Riverton Pt. 04

"Are you any relation to the Dr. Shah that operated on my wife Tuesday?"

"He is my brother."

I wondered why that mattered to me. I guess I just need to talk to someone that didn't want to either arrest me or kill me.

"How long will you be staying Mr. Blanchard?"

"I will be here until someone throws me out."

"That will not happen Mr. Blanchard but be aware, there will be nurses and doctors coming in to check on Mrs. Blanchard every two hours."

"Thank you. I will try to stay out of their way."

Chapter 19 – 4:27 AM Friday June 13

I slept in the chair by Holly's bed for five minutes a time until nearly 4:30 AM. I had to relieve myself and decided to use the bathroom in Holly's room rather than go down the hall to the public rest room.

I had just finished and was about to flush the toilet when I heard a voice the made my flesh crawl.

"Here's your bird." It wasn't the words that affected me as much as it was the speaker's British accent.

I peeked out the bathroom door but didn't see anyone and I had just about decided that I was just overtired and it was my imagination that I heard Bagger talking. I started to reach out to flush the toilet when I heard the voice again, and this time I knew it wasn't my imagination.

"Let's do this quickly and be on our way."

I looked back out the bathroom door again and watched as Bagger and Big Tony approach Holly's bed.

I quickly looked around the bathroom for a weapon but the only weapon available was a metal bedpan. I picked up the bedpan as quietly as I could and moved to the bathroom door and looked out again.

The two men were standing next to the bed staring at Holly. I started to open the door, moving slowly so I would not alert them to my presence. Just then Big Tony pulled a gun out of the waist band of his pants and pointed it at Holly's head.

I froze. "What the hell do I do now?" I thought. There was no way I could get to him before he could shoot Holly.

I was about to scream as loud as I could to draw Big Tony's attention away from Holly and hopefully get the attention of anyone at the nurse's station.

It was Bagger that saved me from having to do that. He grabbed Big Tony's arm and said, "You can't use that gun in here. Everyone will hear it. The coppers will be here before we can get out of the building."

Big Tony just stared at Bagger for a moment and then said, "You're right."

"Use her fuckin pillow," Bagger suggested.

As Big Tony pulled the pillow out from under Holly's head I stepped into the room behind Bagger. Holding the bedpan in both hands I swung it as hard as I could into the side of Bagger's head. Bagger fell sideways crashing into the tray table at the end of Holly's bed. Both the table and Bagger ended up on the floor. The tray table crashing to the floor made quite a racket and I hoped that it got the attention of someone at the nurse's station.

The noise did get Big Tony's attention and when he turned and saw me he dropped the pillow and started to reach for his gun. His hand was on the grip of the gun when I managed to hit him square in the face with the bedpan.

The impact against Big Tony's head knocked the bedpan from my hands and shot it across the floor and out into the hall. Big Tony was dazed but he was still trying to pull his gun out of his pants. I had no choice but to attack so I grabbed Big Tony's shirt with both hands and pushed him backward against Holly's bed. Once I had him bent over backwards onto the bed I yanked him sideways off the bed, falling to the floor with me coming down on top of him. When we hit the floor there was an explosive noise that left my ears ringing. Big Tony had fired his gun but failed to hit me. I didn't wait to give Big Tony a chance to fire his gun again. I started beating on his head with both of my hands bouncing his head off the floor with each punch. I don't know how many times I had hit him or how long our fight had lasted. All I know is that I didn't stop until two hospital security guards pulled me off him.

When it was over, Big Tony was alive but just barely. I was surprised at how much blood there was on the floor and could not believe that I had done that much damage to him with just my fists.

I looked around I saw Bagger laying on the floor with one of the security guards holding him down while talking into his hand held radio.

Chapter 20 – 6:15 AM Friday June 13

I had no idea how much time had passed since I had last seen Detective Olson until I looked up at the clock in the police station. It was 6:15 AM. Detective Olson looked exhausted, which made me wonder how bad I looked. I hadn't had any real sleep since Wednesday night and my body was hurting in more places than I believed possible.

