like that. She’d see it on Channel 13, you hanging off the edge and me holding on for dear life. She’d make me retire for sure.”

Brad turned away from the wall. “I’d hate to cause trouble for a guy who’s managed to stay married as long as you have.”

They came slowly toward the door, and Harvey held it open wide.

Brad hesitated as he came near and eyed Harvey dolefully. “I know this isn’t over. You’ll hang everything you possibly can on me.”

“This isn’t personal,” Harvey said.

“Everything’s personal.”

Brad went on down the stairs, to where Eddie waited at the bottom. Harvey followed Mike, and Eddie clipped the handcuffs on Brad and frisked him.

“You got any other weapons in your apartment, Brad?” Mike asked casually.

“Sure. A .30-06 and a bird gun.”

“Another pistol?” Mike asked.

“I had a nine-millimeter, but I sold it.”

“.357?”

“Yeah, it’s in my dresser.”

“I’ll have the boys bring your guns in for safekeeping. If you want a family member to come claim them, you can. Any other valuables you want us to lock up for you?”

“No.”

Mike turned to two uniformed officers who waited near the door. “You two take him to the station in the unit, and I’ll meet you there for booking.”

One of the officers looked at Brad hesitantly, and Mike nodded.

“Sir,” the officer said to Brad, “please come with us.”

Harvey pulled his cell phone from his pocket and stepped a couple of yards down the hall.

“Jenny, we’re all right, but I’ll be at the station awhile. You’d better plan on going with Jeff.”

“Honey, you’re on the news.”

“Already? Is it that late?”

“Yes, and I was petrified. They didn’t say your name, but I knew it was you and the boys. They said you were trying to arrest a police officer on a warrant, and he had a hostage. Tell me the hostage wasn’t you.”

“No, it was a civilian, but that’s over. Everyone’s fine, gorgeous, including the hostage. I’ll fill you in when I get home.”

“Sharon called me.”

“Call her back and tell her Mike’s okay.”

Eddie hovered nearby, and Harvey turned to him as he closed the connection. “Go through his apartment. I’m not sure what you’re looking for, but you’ll know it if you see it. And get that .357 magnum to the lab right away.”

“Copy that.”

When they stepped off the elevator on the ground floor of the building, reporters surrounded them. Ryan Toothaker pushed close to Harvey. “This is that little non-story we discussed this morning, Captain?”

Mike looked over his shoulder. “You handle the press, Harvey. I’m headed for the station.”