We were sitting in the squad room at Detective Olson's desk when my favorite crime fighters returned to the station. That is the DA, the Chief of Police, FBI Special Agent Van Horn and Detective Barron.

It was obvious that DA White was upset that he had missed out on the action at the hospital. He wanted to be in on the capture of Big Tony to help further his political career but the story was going to be on the morning news and his name would not be mentioned in connection with the arrest.

The Chief and Detective Barron didn't seem to care one way or the other. I think they were just happy that Big Tony and Bagger we captured and now they could go home.

Van Horn, on the other hand, seemed positively ecstatic. I guess he figured that with the evidence on the voice recorder gave him what he needed to put Big Tony away. What he didn't know yet was that Detective Olson planned to make sure that Riverton had first crack at Big Tony for the attempted murder of Holly and the attempts on his life and mine. I didn't think Van Horn would be very happy about that.

For the next hour I told and retold the story of what happened in Holly's hospital room.

When they were done with their questions I was told I could have my car back. It turns out that they found my car keys in Pug Fazio's pocket. The car was then brought into the police station and dusted for prints and searched for any other evidence that would help in the case against Anthony Lombardo. When they were done with the car I was given the keys. Then finally sometime around 7:30 that morning, Detective Olson offered to buy me breakfast at the Riverton Dinner.

Chapter 21 – Holly Awakens

At 2:35 PM on Friday the twentieth of June, Holly woke up from her coma. The hospital called me at work with the good news and twenty minutes later I was walking into Holly's room.

I thought for a moment that she looked confused when she saw me, as if she didn't know who I was but then her face lit up with a big smile and she held out her hand to me. After several kisses I got Holly to release my hand long enough for me to pull a chair over next to the bed. Dr. Shah came in shortly after I arrived and told us that everything looked good and he expected Holly to make a full recovery.

Holly's only remaining problem was that her memories of what happened to her were a bit cloudy and at times it seemed that she didn't understand what she was doing in the hospital. Dr. Shah said that her confusion was a side effect of the medications she had been on and that things should come into focus for her over the next few hours.

Detective Olson had left word at the hospital that he was to be called if there was any change in Holly's condition and if she might then be able to talk about what happened to her. Detective Olson walked into Holly's room shortly after five o'clock and told us that the FBI asked him to get a statement from Holly. Then Detective Olson pulled out a voice recorder and asked Holly if she felt up to answering some questions.

"I don't know how much help I can be. My memory of what happened is foggy. It's right there," Holly said. "I can almost see it but it's like trying to stare at something in the dark. You think you can see something but if you look directly at it, it disappears. It's there and then it's gone.

Detective Olson and I went down to the cafeteria for coffee so that Holly could rest for a while. Holly was awake when we got back to the room shortly after six o'clock. It wasn't until nearly seven o'clock that evening that it happened. Holly was resting with her eyes closed when I noticed a tear start to roll down her face. Then there were more tears followed by sobbing. "Oh God, it's all my fault," Holly wailed. Then she opened her eyes and looked at me. "I nearly got you killed."

"What are you talking about?"

"I remember what happened!" Holly said with the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Tell us what happened in as much detail as you can remember?" Detective Olson said.

"It was Tuesday. I stopped at the grocery store on the way home from work to get some ground beef to make a meatloaf for our dinner. I got home just before five o'clock and was getting ready to start dinner when I heard the door bell.

"I went to the door I could see two men standing on the porch with their backs to me. When I opened the door and asked if I could help them, one of them put his hand on my chest and pushed me back into the house. I told them to leave but they just laughed at me."

"Did you know these men?" Detective Olson asked.

"Yes. I didn't recognize them immediately but when they came into the house I remembered who they were. I hadn't seen them in over six years and I never expected to see them in Riverton."

"Who were they?"

"Pug Fazio and Bean Soriano.

"Pug forced me into the kitchen and told me to sit at the table. Then Bean asked me what time Tom would get home. I told him that Tom usually got home around 5:45.

"I asked them what they wanted and Pug said they would wait until Tom got home and then tell us what they wanted. Pug sat down at the table across from me and Bean just paced nervously around the kitchen.

"When Tom hadn't arrived by six o'clock both of them seemed to get more nervous. At first I thought that Pug and Bean were sent to bring me back to Tony but when they said they were going to wait for Tom I knew they were going to kill both of us."

Holly looked at me with tears running down her cheeks and said, "I couldn't let them kill you because of a mistake I made in my past so when Bean said that he heard a car coming and Pug started to get up to see if it was you I ran to the back door and tried to get out. I hoped that I could warn you or if they shot me you would hear the gun shots and not come inside. That is the last thing I remember."

"How did you know these two men?" Detective Olson asked Holly.

"They worked for my former boyfriend."

"They worked for Mike?" I asked. That surprised me. What did her former boyfriend have to do with Big Tony and his gang?

"Who's Mike?" Holly said.

"Mike, your ex-boyfriend, isn't he the guy you were running away from when you came to Riverton," I said.

"I am so sorry Tom. I lied to you about that. His name wasn't Mike," Holly said.

I looked at Detective Olson and he just shrugged his shoulders. I turned back to Holly. "Why did you lie to me about his name?"

"I had just met you and I really didn't want to talk about anything that happened before I left New Jersey," Holly said. "You never asked about it again so I never brought it up. I guess I should have but I never expected him to come looking for me."

"Didn't expect who to come looking for you?" Detective Olson asked.

"Tony Lombardo. I was afraid when I first left Trenton that he would come after me. When several months went by and he didn't show up I figured that he wasn't ever going to come after me."

"Mrs. Blanchard, why don't you tell me about your relationship with Big Tony?" Detective Olson said.

"You know about Big Tony?" Holly said.

"Some. Why don't you tell me about him?"

"I Meet Tony when I was a public defender in Trenton. I was just a year out of law school and trying to get noticed by some of the large law firms and one of the older lawyers in the PD office suggested that I stop for drinks at the Ambassador Hotel bar after work. He said that lawyers from most of the local firms gathered there after work for drinks and to network. He told me it would be a great place for me to meet people that could help my career.

"I started going to the Ambassador two or three times a week and then one night I noticed this guy standing with Ben Garrison, one of Trenton's most prominent criminal defense lawyers. He was tall with a full head of dark hair and quite handsome and he was staring at me. I assumed that if he was drinking with Ben that he was also lawyer.

"When I noticed that he kept staring at me even as I moved about the room I decided that I should find out who he was. So, I walked over and introduced myself to him. He told me his name was Anthony Lombardo but he said that I should call him Tony.

"I asked him what firm her worked for and he laughed. He said that he didn't work for any of the local law firms but several of them worked for him at one time or another."

"When he told you his name you didn't know who he was a criminal?" Detective Olson said.

"No. When I asked him what he did for a living he told me that he was just a businessman.

"I had a drink with Tony that night and then I went home. I ran into him at the Ambassador again a few nights later and he asked me to have dinner with him. He said he had a business proposition he wanted to discuss with me.

"While we were eating dinner Tony told me that he wanted to hire me as his personal and business attorney. He gave me a brief description of what my duties would be and how much he would pay. His offer was nearly twice what I was making as a public defender and it looked like the perfect opportunity for me to start to make a name for myself.

"I was young and naïve and Tony seem almost bigger than life to me. I thought he was wonderful and I developed a huge crush on him. Tony started taking me out to dinner a couple of times a week and then one night after dinner Tone simply said 'I want you to come home with me and spend the night.'

"Tom, I know this is hard for you to listen to but please remember that all this happened a long time before I met you," Holly said.

"I know. It's okay," I said even though I wasn't sure if it was okay. I would have to hear the rest of the story to decide.

"After that night I was not only his attorney but I was also Tony's girlfriend. Two months later he had me move into his house and shortly after that it all started to turn sour. That is when I started to realize what Tony really did for a living. Tony would talk about criminal acts he was planning right in front of me. I worried that if Tony got into trouble I might also face charges. I could have been disbarred. I tried to discuss this with Tony and he told me that as his attorney I didn't have anything to worry about. He assumed that anything that I heard him talking about was protected by attorney client privilege but that wasn't completely true.

"I told Tony that I didn't want to be his lawyer anymore and that was when I saw his nasty side for the first time. He told me that there is only one way I would be able to quit working for him and that I would not like it.

"I heard the threat in what he said and I felt it in the icy stare he gave me as he said it. He followed his threat with a smile and said, 'You are my attorney and my girlfriend until I say otherwise.'"

"So what made you decide to run away?" Detective Olson said.

"One evening I walked into the kitchen and found Tony talking to Nigel Needham."

"You mean Bagger?" Detective Olson interrupted.

"How did you know that?"

"Please continue."

"Well, Bagger and Tony were talking about a problem they were having with a couple guys and Tony told Bagger to 'We need to make them disappear.' Then Tony looked at me and said, forget you heard that or you will disappear too.

"That night after Tony went to sleep I packed just what I could carry in one suitcase and I left. I stayed in a cheap motel that night then in the morning I went to the bank and took all of my money out and closed the account. I drove all that day and the next until my check engine light came on. By then I was in Riverton.

"I thought I might be safe here so I applied for a job at the diner using my middle name Holly instead of first name Jean. I hoped that going by Holly would make it harder for Tony to find me."

Holly turned to me and said, "I am sorry I lied to you about my past. At the time I didn't know I was going to fall in love with you and that we would get married but I should have told you the truth anyway. Can you ever forgive me?"

"I already have."

"But what are we going to do about Tony now? He won't stop until he either kills me or gets himself killed."

"Big Tony won't be bothering either of you for a long time. He and Bagger are both in custody and will most likely be spending the rest of their lives in prison," Detective Olson said. Then he looked at me and said, "By the way Big Tony is no longer Big Tony."

"What do you mean?" I said.

"Remember when his gun discharged when you were fighting with him?"

"Of course I do," I said. "He shot himself. The bullet went through his left thigh."

"Yes, but before the bullet went through his thigh it severed his penis. The doctors were only able to save about two inches of it. I heard that his fellow prison hospital inmates are calling him Shorty now," Detective Olson said with a wink and a smile.

"You fought with Tony?" Holly said.

"He had to. Big Tony was about to suffocate you with a pillow. Your husband took out both Tony and Bagger with a bedpan."

"What about the others? Pug and Bean?"

"The rest of Tony's gang are dead. They were killed when the house they were renting blew up?" Detective Olson said.

"How did the house blow up?"

"The Fire Marshall believes it was a propane gas leak," Detective Olson said and then looked at me. "Isn't the Cheswick Farm near the woods you were hiding in when you escaped from Pug and Bean?

Detective Olson didn't wait for an answer. He turned back to Holly and said, "I'll leave you two alone now. I'll let your husband tell you about his adventures after you were shot. I am glad that you are recovering so well and I hope to meet you again under better circumstances."

Holly both laughed and cried as I told her my story. When I told her about Porky and Slim and how the fire ants saved me I thought Holly might tear out her stitches she was laughing so hard. Then she started crying.

"I never want to kill an ant ever again. If it weren't for those fire ants you wouldn't be here with me now. If I had lost you I would not be able to go on. This is all my fault and I hate what you had to go through."

"The only way this could have been avoided is if I had never met you and I don't even want to think about that," I said. "If it weren't for you I would still be eating most of my meals at the diner." I kissed Holly and then said, "We have the rest of our lives for you to make this up to me. All you have to do now is get well. You do remember that you promised to give me a son don't you?"

"Or a daughter," Holly said.

"Or both?"